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Street Fighter IV has been on a long, unbelievable, and completely unanticipated trip since its release in 2008. One-by-one, on platform after platform, Capcom has been dominating their competition in the fighting game genre. Street Fighter IV was a bonafide hit in the arcades of Japan, and even ten years after the series' last numbered installment, the fan base hadn't diminished at all. In fact, it's grown over the years as it reaches more young fans
Shortly after release in the arcades, Street Fighter IV moved onto home consoles where it again become an unmitigated success on the Xbox 360 and PS3. Its flawless online play and easy-to-learn-difficult-to-master ****c fighting gameplay (that it helped pioneer nearly twenty years ago) won over a whole new generation of gamers. Two more unlikely successes followed as SF4 moved onto the PC and the iPhone. The new control input systems were intimidating, but fans adapted to those as well.
After the success of Super Street Fighter IV, we've now come to perhaps the most radical new installment: Super Street Fighter IV 3D Edition. Part of Capcom's extreme success with this recent reimagining of their ****c series is that they've managed to make every single version the best possible version on store shelves. Each release is slightly better than the last. SSF4 is essentially the ultimate culmination of this strategy (at least until they release the inevitable Super Street Fight IV "Turbo" 3D Edition, which hopefully – for comedy's sake – would be followed by Super Street Fighter IV Turbo Alpha 3D Edition EX HD Remix.)
Once again SSF4 3D Edition is the ultimate version of the fighter. However, this one can't really be called incremental. The most ridiculously obvious addition is, of course, that it's in 3D this time around. This isn't just a little graphical sheen added to a good-looking game though. SSF4 has always been the perfect graphic ****to eventually be adapted to 3D. The ****of having three-dimensionally modeled characters appearing on a 2D plane has always looked good, but now with those characters appearing in literal three dimensions, it's out of this world. The characters pop off the screen as if they were always intended to do so.
The 3D effect on the Nintendo 3DS is pretty incredible under optimal conditions. Thankfully there's not a whole lot of trouble achieving those optimal conditions. It's a handheld. Just hold it the right distance from your face!
The only thing we're not entirely sure about yet is the 3DS controls. I haven't yet been given enough of a chance to test the system to see how the controls will adapt themselves to the complex maneuvers of a fighting game. For instance, even given that the 3DS joystick is far better than the PSP nub ever was, it's still questionable as to whether it can handle a quarter million half-circles as I blast through the single player. If the online connectivity proves reliable (and there's really no reason it shouldn't be), then that's a whole lot more abuse that the system has to put up with. Fighting games are really tough on a portable game's controls. It was actually Street Fighter Alpha 3 on the PSP that essentially ruined my PSP's controls years ago.
Some people may say that's not a big issue, but it's actually a huge issue. These controls are implanted directly into the portable system. You can't just go to the store and pick up a new set of controls for $40. So at this point we remain cautiously skeptical about fighting games on the 3DS.
For now it seems as though Super Street Fighter 4 is an unstoppable force. Even three whole years after the game's release, it is being considered a killer app for the 3DS. Right now, it's hard to disagree. The game looks so good in motion that it practically makes the whole experience new again. With the inclusion of online play and the new "over the shoulder" viewpoint really give this game a great new vibe. Will it be worth buying again? You'll have to wait for the review to come in to find out, but right now it's looking promising.
Didn't purchase the Epic edition of Bulletstorm, but still want in on the Gears of War 3 beta? Fear not! If you pre-order Gears of War 3 at GameStop, you will be able to participate in the beta that runs from April 25 to May 15. Although the Bulletstorm beta starts one week earlier (April 18), it's better late than never.
In addition to the ability to play the multiplayer component of the game early, GameStop said in a press release that players will be able to unlock "exclusive content" that will carry over to the retail release. My bet is there will be some kind of super-special gun, because flaming helmets were so last year.
copied from another forum
Tomorrow, March 2nd at 9AM Pacific, 12PM Eastern, is Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata's keynote at the 2011 Game Developers Conference. Nintendo of America has confirmed via Twitter that there will be a live stream available for tomorrow, so lets follow along together.
Previous GDCs have given us the Wii storage solution, trailers for Twilight Princess and Phantom Hourglass, an announcement for Spirit Tracks, and the advent of Miyamoto's Random Employee Kidnappings.
What will this year bring?
Knight's Contract was shown to the press at last month's Ignite event in San Francisco, and among the many games on offer, it was the one that showed the most promise. Part Darksiders, part God of War, it promised an unusual storyline, dynamic melee combat, and a stylish magic system that seemed to add its own unique twist to the action-adventure genre. Unfortunately, a fifteen-minute demo does not make a full game, and even after that first fifteen minutes, it's obvious the game has as many bad points as good.
Before discussing the negative aspects, let's talk about the ways Knight's Contract fulfills its promise. Starting with an absolutely stunning pre-game cutscene, it launches into an engaging Salem-witch-hunt-like story that details the initial adulation, subsequent betrayal, and inevitable execution of a race of long-lived magical women. Heinrich, the executioner, is cursed by one of these witches and when the game starts, he's one hundred years older: gray, grizzled, cursed with immortality, and wearily walking the earth searching for someone who can break the curse. He enters a village decimated by the Black Death and meets a bizarre little alchemist named Minukelsus. Through him, Heinrich ends up in the last place he ever expected—employed by a resurrected Gretchen, the very witch he'd once beheaded.
Gretchen needs the help of a dedicated bodyguard because she's out to stop a group of vengeful ex-friends who are like the medieval equivalent of the movie "Mean Girls." These witches are bent on making humanity pay for their persecution and as such, have forsworn the Witch's Code. The last adherent to the code, Gretchen is determined to save humanity and so she and Heinrich enter into a blood-sealed "Knight's Contract" wherein he becomes her bodyguard. The concept's a little like last year's Enslaved: Odyssey to the West, where "sexy chick meets cantankerous warrior." Like Monkey and Trip, Heinrich and Gretchen have distinctly different but complementary talents to bring to the table. Heinrich's main one is being able to swing a jumbo-sized weapon that's something like a scythe with a meat tenderizer forged onto the end of it. Gretchen, in turn, can use various kinds of powerful magic, casting spells that do things like clamping enemies into vicious bear traps or bringing giant hammers slamming down on their heads. The two work together beautifully, creating at times (especially during finishers) some very stylish-looking mayhem.
During combat, Heinrich and Gretchen collect souls from downed enemies, which allows them to upgrade Gretchen's magic; they also gather trinkets that grant both of them various combat and healing bonuses. Healing's admittedly a little strange in Knight's Contract since Heinrich's immortal and instead of dying, he falls (literally) to pieces. Pulling him back together requires pounding on the "A" button repeatedly which makes him jump up, good as new. Gretchen, on the other hand, can die and when that happens, it's game over. Heinrich heals her by swooping her into his arms like he's about to carry her over the threshold (a little weird, since Heinrich could be her too-muscular grandfather) and waiting for her health to tick up.
Aside from this unusually cuddly healing mechanic and some flashy and interesting combat—including a section of the game that pairs up Heinrich and the weird little alchemist—the game offers some really cool (and disturbing) bosses and some memorable art direction. Two places in particular really stand out – a castle festooned in long swaths of human hair and a dreamlike sequence set in a village made of floating ash. Adding to the atmosphere, the evocative score and solid voice acting pull you into the story and keep you wanting to move forward. The problem is that issues with poor AI, a too-high default difficulty setting, and confusing level design often prevent you from doing so.
The first two issues are intimately related. Boss fights can be a hair-pulling exercise in frustration as you struggle to avoid unreal barrages of insanely powerful attacks and watch in disbelief as Gretchen walks purposefully into them. The "RB" button is supposed to call Gretchen to you, but you can mash the RB until your index finger goes numb and still she'll be hanging out in the middle of a pool of hot lava or standing immobile under an oncoming lightning strike. When not actively trying to get herself killed, she'll driveyou nuts urgently shouting, "Heinrich!" whenever you get a few steps ahead of her. What's funny is that late in the game, when she and Heinrich temporarily separate and you take control of her alone, she proves she's just as resourceful and lethal as he is. So...why did she need him in the first place?
Just as infuriating as the reluctant AI is the confusing level design which sends you through village streets, sewer tunnels, and castle hallways that all look (respective to their level) exactly the same. For people with no sense of direction, this is a nightmare, especially since the game often asks you to go back to someplace you were before. The map is no help at all, since it doesn't reorient itself with you and most importantly, doesn't show your objective. As a result, it's all too easy to spend a good half-hour just running around and around, trying to figure out where you're meant to go next and seriously examining the real extent of your motivation to finish the game.
Interestingly enough, the first two issues are greatly reduced provided you play the game on easy difficulty. I played all the way through on the default "Squire" difficulty and then for grins, started over on "Page." On default, you'll get two hours in and wish you were never born, but on easy, Knight's Contract plays like a different game. Yes, the AI issues and possibility of getting lost are still there, but everything else is cranked back to a reasonable level that allows you actually enjoy yourself. Ultimately, it appears the game's problems would have been minimized had the development team not made such a grievous error in judging its default difficulty.
It's really too bad this happened because overall Knight's Contract has a lot of good things going for it. It has fast, intuitive combat, cool, creepy environments, splashy visual effects, good music, solid voice acting, and a story that's fairly fresh, as far as action games go. The sad thing is that all that is undermined by bumbling AI, absurdly difficult and frustrating bosses, and a maze-like approach to level design. Anyone thinking of buying the game (or if you have it and are utterly frustrated with it) know that it's possible to overcome many of its faults just by changing the difficulty setting. That said, Namco should realize their mistake; default settings are critical and once gamers have gotten a bad taste in their mouth from a game, even changing difficulty might seem like more work than it's worth.
by Neilie Johnson
per this week's Famitsu; haven't seen any DOA scans yet
courtesy true-gaming.net
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