NYCC 2013: Strider

For four days, people came to the Javits Center in New York City to experience one of the largest conventions on the east coast: New York Comic Con 2013!  Fans of comics, movies, television shows, and toys came together to revel in their hobbies, and with them came video game companies to show off their wares for the upcoming holiday season and beyond.  We here at 3RM attended a few of those days, and we have impressions and video to provide from our experience!

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Alex:
This year, Capcom's New York Comic Con booth focused mostly on upcoming downloadable titles from the publisher, and the big game front-and-center was Double Helix's Strider, a re-imagining of the arcade original.  I will admit I have never played the Strider games before this, but I can say that what I played at Comic Con was a smooth and intriguing experience.

Strider is a side-scrolling action title in which players control Strider Hiryu, sent to Kazakh City in order to hunt down and defeat Grandmaster Meio.  Getting to Meio is problematic, however, as he has many followers and soldiers at his disposal.  Within mere moments of nearing the city, Strider is shot down from the sky, leaving him at the outskirts of the city, still hot on his mission.  The city is massive in scale and the enemies numerous and ferocious, but thankfully for Strider, he is only going to get stronger as he makes his way into the city to face Meio.

The new Strider game is set in the sprawling Kazakh City, allowing players to explore and gather power-ups and secrets at their own pace.  As players rush through the landscape, slashing enemies with the help of Strider's Cypher, the world's large map updates and spreads out, much akin to a Metroidvania title.  In fact, this game's camera and action sequences feel very much like Chair Entertainment's Metroidvania game Shadow Complex.  At the beginning of the game, Strider has plenty of basic attacks, but in order to progress past certain obstacles, the player has to find special powerups for him or Cypher hidden around the city.  For example, there are a number of grates that are too small to cut through, but with a found ability, Strider is able to slide-slash right through the grates and out the other end.  Paying attention to where these air ducts are located will also provide health upgrades and other helpful powerups in the midst of the adventure.  Even with this example, it is clear that backtracking will be a large element in the game.

Graphically, the game looked crisp.  The color in the world was somewhat muted by a monitor overlay, complete with scanlines, but this only seemed to enhance the style of the game rather than muddle it.  There is distinct bloom from the glowing lights around the complex, helping to emphasize the stark contrasts of the shadows across characters and locales throughout the game.  The animation and framerate seemed very smooth, a good sign for a demo of what is to come.  The gameplay was kept frantic and active, and loading was kept to a minimum throughout the excursion.  My only concern about the graphics is the environments; I hope we get to see more interesting worlds as we venture further into the city (although the introductory screen had a pleasant background to see, for sure).

Those worrying about difficulty will know that while it started easy, the game became increasingly complex and difficult as the demo progressed.  Strider would run through enemies, swiftly cutting the lesser minions in half with relative ease.  This would change once I encountered larger, stronger warriors; at one point I faced an enemy who attacked unfazed by my attacks and ended up dying because of it.  The boss at the end of the demo, a large dragon robot, was equally armored and made for a hectic showpiece in the game.  I feel that considering this is the early portion of the game, the difficulty and complexity in combat will only grow and keep in time with what fans are looking for from the arcade action franchise.  Whether it will exactly match the difficulty of the older games, however, will have to wait until it is released.

The gameplay mechanics were as smooth as the graphics, quick to the point and in constant motion. Platforming was also swift, trying to maintain the hectic speeds expected of an arcade action adventure.  Upon colliding with a ceiling or wall, Strider immediately grabs hold of it, allowing for great maneuverability in rooms or in floating platforms throughout the world.  There were a couple instances when I would grab hold of a platform when I did not want to do so, but I imagine I would get used to the wall-grabbing mechanic further into the final game.  On the offensive side, even though I started with a number of powerful attacks, new upgrades piled on very quickly early on.  This makes me wonder whether the game was going to give that many upgrades so early in the game, but it could also be indicative of how many abilities will be given over the course of the final game.

Strider was a fun experience and ran very smoothly.  I cannot say how it compares to the earlier Strider games exactly, but from an outsider, it felt like a solid experience to look out for. Strider is set for release in 2014 for Xbox 360, Xbox One, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, and PC.

NYCC 2013: Earth Defense Force 2025

For four days, people came to the Javits Center in New York City to experience one of the largest conventions on the east coast: New York Comic Con 2013!  Fans of comics, movies, television shows, and toys came together to revel in their hobbies, and with them came video game companies to show off their wares for the upcoming holiday season and beyond.  We here at 3RM attended a few of those days, and we have impressions and video to provide from our experience!

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Alex:
In ShiftyLook and D3's booth, D3 Publisher showed off upcoming titles in their licensed franchises, but the company also showed off a demo of the upcoming sequel to its original IP, Earth Defense Force 2025.  We got to play through a mission of the game, and from what we experienced, it will be a treat to those who liked the series before, even if it retreads a bit on the chaos of its prequels.

Earth Defense Force 2025 is the latest in the revived Earth Defense Force series.  Much like its predecessors, EDF puts players in control of the Earth Defense Force, the last line of defense made to protect the world from alien lifeforms whose sole purpose is to destroy the human race.  These aliens use their technology to create gigantic bug monsters as well as to develop their own mechanical monstrosities to level the landscape and end humanity.  Not only are these monsters large and in charge, but there are a vast multitude of them attacking in hordes.  This creates for extremely intense situations, but at the same time, it makes completing these assaults on a myriad of alien enemies highly rewarding.

Earth Defense Force 2025 is a third-person action title, and in each mission, the players are given a goal to complete, usually revolving around the mass murder of giant bugs or warships.  Players have the ability to choose one of four different classes of soldier: Ranger, Wing Diver, Air Raider, and Fencer. Rangers are  basic foot soldiers, capable of using basic weaponry as well as vehicles and other artillery available within the battlefield.  Wing Divers have jetpacks and laser weapons, allowing quick mobility in the air around the enemy.  Air Raiders can set up air raids and larger attacks from the sky, and finally Fencers are heavily armored and weaponized warriors.  Between these different classes and the large assortment of weapons to collect in each mission, the game is full of variety, and seeing as there are many difficulty levels for each mission, replayability is even further emphasized.

In my playtime with the game, my brother and I worked together to kill off a myriad off ants as they ravaged through the city, attacking any passerby they encountered.  I personally chose the reintroduced Wing Diver, and I found it to be a delightful experience.  While I was much weaker than my brother, who played as a Ranger and later a Fencer, I was able to fly over the enemies and use highly-destructive lasers and rocket launches from afar.  In usual co-op fashion, I accidentally killed him at least once with a large pulse of my weapons, but thankfully players can revive each other with minimal loss of time.  Still, there is definitely a need for cooperation if every player wants to make it out alive.

The graphics for the game have improved a bit over that of Sandlot's previous installment, EDF 2017.  The city has more variety, and citizens do not simply appear and vanish quickly in front of us.  There is more detail in the buildings and monsters, but there are still some lower polygon areas, especially amid the rubble of the battlefield.  Also, as is the norm in EDF, the framerate starts slow enough, but when action gets heavy, the game can quickly become a slideshow.  There are just so many monsters and explosions happening at once that the game can barely handle it, but with as many enemies as there are, perhaps it is for the best for things to slow down a touch in order to ensure correctly-timed dodges.

My only major concern is repetitiveness.  While the game shows plenty of promise with different weapons to gather and now four different classes to control, I wonder exactly how much of the game will be similar to that of its predecessor.  Thankfully, since the game is pushing more toward a cooperative experience, it is likely that the experience will remain fun and intense with friends much more than when playing it alone.  Regardless of that concern, if it can please me as well as it has in the past, I can say this will be a go-to game for anyone into an action-packed alien massacre with city-leveling explosions on top.

Earth Defense Force 2025 releases February for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.


Tony:

At New York Comic Con 2013, I got a chance to try out Earth Defense Force 2025, the latest edition of the EDF franchise. Having played earlier games in the franchise, I looked forward to playing this action-packed title, filled with large insects and massive explosions, and it did not disappoint.

In my hands-on, I played the first mission through the game's co-op mode, a franchise staple. The mission briefing opened up with an emergency call claiming there were alien invaders in the city. Although the group thought it was just a prank call, it did not take long for the crew to be proven wrong as gigantic ants began terrorizing the city, attacking anyone nearby in a very gruesome way - more violent than I remember from the other games. Just like in the other EDF titles, it was our duty to hunt down and destroy the invaders (with the city landscape as collateral damage). In this first level, all the objectives revolved around heading to different parts of the city to kill all of the ants there. Once they were exterminated, we would receive another order to take down a new cluster of ants invading another part of the city. This continued until the mission ended in victory.

Before the mission started, I was able to select from different classes of EDF soldiers. The one I selected was the Ranger class, armed with a shotgun and grenade launcher. The satisfaction of blasting away alien monsters and the occasional building was still there, complete with explosions and falling debris everywhere. I did notice that the buildings had more resistance than in the past, but I guess that is more realistic than the fragile buildings of yore. I think character movement had reduced itself somewhat, as it felt slow-going to get down streets and face off against more bugs. Once I got used to the new movement and readied my shotgun, I found myself blasting away ants like it was my job, which it was.

Compared to its predecessor (2017), the details of the city and alien ants were much improved. However, I felt that the low framerate made all the on-screen action rather hard to follow, but this may have been because the demo I played was using split-screen co-op. Despite the framerate, EDF 2025 was still a blast to play in co-op with explosions, buildings, and alien parts going everywhere.

I really enjoyed my short time with Earth Defense Force 2025. My only concern is whether the framerate will improve any before launch. Besides that, the game is sure to make EDF fans happy with alien-killing action and destruction everywhere.

PAX East 2013: Dragon Fantasy Book I and II (Muteki Corp.)

Interview:

Book I PSVita Gameplay:

Book II Gameplay:

It has been a year since we last spoke with Muteki Corporation's head Adam Rippon about his upcoming RPG Dragon Fantasy Book II, and what a year it has been!  We got to speak with him about the game, its unique contents, and the process of bringing it onto Sony platforms.  You can see that in the interview above.

Dragon Fantasy is a series starring the previously-retired hero Ogden who is pulled out of retirement to help save the world once more.  Book I told the beginning of the story through a collection of three chapters (and one bonus chapter exclusive to other platforms), while the upcoming Book II will be played as a complete adventure, although Rippon noted it would be effectively chapters four through six (and a touch of seven).

Book I was originally released on mobile devices, PC, and Mac, but now it is being released on PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita.  The game's 8-bit graphics and soundtrack have been completely reworked to fit a new remastered 16-bit style, but players can swap between the styles at any time.  The game's status system has been reworked, and the PSN edition will also have a new dungeon added in, as well.  From playing the demo, I found the ability to change styles on-the-fly to be quite nifty, and other than that the game played like a pretty standard RPG of the age it reflected.  Of course, it was a short playthrough, but it still particularly reminded me of the older generation RPGs of yore.

Meanwhile, Book II will be a PlayStation Network exclusive, releasing for both PS3 and PSVita.  By this point in the series, the heroes are being pursued by the Imperial Armada and in the southlands quickly find themselves split up into three groups.  These three groups end up venturing throughout the land and discovering the mysteries of the war between the Kingdom of Tundaria and the Empire of Sandheim.  Will all our burning questions be answered? Potentially.

Book II will still follow the same humor and storytelling style of its predecessor, but the gameplay has been greatly changed.  The battle system of old has been replaced with a more real-time-based battle system akin to Chrono Trigger.  While a battle rages on, enemies wandering the world can join in the fray to join their comrades, and the same can be said for the game's heroes, especially using the game's multiplayer capabilities.  On top of that, the game now features ship battles, in which players must battle other ships by using whatever they can find (or knock out) on the ship's deck.  While I did not get to play the ship battle, I did get to play a little bit of the more traditional segments.  The battles seemed quite active, as characters would bounce and move within the battle zone, although I am not sure if it had any effect to their abilities in-battle.  Graphically, it looked sharp for an indie retro RPG, and I anticipate seeing more soon.

Both PSN games will have cross-save features, allowing people to transfer saves between the Vita and PlayStation 3 versions of the game, and there is also a You Only Pay Once deal for the games, as well (buy one, get the other free).

Dragon Fantasy Book I will be on PSN April 16th, and Book II will be available in the summer of this year.

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.