PAX East 2013: Lost Planet 3

Tony:

Among the playable games at Capcom’s PAX East booth was Lost Planet 3 for both Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Having never played the first games in the series, I decided to try it out. My playtime was limited so I was unable to experience the entire demo, leaving out certain mechanics such as Mech battles against larger monsters. My experience was limited to a third person segment of me traveling though an abandoned laboratory of some sort.

The game takes place before the events of the first Lost Planet game on the still frozen planet, E.D.N. III. Our main character, Jim Peyton is sent to the planet by the corporation NEVEC in order to mine resources for the Earth by using a massive mining mech. As he continues his mining, he finds pockets of heat energy that melts away the snow and begins to uncover details about NEVEC and the ferocious monsters that live on the planet. During my playthough, the game would occasionally cut from the action to a cutscene where Jim is recording a video to his wife, explaining his job and the wonders he sees. It is an interesting way to describe the game’s background and to create contrast in Jim's character, from being cheerful on the video to becoming worried and violent when moving the frozen landscape.

The part I played in the demo felt what could have been the game’s first mission, as the main character seemed surprised by various events taking place. After melting one area, he found a facility beneath the ice and snow, questioning why it was there. Entering the dark, frozen complex, my immediate thought was how much it reminded me of Dead Space 3. The persistent darkness, mounting numbers of dead bodies, and ominous noises from the air vents were all things I had seen Dead Space do before. At one point, I had to force open a door that I knew it would lead to a monster attack. Sure enough, after pressing the X button to force open the door, an insect jumped on top of me. Once the bug had jumped on me, the game prompted me to press the X button rapidly. But after that, two reticules appeared on screen, which I assumed had to be aligned. After three tries ending in failure, I learned I had to press the right trigger once they had been matched up. This bothered me, as there was plenty of button prompts everywhere else in the demo but here.

After that event, I was able to move about a large generator room where I got a good look at the game’s emphasis on lighting. A large glowing mechanism lit up the room while large panels rotated around it, creating moments of darkness. If there was one thing Lost Planet 3’s demo did well, it was the lighting. Shortly after entering the room, I was attacked by more alien insects. Much like in other third-person shooters, I had to aim my shotgun toward them as they approached. However, I quickly found that to be rather difficult as the camera moved in too close to Jim, making it hard for me to see the targets, not to mention that the aiming sensitivity was too high, causing me to often over-shoot the monsters. While sensitivity might be customizable, I am not sure about the camera work, which made fighting the smaller monsters challenging. Another thing I noticed was the lack of any run button. I tried a variety of buttons and could not find the sprint button. In a game with monsters, running is important as I tried to keep my distance form them. It is possible that my trouble with controls could have been fixed with customization or by simply playing the game more.

My time with the demo ended with me turning off the generator to get through a locked door. In order to turn it off, I had to hold the X button down for several seconds as the generator slowed down. I felt this was a foreshadowing of events later in the game where Jim might have to turn something on or off while hoards of monsters try to stop him. As expected, once the generator was turned off, a bunch of insects entered the facility prompting another battle but this time with much less lighting. It was here that my playtime ended.

Lost Planet 3 may take place before the first game in the series, but my experience made me feel closer to what I had seen of Dead Space 3 more than the Lost Planet series. While I hear there are other additions as wel' as mech battles, I sadly did not get a chance to play them so my impressions are limited. The close aiming camera, lack of running, and the promptless quick-time events were my biggest frustrations of the game, while its lighting and environment were definitely its strengths. I hope the other portions of the game outweigh the parts I had trouble with, or else this game will have trouble standing out from other games using the same style of aesthetic. Keep an eye out for more of this game when it comes out for Xbox 360, Playstation 3, and PC in June.

PAX East 2013: Resident Evil Revelations: Unveiled Edition

Tony:

Over a year ago, Capcom released Resident Evil: Revelations on the Nintendo 3DS. It was given praise for its survival horror gameplay mixed with occasional action sequences while still maintaining a very Resident Evil feel. Now Capcom is bringing this title to the Xbox 360, Playstation 3, and Wii U as Resident Evil Revelations: Unveiled Edition. The new edition totes HD graphics, new playable characters, and a new Intense difficulty mode which adds new monsters to change things up. At Capcom’s PAX East 2013 booth, the Xbox 360 version of the game was playable, so I gave it a try.

Taking place before the events of Resident Evil 5, the game primarily stars lJill Valentine with her partner Parker Luciani. The two are on a mission to explore the abandoned SS Queen Zenobia to look for Chris Redfield who went missing while investigating the possible return of Veltro, a terrorist organization which used the T-Abyss virus to create B.O.W.s a year before. As you would expect, the ship is crawling with these monstrosities, and in usual Resident Evil fashion, there are also a number of plot-twists to keep things unexpected. Having played the 3DS version, I am curious to see if they added any new plotline twists in this release.

In the demo, I got to see a portion of the main story as well as the first mission in Raid Mode. Gameplay wise, Resident Evil Revelations: Unveiled Edition played nearly identical to its 3DS counter part when using the Circle Pad Pro. The left stick moves the character while the right stick controls the camera, which helped me survey my surroundings, searching for various monsters. In order to shoot your weapon, you must enter an aiming mode by pressing the left trigger and then shoot with the right. Like with the 3DS version, this mode could be set in first-person or over-the-shoulder as in Resident Evil 4. Overall, the controls were responsive and mapped well to the Xbox 360 controller. Sadly, there wasn’t a Wii U version to play to see what functions its touch screen would add besides a map.

Obviously, some major changes were the updated graphics for high definition displays. While the original was good-looking for a handheld title, this version had more detail in the character models, better textures, and improved lighting. The character models now appear closer to how they look in cutscenes. The monsters are also improved, appearing wetter and slimier than ever. These creatures also had more imperfections added such as gaps in the flesh or protruding bone structures though the skin. The game’s textures were crisper and had more detail with rust and drippings. While everything looked better in general, it definitely did not look like it was made from the ground up like the previous console ventures. Instead, it looked as though Capcom took what was already in the original game, cleaned it up, and made it higher resolution. Given that the first game was good looking already, being cleaned up does make it a good looking console experience, just not an amazing one.

The game’s musical score, sound effects, and voice acting all sound like they did back on the handheld version. The second I heard the theme playing on the menu screen, I was taken back to my time on the 3DS, huddled over and about to delve into another chapter. Finally, the game’s interface has also seen a slight facelift to fit the new HD television screen. Since there is no second screen, the Xbox version had the map, weapon ammo, health bar, and grenade count all on the screen along side the action. Being that all the other Resident Evil titles have been like this before, it did not feel too cluttered to play.

Resident Evil Revelations was a great title that played like the RE games of old based around survival horror. Now with Unveiled Edition, people will be able to fully experience this game on their big screens with added features. While it does not look as graphically powerful as other HD games by Capcom, it certainly isn’t an eyesore either. Even though I already own the 3DS version, I would be willing to try this game on consoles for its improvements and extra content. Look forward for a true Resident Evil experience when it comes to all consoles this May.

3RM @ NYCC 2012: Sonic and All-Stars Racing Transformed

Sonic and Aaron Webber Commentary

Danica Patrick and Dragons

Alex:

Sumo Digital and Sega have been working well together for the last few years to bring us games starring a multitude of Sega characters, and this year, the two are releasing their second racing game starring Sonic and a collection of other Sega favorites: Sonic and All-Stars Racing Transformed.  While Sega itself did not have a booth at this year’s New York Comic Con, two demo units of the racer were at the Archie Comic booth, and we even got Associate Brand Manager Aaron Webber to chat with us about the game.  After my brief hands-on and some examination of the demos there, I can see the potential this racer has at the starting line.

Sonic and All-Stars Racing Transformed is the sequel to 2010’s Sonic and Sega All-Stars Racing, but the game adds a very significant twist to the gameplay this time around.  Initially, the game plays similar to that of its predecessor; players choose Sonic and Sega characters to race in vehicles along tracks designed from the worlds of Sega’s lore.  However, at particular moments in the race, the vehicles can transform from cars to boats or planes to accommodate changes in the track.  These other vehicle forms control very differently from the original form; whereas boats are affected by the flow of water physics, the planes add aerodynamic elements into the game.  The vehicle changes help break up what might otherwise be a simple course, and the changing track allows players to experience more of the environments around them.

Transformed appears to take content from its previous game while adding in a collection of characters expected and unexpected.  Returning are a number of characters from the original, such as Sonic the Hedgehog, AiAi, and Beat, but Sumo Digital is adding in new Sega favorites such as NiGHTS, Gilius Thunderhead, and Vyse.  The odder additions to this game are Ralph from the upcoming Disney movie Wreck-it Ralph and Danica Patrick, a JR Motorsports NASCAR Nationwide Series racer who will be driving in a Sega-sponsored vehicle in future NASCAR races.  I will admit, it was very odd seeing someone play through Panzer Dragoon’s stage with Danica, but at the same time, the gameplay does not get pushed aside simply because she was included in the game.  I was more concerned about how many reused environments we might see in the final release.  Sumo seems to be focusing a lot on the Sonic Heroes motif for Sonic’s world, and from the looks of it, we might be losing certain characters from the roster who were more niche, including Opa-Opa and Alex Kidd (but maybe I’m biased toward the latter).  We still do not know the final roster of courses or characters, so I might be wrong, but it is a concern to have now, regardless.

I got to play as Sonic in his franchise’s stage, and on the PlayStation 3, the game looks as good as ever.  I had only played parts of the first game's Xbox 360 demo before, and even then, I saw issues with the game’s framerate.  In this playthrough, however, I could see a definite improvement in the framerate, which remained mostly consistent throughout the playthrough.  The shading and color were very crisp in this game, as well.  The Xbox 360 demo showed a little weakness when it came to larger environment changes, but I imagine it will have been optimized in time for release.

I found Transformed to control fairly well, even if I made a few mistakes here and there at the beginning.  In the air, the car slowed down a bit too much in my eyes, but on the ground, the car turned and moved well around curves and through loop-de-loops.  On the water, I could feel the controls shift and really emphasize the water below me, and coupled with a giant octopus attacking me and a multitude of water mines throughout the final stretch, it felt a lot more action-packed than I expected when the race began.  As for weapons, there are the usual power-ups one can use to attack other racers such as snowballs or a tornado to flip them around, but there are also special All-Star moves which can be used once racers collect enough coins and do enough tricks in the race.  I did not get to use an All-Star move, but I got to use a few weapons and boosts to stay with the pack.  Even though I ended up in third, the experience was a fun one, and I wish I got to play it again during my time there.

Alas, only the PS3 and 360 versions were playable at the event, but the Wii U version is promising to have unique content to it, using the Wii U GamePad for asymmetric gameplay modes as well as five-player offline multiplayer.  I was unable to get any further details from Aaron about these modes, but hopefully more information will arise before it releases.

I found my experience with Sonic and All-Stars Racing Transformed to be quite good, and my concerns and nitpicking aside, I walked away more interested in the game than when I approached it.  Transformed should be releasing November 18^th for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Wii U, and the handheld editions of the game will release sometime in December, as far as we know.

Oh, and Ristar is the flagman.  So, that’s cool.

3RM @ NYCC 2012: Capcom Videos

We have decided to lump together all the Capcom contents into a single article, mainly because we only got to play one Capcom game playable at this year's NYCC: Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate.  Check out for impressions soon!

Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate (Wii U Version - Not played by us, in case you were wondering)

Darkstalkers: Resurrection (complete with Ono appearing for autographs)

DmC (some off-screen footage from outside the line waiting for demos)

Third Rate Game Play: Darksiders

Game: Darksiders System: Xbox 360 Developer: Vigil Games Publisher: THQ Player: Alex Experience: Tony played some beforehand

Check after the jump for the article!

Third Rate Game Play: Earth Defense Force 2017

Game: Earth Defense Force 2017 System: Xbox 360 Developer: Sandlot (Robot Alchemic Drive) Publisher: D3 Publisher Player: Alex and Tony Experience: 2nd Recording Attempt

Check after the jump for our article!

Third Rate Game Play: Bomberman: Act Zero

Game: Bomberman: Act Zero System: Xbox 360 Developer: Hudson Soft (Bomberman, Adventure Island, Mario Party) Publisher: Konami Player: Tony Experience: Blind

Check the article after the jump!

Third Rate Game Play: Secret Service

Game: Secret Service System: Xbox 360 Developer: Cauldron (Quadrax, Chaser) Publisher: Activision Value Player: Tony Experience: Minimal (2nd record attempt)

Check after the break for the article!

PAX East 2012: Square-Enix

In PAX East, a number of larger third party developers showed off their lineups for the Summer and early Fall, and we were able to get a few clips of footage of some of those games from Square-Enix.  Unfortunately, we did not get to play too many of their games, as lines were a factor, and we did not get to interview anyone or get too much footage of any of the games shown.  So, rather than provide three very short videos, we have compiled them into one.

Square-Enix had a number of games shown off, though the three we have video footage of are United Front Games' Sleeping Dogs, Theatrhythm: Final Fantasy, and Airtight Games' Quantum Conundrum.  We were not allowed to film any of Heroes of Ruin, which was a shame, but at least we got footage for the games we did.  I was able to get a few minutes with Heroes of Ruin, but the game does not lend itself to a showfloor playthrough, particularly with character creation, lots of reading, and looting.  On that note, enjoy the footage we got and stay tuned for our final PAX East videos next week!

Sleeping Dogs is slated for August for PC, Xbox 360, and Playstation 3.  Theatrhythm: Final Fantasy is slated for release early July for 3DS.  Quantum Conundrum is expected for digital release this Summer.

PAX East 2012: Crimson Dragon and Steel Battalion

At PAX East, Microsoft's booth was surrounded by large Kinect setups, demonstrating a number of games that had just come out such as Kinect Star Wars and games that are on the horizon.  We were unable to get any interview or direct playtime with these games, but we do have two gameplay videos for you to enjoy.

PAX East 2012: Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode II

Of all the lines at Sega’s PAX East Booth, the line for Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode II was one of the largest.  Fans of the blue hedgehog all wanted to try out his newest adventure, but at the same time, there was cautious optimism.  After the mixed response to Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode I, Sega claims to have gone back and rebuilt the game’s physics to be closer to the Genesis Sonic titles, although not entirely so. We had a chance to try it out on the show floor, and there were definitely some improvements.

Check out the video here for an interview with Sega's Ken Balough! [Impressions after the break]

Third Rate Game Play: Sonic the Hedgehog (2006)

Game: Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) System: Xbox 360 Developer: Sonic Team  Publisher: Sega Player: Tony Experience: Played the game briefly beforehand

Third Rate Game Play: Bullet Witch

Game: Bullet Witch System: Xbox 360 Developer: Cavia, Inc. Publisher: Atari Player: Tony Experience: Blind

[For the article, follow the jump.]

NYCC 2011: Trials Evolution

Our adventure into this year's New York Comic Con was not exactly as peachy as we would have liked, but when is a convention not stressful? We were only able to attend the Thursday and Friday events for both economical and physical reasons, but we got a handful of videos and impressions to make for you all.

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This past NYCC, Microsoft had a number of games showcased around its booth, including Kinect titles The Gunstringer and Just Dance 3 and upcoming titles Mass Effect 3 and Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary. Inside the main circle, however, there were three XBLA titles available to play, including newly-announced Fusion: Genesis (we have footage of that game to appear in our Miscellaneous Montage), Robot Entertainment's Orcs Must Die, and last but not least, RedLynx's Trials Evolution.

Trials Evolution is the sequel to the Summer of Arcade hit Trials HD, and from the time I had to try out the game, it has the same insanity of the original but with a bit more. Graphically, Trials Evolution is just as good as the original, but instead of the darker and enclosed locales, Evolution breaks free into the fresh and dangerous outdoors. The game ran at a super-smooth framerate, and the camera kept itself situated in such a way so as to accentuate each ramp's depths and every sharp turn within the newest escapade.

New locations, new obstacles, new tricks.

Controls are very smooth and should be very close to that of the original XBLA game, which made running through the obstacle course a constantly active experience. Players control not only the bike's speed but also the position of the rider, shifting forward or back on the crazy motorbike. This shifting of weight is what will determine whether the rider makes the jump or gets acquainted with the ground at many dozens of miles per hour. Of course, making those complicated jumps is altogether satisfying! The pull of Trials HD remains as potent as ever this time around.

I somehow doubt he is going to make it.

I did not get a lot of time to look further than a few levels, but from what I played, it was a delight and will certainly live up to Trials HD's style in some way. To see what I experienced, view the video below.

Trials Evolution has no clear release date, but we should expect it soon for XBLA.

NYCC 2011: Dragon's Dogma

Our adventure into this year's New York Comic Con was not exactly as peachy as we would have liked, but when is a convention not stressful? We were only able to attend the Thursday and Friday events for both economical and physical reasons, but we got a handful of videos and impressions to make for you all.

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Capcom's booth was among the most active of the show, which made recording footage and grabbing any brief interviews hard for us on Friday. Fighting games such as Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 and Street Fighter X Tekken were crammed in the middle of the booth, while other adventures, such as Asura's Wrath and Dead Rising 2: Off the Record, were available for play around the outside. Asura's Wrath in particular drew crowds due to the Rage Booth, but in the chaos, we decided to take a look at Capcom's next large franchise: Dragon's Dogma.

Dragon's Dogma takes place in old medieval times, and the player's created hero becomes the unfortunate victim of a large dragon. With the hero's heart removed and held by the dragon, the hero should be dead but is instead revived as an "Enlightened One," driven to find the dragon and get vengeance. The game is prepped to be an open-world adventure, full to the brim with massive monsters and large, sprawling lands to travel.

I don't know about you, but I think that adventurer is about to be Hydra food.

The actual demo was located in a small alcove with four demo stations facing each other, and in those demos, I had the choice of a dungeon or field-based scenario. There were not many people at this game, and after playing the demo for a short while, I realized why that may have been the case.

In the field scenario, my hero was with a group of NPCs, including an archer and a wizard, as they approached a number of monsters wrecking a small convoy. Without much hesitation on their part, the group rushed toward them, and I found myself in a bit of a bad situation. I was being thrown into battle with barely any knowledge of how the game played.

While this scenario was loading, I was met with a gargantuan, complex control screen. It seems I had missed out on some pivotal information, as my progress fell flat early into the demo. I tried to find a way to run and could not, and I quickly found my attacks to be less effective compared to those from my entourage. Before I could really get a grasp for my inventory, I was met with a greater foe: a massive griffin who had a taste for adventurers.

Had I been better, this might have been the outcome.

This was when the battle went from cumbersome to chaotic. I could attack the large monstrosity with my short blades easily, but in the air, I was met with difficulty. A wizard informed me that his flames would hurt the griffin greatly, and the archer let me know to attack its wings with my bow and arrow. Without any prompt or hint of how to use my bow, I started to pull it out, only to completely miss or mess up with my attacks. Less than a minute later, I was informed, yet again, from my NPCs. I got some more hits in, but still the others called out to me as if I was failing greatly. Shortly thereafter, convinced I was getting nowhere, I ended my playthrough.

They are helpful, but the others are also quite annoyingly verbal.

Was Dragon's Dogma bad? No, it was probably more the environment and lack of knowledge toward the game's control that threw me off than anything else. However, if this game is coming out early 2012 (which it is), there needs to be some level of polish in how the characters act and how the game flows. The graphics look nice in stills but chugged along way too slowly, and the controls were certainly not more accessible, despite what the director said in the past. Hopefully the final product will deliver better than this demo did.

See below for the video of my experience. Dragon's Dogma is slated for March 2012.

NYCC 2011: Sonic Generations

Our adventure into this year's New York Comic Con was not exactly as peachy as we would have liked, but when is a convention not stressful? We were only able to attend the Thursday and Friday events for both economical and physical reasons, but we got a handful of videos and impressions to make for you all.

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Sonic Generations was available in split venues at this year's New York Comic Con; the console version of the game was situated at the Archie Comics booth while Nintendo housed the 3DS edition (which was on rotation with other third party games such as Skylanders and Shinobi). I only got my hands on the 3DS version, and it looks to have improved some since it last appeared in public.

Old Sonic Character, meet New Sonic Worlds.

Comparatively, Classic Sonic was both slower and tighter in control than Modern Sonic was. Classic Sonic required more of a running start to really get moving while Modern Sonic accelerated much faster, making it a tad harder to know what was in front of him. While I didn’t test to see just how close Classic Sonic’s physics were to the physics on the Genesis, I could tell there were some differences, but not enough to impede my experience. As for Modern Sonic, he played similarly to his Sonic Rush counterparts, which was fast and smooth.

Green Hill has gone 3D. Blast Processing has returned!

One thing I noticed was that the Classic Sonic stage layouts were copies of the original level layouts back on the Genesis. This is a tad disappointing as Green Hill Zone Act 1 is only 30 seconds long and there is no feeling of experiencing new levels. Luckily, Modern Sonic’s stages are completely new with rails and other stage gimmicks. I was happy to notice that both Classic and Modern Sonic had complex platforming elements as well as multiple paths to choose from, adding to the game’s replayablilty. One element I did not like for Modern Sonic was that in some parts you needed to boost in order to get through while other parts punished you if you didn’t take you time. As far as level layouts go, they were pretty much on par with Sonic Rush’s level design, which is okay by me. As for the boss in the demo, Big Arm, I found the battle challenging and fun. Compared to videos I have seen online, this boss fight felt tougher as a result of his constantly changing attack pattern; this more difficult battle also allowed me the time to hear the music, which was a neat combination of both new and old themes.

After playing both versions, I found a problem I had not thought of before. In the console versions, both Sonics have different looking stages and play styles, but in the 3DS version, both Sonics look the same and have similar levels. This caused some confusion mid-game; at times I would forget that I had special abilities or that I could not use special attacks. Hopefully this will not be too much of an issue for me later on!

Well, as long as it is fun, I won't complain about including Sonic Heroes.

After seeing both versions in person, it was clear that the console version is getting far more attention than the handheld version. Both games look nice, but some corners are being cut in order to get the 3DS game out this year. My other concern is game length. The HD version has 9 stages each with two acts and 10 missions, but so far it appears that there are only 7 stages with 2 acts on the 3DS. Besides that, the game does appear to be improving and should be at least enjoyable to fans of the more recent Sonic handheld games.

On Thursday, I had the pleasure to speak with Aaron Webber about Sonic Generations, which you can see in the video below. While no release date has been announced for the 3DS version, the 360, PC, and Playstation 3 version of Sonic Generations is expected later this month.