Gamesugar

June 26, 2010

Review – Alpha Protocol

Filed under: Reviews — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , — Brad Johnson @ 9:04 am


With Alpha Protocol, Obsidian Entertainment has opted to take a break from their usual routine of producing sequels to established high-profile franchises in the hopes of establishing a lucrative IP all their own. Despite drawing quick comparisons to Bioware’s Mass Effect, Alpha Protocol is clearly it’s own game, though this is as often to its detriment as it is to its credit.

You control Michael Thorton, agent of the eponymous Alpha Protocol, who quickly becomes embroiled in an international mystery that’s equal parts deep and deeply confusing. You’ll be required to employ stealth and brute force to complete your missions, while, more uniquely, using your wit to navigate the conspiracy in which you’re entwined. The game offers a number of intriguing innovations designed to immerse players in the espionage experience, and many of these are admirable attempts—but a critical lack of development and numerous design flaws leave the experience awkward and unsatisfying.

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June 23, 2010

Sonic’s 19th Anniversary

Filed under: News Feed — Tags: , , , , — Jamie Love @ 12:54 pm

Sonic the Hedgehog
In the pursuit of finding more reasons to eat cake around here, it seems worth mentioning that Sonic the Hedgehog’s birthday is here, the original game releasing June 23, 1991. Incidentally I believe the Japanese release was June 26, which is worth mentioning even more because it means overseas Sonic has the same birthday as yours truly.

In honor of the occasion, and probably because there’s plenty of Sonic coming our way this year, Sega has a contest on the go for fans, which gives two very lucky winners a chance to head to Tokyo to visit Sega Japan and the Sonic development team.

For the next two weeks Sega is putting the call out for fan videos filled with Sonic love – though you should probably pay the official site a visit so you don’t misinterpret how I phrased that and film something regrettable.

June 19, 2010

E3 Impressions – Vanquish

Filed under: Editorial Rants — Tags: , , , , — Aileen Viray @ 9:22 am

Vanquish
Vanquish is the new title from Platinum Games that SEGA is publishing on Xbox 360 and PS3 in October 2010. Producer Atsushi Inaba, who used to head Clover Studio (Viewtiful Joe, Okami, God Hand, etc.), co-founded Platinum Games where he has since worked on Bayonetta, Infinite Space, and MadWorld with Resident Evil creator Shinji Mikami.

At the show I was lucky enough to be in a closed-door setting where Inaba demoed his new 3rd-person shooter for Gamesugar.

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June 18, 2010

E3 Video Bits – Conduit 2

Filed under: Features — Tags: , , , — Jamie Love @ 11:22 am

Conduit 2
In addition to what Sega was showing at their booth, Aileen had a chance to attend a few closed door sessions, including High Voltage Software’s Conduit 2.

The sequel to the Wii shooter didn’t receive the same highlighting the first game did at Nintendo’s Press Conference last year, but HVS has plenty to say about how they approached this newest entry in the series based on the reception to the original, and how several new additions to the game make them confident that the title can satisfy gamers looking for a solid FPS on the Wii.

High Voltage was even accommodating enough to let Aileen record the session, so you can catch an early work-in-progress demo for the single-player portion of the title with Producer Joshua Olson, after the break.

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June 10, 2010

Your Overdue Dreamcast Revival Confirmed

Filed under: News Feed — Tags: , , , — Jamie Love @ 12:24 pm

Dreamcast
Sega has just made the long running rumors and speculation official, the many gems of the Dreamcast library, that little wonder box that made all real gamers believe, are getting revived and coming to both XBLA and PSN this year. It may not surprise you that Sega is starting with Sonic Adventure and Crazy Taxi this Fall, both of which will be on the floor at E3 next week.

Sega says that the releases preserve the Dreamcast originals, while featuring enhanced visuals and surround sound as well as leader boards and Trophy / Achievement integration.

All of this pleases me even if the first two choices feel anti-climatic.

Dear Sega, make with the Jet Grind Radio and Space Channel 5 immediately – and maybe my list of a dozen Japanese imports while you’re at it.

April 27, 2010

Review – After Burner Climax

Filed under: Reviews — Tags: , , , , , — Jamie Love @ 2:13 pm

After Burner Climax
After Burner Climax has finally made the migration from the arcade to the consoles, serving up visuals in shiny HD that make me use silly two-string words like “retina-melting,” along with twitch reflex action that couples some nostalgic memories of the series with a new trick that really makes the game less of the trip down memory lane you might expect, and much more of a 21st century arcade love song.

The view from the cockpit is a mix of familiar Top Gun styled vistas and arcade fantasy that leaves players buzzing by volcanic islands, city skylines, and through mountainous pathways – all of it at speeds that seem ludicrous at first sight.

On my first run through I felt a bit like a high school lover again, wondering how I’d burnt out so quickly after all the pent up anticipation.

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April 22, 2010

Review – Sakura Wars: So Long, My Love

Filed under: Reviews — Tags: , , , , , , , , , — Jamie Love @ 9:05 pm

Sakura Wars
Within an alternate and slightly steampunk infused depiction of 1920’s New York City, the Little Lips Theater serves as a cover for an elite force of agents known as the STAR Division, who use mech suits to battle evil while also performing in musical dramas to raise the spirits of the city they defend – rounded out with a Samurai and a Cowgirl searching to find their place within the city and that group of heroes.

I’ve really come to savor telling people about this game over the past few weeks, because they can’t help but laugh and scratch their head over how a structured game would even begin to make unifying sense of those ideas with any degree of success. Sakura Wars: So Long, My Love is a game exploding with ideas, a late to the party visitor from Japan that has curiously shown up on North American shores exactly when titles of this kind are needed most – hard pressed as we’ve been for new releases that don’t wear their glib intention entirely in the straight-to-the-point box title making them 90% marketing, 9% entertainment, and 1% any of the fanciful things we’d like to say about the medium’s artful possibilities, were we not generally sick of kicking that dead horse.

Sakura Wars opts for putting the horse in an apartment, and brings an energy that succeeds in blazing a path free of any genre binding obligations or easy explanations – great for gamers, bad for indexing.

And in a rare twist Sakura Wars isn’t one of those games where I laud the ideas and forgive the actual playing of the game. I don’t need to make any excuses for a game that’s every bit as fun to play as it is to talk about, I just have to try and clear up what the hell is going on when playing it.

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