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Deathsmiles

With games companies increasing sticking to a select few genres in order to make a “guaranteed successful game” it was with baited breath that  I awaited the arrival of Deathsmiles from obscure Japanese developer Cave.

Deathsmiles is a ‘bullet hell shooter’ a side scrolling shooter , in which the enemies fill the screen with bullets trying to bring you down, they are notoriously difficult and the art is finding the safe spots on the screen navigating the incoming waves of bullets, while simultaneously trying to return fire and kill the enemies, you get an immense feeling of pride and accomplishment when you successfully navigate a field of bullets or a gigantic boss such as the awesomely named Tyranno-Satan without being hit.

As you can guess the game is aimed squarely at the hardcore market, but that needn’t put anyone off who is considering giving this a go, level one difficulty is very playable by anyone due to the addition of infinite continues meaning you will be able to finish the game and as you progress in skill you can ramp up the difficulty to suit you.

The usual fodder for these type of games are space ships and aliens however Deathsmiles offers a refreshing change of scenery as it features anime Gothic Lolita’s (a popular Japanese fashion where woman dress to look like Victorian dolls) flying through the sky shooting orks.

The story of Deathsmiles centers around 4 girls who have died and been transported to the other side with no memories of their prior lives, however demons are appearing  everywhere and the girls set of to find the cause, to be honest what story there is, is poorly written and only serves as to give the game reason to have and many bullets on screen as possible and should be treated as such.

The gameplay is essentially still stuck in the 80’s however a few additions help Deathsmiles feel unique, enemies attack from both sides of the screen and you have two buttons one that fires right and one that fires left in order to deal with both sides of the screen, it’s safe to say you won’t be blinking much if you want to stay alive.

A calmer moment of the game

Defeated enemies drop skulls which when collected add to a counter in the lower left side of the screen, when the counter reaches 1000 you can enter  a powered up mode where you attacks are far more powerful and gain in size, this is essential to getting a high score  however in true hardcore game style should you die your score resets.

In addition to this you also have a small number of bombs per life that deal damage to every enemy on the screen and can really save you at times, each girl has with a her a familiar (a animal follower said to be witches servants) which provides fire and can be moved around the screen to give you some added fire power.

The Pal version is referred to as the deluxe addition and it’s quite a package considering the very respectable price (around £18) it features all the Download content known as the major black label which adds one new playable character and one new stage as well as the original arcade version of each version of the game, also included are two extra disks one containing the games soundtrack and the second is a desk top accessory pack such as screen savers, wallpaper and the like for you PC.

Unfortunately the game isn’t very long and the other modes such as 1.1 and major black label offer little new in the way of extras, however each of the five characters as two endings to unlock so that add a little replay value, but at this price you can’t complain and if you’ve never played a bullet hell shooter this is as good a place as any to start.

Marvel Vs Capcom 3

After more than a decades wait full of tears and petitions the hugely popular Marvel Vs Capcom series returns to consoles screens packing more flashes and explosives than a new years celebration.

The Marvel vs. Capcom series was never fully appreciated in it’s time arriving as it did at the end of the 2D fighter’s glory days, the industry was moving on to 3D fighters such as Tekken Virtua Fighter and Soul Calibur (then known as Soul blade), much of Capcom’s beat em up output was ignored by the mass market and as a result such classics as Street fighter alpha and Darkstalkers under performed leading Capcom to all but abandon the beat em up genre.

That was until Street fight 4 released and reignited the genre with it’s 3d visuals and classic 2d gameplay, the successful relaunch (and subsequent Super edition of Street fighter) fans began asking for other Capcom franchises to receive the same treatment, chief amongst which was Marvel vs. Capcom, after some legal issues with the licence the dream became reality.

Marvel vs. Capcom was always the shallow end of the beat em genre in terms of depth, with it’s screen filling special moves and almost complete disregard for any semblance of balance between the fights but that was what makes it fun and it’s this tradition that Capcom continues on through this game.

The controls have been simplified some what to enable new player to stand on a more even ground with seasoned pros , launch set ups that lead into air combos are now activated with a press of a single button, it certainly makes the battles look more outrageous when the combatants are diving through the air unleashing fifty and upward hit combos switching with partners mid way who continue the beating, all without ever touching the floor.

The visuals follow very much in the street fighter vain, 3d models with 2d gameplay however Marvel vs. Capcom 3 has a fantastic looking cell shaded  style on top of this that makes all the characters really stand out and is very true to it’s comic book origins.

INFERNO!!

The roster in an interesting mix of new and old with over 36 characters on selection (half marvel and half Capcom) featuring many fan favourites such as Magneto,, Ryu and Wolverine as well as highly requested additions such as Devil may cry’s Dante Chris and Wesker (of Resident evil 5) and Deadpool (who is a personal favourite of mine), however the spectre of Capcom’s “download content” looms large as both Jill Valentine and Shuma Gorath have been confirmed as present on the disk but are instead be offered as paid download content.

Each character is brought to life through their animations and for the most part superb voice acting, be it Deadpool’s breaking the forth wall by talking to the player or referencing popular online videos of marvel vs. Capcom 2’s magneto  and even asking Capcom to put him of the front cover of Street fighter after beating Ryu, or Ironman’s voice actor of does an almost spot on Robert Downy Jr (the actor who played Ironman in the recent movies) impression,.

Marvel vs. Capcom is worth the wait the fans endured an while the simplifying of controls and laughably easy last boss may put off the hardcore, its impossible not to forgive the game for it’s faults when you see Arthur from Ghouls and ghosts and Amaterasu of Okami beating the hell out off Captain America.

Pokemon Black and White

Few things in life are certain but the layout of a Pokemon game is one thing that never changes, however this time around Game freak seeks to inject some new life into the popular series.

The adventure starts with the all too familiar setting of a 10 year old boy or girl getting their first pokemon from the local professor the usual elements of grass, fire and water monsters are the available choices to help you battle across the island earning badges from gym leaders and filling you pokedex (an electronic version of an encyclopedia) as you go.

The first changes, you’ll notice are that the new sprites for the Pokemon are animated this time around adding greatly to the presentation of the game and giving the adorable little critters bundles of character like the stuck up Snivy crossing his arms and tapping his feet impatiently as he awaits his commands, considering the sheer number of Pokemon now available it’s impressive that the artist were able to squeeze them all on to a tiny DS cartridge.

A new season cycle has been added, the world changes through all four seasons (thankfully not real time, it is set at one month per season) the world changes visually with leafs browning in the autumn and sakura blossoms floating in the breeze in the spring, not only this put some pokemon change their appearances based on the seasons as well.

Cities are now much bigger and visually impressive building upon the 3D buildings first seen in Pokemon Diamond/Pearl and also expanding to landscapes and other scenery such as gigantic 3D bridges, however you character has not been given the same attention  and looks out of place when your blocky form comes running across at a slightly wonky angle.

Pokemon has always been about connectivity and as always the two versions (Black and White) have Pokemon that are unique to them and the only way to catch ‘em all as the saying goes is to trade with a friend, it’s not such a problem as it was back in 1998 on the original Pokemon, thanks to global trading allowing you to trade over the internet wirelessly with players anywhere in the world.
The connectivity side has been expanded upon with multiplayer missions to tackle, humours mini games such as Pokemon musicals (in which you dress you Pokemon up and perform in musicals) and the dream world where you send a Pokemon of to sleep (over wi-fi) in the hopes of encountering rare Pokemon, which will then appear in your game.

Story telling has been given a little more mature take rather than the “we steal pokemon ‘cause we are evil” affair of previous games, this time we have Team Plasma who for some reason are decked out as knights, trying to liberate Pokemon from their owners claiming that it is evil to capture them and make them battle, sort of like an Arthurian animal welfare charity.

It could have been a good morally ambiguous take on the Pokemon world, however since this is Nintendo (and to be fair the target audience is children) the moral grey area is quickly cleared up as Plasma themselves have captured pokemon they force to battle and are witnessed kicking a Pokemon a one point like the villains they are.

Overall Pokemon Black and White treads a familiar path, but with Nintendo the only company doing this type of game this well, they maybe be hesitant to upset the applecart to much, Pokemon Black and white strikes a pretty good balance between returning element that made the series great to begin with and enough new elements that it doesn’t feel too stale.

Links

As well as running my 2 blogs I also write for http://www.rhythmcircus.co.uk
I'll link anything I write there to my blog

Lara Croft and the guardian of light collab review
http://www.rhythmcircus.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=495:lara-croft-and-the-guardian-of-light-review&catid=53:game-reviews&Itemid=104

Kane and Lynch 2
http://www.rhythmcircus.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=484:kane-and-lynch2-dog-days-review&catid=53:game-reviews&Itemid=104

Dragon Quest 9
http://www.rhythmcircus.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=418:dragon-quest-ix-sentinels-of-the-starry-sky&catid=53:game-reviews&Itemid=104

Crackdown 2 Review
http://www.rhythmcircus.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=392:crackdown-2-review&catid=53:game-reviews&Itemid=104

Crackdown 2 preview
http://www.rhythmcircus.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=351:crackdown-2-preview&catid=54:game-articles&Itemid=105

No More Heroes 2
http://www.rhythmcircus.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=261:no-more-heroes-2&catid=53:game-reviews&Itemid=104

Alpha Protocol
http://www.rhythmcircus.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=278:alpha-protocol-review&catid=53:game-reviews&Itemid=104

E3 2010 Preview
http://www.rhythmcircus.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=246:e3-2010-confirmed-news-and-wild-speculation&catid=54:game-articles&Itemid=105

Splinter Cell Convictions
http://www.rhythmcircus.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=112:splinter-cell-conviction-review&catid=53:game-reviews&Itemid=104

Guitar Hero 5 (Xbox 360)

The Guitar hero franchise returns for it’s fifth numbered outing and presents the usual reviewing conundrum, reviewing a Guitar Hero game is never a easy task as the gameplay changes very little from entry to entry and to much of the games playability rest on the games track list making the fun experienced based (even more any other type of game) on personal choice making the reviewing process harder never the less we will press on best we can….

Guitar Hero 5 adds many little features and improvements instead of big things as the formula for games of the music genre are pretty much set in stone and this entry is once again aimed at a more multiplayer or ’party’ experience with players now being able to construct four player bands out of any combination of instruments meaning if you want three singers and a drummer or any other combination you’re in luck, this feature is very welcome as most people would rather play lead guitar or the more casual fan might like to just sing ala Singstar or lips, the flipside to this addition is that you obviously have to own however many instruments you want to use and who honestly owns four drum kits? 

Accessibility has been much improved with a party mode on the main menu can launch a random song with just a push of the button with players able to jump in (or indeed out) at any time during the song and the quick play menu allows you to change between various game modes from a singular menu helping to streamline the experience.

The career mode has been given an overhaul this time around, there is only one career (in place of the usual separate careers for each instrument) songs are again divided into various places in the world but have challenges attached to them such as whamming all the held notes on guitar, up strumming on bass, hitting all snares on drums or scoring x amount of points on vocals (there are other challenges as well these are just examples) each challenge will give you unlockable bonuses such as Create a rocker outfits or new characters among other things but again the flipside being you will need all instruments to unlock everything.

The legends again return this time featuring Johnny Cash, Carlos Santana, Shirley Manson (Garbage) Matt Bellamy (Muse) and in a very controversial move Kurt Cobain (Nirvana) who strongly apposed commercialism in music in his life (see Nirvana’s performance on Top of the pops to see what happens when you try to make Nirvana sell out), is strange seeing the legends singing other songs in these game anyway but when you see Kurt Cobain singing “play that funky music white boy” it’s cringe worthy.

The soundtrack is massive and very broad which is to both it’s credit and it’s detriment, you will be able to find something you like but because of the wide range on offer you  might not like enough sons to keep you coming back but as mentioned earlier this is down to personal choice and as such it’s better for you to judge for yourself the track list can be found online.

In addition to the games 85 tracks you can import MOST of your Guitar Hero world tour DLC for free and for a fee you can import some of the track lists from both Guitar Hero World tour and Guitar Hero smash hits but at the moment that stands at  35 tracks from GHWT and 21 tracks from GHSH.

Overall the additions are good but in has become more reliant on multiplayer and owning the whole band set  plus the added cost of (the optional) importing of your tracks from previous games and the never ending torrent of DLC (some of which was out before the game leading to the ever increasing question why wasn’t it on the disc?)  means it’s the most expensive game going Guitar Hero has never been a cheap game but one feels it’s staring to get out of hand.

Looks pretty dark, guess he was playing with the lights out