It was barely less linear than a strip of film – save for seeking out the odd artefact – but this didn’t matter. The hand of the director nudging you along the narrow path of the story was firm but gentle, it was the hand of a father teaching his child to ride a bicycle, it was ever present but it was the player willingly doing the majority of the work.

If I had reviewed Uncharted 2 when it was released it would have got a ten: for its ingenuity, its technical mastery, its plot, its play; it was a game that has had ramifications on the way this medium is created, a completely unique offering from Naughty Dog that demonstrated exactly how far video games had progressed. Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception feels like the developer trying to replicate this genre defining success by taking certain aspects of the game to extremes, in doing so they’ve created an inferior product, albeit one that is still an entertaining Indiana Jones influenced romp.

Adventurer Nathan Drake and his mentor Victor Sullivan begin this new story in a particularly suspect looking London pub, there to make a dodgy deal for Drake’s signature ring hanging from his neck. Obviously things go very wrong very quickly and from here Nathan and his rotating band of thrill seeking explorer types travel from locale to locale, taking in dense woodland, sun kissed marketplaces and barren deserts. On land, at sea and in the sky you’ll be unravelling a mystery that Drake’s real-life namesake supposedly unravelled on his journeys hundreds of years earlier.

Each area is stunningly atmospheric, not just beautiful to look at but rich in its own heritage and story. The desert – for example – is visually cruel, the futility of the protagonist’s struggles against the heat, reinforced by its sheer scope. Drake is alone and lost in this barren wilderness, the dunes stretching out for miles and if the developers can do this with – ostensibly – a load of sand, you can understand how masterful they are with world creation when given a population, a culture or a distinctive architecture to work with.

Movement of each character is smooth through each of these areas but it’s the minor things that impress most, such as Drake reaching his hand out to aid himself as he ascends a flight of stairs. When you play a couple of short scenes as a younger version of the lead, Nathan’s comparative fragility as a child isn’t told to you, you see it in his ever so slightly clumsy movements, the fear of running up against the physically imposing “grown-ups” profoundly more affecting because of it. This mastery of animation and visual design transfers to the cutscenes and scripted events, this is a developer that could have taken the Uncharted brand away from games and created a hit summer blockbuster, such is their grasp of cinematic shots and knack for exciting set pieces.

The first big issue comes with this aspect though, as there are times where you feel funnelled, with no control over the scenarios unfolding. To zip back to an earlier point, yes, Uncharted 2 did guide players too, the change from the 2010 release to this though is that when Naughty Dog wanted you to go a specific way in the previous game it was far more subtle. A memorable moment in Uncharted 2 was being chased down an alley by a truck, running towards the camera and firing back to escape. It felt dramatic and natural, but consider the finer details and in reality the player’s involvement is holding down on the analogue stick and tapping the shoot button, nothing more. The mind was tricked into feeling involved as there was this small action that defined win and loss, the ability to tap R1, consequently the participant felt as if they had helped Drake while the dev could still show something spectacular but completely linear. In Uncharted 3 there are several similar occasions of running down what is basically a tunnel while something awesome happens around you, but the creators make fewer concessions to the player, making you feel less of an actor and more of an audience member. When you do have control of the series’ fortune hunter though, it’s by no means a perfect game.

Navigation of hazardous environments is still elegant, especially considering the complex geometry of some of the level design. Nathan holds his hands out for ledges he can reach, keeping the pace flowing along, the player confident that they won’t miss a gap when they know they’re given this tell-tale sign they can get to it. The puzzles scattered about are straight forward affairs but provide a welcome head scratcher and a quick breather from the platforming and shooting action.

You’ll need a break from the shooty shooty aspect of Uncharted 3 too, because frankly, it’s pretty weak. Drake’s Fortune and Among Thieves had a totally acceptable third person cover based shooter system that, though not complex or particularly compelling, was good enough to enjoy for long chunks of time. Something has changed in the way aiming is handled in Drake’s Deception that makes this effort a less precise experience, the reticule of whatever item of your arsenal that you’re holding never quite aligning with the area of the enemy you’d like to dispose of the first time you take aim. Bad guys will rush your position more frequently than in previous games, when combined with the slack controls there will be several times that a goon can close down a space of about thirty or forty feet before you’ll manage to take them out. Some of the more difficult opponents require you to shoot off their helmet before capping them, in these situations it’s often easier to resort to a rapid firing weapon and simply holding down the trigger until you can meet your mark, rendering most pistols in the game as a last resort. Having put just under a hundred hours or so into Uncharted 2 I know in my heart of hearts that this is not user error, it’s a problem with the game and it drastically needs addressing.

While the overarching narrative is a re-run of those seen in the previous two games – man gets into trouble, shoots way out, uncovers mystery, gets girl – the script is at least the same quality of the rest of the series, which is to say that it is confident, funny and propulsive. There are tender moments to be found too, which this time include Drake’s relationship with Sully, as well as with Elena. A very late game twist almost takes the writing into the stratosphere, though it would appear the makers didn’t quite have the conviction to carry it through, leaving it at merely the “superb” mark.

The returning cast of voice actors are still the best in the business. Nolan North continues to provide Drake a charismatic and inquisitive energy, the story even gives North more emotional range to play within, which he nails perfectly every time. Newcomer to the story Charlie Carter – played by Graham McTavish – hits the rough and cocky Londoner mark beautifully, bouncing ever-so-masculine witticisms off the lead for a handful of the lighter moments. Rosalind Ayres is elegant but manipulative antagonist Katherine Marlowe who along with assistant Talbot (Robin Atkin Downes) make for an understated villain duo. It’s Richard McGonagle’s Victor Sullivan that steals the show though, the mentor / best mate relationship he has with Drake is delved into with gusto in Uncharted 3 and McGonagle’s resonant bass voice is weighted with care for his compatriot. Behind each seemingly off-hand comment, there’s the hint of the affection a father has towards a son and it’s genuinely touching at times.

Rounding out the offering is a comprehensive multiplayer suite, both co-operative and competitive. Co-op still eschews clambering over rocky outcrops for blasting baddies, which is a pity, but the scenarios are more fleshed out than the previous game and tell some novel side-stories featuring the main cast. Playing against human opponents is once more a team based affair of heroes versus villains, with the usual deathmatch, capture the flag and VIP game types. The community tends to be a little on the younger and less pleasant side from my experience so far, so it’s definitely best enjoyed with a group of friends.

Both aspects of multiplayer are governed by an experience system similar to that of Call Of Duty: the higher your rank and the more you play, the more perks and money you unlock, which should provide that long lasting, drip fed online experience for those that really invest. That said, whether it will take root in the minds of that type of player is questionable, especially with the army of big budget shooters releasing this quarter.

Hopefully this won’t be the last home console Uncharted offering from Naughty Dog, there’s still further the series can go, more stories to be told in the universe they’ve created. It also wouldn’t be right for the finale of this franchise to go out like this; a perfectly enjoyable but overly familiar affair that does little to move its grand concept of an immaculately crafted, cinematic game forward. It’s still a very good title and a completely entertaining package while it lasts, yet this is a – very convincing – counterfeit of Uncharted 2, profoundly similar to the title that came before it, but still flawed and unoriginal nonetheless.

MLG Rating: 8/10
Platform: PS3 Release Date: 02/11/2011

Disclosure: Midlife Gamer were provided a physical copy of Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception for review purposes by the promoter. The title was reviewed over the course of one week on a PS3. For more information on what our scores mean, plus details of our reviews policy, click here.

Before I start telling you why this is going to be in the running for my Game Of The Year, let’s get some boring bits of expected review text out the way. ES:AOTM shares a lot of similarities with Heavenly Sword, Bayonetta and Devil May Cry in that its focus is combat and simple platforming from a third person perspective. Much like the first title in that list, the attraction is not necessarily the gameplay itself, rather the production quality, story and tone.

You can pretty much mash your way through the game but the hand-to-hand is decent with plenty of combos based on light and strong attacks and changing up your timing will tweak things further. It’s not mind blowing but it’s solid, which is good because you’ll be doing lots of it. When you’re not fighting, you’re jumping from platform to platform in rather typical action adventure platforming, which is to say that it isn’t terrible, though it’s hardly the spatial perfection of a Mario Bros. game either.

After finishing you open up access to concept art and the ability to re-watch cinematics, as well as being able to play through the title again on two additional difficulty levels. A score attack mode opens up too, as does the option to customise which attire you’ll wear on the duration of your journey. Controlling lead character Enoch is responsive and accurate to a tee but the camera’s position isn’t under your control, meaning that there are occasions where your view of the action won’t be perfect. The game’s load times are significant and you’ll want to install this to your hard drive, if you have one, to ensure transitions from area to area are smooth.

If you’re buying this just as a purchase in which you intend to derive enjoyment from the systems of play then there are much better games with which you can invest your money. Click away from this review, you don’t need to get El Shaddai as it’s a rather predictable though totally competent beat-em-up with some hit and miss platforming.

If you’re still here it’s because you no doubt value the medium of video games to do things that other forms can’t, or perhaps you believe that interactive entertainment can be more than “A jumps, B shoots”. YOU need to play Ascension Of The Metatron, as it does things visually and thematically that you haven’t yet seen in games – or too many other places for that matter – and we’ll likely not see a title like this again for a few years to come.

Enoch is a tool of God sent to Earth to cleanse the land of a “false evolution”, brought about by a number of Fallen Angels who have come to our world for a number of reasons. Love, power, procreation, motherhood, the unlimited potential of humanity: they have genuine motivations for disobeying God and this puts them above pantomime villains simply put there to act as end-of-level bosses.

Assisted by Lucifel – an effortlessly cool, completely relaxed agent of The Lord that would be perfectly at home in a Goichi Suda game – Enoch must climb a tower filled with false realities created by these Fallen Angels. These realities are exquisite, works of true artistic genius that will challenge your preconceived ideas of what an action game can look like. One of the first areas, on the way towards the Tower itself, is predominantly black; onyx walkways leading from section to section, so smooth and dense and perfect that you can imagine what it would feel like to reach out and touch them. You realise that the people that have lost themselves in this illusion are having a celebration, fireworks burst and glitter in the distance as a giant, burnt crimson eye lazily keeps watch, its eye lashes strokes of washed out red light. The eye looks weary as you rush towards it and as you do, you grasp just how very large the area in which you reside is. “Gigantic” doesn’t quite cut it when describing its scale, it is so vast that only one with God-like power might conceive it.

Sound familiar? You’re right, it doesn’t. Yet every minute you spend with the piece is like this. Have you ever seen clouds of mist froth up like surf in a surrealist, near cubist land that stretches as far as you can see? Have you wandered through a lilac, purple and deep ocean blue channel of webs with floors the consistency of bubbles? Have you sprinted through a spiraling tube of psychedelic colours as the harsh glare of white hot fire rushes towards you? Probably not.

It’s not all eye candy, there’s a meaning to what you’ll do here, though everyone will have a different interpretation of the events that steadily unfold. One of the enemies – The Nephalim – are half breeds of humans and angels, destined to consume one another until their bodies erupt in flames. They are vilified by every character in the game with the exception of Nanna – a small girl that eventually forms a major part of the story – yet to the objective player in the world outside of the game, all they seem to want to do is play. When you’re asked to destroy one after you’ve witnessed so many of them riding swings, sliding down hills and pushing around a primary coloured ball on a cartoon backdrop, it’s difficult not to question the fanaticism of the company you keep. Is devotion essential to religion? Is blindly following those who have heard “God’s Will” being a good Christian / Muslim / Buddhist?

Even if you’re not into videogames to be challenged, some of the action scenes are phenomenally well produced. In a completely bizarre break in the typical action you’re provided a motorcycle on which you scorch through the city of a highly advanced civilization. With moments of near misses and incredible feats of the human body set to neon and metal and plastic, El Shaddai hits Ninja Blade and Bayonetta levels of ridiculous.

Back to the high brow and one can’t help but think about how real world religious groups will approach the game. It borrows heavily from a multitude of religions and challenges them all while at the same time celebrating how truly epic and wonderful they can be. Interactive entertainment has seen religious titles or games with spiritual undertones before but none have truly gone so far with their exploration, a kaleidoscope of Jesus, Siddhartha, Zeus, Mohammed, Cernunnos, Ganesh and more informing the environment and character design. Tribal beats blend into electric guitar, followed by choral numbers across a net of symphonic strings: almost every possible form of audio that human beings have used to worship their respective prophets and Gods collide to score the scenes, all perfectly in harmony with the striking vistas before you.

You might be able to tell by now that I like El Shaddai, I like it a lot. It’s an important work of fiction that has made me incredibly excited about the medium and where it can go from here. The basics of play are all there, you’ll enjoy fighting enemies and you’ll be challenged by the platforming. The real attraction though is in the areas in which the form as a whole needs to improve: narrative, experimentation with the visual and the questioning of high level concepts. It takes the theme of religion and runs wild, using the raw power of current machines to create a work of art that is moving, thought provoking and beautiful.

MLG Rating: 10/10
Platform: Xbox 360/ PS3) Release Date: 09/09/11

Disclaimer: A physical version of El Shaddai: Ascension Of The Metatron was supplied by the promoter and played over the course of two days on an Xbox 360. For more information on what our scores mean, plus details of our reviews policy, click here.

Red Lynx, it would seem, has other ideas, evidenced by their latest release DrawRace 2. Over thirty tracks, a garage full of cars, a tiered progression system, achievements, offline multiplayer and online leaderboards; for the entry price of a particularly fancy chocolate bar that’s an awful lot of content.

A sturdy game engine houses the action; top down 3D environments and racers zipping about smartly designed courses based on familiar themes such as road, dirt, snow and F1. Even on the iPhone 3G device I reviewed the game on, the frame rate rarely dropped, which is impressive for a title with upto four competitors on – at times – large and detail filled tracks.

Perhaps more impressive though is how Red Lynx inject tension and excitement into a driving mechanic that is so removed from the immediacy of racing. Players plot a course round the circuits by drawing a line, speeding up the movement of their finger on the screen to accelerate and moving slower to brake. It takes a few goes to really grasp this input method, however once you do you begin to understand just quite how well the fundamentals of car handling have been transposed. Taking corners wide, nipping in close to the turn’s apex and accelerating smoothly out are still essential techniques to understand. This is no sim by any means but neither is it an all-out arcade racer, it’s a curious blend of technical racing and player prompted turbo boosts over jumps.

It’s a significant challenge too, even without considering the highly competitive community already gathering on its leaderboards, the single player is a substantial undertaking. As well as the previously noted quantity of content, the difficulty also ramps up quickly. Though you’ll only need a single win on each set of three challenges to unlock the next, obtaining all the gold medals in the game will take patience, dedication and – moreover – skill.

There are still improvements DrawRace 2 can make in future updates: the initial startup time could be faster, a “try next race” option would be useful after victories to keep the flow of play smooth in long sessions, and a more significant training mode would do wonders for new players. They’re not deal-breaking problems whatsoever but when a title comes so close to perfection the smaller flaws are disproportionately evident.

With each attempt at a race taking around a minute it’s ideal for short play stints and hour long sessions alike, plus the inclusion of intelligent push notifications that display your results in the competitive online space makes this is a title you’ll return to time and time again. With so much content backed by intuitive controls, fair but challenging difficulty and a compulsive online infrastructure, this should be a tempting proposition for anyone with an iOS device.

MLG Rating: 9/10
Platform: iOS Release Date: 01/09/2011

Disclosure: Midlife Gamer were provided a digital copy of Draw Race 2 for review purposes by the promoter. The title was reviewed over the course of three days on an iPhone 3G. For more information on what our scores mean, plus details of our reviews policy, click here.

Xero: You’ve announced that King Of Fighters XIII will see release in PAL territories, so for the uninitiated what is KOF, why have there been so many versions and why is this an exciting release for gamers that grew up on Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat?

Yen Hau: King Of Fighters XIII series has been produced in many instalments since the first release in 1994 which had incredibly good reception. When compared to other fighting game series such as Street Fighter or Mortal Kombat, you may notice that the characters made by SNK (exclusive characters for the KOF Series such as Kyo, Iori, or characters chosen from SNK’s other flagship series) are extremely charismatic. This background of rich and varied characters, deep and dynamic scenarios of the three KOF Sagas, and the revolutionary “3-on-3” Versus Battle System are three key points that have made KOF a major fighting game series up until now.

X: What’s the release window for the title?

YH: We are targeting a near simultaneous launch with Japan and the US, so expect a European release between the end of October and mid-November 2011, on both Xbox 360 and PS3.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXc9_4-kqhY

X: Can you explain what you feel are the key differences in terms of gameplay between KOF and other titles within the fighting genre?

YH: KOF has traditionally a huge roster of charismatic fighters to choose from; far exceeding what is on offer by its rivals. King Of Fighters XIII is no different and numbers over 30 fighters, all familiar names from SNK Playmore’s vast history. It is still one of the only series to feature a collection of fighters from other franchises in one game for HD formats and sticks true to its 2D heritage. Team battles are also a staple feature of KOF and provide an entirely different experience and variety to each encounter, something that cannot be replicated in 1 v 1 fighters.

X: A big component of brawlers now is their online capabilities, what features for taking the fight online are present in KOF XIII?

YH: King Of Fighters XIII will feature three different types of online versus matches allowing the players to challenge other rivals worldwide in endless and intense battles: “Rank Match”, “Player Match”, and “Friend Match / Xbox LIVE Party”. “Rank Match” follows strict regulations and your record will be reflected in the rankings. Various options that do not affect your record can be configured at any time in “Player Match”, allowing you to relax and try new things in your battles. You can invite online players and challenge them in “Friend Match / Xbox LIVE Party” for heated competition.

X: KOF has always valued narrative more highly than other fighters - this is to be the final entry in the Ash Crimson trilogy, for example – do you feel like players are invested in the plot and characters, or is it just wrapping for the game system underneath?

YH: Having a well conceived story behind always helps give some context to the action. For fighting games this is often overlooked and I think that is a shame. The story gives the player more insight to the characters they are playing, allowing them to understand their personality and their reason for fighting. Ultimately many will claim that a fighting game doesn’t need a story, but I argue that to give the player that extra degree of immersion it is absolutely necessary.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0hFBMV8QXc

X: 2D fighters have seen an increased interest over the last two or three years, is there anything that you’d particularly attribute to this and is it here to stay?

YH: I think this is the current wave of interest among gamers. I don’t know whether this is due to fatigue to certain genres or just a natural cycle, but I think the current crop of 2D fighters, the backing they are receiving from their respective publishers and current trends certainly helps build interest. We’ve all seen that once the ball gets rolling it is difficult to stop the momentum and we are fortunate enough to come to market with KOF XIII when interest is high in this genre.  Saying that, I don’t think there was ever no interest at all in the fighting genre.

Please note, video as part of this article is from the Japanese version of the title and may not represent the final product in PAL territories. The King Of Fighters XIII is scheduled for a winter 2011 release, for more information visit Rising Star Games

Do-Don-Pachi Dai-Fukkatsu

Xero: Can you tell readers who might not have heard of the title – and indeed the series as a whole – a little more about DoDonPachi Resurrection?

Yen Hau: DoDonPachi Resurrection is CAVE’s 2008 smash hit arcade shooter, and sequel to the legendary DoDonPachi Daioujou (Blissful Death), known as one of the hardest games to ever hit arcades.

Resurrection has earned high marks from players for adeptly building upon the basic scoring systems of its predecessors, while combining ever-escalating bullet swarms with brand new features that help players navigate the waves of enemies and bullets, such as hyper counters that cancel enemy attacks and counter lasers, for shielding your craft from encroaching enemy lasers. Resurrection also includes an Auto-bomb system, in which the player’s craft will release a screen-clearing bomb when hit (a certain number of times) to let new players proceed further in the game without getting discouraged. The flip-side is that auto-bombing your way to the clear will only earn you a very meagre score.

It is the score system that gives DoDonPachi Resurrection its unique appeal. Like its earlier and simpler prequels, DoDonPachi and DoDonPachi Daioujou, players are rewarded for destroying enemies quickly in long combos. Combos are easily built by killing enemies one after the other, but in Resurrection the stakes are raised with the addition of the hyper counter system which allows players to cancel incoming bullets; these cancelled bullets are in turn added to the combo meter, building huge hit chains. The higher the combo, the higher the multiplier, and the higher the multiplier, the bigger the point bonuses for the player.

Getting huge scores will also require great control. After all, if you could just erase every bullet on screen and auto-bomb your way to victory, there wouldn’t be much competition for score. But in Resurrection, the score multiplier only takes effect when the player has a full hyper stock, which ensures that players will at some point have to hold off on firing hypers to reap the score bonuses they’ve worked for.  For a practiced player, visually this means that the first half of any level looks like a madhouse of bullet cancelling while the second half is much more stoic: the player strives to maintain their combo chain as they destroy enemy after enemy in quick chains.

Story-wise, DoDonPachi Resurrection takes place after the events of DoDonPachi Daioujou. In that game, the armies of the mad colonel, who had orchestrated a war against his own allies to test and strengthen his elite DoDonPachi Squadron, were awakened after being sealed away on the moon. It was only the sheer grit of an Element Doll (an artificial human capable of down-linking into advanced fighter craft) named EXY who managed to destroy the mother computer of these armies. But the truth that she saw within that computer, that these murderous wars were plotted by one man, set her against the colonel. In DoDonPachi Resurrection, EXY time-slips into the past to destroy a key installation which will build the colonel’s army in the future. Her army of Element Daughters, modified versions of the Element Dolls, await the pursuing DoDonPachi Squadron as they attempt to destroy EXY and return successfully to the future.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_Xu2wLg33U

X: When is the game out and what will be included within the UK release? Any intentions of including the Twister-style paper craft Art Game?

YH: We are targeting a November launch window across PAL territories. The pack will follow the trend set by our earlier release of Deathsmiles and be known as DoDonPachi Resurrection Deluxe. This will include the original Version 1.5 release, both Arrange modes and the official soundtrack. The Black Label and Version 1.51 Arrange modes will be available separately as DLC via Xbox LIVE. The art game is not available.

X: This is the first time a Don-Pachi game has come to the UK as a home release, why do you feel that now is the time to bring the fifth title to this market?

YH: This is the first game from the series to be released on current generation consoles and, having set the groundwork with Deathsmiles, now is the perfect opportunity to continue the revival of shooters by publishing DoDonPachi Resurrection, particularly as the shmup community has called for this game to be released. Having established our presence with Deathsmiles, the next logical step is to listen to our fans and give them what they want.

X: Many shmup fans cite the Don-Pachi games as some of the most difficult within the genre, do you feel this accolade is fair? Do you believe this to be the title’s sole appeal?

YH: I don’t think there is anything wrong with a game being difficult, it certainly adds more challenge to get the top scores and will keep players coming back. I also think that the difficulty goes hand in hand with the complex scoring mechanics, so while it is not the game’s sole appeal, I think it does form part of the overall appeal. CAVE have worked on the scoring system for years, upgrading and amending with every new iteration and resulting in what we see now with DoDonPachi Resurrection. The appeal is in completing the game by using only one credit and attempting to get a higher score than other players.

X: Will there be an online component to DoDonPachi Resurrection, such as leader boards or community driven events?

YH: There will definitely be online leaderboards for Europe.

X: Rising Star Games brought Deathsmiles to these shores in February, what do you believe to be the key differences between this and DoDonPachi Resurrection, besides the direction in which the screen scrolls?

YH: DoDonPachi is CAVE’s flagship series and with Resurrection they have one of the most challenging shooters available. There are many obvious similarities between this and Deathsmiles, but with DoDonPachi it is more challenging to get those score multipliers going and a lot more difficult to avoid those bullets. Where Deathsmiles is a good solid introduction to bullet hell shooters, DoDonPachi is the daddy who shows you how it is done.

X: Deathsmiles was rather successful when it was released and you’ve clearly a lot of confidence in the performance of CAVE shooters in Europe, how closely do you work with the developer when bringing titles West and is this a new direction for RSG’s portfolio of titles looking forwards?

YH: I have a constant dialogue with CAVE with all things related to their game, so we work together very closely. Rising Star Games may be publishing and promoting DoDonPachi, but it is CAVE’s baby and we would be foolish not to have this open communication between us when formulating our marketing plans. It is a great partnership and I personally hope it is one that we continue with beyond DoDonPachi. As for a new direction for RSG, we have always stated that we aim to publish the best games from Japan, but more importantly games that people want to play. This applies to any game irrespective of who made it or its history. If it is good and people want to play it then we will do our best to make it happen.

X: Finally, are there any titles from CAVE or other shmup studios that you’d personally like to see make it out of Japan, published by Rising Star or otherwise?

YH: I would love to work on Akai Katana, but that is as much as I can say on future CAVE products at this moment. Personally I would love to work on a brand new R-Type, an HD version designed for the current console generation. It was a blast publishing R-Type Tactics for the PSP a couple of years ago and I hope Irem come up with a version with all the bells and whistles attached.

Please note, the video presented is for the purpose of giving our readership a better impression of the title’s action and taken from footage of the Japanese version, which may not necessarily reflect the final PAL product. DoDonPachi Resurrection is currently scheduled for a November 2011 release, for more information visit Rising Star Games’ website

Cave’s Akai Katana – which sees release in Japan later this month – is unfortunately one of these region locked titles. A bullet hell shmup, much like the incredible DeathSmiles, AK is thematically different from the horror focused witch-em-up, concentrating instead on military technology blending with magic. Here’s the latest trailer for the game…

www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRrVTR0GbgM

As you’ll see, the screen gets just as busy as DeathSmiles, filling the play area with brightly coloured projectiles and massive bosses. Cave have a pedigree of excellence in shmup design and this is no different, Akai Katana being warmly received in Japan’s hardcore arcade scene. And here’s why…

www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZMnpIPuie4

So is there a chance it’ll be picked up for a release on these shores? DeathSmiles‘ success both commercially and critically should point to a resounding “yes” but as yet there’s no confirmed interest from publishers. Joystiq’s JC Fletcher seems to be a big advocate of the title, drumming up talk state side for a US release and Cave have publicly stated that they want to bring the game over if there’s enough demand and the right outlet comes along.

We’ll certainly be keeping an ear to the ground for a European release of this one. Here’s hoping…

You play Yars, who will hopefully be taking her Revenge on pretty much everyone she meets. Humanoid in form but possessing wings and being decked out in curling, tightly moulded high tech armour, she sets out across six stages of shooting action, taking out wave after wave of enemy, giant boss after giant boss. The story is nonsensical and presented in that rather unlikeable still-frame-images-accompanied-by-text way. Mid-mission dialogue is also handled in this manner, forcing players to either draw their focus from the play field or ignore it completely. You’ll not be missing much if you decide the latter.

Though press releases from Atari up until this point have promised Panzer Dragoon, the new Yars’ Revenge is closer to a dual stick Space Harrier, with position of the player’s avatar being of much greater importance than SEGA’s dragon riding epics. Players control Yars with the left stick and the aiming reticule with the right, weaving in and out of enemy fire while taking out as many foes along the way. RT handles a quick firing cannon, LT has a multiple target missile lock assigned (which immediately made me think of Rez), the right bumper shoots a powerful bomb and the opposite bumper combined with a direction is a quick dodge to escape tricky situations. Face buttons are assigned to special pick-ups, such as a shield or an attack that obliterates everything on screen. Insectoid and robotic bad guys attempt to shoot you down, you deny them the pleasure, build up a score multiplier and proceed to the next enemy pattern over levels that take (a slightly too lengthy) 15 minutes or so to complete. It’s simple stuff and there are far too few enemy types, but it’s a more current gameplay style than the original’s top down offering and is all the better for it.

Like Panzer Dragoon, the work of Jean Giraud is clearly an inspiration in its character design and world aesthetic, nature mixing with metal and electronics. A pity then that the engine rendering the on screen models can’t quite live up to the aspiration, producing low polygon count baddies that animate rigidly. Backgrounds whizz by the player but have no bearing on play in the slightest, to the point that enemies will often turn direction with the player at set moments, a bizarre display of Red Arrows-like formation flying. There are some neat areas to see in Yars’ Revenge, but you could be flying through a pitch black void for as much affect it would have on your shooting strategy. The upside of this basic visual presentation is that the action remains constant and smooth throughout, barely dropping a frame of animation during my time with the title. What really stands out though is the menu design which, even as I write this sentence, sounds oddly specific. The interface of getting into play is elegant and sharp, all honeycombs and icy neon hues, everything you could possibly want to access neatly and cleanly presented. The audio is solid too, Orbital-era chilltronica scores the play, shooting sounds appropriately pew pew.

There’s also a series of challenges for high score chasers and leader board junkies, which replicate the one player mode levels but with a twist; keep the multiplier going or take damage, have no access to health recharging shields and so on. It forces you to change your approach to the game, yet never quite far enough to warrant much time with them, barring a few rock hard achievement unlocks.

This is a competently made B game that tries something different with the Yars’ Revenge property while remaining faithful to the overall concept of what the original was all about, the inclusion of a  handful of subtle winks to players of the original denoting a level of respect for the brand you don’t usually find in remakes. It won’t blow you away in any department of its production – except those menus, BLIMEY! – but it’s a good afternoon of old school rail-shooter fun.

MLG Rating: 6/10

Platform: XBLA/PSN/PC Release Date: 12/04/2011

Disclosure: Midlife Gamer were provided a digital copy of Yars’ Revenge for review purposes by the promoter. The title was reviewed over the course of three days on an Xbox 360. For more information on what our scores mean, plus details of our reviews policy, click here.

Rez

The new trailer for Child Of Eden is below and you’ll see a few glimpses of arguably the first “real” game for Kinect. Ignoring the actors trying to mime the actions being represented on screen – badly – the music alone would have sold this to me, the gorgeously detailed on-rails shooting and  levels of precision the team at Q Entertainment are aiming for (seewhatididthere?) seal the deal.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJhXJQ8Rq0A

Child Of Eden is out in the second quarter of this year, for more details visit the official website.

There’s also more customisation footage early on in the trailer and a snippet of the parkour abilities on offer too, so press play and clear the decks for May the 17^th and 20^th when Brink will be released in The States and Europe respectively.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vp9slliNS5M

As you’ll see from the trailer Ubisoft aren’t being coy about any of its marketing, this is a video game for swingers, voyeurs and other frequenters of Cannock Chase. Choose 6969 at the end of the video – see what they did there – and the matter is clarified: Jeff, Ricky, Tina and Cindy getting off, partially clothed, in (presumably) one of them’s immaculate front room.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bxd96qRa6wY

This is a whole new world of WTF and though it’s great to have sexual content in video games – Heavy Rain and Mass Effect handled it just fine – this is just keys in a bowl for the digital age. Also, we’re wondering what the single player’s like…

The game is out soon, you can find out more here. Or on Fox News FOREVER.