NYCC 2011: Postmortem

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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At last, just under a month after the event itself, we end our coverage with a postmortem discussion regarding our time at the show. We discuss games we played but did not film as well as games we wanted to film or play but could not.

We give our final impressions on games we played and on the show itself. We had quite a few places to improve, but overall, for the short time we were there, we believe to have done a good job.

As the year slowly closes, we look to PAX East 2012 with our weapons, or camera, drawn.

NYCC 2011: The Miscellaneous Montage

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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Just under a month after New York Comic Con 2011 finished, we are winding down with a few more videos to finish off the event and look out into 2011's holiday season (which has already started, thank you, Modern Warfare 3).

This video is dedicated to the remainder of game footage we took over the course of the day-and-change we were at the convention. We talk about our impressions or thoughts on the games while we show clips of our scraps. We felt the footage shown here was not up to par with fitting into individual videos and put them together right here!

The games covered are as follows:
Resident Evil: Revelations
Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City
Ultimate Marvel Vs. Capcom 3
Final Fantasy XIII-2
Rayman Origins (with some Just Dance 3)
Fusion: Genesis (out now on XBLA!)
Prototype 2

Stay tuned for our postmortem, in which we discuss final impressions and the games we did not even cover this year!

NYCC 2011: StreetPass NYC

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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In our final run around the showfloor, we spotted a flag sporting a large AR Card symbol and the Statue of Liberty. Attached to that flag stood the founder of StreetPass NYC, Jordan White. While we were not capable of getting a full interview with him that instant (we DID interrupt his Super Mario 3D Land playtime and were heading out the door shortly thereafter), we did get a few quick comments on the show demos around as well as any particular activities being held by the group at New York Comic Con.

Speaking of the group, they are in fact having an event this Saturday in anticipation of the launch of Super Mario 3D Land. Funny how that was the game we caught him playing in the video. Watch and enjoy it in its brevity and candidness.

NYCC 2011: Orcs Must Die!

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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Microsoft's booth had its fair share of unique game experiences, and one of them was a new twist in the tower defense genre: Robot Entertainment's Orcs Must Die!

The point of the game is to prevent a horde of Orcs from getting into an open rift located at the end of the stage. In order to stop them, players place various traps along the path between the main entrance and the open Rift such as tar pits and arrow-shooting walls. Besides the traps, the player can use a crossbow and a sword to help whittle down any remaining Orcs that have survived the traps. Killing Orcs rewards players with money to set up more traps for the next wave of Orcs. This mix of strategy and all-out combat makes the game stand out from other defense titles. Not to mention the game has a sense of humor and comic art design throughout the adventure.

Orcs vs. Spike-Covered Log. I'm going with the log.

On the show floor, I managed to play through one of the game’s stages. Visually, the games runs smoothly and has a mixed art style between comical and serious. While I am not a huge fan of tower defense titles, I did enjoy placing the traps in places that would help weaken the Orcs so I could finish them from a distance with my crossbow. At times, though, I could mix things up and run in sword-swinging while the Orcs were getting stuck in tar and getting shot with arrows. Thank goodness you cannot die from your own traps.

Well, you have the give the Orcs credit, considering how easily they can die.

However, by the time the stage was completed, I felt the stage had lost its welcome and the hordes seemed very similar with just more Orcs rather than new types of Orcs. Also, I couldn’t find out how to upgrade any of the traps I had set down, which is a staple in tower defense genre. Based on what I played, this game aims to be more like an action based beat-em-up rather than a strategy filled tower defense. I only hope this becomes more balanced in later stages and includes new Orcs and traps. Then again, I did only play a single level early on, so the levels and enemies can only get more devious and innovative!

Orcs Must Die! is available right now on XBLA for 1200 MS Points and on PC platforms.
For more information, check out the game's official site.

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.