Monthly Archives: April 2015
We Are Doomed Review
The best twin stick shooters turn tension and survival into an accessible kind of thrill. There's something inherently satisfying about flying around and avoiding being hit as you shoot at the increasingly numerous ships. Threading the needle with your ship as you narrowly cut through a tight blob of enemies is exhilarating, and the sheer act of moving the other joystick in order to fire your weapon makes the barrier to entry almost nonexistent. Because of the simple concept and ease of playability, twin stick shooters occupy a flexible design space, one that can hold any number of new ideas and concepts effortlessly. Unfortunately, while We Are Doomed gets what's so appealing about the genre and applies it to make a satisfying shooter in its own right, it fails to justify its existence, thanks to a lack of new ideas and predictable enemy placement.
We Are Doomed makes an excellent first impression, thanks to its striking audiovisual presentation. The enemies and animations all combine to form the same kind of strikingly jagged, abstract aesthetic that was featured in Everyday Shooter, while the music and backgrounds grant a trippy touch of synesthesia similar to what you'd find in a Jeff Minter game. And though We Are Doomed only ever features one aesthetic tone, it fuses with the game's mechanics and progression in small, smart ways. The swirling pink and purple of the main stage juxtaposes with the level's boundaries, which are marked by a starry, spacy backdrop. When you clear a wave, the pinkness wipes away for a moment as space engulfs it before it returns to deliver a new round of foes to clear. Your laser weapon looks big and powerful, almost as if it's ripping at the edges.
Movement is as smooth and effortless as a twin stick shooter should be, and enemies are clearly visible. It's easy to learn their particular patterns quickly (though many just bimble around aimlessly). But most importantly, shooting things feels good. The giant beam not only looks impressive, but it feels powerful when you're slicing through enemies. You don't immediately destroy them when they touch your beam, as they can withstand maybe half a second of direct exposure, but you can feel that resistance as you wait for the moment when they break, and that makes the moment of destruction all the more satisfying. The superbeam is the satisfying pinnacle of the action, letting you fire an even longer, more powerful version of your beam for a short time. The superbeam feels amazing, since the resistance you felt from the vanilla beam disappears when you cut through entire blobs of foes as if they were butter.
We Are Doomed's bells and whistles are silenced, however, when you look past its presentation. The game can be played in an endless mode or in a finite waves mode that features thirty scripted waves of enemies to survive. It features only one weapon: A beam that constantly protrudes from your ship, but only reaches so far, like a lance. Gathering flashing cubes increases your score modifier, and also grants you access to the superbeam. And that's it. You get no alternate weapons beyond the beam, no smart bombs that let you relieve the pressure when you're about to get overwhelmed, and no other fancy options in your bag of tricks. Though there is some charm in the challenge of playing with a limited toolset, here it makes for a flat experience. All you're doing is carving through swarms of enemies in one specific way each and every time.
The big problem with We Are Doomed is how much it limits itself to its detriment. Not only do you get only one weapon, but the game also does nothing interesting with the environment or enemies. You end up shooting things like tiny squids, triangular missiles, and giant disco ball-like circles, but all they do is try to bump into you or shoot you. We Are Doomed features some non-enemy threats, but they also fall under the banner of ramming or shooting. There's so much potential for a wide variety of different encounters. Even genre stalwart Geometry Wars employed devices such as the black holes that messed with the gravity of the playing field. But We Are Doomed is unfortunately content merely to crowd you until you die.
That's the frustrating thing about We Are Doomed: Despite all these issues, you can have fun with it. Because Vertex Pop took so much care in making everything feel right, nothing gets in the way of your enjoyment. You'll still remember the near-deaths you deftly flew your way out of. You'll still panic as the blobs of enemies cluster in and choke every available escape route until there's nothing but death left. And you'll remember the elation when you clear all thirty waves. The problem is that you can get those exact experiences and more elsewhere, whereas We Are Doomed doesn't really care to stake its own claim in the crowded shooter space. You're not going to see the surprising environmental twists of the Geometry Wars games or the charming DIY spirit of Everyday Shooter. In reality, you're just playing Twin Stick Shooter: The Game.
Even a solid game needs some spice, and We Are Doomed never gives you much. You will certainly notice how good it feels to play the game, and the presentation is top notch, but it never really gives you a reason to care. Sure, you're thrown a bunch of stages including about seven different enemy types, but when the bump and shoot behaviors wear thin, you aren't left with anything more to look forward to. Soon, the only thing that's doomed is your waning interest.
We Are Doomed Review
The best twin stick shooters turn tension and survival into an accessible kind of thrill. There's something inherently satisfying about flying around and avoiding being hit as you shoot at the increasingly numerous ships. Threading the needle with your ship as you narrowly cut through a tight blob of enemies is exhilarating, and the sheer act of moving the other joystick in order to fire your weapon makes the barrier to entry almost nonexistent. Because of the simple concept and ease of playability, twin stick shooters occupy a flexible design space, one that can hold any number of new ideas and concepts effortlessly. Unfortunately, while We Are Doomed gets what's so appealing about the genre and applies it to make a satisfying shooter in its own right, it fails to justify its existence, thanks to a lack of new ideas and predictable enemy placement.
We Are Doomed makes an excellent first impression, thanks to its striking audiovisual presentation. The enemies and animations all combine to form the same kind of strikingly jagged, abstract aesthetic that was featured in Everyday Shooter, while the music and backgrounds grant a trippy touch of synesthesia similar to what you'd find in a Jeff Minter game. And though We Are Doomed only ever features one aesthetic tone, it fuses with the game's mechanics and progression in small, smart ways. The swirling pink and purple of the main stage juxtaposes with the level's boundaries, which are marked by a starry, spacy backdrop. When you clear a wave, the pinkness wipes away for a moment as space engulfs it before it returns to deliver a new round of foes to clear. Your laser weapon looks big and powerful, almost as if it's ripping at the edges.
Movement is as smooth and effortless as a twin stick shooter should be, and enemies are clearly visible. It's easy to learn their particular patterns quickly (though many just bimble around aimlessly). But most importantly, shooting things feels good. The giant beam not only looks impressive, but it feels powerful when you're slicing through enemies. You don't immediately destroy them when they touch your beam, as they can withstand maybe half a second of direct exposure, but you can feel that resistance as you wait for the moment when they break, and that makes the moment of destruction all the more satisfying. The superbeam is the satisfying pinnacle of the action, letting you fire an even longer, more powerful version of your beam for a short time. The superbeam feels amazing, since the resistance you felt from the vanilla beam disappears when you cut through entire blobs of foes as if they were butter.
We Are Doomed's bells and whistles are silenced, however, when you look past its presentation. The game can be played in an endless mode or in a finite waves mode that features thirty scripted waves of enemies to survive. It features only one weapon: A beam that constantly protrudes from your ship, but only reaches so far, like a lance. Gathering flashing cubes increases your score modifier, and also grants you access to the superbeam. And that's it. You get no alternate weapons beyond the beam, no smart bombs that let you relieve the pressure when you're about to get overwhelmed, and no other fancy options in your bag of tricks. Though there is some charm in the challenge of playing with a limited toolset, here it makes for a flat experience. All you're doing is carving through swarms of enemies in one specific way each and every time.
The big problem with We Are Doomed is how much it limits itself to its detriment. Not only do you get only one weapon, but the game also does nothing interesting with the environment or enemies. You end up shooting things like tiny squids, triangular missiles, and giant disco ball-like circles, but all they do is try to bump into you or shoot you. We Are Doomed features some non-enemy threats, but they also fall under the banner of ramming or shooting. There's so much potential for a wide variety of different encounters. Even genre stalwart Geometry Wars employed devices such as the black holes that messed with the gravity of the playing field. But We Are Doomed is unfortunately content merely to crowd you until you die.
That's the frustrating thing about We Are Doomed: Despite all these issues, you can have fun with it. Because Vertex Pop took so much care in making everything feel right, nothing gets in the way of your enjoyment. You'll still remember the near-deaths you deftly flew your way out of. You'll still panic as the blobs of enemies cluster in and choke every available escape route until there's nothing but death left. And you'll remember the elation when you clear all thirty waves. The problem is that you can get those exact experiences and more elsewhere, whereas We Are Doomed doesn't really care to stake its own claim in the crowded shooter space. You're not going to see the surprising environmental twists of the Geometry Wars games or the charming DIY spirit of Everyday Shooter. In reality, you're just playing Twin Stick Shooter: The Game.
Even a solid game needs some spice, and We Are Doomed never gives you much. You will certainly notice how good it feels to play the game, and the presentation is top notch, but it never really gives you a reason to care. Sure, you're thrown a bunch of stages including about seven different enemy types, but when the bump and shoot behaviors wear thin, you aren't left with anything more to look forward to. Soon, the only thing that's doomed is your waning interest.
15 Avengers Comics You Need to Read
Are you stoked for the upcoming Avengers: Age of Ultron movie and want to read the best of the best Avengers comics that Marvel has to offer? We've got you covered.
We've assembled a list of 15 different Avengers storylines that we consider to be essential reading for any fan. They're sorted in the order they were released instead of being ranked because, honestly, they're all amazing and worth a read. Just pick the ones that speak to you -- or if you're a real Avenger, read them all.
These comics showcase the biggest and best Marvel heroes and some of their most iconic battles with foes like Ultron, Kang, the High Evolutionary, and other major villains.
Issues: The Avengers Vol. 1 #89-97 (1971-72)
GameStop to Offer Classic Consoles and Games
Dust off your Nintendo 64. Once again it, and other retro consoles, will be accepted at GameStop. The company will launch a pilot sales and trade-in program for retro consoles, games, and accessories in two of its markets beginning April 25.
Stores in its NYC and Birmingham markets, which comprise around 250 store locations, will play host to the program.
According to a spokesperson for GameStop, the qualifying locations will begin accepting "games, systems and select accessories for most 'retro' platforms," going all the way back to the Nintendo Entertainment System. If the program proves successful, GameStop hopes to roll it out nationally "later this year."
The systems and accessories that you will be able to trade-in and purchase include the NES, Super NES, SEGA Genesis, PlayStation, N64, and SEGA Dreamcast. This will increase the number of games GameStop offers either for sale or to purchase by "about 5000."
Naval Warfare Is Coming to World of Warcraft
World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor patch 6.2 is now available on the Public Test Realm, and its includes - amongst other things - naval warfare.
According to Battle.net, players can now add a shipyard to their garrison. The shipyard allows the building of boats which can then be dispatched on new naval missions.
The shipyard also unlocks access to a new zone, The Invasion of Tanaan Jungle. The jungle boasts "open-world questing" as well as rare creatures and treasures scattered throughout. It's also the location of new raid Hellfire Citadel, which houses 13 bosses.
Rumor: Batman v Superman Trailer Tease Hits this Week
It sounds like fans may finally be getting a look at the trailer for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice very soon.
According to Latino Review, director Zack Snyder will release just five seconds from the teaser trailer this Thursday at 9AM PST. From there, according to this rumor, you’ll be able to sign up to see the full trailer on Monday, April 20, in a theater of your choosing. Additionally, LR says the trailer will be attached to Avengers: Age of Ultron when that film is released later this month. (This would conflict with previous reports that the trailer would premiere before Warner Bros.' Mad Max: Fury Road when it hits in mid-May.)
What’s Next for Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm Developer?
CyberConnect2, developer of the upcoming Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4, has had a long relationship with the Naruto series. Since 2003, the studio has released 16 Naruto games. With the series coming to an end, CyberConnect2 will have a mighty gap to fill.
That new series could be Dragon Ball. There’s been quite a few requests and suggestions from many people for the team to work on a Dragon Ball game, CyberConnect2 CEO Hiroshi Matsuyama told IGN. Matsuyama found the suggestions interesting, but didn’t say whether or not the studio is looking into pursuing a Dragon Ball game. Still, Matsuyama said the studio isn't ready to plan new games and has its full focus on finishing development on Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 and their next title in the JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure series.
Deus Ex Director Talks Boss Battles, Difficulty
Deus Ex: Mankind Divided director Jean-Francois Dugas recently took to Twitter to answer a handful of fan questions about the newly-announced stealth game from Square Enix.
Perhaps one of the biggest revelations from the Q&A was the fact that players can "ghost" - make it through a level without being seen - throughout entire levels, including those with bosses.
"As always and even on boss side finally!" Dugas said in response to the question. Additionally, he confirmed conversations in boss battles would make a return in the upcoming installment, similar to the ones found in Deus Ex: Human Revolution.
Wrestling Wrap Up: Rollins/Orton Extreme Rules Match Set
It's that time of year again. Time for RAW to emirate from London's O2 Arena!
Accurate.
A decent show Monday night. A lively crowd (complete with some leftover post-Mania style chanting). And most importantly... PAIGE AND KANE TOOK A TRIP TO THE DOCTOR WHO SET!
Before #WWECardiff, @RealPaigeWWE and @KaneWWE get inside the #Tardis on the new set of #DrWho @BBC studios pic.twitter.com/eupxDQydnS
Netflix to Add Audio Description for the Blind
Netflix is looking to make their programming more accessible to people by adding audio description for the blind.
Currently, it appears these audio tracks will only be applied to Netflix's library of original programming. It will first be made available for the recently-release Daredevil series, and will later be applied to Orange is the New Black, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, House of Cards, and Marco Polo.
The audio description track serves as a narration for the visually impaired, adding a voiceover to the show describing scenes, character actions, emotions, set changes, and costume changes, among others.
Netflix says the audio tracks for its other shows will be released in the coming weeks.