2D-X

PAX Prime 2010: Duke Nukem’s surprise return

Timothy Torres — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 02:48:08 +0000

Well, I didn’t expect this.

After 13 years of development hell, Duke Nukem Forever, the sequel to 90s first-person-shooter classic Duke Nukem 3D is finally, FINALLY FINALLY on its way to consoles and PC. And we’re all still here. No fire raining down from the sky, no boiling oceans. It’s happening. It’s really happening. Unless, of course, something terrible happens between now and release. Knock on wood!

Revealed at Penny Arcade Expo 2010, Duke returns courtesy of Gearbox Software, taking over from 3D Realms.

“All great things take time… a lot of time,” laughs Christoph Hartmann, president of 2K Games, Duke’s longtime publisher. “After a hiatus from the video game world, Duke Nukem is back and better than ever. The return of the King from the glory days of shooters will satisfy our patient, die-hard fans, as well as a new generation of bubble gum-chewing, flat top and shades-wearing bad-asses. Make no mistake about it – Duke Nukem Forever is a testament to the era of when shooters were bodacious and fun.”

In this day of grim brown-and-bloom war shooters, I agree. The genre could use a good kick in the ass. Whether or not today’s modern warfare-rs will agree remains to be seen. We’ll all find out next year when Duke Nukem Forever ships. Hopefully.

Is Half-Life 2: Episode 3 Around The Corner?

PAX Prime 2010: Ubisoft unveils Outland

Laurie-Anne Vazquez — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 05:49:25 +0000

Housemarque, developer of Super Stardust HD, has teamed up with Ubisoft to create a 2D platformer that pulls inspiration from an unlikely source: a shmup. A shmup named Ikaruga.

What we know so far about Outland is that it’s a platformer in the vein of Prince of Persia – and it operates on Ikaruga’s infamous light/dark mechanics. The currently unnamed main character can switch between light and dark suits and bullets, offing light enemies with dark bullets and vice versa. Just like Ikaruga. His mission? To bridge the divide between Balance and Chaos.

The environment responds to your character’s light and dark state, too, with certain elements activating only when you’re light or dark. The environment itself is vast and sprawling, and beautifully detailed.

Although surrounded by quite a bit of mystery, Outland looks to continue the trend of high-quality PSN and XBLA downloadable titles exemplified by Limbo and Shank. Kudos, Ubisoft.

Mega Man Universe Gameplay Trailer

Thomas Rivas — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 01:18:49 +0000

Click here to view the embedded video.

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Yazkua 4 trailer looks gangsta

Jeffrey L. Wilson — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 01:13:41 +0000

Click here to view the embedded video.

Review: Shank (PC, PSN, XBLA)

Jeffrey L. Wilson — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 05:31:47 +0000

Click here to view the embedded video.

Klei Entertainment’s Shank has ranked high on my “must-play-in-2010″ list ever since I got hands-on time with the game at PAX East 2010. The sentiment was bolstered upon sampling the 2D beat ‘em up at E3 2010. Shank, after months of waiting, is finally available for purchase on PSN and XBLA arcade (it’s also headed to PC later this year), and I can say without hesitation that the game was worth the wait.

At it’s core, Shank is a brawler that sees the titular hero moving down legions of armed goons–but that’s the most basic description. Shank isn’t just a throwback to 2D beat ‘em ups of yesteryear, but a throwback to the ’70s-era revenge grindhouse flicks, small budget movies with high violence–a fitting parallel to Klei Entertainment’s energetic title.

The story is a basic betrayal yarn involving Shank, a crime boss, and of course, a lovely lady. It’s played out in slick cutscenes, and even picture-in-picture windows that occur during gameplay. It serves to set the stage than to truly tell a compelling tale, but that’s more than fine as Shank, both the protagonist and game, are all about carnage.

And there’s plenty of mayhem to be had. Unlike the old school beat ‘em ups that it inspired it, Shank doesn’t use his fists to dispense sweet street justice, he uses a pair of blades, two pistols, and grenades, which are later joined by a sword, shotgun, chains, machetes, and a special weapon that you can’t carry, but will allow you to level everything in your path. Hardcore tools, for a hardcore guy.

And what wonderful toys they are! Few titles give gamers an immediate sense of satisfaction. Out of the box you feel like a bad ass; Klei Entertainment did a marvelous job of allowing attacks to flow together into death-dealing combos. The first time you ginsu a baddie, juggle him with your guns, and pounce on his fallen body to pierce him with the chainsaw, it’s heaven. There may be no harps or choirs, but you feel godly–until you reach the bosses.

Boss battles are my biggest gripe with Shank. The character designs and animations are superb, and the music has a gritty sleazy that perfectly accompanies the violence, but its the end-of-level face-offs that drop the ball. The problem lies in the fact that you transform from a weapon-toting bad ass that hacks and slashes through legions of bad guys, to a dude that has to flee and dodge boss attacks until you discover an opening to deliver a strong blow. It’s emasculating in a way.

Klei tosses in light platforming elements that involve leaping, shimmying down poles, climbing walls, and Mirror’s Edge-like free-running. These instances help break up the any potential repetitiveness (which has been the genre’s Achilles’ Heel), as do the 2P co-op mode. Still, I would’ve liked to have seen the inclusion of at least one vehicle-based mission–how about a Renegade-like motorbike battle as DLC, Klei?

Overall, Shank easily enters the beat ‘em up pantheon of which Double Dragon, Streets of Rage 2, and River City Ransom are members. It takes the best elements of 2D play, accessibility and wonderful sprite animation, and fuses it with modern design elements that keeps combat from becoming stale. The boss fights bring it down a notch, but Shank is a no-brainer download for brawler/action fans.

Bit.Trip Fate concept art

Laurie-Anne Vazquez — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 02:34:30 +0000

In typical Gaijin Games style, the concept art for the newest Bit.Trip game looks awesome.

It’s called Bit.Trip Fate. It’s the fifth game in the series and looks completely different from the previous 2D-friendly style of the series.

While the picture only reveals lava in a cave with a skinny, shiny version of Lost’s Smoke Monster, possibilities abound. According to the internet, it’s a shooter – and a completely different take on the genre, at that. Meat Boy will make an appearance in the game as well.

How does Commander Video fit into all of that? More will be revealed at PAX Prime this weekend. Stay tuned.

[Hat tip: The Tanooki]

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Shattered Dimensions alternate costume gallery

Thomas Rivas — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 19:22:59 +0000

2099 Spidey all but official for Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions

EXCLUSIVE: Josh Keaton on Shattered Dimensions!

Thomas Rivas — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 21:01:25 +0000

With a talent admired by many and a career paved with memorable roles, Josh Keaton has established himself as a successful actor both in front of the camera and in the sound booth. On September 7th he’ll swing into familiar territory as the Ultimate wall-crawler in Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions but millions of Starcraft II fans already know him as the voice of the brilliant yet arrogant Valerian Mengsk. Josh was kind enough to sit down with us and talk about both projects and more importantly give us an idea of who the man behind the voice really is.

Looking at your body of work, it seems that comic book-related projects have a way of finding you. Was there always an interest in superheroes growing up? If so, who were your favorites?

Comics and superheroes have always been a big part of my life. When I was really little my grandma made me Superman and He-Man costumes and I would run around the supermarket either “flying” or letting everyone know that I, had the power. Once I started reading comics, Spider-Man and Wolverine were always my favorites. I was always on the shorter side growing up (at 5’9″ I’m not exactly tall now) and I always like seeing the short guys kick ass.

How did you get your start as a voice actor?

It originally started out as an outgrowth of my on-camera career. My agent at the time sent me on auditions for several voice roles and I managed to land a few (Back to the Future, Peter Pan and the Pirates, Disney’s Hercules). After Hercules, I was approached by a dedicated voice over agent, and that opened up a lot more possibilities for me in VO.

Tell us a little bit about the Shattered Dimensions project. What separates Ultimate Spidey from the rest of the pack?

He’s the youngest and the most brash of the bunch. He also has the symbiote suit which makes him stronger than the other three in this game.

Was your approach towards this Spider-Man the same as your Spectacular version or did you view this as a chance to try something different?
Well although Spectacular’s stories were more based on the classic Lee/Ditko/Romita days, there was a fair amount of Ultimate in our show, particularly Spidey’s age and the high school setting. Although Shattered Dimensions doesn’t follow Spectacular’s continuity, the age and attitude is pretty much consistent with what I did on Spectacular.

We can see from some of the recent footage that Deadpool makes an appearance in the Ultimate universe. Can you tell us more about why he’s entered the picture and if possible, what other characters/villains your Spidey will encounter in the game?

I’d love to, but SPOILERS!

By the end of the year you will have been a part of almost every anticipated game release for 2010; God of War 3, Starcraft II, Shattered Dimensions, Birth by Sleep, just to name a few. That being said, how do you view the video game industry? Are you a gamer or do you view the industry solely as a professional vehicle? If so, what sort of games do you tend to play?

Video games are finally starting to be taken seriously as a storytelling medium, and as such they’re definitely becoming more of a professional vehicle. That being said, I’m a gamer through and through. I got hooked as a tot with Atari, and now I play pretty much everything. I’m a huge fan of driving games (Forza, Dirt), open-world/immersive games (Fallout, WoW), classic side-scrollers, fighting games, FPSs; you name it, I play it. I still find the original Unreal Tournament to be one of the most fun LAN games ever.

Starcraft II continues to be an overwhelming success. When you joined the project, were you already familiar with the franchise and its fanbase?

Yes! I’ve been familiar with Blizzard stuff for quite a while now. I was actually seriously addicted to WoW for about a year and a half. I had a few different toons, but my main was a Tauren Druid. I didn’t sleep for weeks getting him to PVP rank 13 before PVP rankings went away. I always liked Starcraft (and RTS games in general) as well. If they ever make a World of Starcraft, I’m screwed.

Can we expect to see Valerian Mengsk in the upcoming expansions?

I have no idea. They really don’t tell me anything until they call me in and make me sign non-disclosure agreements.

Is there anything you can tell us about Transformers Prime (story, characters, etc.)? Were you and Dan Gilvezan able to talk about the Bumblebee character at all while working together on Shattered Dimensions?

I can’t say anything about the story yet and I’m pretty sure it’s already out there that Peter Cullen and Frank Welker will be returning as Optimus and Megatron. Dan and I actually did have a little discussion about me taking all of his roles, but I reminded him that it hasn’t actually been confirmed anywhere that I’m going to be voicing Bumblebee. (wink)

What can we look forward to seeing/hearing you in next?

I voice Rick in the upcoming Splatterhouse game, you’ll be able to hear me on a new Cartoon Network show called Firebreather, and of course, Transformers: Prime. I have a couple of other things in the works, but nothing I’m at liberty to discuss yet.

(Check Josh out in Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions and Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep when both games hit stores on September 7th. )

Hands-On: Ys Seven

Timothy Torres — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 06:00:22 +0000

I only know Ys (pronounced “ease”) by reputation of its lovely music and the ports of ports of ports (of ports) of Ys Books I & II we received in America a long while ago. I never played a game in the series before so I’m going into Ys Seven with eyes unclouded by expectations or nostalgia. It’s kind of an exciting way to play a game! I haven’t experienced something this fresh in a while, and so far it’s pretty good.

Used to Square Enix’s bombastic introductions in their RPGs, Ys Seven starts out humbly, with red-haired wanderer Adol and pal Dogi arriving at a sunny sea port. There’s no explanation or reasoning for who they are or what they’re doing. At that point the game lets me loose in the town to just explore.

And would you know it, it’s an RPG town that isn’t a pain to traverse. NPCs are helpful, foreshadow potential plot points, and offer you directions. It’s like they’re actually useful again! After beating the first boss they even had different things to say. The best thing about the town is the music. Well, the music in the whole game’s great, living up to the series standard with jaunty tunes for the summery town, rousing rock for that boss fight, and regal tones for the castle.

After a brief tutorial at the town’s castle I got to test out the game’s swift combat. It’s button-mashing but, thankfully, not that dumb. Adol and Dogi fight at the same time, with one in the player’s control and the other under the AI’s thumb. Both characters have different strengths, however, so it’s prudent to switch character control once in a while. For example, Dogi’s useful against enemies with shells so it would be good to control him when fighting turtle-y enemies. Enemies drop loot used for making new weapons and items so fighting turtle-y enemies is encouraged.

Fighting the first boss provided the game’s first real challenge. After losing twice I learned the pattern and fell into the rhythm of the battle system. Dodging, switching characters and using special attacks became second nature.

Ys Seven seems like a solid action-RPG. I’m very early in, but I can tell already this could be something special. I look forward to the rest of the game — look forward to my full review soon

Review: Wipeout The Game (Wii)

Christine Yi — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 04:44:35 +0000

If you’re a fan of the show, and you’ve always wanted to take on those “Big Balls” in real life, Activision lets you and up to 3 of your friends play as contestants in ABC’s Wipeout: The Game. The game’s Show Mode is modeled almost exactly after the TV show. After choosing your characters and difficulty level (easy, medium, difficult), each person takes turns to maneuver their way in 3 rounds of ridiculous obstacle courses before reaching the famous Wipeout Zone. The show’s commentators, John, John, and Jill, lend their voices to crack cheesy puns about you and your spills, drawing you into the TV game show experience.

The game requires the Wii-mote and nunchuck, and the controls are very simple (walk, jump, duck). The obstacles require mastery of timing, where even the obstacle’s slightest touch of your skin will send your character screaming and flailing around ridiculously, which is hilarious at first but gets pretty annoying after 10 seconds. The challenge is really being able to stand without falling off while your kind friends aim and throw tennis balls, medicine balls, and briefcases to knock you off balance during your turn. I personally watch the show for the slow-mo recaps of people painfully losing their dignity, and you get to relive those glorious moments in the slow-mo recaps of your own wipeout. If you aren’t successful by attempt 3, that’s a wipeout, and your friends take their turns. The fastest player to beat the course wins the game, although, no, you don’t get the grand prize of cash they promise you in the beginning. Disappointing, I know.

If losing to the computer in Show Mode as single player isn’t your thing, you can play as single player in the Challenge Mode to set records of best times on the obstacles. You can pick between Qualifier Rounds to do the outdoor daytime obstacles, or you can choose the Wipeout Zone to test yourself in the nighttime fire stage at the end of the show. As you progress through the obstacles, you can unlock all characters and up to 50 total obstacles. One thing you’ll miss in Challenge Mode is some background music or noise – there are no wiseass commentators to crack jokes and it gets pretty lonely without being bashed physically AND vocally.

Whether you’re familiar with the show or not, Wipeout the Game is a fun family game that offers laughs and challenges to kids and adults alike. Though the controls may be frustrating, the humor and multiplayer mode make up for it. Good news is you can satisfy your dream of taking on the TV show’s crazy obstacle courses without the real-life consequences of muddy water, injuries, and eternal shame.

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