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Dragon's Crown Scheduled For 2013 Release

 In a press release received minutes ago from ATLUS, Dragon's Crown has been announced for the 2013 calendar year (even thought the website notes a 2012 release). The only details that we have so far is that it will be a 2-D co-op action RPG that will be released on the PS3 and Vita platforms. Feel free to check out the website yourself!

Click Here To View Dragon's Crown's Website


What do you think? Leave us some comments below!

Amazon Releases Information about new God of War Early

God of War Ascension, the newest game in the God of War series, has been outed by Amazon.com. This happened a full day before the game was announced by Sony according to their product description. Then it was taken off of the site...

Join Kratos as he seeks freedom, redemption, and the clarity to avenge his family in the most ambitious God of War adventure in the series so far

 So it seems like it's really not straying from the story much.  Lets see what the teaser trailer looks like, also posted on Amazon.com earlier tonight:

Well everything in the trailer points to a prequel of sorts, which makes sense as there really wasn't many gods left alive at the end of the trilogy's bloody warpath.  The voice does talk about his life BEFORE he was consumed by vengeance, so this game will most likely be about his servitude under Aries.  Of course, the game series has been known to surprise us before...

Anyway, look forward to the official release tomorrow! Who's excited for the new game?

Spirit Camera: Is that a ghost in your pocket?

HELLO THERE

     Spirit Camera: The Cursed Memoir just (appropriately) came out on Friday, the 13th on the 3DS. The "spiritual" successor to the Fatal Frame franchise, Spirit Camera reiterates on the original game's photography mechanic. The game takes advantage of the handheld's impressive 3D camera to create an augmented-reality horror experience.
      Tecmo Koei's newest release looks to attempt to bring the horror off your TV and into the world around you. The game utilizes the 3DS's camera to project enemies and other ghostly threats directly in your environment in an attempt to fully immerse the player in your own personal nightmare world! Wonderful!

Does anyone know how to remove urine from electronics?

     In all seriousness, the 3DS seems to be designed for a game like this. Early in the DS's life cycle, a lot of games were just ports with a gimmicky touch screen support, but in the later years developers began to take full advantage of the system's strength to create some awesome experiences. Tecmo Koei seems to be ahead of the curve here, in that they designed a game around the hardware instead of trying to shoehorn in a lazy port. This game definitely intrigues me, and I hope that more developers take this route in designing games for handhelds.

Teaser Video of the Upcoming SSX DLC

EA has released a teaser video of the new SSX DLC for including Mt. Eddie and classic characters. Enjoy what the snow shredding action for yourself!

You will be able to purchase Mt. Eddie and the classic characters as a bundle for $7.99

Throwback Review: God of War III

Covered in the white ashes of his slaughtered family, Kratos is back for his forth blood bath in God of War III. The 4 part saga is coming to an epic close, but is this epic worth the price of admission? Santa Monica Studios sure hopes so. The stakes have been raised, but is it to the height of the expectations that have surrounded God of War 3 for the past 3 years? You may just have to follow Kratos up Mount Olympus to find out.

Presentation:

The boost in presentation will be the most significant change that is noticed in the new God of War III. The presentation is nothing short of gripping. Within the first fifteen minutes of game play you get a sense of what type of scale this battle is waged on. As you make your assent up Mount Olympus everything carries its weight well. The climb is grueling. Gyia provides an interesting vessel as you make your way around her rocky exterior to fight off numerous combatants. Where God of War 3 really sets the tone is with the first god that you face. Epic only begins to explain the size and type of this battle. This feeling is not only consistent throughout the game, but only grows the deeper into the playing experience you get.

Graphics/SFX:

While there was some worry that God of War III would only be playable in 720p I am happy to say that statement is not true. The game can be viewed on a glorious 1080i scale. That is truly where the beauty of this game lies. It was stated that God of War III only used 50% of the PS3’s power, and I can say without question that this is graphically the most beautiful game I have seen. Kratos has never looked more defined, every detail has been looked over with a fine comb to make sure that the player feels deeply entrenched with the character. The set pieces are also beautiful, but during some of the transitional phases from one set piece to the next I felt like I was looking at subpar texturing to the point I was having PS2 flashbacks.

The Sound FX in God of War III are spot on. The cracking of bones, ripping of flesh, and scream of burning victims is nothing short of authentic. The FX accompanied by the orchestral backdrops during large scale battle makes you feel like you are in the center of a large budget motion picture. The voice acting is over the top, which in this genre can be expected.   

Gameplay:

As much of a cliché the line, “if it’s not broke don’t fix it” is, there is really no other way to describe it. Instead of looking to take other routes with the fighting system or completely trying to overhaul it Santa Monica Studios took what they had and shaped it to be an even smoother fighting/action experience. Now different magic is linked to the different weapons, making for a more fluid transition between using the two. A gripe I have is the difference in the weapons. The core weapons come off as being almost identical to the “Blades of Exile”. They have very little aesthetic difference and play very similar to one another. The most notable difference of course is the Cestus (two lion heads). A nice thing about the weapons is the ability to change them “on the fly”. In the midst of battle you can change from on blade to the next seamlessly, creating a symphony of blood in which you are the conductor.

Kratos also has learned a few new tricks. The addition of being able to pick up an enemy and barrel through dozens of others is a gimmick that does not grow old. This linked with the multiple ways to mutilate a body will leave you giddy with joy on how you will take apart your next victim. The QTE, (Quick Time Events) are still a large stable in God of War III. This time they have been taken to a new level and made a bit too easy for my liking. Instead of the buttons showing up near the action on the screen, they show up in the areas of the screen where the button is located on the controller (Square appears on the left side, circle on the right, ect.) making it rather easy for anyone who is even slightly familiar with a Playstation 3 controller to pull off these incredible feats. Overall you are getting what you expect and a little extra from the game play in God of War III.

Value:

The Value is, and always has been the story campaign. Making your way through the tragedy that is typical of Greek plays is what’s to be expected. This is a story about loss, pain, suffering, and revenge, all through the eyes of a man who became a god, and now again reduced to mortality. If you can’t appreciate the direction that this franchise is taking then I question why you picked up the second one of the series. The story telling is not as crisp at times with God of War III, but it doesn’t ever fall to the point of not being comprehendible. Don’t be surprised if the ending leaves you wanting more.

VERDICT

In Closing…

I didn’t want to like this game as much as I did. I constantly asked myself, “How in the world could this game live up to the hype?” My questions were answered no sooner than fifteen minutes into the game. The rest of the journey became more enjoyable as I progressed and I strongly recommend God of War III for your Playstation 3 collection. Giving depth to a “button masher” is difficult, but Santa Monica Studios has prevailed.

Throwback Review: Saints Row the Third

Sandbox games are a mixed bag for me.  The freedom in the actions that you have to choose from is fresh and exhilarating, but the missions that further the story and open up more options are a little too boring, blah and formulaic.  There was never really any reason for me to trudge through the story.  Grand Theft Auto is a perfect example of this.

An average playthrough of GTAIV consists of getting into pointless scuffles with the police, wasting ammo, almost dying, then finally getting to a destination where the missions are just... ok... and then starting it all over again.

Granted, I could mix it up by "going to see some teeeeeeeeties" with my cuuuuzzin, play darts, bowl, or even watch some television... but after that, I have to get to the story to open up more options.

Saints Row III showed me just how crazy that formula could be shaken up.  Watching ads for previous installments, I always thought that the games were a little more focused on gangbangers.  I'm really not interested in working the 'thug life'.  You can do that again in Saints Row III, or...

you can just turn the game upside down and have an absolute blast!


The Story:
The Third Streets Saints are looking to expand.  Deciding to take over the city of Steelport, however, was a poor business choice. The local gang, the Syndicate, doesnt appreciate the competition, and does a pretty good job of removing you as one.  Its now your job to build up your empire from the beginning all over again. Simple premise that won't win any awards, but it does it's sandbox job.  See, building up your empire is pretty much entirely up in the air.  Do you want to steal a penthouse from one of your rivals?  Thats great, lets parachute into their rooftop pool.  Now you have a base of operations.  The set up allows the creators to be a crazy as they want.
This completely removes the monotony of the genre and all the problems that I ran into with similar games!
One of the early missions has you tearing through a sex-slave house, freeing hookers and trying to help a pimp named Zimos out of captivity as a... how do I put this delicately... pony cart worker that will... entertain you for "eighty an hour".  This is a main story mission and one of the most tame in the game.  They become more ridiculous as you go on.  These are the missions that I was more than happy to play through to get to the rest of what SR III has to offer.


What else can you do exactly?

Well, you can just drive between missions a la GTAIV, you can fly a hoverjet, or you can hijack a moped and pimp it out (my particular favorite ride was an ATV with green under-glow and spikes that popped out of the tires).  There are 500 stunt jumps hidden throughout the city, I saved up enough money to make my gang all wear hot dog costumes, threw 'fart in a jar' grenades to make my opponents puke, and then finished them off by beating them up with a giant dildo.


All of this, plus much more is way more satisfying to discover as you drive around the city of Steelport.
Side missions have their own flair to it as well, where you are slowly trying to take over the city by accomplishing tasks.  Maybe you will commit insurance fraud by throwing yourself repeatedly in traffic.  Sometimes you will take part in Professor Genki's Super Ethical Reality Climax, a murderous game show where you make 'ethical kills'.  All activities give your gang clout, and more importantly, money.

The customization doesn't end with your gang and your rides.  Your character can basically be whatever you want it to be.  I ran through my first play through as zombie Hitler.  Yup.  With green scarred skin, blue eyes, and even a zombie voice to accompany it.  There are chrome skins available, hooker outfits, mascot faces, even a giant toilet form if you wish.


So the answer to that question earlier really is: anything you want.  You can do anything.

So what could possibly be bad about a game such as this?

Once you get to fly one of these babies, you will never need
another car.  Ever.

If you are savvy about what to buy in what order, say, saving pennies until you can buy the highest earning properties first, and then whittling down the rest of Steelport with your vast riches, you can easily earn a hefty sum of money.  With this money, you can buy upgrades to your character, eventually enabling it to withstand any damage at all.  The game almost breaks itself with its 'do what you want to' attitude.  This may be late in the game, but knowing that you will become so powerful the game becomes less fun.
The difficulty curve is a bit extreme as well.  The game starts out OK with the first mission, making sure you are well equipped and ready, but when you are taken down a peg, the difficulty spikes.  You really do feel like you've lost everything, and it takes a few missions to get back on your feet. This all goes away though, once you do.

This game is immensely fun. The characters, story, and game play provide such a unique blend. After sinking hours into it, I can honestly say it's an experience that I've never had with any other game. I can't recommend Saints Row the Third more. This is definitely a buy and one that just can't be passed up.