Final Combat (CN)

Final Combat, a game most would love to hate due to its similarity to other shooters out there and the perception that Chinese games are bad. But if you read my previous post (link), you would have known that the producer for this game is actually an American, Troy Horton, who famously dissed Korean developers as folks who do not know how to make a good online shooter.

The latest mode in this game is the short and appropriately named Boss mode. 1 player will be randomly chosen to act as the giant robot boss each round and the rest is pretty much self-explanatory, with downing the big piece of walking metal as the main aim. Not your most innovative mode so far, but nonetheless adds variety to Final Combat.

The Best of 1UP 2011: Reviews

1UP's long-standing goal to provide the most in-depth and thoughtful reviews on the web was thoroughly tested in 2011 by a number of big releases. This year, gamers were treated to the mature subject matter of Catherine, the seemingly never ending boundaries of Skyrim's open-ended quest system, and a barrage of HD remakes that caused us to question our rose-tinted feelings of nostalgia. Regardless of the challenge, 1UP's reviews held true to that credo, bringing you a steady stream of timely, interesting critiques. Check out our 10 best below.

Jump to: Best of News | Best of Podcasts | Best of Blogs | Best of Previews
Best of Features | Best of Community | Best of Guides | Best of Video
Best of Reviews | Best of Retrospectives

• 
  
  
  

  Jurassic Park
  Offers the Interactivity of a DVD Menu Screen

  
  This demonstrates
  that perhaps the biggest fans can be the harshest critics. While there are certainly incidents of a fanboy's positive bias making everything seem rosy no matter what, sometimes your love of something means that what it does wrong just hurts even more. So even
  though Bob Mackey is an avowed fan of developer Telltale Games, the misstep they had with Jurassic Park was big enough that even he had to warn others to pass on it.
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  Mario Kart 7
  Comfortably Settles For Silver

  
  Given Mario Kart's
  multiplayer focus, we got all cute with our review format and had five staff members tackle the game. Not only did it make for one of our longest reviews of the year, but it earned hugely varied comments from readers.

• 
  
  
  

  Genre-Defining Tactics Ogre Returns to Define the Art of Remakes, Too

  
  One of the best RPGs
  of 2011 hit the PSP of all platforms? Who knew? Apparently, Jeremy Parish did; his review of Tactics Ogre refers to the game as "the definitive edition of an RPG masterpiece."
  


• 
  
  
  

  Deus Ex: Human
  Revolution is The Best Stealth Action Game Since Metal Gear Solid

  
  With Deus Ex being
  a game about choice, we figured we'd give readers a choice as well, offering up three different viewpoints from 1UP editors Jeremy Parish, Thierry Nguyen, and Ryan Winterhalter. The biggest difference here didn't come from disagreeing on the game quality,
  though, but rather approaching the game from different perspectives -- while Thierry played balls-out, Jeremy played stealthily.
  

• 
  
  
  

  The Legend of
  Zelda Skyward Sword Soars, But Struggles With Its Past

  
  After five years without a proper console Zelda game, fans couldn't possibly rein in their anticipation over Skyward Sword. So after a half-decade of waiting and mystery, what did Nintendo give us? A flawed (though still great) game that doesn't quite meet the series' quality standard. 1UP's Jose Otero examines why this latest Zelda isn't quite up to snuff in his thoughtful review.


• 
  
  
  

  Catherine Reminds Us That Mature Content Can Sometimes Be Sincerely Mature

  
  The build-up leading
  into Catherine signaled that it was clearly a game with adults in mind. In his review, 1UP's Jeremy Parish carefully examines Atlus's puzzle game and celebrates its mature angle.

• 
  
  
  

  Aliens Infestation
  isn't Perfect, but It's an Essential DS Game Regardless

  
  1UP's Jeremy Parish examines all the reasons why Aliens Infestation is the best video game interpretation of the Alien source material
  yet and an essential purchase for the aging Nintendo DS.
  


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  Skyrim Spans
  16 Square Miles of RPG Excellence

  
  Pehaps the most talked-about game of 2011, Skyrim surprised fans and haters alike with it's revamped quest and character class systems. In their tag-team review, 1UP's Jeremy Parish and Theirry Nguyen discuss the open-ended structure of the latest Elder Scrolls game and how it contributes
  to one of the most engrossing video game experiences of the year. After spending a combined total of 125 hours with Betheda's latest game, the two had plenty to say.

• 
  
  
  

  Batman: Arkham City
  Reaffirms Itself as The Best Superhero Game

  
  2011 gave us what
  may be the greatest superhero game of all time in Batman: Arkham City. The sentiments expressed in our review were echoed by pretty much every other gamer fortunate enough to experience Rocksteady's masterpiece. A great story, amazing combat, and copious amounts
  of fan-service combined to give us the game we deserve. As 1UP's Thierry Nguyen points out in his slug, it does what a great sequel should by trumping its predecessor in every way imaginable.
  


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  Shogun 2: Total War Makes Amends for Its Predecessor's War Crimes

  
  The
  Total War series fell on tough times a few years ago, and reviewer Tom Chick went into this game bracing himself for another disappointment. Instead, Creative Assembly surprised him and Chick makes the case in this review for what just might be the best RTS
  game this year.

Sonic 4's Physics "Reworked" for Episode II

Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode II has been officially announced and is coming sometime in 2012, Sega revealed today.

In what will be a fairly lengthy wait for an episodic series (as long as we don't use Half-Life as the benchmark), Episode II will be coming more than a year after release of Episode I in 2010. Today's announcement mentions that the physics are being "completely reworked" in this new game, which is very welcome news for those who felt that particular problem plagued Episode I. The game will also see the return of Tails, as the trailer above teases in not-very-subtle fashion.

Those who expected Episode II to be out in 2011 had that hope shot down this past summer. Sega opted to focus on Sonic Generations this year to celebrate the series' 20-year anniversary.

The list of platforms for Episode II includes almost all of the same ones as Episode I -- Xbox Live Arcade, PlayStation Network, iOS, and Windows Phone 7 -- along with a new addition in Android phones with an Nvidia Tegra processor. The one missing platform here is WiiWare, which Episode I was available on. There was no mention of it in the press release and it has since been confirmed on the Sega forums (via Nintendo Life) that the game won't be available on Wii.

"[T]he reason Episode I was on the Wii was because we wanted to bring the Sonic 4 saga to the widest possible audience," wrote Sonic 4 brand manager Ken Balough. "Episode II unfortunately will not be coming to the Wii - for reasons most people have probably guessed, but that doesn't mean the SEGA isn't supporting Nintendo platforms, we have a very strong partnership and will continue to do so."

TERA Japan

The negative news for either TERA Korea or TERA Japan never stops coming despite winning the Presidential prize (or Game of the Year Award) at this year's G*Star. TERA Japan has announced that the big scale server merge will commence on January 25th 2012, early next year. How big scale is this? Well, 10 servers merging into 3 says tons for the troubled game. The Japan server is apparently blighted by 3rd party bot programs as well, something which the Korean server is having difficulty to control.

Charra, Caia and Cillian will merge into the one and only PK server, Charra; Arun, Belleek and Selen to form into 1 of the PvE servers, Belleek; finally, Elrinu, Jurase, Mistelle and Balder into the 2nd PvE server, Elrinu.

In order to stay relevant, attract new players and maintain the current crop, some dungeons' cool-down timing will be reduced by half, with drop rates doubled as well. This event will begin today and last till January 18th 2012.

Reported earlier, TERA Japan got off to an awesome start (link), with Open Beta getting a high number of 48, 624 users. a record for publisher Hangame Japan. With emergency servers needed, hopes were sky high for the game hit with problems back in Korea. However, the negative forecasts (link) apparently is coming true in just a few months. The Korean server underwent a massive merge a few months back as well (link).

Ten WTF Intersections of Video Games And Hollywood

Lynch or Fincher? Make a damn decision

Posted: 1 hour ago by  shady78

Getting sick of people, especially me, just throwing these names around. Oh, look, some girl got a tattoo by David Lynch, isn't that going to be a sight?

Kind of reminds me of Child of Eden, a game I have only coursed two levels on, mind you, but it is really not what I had expected from Q.

It is simply not as dynamic as I thought it would be (was playing on playstation, with dual-shock and 3-D). I mean, sure, it's a whale with barnacles, but how long can the whale whirl around?

Also the game does a poor/rushed job of Move support. I just threw the Move into the screen, then began using my joypad.

The worst thing about the game is that it doesn't even bother to start in 3D when you're viewing over a 3D television. You're like, sitting there, wondering why this cute girl is not in 3D, when you should be focusing on why the cute girl wants to be cute. You have to go into options and set the damn game to 3D.

 

Legend of Wukong

From China developer Baiyou which brought us City of Dreams, a TERA-lookalike (link), comes Legend of Wukong, its latest MMORPG title. As you can guess from the name, the storyline will revolve around the storyline of Journey to the West and its protagonist, Sun Wukong or the Monkey King.

According to various foreign articles, the game will feature a fast action combo system during combat found in most platform games. However, the game is apparently not a non-target one.

There are apparently 4 races with 6 classes as shown above. Other features include the 72 Transformations, where players can change into various monsters and bosses to utilize their skills, a 2nd set of skill system which is mixed-and-matched and not bound by race or class.

Don't forget the summoned cloud which Wukong uses as a transport! Players will be able to obtain one as well (though not always in the shape of a cloud) and with this, engage in air combat and PvP. Didn't Jade Dynasty had this?

Everything for Legend of Wukong, including the game's engine, is self-developed by Baiyou and a 500-strong Closed beta is expected to being on 10th September. Some parts of the game does look familiar, and the first 2 screenshots below apparently showcase some ideas they got from elsewhere... A cookie for the one who name the 2 games they resemble!

Queen's Blade Online (KR)

(English teaser site) Just for your information, having an English teaser site up now is mainly to attract potential business partners for different regions, it might take awhile before we see an actual English server. As mentioned in my previous posts (link), this game has nothing to do with the Japanese anime of the same name, but players can only assume female characters, no males are allowed!

The game will be re-named when it hit overseas market, so this title is possibly only for Korea. Over at the English site, character classes, storyline and more are already being translated. Go on and take a look! The trailer below was shown a couple of weeks back.

Here are some really awesome artwork from the teaser website. Sexy and stylish!

The Best of 1UP 2011: Videos

2011 was a time of rebuilding for 1UP's video department. Time and the economy had not been kind to that portion of the site over the past few years, so we entered the year with no real video resources to speak of. But once we brought aboard industry vet Dave Toole aboard to help right our listing ship, we began experimenting with different show concepts again to bring you maximum game-related video entertainment. From a fun (albeit unloved by the masses) attempt at marrying the Daily 1UPdate format to the 1UP Show's vibe up through our more recent epic live stream marathons, we'll continue amusing your eyeballs in 2012. For now, here are a few of our favorite video productions from the year gone by.

Jump to: Best of News | Best of Podcasts | Best of Blogs | Best of Previews
Best of Features | Best of Community | Best of Guides | Best of Video
Best of Reviews | Best of Retrospectives

• 
  
  
  

  Prototyping
  Deus Ex: Human Revolution - Daily 1UPdate: August 15, 2011

  
  We're
  all about behind the scenes access when it comes to talking with developers. So it's nice to work with a studio that's willing to show us multiple iterations of its game -- to illustrate just what kind of work and growth goes into a game. So for Deus Ex: Human
  Revolution, we had designer Antoine Thisdale guide us through an early prototype, then the "vertical slice," and ending with the final product.
  
  


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  Retronauts:
  Battling Japan in Capcom's 1942 - Daily 1UPdate: August 2, 2011

  
  Earlier this year,
  we spent some quarters and discussed the culturally bizarre shooter that is 1942. From a brief history of the Pacific theatre to the torturous pain of the game's soundtrack, we leave no stone unturned.

• 
  
  
  

  Saints
  Row: The Third and Creating Itagaki (creator of Ninja Gaiden) - In Detail

  
  1UP's Theirry Nguyen shows how to create the notorious man behind Dead or Alive: Beach Volleyball using Saints Row: The Third's character creator.
  


• 
  
  
  

  Nintendo
  Wii U Zelda HD Experience Hands-On Walkthrough Demo

  
  Though it only exists
  as a taste of what's to come, the Wii U Zelda HD Experience certainly turned heads at E3 (where the system was unveiled, don't you know). 1UP's own Jeremy Parish managed to play around with Zelda HD and brought back video proof of his findings; see for yourself
  the potential of what Jeremy calls "a Wii Remote that had a baby with an iPad." (Don't worry, there's no age gate.)
  

• 
  
  
  

  Super
  Mario DS Played on the Nintendo 3DS

  
  Backward compatibility
  is always one of the key issues in the early days of a young system's life (since there's always so little launch-day content worth playing). Here we offer a brief video glimpse of Super Mario 64 DS as played on the 3DS and discover that the system's slide
  pad combines quite nicely with the port's controls to offer a surprisingly smooth simulation of analog input... and
  without
  the need for that stupid thumb sheathe that shipped with the original DS.


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  Skyrim
  4-Hour Play Session

  
  1UP's Jeremy Parish,
  Thierry "Scooter" Nguyen, and Ryan Winterhalter answer all of your Skyrim-related questions as they take your through a zany 4-hour play session on the game's launch day.

• 
  
  
  

  The Uncharted Concept
  Video

  
  As part of Thierry
  Nguyen's feature on the making of the Uncharted series, we tracked down an early prototype video Naughty Dog used to pitch the first Uncharted to the higher-ups at Sony.
  


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  Daily
  1UPdate: July 21, 2011 - Ultimate MvC3

  
  We here at 1UP recognize
  that when we're not masters of the field, then we look for such masters. We don't know everything about every game! Fighting games is one of our gaps of knowledge, so when the news of Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 emerged, we didn't futz around with ill-informed
  goobers; we had Matt Leone sit down with IGN's Mark Ryan Sallee and Neidel "haunts" Crisan from iPLAYWINNER to talk fighting shop.

• 
  
  
  

  1UP
  Live at Club Nokia - David Jaffe

  
  Before their legendary
  post-VGA blog post duel, 1UP Managing Editor Matt Leone and Eat Sleep Play founder David Jaffe sat down at Club Nokia (along with Executive Editor Thierry Nguyen) during E3 2011 for a casual chat about current game industry trends, the impact of this year's
  E3, the challenges facing publishers, and of course Jaffe's next project, the Twisted Metal reboot.
  


• 
  
  
  

  Super
  Mario 3D Land Comparison Video

  
  Super Mario 3D Land
  collects many of the series' most memorable moments and rearranges them in a grab-bag of fun-size Mario bitlets. Discover the specific moments Mario's newest game references through Jeremy's brief video tour of 3D Land.