Dungeon Punks brings vibrant 2D animated sprites to life in an epic intense co-op brawler experience. Check out this first glimpse of gameplay.
Monthly Archives: July 2016
Furi: Bullet Hell disguised as Boss Rush
Furi is definitely an interesting game. I received a review copy not too long ago, and I’ve sat down over the weekend and gave it a spin. You know what it reminds me of? Afro Samurai. It’s Afro Samurai mixed with a Bullet Hell/Boss Rush. No minions to deal with, only other opponents. You slowly wander your way through the game world, trying to be free of this prison you are in. And as the silent protagonist walks forward, a weird man in a bunny helmet, brandishing what appears to be a microphone stand or Buddhist staff a’la Miroku explains who is coming up, why they are here, and lets you deal with the particulars. Each enemy is certainly different, and they disguise this boss rush game: It’s really a bullet hell! Every fight I’ve been in so far has rained ridiculous amounts of bullets in between phases. Luckily you can shoot the bullets from my experience. The greenish ones drop heal items too.
There’s a really big takeaway though. This game will Kick. Your. Ass. If you aren’t playing on Promenade [the easy mode], you’re going to get your shit slapped. It’s happening, so you may as well just accept it. The name of the game is learning patterns, and reacting to them. You can’t just go in and swing your sword all willy-nilly. If your foe is glowing orange, it’s likely time for a phase change, or they’re simply invincible. The hardest part for me though? The parry system. There are times when all you can do is parry and counter attack to move forward. I don’t want to talk about how many times the first fight/tutorial beat me. Spoiler: It was a lot. Between these challenging fights is a LOT of walking though, and only a small amount of exposition to go with it. I could’ve done without a fair amount of it. The story grips you though and you will undoubtedly find yourself working harder to learn more about the tale, and figure out what you’re fighting for.
Everything about this game is ludicrous and silly. A sci-fi Samurai busting out of a prison that appears to be in the Heavens, trying to fight his way out with the purple bunny buddy following, always managing to get ahead of him and explain what’s going on. He says not a word, and only defeats what is in front of him. It’s a game of Simon. The game acts, and you must react, and do it fast. You don’t get a lot of time to consider what you will do. There are only a few game concepts to deal with, but the game throws them at you in a variety of ways. The longer the game goes on, the more insane it gets though. I have not beat it yet, and have tried it on both Promenade and the “Default” difficulty. The challenge ramps up quite a bit between the two. I’m horrified to try the final difficulty but I plan on it.Takashi Okazaki designed the characters, which explains the Afro Samurai feel. It’s a sharp looking title, digital, catchy synth music, gritty characters who all have a reason to be where they are, and challenging, adrenaline pumping combat. It’s a game of redemption, of storytelling. It doesn’t give it to you all at one, but instead it offers tidbits, bread crumbs. Sure, the difficulty spikes can be very, very annoying, but I’d rather have a difficulty spike instead of poor design.
If you like bullet hells, bosh-rushes, fast-paced decision making, and intricate storytelling, you’d do well to give it a peek. Use those storytelling times to process and unwind; you’re going to need it.
SMITE – New Skin for Chronos – Fallen Lord
Coming to SMITE: The Fallen Lord skin for Chronos, God of Time! It arrives tomorrow, but why wait? Check it out today!
Warframe | The War Within Teaser 2
A sneak peek at the upcoming “War Within” content for Warframe! Just enough to whet the appetite.
This Just In: Pokémon Go Creates Fitness Revolution
A few times a week [three to four on average] I wake up at Five AM [EST] to do DDP Yoga. Not as a matter of bragging, simply to point something out. I’m working hard to get back into the shape I was in as a youth. Back then, before I had a car, I walked everywhere, generally for miles if I had to. But then, I received an automobile. Those days died. Michelle Obama has worked tirelessly, ceaselessly for eight whole years to instill in kids and adults the need to workout and get into shape. But it didn’t meet with a whole lot of success. It had some, but not like this. Nintendo, through the Pokémon Company and Niantic in one day got basically the entire damn world walking for miles, exploring, meeting new people, all to collect Pokémon. I don’t know too many people who didn’t play Pokémon/want to be a Pokémon Master. In my 30s, I still do! I don’t feel any shame. People in rural areas don’t have the same access that people in cities and beaches/etc do, but it’s only been around for a handful of days. I’m willing to bet that peoples’ data plans for their phones are already starting to show the burden! Be mindful of your phone battery and data plan folks! It’s creating a wave of new friendships and exercising, a kind of happiness I think we sorely need right now.
I have never seen so many people getting together, trying to catch Pokémon, walking for five, ten miles at a time, down beaches, along piers, down highways in big cities. In bigger cities in North Carolina, where quite a few of my friends are [shoutouts to SoniCat Cosplay and Glamazonian Rage] there are dozens of people getting together, coordinating walks, even if they don’t know each other! Facebook groups popping up to get people together, share information, point out Gym Battles, gathering together like never before. Pokémon Walk groups are popping up on Facebook, where dozens, maybe hundreds are going to walk together for miles, catching as many Pokémon as possible. Friendly competition is spiking, as are fitness walks; because you need motivation sometimes. What greater motivation is there than being a Pokémon Master? Sure, there are drawbacks and fears. People are likely to get mugged if they aren’t careful, people are driving while catching Pokémon [seriously: Don’t do this. It’s stupid and dangerous], or trespassing where they shouldn’t. Some people are cheating and driving to hatch eggs, but eh. To each their own!
All told, this is a miraculous thing. Sure, it has a cash shop, and yes, it still doesn’t have a lot of features. Niantec has already shared the next things they are adding, such as trades, more Pokémon, et cetera. The Teams still don’t do anything other than bragging rights, but I have a feeling that will change too. While no, it’s not perfect, and it can be very distracting to all walks of life, all around the globe, we are coming together for a very pure kind of love. It’s a wonderful thing to see so many people getting together and working out over a common bond: The love of Pokémon. Keep it up, Pokémon Trainers. Just stand behind me: I’m catching them all over here. My home has a very small amount of Pokémon nearby, but that won’t stop me. Get fit, catch ’em all. Just. . . be smart, be safe, get that exercise in. But do be mindful, be safe, and have fun.
Caught something cool? Had a fun adventure? Drop a comment below!
Literally the Worst Podcast Ever – Episode 2: This Week in Stuff/Colton Tells a Personal Story
The Bottom Tier guys are back! A little late, Podcast Episode 2 picks up right where it left off! This time we’re talking this week in stuff, a little wrestling, poking around at the notion of Game Remakes/Remasters, and plus a funny story about hustling. Tune in!
Pokémon Go Servers Crushed Due to Popularity
Pokémon Go has had nothing but woe and trouble since it finally came to American shores. While it has caused more people than ever before to get out, be active and walk around to catch Pokémon, the servers have been down far more than up, due to overwhelming support and the sheer number of people attempting to log on. Me personally, I’m in at least three different social media groups involving Pokémon Go and every couple of minutes I see a new notification: “Pokémon Go servers are down oh no! :(” “Not for me!” “No, wait, there they are. Damnit.” There is never any word that I’ve seen on when they’ll be up or down. It’s basically a crapshoot, with a 50/50 chance of the servers being up so you can play the game. It is our sincere hope that the servers will stabilize soon so we can resume not doing our jobs, and instead Catch ’em All.
LawBreakers Game Update 0.4
LawBreakers announces Game Update 0.4, live this weekend with another Closed Public Alpha test. Patch notes are available here.
Mu Origin Early Beta Press Preview
By Darren Henderson (DizzyPW)
Recently I sat down for lunch with the PR crew at Webzen to get a hands-on taste of their upcoming mobile MMORPG launch, Mu Origin. It seems to be the big trend in the industry right now for Asian companies to push their flagship PC MMO title out into the wild world of mobile to capture a new market. Each iteration we’ve come across has found varying levels of success, though the core concept of the game has fallen short. However in the case of the isometric beat em up that is Mu Online, the conversion to mobile is smoother than most. Essentially it is a straight up port, bringing a solid 95% of the original game playability with it in a 1:1 comparison with its predecessor. Let’s dive into Mu Origin.
Mu Origin is not some random mobile game with a skin splashed onto it like Forsaken World Mobile. It’s not a popular mobile game twisted to match the source material like what Snail did with Age of Wushu Mobile being built to near perfectly match Taichi Panda. Honestly Mu Origin feels exactly like Mu Online, just with a sleeker user interface and touch controls. Which is a huge improvement in my book. Combat and navigating menus alike feels much more intuitive with touch controls, and the larger menu items ensured I wasn’t straining my eyes to exhaustion despite dealing with a smaller screen.
Zoom capabilities allow me to appreciate the beauty of my character (not to mention their GM tier overpowered wings, as the Mu wing system is here in all its glory!), their fashion and armor, and their abilities in action. Or I could zoom out plenty far to keep an eye on my party members in the 3 player dungeon run instances being showcased. I have to say that while likely not noticed by most press that go hands-on with the game, the level of zoom offered is likely one of the key make or break points on Mu Origin. The mobile version is bringing all the classic competitive open world PvP and open world battlegrounds with objectives you’d expect of its PC counterpart. So being able to see a rival incoming with enough time to react and counter-attack is absolutely vital to enjoying Mu Origin to the fullest. And they’ve done just that.
Alas with different control schemes and interface comes complex balancing issues. Issues that can also make or break a real-time MMORPG like Mu Origin. So they’re keeping it simple for now with three classes (there were others present on their personal build but I imagine they don’t want me publicly ruining their big reveal!). The Dark Knight and Dark Wizard are present to fill the tanky melee physical and squishy long ranged magic archetypes. Plus there is a sexy Elf to bring in the heavy single target focused damage vital to tactical group PvP as well as major bosses when dungeon running. Furthermore, each class offers a perfect trio of passive buffs to their allies to make partying up very encouraged whenever possible. Which brings me to my last point…
MMORPGs these days are dying out because so many of us (particularly us western worlders) just don’t have the time to sit still for hours on end in front of a PC. Hell that’s what most of us are doing to make a living in the work force, so it isn’t our ideal source of enjoyment during our few hours offline. But now that Mu Origin is bringing the concept of fully fleshed out MMORPGs complete with auction houses, detailed class skill trees, crafting, and the like to the forefront of the free to play mobile market, we’re hard pressed to shun these mobile games as casual cheese any longer.
Now we have the freedom to pick up our phone and connect with friends from around the world while taking a fifteen minute break at a Starbucks. This opens a whole new world of possibilities for the older MMO enthusiasts out there that simply have not had the time to be an MMO enthusiast any longer. MU Online clearly has captured the attention of millions of players around the world over its long history. Mu Origin has already shown the same levels of success in Korea and China. So put aside your bias against mobile and give Mu Origin a shot when it arrives. You can pre-register now to help get the community some sweet goodies come launch as well. http://muorigin.webzen.com/en/events/pre-register It will be available on iOS and Android, so even if your friends are in a bitter phone rivalry with you over the supreme brand, you can still come together to smoke the peace pipe through Mu.
One of our mobile reviewers will be sinking more serious time into Mu Origin in the near future to see at length if it delivers on its promises. Keep an eye out for our full review soon!
Do You Want Lord British’s Blood?
Do you want the Blood of the Father? You can get it on eBay! Richard Garriott is the father of the Ultima series, as well as the failed Tabula Rasa game [which he sued NCSoft for]. He is a man who for many years, insisted people call him “Lord British”, his Ultima Online/Ultima Persona. Lord British is the lord of the realm, and has been over the years basically been referred to as an absolute lunatic. He went to the International Space Station as a private astronaut, and has been developing video games since the 70s. The Ultima games are some of my favorites of all time as far as Roleplaying games go. But the man is batty like a cave in Pokémon. Brilliant game developer, I love the worlds he creates, but I think the man is slightly unhinged.
As I heard about Shroud of the Avatar, his current venture, I thought perhaps he had relaxed. He no longer insists on being known as Lord British for one thing. But on a recent live-stream, he had his blood drawn live on air. Now, if you want to fork over 5,000 bucks, you can own one of six “Lord British Blood Reliquaries”. It also has Darkstarr’s blood too, but he’s not as relevant as Garriott I’m afraid. It’s not even a “Buy It Now”! The starting fucking bid is 5,000. Yes. You heard that right. For five grand, you can have a reliquary with Lord British’s fucking blood in it. There’s other stuff of course: A pile of digital stuff, such as Episode 1 of Shroud of the Avatar, a lot of in-game stuff to make the game a lot easier I imagine. There is also a trip to their studios in Texas, but they aren’t comping the travel price. Seriously? Five thousand dollars isn’t enough, but they have to fly or drive there too? At first, I thought he had calmed down, that Richard Garriott had relaxed, untangled that fucking mass that is his brain, but noooooo. Want to buy Lord British’s blood and get some stuff for the upcoming title by His Majesty? Look no further! You could win a reliquary faster than you can ask, “What is a Paladin?”
















