At New York Comic Con, we were able to get a booth tour from Capcom which got us some hands on time with three of their much anticipated titles. The first of which was the upcoming rerelease of Marvel vs. Capcom 3 with Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3. Back at Comic Con in San Diego, after announcing the first set of new characters being added to the game, there was a massive leak which revealed the full roster. Now, Capcom has gone official with all but a few of these characters and had them available for us to play as at the Con.

We demoed the game on a traditional controller for the XBox 360. As there was an all day tournament going on, the wait for even press to play using the fight sticks was outrageous and considering most households would use a regular controller anyway, we felt like this would give us a good idea of what to expect from the game. Focusing our teams on the newer characters, we had to learn on the fly just what kind of play styles to use with them.

Vergil was the most reminiscent of Dante from the original Marvel vs. Capcom 3 focusing on using his sword for a majority of his attacks. Firebrand from Ghosts ‘n’ Goblins ended up being surprisingly fun to play with as we didn’t really have any idea what to expect from him. Nova and Ghost Rider felt like the badasses we expected them to be but sadly Rocket Raccoon was not an option for us yet.

The most surprisingly fun character was Phoenix Wright. The best character comparison we could make was him being like Dan from Street Fighter. His attacks may look horribly wimpy as he throws paperwork at opponents but he is perfect for luring opponents into a false sense of security.

Continue Reading →

Recently, we got the chance to get hands on with X-Men: Destiny for the first time. In our demo we got to check out the first level of the game where we had the opportunity to choose between the game’s three possible protagonists Aimi, Grant and Adrian. When a massive Purifier attack hits downtown San Francisco, the player must also decide on the spot which of the three power sets they would like to equip their character with.

The early level surprisingly has a lot of conversation within it as players meet members of both the X-Men and Brotherhood who are both fighting against the Purifiers. Because of the noise in the Activision event, we couldn’t really hear the dialogue at the time but the gist we got was that both sides were already actively beginning to recruit this new mutant to their side.

X-Men: Destiny plays much like a standard 3D street brawler with the added bonus of mutant powers. There are your basic light, heavy, special and grab attacks along with blocking and dodging mechanics as expected. The gameplay itself was fun but the story possibilities are definitely the most intriguing part for us.

Continue Reading →

One of the very first booths I hit on the show floor this year was Bioware’s SWTOR – or Star Wars: The Old Republic – the company’s massively multi-player game set in the Star Wars universe. In development for the last five years, I was excited to learn there would finally be hands-on demos of the game both at the Con as well as off-site at the Hilton Gaslamp across the street.

To coincide with Comic-Con this year, Bioware announced pre-orders for the game on Thursday, which would allow players early access to the game as well as spiffy in-game bonuses. Given that the game’s release window is set for Holidays 2011, it made sense for the SWTOR team to leverage Comic-Con to start showing off their shiny new MMORPG.

After a roughly 45-minute wait, myself and a dozen other eager players were ushered into the booth and each seated at one of the high-end Alienware gaming rigs running SWTOR. We slipped on our headphones and were given 15-minutes on the clock to put the game through its paces. I decided to play a Sith Warrior, went through a brief intro and my character was jumped into a desert-like world ripe for the exploring.

Continue Reading →

At the E3 gaming convention in Los Angeles late yesterday I spent some time at the Activision booth to learn more about one of my most anticipated upcoming games: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. After being ushered into a small room in the bowels of the Activision booth, the lights dimmed and it began.

First, we were treated to a look at two of the game’s upcoming levels: “Hunter Killer” and “Mind the Gap.” The first took us underwater with the SEALS for some sabotage of a nuclear submarine and then inside the sub for some awesome mano y mano firefight action.

We also got a chance to take a look at what happens when the firefight inside the sub is over and the action moves outside and into a rubber speedboat. Once in the boat we speed through the mayem with missiles and ships exploding all around us. Do we make it to the chopper in time and escape? I’ll leave that to your imaginaton.

Next up was “Mind the Gap” where we join the SAS to infiltrate a stronghold and go house to house in search of the bad guys. The level progreses and we take out most of the hostiles but at the end they try to escape in London’s underground. Of course, we give chase — in two trucks.

Continue Reading →

I returned to the show floor bright and early today to check out the second of three independent games featured at this year’s PAX East. Each of these three are puzzle games with clever mechanics, but all stand out individually as awesome testaments to what independent gaming in the Boston area has to offer.

Blinding Science is a sound-based puzzle game, where you play as a blind man who can see through sound. Using a cane to hit objects in the level, players send sound waves out that allow them to observe the game level.

The objects also control workers in each level, who chop wood or smash stones, responding to the sounds you make as a player. The object of every level is to break a crystal guarded at the end, and players use the workers to open up barriers and reach the end goal.

Continue Reading →

The third and final game I checked out at this past weekend’s PAX East independent game showcase was an amazing little game called Snapshot, on its way to PC, Mac, and some consoles, sometime very soon. PAX East is the first time in awhile that Snapshot has been available for demo, so I felt really lucky to get a chance to sit down and spend some time with this title.

Snapshot reminded me of Braid right off the bat, and this observation wasn’t far off. Playing as this cute little robot dude navigating some brilliantly designed, beautifully animated levels, players use a camera to solve puzzles. Boxes can be moved, platforms can be relocated, and obstacles can be removed, as the player takes a picture of an object and places that photo over the environment to continue through the level.

It’s not always as easy as it sounds, though, as the objects aren’t always friendly, or aren’t always easily captured with the camera.

Continue Reading →

The unique thing about PAX and PAX East as compared to all other conventions is the strong presence of independent gaming on the show floor. This year, three exceptional indie titles are being featured in the Boston Indie Showcase, and I took to the floor to check out what these games were all about.

Available for iPad, iOS, Mac, and PC, Smuggle Truck was the first indie game I tried out for myself at this year’s PAX. With very simple controls, you drive a truck full of refugees through side-scrolling barren wastelands, dark caves, and terrifying forests, all in the hopes of reaching the border without losing all your passengers. The path is wrought with obstacles as well as hills and valleys that test your skills against physics.

Smuggle Truck has caused a certain amount of controversy, but don’t let that steer you away, because this game is a ton of fun. And in talking with the game’s creators, the game is less about pointing fun at illegal immigrants and instead does an incredible job of critiquing the absurdity and difficulty of entering the country and legally becoming a citizen.

Continue Reading →

At Toy Fair, we were lucky enough to get the chance to see one of the newest undertakings by Activision called Skylanders Spyro’s Adventure. Under developer Toys For Bob, Activision is combining the much loved Spyro video game series with a brand new toy line.

But this isn’t just a tie in with action figures modeled off characters from the game. Instead, players will take these figures and place them on an attachment for their Nintendo Wii to load any of the 32 characters in to the game. Young players will be given the opportunity to do something they never have before, watch their toys come to life in front of them on a video game screen.

Seeing these toys in person, they look as if they were all beautifully hand sculpted. Spyro even has a little bit of a badass feel to him instead of the super fluffy dragon he started out as. What you don’t immediately see is the technology hidden underneath that gives these toys the read/write ability to load information in to the Wii using the Portal of Power and then take the experience and treasure that player has found with them to their next destination.

Continue Reading →

A year and a half ago, we came home from San Diego Comic Con and were given the chance to review the XBox Live Arcade rerelease of one of our top games of the previous decade with Marvel vs. Capcom 2.  The game was an instant hit and was quickly brought over to the PlayStation 3 as well.

It’s not surprising that soon after, seeing the game’s tremendous success, that Capcom announced Marvel vs. Capcom 3. With a super stylized trailer, the hype hasn’t died down. Even last week at release, it was almost impossible for players to get a hold of the Special Edition of the game, a problem not usually seen in retail anymore.

As we have talked about with our previous hands-on experience, Marvel vs. Capcom 3 brings the series’ classic feel and action back with a shiny new coat of graphical paint and effects that players expect and demand.

Gameplay:

Marvel vs. Capcom 3: The Fate of Two Worlds doesn’t change the formula that brought Marvel vs. Capcom 2 so much success. The game relies on single round matches between two 3 on 3 teams. Players have three basic attacks of increasing strength, their special attack button, and two assist buttons. These assist buttons can be used to either call in teammates for a quick attack or to switch the character the player is in control of for the fight.

As players throw more attacks and successfully defend against their opponents, they increase their combo meter which builds at the bottom of the screen to unleash Hyper Combos. These hyper combos are special moves that can deal tremendous damage if successful.

This simple control scheme allows for all levels of players to enjoy the game. Expert players will learn advanced combos, juggling and snap backs to eliminate their opponents while newer players will be able to feel like they are setting off tremendous attacks even by just button mashing.

It is an interesting dynamic compared to other fighting games where experience will almost always prevail. While it may be frustrating for an “expert” to get beaten by a lucky combination from a “newbie”, it also makes the game more exciting that outcomes aren’t always so predetermined in multiplayer.

Continue Reading →

Yesterday we brought you news that may have changed the console race between PS3, XBox 360, and PS3 as it was announced that the Wii owners will no longer need a disc to stream Instant Netflix on their console. However, mere hours later, the same was announced for the PS3, with a all-new browsing and search functionality, that may just blow XBox 360 out of the water.

Coming with this new system is the ability to browse through the thousands of movies and TV shows available to stream instantly via Netflix by way of genre, category, and even suggestions. Also added is a fully functional search feature, which is new to all forms of the streaming service.

Dolby 5.1 Stereo and 1080p video are also available to help the PS3 keep the edge on video playback.

Finally, and probably the coolest feature in the system, is the new Browser feature that allows you to cycle through each movie, while a select scene plays in the background. Just in case you need extra incentive to watch that classic episode of Dexter. Check out a full video of the new features after the jump.

Continue Reading →

No game was more popular at the Nintendo booth at this year’s New York Comic Con than Kirby’s Epic Yarn, the first Kirby game since 2003.

Gameplay-wise, Kirby’s Epic Yarn is pretty straight forward. Using the Wii-mote, you navigate Kirby through the world. Using a whip, you can attack enemies, throw objects, and pull back portions of the world to reveal new areas. While watching the game, I saw two little kids playing multiplayer, who rather than helping eachother through the level, were whipping eachother

Visually, this game is absolutely gorgeous. Though the footage released in June at E3 made this apparent, I wasn’t prepared for just how good this game looks in person. I don’t think any game has ever showed off what the Wii is capable of until Kirby’s Epic Yarn and I hope other developers follow suit.

Kirby’s Epic Yarn, much like Donkey Kong Country Returns, seems to be easy enough for both the most experienced players and the younger newcomers. It seems that, this holiday season, Nintendo is certainly playing to the younger crowd.

But honestly, after experiencing these two games, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that.

It’s always great when a franchise finally gets a sequel, which is why Donkey Kong Country Returns was one of the most exciting games announced for the Nintendo Wii at this year’s E3. I made my way to Nintendo’s booth at New York Comic Con, where I was able to take DKCR for a spin.

Donkey Kong Country looks great, and it plays great too. Like other Wii games, players can choose to use the Wii-mote and nunchuk, or just hold the Wii-mote sideways as they move Donkey Kong and DK through the side-scrolling levels, collecting bananas and bashing baddies along the way.

I was able to experience the two-player mode of DKCR, which was one of the reasons I was most excited about this game. Multiplayer in DKCR is incredibly fun, especially because either player can contribute as little or as much as they’d like. DK can hop onto Donkey Kong’s back and hurdle bananas at enemies while Donkey Kong runs through the level, or each player can play independently and help eachother complete the level.

This is going to be a great game for kids and adults to play together, because players of all different experience levels can still experience the game fully. Similar to New Super Marios Bros., when players die they are easily brought back to life and can continue

Donkey Kong Country Returns is a fun addition to the Donkey Kong franchise, and a sure hit for both kids and adults alike. The game will be out just in time for the holiday season, since you’ll be able to pick it up on November 21st exclusively for the Nintendo Wii.