We here at RoboAweome, in the interest of bringing the latest and best in gaming news, couldn’t let this update to an older news story slip past. Continue Reading
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All posts for the month March, 2012
Want more proof that the NESkimos are back together? How about a brand new song?! That’s right, the video game metal band has covered every nerd’s favorite “Still Alive” except this version is harder and heavier than Bowser on shrooms. Give it a listen and tell us what you think. Also, hit up their facebook and give them some of that sweet internet love.
I have been greatly enjoying Kid Icarus: Uprising. But then I got to thinking about something that made me, as a fan of the series, depressed.
You see the last Kid Icarus game came out in 1991. It’s been twenty one years since Kid Icarus: Of Myths and Monsters. Nintendo is known for marketing several of their products to a younger demographic. There are many children and young teens who own a 3DS. THAT means there are people who were born and have grown up to play games themselves all in the time that I was waiting for this game to come out. Given the similarities, there’s a chance that some people will think of this game as a spinoff from Super Smash Bros. Brawl because that’s where Pit “first appeared” to them.
I…I need to lie down for a second.
See you next week
XSEED Games has been running on a solid, quality localization streak for quite a while now, not only bringing out trustworthy franchise titles (Ys, Lunar, Legend of Heroes) but also a slew of exciting new properties that would have otherwise gone unnoticed by North American gamers (Corpse Party, Retro Game Challenge, Half-Minute Hero). The sad truth that any localization company faces is that eventually, they’re going to get a hold of a dud. Sumioni: Demon Arts, XSEED’s debut PlayStation VITA release, has some neat ideas but ultimately falls directly into that category. Continue Reading
We’ve mentioned the Mass Effect 3 ending controversy here before. Well now it seems some fans have decided revenge against BioWare will be delicious. Literally.
At least from the beginning, you’ll probably feel like you’ve heard this story before. A ragtag group of young adults has joined together as a group of mercenaries, fighting for fame and fortune around their homeland. Very quickly, their goals change as their world is plunged into the depths of a brutal war with an ancient race that is one of mankind’s oldest enemies. Along the way, our protagonist crosses paths with a strange a beautiful woman, who wields mysterious magical powers.
This particular series of plot devices may seem a little overused, but there are enough twists and turns to keep a player’s attention in The Last Story. Players take control of a young mercenary named Zael. His ultimate goal is to be recognized by the monarchy so they can be made official knights of the court, but the war that breaks out between the humans of Lazulis Island and another ancient race quickly changes the goals of this group of youngsters. While none of this is exceptionally different from RPGs we’ve seen thus far, The Last Story is a game all about shaking up deeply entrenched clichés. Continue Reading
It’s not everyday when I feel horrible for playing a game. It takes an extreme angle in a game to make me feel cautious about decisions I make in real life after spending some time at the keyboard and mouse. If you want to be creeped out like this, Lone Survivor is for you.
Lone Survivor is the work of Jasper Byrne at superflatgames.com. After four years of work, Byrne delivers a title that I could only best describe as “Resident Evil Director’s Cut meets Silent Hill 2, with a dash of pixel art.” You take over the role of the protagonist, an unnamed man who is slowly descending into madness as he learns how truly alone he is, surrounded by monsters and isolation. Within the first few minutes of the game, you get to make the first decision to begin modifying your mental health–in my case, in reality.
The game lures you to explore abandoned structures, questioning what parts are real and what are morbid twists of your mind. I walked down a bloody, intestine-like tunnel for a few seconds when I decided to take a look behind me, just to find myself being chased by an unfaced, meat-craving anthropomorphic abomination. Terrifying? A little.
The terrors in the halls and random rooms are only further convoluted by the lack of resources. You have to eat. You have to sleep. You have to kill. Food, ammo, and time are three major factors you have to focus on tangibly. These are quantitative, measurable things. “I have X bullets. I have Y crackers. I have been awake for Z time.” But being surrounded by no one is worse when you realize you’re going insane at the same time.
You can check on your sanity throughout the game by checking into mirrors, which also work as a hearthstone-type system. You can use a mirror as a way-point between your main apartment and whatever room you find yourself in, while getting a small sample about your mental insight. To deal with lack of sanity, you can take random pills you find lying around, in the Matrix-esque variety, each pill having a different effect on your sleep.
There’s a lot more to this game than meets the eye. Lone Survivor is a finely-tuned balance of puzzles, action, terror, and story-telling that you don’t find in most “Hollywood” games. You can pick up a copy from the site here for $10, or get the special edition for $50.
[review title=”Lone Survivor” pros=”Intricate mechanics will keep you coming back.” cons=”If you’re a wuss, you may be afraid to play!” verdict=”Horror fans, unite!” score=97]
Sometimes in life a man must venture out and do something completely different. Sure, it’s fine and dandy to just sit at home and do what is safe and things that make you feel comfortable, but is that really living? For some, perhaps, but for me, I like to get out there and sew my oats, travel the world, and play video games I normally wouldn’t touch. That is why I decided to review Tiger Woods PGA Tour 13.
It’s one thing to play arcade style golf games like Mario Golf and things, it’s another to play an EA sports title. EA is notorious for making sports games feel as real as possible, which is a great thing, and for the most part they are really good at it. Their quality has kept up with that description with the new Tiger Woods. I will say though, this game is not for everyone. If you’re a fan of the series, I am sure you will be more than pleased. If you like to play Golf, I think it’s a great video game alternative.
The first thing to note is that the game looks great. The courses look fantastic and the weather effects are downright lifelike. The character models look great for the most part with the exception of “EA FACE.” I am sure you are familiar with EA FACE, especially when you create a player. They always have that wide eyed gape mouthed look to them. It’s almost like zombies… hey wait, does this mean I’ve been playing ZOMBIE GOLF?! AWESOME!
Tiger Woods Zombie Golf (not the real name of course) features 22 zombies (actual pro golfers) and 16 Championship courses. Even with that amount of players to choose from it seems far more fun to create your own golfer. The customization options are deep and you get a lot of clothing options from the get go, including a kilt! That’s right, you can wear a kilt, as well as the goofy Scottish hat. That’s what I did when I created my overweight golfer. From there EA sponsors you, and you play in a few amateur tournaments. Each one gives you three things to do. Training lets you play against a pro on three or so holes playing by a different rule set. Warning, if you do not know what “Bingo Bango Bongo” is, please look it up before you play it. Then you have the sponsor challenge. These challenges are usually something to the sound of “Play 4 par 4 holes and have a final score of -1.” If you complete the challenge you get to unlock more clothes, clubs, and balls. The best part is just how awkward you can make your golfer. Currently, my golfer wears a black button shirt with flames on it, a blue camo bucket hat, green knickers, and terrible argyle socks. Classy! Finally you actually play in a tournament. Once you’ve played three amateur tournaments you become a pro and join the Nationwide tour and so on.
I was very shocked to see just how RPG-like the game actually is. As you play challenges or tournaments you earn experience points and coins. The experience you can use to increase your various skills. You can also upgrade your equipment with the stuff you unlock throughout the game. All the clubs and balls have important stats that affect how you play. Coins can be used to buy pins. Many of these pins can unlock golfers and courses and stuff like that, but the main thing pins can do is help your stats. Before each event you can equip pins to your golf bag. These can increase accuracy, ball lie, or overall skills. It’s a really nice system that only adds to the RPG Elements.
You have high enough stats, all the best clubs, balls and pins, but you still have to swing the clubs. The controls are easy to learn but frustratingly challenging to master. Swinging the club is as easy as pulling back on the control stick and then pushing it forward. You have to be mindful though how quickly you pull and push, as well as the direction. The tiniest slip up and your ball could be stuck in a tree. You have all the seemingly usual options to adjust your stance, change clubs, and aim where you intend to hit it. If you have no idea what you are doing, you are lucky enough to have a caddie to give you mostly helpful advice. Personally, I’ve used the caddie simply as a guide and usually judge my final swing on what I know I am capable of. I know I often hit it too left, so I can compensate. The courses are also challenging and go hand in hand with your own abilities. From my experience it only takes one hole to ruin your entire game. I must confess that I am TERRIBLE at putting. Putting is very difficult for a novice in this game.
This year’s game also features the ability relive Tiger Woods’ several accomplishments as he grew up, starting right from where he became a child prodigy all the way to a golfing legend. Unfortunately there are no Denny’s waitresses in this mode, but I am sure there are legal reasons why.
There are also the typical multiplayer modes, but this time around you can create and join country clubs. Within these clubs you can play with and against one another for the Club Championship. This mode also allows you to increase your coin gaining to get more of those wonderful pins!
[review title=”Tiger Woods PGA Tour 13″ pros=”Great graphics, courses look wonderful. Relaxing music, RPG elements, tons of clothes to collect and equip. Make the most awkward golfer ever! Sense of accomplishment on a challenging hole, Move Controls included ” cons=”TERRIBLE LOADING TIMES! MY GOD ITS STILL LOADING. INBETWEEN EVERY HOLE ITS LIKE THREE MINUTES OF LOADING! A single hole can ruin a great game, Sometimes the game is far more frustrating than challenging.” verdict=”It’s obvious this game is targeted at a certain crowd, for sure. Myself, I did find enjoyment in it despite not being a golf fan by any means. The game feels solid, challenging, and in a certain way can prove to be a relaxing change from the typical “blow shit up” types of games. ” score=80]
A new Kid Icarus title has been in gamer’s minds for the last twenty one years. Now a sequel graces the Nintendo 3DS. Does this new title live up to the heavenly expectations? Or does it fly too close to the sun?
SSX has been an action-packed, innovative franchise since the first game premiered in 2000. Focusing on downhill racing as well as mastering superhuman tricks, and offering bright, vibrant level design, the action sports title was a welcome addition to the PlayStation 2’s launch library. Despite the success of the game and its sequels, we haven’t seen the antics of Team SSX on a current gen console, except 2007’s SSX Blur on Wii, until now.
SSX is broken up into three different modes. The single player campaign and the game’s main narrative takes place in World Tour. The members of Team SSX, a snowboarding team composed of the world’s greatest extreme athletes, set out to conquer nine treacherous mountains, dubbed the Deadly Descents. To add a healthy dose of competition to the mix, the SSX crew’s main rival, Griff, is also planning to do the seemingly impossible feat. To prevent Griff from obtaining all the fame and glory, you take on the characters of SSX and travel the globe, hoping to outdo him. It’s not much of a plot, but it serves its purpose and the storyline hardly matters once you begin to explore all the game has to offer. After a brief two-part tutorial that acquaints players with the game’s control system (more on this later) you can begin taking on the massive amount of drops that game has to offer. SSX takes place across nine regions, from icy Siberia to Africa, each with a handful of mountains to explore. Different events transpire at certain drops, and there are three pillars of gameplay, Race It, Trick It, and Survive It. Race It involves, surprising to nobody, competing against other riders to get down the mountain to the finish line first, while Trick It encourages players to pull the most insane tricks imaginable and execute lengthy combos to rack up a higher score than your opponents. Survive It is a newcomer to the SSX franchise and acts as the “boss battles” of the game. Survive It drops are the most dangerous you’ll encounter and involve you taking on runs with extreme and deadly conditions. For example, the high altitude and thin air of Mt. Everest means you run the risk of oxygen deprivation, while Alaska’s Denali has you outrunning avalanches. You can equip special items like body armor, oxygen masks, and flashlights that stack the odds higher in your favor, but even then Deadly Descent runs pose a challenge. Due to the high speeds you’re traveling at, it can be hard to control your boarder with the precision that’s required to make it down the mountain alive. It’s incredibly frustrating to find yourself constantly restarting the same runs because you keep slipping off the side of the mountain while gliding over sheets of ice at breakneck speed, or nailing a huge jump only to find that your landing position is a foot away from a steep cliff.
For the massive amount of drops in the game, World Tour can be complete in a maximum of eight hours. Although that feels slightly short, there’s plenty more fun to be had in SSX‘s online modes. Explore allows players to revisit trails they encountered in World Tour and compete to win medals for fastest time or highest score. By default, you can play against AI opponents but Explore truly shines when you have friends to compete against. Utilizing RiderNet, which operates similarly to Autolog in recent Need for Speed games, you have the opportunity to take on other SSX players on your friends list in both Race It and Trick It events. RiderNet’s activity feed updates as your friends set new records and best your accomplishments, so you’ll routinely have new challenges available. In addition to Explore, you can also partake in Global Events, real time competitions against thousands of other players. To enter, you have to pay an amount of SSX credits, which you earn through good performances through the game’s different modes. Though there’s a fee associated with entry, Global Events carry the possibility of winning a huge amount of credits that makes it well worth your while. Depending on how well you perform, you’re placed in a bracket – diamond, platinum, gold, etc. – and that bracket will influence your total winnings at the end of the competition. Acquiring credits is essential for getting the most out of SSX. They can be used to buy new snowboards with added perks, upgrade equipment, and unlock courses in Explore, among other things. Because Global Events typically generate the most credits, you’ll probably want to partake in at least a few of them. Events can last for days and accommodate thousands of participants, so the competition can be tough, but you can also create custom events that last a shorter period of time and limit the number of competitors. It’s an amazing way to incorporate multiplayer and makes you want to keep returning to SSX. My only complaint regarding multiplayer is the lack of local multiplayer. I realize it’s a trend a lot of franchises have been leaning toward, but I still can’t wrap my mind around the concept of being able to play against a stranger who lives thousands of miles away, but not being able to play with a friend who’s sitting three feet away from me.
SSX offers an easy to grasp but difficult to master control system. The left analog stick rotates your character, allowing him to perform spins and flips, while grabs can be carried out using either the right analog stick, or face buttons. For those who have played EA’s Skate titles, the controls handle similarly. Thanks to an in-depth tutorial at the start of the game, you’ll pick up the controls in no time, but mastering them well enough to rack up huge combos will take more effort. The basics are intuitive, move the analog stick to the left to grab the left side of the board while in the air, and carrying out certain tricks seems almost effortless. It’s not all smooth sailing however, learning how to catch air, do a complicated grab while spinning, landing in a manual that you hold until you can grind along a rail, and then launching into the process again seamlessly nets the most points but comes with a steep learning curve. You’ll also notice that the kind of snow you’re riding on will impact how your character moves. Heavy powder will slow you down, while ice patches will help you pick up speed, but you’ll sacrifice your ability to make controlled turns.
Visually, the game is very impressive. The mountains were created using satellite data from NASA, so there’s a certain element of realism to your environment. Each region has its own distinct obstacles and environmental attributes that set it apart from others in the game, and affect how players tackle their runs. The pipelines that litter the Alaskan wilderness allow for long distance grinding, and the expansive gaps in Patagonia’s Fitz Roy almost force you to equip a wingsuit to ensure survival. While the latest installment of SSX is certainly more reality-based than its predecessors, there’s not a pinball inspired course to be found, the developers did a great job of ensuring diversity in levels and making sure every area had its own unique feel. The accurateness of the mountains, mixed with outlandish obstacles like plane wreckage, provides the perfect blend of reality and fantastical environments. There are runs that are visually stunning, but the action onscreen is so fast paced and the terrain so brutal that you can’t allow yourself to become distracted checking out glistening walls of ice or Siberian nuclear facilities covered in snow, lest you risk falling behind in a race or skidding off the side of a mountain. Though the level design can be maddening, it poses a challenge to the player and forces him to consider his best route, adding an element of strategy to the game.
With 37 tracks, the SSX soundtrack has tons of diversity. There’s an eclectic blend of indie pop, hip hop and dubstep and the upbeat, energetic sounds will definitely get you pumped for the onscreen action. In the event you don’t enjoy the soundtrack, and let’s be honest, there’s only so much dubstep a man can take, the game allows you to create custom soundtracks using your own music files. So if you’re more comfortable pulling off uber melons to alt-country rather than The Naked and Famous, you can do it.
Overall, SSX is a solid installment in EA Sport’s snowboarding franchise. Though there are certainly some gripes to be had, namely the occasional punishing difficulty, it hardly detracts from the otherwise enjoyable gameplay. SSX is a must buy for fans of the franchise, action sports lovers, and anyone looking for fast-paced snowboarding competition.
[review title=”SSX” pros=”Beautiful, interactive environments; Compelling multiplayer, especially in the form of Global Events, keeps players returning and extends longevity of the game; Control scheme makes picking up and playing easy; Great soundtrack with the option to add custom songs ” cons=”Level design sometimes contributes to brutal difficulty; Lack of local multiplayer” verdict=”A great new addition to the SSX franchise, and one of the finest action sports titles of all time. Definitely pick it up if anything about the genre appeals to you.” score=86]