Hey folks, Valkor here. And CES train never stops @ TOV. To keep things rolling, TOV along with 2D-X's JayDub had the chance to sit with the folks of Capcom to check out some seriously sweet gaming action. Not only that but the Val-man was able to go hands on with Dark Void (which is available now) at the Dark Void Party. Both scenarios were a blast, but the meet up post party made my day. First let's hit up the Dark Void party and my thoughts on the game (a mini review).
The party wasn't Zalman's, it wasn't the "It Won't Stay In Vegas" party, it was more like a small gathering of gaming geeks, most of whom talked amongst themselves in their own circles; Nothing wrong with that, but I didn't come through the door to eat or drink (but I did get my fill. Capcom hooked it up with some serious eats). I love the setup with all the props and banners strewn about; it was crazy. But to sit down and play Dark Void was an experience.
Dark Void: It's the year 1935 and you play as William Augustus North. You've crash landed in the Bermuda Triangle and entered a world where humans are called "Survivors" and along with Nikola Tesla, you'll face off against an alien race known as "The Watchers" and try to get back to your own world. You're fights will take place both on the ground and in the air. And as you progress through the game, you'll be able to acquire alien weapons and use them to the best of your abilities. Rocket Launchers, Disintegrators, and Sniper Rifles are at your disposal and you can upgrade your weapons using tech points that you'll get when you kill the enemies. And as you progress you'll gain pieces to the flight suit; the first piece you'll get is the hover jetpack. But with a mix of fighting on the ground as well as in the air, you'll be able to pull off some serious moves that I've never seen in any game.
With the basics out of the way, how does the game look and control? I was able to check out the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions at the party, and the PC version the following day. And the PC version looks BEAUTIFUL!!! I honestly wasn't crazy impressed with the console versions because the graphics - the overall appearance, was a bit fuzzy, but the PC version was crystal clear, and pulled off some serious effects. Dark Void on PC looks amazing! Not that the consoles are slouchin; no, no, no. The game looks the same on each system and it looks great. But the PC... wow. just wow! The animation, especially when in flight looks great and I especially love the look of the background in flight, it's just so spread out and you can see so far, I mean the transition of an object from a distance getting closer to you or as you're flying towards it is crisp, clean, and fluid. What about the controls? You'll instantly dive right it - it's that easy. And I usually have problems when it comes to shooters on the console. I'm more into shooters on the PC because I love the feel of the mouse/keyboard combo. But both the PS3 and the Xbox 360 versions play great with their respective controllers. I hit a rough spot with the flying, but once I caught my groove I was feelin the game. Ground battles were great and again easy to dive into; I found myself ducking for cover and strafing with ease, poppin off baddies. And when I first got to hover, it was on. If I had to grade Dark Void for the short amount of time I had to play it, I'd give the game a 7. Why a 7? I heard the music really draws you into the game and I didn't get the chance to hear it and to me that's very important. But I'm definitely snagging this game. Oh yes. Absolutely.
Valkor absorbed in his gaming
But my biggest geek moment was the following day when I had the chance to hang out with Capcom and check out a few choice titles. I wish I could have stayed and played more of one particular title, but I know I'll get the chance soon enough. Check it out.
Final Fight: Double Impact – growing up my dad used to take me and my brother to the arcades almost every weekend and we'd get our fill of gaming until our pockets ran dry or we were too tired to continue playing. And at that time there was such a large variety in terms of the games available. Contra, Cabal, Double Dragon, Road Blaster were our games of choice. In terms of beat em ups, Final Fight ranked very high and Capcom looks to bring that arcade experience back. Not only that, but their including Magic Sword into the mix and that was my game. Not a lot of people are familiar with Magic Sword and for those into RPGs; definitely peep this game out, it's still a lot of fun and intense to play even to this day. First up Final Fight. FF follows the exploits of Cody, Hagar and Guy as the battle through the streets of Metro City to save the mayor's daughter, Jessica from a street gang known as Mad Gear (mind you the Mayor is Haggar, and you know he's pissed). To help you throughout the game, you'll find weapons and meats for healing by knocking over garbage cans, boxes, containers etc and also by taking weapons from the baddies. Essentially the same game you got in the arcade is what you'll be getting on the PSN and Xbox Live. And it lookes even better than the arcade version as Capcom has cleaned up the game nicely.
Now Magic Sword… where do I begin? Let's start with the story. You'll play as a warrior who must tackle this tower, 50 floors, to defeat an evil known as Drokmar. Through the game you'll collect powerups and coins to assist you in defeating the bad guys and also getting the maximum high score. But what made this game unique to me were the allies you find as you trek through the tower. And the only way to obtain them is to find keys and free them from locked doors. But you'll have to be careful because sometimes there are traps behind those doors. You're only allowed one ally at a time, so choose wisely between a ninja, priest, big man, bear, Amazon and more. Now when I say I love this game, let me just say I literally spent my arcade spending allowance (which my dad would give me and my bro 5 bucks at a time) on this one game. I loved the fantasy elements and I love the play mechanics. And now to be able to bring it home to play at my leisure excites me in ways I can't even imagine, which is sick compared to the games that are out now. Yes it's simple and most will breeze through the game in no time, but you'll have a blast playing it especially when you team up with a buddy. Both Final Fight and Magic sword feature online coop play as well as a second player picking up a controller and jumping in. Each game also features the actual arcade cabinet and curved screen look to really bring you back to the days of arcade gaming yore, plus multiple other screen sizes to choose from. Plus you'll be able to unlock other features such as video, art plus you'll be able to compare scores with other players. Nice.
Mega Man 10 – Mega Man 9, in all its 8 bit wonder was a huge hit and it proves that 2D gaming isn't even close to being dead. Well Capcom is dipping into the 8 bit well once more to bring you the next incarnation of our boy in blue. I can't talk too much about the game. But let me say the game is just as hard as 9, but all the play mechanics of the original is there. It looks great, it plays great and when it's completed it'll be a hit. Hell it's already a big hit with the announcement of Sheep Man being one of the baddies you have to face.
Tatsunoko vs. Capcom – This Wii exclusive pits the world of Capcom (Street Fighter, Mega Man, Viewtiful Joe and more) versus Tatsunoko Productions (G-force, Tekkaman, Casshan, etc) for a unique 2.5D, button mashing fighting experience. The game is played using on 3 buttons for weak, medium, and strong attack and performing certain controller moves unleashes even more powerful attacks and combos. Graphically the game looks great and plays well, even for a guy who doesn't play fighters as much; I found it easy to get into.
Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth – From the court room to a crime scene, AAI follows along with Miles Edgeworth, prosecuting attorney, as he attempts to solve different murders, one of which happens in his own office. Unique to the series, you'll actually be able to control Miles as you search for clues, interrogate/interview witnesses, piecing together whodunit. If you like stories and solving puzzles then this DS title should be a definite pick up. Controls are fairly easy and the game does a wonderful job holding your hands in the first stage, guiding you along as you attempt to solve your first crime. You'll use a great menu system that you'll use to string items together to find out their connection as well as other handy features at your disposal. I enjoyed the hell outta this game and I can't wait to get further hands on.
There was also Super Street Fighter IV, Monster Hunter for the Wii as well as other titles. But given the time I put in for the aforementioned games, well I didn't get the chance to get as truly in-depth as I would have liked. But we'll definitely see more of these titles in the future here at TOV, for sure as my name is Valkor (and it is). I wanna say thanks again to the reps at Capcom for allowing me to check out all this sweet gaming action and I looking forward to checkin out more of your gaming wares in the future.