Saw this earlier on Destructoid - an unconfirmed but fairly believable character list from the upcoming "Marvel vs. Capcom 3." I was a huge fan of MvC2 and I can remember spending many nights playing it on PS2 or Dreamcast in my younger days. Though the (rumored) character list isn't quite as extensive as MvC2, the slick 3D graphics and new additions to the roster (like Super Skrull or Chris Redfield) definitely make up for a smaller selection of combatants.
Marvel
Spider-Man, Hulk, Wolverine, Mr. Fantastic, Captain America, Iron Man, War Machine, Elektra, Thor, X-23, Magneto, Dr. Doom, Shuma-Gorath, Emma Frost, Deadpool, Super Skrull, Taskmaster, Juggernaut, She Hulk
Capcom
Ryu, Mike Haggar, Frank West, Nathan Spencer,, Dante, Chris Redfield, Morrigan, Arthur, Amaterasu, Albert Wesker, Zero, Chun-li, Viewtiful Joe, Trish, Tron Bonne, Hsien-Ko, Akuma, Felicia.
It's been a long time since I posted last and I only have Limbo to blame and Alan Wake to blame. The first DLC pack for Alan Wake was released earlier this week and I just started wading into it this morning. If you bought the game new, you got a code for a free download of this DLC pack (titled "The Signal") but if you redeemed the code before it was actually released (like me and probably most other people) the code was voided. Luckily, Xbox Live has sent out codes to the email addresses attached to the Gamertags that redeemed their code too early. And you definitely want to check out "The Signal." If you were one of the gamers who thought Wake's story wasn't creepy enough or not hard enough, "The Signal" is hopefully a sign of things to come in terms of where this story takes Alan Wake next.
I’m not sure who it was that coined the term “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery,” but perhaps no one has embraced the term better in the video game industry better than Raven Software, makers of “Singularity.” Imitation is an important word to remember in terms of Singularity. While the game doesn’t necessarily introduce any new ideas to the first person shooter genre, it borrows ideas from a number of other successful shooters and puts them together in such a way that it becomes just as fun as the games it imitates.
Singularity is set on the island of Katorga-12, 1950s Cold War Russia discover a powerful new element dubbed E99. This element is as powerful as it is unstable and eventually a catastrophe, caused by an accelerated testing process, forces the entire island to be evacuated and abandoned. Fast forward to present day. While in orbit, an American satellite picks up a massive radiation spike from a seemingly empty spot on the map in Russian territory and sends the player in with a team of specialists to investigate. As you could probably guess, before your helicopter even touches down things go awry, separating you from your team and leaving you alone to discover the mysteries surrounding Katorga-12.
Though you can pick from any number of FPSes and draw comparisons between them and Singularity, its biggest inspiration is BioShock. Both games find a lone protagonist exploring a previously unknown location, using incredible powers to fend off strange monsters where all is not as it seems. Singularity, however, ups the ante by introducing time-shifting events that constantly seem to be changing the direction of the story and keeping the player wondering about just who he can trust.
The beginning of the game, before you get your hands on the Time-Manipulation Device (or TMD), is admittedly pretty boring. It serves its purpose, though, by introducing players to the dreary, run-down island of Katorga-12 and its equally strange inhabitants. Once you find the TMD, in an oddly functioning laboratory deep below the surface, Singularity really begins to shine. Apparently, E99 has some pretty strange effects on the time-space continuum and the island is constantly shifting between the 1950s and present day. The TMD is capable of time-shifting objects and enemies as well as being able to slow down time, pick up and throw objects and create a concussive blast that replaces your melee attack. The TMD is also used to repair destroyed objects in the environment. Whether its reconstructing a crumbled set of stairs or making an ammo box available to you, the TMD is useful outside of combat as well. Without burdening the player with a menu to select the device’s various functions, Singularity incorporates each function into different buttons on the controller. It’s a good thing the TMD is fun to use and easily incorporated into combat because the selection of traditional weapons is standard FPS fare at best.
While the weapon selection may be a bit lacking in variety, the enemies you’ll find on Katorga-12 are anything but. Though plenty of sections will find you battling against soldiers, most encounters will be against E99 mutated beasts of all shapes and sizes. Not only are they hideous to look at but, with the infusion of E99, incredibly deadly. Many monsters use the time-fluctuating properties of E99 to their advantage, phasing in and out of view and attacking in groups.
Speaking of the monsters, the multiplayer of Singularity actually highlights them. Taking a page from Left 4 Dead, Singularity pits soldiers against the island’s horrors for some interspecies deathmatches. Though it isn’t as fun as Left 4 Dead (not much is), it is an interesting twist on what could’ve been a standard, after-thought of a multiplayer mode.
While I am enjoying Singularity and it definitely feels like it’s being overlooked by pretty much everyone (did you see any ads for it anywhere? I didn’t), it’s nothing you haven’t played before. Though it takes and makes use of excellent mechanics from other top tier games, it doesn’t do anything particularly new enough to step out of the shadows of the games it emulates. I’d suggest waiting for it to drop in price or renting it for a weekend before unlocking the secrets of Katorga-12.
Limbo is out today. I played it very briefly this morning before coming into the office and it’s everything I was hoping – creepy, atmospheric, unsettling, and very cool. I’ll be putting up a full review of it later but everyone really should check it out.
Just like Kenny in SouthPark, the Carmine family in the Gears of War series has a habit of passing before their time. Anthony Carmine in Gears 1 and Benjamin Carmine in Gears 2 both met untimely deaths and the same will most likely be true for Gears 3’s Clayton Carmine – but does it have to be? In an interesting marketing scheme, Gears developer Epic Games will be letting the fans decide this Carmine’s fate. By purchasing either a “Save Carmine” or “Carmine must die” Avatar t-shirt from the Xbox Live Marketplace, fans will be casting their vote for what happens to Clayton. Similar t-shirts will also be on sale at the upcoming Comic-Con event at the NECA booth. You can feel good in participating in this t-shirt selling scheme by knowing that all the proceeds will go to the online comic strip Penny Arcade’s charity Child’s Play. (http://www.childsplaycharity.org) Child’s Play is a charity that works with over 60 hospitals around the world to provide toys and games for children since 2003. Joystiq is hosting their own poll to see if their readers would kill off or save Carmine and, in a somewhat surprising turn of events (at the time I voted, which was for saving the big oaf cause I like to think of myself as a badass with a heart of gold) 490 (63%) had voted for saving him as well.
While hearing about my own personal chance to save a virtual life was a pretty interesting piece of news, another story I read just minutes later blew my mind. Rush is a pretty popular band – one of the most popular bands among nerds and white people [citation needed]. Being a nerd and also being white, I’d say I’m a fan of Rush, though I do feel embarrassed even admitting it. That being said, I’m fairly undecided about how to feel about this next bit of news – Activision will be including Rush’s 20-minute epic “2112” into its upcoming rhythm game Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock. If you’ve ever read anything I’ve written about rhythm games, you know I prefer Rock Band over the GH series any day and even Warriors of Rock’s more metal/hard rock influenced setlist can’t sway me. The inclusion of 2112 is a pretty gutsy move by Activision any way you look at it – on one hand it’s a pretty killer song to listen to and on the other it would be a killer to actually try and play (especially on drums or vocals). I get pretty bored playing songs that are 7 or 8 minutes long – I can’t see how playing one song for more than double that would be fun.
Check back soon – I swear my reviews for Singularity and Alan Wake will be up at some point.
The “Deadliest Warrior” Arcade game is not fun plus some other stuff
Are you a fan of TNA Wrestling, MANswers and slicing up pig carcasses? If so, you’ve probably already seen “Deadliest Warrior” on Spike TV. For everyone who isn’t a teenage boy, Deadliest Warrior is a show where scientists and biomedical engineers (I swear that’s one guy’s title) team up with some computer nerds to test the weapons of two groups of historical warriors or soldiers on dummies, ballistics gel and pig carcasses. They take the results of the testing and put them into some sort of computer simulation that decides who would win in a fight. I’ll admit, it’s a fairly interesting concept but its production, like basically anything else on Spike, is pretty cheesy. However, when I heard about a game being made out of the show, it caught my attention.
From everything I heard about the game, it sounded like it would be a fighting game more along the lines of Bushido Blade than a fighter like Street Fighter or Tekken – meaning fights would be more tactical and could end with one well placed blow rather than a typical fighting game where spamming the same move is an effective tactic. After putting in a little time with the trial of Deadliest Warrior (the full game is 800 points), facing off as either a Ninja or Spartan (the full game will also include combatants like the Knight, Apache, and Pirate), I feel safe in saying that comparisons to Bushido Blade are more than generous, bordering on just plain false.
First off, the fighting itself just isn’t tight at all. Moving, attacking, dodging, blocking and attempting to parry are all hindered by a slow combat system that seemingly rewards players who mash attack buttons. There’s no switching stances here – high, mid, low and ranged attacks are all handled by the four face buttons. Dodging feels slow and will often leave you open to attack and parrying is near impossible. For some reason, it’s even possible to turn away from your opponent and you need to physically point your fighter back toward your enemy for your attacks to land. It would be different if the levels were larger but they’re about the same size as a standard level in Virtua Fighter or Soul Calibur and I’m sorry but I shouldn’t have to make it a point to face my enemy in a fighting game – it should just sorta happen.
I’ll give it a little bit more of a chance later on (since it just came out today) and if I change my mind I’ll post it here but I’m not anticipating that happening. Luckily (even though I’m still playing Blacklight: Tango Down [which I just read is getting a sequel]) K-Mart, of all places, has my gaming needs covered. All this week, until the 17th, K-Mart is selling a number of games for a very reasonable $34.99. I picked up a copy of Alan Wake and Singularity for what amounts to be half price each, and Kmart is also selling Call of Duty: War Collection (and I’ll be honest, I don’t know that collection contains) for the Xbox 360, Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker for the PSP for $19.99, PSP-3000 Core Packs for $150, as well as if you purchase Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies for the DS, you’ll get a $10 gift card and half off select DS titles. Pretty sweet deals, if you ask me. I honestly don’t know why I took so long to finally get around to playing Alan Wake but I’ve heard great things about it and since Silent Hill seems to be trying to avoid the 360 with all its might, Alan Wake is thankfully picking up the survival-horror slack. I’ve also heard good things about Singularity, which I was very surprised to see at $35 considering it came out on June 29th. Though its plot is fairly generic (some crazy stuff goes down at a secret military base) and it borrows elements from other, bigger-name shooters, its use of time manipulation, slick action and cool multiplayer elements (you get to play as soldiers vs. the game’s monsters, ala Left 4 Dead’s Versus) made it a hard game to pass up at its price.
Lastly, I’m sure most everyone who’s into movies with aging badasses, explosions, gun fights, car chases and explosions has heard about The Expendables. The basic premise is that Sly Stallone wrote a movie, starring himself obviously, that also stars every other muscle-bound action star that’s ever hunted down terrorists, been in war flicks or even look like they have. (You’re as hilarious as you are ripped, Terry Crews, but you’re not the first guy I think of when it comes to action movies. Everybody Hates Chris and Are We There Yet? probably have something to do with it.) The reason I bring up what’s bound to be one of the most manliest movies ever is that on its Facebook fan page, there’s now a Contra-esque, 8-bit styled sidescrolling action game based on The Expendables. All you need to do is Like the fan page and you’ll have access to what’s no doubt going to be a productivity killer (just kidding any one of my bosses who may be reading this!).
Gotta go now, though. I’ve been sitting here with two brand new games staring me in the face all day and I don’t think I can stand it any longer. Be on the lookout for my reviews of both Singularity and Alan Wake and while you’re on Facebook, liking The Expendables, make sure you visit and become a fan of the Delco News Network.
First-person shooters are, according to some guesstimating I just did, one of the most popular video game genres in America. We have the Call of Duty series, Battlefield, Medal of Honor, not to mention Left 4 Dead and a little game called Halo – and those are just off the top of my head. On top of that – according to some more guesstimating – most people will spend a majority of time playing the multiplayer components of those games over the single play. But that’s America for you – we love shooting stuff just as much as we love competition.
Zombie’s latest release for the PC, PS3 and Xbox 360, Blacklight: Tango Down, is an FPS set in the near-future of a former Soviet republic. Being an arcade game, Blacklight is primarily a multiplayer game akin to Battlefield: 1943. Gamers take sides in a conflict between Blacklight and The Order, though the specifics of the conflict are eschewed in favor of smooth, incredibly fun gameplay. Gamers can compete online in games of up to 8-on-8 in several mainstay modes such as Team Deathmatch, Domination, and Last Man Standing. There is also a mode titled Black Ops which can be played solo or co-op with up to 3 others to take on the computer and earn XP. Leveling up your character and unlocking new equipment, guns and customization is the main drive behind multiplayer.
Though you only start off with a standard assault rifle, SMG and sniper rifle, you’ll eventually open up shotguns as well as LMGs. As you level up, new customization options including muzzles, stocks, magazines and camo for your weapons become available, allowing you to customize your loadout beyond just what type of guns you want to use. Various type of pistols are also available as sidearms as well as the standard frag grenade and a unique digi-grenade. The digi-grenade is used similarly to a smoke grenade in that obscures your vision as well as interfering with your enemy’s HUD. One of the most interesting aspects of the HUD in Blacklight is the Hyper Reality Visor. With the HRV, you’ll be able to see the position of all enemies, teammates as well as health and ammo crates. You can’t shoot when using the HRV and it must recharge for a short time after every use but it is invaluable when tracking enemy movements, especially when playing on a team.
I had been hearing about this game for a while now and was pretty anxious to finally get my hands on it. The summer games drought is in full effect right now and the only thing tiding me over until the fall has been arcade games, most recently Risk: Factions (which I didn’t write a review for because, regardless of the objective based mode, Risk is still Risk [and its awesome and you should buy it]). Though it’s not as polished as bigger budget titles, Blacklight manages to deliver all the fun and action of said titles. The grayish-black color palate really helps drive home the dystopian near-future feel of the setting. Each of the 12 maps are smallish but offer plenty of diversity in terms of routes to take through them and cover opportunities. And you’ll need plenty of cover too since Blacklight is not a run-and-gun kind of shooter, as one of the loading screens informs you “The best armor is to stay out of gunshot.”
At just 700 megs and $15, Blacklight: Tango Down is a great Arcade game for any FPS fan who is waiting for the next big budget release (I’m waiting on Dead Rising 2, personally) or for those who have grown tired of their preferred FPS. It doesn’t have the destructible environments or vehicles of Battlefield: 1943 but it makes up with deep gun customization, cooperative play, and well designed, instantly memorable maps that will keep any FPS satisfied for a long time to come.
Sorry for the lack of updates lately – didn’t I mention that I was going to be on vacation for the past week or so? I know…I didn’t – my bad. But one good thing (depending on how you look at it) that came out of being away from the blog was that being on the boardwalk gave me the idea for this post.
I’ve been playing video games since I got an NES all the way back in the 80s. Many days and dollars of my childhood were spent buying and renting games but were also spent amongst the rows of cabinets and machines of arcades.
Some of my most enduring memories of vacations to the shore are of all the different arcades on the OceanCity boardwalk or of the year I finally convinced my mom I was old enough to walk all the way down to Jilly’s by myself. After my dad and I finished our usual game of mini-golf at the course next to Wonderland, we always followed it up with a trip to the arcade next door. There was even that one year that a virtual reality place popped up on the boardwalk (it was either gone next year or in some ridiculously out of the way shop). Though this years’ family trip was as relaxing and fun as always, being on the boardwalk reminded me of just how painfully far arcades have fallen.
As much as I enjoy my Xbox 360, the biggest culprit in the downfall of the arcade scene is without-a-doubt the home console market. Once console technology caught up with and surpassed what bigger, bulkier arcade cabinets could do, gamers collectively decided that staying home and playing games was a much simpler option than actually having to go outside.
I can’t remember the last time I saw an arcade somewhere besides the OceanCity boardwalk and, after this year, it seems like it won’t be long before they’re all but gone from there as well. One of the older arcades on the boardwalk (remembered by my mom for having a small, rideable train out front) was gone and turned into a t-shirt shop. Another arcade called “The Zoo” had disappeared (most likely replaced by a t-shirt shop, if I could only remember for sure what block it was on) which I remembered because it had a bunch of pool tables in the back. Yet another arcade which had some of the more unique cabinets on the boardwalk (seriously guys, they had a Super Off-Road cabinet) was also, most likely, turned into a t-shirt shop.
Even the arcades that hadn’t been turned into t-shirt shops were shells of their former selves. The arcade me and my dad used to frequent after mini-golf? Nothing but racing game cabinets and shooters like House of the Dead or Time Crisis. Even Jilly’s looked like the decline of the arcade industry had finally taken its toll. The newest cabinet they had was either some random DDR incarnation, a newish Time Crisis game or a Guitar Hero cabinet (I hope the irony of a GH cabinet being in an arcade isn’t lost on anyone). At least there was still pinball and skee ball. In fact, the majority of the time I spent in Jilly’s was playing the various pinball machines that inhabited the rear of the arcade.
Perhaps I’m just getting old (I feel old as I write what’s basically a “I remember back when…” piece like this) but I almost feel bad for the younger generations of gamers who will never even step foot in an arcade, let alone know the feeling of awe and excitement that came with a trip to one as a kid. Aside from offering a seemingly endless supply of interesting and unique games, arcades also offered gamers something that many needed more than a pocket full of quarters – social interaction. Arcades offered gamers the chance to socialize with others who shared the same interests. You could say Xbox Live offers gamers the same chance at interaction but finding civilized, normal people to play with by chance on Xbox Live is like trying to find…well…I can’t even complete the analogy because nothing is more difficult than trying to find non foul-mouthed punks who will totally own you at Modern Warfare 2 on Xbox Live.
They say that death is a natural part of life and that all good things come to an end. Arcades have been on their way out since home consoles rivaled the power of cabinets, but it’s still tough to see an entire industry that I so closely associated with my childhood looking so utterly pathetic and beaten. If arcades can’t make money on the O.C. boardwalk, where would they? I’m not saying they should all close up shop and stop fooling themselves, but I think seeing how sad most-to-all arcades look these days makes me feel that I’d rather never see another one again than see ones I loved so much looking so sad.
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