Gaming News Message Board older than one year ago

Yes, that's right. Professor Layton's son is all grown up and investigating sandwich murders on your iPhone/iPad.

Anodyne, the excellent Zelda-like indie that came out on PC earlier this year, is now on iOS.

Prison Architect continues to have the best alpha updates: "Alpha 11 brings a host of new features, bug fixes and improvements, not least of which is hearses to take away the unfortunately deceased." Details here. Reasons to play it here. (Warning: Presumably-NSFW cursing at the start of the video.)

Giving players a chance to try before they buy is a noble gesture, but it may not be a wise. According to research presented by game designer Jesse Schell at the Gamelab conference in Barcelona today, a demo can cut into a game's sales by more than 50 percent, CVG reports. The data, gathered by analytics firm EEDAR, shows the average sales for an Xbox 360 game promoted only by a trailer to be 525,000 over six months. Add a demo to the mix, and the average drops to 250,000. Even keeping in mind that these figures include blockbuster titles with no need for a demo and games that added demos after the first six months, the number is still pretty substantial. Makes sense, if you think about it. How many times have you purchased a game blind that you wouldn't have purchased at all if you knew what you were getting into? Game demos halve sales, new data suggests [CVG]

Meet Odallus: The Dark Call, currently in development by JoyMasher, the same Brazilian indie group that brought us Oniken last year. It's an "action exploration platformer" set to come out in 2014. Also, the hero is named "Haggis." ... Huh. Much like the first Castlevania, Odallus will be comprised of separate stages. These stages are non-linear and can be explored for various rewards, such as weapons and upgrades which can help deal with the demonic enemies the game throws at you. The overall focus here is to catch the spirit of NES-era platformers, both in look and feel—even going as far as using the original color palette of the NES. Currently, Odallus is trying to get on Steam via Greenlight and is looking for funding through Indiegogo (though JoyMasher stated they'd finish the game with or without funding). For a taste of the action, you can also check out the game's demo, which was created specifically for the Indiegogo campaign. Odallus: The Dark Call is scheduled to come out on PC in mid 2014; initially on Windows, and later on Mac and Linux. Odallus: The Dark Call [Official Website] Odallus Crowdfunding Campaign [Indiegogo] Odallus Greenlight [Steam] Questions? Comments? Contact the author of this post at andras-AT-kotaku-DOT-com.

Come July 9, trade routes will be plotted, cultural influence will be wielded, and the Portuguese will finally have their day.

Just a man, his bike, and a whole lot of what we in the '60s called "gameplay anarchy."

When the spring anime season was reaching its mid-way point five weeks ago, I listed The Devil is a Part-Timer! as one of the five anime you should be watching. And while the second half of the series didn’t quite live up to the quality of the first half, it is still an anime that is just plain fun to watch. [Note: This review contains minor spoilers about the general nature of the plot.] Good – Deconstructing “The Hero” While ostensibly the story tells of a defeated demon king escaping to our world, what the show really does well is take a deep look at the motivations behind these archetypical characters—i.e. the hero and the demon king. The hero’s story is rather cliché by design: born in secret and raised on a farm only to one day find that she is the only one capable of taking down the demon king. But where she really gets interesting is in how she reacts to the demon king’s passivity in our world. While she spends every moment of her free time stalking him—to prevent him from doing no good, of course—it doesn’t take long for her to see that his actions are far from evil. Thus she finds herself torn between seeing him as the personification of evil—as she viewed him in her own world—and the normal everyman whose actions are often more than a little heroic. But what this truly does is make her question herself and her role as a hero. Is it right for her to simply finish him off? After all, what kind of hero would murder someone who has changed his ways? Good – Deconstructing “The Villain” On the demon king’s side, it is even more interesting. In his own world, the demon king sent his generals out to conquer the world—and had almost succeeded until the hero came of age. His armies murdered thousands of soldiers and innocents alike. The hero sees the demon king's motivations as doing evil for the sake of evil. But we soon see that it is almost the opposite. It an interesting look at the “demon king” archetype. Because he looks human, the hero—and we the audience—assume that he thinks like a human. At the start of the series, though, this couldn’t be further from the truth. To him there was never a moral question. It does not occur to him that killing humans and/or trying to take over the world is wrong. Humans were simply things in the way of his goal. But we see that when he escapes to our world and is surrounded by them on a daily basis, he not only wishes them no harm but also goes to great lengths to protect them. In our world the demon king is far more of a hero than the actual hero. Good – A Deconstruction of Entry-Level Life in Modern Japan While the series is all set up to be your typical fish-out-of-water comedy with the characters from a fantasy world entering modern Japan, it soon becomes apparent that it is the opposite. While being a part time worker at McDonalds, the demon king’s drive and ambition make him the perfect employee. The demon lord’s tactician finds that his attention to detail and planning makes him a perfect fit for the role of housewife on a budget. As the demons come from a world of constant life and death struggle, they treat any and all dilemmas that way. So when a KFC opens across the street from the McDonalds, it is treated with the same gravitas as a war; spies are sent out, tactics observed, an army mustered, and counter attacks prepared. The hero finds herself as the straight man in the whole situation. She observes the over-serious drive of the demons while at the same time facing all the same struggles of modern day life that they do—be that a lost wallet or trying to set aside enough time to have lunch with a friend from work. The only difference is that she sees the irony and is completely un-amused by it. Good – A Perfect Balance of Comedy and Drama For the first half of the anime, the show manages to maintain an excellent balance between the comedic elements and the overall story. By and large each episode is based on a comedy situation involving these other worldly characters in the everyday problems we all face. But in the background, the greater story is in constant motion. Earthquakes, reports of murders, and mysterious phone calls all manage to keep everything tense despite the comedy. And when it all comes to a head, the action climax is just as satisfying as the comedy. Mixed – A Meandering Second Half Sadly, in the second half, the careful balance between the overall plot and the day-to-day comedy falls apart. Yes, the comedy is still there and going strong, but the mystery and action elements are nearly absent from the story. Suddenly, there is no tension. New mysterious characters appear, but they seem more than a bit harmless. Moreover, everything seems to be in a holding pattern in general and nothing is resolved one way or the other with the hero/demon king situation—even though after the events of the midway point, it probably should have been. Final Thoughts The Devil is a Part-Timer! is one of those excellent shows that uses a fantastical situation to make comedic social commentary about the world we live in. Best of all, despite it being about life in Japan, much of the comedy is universal. At some point we all deal with the day-to-day dramas of life: finding a new place to live, paying rent, being stuck in a terrible first job. And watching these larger than life characters struggle through life’s little dilemmas is guaranteed to put a smile on your face. All in all it’s a fun little anime, packed full of laughs. It is a must watch for anyone who likes fantasy or comedies in general. The Devil is a Part-Timer! aired on Tokyo MX in Japan. It can be watched for free and subtitled in English on Funimation and Hulu. Kotaku East is your slice of Asian internet culture, bringing you the latest talking points from Japan, Korea, China and beyond. Tune in every morning from 4am to 8am. To contact the author of this post, write to BiggestinJapan@gmail.com or find him on Twitter @BiggestinJapan.

And it kind looks like a tank. Well, one covered with dead fish. It does. See? The world has already seen battleship sushi (here), and now, here is "sensha sushi" (戦車寿司), or "tank sushi". As pointed out by Naver, a sushi restaurant called Kurisakiya began offering a tank sushi in honor of Japanese anime Girls und Panzer. The military girls anime is set in the town of Oarai in Ibaraki Prefecture, which is where Kurisakiya is located. Thus, tank sushi! Girls und Panzer features real Oarai locations, and that helps create local tourism: Anime fans often like visiting real-world locales featured in their favorite cartoons. Kurisakiya is obviously hoping to cash in (the front of the sushi restaurant has a big Girls und Panzer sign, for example). And let's hope the sushi restaurant does cash in! This is rather creative. Hopefully, tasty, too. Photos: talp_idae, akibax, vatsher_disk, sm_neko, unsui_hoehoe To contact the author of this post, write to bashcraftATkotaku.com or find him on Twitter @Brian_Ashcraft. Kotaku East is your slice of Asian internet culture, bringing you the latest talking points from Japan, Korea, China and beyond. Tune in every morning from 4am to 8am.

"Game audio is still something that's not really recognised for what it is," muses Rik Ede, composer for Wipeout HD and organizer of a Kickstarter to fund a brand new album created by some of the biggest names in video game music. The people involved in the project represent a wide variety of genres, be that electronic music in the case of Deus Ex composer Alex Brandon, or orchestral music with World of Warcraft composer Tracy W. Bush. The final album will be similarly varied, featuring "classic chip-tune styling, as well as more cinematic, orchestral tracks, and everything in between." The project aims to collect £7,000 ($10,670) in 30 days, which will be used to pay for production costs and to create the backer reward DVDs. If video game music is something you regularly listen to, I'd strongly urge you to give the Kickstarter page a visit. This could end up being something quite fantastic. Heroes of Video Game Music Album & DVD [Kickstarter] Questions? Comments? Contact the author of this post at andras-AT-kotaku-DOT-com.

This last weekend marked the Japanese premiere of Ghost in the Shell: Arise border: 1 Ghost Pain. Needless to say, I enjoyed the film. What I didn’t enjoy was the incredibly blatant and distracting product placement surrounding the film—like this three-minute commercial for the Microsoft Surface. The commercial stars the cast of Ghost in the Shell: Arise as they attempt to steal some data and upload it to a Microsoft Surface tablet PC… for some reason. It’s actually rather well animated and has some seriously entertaining action scenes. So, as just a fun little commercial, I suppose I don’t have too much of a problem with it. It’s the fact that this product placement is also in the film proper that really gets in my craw. In the actual film, the Surface showed several times. Twice on a giant, flashy billboard in the background and several more times being used by the Major as her personal computer. This is annoying on two levels. First, this is a 2013 tablet PC being actively used in 2027—which would be like any of us using a PC from 1999 in our daily lives. And second, Ghost in the Shell is set in a world where cybernetic technology is the central component of everyday life. If you have both full-dive capability (like in The Matrix) and a permanent AR interface, why would you ever use a tablet? It would be faster and easier to simply call up the data on your cybernetic eyes. That isn’t the only product placement in the film, of course. An Infiniti luxury car shows up in a few scenes. But at least it makes sense to see a classy luxury car 14 years in the future—unlike an ancient tablet PC. In general, product placement has been becoming more and more common in theatrical anime over the past few years. The Evangelion rebuild films have had long lingering shots of a Lawson’s convenience store—not to mention the loving shots of the beer in Misato’s fridge—and the characters of Macross Frontier actually go into a FamilyMart convenience store as a plot point in one of their films. And frankly, I am okay with that kind of product placement. After all, it makes sense that convenience stores (and beer for that matter) would exist in those anime. It’s when products are being shoehorned into the movie whether they make sense or not—when the product placement starts to devalue the world being created—that I start to get angry. Ghost in the Shell: Arise border: 1 Ghost Pain was released in Japanese theaters on June 22, 2013. Funimation will be releasing it in the United States; but if you can't wait, the Japanese Blu-rays—which include English subtitles—will be released on July 26, 2013. The second chapter of this series Ghost in the Shell: Arise border: 2 Ghost Whisper will be released in Japanese theaters on November 30, 2013. Kotaku East is your slice of Asian internet culture, bringing you the latest talking points from Japan, Korea, China and beyond. Tune in every morning from 4am to 8am. To contact the author of this post, write to BiggestinJapan@gmail.com or find him on Twitter @BiggestinJapan.

Toshiba is not just a Japanese corporation. It's an international one, with offices all over the world. But one of its commercials for the Japanese market is being dubbed as "racist". Below, you can watch the ad. It's for rice maker called "SuiPanDa" that doubles as a bread maker. The ad was spotted by Debito.org. In the commercial, the Japanese actress dons a blond wig, wears a big nose, and speaks in heavily accented Japanese. In Japan, these are stereotypes of what foreigners (here, Westerners) look like. To drive home the point that she's playing a foreigner, the woman's dialogue is subtitled in katakana, a writing system for foreign words. This is just one ad in a series of spots that feature the same two businesswomen. The other commercials (here and here) are over-the-top, too. There's no "foreigner face" dress-up, though. So, for some reason, Toshiba thought it would be good to mock foreigners in this one. Because mocking potential customers is good for business? Because bread equals foreigner? White bread equals a white person? Or a Japanese person dressing up like a foreigner is like a rice cooker than can bake bread? I dunno! Everything this is exacerbated because out of a nation of 120 million people, only 2.5 million (or so) are foreigners (more here). Perhaps, Toshiba thought this commercial would be fine because it was for Japan only? But Toshiba is an international company. It should know better. Just imagine if Toshiba's North American branch created a commercial that exaggerated a group's physical features in ridiculous make-up and exaggerated accents. Racist accusations aside, this is not a very good commercial! The YouTube link says "TVCM" or "television commercial", but I have yet to see it on air. There's a history of this kind of stuff in Japan—heck, there's a history of this kind of stuff everywhere. And because of that, it's easy to shrug this off and say, well, all people are a little racist. And thus, the cycle perpetuates itself. And here we are. It's not okay—and worse, it's not funny or interesting! The get-up and the accent are so tired and so base. It's simply taking innate physical features and turning that into the gag. That's it. Look, she has a big nose—just like a white person. Ha. Ha. I don't mind comedy that centers on racial or cultural differences. However, I'd argue that the bar for this type of humor is high—very high. You must be clever. You must be insightful. If you can't do that, please, don't bother. Racist 2013 Toshiba commercial for product APB-R100X, SuiPanDa combination ricecooker/breadmaker [Debito] To contact the author of this post, write to bashcraftATkotaku.com or find him on Twitter @Brian_Ashcraft. Kotaku East is your slice of Asian internet culture, bringing you the latest talking points from Japan, Korea, China and beyond. Tune in every morning from 4am to 8am.

The Xbox 360 will be getting a compilation of every game in the Serious Sam series of first-person shooters. Well, almost every game. The aptly titled Serious Sam Collection contains the HD versions of First Encounter and Second Encounter, Serious Sam 3 BFE along with the Jewel of the Nile DLC, and Serious Sam Double D XXL. No Random Encounter, though. What a shame. In any case, the Serious Sam Collection lands on Xbox 360 on July 16.

Meet Taher Shah. He's here to melt your mind and rule the internet. According to Propakistani (via TechInAsia), the singer is becoming an online sensation in Pakistan with his new music video, "Eye to Eye." The title's hash tag is already trending there, and internet people seem ironically amused and somewhat bewildered by the video, which has over 200,000 views on YouTube. Watch it below. In Pakistan, "Eye to Eye" seems to be the equivalent of something like "Friday". It's so bad, it's good. And the internet's meme machine is starting to warm up, complete with humorous images as well as cartoons of characters stabbing their eyes out. "Eye to Eye" is Taher Shah's debut track and he said he wrote the track to "convey the feelings of marvelous love" between two people. He's also a model! Well, he's a model in that he has "model" pictures on his website. Lots of them. He's a businessman, too! "Eye to Eye" is like a music video version of the most delightfully narcissistic man on Facebook, complete with cheesy self-portraits. The awkwardness is spread on so thick that it's hard to wonder if this isn't simply a viral stunt. If so, it's working! Taher Shah [Official Site] Taher Shah's Eye to Eye is Pakistan's new Internet Sensation [Propakistani via TechInAsia] To contact the author of this post, write to bashcraftATkotaku.com or find him on Twitter @Brian_Ashcraft. Kotaku East is your slice of Asian internet culture, bringing you the latest talking points from Japan, Korea, China and beyond. Tune in every morning from 4am to 8am.

Earlier this year, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata said he felt "strongly responsible" for a two-year string of Nintendo losses. Strong enough to resign? Um... As first posted in January, Iwata mentioned his "commitment" to a business profit goal of ¥100 billion (US$ 1.1 billion) by the end of the next business year ending in March, 2014. When asked how he would take responsibility if Nintendo did not meet this mark, Iwata replied, "I ask that you understand my use of the word 'commitment.'" Some in the Japanese media took Iwata's language to mean he would step down should Nintendo fail to reach the magic number. At a recent investor's meeting, Iwata was asked directly if he would quit if Nintendo doesn't meet his previously stated target. So, will he? "I don't recall saying I'd resign," Iwata replied. According to Nikkan Sports, the Nintendo honcho went on to say that the game maker should put tremendous effort into achieving its goal and not think about failure. Sounds like Iwata plans on sticking around! The weakened Japanese yen should help Nintendo, as well as a continuous flow of new games and funny GIFs. GIFs help, right? Right? 任天堂岩田社長、辞任に否定的考え示す [Nikkan Sports] To contact the author of this post, write to bashcraftATkotaku.com or find him on Twitter @Brian_Ashcraft. Kotaku East is your slice of Asian internet culture, bringing you the latest talking points from Japan, Korea, China and beyond. Tune in every morning from 4am to 8am.

Strike Vector is a game that's come out of nowhere. Worked on by four people, it's a multiplayer aerial combat game that looks like a whole bunch of people's dream game ideas from the 90s made real. Screw the combat (OK, not really, because it looks fun), but the game could just be about flying through those megastructures and I'd be happy. You can vote for Strike Vector now on Steam Greenlight. Strike Vector [Greenlight]

In a rush to cash in on the popularity of the first Pirates of the Caribbean film, publishers Bethesda and developers Akella released in 2003 a very strange game. It wasn't really a Pirates of the Caribbean game. It had been in development as a sequel to Sea Dogs, a 2000 game that itself was basically a homage to Sid Meier's Pirates!. So despite adding a few characters specific to the film, and the obvious name change, the game actually had very little in common with Disney's blockbuster property. What it did have, though, was promise. As I remember it, the game that shipped wasn't all that great, a pale imitation of Meier's classic, but the bones were there for something better, something potential modders quickly realised and set to work upon fixing. And so the Pirates of the Caribbean: New Horizons project was born. One of the longest-running mods in existence, the goal of the team was to transform the 2003 game into "as full an historical Age of Sail game experience as possible". There's only so much they can do working within the confines of someone else's game, but what they've done is amazing. You can check out the complete list of what's been changed, from graphics upgrades to major gameplay tweaks, at the project's site below. New Horizons [ModDB]

If you've never seen The IT Crowd, I feel bad for you, son. I also suggest you watch this. Up to speed? OK, awesome. Aussie artist Mike Jenkins has started building his own replicas of The Internet, complete with blinking red light, and is selling them for roughly $30. $30, for the entire internet. Bargain! Just, you know, be careful. The Internet [Etsy, via Laughing Squid]

One of the greatest Simpsons episodes all time was Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?, famous at the time for Danny DeVito's cameo as Homer's brother Herb, but more famous now for the legacy of the car that stole the show. Asked by his brother to design a new car, Homer comes up with...The Homer, a car that has everything. Except design sense. Which hasn't stopped Porcubimmer Motors from paying tribute to the car by building their own, which while not an exact replica, is about as close as you'd get without having to start from scratch. The Homer [Site, via neatorama]

After committing violence against our fellow man, we chill out with some Miiverse sketches.

The headline says it all, people. I mean, he's not really Dragonborn. (Though kudos to commenter Andres Cordova for pointing out how obviously Dovahkiin this dude is.) But you'd never know it from watching this kilted, tattooed ass-kicker play AC/DC's "Thunderstruck" in Fremantle back in May. It's almost enough to make me want to learn how to play bagpipes. (Almost.) How's everyone doing? Good? Ready for the weekend? I sure am. It's hot as hell in San Francisco, and I just want to go outside. Talk bagpipes, dragons, or whatever else, here or over at TAY. (Via Geekologie)

If an Uncharted movie ever materialized, there are a number of directors that would come to mind before Seth Rogen. But it's Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg that Naughty Dog has sought out specifically multiple times in the past, according to IGN. “They’re constantly asking me and Evan to make the Uncharted movie,” Rogen told IGN. Despite being "huge fans" of the franchise, they didn't go for it. They couldn't figure out a treatment. “It’s just going to be Indiana Jones. If we could figure out a way to make it not Indiana Jones, it’d be awesome,” Goldberg said. The movie has been in development since 2007, and at one point they considered Mark Wahlberg as Nathan Drake. Even so, the film has no director attached to it. Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg Asked to Write Uncharted Film [IGN]

Next-gen may be coming but you still need one of these. Head on over to eBay to grab the Playstation 3 "Super Slim" along with Assassin's Creed 3, a month of Playstation Plus, and of course a controller for $230. The seller is Newegg so you can buy with confidence, shipping is free, and you may not pay tax depending on your state. Even if you know you won't crack the case open on the copy of Assassin's Creed 3, selling it will bring you a greater return than the other PS3 bundle games would have. With titles like Beyond: Two Souls and Diablo III on the horizon, and The Last of Us recently released, the PS3 has plenty of life left in it. Sony has reassured gamers they'll continue to support the system, Gaikai streaming is a long way off, and your Plus membership applies to both the PS3 and PS4. [Newegg via eBay]. Here's a crazy deal on Borderlands 2 and here's today's Moneysaver. Keep up with Shane Roberts on Kinja and Twitter. Check out Dealzmodo for more great tech deals, and Deals.Kinja.com for even more discounts. This is a Moneysaver One-Shot, a post focusing on a single deal, sale, or category. Join us every weekday at 2:15pm ET for the full Moneysaver roundup, brought to you by the Commerce Team. We're here to bring Kotaku readers the best gaming deals available, and to be clear, we also make money if you buy. We want your feedback.

Looks like Paramount is going to be pulling the Terminator franchise out of that pit of molten lava and rebooting it, with a new movie coming in 2015. Yay, another classic sci-fi series gets a reboot! Wait, did I say yay?

And so the speculation continues! The other day, we wrote about a Half-Life 2 update that featured Korean audio. It was a mistake according to Valve, and they fixed it—but that didn't stop fans from freaking out. Now fans found something else that looks suspicious in a different game, Surgeon Simulator 2013. Earlier today, a neoGAF thread went up with the picture above. If you recall, last Friday, Surgeon Simulator received a Team Fortress 2 related update—it now allows players to perform surgery on the Heavy. You get access to the item in the picture above after you perform said surgery...and if you look at the bottom right corner, there's Korean. (I've seen people suggest that it says the word "time" in there, but if you can read Korean, let us know what you read!) Hmm. Korean update to Half-Life 2, and a puzzle that includes Korean in a game featuring Team Fortress 2 characters. The former was supposed to be a mistake, but still, this all looks a little suspicious, no? The Surgeon Simulator developers, meanwhile, seem playful about the puzzle over on Twitter: So, we hear there's some puzzle you're trying to figure out... — SurgeonSimulator2013 (@SurgeonSim2013) June 27, 2013 We've contacted them to ask if it's an ARG puzzle of some sort, and if it's related to a Valve product—we'll update if we hear back. For now, popular theories around the web have to do with Half-Life 3 (obviously), a new Team Fortress update, if not something giving a nod to an eventual Steam Summer Sale. What do you think? Do any of these seem likely, or is it just the internet getting out of hand again? There's Korean writing in Surgery Simulator... OMG HALF-LIFE 3 AAAAAAAAHHHH!!!11!1!1! [neoGAF]

According to a new report, Google is preparing to launch an Android-based games console of its own to take on the Ouya.

io9 This is the bead-chain experiment. It's about to melt your brain. | Jezebel Rick Perry Gives Wendy Davis Shit For Being a Teenage Mother | Jalopnik Someone Built 'The Homer' From The Simpsons And Is Taking It Racing | Kotaku The Last Of Us' Climactic Moments Could Have Been Very Different

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Google is working on a video game console. What a world we live in. They say the console will be powered by the company's Android operating system, and seems inspired partly by the relative success of other cheap, simple Android-based consoles like the Ouya and Gamestick. Interesting, the WSJ says the other thing spurring Google on is a desire to get out in front of Apple, who they think will make gaming a big part of future Apple TV updates. While the Ouya has taken some slack for poor performance, I'd be down with the idea of a Google console. Stock Android phones and tablets are some of the best you can get, so if Google can extend the same classy UI and performance - and maybe even Google Play Store functionality for movies and TV - to a cheap console, they might do OK. Google Is Developing Android Game Console [WSJ]

Strange things happen in Animal Crossing: New Leaf. Things that wouldn't make a lot of sense in an ordinary town. The always-enjoyable miscreants at Dorkly have helped capture some of those moments in this collection of flyers, ostensibly found on the bulletin board in an Animal Crossing town named, what else, FARTASS.

What the reviews can't agree on, however, is how good the rest of the game is. High Moon Studios' third-person action game, you see, has its fair share of problems. Deadpool is marred by overly conventional design—mostly level design, which can get boring at times—and technical issues, such as a wonky camera, oddly-behaving AI and framerate issues. Still, getting to watch Deadpool be Deadpool might just be tempting enough to make one stay despite the game's troubles. Here's what the reviews are saying. VideoGamer 'Press A to make a stink pickle or press B to kill germs.' This is the choice facing Deadpool as he stands in his bathroom at the beginning of the game, and it sets the tone for the rest of it. It's not Shakespeare, but is exactly the kind of humour you’d expect from the Merc with a Mouth. Nolan North’s take on the character is utterly bonkers and laugh-out-loud funny, and High Moon Studios has done a great job of treading the thin line between outright vulgar and tongue-in-cheek, giving all three of his personalities the perfect balance. While nothing across the brief five hour campaign tries to reinvent the wheel, its mechanics are passable enough to enjoy North’s performance. GameSpot Just because Deadpool enjoys talking nonstop does not mean that he confronts enemies with pacifism on the mind. The way out of any situation involves copious amounts of slicing and dicing, with the occasional shooting thrown in for good measure. Deadpool bounces around tightly constructed environments like he's battling attention deficit disorder, knocking one enemy into the air and then delivering a whirling dervish to a group of would-be attackers before firing his plasma gun at a far-off sniper. It's a screaming-fast confluence of steel and spandex, so fast that the camera often lags behind your actions. Throw in a magical teleportation move, and you spend as much time trying to get your bearings as you do unleashing hell on your dim-witted foes. IGN Where Deadpool really doesn’t surprise is in its level design. In a game that’s a send-up of videogames, you’d expect to see an office level, a sewer level, a jungle level, etc, but you’d also expect these chestnuts to be turned on their metaphorical heads with a design that skewers your expectations. Instead, each of these visually uninteresting levels is played relatively straight. Sure, there are the occasional unexpected non sequiturs (Deadpool gets sucked into an 8-bit dungeon crawler, Deadpool hallucinates a scene in LittleBigPlanet-style graphics); it’s just that these bits are handed out like treats for slogging through the comparatively lackluster levels. Polygon The ADHD level design is supported by some better-than-average writing and voice acting. The plot moves fast and works well as goofy, self-aware satire. The creative team has nailed the character — his juvenile antics, inner demons and dire tragic-comic outlook on life (and death). But there are inherent problems with a character whose immaturity is a selling point. Never is this more apparent than in Deadpool's "appreciation" of the female form. There are a whole lot of virtual breasts in Deadpool, and Deadpool loves them. He loves talking about them, touching them and staring at them when a woman is talking to him. A bit more disturbingly, one of the very first shots in the intro has Deadpool literally shooting a framed portrait of a woman while he listens to a voicemail rejecting him. OXM Our hero isn’t one to hang back and ruminate on his options, so it’s only fitting that his game should reward a fast-paced jump-in-the-mosh-pit approach to play. Attack with a fury and you’ll easily fill Momentum meters that let you kick away a crowd, spin around on the floor like a breakdancer on a meth bender, and more. All the while, you’ll rack up a combination counter that bestows increasing bonuses to the quantity of Deadpool Points earned from each encounter. And what are those good for? Instead of using your katanas and pistols for the whole game, you can spend some Points on a pair of pointy sais (i.e., three-pronged daggers) that hit faster but do less damage, or swing a pair of massive hammers that could tenderize a concrete steak. Once these new options are unlocked, you’re free to switch between them on the fly using the D-pad. GamingTrend Graphically the game is squarely in the ‘solid’ category. It runs on Unreal Engine 3, so the main characters in the game look absolutely fantastic. As Wade takes damage he can regenerate but his suit cannot, leaving it in tatters for a while until it slowly pops back to normal. In fact, most of the game looks pretty fantastic…until it doesn’t. Some parts of the game are just shockingly low resolution, including Wade’s dog which comes up a few points throughout the course of the game. There are also some issues with texture tearing, and most painfully in the final level, some framerate issues. (...) Most of the game the engine was fairly well behaved, but it does feel like despite a few delays there could be a little more polish. Kotaku If you can handle the hairy humor, you might have as much fun playing Deadpool as it seems like High Moon had making it. Thanks in no small part to the insanity of Wade Wilson (and an inspired set of performances by Mr. North), they've taken a genre that rarely produces more than repetitive filler and twisted it into a unique experience that embodies the very spirit of the character. Top image courtesy of Gergő Vas. Questions? Comments? Contact the author of this post at andras-AT-kotaku-DOT-com.