Torchlight II Preview: Embermage & Enchanting

Torchlight II (Runic Games)

System: PC Release Date: Summer 2012

Suggested ESRB: T for Teen

Summoning a hammer made of pure fire when things start to get hot (ok even I winced at that one kupo!)

Preview Class: Embermage

For part three of my Preview coverage of Torchlight II, we’ll be taking a look at the powerful “Embermage”. Harnessing the power of Ember through careful study these scientists have found a way to replicate the mystical energies of Ember without any of the harmful ‘Ember blight’.

 The Embermage is pretty standard as far as spell-casters go in an ARPG, that is until I saw the above pictured skill “Flame Hammer” which summoned a big hammer out of fire that swung sending my enemies flying. Having a melee spell spoke volumes to the possibilities so I experimented. With a wand in one hand and a sword in the other I was able to pull enemies with magic and then dynamically swing with my offhand sword when they got to close, or close enough for a good hard slamming with my magic hammer of fiery death kupo!

 Embermage’s have two main weapons: wands, that deal ranged magic damage and turn into a club at melee range, and Staff’s which enhance your spells but don’t do ranged attacks. Wands are only one handed means they can be paired with any of torchlight II’s single handed weapons like pistols and swords, or in my case another wand! While other classes benefit from finding a weapon combination that works I found that with a ranged class such as the embermage and the outlander there is more chances to really find what feels right to you. In my experience I was able to chain together elemental damage using two wands meaning I could do ice damage in one hand and then burn them to a crisp with the other all the while still having spells to really turn the battlefield into an electric light show of pyrotechnics and destruction. 

with a calm head even a spell can handle a big group at close quarters in Torchlight II

As with the other classes you have three skill tree’s at your disposal all of which empower you to lay waste to your enemies by the truckloads. This time around the first skill tree is “Inferno” as the name implies it is very fire focused. This specialization aims toward building your ‘charge’ gauge while keeping the heat and elemental damage coming. The next tree available is “Frost” where the ‘inferno’ tree is all about building up your charge and burning foes as fast as possible, frost focuses on freezing your enemies solid in ice and controlling larger groups with teleportation. The last tree offers you the power of “Storm” which dispite what the name might imply has you opening up massive destructive ‘rainbows’ of elemental power. You’ll be harnessing all the elements with this skill tree causing chaos and destruction as only a true master of Ember could with elemental rainstorms, chaotic ‘bizarre’ effects to wand strikes, there is no telling how bad the ‘storm’ will get before a fight is over.

 Not to be outdone by other classes Embermages bring the pain in massive doses staying true to ARPG roots with the mentality that your enemies should fear you, not the other way around. The charge bar for the embermage makes this all the easier when it fills completely you no longer pay any mana to cast your skills meaning that you can start spamming everything in your arsenal turning the battlefield on its head with enough destruction to make the Engineer embarrassed. With the inferno specialization this happens more and more often meaning if you want to impress any groups your in with a horrifying display of chaotic destruction, it might be the route to take.

 A fun class to play and an amazing replacement for the alchemist from torchlight I, I recommend anyone who wants a power trip to give Embermages a try and feel the power for yourselves, I can guarantee you won’t be disappointed. Moving on lets look at Enchantments! 

Special Feature: Enchanting

a look at a ‘tier one’ enchantment done out in the field. as you can see even a single enchantment is far stronger than the original Torchlight system.

a look at a ‘tier one’ enchantment done out in the field. as you can see even a single enchantment is far stronger than the original Torchlight system.In the Original Torchlight enchanting was the best way to turn your mediocre equipment into stunning workable pieces until you found a better piece of gear. This has largely not changed in torchlight II. Unlike the first game you don’t start with a friendly neighborhood enchanter and instead must find and save him from a dungeon later on, before then you just have to get lucky to find one out in the field and they only have a few ‘enchantment’ charges before they are ‘used up’, getting back to the town enchanter they begin at the lowly apprentice level and can only enchant something once and usually to a basic effect, I am to assume at later stages of the game your ‘hubs’ enchanter becomes more experienced or skilled and can preform more expensive but useful enchantments.

 As with the original torchlight there are artifacts and shards of ember that can be used to enchant your weapons with slots. Yet this time they are no longer combined and the single shards are far stronger to make up for it. In the first torchlight a single shard of fire ember might protect you from fire damage by two percent and could enhance your damage with +2 fire, now a single shard enhances around +8 and that’s just a shard. As well as the return of Ember Shards we see the return of Skulls, and Eyes which enhance more things than before such as pet/minion specific bonuses to health and damage. Over all things are mostly the same but vastly improved from the basis in torchlight I. Your stronger, faster, and better equip to handle this quest and the enchanting of all your gear will give you that edge you need to survive.

Well that’s it for this look at the Embermage and Enchanting, next Preview will follow Beserker’s and Online Play. So make sure to come back and check out the slaughter kupo!

oh hey a FISH!

Torchlight II Preview: Engineer & Pets

Torchlight II (Runic Games)

System: PC Release Date: Summer 2012

Suggested ESRB: T for Teen

groups of enemies have no chance when facing an Engineer, this move is called Seismic slam which causes oil to spill when you stomp the floor which then catches fire

Preview Class: Engineer

 today we are going to look at the Melee heavy class “Engineer” and discover if in a world of gears and steam engines does the support class of old take a step forward as the new ‘tank’ of the party?

The answer to the above question is yes! To those that may have thought that Engineer meant hanging back, repairing and tinkering with robots and building bombs, you’ll be pleasantly surprised. In Torchlights distinctly magic meets steampunk setting Engineers are stronger than ever. Using their knowledge of the mechanical arts these adventurer’s are clad in heavy armor powered by steam and ‘ember’ a powerful mineral that played a key role in the original torchlight. Harnessing the power of steam and ember they set out to rock their enemies into the ground with fire and mechanical enhanced stomps.

The heaviest of the four classes Engineer’s can specialize into three skill tree’s the first being “Blitz” which allows you to crush, and obliterate groups of enemies with powerful stomp attacks as well as ablities that use the Engineer’s unique ‘charge’ bar to cause enhanced destruction through more explosions or bigger AOE stomping. Now don’t worry fans of the classic Engineer mentality, the 2^nd skill tree is known as “Construction” this tree enables your already massive engineer to command an army of steampunk robots to overwhelm your foes, everything from medic bots to explosive spider bots are at your disposal. In place of stomps you are given grenade attacks and cannon support that allow you to command the battlefield while your army makes short work of anything that might survive your onslaught. The last skill tree is for those turtles out there, its called “Aegis” and focuses on becoming a one man phalanx. You carry a big shield and a sword in this spec while your skills focus on repelling your enemies through armor defenses like electrical shielding and the occasional explosive ‘overload’. As you can see the Engineer is a bigger, badder, yet highly intelligent monster this time around and should be a breath of fresh air when compared to the classic idea of what an Engineer is restricted to do. 

as if to taunt my intelligence there was a slightly complex puzzle waiting for me in this dungeon.

In a group setting Engineer’s shine as they can control the melee range of battle often helping the other melee class Beserker by occupying targets or grouping them together so the ‘beast’ of the group can get their claws into the enemy. Capable of taking HUGE amounts of damage the Engineer does handle being a decent tank capable of dishing out as much damage as they take.

The engineer’s charge bar is split into six dot’s each of which can be used to unleash an enhanced version of one of your skills, the flame hammer skill detonates three charges instead of a single charge when there is even one charge in the bar. Certain skills in the blitz tree enhance the way you can acquire charge from almost everything you do meaning that the explosions will keep coming and even a small army of enemies won’t have a hope against you.

Its about time the Engineer became more than just a repair and turret guy, and torchlight is just the right setting to let them shine. If your interested in bashing the armies of monsters under your boot, or under the steel feet of your mechanized army? This is the class for you kupo!

Special Feature: Pets

a look at the pet’s grocery list, you can buy pretty much any consumable you’ll need out in the field.

 

a trend started in the first torchlight, pets play a key role in any adventurer’s arsenal when traveling the massive environments or dank dungeons that populate the world. They are a reliable attacker for your mage, they can carry your whole inventory and now, they can even do your shopping.

Pets in torchlight II now come in eight different flavors all of which prove their worth in no time at all. The developers must have listened as there are not only more pets but they can be slightly customized by changing color schemes. But don’t worry that’s not the only change that was made. On the game side of things pets can now fly back to town and with a pre-written grocery list, by you consumables while your out fighting the good fight, thus eliminating the need to return to town to get potions or scrolls!

As if it wasn’t good enough already that they are decent front line fighter’s and could sell any gear that you couldn’t carry, but now they are better than ever before. Another change to the pets altho minor is the inclusion of Collars and Tags. No longer do your pets have to wear the trinkets you don’t want, now they have dedicated ‘pet buff’ related equipment that makes them stronger and more resilient along side your ever growing character.

And before I forget, pets can still transform from any fish you feed them from fishing in any of the games many fishing holes. Fish themselves have upgraded to have several variety per ‘monster’ some fish are ‘big’ and allow for a longer transformation while others can even change your pet permanently until you feed them another fish!

Over all the pets are amazing and you’ll grow attached to having them with you when the going gets tough, and count on them to sell the mountain of loot you’ll pick up along the way. If the ARPG needed an innovation I’d say the pets are the best thing they could have done kupo!

Well that’s it for this Preview kupo! Next we’ll be taking a look at the “Embermage” and the reworked “enchantment system” in the game. Until then happy adventuring kupo!

here are the eight diffrent pets, awesome variety

Torchlight II Preview: Outlander & Maps

Torchlight II (Runic Games)

System: PC Release Date: Summer 2012

Suggested ESRB: T for Teen

A temple I discovered while in one of the many huge open world area’s that populate the world in Torchlight II

Welcome to part one of my special Preview coverage of the upcoming sequel to one of my favorite Dungeon crawlers of 2009, Torchlight. In the next couple of posts I’ll cover the different classes in Torchlight II as well as the changes that make this title stand out in a market that has just released ‘Diablo 3” so stay tuned for more!

Preview Class: Outlander

one of the best things about the new torchlight game is new classes! It took a little while for me to decide which hero I’d choose but after some thinking I decided my first character was going to be the Outlander as they appeared the closest to my favorite class “the vanquisher” from the original torchlight Kupo!

I can say I wasn’t disappointed as the ‘Outlander’ class is very much the dedicated ranged class out of the four adventurers at your disposal. The Outlander is specialized in using everything from one handed pistols to massive two handed cannon’s that would look at home in the depths of any pirate ship. Their main roll in combat is crowd control and suppression. Often I’ll find myself back flipping out of danger blinding my enemies and crippling them with poison daggers before I take a stance and unload on the blind, crippled, and poisoned monsters who have no hope of taking me down.

Like the other three classes in the game the outlander has three skill tree’s it can spec into each providing a decent amount of customization as you progress through the game. The first and my selected tree is “Warfare” this tree allows you to jump around your enemies and take them down with vicious poisons and various techniques that allow you to better control a group. The next tree is named “Lore” which focuses on using a special weapon known as a glave that bounces amidst your foes and causes all kinds of effects as you level these effects are also tied to a special mechanic called “Charge” that I will cover in a moment. The last tree is known as “Sigil” and it allows you to command the elements adding stat boosting elemental damage and buffs that help you and your party face the larger groups of enemies. No matter what tree you choose you’ll be an important part of any party as well as a formidable stand alone adventurer.

in the middle of a boss fight, enemies will drop from all sides above and bellow to attack you, important planning and skillful placement will allow you to avoid getting trapped like me.

Ok so you know how I mentioned “Charge” each class in torchlight II now has a new bar that sits above their main skills. Each class uses the power stored in this section differently but it is all gained the same way through combat. In the Outlander’s case as they continue to fight enemies their gauge will grow, giving them stat boosting effects that allow them to survive even the longest gunfight. In the “Lore” skill tree you build charge a lot faster meaning you gain the amazing bonuses a lot sooner than other tree’s. What buff’s are these you might ask? Well as your charge bar grows you gain higher percentages in stuff like casting speed, attack power, dodge chance and critical hit. The nice thing about the charge gauge is that as long as your fighting something the bar won’t deplete meaning you can go from battle to the next as strong as ever, not bad if you ask me Kupo!

I hope this was a good look into the Outlander as I have had a lot of fun with them so far and plan to play one for the remainder of my main game, that is unless one of the other three classes manages to tempt me away and who knows with how solid this class as been I have no doubt the others are no joke either.

Special Feature: Maps

a partial look at the massive Temple map

as well as covering the classes I want to spend time in each article to discuss the other features in Torchlight II that are exciting and will provide a clear picture as to how much game you’ll be getting when Torchlight II releases this Summer. The first of these features is the environments and how they change/ what you’ll find within one of the games many massive open area’s that separate the ‘hub’ town from your quests and dungeons.

After a brief introduction and quick ‘tutorial’ area you are taken to your first major town. It isn’t much to look at, at first. There are a few basic vendors and a few npc’s but for the most part its the branching roads to new places that will interest you the most. The first place you are sent is known as The Temple Steppes. To say this area is huge is an understatement. This one area is easily four times bigger than any one map in the original torchlight. You’ll spend a lot of time exploring this place in your early levels, luckily the developers planned for this and littered the map with tons of neat little touches such as Golden chests (with hidden keys), minor puzzles involving ghosts and tombs, and even the occasional optional quest (like the Plunder Cove quest)

The attention to detail in the environment’s in torchlight II is impressive, all around there are things you can interact with. Stones can be over turned, lanterns can be destroyed and lets not forget lanterns on some buildings that cause the whole thing to light up; which in turn causes men to rush out of the flames coughing and stumbling for air. Night and day as well as weather effects all add to the immersion in the vast amount of places you can visit. In only a few hours I have been through a asian inspired marsh, a deadly half sunken pirate cove, and deep into a snowy mountain pass.

Hidden quest that appeared in my 2nd run through on the temple map

As if this wouldn’t be enough the game also includes, wait for it…randomized areas! Every-time you enter a zone you are given a unique map that is yours until you leave into another one of the zones that branch off the hub town. This means you don’t have to worry about losing your progress on one of the huge maps unless you absolutely want to watch it all change. It isn’t only the combination of props and such that change when you enter or re-enter an area in torchlight II, it also changes Loot drops and even Quests! On my second adventure in the temple steppes I came across a lantern that wasn’t in my first map that contained a ghost who lead me to a secret dungeon where a vile ghost pirate waited. This type of replayablity is startling and makes going back to older area’s seem fresh and new every time you do it. Listen Up developers! I want more of this kupo!

Well I hope this has provided you with a decent first look at this fantastic game, expect another article soon which I cover the engineer and pets! For fans who want to join in on the beta you can sign up on the Runic Games website and wait patiently for an invite kupo! Until then keep adventuring heroes!

Journey Review

Journey Review (ThatGameCompany)

System: PS3    Release Date: March, 13, 2012

ESRB: E for Everyone

“A friend who is far away is sometimes much nearer than one who is at hand. Is not the mountain far more awe-inspiring and more clearly visible to one passing through the valley than to those who inhabit the mountain?”
Khalil Gibran

Journey, an Indie title by ThatGameCompany, is a multiplayer driven ‘experience’ through a vast desert landscape toward a mysterious mountain top in the distance. Without a single spoken word you will travel together toward a final conclusion that might just change the way you think about ‘art’ in videogames.

Journey takes a simple idea and expands on it with beautiful music, amazing graphics, and an ingenious multiplayer that transcends race and language barriers. You play a red cloaked figure as they wake up in a vast desert, distantly a mountain top glows and you know, that is your destination. The game mechanics are simple and easy to grasp almost immediately, you have a scarf that acts as both your life and a measure of how much ‘power’ you currently have in the form of glowing symbols. What do these symbols do? They allow you to float/fly. The last mechanic the game contains is the ability to ‘chirp’ activating and communicating with anyone you find on your journey toward the top of the mountain.

Alone, Journey provides a beautiful trip through impossibly gorgeous vista’s that would look perfect in any art gallery. Yet traveling alone in journey much like real life feels empty and when you find your first traveler (another player playing the game at the same time somewhere else) it is an exciting moment filled with elation that you are now, no longer alone. Discovering a proper means of communication and working together to figure out the game’s basic puzzles is fantastic and often a connection with this faceless person grows over the course of the short 2 hour game.

To properly express the emotions you experience through journey would take forever and may ruin some fantastic surprises, but I can say that I have never found myself so involved with a complete stranger as much as I was playing journey. Experiencing the many varied locations (it is not all just desert!)  with a friend is both enjoyable and almost therapeutic, the music is calming and light accenting well with moments when your surfing through a sunken city or floating above the dunes, there are moments of heart pounding tension as you navigate dark tunnels where giant stone serpents dwell anxious to tear you or your friend to pieces. One of the many things Journey does really well is to bring forth emotions that not many, if any games have for me since “shadow of the colossus”

Now enough of my cryptic eluding, while journey remains a 2 hour ‘experience’ it is not to be considered a game without gameplay, the area’s you explore are vast and are full of hidden collectables and murals that explain more about the game’s world and story. Much like a good movie the pace and emotional adventure will have you coming back again and again to see how the journey differs with another player or to find things you missed before. I have gone on my own journey around five times now and that adds up to about ten hours of game, about average for a ‘action’ title these days so if the 15$ price tag looks like it’s too much know that you’re going to get your money’s worth and then some to experience a truly beautiful game.

For those on the fence, get this game its beautiful, its emotionally engaging, and its probably the best indie title of 2012, go on a journey today, you won’t be disappointed.

The Breakdown:

[ + ] Story: subtle in it’s telling the emotional attachment to the characters and the final moments of this game make the story fantastic, even if there isn’t a single spoken/written word.

[ + ] Graphics: probely the best looking game I’ve ever seen, and easily the top contender for the ‘games are Art’ argument

[ + ] Gameplay: Simple but satisfying, you will twirl, float, and surf your way to the end of this game without a single hiccup, the puzzles are simple yet distracting enough to not feel to boring, and the chirping mechanic is great.

[ + ] Replayablity: everytime you take the journey your character’s cloak gets a big more decoration stopping at playthrough 4, and then if you manage to find all the symbols you are rewarded with a white cloak. Add this to the changing experience every time you play with someone knew and it adds up. Roughly 10 hrs (including playthroughs)

[ + ] Opinion: an amazing game that proves that art belongs in the interactive medium, with multiplayer that transcends barriers, this is a game everyone with a ps3 should play

I rate Journey 5/5 Kupo!

Back in the reviewer’s chair

Hey everyone!

I feel that I have some explaining to do about my long absence and I feel it gives me a chance to speak out about something that has bothered me as of late about my favorite industry. Lately I have felt rather disillusioned with the business of reviewing video games as most publications seem to fall into a ‘paid review’ style, that it has become rather transparent to see what games are getting good reviews because of a major company wanting it to sell well (thus influencing reviewers to rate their game above a certain margin).

Understandably this is a business in the end and no one wants a bad review, but I feel as a Reviewer it is our job to sort the good from the bad and while not every customer depends on reviews to sway their purchase those that do rely on their chosen publication to save them money and time to find games they will enjoy. If the review claims it’s an amazing game and then turns out to be terrible, that publication takes the hit as being unreliable, something I want to avoid here at The Wayward Moogle.

It took some soul searching to come to the conclusion that I want to continue to provide the honest reviews I can and continue to be someone you can trust to steer you away from the bad, and toward the good. Granted I know everyone’s tastes differ and sometimes something I enjoy might not be up to par for you, but I’d like to keep things honest and upfront.

I can talk and talk but I’d rather get back to the reviews you’ve all been waiting for. So for now just know that I’m back in the chair, unpaid and completely honest, and I hope you continue to Enjoy the Content here at “The Wayward Moogle”

-Your Moogle In the Press

Mike

Dungeon Defenders Review

Dungeon Defenders (Trendy Entertainment)

Systems: PC/PS3/360/Ios      Release Date: Oct 18^th, 2011

ESRB: E10+

So you take one part tower defense, then mix in one part MOBA (Multiplayer Online Battle Arena), and then 2 parts Loot Grind and you get Dungeon Defenders, the fantastic co-op strategy game from our friends at Trendy Entertainment. As one of four, apprentices to the heroes of the realm Etheria you are charged with defending the castle while they are gone. When a crystal holding back an incredibly dark power is shattered your skills will be put to the test as the armies of darkness come to claim what is theirs.

Dungeon Defenders is unique in that it combines the elements that make tower defense, customizing your character for multiplayer, and the addicting loot grind dungeon crawler into one arena chock full of enemies (more than a couple hundred at once).  the arena’s themselves are full of dangers, everything from pits of spikes to pools of lava will give you the advantage as the hordes of enemies work their way into your cleverly planed choke points.

Unlike other Tower Defense games once your towers are up the action isn’t restricted to watching a plan unfold (although this is still possible if your exceptionally good kupo) your always in control of your character and act as a mobile turret yourself, slashing or blasting your way to victory alongside your defenses. This is where the loot and character customization really shines. Your character gains levels as you prove yourself allowing you to spend points increasing stats like: turret speed, turret damage, your running speed, and base damage to name a few. As you level you’ll be able to equip stronger weapons and armor that will alter your stats further turning you into a agent of destruction, but even with all these upgrades and powers you will still need to rely on your friends.

Multiplayer in Dungeon Defenders is the real meat in this title. Coordinating your towers with a friend and distributing the resources in order to win is a very rewarding experience. Where a map can feel overwhelming alone with even one friend things can easily turn in your favor. Each of the 4 classes work well together and watching a well practiced and oiled strategy play out is the true highlight of this experience kupo. the one downside to the fantastic multiplayer is that the singleplayer suffers, most end game levels are virtually impossible without a friend or extensive grinding.

Lastly I want to discuss the DLC. On PC the delvelopers have added a slew of fantastic additions to the game including a gender swapped hero set (that includes slightly faster/stronger versions of the main classes) and various challenge missions. The current expansion to the story is unfolding and includes a new map and boss for each chapter in the four chapter set. What is great about the DLC is that it is all finely crafted and your defiantly getting your money’s worth for the price. This moogle would suggest getting the Hero DLC if you want to experience some insane levels of speed and power kupo!

The Breakdown:

[ - ] Story: while a great multiplayer game, the storyline is pretty much nonexistent and the few cut scenes only serve to move you from one set of arena’s to another. (Good Story<Good Multiplayer. pick one)

[ + ] Graphics: graphics in Dungeon Defenders sparkle and bloom. Balancing between cute pixar-esk characters and enemies and semi-realistic fantasy locations the game has no shortage of pretty things to look at while you slay slay slay!

[ + ] Gameplay: tight controls and easy to use interface when place down towers leaves this a streamlined experience with none of the usual hiccups a tower defense game like this can run into. Minor issue with singleplayer at later levels (need friends to beat/play online)

[ + ] Replayablity: with tons of dungeons and different strategies to practice and replay the game is as long as it takes you to find a flawless strategy for each map x4. Also LOOTZ

[ + ] Opinion: a fun and rewarding experience and worthy entry into any strategy fan’s game library. Great game to get into with a few friends and with plenty of DLC user generated content on PC its worth checking it out if you have a pc that can run it.

I rate Dungeon Defenders 4/5 kupo!

King Arthur’s Gold Preview

King Arthur’s Gold (Transhuman Directive)

System: Windows,MacOSX,Linux (PC)        Release Date: In development/ AVAILABLE NOW!

(Suggested) ESRB: E10+

The battle has been fought for ages, a vast 2d plane dominated by hills, hastily built structures and in each corner; the flags of the RED….and the BLUE armies! King Arthur’s Gold puts you in the able bodied shoes of a soldier in either army as you and your buddies work to build up fortresses and siege weapons in an unending war to take the other team’s flag/base/gold. What sets KAG apart from other side scrolling block games (Terraria) is its focus on pure multiplayer strategy and action.

Battles are fast and kinetic as your small 2-d character has a wide range of movement to traverse the environment quickly, with each of the three classes having unique ways of dealing with certain hurdles in your quest for gold and glory. Is that wall to high? As an archer you can climb a nearby tree or even fire arrows into the wall’s surface that you can then use as a ladder, rushing the enemies defenses with friends? As a Knight you can hold your shield up and give a buddy a boost or two, and lastly the Builder can construct any manner of building wither that be a bridge across a perilous pit or a impenetrable tower to stop the advancing armies. The action that results from the expanded movement (you’re not just restricted to 4 directions and stiff movements kupo) really brings together that team death match multiplayer goodness that many games in this blooming genre are missing.

Sound complicated? Well worry not brave soldier. KAG comes with a short but useful tutorial that teaches you the basics, as well as a sandbox mode to test out fortress strategies in a calm environment, and a sword fight mode allows you to play as the Knight class and get in practice with the subtle but deep sword play that is in the game. Might I add this is all in the Free version of the game as well as the basic multiplayer leaving you no reason not to go give this indie gem a try kupo?!

With lots of content yet to be added to the game, I can only await excitedly for more. Some of the new features include: zombies, wooden buildings, fire (to destroy said buildings) more siege equipment, and a handful of new game modes. The amount of content that is available is pretty nice and with the unpredictable multiplayer fortress building you’re guaranteed to never have the same experiences twice. So for those on the fence about taking the dive from F2P or to pick up your copy now, I’d lean toward buy kupo!

NOW to escape from sounding to much like a salesman (can you tell I liked this game kupo?) the other fun feature I have yet to talk about is the community. with a classic [TAGS] system in place and an easy chat function as well as forum, it’s always easy to get connected and roaming in multiplayer with a good group who you like to build and destroy with. In my experience everyone is having fun and luckily the elitist community from some Multiplayer focused games has not formed here in KAG, making even your first steps into the online battlefield relatively harmless.

Over all I suggest anyone who likes solid multiplayer strategy and action should give King Arthur’s Gold a try. I should return later to give this title a proper review once more features have released so look forward to more shenanigans from me, until then see ya on the battlefield KUPO!

((For anyone who is interested in trying King Arthur’s Gold you can download it free on their main website at www.kag2d.com))

2011 in review kupo!

Just a quick post for thoes of you who like numbers out there. the blog has grown alot and I hope to return to it very soon kupo!

 

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

A San Francisco cable car holds 60 people. This blog was viewed about 2,800 times in 2011. If it were a cable car, it would take about 47 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.

Silent Hill: Shattered Memories Review

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Let me just say I’m glad to be back from the Holiday break, let’s assume I was very busy kupo and I apologize to my fans who have had to wait for more reviews! Back on schedule now so let’s get this started kupo!

**

 

Silent Hill: Shattered Memories

Systems: Wii/PS2       Release Date: Dec 8^th, 2009

ESRB: M for Mature

 

For those of you that have survived the horrors of the Midwest town of Silent hill, maybe it’s time for you to go back and revisit some memories with Climax Studio’s award winning “Silent Hill: Shattered Memories” a self proclaimed reimagining of the first game in the definitive survival horror series.

Shattered memories follows Harry Mason after a car crash that leaves him with amnesia and the knowledge that his daughter is missing somewhere in the snowy town of silent hill. The similarities with the first game largely end here as harry is not the man we know from the original outing on the ps1. As the game begins you are in a therapist office, a dr. Kauffman asks you a few innocent questions before handing you a short survey. On this checklist is very personal questions, do you like to drink to relax? Have you ever roleplayed during sex? There is only a few questions but to get the best results answer honestly, the game is watching your every move after all.

Which brings me to my favorite aspect of Silent Hill Shattered Memories, the game maintains a constant psychological profile on you the player. Every question it asks, every situation your put in and what you look at or do is monitored and factors into the ending you get and how your profile looks during the credits. Once again I stress, be as honest with yourself and the end result might shock you.

Now onto the combat/controls something that has been a problem in past iterations in the franchise. Let’s start with combat, there is none! Shattered memories opts out combat for a much more terrifying tactic in running through gruesome haunted houses style mazes full of creatures that adapt to your physiological profile and change to become more terrifying and disturbing to you as a player. These sections are sprinkled throughout the experience and serve to break up the slow almost disturbingly lifeless moments between them. Control wise it’s much more smooth and responsive from past entries and you’ll find yourself flailing to throw monsters off harry as you run for your life. In your right hand is your flashlight and this highlights the awesome real time lighting as the world is truly dark without your ray of light illuminating the abandoned city streets/buildings. In your left hand is the nun chuck with serves to move you around the environment and to occasionally help toss a monster off your back or crawl over a fence quickly with some waggling.

Another aspect of this dark descent into the frozen hell that is Silent hill is the superb acting. Harry feels like a real person and the small but important cast of characters all really shine leaving this moogle to believe that Shattered Memories might make a decent movie adaption if given the chance. Not to be unaffected by the psychological profile the performances change as well based on how you play the game so if nothing else try it piece together your memories in silent hill once or twice to see if you get the same result every time.

Over all I feel that Silent Hill shattered memories brought back everything I loved in the earlier games in the series, making up for some of the lack luster titles (Silent hill 4/Homecoming) and should be on every fan’s list of games to play if they haven’t already. For new comers I suggest keeping an open mind as you’ll be taken on a ride into a dark corner of survival horror that games like resident evil only wished it could obtain again (leave your action game-shotgun at the door). Ultimately I felt like the game was playing with me not the other way around by the end of this emotional journey.

The Breakdown:

[ + ] Story: one of the strong points in any game and this one delivers in spades, taking you on an emotional journey that you won’t expect until the heart pounding end.

[ + ] Graphics: some of the best graphics on the Wii, real time lighting and impressive otherworld transitions really bring the nightmare alive.

[ + ] Gameplay: from beginning to end your being watched by the game and everything is being changed and adapted to your choices. The controls are smooth and the chases are heart pounding.

[ + ] Replayablity: I’ve played through shattered memories five times now and never had exactly the same experience. The main storyline is always the same but nothing looks quite right. Like a memory it changes with each revisit.

[ + ] Opinion: easily my favorite game in the franchise and something every adult wii-owner should experience, it’s scary, its heart wrenching, its watching you! This is the best Silent Hill experience to date, don’t miss it.  

I Rate Silent Hill: Shattered Memories 5/5 kupo!

Flotilla Review

Flotilla

Systems: PC/360        Release Date: Mar 29^th, 2010

Suggested Rating: E for everyone

Welcome to my Flotilla Review kupo! Flotilla is a tactical-fleet-combat game by Blendo games. In flotilla you play a captain of a small fleet who is going to die in a few short months. With that in mind you go out into the galaxy for one last adventure amongst the stars.

The story in flotilla largely stops there as the adventure is randomized every time you play through it; though that’s not to say that there isn’t something to be seen in flotilla as the bits of the adventure you do read are hilarious. You’ll encounter Rastafarian cats, menacing space deer of the federation, and Galaxy idol singing contests. The verity of encounters and your chances of seeing them is a good reason to return to Flotilla even if you just want an easy laugh.

Now to where Flotilla shines, the space combat. Occasionally when you are zooming around the galaxy from planet to planet you’ll encounter some disgruntled crocodiles or maybe you’re on the run caring some hot cargo, someone will want a piece of your flotilla. When this happens the game takes you into a 3d environment and you control your individual ships in a turn based format. After making your adjustments (sending your ships specific flight plans and orientations) you and your opponent move simultaneously and battle ensues.

The simplified graphics are accented well with soft classical music as you unleash countless volleys of missiles at your opponents. But don’t let the graphics fool you the game hides a deep strategy element that punishes the unprepared as everything from depth and ship’s orientation in space is taken into account as the unites move like clockwork through space. Deciding how you’ll place your ships in the 3d space is important as missiles hitting the front of your ship are destroyed while anything from the bottom or sides causes your ship to often explode from only a few contacts.

But you’re not without help. As you progress through your adventure you’ll find ship parts that can help you get the upper hand against your ruthless opponents. Ship upgrades come in lots of flavors from making your ship faster to giving it better armor on the sides and back. These are really important in the beginning of the game as your flotilla only contains two small destroyers (small fighter ships) to hold off whatever might come your way until you add more ships to your fleet through random encounters.

Over all I’d say Flotilla is a deep and interesting indie experience. The adventures are quick (around an hour if the battles are managed quickly) and the humor is top notch, something that runs in a lot of the Blendo games. Defiantly worth it if you need a cheap game to kill some time.

The Breakdown:

[ - ] Story: both a lack of story yet an interesting random element make this decision one that’s on the fence. While there is no cohesive storyline the encounters are well written and generally humorous.

[ - ] Graphics: the graphics are simple but they can get stale rather quickly. With only color differentiating your ships from the enemy as well as silly but repetitive character portraits you won’t be playing this game because it’s ‘pretty’

[ + ] Gameplay: responsive and very deep. The tactical control of your ships in the 3d environment is handled well and you’ll find yourself thinking in 3d rather quickly in order to survive.

[ + ] Replayablity: every time you start this adventure it is different, new worlds new encounters. Some scenes will be encountered over again but at different points during your adventure. Depending on your choices and how you manage your flotilla it creates a different experience every time.

[ + ] Opinion: a fun game that I find myself revisiting from time to time to just relax and blow up some ships. Defiantly something I’d recommend to any fans of space combat and silly jokes.

I rate Flotilla 3/5 Kupo!