Dead to Rights: Retribution Dev Diary: Motion Capture

Posted by John as 2d Shooter

The developers show how the intense motion-capture sessions paid off in creating the animations for Dead to Rights: Retribution.

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Xbox Live Arcade cavalcade continues on March 2

Posted by John as Shmups

Xbox Live gamers now have the chance to plan their purchasing schedule for March,thanks to Microsoft.

The publisher announced the full details of its March Xbox Live Arcade Block Party promotion. The initiative starts on March 3 with Signal Studios’ World War I-themed tower defense game Toy Soldiers for MSP 1,200 ($15), continuing with Slick Entertainment’s car-combat racer Scrap Metal on March 10 for the same price. 4J Studios’ update of venerated Nintendo 64 shooter Perfect Dark follows on March 17 for MSP 800 ($10).

Microsoft will close out the month with the release of Game Room, a free download that will serve as a hub for the publisher’s retro gaming push. Thirty Atari and Intellevision games will be available at launch. Microsoft shares that more than 1,000 titles are on the docket.

Games can be purchased for play on both the Xbox 360 and PC for MSP 400 ($5) or for an individual platform at MSP 240 ($3) apiece. Single rounds of any individual game can be played for MSP 40 ($.50). The Game Room will also support Xbox Live Avatars, as well as voice chat, 1080p graphics, cross-platform leaderboards, and achievements.

Gamers who pick up all three Block Party titles and the free Game Room hub will have MSP 400 ($5) credited to their Xbox Live account. Those who subscribe to Xbox Live’s Gold membership will also have their subscription extended by one month.

As for Games on Demand, Disney and Black Rock Studio’s Pure is available for only $19.99. The off-road trick racer received rave reviews upon its debut in September 2008. On March 2, Microsoft has queued up Bethesda Softworks’ acclaimed postapocalyptic role-playing shooter Fallout 3. However, pricing information is not yet available.

Technorati Tags: 2010, 2d shooters, March Xbox Live Arcade Block Party promotion, microsoft, shmup, toy soldiers, xbox live arcade news

Midway XBLA games no longer available

Posted by John as Shmups

Xbox Live Arcade titles were yanked from Marketplace. Among those no longer available are Smash TV, Gauntlet, and Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3.

Microsoft successfully launched Xbox 360 and Xbox Live Arcade even without much support from top-tier third party publishers. Midway remains to be the most notable name on the Xbox Live Marketplace at launch with its publisher selling arcade classics Gauntlet, Smash TV, and Joust from day one.

The list of games recently pulled out from the Xbox Live Marketplace are Cyberball 2072, Robotron: 2084, Defender, Paperboy, Rootbeer Tapper, and Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3. A representative of Microsoft said the group of games was removed from service late last week “due to evolving rights and permissions.”

The issue of evolving rights and permissions doesn’t seem to affect the publisher’s Playstation Network titles, given games like Mortal Kombat II are still available on the PlayStation 3 downloadable storefront.

Gamers may not find any access to add those titles to their library for the first time, but these games aren’t gone from the service entirely. A Microsoft representative said, “Xbox Live members will always be able to play and re-download any titles they have already purchased.“

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Force Unleashed soon on Xbox Live

Posted by John as Shmups

LucasArts’ Secret Apprentice-led Star Wars action adventure hits new sales milestone of 7 million. The Infinities storyline concludes on PSN now, Xbox Live February 23 for $10.

LucasArts kicked off the Infinities storyline for Star Wars: The Force Unleashed in August 2009 with the release of Tatooine Mission Pack. The Tatooine Mission Pack is a downloadable add-on that continued the storyline of Darth Vader’s Secret Apprentice. However, to conclude that storyline, players had to buy Star Wars: The Force Unleashed – ultimate Sith Edition, included the accompanying Hoth Mission Pack, along with the original game and other DLC.

For those gamers who didn’t take the plunge to pick up the Ultimate Sith Edition, LucasArts is now offering the Hoth Mission Pack as a separate download through Xbox Live and the PlayStation Network. The PS3 edition of the add-on is now available for $9.99, and the XBL version will follow on February 23 for MSP800.

Click here to buy Star Wars: The Force Unleashed for Xbox 360 ($ 36.99).

The Infinite storyline

It starts following one of the numerous endings to the original, when the player kills Vader and becomes Emperor Palpatine’s assistant and a Sith Lord. The galactic dictator then dispatches players to Tatooine, where they try to track down and kill the Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi.

The Hoth Mission pack continues this journey and sees the Secret Apprentice traveling to the titualar icy planet to do battle with Luke Skywalker and wipe the last traces of the Rebellion from the galaxy. Players will also find themselves visiting locations made famous in Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back.

The original Star Wars: The Force Unleashed launched in September 2008 to low ratings and bad reviews. However, the game’s critical reception did not impact its commercial success. LucasArts said today that the game has now sold more than 7 million units worldwide. In December, the publisher announced The Force Unleashed II for release on unspecified platforms in 2010.

Technorati Tags: february 23, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, ultimate sith edition, xbla version, xbox live arcade

Mushihimesama Futari version 1.5

Posted by John as Shmups

Mushihimesama the shooting action is here on Xbox360. The wars between the beetles and the humans have started again.

Release Date Nov 26, 2009

Language English, Japanese

Genre Shooting

Version Japan

Mushihimesama Futari Version 1.5 is one of the latest arcade ports of Xbox 360. If you can spare some cash to purchase the game price of $ 74.90 then what are you waiting for? Go ahead and order Mushihimesama Futari HERE..

Read on to know why this shooter deserves your money and attention.

If you have played a Cave shooter like DoDonPachi before, you wouldn’t be sure what to expect. The shmup earns good reviews but is only validated once you played the game.

The insect-themed Mushihimesama Futari, means “together with the bug princess, allows you to choose either of the two characters: Reco, the cute, purple-haired girl, or Palm, the little, dragon boy. The characters play almost identical except their movement types are quite the opposite based on your selection of normal or abnormal shot type.

The first thing you will notice when you actually started playing is how tight the controls were. It feels so right when you glide through the air and dodge enemy fire. The thing that separates great shooters from the rest of the average shooter are how well-designed the patterns are. Things maybe daunting at he start of MushiFutari but continued play will uncover passage ways designed in the patterns. It is a matter of some trial and error so don’t lose hope when you fail at the first try.

There’s only two buttons in game play, shoot and bomb. However, if you tap the shot button you get a spread shot that covers the screen. If you hold shot then you get a concentrated laser. It also depends on which character you choose to play along with the play style you choose. Holding down the shot button will either make your player slow down or speed up when you tap the button.

Earn multi colored gems when shooting down enemies can be collected to increase your score. Wisely choose the right time to use an appropriate attack which will yield more gems and larger-sized gems.

Mushihime-Sama Futari: Reco PVC Figure 1/7 Scale

Speaking of visual appeal, the game is stunning. Beware of getting distracted from the beautiful background scenery and fantastic animations. There is no obvious way to tell you’ve been hit when bullets come in the flavor of bright purple projectiles when the scenery just look breath-taking.

The music is also a high point. Sure it’s standard Japanese techno-pop, but damn if it isn’t catchy as hell. And it definitely has that old-school flavor.

You get your money’s worth with the number of modes available. You have two modes to choose from: 1.5 and Arrange.

The first mode 1.5 offers 3 challenges namely Original, Maniac, and Ultra. However, these aren’t just difficulty levels. Every mode offers a new scoring method and way of playing the game. In the Original mode, your rank increases based on how well you do in each stage. It will also determine the speed and density of bullet patterns in later stages. Maniac offers a counter that keep track of your multiplier that will affect the number of gems dropped by your enemies depending on how high the number is. Ultra mode and Original are scored in the same way. The rain of death coming down on you at this point is enormous. Before you begin playing in this mode, a warning pops out of the screen to ask if you won’t mind being murdered every second. Your answer will be a definite “yes” of course.

See a unique twist from the original game on the Arrange mode. In this mode, you control both Reco and Palm. One character serves as a shield while the other acts as an offense. You can choose to let bullets slow down around your characters by tapping the shot button. When you hold down shot the bullets, they will deflect back at enemies. The number and size of the gems are available only after the bullets are deflected. Thus, the more bullets you “collect” by tapping shot the greater number and size of your gems. You’ll need to strategically switch between characters to recharge your shields.

Now we go to Black Label which weakness is being an on-disc DLC. It is possible that Cave placed the option on the main menu and when clicked, takes you to Xbox Live. We can’t help but think that what we paid is only to get the download code to unlock the mode.

The lucky few shooter fans who got the first-press copies of the game came with a DLC code lets them download Ver. 1.01. Version 1.01 is a tweaked version of the very first arcade version of the game. It offers a pretty good challenge since it came before the more manageable Ver. 1.5. But don’t let this fool you. This version is equally tough to play too. The Novice mode can even make the bullets difficult to slow down. Of course, that’s the beauty of shmup. You play them over and over and memorizing the patterns so you finally get the feeling of accomplishment when you successfully 1cc original and proceed advanced modes with higher difficulties.

Mushihimesama Futari is one of the best shmups out there in the market. A perfectly designed, meticulously detailed, and a very absorbing shmup that you can lay your hands on. Don’t wait any longer and play this lovely shmup!

Technorati Tags: 2d Shooter, cave, dodonpachi, Mushihimesama Futari, review, shmup, video game

A review on Assassin’s Creed II: Battle of Forli

Posted by John as 2d Shooter

A review on Assassin’s Creed II: Battle of Forli

Created by: Ubisoft Montreal
Type: Historic Action Adventure
Date of release: January 28, 2010
ESRB: Mature

The disappointing and super schemed add on doesn’t improve as a follow up to Assassin’s Creed I. Assassin’s Creed II takes away the thrill of its predecessor mainly due to its poorly paced and messy plot and game play.

Superior points:

The beautiful Caterina Sforza finally gets her due.

Some great new dialogue and voice acting

Weak points:

The “special” memory is pointless

Destroys the main game’s narrative pace

Several annoying contrivances

It is not difficult to notice the two missing sequences directly preceding the finale of Assassin’s Creed II. The Battle of Forli is the first of two planned add-ons. It is meant to fill in the obvious break. The historic action adventure game is not that bad for a price of $ 4.00 or 320 Microsoft points. However, the added missions in part 2 of the game don’t embody the spirit and essence of the original game and seem tossed to earnest fans starving for new content. The shooter starts with the charming and deceptive Caterina Sforza whose earlier appearance was very short-lived. The overall delivery of Assassin’s Creed II feels hastily done and thrown together making it a forgettable chapter in an otherwise unforgettable game.

Read the review and Assassin’s Creed II spoilers below:

For those of you who just started to play the game, you should know that you won’t be able to access the new content not until you reach the end of the game. The new chapter happens after a dominant revelation that completed sequence 11. There shows the too clear chronological gap here, but that emotional leap of faith was a very suitable end to the definitive chapter and supplied a delicate transition to the game’s great finale. The new content packed with narrative pace along with the opening scene showing essential artifact as a major spoiler that makes the game’s ending less spectacular. You might not mind this gives away if you have already finished the game. In this case, you will enjoy the romantic tension between Caterina and Ezio, who find Forli under attack by a couple of brothers who are into more than merely the joy of combat. I find the dialogue about a missing toe and finger, well the whole limb for that matter, between Ezio and black-robed monk particularly funny.

The weakness of the game is the early climax of the plot resulting to the rest of the game to be plain rather than a blast.

The initial third of the add-on focuses on the battle scenes that pit you, along with Caterina and Niccolo Machiavelli, versus a big number of sword-swinging foes. The big scale combats are fun but are not quite as challenging as expected. The simple feat of positioning yourself behind a busy attacker and to fatally stab him at the back with a single thrust is not particularly challenging. One thing about the visual chaos is that gets rid of the joy of counter kills, crowding up the screen and keeping you from witnessing Ezio’s sleek murder moves. The rest of the memories comprise ACII missions such as rescues, chases and more battles. The missions don’t proudly show off the sleekness of the main game.

“Special memory”

An addition to the game is the “special memory”, which is nothing more than an out-of-context flight on the flying machine. You will find no mission or goal associated to your flight. I don’t find the machine to hold a key importance to the game. It is another contrivance in a game that obviously doesn’t need more. You might want to forget your hopes to pad your game score since The Battle of Forli doesn’t offer any new achievement.

If you were at least hoping to pad your gamer score, you’ll want to note that The Battle of Forli doesn’t offer any new achievements. This feature does not come to be unsurprising as no new locations are available to explore or weapons to display.

As a conclusion, Assassin’s Creed II is a great game for its fans. The various bits and parts fit together into one cohesive whole. It intends to fill a narrative gap, but ironically The Battle of Forli is out of place. The interesting character of the tough Caterina, and the awkward reference to her reproductive ability, is fun to play. On the other hand, the game play is a medley of standard missions sewn together without careful-thought cohesion. The Battle of Forli II offers another way to go back to an excellent game but unsuccessfully gain a spot for the must-have Xbox live arcade game.

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Red Dead Redemption

Posted by John as Shmups

Looks of Red Dead Redemption at the start of the game can be deceiving. You may think it is a lonely ride in the old West. But spend more than a few moments in this frontier, and you’ll realize the world of Red Dead: Redemption is anything but an empty desert.

Play the character of John Marston, a reformed criminal, who works for the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Make your way through three distinct locales, two sets in the American West and one in Northern Mexico. The game’s setting is composed of rural areas along with number of towns and outposts erect on the landscape.

The West side elements are found in the action shmup. Find numerous Wanted poster plastered on local buildings. These posters are actually side missions that give clue where to find infamous criminals as well as how to recognize them based on description. If you do decide to run after these criminals, you can choose to either take them out with your turn-of-the-century armory of repeating Winchester rifles, six-shooters, and shotguns, or earn a bigger reward by roping them to the ground and turning them in alive. You can also choose to put a bullet or two in them to slow them down.

Expect to boost your honor if you succeed on quests such as capturing Most Wanted criminals or saving helpless travelers from being robbed. It affects how well regarded you are in the world. Sudden missions can also be seen in the course of your travels. You might run into an officer seeking out two prisoners who have just escaped from his caravan. It gives you ample chance to chase them down or simply keep moving.

You will soon receive admiration and tribute when you follow the noble route. The local sheriffs will even look the other way if you commit a minor crime. In normal circumstances, you would become a wanted man and have to pay off your bounty or do a favor for the local authorities to receive a pardon. If you take the bad guy route, people will glare or glower at you. Other criminals who know your notoriety will bid you a chance to work with them in pursuit of their objectionable and nasty plans.

No matter how good your character is, you still need to shed blood from time to time. The Western-themed action schmup is set at the 20th century, a time when the West was increasingly less wild. Yet, there is still an element of lawlessness around you thus explains the shootouts and violent eruptions. These acts of lawlessness can be as simple as a brawl out in the desert between you and a troop of outlaws. It can also be as complex as you charge a fort with a wagon loaded of explosives, taking on snipers camping on towers, and using a cannon to ward off waves of incoming reinforcements.

Red Dead Redemption looks like as very promising game due to its engaging plot that leaves you to choose whether you would want to play a good guy or a bad guy. It has the makings of a distinct game whose look and game play renders authentic to the era in American history.

Red Dead Redemption is an epic battle for survival in a beautiful open world as John Marston struggles to bury his bloodstained past, one man at a time.

Developed by Rockstar San Diego, Red Dead Redemption is coming for Xbox 360® and PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system on April 27, 2010 in North America and on April 30, 2010 in Europe.

Technorati Tags: red dead redemption, Rockstar San Diego, Shmups, shoot em up, video game

A Review of Army of Two: The 40th Day

Posted by John as 2d Shooter

Army of Two: The 40th Day is a third-person shooter in which your objective is simple: get out of Shanghai alive.

When you are in the mood for something loud and fun, The 40th Day is the game for you. It provides a brash, satisfying action with the same, shallow appeal as a hit.

Play the Army of Two: The 40th Day with your buddy and blast your way through enemies care of customized weapons. The gunplay and some awkward movements of the game are solid and satisfying. If you are into teamwork to complete goals then this game is for you (and your buddy)!

Release date: January 12, 2010

Good points

• Brutal, satisfying gunplay

• Engaging weapon customization

• Diverse, detailed environments

• Good implementation of light cooperative tactics

• Surprising replay value.

Bad points

• Short campaign

• Often laggy online play

• Awkwardness in movement

• Weird dabbling on morality.

A combination of superb game play, humor and action-packed game play made Army of Two an instant success. EA Montreal, its maker, knew just what its entire fan base need to satisfy their expectations.

For those who had played the first game, it is obvious that the main game play mechanics haven’t drastically changed despite some major improvements. The key to this game is the cooperative game play. The 40th day pushes the trend of weapon customization and tactical strategies at the same time exploring something new to the series, moral choices.

Army of Two: the 40th Day sees the return of a more improved and better weapon customization system. You earn new items by completing objectives in the game. Find weapon parts lying in the street or heavily guarded supply crates. Aim to kill guards nearby to gain access to crates filled with parts of weapon and cash. The fundamental part to the game play is to constantly upgrade your inventory. The game won’t dictate when you’re able to make changes. You can now access the weapon customization menu whenever you want to, given you are not in combat.

Tactical decisions made in the game must be carefully weighed since it has a direct impact on your team and long-term consequences. For an instance, a series of negative decisions can lead to a character hindering your access to a useful area. Due to the cold-hearted nature of mercenaries, you can find yourself torn between a unique piece of item and ethical choice. Every scripted decision has an animation that shows the consequences of your action either positive or negative. Aim to save civilians from the deadly hands of the enemy to reap bonus morality points as well as weapons parts and extra cash. When these civilians die, you are left with only negative points.

Teamwork

Learn how to think of decisions beneficial for you and partner. You can find a friendship status at the bottom left of the pause menu. Get to earn a friendly hero label when you free hostages, stick with right choices, and play a game of rock-paper-scissors with your partner on a frequent basis. Don’t overdo high five or hug too much or else you would be labeled as “ambiguous or uncertain heroes”. Labels can be changed if you decide to slap or punch your partner for no apparent reason at all or because of the moral choices he makes. The game is interesting thanks to the new morality system but could be limited than you might expect it to be. Watch out when the entire level or chapter resets itself at the start of the next chapter. You can make wrong choices if you want to then make it up in the next one.

See a more vigorous multiplayer feature in the new Army of Two: the 40th Day. Three modes can be played with twelve players namely Warzone (a returning mode found in the first game), Control (two groups battle it out to seize and hold control points) and Co-op death match. The fourth mode is called “extraction”, a survival mode with an emphasis on cooperative play but is only available to players who pre-ordered the game with EA but will be soon made available to everyone as DLC a month following its release.

Visual effects and sounds

The 40th Day shows an enormous improvement compared to its release. The plot is limited in Shanghai unlike the diverse locations in the first game. When you play the character of Rios and Salem in the chaotic city, you witness the transformation of Shanghai from an urban paradise into a wrecked place. Play your way through highly detailed indoor and outdoor settings. See stunning Zoo and Market levels as well as other subtle touches found in new melee attacks and the characters flipping their masks up from time to time. Visit the game’s official website to customize their facemask and armor and use them in game. The visual enhancements may seem apparent but the game suffers from camera issues evidently seen during fooling around animations and some texture pop in but is minimal.

The voice behind the characters Salem (Nolan North) and Rios (Jonathan Adams) did a brilliant job. The humor is amusing especially when the two protagonists talk but some people can find the humor irritating when it becomes repetitive. Aside from that, the sounds of the environmental build of the city are outstanding most especially the sound effects of the weapons. The better your weapon gets, the better the way your weapon sounds.

The weak points of the game include strange comments on morality during the short campaign but can be easily forgotten by the brutal action of the plot. There is a lag when you do play on the lively online game by is not enough to stop you to enjoy the brutal gunplay of The Army of Two game.

Campaign

Expect to see six chapters of the campaign. The expected time to complete the game is less than 10 hours depending on the skill level. Replayability is what makes the 40th Day different from few other shooters. It is better to play the game alone then replaying it with your buddy (human, of course). Multiplayer function sets it unique and more fun to play. You will be logging even more hours especially in the Extraction mode, available to those who pre-ordered the game. If you haven’t, check it out after a month.

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Meet the New Indie Shooter: Creed Arena

Posted by John as Shmups

The start of 2010 unveils new shooters that you should definitely check out. For starters, let’s see what Creed Arena has in store for all players out there.

Safari Studios released their Xbox Indie Arcade named Creed Arena. The game is filled with 16 arenas and unique game feature that involve winning over the fight crowds.

Play your way in arena battles set in gladiatorial fashion. You have various ways to play the game either solo, split-screen co-op, online multiplayer and even split-screen online multiplayer. Multiplayer feature is not always available for Xbox Indie titles.

Try out the demo and try out the Live Multiplayer game mode if you’re impressed enough to buy the game.

Snag this baby for 400 Microsoft point.

Read the full press release below.

Sydney, Australia – January 03, 2010 – Indie developer Safari Studios has just released Creed Arena onto XBOX Live Indie Games, a dazzling new shooter with some unique game mechanics.

In just 3 days of sales, Creed Arena has already surpassed many other games on the channel. XBOX shooter fans from around the world are hailing Creed Arena as the best indie shooter around.

Fetatures include:

• 16 unique arenas, each with a different challenge

• Solo Championship – become the most popular gladiator in the tournament

• Splitscreen Co-op – play through the game with a friend

• Online Multiplayer – try to get to the top of the global popularity chart

• Splitscreen Online Multiplayer – 2 people can play online together

About Creed Arena

Fight other gladiators infront of thousands of spectators. Become the most popular fighter in the tournament. Win enough fans to unleash your “crowd rage”, an intense rampage that makes you bigger, faster and more powerful. Unique weapons, 16 arenas, and intense action in solo, co-op and online muliplayer.

About Safari Studios

Safari Studios is a two man indie development team based in Sydney, Australia. Matthew and Laurence Rietdijk have been developing XBOX games for 2 years now, and one a top 20 position in Microsoft’s most recent Dream Build Play competition.

Technorati Tags: 2d Shooter, creed arena, indie shooter, Safari Studios, Shmups, video game, xbox live arcade

Experience Killing Engine shooter on the 25th!

Posted by John as Shmups

Fans of 2d shooter games will finally get a taste of Killing Engine as its estimated release day draws near. The free multiplayer shooter is set to be released on 25th of January 2010.

Killing Engine is a free multiplayer shooter where you team up with your friends to beat the opposing team. It takes place in an imaginary universe where Finland and Russia are at war with each other. The game features:

• Support for up to 64 players

• Large battlegrounds that take place in forests, wastelands, villages and cities

• 18 different weapons

• Easy to use Level editor

• Destructible environment

• Three different game modes

You can download the Beta 0.92 from the DOWNLOADS page.

Technorati Tags: download, january 25 2010 release date, killing engine shooter, multiplayer shooter, shmup