Announcing Our Newest Affiliate: Gamingheap!

We approach the end of the month with a new affiliate, Gamingheap. It is gaming with a teenaged twist where Oli the owner keeps everyone in the loop on his various gaming ventures with reviews as well as progress on his run at getting platinum trophies. I am happy to have Oli's blog as my latest affiliate.

Direct link

Heroes of Ruin (3DS) New Screens

While I'm on a 3DS kick, let us roll into the wee hours of the night to talk about another title for the system that is due out in early April. I do not think I have covered this next game yet, but if I have, remind me. I have an itch for a dungeon crawler on the 3DS, and Heroes of Ruin (quality in question) seems to scratch said itch. Does this game appeal to you at all? It has four player online as well as a seemingly infinite amount of loot to acquire. Heroes of Ruin seems to be another game that fills another niche for the 3DS market.

Ace Combat: Assault Horizon Legacy (3DS) Review

Three days, three new reviews. I have been going into overdrive in the second half of February, and I don't seem to be slowing down. The next game we will be taking a look at is one that I must warn you about. We're going into high altitudes with this one, so please watch out for nosebleeds. It's Ace Combat: Assault Horizon Legacy for the Nintendo 3DS.

Namco's Ace in the Hole for the 3DS

The Ace Combat series is one that has not appeared that much on Nintendo platforms. It has mostly been a PlayStation franchise. Now Namco is setting its sights on the Nintendo 3DS with a new installment of the popular dog-fighting franchise. While the HD twins received the Call of Duty-inspired Assault Horizon, the 3DS gets a more traditional Ace Combat in Ace Combat: Assault Horizon Legacy, a remake of the second Ace Combat game. As someone new to the Ace Combat series, this obviously does not matter to me. It is a totally fresh experience. Does Namco's 3DS ace soar high in the sky or does it crash and burn?

Despite all the context and mission briefings you can opt to sit through, the story of Ace Combat 3DS is quite simple. You play as Phoenix, an up and coming pilot for the Allied Forces who is tasked with accomplishing various missions to root out the Rebel Forces from the USEA continent. That is really the extent of the story. As you progress through the 21 missions of the game, you gain infamy as an promising pilot. Through humble beginnings you are eventually considered a god of the air by the end of the game. Additionally, you take on rival groups of pilots such as Cocoon and the Beast brigades in battle and face a mysterious pilot who controls a plane known as the Z.O.E. Unfortunately, this story arc really doesn't go anywhere and ends abruptly without any explanation.

Sometimes you need to sacrifice
power for speed to fit the mission.

At the start of each mission you are given a briefing by your superior officer played by Richard Epcar (He was Batou in the anime Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex). A map of the upcoming field of war is shown as he recites the plan of action for battle. Don't worry. You can skip this if you like, or you can have him-- Keynote-- explain the mission over again if you missed something.

From there you choose a plane to move out in. These planes are based off of real-world airplanes designed by Boeing and other popular manufacturers. At first you have a limited selection of aircraft to select from, but as you complete missions on the various difficulties (there's Easy, Normal, and Hard), you earn new planes. Of course, everything costs points (you gain points by completing missions, taking out enemies, etc.) if you want to use them. This goes for new crafts, new weapons such as bombs that can be dropped on ground forces, and upgrades for your various planes. Each plane has different attributes. Some are better at defense, some are better at maneuverability, some are better at speed, and so forth. Showing loyalty by using the same plane unlocks alternate colors and patterns for your them. It's purely an aesthetic touch, but it's nice to have anyway.

Who wouldn't be afraid of a plane with
teeth painted on the front of it?

The missions themselves span the USEA continent as well as span objectives. One mission you will be escorting a fleet of Allied Forces battleships through a Rebel-infested channel while another you will be jetting through a narrow ravine, trying to catch up to and destroy the enemy's submarine before it can reach their base. My favorite mission was one where I had to destroy the enemy's stronghold set in Saint Ark. I demolished the anti-air defenses, had to fly through a claustrophobic passage to reach the enemy's core, and then I blew it up and called it a day. Saving the continent is such hard work, you know. However, not all of the missions are a bed of proverbial roses. One has you chasing a missile that is set to obliterate a city. The missile goes so fast that catching up with it is more of a fluke than a plan. Regardless, the missions are perfect for a handheld as they are relatively short. The longest mission I faced was approximately ten minutes long. Even then if you fail through either not meeting the objective, through crashing, or through being shot down, then-- if the game permits-- you can choose to start from a checkpoint. The only catch to this is that all of the points you earned in the mission prior to your failing go bye-bye.

At the conclusion of a successful mission you can view a replay of your handy work and even save it for future watching pleasure, receive bonus points for every enemy you downed, and earn a rank based on how well you performed (C being the worst, S being the best. I haven't really gotten the science perfected on how ranks are handed out. Sometimes I'd go fast and kill everyone and still get but a B or A rank while on other occasions I'd take my sweet time and be selective with my killing and earn an S rank. You cannot see this but I am shrugging right now with an "I don't know" look on my face.

Each craft in the game has its own unique cockpit to peruse.
(Ha, ha, ha. I said "cockpit"!)

The actual flying and dog-fighting in Ace Combat: Assault Horizon Legacy is excellent and feel wonderful. Unlike something like Star Fox 64 3D, you need to hold down the R button to accelerate if you want to actually go anything that could be considered fast. The B button serves as your machine gun which you have an infinite supply of ammunition for while the A button acts as your secondary fire button for missiles and bombs (you can change between the two with the right and left directions on the d-pad).

In battle you will find that the Y button is a godsend. Not only is it crucial for getting behind foes, but it is also imperative for dodging opponents' missile barrages. When you are within a Rebel craft's airspace, a circular gauge on the 3D screen will fill up. As long as you stay close to the craft the gauge will continue to rise. Once it fills halfway or all the way you can perform an attack maneuver which starts a quick cutscene of your plane flying behind the enemy's. You can then target your foe and lock on with either machine gun fire or take them out altogether with a missile or two. Nonetheless, enemies can also use missiles against you. When this happens a warning box appears on the 3D screen around your vessel. You only have a second or two (or less in Hard mode) to press Y and the proper direction shown (either left or right with the circle pad) to take evasive maneuvers and avoid your assailant's attempt to rock your world.

Sneak around those filthy Rebels,
and then shoot them suckers down!

Despite the game only having 21 or so bite-sized missions, you cannot play them all in one play-through. There are at least three points in the story where you must choose between two mission arcs. No matter which path you decide on, you always end up at the same place by the end of the game. As stated previously, there are three difficulties to select from, multiple medals to earn through completing goals like downing 200 enemies, beating the game on Hard, and achieving an S rank on every mission. Buying every craft, weapon, and upgrade for engines, armor, wings, and more will take you some time too, and as you progress through the main campaign you will unlock endurance and survival missions that are much more challenging than most of the story. Don't be fooled-- there's a large chunk of content to be had in Ace Combat 3DS. Sadly though, there is no multiplayer to speak of. This is all solo fun.

Ace Combat on 3DS is impressive to look at. The stereoscopic 3D is amazing (especially the cockpit view) and makes the aerial encounters all the more engaging on the eyes. Some of the ground textures when you're close to them are a bit muddy, but everything else from the environments to the special particle effects and explosions, to the sun sparkling on the ocean make for some very nice visuals. The frame-rate chugs along without any problems as well. The constant radio chatter with authentic garbled speed makes you feel like you're right there in the action, and the music is one part rock soundtrack and one part intense classical score. This is the genuine article presentation-wise here, folks.

The cockpit view may be disorienting at first,
but it really shows off the 3D effect well.

Ace Combat: Assault Horizon Legacy somehow manages to be better than its HD counterparts despite being on a handheld. The missions are brief (great for short bursts and quick play sessions) but there are enough to make you feel like you didn't get ripped off out of your $39.99 MSRP. The game runs well on 3DS hardware, and it has plenty of pleasing graphical touches without any turbulence. Ace Combat: Assault Horizon Legacy flies high on the ever-growing 3DS library, and it is one game that indubitably earns its high marks.

[SuperPhillip Says: 8.0/10]

Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 2 (PS3, 360) First Trailer

GameSpot has the exclusive first trailer of the Spring 2012 release Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 2. However, I'm not about to link to that garbage site. Instead, how about you take a look at this YouTube mirror of the trailer? Certainly looks like something Dimps would put out...

Direct link accompanied by embarrassing comments here.

SoulCalibur V (PS3, 360) Review

Earlier in the month I reviewed Super Street Fighter IV: 3D Edition for the Nintendo 3DS. Now it is time for another fighter to step up into the arena and face the fury of my judgment. It strikes fear into the heart of men with its unbridled rage. I'm talking about my fury, of course, and not the game I'm going to be reviewing. Regardless, I do indeed have a new review to share. It's SoulCalibur V for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.

The soul still burns, yadda, yadda, but it's
more of a weaker ember than a raging inferno.

Since its inception in arcades and on consoles with the Dreamcast, the SoulCalibur series is known for its weapon based combat and superb visuals. Armed with a new generation of characters along with some returning old favorites, SoulCalibur marks its second outing on the HD consoles with installment number five. As a fighter the soul still burns as it is wont to do, but is the series now on cruise control and just relying on name recognition at this point?

Story ~1607 A.D.~ is the episodic mode of SoulCalibur V and it tells the tale of the dueling soul swords and Patroklos Alexandra, son of Sophitia from past entries in the franchise. In search of his sister, Pyrrha, Patroklos starts out as nothing more than a puppet but by the end of the game becomes a full-fledged warrior with his own resolve. The story is told mostly through storyboard-esque stills backed by narration. Some of the more important scenes get the full cinematic CG treatment. Regardless, the narrative does little to get you invested in the fates of the various characters you come across, and the majority of the battles you fight are a result of the flimsiest of excuses.

Nightmare is having a nightmare of his own--
getting his butt kicked by a girl.

Apart from the multiple episodes and tales of the story mode, there's also the Arcade Mode where you choose a difficulty (Easy, Normal, or Hard), choose a path (such as Asia or Europe where you combat against fighters from the continent chosen), and duke it out in six successive battles to aim for the fastest time. There are also modes where you battle the various bosses of the game (unlockable mode), take on created characters manufactured by the developers, and fight locally with a second player or against an AI opponent.

Online is an important piece to the SoulCalibur V puzzle, and it is crafted quite well. There's the traditional Ranked Match where you have a quarrel with a single opponent. If you win, you earn points that go towards your overall rank. There's Player Matches where you can create rooms where you are able to send invitations to friends which you can then set up bite-sized tournaments with. With Soul Link you are able to check in on (see: stalk) a trio of players' stats and monitor what they do on and offline in the game. Then there's the most ambitious part of SoulCalibur V's online, the Global Colosseo. This is essentially a series of online lobbies which can be occupied by up to 50 unique players. You can select random fights, ranked matches, or even participate in tournaments. You can also check occupying players' stats and challenge them by choosing their card. It is yet to be seen if Global Colosseo will be accepted by the community and will take off. Hopefully it shall because it is a very intriguing concept in theory.

Kickin' it old school with some new school characters.

For every match you throw you hat into the ring in, you earn Player Points or PP which adds up to earn levels akin to getting experience in an role-playing game. As you level up you receive new characters as well as new options such as equipment and weaponry for the Create-A-Soul mode. In Create-A-Soul you craft a custom character for use in the various other modes in the game as well as online. You can set the sex, height, voice, and outfit your fighter with a myriad of different equipment. Unfortunately you are immensely limited in what you can do at first. Until you gain levels, your creativity will be stifled severely. To unlock all of the goodies you can put on your custom character you will need to invest dozens of hours to reach the appropriate levels. This is a huge turn-off for yours truly, and it will no doubt turn off a fair chunk of players. Additionally, when doing battle as a custom character and you take damage your armor and clothing falls off with each successful strike. This means that you should be prepared to see your fighter in underwear more than you will see them in your fully made attire.

At first you have few options to choose from,
but as you gain levels you earn more clothing choices.

SoulCalibur V continues the eight directional 3D fighting the series is well known for, but it really changes up the fighting formula the series was well known for. You still combat your opponent with weaponry such as Patroklos' sword and shield, Maxi's nunchaku, Astaroth's giant axe, etc., you still use horizontal slashes to fend off foes moving around you, and you still try to beat the living snot out of your opponent or force a ring out. However, there's new items to put into consideration. A new gauge rests by each players' health bar. As you do damage, take damage, and guard against attacks your Critical Gauge increases. It can fill two bars or be filled by 200%, and you can perform three individual maneuvers at varying levels: 1) By using 50% of the meter you can perform a Guard Impact which deflects any attack. If you do it just right, you can temporarily stun your foe, 2) Also by using 50% of the meter you can use Brave Edge which turns all throws and attacks into EX ones, and 3) Critical Edge attacks use up 100% of the meter and unleash a massive amount of damage onto your unlucky target.

Different fighters use different weapons in combat.

Also new to battle are Guard Bursts which occur when you or your opponent guard too many times. Your health bar will flash when you become dangerously close to getting Guard Burst and entering an extended session of being stunned, opening you up for any number of attacks from your assailant. Finally, the Just Guard move allows you to take lesser damage or period of stun time from an attack by pressing the guard button exactly when you are hit. These new moves and maneuvers make SoulCalibur V into a completely different beast than past games, and fans who have mastered the skills and abilities from prior installments will feel like they have to learn a whole new game (which essentially they will).

But that's not the main problem I have with SoulCalibur V. The source of my frustration with the game comes from all of the content that seems to be sucked from the game that was in past entries of the series. There's far less modes to be found in local play (not everyone wishes to play online-- even if it is relatively lag-free), little from SoulCalibur IV was improved upon in this sequel, and this was touched on before but having to unlock the most interesting items for Create-A-Soul is ludicrous. You have a blank slate and there's nothing but scraps to begin with.

Ezio from the Assassin's Creed acts as
guest star in SoulCalibur V.

The SoulCalibur series is known for its rich and wonderful presentations, and this is a part of the game that does not disappoint. Each arena from river raft rides in a ravine to a burning medieval town all look sensational. Seeing little particle effects and bloom make for impressive settings and scenes. Meanwhile, the narration before each battle as well as the marvelous symphonic score get you pumped to duel it out, and the character animation is fluid and looks quite impressive. While the brevity of content is maddening, you can be sure that you are getting a top-notch product at least presentation-wise.

The battlefields are lush and full of interesting items.

SoulCalibur V doesn't necessarily reinvent the franchise, but it does attempt to try new things. The poor story mode, lack of local options, and the need to unlock anything worthwhile in the Create-A-Soul mode are upsetting, the combat (which does take getting used to for those who frequented past games), online options, and presentation all make for an above average fighter. While most series would play it safe, I admire that SoulCalibur V went in a bold new direction, even if it didn't pay off completely. The soul continues to burn, but it's shun much more brightly in the past.

[SuperPhillip Says: 7.0/10]