Enjoy gravitational fluctuations from the comfort of your home planet.

There’s not a great deal that you might think could be done with the third-person cover shooter that hasn’t been done already, but Saber Interactive are determined to prove otherwise with Inversion, a game that’s all about smashing physics in the teeth with a high energy blast.

Invited to a preview of the game, which has been in development for a bit longer than around the two year mark Saber Interactive was aiming for, we were able to lay hands on the first couple of hours of the single player experience. If that brief exposure was anything to go by, it’s safe to say that the extra time they’ve spent ironing out whatever issues they encountered in the development process was worth it.

Rest assured there are no spoilers ahead.

The Campaign

Inversion‘s campaign starts off with a grim scenario overlaid with narration from our man of the moment, street cop David Russel, whose entire world has gone to hell.

The peaceful (and fictional) stand-in for the major American city of your choice has been conquered and torn apart by an unknown enemy, an army who appear to be able to manipulate the forces of gravity in a way that our good friend Sir Isaac Newton would have been dead chuffed to try to understand.

Things skip back a few weeks to a point just before the invasion began and we’re introduced to David Russel’s partner, Leo Delgado. The action gets a swift boost into overdrive with civilian panic, violence, and general anarchy as a bunch of nasty steroid-pumping freaks with a penchant for ugly bayonet work show up.

It’s impossible not to think of the backdrop for Gears of War when we play through the introduction, not just because of the story but the style of gameplay too. Rampaging through a horde of bastards was always fun and Inversion has got that particular formula spot on, so there’s little incentive to complain. There’s a similar emphasis on teamwork as well, with Delgado and Russel pausing to help each other out at obstacles, and allowing cooperative play is another good move on the part of Saber Interactive.

“So what?” a more demanding gamer might say at this point.

Well, sir, the gunplay is only the half of it. Later on we get our grubby mitts on some of the enemy’s tech, the ‘Gravlink’, a versatile tool that can both increase and nullify the gravitational forces within a certain radius. What does this mean? Basically that you can lift stuff up and smash it down with equal amounts of force.

The Gravlink is extremely useful in opening up pathways and dealing with enemies who are just too damned attached to their slabs of concrete. Send a surge of energy in their direction and you can pluck them out of cover and punish their cowardly tactics with a steel drum to the face.

Things get more interesting still when we run across an area in which gravity’s taken a holiday of its own accord and giant pieces of street are scattered across thin air like slow-motion confetti. At these junctures the combat takes on a floating quality of its own as we’re forced to press our cover shooting tactics into a more freeform battlefield. Enemies are taken out, then Russel and Delgado have to pull themselves over the airborne landscape to pass through the area.

The experience of Inversion‘s single player, though clearly inspired from other successful games, made a big enough impression to justify itself as unique.

The Multiplayer

The last time we saw Inversion‘s multiplayer things were looking a bit unstable, but most of the issues have since been rectified and nine players were able to go up against each other in a few team-based and lone wolf games.

We’ll cut to the chase here and say that a lot of the flavours Inversion brings to the player-versus-player table impressed us.

There’s a number of things that hardcore gamers will latch onto if Inversion presents its case well enough at release. A selection of strategic treats, mutating well-known concepts like flag capturing and ‘king of the hill’ into beasts that belong to Inversion alone. Some of the maps are so outrageously ambitious that we’re slightly worried about whether or not they’ll run as fluidly as the smaller-scale environments, but if they do then Sabre Interactive will have put a strong contender on the third-person shooter market.

Rather than do the sensible thing and dumb down the use of gravity-based physics in multiplayer, they’ve emphasised its importance through several game modes.

‘Hourglass’ is a twist on map domination game types, with each team attempting to capture and hold onto a central point. Once the point is captured, the gravity flips to one side or the other where the defending team has a tactical advantage.

“King of Gravity” is a free-for-all variant, dangling the unmitigated power of a single Gravlink device for anyone to grab and then use to kill enemies. Once this ‘King’ player is killed the device becomes available to whoever nicks it without being gunned down. This game mode punishs regular players who kill anyone but the ‘King’ by lowering their score, but for some of us that didn’t really mean anything; if someone stood between us and the objective, they were fair game.

Inversion also serves up the tactical free-for-all mode “Gravity Slaughter”, where killing enemies through special melee combos with the Gravlink can net you three points instead of one for a normal kill.

Other game modes bear yet closer resemblances to those we all know and love from many a shooting title; “Team Deathmatch”, “Survival”, and standard free-for-all.

Sabre Interactive are definitely pushing the boat out here, going for full online functionality with their take on the third-person cover shooter, and the Gravlink adds something unique for us to ponder over. Looking at the map layouts and game modes they’ve come up with doesn’t bring out the usual yawning reactions from us. However, the scale of the multiplayer project from cooperative play on the campaign to head-to-head battling online is grand, and if it doesn’t work out there’s little doubt players will quickly shun it for something more functional.

There’s no reason it shouldn’t work out and we really hope it does, as there’s sufficient difference in the style of play that Inversion could capture the imagination of competetive gamers across the Western Hemisphere.

Inversion is scheduled for release in June. Keep your eyes on this one.

– Alex ‘Alaric’ Lemcovich

Check out this new trailer for Sleeping Dogs.

“Blending martial arts combat into seamless visceral gameplay, Sleeping Dogs mixes up some of gaming’s greatest takedowns in a world worthy of Hong Kong cinema.”

Ubisoft^® have announced a deal with Marvel Entertainment, LLC to develop a video game based on the popular Avengers characters and other heroes and villains from the Marvel Universe.

Developed by Ubisoft Quebec, Marvel Avengers: Battle for Earth’s interactive environments are inspired by iconic Marvel comic artwork and the Secret Invasion storyline. This game will be released this Autumn for the Microsoft Kinect™ for Xbox 360^®, and Nintendo’s Wii™ U™ system.

“We are excited to team up with Marvel Entertainment to bring some of the most iconic comic book characters from the Marvel line-up to life in motion-gaming,” said Geoffroy Sardin, Ubisoft EMEA Marketing and Sales Director at Ubisoft.  “Fans of the Marvel universe and superhero games are going to love the extensive combinations of characters, motion-controlled moves and competitive gameplay.”

“For the last few years, Marvel has positioned itself to deliver the absolute best in entertainment, be it in film, animation, comics or games,”  said Andreea Enache-Thune, senior vice president of games and digital distribution at Marvel.  “Partnering with Ubisoft is a big part of that ongoing movement. We are confident that Ubisoft’s talent matches Marvel’s own commitment to making the Avengers: Battle for Earth the best in the motion-controlled gaming category.”

Marvel Avengers: Battle for Earth features 20 different characters, including Avengers such as Iron Man, Hulk, Captain America and Thor, as well as other fan-favorite Super Heroes and Super Villains from the Marvel Universe.

For more information on Marvel Avengers: Battle for Earth, please visit: www.AvengersBattleForEarth.com

Akai Katana Review

By David ‘Transient Nova’ Timms

Don’t know whether to go for the Japanese or Western market? Split the difference!

You have to appreciate the risks Rising Star Games have taken on bringing Cave’s shoot-‘em-ups to Europe. Considering that this is arguably one of the most niche genres in gaming today, I can’t imagine how difficult these games are to sell to a wider audience. It’s a noble endeavour though; the developer, following the positive reception of their decision to release Mushihime-sama Futari over two years ago, has been actively pursuing the world market that once seemed out of reach to them, potentially expanding the western market for shoot-‘em-ups.  This creates a relatively new challenge for both parties, how can you appeal to that wider western market without potentially alienating your core fanbase?

Cave seems to have met the problem halfway with Akai Katana, a horizontally scrolling shoot-‘em-up incorporating western preferences for the more mechanical and occasionally militaristic designs they grew up with while still catering to eastern preferences for characters and character designs. The plot that justifies this covers with a rebellion against a large and unruly empire, with the pilot protagonists able to summon the phantoms of the ones they killed with the titular katana, forged from a mysterious ore that gave this empire its strength. You wouldn’t really pick up on any of that unless you read the manual anyway as all the voice acting remains in the original Japanese. It’s a great setting though and, as is usually the case, story is never really a high priority in a shoot-‘em-up anyway; all that matters is that large sword wielding warrior in front of you summoning a god damn sky train from out of nowhere.

I find that people are often intimidated by the very concept of a bullet-hell shooter; that their perceived difficulty typically demands a special kind of discipline. While that is true to some extent, that doesn’t mean they’re impenetrable to all. As your fighter/character/whatever typically has a very small and very visible hitbox in these games (the point where a bullet must connect in order to destroy your ship) , it’s easier to make your way through all that enemy fire than you think. Weaving though a maze a bullets is entirely possible and can provide a kind of thrill that few games are capable of doing.

It’s something that Cave has a tremendous knack for, and a formula that the developer has never messed up. But even so, their shooters vary wildly based on how scoring works and how their gameplay systems cater to both score-chasers and survivalists, experts and casual players. So let’s talk about the basics of Akai Katana and how they relate to you.

Your fighter of choice has two modes, attack and defense. Holding down the shot button locks you into ‘attack’, with your ship’s speed slowing down and its firepower increasing. Tapping the shot button (or not firing at all) puts it in a defensive position; less firepower for more speed. While the exact terms very between game modes, destroying or damaging enemies will generally net you energy which will in turn fill up your energy gauge. This energy can then be used can then be used to summon to a more useful ‘phantom’ form, complete with various offensive and defensive boons. Getting hit as a phantom or running out of energy knocks you back to fighter form, and getting hit as a fighter costs you a life. Add a stock of bullet clearing smart bombs and you’re good to go. Simple.

It’s in everyone’s best interests to remain in phantom form as much as possible. For score-seekers it can be a means to set up a dangerous playing field in order to maximise potential point gains (I’ll expand on that in a bit). It can also serve as an unexpectedly graceful defensive tool, giving casual players a fighting chance without resorting to auto-bombing when taking hits as Dodonpachi Rusurrection does (which I feel is too lenient a safeguard. It’s treated as an absolute last resort here). It depends on what you want to get out of the game really.

The game has three main modes for you to tackle. Origin is a port of the original arcade version, with scoring revolving around the gathering of energy in fighter form before summoning your phantom. As a phantom, you will be completely invulnerable to enemy fire while in defense mode, reflecting bullets away to converge on another position. When a good cluster of these bullets surrounds an enemy, switch to attack mode to turn them into score tokens, which will circle your fighter until you either deplete your energy gauge or manually switch back to fighter form.

Those are just the fundamentals of course. You may also need to think about how best to use your fighter’s option in quickly improving held energy items and coaxing out new ones, or whether you should take a dive and destroy enemies at point blank range so that they fire off additional suicide bullets for you to juggle. Ideally you’ll be creating, multiplying and positioning these bullets in such a way that you’ll be setting off large chain reactions while in attack mode, building lots of score tokens and cashing them in when they are large/plentiful enough. It’s the trickiest of the three modes to master on a consistent level, but it’s a novel and interesting take on the genre’s reflect mechanic and makes for a great challenge for higher level players.

Still, there’s a more approachable variant available. Climax mode (formerly Zetsu to you savvy importer types) is a console re-balancing of Origin that generally makes things a little easier all round, with an easier to fill energy gauge and adjusted ship speeds and item drops. It basically lowers the original’s barrier to score well and allows those who thought Origin was too discipline heavy to enjoy the original arcade game in an alternative way. The console exclusive visual upgrades and 16:9 widescreen support are an attractive bonus.

Arguably the star of the show though is the Slash mode (formerly Shin), which eschews most of the bullet herding and manipulation for a far more aggressive form of bullet cancelling. You’re still going to focus on accumulating energy in order to change forms, but you also have to think about acquiring steel items alongside that by destroying enemies in defense mode. These will create steel orbs when you switch from fighter to phantom form which can then be launched to cancel enemy fire for small score tokens, although ideally you want to hit the enemies themselves with them so that they are exchanged for katanas. As destroying enemies in the phantom’s attack mode will cause them to fire suicide bullets in retaliation, scoring big typically require you to fling these katanas through as many bullets as possible, cancelling them out larger score tokens and hopefully finishing up by driving them into a nice big target at the other end of that bullet wall. The more katanas and bullets you have in play, the greater the scoring potential. Risk and reward.

Once you learn how it works, you’ll quickly find yourself getting into a comfortable rhythm: get energy, get steel, change form, fire off steel orbs and get katanas, create the most stupidly dense bullet formation possible, fire katanas, rake in the score tokens, lather, rinse and repeat. Play is fast paced, very dynamic, very easy to grasp and can be very addictive.

This all sounds like something that’s best left to hardcore fans, but I don’t believe that’s the case. As well as boasting some reasonably complex yet easy to understand scoring systems, Akai Katana also stands as a solid, well-made and relatively well-featured shoot-‘em-up package all round with some great sprite work, enticing art and audio direction, interesting boss fights and bullet patterns to wade through, a suite of display and setting options, offline multiplayer for the original arcade mode and novice versions for all three modes that reduce enemy bullet speed and density. Besides, I’m sure that on some level everybody will appreciate the fact that everything explodes spectacularly.

As is always the case with shoot-‘em-ups though, true longevity comes from complete mastery of the game and a desire to compete with others. In this regard, the all-important leaderboards are present and correct. Cave’s leaderboards remain some of the most well featured in the genre with an abundance of filtering options, the ability to download replays from other players and clear presentation throughout.

Akai Katana is a shooter that can easily be enjoyed by everyone to some extent. It works best as a bridge of sorts between ‘accessible Cave’ and ‘technical Cave’; a step up from Deathsmiles and the ‘friendly’ half Mushihime-sama Futari while not being as daunting as something like Espgaluda II or the “I want to see you suffer. Slowly.” half of Mushihime-sama Futari. Perhaps more importantly though it also serves as a strong example of the modern bullet-hell shooter (or at least one that should resonate more easily with the west), with plenty in there satisfy genre fans and more than enough to excite newcomers, especially if they make the little effort it takes to learn how scoring works.

Thoroughly entertaining and highly recommend. Who knows? You might find a competitive streak you didn’t even know you had.

—

Developer: CAVE Co., Ltd.

Publisher: Rising Star Games

Players: 1-2 (offline only)

Release: 11^th May, 2012

The Bodark is a dangerous group of elite and fearless soldiers. Equipped with state of the art weaponry, they are a high threat even for highly trained Ghosts .

Fantasy pirates and beasties for your hacking pleasure

If you’re tired of the backdrops for your personal quest through the run-around hack n’ slash RPG that was Kingdoms of Amalur: The Reckoning, Big Huge Games and 38 Studios have some treats in store for you with this add-on, The Legend of Dead Kel.

Your character can visit the distant shores of Gallows End, an island situated in the northernmost seas of Amalur which has been terrorised for decades by the undying pirate, Dead Kel, and his band of Hanged Men.

If you’re already into Kingdoms of Amalur then you know by now that each region is teeming with great landscapes, pathways, and broad areas to fight monsters big and small in.  Dead Kel doesn’t really add anything that’s new to the gameplay formula, but you get a hefty chunk of content for the 800 Microsoft Point (that’s around £6.66) price tag including new armour and weapons, and a new place of residence you can upgrade to palatial standards – Gravehal Keep.

Kingdoms of Amalur is at its best when you take the time to enjoy wandering through its colour palette, and you’re afforded much in the way of appreciable visuals through this package.  From beach dunes to hilltops and valleys, Gallows End is as beautiful a place as the on-disc areas and it is also big…very big indeed.

The main quest line will take you perhaps a few hours to finish, but once you’re done there are plenty of side quests to keep yourself occupied.  You can even train some of the smaller beasties to keep as pets in Gravehal Keep, adding a boost to your character’s traits, and there are also the requisite ‘Twists of Fate’ cards to collect, unique to the DLC.

Dead Kel’s weaknesses are the same as they were in the main game.  The characters you meet along the way, including Dead Kel himself, do next to nothing to provide you with any semblance of interest in their affairs.  Attempting to engage emotionally with this crowd of NPCs is like trying to do the same with a Power Point presentation.

But do you really care about this stuff?  If you’re still playing Kingdoms of Amalur after this much time, you’re probably in it for all the cool fighting skills you can pull off with swords, bows, chakras and whatever else, hoarding items and gold, completing quests, and levelling-up.

Dead Kel is a good purchase for those of you looking to enhance what was already in the Kingdoms of Amalur inventory, but if you’re expecting the experience to be any deeper than the one you found on the disc you shouldn’t bother.  Go forth; fight dead pirates, buy new armour, find legendary weapons, and kill things.

Successes:

-          Gallows End is vast and prettily done

-          Lots of new quests and items

-          Gravehal Keep keeps you busy

Failures:

-          Same thing, different settings

-          Characters are bland at best, irritating at worst

-          Nothing essential

-          Alex ‘Alaric’ Lemcovich

The real world may be a lie… but this announcement isn’t. THQ Inc. (NASDAQ: THQI - News) and Volition, Inc.^® are proud to announce the development of Saints Row^®: The Third^TM – Enter The Dominatrix^TM, the groundbreaking standalone expansion to Saints Row: The Third. No longer an April Fool’s dream, the outrageous game concept will be reality this fall. It’s really happening.

Slated for release on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC, Saints Row: The Third – Enter The Dominatrix takes the award-winning, over-the-top action of Saints Row: The Third and adds the most requested gameplay features from the Saints Row community: freaking super powers.

“Faster than a speeding cyber jetbike, more powerful than a roided-out Luchadore, able to leap flying aircraft carriers in a single bound… That’s the power you’ll find inside the Dominatrix. Use it for good. Use it for evil. Use it for whatever you want. As always in Saints Row, it’s up to you,” said Danny Bilson, Executive Vice President, Core Game Production, THQ Inc. “With a franchise with more than 11 million units shipped globally, it’s incredibly gratifying to have the flexibility to give Saints Row fans the features they want most.”

He later added, “Freaking super powers.”

About Saints Row: The Third – Enter the Dominatrix

Saints Row: The Third – Enter the Dominatrix picks up immediately following the events of Saints Row: The Third. For centuries, alien warlord Zinyak has eyed Earth and its precious natural resources and females with a watchful eye.  As he prepares an armada for invasion, he has only one worry: the Third Street Saints.

Once a simple street gang from Stilwater, the Saints have evolved into a global empire, replete with bombastic TV advertising and tasteful consumer products, the kind of TV advertising and consumer products that would give any alien warlord pause. Clearly, the Saints are the biggest badasses on Earth.

Now, in order to prepare his forces for domination, Zinyak captures the leader of the Saints and imprisons him in an elaborate virtual reality simulation. This simulation program looks and feels like Steelport, but it is the world that has been pulled over your eyes to blind you from the truth. Here, you are a slave. Welcome… to the Dominatrix.

More details and a first look at Saints Row: The Third – Enter the Dominatrix will be available this summer.

Acclaimed video games publisher Rising Star Games today announces the availability of Xbox 360 exclusive Akai Katana in stores from May 11. Developed by Cave, Akai Katana blends frenetic action with intense, visceral battles to produce the stand out arcade shooter of the summer.
Roaring out of the arcade and on to Xbox 360, Akai Katana players will experience all the action in jaw dropping high definition, including the original arcade version. For those looking for the ultimate arcade experience, the original 4:3 mode is also available for those craving authenticity.

“Cave are world renowned for creating the biggest and best arcade shooters around, and we’re delighted to add Akai katana to that list, come May 11,” commented Martin Defries, managing director, Rising Star Games. “No other arcade shooter offers the same explosive entertainment and wanton destruction as Akai Katana, and we can’t wait to let this lose on the public.”

For newcomers to arcade shooters, Rising Star Games has created a series of tutorial videos to showcase all the features of Akai Katana and explain the tactical elements needed to become a supreme player and challenge those at the very top of the global leaderboards. These tutorial videos will be available May 7 at www.AkaiKatana.com, but head over now to pre-order your copy of Akai Katana!

For more information on all RSG titles, please visit the official site:www.risingstargames.com .

The trailer for the much rumoured and speculated Black Ops II has been finally released by Activision.

Black Ops is back. Experience near-future black operations with the next evolution of the legendary Call of Duty: Black Ops. Pre-order nowhttp://www.callofduty.com/blackops2. Out 11.13.12.

 

Have a look at the video below: