Videogames « Anime Courtyard

April 10, 2012

[closed] Giveaway: Sine Mora (XBLA)

Posted by: Cybermario @ 8:09 am

Ok boys and girls sorry for the delay but finally here’s the Sine Mora giveaway, if you want to get a code of this amazing side scrolling shooter developed by Grasshopper and Digital Reality be sure to follow the instructions below, good luck:

The competition is easy, 3 ways for you to Enter and Win.

Entry 1: Comments
Let us know why you would you like to win, post a comment in this page, simple as that! If you do follow us on Twitter and facebook. Be sure to add that in your comment to give you an extra entry.

Entry 2: Twitter
Follow @animecourtyard and tweet this message:
RT and follow @animecourtyard will #giveaway #sinemora for #xbla details at http://bit.ly/HuaNHi

Entry 3: Facebook
Head on over to www.facebook.com/animecourtyard and be sure to Like us if you haven’t. There will be a competition post “Like it” and that will be a third entry, optional you can make a comment with your twitter name or anything you like.

Rules and Information
- The competition deadline is 08:00:00 GMT Sunday 15th April 2012.
- The winners will be picked at random from all valid entries after the deadline.
- The winners name will be posted after the competition has ended in this competition post. Prize will be sent within 24 hours.
- You may only enter each entry method once.
- Winning a previous competition does not affect your chances of winning again.

Tags: Digital Reality, free code, giveaway, Grasshopper, i love muffins!, Sine Mora, xbla, xbox 360, Xbox Live —

Comments (13)

March 23, 2012

Preview: Confrontation

Posted by: Cybermario @ 9:15 pm

We’ve had the chance to play a preview build Confrontation Developed by Cyanide Studio. This is a a new tactical strategy RPG title set in a fantasy world known as Aarklash, in which four factions are trying to gain control. The story develops around this rivalry and how new and abominable beings created by the combination of magic and science.
You start as a Griffin squad and your mission is to discover and infiltrate one of the Scorpion Biolabs, not an easy feat as the gloomy and dismal laboratory is full of dangerous bioenginered monsters.

The preview build consists of two missions, the first to assemble your squad, that is scatered in this inhospitable and dangerous land.
The second mission inside one of the laboratories, to find more about the new threat in the war. I can’t say this preview was short at all, after a couple of hours i finished both missions so the full game ensures a good time of enjoyment and gameplay.
As usual in this kind of game you have the classic tank, healer, dps, etc. At first it’s easy to decide the roles as you can play with only 4 members (your first squad from the very first mission) but according to the codex and the classes available it seems we will be able to add more soldiers to our merry squad.

Weaponry, seems to be default and i’m not much a fan of that, although you can select the way your character evolves with different branches that will accomodate your style of play, now that’s something i like!
Confrontation doesn’t seem to offer anything new to the genre but by no means looks like a bad title, classes look pretty balanced to me, then again this is a preview build and until i try the full game I can’t say the rest of the classes are or not balanced, we will see.
Something i liked is a character editor in which you can customize the colors of the members in your squad, although it may not seem significant i love games that let us do customizations to our characters. That is a plus for me and this editor it’s a toy with which will amuse me a lot in this game.
This seems to be a title to keep in mind if you love the RTS genre, specially in the spirit of Diablo or fantasy games of the sort.

Excellent cutscenes narrate the storyline, art and sound in these are very good, if you know me you know i love good stories and narrative, definitely can’t wait to see more of the game and you can be sure we will have a follow up review pretty soon!

~Mario

Tags: Confrontation, Cyanide Studio, Diablo, Focus Home Interactive, PC, preview, RPG, RTS, Steam —

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March 22, 2012

Review: Yesterday (PC)

Posted by: Cybermario @ 2:15 am

Recently we had the pleasure to try a YESTERDAY preview build, now having played a full release, we are completely delighted and no need to say that we enjoyed it from start to finish.
As we previously mentioned in our previous article it’s good to see a classic genre that refuses to die in a market flooded with (sometimes) mediocre and monotone FPS’s. What does Pendulo and Focus Home Interactive have in store for you? Let’s find out!

Story
Mysterious deaths have been occuring in New York, homeless people have been found burned alive and with a strange mark in their hands. Henry White and his best friend Copper wander into an abandoned metro line to investigate, leading to truly shocking events. As time goes on a new character appears, the amnesic John Yesterday.
After a very suspicious suicide attempt in the middle of his investigation John lost his memory, in such condition John is determined to find his past, the mystery of a satanic cult and the link to the murders in Ney York.

Gameplay
Yesterday is a Point and Click Adventure game, an old and much loved genre that is a pleasure to play, specially with a good storyline like in Yesterday.
Controls are quite simple, all you need is your mouse, after all it’s a point and click game. You have a bar in the bottom displaying what’s in your inventory.

You obtain clues and new items as you interact with the enviroment. Many times you will see animated cutscenes enriching the gaming experience a lot.
Some puzzles are quite simple and others are hard to keep you busy for a time. The usual tip button is there, so if you are losing neurones by the minute this will help you to move on. Although if you ask me, it’s much more rewarding to solve a puzzle without cheating isn’t?
The story takes place in 3 different scenarios. You will find yourself venturing in an abandoned New York metro system, visiting antique shops in paris and in a place i suspect is the tibet, mostly appearing as flashbacks in John’s mind. The diversity of scenery in these 3 places is good. Giving the player the feeling of a horror thriller and a sort of indiana jones movie all in one game (Raiders of the Lost Ark anyone?), of course romance and good humor are present and will lighten the dark and bold thematic of Yesterday.

Without giving you much details and hoping i am not spoiling anything, get ready to see some dramatic and shocking twists in the characters as you progress and unlock some of the mysteries of the story, the cult and John’s memories.
The experience is quite unique and believe me, like me you may not want to get up from your seat until you finish the adventure due to the intricate and really interesting story of the game. This include 3 different endings, which endings you ask? sorry guys but no spoilers!

Graphics 8.5/10
Very colorful and detailed backgrounds. Animations are both a mix of GC and comic panels giving the game a unique and pleasant style to the eye. Character design is quite good, prety similar as in their previous title “The Next Big Thing”, if you played that game you know what to expect. The animated intro is shocking and intriguing, sucking the player into the experience right from the begining.

Sound 8/10
Sure, the game does not have a lot of music, and really doesn’t need it. Background sounds and effects complement the game to perfection, from gun shots to ambient effects, giving unease feeling and more. Although there is voice acting here and there

Downside
If any, you will finish the game yelling, no please… I want more! I know i do.

Overall
What can we say of a game like this? if you enjoy the Adventure game be sure you are in for a great ride with Yesterday! Catching graphics, a dark storyline with the right dose of humor and good gameplay, this game is one to remember.
Adventure games may not have a high replay value but this is one to keep in your collection and revisitng once in a while, you will not regret it. We can only hope to see more titles like this from the guys at Pendulo and Focus Home Interactive, kudos for an amazing game, Yesterday!

We give the game an 8.5 out of 10

~Mario

Tags: Focus Home Interactive, fps, Indiana Jones, PC, Pendulo, review, The Next Big Thing —

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March 14, 2012

Review – Beyblade: Metal Masters

Posted by: Cybermario @ 10:49 am

LET IT RIP! Yes we all know what that means (at least those of us into anime) it is another Beyblade videogame! This is the latest installment on the Beyblade franchise, we speak of Beyblade: Metal Masters for the Nintendo DS.
This anime is no stranger to the videogame world and has been present on almost every console, Gameboy Color, Gameboy Advance, Playstation and many more.

Story
Beyblade: Metal Masters is the second in the Metal series of the anime, Ginak and his team of Beybladers are invited to join a tournament but something seems odd, it is held on a cemetery and many contestants are losing their energy and can’t use Beyblade anymore.
What is the mystery behind this fishy tourney? Find out by defeating rival enemies and making it to the finals!
How a villain plans to conquer the world by using Beyblades beats me, but hey everything goes in anime!

Gameplay
If you played previous Beyblade instalments you know the jazz, if not well the game mechanics are quite simple to be honest, imagine a sort of advanced spin (called Beyblade), and the goal is to destroy your opponent’s Beyblade or take it out of the ring, simple enough?
Beyblades can be highly customizable with different rings to get more power, speed or balance, it all depends on your gameplay style really. Also Beyblades has different special attacks depending the character you chose to play as, some are weaker than others but does not mean they are bad, as i said before it is up to you, your skills, gameplay style and the Beyblade you build in the end what really matters.
The game has a few game modes for you to play with, Arcade (the storyline), here you can fight against teams from the anime while you unlock additional characters to use in your team and new Beyblade parts.
Missions; which are more a sort of tutorial and battles to win in which you will unlock special attacks and new Beyblades for your collection for a total of 100 missions.

Multiplayer; you can play and battle against other players via local multiplayer which is a cool feature, it is always fun to play with friends.
There are a total of 24 achievements you will unlock by playing the game, a gallery to see your parts collection and some other little things but nothing impressive to comment.

Graphics 7.5/10
As usual the main issue with the graphics is the DS screen isn’t the best around, other than that the Beyblades looks great in 3D and the 2D style anime graphics are eye candy, this of course if you like this show.

Sound 6.5/10
Can say they could have been better, sounds are pretty basic and there is not much variety on the soundtrack.

Downsides
Arcade feels extremely short, this was a major letdown as i expected more hours of gameplay and of the storyline, developers should put a bit more of care. Even as a DS game aimed for a younger audience giving players a videogame that won’t end in the bookshelf after a week would be mroe than welcome.
There are no cutscenes, not even a cool opening video, something that could be good to have, as an anime fan i was expecting to see that as i turned on the DS, alas there was none.

Overall
Have to admit i enjoyed Beyblade: Metal Masters, i am a fan of the anime and like the franchise, the gameplay is good but extremely short. Although i liked the game this may not be a title everyone will enjoy, mainly fans.
If you like the show and love Beyblade then this game is definitely worth to have in your collection (specially the Special Edition with Beyblade included), otherwise you may want to stay away of it as you may feel dissapointed… LET IT RIP!

We give the game a 6.5 out of 10

**A review copy was provided by the publisher for this review

~Mario

Tags: Anime, Beyblade, DS, Konami, let it rip, Nintendo, review —

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March 13, 2012

Review – Modern Combat: Domination (PS3)

Posted by: Cybermario @ 7:09 am

Last year Gameloft decided they wanted a piece of the cake and joined the wave of companies releasing FPS games. They did a little game called Modern Combat: Domination, or as i like to call it, the poor man Modern Warfare.
This is not the first downloadable title to come out trying to compete with Modern Warfare or the Battlefield series. Titles such as Breach, Blacklight: Tango Down, and others have tried but does Modern Combat: Domination have what it takes to float or will it sink? All i know is.. i like pie.

Gameplay
There is no campaign at all, the game consists only of multiplayer matchmaking, with 5 maps and 3 different game types to pick from. You have the choice to play offline and play with an AI team. This is not bad, if you want to get a hold of the controls before you start taking on online matches but you will not gain experience or ranks.
There is a money system in which you gain more by performing certain feats, headshosts, melee, etc. Must say it is annoying how you need to buy everything back everytime you respawn, not the best system compared to other games of this genre (MW series, Battlefield, etc) with time, you get used to it.
Controls are easy to learn and they feel good, very responsive. I like to play with a Dual Shock 3 and not the Playstation Move, although the game is fully compatible and Modern Combat: Domination has been promoted to be played with the peripheal.
Pretty much, if you played any of the Modern Warfare games you already know the controls, 90% of the controls are exactly the same, feels like a copy and paste but hey… it works.
This is also compatible with the Playstation Move, feels and works like a charm specially if you have a sharpshooter, personally i enjoy playing with the dual shock and not the Move.

Graphics 7/10
If not spectacular, graphics don’t look bad for a game like this, with good textures and details of light and shadows they are not so shabby, for 10 bucks i’ve seen worse. Of course they cannot compete with major retail titles, then again quote me; it’s just ten bucks.
Aside from a few objects and barricades here and there you can’t find much to destroy in the maps, something titles like Breach did really well. A more destructible environment could have made this game a winner.

Sound 6/10
Guns and explosions sounds well… they barely sound, could be better and there is much room for improvement. Although not a must during a match there could be more music in the lobby or after a match.

Downside
OMG the lag… is unbearable when a host have a crappy connection, Modern Combat: Domination uses a similar system to Halo and other games in which a player must host the match. When a host leaves or the connection is lost and is weird to see how the match skip frames and seems we are randomly moved in the map, can be truly annoying.
When i’m close to an objective like “activate the missile”, i keep wondering “hmm ok.. how?” There is nothing on screen telling you what you have to press to complete the mission, if not a biggie it can be annoying.
Lack of new content, as much fun as the game can be, lack of new maps are a downside for me, more DLC could give Modern Combat: Domination higher replay value.

Overall
This title is a good and cheap option if you enjoy the FPS genre and objectives in the style of capture the flag and such, although there are better options out there with much more content, variety and replay value.
With this said Modern Combat: Domination delivers lots of fun and entertainment for just 10 dollars, for that price you really can’t ask for more.

We give the game a 7 out of 10

~Mario

Tags: COD, Gameloft, Modern Combat: Domination, Modern Warfare, Move, ps3, psn, review —

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« Newer Posts — Older Posts »

What otaku crave!

April 10, 2012

[closed] Giveaway: Sine Mora (XBLA)

March 23, 2012

Preview: Confrontation

March 22, 2012

Review: Yesterday (PC)

March 14, 2012

Review – Beyblade: Metal Masters

March 13, 2012

Review – Modern Combat: Domination (PS3)