Combo Crew is a mobile game created by the independent game company Game Bakers’. This game is very unique, so it is hard to put in a certain genre. The story is simple, much like one that you would expect in a mobile game. It’s not the story that this game is focusing on, it’s more or less the gameplay and how it flows. Combo Crew is an action game that focuses on stringing punches together, and keeping one combo running.
Story:  The game takes place is a very odd world, suited perfectly for all ages. The characters you play as look human for the most part, but have features that showcase anything but. For example, the two default characters you start with are Gina and Parker. Both look pretty human, but Gina has an incredibly long ponytail and Parker has a tail and paws. You fight a variety of comical enemies, ranging from tough-acting biker dudes to walking tv screens. The two main characters, Gina and Parker (plus any unlockable characters) are attempting to overthrow an evil leader called “The Boss” or “Mr. Boss.” Like I said, the story isn’t as much of a focus. It just gives a reason why we are battling enemies in certain rooms that one would come across.
Audio / Visual:  It is safe to say that I love the graphics of this game. The game is presented like a cartoon, but there are certain aspects of the visuals that catch your eye. There are parts of levels that aren’t just cartoon, but 3D as well. For example, when Gina throws a punch, her ponytail almost whips out of the screen.   I love this art style, it’s taking a simple design and pushing it towards the next level. It’s innovative and very different than anything I’ve seen before. Now for the sound. The sound works well, with a design one would expect with a mobile game. Enemies react to punches with a simple “Oof’s”, characters throw punches with simple but comical karate noises, and all the while a cool style of music is being played, a mixture of electronic and alternative.

Gameplay:  The game is a very different form of a beat-em-up. You are placed in an almost overhead view and you are surrounded with typically 3-5 enemies. The way you fight them off is by selecting an enemy with a tap on the screen to lock on, and then you would swipe at the screen in rapid succession to pull off combos and counter attacks. The punches are not immediate, if you swipe twice then tap another enemy right before a third punch, your character will hit the selected enemy twice, then jump to another part of the screen to hit the other enemy. These mechanics run smoothly, and battles can get really intense during the later levels, when there are six to seven enemies throwing punches and blocking attacks. Aside from the actual battles, the menus work well and your characters have a fair level of customization. Before fights, you can change characters and equip different combos for battle.

Overall: Combo Crew is an awesome game. It’s a very unique brawler with enough features and redeeming qualities that do not disappoint.  The replay value is pretty high and will leave you not wanting to put it down.

Gameplay Footage:

When analyzing the band’s lyrics in the song “Player One”, for example, it isn’t difficult to identify Machine Supremacy’s passion for gaming:

“Welcome to a world
Where you always get the girl
You may lose a fight or two
But you’ll win if you get through
Face up and challenge all
You ever knew since you could crawl…I wanna play until I die…in a world that never ends.” -Player One

Reaching out not only to gamers, the band shows a love for the online community as well, beautifully shown in the song “The Greatest Show On Earth”:

“Friend me, follow, fan and like
Say, what’s on your mind tonight?
Just as well when the real world feels so small
We are gods here, and we can reach it all
I can hear the whole world call
Cast a light on the walls and lives of a Generation On-line
We excel at passing time, and we share our hearts and our minds
Oh, how we’ve waited for this
Art, expression, and shared playlists”-The Greatest Show On Earth

Other noteworthy tracks include “Hero”, “Through The Looking Glass”, and “Stand” (where at the end of “Stand”, gamers will hear a familiar Metroid tune).

Generous and mindful of their fans, Machinae Supremacy offers a variety of downloadable content on their official website, http://machinaesupremacy.com/, including MP3s, wallpaper, and ringtones.

For those that like meaningful music, fast-paced drums, and sick guitar riffs, Machinae Supremacy is right up their alley—but for gamers worldwide, this is a band that will make your trigger finger extra happy.

Check out their track Player One:

Sources:

SID technology: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MOS_Technology_SID

Commodore info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commodore_International

About the band: http://machinaesupremacy.com/about/

Full band bio: http://machinaesupremacy.com/about/biography/

“Oops, yup – typo. You will not have to pay a *fee*. I can confirm that those reports are wrong. ^BA”

There has been a lot of discussion regarding this “fee to play used games”. While multiple sources say this fee is true, the XBox Support on Twitter says otherwise – but there’s no way of telling which information is true.

Direct link for the mentioned tweet here.

The new console will be called the Xbox One!

• Built in Kinect style hardware for turning on the Xbox One with your voice, remembers who you are.
• Multiple voice commands for instant switching between your most used functions.
• Snapmode – The ability to bring multiple windows/apps into the same screen.
• Skype, utilizing the Snapmode feature.

• 8 gigs of ram
• New controller

• New Xbox Live – Over 300,000 worldwide servers powering the service.
• Plans for 15 exclusive games in the first year of Xbox One, 8 of which are brand new IP.
• Live action Halo TV Series directed by Steven Spielberg titled – “Wake up John”
• “Later this year” release date, most likely holiday season 2013.

Revelations takes players back to events that took place between Resident Evil 4 and Resident Evil 5, revealing the truth about the T-Abyss virus. Series favorites Jill Valentine and Chris Redfield, take on the terror aboard a supposedly abandoned cruise ship, the ‘Queen Zenobia,’ then move to the mainland and the devastated city of Terragrigia.

Capcom has boosted this once handheld only title to new levels for it’s console release.

Expect high quality graphics, enhanced lighting, and an in-depth audio experience.
Don’t expect that to be all the console version has up it’s sleeves however, this release delivers additional content including a new enemy called the “Wall Blister” and a greater level of difficulty labeled “Infernal Mode”.
Raid Mode also gets it’s fair share of improvements such as new weapons, skill sets, and the added ability to play as Hunk and a mysterious blonde Rachael.

DLC:
‘Resistance Set’ and ‘Enhancement Set’ are character upgrade packs that will be available June 4.
Each pack will contain six upgrades and cost 160 Microsoft Points or $1.99 / €1.99.

June 11 will bring us two additional characters for Raid Mode, ‘Rachael Ooze’ and a female version of Hunk.
Each character can be purchased for 240 Microsoft Points or $2.99 / €2.99.

Finally on June 18, weapon upgrades for Jill, Parker, and Jessica will be available.
Each upgrade will cost 80 Microsoft Points or $0.99 / €0.99.

Our beloved survival horror will be available on the Xbox 360, PS3, Wii U, and PC. The title will also be available for download via Playstation Network, Nintendo eShop, Steam, and following shortly with an Xbox Live games on demand option.

“PopCap Games, a worldwide leader in mobile and social games and a division of Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: EA), today announced the global launch of Plants vs. Zombies™ Adventures on Facebook®. The first social adaptation of PopCap’s famed fun-dead franchise, the game offers an ever-expanding world of new plants and zombies and takes players on a series of zombie-infested road trips with their friends.

Unique Features of Plants vs. Zombies Adventures:

New Combat Mechanics — path-based ‘flower’ defense action:

• The zombies are coming… from all directions
• Multiple ways to battle in town and on the road
• Boost your plants and freeze zombies
• New power-ups: Zombie Zapper, Gardening Glove and Mega-Perk, Dynamite

New Content — plus ongoing updates in a constantly expanding world:

• Unearth 10 new zombies, 11 new plants and new human characters as you expand your town and explore 12 road trip maps
• More features, plants, zombies and levels every month

Socially Oriented Design — fun social features with more interaction to come:

• Send hordes of invasive zombies to your friends

• Climb the leaderboard and see how your pile of zombies stacks up against your friends’ “

The game opens up within a small, quiet neighborhood at nighttime, while the gamer’s HQ is atop a cliff where a simple, one-leveled house stands—a place that will either make or break one’s chance of winning.

Before diving into action, players must select a house as their HQ, starting with a default Victorian styled building (as gamers progress though, they can unlock others). At the start of each level, one is given “fear points”, which are mandatory to do things such as moving monsters, fighting, etc. Players get at least 5 per turn. The initial task is to summon a monster inside your HQ by use of “room cards”, and by default, the first choice is usually a ghost—which is classified as a “scary” monster, a type whose specialty skill is to frighten the townsfolk. Other types, like “fighty” monsters, are only made to fight off enemies. In order to spawn, players must create a room for their monster on either the left, right, or top of their beginning structure. Players must then select the room via by touching it, where a small button-prompt will appear on the right side, informing how many fear points are required for that summon. One of the biggest goals in the game is to “merge” rooms when players acquire duplicate room cards; this yields to the spawning of higher leveled monsters.

After spawning, players must move their creatures towards waiting houses and scare as many people as they can before the AI, where each claimed house will be marked in a shade of blue (opponents’ claims are shown in red). For each house conquered, players are rewarded with a single star that is sent to an experience-meter on the upper left side of the screen. When the meter fills, players are bumped up a level, which allows one to purchase items/upgrade monsters. For instance, the “stuffed bear” increases a monster’s HP, while a “bolt” increases movement range, giving players strategical advantage.

Although the game might appear easy at first, things can take a hectic turn. When houses are spooked, the townspeople retreat towards a church, where a meter above it slowly begins to fill, and when it finally fills…BAM! The townsfolk retaliate—with torches and pitchforks at the ready—and become blood thirsty badasses out to kill your monsters. It is possible to diminish the mob, but with their high HP, it can prove to be quite the task (and admittedly, I have yet to beat a single level!)  Furthermore, if one doesn’t come up with a clever strategy during the first few turns or are conscientious of their house building, players will easily get run over by the AI—again, your HQ will either damn you or save you.

The graphics in this game are definitely appealing and vibrant; it’s cartoonish and it just has that all-ages-appropriate feel to it. The soundtrack is right where it should be, with crickets, howling, and organ-type noises to complement the nighttime setting. The only letdown, in my opinion, is the rather long loading times. However, game hints are given during the load periods, so it does help make up for that.

Additionally, players can challenge their friends locally, go head-to-head with others in the Game Center, and even unlock featured monsters/items if they’re willing to spend the extra buck or two. Overall, Haunted Hallow is a solid game, and if players don’t like it, they can rest easy knowing that it was a free purchase.

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Features include:

• Build and rule a mysterious mansion that spawns freaky monsters, including Vampires, Zombies, Mummies, Witches and Reapers

• Go head-to-head with rivals to scare townspeople, battle enemies, avoid angry mobs and seize control of the town

• Power-up with each monster’s own menacing powers and additional enhancements

• Play single-player or multi-player by challenging friends, both through the Game Center and with Pass & Play

• Choose from varying Haunted House architecture styles such as the ‘Lost Temple’ and ‘Mad Scientist’

Source: http://www.firaxis.com/?/games/single/haunted-hollow

Ragnarok Online 2: Legend of the Second was officially released in the NA/EU regions on May 1st by Gravity Interactive, Inc. While the initial launch period was a rough one, plagued with server crashes and lag, this has almost become the norm for launch days in the gaming world. Those problems seem to be fixed now with very few hiccups, however those with weaker systems may want to wait it out till they expand the channels a bit. Right now the spot you log into will be filled with about 50 other players, regardless of which channel you visit, and this will cause performance issues with those who only meet the minimum requirements for the game.

The game starts off right with solid options for customization.
You have a choice between Swordsman, Magician, Archer, Thief, and Acolyte for your starter class.
These are expanded upon at level 25 as your choice can branch out into the second class options, which range everywhere from knights to monks, assassins to rogues, sorcerers to soul makers. This will give you the time to learn the basics of your class, then fine tune it to get exactly what you want out your character. You have the basic options of changing your appearance, however there are plenty of choices to get that unique look players often want. You’ll also have a choice between the four job classes: Chef, Alchemist, Blacksmith, and Artisan. There is an added bonus of being able to change your character’s appearance so that they are wearing their Job Clothes all the time. Sick of your armor? Wear your stylish artisan outfit, your blacksmith short shorts, chef uniform, or your alchemist coat. I found it refreshing to have alternatives to choose from right at the beginning. The classes feel right, everything is as you would expect from the class of your choice and in some cases even exceed your expectations.

Magicians will cast offensive elemental spells with some fun tactical perks such as doubling the
damage of an electricity spell while your target is frozen.
Archers are your typical ranged bow class, laying traps and shooting from a distance, however it does seem there will be some shapeshifting melee action later on if you choose the beastmaster path.
Thieves are where my expectations were blown away. I’ve always wanted a rogue/thief class to act like such, to emerge from the shadows of stealth and rapidly attack my foes with glorious button mashing delight. To attack with quick merciless slashing of daggers till I fill my combo gauge, unleashing a devastating execute. Don’t misunderstand, all of the classes are fantastic and do not feel clunky to play, the Thief just broke through the barrier that most MMO’s seem to stop short of.
Swordsman is the class I haven’t given much attention to yet, though I have heard it will be the class that takes the most skill and time to truly master.
Acolytes will be your trusted healer and support class, though they seem to have powerful damage dealing elements akin to paladins from other online games. At level 2 I was hurling blunt holy weapons at my foes before smiting them down with holy light. Don’t underestimate the Acolyte just yet as a mere healer, what can give life can also take it away.

Combat feels fun and active, there isn’t any down time as something is waiting to come off cooldown or charge up. The game has a good balance of making you feel like a powerful hero, yet at the same time reminding you of your potential mortality. As RO2 is a free to play game, you must be asking… “What about the cash shop? Is it pay to win?”. I can happily answer no to that, there is a cash shop, however even the players will clearly explain that the only item that changes your stats is very minor and will not outweigh pure skill. Aside from the VIP Membership that gives those tiny bonuses, you will find many temporary mounts and outfits in the cash shop, the mounts of which I believe can all be obtained in-game without real world currency. This is only a quick glance at RO2 over a couple days of play and there is an entire world to explore and conquer.

Many features I haven’t even touched on myself yet, such as dungeons and PVP, though I am excited to tackle those as soon as possible. Gravity has stated they plan to constantly update end game with new content patches and raids every 1-2 months. While that is surely an impressive concept, I can’t say that I am holding my breath. If they manage to pull through and stick to their plan, this could really become an ever evolving world where you never get stuck wandering around wondering what you haven’t done yet.

So if you love MMOs, soft anime stylized graphics, gorgeous music, a good story, and great gameplay then make sure you check out Ragnarok Online 2!

http://playragnarok2.com

“Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Dual Destinies, previously announced for the West as Ace Attorney™ 5, sees the return of courtroom hero Phoenix Wright. Set eight years since his last appearance in the courts, the first case in Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Dual Destinies sees the action start in a destroyed court room. It’s down to Phoenix Wright and his team at the Wright Anything Agency to discover the cause of the destruction. Players will have to battle it out in court against Gaspen Payne, the younger brother of Winston Payne from previous Ace Attorney™ titles, as they defend the accused.

The much loved gameplay and features from previous titles in the Ace Attorneyseries return but for the first time with stunning 3D graphics, bringing the courtroom and characters to life and putting players directly in the heart of the action. Players will need to investigate each crime scene with dynamic 3D visuals, making it possible to change views and zoom-in on areas to uncover any hidden evidence or clues. The drama continues in the court room as players present their evidence, challenge witnesses and begin to unravel the truth behind each of the cases in Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Dual Destinies.

Joining Phoenix is the young Attorney Apollo Justice and new Associate Attorney Athena Cykes. Athena’s unique ability to psychoanalyse witnesses introduces a brand new element to proceedings. Using Athena’s ‘Mood Matrix’ players can detect the emotional state of a witness and tell whether they’re surprised, angry, happy or sad. Players can compare these feelings with the statement given by the witness, point out any contradictions between the two and challenge the witness testimony. “

“The Steam pre-order program launched today for the highly-anticipated sequel that seamlessly blends the best elements of the tower-defense and first-person shooter genres. Fans can now pre-order the game on Steam to secure bonus content including the exclusive Britech CG Elite Edition DLC Skin Pack and obtain immediate access to a free copy of Super Sanctum TD.

Players can pre-order Sanctum 2 on Steam HERE: http://store.steampowered.com/app/210770/

Launching today on Steam, Super Sanctum TD is a retro-styled tower-defense game that focuses on strategy, customization, and replay value. Players build advanced mazes and construct powerful towers to prevent alien hordes from reaching the Core. When the aliens swarm and everything seems lost, players can use active abilities such as Air Strike and Freeze to tilt the battlefield and regain advantage. Super Sanctum TD is also available for purchase for $3.99.

Melding tower-defense and first-person shooter genres, Sanctum 2 enables players to take on the role of an elite soldier whose mission is to protect the oxygen-producing Cores from hordes of deadly aliens who are threatened by their existence. Players set up defensive towers to take out the waves of attacking enemies and then jump into the fray, either alone or as part of a squad in drop-in and drop-out four-player co-op multiplayer.

Published by D3Publisher as an arcade game on Xbox Live for Xbox 360, Reverb Publishing for PlayStation Network, and self-published on PC, Sanctum 2 will be made available for $14.99 on Windows PC and PSN, and at a suggested price point of 1200 Microsoft Points on Xbox Live. 

For the latest news and updates on Sanctum 2, please visit www.coffeestainstudios.com, ‘Like’ the game on Facebook and follow the development team @Coffee_Stain.”

Here is the trailer for Sanctum 2: