Educated Guesses: What Sony’s Studios Are Working On
Everything’s quiet. A little too quiet.
Sony won’t talk about it, but we all know it’s coming: an all-new PlayStation console, likely in time for the holiday, 2013 buying frenzy. Then again, firm details about the console aren’t only scarce; they’re basically non-existent.
But one indicator that something big is coming is the fact that most of Sony’s studios are working on totally unknown titles. Think about it: we have no idea what studios like Sucker Punch, Sony Bend, Evolution Studios and Polyphony Digital are working on, and for some of these teams, it’s been a year or more since we’ve heard anything at all. But that won’t stop us from guessing what’s next.
Below, IGN’s PlayStation team – Executive Editor Greg Miller and Editor Colin Moriarty – will field their best guesses and inklings about what each of Sony’s fully-owned studios are working on. You should feel free to contribute to the conversation in the comments and let us know what you think all of these development houses are up to.
(A shout out to Brian Altano is in order for creating the guess grids for each studio.)
Greg Says: MotorStorm Apocalypse was fun, pretty, and completely overlooked. It didn’t help that it was delayed due to the Japanese tsunami, it didn’t help that there was little marketing, and it didn’t help that beautiful racing games are a dime a dozen now. How do you make the franchise matter again? Release an awesome looking MotorStorm along with the PS4 so that there’s no competition to steal any thunder. That’s what I’d do with Evolution, but if you want to get nuts, we know that former Wipeout developer Sony Liverpool closed and that there was a mysterious “WE. ARE. ALIVE.” Wipeout Tweet. Maybe Evolution is trying its hand at futurist racing?
Colin Says: When Sony acquired Evolution Studios in 2007, it was fresh off of the success of the original MotorStorm. Indeed, Evolution hasn’t worked on anything but MotorStorm ever since; its most recent release was a MotorStorm title – MotorStorm RC – for both PS3 and Vita. So it makes sense that the studio would be working on another one, this time for PlayStation 4. Still, with the closure of Sony Liverpool, Sony has a super-popular racing series with no native developer in the form of WipeOut. I wouldn’t at all be surprised to see Evolution eventually make a game from that franchise.
Greg Says: C’mon. It’s Guerilla Games. Of course they’re making Killzone 4 for the PlayStation 4 and it’s going to look amazing and have cool multiplayer. Slam dunk. I know I wrote about the team’s three projects back in 2012 – Killzone Vita, continuing the Killzone franchise on PS3, and a new IP – and Killzone 4 doesn’t fit into those, but maybe continuing Killzone on PS3 is just continuing the story onto the PS4. If not that, hopefully the new IP is some kind of 1920s shooter. You know, something that isn’t brown and on an alien world like every other shooter.
Colin Says: Guerilla Games is essentially known as “the Killzone studio”. Back in 2011, Guerilla confirmed it was working on ”the next Killzone installment”, as well as a new IP. That new Killzone installment could technically be Killzone: Mercenary on PlayStation Vita, but with Sony Cambridge helping out on that game, it’s unlikely. No, to me, Guerilla Games is certainly working on Killzone 4, and as for that new IP? My best (and entirely random) guess is that it’s an open-world RPG, something totally different for a studio build upon shooter after shooter.
Greg Says: Media Molecule was looking to do something other than LittleBigPlanet. Assumedly, that’s why Media Molecule didn’t developer LBP Vita or LBP Karting and started Tearaway instead. Now, it’s time to get back to Sackboy. Rumors of “LittleBigUniverse” have been getting kicked around for a while, and I have no idea what that means. You’d assume, it’s LBP on a grand scale – something only the PS4 could handle. Some kind of online-driven, world creating title. If Media Molecule isn’t going that big, I’d guess the studio is going super-small; a downloadable PSN game that oozes charm and reminds us all how good cute, tight experiences can be.
Colin Says: A year and a half ago, we reported that Media Molecule was “stepping away” from LittleBigPlanet. On one hand, this is a surprise as LittleBigPlanet is one of Sony’s biggest and most important exclusives. But on the other hand, Media Molecule needs to spread its creative wings, and if LittleBigPlanet PS Vita is any indication, the series is in very good hands these days. I would never put it beyond the studio to reveal LittleBigPlanet 3 for PS4, but I think something entirely different is in the works.
Greg Says: During the PS3’s lifecycle, Nathan Drake became the console’s poster boy. PlayStation 4 needs him to sell units. I don’t think Uncharted 4’s going to arrive alongside the PS4 this year, but I bet Nathan Drake is promoting it from the get go and hyping his 2014 game. If that doesn’t happen, than Naughty Dog’s toiling away at a new third-person action game for the PS4, but I doubt Sony would let the studio leave the new system Drake-less.
Colin Says: We know that Naughty Dog has been split into two teams, and we know that one team is working on The Last of Us. The question is, what’s that other team working on? Uncharted is an increasingly huge franchise for Sony and there’s little doubt that the core team that built Uncharted 2 is making Uncharted 4 for the next PlayStation. But nothing is certain; I wouldn’t be surprised to see Naughty Dog revitalize its Jak & Daxter series at some point. After all, they were thinking about it before stumbling onto the idea for The Last of Us.
Greg Says: Gran Turismo moves units. People buy PlayStations to play these games. There is no way Polyphony isn’t working on Gran Turismo 6. I won’t even entertain this foolish conversation any further.
Colin Says: For racing games, Sony has Evolution, but it also has Polyphony Digital, the expert – yet slow-working – studio responsible for Sony’s best-selling franchise of all time: Gran Turismo. Gran Turismo 6 has been long rumored, and there’s virtually no doubt that the studio is toiling away on it as we speak. But could they also be working on a Vita iteration? Signs point to yes. My (increasingly enlarging) gut tells me that both will be revealed before the end of the year.
Greg Says: The biggest gun the PlayStation Vita had at launch was Uncharted: Golden Abyss from Bend Studios. The game was good, but there’s been plenty of fan feedback that Bend could use to make an amazing sequel. That’s what I think they’re doing. The Vita needs homerun hitters to sell units, and a portable Uncharted without the forced touch mechanics would be just that. Out in left field, there’s the always rumored return of Gabe Logan in a Syphon Filter on PS4, but try as I did, I couldn’t make people care about these games on the PSP. Why would that change now? Don’t we have enough stealth-action/third-person shooters?
Colin Says: In recent years, Sony Bend has proven itself totally capable of handling other studios’ prized franchises, whether in the form of Resistance or, more recently, Uncharted. Uncharted: Golden Abyss was a launch game for Vita, and is still one of Vita’s best titles. As a result, it would be surprising if Sony didn’t try to get another one on Vita in short order. But still, many gamers (like myself) have been clamoring for a while to see Sony Bend get back to the major (yet old) Sony franchise it designed: Syphon Filter. Here’s hoping we see a new Uncharted Vita game and Syphon Filter in the near future.
Greg Says: Cambridge has been toiling away on Killzone: Mercenary for a while now, and once that Vita shooter is out the door, I bet the team gets to work on a sequel. The Killzone franchise loves sequels, and the Vita needs top-tier games to make people care about the handheld. If not that, Sir Dan’s appearance in PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale certainly makes it seem like Sony believes there are still fans out there who care about the knightly skeleton.
Colin Says: These days, Sony Cambridge seems to have fallen into a sort of support role. They’re helping with Guerilla Games’ foray onto Vita with Killzone: Mercenary, but are they up to anything else? It’s likely they are. I’d love to see Cambridge return to its long-dormant MediEvil franchise, and perhaps Sir Dan’s inclusion in PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale is a sign. And maybe the signs haven’t stopped there. Sony Cambridge helped Ninja Theory with Heavenly Sword, Nariko’s in Heavenly Sword, and… well… they call it a “left field” pick for a reason.
Greg Says: While SingStar never took off here in the States (I blame the lack of wireless mics), it’s a phenomenon in the UK. Sony would be silly to not have SCE London working on a PS4 version of the title. Now, in terms of what I’d like? Give the world another The Getaway. I know they won’t, but still.
Colin Says: Sony London isn’t known for its glamorous projects: these guys are the casual games experts. Their SingStar series is huge, especially in Europe, but a new SingStar almost seems too obvious. Still, I think their next game will be some sort of augmented reality game that uses the PlayStation Move (or its next form) and some other stuff core gamers won’t care about. But what I’d really love to see is Sony London return to its roots with a game legions of old-school PlayStation fans really want, and one thatwas thought to be in development long ago: a new entry into The Getaway series.
Greg Says: MLB The Show is the best baseball game around. Everyone knows that. The team pours hour after hour into making the game sing, so it has to have some people working on the first PS4 version of the title. San Diego is not the type of team to put out a version of its flagship franchise that doesn’t live up to its own expectations. If San Diego is up for other projects, ModNation Racers had a lot of great ideas on the PlayStation Vita and some elbow grease could make the MNR sequel fantastic.
Colin Says: The crew at Sony San Diego is predominantly known for its critical and commercial hit baseball game MLB: The Show, and I think Greg’s right when he says that they’re working hard on bringing it to PS4 in 2014. But Sony San Diego does more than just baseball games. Sony confirmed to IGN last year that Sony San Diego was finishing Warrior’s Lair, the PS3/Vita crossplay dungeon crawler. And what if they revived the virtually dead Jet Moto series? Sony published two of those games and 989 helped on the series as well. And 989 and Sony San Diego share a common history.
Greg Says: You insult me by asking me to justify this choice. PlayStation 4 + God of War IV = $$$$.
Colin Says: The house that God of War built (hey, I wrote a history-of about Sony Santa Monica with that name!) is about to released God of War: Ascension on PS3. Surely, God of War 4 must be in development for PlayStation 4 as well. After all, the kids love them some Kratos. But what else could they be doing? Something inside me tells me that Sony Santa Monica wants to mold a new identity, one not so closely tethered to God of War. Something new could be in the works, but I think the first step is to make what was old new again: Kinetica 2 could be an interesting downloadable foray for Sony Santa Monica as it tries to do different things after years and years of God of War.
Greg Says: I liked Gravity Rush – but some people loved Gravity Rush. With a few tweaks, a Gravity Rush sequel could be the best game on the PlayStation Vita, and that’s headline that has to sound pretty attractive to Sony and its struggling handheld. That’s the project for Studio Japan, and if not that, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, MAKE PATAPON PS4.
Colin Says: Nailing down what Studio Japan is working on is difficult, because it’s a sort of amorphous collection of teams and small studios all doing their own thing. Team ICO has been working on The Last Guardian for what seems like a century, and they’re technically part of Studio Japan. Likewise, teams at Studio Japan are working on two games we know of: Rain and Puppeteer. But what else? A sequel to Gravity Rush on Vita seems like a sure thing, but I know Greg would certainly be pleased with Patapon 4 on Vita, too.
Greg Says: As much as I want to believe Sucker Punch is working on Infamous 3, the endings of Infamous 2 were dramatically different and enough to make me think the studio is moving on to something new. What? How about a third-person action game on the PS4 that features some kind of gun? Yeah, that seems like a safe bet. I’d also wager it’s a PS4 launch title.
Colin Says: As a huge Infamous fan, Sucker Punch’s prolonged period of silence has been a little frustrating for me. I’m eager to know what they’re working on next. Almost certainly, Sucker Punch will bring Infamous to PlayStation 4 in the form of Infamous 3 (even if the ending of Infamous 2 creates a roadblock to that… they’ll figure it out). But the studio is talented, and they’re capable of more. I’d love to see them develop a gritty, dark third-person shooter for PlayStation 4, something totally unexpected from the developer that once brought us Sly Cooper. Time will tell!
6 Horror Games And The Studios That Should Make Them!
Sometimes a fresh set of eyes can bring new and interesting perspectives. When you look at the same thing for so long, it can get difficult to see its flaws, and while this can be said for many things, it’s especially true for video games. Getting a fresh perspective can be a great way to make sure a series stays engaging, to keep it from becoming stale and predictable. Franchises like Resident Evil and Silent Hill have each had games developed by studios other than the one that created them, and while the results have been a mixed bag, some of these partnerships have led to incredible games.
With this in mind, I’ve compiled a list of six game developers that I think are universally great and matched them with a horror franchise I feel they could make an incredible game for. Check out my picks after the break, and feel free to comment with your own dream matches!
Ninja Theory – Silent Hill
I wish Vatra, the studio that developed the fantastic Silent Hill: Downpour could return to the franchise, but I can’t see that happening any time soon. I also don’t see Konami picking up the reins again, so that leaves us with the only other option: a new studio. My pick? Ninja Theory, of course, and here’s why.
When you think of the staples of the Silent Hill franchise, the visuals, music, and characters are the first things that come to mind, right? If games like Heavenly Sword, Enslaved, and DmC: Devil May Cry have proven anything, it’s that these departments are areas in which Ninja Theory excels. They’ve brought us some of the most beautiful games of this generation,colorful games that aren’t afraid to be vibrant and different.
I’m also a huge fan of their ability to create emotional, realistic characters.. Nariko and Kai, Monkey and Trip, Dante and Kat — their characters are unique and the relationships are genuinely interesting to follow. Of course, a Silent Hill game isn’t a Silent Hill game at all without twisted, nightmare-inducing creatures for you to fight, or perhaps more often, to run away from. Some of the enemies from DmC look like they could’ve been starred in a SH game. There’s one boss in particular that’s essentially a giant, bulbous baby monster with its mom attached to it by an umbilical cord. It’s gross, and awesome.
Naughty Dog – Resident Evil
This was a difficult pairing to make. I mean, on one hand, I’d like to see Capcom develop a good Resident Evil game, because they’ve proven more than capable of successfully rebooting their franchise before with Resident Evil 4. Unfortunately, I don’t think Capcom understands horror as well as they did ten, or even five years ago. The “scares” in Resident Evil 6 are sloppily set up and the characters aren’t interesting enough for me to care about them.
This is why I believe Naughty Dog could very easily be the dream studio to breathe new life into Capcom’s ailing franchise. For one, as they’ve proven over and over again in the Uncharted trilogy, they understand action. They understand spectacle. They also know how to make simple characters interesting. Nathan Drake isn’t particularly deep, I mean, he’s supposed to be a likable guy, and I might’ve been able to fall for that if he didn’t spend a majority of the game murdering hundreds of men. The Uncharted games are serious, but they have a light side, and adventurous side. Resident Evil needs that.
Arkane Studios – Condemned
First off, if you haven’t played Dishonored, you should really get on that already, because once you do you won’t even need to read this to know why Arkane would make an intensely good Condemned game.
In case you didn’t know this already, Arkane already has some experience in the horror genre, as they were the studio behind the cancelled Half-Life 2: Episode 4, better known as Return to Ravenholm. When I imagine what RtR could’ve played out like, the images that come to mind are very similar to Condemned. Dark alleys, tall buildings obstructing a night sky, visceral in-your-face combat, an ear-piercing scream that comes from somewhere, but you can’t tell where… that would’ve been great, right?
Arkane made one of the best first person games of the year; they understand how your character should move, how they should fight. At its core, Condemned is a first person brawler. Whether you’re beating down crazed hobos, malevolent ink monsters, whatever — if it didn’t feel good to slam that guy/thing’s face into the wall before you curb-stomped it (for good measure), then it wouldn’t have been a good game. Dishonored has many of the same mechanics, and more than that, it had a brilliantly crafted world that was full of details and stories that only the most observant players would’ve noticed.
Grasshopper Manufacture – F.E.A.R.
Admit it, F.E.A.R. is wacky as hell. It started out serious and gruesome, but that was back in 2005, and since then, you could say it’s gone off the rails. A pregnant psychic chick whose contractions send shockwaves throughout an entire city? Your dead, superpowered brother who helps you out even though with that velvety voice of his he’s be better suited as a radio host? The weird hell monsters that enter the real world via some sort of hell dimension? The soldiers who have technology that allows them to use lightning to teleport in reinforcements? If you had listed those back in 2009 and told me they’d appear in the next F.E.A.R. game, I would’ve asked if you had F.E.A.R. confused with a Platinum Games title before burning you at the stake for being a time witch.
The whole “creepy unkillable little girl with the black hair draped over her face” bit was inspired by the Onryō, a terrifying legend taken from Japanese folklore, so why not give it to a developer that understands those legends better so we can try and make Alma scary again? Now she’s just a creepy rapist — yeah, in case you forgot or your mind tried to block it, she forces herself on you in Project Origin. Grasshopper loves making strange, yet somehow brilliant games, and they’ve even tackled the horror genre, albeit lightheartedly with Shadows of the Damned and Lollipop Chainsaw.
Telltale Games – Alone in the Dark
Telltale Games made The Walking Dead: The Game, and while I’m sure you’re well aware of this by now, I loved that game. I don’t know what they’re planning on digging into next, outside of an all-but-confirmed second season of TWD, but I’d very much like to offer an idea: how does an old-school Alone in the Dark game sound? The last game wasn’t very good, but I don’t want to see the forefather of the survival horror genre to fade into obscurity (though, sadly, I think that’s already happened) and I know a studio like Telltale would do amazing things with the series.
I imagine it’d play much like their Walking Dead game. Hell, I’d even prefer a digital-only episodic structure, the latter of which the failed reboot introduced to the series back in 2008. There wouldn’t be an emphasis on combat, it’d be more about story, survival, and exploration — all things Telltale does extraordinarily well.
Honorable Mention: A Telltale developed Clock Tower, and much like Alone in the Dark, I’m talking about the original Clock Tower. You know, the one where you’re helpless and being chased by a mad man with an horrifying pair of shears.
Remedy Entertainment – Fatal Frame
Honestly, what I want from Remedy is a sequel to Alan Wake, and I want that right now. However, I’d also take a Remedy-developed Fatal Frame. Remedy did something really interesting with its Alan Wake series by turning something as simple as light and making that the basis for a video game. Light plays an important role in every aspect of Alan Wake, from the story (light vs dark/good vs evil) to the combat (flashlights, flares, the darkness shrouded possessed townfolk, etc.). If any studio can turn Fatal Frame’s major element, the camera obscura, and make it interesting, it’s Remedy.
But seriously, Remedy: give me Alan Wake 2.
Source: http://bloody-disgusting.com/news/3214234/6-horror-games-and-the-studios-that-should-make-them/
Should Sony Stick With Blu-ray Next Gen? What About Microsoft?
If history is to repeat itself, then Sony may go with a different format next generation. However, given the advancement and investment in Blu-ray technology, should Sony just stick with the format? And what will Microsoft opt for next generation?
Digital
There should be no doubt in anyone mind that Sony and Microsoft will continue to push for digital media. Just by looking at this generation of console, you can already see the push for day-one digital purchases, even going so far to offer pre-orders.
However, to go full digital would be a big mistake. There are some out there who are prepared to take this step, me included, but there is still too much ground when it comes to Internet caps and speed issues. I don't have statistics of the average speed in certain parts of the world, but there are certainly some who have less than 1MB and some who have caps up to 30GB of downloads. Looking at the direction Sony is heading, their first-party titles are only going to continue to get bigger and bigger, and the same with third-party titles that'll most likely go above the 10-12GB average. Digital is a nice choice, but still it doesn't seem like the right time.
Blu-ray
Sony has never really stuck with one type of media, despite them getting upgrades in space later on. In honestly, Sony is truly one of those great companies to have when it comes to pushing the boundaries of what our media is stored on. They have been heading the media storage business for a very long time now. Though Blu-ray may actually seem like the one they'll stick to. The issue that Sony will have no doubt to overcome though is the slow disc read in the Blu-ray players themselves; though I'm sure this has already been solved. Currently as it stands, Blu-ray is still a strong format to use, even with third-party titles. Many impressive ones have been released and the only third party dev to ever use the Blu-ray to max is Konami with MGS4, which weighs in at 45GB of the 50GB space available. Sure we'll need to see an upgrade in the disc space, but they have already done that so it's just a matter of which size they'll make the next system compatible with.
Microsoft and Blu-ray
I think Microsoft should opt for the disc for a few reasons.
1 - They lost the format war a long time ago - When Microsoft launched the Xbox 360 they spoke about their new HD format known as HD-DVD. While the Xbox 360 game titles still used DVD9, they did supply an add-on to playback movies on the format. Sony launched the PS3 and along with their new format, Blu-ray. The system supported it for both games and movies, and despite Microsoft massive ad department, the support for HD-DVD quickly dropped within a year launch of the PS3 and Blu-ray reigned in on its victory. Slowly Blu-Ray is becoming the format to watch your films on, and with news that it can support 4K resolution it only seems like the plausible choice to go with. Microsoft doesn't even need to have games running on it, just as long as the system can support it to watch films.
2 - It’s a storage that keeps getting bigger- This is continuing from the first reason. Like mentioned, Sony and other format companies have placed much investment in Blu-ray. In 2010 it was revealed that Sony would be teaming up with Japanese Tohoku University to develop a Blue-violet laser to help produce Blu-Ray disc with up to 1TB using just two layers. Additional layers would also be possible. Why is this important? Well during a Sony presentation of the Amazing Spider-man 4K trailer it was revealed that the trailer weighed in a total of 500MB. And this was just a trailer! No doubt that 4K would be compressed for full length films, but Sony wants to start adding 4K Ultra HD to these videos.
3 - More space for Devs (Microsoft) - Look it should come to no surprise that Sony produces some of the best first-person titles when it comes to gameplay, sound, and graphics. All this is possible due to uncompressed data, unlike DVD9 where devs need to compress and even go so far as using multiple discs. It's a nice thing to have, I'll admit that, but with more space on a disc devs will have much more to work with, not just with graphics. The Wii U disc size is 25GB, which is pretty good considering that it's above the 9-12GB limit from before. Of course Microsoft could use a different format, but Blu-ray already is available.
Perhaps new is better?
No one can predict what's truly in store for the next PlayStation and Xbox . Rumors have been roaming the net like crazy these past few weeks, but we have to remember that they are just rumors. While I do like the idea of having Blu -Ray further extended, perhaps it is time for a new media. Should consoles continue to even use discs? Floppy drives and cartridge things of the past, but could a SSD be of use in the future for our gaming? Who knows, they certainly are fast though.
Pricing and Piracy/Used Game Market
Look we know the price of $60 per game can't last forever, it'll either have to go up, or perhaps even down. Digital counter-parts for Sony titles are already priced $5 cheaper than the disc version, but it's such a small drop that personally disc is still the way to go. With a bigger size it would mean increase in price (maybe). Would we gamers be willing to spend $70-$80 for a single game? Probably not, and with pricing like that you either have to sell the new consoles extremely cheap or suffer sales.
This brings us to piracy and the used game market. Rumors are that both MS and Sony will limit second-hand sales by making it impossible for the console to even pay the title, unless of course a new license is bought. Many have outraged to this idea, but what if it meant a severe drop in pricing of games? Look, personally the only reason why I sell or trade-in my title is to get a new one. I lack the money from time to time, especially when big releases are so close. If they can get the price lower to say $40 that would give me a reason to support the idea, even if I don't like it it's better than not getting a price cut. Though I doubt we would actually see something like that
So what are your guy's thoughts? Should they go Blue or perhaps start looking at the other colors in the color wheel?
Is Nariko OP? A closer look at one of PS All-Stars' deadliest Combos
The beauty of a game like PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale is that it caters to every type of PlayStation fan. From ferociously mature warriors like Kratos and Sweet Tooth to heroes of yore like PaRappa and Spike, there's a character for you if you like pretty much any PlayStation franchise. The same variety permeates the game's mechanics, which (as discussed in my review) are as deep and nuanced as the industry's highest-tier fighters. But with extensive combat options matched only by the roster's size, the need for balanced characters and many viable strategic approaches becomes apparent.
Some of a truly great fighting game's most worthwhile secrets aren't immediately obvious, and characters that seemed balanced and valuable at first glance can become totally OP (or utterly worthless) given enough time on the competitive scene. With that in mind, I'd like to take a closer look at one of PlayStation All-Stars' quickest and most combo-centric fighters: Nariko, of Heavenly Sword fame. The female warrior - destined to lead her people to the promised land - is a perfect match for a game about kicking the living crap out of friends and enemies, but one move string in particular makes her highly effective - perhaps TOO effective - at doing so.
This information largely comes courtesy of the official PlayStation All-Stars strategy guide, published by Prima Games and co-authored by Josh Richardson, David Brothers, and Sam Bishop. The official guide covers combos and high-AP strategies not offered in the game's various tutorials. As any player can confirm, building up AP to unleash Super attacks is everything in PlayStation All-Stars, so these strategies are of utmost consequence. One such approach with Nariko involves an extensive and varied string of moves that, if executed correctly, is worth a whopping 150 AP. For Nariko, this means an entire Level 1 Super bar can be filled from zero, all with a single combo.
To put 150 AP into perspective, there is only one other "combo" - a specific string of moves with uninterrupted AP build - in the game's official lexicon capable of generating the same amount. With extensive knowledge of Dante's Bold Cancel mechanic, careful corner positioning, a successful parry, and no less than 12 unique move inputs, a skilled player could earn 150 AP with Ninja Theory's demon hunter. For one or two other characters, comparable amounts can be achieved with the same degree of positioning and mastery. It couldn't be more opposite for Nariko. Eight move inputs can be easily memorized, and her 150 AP combo can be performed from any flat horizontal surface - no corners or platforms required.
Here's how it works. Down-Square brings a roundhouse kick - Angel's Judgment - down upon opponents, causing what's called a "bounce reaction" in the game's vocabulary. This hit state sets up the opponent for Neutral-Circle (Warm Embrace), a grab-like move that shocks opponents. Link directly into Up-Triangle (Aerial Moment), and jump at the earliest possible moment to follow your opponent after the launcher. Another Up-Triangle (this time, in mid-air) causes Nariko to swing towards her victim with a few quick slashes, with no moment for recovery. What happens next is decided by your skill level and confidence. With expert timing (or rapid button-mashing), you could fit in a mid-air Neutral-Circle (Warm Embrace) followed by mashing Neutral-Square for a final three-hit Heavenly Depart combo that causes the eject tornado hit state. That mid-air Neutral-Circle is particular hard to nail (and the combo falls apart if you miss), so in a practical battle situation, it might be wiser to skip directly to the 3x Square combo for a 140 AP result.
If that last paragraph was a bunch of techical gobbledy-gook to you, here's the plain-and-simple move string:
Down-Square, Circle, Up-Triangle, (air) Up-Triangle, Circle, Square, Square, Square
Check out the video below for an almost identical example, courtesy of YouTube user CriticalFury. The only difference here is that the combo begins with Nariko's Down-Circle Purgatory, not the faster Down-Square roundhouse kick.
A couple sticking points make this combo trickier than your average mash-fest. As mentioned above, the second Warm Embrace is particularly hard to land before the opponent's air recovery and invincibility frames kick in. I find that mashing Circle immediately after landing the mid-air Up-Triangle produces best results, but more skilled players more skilled players than myself could probably find the perfect timing for it. Likewise, the first Warm Embrace (while grounded) is a bit tricky to get right, albeit much easier than its mid-air cousin. Press Circle too early, and Nariko's grab will miss low. Press Circle too late, and the opponent's invincibility frames from hitting the ground will have kicked in already. A bit of practice against a stationary bot will do wonders for getting the timing right, and you'll have it down in no time.
To make matters even more enticing, Nariko's Down-Triangle move (Compassion) is a perfect way to close the gap between mid-range opponents and get the combo started. Beginning the chain with this move, which has roughly the same range as Kratos' Right-Square Combat Grapple, nets you an extra 20 AP. While that move won't technically count as part of the combo, you're effectively earning 160-170 AP, depending on whether you opt to try or skip the mid-air Warm Embrace. With a quick glance at YouTube, you'll see that players have found numerous variants on the 150 AP formula, all putting Nariko at the top of the combo-tastic heap. However, one could argue that her selection of Super attacks are far from the game's best, offsetting her rapid acquisition of AP.
Does Nariko's 150 AP combo (and the relative ease with which it can be performed) make her OP? Does being able to fill her Level 1 Super bar with a single combo take things a bit too far? Do the Supers and/or combos of other character pose a threat to her own?
Source:http://www.psu.com/a018045/Is-Nariko-OP-A-closer-look-at-one-of-PS-All-Stars-deadliest-combos
New Tomb Raider Multiplayer Screens, Artwork and Information
Multiplayer in Tomb Raider sees the island’s indigenous Scavengers pitted against the crew members from the shipwrecked Endurance – set in some of the island’s hostile landscapes, players will use traversal and hunting skills from single player, plus trap setting to create fast-paced combat in a selection of versus gaming modes.
Some of the key design pillars were to explore ideas that were key to single player, and but look at them differently: things like survival and group survival, traversal and verticality, the island’s characters, their weapons, and environmental threats are all viewed through the lens of multiplayer.
Darrell Gallagher, Studio Head is quoted as saying “For me, the multiplayer has to fit and it has to be fun. We’ve worked hard to make multiplayer fit seamlessly with the single player game and its key themes and we’ve play-tested the hell out of the multi-player game, it’s working well and gamers are enjoying it. Now we’re all just eager to get Tomb Raider into gamers’ hands in March so they can experience the entire game for themselves.”
Playable Characters
Scavengers:
• Fixer, Vlad, Mathias, Creeper (and more to be revealed later)
Survivors:
• Roth, Samantha, Alex, Liam, Jonah, Grim and a crew member. (slightly more to be revealed later)
Team Deathmatch
Set Up: Survivors have newly been stranded and the Solarii are intent on destroying them. This is a team mode supporting 2 teams of up to 4 players each.
The winning conditions: The first team to get 25 kills, or be ahead in kills when time expires, wins the round.
Rescue
Set Up: The survivors have wounded comrades that need medical attention. There are medical supplies throughout the level. The survivors must collect and bring back (Capture the Flag) the medical supplies to the capture zone while the Solarii try to stop this from happening by executing the survivors.
Winning Condition: Survivors capture 5 Medical Supplies, Solarii execute 20 Survivors
Some Tomb Raider Multiplayer Gameplay Ingredients
The levels have many items that either team can use to damage, trap, or kill other players. Some are shared some are level specific. Here are a few examples, but by no means all:
Traversal
There is one key difference in the Traversal of each team: the ascender. Only the Solarii have it, and it gives them a quick way to get around the maps and catch up to the survivors. Solarii generally start the maps on higher ground. And they can use the ascender to quickly get to key areas of the map.
Spike Trap
There are levers in some levels, pull them, this will set a trip wire by tapping X. Any player that walks through it will trigger the spike trap and be killed.
Snare Trap
The levels have many snare traps placed in them. Any player can tap X to activate it, and it will be armed for any unfriendly team. While trapped in it, the player will be upside down with his pistol drawn, he will be able to shoot, and if he aims at the rope itself, he can shoot himself free.
Rockfall Trap
There are loose rocks in some levels that you can shoot, they will fall and kill any players below.
Shotgun Barrier
Several levels have the shotgun barrier; one shot of the shotgun will break it open, opening another path in the level.
Turret
Some levels have Turrets, tap X when close to it to get into turret mode, aim and shot as normal.
Turrets have infinite ammo, but can overheat. When overheated, the turret requires some time to cool down.
Lightning Rod
The beach level has several lightning rods. Tap X to activate. When active, they have an icon for the friendly team and they are straightened up. When an enemy enters the trigger zone, all players close by to the trigger zone will be struck by lightning and die.
Source: http://squareportal.net/2013/01/19/new-tomb-raider-multiplayer-screens-artwork-and-information/
Dead Space 3 Demo Video Gameplay
EA’s Dead Space 3 demo will be hitting Xbox Live on January 23rd. The demo will feature a single player and multi-player mini campaign showcasing many of the great features Dead Space 3 has to offer that will take anywhere between 20 to 40 mins to complete. Also in the demo you can check out and experiment with the very cool but highly complicated weapon crafting workbench, which once you get your head around you can create some amazing weapons to down enemies within the game. What we have today is a video walkthrough of the single player demo campaign going through in fine detail the everything from the start to finish highlighting all the features of Dead Space 3. Check out the video game play below, and if you haven’t already done so check out our written hands preview forDead Space 3 here.Let us know what you thought of the Demo. Is Dead Space 3 something you will be picking up on launch day?
Source: http://www.capsulecomputers.asia/2013/01/dead-space-3-demo-video-gameplay/
Craft The Perfect Killing Machine In Dead Space 3
Isaac Clark is the unluckiest bastard in the whole damned universe. He’s the poor sap who stars in the Dead Space games and, over the course of the first two games, he lost his wife, went crazy, got attacked by monsters, and aroused the ire of a cult of Scientologists from space. The third game in the series is due out in a few weeks and, based our hands-on experience with a few levels, it doesn’t seem like things are looking any better for Isaac this time around.
A demo is due out for Xbox Live and PlayStation Network next week, but a lucky few had early access to it. It lets players try out a short level, complete with a boss encounter. New features like the co-op campaign and the weapon crafting system are shown as well. While the previous games were mostly confined to locations inside ships or space stations, the demo levels for Dead Space 3are set in the arctic regions of a planet where Isaac crashes.
Although this outdoor setting has aesthetic differences, movement is still generally as linear as it was in the first two games. The blinding sunlight and snow also function a lot like the darkness of spaceship interiors.
Isaac still has the same special powers and attacks that fans remember, like the Stasis Module for slowing down time and his Telekinetic powers. The series “Strategic Dismemberment” is back too. The space zombies that Isaac fights aren’t as vulnerable to headshots as a typical zombie, and this means that players will have to shoot off their limbs to bring them down.
In Dead Space 3, a new enemy appears in the form of a severed head that scurries around on its own and attaches itself to the bodies of dead humans then reanimates them. To take out this enemy, players have to use precision shooting to kill the head, then still dismember the headless body afterwards.
New to Isaac’s abilities is a cover system. The original Dead Space was a pure survival horror game, while Dead Space 2 was more action-oriented. The inclusion of a cover system in Dead Space 3 takes the series one step further from its survival horror roots and makes it play a little like Call of Duty In Space. Necromorphs will still pop out to scare players, but now Isaac will occasionally get into gunfights with them, blasting away from behind space crates with his machine gun.
With the machine equipped, the demo definitely felt like an action game, but one of the new features for the franchise is a weapon bench that lets players dismantle their guns, and reconstruct them into drastically different weapons. The previous games allowed for upgrades to traits like damage and ammo capacity, but this new system also allows for a significant amount of customization.
Players who want to do away with the typical machine gun could rebuild it into a lightning gun, or one that charges up kinetic force then blasts like a shotgun. Every gun can have a secondary function too, so players can tailor their favorite weapon to suit multiple situations. Isaac will find these gun parts scattered around over the course of his adventure, with powerful ones located in out of the way places.
The basic upgrades to things like damage and fire rate are still available, but instead of collecting “Power Nodes” and space dollars, Isaac now gathers various kinds materials and each upgrade will require specific components.
The trademark Plasma Cutter is present too, but it can likewise be reconfigured, and running through the demo with radically different builds shows how this feature will definitely keep Dead Space 3 feeling fresh in multiple playthroughs.
In space, no one can hear you scream, but in Dead Space your co-op partner can. Horror games have been trying to add co-op to these games for years. Having a friend along for the ride does make the game less scary, but Dead Space 3 limits the co-op campaign to just two people, so there is still a sense of impending danger even if another player is playing the new character Carver. Many players were skeptical of the multiplayer mode in Dead Space 2, but that turned out to be surprisingly robust, it’s reasonable to be optimistic about multiplayer this time around too.
The Dead Space 3 demo becomes publicly available next week, but is available now through certain promotions including Facebook. The full game becomes available on February 5th for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC. Check back with Explosion.com for our review after it launches.
Source: http://www.explosion.com/17909/craft-the-perfect-killing-machine-in-dead-space-3/