Weekly Releases: 10/17/10

With only a couple weeks before Halloween shows up, you all better get started on your costumes. Or just play a bunch of video games, instead.

Significant Releases

Kirby's Epic Yarn (Wii)


Developer: Good-Feel (Wario Land: Shake it!) / HAL (Kirby Series)
Publisher: Nintendo

Kirby has returned to consoles after a seven-year handheld-only vacation (that last title being Kirby Air Ride), and this time he's pulling all the stops...or should I say strings? After swallowing a magical Metamato, Kirby is sucked into the evil Yin-Yarn's gym sock, sending him into Patch Land, a world made entirely of yarn and fabric including the inhabitants themselves! In order to save the land and himself, Kirby and his new friend Prince Pluff must work together in a side scrolling adventure filled with fabric and strings to defeat the evil Yin-Yarn and his creations. The game is brain-meltingly cute, filled with cooperative gameplay, and fairly lengthy to top it off. It should be quite an Epic, or sew I think.

Fallout: New Vegas (360 / PS3 / PC)


Developer: Obsidian Entertainment (Alpha Protocol, Neverwinter Nights 2)
Publisher: Bethesda Softworks

After years of downloadable adventures on the franchise rebirth of Fallout 3, the series is getting a new venture of much greater proportions. Obsidian may seem to be new to the franchise, but the team is full of ex-Black Isle developers, the people who worked on Fallouts 1 and 2! Taking place three years after Fallout 3 and on the other side of the continent, players assume the role of a courier who is shot and left for dead, but after some people restore you to health, you are given the chance to do...well, anything. You can side with different sanctions in the desolate world, or you can focus more on revenge on those who harmed you. The game has a new Hardcore Mode in which your character must eat, sleep, and be aware of the ammo's weight on top of him or her, among other things. So for those looking for realism in surviving the wilderness, New Vegas is going to bring that in spades.

Vanquish (360 / PS3)


Developer: Platinum Games (MadWorld, Bayonetta)
Publisher: Sega

Shinji Mikami, the director of Resident Evil 4, has come back to bring us a unique, action-paced twist to the third-person shooter genre. After a Russian militant group takes a United States energy-gathering satellite to be used as a weapon of mass destruction, it is up to Sam Gideon and a special forces group to take back the satellite before it reaches its second target: New York. The game is a frantic-paced third-person shooter in which players utilize an Augmented Reaction System Suit which can dash forward at incredible speeds, mimic up to three weapons with its BLADE system, and even slow down perceived time at certain instances. Vanquish adds an arcade element to it all by adding in score-based leaderboards for each stage in the action-packed game.

Costume Quest (XBLA / PSN) - Double Fine / THQ

A unique adventure title in which players control a young child during Halloween. After your twin is taken away by monsters, it is up to you and your friends to search around the neighborhood and even transform into massive creatures your costumes depict in order to save the day...or night.

Super Meat Boy (XBLA, PC and Wii dates TBA) - Team Meat

Super Meat Boy is a quick-paced platfomer in which players control Meat Boy whose mission is to save Bandage Girl from the nefarious Dr. Fetus. Taking place over numerous chapters of increasing insanity, the game is so full of content it oozes from the walls. Multiple Indie-Game protagonists appear as secret characters, ranging from Tim to Alien Hominid. For the XBLA version, Teh Internets is a world where Team Meat will be able to add more Chapters over time, making the game continue to grow even months after release!

Flip's Twisted World (Wii) - Frozen North / Majesco

Flip, the apprentice of Master Fulcrum, has become sucked into another cubic world, and in order to escape, he has to venture through five worlds and defeat whatever is keeping him there. The game is a 3D platformer with a large focus on rotating the world using the Wii Remote at particular moments, bringing a unique puzzle twist to the adventure.

Other Releases:
Bakugan: Defender's Core (PS3 / Wii / DS / PSP)
Cabela's Dangerous Hunts 2011 (PS3 / 360 / Wii / DS)
DJ Hero 2 (PS3 / 360 / Wii)
EA Sports MMA (PS3 / 360)
PES 2011 (PS3 / 360)
Power Gig: Rise of the Sixstring (PS3 / 360)
Rock of the Dead (PS3 / 360)
NBA 2K11 (Wii)
Cars Toon: Mater's Tall Tales (Wii)

Previous 10 Weeks:
8/10/10 - Medal of Honor / Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 1
8/3/10 - Castlevania: Lords of Shadow / Shantae: Risky's Revenge / NBA Jam
9/26/10 - Dead Rising 2
9/19/10 - Civilization V
9/12/10 - Halo: Reach / Prof. Layton and the Unwound Future / Playstation Move
9/5/10 - Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep / Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions
8/29/10 - Metroid: Other M
8/22/10 - Mafia II / Shank / And Yet it Moves
8/15/10 - Kane and Lynch 2: Dog Days / Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light
8/8/10 - Madden NFL 11 / Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World: The Game

SOURCE: NeoGAF

Review: Jett Rocket

Game Title: Jett Rocket Developer: Shin’en Multimedia (Nanostray, Fun! Fun! Minigolf, Art of Balance) Platform: WiiWare Price: 1000 Wii Points ($10)

In the past generation, platformers have for the most part disappeared from the mainstream in favor of first and third-person shooters, but the Wii is starting to appear to be the place for 3D platformers to shine. Shin’en Multimedia has not only brought a unique 3D platformer to the WIi but also brought it through WiiWare. With the size limitations inherent to WiiWare, does Jett Rocket even compare to the retail games currently available?

Jett Rocket stars who else but Jett Rocket, the protector of the planet from all evil that resides in space. In his swift introduction, he is attacked by the PPP, a group of evil robots bent on polluting the world. We do not really see the pollution around in the worlds, but their metallic existence in the otherwise naturalistic worlds is bad enough. Either way, the game’s plot is paper thin, but we don’t care about that. It’s the game that counts.

Wait, this is a WiiWare title?

From a basic viewpoint, Jett Rocket is every bit as much of a 3D platformer as any. In each level, players have but one apparent goal: to destroy the generator located at the end of the level. In order to get there, you’ll have to climb platforms, natural or otherwise, move electrical panels or other devices, and occasionally destroy the invading robot forces along the way. What you might not realize early on is that in order to get into the later worlds in the game, you must also spend your time in each level collecting energy cells which are scattered throughout the world. This gives the game a bit more exploration and lengthens the game up, but on occasion it hints of a “collect-a-thon.”

Attacking enemies in this game is waggle-based. By shaking the Remote, Jett dash attacks forward, and in the air, he dives to the ground or toward a locked-on target. Motion waggle is also needed for throwing bombs and moving certain platform lifts. On occasion, the game might miss a waggle motion, but it works for the most part. Most of the enemies are pushovers, anyways, so a mistake in motion sensing will not kill Jett that easily.

Some levels are extremely enemy-dense, so expect to shake that Remote a lot!

Jett has another special trick up his sleeve: his jetpack. The jetpack is a chargeable ability which allows players to slightly increase the height of their jumps or lengthen their time in the air. This FLUDD-like jump-assistor adds more platforming situations than it dissolves, though it seems the jetpack could have been a little less of a gas guzzler. A number of times I found myself having to walk back to a charge station far away only to make a mistake and retry it all over again. However, the frustration was outweighed by the satisfaction earned when exploring the levels with the jetpack.

The game also gives Jett a number of vehicles to use in order to traverse the worlds. Early on, there is a level that has no platforming, only a jetski segment, but thankfully the other vehicles are integrated into the levels rather than entire stages. The controls of some of the vehicles range from decent to cumbersome, and glitches tend to arrive mostly when these vehicles are in use, as well. For example, in one level, a hoverboard vehicle rotates too sharply, and the camera cannot keep up. It is a shame, because they do add a little bit more to the game than just running around with a jetpack.

There are plenty of objects to control beyond Jett, but not necessarily as fun.

Now, you can hear all the complaints I have made and think the game is fairly unwieldy or something like that, but the game is actually quite fun. The graphics are extremely well-polished to the point that some retail games are shaking in their polygonal boots, and the game’s framerate is a solid 60 frames per second. The music is also a delight to hear and is surprisingly diverse considering the size requirements for WiiWare titles. As for the gameplay itself, running around the levels and facing platform puzzle elements may feel like they came from Mario Galaxy on occasion, but I found that to be more a pro than a con.

Jett Rocket’s flaws that stuck out the most, however, were the game’s overall length and the lack of checkpoints. The game is fairly short. It took me about four hours to complete the adventure the first time through, but if players want to get 100% completion, they will have to complete a collection of achievements over the course of the game. Even so, the adventure is not a retail game’s length. When it comes to checkpoints, there are none, save the three instances before fighting bosses. In the later two worlds, some levels run quite long, but healing is hard to come by. If you die, you have to collect the cells and such all over again, from the beginning of the level. It would have been good to have at least a checkpoint system at the later levels, but the game is nice enough that repeating a level a couple times will not tire players much.

CONCLUSION

Jett Rocket can best be described as the first half (or third) of a great 3D platformer for the Wii. Its graphics are comparable to many retail titles for the Wii, and its music is also a pleasure to hear. The game is a bit short, but it is acceptable for the price. The game’s exploration and atmosphere make it more than a generic adventure, and it has enough content to stand out among the rest.

For $10, Jett Rocket establishes a genre unattained on WiiWare, and at the same time, it offers a comparable 3D platforming experience to games many times its price. Recommended.


Disclaimer: WiiWare titles are downloadable on Wiis through the Wii Shop Channel using Wii Points. Wii Points are obtained through either Nintendo Points Cards or Credit Card usage. A Wii downloading the game must be capable of connecting to the Internet in order to purchase and download the game.

Krome Studios Closing Monday

According to reports, Australian developer Krome Studios will be closing its doors on Monday, laying off around two hundred employees in the process.

Originally discovered by a tweet from Q-Games head Dylan Cuthbert, information regarding the closure has spread to other locations including GameSpot, but Australian website Tsumea confirmed the information today.

Krome Studios had recently released two major titles: the first episode in the downloadable action series Blade Kitten, published by Atari, and the liscensed videogame for The Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'hoole for Activision. Unfortunately, with Blade Kitten doing less-than-anticipated sales-wise and The Legend of the Guardians sales attached to poor movie sales, the company's latest two ventures could not help the firm.

Formed in 1999, Krome Studios has developed games for multiple consoles spanning a number of franchises large and small. It garnered attention with its Ty the Tasmanian Tiger franchise, and during the transition to the new generation, the company worked on the Legend of Spyro trilogy. This generation, the company worked on the Wii, PS2, and PSP versions of Star Wars: The Force Unleashed which did exceptionally well, but even after developing another Wii venture using the Star Wars franchise, it did not get selected for Force Unleashed 2. Furthermore, the company worked alongside Microsoft on Viva Pinata: Party Animals and the retro-game XBLA hub Game Room.

The company laid off upwards of a hundred staff earlier this summer after it closed its Adelaide studios and cut staff elsewhere, too. Unfortunately, the cuts did not seem to help, if the reports are true.

According to Tsumea, the company has laid off all staff, but starting next week, it will contract a number of laid-off staff to complete Krome's current projects, whatever is left following Blade Kitten and Legend of the Guardians.

The total layoff count could exceed 200 employees.

SOURCE: Tsumea

Xona Games Announces Score Rush

A few days ago independent developer Xona Games released the first teaser for its next Xbox Live Indie Game, a frantic shooter entitled Score Rush.

The game was officially announced in the Official Xbox forums a month ago, but the first teaser was recently unveiled. In it, the developer demonstrates the game, a SHMUP in which players control a small ship which must shoot down massive ships and dodge onslaughts of gunfire in order to survive and earn top scores. The game will be using the Duality ZF engine which has proven to be a good shooter engine for some time. There is no indication as to how long the game is expected to be or how many modes it will offer, but the game contains drop-in multiplayer with up to four players total.

Score Rush's music compositions are developed by Dragon Music Productions, and if the trailer is any indication, the music will certainly enhance the intensity of the game.

Score Rush will be releasing soon on Xbox Live Indie Games and Windows Phone 7.

Xona Games is a two-man independent developer which has focused primarily on the development of shooter titles on multiple download services. Its first release, Decimation X, is lauded as the highest selling title on Xbox Live Indie Games in Japan, and its sequel, Decimation X2, is a Windows Phone 7 exclusive, released recently. The company is also developing an XBLA version of Duality ZF, a SHMUP in which players control two ships at the same time using either control sticks on their Xbox controllers.

Official Trailer

SOURCE: Official Site

DOTA 2 Announced

Valve has finally unveiled DOTA 2, the sequel to the original Warcraft III mod Defense of the Ancients, expected to be released next year.

Defense of the Ancients was a mod which changed the focus of the real-time strategy genre from controlling a whole slew of units to just one hero. The hero's goal is to collect gold and resources to build and create infantry and weapons to attack the opposing side. The army will continue to be sent to attack the other base; what affects the final outcome will depend on the hero's actions compared to that of the other.

DOTA 2 is being developed with the help of IceFrog who has been in charge of updates for the most popular version of the original series, DotA-AllStars (it was created by another man, Steve Feak, who is now a part of Riot Games).

This new rendition of the franchise will contain every character and major gameplay element from the original DOTA, but there are new concepts to be introduced as well. For example, if a player in an online mode is disconnected, an AI will take over the hero for the remainder of the match, allowing for less annoyances for all involved. Also, the game will be intertwined with the community through Steamworks, adding benefits to those who participate in the community and help the DOTA fanbase grow. Furthermore, a new guide system is being implemented for those new to the genre; this will give new gamers the chance to venture into the now reborn franchise.

While no footage has been shown, the company released four artworks to commemorate the announcement.

DOTA 2 is slated for 2011 for PC.

SOURCE: GameInformerOnline