In studio: Razor, Candi and Lee.
Lee reviews Submerged (PC), a third person combat-free game where you explore the mysterious ruins of a flooded city. Razor talks Grow Home, a quirky climbins-simulator about a robot trying to climb a giant plant back to it’s home planet.
Aired 9 September 2015.
In studio: Jody Macgregor, Lee May and Razor.
This week: the gang gets together to check out the versus mode of Mortal Kombat X (PC/PS//XB1). We also had a go of Primal Carnage: Extinction, an arena game that pits dinosaurs against humans. Razor and Lee check out Never Alone, an emotional and educational puzzle platformer based around aspects of Inuit culture.
Aired 22 April 2015.
In studio: Lee May, Jody Macgregor, Candi Payne and Razor.
This week: Razor talks about Final Fantasy Type-0 HD(PS4/XB1) an action RPG ported from the 2011 PSP version. Jody review Three Fourths Home (PC) a visual novel about a conversation that a family has while driving home from a holiday. Lee provides some first impressions of Final Fantasy XV‘s demo, Episode Duscae (Bundled with FF Type 0 HD).
Aired 25 March 2015.
Platform: PC, PS4
Developer: Supergiant
Website: http://supergiantgames.com/index.php/transistor
Australian classification: Unrated
Plenty of games have kludged together the tactical depth of turn-based battles with the high-stakes immediacy of real-time fighting, letting you freeze combat to issue commands then watch things play out, maybe taking control of simple actions or just looking on till you need to take over again like an interfering theatre parent. Transistor, a new action RPG from the developers of Bastion, takes a similar approach: pause time to cue up some powers, watch them play out in a second of glorious bullet time, then run around like a headless chicken till your ability to freeze things refills.
You play Red, a singer who has lost her voice, as she travels across the city of Cloudbank towards a reckoning with the individuals who took it from her. The Transistor is both weapon and companion, a high-tech sword/artificial intelligence/soul-storage device/all-purpose problem solving tool, guiding and advising you as you cross the city. But a legion of robotic beings called The Process are in the midst of dismantling Cloudbank and you’ll have to fight through them to get both answers and revenge.
Platform: PC, PS4
Developer: Zombie Studios
Website: www.playdaylight.com
Australian rating: M
For the first 15 minutes Daylight had me hooked. Waking up in a dark, abandoned hospital with only a handful of flares, glow-sticks, and a smartphone for light, a spooky voice on the other end of that phone, and no weapons to protect myself from things scurrying around in the shadows? That’s a fine setup for a horror game, immersive and eerie. But Daylight revealed its rules too quickly, and once you’ve seen behind the curtain and know how a game works the intrigue drains right out of it – especially if it’s content to just repeat those rules until it’s done.
Here’s how it goes: each dark location is a series of rooms dead-ending at a mystical lock that can only be opened by a sigil, which is an item imbued with personal significance – perhaps a doll, or a Bible. The sigil won’t appear until you find six clues (called ‘remnants’ by the game and your friend on the phone), which are scattered notes that might be hospital administration papers, newspaper articles, or diary fragments, all slowly contributing to a convoluted backstory.
Once you’ve collected the remnants, revealed the sigil, and opened the lock you move on to a slightly different set of darkened rooms to do the whole thing again. And again. That’s the entire game.
We are joined live in-studio by Cameron Davis – “grizzled games industry veteran” and author of Blow The Cartridge, a web comic series about retro gaming. We discuss comics, games, life, the universe and everything – including hilarious stories about the games industry and Street Fighter 2. Check out his work here.
Lee and Jody collect the bounty on Mercenary Kings (PC/PS4)
Aired 9 April 2014
We chat with Sanatana Mishra, designer of Assault Android Cactus, a twin-stick shooter for the PC (coming to PS4/PS Vita later this year). We discuss the game creation process, the definition of “bullet-hell” and hear the story of how a 3-person studio gained the support of Sony.
Jody gives us some first impressions of the sub-atomic puzzler “Particulars” (Steam early access)
In studio: Razor, Lee, Jody.
Aired 15 January 2014
It is said that a good leader does not simply lead. A good leader inspires. A good leader can take any ragtag assembly of layabouts and transform them into a steel python, ready to strike on command.
But we’re not commanding soldiers here. We’re commanding Battlefield 4 players. So forget all of that, and for the love of fuck put away that copy of The Art Of War.
(53:18/49MB)
Right-click and select “Save As” to download.
This week’s podcast contains 4 tracks from 7BIT HERO’s EP “We Eat Loot”, courtesy of Hans/7Bit Hero!
Aired Wednesday 27 February, 2013
We talk to Hans Van Vliet of 7BIT HERO ahead of the EP launch at State Library of QLD this Saturday night. We also hear 4 tracks from the EP “We Eat Loot” http://7bithero.com
Lee and Alanah suit up to review CRYSIS 3!
Plus, our thoughts on the PS4 reveal.
1. MOONBASE COMMANDER – Ekisaitobaiku
2. 7BIT HERO – Come On, Stand Out
3. 7BIT HERO – Side Quest
4. 7BIT HERO – Playing Games With My Heart
5. 7BIT HERO – Main Menu Screen
6. DRAGONFORCE – Holding On
A video released by Sony on their blog today has hinted that the PS4 may be unveiled as early as the 20th of February. The date has been set aside for a Playstation conference event to be held in New York City. While the video only mentions a date and not much else, text attached to the video reads “see the future” and “be the first to know”, so we can be forgiven for jumping to conclusions here!
The World of Warcraft film adaptation now has a director attached to it. Duncan Jones, director of Source Code and the son of David Bowie, will direct the film which has been scripted by Blood Diamond writer Charles Leavitt. The film has a budget of $100 million.
Blizzard has released a video demonstrating the social features of the upcoming Starcraft 2: Heart of the Swarm. The game has a release date of the 12th of March 2013.
Rockstar has today announced the official release date for Grand Theft Auto V. Originally expected in April 2013, the revised date is the 17th of September 2013. GTA V will be available for the PS3 and 360, PC and Wii U versions are yet to be announced. Below is the official statement from Rockstar’s website:
Dear all
Today, we have an official release date to share with you: Grand Theft Auto V will arrive in stores on September 17, 2013.
We know this is about four months later than originally planned and we know that this short delay will come as a disappointment to many of you, but, trust us, it will be worth the extra time. GTAV is a massively ambitious and complex game and it simply needs a little more polish to be of the standard we and, more importantly, you require.
To all Grand Theft Auto fans, please accept our apologies for the delay, and our promise that the entire team here is working very hard to make the game all it can be. We are doing all we can to help ensure it will meet if not exceed your expectations come September – we thank you for your support and patience.
Yours,
The GTA Team
