Archive - 2011

White Knight Chronicles II Review (PS3)

2011/10/13

I love a good RPG so when the opportunity to give White Knight Chronicles II a try came across my editor-in-chief’s desk he passed it right along quickly to me along with a great map and the BradyGames guide. I had heard of but missed the first White Knight Chronicles but no worries there, this game comes with that too (fully remastered) as well as a BradyGames E-Guide for the first game. I took a look at the first game just to make sure it looked graphically up to par with today’s games and it does indeed have a nice clean look but this review is about the second game and that game has plenty of hours to keep me entertained.

The game starts off giving you the option to import your character from the first game if you want to, so if you played the first game and liked your build and gear you could import it right into this game and keep rolling. This is especially nice when playing them back to back, just load your character up and no need to spend time customizing your look again. But I got my “Ripper” made and went into the game ready for adventure. You start at a high level which makes sense since you can import your character from the first game and would have achieved a decent level. This is nice since it gives you a chance at the very beginning to get a character built and a feel for the battle dynamics.

Early on you will find that this game feels familiar if you are into RPGs, so much so that the controls come naturally and the sounds and graphics look very familiar. The good news about the game is that if you loved the play of Final Fantasy VII but like the graphics of the more recent Final Fantasy games then this game will be a great treat for you. It was for me, having played RPGs since before computers and played all the Final Fantasy ones I really feel this game takes after Final Fantasy in all the right ways which was so refreshing. It is a solid franchise often imitated, but seldom done justice, so to see great graphics and gameplay that feels a little old school but not ancient was a nice surprise. The sound effects, pop-up dialogue boxes are all FF familiar though the soundtrack score sounds very original and well orchestrated.

The gameplay is technically not turn based but the cool down time on your weapons almost makes if feel that way. Your attack cools down, you choose your next attack. hit, then the attack cools down again. You can before the fight designate what character does what but you mainly just control one which helps get away from FF feel a bit. If that character falls you can take control of another and continue the battle. This is great because if you have selected good secondary healer characters and kept up on their training they could revive the fallen character while you continue the battle through another.

This gives a great chance to bring up the game’s AI and its strengths and weaknesses. As AI goes during battle it really does so well generally that you almost forget you are not playing with human players. If you give them the right skills and load them into their skill slots they will use them at the point that you would hope a human would. Occasionally this fails and you find yourself yelling at the AI on the television like it is a real groupmate in a MMORPG but that also points out how well it generally works and how realistic. It is important to do good damage in battle but the true key is your heals, otherwise boss fights are almost insurmountable.

One of the best aspects of this game is the title character White Knight. Without giving away too much using White Knight in battle is so much fun and I found myself looking forward to every opportunity I got to use him. The White Knight can only be brought forth by Leonard, the main character of the game who talks in modern English using modern slang while most of the other characters seem to use more formal speech and manner. This take a few moments to get used to because remember I built “Ripper” to tear his way through the game and there were whole sections of the game where Ripper isn’t even in the battle rotation yet alone the main character you control. Because you want to control White Knight and that is Leonard’s job that is who you play. I almost saw the character creation as the player’s chance to build whatever type of character that seems to be lacking in the group or might be needed in specific types of battle where generic characters won’t cut it. That is how I had to explain it to myself since I spent a while building him.

One of the complaints about the first game was that it wasn’t long enough coming in at just around 10 hours. When I was playing this game I beat a boss at about the 10 hour mark and up rolled the credits. I frowned and glanced at the BradyGames guide next to me and thought back, I know I hadn’t beaten some of the bosses and bad guys I had read up on. What the heck? So I waited for the credits to end and sure enough the game continued! If I hadn’t read the guide or been one of those folks who feel the game writers deserve their due I might have missed there was more game and complained about it’s length. It has over another 30 hours of gameplay left after the credits and some of the best bosses. It definitely made me wonder: if I play the first one until the credits and stay tuned will I see more game waiting?

Luckily I was able to keep playing because the game only gets better and the enemies more interesting as well as difficult.

Last Call: White Knight Chronicles II is a great game for any fan of Final Fantasy or FF RPG style. The game is executed well, the storyline is interesting and at 35+ hours of play on the sequel and the original included you more than get your play for your money, just remember to stick through the credits!

Act of Valor Trailer Released

2011/10/13

Jerry Paxton

News

Here is the official trailer for a flick we have been excited about for some time. Act of Valor is the story of a US Navy Seal team as they go one numerous missions. The characters in the film are portrayed by active duty Seals, and the film touts accuracy and realism in the weapons and tactics displayed therein. Act of Valor is due out in February of 2012.

Trailer

Razer BlackWidow Ultimate Stealth Review

2011/10/13

Jerry Paxton

News, Reviews

When Razer debuted their BlackWidow Ultimate mechanical gaming keyboard, one issue found by most reviewers was the clicking noise of the mechanical key switches. This clicking action is, by nature, part of the mechanism in each of the keys. Enter the Razer BlackWidow Ultimate Stealth, a mechanical gaming keyboard which touts a much more (as the name would imply) stealthy approach. The BlackWidow Ultimate Stealth accomplishes this feat by virtue of its key mechanisms, which are of the Cherry MX Brown type. Its sister keyboard, the BlackWidow Ultimate, uses Cherry MX Blue type keys. Both are mechanical switches in nature, but the Brown variation is a lot quieter (albeit at the expense of some spring tension).

As for setup and installation, you can simply plug the keyboard into an available USB port and off you go. For further customization of the keyboard, you can install Razer’s driver/software control panel. The learning curve on the keyboard is very small and most anyone should be able to figure it out in no time at all.
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Official Features

Full mechanical keys with 45g actuation force
Silent, tactile feedback on key press
Extreme anti-ghosting capability
Individually backlit keys with 5 levels of lighting
1000Hz Ultrapolling/1ms response time
Programmable keys with on-the-fly macro recording
Gaming mode option for deactivation of the Windows key
10 customizable software profiles with on-the-fly switching

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5 additional macro keys
Multi-media control keys
Braided cable
Audio-Out/Mic-In jack
USB-passthrough
Approx size (mm): 475(l) x 171(w) x 30(h)
Weight: 1.5kg

[/wpcol_1half_end]In terms of design, the BlackWidow Ultimate Stealth is practically identical to the BlackWidow Ultimate, save for it being a dull black instead of the shiny black of the noisier model. The LED back-lighting is vibrant, illuminating the numerous keys nicely. There are even five brightness levels so you can choose your level of intensity. The cables are of good construction, being of the braided variety, and the keyboard features the same audio ports and USB pass-through as well. On the left side of the keyboard are five gaming keys, which are all programmable (as either single keystrokes or macros) on-the-fly. Also of note is that the BlackWidow Ultimate Stealth features “extreme anti-ghosting” on the entire keyboard, not just the “gaming cluster” keys. This means that the likelihood of gamers hitting too many keys at one time is quite a bit less than before. Of course, for non-gaming usage this is not really an issue. The keys of the BlackWidow Ultimate Stealth also seem to have some sort of dull rubberized coating on them, which further reduces key-press noise. Along the top of the BlackWidow Ultimate Stealth, you will find an array of multi-function multimedia keys, for controlling media players and whatnot. There is even a gaming mode function key which disables the Windows key – a MUST for gamers who find themselves accidentally-hitting that annoying button from time to time. We got the chance to use the BlackWidow Ultimate Stealth for several weeks – whether writing up Halloween-themed stories or playing countless rounds of World of Tanks. During all of this time, we never once regretted the decision to use it – the keyboard continuously out-performed our expectations and was just a blast to operate.

Overall, Razer’s BlackWidows Ultimate Stealth mechanical gaming keyboard is perfect for the gamer looking for the reliability of a mechanical keyboard with noise levels of “squishy” ones. It doesn’t have quite the spring factor as the BlackWidow Ultimate, but that’s the tradeoff. The BlackWidow Ultimate Stealth retails for $139.99 at Razer’s online store.

However, don’t just read some words on a screen that tell you it is a quieter device. Through the magic of “teknology”, GamingShogun brings you this sound file demonstrating it to your eagerly-awaiting ears. The first few seconds of the sound is from the older BlackWidow Ultimate. The last few are with the BlackWidow Ultimate Stealth. Listen, if you dare…

Comparison Sound File

(Uses Adobe Flash and the Google Audio Player)

Images

PAYDAY: The Heist Release Date, Trailer

2011/10/13

Jerry Paxton

News

Sony Online Entertainment has released a new trailer for the upcoming online heist game, PAYDAY: The Heist, as well as revealing its release date to be October 18, 2011. This game was one of our favorites from the 2011 Electronic Entertainment Expo, and we are looking-forward to the retail release.

Trailer

Cabela’s Adventure Camp Screenshots

2011/10/13

Jerry Paxton

News

Activision has sent out some new screenshots from its upcoming Cabela’s Adventure Camp, which is scheduled for release on November 1, 2011 for Xbox 360, PS3 and Wii.

Screenshots

Dark Souls Hardcore Trailer

2011/10/13

Jerry Paxton

News

This is a new trailer for the RPG, Dark Souls, from Namco Bandai Games. The game is becoming known quickly for its high difficulty and this new trailer addresses the matter.

Trailer

Burnout CRASH! Screenshots on iOS

2011/10/13

Jerry Paxton

News

Electronic Arts has released some new screenshots for the upcoming iOS version of its popular racing title, Burnout CRASH!, which is due out this Holiday season.

Screenshots

RAGE Review (PS3)

2011/10/13

News, Reviews

The godfather of shooter game genre, id Software, has returned to the gaming world with their hotly-anticipated shooter: RAGE. In RAGE, a meteor has fallen to earth and shattered the lives of everyone around you. In order to help survive humanity, humans locked themselves in cryo pods and buried themselves under the earth. The story fast forwards to the future where you are awoken from your cryo sleep with your environment destroyed around you. As you were the only one in your pod group who made it out alive you venture out to the sunlight only to find the world a totally different place. Long gone are the bustling cities of the past and a world of Mad Max like bandits have taken over. Let’s hop right into the wasteland and see what we thought about the game.

What We Thought Was Cool

Environments and Characters:

The art direction in RAGE is downright gorgeous. Even though the PS3 limits it to 720P (Why GOD, why?!), you really get the feeling of being in a dust-filled nightmare of a world. The landscape is strewn with destroyed cities, freeways, and other remembrances of daily life before the world changed. The towns that you encounter such as Wellspring are true to what you would think a survival town would be. Filled with makeshift survival systems that are pieced together by scrap that the citizens find on their journeys. You encounter many indoor environments like sewers that make your spine tingle from the dripping grossness around you. id Software is known for making things beautiful and they have really outdone themselves with their art direction on this one by virtue of their new id Tech 5 game engine.

The characters of RAGE are fascinating – not only to watch but, also, to interact with. One of the first characters you meet in the game is voiced by John Goodman and can make you almost feel sad for his current situation. Engaging players enough to make them feel emotion is a big win in character design and story development. As you make your way through the game you meet a wide cast of characters from shady racing promoters to local shop keeps. The bandits and mutants you encounter are both intense and disgusting. Some of the mutant creatures even made me cringe in horror as they shot out towards my character. Each character in RAGE has a unique personality that keeps the player moving through the game.

Tons Of Weapons:

RAGE is a world filled with a “Do It Yourself” type attitude. Sure, there are still guns and ammo around but that doesn’t mean they are going to be readily available to you. The wasteland is filled with improvised weapons like boomerangs with metal blades called Wingsticks and RC bomb cars. Each weapon can be upgraded via vendors to add such things as scopes or extra mags for ease of use. Where the downfall comes in is the lack of available ammo. I found myself in many missions simply running out of ammo and having to use my bare fists. if you don’t stock up at the local vendor before you head out you may be in for a world of hurt on your missions. Thankfully, the crafting system allows for a little help in the weapon department. Scattered around the world is a metric ton of glowing items for you to pick up. From saw blades to wire kits nothing should be left behind. You can purchase plans from vendors or earn them from missions that will allow you to not only create ammo but other weapons like the bomb RC cars. The only hard part is actually getting to these plans…

Replay Factor:

The replay factor in RAGE is huge. With an already large single player campaign, there is tons to go back and do once you are done. Feel like getting down with some Twisted Metal like racing? The town of Wellspring has an area that will allow you to enter tons of races for certificates. These certificates allow you to access design kits and modifications for your cars at a special vendor. The races are fun and easy to pick up and play for someone looking to casual game. If racing is not your deal then there is always the collectible card mini game found in the local bars. Around the world hidden in dark corners are glowing red boxes. These boxes contain special cards that you can use in a collectible card battle game. Very similar to Magic, the cards have different abilities and point values to build your deck. I found myself player this mini-game for almost as long as the campaign. A great addition by the developers to an already solid game.

What We Thought Sucked

The Story:

The one failure in RAGE is the story. As you progress through the game, you find yourself not really caring why you are there or what you are doing. There isn’t that one big hook that keeps the player engaged to keep doing missions. The side missions, while fun, don’t really add up from a story perspective and the FedEx-style quests don’t really help the process. id Software has never been known for a strong story in their games and while this is an improvement from previous titles, it still falls short.

Why Wont You Die?:

Have you ever put a shotgun up to bad guys face, pulled the trigger, and watched him just stand there? RAGE is full of moments where the bad guys you face simply just wont die. Unloading clip after clip of ammo into certain bad guys can be a frustrating experience and really pull the player out of the game. Coupled with the shortage of ammo, this leads to some intense situations just to kill one or two bad guys in front of you. While I understand the need for special ammo, there is no reason a direct hit should result in nothing less than gibbs on the floor.

Final Thoughts

While not a perfect game, RAGE is a fun trip through a Mad Max style world, worth your hard-earned cash and time. The big home run for RAGE is in its replay factor with just tons to do and see. I highly suggest Shogunites everywhere pick this one up and give it a spin – not just because it is developed by a great company but because it is genuinely a really fun experience.

Halloween Safety App Released on Android Market

2011/10/12

Jerry Paxton

News

Trick or Tracker 2.0 has officially been released to the Android Market. The app allows parents to track their children’s Trick or Treating progress as well as send location updates automatically at predetermined time intervals. The app retails for $4.99 but on Halloween Day, it will be available from www.trickortracker.com for free from 8am EST until 11:59pm EST.

Trick or Tracker® Bi-Directional Family Locator Features Include:

• With the app, parents can locate their trick-or-treater with the touch of a single button on their Smartphone for ultimate convenience.

• The App installs easily on both the parent’s phone and the child’s own phone (note — if the child is too young to use a Smartphone, Iconosys believes that they are probably too young to trick-or-treat without being accompanied by a parent or guardian in any event).

• Using Iconosys’ Tether Together™ technology, the app triggers a message to be sent to the child’s phone with the help of a special secret pin; the pin is picked up by the child’s phone, engages the child’s phone to collect GPS coordinates and responds to the parent with the exact physical location of the child.

• The child’s phone has special “Where Am I?”, “Send Location”, and “Where’s My Parent?” buttons, and the parent’s phone has a corresponding “Where’s My Child?” button.

• Trick or Tracker® can also be programmed to automatically send out updates of physical locations, in pre-set intervals, from the child’s phone to the parent’s phone. Additionally, the parent can set up their own “Geo-Fence” and “Location Triggers” to notify the parent if their child is traveling outside an allowable area, or has reached a pre-set destination, such as “home from school.”

• Only the child’s phone must be an Android OS phone. For the parent, any Google maps-loaded phone (including iPhone, Blackberry, or Windows Phone 7) will work using a simple manual process. However, for best results we recommend that both the parent and the child user should be on Android OS phones.

• The app also has a very handy flashlight feature that illuminates the phone screen, casting a ray of light on a child’s path and allowing them to travel more safely in the dark or into their treat bag as they sneak a quick treat along their journey. This flashlight feature is available in white, as well as in several glow-stick colors and patterns (orange, pink, blue, red, and green).

EA Sports FIFA 12 Review (Xbox360)

2011/10/12

News, Reviews

It’s that time of the year again when football fans everywhere clamor to their gaming systems for the latest release of the FIFA game franchise. EA Sports is back again with some major changes to an already great EA Sports FIFA 11 game and it has been released to the masses. Normally, we here at GaminShogun like to review games within a week of their release date. EA Sports FIFA 12 has some major changes to their game modes so we wanted to take that extra time to run a few weeks of career mode so that we could bring you a solid review. Let’s jump on the pitch and see what lifts the trophy or gets sent to the locker room for a cold shower.

What We Thought Was Cool

On Field Changes:

EA Sports FIFA 12 boasts an impressive number of changes to the on field gameplay experience. This season we start with the all new “Player Impact Engine” that is the total game changer. The impact engine turns up the realism to 11 by allowing the players to not only move correctly but collide like they would in real life. Long gone are the days of clipping into your opponent when trying to go for the ball or getting stuck with your hand buried in their chest like an Indiana Jones film. When two players come up against each other, the impact engine calculates behind the scenes what type of collision will happen. This could mean your player ending up on his head during a 50/50 battle or simply getting tripped up only to recover. here this is really shown is when you are charging for goal or going up in the air for a header. The AI will often use their muscle to realistically push you out of the way causing a change in tactics. This has a tie in with the new “Pro-Player Intelligence” which ups the AI challenge in the game. One of the downfalls of FIFA 11 was that the AI did not respond very well in some situations. It was really easy to lob the ball into the box and score a header on almost every chance. I am happy to report that in FIFA 12 it is really hard to score regardless of the level you are playing on and that really makes you feel like you are in an actual game.

The final two additions to the in-game changes are “Precise Dribbling” and “Tactical Defending”. While the defending was greatly improved last year, FIFA 12 turns up the volume allowing a wider range of movement. Players like Lionel Messi can be silky smooth as they dribble the ball past defenders or through their legs. The ball moves just like the real thing in the game instead of acting like it is being pulled by polar magnets. The new “Tactical Defending” system takes away the need to run at full speed at players to get the ball. In FIFA 11 it was very easy to charge into your opponent with a tackle to win the ball for your side. The new defending system puts a huge importance on positioning and intercepting passes. Running at a player in this game usually ends up resulting in a juke or spin by the attacker.

Career Mode and Ultimate Team:

The Career mode was given a complete UI re-design for FIFA 12 and is much easier to navigate. The news feeds can be searched using the right thumbstick and are not on some strange sub menu. Not only are they easier to read but they supply a great deal of information. In FIFA 11, news was shorts blurbs that didn’t really matter. FIFA 12 news provides a story that leaves the player immersed into the world of the league they are playing. Adding in match day media coverage that you as the manager choose and you have a winning system. Player fitness and morale was always a big deal in the FIFA franchise but never had that real level of immersion. FIFA 12 will show why players are upset with some even asking to leave the club. The Career mode experience in FIFA 12 is vastly improved and offers the huge replay factor that single player gamers will be hunting for. Well done by the FIFA dev team for making these changes!

Ultimate Team is the card collectible football game that has always come as DLC in years past. This year, Ultimate Team is included in the box at no additional charge. A huge plus for FIFA gamers that allows tons of replay value to both online and single player gamers. Ultimate Team has received a fresh UI re-design that is easier to navigate and read through. The game stays the same as in years past with no new notable changes. There are new online and single player tournaments every week by the EA staff that allow the players to win coins for upgradeable packs. You can also easily challenge your friends and play in single one off matches. While Ultimate Team is one of my favorite game modes, I still don’t understand the need for player contracts. For the casual player, contracts do nothing but slow down your game play and should be removed from the game. It is hard enough to collect coins without having to worry about if you can actually use your players.

EA Sports Football Club:

EASFC is the shining star of FIFA 12. The FIFA 12 community has always been one of the strongest out of all gaming franchises and the FIFA team has built on that. Football Club allows the player to pick their favorite club and earn experience not only for themselves but for their home club. As you play through any mode (no matter what team) you will do your part to see your club rise or fall through the ranks. EASFC has a great and informative UI design that is easy to read for all players. Each week is a dedicated season and if your team doesn’t make it then you might be bumped to a lower league. You can also view your personal rank against your friends and compete in daily challenges. These challenges are ripped from the headlines by the EA team and have the player decide the outcome of real world matches. As an example, Manchester United tore through Arsenal recently. The EA team might make a challenge that has you play as Arsenal to try and change the outcome of the match. Every challenge completed adds more experience to your club and helps you a long the way. EASFC is a huge addition to the series and here is to hoping it sticks around for many years to come.

What We Thought Sucked

The Commentary:

while being a bit nit picky I find myself playing FIFA 12 with the sound off most of the time. The announcers are just very bland and I have a hard time feeling engaged with them. I feel that it is time for a change in the roster as their are much more engaging announcers in the various leagues. I encountered many weird errors in the commentary where the announcers would describe an event that never happened. It was much better playing a podcast in the background then having to be pulled out of the game.

Final Thoughts

FIFA 12 is the shining star of football games and quite possibly could be the best sports game on the market today. It is obvious that the EA Sports developer team not only love the game but listen to their community. FIFA 12 is a train that simply can’t be stopped and is an instant buy for any Shogunite that is a fan of football or sports games in general.