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Hands-On: Bellator MMA Onslaught

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March 16, 2012

A New Challenger Approaches!

The MMA market is one of the fastest growing sports demographics out there. And part of this has to do with the strong showing by some brands in the digital realm. More often than not though, these MMA games are difficult for newcomers to pick up and play and even more difficult to master. But there may be a new contender stepping into the cage to finally appeal to those casual fans out there that are looking to just jump in and dish out a good ol’ fashioned beat down.

Bellator MMA Onslaught is the partnership between Bellator Fighting Championships, who just kicked off their sixth season this past weekend on MTV2, MTV Tres, Epix, and Spike.com, and fellow Viacom property, 345 Games. Looking to try to be a bit less of a simulation like UFC and more of an old-school arcade fighter, Bellator MMA Onslaught looks to differentiate itself from its competition primarily via its arcade-like controls and RPG style fighter leveling up system. This, and the fact that unlike UFC where the fights are picked by management, Bellator lends itself more naturally to the fighting game genre with its eight-man tournament style set-up to determine champions and number one contenders. I had a chance to jump into Bellator’s cage and see first hand just how this game looks to merge modern MMA and the classic fighting game.

The first thing I picked up on was the quicker pace of the matches. This gave a better sense that a fight could end literally at any moment as even when my opponent or myself decided to try to slow things down, there was a tension there that you only feel in the tightest of fighting games. This also allowed us to get more matches in during a shorter amount of time to really determine some bragging rights. One fight isn’t enough. Winning three out of four on the other hand is something to write about.

The next thing I noticed is something that most players complain about still with other MMA franchises and that is the way Bellator controls, especially in terms of player feedback. The punches and kicks were crisp and three, four, and even five hit combos could be strung together if you were fast enough with your inputs, allowing you to turn the tide should you have left yourself open one too many times. But the biggest concern with MMA games typically is the ground game. Much like UFC’s amateur controls though, a simple flick of the right joystick allowed my players to perform some fluid takedowns and easily transition when on the ground. But more so than in UFC, I felt like that it was actually doing something. Again, faster model movement here was a factor in this where it seemed that every flick I made gave me a more clear and instant response, even when being countered by my opponent.

And since we’re down there, let’s stay on the ground. The submission system was likely the best I’ve seen yet in terms of conveying a fighting game, as it was a classic button masher mechanic instead of a confusing mini-game. By mashing the four face buttons to fill up your tap out bar first, you’d either make your opponent tap or you would escape their hold. Again, clear feedback on what I needed to do and how my button inputs were affecting my fighter. And obviously the fighter’s submission ratings, which you can level up when you create a fighter, affects the ease or difficulty it is to fill up that bar.

The presentation was also something that gave the game a fighter’s feel as the HUD featured your classic health and stamina bars. It also featured a balance bar that showed how close a punch or kick was to knocking you off your feet or if you throw a haymaker and miss, how out of position you are. That one was still a work in progress I was told, but the mechanic definitely came across as I started to wobble a few times after failing to block a three-hit combo.

My only real concern is the fact that the game is only shipping with eight fighters at launch and you typically want a larger roster for any fighting game. Of course, with online and offline tournaments, the create-a-fighter mode should supplement this in many ways as I’m sure most people would rather play as themselves if afforded the opportunity.

All in all, although still touted as an early build, I was very impressed with Bellator MMA Onslaught, especially considering this is going to be a PSN and XBLA title. I’d still like a more in-depth look at the create-a-fighter and leveling up system before I comment on them, but promises of being able to customize everything about your fighter, even crossing up several different martial arts when creating your repertoire of moves, has me salivating at the idea of creating a hodgepodge fighter that no one will be able to predict when this game drops in Summer 2012.

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GDC 2012: The Art and Design of Batman: Arkham City

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One of the major reasons that the Batman: Arkham series from Rocksteady has been so successful is the look and feel of the game. It is as if the Dark Knight has leapt right from the pages of Detective Comics and onto our TV sets. And one of the key men behind this feeling is the Art Director on both games, David Hego. David did a short panel at GDC explaining what inspirations went into Arkham City and also a few problems they noticed in Arkham Asylum, like Detective Mode, and how they tried to fix them.

Right from the get go, David admitted that being Batman is pretty freakin’ cool. And so game play was always the primary pillar for both games. The combo systems, the gadgets, the villains, etc., but this is still a visual medium so although some may see the art of the game as having taken a bit of a secondary role, it was still vital to the experience and knowing this, he and his team had a monumental task on hand as they wanted to give a respectful interpretation and thus created their Arkham-verse. Their representation, although a bit different, still needed to have Batman’s DNA all over it from the locations to the characters designs, like making the Penguin’s monocle a broken bottle.

And so when it came to actually crafting Arkham City, he and his team looked to blend the late 19th century Art Nouveau movement with the very modern Hyperrealism. The hyperrealism comes out best in many of the game’s character models, but much of the architecture took on more of the Art Nouveau style, like the Wonder Tower, which was modeled after the Eiffel Tower, one of Art Nouveau’s most easily recognizable works.

He also spoke to the challenges he had in designing Arkham City, like fixing the Detective Mode as he reminisced about how heart breaking it was to hear players spending the entirety of Arkham Asylum in that mode. And so they removed everything that was not vital from that mode so navigation and combat became much more difficult and compelled players to play the game it was meant to be played.

Another problem Hego spoke to was normalization. “Normalization is when the player stops being in awe of what they see on the screen. And what happens is a normal part of gaming. You start getting into the action and the game play and the narrative and you stop focusing in on a lot of the details of the environment. And even many of the subtle color schemes of Arkham City’s levels hurt us because they appeal to the base instincts of gamers where we have an ice level with Mr. Freeze, the steel mill is a fire level, Poison Ivy is our jungle level, and so on. So we need to combat this with a lot of variety. Contrasting elements and color schemes to keep things entertaining. So we create a lot of clashing in many of the levels. We added a lot of fanfare and the giant white clown faces to the steel mill to help fight the oranges and reds, for example. And so we just keep clashing in the hopes of creating new and still interesting environments.”

Hego also talked about how much the posters and Riddler clues spoke to the world they wanted to create without being too distracting to the player and taking away from the experience and even removing details in many areas with enemies and NPCs so that the player would focus on the objectives at hand.

All in all, Hego’s brief talk was an interesting look into seeing how this gorgeous world was created and how much care went into making sure we players and fans were happy while Hego and his team were still able to express themselves creatively in a way that fit into the game play and story.

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GDC 2012: Hands-On: Lollipop Chainsaw

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Lollipop Lollipop

The twisted mind of Suda51 is prepping to strike again and shortly after last night’s official announcement of Lollipop Chainsaw’s release of June 12th here in North America, several of us in the gaming community were allowed to go hands on with the most involved demo yet of this highly anticipated tongue-in-cheek zombie slasher. And if I was excited before, my anticipation has easily hit a new peak after playing through what is expected to be the fourth level of the game.

Still in pursuit of her kidnapped sister, Juliet follows the trail to the local arcade, a massive structure built to resemble an old-school arcade cabinet. The Fulgi Fun Center though holds more than a bunch of Atari classics as a bevy of new horrors for Juliet to face, including dorky zombies who are happy to waste their undead eternity at the arcade’s cabinets when not feeding on human flesh, await her inside. With the help of her newly introduced father, a tough, but loving individual whose motorcycle helps Juliet get around the town, Juliet must storm the arcade and save her sister from the zombie horde.

The first thing you take note of is the fact that this demo took place completely outside of the high school we’ve seen up to this point, and we also caught a glimpse of a game map highlighting six areas so far: the Fulgi Fun Center, Parking Lot, Cathedral, High School, O’Bannon Farm, and Stadium. This means that Juliet will have a lot of ground to cover and is not confined to the school grounds as some might have thought from the limited game play we had seen up to now.

We also got a look at the upgrade system. As Juliet kills zombies, she collects coins, similar to Travis Touchdown from No More Heroes. She then can use the coins to purchase dumbbells to increase her attacking power, new sneakers for increasing her speed, and various health and combo upgrades as well. And speaking of the combos, I was impressed that after investing only a few hundred coins, I was able to enhance Juliet’s repertoire significantly.

Whereas many games like this would see players easily fall into the pattern of mashing the same attack button over and over again, the combos here actually have a much bigger payoff and encourages you to try to link your moves together. Often, you won’t only get a spectacular light show for a successful combo, but you’ll also dispatch even the toughest of zombies much, much more quickly and this was very satisfying.

But onto the level itself. After disposing of a horde of Molotov cocktail chucking zombies, Juliet is compelled by a mysterious voice to play a game. She is instantly digitized and transformed into a pink avatar of herself. Here, she must work her way through a bevy of spoofed arcade classics including Pac-Man and Pong levels in order to advance through the arcade. Moving back and forth through her world and the digital one, Juliet must work her way towards the mysterious voice that she knows is the one currently holding her sister.

And keeping with the late 70s theme of many of the games inside the game that you must conquer, after working your way to the roof of the Fulgi Fun Center, you soon come upon the nefarious Josey, a disco zombie who reminds you way too much of Baron Samedi from the James Bond movie Live and Let Die. Josey and his disco loving UFO with undead babes draped on it is your classic two form battle where you must first dismount Josey from his smaller UFO before he abducts himself onto a much larger and much more dangerous UFO where a countdown clock starts, forcing you to race against time to power down Josey’s disco derby of destruction or Juliet will lose her sister forever!

Very much keeping in with the themes of the music based undead we saw in our PAX Prime demo last year where we took on the metalhead Zed, combined with some hysterical one-liners we saw both in cut scenes and during game play, and some surprisingly tight controls has me thinking that Lollipop Chainsaw looks like a game that could easily break the chains of its B-Movie premise and make a killing in the mainstream.

And if you’d like to hear a bit more about the game from the man himself, check out Eric L. Patterson’s brief interview with Suda51 by clicking here!

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EGM Review:Mass Effect 3

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Don’t fear the Reapers

Part of what’s made Mass Effect so amazing as a series is how much the direct choices you make as a player not only affect you in game, but beyond. And the concluding chapter in this tremendous trilogy doesn’t let up at all in that regard, as choices made in the first two games come back to reward or haunt you in unforeseen ways as you continue to fight against the Reapers.

Whereas the first Mass Effect was all about introducing us to the major players and ME2 was about building up relationships and your own personal task force, ME3 is all about cultivating the relationships from the first two games in order to best prepare the galaxy into forming a united front against the Reapers, who now even pester you in the galaxy map, which adds a new layer of danger to the previously mundane process of probing planets. Every task you complete and planet you successfully probe will affect how much military strength you can muster, and by crossing the wrong person or making the wrong choice on how to allocate available resources, you can strengthen or weaken the armada you’re trying to create.

The story’s also a bit more engrossing this time around, as there are a lot more cinematic, big-movie moments—and they all look amazing, as the visuals are probably the most impressive in the series to date. This more fluid story telling really helps the game flow, and fans of the series will appreciate a lot of throwback references that sometimes come from nowhere and will instantly put a smile on your face.

The weapons, armor, and RPG leveling-up system have also been streamlined so that players who want a more action-packed experience are doing less item hunting and navigating menus. Plus, there’s also a “narrative” difficulty option that really fleshes out conversations and the customization for those players who’d prefer the more traditional RPG experience.

The combat controls feel tighter and field tactics are also smoother this time around, but the cover mechanics introduced in Mass Effect 2 are still very delicate, and movement’s much more deliberate than you’d want in any type of a shooter. And that isn’t what you need in the heat of battle, as you’ll often accidentally roll away from cover when you’re trying to stick to it. Coupled with a flawed damage feedback mechanic that doesn’t properly inform players how much damage they are taking, and combat can still be irksome at times.

But Mass Effect 3’s greatest problem is its new multiplayer system. And it’s not the fact that it’s an amalgamation of Battlefield 3’s class system with Gears of War’s Horde mode, as I love both of those games’ multiplayer options. No, my problem lies in the fact that you’re pretty much forced into playing the multiplayer in order to unlock the best possible ending in the single-player mode. This aspect, called “Galaxy at War,” starts where the galaxy’s 50 percent ready to take on the Reaper threat as soon as you begin your single-player game. But instead of collecting more assets in single-player or completing side quests to improve on this number, you need to win multiplayer matches, which correlates to your armada readiness in single-player mode—this means players will be forced to play a mode they might not necessarily want to get into right away. Plus, there is no local split-screen options and a lot of times the best co-op multiplayers all allow you to have your buddy sitting right next to you while you play.

Mass Effect 3 is still an awesome game overall, of course, as the few negatives just happen to stand out against what is an otherwise mostly blemish free experience. Even the Kinect options are a lot more enjoyable than I had anticipated, although I found myself falling back into old game play patterns a few hours in as I’m just not used to screaming at my TV (when not watching a sporting event, anyway). The conclusion to the story is phenomenal, the action’s great with legions of new and old enemies alike, and the multiplayer’s fun and addictive, even if I don’t like how it affects your single-player campaign. Not to mention Mass Effect 3 has one of the more moving scores I’ve heard from a game in a while and fantastic voice acting for all our returning favorite characters, and a nice job by some new folks like Freddie Prinze Jr. as James Vega. Fans who invested in the first two games will know the wait for this third game was well worth it, and BioWare shows why they’re some of the best storytellers in the industry.

SUMMARY: Mass Effect’s brilliant story remains intact, and if you played the previous two games, the payoff’s more than satisfying. Some cover and combat issues remain unsolved, though, and the idea of participation in a completely separate multiplayer mode potentially influencing your single-player ending is mind-boggling.

  • THE GOOD: Brilliantly concludes one of the most epic trilogies of this console generation
  • THE BAD: Multiplayer tie-in to single player, combat and control nitpicks
  • THE UGLY: Joker wanting to get it on with a robot

SCORE: 9.0

Mass Effect 3 is available on Xbox 360, PS3, and PC. Primary version reviewed was on Xbox 360.

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GDC 2012: The Business and Development of Sworcery

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Thousands of games hit the iOS market each week with hopes of breaking through into the pop culture and making an impact. One such game, Superbrothers: Sword and Sworcery EP has been considered widely successful with both critical acclaim and solid sales (350,000 units sold in less than a year of being available). But what makes this game stand out above those thousands and thousands of other games out there, and what might keep it from reaching an Angry Birds level?

It was this idea behind Nathan Vella’s panel, the Co-founder and President of Capybara Games, the developer behind Sword and Sworcery, that made it an interesting panel to help kick off Day 1 of GDC, especially for all those prospective iOS developers out there. Nathan wanted to give us a glimpse inside the development process that went into Sword and Sworcery as well as offer advice to those who might be looking to use iOS as a jumping off platform for their Indie game.

Much of the panel’s focus revolved around the fact that the game’s success came from the game’s uniqueness and it’s very specific demographic, which he admitted they had assumed could not have been more than 10% of what the game has actually sold. Condemning the notion of “Everyone” being a demographic, Vella explained that is the target that most of the games released on a weekly basis are also trying to hit and how much harder it is to compete against the world. That’s why Sword and Sworcery, a unique game tailored with a very specific audience in mind, stood a much better chance of floating to the top of the sea of games out there on the iOS platform.

“There is a set of gamers, maybe even a subset of gamers, who really just want to play something new. If you provide that something and its worth playing, you’re not actually competing against 99% of the market. You’re competing against the other one percent. Sure, you’re not reaching for the biggest slice of the money pie, but you’re at least ensuring that your project will be successful and be successful in the right way, which is beginning with the people you care about as a game developer,” said Vella.

He continued on about how nice it would be to sell the millions of units of an Angry Birds or a Fruit Ninja, but that for most people that is just completely unrealistic.

“At Capy, we talk about it a lot as if we are playing the iPhone lottery. And basically that’s what happens when you try to compete against all these guys who are trying to do the same thing. If you’re trying to make the next Angry Birds, you’re basically walking up to a slot machine, putting your game budget into the slot, pulling the lever, and praying to God you get three f***ing cherries,” added Vella.

Along with this, Vella talked about how collaboration and contributions from sometimes unexpected sources were very helpful and even crucial to the project, but that if you and your team believe in your product and stay true to it, while troubleshooting some of the more stressful aspects of going over budget or schedule, that good things would happen in the end. It was refreshing to see Vella’s conviction and that by staying true to the game’s concept, all the way through to marketing and PR and sales of the game in the iTunes store, and by being different, that they were able to rise above much of the mucky-muck out there to make one of the more memorable games in recent iOS memory.

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The Pullbox – Issue #23

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It’s been a crazy couple of weeks folks, but we are back. A slow week comic book wise and so we look at a pair of Indies and only one DC title as the New 52 really continues to just disappoint on almost every front that isn’t a Batman book. Marvel continues their strong push with a bunch of Avengers books including one we’ll be featuring today. So without further ado, here is this week’s Pullbox!

1) Marvel – Venom #13.4: Blackheart has all the cards and has done the unthinkable and brought hell to Earth, literally. Even Earth’s most magically attuned heroes like Doctor Strange and the Ghost Rider cannot hold back the onslaught and only Venom, Red Hulk, and X-23 can hope to turn the tides. But at what cost? 

This has been an interesting adventure for Venom, the new Ghost Rider, Red Hulk, and X-23, and the fact it has been coming out every week has given a sense of a bigger event than it really is. The best part of this though is the fact that Blackheart, one of the more nefarious and powerful villains in the Marvel universe has been given the spotlight for the first time in a while. And where there is Blackheart, you know Mephisto isn’t far behind. Obviously this is something you should pick up the first chapters to, but this issue’s ending leaves you on a cliffhanger that means the next issue could really shake things up for all the characters involved on a permanent basis.

2) Marvel – New Avengers #22: Norman Osborn’s plan to slander the Avengers continues and the team led by Luke Cage has had enough after Jessica and Squirrel Girl left the mansion with Luke’s newborn baby. And the team is finally ready to start listening to Spider-Man and Victoria Hand looks to be their target at how to get to the bottom of this.

The team finally decided to go after Victoria Hand after they realized she had to have been the one setting them up, but Hand comes up with a story that is almost too unbelievable to be false. So now the New Avengers have to figure out how to take down Osborn while also trying to keep a raging Luke Cage in control as Jessica Jones has left with no trace. The resolution in this issue was key to a lot of loose ends that had been opened in early parts of this story, but it almost seems like things may be coming to a head a bit too quickly. Whatever happens, the New Avengers are going to be shaken to their core and the more interesting secondary story that may be developing is Luke and Jessica’s relationship after the fallout of this event.

3) DC – Batman Beyond Unlimited #1: Terry McGinnis returns with a pair of adventures kicking off this new book. The first sees him investigating a nation wide migration by various Jokerz gangs to Gotham City. The second part sees Terry team up with the Justice League again to take on the terrorist group Kobra who may be working out of Cadmus Labs.

One of my biggest disappointments of the New 52 was the fact that Batman Beyond had been put on hold and so this has been one of my more anticipated new titles to come out in a while. The fact the book is also double wide and features two concurrent story lines makes it easily the best bang for your buck of the week most likely. With each story subtly re-introducing a lot of our favorite characters from the cartoon and last year’s monthly comic run, hopefully this is the beginning of a long and prosperous run for our favorite Batman from the future.

4) IDW – Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Donatello (One-shot): Continuing the series of one-shots that look at each turtle individually, Donatello’s sees him attend a science fair incognito only to find out it is really a front for Baxter Stockman trying to draft scientific talent and now Donnie must save someone he once thought to be an internet rival while also escaping with his own shell in tact.

These one-shots from IDW are great ways to establish the turtles’ personalities for TMNT newcomers and this one continues the success started off with Raphael’s one-shot. Featuring a lot of fun action, great dialogue, and even a dig at Stan Lee and Marvel for the keener comic book fan, this one-shot is a must have whether you’re an old-school turtles fan or someone just starting out. It’s also a big plus for video game fans as we learn that Donnie is a big MMORPG fan and seeing him try to explain it to Leonardo to no avail is a great short scene in the book.

5) Image – PIGS #6: After finding out their inside man had failed at his assassination attempt, the sleeper agents realize they are going to have to get their hands dirty and break into the prison themselves and take out their target. It won’t be easy though as a neo-Nazi inmate is also the high-value target’s number one bodyguard.

We see another stunning form of the sleepers training as kids in a flashback in this book and it helps to explain the widening divide emerge between certain members. As loose ends are tied up by some members of the team, the others really work on the tension that is clearly there by the hesitancy of some members to go along with the more violent plans they wish to carry out. As plans continue to move forward, the big question that is looming is what will the pay off be for this series and these characters once the high value target is eliminated and what is going on in the global picture as hinted at in the first pair of issues in the series. I can’t wait to see the next issue to see just how the sleepers infiltrate the prison and if that long awaited pay off finally comes.

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EGM Review: WARP

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Now You See Me…

Warp might be as unusual for a puzzle game as much as our pint-sized, traffic cone colored protagonist is for a hero, but the game’s ability to make you think combined with its unique game play dynamic revolving around teleportation makes this a surefire winner overall.

You play as an unnamed alien who has been the latest in a long line of captures by a covert government organization who dissects and analyzes creatures such as yourself. Unlike those who have come before you though, you have a lot more fight in you than they would realize and after running through a humiliating obstacle course, unleashes your fury on them in ways they could not imagine.

Using your teleportation powers, which you can upgrade over the course of the game by finding “grubs”, a nutritious pink slime that our nameless hero loves, and some ingenuity, you try to work your way through the underwater base and escape to freedom. Some of these upgradeable powers include casting an “echo” or ghost of yourself to draw attention of guards away from particular paths, or launching items like barrels across the room once you have teleported into them. Your main ability though will always be your ability to ‘warp’ through walls, into objects to hide in, or into people to make them explode from the inside out and carve yourself a gory path out of the base.

Each level offers different challenges, usually centering on your expanding repertoire of powers and building on all of them until reaching the climactic final level. This natural progression makes sure that the game does not give you too much too quickly and helps keep the addiction level at a nice even pace as you take on challenge after challenge laid out before you.

The stealth aspect is also a twist thrown into this game that really amps it up though and helps develop a protagonist who never speaks. Your objective after all is to escape this government base and you must work your way past soldiers with guns and automatic robotic turrets whose sole purpose is to put you down. So finding the quiet, efficient way to take them out first is just as much of a challenge as the physics based puzzles you’ll encounter.

There are a few minor flaws with Warp though that hold the game back. The first is the fact that although the game has some very fun and inventive boss battles that will test your abilities like no other moments in the game, there are very few of them and you wish there could be more. Also, even though the base is entirely connected, you really cannot backtrack with upgraded powers to go back and find collectibles you may have missed along the way and completionists may find that aspect irritating.

The worst part of the game though comes in the later levels where all the tight puzzle design through about 90% of the game seems to unravel before your eyes and a randomness that relies more on luck than on skill seems to take hold. This can lead to some frustrating deaths as you must walk a very fine line through trap-laden corridors.

All in all though, Warp can be a lot of fun and if you look at the collectibles as a part of the replay-ability for the campaign and combine that with the nine timed challenge maps with online leaderboards then Warp definitely has enough to offer to be worth your 800 MSP. I think puzzle fans will be pleasantly surprised by the stealth based conundrum solving throughout the game and with its high level of polish should be near the top of their downloadable title lists.

SUMMARY:  This inventive and unique puzzler is so much fun for the price that a few irksome late game flaws can be forgiven.

  • THE GOOD: Inventive blend of puzzle and stealth elements provide unique experience
  • THE BAD: Late game puzzles seem to rely more on luck than skill like some kind of carnival game
  • THE UGLY: Bouncing human body parts after tearing them apart from the inside-out

SCORE: 8.0

Warp is available on Xbox 360 (XBLA), PS3 (PSN), and PC. Primary version reviewed was on Xbox 360.

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EGM Review: Dungeon Hunter: Alliance

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Crawling Away From This Dungeon

Based on the PSN game of the same name that was inspired by the popular Dungeon Hunter iOS series, Dungeon Hunter: Alliance has you play as a wise and benevolent king who falls apart at the sudden death of his beloved queen. Not willing to accept this, he dabbles in the dark arts to resurrect his wife, but changing one’s fate can have consequences and the queen carries within her now a dark presence. Upon her reanimation she betrays her king and stabs him to death. Now 25 years have past and the king has been resurrected by fairy magic in order to free his kingdom that has suffered for long enough under the oppressive thumb of his former bride.

Dungeon Hunter: Alliance is done in the classic dungeon crawler style akin to games like Gauntlet Legends, but has a lot more side quests and a central hub that help the game from becoming as linear as those arcade action styled games of old. There is also the positive of being able to play with up to three of your friends as you choose from your typical classes of Warriors, Rogues, and Mages. The hack ‘n’ slash game play is everything you’ve come to expect from the genre and adding in the portability and multiplayer compatibility of the Vita are nice, but this game is far from perfect.

Although fun to play at first, the action does get repetitive quickly and the item system is sloppy at best as there is no easy way to organize the many items you pick up along the way in your adventure. The graphics also aren’t anything particularly special as even though the characters seem to have been done in great detail, they exist in a bland and generic world that will have you get turned more than once as every dungeon and town you visit look exactly the same as the last.

The biggest negative for the game though probably lies in the price point. The only difference you’re getting between this $40 game and the $15 PSN version that has had numerous sales and promotions for it since it became available last April is the fact that the game is now obviously portable. And if you played the $5 iOS games that are a part of this series, then you’ll know exactly what to expect as well as the formula hasn’t changed at all from there either. So although the game had a few bright spots, it’s hard to recommend a game in the already flooded list of launch titles for the Vita when you can get the same game for less than half the price via another means of distribution.

SUMMARY: Solid dungeon crawler action is held back by monotonous game play and a cluttered loot system, but most of all a price point at $40 that is more than double the PSN price for virtually the same game.

  • THE GOOD: Classic dungeon crawler action
  • THE BAD: Cluttered item system and generic game play
  • THE UGLY: Another example of a barely upgraded iOS game that is clearly overpriced on the Vita

SCORE: 5.0

Dungeon Hunter: Alliance is a PS Vita exclusive.

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EGM Review: Asphalt: Injection

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February 23, 2012

Burning Rubber

Based on the popular mobile Asphalt series, Asphalt: Injection looks to throw its hat into the ring of racing games at the launch of the PS Vita, but instead of having its competition eat its dust like hoped, it really has just been left behind at the starting line.

The game features your standard campaign mode where you attempt to beat computer controlled cars in various race types like your obligatory race for first, an elimination style race where the tail car is removed every so often until only one remains, and even a race where you’re simply trying to avoid police officers the entire time who are looking to take your street racing crew down. As you win and unlock tracks, you can also earn funds to purchase new cars and upgrade your existing garage. There is also the connectivity of a versus mode the Vita can utilize so you can take on your friends.

At the end of the day though, with fifteen different tracks loosely based on some iconic locations around the world and nearly four dozen licensed cars, Asphalt: Injection is really just a perfect example of an over-priced iOS port that seems to define a good chunk of the launch library of the Vita. It fails to satisfy your racing cravings and doesn’t even show the effort of trying to look good while doing it.

Considering that the Vita has enough power to produce PS3 worthy visuals, you’ll be so stunned by the horribly dull look of every level you play that you’ll do a double-take to make sure you’re not accidentally playing one of the Nintendo DS versions. But at least an iOS version of this franchise, like Asphalt 6: Adrenaline, will only cost you 99 cents whereas this cobbled together port will cost 30 times as much. So even with some solid controls, at the end of the day you’re really paying $30 for a game that should be a throwaway on your iPad as it shouldn’t last more than a few hours in your system as you easily blow through each race location. You can’t even say the portability of the Vita is a plus because last I checked you could carry around an iPad and Nintendo DS as well.

All in all, this is a complete waste of plastic game cases and software chips. Considering the high quality of some of the other games on the Vita at launch, even in the same genre, there is no need for you to waste your money on this ridiculously expensive and overpriced shovel ware.

SUMMARY: Although it handles well enough, the fact of the matter is this game has barely been tweaked over its 99 cent iOS brethren and is ridiculously overpriced for it as it sits amongst a field of a half-dozen better racing games for the Vita launch.

  • THE GOOD: Solid physics and car controls
  • THE BAD: Nearly direct port of an iOS game that doesn’t take advantage of Vita’s specs
  • THE UGLY: The idea of dropping $30 on a game that is 99 cents on iOS

SCORE: 3.0

Asphalt: Injection is a PS Vita exclusive.

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Borderlands 2 Release Date Revealed

Filed under: EGM (Electronic Gaming Monthly), Written — Leave a comment

THE BUZZ: 2K Games announces the official release date of Borderlands 2 with a new trailer as well as their pre-order bonuses for different retailers.

EGM’S TAKE: With the launch of the game’s official website at http://borderlands2.com, 2K Games has revealed the new “Doomsday” trailer and in the process let us all know that the release date for Borderlands 2 will be September 18, 2012.

The release looks to avoid the holiday rush that usually starts to ramp up shortly after that date and should help the game garner more notice with new audiences who may look to jump on board the series.

The three-minute trailer, which you can check out below, also gives us a quick glimpse of all characters in the game including the previously unrevealed Axton, who looks like Roland’s soldier type, and Zero, who carries a sword and therefore is automatically awesome. We also see some of Maya’s skill tree and what unique havoc she’ll be able to unleash.

“Borderlands 2 is a passion project through and through. The result is a sequel that has improved every successful aspect of Borderlands while innovating with an all-new experience,” said Gearbox Software President Randy Pitchford with the release of the news.

Along with this, 2K has unveiled the same pre-order bonus should you pre-order from Gamestop or Amazon.com. Being called the “Premiere Club”, you’ll get access to three items. The first is a Golden Key that unlocks a special item in the Sanctuary Loot Chest, the Vault Hunter’s Relic that boosts your in-game fortune hunting, and the Geabox Gun Pack, which includes a bunch of unique golden guns that should help you during your conquest of Pandora.

What do you folks think? Is Borderlands 2 on your must-have list? Does the pre-order pack help? What do you think of the new characters Axton and Zero? Let us know your thoughts with comments below!

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