World of Gaming

Put together a crew of 16 players and roam free through the frontier in Rockstar's Western action game.

It's one of those simple rules of video games: Anything in the sandbox action genre is exponentially more enjoyable when you can share the fun with someone else. After all, open-world games are essentially a big blank canvas for players to decorate with whatever style of gameplay they want. Whether it's, say, working through the Saints Row 2 story missions in co-op or just using the free-roaming multiplayer lobby in Grant Theft Auto IV to jump between speedboats and pretend to be pirates, the level of expression you get out of these games is boosted significantly with friends in tow. That's why we were so eager to check out what Red Dead Redemption has in store on the multiplayer side of things. It has looked for a while now as if the story and characters are shaping up to meet Rockstar's exacting cinematic standards, so the big question left was how the multiplayer would turn out.

The answer, in a word, is: fun. The team down at Rockstar San Diego seems to realize that while there are those players who need order, there are also those who are clinically allergic to it, and Redemption's multiplayer looks ready to appeal to both sets. For the free-form crowd, up to 16 players can all gather into the same world and travel through the game's entire geography. All three parts of the world--Nuevo Paraiso, Port Elizabeth, and New Austin--can be explored without players being magically tethered together. Pretty much everything outside of the main storyline missions is available in this free-roaming multiplayer scenario, so if you all want to get together and go on a hunting expedition to sell valuable animal skins or form an impromptu vigilante squad to snuff out roving bandits, you're more than welcome to do so. Or if you just want to ignore each other completely and run off to opposite corners of the map, that's an option as well.

To help keep things a bit organized, there's a posse system that lets players within that group of 16 split up into their own smaller gangs. Each posse is assigned a posse leader, and he acts as the guy keeping his crew in line. He can assign waypoints on the map that will then appear on the maps of his entire posse, and when the team gets too separated, members can instantly teleport to where the posse leader is currently located. There's no rule that says you have to be friendly or violent with other posses in these 16-player setups, either. You can turn the world into an Old-West turf war or be as buddy-buddy as you want.

For those who want to experience some combat during these free-roaming sequences, there are a number of "action areas" spread throughout the world. These are essentially small towns overrun with bandits that you and your crew can eradicate in order to gain experience points. Your team rolls up on horseback to the outskirts of a town with guns blazing, pushing its way toward a bandit stronghold where the most stubborn stragglers are holed up. Combat allows for the slow, methodical player to use cover and fire precision rifle shots or the reckless player to speed through Main Street on his horse, hurling dynamite or Molotov cocktails at anything vaguely resembling a threat. We enjoyed the variety of guns and weapons at our disposal during these action areas. And thanks to the game's use of the Euphoria animation engine, it seems like we didn't see the same stumbling death animation twice.


That should give you a general idea of what to expect out of the free-form, do-what-you-want multiplayer options. But like Grand Theft Auto IV, you'll also be able to play through a number of competitive multiplayer modes. To minimize menu navigation, Redemption will let players queue up a playlist of multiplayer modes so that when one match is over, a different mode of your choosing is immediately due up next. We played through three different modes: Shootout, Goldrush, and Hold Your Own.

Shootout, which can be played either free-for-all or with teams, gathers players together in one of the game's many scattered towns and acts as a contained multiplayer map. This mode is as straightforward as it gets: Shoot opposing players while trying not to die. The action can get surprisingly tense during those moments when the cacophonous gunfire settles down and you know an opposing player is trying to fix his or her sights on you. We're not afraid to admit that, at one of these points, we were thoroughly spooked by a figure in our peripheral vision that turned out to be a goat. Each kill nets you experience points, which can be put toward new weapons, characters, and horses.

After that came Goldrush. This mode first takes a scattering of gold bags and crates that randomly pop up all over the map then asks you to return the bags to the crates while avoiding a hail storm of gunfire. Randomly generated locations of those gold bags means that you're constantly on the move, dashing around either for unclaimed gold or players to shoot and steal their gold from them while they're in transit. Similar to Goldrush is Hold Your Own. Here, it is two teams with their own sides of the map, which either can be two small towns separated by sprawling frontier or a pair of corners within the same walled outpost depending on the scale of a given map. Players race from one side to the other on foot or horseback trying to capture the other team's gold, engaging in shootouts along the way. On the bigger maps, defensive positions are available in the form of Gatling gun turrets and cannons. We really enjoyed manning the cannon situated at the top of a small hill between two towns on the bigger map we played and randomly lobbing cannonballs onto the enemy team's base.


Overall, we walked away impressed by Red Dead Redemption's multiplayer offerings. On one end, there are those fixed game modes for players who enjoy engaging in traditional multiplayer matches and working toward earning a tangible reward like experience points. But there's also the potential for free-roaming creativity with little in the way of restrictions. Whether you're in the mood for a standard deathmatch or prefer coming up with new games like "The First Annual Nuevo Paraiso Man Versus Mountain Lion Contest" it looks like flexibility and options are the two big themes in Redemption multiplayer. Expect to see the game arrive in stores on May 18.

Source: Gamespot.com

Exploding a building is fun. Exploding a building on top of your friend's speeding car: priceless.

Things explode in Split/Second. Bridges blow up and collapse, huge tankers slip from their moorings and slide into the nearby sea, and helicopters blow apart into a million shards of metal and glass. And while all of this mayhem happens in a fictionalized reality television setting in the game's single player experience, you can harness this mayhem to your advantage in Split/Second's eight-player multiplayer action. After all, sending a jumbo jet crashing to earth is fun enough by yourself; crashing it into your friends and ruining their race? Well, that's just priceless.

At a press event in San Francisco this evening, Disney showed off two multiplayer events in the game: survival mode and standard races. Both are quite similar to their single-player counterparts but the addition of real drivers to the events seems to raise the stakes a bit. In survival mode, your goal is to end the race with the most points--you earn those points by passing eighteen-wheeler trucks. Pass multiple trucks in a row without crashing and you'll earn a combo modifier. The complication here are the color-coded exploding barrels that are falling off the trucks as they wildly slide around the track; blue barrels will knock you off course and running into a red barrel will destroy your car completely. Survival mode matches last three minutes with a thirty-second sudden death period tacked on to the end of a race--which gives you a last desperate sprint to earn additional points. However, if you die in a sudden death, your car will not respawn.

Survival mode is a nice change of pace but, apart from the copious exploding barrels, there's not a lot of the mayhem you've come to expect from the game in this mode--there's no exploding scenery and no power plays… you know, the stuff you want from Split/Second. The real action for Split/Second's multiplayer is with the races themselves. Here, so many factors matter: the class of car you choose (the speedy sports cars, the strong and stable trucks, or the balanced muscle cars), the path you choose through the game's ever-evolving levels and, of course, when you use the all-important power plays.

You earn power plays by pulling off fancy moves on the track--drifting, drafting, jumping, and so on. If you have enough power play juice you can execute an on-track event by pressing the A or X buttons (on the Xbox 360 controller). A typical power play moment usually involves something blowing up on one side of the road or the other--and it's usually enough to knock an opponent car sideways, slowing them down, but not necessarily stopping them completely. A massive power play, executed with the B button once the meter is filled, can completely change the outcome of a race. These are the events in Split/Second that you paid your hard-earned money to sea--huge oil tankers crashing down on top of you, driving through the middle of smoky tunnels while industrial equipment swings through the air, promising to take you out at the slightest mistake, airport control towers shattering and crumbling to the ground.

In addition to unleashing periodic chaos, power plays can also occasionally open up new paths for you to take. When and red or blue arrow pops up on screen, you can initiate a power-play to take a previously unavailable shortcut that can save you a few seconds or more on your lap time. Timing shortcuts is important in races--it's very satisfying to open up a shortcut at the last possible moment and essentially screw your opponent of the opportunity.


In between multiplayer races, you'll be able to compare yourself with your opponents in a number of ways. You earn credits depending on the position your finished in the previous race; think of them as simply championship points for your online session. There's also a racing number, which is essentially an overall ranking that gauges your skill--the better you drive, the lower your number will be (with #1 being the best rank of all). Split/Second developers told us that you can improve your ranking even if you aren't winning races. Finally, any achievements you earn in the game will show up as decals on the car you're driving in a race; you won't be able to place those decals yourself (they're automatically added to your car) but anyone driving against you will be able to see exactly what you've accomplished in the game.

Based on our hands-on time with the game, Split/Second appears to be good fun online. The frame rate held up fairly well, even with all of the on-screen chaos happening all around. Of course, it remains to be seen how that performance will match up to the real world settings once the game is released but we're keeping our fingers crossed that it will hold up. Disney promises more information on single-player and multiplayer modes in Split/Second before the game's May 18 release, so look for more soon.

Source: Gamespot.com

We set out on a journey filled with magic and dragons in imageepoch's upcoming role-playing game exclusively for the Wii.

Those who have been waiting for a classic Japanese role-playing game to come to the Wii have something to look forward to this summer when Arc Rise Fantasia is released in the United States. The game was released last year in Japan and is developed by imageepoch, the makers of Luminous Arc. It's difficult to know all the features of the game after playing just the first 40 minutes, but we were able to get a feel for how the game will play and were impressed with the visuals in the initial CG cutscene. Unfortunately, there are only going to be two of these fully animated sequences in the game, but they were impressive nonetheless.


Most of the time, the story is told through lines of voice-acted dialogue with character portraits and in-game cutscenes. The hero of the story is L'Arc, a mercenary from the Meridian Empire who, in the opening cutscene, tumbles off of his airship after fighting off a horde of dragons. He meets a lovely young girl by the name of Ryfia, who's actually from the Republic with which the empire is at war. Whether it's her pretty face or, perhaps, her really short dress, he decides to escort her to her destination, and the fact that she is the enemy doesn't seem to faze him one bit. We eventually meet up with Alf, L'Arc's childhood friend and a member of the royal family, who also tags along to help the young lady. We'll have to wait to see how this story unfolds, but judging from how everyone reacts to Ryfia, there's likely going to be some serious drama.

Like a typical Japanese RPG, you'll move from one city or dungeon to another, traveling across the overworld map. When you enter a certain area or town, you can see extended scenes if you choose to press the 2 button when it appears. The game will provide a bit more backstory if you decide to read or watch these scenes, but they can be skipped or ignored. Rico is the in-game currency, which you'll acquire as you defeat monsters, to purchase new weapons, orbs, and other items to help you along the way. Orbs are your source of magic, so you can equip them to cast spells in combat. We got just far enough to test them out once, but we're told that there will be a lot more customization as time goes on in regards to your character and weapons.

Enemies are seen onscreen and you can generally run around them if you want to skip a fight. Battles are turn based and rely on action points. Your three-person party shares an AP gauge and each action comes with a cost. You can choose to use up all your AP with one character or divvy it evenly among your teammates, but it really depends on how you want to approach the fight. At certain points in the game, you'll have a fourth party member, but he or she will be controlled by the AI. You can chain attacks together to form combos and execute an excel act when your SP gauge is full. For easy battles, you can adjust your character's tactics and the game will automatically fight for you depending on your setup. There weren't a lot of options for us because we only played the beginning of the game, but we were told that eventually you'll have a larger cast of characters to choose from and you'll be able to form your own party.


Our tour of the Meridian Empire was brief, but there seem to be a lot of fascinating characters to meet and plenty of peculiar enemies to fight. The game stands out visually as well, with its vibrant environments and anime artwork. For those of you who keep track, composer Yasunori Mutsuda, who also worked on Chrono Trigger and Xenogears, is one of the composers for Arc Rise Fantasia.

If you're looking for a 60-hour epic on the Wii, then you will want to keep an eye out for Arc Rise Fantasia when it is released on June 22.

Source: Gamespot.com

Bee and Boo Mario are back, but Mario's got a few new tricks up his sleeve.

Yoshi was clearly the highlight of our last play session with Super Mario Galaxy 2. However, during our recent hands-on time with the game, the focus shifted back to Mario as we checked out one of the plumber's cool new suits, which was a rock suit that transformed Mario into an unstoppable--well, unstoppable until he hit something bigger than he was--rolling boulder. We explored five distinct levels, faced some peculiar bosses, splashed around in a water level, and then proceeded to go ice skating. As talented as Mario is, it shouldn't surprise us that he's also quite the ballerina on ice, and his shoes are obviously made to endure just about anything.

Before jumping into the various galaxies, we were first given a tour of Starship Mario. This will be your planetlike ship and hub area that you'll use to navigate the overworld map. The map layout is reminiscent of old-school Mario games where you move along a path from one level to another until you reach the boss at the end and warp onto the next world. On the ship--which is a landscaped version of Mario's big head and bulbous nose--you can run around and mingle with the Toad Brigade, as well as your various Lumas friends. As you progress through the game, more things will be added to the starship, but at this point, we only had access to Yoshi--conveniently nestled on Mario's gigantic nose--and a packed berry garden in which we could play around. We're guessing that as you get new power-ups, they will also be available here on the ship to practice using because there are signs posted throughout to give you a refresher course on the basics of Mario Galaxy.

Our first stop was the Puzzle Plank Galaxy, where we needed to use our ground stomp to activate switches, push blocks, and move planks. The fiddle music was lively and upbeat, as we dodged wigglers and butt-stomped everything that looked like it could be a switch. Other than snagging the usual starbits and reaching the star at the end, there were comet medals that were hidden or tucked in hard-to-reach places for us to collect or unlock levels from previous galaxies. Before fighting the miniboss at the end of the stage, we had to use our ground pound shift and slide giant pieces of a wooden plank to complete a painted image, which was similar to a sliding puzzle. Once the image was in place, a couple of beetles stacked on top of one another appeared but were easily disposed of after a few stomps.

The next galaxy we visited was called the Boulder Bowl, where we saw the rock mushroom for the first time. This stone fungus gave Mario a stone hat and a tough exterior, but he was only protected when we shook the remote, which transformed him into a huge rolling boulder. Once we were spinning, we couldn't stop until we ran into something hard enough to either break, or big enough, to hurt us. You're unwieldy in this form because you're rolling fast, but you can guide Mario to knock down bridges, break things, or roll over goombahs. The boss fight took place on a circular wire cage, where we faced Rollodillo, a monstrous well-armored critter that would charge at us by rolling into a spiked ball. Like all boss fights, there was a weakness to exploit, so it didn't take long before we used rock Mario to ram into Rollodillo enough times to call it a day.


The only 2.5D platforming level we played was in the Honeybloom Galaxy where we got to check out Bee Mario again. As cute as Mario is in his little bee outfit, the controls are still the same as you press and hold the A button to hover--ever so slowly--to higher ground while dodging snappy piranha plants. It was a bright and cheery level, filled with blossoming flowers; we also got to swing on green vines and bounce off of soft pods. Our favorite level by far was the next area we traveled to: the Cosmic Cove Galaxy. Here, we swam underwater and saw bizarre creatures--including a giant stinging jellyfish--that lurked beneath the surface. We also rode a green turtle shell as though it were a jet ski. Once you grab the shell, it'll start going and you can control the direction you want to go until you get hit. You can press the Z button to brake (but who does that?). The shell also comes fully equipped with brake lights and a headlight. The level wasn't very large, but it was big enough to gain speed and jump out of the water as though we were a dolphin. There was also enough going on in the sea bed for us to explore as though we were scuba divers, but it didn't end there. Once we activated a switch, the top layer of the area froze over and we then had a giant skating rink on which we could skate. By shaking the remote, Mario swooshed gracefully across the ice and did pirouettes in the air with very little effort. Enemies that were unfortunate enough to have been at the surface were frozen and could be plowed into, but we could also see that the creatures beneath the ice were still swimming along undisturbed.

Yoshi came in at some point in our demo, and we were introduced to a new fruit: the golden bulb berry. Instead of giving Yoshi some potential indigestion, the bulb berry turned Yoshi into a golden dinosaur that lit up a small radius around the duo to show floors that were otherwise unseen. For example, we were in the Haunty Halls Galaxy where platforms would shift and disappear while we were constantly surrounded by a variety of ghosts. Only Light Yoshi could illuminate the invisible floors so that we didn't take a misstep and fall into oblivion. There's a timer, though, on the bulb berry, and the constant ticking is a nagging reminder that you need to either get to the next berry to keep the floor lit or find a platform to take a break. Even if you know where the floor should be, it won't be there unless you have Light Yoshi with you.


There's an incredible amount of variety from what we've been shown that all looks and sounds great. There's plenty of detail in every world that you explore to make it unique and stand out, as well as a peppy soundtrack to keep you motivated. Nintendo will be revealing more details on the game so we'll be able to update you with more information on Super Mario Galaxy 2 in the near future. Super Mario Galaxy 2 is set to be released on May 23.

Source: Gamespot.com

We slay bunnies and other foul beasts in From Software's upcoming 3D adventure game.

Some of you may take a quick glance at 3D Dot Game Heroes and have words like "rip-off" or "clone" spring to mind. While the game may remind you of classic action adventure games that may or may not involve a nameless boy armed with a sword and boomerang, 3D Dot Game Heroes is an homage or, as publisher Atlus put it, "a love letter" to the memorable retro games of the past. There's no denying that the gameplay is all too familiar--that everything to the world, music, and story is something that has been done before--but it's never been done quite this way.

3D Dot Game Heroes doesn't take itself seriously. You can tell immediately by the storytelling and the dialogue when you chat with non-player characters that are scattered throughout the world. As the hero that is destined to save the kingdom of Dotnia, you must seek out six sages and their respective orbs to protect the kingdom from evil. The colorful world of Dotnia was in 2D 8-bit, but the king felt that 2D was boring, and it was time to enter a new era--one in 3D. So now, you're exploring a 3D world from an isometric perspective as a pixilated 3D hero.

Your hero can be customized, pixel by pixel. Several templates are available to choose from, but if you want to play as an animated golf ball, you can, or you can play as a tree stump, depending on your preferences. As long as you have the patience and know how to piece the little blocks together into a cohesive shape that resembles something, then you can save the world of Dotnia as Donkey Kong if you like. You'll have to create six templates, one for standing, a couple for the walking or attacking animations, and another that is labeled "hurray," which is essentially your victory pose. Regardless of who or what you decide to play as, there are enough references to other games for you to feel that wave of nostalgia, especially during loading screens, which been have redone for the North America version to include familiar games.

Like certain games of the past, you're directed to one dungeon after the other and must trek across the map to find the entrance. Once inside, you're breaking pots, avoiding traps, and slaying skeletons or scorpions all to find little keys that will ultimately lead you to an even bigger key that will lead you to the final boss, which guards a sage or orb or both. You'll also come across new weapons on your adventures, like a boomerang, and even though we didn't quite finish the third dungeon, it was obvious with all the pillars outside that there will be some sort of chain or whiplike device to help you travel across gaps.

Villages located throughout the world give you an opportunity to rest or purchase items like healing potions, bombs, or additional arrows. Inns are conveniently located near temples so that you can set your revival points. Otherwise, you'll be bumped back to the king's palace, which is smack-dab in the middle of the map. If you die when you're in a dungeon, however, you'll just start again from the entrance and your progress will have been saved. Your health and magic will also be full again.


Cracks that you find in walls or outside should always been blown away by bombs because you'll never know what you might find. Healing pools, free money, and other stuff could be hidden for you to discover. We stumbled across the From cave, where the NPCs inside had some amusing things to say about From Software's previous game, Demon's Souls. Most of the time, NPCs don't offer anything useful in regards to your quest. For example, we interrupted a guy who was urinating by a tree and peed on himself, which was good for a few laughs, so it's worth talking to everyone just to see what they have to say.

3D Dot Game Heroes may not be visually impressive when compared to other fully animated 3D games out there, but it's done well. Water effects and depth of field have also been added to make the pixilated characters pop out. It's fun to listen closely to the melodies and sound effects as well, because you may find some key tunes or noises that will take you back. Look for 3D Dot Game Heroes when it is released exclusively for the PlayStation 3 on May 11.

Source: Gamespot.com

We storm the beaches of the NEVEC facility in this map from the single-player mode.

If there's one thing Capcom wants to make clear about Lost Planet 2, it's this: There's much more variety in the levels than there was in the original Lost Planet. We've seen everything from lush jungles to arid desert environments in Lost Planet 2, and our look at the latest demo revealed a new area--stormy seaside cliffs where ex-NEVEC marines make landfall to begin the assault on their former employer and stop the company from returning the planet of EDN III to its formerly frosty state.

The mission objective for this particular section of the level is simple enough--activate three data posts scattered throughout the enemy's fortress with a team of four marines (three of whom can be played by humans or bots). But getting to these points under a barrage of enemy fire was the real trick. We started out by grappling up the side of a nearby cliff and were greeted at the top by an empty vital suit (a mech that you can pilot) that we subsequently jumped into and put to good use by unleashing its dual Gatling guns on enemy vital suits and troops down in the small valley below. After picking off some foot soldiers here and there, we jumped down into the valley to take on two of the enemy vital suits defending the area, which probably wasn't the best tactical decision, but it let us put this particular vital suit's agility to the test. We were able to jump into the air and hover for a brief period of time, enabling us to rain down bullets from an elevated position. And we also tried to make use of the vital suit's dashing ability, which gives the suit a quick burst of speed to avoid enemy fire.

But we weren't able to evade everything, and the suit suffered as a result. Since one of its wings was severely damaged, we weren't able to hover for as long in the air, and while you (or your teammates) can repair vital suits, you can't replace a wing. Still, we took out the two enemy vital suits as well as the pair of turrets sitting atop towers in the area. With the immediate battle seemingly over, we jumped out of the vital suit and proceeded on foot, only to be met with a new type of enemy vital suit that is far more agile and more adept at melee attacks than those we faced just minutes before. Needless to say, we didn't last too long against them and quickly died. If you're ever low on health, you can use stored thermal energy (collected from fallen enemies, teammates, and other sources) to refill your health bar.

Unfortunately, that wouldn't have helped us in this particular situation. We respawned near the beginning of the level and headed right for one of the data posts inside a small bunker on the cliff. After taking out a few enemies with the default assault rifle (you can carry up to two weapons at once in Lost Planet 2), we activated the post and headed back down to the valley, where we found our battle-weary vital suit. Since there wasn't any immediate danger (and no sign of the two enemy vital suits that killed us), we took the time to repair the suit and move forward into the main portion of the base, where we met little in the way of resistance. But that didn't last for long--as we powered up the last data post, a swarm of inbound massive enemy helicopters (that also serve as troop transports) came into view, dropping off reinforcements--suddenly, we were on the defensive.


Thanks to a nearby Gatling gun (which we picked up), we were able to take down one of the inbound helicopters right away, but our position was quickly overwhelmed by enemy troops, and those two other vital suits also decided to show up again. Fortunately, there was an intact enemy turret close by, so we grappled up the tower, jumped in, and took down the transports as they came in. With the last batch of them destroyed, we went on foot to clear out the rest of the area of foot soldiers and enemy vital suits, completing the mission.

This particular mission in Lost Planet 2 shows that you can tackle some objectives in any number of ways--whether you want to go in with guns blazing or take a slower, more methodical approach. And if you're playing with human cooperative players, there's even an added layer of strategy involved thanks to the integration of persistent characters. Over the course of the game, you have opportunities to upgrade and buy equipment (crates that appear have credits to spend on either items or new weapons) that can help specialize what you do on the battlefield. For example, you might have someone on your team who's more adept at repairing than the others, putting him in a support role when equipment is in need of fixing.

Additionally, at the end of each mission, you'll see a rating screen that shows you how well you performed and rewards you additional credits for your character. You'll also see how many sub-achievements (different from the Xbox 360 achievements or the PlayStation 3 trophies) you've completed in the mission. You'll also see ratings for your cooperative buddies if you're playing over Xbox Live, PlayStation Network, or two-player local split-screen. Lost Planet 2 is scheduled for release on May 18 for both the Xbox 360 and PS3.

Source: Gamespot.com

Creation and cooperation are the hallmarks of this upcoming downloadable content for EA's action game.

After finishing his tour of the nine circles of hell, you'd think that Dante, the poet-warrior who stars in EA's recently released action game Dante's Inferno, might want to take a rest, but as the saying goes, there is no rest for the wicked. In the upcoming Trials of St. Lucia downloadable content, Dante will once again be thrown into the fire, taking on wave after wave of hell's most horrible concoctions. Only this time, he'll have help. With the debut of the titular St. Lucia--an angelic, winged warrior who is a formidable fighter up close and at range--the Trials DLC will include co-op play as Dante and Lucia team up in a series of challenges created by EA developers and, eventually, the fans themselves. We recently tried out both the cooperative play and creation tools in the Trials of St. Lucia DLC during a visit to EA's Redwood Shores campus.

So, who is St. Lucia? She's the patron saint of the blind in Christian faith--a woman who, according to hagiographic texts, refused to marry a pagan suitor and subsequently was punished by having her eyes gouged out. In the game, however, Lucy (as she's colloquially known) is pure butt-kicker, from the point of her deadly scythe (this one presumably not stolen from Death) to the tips of her massive wings that allow her to briefly glide in the air. Though not as powerful as Dante in terms of melee combat, Lucia's ability to fly and to shoot formidable blasts of energy out of her eyeless sockets make her an effective ranged combatant.

Together, in co-op play, Dante and Lucy make a formidable pair throughout the more than 40 challenges that will be packed in with the Trials DLC. All are created by EA developers, many of whom worked on the original game, and these challenges offer a number of different play modes that weren't found in the original game. Of course, you can play through levels that will require you to kill everything onscreen, but there's more to do, including challenges that will test your reflexes and your discretion. For instance, one mode requires you to rack up a melee combo of a certain number of hits, and another asks you to kill only the monsters that have a mark above their head. Other modes include a "don't kill the prisoner" mode, where you're trying to save the life of a non-player character while destroying all the rest of hell's minions onscreen.

During the challenges you'll revisit some of the areas you encountered while touring the nine levels of hell from the original game, but there will be a handful of new levels, as well as two enemies you'll encounter that weren't in the original game--the Forest Siren and the Death Knight (both from the Dark Forest DLC released in early March). You'll be able to use all of this content and more to create challenges of your own using the built-in editor that will come with the Trials DLC.

The basics of challenge creation are straightforward: Choose a level; the number of waves you want in that level; the enemies, traps, and aids that will appear in each wave; and the type of mode rules you want each wave to follow. You can add up to six levels in a challenge, and as many as 12 waves per level. That can result in some lengthy challenges, especially when you start tossing in lots of enemies and conditions per wave. There are some restrictions in place, however, to prevent you from clogging the screen with blade babies. Each wave you create has an allotted budget that is slowly filled up with each enemy, trap, or aid you add. Once you've reached the maximum, you won't be able to add anything else to your challenge wave without first taking something away. In addition, any enemy, trap, or aid you add to your level must be placed in one of several predetermined spots on the level map.

Those restrictions aside, the creation tools have some flexibility for those who want to dive deeper into making their challenges more difficult. For instance, you can tweak the toughness and health level of any individual enemy. You can micromanage traps too, including the timing of when a trap springs and how much damage it causes when it strikes the player, among other variables. Before you save and publish your challenge, you'll be able to test it thoroughly thanks to easy-to-use testing tools that will let you play entire levels, single waves, or the entire challenge at any point.You can use these tools to create up to 100 challenges that you can then upload and share with other Trials players.

All challenges are rated for difficulty through an algorithm running under the hood that calculates things like the number of waves, different modes used, difficulty of enemies, and so on. The more difficult a challenge, the more points you'll earn for completing it, and all points you earn will go toward your online leaderboard score. You can even earn point multipliers by beating challenges five, 10, or more times. Those point milestones, as they're known in the game, are incentives to keep you coming back to play challenges over again, and a five-star rating system will let you rate the challenges of others.

As for our created challenge level, we were able to cobble together a series of challenges using both Lucy and Dante (you can create solo or cooperative levels and can combine Dante with Lucy, Dante with another Dante, or put two Lucys together). We tossed in a number of different modes, including one mode where the goal was to use only melee attacks against all enemies onscreen. However, because we tossed in some hell minions as enemies (who are impervious to physical attacks until you hit them with holy energy), we quickly discovered that we had broken our own level's rules. A quick edit or two was all that was needed to fix the problem, and before long we had a completed challenge that we affectionately dubbed "Hell-o World." Yes, we're probably going to hell for that pun.

You too will have your chance at eternal damnation and challenge creation when the Trials of St. Lucia DLC is released for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on April 29.

Source: Gamespot.com

Two wheels and tons of speed; the motorcycle racing series is coming to America and we've got the latest look.

The SBK Superbike series, which has seen a few iterations released in Europe, will finally make its European debut this year in the upcoming SBK Superbike World Championship 09. Representatives from the game's publisher Valcon Games were on hand at the 2010 Game Developers Conference showing SBK off to the press.

Perhaps the biggest distinction between Superbikes and its racing series cousin MotoGP is the bikes themselves. Whereas MotoGP riders race on purpose-built bikes, in SBK, the rides are modified production models, closer to the motorcycles you can buy at your local dealership. That said, these are still incredibly fast and nimble machines capable of tearing up the world's most prestigious circuits. In fact, both MotoGP and SBK series bikes race on many of the same courses during their respective seasons, including Brno, Phillip Island, and more in the game.

During our brief demo of the game, we got some hands-on time at Miller Motorsports Park in Utah, which is a flat, fast track and one of the few courses that is raced counterclockwise. We drove a couple of laps at Miller Park and noticed that bike handling felt a bit heavier than in other recent motorcycle games we've played, with the slightest bit of delay when leaning into and coming out of turns. That might be the game's handling, or it might just be an accurate reflection of how the bikes handle in real life. Nonetheless, it required us to think ahead a bit more than we might have otherwise. Because we were playing at the easiest difficulty level, we were able to pass the field with ease and cross the start/finish line in first place.

Of course, winning a race on baby level is one thing; doing the same thing with the difficulty ratcheted up is quite another. Difficulty customization seem to be one area in which SBK will excel: Not only can you choose between general difficulty levels, but you can also customize very specific on-track rules and behaviors that will affect your race. This includes toggling options, such as braking assists, rider assists, inertia, false starts, traction control, rolling starts, and many more. The granular detail continues in the bike setup tools--you'll be able to set individual gear ratios, make suspension and steering settings, and even adjust the tension of your drive chain.

Twenty seven other riders will be on track with you in single-player races (including licensed real-life SBK racers like Ben Spies and Tom Sykes), and the game will support eight players racing online. The good news is SBK 09 is done--all that's left are some localization changes and minor in-game title changes. That means the game doesn't have a firm release date yet, but it should be out soon, according to Valcon reps. We'll have a full review once the game hits retail shelves, so stay tuned.

Source: Gamespot.com

We grease up to take on Super Street Fighter IV’s newest character, as well as take some Street Fighter III inductees for a test brawl.

In the last official trailer announcing even more characters for Super Street Fighter IV, the sound of a sloshing liquid and a mysterious voice over the last few seconds hinted that there may have been more surprises coming from the upgrade to last year’s fighting game favourite. Capcom finally unveiled what that last surprise was overnight, introducing a brand new character joining the Super Street Fighter IV ranks: the bulky, red-skinned, oil-obsessed Turkish fighter known as Hakan.

Before you dismiss the greased-up Hakan as a completely unrealistic addition, let it be known that Turkish oil wrestling is a real martial art (as evidenced by several YouTube clips), and was found by the team behind Super Street Fighter IV after producer Yoshinori Ono asked his squad to scour the internet for interesting and unusual fight styles a brand new character could be based on. Ono told GameSpot that with all of the other recent additions to the SSFIV roster being classic characters from the Alpha and III series, he wanted to introduce a new, wacky addition along the likes of a Blanka or a Dhalsim. And hence Hakan was born.

But while Turkish oil wrestling may be real, Hakan’s looks and move set are definitely more on the fantastical side rather than realistic. A grappler at his core, the potency and range of Hakan’s basic moves are affected by how oily he is, with players able to add more oil to his body at any time via performing a dragon punch move along with any kick button. Like Zangief, Hakan’s most powerful moves are throws: the Oil Rocket (performed via a full circle stick move plus a punch button) sees Hakan grab his opponent in a bear hug, with the pressure of the hug and his greasy frame eventually squeezing out his foe; and the Oil Dive, which sees Hakan grab a combatant and slide around with him/her on the ground. Doing a half circle move with punch performs an Oil Slide, where Hakan slides along the ground to knock down foes (the oilier you are, the faster and longer the slide goes). This can be followed up with another body slam by pressing a punch button at the end of the slide.

Hakan’s comedic value really shines when he performs his super and two ultras. His Flying Oil Spin super sees him running a short distance before grabbing an enemy and performing a combo, while his first ultra—the Oil Coaster—has Hakan throwing an opponent in the air before sliding them around his body at ever increasing velocity. His second ultra—the Oil Combination Hold—is bound to draw laughs the first few times you see it. With this ultra (performed by quickly tapping down three times on the stick and pressing all three kick buttons), Hakan lays flat on his back. If an opponent happens to jump onto the prone Turk, they’ll slip on his oily gut, landing face down on the ground. Hakan then jumps on top, and squeezes with an almighty effort, eventually popping out the hapless foe from between his legs and sending them shooting off across the stage. The move looks to be a purely defensive ultra, can be a little off putting, but still a lot of fun to pull off.

While Hakan’s unique fighting style may mean he’ll take some getting used to, fans of the various incarnations of Street Fighter III will be pleased to know that the character additions to SSFIV feel very much like they used to, with a few minor exceptions. Pugilist Dudley, for example, retains much of his move set from Third Strike, such as the Jet Upper, Machinegun Blast, Cross Counter, Short Swing Blows, and various Ducking combos. He even gets his Thunderbolt charge move back, which was last seen in 2nd Impact. Dudley’s super is still the Rocket Upper (which is essentially a chain of Jet Uppers), while his two ultras were also featured in Third Strike—the Rolling Thunder and the Corkscrew Cross (which has now evolved into an impressive looking horizontal tornado which spins an opponent).

Just like Dudley, ninja-in-training Ibuki’s Third Strike move set makes it into SSFIV mostly intact. The still speedy Ibuki retains the Kunai air knife throw, the Tsuijigoe somersault, the sliding neck breaker Kubi Ori, the explosive throw Raida, the Kasumi Gake dash, the dragon-punch-like Kazegiri, the Tsumuji, and the useful Hien. The Kasunni Suzaku—where Ibuki throws multiple projectiles while in the air—becomes her super. As for ultras, the Yoroitoshi is a modified version of a similar Third Strike super, and sees Ibuki grab an opponent and deliver an ultra powerful Raida-like move (and is performed via two backward half circles plus three punch buttons). The second ultra is the Hashinsho, which begins with a flurry of hits and finishes up with Ibuki jumping into the air and throwing dozens of projectiles at her opponent.

Makoto—one of the deadliest characters in Third Strike in the right hands—also has an almost identical move list compared to when fans last saw her. The uppercut-like Fukiage is back, as is the dash punch Hayate, the ground chop Oroshi, the air kick Karakusa, and the ever useful grab-and-choke Karakusa. The temporary power boost that is the Tanden Renki serves as Makoto’s super, while the multi-hit flurry of the Seichusen Godanzuki is the first of her ultras. The second is the Abare Tosanami, which sees Makoto jump to the back wall before diagonally leaping an opponent to begin a powerful combo.

Just as all of the previous characters introduced in Street Fighter IV felt and played like their classic counterparts, the Street Fighter III additions to the SSFIV roster feel instantly familiar (although it’ll take a few more hours playtime to see just how seamlessly these characters fit into the parry-less environment of SSFIV). We’ll have plenty more on Super Street Fighter IV in the following weeks, so keep it locked to GameSpot for more information.

Source: Gamespot.com

We check out some later levels in Ubisoft's upcoming action game for Wii.

In our last look at Red Steel 2, Ubisoft's upcoming Wii-exclusive action game, we got a feel for the game's hack-and-slash gameplay (thanks to the Wii MotionPlus-powered gun and swordplay), as well a deeper understanding of the pulp sci-fi meets spaghetti western setting in which the game takes place. There's still more to learn about Red Steel 2, however, as we found out after recently checking out one of the later levels in the game.

Jumping into the seventh level of the game, we were surprised by the setting: You begin the level on the roof of a speeding train. Moving at such high speeds, you'll find yourself sliding backward when you aren't pushing forward with the analog stick on the nunchuk. With simple movement hampered, combat becomes a bit more challenging as you quickly find out when you are attacked by a handful of Jackal goons. This being a later level in the game, the Jackals have stepped up their game with some tougher opponents. As a result, these guys are quick, apt to dodge fire from your revolver, and are skilled at blocking strikes from your sword.

Hacking hard enough will stun these Jackal ninjas and give you an opening large enough to finish them off with a well-timed slash or two. We also took advantage of the additional weaponry we had on hand, including a double-barreled shotgun and a Tommy gun; you can switch between any of these guns by pressing the assigned direction on the Wii Remote's D pad.

As you make your way through the train car, as well as an army of Jackal enemies, you'll eventually reach the lead car and your unnamed nemesis. Before you can leap across to confront him personally, he disconnects the train's engine from the cars it's pulling and tosses a grenade at your feet. The train explodes and your enemy escapes unharmed. Of course, it takes more than a simple exploding train to stop a member of the Kusagari clan, and a brief cinematic follows showing the hero picking himself up to continue on foot.

Some time later (three days, according to the cinematic), you end up in yet another hub world, which looks to be completely deserted. You start out in an empty saloon before coming to the local sheriff's office. Inside, you find a radio receiver where you make contact with your sensei Jian, who encourages you to go out back and continue your training, despite the fact that he's not there in person. You'll find a handful of training dummies and can learn a new technique known as the "bear." By holding down the A and B buttons on the Wii Remote, you can charge your sword then stab it into the ground to create a tremendous shockwave that can stun (or defeat entirely) several enemies at once.

You'll use that bear attack early and often in this town. Soon after your training is complete, you'll head over to the gambling hall where you'll meet a man named Songan who has a few missions for you that mostly involve defeating as many Jackals as possible. He's also got a shop inside the hall where you can buy upgraded armor, Kusagari emblems, or masks that will give you improved attacks against certain enemies. Most of these upgrades are pricey, so you'll need a lot of cash on hand to take advantage of them.

In addition to the story missions--which mainly involve surviving multiple waves of Jackal enemies--you'll have various side missions you can accomplish to earn cash. These include raiding Jackal weapon stashes hidden all over the town or finding wanted posters with your name on them and tearing them down. The final mission in this level features a showdown against a chaingun-wielding samurai that proved to be one of the more difficult fights we've seen yet in Red Steel 2. Not only does the gun do enormous damage (eventually penetrating your defenses even if you're blocking with your sword by pressing the A button), but the guy holding it also has a huge see-through shield mounted on the gun that effectively prevents him from your frontal assaults. We were able to finally take him down by using the dash ability (pressing the A button and moving the nunchuk in any direction) to get around his defenses and then hack him up from the rear.


Based on our last two looks at Red Steel 2, it's clear that Ubisoft is trying to straddle the line between action and accessibility with this game. You spend lots of time hacking and slashing, but there's zero blood onscreen, which, depending on your point of view, may be a disappointment. We also have yet to run into an enemy that's given us too much of a fight (at least on the normal difficulty level), which makes us question just how much of a challenge this game will pose for most players. The game's visual amalgam of high tech and Old West continues to be one of its high points (as is the spooky spaghetti western theme music). Will the gameplay live up to the artistic design? We'll find out when Red Steel 2 is released on March 23.