Eric Schabel

At a pre-TGS event, Capcom showed off a reboot of its popular Devil May Cry series, titled DmC. The game is being developed by American development team Ninja Theory (of Heavenly Sword fame). The game appears to star a young Dante and will release on both PS3 and 360.

Capcom also unveiled Asura’s Wrath, developed in collaboration with CyberConnect2 (developers of the .hack// series). The game is a third person action title for PS3 and Xbox 360. Not much is known at this point, but it appears to feature some god-sized characters and lots of fighting.

Also revealed at the event was Dead Rising 2: Case West, a DLC pack that brings the original’s protagonist back for an encore. 

Dragon Ball Origins 2

September 4, 2010

There have been many Dragon Ball Z games in recent memory (both good and bad), but the same cannot be said for the original Dragon Ball series. You know, back when main protagonist Goku was three feet tall and had a tail? Back then the series had an engaging story that wasn’t about power levels. Thankfully, we have the Dragon Ball Origins series from Namco Bandai to fill that void. Like the first game in the series, Origins 2 is a DS action adventure title that closely follows the original anime’s plot…sometimes a little too closely.

Dragon Ball has always been a more loveable and accessible show than its big brother Dragon Ball Z, and Origins 2 does a very good job of conveying the humor and style of the older show on the DS. As Goku you will journey through forests, caves, deserts and more while you progressively build your move repertoire and raise your stats. Much like its predecessor, Origins 2 does not bring much of anything new to the action adventure genre, but what it does it does well. It’s a very polished title with great pacing and satisfying mechanics. Players can choose between button-based or touch controls—both schemes work well but have their advantages and disadvantages. I chose to use buttons most of the time because I found it easier to remember Goku’s ever expanding moveset that way.

Dragon Ball Origins 2 picks up where the first game left off, so if you didn’t play that game or haven’t seen the anime (or read the manga), it is probably a good idea to do so. That said, the game can be perfectly enjoyable on its own as well, if you don’t mind wondering where the colorful cast of characters actually came from. In this outing, Goku must battle the domineering Red Ribbon Army and its hordes of soldiers and robots. For the most part the enemies are easy to dispatch, but some of the bosses can prove to be quite tricky. Most of the game takes place from an isometric overhead perspective, but a few boss battles switch to a 2D “fighting game” perspective, which is a nice change of pace. By the end of the game Goku should be so powered up that players are able to handle anything that comes their way.

Origins 2 has very nice graphics for a DS game; it does an admirable job of emulating the look of the TV series. The game also does a great job of presenting the storyline from the show/manga, but I found this to actually hinder the game a bit. Every new level of the game starts off with a lengthy cutscene featuring limited voice work. The cutscenes themselves can be fairly entertaining because they are pulled straight from the show, but after a while it gets a bit tiresome to watch instead of play. If you do not know the story you may not feel the same way, but I found myself wishing to skip everything after a while just to get into the action.

The main story campaign of Origins 2 is quite lengthy, even taking the over abundance of cutscenes into account. With all of its extra levels and modes, the game also proves to be quite replayable as well. If you are a Dragon Ball fan, or an action-adventure fan, this game is definitely up your alley. A game as polished as Origins 2 doesn’t come around all that often—I fully recommend a purchase. 

Pros: highly polished, good controls, nice graphics, decent replayability

Cons: cutscenes are too numerous and a bit too lengthy

 

It has been ten years since the immensely popular Worms 2: Armageddon was released on the PC, and now developer Team17 is back with an all new fully loaded turn-based helping of Worms mayhem, entitled Worms Reloaded. READ MORE

According to Bloomberg Japan, Nintendo will be announcing when they plan to start selling their hotly anticipated 3DS portable as well as its price and initial shipment numbers on September 29. Only two months to go!

When the original Sin and Punishment came out in Japan at the tail end of the Nintendo 64’s lifespan, many Nintendo fans living in North America and Europe clamored and hoped that it would be localized for their regions. Unfortunately, their cries were not heard and the game did not arrive on Western shores until 2007 via the Wii’s Virtual Console service, some seven years after its original Japanese release date. Luckily the sequel, Sin and Punishment: Star Successor, has not suffered the same fate. Star Successor is a rail shooter that is very similar to its predecessor, but it benefits greatly from the Wii’s pointer controls. The game is a non-stop, action-packed bullet hell shooter the likes of which only developer Treasure could conjure up.

Sin and Punishment: Star Successor is about a boy with a plasma pistol and his alien girlfriend. The couple must run, hover, dash, and fly their way through many enemy infested locations, and there is almost never a moment that won’t require players to pull the trigger and fire their guns. If I had to describe this game in one word, it would be relentless.  It just never lets up; sometimes you will even find yourself facing one boss right after another with nothing in between. Of course, there have been plenty of rail shooters like this in the past, but usually they take the form of 2D scrollers featuring futuristic spacecraft. Thanks to the Wii controller, Treasure is able to throw an unprecedented amount of enemy projectiles and obstacles your way, and it feels great. Using the remote and nunchuk, everything just feels very natural; dodging and dashing while firing at your targets can all happen simultaneously without a hitch.

Star Successor is a difficult game. I usually play through new games on “normal” mode unless I have extensive experience with the genre. However, in this game even “normal” is quite a challenge, and I found myself dying on numerous occasions as I played through the campaign. Luckily there are infinite continue credits, so dying won’t slow you down too much. There are two playable characters, Isa and Kachi, and they both feature distinct play styles. Both characters have the ability to hover and fly, but if your goal is to get as high a score as you can (which you can then upload to the online leaderboards), you will want to keep your feet on the ground for as long as possible, because that is the best way to increase your point multiplier. If you don’t care so much about the score, the game will probably feel a bit easier at times if you stick to the air. There is also a co-op mode that can makes things easier; it is very similar to the co-op found in Jet Force Gemini or Mario Galaxy 2—the second player cannot control a character on the screen, but they are able to aim and shoot with a second reticle.

Visually, the game isn’t all that great, save for the insane amount of stuff going on on-screen at any given moment. The backgrounds are fairly detailed, and there are moments here and there that come off as impressive, but overall this isn’t a game you want to experience for its graphical fidelity, and that is fine. It’s all about speed, precision, and colorful explosions.

After playing through Sin and Punishment: Star Successor, I wonder why there aren’t more games like this on the system; you couldn’t ask for a more perfect platform. Sin and Punishment really shines on the Wii, and while the game is only about six or seven hours long at most, that time is completely filled with nonstop action. Treasure has proven time and again that they are the king of shooters, and Star Successor is no exception. If you love shooters, or just find yourself wanting for a breakneck action title, do yourself a favor and pick this game up, you won’t be sorry you did. 

Pros: Unending barrage of action, perfect controls

Cons: Graphics aren’t too impressive

Plays like: the original Sin and Punishment, or Star Fox on speed