EDF World Brothers 2: It’s Just Up The Block A Bit

Posted on February 29, 2024 by geelw

Square Earth is Back! EARTH DEFENSE FORCE: WORLD BROTHERS 2 Set for September 26 Release Date

Back on the block!

Destroy a Horde of Voxel Space Monsters All Over Again When the Next Entry in the Pixelated Spin-off of the Hit Series from D3PUBLISHER Returns this Fall with Pre-orders Available Now on PlayStation

OAKLAND, CA – Feb. 29, 2024 – D3Publisher Inc., a leading Japanese games publisher, is excited to announce that EARTH DEFENSE FORCE: WORLD BROTHERS 2, the second installment in the voxel-spinoff of the popular third-person shooter series, EARTH DEFENSE FORCE, will release on Sept. 26, 2024, on PlayStation®4, PlayStation®5, for a MSRP of $49.99, €49.99, and ￡39.99 for the Standard Edition and $74.99, €74.99, and ￡64.99 for the Deluxe Edition. The title will also launch on the Nintendo Switch™ system at a MSRP of $39.99, €39.99, and ￡29.99 for the Standard Edition and $64.99, €64.99, ￡54.99 for the Deluxe Edition. EDF: WB2 is rated “T” for Teen by the ESRB, PEGI 16, and USK 16. Pre-orders for the title are live now for PlayStation users in North America and Europe, with Nintendo Switch pre-orders in North America and Europe coming soon. PlayStation Plus subscribers who pre-order will also receive a 10% discount and several additional characters as an additional reward. EDF: WB2 builds upon its predecessor by introducing elements from Earth Defense Force 6 including the Wing Diver Shooter class, more than 100 unique characters, and over 100 missions!

EDF: WB2 tells the story of what happened to the voxel (cube) Earth after the events of the first installment. Brothers from across the world reunite to face an unprecedented threat brought about by an all-new enemy that threatens to tear the Earth apart all over again. To restore peace to the voxel Earth, the EDF has been dispatched for an emergency mission the likes of which no one has ever seen before! Featuring a unique voxel art style, epic 4-player team battles, and filled with more love for the EDF series than ever before, players must stand together to save the world once more. EDF move out!

Key Features:
The Voxel World of Square Earth: Unlike the original EDF series, which is portrayed in a photorealistic style, EDF: WB2 uses bold voxel graphics for a distinct look. Get ready to blast hordes of monsters into pixel oblivion!
Build Your Very Own EDF Squad: EDF members are struggling in isolated locations around the world. Rescue and assemble a unique Earth Defense Force team to save the cube Earth. Each mission is tackled by a 4-member team that players mix and match to maximize their abilities and lay waste to their enemies.
Legends Assemble: Classic soldiers, characters, and weapons from the first game, THE EARTH DEFENSE FORCE, up to Earth Defense Force 6, and various EDF series spin-offs return in voxelated form! Longtime fans of the series are in for a serious dose of nostalgia, while those who have never played an EDF game before can enjoy EDF: WB2 as an introduction to the series.
Enemies of Generations Past Reborn: The invaders who attacked Earth and caused mass destruction countless times before are returning in full (voxelated) force. Many enemies, giant weapons, and huge monsters from past EDF games are back and bigger than ever! What hell-spawn will show up next?
Fully Voiced in Multiple Languages: Like its predecessor, EDF: WB2 features English, Japanese, Chinese, and Korean voiceovers, so an even greater audience can get in on the action!
For additional information on EDF: WB2, please visit the official website, follow the game on Twitter, and D3PUBLISHER Inc. to keep up with upcoming content and news.

Yes, it’s on the way in 2024, which means we get two Earth Defense Force titles this year, folks(https://fanboydestroy.com/2024/02/12/delay-of-game-edf6-becomes-a-summer-2024-baby/) Yep, It’s already been pre-ordered in this house (since last year!). Here’s a peek at the announcement trailer:

Looks fun, right? If the first game is any indication, this looks to be quite a bit of much needed goofiness in this year of seemingly non-stop bad news. Sandlot is on a roll with this series and I hope more will take the plunge into their voxel-packed world this September. Yes, it’s hip to be square again- just don’t fall off the edge of the planet (too much!)

-GW

Review: Demon Lord: Reincarnation(PS4/PS5)

Posted on January 19, 2024 by geelw

“Suffer not a Warlock to live…”

If you love “old school” throwback video games with something of an almost unbeatable edginess, Demon Lord: Reincarnation is going to quickly whip you into submission and perhaps give you an appreciation for relearning a bit of cartography. This game wants you deader than a crate of rusted door nails and is more than willing to oblige especially if you think it’s just another garden variety Wizardry clone (it’s not). Although I’m a big fan of the genre, this was a totally random purchase for me. But that $7.99 (plus tax) made this a pretty solid deal on the PlayStation Store. (the game is also available for Xbox, Switch and PC on their respective sites).

First things first, if you’re going in cold, stop for a few minutes and please READ THE (digital) MANUAL! Yes, it’s 29 pages long. But it’s also important to understand that you’re going to need to break out the graph paper and make your own maps as the dungeon randomizes every time you start a game. You can try NOT making maps, but the extra brain work gives you something to do with your hands before (and while) the game kindly puts your party out of its misery for the umpteenth time. If you’re a ragey type, the random nature of the gameplay might seem a wee bit unfair as the RNG seems to almost always roll in favor of the enemy and you just can’t get a break. Then, something clicks and you manage to survive (most) of a floor intact and your remaining party gains new skills and manages to survive for at least a few minutes longer. You’ll be replacing dead party members with new ones and I think the supply is endless, with new members gaining levels appropriate to the surviving party.

“This is where it all ends…”

Death comes for your team pretty much as soon as you venture downstairs to the first floor and you’re unprepared to the assault about to take place. You’ll stop to check the map you’re (hopefully) carefully making and get jumped. You’ll try and take a quick nap in the game to get your party’s health topped up and get jumped. Basically, almost every time you think you’re safe and it’s quiet, yep, there’s an enemy lurking around waiting to bonk you upside the head. Unfair and often in the most humiliating manner as some of the game will have you laughing as it describes flatulent foes getting in surprise attacks and more. Each floor is quite the challenge, but that Demon Lord has been working out and definitely doesn’t pull any punches (at least he doesn’t pass gas, or didn’t when I fought him!)

The trial and error nature here, plus the plain-looking but very nicely rendered visuals manage to hold interest and the old-school music is pretty nifty for what it is, so I have no complaints on that front. The only thing I’ll say in the game will solely cater to the more masochistic, persistent player that craves the challenge and doesn’t mind a lot of extra work right from the get-go. So, it’s not going to floor the graphics fiends at all and it’s not for every taste. But it does what it does quite well and keeps its focus all the way through, which gets a thumbs up from me.

Recommended, but you’re in for quite a hard time…

-GW

Review: Gleylancer (PS4/PS5)

Posted on October 26, 2021 by geelw

probably the sole good use of the word “Pow-Wow” these days.

While the SEGA logo is nowhere to be found (they only published the game way back in 1992), Advanced Busterhawk Gleylancer looks, feels and plays like it’s 1992 and that’s a great thing. Ever busy publisher Ratalaika Games and veteran developer Shinyuden go above and beyond the call here with a flawless English translation plus a slew of gameplay improvements that range from a horde of video customization options to some all-new game modes that make this an instant buy at its low $6.99 price point (the original Mega Drive version will set you back about $200, and yes it’s solely in Japanese).

The game is pretty story driven with a lengthy opening movie, but in s nutshell: The story follows Lucia, a 16-year-old star fighter pilot in the Earth Federation. A war breaks out between humans and an unknown alien race in the year 2025. Lucia’s father, Ken, a high-ranking admiral in the Federation Navy, is captured after his ship is warped out of the combat zone with 4 alien modules which have the ability of teleportation. Lucia, heart-broken after hearing of her father’s disappearance, decides to hijack the prototype fighter CSH-01-XA “GleyLancer” with the help of her friend Teim and go after her father.

Like any decent classic shmup, a good player will complete the game in under an hour, but a smart player will deep dive this and go back for more and unlock every trophy. The fast but methodical gameplay is also customizable to the point of letting players cheat right off the bat if they so desire. There’s also a handy rewind function that’s excellently implemented and like the cheat mode, optional. The really amusing thing here is very likely, a good deal of modern gamers may not have heard of this until this release and may automatically snap it up for the quick trophies Ratalaika games are known for. My bet is they’ll be surprised at the challenge the game presents on its standard mode.

I have no idea what Shinyuden has planned for the future, but there are a ton of other shooters for the Genesis out there that can use this sort of very proper localization. I can name way too many here, but let’s not go over the moon with wishful, wistful thinking just yet. Recommended!

-GW

Review: Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout (PS4)

Posted on August 7, 2020 by geelw

The Chaos Engine, or Circle of Life in action, if you will…

Well, this one’s a pleasant and goofy surprise. Sometimes the silliest and most simple games ideas just work and Mediatronic’s Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout ($19.99 on Steam for PC, Free this month on PSN) reinforces this perfectly. The 60-person enter, one person wins element is pure battle royale insanity (a genre I usually avoid), it’s weaponless mix of puzzle, sporty and trap packed levels offer up some tough and hilarious navigational challenges and overall, it’s just about as good as it gets for a game of its type.

Sure, there are micro-transactions here, but they’re not at all necessary to jump in and start playing. You can get some cool cosmetics with currency earned from just playing the game, or you can pay real money for stuff if you’re in a hurry to look cooler as you fall or get knocked off assorted hazards multiple times. In other words, there are no performance-enhancing purchases here (so far and I hope there won’t be in the future). Besides, the developer and publisher need to make SOME money with this one, but it’s actually nice that PSN users at least get to more or less play free and not choose to pay… well, until they need some of the stupidly cute skins and outfits that pop up.

fall-guys-ultimate-knockout-screenshot-08-ps4-04may20-en-us

It’s all fun and games, especially if someone gets cartoon hurt.

A constantly rotating set of 24 levels means you can’t predict what’s coming, but loads of dying and plenty of practice await. You just need to hope you can survive the chaos as it happens. Yes, there are some super-skilled players out there who can dive and dash through areas and as you play, some tasks get easier to plow through than others. But the lack of voice chat thankfully keeps one’s ears from burning off from what I’d imagine is some hefty amount of creative cursing taking place at some ignominious last second defeats. Although, yours truly actually screamed “Oh, Bugsnax!” at my TV after one terrible but funny loss because I’d exhausted every curse word I knew and that upcoming PS5 game’s name just popped into my head.

Then again, this is a game where you’ll watch someone winning a match and then lose it by accident when a platform vanishes suddenly, or they get beaned by a falling slice of parachuting fruit. Some players seemingly try to take out other players by lurking near an exit (grrrr!) and lunging at them or maybe hoping to be as threatening as a giant jellybean in a funky getup can. It’s all good though – sometimes you get the last laugh (well, until you lose in a future round) when the game decides to drop random survivors at the results screen to get the next stage kicking.

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Review: Nightmare at Noon (1988)

Posted on July 27, 2020 by geelw

So, if good guys wear black, I guess, uh…

While it’s absolutely packed to the hilt with stunts, thrills, and explosions galore (and how!), Nico Mastorakis’ 1988 flick Nightmare at Noon isn’t exactly the brain food of action movies. In fact, if you go in expecting even a decent plot to speak of, your brain may beat you somewhat senseless about two minutes in and turn itself off so it can enjoy the wild ride without you gargling on about what small amount of plot there is. Basically, if you miss the opening credits, there goes the story, and there’s not much there to begin with (and even less if you’re looking).

All you need to know is a secret scientific agency (or not so secret, as they roll around in two black custom vans with their agency’s name on them!) has chosen a small US town to experiment with some nefarious goings-on and it’s up to a handful of gun-totin’ tourists and local heroes to make things right. So you get Wings Hauser, Bo Hopkins, and Kimberly Beck starring with George Kennedy and Kimberly Ross versus that town full of newly green-blooded raging townspeople and a bunch of well-armed bad guys. A strangely silent Brion James kicks the flick off as the mysterious Albino, but despite all his evil machinations, his total lack of dialog actually hurts the film despite the nearly non-stop action that follows. I gather he was paid enough for bleaching his hair and wearing some contact lenses to make him look albino and decided to charge by the word for dialog or something?

(Thanks, ScreamFactoryTV!)

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Post Toasties

Posted on July 13, 2020 by geelw

I’d really rather not waste such a good song on such a terminally bad person or group of people, but so it goes. Your tune for this Monday, which I hope is going as well as it should, rose colored blinders on or not:

(Thanks,TheGodfathersVEVO!)

So, we’re officially at this stage of the game now. Morbid humor as a reality check in some areas here, but it’s more a dry, hoarse chuckle from a very tired people at this point because we’re all tied to the couch as loud Uncle Bob starts setting up the old slide projector and has revved up some really bad Borscht Belt jokes to go with the carousel of everlasting pain:

(Thanks, Browingate!)

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Trouble (Living With It)

Posted on July 7, 2020 by geelw

(Thanks, Thomas Barnett!)

So, the latest advice from the government is more or less let your abuser move right on it and sure, too many of you will possibly suffer the negative consequences. But hey, we’ll tell you you’re 99% safe and the economy is more important than staying alive because you can’t live without a little sacrifice. Or a lot of little sacrifices that add up to be a lot more. Maybe. My head hurts at all this sheer negligence going on, especially when a more urgent and actually powerful federal response would have worked better from the outset, but nope. It’s been hands off and putting people who have no scientific knowledge or care to grasp it “in charge” of not keeping millions of others safe. plus muzzling or talking over the science-minded folks when they speak out publicly, along with promoting the brick-headed, stubborn ones who are afraid of rocking a slowly sinking boat and its erratic Captain Queeg.

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Capsule Reviews: Ghost Grab 3000/Singled Out (Switch)

Posted on July 6, 2020 by geelw

You can’t be afraid of no ghost when you have the ability to use a nuke as an option.

I’d like to think that Matt Glanville (@crowbarska) has a working time machine permanently set to 1983 he’s not telling anyone about, as his games I’ve played to date all look and play like solid arcade hits of around that time. Switch ‘N’ Shoot is still one of the more thrilling and flawless uses of single-button gameplay I’ve experienced and now you have two more retro-inspired titles to blast away with, both quite good and deceptively simple on their surfaces, but each will have you hooked in for as long as you’re playing.

Ghost Grab 3000 ($4.99) is a nifty shooter that’s a hybrid of bullet hell and strategic shot placement as its lead character needs to line up or gather well-armed ghosts and blast away as many as possible while trying to survive each round. There are a couple of weapons to whip out in an emergency situation, plus a nice upgrade system with over 100 combinations allowing you to tailor your ghost grabber as you like. Part of the fun is buying those upgrades and enhancing your character, as you can create a hero that makes the game easier or, if you want to play with as few upgrades as possible, harder. That’s a bad idea, by the way – go buy and use those upgrades, I say.

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Soul Searching: Going Native (With Dragons on the Side)

Posted on June 30, 2020 by geelw

Make mine a double, please…

In the load of stuff I need to get to in this current crazy time, review code for a little game called Soul Searching popped up in the inbox a while back and you can say I’m intrigued by the project enough to move things around and play for a bit. I’ll get to the main story mode later in this post, but let’s talk minigames for a bit. There are seven ‘Short Stories’ as the game calls them, and they can be accessed from the menu and played in any order you like. but the game will run them consecutively if you start from the first one and complete each minigame.

Publisher nakana.io has released a few unique titles so far where its different developers’ personalities are on full display in each work, so there’s a lot going on in each game, from the art styles to the approaches to gameplay. Soul Searching is brim full of weirdness as the simple pixel-heavy art in the main game gives way to some rather intense slices of mind from its developer in minigames that feature assorted visual styles ranging from simple childlike scrawls to vector graphics and crude polygonal characters. In those brief segments, you almost get a sense that indie developer Kayabros (Talha Kaya) is working through some of life’s problems and you’re along for the ride for better or worse.

(Thanks, Nakana Games!)

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Random Film of the Week: Shin Godzilla

Posted on June 16, 2020 by geelw

They’re going to have a meeting about having a meeting, most likely.

Sometimes, a kick to the Shin works.

Hideaki Anno and Shinji Higuchi’s Shin Godzilla is, for all intents and purposes, more of a grand live action anime because it translates much of its visual style and energy rather successfully from some of both of its creators’ previous well-known animated works. It’s also a sly poke at Japanese government bureaucracy where every decision has to go up a few ladders and lengthy meetings are constantly being held even as a horrific, mutating monster makes its radioactive presence known.

As a reboot of the classic franchise it works excellently in delivering a new and more terrifying Godzilla that mutates from a googly-eyed giant, arm-less gilled beast that flops and slides along because its body can’t hold it up, to a 400-foot tall nuclear blasting fiend that requires a lengthy cooldown after it uses its powers. This isn’t a Godzilla who’s a kid-friendly lizard who punches other monsters in the face and goofs around. Nope, the film takes it back to the more horror-laced 1954 original in terms of tone, laying on a modern plot where every decision made needs discussion and division heads and other leaders change into fancy jumpsuit ensembles just to look official while executive orders are issued.

(Thanks, Funimation!)