Added: 28.04.2015 22:57 | 1 views | 0 comments

Geometry Wars 3: Dimensions Evolved, the free update to last fall's Geometry Wars 3: Dimensions, is a tale of two radically different tapes. On the first tape, you have a twin-stick shooting level design and potentially supernatural reflexes pushed to their limits in beautiful, technicolor harmony. On the other tape rests some of the most punishing, unfairly designed boss fights this side of a SNES side-scroller. That Geometry Wars 3 remains a great game despite boss fights that transformed me into an apoplectic, rage-fueled, profanity-spewing monster is a testament to just how much Lucid Games has perfected its score-chasing, polyhedral exploding craft.

Let's talk about the first tape. The first time I saw the score required to pass "Super Sequence," the penultimate level of Geometry Wars 3's new Hardcore Mode, I let out a weak laugh. 20 million points … I consider myself to be an above-average Geometry Wars player, but 20-million-point runs tend to be reserved for my best Pacifism performances. My laugh was premature. It should have been reserved for the level itself. Countless swarms of purple pinwheels, yellow flowers, pink twin cuboids, magnetic blue octahedrons, and yellow rockets filled my screen in a flash of color that would make the opening credits of Enter the Void blush. And I died. I died very quickly.

But, as Geometry Wars has always shown, there is a pattern to this madness. The pattern involves dozens of enemies coming to life at once and forcing you to channel your inner "Luke Skywalker on the Death Star run" persona while playing more aggressively and dangerously than you ever have before. Geometry Wars gave me the tools to survive, though, and after far fewer attempts than I would have ever guessed, I breezed to 50 million points, which was still 100 million points shy of a two-star score (and 250 million points shy of a three-star run). Surviving pushed me to my very limits in a way that few games ever have, but I felt satisfied that I had earned my victory.

Let's move on to the second tape: "Aventurine." Oh, "Aventurine." I will remember your name for the next 10 years. One of the most maligned elements of Geometry Wars 3's original release last year was its boss fights. Dimensions Evolved only makes it worse. "Aventurine" is the second boss fight (of four) in the game's "Ultimate" campaign, which adds 40 new levels to the Adventure Mode. I'm ranked in the top 50 in the world right now on that level with a score I obtained without ever even beating the boss. Similarly, I'm ranked 27th in the world for a run on the final and only boss on Hardcore Mode, and I still haven't beaten it. I suspect I never will.

I put more than a dozen hours into Dimensions Evolved, but I already fear the dozens of hours more that I'm going to dump into Ultimate and Hardcore Modes as I try to best my own scores and those of my friends. The boss fights remain a titanically poor decision for a series focused on lightning-fast, frenetic gameplay, but when the rest of the package has only gotten better and more varied, they're a frustrating but small price to pay.

Added: 28.04.2015 21:17 | 2 views | 0 comments


NE: "The upcoming Zelda is going to be unbelievably huge. The sheer size of the world and map Nintendo has shown is simply enormous. Of course, this is a dream come true; I think most of us fans have wanted an insanely massive Zelda title still filled with that classic gameplay and style ever since we played Ocarina of Time, or even when we saw the manual for the original Legend of Zelda. Now that we have a more powerful console in the Wii U, Nintendo is finally ready to unleash Zeldas full potential and attempt to deliver what we have always wished. The thing is, Nintendo has tried this before."

Added: 27.04.2015 18:31 | 19 views | 0 comments


Square Enix shows what a fighting game might look like based on the MMO, though there are no official plans.

Added: 26.04.2015 20:13 | 5 views | 0 comments

Square Enix has created a gameplay video for a Street Fighter-style Final Fantasy XIV fighting game called Ultimate Fight Final Fantasy XIV. But don't get your hopes up. It's not real.

The mock gameplay video was created by Final Fantasy XIV main scenario writer Kazutoyo Maehiro in his spare time just for fun, it seems.

Square Enix also released a benchmark trailer for Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward. You'll be able to download the benchmark tomorrow to see how your PC will handle the expansion when it's released, but if you just want to see what it looks like check out the video below.

Square Enix announced Heavensward .

Would you play a Final Fantasy XIV fighting game? Let us know in the comments below.

Added: 26.04.2015 20:13 | 1 views | 0 comments

Square Enix has created a gameplay video for a Street Fighter-style Final Fantasy XIV fighting game called Ultimate Fight Final Fantasy XIV. But don't get your hopes up. It's not real.

The mock gameplay video was created by Final Fantasy XIV main scenario writer Kazutoyo Maehiro in his spare time just for fun, it seems.

Square Enix also released a benchmark trailer for Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward. You'll be able to download the benchmark tomorrow to see how your PC will handle the expansion when it's released, but if you just want to see what it looks like check out the video below.

Square Enix announced Heavensward .

Would you play a Final Fantasy XIV fighting game? Let us know in the comments below.