SAN FRANCISCO & LONDON (May 21, 2012) – SEGA^® of America, Inc., SEGA^® Europe Ltd., Gearbox Software and Twentieth Century Fox Consumer Products are thrilled to announce that the highly anticipated first-person shooter Aliens: Colonial Marines™ will be in stores worldwide on February 12, 2013. As the authentic addition to the ALIENS franchise canon, the game’s stunning visuals and adrenaline pumping action will deliver breathtakingly immersive single, cooperative and competitive multi-player modes. Providing for an innovative asymmetrical competitive multiplayer experience, Aliens: Colonial Marines lets players fight in first person as the ultimate combatants – the United States Colonial Marines, or in third person as the universe’s deadliest killers – the Xenomorphs. Plunging into familiar and new environments from the iconic film franchise, players will have to fight the fear and face the true horrors of the ALIENS universe.

“I am thrilled to announce the definitive launch date for Aliens: Colonial Marines,” said Randy Pitchford, President of Gearbox Software. “Aliens: Colonial Marines is the culmination of a life-time of inspiration from the films and relentless passion and drive from the exceptionally talented development team behind the scenes.”

“We knew this game would be incredible from the moment Gearbox began developing Aliens: Colonial Marines,” said, Gary Knight, Senior Vice President of Marketing for SEGA Europe and SEGA of America. “Now that the title is in its final stretch of development, we can confidently release the exact date that gamers will finally get to experience this blockbuster thrill-ride.”

 

“SEGA has a proven track record with the ALIENS franchise. ALIENS vs. PREDATOR released by SEGA in 2009 became one of their top-selling titles,” said Gary Rosenfeld, Senior Vice President for New Media for Fox Consumer Products. “We look forward to working with them and bringing an exciting new way for fans to immerse themselves in the ALIENS world.”

In partnership with Twentieth Century Fox Consumer Products and developed by critically acclaimed studio Gearbox Software, Aliens: Colonial Marines will bring new levels of bone-chilling suspense and adrenaline-filled action to the renowned franchise. Aliens: Colonial Marines begins with an ostensibly abandoned ship, the U.S.S. Sulaco, recovered in orbit around LV-426. Players lead a group of highly trained United States Colonial Marines as they board the deserted craft to uncover the fate of the crew. They will have to fight to survive unspeakable horrors and their own anxieties as they chase down the truth behind a galaxy-spanning deception that places humanity at the mercy of the most murderous and deadly species in the universe. Aliens: Colonial Marines features authentic environments, such as the surface of LV-426 and Hadley’s Hope, weapons inspired by the film series and is designed to provide an exhilarating and engaging new chapter in the ALIENS universe.

Aliens: Colonial Marines will be available in stores across the globe on February 12, 2013 on PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system, Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and Windows PC. A release date for the announced Wii U™ version will be revealed at a later time.

For more news, follow SEGA on Twitter @SEGA, Gearbox Software on Twitter @GearboxSoftware or like Sega on Facebook  and for more information, please visit  here.

Whatever your preference, the many editions of Halo have always made a point to deliver and sometimes go a little beyond expectations. This could be why the release of each game has always been treated like monumental events in the gaming industry, and naturally we wouldn’t expect Halo 4 to be any different.

The header to this story is a finished puzzle to a sneaky distraction 343 used on its fans just before revealing what they have in store for the newest entry into Halo and announcing it’s multiple editions. This picture below? Well, that’s the limited edition!

It’s almost impossible to imagine with such sweet box art as this, that if this is only the Limited Edition, then what will the Legendary Edition look like? As far as price goes, nothing has changed since Halo 3. The limited edition is set for an estimated retail price of $99.99, but of course, cosmetics alone are just a small portion of the things to enjoy in this bundle to merit such a fee, so here is a run down of what’s under the hood:

Judging by what’s in the package, the Limited Edition is designed to enhance the multiplayer experience for gamers. Players can control a Spartan- IV which navigates around the UNSC Infinity, a hub for the players multiplayer career.

– 6 unique specializations available for download at launch which unlock customization features, as well as assist players to obtain higher ranks in their multiplayer career. (Further details on how these specializations function will be showcased live during E3 2012.)

– War Games Map Pack Access! The multiplayer mode, now dubbed War Games, will contain this DLC coupon to download a total of 9 maps that will be release post launch. This will unlock the 3 upcoming map packs which contain 3 maps each upon release.

- An in-game Assault Rifle skin, in game Spartan- IV skin, Xbox Live Avatar Spartan IV armor set, and Xbox Live Avatar Prop.

- The UNSC Infinity Briefing Packet; a go to manual for all things UNSC Infinity including information on the ship, Spartan armor schematics, a UNSC bonus weapon and a storied backdrop on the Spartans aboard the Infinity.

- Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn Special Edition Movie: A 90 minute live action digital film that traces back to the origins of the Human/Covenant war and how Master Chief inspired a young cadet who would later achieve the amazing feat of becoming the very commander of the UNSC’s most prized ship, the Infinity.

The dream warrior of Elm Street actually has a ton of available tools and unique abilities at his disposal, including both high & low projectiles, one which causes a stun, teleports, stance changes and ground attacks which possess no travel time. Add on to the fact that he outputs a fairly high amount of damage during his combos and the realization sets in quick that Freddy indeed can be a nightmare. No doubt, even with this all these pros, Freddy is still capable of being rendered vulnerable for long bouts of time depending how each player handles him. Due to his short limbs, his attack range isn’t what you’d expect from a dual scissor claw wielder and has to attack fairly closer than most of the cast normally does when using both his arms and legs. Luckily his attacks and high damaging combos aren’t difficult to learn, however understanding each ones usefulness in the midst of battle is an entirely different story. Each of his special attacks are used for single purpose only scenarios which means you will be shifting gears mentally fast and often to control the pace of each round and keep it in Freddy’s favor. This is one character in Mortal Kombat in which you will surely learn more about him in actual combat than you could ever hope to simply in practice mode as he is designed to be cater to the more mentally focused players.

Positioning: Ideally, Freddy can stand to play a majority of the rounds from a medium to far distance since he has so many tools to cater from anywhere on the screen. When a player using Freddy is ready for an attack, most of the set ups around it are build from the long distance first. This allows him to use his slightly overly active Teleport more safely in addition to not being punished too bad for mis judged attack distance on his 3 Hell Spikes.

Offensive Strategy: This character has a natural talent for pestering his opponents with chip damage and small punishes on heavy projectile throwers. Since Freddy needs to get really close to do his more favorable combo’s, more time will be spent dancing around the issue rather than being aggressive. One of the best things about this character is his sneaky ability to gain meter. Using Nightmare Stance does so as well as avoids regular projectiles entirely, has an extremely fast sweep, overhead and launch (anti-air) option and can be canceled immediately by using his teleport Dream Shift while all gaining meter. Using this in addition to his Hell Spike will build meter quick enough to keep a constant psychological threat of his powerful X-ray. (Back +BK+BK) is a quick and useful low attack distraction form the fact that most of his arsenal are high and mid attacks. Use this when players block high often or train them to block low to land his overhead (Back+ BP+BK) Both of these are great for corner pressure as they result in knockdowns.

Defensive Strategy: Mr. Krueger does NOT deal with cross-ups or pressure very well. In most scenarios when on the receiving end of cross ups and block strings, it’s best to either block all the way through or look for an opening to jump out with Back Kick but never teleport at he easily has the worst and most active teleport in the game. Users should always maintain their distance with Freddy until the close up battles occur on their own terms which are preferable punishes so you have to be more mindful of the match ups compared to when using other characters who usually have the same answers for anything.

Special Attack Usage: Honestly, learn the ranges and speed for his Glove Toss, FreddyFingers and Hell Spike and simply seek to annoy the hell out of your opponent while being mindful of those with quick teleport answers, you want to bait them instead of spamming. Sweet Dreams is only useful if you’re willing to use the enhanced version, which makes it far more faster, but learn your opponent before throwing this out since you’re spending meter to do so.

It’s nice to see Common doing some stuff now-a-days. So this is a game based on basketball handling skills.I maybe interested in playing it since I am a ball player (my competitive nature had to start somewhere right). While there’s no game play in the video it is an intriguing concept. However I am worried about dribbling a live basketball so close to my Kinect and Xbox while it’s on.

Check the release for more info.

Edison, NJ—April 25, 2012—Majesco Entertainment Company (NASDAQ: COOL), publisher of the wildly successful Zumba® Fitness video game franchise, today revealed plans to release NBA Baller Beats, a fun, high energy and first-of-its kind participative basketball video game launching this fall exclusively on Kinect™ for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft. Developed by HB Studios, NBA Baller Beats gets players on their feet mastering mad ball handling skills using a real basketball while playing to the beat of an eclectic soundtrack. The Kinect motion sensor captures every movement of both player and ball to create an entirely new basketball gaming experience.

“NBA Baller Beats introduces an unprecedented way to experience basketball through a video game like never before,” said Jesse Sutton, Chief Executive Officer of Majesco Entertainment. “Our innovative play mechanic combined with Kinect technology puts the ball in players’ hands, tracking both full-body gameplay and ball movement, so players are going to have to get up and actually play basketball to get in the game. Ballers and fans alike will love this game.”

“We are excited to work with Majesco to provide basketball fans and gamers with a unique experience like NBA Baller Beats,” said Vicky Picca, Senior Vice President, Licensing & Business Affairs, NBA. “Showcasing the energy and dynamic elements of the NBA against the backdrop of a compelling soundtrack will be fun for fans of all ages.”

Aspire to perform like a pro in NBA Baller Beats as you train alongside your favorite NBA franchise unlocking songs, difficulty levels, and over 100 posters and trading cards showcasing NBA players’ greatest moves. The music is your guide as you master ball handling skills, dribbling, and baller moves with a real basketball as Kinect technology tracks your every crossover, pump fake, behind-the-back, around-the-world and more! Become the ultimate baller and increase your stamina in single player mode, break it down and practice different skills in Move School mode or show-off in multiplayer mode and go head-to-head against up to 8 players – the highest score wins bragging rights. No matter the level of your skills, players of all abilities will enjoy getting off the couch and raising their game with NBA Baller Beats.

The NBA Baller Beats soundtrack features a mix of music across decades and genres including hip-hop, rock, and old school classics, with tracks from Kanye West, Run DMC, Gorillaz, Them Crooked Vultures, Common, Tiesto and more. Majesco Entertainment will unveil NBA Baller Beats gameplay, as well as additional soundtrack artists and songs, during the annual Electronic Entertainment Expo held in Los Angeles this June before setting out to give fans a try at exclusive basketball camps this summer.

NBA Baller Beats will launch exclusively on Kinect for Xbox 360 this Fall. To watch the teaser trailer and find out more, please visit: www.NBABallerBeats.com.

Deep Silver releases some news and updates regarding their action RPG, Risen 2: Dark Water. This particular batch of news circulates around new release dates set for it’s console release. The Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 versions are scheduled for July 31 2012 in the USA/Canada and August 03,2012 for European countries. The PC version has remained unchanged in it’s scheduled release for April 17th 2012 via digital distribution and is noted to be well under production.

Both console versions will receive bonus content dubbed “The Air Temple”.

This sub plot provides additional hours of gameplay wherethe hero embarks on a quest to discover the lost temple, source of air magic. When he hears rumors that his old acquaintance Eldric has been seen in Antigua the hero knows that he needs to pick up his trail in order to find Storm Island, where the Air Temple is located.

I checked out Akai Katana the other day at the Rising Star Games press event. Before we get into what exactly Akai Katana is I have to say that Kyoto Fu has some very delicious food and quite possibly the best potato chip based snack I have eaten in my life up until this point, maybe even in my entire life past this point. The bar has been set pretty high for snacks from here on out. I could go on and on about how these chips were so delicious but I won’t there’s a game to talk about.

Akai Katana is a old school shoot ‘em up. The more modern term for it is Bullet Hell. These type of games put a ridiculous amount of enemy bullets on screen ,usually in hard to read/notice patterns, and relies on the players to have quick reactions, eye-thumb coordination and the ability to stay calm. These games are often well animated, very colorful and just insanely hard. A more contemporary title that people may recognize is Ikaruga.

So what’s the premise? Simple, the story of Akai Katana is set in a parallel world resembling Japan’s Taisho period, where the people have discovered the powerful Blood Swords. Requiring human sacrifices to unleash their immense destructive power, these swords have been used by the empire to crush neighboring countries. However, all the bloodshed and power gained through sacrificing close family members has made some of the swordsmen think twice. With new fighter planes and the powered up swords at their disposal, this small band of rebels now fight back against the tyrannical empire.

The game itself features three modes origin, climax and slash. I spent much of the time running through climax mode which features an extra level and boss to face. I played Origin briefly which is the traditional arcade mode. I didn’t get too much time on slash mode. A really cool feature that this game has is training mode. You can run through levels and practice  your runs for score attacks or just to show up and impress your lady friends. Each training mode comes with a target for you to hit so you’re working towards a goal. You can also use this mode to find different ways to tackle the patterns of the enemies and bosses . Seeing as how this game features replay mode where you can watch another players run through the game, practicing will help you make sure you look the best among your friends.

When it comes to the overall look of this game it’s a very well animated. It is also inline with games form the Touhou Project series, whose hallmarks tend to be fairies,Lolitas, samurais, ninjas,etc.  as bosses and characters. The game play borrows from those games with the ability to switch between a fighter plane and person mode. The twist is that when you switch from plane to human bullets are repelled but when you switch back they come back to their previous location or you can pass through them very briefly (depending on the mode). I wish I knew about this when I started playing because there were quite a few deaths that I could have avoided using this feature(I sat down picked up and just started playing).

While I did manage to beat the climax mode I did not dissect the game fully (I’ll leave that for a review). However I did notice that there was no online multiplayer. I asked about this feature being omitted and it was a very deliberate omission on the part of Cave and Rising Star Games. The reasoning was that with online multiplayer you leave the potential for lag to mess up a game that’s very reaction and timing based. When you have people  with shoddy connections playing this game it could dampen  the overall experience,which is true I cannot tell you how many games have the issue with lag and poor net code. We’ll have to see if the offline only multiplayer can stand in this market where everyone expects and demands it. I think it’s refreshing because you get to hang out with your friends and play something. It would just suck if your friends lived in another state or country.

The game ships this spring.

You can follow this game on any of these and find out more about the game itself here

Twitter: twitter.com/RisingStarGames
Facebook: facebook.com/RisingStarGames
YouTube: youtube.com/RisingStarGames
Tumblr: risingstargames.tumblr.com
Flickr: www.flickr.com/risingstargames

Those playing the game, wondering about the new content and how it would unlock (as I did this morning) need not worry, as they’re finally where they should be. The Eclipse Scythe weapon for the single player, and the new multiplayer stage titled Desert are indeed free along with the updated level cap, provided you have the Ninja Pack 1 lite. If you don’t, DOWNLOAD IT! It’s the one thing improving the quality of the Story Mode for the forseeable future, and who doesn’t want two new weapons? The Scythe, in direct contrast to the Claws, is larger and slower, but definitely packs a HUGE punch in the form of it’s impossibly long range and blade capable of dealing massive amounts of damage.

I called it on the pricing though. As it was two weeks ago, you can either purchase all of the new content for 800 points, or, if you’re feeling picky, the Eclipse Scythe can be unlocked in Shadows of the World online for 240 Microsoft Points (or $2.99 for the PSN), and each of the individual (Acolyte, Mentor, Leader, Master) mission packs can be picked up for 160 Microsoft Points, (or $1.99 each). The costume pack, which do admittedly add more presence to your online ninja, also goes for 160 points /$1.99.

Details are in the trailer below, including a peek at some of the bosses, including the werewolf from NG2 who gives you the scythe. Nice!

If I sound more excited than I did about the last pack, a quick read of my review will let you know exactly why. I’ve already gone on record as saying that I found the Ninja Trials (and to a lesser, but not negligible extent, the online) to be more enjoyable than I anticipated, and with the second pack finally into the wild, there’s even more content to chew through as the itch for some solid action gets scratched. While I genuinely feel all of this DLC would’ve gone a long way in making the game feel more complete at launch, I am planning a bit of a mini-writeup about the game when all of it’s content ducks are lined in a row, so we’ll see how Ninja Gaiden 3.5 fares after April 24th, when the last pack gets released.

Next up: The Ultimate Ninja Pack, with an all new difficulty, trials, and customizable items!

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There are a lot of sleepers and under ground hits lurking around the floors here at PAX 2012. None of them nearly as impressive as what Dragons Dogma has brought to the table for Action RPG fans. The short demo displayed by some of the development team members of Capcom showed off many impressive fine points of the title with an additional heavy promise that they have yet to even touch the surface of what is under the hood. First off, the game is really good looking, the world seems as lively as it is vibrant from any distance without falling victim to the generic backdrop look. To the naked gamer eye this title might come off as a 3rd person Skyrim or Dragon Age clone right away, however this couldn’t be further from the truth after seeing the game in full action. Speaking of which, action is exactly what sets Dragons Dogma apart from being a clone of other top titles such as Skyrim or Dragon Age 2 by implementing a fully interactive and engaging combat system, far removing the game play experience far from the typical hack and slash motions that tend to be subject to the genre.

Players are treated in Dragons Dogma with fluid movement that enables them to navigate the large world in all dimensions, creating the ability to approach landscape from multiple angles without being overly restricted to a laid out path like most action adventure titles. These fluid movement and jumping abilities directly impact combat in a manner that creates battle scenarios that are much more diverse, an ability which is heavily needed for the larger scale boss battles that are plentiful throughout the adventure.

Boss battles are as massive in scale as they are exhilarating to battle in. Two different boss battles were available in the demo depending on which of the only two available characters are chosen, ours being known as the Sorcerer. This class is a long range focused fighter equipped with some rather impressive magical abilities that mixed between the elements of fire and lighting. When charged, the fire ability would summon meteor to fall from the sky to damage opponents in an extremely large radius and the lighting ability creates a controllable whip that can punish enemies within a close to medium range. The battle takes place atop of a castle structure with it’s only defense being it’s natural architecture which doesn’t last very long against the weight of the Griffin’s aerial attacks, some of which can easily capture your allies in it’s talons and carry them away to their death.

It was during one of these scenes where Dragons Dogma truly shined! As the castle structure continued to take punishment, a character from a previously completed side quest arrived on the scene to assist in battle via a magical spell book you help him obtain earlier in the game. Never before has completing side quests held such a direct impact on a main storyline battle until now. This feature surely adds a lot more incentive to venture out and complete side quests outside of the standard extra money or weaponry rewards that are a staple to the genre.

The in game allies are A.I. controlled only and are meant to assist you in battle during your quest. Although there is no direct multi-player support for this game, the allies can be sent or traded between other players on your online friends list to assist them in the same manner they serve you. DD promises the story to be equally engaging as it’s combat and physical elements are without being overly focused simply on cinematics. Dialogue will also play an important part as characters within the world, including allies, will frequently voice important knowledge regarding the current battle situation or potential side quest activation and/or information.

Dragons Dogma is scheduled for release in May 22nd, 2012 for the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 platform. As a bonus, purchase of Dragons Dogma will include a special code that allows gamers to download an exclusive demo for Resident Evil 6. These codes can be respectively activated on July 3rd (XBL) and September 4th.

Enter Ninja Gaiden 3, a game so caught up in it’s style, it often forgets to bring its gameplay.

From the intimate stabbing going down in the opening moments, Team Ninja wants you to know this is a story about Ryu Hayabusa. Even though his typically bombastic, blood soaked ballets of death are the antithesis of what a ninja should be, he at least retained the traditional qualites in being silent, deadly, and effective. While this reduced him to a mere shell as far as character development is concerned, it was worlds better than what director Yuusuke Hayashi and original NES series writer Masato Kato have cooked up for Ryu in this sequel. The new Ryu is sympathetic, verbose, and no longer reticent. He shoulders responsibility for events out of his control, takes barking orders from higher ups and chuckles at the thought of being a father. The vast mythology of the demon realms and Archfiends from previous titles has been swapped for a more interpersonal tale dealing with the moral ambiguities of being an agent of death, amidst a sinister plot that sees Ryu scarred with a curse called the Grip of Murder and a plot involving the resurrection of a destructive diety within seven days.

“So..How does it feel to suffer as do all your victims?”

While this may work for any number of antiheroes whose personalities have already been established, in terms of Ninja Gaiden, it comes off as forced. It’s always been my opinion that the original Ninja Gaiden started the way it did very intentionally, with Ryu in his classic garb being cut down and being reborn as Itagaki’s over the top spirit of revenge. The awkward attempt to humanize him here feels like a step backward, his newfound curse coming from his Dragon Sword and the thousands of souls he’s cut down on his numerous paths to revenge. I say awkward because, aside from a visually unpleasant legion gradually consuming his arm and grinding several action scenes to a halt whenever it flares up (among many reasons I eventually stopped taking it seriously and started calling it ‘Ninjerpes’), it’s relevance to the story, or even Ryu’s morals, is ultimately shallow. You’re told his curse is the result of years of merciless slaughter, but the game never presents an opportunity for the contrary.

This is made apparent in a sequence minutes into the first stage, as Ryu approaches a soldier begging and pleading for his life, his unintentionally humorous cockney accent begging you not to kill him; After all, he’s only trying to murder you in order to feed his kids. Sure, you as a player have the option to not kill him, but Ryu doesn’t: The game won’t advance if you refuse to press the X button, and it flashes incessantly, almost mocking your lack of choice in the matter. Dozens of henchmen crawl and stumble in battle when heavily damaged, begging for their life, and your only option is to press X or Y for an execution. It goes on like this for the entire game. Every enemy, every ambiguous encounter has only one solution, and that is to cut everything to pieces. The brutal, merciless Ryu note you’re forced to play is at odds with the warm, misunderstood ninja from the cutscenes, and by the time the game reaches it’s undeserved Dark Knight-esque ending, a quick check of the stats informed me that I had annihalated 3,702 beings in my quest for redemption. If TN is trying to convince us that Ryu isn’t a murderer, they may not have wanted to stuff me into a design that uses it as it’s only lynchpin.

Story has never been the series strong suit however, the events surrounding Ryu little more than a cheesy, yet entertaining excuse to toss him into increasingly more extreme combat situations than the one before it, but the ball was dropped even within that safe haven. Combat has seen a complete overhaul, in a radical simplification that drops the items, ninpo management, and essence in the form of the game’s currency. Without essence, there’s no need for Muramasa’s upgrade shop, and Ryu is limited to an ambiguous variety of swords that are all identical to his original one. Ryu’s dodge has changed to a slide with the potential to trip up enemies, and his bow no longer replaces his shuriken, each projectile having its own designated shoulder button for quick use. The movelist has been greatly expanded as well, with offensive options attached to any movement, whether he’s running, standing, sliding, or even landing from a whiffed move. Seeing so many of his moves meld together with the click of a few buttons makes combinations and executions feel even more like an explosive ballet of death than before, the slower paced fights of yesteryear replaced with a visual spectacle that’s more Ninja Assassin than 13 Assassins.

But while this almost sounds good on paper, it’s the actual dynamics of the combat that make it a hindrance. Because of all these new attack options, combat now has a chaotic, loose feel that more often than not misinterprets your intent, leading to Ryu stylishly flying off in the wrong direction stabbing air more often than you’d like, and the increased number of enemies robs them of the ability to attack tactically, circling and peppering Ryu with projectiles while one or two aggressive ones exploit the chaos with unblockable grabs and life-draining suicide moves.

This isn’t what Ninja Gaiden was originally about. By dialing up the number of enemies, much of the tension found in previous games per encounter is lost, and this newfound focus on mayhem isn’t made any better by the game’s camera, which, in addition to having learned nothing from the previous games, also happens to be struck with a case of ADD. Constant zoom cuts highlight nearly every blood gushing evisceration as they happen with the manic hyperactivity of a Michael Bay action cam, and the game’s new “Steel on Bone” mechanic is little more than a randomly activated QTE, forcing zoomed in, gruesome highlights and jarring button prompts at every turn. Even the Flying Swallow move now initiates a backbreaker cutscene every time it successfully connects. If these scenes were used sparingly in a less hectic game, they would have a lot more impact, as each one is presented with an intimacy that makes the kills actually appear more violent than any other game in the series. As a gameplay mechanic to be exploited? It wears out its welcome in short time and intrudes on the gameplay to the point that attempting to perform coherent combos begins to feel like a disjointed chore.

Since you’re never really certain when the game is going to throw one of those QTEs, or an Obliteration Technique (inexplicable since enemies no longer lose limbs) in your face and ruin your rhythm, it’s actually easier to pay no mind to the finesse and just hammer away at the buttons as the death orchestrates itself automatically. There are a few bosses that provide a more stable challenge, but their excitement gets dialed down as some are recycled and exhibit the same patterns in each encounter, removing most of the joy from conquering them. Turning the game to harder difficulties teases at the methodical encounters from yesteryear, but the lack of control over your character development is even more sorely felt as the margin for error in the chaos decreases, and the desire to have more control over your weapon/character abilities becomes noticeable even to a fault.

It weighs heavier as the game progesses and nothing changes. One of the more enjoyable aspects of the Ninja Gaiden series since it’s 2004 reboot in my opinion, was the fact that in direct contrast to its competition, the highly stylized combat wasn’t pre-baked, but instead was largely dependent on player skill. The more adept you were, the better Ryu looked while fighting, and the stylized violence on display was more of a display of prowess than any deliberate action on Team Ninja’s part.

Here, their hands are all over Ryu, instead choosing to pull puppet strings in a way that makes the game feel as hands off as it does hands on. The minimized focus on skill is made obvious in the omissions. Measurements of skill like the combo/karma counter are nowhere to be found, and with it much of the satisfaction of playing well. Gone are the strategies in utilizing different ninpo properly, the old system replaced with a gradually filling bar that turns Ryu into a dragon for a screen clearing summon that restores your health. Gone is the risk/reward in hoarding essence for upgrades and items, or using it for Ultimate Techniques, the Ninjerpes signaling when you’re allowed to charge for a 3-5 man instakill technique. The focus is clearly centered on making Ryu look as badass as possible with minimal investment in the mechanics, and its a constant assault of action that wears it’s welcome out quickly from the first stage.

It’s a design so dumbed down it’s almost condescending, and completely betrays a game that used to poke fun at the player for choosing an easier difficulty. ‘Wave of enemies-navigational gimmick-wave of enemies-occasional boss fight’ seems to be the pattern Team Ninja’s content to execute here, taking cues from every other action game on the market instead of their own, and robbing the game of it’s unique identity. Instead of a mixture of exploration, fearsome enemies, and light platforming, the entire game feels like it’s on rails and driven by minigames, with constant tutorials telling you when you can and cannot wall run, when to jump, and when to climb. Flashy bombastic moments activated by button presses usually reveal new areas, and new actions like the Kunai Climb are needlessly complex, requiring you to alternate triggers while moving with the analog stick and tossing the odd shuriken. I would say that these constant moments of one button flash and pizzazz intrude on the design, but the fact is, they are the design. Of the games 8 or so stages, I was constantly told I traveled around the world, but the environments themselves lack character or distinction, feeling compartmentalized and more like bridges between enemy encounters at best.

Perhaps (and it distresses to think so), it was meant to be this way all along. Oddly, while the Story leaves much to be desired as a core experience, the game surprisingly finds it’s legs tucked away in the game’s “Shadows of the World” online mode. Even though the thought of a Ninja Gaiden online mode seems utterly ridiculous, there are a number of well executed mechanics here that would’ve made the story a much better experience, and makes the constant handholding of the story seem like a tutorial for what to expect here. This mode is split into two categories, Ninja Trials and Clan Battles.

In the former, you can take on a number of missions as a faceless ninja (or with a faceless ninja friend), except this time around, they’re all set up as survival challenges with contracts that appear alongside the action, ranging from finishing an enemy off with shurikens, to performing a certain number of steel on bone attacks before the trial ends. Finishing these secondary objectives along with the mission gains you experience, which awards you with new customizable items, techniques, ninpo, and combos for your weapon. With smaller, controlled encounters and a tangible sense of progression that starts you off with the most basic three hit combo and expands from there, there’s a sense of growth and character building that the story mode lacks. The karma scores, and combo counter make a welcome return here too, encouraging replayability and a stress towards technical skill over flash due to the limited tools and seemingly more relentless enemies.

Somehow, it manages to feel more Ninja Gaiden than the main game, and with the inclusion of familiar areas from NG 1 and 2, it’s a challenging, if bite-sized return to form. Online, the 8 player hack and slashing is about as comprehensible as the concept of having 8 Ryus locked in a box, but there’s fun to be had in stealth killing opponents and using techniques like the Izuna Drop on opponents you know are people instead of AI. As a mode that doesn’t need to exist, I’m surprised to say it really isn’t that bad, and with the attention paid here, it makes the lack of depth in the single player feel even more like an afterthought.

It isn’t difficult to pinpoint where things went wrong with Ninja Gaiden 3, because amidst some solid mechanics pleading otherwise, the evidence is scattered throughout. The single player game isn’t what fans of the series have come to expect, the perpetual moments of flash and button mashing pizzazz so far off concept it makes the game feel outsourced, and the story attempts to add depth to Ryu’s character are lost in the cliché moments and undercooked plot elements. While I’m sure the instant gratification crowd from the God of War school of action won’t notice the difference and in fact be elated that they can now conquer a Ninja Gaiden game sans effort, longtime fans expecting a challenge will feel burned by the changes, especially when they realize that most of the experience they’re looking for is wasted in a mode that isn’t the main focus. It isn’t a bad game by any means, just a disappointing one, and for a game starring anyone other than Hayabusa, straying so far from concept would have been more tolerable.

But, the fact remains, the point was to be a Ninja Gaiden game, and in this misguided attempt to redefine the series, much of what made it special in the first place is now lost. Hopefully, they learn from this experiment, and take care not to impose this philosophy on the already flashy looking Dead or Alive 5, otherwise, I fear anyone wondering about the future of Team Ninja sans their former leader may have just gotten a very disturbing answer.

Rating: 5.0

We’ll start this review by talking about the offline story mode. Many of the reviews were correct in pointing out that the computer controlled A.I. is horrendous. I cannot tell you how many times I was forced to watch my teammates walk into trip wires, monsters, heal each other instead of me, block doors needlessly and do other stupid things that make me feel like I’m being trolled. It’s frustrating to have a medic that doesn’t heal. Usually in games like this, you can set some A.I. baselines, some commands that at least give them direction so they do what you want them to. Even the basic ability to tell them to move to a specific spot (and out of my way) is missing here, and I don’t know why Slant Six didn’t include this. But, while the A.I. was a constant issue in this mode I still didn’t feel that it ruined the game entirely.

Another thing the other reviewers complained about was the story. Unlike them, I found the story to be interesting. For the first time, you get to see something from the Umbrella point of view and re-visit some locales that were used in the prior games. While it is hypothetically non-canon, it does provide situations that could have plausibly happened if you remember the story from Resident Evil 2/3. Oddly enough, there isn’t much going on between the characters, and the bulk of character interaction mainly happens between whoever the squad leader happens to be, and “Command”. The characters don’t interact with each other either, except when you heal or revive each other. Aside from Vector’s blatant hero worship of Hunk earlier in the game, I can only think of one scene that there was a genuine interaction between the team members near the end, and that’s weird that they don’t at least talk every once in a while. Aren’t they supposed to be close knit due to the line of work they are in, and how long they’ve been together?

It’s odd. Slant Six took the time to give all of these characters back stories, yet none of it is ever referenced in the game. The chance to show the characters or Umbrella from a more humane perspective is squandered, and the biggest complaint you’ll hear from me about the story mode is that the ending left a lot to be desired. Depending on the path you choose, it just feels a bit anti climatic to be met with just credits once the cut scene is over. Why not at least a “What if?” ending? For once, you’ve done something that would drastically alter the Resident Evil universe but you don’t get to see fruits of your labor. It made me sad .

But enough about story. How does this beast control? Pretty well I’d say. I’ve had no issues executing maneuvers, and the cover system is passive, meaning all you need to do is walk up to a wall to automatically take cover. It does feels alien at first after playing games like Gears of War for a few years, but once you learn it will be second nature. Everything else is mapped similar to Resident Evil 5, a standard 3rd person shooter scheme with the addition of skills you activate with the Y/triangle button. You can adjust your look sensitivity to speed things up or slow it down depending on your play style, but in my experience, I don’t see how people can say that this game controls stiffly. If anything it could be mind over matter from the animations simply being being robotic at times. Despite this, other actions like diving, sprinting and melee attacks can be pulled off without a hitch. I also had issues with using trip and land mines until I figured on my own that trip mines set wherever you your cross hair is looking, whereas land mines set wherever your character is standing. Grenade’s have their own bit of a learning curve too, as I have had some grenade snafus where they bounce off things that are close to me (low hanging ceiling parts) or I’ve overshot them and completely missed what I was aiming for.

As for the visuals, the game looks good for the most part. The major issue I’d say is the frame rate. Sometimes it just starts chugging for no good reason, which can mess with your aim a bit. Skyrim had that problem too. Another minor issue to me is that by default the game is dark, super dark. Given that most of the missions take place at night, I had to raise the gamma slightly to be able to see stuff. The character models generally look good, though some like the Heroes in multiplayer look better than others. Some skill activations look a bit cheesy in an unrealistic way, however the assault class has main skills like Super Solider (temporary invincibility/damage buff) and incendiary ammo, so it balances out. The monsters all look picture perfect though. Mr. X/Tyrant and Nemesis are terrifying when you have to deal with them during the close of a multiplayer game or mission, and are very faithful to their original appearances. Raccoon City itself is faithfully recreated and laid out very well, and I feel that in this respect, Slant Six stayed very close to the source material for most of this game graphically. Occasionally, ammunition boxes have a tendency to blend into the environment, and you can easily miss bonus objectives such as cameras and data if you’re not actively looking for them. Quest/mission items are usually easier to find and are highlighted, a nice touch.

The game’s sound effects won’t stand out too much, unfortunately. The monsters noises are true to the source material and that’s always good, but the character dialogue is decent. The most interesting set of lines occur when the characters get infected. Maybe I’m just sick and I found it interesting to listen to people announce that they feel a hunger, but it’s a novel concept for a Resident Evil game. The music seems fitting for what’s going on. It seems that shooters love to either have rock music, or that weird tribal stuff going on for most action scenes. It’s mostly for the campaign though, as in most shooters, you deal with the music more in single than you do in the multiplayer game. The menu music will get in your head however, because you spend a lot of time there (more on this later on). They aren’t the most memorable tracks in any case, bother than the option screen music I can’t recall any other tracks from the game.

The real meat and potatoes of this game lies in the multiplayer. The campaign is way more enjoyable with 3 other humans. It’s an odd omission that Slant 6 didn’t include offline multiplayer or a system link option for tournaments, and depending on your opinion, this could hurt your enjoyment of the game, considering most shooters offer a split screen option. I was puzzled by this, but in the end I don’t mind having the extra screen real estate during the campaign, given the amount of things you can miss if you’re not paying attnention.

The versus mode offers four main modes (at the time of this review, the extra Nemesis mode is available  for download, I just haven’t had a chance to play it) Team Attack, which is similar to Team Deathmatch and runs on a point based system and Biohazard Mode has the objective of teams having to capture samples of the G-virus and bring them back to certain points (think capture-the-flag). The third mode, titled Survivor, is a mode where both teams must fend for themselves until a extraction chopper arrives, the catch being that only 4 people from either team can fit on the chopper, so teams have to work to get as many people out as possible.

The last mode is Heroes, where you play as previous characters from the Resident evil universe, and the game is over when all four of the heroes are eliminated. If you die as a hero you respawn as a regular character from the original sides. These four modes are fun with your friends and make for some pretty intense moments, but playing with randoms is a crap shoot because not many of them have the concept of team work down and many of them go lone wolf in most of the game modes, grabbing health ,anti viral sprays and ammo for themselves. The character classes and loadouts make this a deep shooter because you can build teams around each map and game type, given that the teammates can’t be double picked, leading to some strategy when choosing an avatar. The fact that you can have only one type of character per team not only ensures the you’re not dealing with broken teams, but forces team work and communication in order to succeed. Every role on the team is defined clearly and it is beneficial to play characters to that role. (FYI, I play Demotion )

While the multiplayer is fun, there are some serious issues to take into consideration. There is a serious issue with finding games when you have a full team, it seems to take forever to get into a game (hence my mentioning the option music getting into your head after constant exposure to it). Also, there is no way to just reset the search without one person backing out and restarting the entire process of getting the team together. Even if you do manage to find a game with your party, there’s a good chance people may just get dropped regardless. There occasionally are lag monsters that show up, but then again I’m not surprised; I can’t think of any Capcom game that has had a solid net code aside from Monster Hunter. There isn’t a ton of content to mess around with either, aside from the achievement hunting and multiplayer versus modes the game’s replay suffers a bit. Once you complete the offline objectives you may not want to go back to the campaign for any reason aside from the alternate ending, and the rest of your experience will be spent online.

Overall, Operation Raccoon City is a very fun game when you bring some friends along, but technically flawed in some aspects. The campaign could’ve been better, and the story could’ve been presented better, seeing as they had a what if situation to exploit and chose not to do so. Some things need to be patched to ensure a bit more balance in the versus mode and matchmaking could definitely use some work, but If you have a team or some friends online that have this game it might be worth a pick up. It’s a definitely a change of pace from most of the other shooters on the market, and one of the better team based games I’ve played in a while.

Rating: 7.5