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Mass Effect 3 Info Blowout: Infiltrator and Datapad Functionality with iOS

Alex Co — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:30:18 +0000

If you’re a Mass Effect fan, you’re in luck as we have a lot of news for you today. First off, EA has revealed that Mass Effect Infiltrator will be coming to iOS devices. It will be a third-person cover-based shooter that has you playing Randall Enzo, a Cerberus soldier who specializes in doing covert ops for Cerberus but becomes disenchanted with the organization and needless to say, he helps Shepard in his mission.

What’s interesting here is that playing Infiltrator and collecting intel in the game will help get your Galactic Readiness Rating up – and in turn, help you get a better ending in Mass Effect 3. Do keep in mind that EA has confirmed that you do NOT need to get Mass Effect Infiltrator to get ME3′s best ending.

Next up is Mass Effect’s Datapad app integration with iOS devices. BioWare says that it’s their “love-letter” to their Mass Effect fans. What it does is it acts the same way as the Codex in ME1 and ME2, but to avoid spoilers, it will only show areas, species and other things that you already have encountered. The way it works is it ties in to your Origin account so it can track your in-game progress. Not bad, no?

Both Mass Effect Infiltrator and Mass Effect Datapad have not been given a release date yet; although we do know that the Datapad app will be free.

Last but not the least, a reader in Joystiq has sent a GameStop receipt showing that he was able to purchase a $10 worth DLC for Mass Effect 3 called FromDust. It’s not known whether if this is for single-player or for multiplayer; all we know now is that the game already has DLC even before it’s released.

Do keep in mind that EA has not commented on the DLC as of press time and we’ll update the situation as it develops.

Mass Effect 3 will be out for the PC, Xbox 360 and PS3 this coming March 12.

Hidetaka Miyazaki Not Sure if There Will be a Dark Souls 2

Todd Schlickbernd — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 02:30:50 +0000

Dark Souls‘ creative director, Hidetaka Miyazaki talks with Edge about all sorts of juicy Dark Souls tidbits. Mostly about things players and Edge themselves feel were or went wrong with Dark Souls and how Miyazaki feels about them. The amount of times he endorses “cheap strategies” makes me laugh, I find it completely stupid to design a game to be frustratingly be difficult and challenge gamers to exploit the programming and AI rather than just beat the fucking game. It makes me think they were like “Here’s a scenario, let’s make them deal with that” rather than make scenarios based on what the player should be able to accomplish. But enough preaching about Dark Souls. People liked it, people hated it, and some people want a sequel, but Miyazaki says:

We don’t even know if we’ll have another chance. We have the confidence that we can improve from our mistakes this time and create an even better Dark world, but we don’t know if the users will forgive us for the mistakes, so I cannot give an exact answer.

Who knows what this means, I’m not sure fans were particularly the ones upset with the game as it is. As you can see, plenty of sites along with ours gave the game a pretty good score. However, the game did go cross-console which likely increased the budget, and if it didn’t meet as much success, then a sequel immediately becomes more questionable. We’ll have to wait and see, but as much as it wasn’t my cup of tea, it’s nice to have painfully difficult RPGs out there for people to ram their head against.

Source: Edge Online

This Breaking Bad Spoof is 8-Bits of Awesome

Todd Schlickbernd — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 02:00:03 +0000

What’s better than hit AMC series Breaking Bad? Breaking Bad in 8-bit! Or maybe a truck load of ice cream, but since I don’t have a truck load of ice cream and I do have an awesome 4 minute spoof of Breaking Bad done in 8-bit, I think the video wins for now. This 8-bit of humor from College Humor is spot-on comedy for those who have seen Breaking Bad. Major plot points of the show are visited as though through an 8-bit RPG of yester-year. A bit of a warning though, it does go up through all the seasons I believe, I had to stop halfway through because I was entering spoiler territory. The best parts to spoof are always the ones everyone remembers, so you’d best avoid the awesomeness if you haven’t seen the awesomeness it’s parodying.

And if you liked this College Humor original, make sure to check out our own 8-bit masterpiece, Marky Mark Terrorist Vibrations, as well as other original content right here at RipTen.

McFarlane, Salvatore, and Schilling Coming to Gamestop Reckoning Midnight Launch Near You!

Ben Nanke — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 22:30:19 +0000

The release date for Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning is only a week from today. Chances are that if you’ve been keeping up with recent gaming, you’re at least curious or maybe even excited about this upcoming release from 38 Studios. You might even be so excited that you’re planning on attending the midnight release at Gamestop and being among the first to snag a copy. If you’re not, a recent bit of news might change your mind.

According to EA, the lead visionaries for Amalur are going to be making guest appearances at Gamestop midnight releases around the US. Curt Schilling, Todd McFarlane, R.A. Salvatore and Ken Rolston are all scheduled to meet and greet the fans, with the doors opening at 11:30 to allow plenty of time for chit-chat. In case you’re wondering “who the heck are these guys?” allow me to fill you in.

Curt Schilling is the founder and chairman of 38 Studios, the company developing Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning. He was also a major-league baseball pitcher and a World Series champion three times over, so any baseball fans out there can get a twofer.

Todd McFarlane is a renowned comic book author and creator of the Spawn comic series, as well as the founder of McFarlane Toys. He also oversees all the artwork for Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning.

R.A. Salvatore, a New York Times best-selling author 24-times over and acclaimed writer of the Forgotten Realms series. Salvatore is, of course, responsible for writing the rich lore of Amalur.

Ken Rolston was the lead designer for both The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind and The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, and serves as the Executive Designer for Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning.

And now, the locations!

Curt Schilling and R.A. Salvatore – Bellingham, Massachusetts: GameStop located in the Stallbrook Marketplace, 258 Hartford Ave, Bellingham, MA 02019

Todd McFarlane – Tempe, Arizona: GameStop at the Tempe Marketplace located at 2040 E. Rio Salado Pkwy, Suite 110, Tempe, AZ 85281

Ken Rolston – Cockeysville, Maryland: GameStop located at 10015 York Road, Suite A7, Cockeysville, MD 21030

Be on the lookout for Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning on February 7, 2012. For Xbox 360, PS3 and PC.

Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning Will Provide Improved Camera Control Options

Todd Schlickbernd — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 16:30:47 +0000

Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning‘s demo is the source of a many a plus and minus. One of the aspects of the game not particularly in its favor as represented in the demo is the camera controls. The auto-turning is laggy at best, and in an action-RPG with a rather brisk pace to the combat, that’s no fun. Thankfully, 38 studios has heard the lamentation of the masses and plans to implement a bevy of camera control features which will allows players to handle the camera as they please.

Lead Combat Designer on the game, Joe Quadara, has revealed the game will feature a combination of distance and camera lag adjustments along with the ability to disable auto-follow. These are the sorts of options that would’ve made a game like Enslaved much easier to play. I’ll admit the camera wasn’t my best friend during the Kingdoms of Amalur demo, though I wasn’t too put off by it. The increased finesse is very much welcome.

Look forward to Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning this February 7 on Xbox 360, PS3 and PC.

New Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning Trailer Boasts Lore

Ben Nanke — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 22:05:40 +0000

With Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning due for release on the 7th of next month, a new trailer has been released: this one focusing on the lore of Amalur.

With Reckoning invariably being compared to another recent fantasy RPG, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, this marketing direction is an interesting tact. The Elder Scrolls series is somewhat famous for it’s intricately deep lore and background. The executive designer for Reckoning, Ken Rolston, is all to familiar with this, having been the lead designer on both Morrowind and Oblivion, the third and fourth installments of the Elder Scrolls series, respectively.

Will Reckoning be able to compete with a preestablished lore champion? Or will both games be able to coexist peacefully? Only time will tell.

Be on the lookout for Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, February 7th. Available on PC, Xbox 360, and PS3.

EA and 38 Studios Clarify Reckoning Online Pass as DLC Change of Heart

Todd Schlickbernd — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 00:30:49 +0000

As it turns out, Kingdoms of Amalur does indeed still have content that new players of the game will need an EA Online Pass for, but the circumstances are unlike they were assumed to be. Initially it was assumed the that the House of Valor content was on the disk and had to be unlocked with said Online Pass, but it appears that is not the case. EA and developer 38 Studios clarify in the following statements:

38 Studios Community Manager: “The House of Valor content was not in the finished game/disc at one point, then removed. It isn’t there and we’re locking you out of it. The House of Valor was created as stand-alone content, and was always intended to be the first DLC. Instead of holding onto it and charging for it later, we opted to give it to everyone who purchases the game new, for free, on launch day.”

EA: “The House of Valor quest line is free bonus content available to those who purchase a new copy of Kingdom of Amalur: Reckoning for the Xbox 360 and PS3 by entering the Online Pass included with the game. PC players who purchase Reckoning at one of the many digital retailers online including Origin, Steam and more, will also receive the House of Valor quest line at no cost.”

So it’s DLC that’s free for new purchasers, rather than content that’s being locked away. Hopefully that makes it easier to swallow for day-1 purchasers and day-30 purchasers alike. The fact that EA calls it an “Online Pass” makes the fact that it’s a “gift” that was originally going to have to be purchased difficult to digest. Maybe they should’ve called it “Happy Free DLC Present Because We Love You Pass” instead. What “Online Pass” means is going to be a topic of debate if this climate continues.

Until this kind of thing is absolutely settled in concrete, we all get to enjoy fun tweets like this one from Jim Sterling, who originally blew the whistle on the pass:

“It’s ok that Amalur has an online pass because it was content we’d originally held back to SELL to you! Yay for the heroes!” – 38 Studios.”

Or this one from Ben Kuchera over at Penny Arcade:

“It used to be you’d open a game, get really excited, put it into your system with shaking hands… now it’s codes and patches and pain.”

This whole internet thing is becoming a bit of a double edged sword.

Diablo III Undergoes Further Beta Changes – Companion Pets Cut From Release

Jensen Walker — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 23:30:29 +0000

The latest beta patch deploy for Diablo III has resulted in a few more changes to the much anticipated action RPG, with Scrolls of Companion and Scrolls of Reforging being removed from the game.

Blizzard Community Manager Nethaera took to the Diablo III forums today to explain the features were cut due to the development team feeling they were undeveloped, and unsuitable for a live release. Additionally, companion pets were considered too cute and cuddly for the dark and gritty world of Sanctuary.

According to Nethaera, “Neither of those are issues we felt like we could solve without a lot of additional work, and we’re trying to close in on a solid release date for the game, not move further away. When weighing these systems against releasing the game, we decided to cut these scrolls and stay on track for the game’s release.”

Blizzard intends to redesign and evolve companion pets and reforging scrolls into a more meaningful and enjoyable system at some point in the future.

Diablo III Rated in South Korea; The Rest of the World Still Pending

Jensen Walker — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 20:00:24 +0000

There has been a lot of hype and a lot of anticipation surrounding Diablo III, and while Blizzard still hasn’t confirmed a release date, the game has been rated ‘R’ by the South Korean Gaming Board. An R rating means the action RPG is considered suitable for ages 18 and above.

Generally, when ratings start to be issued it means a game is within a few months of hitting the shelves, so perhaps we’re looking at a March release. Blizzard has removed the controversial real money transactions auction house from the Korean version of the game in order to gain ratings approval due to Korea’s gambling laws, and this seems to have paved the way for the game’s eventual release.

Now we wait for ratings approval elsewhere before finally getting our hands on the title. It might be interesting to see what sort of rating the Australian Classification Board slaps on the game now that they finally have an R rating of their own (and it was a long time coming). Until then, enjoy whichever game is your current vice!

Source: Dualshockers

Check Out the Reckoning & Mass Effect 3 Exclusive Cross Promotion Unlocks

Drake Hess — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 14:19:04 +0000

Earlier this week, EA announced demos for BioWare’s Mass Effect 3 and 38 Studios’ Kingdoms of Amalur Reckoning, teasing a cross-promotion between the two titles offering exclusive unlocks to those that play through both demos. As a follow up to that announcement, EA released a trailer to hype the promo.

Playing the Mass Effect 3 demo will allow you to unlock the N7 Armour and Onmiblade Daggers in Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning. On the flip side, trekking through the Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning demo will unlock the Reckoner Knight Armour and Chakram Launcher Armour in Mass Effect 3.

When are these demos available you ask? The Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning demo launches on January 17, with the full release of the game hitting store shelves on February 7th in North America and February 10th in Europe.

As for the Mass Effect 3 demo, all we know at this point is that BioWare promises it to be available sometime this month. That gives Commander Shepard lovers plenty of time to bask in its greatness before the full fledged launch on March 6th in North America and March 9th in Europe.

Both titles will be available on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC.

Alright, enough talk. Watch it in amazement below.

Final Fantasy XIII Versus Will Excite You Says FF Producer

Drake Hess — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 17:33:30 +0000

In a recent interview with Edge, Final Fantasy XIII-2 Producer, Yoshinori Kitase, told the publication that the Final Fantasy Versus XIII title, still in development, will get people “excited when they next see it…”

“We released a trailer in January and since then there has been nothing, but I can assure you the team is working extremely hard on it and I think people will be excited when they next see it…”

Those are big words, considering the game was announced back in 2006 and I haven’t personally been excited about anything Final Fantasy related in years. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve wanted to be, and even tried to be, but no dice. They are going to have to really wow me to get my vote.

Here’s to hoping it’s half as good as its Sega Master System counterpart.

Obsidian Confirms 5th South Park RPG Class is “The Jew”

Dave Oshry — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 01:00:33 +0000

As a Jew who loves South Park, role playing games and Obsidian Entertainment. I must say that I am outraged… that this wasn’t revealed sooner. I think I speak for Jewish Paladins everywhere when I say Mazel Tov!

In a recent interview with Game Informer, lead designer Matt McLean gave them the Jewdown on this mysterious class and also the game’s combat.

They say the Jew is a Paladin/Monk hybrid class that is “high risk / high reward.” The closer he is to death, the more powerful he becomes – Judah Maccabee style.

For the full video interview all about the combat in the game, be sure to head on over to Game Informer.

Awesome New South Park RPG Details Surface

Dave Oshry — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 18:55:26 +0000

Who needs to FUS ROH DAH when you can RO SHAM BO Cartman square in the nuts!

A horde of new details have emerged about the upcoming South Park RPG being developed by Obsidian Entertainment and published by THQ thanks to the latest issue of Game Informer. Guess what? It sounds pretty awesome.

Here’s the rundown:

This is the first South Park game that Matt and Trey have actively worked on. They wrote all the dialogue and are doing all the voice acting. (Sweet)
The art style will be exactly the same 2D as South Park, no silly 3d rendered models like previous games. (Word)
You will play as a silent protagonist who is the new kid in town. (Aiight)
Cartman will lead you through the character creation process. (#Winning)
Your smart phone will serve as your menu and let you know where you stand with various factions around town. Ya know, like a pip boy. (Cool)
There are five classes to choose from: adventurer, paladin, rogue, wizard, and a fifth yet to be announced. (Acceptable)
The battle system will be similar to older JRPGs where the players stand on one side with enemies on the other. You know, like back when Final Fantasy games were good. (I am very cool with this)
The weapons will feature a FF7 ‘materia like’ upgrade system. (I am also very cool with this)
There will be summon attacks. (Oh hell yeah)
Apparently enemy encounters will also all be visible on the map, which sounds very Chrono Triggerish. (Yes, I am also cool with this)

Anyone else getting a real old school JRPG vibe yet?

The game will run on Obsidian’s proprietary Onyx engine which was used to make Dungeon Siege III
Trey Parker’s favorite game is Oblivion (probably Skyrim by now)
Matt Stone prefers Serious Sam and GTA.
The game will be out in the second half of 2012, which is probably still before Diablo III.

Stay tuned to RipTen for more details you guys.

Source: [NeoGaf] via [VG247]

This Serious Sam: The Random Encounter Launch Trailer Is Pretty Much The Best Thing Ever

Dave Oshry — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 19:00:32 +0000

Sure, Serious Sam 3 isn’t out yet, but those indie games just keep on a comin’.

Today marks the launch of Vlambeer’s Serious Sam: The Random Encounter. Yes, it’s an old school turn based RPG. You know, like those Final Fantasy games you used to like…

The legendary Serious Sam reloads and rearms in an explosive, turn-based RPG developed by indie superstars Vlambeer (Super Crate Box, Ridiculous Fishing). Serious Sam: The Random Encounter follows Sam and his band of oddball mercenaries as they battle across a pixilated world teeming chaotic battles, hordes of bizarre creatures, and mysterious secrets. Choose your weapons and take aim at the most random Serious Sam adventure yet!

Serious Sam: The Random Encounter is available on Steam right now for like $5. Every time you buy it, an angel gets his wings… and a minigun.

RipTen DLC Review: Dragon Age II – Mark of the Assassin (PC)

Jensen Walker — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 17:10:31 +0000

Mark of the Assassin is BioWare’s second foray into story-driven DLC for Dragon Age II, and it’s a different beast to its predecessor, Legacy. While they seem to be of a similar length (I took around 5-6 hours to complete both, your mileage will vary depending on how you play), MotA contains considerably more dialogue and a fair few non combat set pieces which differentiate it from Legacy.

Varric sets the scene in yet another charming conversation with Chantry Seeker Cassandra, after which the game introduces Tallis, your new companion, in an impressive opening sequence set in Hightown. The initial battle left my entire party dead, other than my warrior PC who is, to be fair, invincible. This was a nice change – at level 26 my party steamrolled through Legacy, finding no challenge until the final boss.

While MotA isn’t particularly difficult, an encounter with an annoying spirit in an early forest zone resulted in five or six reloads to complete. The final boss went down during my first attempt, so it was nowhere near as frustrating as the final act of Legacy.

The DLC assigns Tallis permanently to your party, so you’ll only be able to take two of your usual companions to Chateau Haine, on the western edge of the Vimmark mountains. The upside is you’ll be outside Kirkwall the entire time! Amazing!

The gist of the story is that Hawke is invited to a social meet and greet at Duke Prosper’s manor near the Orlesian border. Tallis, the character voiced by Felicia Day, invites herself to join you with the intent to steal a rare jewel from the Orlesian nobleman. Instead, you end up hunting wyverns to gain access to the chateau, as wyvern hunting is apparently a favourite Orlesian pastime.

The DLC introduces several new types of monsters to fight (including the aforementioned wyrverns), which keeps the adventure feeling fresh. There’s less combat overall in MotA, but this is offset by the increased dialogue and in my playthrough, the added humor.

MotA is a more light-hearted romp compared to Legacy, though you will learn considerably more about the Qunari and their beliefs, which adds some weight to the proceedings. The new loot is fairly decent, although I didn’t find any real use for it considering my party was already kitted out in similar and sometimes better gear. There’s also an extended sequence wherein you can sneak around the chateau, distracting and clobbering guards, if you enjoy a little variation in your gameplay. Alternatively, you can just wander around the old fashioned way, killing everyone you come across. Finally, MotA adds a few more puzzles for players to set their wits against, although they’re not particularly difficult.

I’m not sure I could state that Mark of the Assassin is ‘better’ than Legacy. If you enjoy extended dialogue sequences, cameos involving NPC’s from the Dragon Age series and bantering with your companions, you’ll find MotA is right up your alley. If you prefer a lot of combat, or a gritty story, it probably won’t live up to your expectations. It’s certainly an improvement over the recycled environments and repetitive wave combat that we saw in Dragon Age II, and a continuation of Legacy’s push to remove or cleverly disguise such things.

Here’s the rundown:

+ Plenty of dialogue, humorous banter

+ Improves on common complaints leveled at DA2 (environment recycling and wave combat)

+ Felicia Day’s Tallis is an interesting new companion

- Not particularly combat heavy for those who enjoy challenge

- New stealth mechanics can be frustrating

- Story not as gripping as that of Legacy

Learn more about the RipTen scoring system and what this score means. Visit our review scoring page.

Dragon Age II: Mark of the Assassin was developed by BioWare and published by Electronic Arts. It was released October 11th for $9.99 on the PS3, 800 Microsoft points on the Xbox, and 800 Bioware points for the PC. If you enjoy hobnobbing with high society, listening to French accents and hearing Felicia Day’s voice, you will enjoy it.

Putting the RPG Back in MMORPG

Jensen Walker — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 18:47:14 +0000

How often do the quests or tasks you are assigned in an MMORPG actually inspire you to make a decision? In my case, the answer is rarely. In a single player RPG, I’ll agonize over a choice, to the point of reloading if I don’t like the result. Yet when I venture into the RPG’s bigger, scarier online cousin, I’ll simply accept said quest (with or without reading it beforehand) and promptly complete it. Then I’ll turn it in, pick up my reward and forget having ever done so in the first place.

Part of this can be attributed to the lack of motivation for declining a quest. Declining a quest in an MMORPG means no experience. It means no monetary reward. It means no shiny new boots. So why would I ever give that up in exchange for refusing to do what was asked of my character?

Declining Deathwing's generous offer of immolation is not an option

There have been times, on occasion, where I have read through quest text only to decide something was particularly heinous and instead left that quest unfinished – but it took some willpower to walk away. Even the option of declining becomes academic when systems such as Achievements are introduced, and one quest can mean the difference between succeeding or failing in a particular zone.

Even in the good old days or dark ages of MMO’s (depending upon which side of the fence you fall on) when quests by and large did not exist and players were expected to forge their own path (often involving spawn camping), there was no real question of ‘should I kill this foozle?’ The only question was ‘how many times must I kill this foozle before it drops my damn sword?’

A frustrating fight with a foozle (or is that tribble?) will faze even a ferengi

What MMORPG’s have historically lacked is the sense of morality instilled into single player RPG’s, combined with consequences for the player’s decisions. I remember playing an RPG called Arcanum way back in 2001. Similar in nature to the Fallout series, Arcanum allowed me to play the saintliest of heroes or the most despicable of villains in a steampunk fantasy setting. Regardless of what I chose to do, most of my decisions had consequences. Certain choices weren’t available to certain races. If I chose to play a character with low intelligence, my options were altered. I could kill important or useful NPC’s and screw myself out of certain paths. There were so many varied ways to complete the main plot depending on the decisions you made.

Now, I’m not suggesting that MMORPG’s should have the depth that single player RPG’s are capable of. Resources need to be devoted to different areas when catering to an online audience. It would be nice, however, to have some semblance of choice and consequence. If I decline a quest, perhaps another quest will become available, while remaining inaccessible to the player next to me who just clicked accept. If I act like a jerk to a particular NPC, that NPC might no longer sell their goods to me. If I elect not to save a town from rampaging bandits, perhaps that town should be overrun, with changes to reflect that. The new bandit settlement could then offer rewards to players who engaged in PvP to protect the town of outlaws from other players intent on forcing them to relinquish their foothold.

I told you not to let the half ogre drive, but would you listen?

I’m aware the coming batch of next-gen MMO’s such as Guild Wars 2 are supposedly integrating such decisions into their games, but what’s promised and what one actually receives are often two very different experiences. Rift, for example, promised dynamic content, and while its rifts do indeed introduce a level of flux, nothing really changes. If players choose not to combat invasions, some settlements may be overrun, depriving players of a quest nexus for a short period. That’s about it, however. The result of failing to prevent an invasion is little more than fifteen minutes of added inconvenience. Rift is an enjoyable, well polished MMO, but it’s not as innovative as it could have been.

If nothing else, an MMO that changes according to the player’s actions greatly increases its replay value, influencing the desire to level alternate characters. Linear progression paths and static content are quite simply barriers to retaining players, especially when an MMO’s end-game content is often an entirely different beast than the experience that preceded it. For now, players will just have to wait and see how the next generation of MMO’s incorporate role playing into their massive online worlds. I, for one, hope future entries in the genre help MMORPG’s reach their full potential.

Atlus Extends Demon’s Souls Server Support Into 2012

Aaron Alexander — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 03:19:08 +0000

Demon’s Souls boasts some of the greatest revolutionary online features. Whether it be reading notes left from other players, watching their final moments before they die, or invading someone’s experience and just being a complete dick, the online component of the game helped shape Demon’s Souls into the unique experience it’s known for. Aram Jabbari, Manager of PR and Sales at ATLUS had this to say;

“While it comes at significant cost to us and although it has been over two years since the game revolutionized the notion of multiplayer and online functionality in an RPG,Our commitment to the game and the fans that turned it into an incredible success remains as strong as ever. While the reality is that one day the servers will ultimately close due to operation and maintenance costs, that day is not today, nor will it be this year. We’re excited to continue to support one of the most significant, influential games in recent memory into its third year, and we’re planning to hold more tendency events for our loyal, beloved fans. If you’ve been waiting to try Demon’s Souls or held off with concern that it was too late to join in, the truth is that there’s never been a better time to see what all the talk and awards are all about”

So it’s good news that Atlus has decided to extend the games server life right into 2012 at cost to them. It’ll be a shame when it finally goes offline, but by then we’ll all be getting our asses handed to us by Dark Souls anyway.

Diablo III Gets A Skill Calculator – We Play With It – So Can You

Jensen Walker — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 23:00:41 +0000

You’ve read the lore, watched the videos, played the beta – now you can plot your character’s development, all without a release date in sight!

Blizzard have unleashed this latest tool upon the masses, keeping interest levels high in the wake of the closed beta. Having spent a considerable amount of time designing a defensive barbarian build, then an offensive build, then a monk (you get the picture), the Skill Calculator is quite engrossing if you enjoy pre-planning builds or simply wish to know what each class has to offer.

Without a doubt, there’s something to suit every play style amidst the plethora of builds and abilities available. The new skill system seems to be a big improvement over D2’s incremental skill trees, where I’d often keep ten or more skill points banked to avoid using them on unwanted talents.

Why not go and waste an hour of your life picking through the new skills and devising fiendish combinations? It’s like studying for a test, where the test is how awesome can you make your character!

RipTen Review: Crimson Alliance (XBLA)

Chris Carlson — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 20:30:33 +0000

Crimson Alliance is Certain Affinity‘s take on the highly popular dungeon crawler genre that RPG fans know and love. Unfortunately, the game is ultimately nothing more than a hack-and-slash action game with weak RPG elements.

At the start of the game, you’ll have the option to choose between one of three classes: Assassin, Wizard, or Mercenary, each equipped with their own special abilities and attacks which will add more replay value to the insanely short story mode — it only lasts about 4-5 hours if you’re lucky. You’ll get to name your character, select different colors for his or her outfit, but nothing more is made of the customization options.

Exploding barrels. Get use to them, because they're everywhere.

Crimson Alliance portrays itself as an RPG game, but you’ll quickly realize how shallow the game really is and the lack of depth in the RPG elements. This isn’t a game where you’ll be leveling up, looting enemies for new gear, exploring massive dungeons, or anything else that makes a dungeon-crawler RPG an actual dungeon-crawler RPG. Instead, you’ll only find new gear in random chests throughout the levels or from different merchants you unlock during the game’s very linear story mode.

The levels in Crimson Alliance are well crafted and look gorgeous but lack any sense of exploration. You’re basically going from point A to point B with a few hidden passages along the way. You’ll gain nice stacks of gold from fallen foes, which can be spent at the unlockable shops on new gear and equipment, but don’t expect anything more than that. Don’t plan on selling anything you happen to find either because the game doesn’t offer any type of option to sell previous gear. Once you find it, it’s yours forever.

Playing co-op is definitely the way to play Crimson Alliance.

The actual combat in Crimson Alliance is top notch, though. You can seamlessly string together attacks, block, and use your abilities with virtually no issues, providing a great experience. When you do find or purchase new gear, the inventory system is extremely easy to use; with a simple tap of a button, you can swap gear in real time.

You’ll also find four different types of weapons and objects that can be used at your disposal. Health totems will spawn a tower of shooting hearts, healing you as long as you remain in its vicinity; portable turrets will rapidly shoot arrows disposing of your foes; even a trusty fire axe which, when thrown into a group of enemies, can become very deadly.

Each character has it's own special ability. In this case, the Wizard has lighting.

The main problem with Crimson Alliance, ignoring the lack of it being an actual RPG, is that the game focuses so heavily on co-op; if played alone, your experience will suffer. There’s quite a few puzzles to be found in each level, but sadly, most if not every single puzzle requires more than one person. So if you happen to play alone, you’ll miss out on every single one. Not only that, but since there are secret passages, there are certain areas in which only one of the three classes can enter. Without them, you’re fucking screwed.

The game does offer challenge maps that you’ll find scattered around the single-player campaign which tie to each level. Every challenge map is basically the same, just in a different environment with different enemy types. Your goal is to clear five waves of enemies and produce the highest score possible. Aside from that, Crimson Alliance doesn’t offer anything else at all. What a shame.

See that chest to the left? Keep an eye out for them if you plan on finding any type of new gear.

I don’t particularly think Crimson Alliance is a bad game by any means. It’s well polished and offers a great experience. I just expected a lot more. From the lack of depth in being any sort of an RPG to the incredibly short single-player campaign, Crimson Alliance fell short of being an awesome game. It’s a good, short, action “RPG” but nothing more.

The pricing model does help if you plan on purchasing the game. For $10 you can get the entire game and only choose one of the three playable classes, or for $15 you can experience all three. If you were expecting Torchlight with 4-Player co-op, you’ll be sorely disappointed. If you’re looking for a real dungeon crawler, go pick up Torchlight instead. If you’re looking for a good hack-and-slash action game to play over the weekend with your friends, Crimson Alliance is for you.

Here’s The Rundown

+ Fantastic combat

+ Good variety of enemy types

+ 4-Player co-op

- Not a true dungeon crawler

- Very linear, lacks depth

- Weak RPG elements to say the least.

Crimson Alliance was developed by Certain Affinity and published by Microsoft Game Studios for Xbox LIVE Arcade and was released on September 7th for $14.99 for all three classes. One class with the full game will cost $9.99. A copy of the game was provided to us by the publisher for the purposes of review. Campaign was played until completion taking around 4 hours on hard.

Skyrim Is Too Big And Complex For A Public Demo

Chris Carlson — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 19:14:06 +0000

Gamers wanting to get their hands on Skyrim before its initial release will be disappointed to know the game won’t have a public demo. This shouldn’t come to you as a surprise, but Bethesda stated the game is just too big and complex for a demo.

In a recent interview with Gameplanet, Bethesda’s Craig Lafferty quickly stated with confidence:

“No, we won’t be doing a demo. For a game of this size and complexity, it’s really hard to do a demo the represents the game.”

So there you have it, no demo. Looks like you’re just going to have to wait until November 11th before you can sink hours of your life into this beast.