This weekend is the launch of the Nintendo 3DS! But you knew that. What you may not know yet is what games to pick up. We’re working on reviewing as much as we can, but until then, we’ve compiled a trailer from every launch game after the break. Yes, that’s 16 of them.
For more, check out our 3DS Launch Center.
Looking forward to Deus Ex: Human Revolution? The team just released a new trailer showing off the various ways to play the same mission in the upcoming title.
In the game, players can use stealth, choose an adaptive strategy or just go in guns blazing and hope for the best. Each option plays differently, and it will be interesting to see how this fares over the course of a whole campaign.
Human Revolution is currently slated for an August release. Catch the trailer after the break. READ MORE
Do you like zombies? I like zombies. We seem to like zombies so much that they permeate a lot of modern gaming. Zombies are everywhere, from dedicated games devoted to shooting them to games where they’ve been added just for sake of having zombies. So many of these games play by the same chord, but not Atom Zombie Smasher. Blendo Games’ take on zombies creates a fresh experience of killing zombies while jumping to a different genre.
Which? Real-time strategy in procedurally-generated cities where you attempt to rescue as many civilians as you can in tandem with killing zombies using a selection of mercenary teams. That’s the core of the game. Each campaign is different from the last, as the territories are always different, mercenary acquisition is always random, and the rules in which you edit each campaign create a constantly-changing and immersive experience.
The definitive “win factor” of each campaign lies in reaching a set number of points on the “victory scale” before the Zed – the zombies – do. Points are gained for how many civilians you rescue or are killed, winning a territory with a higher infestation rate adds a multiplier to your rescue rate, and every territory either side owns will add points after each mission. The player only gets 15 per captured territory, the Zed will get 10 to 40 and they get territory a lot faster than you do.
You’re not without hope, though. In addition to the set of mercenaries given to you over time, there are also two extra offense options that periodically show up: the Elephantbird Cannon and Llama Bombs. The former allows you to go hog-wild and decimate a territory up close and personal, while the latter allow you to eradicate multiple infested territories with one click.
Along your quest to beat the Zed with your unusual and effective weaponry are a narrative that seems nonsensical and random, and excellent surf guitar music. These make the game feel less like your typical gritty and dark zombie game and more a game that happens to use zombies well.
On top of all this charm, wacky appeal and deviance from an industry standard that culminates into an excellent title, there’s also official mod support and multiplayer with up to three players at one time. Atom Zombie Smasher is packed with replayability and a zesty feel that deviates from common zombie use and does so excellently.
The deluxe edition comes with sixteen double-sided menus (four copies of eight different menus) spanning traditional fast food fare and more specialized cuisine like Irish, Chinese, Italian, Steakhouse, and even a holiday menu. In addition to unique combinations of ingredients, several menus have their own special rules to keep things interesting.
Whichever menu you choose to play, you first have to adjust the deck accordingly; certain restaurants don’t offer seafood, for example, so you have to remove the “Fish” cards from the deck. There are actually two decks per menu, one for 3-5 players and one for 6-8, and the instructions tell you both what you need to put in to the deck and what you simply need to remove from the full deck in order to construct them. Once the deck is ready the entire thing is dealt out, even if this means some players get more cards than others. The dealer then either calls or randomly determines the first order.
A “called” order is just that: the player looks at the menu, then selects one of the entries on it to be the order for the round. A “rolled” order is determined by two six-sided dice; one (the green one) determines the section of the menu, and the other (black) one indicates the actual order. Staring with the player on his left, a player can either meet the order by playing the required cards from his hand or pass; a player who passes on a called order also passes one card to the player on his left (the next player to try to meet the order), while a rolled order sees all cards being sent to the player who rolled it.
If a player meets the order, he sets those cards aside and will score them at the end of the “shift,” then he becomes the leader and determines the next order. However, if nobody is able (or willing…) to fill the order, the customer starts becoming impatient and will be less picky. The order goes around the table again, although it can be missing one required card for each time it passes the current leader. If the order ever reaches zero required ingredients the order is abandoned and the lead passes to the left. A “shift” ends when a player gets rid of his last card one way or the other. At that point everyone scores the values of the cards used to fill orders and subtracts the values of the cards left over in their hands. It is recommended that you play four shifts for a full game, but whatever number works for your group will be fine.
Deciding when to roll and when to call an order is perhaps the most important strategic aspect of the game. Rolling might earn you more cards that you can use to make large orders, but is uncontrolled. Calling an order is safer, especially if you know you’re the only one holding a given ingredient, but you don’t get a chance at filling it until everyone else has had a shot, so you better be sure. But nobody plays Lord of the Fries for deep strategy; most of the fun comes from the wacky order names — and in some cases figuring out how the given ingredients relate to it. An average game will take around 45 minutes, but that will obviously vary depending on the number of players and how many shifts are played. You should be able pick up some fast food fun at pretty much any store that carries SJ Games like Munchkin for about $25.
Bulletstorm is the type of game that makes no excuses for itself. It is brash, ballsy and unflinchingly crass, but will its over-the-top action and humor allure an audience or drive it away like a poorly-executed joke?
Not for the faint of heart, Bulletstorm strives to be a “mature” title by throwing all sorts of adult-themed potty-language at the player. This barrage of obscenity never ceases from the cut-scenes to the gameplay, as you constantly aim to get bigger points with ever more ridiculously-named skill shots that can easily offend the most amiable player. If you can get past this one quirk though, you are in for one of the most fun and fresh shooters to come along in a long time.
Seeing an opportunity to get revenge, Grayson Hunt drunkenly rams his spaceship through the flagship of the Confederate Navy, hoping to kill the commander who betrayed him and his squad years ago. As both ships crash on the former pleasure planet Stygia, Hunt is left with knowing his impudence killed his remaining squadmates and left his best-friend Ishi a cyborg. Swearing to make things right to Ishi, they leave the wreckage to face a hostile planet filled with gangs, murderous vegetation and building-sized monstrosities to find a way off of the rock, even if it means making friends with the enemy.
As trite as the story sounds, it is well-executed to the point that you actually care about the characters by the end of the story. Minor plot twists to introduce the villain into the party worked extremely well if just to hear the brilliantly-sarcastic General Sarrano coddle his former lackeys. Voice acting is superbly done as well, as it walks the fine line between cheesy one-liners and deeper moments when characters show their conflicted nature. All of this is done while maintaining a brisk pace.
This game is all about action. Not content to be a standard shooter, Bulletstorm tries to pull out all the stops for over-the-top kills, giving them names and point values in the way of the Skill Point system. The harder it is to execute a kill, the more Skill Points you receive. Straight shooting an enemy nets no SP, scoring a headshot scores a little SP and shooting an enemy in the crotch then kicking him in the head scores more. With the combinations of leashing and kicking, there are numerous individual unlockable SPs to discover with more and more ridiculous themes.
Skill Points are vitally necessary within Bulletstorm, as they can be used at pods scattered around the game to upgrade weapons or more importantly buy additional ammunition not found elsewhere. It is this reliance on SP that drives you to try bigger and badder combinations of mayhem to feed your minimum existence so that you ultimately crave larger crowds of enemies to get multiplier bonuses. In addition, the environment is extremely versatile, allowing you to kick enemies off cliffs, leashing them into prickly plants or allowing for the random hot-dog cart to be used as an explosive device with awesome results. The game begs you to come up with interesting ways to kill your opponents. Add to that the over-the-top variety of guns and you have a smorgasbord of ridiculous annihilations possible.
Stygia itself is a marvel to behold, from lush green environments to decayed city-scapes to underground tunnels, the fast-paced nature of the game requires you to stop occasionally and look out over the beautifully-rendered landscape. It’s a double sword for the game, because you feel a sense of urgency to get to the next objective, and although the game isn’t short, it makes it feel like the end comes too quickly. To supplement that, developer People Can Fly added “Echo Mode,” which allows you to play certain levels over for time and skill trials. While this was a welcome addition, it feels like a diversion rather than a legitimate timesink. In the same vein, the multiplayer challenges you to get great SP kills against other team members, but lacks map variety.
Despite the shortcomings in additional content, Bulletstorm is a blast to play. The witty humor and solid gameplay make it a breath of fresh air in the first person shooter genre.
Pros: Quirky story, character and mechanics; beautifully executed and fast-paced
Cons: Short campaign, lackluster multiplayer
