With the huge success of Batman: Arkham Asylum and Batman: Arkham City, there was no doubt that there would be another iteration in the series. Many wondered where you go from Arkham City; Arkham County? Arkham Tri-state area? We got an tease from the Joker himself when during the 2011 Spike VIdeo Game awards pulled out a file labeled Arkham World and called it a spoiler. Imagine our surprise when it was announced the the next game would be a prequel. Batman: Arkham Origins, developed by  Warner Bros. Games Montreal instead of the previous developer Rocksteady Studios, is set to take place several years before the first game Arkham Asylum with a younger, less experienced Batman taking on eight deadly assassin’s hired by Black Mask. It’s Christmas Eve and with the bounty on Batman’s head, everyone will be gunning for him. The trailer features Batman, Deathstroke, Black Mask, and Deadshot, not to mention three very unlucky criminals.

Batman: Arkham Origins is set to put a higher emphasis on detective work than previous games. Also offering a plethora of side missions including a “Crime in Progress” where Batman can stop street crimes or aid the police to improve his reputation and a “Most WAnted” mode where you go after other villains in Batman’s rogue gallery. Batman: Arkham Origins is set to release October 25, 2013 and if you preorder you get to play as the assassin Deathstroke. Check back with us for more updates on your favorite caped crusader.

Poker Night at the Inventory 2 is TellTale’s latest Xbox Live Arcade, Steam and Playstation Network game and is, as the title suggests, a Poker game at it’s core. More than that, this downloadable title is an example of how great personalities and some clever writing can make a functional but not particularly exciting card game into an engaging and fun experience for the player.

After a short and cameo filled introduction the player, aptly named and referenced to as “Player”, is introduced to their adversaries for the night’s game; Brock from “The Venture Bros.”, Claptrap from “Borderlands”, Ash from “Army of Darkness” and Sam of “Sam and Max”. Other characters from these titles and other telltale titles drift in and out during the course of tournaments.

The Cast of Poker Night at the Inventory 2

The writing in this game is superb, drawing from popular culture, developer-in jokes and character backstories, always keeping the player engaged and chuckling throughout. TellTale has made the focus of the game the characters and their interactions whilst playing, not the poker itself. This works well in this game as the mix of nostalgia and humour, brought to life by the characters and Glad0s, allow the player get wrapped up in the experience not the base gameplay, often hanging out for the cast’s quips and comments more than counting the chips on the table and watching for tells.

The poker in game feels a little drab itself, and without the writing would probably be just another basic poker game. The choice of Glad0s as dealer helps to liven up the gameplay as she regularly drops from the ceiling to provide ‘helpful’ comments to the player. The game also features character animations to give away when they are bluffing, but they are not common or very well executed. The Player may also buy drinks for the cast from the bartender Mad Moxxi of the  Borderlands games. They make the ‘tells’ from others more obvious, but they still didn’t play much of a role in the results of the tournaments. When you get to playing you get a choice between “Texas Hold ‘Em” and “Omaha”, both games play well and the tournaments serve as opportunities for bragging rights, and more importantly, unlocks. After completing challenges you are offered the chance to win a special item from each character’s title, such as Ash’s Necronomicon and Claptrap’s Video Game Award, each awarding the player with unlocks outside of the game.

Borderlands 2 Unlocks

The game’s brilliant writing is added to by the ability to get heads and skins for Borderlands 2 on all platforms, and then platform specific unlocks including avatar items, Team Fortress 2 hats and exclusive themes. These unlocks keep the game playable well after the dialogue starts to repeat, but once you complete these there is little to keep you playing after the occasional game for nostalgia’s sake. There are also felt, deck and chip variants for each title to unlock, purchasable with ‘unlock tokens’ won in tournaments. These re-skin the bar and game aspects, but don’t affect gameplay.

Overall this game is quite fun and well worth the price tag, quite cheap on all platforms. The jokes, dialogue and unlocks make the game quite addictive and entertaining, but the replay value drops once the dialogue starts to loop and the unlocks are all collected. Some extra modes, multiplayer and more dialogue would help with the replay value, but the game is still great. For some laughs, free items and a good bit of poker fun this is well worth the download. A solid 8/10!

First appeared on NerdyButFlirty.com

Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen is the expansion to the Capcom game Dragon’s Dogma. It includes the original Dragon’s Dogma, as well as an all new setting, Bitterblack Isle. The game comes with two discs, one of which is an optional install disc that ups the textures and allows you to select the original Japanese voice acting.

If you don’t have any save data from Dragon’s Dogma, you’ll have to level a bit (to level 45) before you can take on the denizens of the isle. If you do have save data, you’ll be able to export your character and all save data with new skills and augments as well as new weapons and armor sets. You’ll also get 100,000 Rift Crystals, unlimited Ferry stones, and the Gransys Armor Pack, consisting of six brand new costumes. Which was pretty awesome.

To catch you up, Dragon’s Dogma was an action RPG released last May. The setting is open world fantasy, and the combat is hack and slash. Although I didn’t finish the original game, I loved it, and only traded it in to get this one! This new expansion is sure to please those who’ve leveled their characters up past the hundreds, as the challenge is quite substantial.

Plot

“Just off the Gransys mainland is the cursed Bitter black Isle, where gamers will embark on an all-new quest to discover an underground realm, complete with new terrifying foes and incredible treasure.”

Basically, you meet a strange woman who tells you she’s not really there, but she can take you to herself. You hop in the boat and end up on the island, where you will explore, fight insanely hard battles, and then bring back items for her to uncurse. She’s very vague, just like that official plot up there.

You can also continue the plot of the original game, which was to defeat the dragon that is terrorizing your country. The Dark Arisen story is set after the events of the first game, where you will face a new boss in a new area of that world, but if you haven’t played, it will just fold in like part of the original story.

Graphics and Music

The graphics in Dark Arisen are generally quite nice, but once in a while they just get bad. I don’t know what it is (I’m not technical when it comes to graphics issues) but one minute it will look glorious, and then you’re fighting five goblins and you’re half in a barrel and textures look funny. Sounds like my Saturday night. Zing.

Speaking of funny, watch NPCs mouths when they talk. Only the bottom lip moves! Which is better than my pawn, who doesn’t move his mouth at all.

The music is haunting and lovely. I sometimes let the game sit at the start menu just to hear the intro song. The ambiance is perfect for adventuring!

Gameplay

Pawns

Dark Arisen is set up like most Western style RPGs, with one main difference: the Pawn system. Pawns are helper creatures. I say creatures, because it is constantly made clear throughout the game that Pawns are not people. They are expendable – you can always get rid of one and buy a new one to fit the current questline a little better. It’s a very unusual system, especially since most RPGs want you to grow attached to your companions, not consider them, well, pawns.

Your pawns are amazing. Pawns learn skills and communicate with you in the way you teach them to. Netting a high level pawn who knows a lot of skills and quests means having constant tips and advice when you need it…and often when you don’t. They attack based on tactics you lay out, meaning I often had absolutely nothing to do with most battles.

Pawns also gather loot for you and break boxes, which is my favorite thing of all. Do you know how nice it is not to have to do all the looting by myself? You all know about me and my looting habit already though, so moving on.

Menu

In Dark Arisen, the Dragon’s Dogma menu system has been tweaked slightly in hopes of being more intuitive. It didn’t bother me either way, so I can’t say if it’s an improvement or not. I will say that it probably takes some getting used to, as it is a true RPG. You have your inventory, maps, quest area, stats, equipment, tools and curatives (potions). All of that has got to go somewhere, and I can’t really think of a better way to do it than the method Capcom chose.

Combat

There are some new enemies in Dark Arisen, such as the Elder Ogres, Pyre Saurians, and Necorphagous. Oh, and Death. Death is an enemy. And he one-hit kills you, so have fun with that.

Combat in Dragon’s Dogma was already pretty fun, with all the monster climbing reminding me of Shadow of Colossus. In Dark Arisen, combat is no laughing matter. The expansion is meant to be just that: an expansion, so expect a lot of challenging battles. The final boss has a very frustrating attack as well, but I wont spoil it for you. Suffice to say, tactics and pawns are vitally important on the isle.

My main issue with combat is the lack of an enemy lock. It drives me crazy to be in a clump of combatants and to not be able to choose who I fight. The combat also isn’t as satisfying as the combat in the original Dragon Age was to me (I had the same complaint with Skyrim), but maybe it’s just the hack and slash aspect that doesn’t work as well for my play style.

What I do love about the combat is how you interact with the larger or more complex enemies. For example, I can grab a flying monster’s leg while my pawns attack, or my pawn can throw me into the air to grab onto the back of a griffin. Some giant monsters have to be taken down piece by piece by climbing to the appropriate body part. Fighting large monsters is very exciting, and really shows off how well done the AI system is.

But this is just Dark Souls/Skyrim/SotC!

A possible complaint some could have with Dark Arisen is that it isn’t very new or original. It’s obviously influenced by Western-style RPGs, and even seems like a love letter to Dark Souls.

However, a girl like me, who deeply loves these fantasy RPGs, isn’t going to tell you that’s an issue. I don’t need the RPG genre to be rewritten with every new game (lookin’ at you, Dragon Age II and the possibly even more different Dragon Age III). I don’t need to be wowed by how original the game is. To be perfectly honest, I love RPGs for the same reason I love books – escaping into a fantasy world. So bring on the quests and the sweeping meadows and the orc-like creatures and, yes, the dragons. Playing this game was like putting on my favorite hoodie…which tries to murder me in a nice, comfortable way.

Final Verdict

Score: B+

Not mind-blowing or stunningly original, but this is good, solid RPG fun, with an exciting level of challenge. Dragon’s Dogma was one of the forgotten gems of last year, and Dark Arisen just builds on that.

If you’ve played Dragon’s Dogma, you will find the perfect amount of (or maybe too much) challenge for your high level character. If you haven’t played Dragon’s Dogma, this is an excellent value for your money, so get it now! I plan to spend many more hours in this lovely world.

Bethesda recently teased that they would be announcing a new game with a cryptic repeating video of bob wire and a record player. Much of the internet believed it to be a teaser for the next Fallout game. Today an official announcement has been made with a new IP in The Evil Within. This will be the first game by orginal creator of Resident Evil, Shinji Mikami’s new studio Tango Gameworks.  Mikami released a statement, “We’re incredibly proud to announce The Evil Within. My team and I are committed to creating an exciting new franchise, providing fans the perfect blend of horror and action.” This new survival horror will be released on Xbox 360, Playstation 3, PC, and next gen consoles in 2014. In the mean time, check out this scary live-action teaser trailer.

*Volunteer Positions* While evaluating the state of the Gaming Journalism scene, I noticed that we at Real Otaku Gamer has a unique approach when covering geek/otaku culture. As the site gets restructured and we go into our 3rd year, we are looking to create opportunities that will help the site become more robust and varied with coverage. Real Otaku Gamer has a global vision, we accept writers from all over the world.

These new job positions are going to help Real Otaku Gamer become more organized and develop a bigger community so we can grow as a brand. These positions are volunteer only as we are a small site. As we grow so will the sponsors and hopefully revenue.

IF HAVE ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT THE POSITIONS, Email us at feedback@realotakugamer.com

These New Positions are as follows:

1. Community Manager: You will be taking care of the daily running of the site. You will work along side the Editor in Chief and other Admins on the site with promoting the site and helping build a brand. You must have good communication skills.

2.Marketing and PR: You will be responsible for all Public Relations with companies and the community. You must have good communication skills and be able to relate to people of a number of levels. You will also run contests and giveaways.

3.Managing Editor: You will work closely with all staff to make sure the posts we produce, are up to our standards.

4.Social Media Manager: You will be in charge of growing our social networking presence. You will be working close to the senior staff.

5. Assistant to Editor in Chief: You will assist the E.I.C. in the daily running of the site.

6.Advertising and Promotion: contact us for more details.

7.Art Director: contact us for more details.

8.Podcast Producer/Editor: contact us for more details.

9.Video Producer/Editor :contact us for more details.

Now, the next few positions are for the Real Otaku Gamer Specialists. These positions are dedicated for people who want to cover a specific genre/category. This is where your inner Otaku can really shine.

1. PC

2. Mobile/Tablet

3. Tech

4. Anime

5. Manga

6. Comics

7. Nintendo

8. Sony

9. Microsoft

10. Movies/Television

11. Asian Cinema

12.Indie Games

13.Toys/models and Merchandise

14.Convention Coverage

15.Cosplay and Cosplay Culture

To apply for these positions, you must first submit a writing sample and once the sample is approved, submit an small essay telling us why we should pick you for the job you are interested in. An essay is not necessary for all positions. Deadline to have the samples submitted is May 20th, 2013. We must have all essays in my May 17th. Send the Essays and Samples to feedback@realotakugamer.com.

If you have any questions about any of the positions and their responsibilities, just email us at feedback@realotakugamer.com or go to the Twitter and Facebook pages. Thanks you for your time.

Andre Tipton

Founder/Editor in Chief

First appeared on Nerdy But Flirty

I had the pleasure of getting my hands on a copy of Injustice: Gods Among Us, the new superhero fighting game from NetherRealm Studios, the folks that brought us Mortal Kombat. This game is very much in the vein of the new Mortal Kombat (that isn’t a bad thing at all), with heroes and villains fighting epic battles on a huge scale, with lots of over-the-top sequences. The storyline is very authentic, and was apparently created in collaboration between NetherRealm Studios, DC Entertainment, and writers Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti.

Before diving into the game review, I’d be remiss not to mention the AWESOME comic attached to the game. What? Yeah, I know that sounds like crazy talk! But the Injustice: Gods Among Us comic series is amazing. I intend to write a full review this week, but in the meantime, you should just know that it will add to your game experience in a meaningful way.

Plot

“What if our greatest heroes became our greatest threat? Injustice: Gods Among Us features DC Comics icons such Batman, Cyborg, The Flash, Harley Quinn, Nightwing, Solomon Grundy, Superman, and Wonder Woman. This latest title from the award-winning studio presents a deep original story.”

Without spoiling anything, I will just say that they actually mean it when they say a deep story. The comics add even more depth to it, but basically you are given excellent reasons for why you are fighting the heroes and villains you are, as well as a minor explanation for how the lesser heroes and villains are keeping up with the stronger ones.

Characters

There are twenty-four characters, including Wonder Woman, Hawkgirl, Raven, Killer Frost, Harley, and Catwoman. Three girls for the bad guys and three girls for the good guys. Overall, this was a pretty eclectic mix of DC fighters, and I was happy to see them attempt to be a little different by including characters who normally don’t make it into the big name fighting games.

The characters are split into good and evil, as well as power-based characters and tech-based characters. I found the tech -based characters harder to play, of course (if you know me, this makes sense), but I wouldn’t say the power-based characters are better than the tech ones, they just suited my play style.

Women in Games

My male friend kept muttering to himself every time Harley Quinn was on screen. I asked him what was wrong and he explained that he hated the way each game seemed to want to make Harley more and more naked. I thought it was an interesting point, especially when I was feeling a similar way about Wonder Woman’s breasts. They just looked SO physically impossible. I kept getting distracted by all the logistics of trying to fight with DDs. But hey, this is a fighting game, and they have NEVER made physical sense as far as the female fighters are concerned. Catwoman is pretty covered, and Hawkgirl looks like a total badass, so I guess I’ll take the small wins…even if Killer Frost does stroke herself sensually when you leave her alone for a bit…

Also, this statement happened: “Our Wonder Woman is better looking!” >.<

Graphics

The graphics are solid, realistic, and ugly. Yes I said ugly. I’m sorry, but it’s the same complaint I had with the new Mortal Kombat. This is not a pretty game.

The intro graphics looked beautiful, until the first person showed up. It was kind of obvious what their graphic priorities were in the game. Backgrounds, cutscenes and special moves look awesome, but character rigs and model faces look strange.

Music

What music? That about sums up how I felt about the music. It was appropriate to the scenes, but not spectacular. There were fifteen stages, and I can’t think of any of their music without going and checking. It sounds like an epic battle is raging.

Combat

Stages

Speaking of stages, the stages in this game are a joy to play on. They are varied and interesting, with a great level of interaction. Not only can you smash into and through things into transition stages, but the backgrounds also react to the level of damage being tossed about, with candles jumping in the background, holes appearing in the ceilings, etc. You can also propel yourself off of objects, trigger traps, or hurl objects at your opponents.

The transitions were my favorite – they looked so painful!

Modes

There are quite a few modes to play, which really adds to the re-playability of this game, with or without friends around. There are the multiplayer modes, such as versus and online mode. In online mode, there are multiple ways to play with other folks: ranked matches, private matches, 1v1, Koth, and Survivor modes.

For single player, there is story mode, arcade mode, S.T.A.R. Labs, and a training mode. There is also a Battle Mode, where you can choose to fight only heroes, only villains, while poisoned, or in survival mode.

Story Mode was just excellent. Not only was it deep and involving, but it was also hilarious and fun. Sometimes it would even throw in relevant quick time events that would give you the chance to lower an enemy’s health before a fight. You all know how much I hate QTEs, but these were actually pretty small and not very obnoxious at all, especially since they didn’t really matter and moved so slow only a toddler could miss them. Playing Story Mode was like watching an excellent cartoon or reading a great comic, and that’s pretty amazing to say about a DC superhero fighting game.

S.T.A.R. Labs was pretty cool and is where I spent most of my time after beating story mode. Each character has a set of missions that are like mini-stories with tasks you need to complete. These tasks include more than just defeating enemies: they range from keeping Superman in the sunlight to playing as Catwoman’s cat. You earn stars in missions by accomplishing one or all of the three goals. A certain number of stars opens up the next sets of missions, and so on.

Fighting

Now, the moment we’ve all been waiting for. So how is the fighting? Pretty darn fun. I think this game will be a darling among the fighting game community, actually.

The combos and fighting system is basically the same as Mortal Kombat. You use directional buttons and attack buttons to do light, mid, and high attacks. At your disposal are moves, combos, special moves, stances, the move specific to your character, and the special move specific to your character. There is also a bounce cancel and the ability to juggle characters around like a beach ball. Examples of moves specific to characters include Batman’s remote bats, Hawkgirl’s flight, and Flash’s speed. The full special moves are generally pretty funny because they’re so over the top. You’ll see what I mean; I don’t want to spoil the surprised grin that’s going to flash over your face when some of these happen.

There is also an interesting little system called the clash. Basically, the clash allows the defender the chance to regain some health and the attacker the chance to inflict more damage. It can be initiated once per match per character after revealing the second health bar. During the timed wagering phase, each player has the option of secretly wagering an amount of their super meter against their opponent’s amount. If the defender wins the clash, they will gain an amount of health determined by the difference of how much meter was wagered.

Is the fighting perfect? Not by any means. Depending on what type of fighting game you prefer, you may find the combat repetitive – or certain characters will seem very overpowered. Then there is the sheer nonsense of watching a Joker beat a Superman…it just seems absurd, despite the story-driven reason given for the inconsistency.

However, the good definitely outweighed the bad for me.

As much as I hate to admit it, I think NetherRealm did a great job with this game. The story is deep, plausible, and funny, the fighting is solid, and there are tons of options to hold your attention. Despite the ugly-fied graphics, boring music, and hideous face models, I just can’t dislike this game! Now off I go to defeat more foes in online mode! See you there.

Western fans of Namco’s long-running Tales RPG series have reason to celebrate. Tales of Xillia now has a firm release date. It will arrive in North America on August 6, 2013, and in Europe on August 9, 2013.

Tales of Xillia has been a huge success in Japan with over 740,000 copies sold since its release there on September 8, 2011. The game is a collaborative effort of both of the main Tales development teams, Team Destiny, with artwork by Mutsumi Inomata, and Team Symphonia, with artwork by Kosuke Fujishima. It allows the players to pick one of two main heroes from each development team, Milla Maxwell or Jude Mathis, respectively, at the start of the game. The game’s soundtrack  is composed by longtime Tales composer Motoi Sakuraba. The game will feature the series’ trademark action battle system.

Tales of Xillia will feature a premium collectors’ edition for the dedicated fans.

In addition, Namco is also preparing an elaborate limited premium edition of the game for both North America and Europe. The collectors’ edition includes the game, a 100-page art-book  a soundtrack CD, and a figure of the Team Destiny heroine, Milla Maxwell. The collectors’ edition will retail for USD $100. It will be available on the online store for European customers and at retail for the US and Canada.

Tales of Xillia will be available exclusively for the PlayStation 3.

First appeared on Nerdy But Flirty

This game is freakin’ awesome.

What game, you ask? Why, Guacamelee! of course! Guacamelee is an indie, 2-D platformer from DrinkBox Studios that melds features of Metroid, Outland, Castlevania, the cartoons of our childhood, and a healthy dose of The Emperor’s New Groove into one solid, action-packed game.

Inspired, vaguely, by Mexican culture, the game doesn’t take itself too seriously and hopes you don’t either. Players control Juan, a wannabe luchadore. Or, in my case, they play player number 2: Tostada, a luchadora. But I’ll get to that feminist stuff later.

Lovers of old-school platform gaming will delight in the many, many callbacks to other games, from Mario to Zelda, Megaman to Castle Crashers.

Gameplay

The core gameplay revolves around moves used in both combat and platforming. They’re color-coded and have awesome names, including the words derpderp and goat, so you know I was a fan. Enemies include all types of skeletons. Big ones, small ones, giant ones, fishy ones: the undead are out in full force.

Moves involve smashing, grabbing, and pile driving enemies into pieces, along with a dimension switch mechanic similar to that of Outland.

The puzzles and boss fights were actually pretty challenging, which is such a refreshing change of pace from the norm of repetitive battles or constant guidance. Guacamelee! features the Metroid-style open-world, which grows even larger as you gain new powers and backtrack to old areas. Sometimes my mind was just blown by what I was doing. These are the kinds of games I love: the ones that are challenging enough to give you a sense of accomplishment when you play well.

The game was probably about five hours long for a normal person, but I’m a loot maniac and a sucker for treasure hunting, so it took me about seven hours to get 80% completion. I felt that this was a good length for a game with such a thin story, but I’d love to see more levels added as DLC in the future.

The game offers boss fights that are actually challenging in the old-school way: learning to read your opponent, memorizing patterns, and learning by dying repeatedly until you figure something out. I missed this! And it is the perfect kind of game for a handheld like the Vita so that was another excellent decision, especially with the ability to cross save and cross play.

As for combat itself, the game has a surprisingly robust combo system! I got to the final level of combos before I finally walked away, but I managed to impress myself with the length and complexity of combos I was able to learn. And they helped! The further you progress into the game, the more combat tactics will come into play, as wave after wave of enemy, some with shields and some in other, untouchable, dimensions, delivereth the smacketh down on you.

Plot

“But Sarah, you ALWAYS put plot before gameplay in your reviews! What’s up?”

Well, I’m glad you asked.

You see, I want you to understand that this game is amazing and that I loved it, so I put the happy stuff first. The best part of this game truly is the actual gameplay, followed closely by the art and ambiance.

The plot, on the other hand, is the same tired, boring old trope dressed up in its fiesta best: rescue the princess from the bad man.

This is an indie game, so I could go light on the criticism here. Guacamelee! clearly isn’t out to change the world. It’s fun and challenging. So why did I have such a hangup? Well, along with the plot, there’s the way women in the game are portrayed and talked about.

Once again, I want to reiterate that I think this game is fantastic, but this was definitely the sour note in the chorus. I’m still pretty stoked that I get to be Tostada at all, so I’m not taking it out on the studio. This is more like the “I’m complaining because I care about this game and want it to go to college and grow up to be a productive citizen” kind of deal. It’s also just odd, because the hilarious dialogue made it clear that these folks know how to write.

The one interesting thing about the plot has to do with the ending of the game. There is no real resolution or discussion of what happened to Juan, who is treated like a second class citizen because, inexplicably, he is not a luchador. But there is no moral at the end, no need to say, “Hey you guys, it’s not fair that you love me now that I’m a luchadore!” That doesn’t happen. He just revels in it until the end, not seeming to care that he had to conform to their standards to be accepted. It seems especially odd because the beginning of the game had lots of foreshadowing that something’s not quite right with Juan, but it is never looked into – we only get a brief flashback that doesn’t explain much. That, along with a few other choices near the end, were pretty bold, so there was some great potential here for intrigue.

Art and Sound

The art is lush and gorgeous. I spent an inexcusable amount of time checking out the backgrounds and moving slowly through the game to let my eyeballs soak in the bright, beautiful glory that is Guacamelee!‘s art. I especially loved the little touches like Aztec shields and swords on ancient warriors and the motif of the hero holding the woman on a mountain top. The color schemes and little signs in the background were also perfect touches. The details were gorgeous, and I loved finding the HUGE amount of Easter eggs in the game.

The music was very Mexican-sounding, though that doesn’t mean it’s authentic. I found it rather repetitive and annoying after the first thirty minutes or so, which is unfortunate and made me feel bad for not appreciating horns more.

Another interesting choice was the lack of voices as well as the lack of voice or written speech for Juan, the protagonist. I probably wouldn’t have noticed that Juan didn’t speak, except that people kept asking him questions, and sometimes pretended that he had answered…but mostly reacted as if Juan kept silent. It was pretty strange.

On the other hand, putting on ridiculous voices and reading the other character’s lines was immensely entertaining. And, as I mentioned, the dialogue was mostly fantastic, with characters making me laugh out loud at some of the things they said. For example: “Like an orphaned cabbage, you rolled straight into my trap.”

Multiplayer

Playing with friends is fun and natural. There is something supremely satisfying about brawler style fights with friends along for the ride. I also loved solving puzzles cooperatively: that moment when you figure something out and you get the hi-five going – you can’t get that by yourself…easily.

Sharing the screen was the right way to go, and as I’ve mentioned, I was overjoyed that player two is a female character. The only time it gets difficult are with moves that come later in the game, especially with dimension flipping. Fortunately, only one team member needs to make it to the next section, as it will automatically teleport the other player to the beginning of the next area if one person makes it.

In Conclusion: Go Get It!

My hangups with the plot and trope-d out women are nothing compared to the amount of sheer FUN I was having. Guacamelee! is not only eye candy, it’s challenging in a refreshing way. I can’t wait to dive back in with my friends!

Guacamelee! is out now for the PlayStation 3 and Vita for $14.99.

Warner Bros. Interactive have finally announced, what we all wanted to hear, Batman will be returning to a prequel to both Arkham Asylum & City, with Batman: Arkham Origins. The game will focus on a younger, a less sharp Batman and his initial encounters against various supervillains within the Batman & DC lore. Game Informer also says, “Developer WB Montreal is using Rocksteady’s custom modified Unreal engine to create the game.” Although Rocksteady isn’t helming the developing, Warner Bros. has enlisted Eric Holmes, as creative director on the game, and who has also worked on Prototype and Hulk: Ultimate Destruction.

Additionally, Warner Bros. has announced a handheld Arkham game, a spin off, titled Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate. Apparently, the game is styled after Metroid games, and takes place after Origins, on the consoles story. Blackgate is being developed by Armature Studios, who is behind the Metroid Prime Trilogy. Both games will hit shelves October 25th, Arkham Origins on PS3, Xbox 360, Wii U, and PC, and Blackgate on Vita and 3DS.

“The mind of the subject will desperately struggle to create memories where none exist…” – Rosalind Lutece, Barriers to Trans-Dimensional Travel, 1889

Bring us the girl and wipe away the debt. As you soar into the floating city of Columbia for the first time you see exactly where Irrational Games’ ambitions lie; Amongst the clouds with this incredible city. The game manages to achieve all of it’s ambitions and more, with a story the likes of which we haven’t seen since the original Bioshock, varied and new first person gameplay and a stunning, truly realised world for the player to explore. This game does what it’s predecessor did in 2007; it changes and challenges the gameplay and story of this console generation and reinvents them to become a truly incredible experience.

The game world is in almost direct contrast to that of Irrational Games’ original Bioshock, we see a rich and colourful city in the prime of it’s existence  whilst also involving the player in Columbia’s breathtaking descent. Columbia has it’s own set of rules, it is a fully realised world with a vibrant cast of characters that really make the world feel real. People walk around, reacting both to the player and surrounding events, with clever and involving conversations that reflect the world around them. The game is set in alternate reality 1912 and shows off the views and values of an America steeped in religious rule, patriotism and severe xenophobia. The content in game is quite harsh in contrast to the vibrant city and challenges the player to look at society today with reference to the game. Every area of the game feels different and diverse, from the squalid Shantytown to the opulence of the streets above and then into the skies of Columbia aboard the many airships and floating platforms, never ceasing to pull the extraordinary narrative along with each detailed environment.

The streets of Columbia

As the player enters Columbia they are introduced to the basic gameplay elements of Vigors (akin to the original Bioshock’s Plasmids) and the variety of weapons through a carnival, set up as part of the celebrations for Comstock, the game’s antagonist. In your first hour you will experience combat with some basic guns, vigors and the transport method doubling as a melee weapon; the skyhook. The skyhook allows for some incredible firefights and a new mobility unseen in gaming. Just hop aboard a skyline and you can drop behind enemies, into cover or zip around the area quickly all the while returning fire from attackers. The game’s AI is also quite clever, with enemies and “Hard Hitters” (different, more tough enemies such as the handyman and motorized patriots) able to use the skylines and move around like the player. Then the game takes it up a notch, in story, gameplay and emotion with the introduction of Elizabeth.

Elizabeth. This one character serves as the core of the story and gameplay. From the moment you meet her she barely leaves your side, constantly adding to the game. In combat she will help you by finding health, salts and ammo and also cash outside of combat. She also has the ability to open ‘tears’ in the environment, pulling items from other worlds and reality into being in the locale. She also adds real emotion to the gameplay. You begin to rely on her and think about combat situations with her abilities in mind. In the few short absences she has from the player you genuinely miss the character. Her powers and dialogue always make the player feel more invested in the story, her presence never once takes anything away from the experience. Her AI is also incredibly well done, she will explore and interact with the environment, once again bringing areas of the game to life and you will want to sit in one spot and see all the animations and dialogue the developers have crammed into each of the game’s areas.

Elizabeth

I have talked about the story a lot so far, the narrative really pulls the whole experience together. The story crafted by Irrational Games masterfully weaves the setting, values and original story together into a story that will keep the player invested in the game’s fifteen plus hours of gameplay. Without revealing too much, the story centres around the protagonist, Booker Dewitt, tasked with travelling to Columbia to rescue Elizabeth to pay off his gambling debt. The city is ruled by “The Prophet” Comstock, who has kept Elizabeth locked away for years. Bring in the Vox Populi, a resistance movement of the lower classes and racial outcasts, fighting against Comstock’s extremely one sided rule.  The story has the occasional lull in sections, but they always followed by something amazing soon after, only increasing the effect of the succeeding event. Once you dive into the narrative the tale morphs and evolves at a cracking pace up to the jaw dropping finale, where players will be left thinking long after the credits roll.

Overall the game is an amazing experience. Irrational Games have done an amazing job of bringing the world of Columbia to life. The story, gameplay and above all the work that went into Elizabeth help this game to exceed all expectations and in turn reinvent the FPS genre amongst it’s many more stale counterparts. The game is incredible in scope and story, well worthy of any gamers time, earning it’s well deserved place amongst some of the finest games of the generation.

In my mind, this game deserves no other score than, Go and Buy it NOW!