Mature Gaming » arcade

Rockstar reveal arcade modes for Max Payne 3

gazzara — Fri, 11 May 2012 14:26:39 +0000

Max Payne 3′s Arcade Modes bring intense bonus shootout challenges to the single-player game experience – featuring “Score Attack” and the return of the classic “New York Minute” mode from the first two Max Payne games in explosive form.

In addition to the trill of besting your own top scores (and the scores of all your Friends and Crew members at the new Social Club), high scores also reward you exclusive multiplayer avatars and XP benefits.

So after you’ve earned a Platinum ranking for your historic Score Attack and New York Minute runs from level to level, you will not only earn a boat load of XP, but also unlock coveted character avatars for Multiplayer Deathmatch like Fabiana Branco, Passos and more.

After you’ve completed any single-player level, you’ll be able to replay it in Score Attack mode, where you gun for the highest score possible – acquiring points for each shot that hits its mark and each adversary you vanquish.

This fan-favorite bonus mode from Max Payne and Max Payne 2 returns as a frantic battle that puts one minute on the clock and awards you with additional time for each enemy that you kill.

Check out www.rockstargames.com/maxpayne3/features/arcade for more details on Arcade Mode scoring with bonus points for style, causing destruction, and more.

Akai Katana out now

gazzara — Fri, 11 May 2012 09:12:19 +0000

Acclaimed video games publisher Rising Star Games is pleased to announce Akai Katana is out now in Europe. Developed by CAVE, Akai Katana blends frenetic action with intense, frenzied battles to produce the stand out arcade shooter of the summer.
Akai Katana players will experience all the action in jaw dropping high definition, including the meticulously converted arcade version. For those looking for the ultimate arcade experience, the original 4:3 mode is also available for those craving authenticity.

For newcomers to the genre, Rising Star Games has commissioned a series of videos created by an arcade shooter expert. For everything you’ll need to know to take on any challenger, head over to AkaiKatana.com now to learn from the best.

Fable Heroes released

gazzara — Thu, 03 May 2012 08:24:31 +0000

Today Lionhead Studios released “Fable Heroes,” a fresh spin on the world of Albion that “Fable” fans have come to know and love.

Delivering a unique art style and unrivaled multiplayer, “Fable Heroes” is a game that demands to be played again and again. The title is available now on Xbox LIVE Marketplace for 800 Microsoft Points.

The highly anticipated “Fable Heroes” takes playful competition to new heights with four player co-op, time trials and leaderboards on Xbox LIVE. Featuring hack-and-slash gameplay, the title features recognized heroes from the Fable series, working together to defeat enemies while also competing against each other to collect gold coins. Collected coins will level up characters and unlock unique items in “Fable: The Journey” when it launches later this year.

Loaded with adventure, “Fable Heroes” includes:

Heroic Challenges: Band together with up to four friends to defeat enemies or compete against them to collect gold coins. Players who dominate the competition will unlock items and level up.
Albion with a Fun Twist: “Fable Heroes” originates from the imaginations of Lionhead employees who have been fans of the franchise since its inception and delivers a fresh take on Albion with unique art and aesthetics. The world includes familiar regions, enemies and cheeky characters from the “Fable” series.
Skilled Progression: Players can battle to become an unstoppable force in Albion by crushing friends and foes to level up. As heroes advance, game features will unlock, such as finishing moves, flourishes and power ups.
Ever Changing Gameplay: Prevail in minigames to gain new powers and unlock increasingly difficult levels to beat previous scores and climb the Xbox LIVE leaderboards. In addition, set the difficulty level from the start to challenge both experts and novices alike.

Furthermore, Fable fans can pick-up a host of new “Fable Heroes” inspired avatar gear, from pet chests and Hero heads to costumes. Check the Xbox LIVE Marketplace for more information.

Our review is also live and can be read here

Fable Heroes – Review (XBLA)

gazzara — Tue, 01 May 2012 11:48:03 +0000

The Fable franchise comes with big ambitions, it always has and always will so for Lionhead to release a hack and slashesque brawler arcade title onto the Xbox Live means that there has to be something special about it – right?

It’s pretty hard to do something based around Albion that hasn’t already been done as Fable, for the most part, includes God like features that span every genre.

In Fable Heroes though, Lionhead Studios have opted to to bring some multiplayer fun into the mix by marrying hack and slash ethics into some healthy grab what you can competition and the idea is so simple that gameplay prevails as the driving factor behind what makes this title a success.

The premise is simple. You control one of many puppet characters based on the characters of Albion to hack and slash your way through various locations within Lionhead’s imagined world whilst collecting as much gold as you can along the way. At the end of the level you will see two paths in which you will play either a mini game or fight a boss to finish and collect as much loot as you can too. The rub? Well, you have another 3 players in the form of A.I. or friends along for the ride doing exactly the same thing and jostling for position on top of the podium becomes the fun factor in all of this. A little healthy competition didn’t hurt anyone and Fable Heroes serves up that formula perfectly as you strategise of whether it is worth waiting for coins to drop from other players doing damage or if you would be better served getting stuck into the heart of the fight.

Different classes of puppets are also present so deciding whether you want to go with a ranged character or something that is well versed in the close attack are also needed to be thought about. You can also poer up your puppets at the end of each level by playing a mini board game. Roll a dice, land on the required space and decide whether you want to buy the upgrade by spending all of those coins that you have collected also adds a little twist to proceedings. Once everything has been collected on the outside path an inner path becomes unlocked which wields more bountiful goodies. The problem is though that once you have taken the time to land on all of the outside spaces your money has built up to such a point that it makes purchasing anything you want easy. Its a great idea but one that is slightly flawed and needs a rethink.

Now, you may think the game has no depth as there is only so many times that you can fight Hobbes and the like in a standard way but fear not. Lionhead have introduced a few of the gems from the Fable series and introduced them into here. The moral choices for example that go hand in hand with your hero are represented here with good and evil chests placed in certain parts of a level that have positive or negative effects. Choose the good chest and a positive effect will happen to either you or one of the players. This could be a cloud that rains coin drops onto them or choosing evil may create a cloud that zaps them with lightning, dropping coins everywhere. Effects can also be transferred from player to player so watching what is happening is very important as you may see your character start to leak coins.

Other chests are placed around each level that also contain various effects but stuff that is not as dramatic as the good or evil ones. Examples of which are growing or shrinking, receiving cash or a bonus multiplayer and offer up a way of breaking the monotony that may present itself after and elongated gaming session.

The big sticking point for me was how hollow the experience felt when playing on your own. Having 3 A.I. puppets running around with you served no enjoyment at all and seemed to move away from the unique selling point of the title. However, when you team up with some of your buddies to go marauding through the landscapes of Albion, the game feels alive and you soon forget the little bugs that annoy you and the added gloss of local 4 player competition sets itself up for a game that can be played through the night, enjoyed with a couple of beers and have a few belly laughs with some of your mates at home.

Overall, Fable Heroes is worth the 800n Microsoft point asking price and although there are a few bugs here and there, a few gripes about playing on your own, the competitive nature and simplicity of the gameplay will give you hours of fun among friends online or off. Being able to transfer all of your coin into Fable: The Journey when it eventually releases has to also add a little weight.

Bloodforge – Review (XBLA)

gazzara — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 21:58:45 +0000

Bloodforge is the 2nd in a series of 4 Arcade Next offerings and is distributed by Microsoft Studios and developed by Climax Studios (Silent Hill: Shattered Memories).

Likes
- Rage Kills are inventive
- Challenge Mode
- Avatar Awards
Dislikes
- Dull Storyline
- Poor camera angles
- Sparse med drops

It follows the story of Crom a hardy hunter with a gears of war bulk, fur boots and a deer’s skull as a hat. You start the game on a serene Skyrim esque hunting scene where Crom has just killed a deer and thrown it over his shoulder to carry home when he decides on a nap.

This nap is a prophecy of evil and he awakes to find his homestead is completely ablaze. Crom heads home to find enemy’s spawning from the ground all over his yard,Once you have mullered them into fillets a butcher would be proud to hang in his window you run inside to find another enemy but wait oh no the gods have duped you into killing your own wife!!

Now what would any hardy hunter with a seven foot sword and a fur war suit do? That’s right, you go to hunt down the gods and seek revenge!!

The story then disappointingly takes a nose dive and gets very dull very quick. The cut scenes are so slow and the voice acting has you cringing and turning down your headset as the tones are just so far off from each other, Crom’s voice is that of a Dark warrior but your enemies always seem to be screeching at you rather than talking. The cut scenes also lack integration to the game play as they CANNOT be skipped for a quick play through which can lead to a lot of frustration and if you should want to punish yourself and play again offers you up a painful reminder that cannot be overlooked.

The game play also lacks weight to your player’s movements and seems to float around at the slightest touch of your sticks. The cell shading of the grey murky lands and bright red of the blood letting look cool at first but are headache inducing as you get deeper into the game.

During the game you unlock a choice of three weapons you can switch to at any time which is your default sword a stone war hammer and 2 doubled bladed bone claws, none of which seem to be any more powerful than the other just that each has its own flashy moves that are unlocked. The fighting mechanic itself is good whereby you use a mix of light and heavy attacks strung together to make your special moves. This would be brilliant but Crom has no ability to block so you are constantly having to roll and dodge to stay alive and factor into the equation the lack of lock on targeting and dodgy camera movement, you end up spending most of your fights smashing your controller blindly hoping you will get the blows onto your target.

The camera also has a horrible tendency to move around during fights and completely impede your vision or spin Crom around so that he is no longer facing his enemy. This coupled with the enormous amount of map glitches that pin you into invisible corners just makes the fights ridiculously hard and unrewarding.

As you move through the maps of unpleasant wasteland and wilderness you come across all manner of ungodly and unnatural enemies which get harder and harder to kill but with each bloody massacre every drop of blood is collected by Croms Gauntlet, which then in turn allows you to activate rage mode where each hit has 4x the power and acts as a knock back to keep the enemies at bay. The rage attacks also have an awesome twist where you do a take down execution by ramming your blade into the gut of your enemy and then disemboweling them all in slow motion.

That’s not all though as the blood collected can be used as a currency to buy some brilliant and powerful rune attacks such as calling the serpent demons to take chunks out of any enemy that dares to enter a certain radius of you for a short period of time.

Sadly as powerful as these attacks are they lack the edge, for this to be a fun game. Each enemy you come across gets harder to beat or simply the game just throws too many at you at one time. Croms is also a not too healthy fighter and his health can be completely diminished by two single blows from most bosses with med packs being very few and far between to help you along.

The game gets so frustrating as you use all your rage and power attacks to defeat a boss with another just spawning around the next corner. The sparse save points mean you often end up going back five minutes into the story over and over again. Now I like an arcade esque fighter/hack and slash game but this must seriously be one of the hardest games ever made to actually make it through a play through fully. With the lack of med-packs, the problematic camera angles, clunky fighting options and huge super strength enemies it feels as though you will never beat it.

The game does have two other modes to whetten your appetite though. First is Blood Duel where as you progress through each stage of the story mode it will compare how well you played against anyone that is on your friends list and then giving you a place on a mini leaderboard. The second is Challenge mode which works as a kind of horde mode with wave after wave of enemy where youre challenge is to last longer than anyone on your friends list again. This does have the cool feature that you get to bring any unlocks and powerups from the main story with you aswell as buying new during the challenge.

Overall, the game lacks originality in a plot or storyline and the poor camera angles and buggy gameplay makes for a frustrating experience. The plus side is that the basic mechanics of the game are sound and with the right patch from the developers could be a brilliant game. 400 Gamerscore and a whole outfit avatar award just adds strings to the bow but as the game stands as of today I wouldn’t recommend the purchase at 1200 Microsoft Points.

Deep Black Episode 1 goes live on Xbox Live

gazzara — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 21:31:22 +0000

The underwater action-shooter Deep Black: Episode 1 is available to download today from Xbox LIVE Arcade for the Xbox 360.
In this arcade-style game the year is 2047. Natural resources are sparse, espionage and bio-terrorism are rampant and the world has split into two warring factions – each intent on destruction. Deep Black thrusts players into this struggle where they become involved in the fight for global domination and the possession of a sophisticated biological weapon.

Fans take on the role of an elite commando who must engage in covert operations both underwater and on ground. Armed with high-tech weaponry, power armors and equipment, gamers must master their survival skills in order to fight enemies and infiltrate enemy bases.

Deep Black was developed by Biart, published by 505 Games and has been rated PEGI 16. Deep Black: Episode 1 is priced at 800 Microsoft Points/£6.68.Deep Black: Episode 2 is scheduled for release on Xbox LIVE Arcade this summer.

Midway Arcade gets iCade support

gazzara — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 22:55:54 +0000

Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment announces that its popular Midway Arcade App is now compatible with iCade, the retro arcade-style cabinet for iPad.

The miniature wooden cabinet is perfectly sized for iPad, and connects via Bluetooth to a full-sized joystick and buttons for a genuine arcade experience.

Midway Arcade provides a virtual showroom equipped with 10 classic arcade games, tickets and virtual prizes. The app allows players to enjoy their favorite arcade games, such as Spy Hunter, Joust, Rampage, Defender and more, along with four skill-based games. Players also have the option to purchase additional Midway classics through In-App Purchase. The extra fun in the Fantasy Game Pack includes Gauntlet I, Gauntlet IIand Wizard of Wor, while the Action Game Pack unlocks APB, NARC and Total Carnage. Players compete against their friends, earn achievements and dominate online leaderboards.

The Midway Arcade App is available for €0.79/£0.69 from the App Store on iPad, iPhone and iPod touch or at www.itunes.com/appstore. For consumers that have already purchased Midway Arcade the new iCade support is available with the latest update. The Fantasy Game Pack and Action Game Packs are available for €0.79/£0.69 each through In-App Purchase.

Jet Set Radio to get the next gen treatment

gazzara — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 13:35:44 +0000

SEGA today announced the upcoming digital release of fan-favourite: Jet Set Radio, the wall-tagging, trend-setting Dreamcast classic from 2000.

DJ Professor K, Beat, Gum, and all the GGs are taking to the streets in this upgraded HD version of Jet Set Radio, which sees players vying for control of the futuristic Tokyo-to by marking their turf with graffiti tagged across walls, billboards and rival gang members. The slick gameplay, genre-blending soundtrack and pioneering art style of Jet Set Radio will be coming to Xbox LIVE Arcade for the Xbox 360, PlayStation Network, and Windows PC Digital Download this summer.

Jet Set Radio lets players join the GGs, an up-and-coming street gang in the futuristic city of Tokyo-to, fighting for the right to self-expression against an overbearing, corporate-controlled police force. Rolling and leaping through crowded urban environments on magnetically driven inline skates, players take control of gang leader Beat and his growing posse of deviant artists as they steal turf from the local gangs by covering the city with colorful graffiti. Guided by Professor K, DJ for the hottest pirate broadcast in town – “Jet Set Radio” – the GGs will ultimately uncover the sinister plot hatched by the controlling powers of Tokyo-to.

SEGA has also announced an upcoming contest that will let US and UK Jet Set Radio fans share their own love for (digital) graffiti. Eager fans will get a shot at designing eighteen brand new pieces of in-game art that will be seen by players the world over. Winners will receive a prize pack that includes a Rukus from Etón Corporation – the world’s first Bluetooth sound system with solar power – and a number of other wicked rewards.* For contest dates and details on how to participate, visit www.sega.com/jsrcontest.

“Every time we look at our favourite SEGA classics, the fans never fail to ask about Jet Set Radio,” said Haruki Satomi, Senior Vice President of Digital Business at SEGA of America. “The game was unlike anything else when it first came out, and was one of the first games in history to use cel-shading. More importantly, Jet Set Radio is a game that celebrates self-expression, and we’re looking forward to seeing how gamers and artists come together to leave their mark on Tokyo-to.”

Midway Arcade App out now

gazzara — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 16:27:33 +0000

Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment announces itsMidway Arcade App for iPad, iPhone and iPod touch – a collection of 10 classic arcade titles – is now available on the App Store for £0.69.Midway Arcade provides the ultimate arcade experience with a virtual showroom equipped with 10 classic arcade games, tickets and virtual prizes. The app allows players to take their favourite arcade games, such as Spy Hunter, Joust, Rampage and more, along with four skill - based games, including Pool, Air Hockey, Roll Ball and Basketball, with them on the go.

Players also have the option to purchase additional Midway classics through In-App Purchase. The extra fun in the Fantasy Game Pack includes Gauntlet I, Gauntlet II andWizard of Wor, while the Action Game Pack unlocks APB, NARC and Total Carnage. Players compete against their friends, earn achievements and dominate online leaderboards.

“The games featured in Midway Arcade helped define the arcade gaming space and the App Store is the perfect platform to deliver these legacy games to the current generation of gamers,” said Greg Ballard, Senior Vice President, Digital Games, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. “Long-time arcade fans can reconnect with their early favourites, and new players can fall in love with these groundbreaking arcade classics.”

The complete Midway Arcade virtual showroom includes the following titles:

Spy Hunter: Race down a freeway in an armed sports car and destroy enemies while protecting civilian vehicles;
Rampage: Reduce the city to rubble as gigantic monsters George (a King-Kong-like gorilla), Lizzie (a Godzilla-like dinosaur/lizard), and Ralph (a giant werewolf);
Defender: Defeat waves of invading aliens while protecting astronauts in this 2D shooting game;
Joust: While riding a flying ostrich, fight to defeat enemy knights riding buzzards;
Root Beer Tapper: As the bartender, serve beer and collect empty mugs and tips without letting the thirsty patrons’ patience expire;
Arch Rivals: In this Basket Brawl, outscore opponents as a crowd pleaser, rebound king, a defensive giant and more;
Skill-Based Games: Beat your friends’ top scores in Pool, Air Hockey, Roll Ball and Basketball.

The two additional game packs, available through In-App Purchase, include:

Fantasy Game Pack

Gauntlet I:Hack and slash through monsters as they try to exit the dungeon maze;
Gauntlet 2: The monsters return in this acclaimed sequel, with all new levels, and challenges;
Wizard of Wor: “ Worriors” must make their way through monster-infested dungeons to destroy the Wizard of Wor.

Action Game Pack

APB laying as Officer Bob, a rookie police officer, pursue law - breakers, cite and arrest criminals – and pick up donuts along the way;
NARC:Arrest and kill drug offenders, confiscate their money and drugs, to defeat Mr. Big;
Total Carnage:As a member of the Doomsday Squad, invade evil dictator’s General Akhboob’s base and destroy mutants, rescue hostages and capture Akhboob.

The Midway Arcade App is available for £0.69 from the App Store on iPad, iPhone and iPod touch or at www.itunes.com/appstore. The Fantasy Game Pack and Action Game Packs are available for €0.79/£0.69 each through In-App Purchase.

Mortal Kombat Arcade Kollection out now for PS3

gazzara — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 09:56:24 +0000

Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment today announces the release of Mortal Kombat Arcade Kollection, now available to download on PlayStation Network in Europe from today.

This collection offers players a chance to go back to the beginning and check out the first three games in the legendary franchise and you can take a glimpse into the downloadable title’s classic Mortal Kombat gameplay in the title’s launch trailer.

For £6.29 on PSN, the Mortal Kombat Arcade Kollection offers fans the first three games in the series – the original Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat II, and Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 – and online play, leader boards, achievements and trophies, as well as the chance to play through the games in their original arcade state. Developed by Other Ocean in conjunction with NetherRealm Studios, this collection marks the first time all three games have been brought together in one package.