Gamesugar

February 12, 2011

Review – Stacking

stacking review
Stacking is one of those games that could only exist in the current generation of consoles—a labor of love the digital market allows for that, six or seven years ago, would have never seen release. In the vein of LittleBigPlanet, it often feels more like someone’s cute arts and crafts project than it does a videogame, characterized by sharp art and a carefully designed gameworld—however, in this instance the art unfortunately overwhelms the game, leaving the experience ultimately unengaging.

The player controls Charlie Blackmore, the youngest child in a family of chimney sweepers. The game begins as Charlie’s brothers and sisters are drafted as child laborers to pay the family debts; Charlie, too small to be of any use in such endeavors, is left behind, and embarks on a journey to reclaim his lost family. The story is told through silent-film style interludes, and the design here is impressively genuine—though the animation in these films largely consists of dolls shaking (to indicate speech), which becomes tiresome as the game progresses.

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February 11, 2011

Review – Hard Corps: Uprising

hard corps uprising contra review
The jury may be out on whether an alias allows a rose to ditch its sickly scent, but I can confirm that Konami’s anime-styled breakaway from the Contra brand doesn’t sacrifice the bullet-points that have come to define the franchise. This uprising begins with heavy guitars and vibrant explosions to paint a scene of idealistic resistance against the forces of old and evil, with characters cut from a familiar cloth of eighties anime memories and mournful war-zones – but Contra’s principles of play are ever present, remixed once again to provide a war opera worthy of the twitching that stirs in fingers left unsatisfied by many modern releases.

The lush palette softens the traditionally gritty edges of Contra’s battlefield, but a merciless spirit wears the pop-shifted aesthetic, and veterans can rest assured that Hard Corps: Uprising is fucking metal.

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February 7, 2011

The Fifteen Dollar Man

Filed under: Editorial Rants — Tags: , , , , , , — Jamie Love @ 4:59 pm

bionic commando rearmed 2 review
Despite intending to spend a healthy slice of the weekend devouring Nathan “Rad” Spencer’s latest mission in Bionic Commando Rearmed 2, bite-sized doses became the norm, strongly encouraged by the volume of stages, which vary greatly in scale and often left me questioning whether I wanted to chew on another right away.

Granted it’s hard for any game to compete for my affection the same weekend that the Puppy Bowl airs.

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January 10, 2011

Ilo, Milo and Me

Filed under: Editorial Rants — Tags: , , , , , , , — Chris O'Neal @ 4:32 pm

ilomilo
I’ll be the first to admit my weakness for cute things.

If someone were to pick up a stuffed animal, have it ‘look’ at me and in a strange yet fitting voice for a small stuffed inanimate object say, “Hello, Chris!” I’d probably take it home then and there. I’m not ashamed, it’s who I am baby, which is why Ilomilo, from Swedish developer Southend Interactive has quickly found a special place in my heart.

Two friends meet daily for tea and maple cookies. Unfortunately, the path they take to each other is never constant, changing with the weather. Manipulating a cube-like world, we can control either Ilo or Milo on their quest to meet, chat and eat cookies and drink tea. It sounds simple, and in many ways is, but it’s also pure and irresistible sugar.

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January 6, 2011

Capcom at CES

Capcom CES 2011
Other late night CES news I didn’t notice while distracted features a release date for Capcom’s sequel to Bionic Commando Rearmed, which hits the PlayStation 3 on February 1, 2011 for $14.99 and the 360 a day later for 1200 MS Points.

Okamiden also gets some love with more art, video, and screens showing off another partner for Chibi, Kurow, along with a wind based mini-game as well as what appears to be a Chibiterasu jam session in the sky.

Okamiden is still set to hit the Nintendo DS on March 15, 2011.

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December 28, 2010

Case West Report – For A Few Zombies More

Dead Rising 2 Case West
Dead Rising 2’s Xbox exclusive duet, featuring the gruff talents of Chuck Greene and Frank West in a standalone epilogue to the events of Fortune City, is very much a fan driven affair. And while that earth shattering revelation sinks in and turns your world upside down, allow me a few more sentences to elaborate.

Whereas Case Zero functioned as a prequel, a release that lured players into the layered world of slapstick zombie slaying and reality TV characters that furnish the series, Case West services the expectation that the ride through Fortune City has made a fan of you, which if you have any interest in downloading this addition is a safe bet. But while Case West subsequently works to add to the experience of the retail release, the simplicity of playing to fan anticipation makes for a game that feels several shades lazy, or at the very least, far less interested in impressing the player.

A narrower path of narrative priority certainly contributes to that feeling, and the inability to play as Mr. West in single-player sessions is most certainly more likely to upset fans rather than please, and as the game unfolds it’s hard to ignore the idea that an assumption of fandom leads Capcom to believe that said fans will tolerate glaring shortcomings for another dose of Zombrex.

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December 20, 2010

Hydrophobia Pure

Filed under: News Feed — Tags: , , , , , , , — Jamie Love @ 9:00 am

Hydrophobia Pure
Dark Energy Digital’s episodic action title caused a sizable divide when it hit Xbox LIVE Arcade earlier this year, with plenty of outlets calling it broken while others called it inventive, and plenty more fell somewhere in-between the extremes.

I was anticipating some changes for the next installment, but today the studio announced an overhaul for the first episode based on critical and community feedback. Launching tomorrow, Hydrophobia Pure is a free update for those that already own the game, and a price reduced title for those that haven’t taken the plunge – the game will move from 1200 Microsoft points to 800.

The studio also released a developer diary showcasing changes made, which you can catch after the break – you can also catch a rather large list of retooled features at the official site here.

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