Throwback Thursday: Win Under Siege

Our Throwback Thursday promotion rolls on this week with Seed Studios’ Under Siege for the PlayStation Network. The real-time strategy game has met with solid reviews, including our own Uma Smith bestowing a 3.75 out of 5 on it earlier this month. And now, we’re giving two of you the chance to play Under Siege for free!

HOW TO ENTER

Step 1) Head over to Uma’s review of Under Siege.

Step 2) Post your favorite Steven Seagal movie title or quote on her review.

Step 3) Include your @Twitter name if you have one. If you’re not on Twitter, make sure your email address is correct.

Sample Comment
One thought he was invincible, the other thought he could fly… they were both wrong.
@BadAssPonyTail

THE DETAILS

Two (2) winners will be selected at random on Tuesday, July 5th. All entries must be received by 8 PM EST/5 PM PST on Tuesday. Anyone can enter, but you must be following me on Twitter or provide a valid email address so that codes can be sent to you.

Good luck!

PSN Review: Alien Zombie Mega Death

What space program recruited these babies???

By: Uma Smith

A lot of people shy away from games with ridiculous titles. Consequently, they miss out on what could be a wonderful and entertaining experience, similar to what someone does when he or she is turned off during the first blind date. I must admit that I am guilty of looking the other direction when placed in such a situation (I mean for a game, of course). So why don’t we ignore the weird titles for once and give these games a chance? Here’s Alien Zombie Mega Death, a PlayStation Network exclusive developed by PomPom Games. Oh geez! Two “interesting labels” in one sitting? Well, let’s just look past the names and look closely at the game itself.

CONTROLS (4.5/5)

At its core, Alien Zombie Mega Death plays out quite smoothly with simple controls. You’ll have your choice of several control schemes in this twin-stick shooter. Using either the d-pad or left stick will control your character’s movement while the right stick shoots your weapon. There are also the shoulder buttons, which allow you to carry objects like bombs or babies around.

What keeps this game’s controls from getting a perfect rating is the fact that you are unable to shoot above, below or diagonally. It’s obviously a conscious design choice but nonetheless, it affects those who are used to a typical twin-stick layout.

GRAPHICS/SOUND (4/5)

I must first point out that Alien Zombie Mega Death is meant to have a simplistic and somewhat adorable appearance. With that in mind, it’s not one of those shooters with an elaborate background or insane animations coming left, right and center. Regardless, the graphics appear to be bright and rich in color, enough to maintain its beauty. Just because it is not a busy-looking game doesn’t mean that it won’t keep you busy!

There is an acceptable amount of detail in terms of the sound effects. For instance, you can tell what kind of weapon you have by what you hear when firing. If you enjoy a night out in the clubs listening to house music, then Alien Zombie Mega Death may memorize you with its funky, techno track. You’ll have your head bopping back and forth during the ride… just remember you have a game to play!

GAMEPLAY (4.25/5)

Alien Zombie Mega Death is an arcade-style shooter where you control an astronaut as you blast away at the aliens coming after you while avoiding deadly obstacles. You start off with three lives, which replenish whenever you start another stage. Keeping the maximum number of lives until the end contributes to your high score as a bonus.

Each enemy you eliminate will leave behind a few pieces of gems. Collecting these along with larger gems that appear at random will increase your score multiplier. You also can get different weapon upgrades like lasers and three-way projectiles that only last for a very short period of time.

The layout of each stage consists of a series of platforms that your astronaut can move around on with an invisible border on the very sides. Despite the stages’ short length, the challenges get pretty intense. Additional enemies increase the chances of you ending up in an alien sandwich, or in this case an alien hamburger. You’ll have to constantly move around in order to avoid this unfortunate fate.

Other than just simply killing off all the aliens you see, you have other objectives to complete such as defusing bombs or rescuing space babies. For example, you will have to save a baby floating around in a space suit by carrying it from one side of the screen to the other. While that happens, you’ll be in a vulnerable state, unable to fire any weapons and moving quite slowly. If your baby gets eaten by the alien, it’ll become a ghost and come after you. Let this be a lesson: improper care of your infant will come back to haunt you!

With the game’s multiplayer action via local and online, you can delegate tasks with a friend or stranger. There is a catch for having a partner help you out in taking care of those hordes of aliens, though, as the three lives are shared between players. As such, you may be better off playing on your own than having a mediocre partner.

There is a lot of crazy fun contained in this game. You have plenty of stages with a good variety of enemies and obstacles keeping you on the edge of your seats. And even if you complete the whole game, there are still more medals to earn to access further challenges and prolong the enjoyment.

OVERALL (4.25/5)

There are three words to describe Alien Zombie Mega Death: sadistic, simple and satisfying. You may hesitate from considering a game with such a strange name. However, the $7.99 price tag is definitely a “mega” good deal for a quality title like this.

XBLIG Review: Sum Fighter

Honestly, it'll make more sense while you're playing.

By: David Cooper

Sum Fighter is probably not going to set the indie gaming scene alight, in that modern gamers are unlikely to flock to a maths-based puzzle game. Then again, those that pay attention to the XBLIG scene are often looking for something off the beaten track, and Sum Fighter certainly provides something unusual, while still achieving a sense of familiarity with its core gameplay mechanics.

The first thing that struck me about Sum Fighter is the polish of the presentation. The game opens up with a gorgeous animated sequence introducing us to the characters with a level of quality unlike anything I’ve seen in an XBLIG release. The characters are well designed, stylish and look as though they came straight from Cartoon Network. The tutorial even has half-decent voice acting! The wow-factor fell a little once I was in the game, but a high standard is maintained throughout.

Basic gameplay is immediately familiar, albeit with a couple of unique tweaks and twists. Sum Fighter, for me, was initially reminiscent of Genesis classic Dr. Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine, although this style of gameplay has been used many times over the years. The tutorial is a bit intimidating and unclear at first, but a little quick experimentation within the game itself clears things up. Blocks rise from the bottom of the screen and the player has to match groups to make them disappear while hoping their opponent’s screen fills up.

Traditionally games use color to organize groups of blocks and banish them from the screen, but this is where Sum Fighter differentiates itself. Every block has a number on it, and groups of blocks have to have the same number to be eliminated. Thus, you have to group two blocks of two, or three blocks of three, four blocks of four, and so on. The player’s job is to merge existing blocks to make them add up, for example merging a “two block” with an adjacent “one block” to make a larger “three block.” Yes, the math on offer here is really that challenging.

In addition to this is the usual power-up malarkey you would expect to find — each character has a special ability they can charge up and unleash upon their opponent. While some of these take a standard form of adding more blocks or making some blocks inaccessible, there are a couple of creative ones on offer. For example, adding a plus-one to some blocks or hiding the numbers on display so they can’t tell what is what. These are frustrating to be on the receiving end of, but also add an extra level of challenge and fun. They’re also a great way to keep players on their toes.

What I found surprising is how quickly the pressure mounts to make you look like a fool. It may be embarrassing to admit, but as soon as the screen fills up it becomes more and more difficult to think which numbers add up to five. So while things may seem easy at first, there is a significant challenge here, especially in later levels of the story mode.

The story mode, incidentally, is where most of your time will be spent. The four playable characters are hardly Shakespearian, but each one has their own individual endings and taunts, most of which are well written and even forced a chuckle from me. This, in combination with the challenging but rewarding gameplay, ensured that I was never bored while playing, despite some repetitive elements.

It’s also worth mentioning that I encountered a couple of game breaking bugs during play, which forced a crash for no apparent reason. These were perhaps the most frustrating part of playing, interrupting my flow, but as the story mode is quite short such things are unlikely to affect gamers too severely.

On the subject of length, Sum Fighter isn’t going to keep players’ attention for a long time. This is a common failing of indie games in general, and it all depends on how much you think your $3 is really worth. There is a story mode, with four playable characters, and a multiplayer mode, and that’s it. It won’t last forever, but I’d argue that there is more quality here than quantity, and the importance of that will vary from person to person.

Multiplayer will certainly be a hard sell for many people. While fun, it will be difficult to convince friends to play a math-based puzzler over some Call of Duty or Street Fighter, and with no online play on offer, Sum Fighter will probably be a solo experience for most.

OVERALL (4.25/5)

Like many XBLIG releases, Sum Fighter is probably a short-lived experience, but as a unique puzzler it’s difficult not to recommend. Simple math-based gameplay may divide the audience, but add in this level of polish and the fan base will surely multiply. In summation, (puzzles plus math) times high-quality presentation equals fun.

PS3 Review: Arcana Heart 3

Even in battle, you can find "peace."

By: Uma Smith

Fighting games are great, but I have one major concern: there aren’t enough women! Look at the Street Fighter series or Mortal Kombat – the vast majority of the characters are male. And the females being offered are either relatively weak or just there for appearances (those of you that disagree, look at how they are dressed). However, game developer Examu bucks that trend with an all-female cast in Arcana Heart 3 for the PlayStation 3. Packed with special effects, cuteness and girl power, this is one game that has the potential to capture the “hearts” of many girls… and maybe some boys, too.

CONTROLS (4.25/5)

Arguably the top three factors in determining a fighting title’s success are controls, controls and controls! Being able to perform special moves and combos with ease is a major determinant in keeping players hooked. This is the case with Arcana Heart 3 as you get very solid controls with a high degree of responsiveness.

There are only four basic attack buttons to be concerned with. However, simultaneously pressing a combination of them will perform certain special commands. These are also assigned to the shoulder and trigger buttons thereby avoiding your fingers getting all tangled up.

Using the special moves involve moving the d-pad in a similar fashion to Street Fighter games (for example, quarter circle forward and attack, of full circle with a throw). With game speed being adequately balanced, combos are very easy and fun to execute once you figure them out. Guys can instead save those turbo fingers for… well, actually I won’t go there.

GRAPHICS/SOUND (3.5/5)

How does Arcana Heart 3 look with its Japanese anime style? I’m in the middle of the road for this one. On one hand, you have the fighters, super moves and animated characters on the side bars looking really good. On the other, you have backgrounds looking plain and dull. On a typical modern fighting game, you’d expect some elaborate animation rendered in 3D. Yet, this is not applicable in Arcana Heart 3. Even the widescreen mode does very little in enhancing the graphical look.

One usually tunes out the music while planning and executing those combos. That being said, when you stop to listen to the soundtrack, it’s actually a delight. Also, the bass from the thunder as the characters attack does a good job pumping blood into your “Arcana heart.” Your ears may not be fully invested playing a game like this, but if you do have the chance, turn up the volume and soak in the awesomeness.

GAMEPLAY (4.25/5)

In Arcana Heart 3, Japan is facing destruction in six days by the Maidens. You have 23 characters to choose from, all of whom are female! There also 23 Arcanas that you can pair your character up with to modify her fighting stats and grant new special moves.

The first three or four opponents are really easy and pathetic. However, your conception of the game’s difficulty will drastically change on that fifth opponent and onwards. At the end, you will have to face the final boss taking up the entire screen who holds four weak points that must be destroyed within the time limit.

If you’re trying to imagine the boss’s attack patterns, think Galactus in Marvel vs. Capcom 3. You get moments where you can spam attacks as he remains stationary before he lands a few himself leaving quite a devastating effect on your health bar. All I have to say is that you need to be very efficient in performing your combos while knowing when to give it a rest and block incoming attacks.

Arcana Heart 3 has a number of modes, including score attack, for those seeking significant difficulty with slight variations in rules. There is also an online mode, and I managed to find opponents in a very short period of time on a number of occasions.

To make this game a worthwhile experience, you may want to familiarize yourself with your favorite character’s special moves as well as finding that suitable Arcana. The pace is slow enough for you to be able to plan your next connecting hit, and the ability to transition to an air combo makes this game even more exhilarating. Whether playing against a computer or online, you’ll gain satisfaction (or frustration) when you encounter a worthy adversary.

OVERALL (4/5)

Arcana Heart 3 stands out from the rest of the crowd with two things: being able to combine your character with an Arcana that will affect her performance and having an all-female cast. It may be cute and comical in style, but its fighting dynamics is no joke. Get this downloadable title from the PS Store for $29.99 and it will touch your “heart.”

XBLA Review: Half-Minute Hero: Super Mega Neo Climax

In a Final Fantasy, this guy would take an hour to beat. Here? Five seconds, tops.

By: Jess Castro

What can you do special in 30 seconds? BZZZZ. Time’s up, Slothy McSlowerson. During the 30 seconds it took you to read that sentence (?!), an unnamed hero has saved the world from a total death shower wearing a swimming tube and snorkel. Don’t believe me?  You obviously haven’t played Half-Minute Hero: Super Mega Neo Climax on Xbox Live Arcade. Originally released on the PSP, Marvelous Entertainment has a revamped HD version of their turn-based RPG for XBLA players willing to shell 800 MSP ($10). Is it worth it? Take 30 seconds of your precious time and read on to find out. BZZZZ. You read too slowly, so, just take all the time you need instead.

CONTROLS (3.5/5)

Being inspired by old-school 2D JRPGs, one shouldn’t expect actual controls of their characters, but rather intuitive menu design, simple NPC interaction and smooth map navigation. For the most part, Half-Minute Hero delivers all of these quite admirably. In every scenario of the game, the Hero starts off in an overhead map with a set goal of reaching an Evil Lord‘s castle before an Ultimate Destruction spell throws the world into oblivion. In 30 seconds, of course.

Using the d-pad guides the hero toward his goal while encountering random battles very similar to the games that have inspired this title (e.g. the Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy series). Rather than navigate menus and select options like “Fight” or “Run”, the stats-based battle process is automatic and lasts only seconds. Enemy too tough? Holding the bumpers will make the hero flee. Easier enemies can be dashed through by holding B, which performs a dash on the world map, as well. X will use equipped health items to restore HP.

Movement in towns or castles is presented in a single side-scrolling screen where you can talk with NPCs with A and buy items with Y. Much like the battles, interactions are fast paced and, within a matter of seconds, you can be in and out of a town with new weapons and companions to aide in your short-lived quest to vanquish evil.

The RPG genre has evolved over the years with games like Mass Effect and Oblivion carrying the moniker while still having action control configurations. So I can honestly say that not everyone will appreciate Half-Minute Hero‘s gameplay or lack thereof. However, longtime fans of this dying breed of turn-based RPGs should have an ear-to-ear grin on this speedy and addictive take on a classic genre.

GRAPHICS/SOUND (3.75/5)

Want hyper-realistic 3D models composed of millions of highly-textured mapped polygons? Sorry, you won’t find any of that in Half-Minute Hero, which takes a retro approach in terms of graphics. Prepare to be amazed when getting an eyeful of the 8-bit/16-bit pixilated treasures in this game. A zany cast of characters and enemies with limited frames of animation will fill your screen with charm, cuteness and self-aware humor. The only time this choice of artwork doesn’t work is during the storyline dialogue. Characters are zoomed in and become so blocky that they are unrecognizable on larger TV sets, but perhaps this was intentional in attempts to jokingly celebrate the archaic graphical style.

The retro stylings are actually an optional mode that stays graphically true to the original PSP version. Unique to Super Mega Neo Climax are updated HD visuals that have a more universal storybook look. Even though this redraw boasts new details and style, the animation is still limited, which ends up cheapening the effect. Some hardcore fans of the original may want an edgier anime style and will not greet the new look with open arms, but I personally found it appealing. The option to go retro is available from the get-go, so the choice is yours.

The music in Half-Minute Hero is great, albeit standard new age JRPG fare. You know the drill; beautiful orchestrations mix with extreme guitar solos like so many Trans-Siberian Orchestra concerts. The sound effects are classic and make zero attempts to blend with the new, which is a good thing.  Eight-bit punches and slashes help sell the overall vibe and genre this game celebrates.

GAMEPLAY (4.25/5)

In Half-Minute Hero (and just about every turn-based console RPG around), players guide a hero on a quest to find companions, defeat monsters to make money/level up, buy better gear and drain the HP out of a boss set out for total mass destruction. A standard full-length RPG quest can often clock in at a hefty 40-plus hours. But, in this game, aside from the dialogue text and tutorial mission, the first (roughly) 30 seconds of gameplay featured the following: a traveling Hero meets a king in need, an Evil Lord casts a spell of Ultimate Destruction, a Time Goddess offers him assistance and wisdom, the Hero fights random battles and buys a new sword, Hero levels up to Level 33, Hero defeats the Evil Lord and saves the world, gamer jumps on couch and does victory dance.

Just as fast as I saved the world from annihilation, I quickly became a fan of Half-Minute Hero. Its fast-paced RPG gameplay is not only a clever wink-and-nod homage to the genre; it’s a fresh revival with a substantial quest packed with humor and heart. The tale of the Time Goddess (who’s oddly more of a money-grubbing harpy than a caring deity) assisting different heroes through the ages pans over 60 quests, each starting with a 30-second timer.  Thanks to the powers of the Time Goddess, the hero can pay money to statues made in her image to reset time back to 30 seconds in order to further search the land for weapons, side-quests, and rare monsters that will earn titles for each quest.

While obtaining 100 percent items and titles in a RPG is a traditional goal that grants replay value, Half-Minute Hero also thrives on the spirit of the speed run for repeated playthroughs. First time attempts on many of the quests can average two minutes with use of the Time Goddess to reset the counter. To compete on the leaderboards, try beating some of these stages in less than 10 seconds straight through. Or, try beating the challenging Hero 3 (second) mode. Its digital crack, I tell you! With a big single-player campaign, the Super Hero Wars multiplayer mode and a plethora of side-quests and leaderboard support, there’s tons of replay value packed into this title.

Fans of the PSP version should note the changes in the additional modes. Instead of having various styles of gameplay, the extra modes are expansion quests with the same turn-based RPG gameplay featured in the main mode. If you’ve played the original and dislike the new look and deletion of variety or you just plain hate the RPG genre, you can save your money.  Everyone else, it’s time to fork over your bucks. You owe it to yourself to have this game!

OVERALL (4.25/5)

Marvelous Entertainment brings their celebrated PSP title to Xbox Live Arcade! They call it a “complete hypersonic RPG adventure.” ‘Nuff said. Half-Minute Hero: Super Mega Neo Climax is a must-have for fans of old-school RPGs and 8-bit nostalgia. The new art style in the HD redraw and lack of the variety in gameplay styles will turn off purists, but those who are experiencing it for the first time won’t notice anything wrong.

CONTEST

So, you wanna be a hero? A Half-Minute Hero to be more precise? Well, thanks to the good people at Marvelous Entertainment, we’ve got a couple of codes that’ll let you download this retro masterpiece for free!

To win, tell us (in 30 words or less!) why you should be the one chosen to rescue the kingdom from an Evil Lord. When entering please include your @Twitter name. If you don’t have one, simply verify that the email address you use to enter is correct.

THE DETAILS

You have until Friday, July 1st, at 7 PM EST/4 PM PST to submit your 30-word persuasive essay. At that point we’ll select our favorite and send that person a code… and then we’ll select one at random and send that person a code, too.

Please note that while anyone can enter, you must either be following me on Twitter or provide a valid email address when submitting your comment.

Good luck, heroes.