Another Modern Warfare 3 map is on the way for ElitesPosted on Tuesday February 7th, 2012 at 5:05pm by Destructoid
More maps are coming your way, premium Call of Duty Elite members. (If you're gaming on an Xbox 360, that is). The content season calendar has been updated to reflect that "Overwatch" is due out Tuesday, February 21. For PlayStation 3 users, it's unsurprisingly marked down as "coming soon." The first Elite multiplayer maps "Liberation" and "Piazza" are currently available to Xbox Live players and are coming to PlayStation Network on February 28. Frustrating to see this content so staggered, but such is life. The add-ons planned for March, particularly the two Spec Ops missions, sound intriguing.
Live show: Mash Tactics' Darkness II playthrough marathonPosted on Tuesday February 7th, 2012 at 4:04pm by Destructoid
Today will be a very special 'New Release Showcase' with The Darkness II. King Foom has committed to completely finishing the game in one go. Darkness II's solo campaign has been clocked in at around six hours, but how long will it take Foom? Tune in and stick around for the long haul. Mash Tactics airs Monday through Friday at 4p.m. Pacific on Destructoid's Twitch TV channel. Watch King Foom play a variety of games, each day with its own theme. With a heavy focus on community and viewer interaction, you can be as much a part of the show as anything else.
Latest I Am Alive video offers a few survival tipsPosted on Tuesday February 7th, 2012 at 3:03pm by Destructoid
Following Dale's preview of I Am Alive, this short trailer should help you to visualize the depressing, stressful life that occurs after an apocalyptic event. Everything looks so dusty. As the guy who can't stand dirty dishes in the sink, I wouldn't last a day. The video also reiterates the importance of traversing a destroyed city, keeping essential supplies around until they're most needed, and managing stamina. The many years of playing videogames should have us well trained for that last part. Top nine Aliens toys holding videogamesPosted on Tuesday February 7th, 2012 at 2:02pm by Destructoid
Kenner's range of amazing Aliens toys was, scientifically, the greatest thing about the nineties. These action figures took the idea of Xenomorphs inheriting genetic traits from their hosts -- as seen in Alien 3 -- and ran with it, designing Aliens with ludicrous physical properties loosely based on animals. The great irony is that, for something that jumped the shark so hard, there was never a Shark Alien. There was a Bull Alien, however. And a Panther Alien. And, my personal favorite, the Killer Crab Alien. Not just a regular crab, my friends, but a killer one. That's scary, isn't it? Oh yeah, and I've made some of these toys hold videogames for a few minutes, because that justifies a vapid list article, doesn't it?
Gorilla Alien holding NeverDead You've noticed that I've not reviewed NeverDead yet. How can I, with this bloody lummox holding it and stopping me from being able to play it because he is definitely alive and that is the joke? Gorilla Alien is good for holding videogames because his arms move back and forth to create a gripping motion. This allows you to place the edge of a case between his hands and he'll gently hold the sides, like a loving mother would hold a babe in its swaddling clothes. Gorilla Alien can also spit water from its squeezy rubber head, but do not do this to your videogames, as they will become damp and could take anywhere between two to three minutes to completely dry -- unless you hold it over a hot toaster or Bunsen burner.
King Alien (Deluxe Alien Leader) holding Rayman Origins Rayman Origins is a brilliant game that did not receive much marketing, so what better figure to hold it than a brilliant Alien toy that did not receive much marketing? King Alien (Deluxe Alien Leader) was featured on TV once, but still many fans do not realize it exists. Hopefully, this feature can give King Alien (Deluxe Alien Leader) the spotlight and respect he deserves. As with the Gorilla, King Alien (Deluxe Alien Leader) can hold figures in place thanks to his obligatory dynamic action. His ornate head features mandibles that open and snap shut -- this is a very exciting action, but be careful! The mandibles are sharp and you risk doing superficial damage to your game cases, unless the cases are plastic or harder than thin paper. Thank God most of them are! King Alien (Deluxe Alien Leader) also spits water, but I don't need to warn you again, do I? Good.
Flying Alien Queen holding Rhythm Heaven Fever Look out guys, it's the Flying Alien Queen! She is so scary and enthralling, with realistic grasping talons and wings that actually flap! She cuts quite the courtly figure, standing next to the fantastic Rhythm Heaven Fever. In this photograph, I have placed the game against one of the Queen's sprawling wings, using her atrophied arm to secure it in position. This is an excellent display piece that anybody can create, for use in the home, office, or at a church function. It is sure to be a talking piece, as the local ombudsman notices the stark contrast between beast and music. That's quite a powerful and evocative thing, isn't it? Yes, it is.
Killer Crab Alien holding Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow Hey, it says "Dawn of Sorrow," not "Prawn of Sorrow" like you think it does, Killer Crab Alien (sea joke)! By far one of the best action figures ever created, there is nothing about Killer Crab Alien that isn't great. From the gorgeous red-and-black color scheme to the multiple points of articulation and sleek bodily design, Killer Crab Alien has it all. Also, the mental image of a Facehugger on a crab is funny. Our crab friend is perfectly designed for holding small artifacts in its frontal pincers. Here, it is holding Dawn of Sorrow like a newspaper, which is a satirical statement on how the corporate news media peddles grief in order to manipulate the emotions of the common man (or the woman ones). FACT: Killer Crab Alien features two spring-loaded parasites that fire when the spines in the back are depressed. Always carry Killer Crab Alien when out at night, as it is excellent for fending off attackers. I was going to try and put the game in the end of its tail, but it kept falling out so I gave up.
Panther Alien holding Resident Evil: Revelations Panther Alien was very cool looking, and when you pressed on its back, a little stingray thing shot out of it. There'll be none of that fucking shit today, though! Here, we see Panther Alien holding Resident Evil: Revelations, which Capcom spelled wrong on the box for a fun joke. Panther Alien reminds me of golden lions in a Chinese palace, so it is very stylish and impressive to have one holding your classic 3DS games.
Mantis Alien holding Enslaved Literally nobody in the world bought Enslaved, but that's okay because it means there are more copies for Mantis Alien to enjoy (though, in all honesty, he really only needs the one). Mantis is another figure to sport the "grip" attack motion, but the long range of his claws and the tight pinching motion makes him a superior choice for those who want an ideal forward-facing videogame centerpiece. I have chosen Enslaved to showcase Mantis' gripping potential because the lush green color scheme complements the toy's own verdant pigmentation. The two items blend into one another, creating a natural yet emotionally fulfilling display that is sure to impress your friends and entertain some animals.
Bull Alien holding Final Fantasy XIII-2 I think that Final Fantasy XIII was a load of bull, so here's a load of Bull (Alien) to carry the sequel on its back like a big bloody crucifix! At first glance, the Bull Alien (which is the first Kenner Alien I ever owned) is poorly designed for holding videogames, almost as if Kenner didn't plan for such an eventuality (which is unlikely). Fortunately, by positioning the tail behind the game case, one can get a compelling diorama that maximizes the videogame-holding potential of the figure while showing off the game itself in a new and daring light. Bravo!
Scorpion Alien holding Kirby Mass Attack While Kenner would bring out a regular Alien Warrior, such a vanilla role was fulfilled by Scorpion Alien for most consumers. By far the most normal looking of the standard figures, the fact that its main action was an exploding torso confirmed that it was designed as a regular drone but had to have an animal associated with it. The choice of Scorpion was probably regretted later when they designed Killer Crab. In any case, one can stick a DS cartridge between Scorpion Alien's fingers to have him hold it. It looks so adorable and your daughters will want to keep it. She can't have it though, because these are collectors' items (probably).
Queen Alien holding Time Crisis: Razing Storm The Flying Queen was cool, but there's nothing like a classic, and that's what this Queen figure most certainly is. She is also holding a classic game, Time Crisis: Razing Storm, which I definitely meant to fish out of the bottom of a storage box and didn't think was a different game until it was too late and I had to just make do with what I'd gotten. Anyway, the game is propped neatly up against her extended tail, which can be swung in a whipping motion. This is a large display, so make sure you've cleared plenty of room on your kitchen countertop or car hood before erecting it. So there you go. I have more than nine figures, but couldn't be bothered to do any more.
Activision announces Skylanders GiantsPosted on Tuesday February 7th, 2012 at 9:09am by Destructoid
Activision has today revealed a follow-up to last year's surprisingly enjoyable Skylanders, continuing the idea of toys that can be scanned into an active videogame world. Skylanders: Giants is an all-new game that will introduce a new batch of "giant" Skylanders that are more than twice the size of the original figures. There will be eight new figures, and some will feature new "light technology" that will see them light up when placed near the "Portal of Power" peripheral. Eight new regular sized Skylanders will also be introduced, and Giants will be compatible with all the toys already released for last year's title. In terms of the game itself, Giants promises wider worlds, with new challenges and battle modes. The titular giants will also have gameplay and abilities that reflect their large size. I really liked Skylanders, so I'm eager to see how this one fares. Hopefully the gimmick hasn't worn thin already!
Preview: How I survived I Am AlivePosted on Tuesday February 7th, 2012 at 9:09am by Destructoid
I'm coming off spending a weekend with early preview code for Ubisoft's I Am Alive, and I'll tell you right now that I'm already pretty excited about this game. Some of that excitement could just be that I'm relieved to be safe for a bit, and finally not nervous to the end of my wit from wandering around in the game's charged, threatening world. I was so tense from playing that I think I'll always jokingly call this game I Am Stressed Out. This is yet another game that puts you in a post-apocalyptic situation, exploring a ruined city, trying to make your way. But what Ubisoft Shanghai has here is a bit different from the rest of your end-of-the-world games in that your struggle to survive is the main focus, and your limitations as a normal human end up being your greatest enemy. I'm still somewhat surprised that I managed to survive I Am Alive.
I Am Alive (Xbox Live Arcade, PlayStation Network) I Am Live is set after a disaster known as The Event. The game's main character returns to his home town after about a year of being away in hopes of finding his wife and daughter, having come home by foot. He returns to see his entire city ruined and covered with a toxic gray dust. It looks as if some bomb has gone off, or a series of powerful earthquakes have hit, as wrecked cars are piled onto broken bridges, and dead bodies are strewn about below crumbled buildings and burnt city remains. It seems that the entire world has suffered from The Event. In my session, I worked through the first several sections of the game: over a busted suspension bridge that seems to have given out during rush hour, through city sewers to the main character's apartment, out through makeshift shelters for the few remaining living, and into skyscrapers inhabited by angry survivors trying to stay alive. The beginning of that journey had me climbing my way up and over debris, onto hanging cars and bridge rails, and onto even more dangerous wrecked remains. While the Uncharted series' Nathan Drake would hardly break a sweat with this climbing and hanging, I Am Live's hero is a bit more realistic and limited. The game's action has you watching a stamina meter that only permits so much climbing and hanging. If it gives out, you do too, and you'll likely fall to your death from a ledge, or slip off a ladder rung. Surviving means smart management of this stamina, forcing you to think carefully about every hop, jump and grab. Even the smallest bit of extra expended energy could mean death. There is a way to try to dig down for every last drop of stamina, executed by jabbing at the right trigger quickly, but this decreases the maximum level of stamina from then on, so you'll need to carefully consider what obstacles lay ahead before using that option. Through this stamina system, instead of merely "passing" a section of the game, you'll feel like you've actually survived an ordeal.
Even on the ground, you'll need to continue carefully considering each step and decision. There are a few survivors of The Event in this city, and most of them are scared, hungry and angry. Most seem to be territorial, and just about all are looking for their next bite to eat, weapon, or advantage. This means that any person you encounter could be your last. I found that very carefully creeping by an angry person with my hands up was usually best. Unlike all the other games of this type, pulling your gun is probably the worst idea, as you probably won't have any bullets in it. Forget unlimited ammo -- in I Am Alive, you're lucky to have a single bullet in stock! If you're careful, though, that empty gun can be used to intimidate enemies. Sometimes it works, others it does not. On occasion, you will have to kill, but even then you have to go about it very carefully, usually by pulling a knife at the last minute to surprise an enemy after they approach you. If you time it wrong or don't watch your back, you'll end up dead, killed by either the approacher or another survivor that happened upon the encounter.
I found I Am Alive's resource management to be the cherry on top of this stressful sundae. As I mentioned above, bullets are hard to come by. Actually, everything is hard to come by. Considering that it has been about a year since The Event, it makes sense that just about every potential source for foodstuffs, healing items, and weapons has been stripped clean. You're lucky to find anything, and when you do, you need to hold onto it until it's desperately needed; what's ahead is sure to be even tougher. For example, lowered stamina could be replenished with food or a drink, but you might really need that when you have to climb over some wreckage later. That single bullet may be an easy way out of a fight, but it would be more helpful to use when you encounter four angry thugs. Even retries are a limited resource. As you could imagine, with the always-looming stamina system, violent potential NPC encounters and super-limited resources, I Am Alive is a tense game. On top of all of that, this preview build's save system only allows one save per profile, and would reset if I tried to play an earlier section of the game. This meant that every move had to be perfect! It should now be clear why I call this game I Am Stressed Out. Ubisoft has something fairly unique with I Am Alive. While post-apocalyptic survival is nothing new to games, their focus on survival and resource management makes for a tense, thrilling experience. It's not yet clear how long of an experience I Am Alive is, but it's already looking like a hell of a big game for a $15 XBLA and PSN title. I can't wait to get back in and stress out a bit more.
Review: The Darkness IIPosted on Tuesday February 7th, 2012 at 6:06am by Destructoid
The Darkness was a rather solid first-person shooter and a good example of a license being properly handled. Developed by Starbreeze Studios, it featured some bold gameplay choices that didn't always pan out but managed a solid game worthy of a sequel. Picking up two years after the events of that game, Jackie Estacado has become the de facto organized crime leader of New York, and his time since has been spent keeping The Darkness subdued. Now, a new enemy has targeted Jackie and plans to take his gift to use as a weapon of mass destruction. In order to save himself and his family, Estacado must again unleash The Darkness and cut a bloody path through the city.
This is a case of an unremarkable story being handled remarkably well. The surface-level plot line in which Jackie fights against this new enemy doesn't keep its secrets long and quickly becomes little more than one bloody conflict after another. Meanwhile, a second story thread slowly develops which changes Jackie's goals dramatically in the game's final act towards a rather predictable conclusion. Were that all The Darkness II had going for it, things would be dire. But the presentation is more than up to the task of keeping things interesting. Pacing is very deliberate in attempting to keep the player on their toes. While some developers are content to throw in a scripted explosion sequence or two as a mid-level surprise, Digital Extremes will completely change the emotional tone on a dime, nail it and then throw the player right back into the fray when they're done. Little touches here and there plant seeds to reward observant players and demonstrate that there are greater aspirations than the standard licensed game.
Effective use of cel-shading gives a feel evocative of the comic books from which these games originate and makes it surprisingly easy to get sucked in. The effect does wonders to keep a game all about being in the dark remain vibrant and lends itself well in a practical sense to the gameplay as everything is easily distinguishable. It also sounds quite nice. In combat, guns are noisy, screams are bloodcurdling and Mike Patton feels bigger than life as the voice of The Darkness. Voice acting overall is stellar and while the plot may not be particularly original, the dialogue is pretty good and made all the better by some top-notch performances. It's a fairly short solo campaign, clocking in at around six hours, and fun from beginning to end with a very strong emphasis on killing people. Even at the outset controlling Jackie feels like a bit of a power trip with his tentacles in play. Mapped to the bumpers, the right tentacle bashes either vertically or horizontally while the left allows Jackie to grab objects or enemies and throw them. In concert with firearms in his hands, he's lethal at any range. Killing enemies and eating their hearts gives Jackie dark essence which may be spent on new and improved abilities with bonus essence awarded for more violent kills.
These abilities are both fun and useful. Grabs can become executions and reward a kill with health, ammo or even a shield made of pure dark essence (as well as some stomach-churning animations). Gun channeling buffs your guns with more damage, infinite ammo and rapid-fire for a few seconds and can eventually do the aiming for you. The bashing tentacle can fling enemies or sprout blades for a big damage boost. When upgrading, abilities are organized in a wheel with each quarter having its own skill tree relating to different types of powers. A steady flow of dark essence ensures upgrades are always there for the taking, but the game's length is such that it would be quite challenging to unlock much more than two trees to the point at which their more valuable powers become available, providing replay value in attempting different configurations of powers or achieving Jackie's full potential in the "New Game +" mode.
Also supplementing the solo campaign is the multiplayer "Vendettas" mode. Playable with up to four people (or solo, if you like), each controls one of Jackie's four supernatural enforcers. These characters are each centered around one of Jackie's Darkness powers which they can use as well as support abilities that contribute to the team. Like Jackie, they collect dark essence from kills and spend it upgrading their own unique ability wheels. Unlike Jackie, they aren't a whole hell of a lot of fun to play. With only one real power at their disposal each, the lack of variety makes the combat significantly less interesting. At around two hours, the Vendettas campaign is worth playing through, offering a different set of missions which run concurrent to Jackie's story and add some additional flavor, but could easily be dismissed. Greater challenges can be found in The Hit List missions, arena-style boss fights where the odds are much less in your favor. These are really difficult, to the point where it feels necessary to have more people helping to keep some of the heat off (or, you know, just Jackie). The Darkness II succeeds far more than it fails. The single-player experience features some genuine emotion in its narrative, something games which don't feature skull-extricating tentacles rarely manage to accomplish. And while the Vendettas cooperative multiplayer content feels lackluster by comparison, it's not bad either and serves to pad out this short but otherwise delightful game.
Review: Kingdoms of Amalur: ReckoningPosted on Tuesday February 7th, 2012 at 12:12am by Destructoid
Sometimes, the best way to become a blockbuster videogame is to act like you already are one. That seems to be Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning's modus operandi, and the gambit is paying off. Despite the big names attached to the project, very few people paid attention to the game until recently, when it started confidently presenting itself as a game that everybody wants. The power of persuasion at its finest. However, once you have everybody's attention, the hardest challenge awaits: being good enough to deserve your own contrived hype. Kingdoms of Amalur wants to play with the big boys of the role-playing genre, and even branch off into MMO territory. Now it's got to prove it has the right stuff to make that happen.
Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning (PC, PS3, Xbox 360 [reviewed]) Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning does not beat around the bush. It knows exactly what it wants to be, what it wants you to feel, and what a Western RPG is when you boil it down to the bare essentials. It is a game designed, from beginning to end, as little more than an indulgent power fantasy, pure escapism where players get to be anything they want to be, and feel awesome doing it. After creating a character using streamlined menus that allow them to pick a race, a gender, and some pre-set facial features, players wake up in the Well of Souls after having been killed and mysteriously resurrected. It's fairly typical RPG fare in what is a fairly typical RPG environment created by none other than R.A. Salvatore. It doesn't take long after the amnesiac hero's awakening before he or she is swinging swords, firing off arrows, flinging spells and stabbing unaware guards in the back. The small tutorial cave that guides players through the basics is over and done with fairly swiftly, before the budding hero is tossed into a colorful fantasy world with one ultimate goal: be amazing. There are three basic schools of combat in Amalur -- Might, Sorcery and Finesse -- and each one fills a stereotypical role that will instantly be familiar to those who have played almost any other RPG. However, unlike most other games, players do not have to pick a class and stick to it. As a "Fateless" hero, one is able to sculpt and shape their avatar into the perfect killing machine, designed entirely around their favored play style.
Might, Sorcery and Finesse each have their own skill trees, and every time a character gains a level, skill points can be invested wherever the player desires. There's no need to commit to a single tree, either, so if a stealthy wizard is required, skills in Finesse and Sorcery can be obtained. Similarly, players can put points into all three skill trees to create a balanced hero, or a single tree for a truly specialized individual. Fate Cards are unlocked depending on how many points are sunken into each skill tree. They bestow powerful new augmentations to better complement the chosen play style. For instance, putting points into both Sorcery and Might will unlock such Destinies as Battlemage and Paragon, which rewards physical mage combat by regenerating Mana every time a player takes damage. Should somebody want a character that purely specializes in Might, they'll unlock Destinies that boost melee damage, while Finesse characters can increase their sneaking and dodging skills. Completing certain quests also unlocks "Twist of Fate" cards, which confer permanent bonuses. For a game so focused on choice, it's important that players don't regret their decisions, and Amalur puts a strong emphasis on the power to undo skills and start over. For a large sum of gold, characters are free to visit Fateweaver NPCs and reassign their skills whenever they want. All skill points spent up to that moment will be returned, and may instantly be reinvested for slight alterations or complete reinventions. The ability to re-spec isn't new to RPGs, but Amalur turns it into an art form, an integral part of a game that revolves entirely around creating one's perfect vision of a fantasy avatar.
All of this choice would mean nothing if Amalur were not an enjoyable kingdom to inhabit, but it thrills me to say that 38 Studios has created a rather splendid game to house its ambition. While it's not the most endearing game world, Amalur is beautiful and, at the very least, quite interesting. It's a world cobbled together by well-known tropes and populated with ideas borrowed from other, more venerable games, but the blend is as sweet as it is familiar. This isn't a game that sets out to innovate or break new ground; it simply sets out to be good, and that's definitely a goal it meets. The world is littered with quests that can be undertaken or ignored at one's discretion, and the main story is complemented by a number of faction quest lines, each with its own self-contained plots and rewards. As one would expect, there are hundreds of tasks, ranging from simple fetch quests to dungeon-crawling assassinations, and while there's nothing unique about the litany of jobs on offer (in fact, some of the factions almost seem robbed from The Elder Scrolls' various guilds), they're all quite pleasant and they all contribute to the overarching purpose of gaining wealth, power and infamy. There's plenty of content, to boot. I have currently logged over forty-four hours, and I have many unfinished missions on the docket. Naturally, combat is a huge part of the experience, no matter which way you choose to fight. Players can carry two weapons at once, and can also select up to four special abilities or magical spells that are instantly deployed by a simple button press. General melee is a simple hack-n'-slash affair, although as new skills are unlocked, slightly more complex combo moves can be pulled off. Different weapons are better suited to different characters, with sorcerers able to use staves and ranged scepters, melee warriors gaining access to large, heavy weapons, and finesse experts wielding arrows or daggers. One face button is assigned to each weapon, so they can be switched on the fly to create versatile attack patterns. My own character, a specialist in Sorcery and Might, can send enemies flying back with a hulking greatsword, then continue to attack them at range with a pair of chakrams. Choosing two weapons that complement each other can make for incredibly gratifying action.
Special attacks and spells are used as seamlessly as weapons, allowing one to instantly stop swinging a sword and start pounding the ground to create earthquakes or fling balls of electricity. Performing well in combat fills a Fate meter that, when full, can be activated to unleash Reckoning Mode, which slows down time and vastly increases the amount of damage dealt. In Reckoning Mode, enemies are whittled to a sliver of health and left stunned, prone to a devastating execution that can generate bonus experience depending on how hard the player mashes a button. If multiple enemies are stunned before the execution is activated, then the experience bonus is chained. It's a simple system, but a pleasing one. Combat is both fun and challenging, with a focus on efficient blocks and dodges that creates a more tactical edge than most button-mashing RPGs offer. Enemies are aggressive and players will need to be on the defensive just as much as the offensive. While it's a noble effort to inject a little depth into the game, it can become incredibly annoying. For instance, player attacks can be interrupted at any time, even if they're halfway through a lengthy spell animation. Meanwhile, many enemies can pull off attacks uninterrupted and will power through even the most deadly of abilities. Perhaps the worst -- and most common -- grievance is had when fighting multiple enemies with fast attacks. It's not uncommon to get hit by an opponent and knocked right into the attack of another one. Some enemies even have their attacks timed to create almost seamless chains, with one blow ending just as another begins. For melee characters, this can mean blocking to an almost farcical degree, with there being almost no gap in an opposing assault. Just wait for an encounter with spiders, with those in melee range taking turns to attack while those positioned further away effortlessly lob projectiles. The coordination of the hostile forces can sometimes border on bullying.
One other gripe with the combat is that special abilities, even when leveled up, feel remarkably weak. Even those skills designed to deal with crowds have rather small attack radiuses, and when they hit, they seem to do little damage. They're also really good at missing their targets, while enemy skills home in and hit with 100% efficiency, even readjusting their trajectory mid-flight should you dodge! It would also help to not be restricted to four mappable skills at the maximum. One soon learns that it's a waste of points to unlock more than four active abilities, as they simply won't be able to use them all -- not without constantly navigating through menus to swap them out. A final annoyance is the map system. The on-screen mini-map is practically useless, since it doesn't account for the lay of the land and the rather exasperating invisible walls that fill every path. The world map also uses a tiny gold ring to indicate where an active quest is, and it can be maddeningly tough to pinpoint. These irritations are minor, but they will be with the player from beginning to end. It can grow incredibly frustrating, as players are often at the whim of luck, hoping the enemy attacks are aligned just right (or wrong, in their case) enough for an opening. However, when that opening is presented, that's when it becomes worth the hassle. Thanks to combat animations that feel incredibly meaty and impactful, a successful assault is intensely enjoyable. The game often reminds me of Monster Hunter, especially when using the oversized greatwords and hammers, as each attack feels weighty and bone-crunching when it connects. Once players level up and gain new attack combos for their regular weapons, the enemy oppression lightens up a little as well, allowing for a more even, and brutally enjoyable, battle.
Outside of skirmishing, there are more passive utility skills that can be enhanced with each level gained. Taking the form of many genre staples, characters can learn to pick locks, increase their mercantile abilities, or learn one of the crafting trades. There are three crafting systems, one for weapon creation, one for alchemy, and another focused on creating gems that can be slotted into equipment. To craft items, players need to find components in the world (or salvage them from loot, in the case of blacksmithing) and take them to the designated crafting system. Fashioning a new item is a simple case of choosing the right parts and hitting the button. It's rudimentary, but elegant, and well worth the time. All of this takes place in a beautiful world, with character design by comic book artist Todd McFarlane. The human characters have a unique blend of realistic proportions and cartoonish features to create a rather pleasant cast that avoids the "uncanny valley" trappings of similar games. A varied palette of bright, contrasting colors makes this one of the prettiest-looking console games in recent memory, while a typically stirring soundtrack keeps things exciting. The voice acting is a little more spotty, with some decent performances marred by terribly forced accents. At its heart, Kingdoms of Amalur doesn't offer much that hasn't been seen before. Earning gold to buy more armor and weapons, performing quests for experience, battling monsters and growing one's skills to become a godlike master of war -- these are all things we've experienced a dozen times before. However, never before has a power fantasy been delivered in such a direct way before. Kingdoms of Amalur doesn't waste time taking things slow; it doesn't let too much waffling get in the way of acquiring more gold, more experience, more loot and more skills. While there's something faintly sterile and alienating about Reckoning's world, the focused purity of its intentions is reason enough to keep playing. You'll want that new magic helmet because it looks cool and will give you more health, not because you care very much about using it to save the city. The game is all about you -- how tough you feel, and how bad your ass is.
It's an honest, undiluted acknowledgement of what Western RPGs are all about, and I can respect that. Rather than try to be too deep or too meaningful, Reckoning simply presents players with a direct feed into the vein of empowerment and expects you to gorge until you're bursting. While the combat can often undermine that feeling of acquired strength, there's still enough rousing success to be had that keeps one returning for more. For anyone who needs little more than a sword, a shield, and some monsters to annihilate, there are few games more committed to delivery. For those addicted to looting dungeons and crafting increasingly arcane magic gloves, there are few games more willing to serve the goods. For those who want an RPG free of pretense and utterly devoted to indulgence, Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning is your game.
Live show: SoulCalibur V on Mash TacticsPosted on Monday February 6th, 2012 at 4:04pm by Destructoid
It's 'Multiplayer Monday' on Mash Tactics, and things are going to get bloody. King Foom is booting up SoulCalibur V on Xbox 360 and inviting you to join him. Jump online and display your bizarre created characters live on air, or just side-step into the chat and hang out. Mash Tactics airs Monday through Friday at 4p.m. Pacific on Destructoid's Twitch TV channel. Watch King Foom play a variety of games, each day with its own theme. With a heavy focus on community and viewer interaction, you can be as much a part of the show as anything else.
Sanctum 2 is aiming for PC and consoles in 2013Posted on Monday February 6th, 2012 at 4:04pm by Destructoid
Did any of you play Sanctum? It's an enjoyable mix of first-person shooting and tower-defense maze building, and while I haven't been back to play the newer content, it's a recommendable game. According to Joystiq, it sold some 300,000 copies on Steam and a sequel is coming to PC and consoles in 2013. Can't say I saw that coming, but I'm excited. Perhaps the success of titles like Orcs Must Die! and Dungeon Defenders on consoles has made it easier to convince publishers to fund this stuff. Reverb Publishing executive producer Ted Lange is feeling it: "We all have logged quite a few hours with Sanctum and can definitively say that what Coffee Stain has in store for Sanctum 2 will blow the minds of Sanctum fans and new gamers alike." Sanctum 2 defends PC, consoles in 2013 [Joystiq] Driver dev working on a 'confidental Kinect project'Posted on Monday February 6th, 2012 at 2:02pm by Destructoid
It seems that the devs behind Driver: San Francisco are working on a new game for Microsoft's Kinect. Ubisoft Reflections' Art Lead Joss Scouler let this one loose on his LinkedIn profile. Among his list of published titles was an entry for a "confidential Kinect project," an Xbox 360 Kinect game. No names or other details were given. We're with CVG in that a new Rabbids game for Kinect would be a solid guess. Hell, maybe it's a Kinect-enabled Driver game. Wouldn't that be crazy? Volition dev would love a console that kills used gamesPosted on Monday February 6th, 2012 at 11:11am by Destructoid
The idea of a new Xbox that refuses to play used games may sound like a problematic, consumer-unfriendly, potentially suicidal idea to reasonable people who are capable of long-term thought, but some people are right behind it. Volition design director Jameson Durall, for example, thinks it's fantastic. "Personally I think this would be a fantastic change for our business and even though the consumers would be up in arms about it at first ... they will grow to understand why and that it won’t kill them," he wrote in a blog. "It does have it's faults that would have to ironed out, like game rental. I'm a fan of rental companies because they have to buy copies of the game to be able to rent them out and if someone likes the game, there is a chance they would purchase it for themselves. "Another issue would be with simply lending the game to a friend, but maybe they could implement something similar to what Amazon is doing with their Kindle Books lending policy. The license of the game could be transferred for a set time to another Gamertag and the original owner won't be able to play during that time. Seems like it could work. "In the end, I fully believe that we have to do something about these issues or our industry is going to fall apart. People often don't understand the cost that goes into creating these huge experiences that we put on the shelves for only $60. They also don't seem to realize how much they are hurting us when they buy a used game and how pirating a copy is just plain stealing." I love how his "solutions" to the MANY faults with this idea are ones that make previously simple acts far more complicated and inconvenient to consumers. Want to borrow a game? Transfer a license to your system? Want to rent one? Sign up for Microsoft's exclusive rental service! You'll get used to this new waste of your damn time, kids! Of course, that's the answer to everything, isn't it? When you want more consumers to buy your products, make enjoying those products as inconvenient as possible, because that's got such a proven fucking track record of success, doesn't it? Shit on your consumers, make them jump through hoops, and answer the criticism by saying, "Ah, you'll get used to it, it's not going to kill you." That seems to the game industry's M.O. right now, it's an absolutely terrible slope to start slipping down. If this industry dies, it won't be due to piracy, nor will it be to used games. Just ask the businesses that started to fail, pissed off their customers trying to fix themselves, and then died overnight. Oh wait, you can't, because they're dead. THAT's what will kill this industry, if it falls. Not GameStop, and certainly not you or I. It's when I hear these "solutions" to combating used games by making life tougher for every consumer, that I start to worry about this industry's doom. Posted on Monday February 6th, 2012 at 5:05am by Destructoid
Salivating for that next inventive indie platformer? Strange Loop Games' aquatic puzzle-platformer might just be able to quench your thirst. Similar to Fluidity and the Pixeljunk Shooter games, Vessel presents environmental and physics-based puzzles that are to be solved through the manipulation of animated liquids. The game will be making its way to PC on March 1st and will be trickling down to PSN and XBLA at a later date. Tracks from Bush's Sixteen Stone headed to Rock BandPosted on Saturday February 4th, 2012 at 7:07am by Destructoid
Now, I'm not a super-huge fan of Bush. I don't even know if those exist anymore. If so, it is probably one of those things beautiful to behold on account of their scarcity, like finding a unicorn in a forest glade on a dewy morn. All that said, Sixteen Stone is a damn fine piece of grungy pop-rock and, next week, three tracks of the more popular tracks from the album will be hitting the Rock Band store. You too can rock out like it's 1994 all over again with "Comedown," "Machinehead" and "Everything Zen" when they release on February 7 individually or as part of "Bush Pack 01" for a slight discount. You guys probably know how this works by now. Aliens: Colonial Marines graces us with gameplay footagePosted on Saturday February 4th, 2012 at 6:06am by Destructoid
Here's a new trailer for Aliens: Colonial Marines, this time sporting some actual gameplay footage as opposed to CGI. There are plenty of hissing xenomorphs and screaming marines, which is exactly how the universe should be balanced. This trailer would excite me, except for one thing -- none of this footage is new. Everything in this video has been taken from the demo level shown at last year's E3 (and later shown at PAX). After such a long time, I was really hoping to see something new. The fact that a single ten minutes of polished gameplay has been revealed since the game was announced makes me nervous. In any case, my Alien fanboyism is still keeping me super stoked, and I hope Gearbox knocks it out of the park. It's got to be better than AvP was.
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