Mastering the insane mobility available to you in Mecha BREAK is imperative if you want to be competitive. One of the most powerful, yet obscured, mobi?lity options you have is Fast Landing, and I'll explain here how you too c??an use it.

How to use Fast Landing in Mecha BREAK

Fast Landing is a mechanic that allows you to plunge downward to the ground from any verticle position. All mecha in Mecha BREAK can perform it, but thanks to it not being highlighted in the game's tutorial, it's easy to miss such a powerful tool. So, to do a Fast Landing, simply hit ALT by default. Doing so while a?irborne in any capacity will see you perform a Fast Landing.

The biggest reason why you'd want to use a Fast Landing is for hasty repositioning. There's nothing worse than being caught airborne while a Narukami is scoping you out. You're the very definitio?n of a sit-a??nd-duck in such a scenario, but with Fast Landing, you can easily escape it.

In a similar scope, Fast Landing is also extremely good at breaking enemy lock-ons and general targeting beca??use of just how fast you can reach the dirt from any verticle position. The landing is so quick that it was incredibly difficult for me to even get a screenshot of it in action.

Now, imagine you're trying to aim at someo??ne who decided to use a Fast Landing behind a skyscraper on Gracelynn Skycity. Let's just say that nothing you can do will catch them in the act. You're losing that lock, which is precisely why Fast Landing is so strong. I've found it especially powerful for Falcon and Skyraider because of their natural ability to transform and reposi??tion thanks to their jet transformations.

If you want to stay competitive in Mecha BREAK, mastering Fast La?nding is a must. Its blinding speed and exceptional positioning power make it a game-changer. You'll be amazed at the intense engagements you ?can survive just by utilizing this skill effectively.

The post How to perform a Fast Landing in Mecha BREAK appeared first on Destructoid.

Metal on metal

I suppose the name Cybernator might seem cool if it's the '90s and you're under 12. Which I was, at the time. In Japan, it’s known as Assault Suit Valken, whereas in North America, it sounds like the name of a bootleg Robocop action figure that you find at the back of a sketchy convenience store that still has a sun-bleached poster for the first Harry Potter movie in their window.

It’s part of the Assault Suit series that began with Assault Suit Leynos -- I’m sorry, that was localized to the similarly goofy Target Earth -- but if you’re expecting that to give you any idea of what you’re in for, the series is almost legendary for the fact that it never sticks to one formula. Target Earth and Cybernator are at least both side-scrolling shooters, but they clearly have two different design philosophies. Target Earth is about shooting robots, and Cybernator is about “Heck yes! Giant robots!�/p>

Cybernator begins with explicit penetration; the kind they warn you about in gym class. A guy rams his long, thick ??spaceship into the docking port and launches his giant robots inside to wreck up the place. You’re one of those robots. You play as this big green brick of a mech, and your job is to carry out various ?military ops.

The actual background to the game is kind of messy. There’s a war going on, that’s about as much as you’re given to go off of. It goes the route of labeling all soldiers as disposable pawns who just fight because that’s all they’ve ever known. I guess this is to make it feel like you’re less of the last best hope, and more of just a regular guy. The in-game plot feels a lot like just a bunch of different, unrelated ops. There’s a personal subplot underneath, and while it’s not groundbreaking, this was the SNES, so it w??as kind of neat at the time.

The big thing that makes Cybernator distinct is the fact that your mech controls like a big hunk of steel. It lumbers along invincibly. It launches itself off the ground using rockets that struggle to lift its mass. Weapons blast chunks out of the margins of the level, and one of your first two default weapons is just its fist. Coming from an e?ra ?of nimble protagonists who jump with the power of a million squats, a hulking protagonist is a unique angle.

There’s a nice assortment of levels. From the frontal assault of the first level, the second has you cruisin�through an asteroid field. The next starts with a zero??-G section. The actual mechanics are pretty solidly outlined, but one level isn’t exactly li??ke the other.

You start Cybernator off with two weapons, but with a bit of exploration, you pick up more as you advance through the game. The fact that you not only find additional weapons, but also upgrades for the ones that you have give a hint of exploration to the otherwise linear game. Levels are rather right-to-left, but there are plenty of alternate routes and little nooks to check out. You can probably get by without scouring every niche, but don’t you want a powerful fist? Don’t you want the most powerful fist?

You also have a shield, which I always forgot about until I started getting m??y butt kicked and reali??zed my butt might be slightly less kicked if I blocked every once and a while. Again, it lends to the feeling of being in a 4-story mech when you can put up an invincible block of steel.

You’re accompanied on your campaign by the crew of the Versus. The Japanese version gave all these characters portraits to go with their dialogue, but the SNES version seemed to censor this to hide the fact that you were fighting humans. It’s done sloppy, too. The text just kind of sits there at the bottom of the screen, and a lot of the tim?e, it’s not terribly straightforward who you’re talking to.

Cybernator also seems to follow Konami’s lust for limited continues. It’s pretty brutal here, you’re given three continues with one life each. Because there’s so much variety, you never really know what’s up ahead or how best to approach it. That means you wind up playi?ng the first few levels over and over, then drop all your lives when you hit something new until you learn the trick to survival. It’s a short game, but getting to the end of it requires some patience.

There’s also the opportunity to fail in some of your missions. For example, if you don’t kill the boss in time. Then you wind up with the bad ending, so�It’s lucky that Cybernator is such an enjoyable experience because you’ll probably find yourself p?laying it more? than once to see a happy ending.

There just isn’t much in the era that feels quite like Cybernator. It’s an impactful, weighty game. The soundtrack is punchy and energetic, and the action is explosive. Assault Suit Leyno�Oh, I mean, Target Earth, by comparison, is a more standard shooter. Cybernator is like a side-scrolling tank simulator. It gives the sense of a militaristic game in an age of brightly colored, ‘tuded up protagonists. It’s half Contra and half Steel Battalion.

It’s funny, because the follow-up, Assault Suit Valken 2, was a turn-based strategy game for the PS1. ??The closest thing we got to a true sequel was a PS2 port of the SNES title that was released only in Japan.

That’s fine, I guess. I kind of feel like Cybernator hit the mark pretty solidly. In an ideal world, we would have got some clumsy early-3D experiment with its philosophy, but maybe Armored Core was close enough. As it stands, Cybernator is an easily overlooked gem in the SNES library. It was one of those games that I rented in my youth that left an impression. Except I couldn’t remember the name of it until years later. No wonder. Cybernator? Was that name?? picked from a hat? It sounds like a placeholder name that marketing grabbed onto before something better could be found.

For other retro?? titles you may have missed, ??click right here!

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So many woooooords

In today's contest, you can win a Switch, Steam, Xbox, or PlayStation copy of Override 2: Super Mech League and its Ultraman DLC!

Hey Torch, look! It's a game with big robots!

If you're anything like Torch, you're going to be interested in Override 2: Super Mech League. Y??ou're also really going to like the Ultraman DLC we're giving away along with it!

Ok big robot??s aren't my thing, so here's a descriptio??n:

Seven years after the Xenotypes that invaded Earth have been eradicated, the giant mechs that were once the planet’s defenders are now their entertainers in global mech battle leagues. As a new pilot of these repurposed weapons of war, climb the ranks and represent your Club with a tuned-up roster of returning and new mechs, each with their own unique abilities, moves, and super-charged attacks. Override 2: Super Mech League is playable both in single player and multiplayer campaigns for up to 4 ?players locally and online in stages set all over the world.

Start as a new pilot and propel yourself through the ranks in a deep and robust Career Mode. Join Mech Leagues and earn reputation by competing in Arenas located across the globe. Duke it out with a tuned-up roster of returning robots and new mechs across? various versus and co-op game modes of up to 4 ?players online and locally. Defeat your opponents using an arsenal of unique moves including super-charged ranged attacks, metal-busting combos, or an arena-shattering ultimate attack!

War of the Monsters, anyone?

To enter to win your copy, use the widget bel?ow to leave your name and email address. Enter daily to rack up entries??, and be sure to do all the fun side stuff to pick up even more chances to win.

We have a bunch of keys to give away, so just trust me on this. You'll get the base game and the Ultraman DLC expansion, so wee! PS and ??Swit??ch keys are for NA accounts; all others are region-free. We'll draw winners next Monday.

Override 2: Super Mech League is available now for consoles and PC.

Contest: Win Override 2: Super Mec?h League and its Ultraman DLC for Xbox, PlayStation,?? Switch, and Steam

The post Contest: Win Overri??de 2: Super Mech League and its Ultraman DLC for Xbox, PlayStation, Switch, or?? Steam appeared first on Destructoid.

Give it away, give it away, give it away now

In today's giveaway, we're handing out 125 Steam keys for giant robot strategy title Volta-X!

Wh?o here likes giant robots? What ab??out kaiju? *counts hands*

Yeah, I thought so. Well, you're all in luck! The first 125 people who claim a key get to take a FREE Steam copy of giant robot/kaiju battler Volta-X!

This strategy battle game puts you in control of giant robots as they? fight one another and the likes of kaiju invaders. Select your crew of animal pilots and take to the mech, where you'll control everything from the inside. Head up to the?? cockpit to implement attacks and defenses, then rush down to the lower levels to repair damages, put out fires, and prepare for the next round of action! Each animal class has unique abilities and talents to help you strategize against fellow robots, and interloping kaiju, so choose your crew wisely. Between massive robot battles, build up and stock your secret base to make sure you pals are well-rested, well-stocked, and well-prepared for the next fight.

Any time a game can put a uni?que spin on a ??classic formula, I'm hooked.

As mentioned above, we have 125 Steam keys available to give away! Simply redeem from the widget below, and it's ??yours to keep. Be quick -- once our allotment is gone, you're outta luck!

Volta-X is available now for Steam and Nintendo Switch.

Dtoid Giveaway: Take on?e of our 125 Volta-X keys for Steam

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Robots don't feel pain

Gundam? More like goddamn. That's my best crack at a lede an?d I will not apologize.

Modus Games has announced Override 2: Super Mech League for anyone who likes a flashy robot brawler. It's headed to PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X in De??cember.

The Override 2 Steam page has a lot of the nitty gritty details about everything that's new. A couple of highlights are a career mode and a 20-bot roster. Also, there's a big crossover cameo that will be revealed in September. That's an Override overload.

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Morbius? Morbius?!

A girl with fungus growing out of her face?

Let's hope she doesn't come across Ellie or Joel.

Void Terrarium (PS4, Switch [reviewed])
Developer: Nippon Ichi Software
Publisher: NIS America
Released: July 14, 2020
MSRP: $24.99 digital/$59.99 physical

Even though I've played roguelike dungeon crawlers for more than a decade, getting into the groove of Void Terrarium took a few hours. That's because it's not just a dungeon crawler. It's a mish-mash of genres that combines the action found in Mystery Dungeon titles with thos?e Tamagotchi toys that were briefly huge in the '90s. Toss in some crafting mechanics and light decorating, and you have a complicated game that becomes more manageable the longer you play.

The goal that keeps you diving back into these dungeons is saving a little girl named Toriko. She may be the last human alive, and with the fungus growing out of her face, that life?? may not last for much longer. She's discovered by a rat-rebooted robot named Robbie, who, with the help of the factoryAI that's responsible for the end of humanity, works to give the girl a pleasant little life in her terrarium for however long that may last. Toriko, Robbie, and the AI are deep beneath the Earth's crust and things are slowly collapsing around them. With the air too contaminated for Toriko to live outside, the only thing Robbie can do is make her terrarium as pleasant as it can.

To do that, you'll need to craft new pieces of furniture with materials gathered from the various randomly generated dungeons. Each trip into a dungeon will likely end with a pack full of supplies that, when you're defeated and knocked back to the terrarium, will turn into resource??s for crafting. Crafting not only improves the look of Toriko's home, but it can also give Robbie a leg-up each time the robot enters a dungeon. Just don't expect the crafting menu, or really any menu in this game, to be as ?intuitive as it should be.

Like most other roguelikes, Robbie starts at level one when it begins a dungeon run. However, depending on what you've crafted, it may be more capable than the last time it attempted to do so. Crafting a recip?e will net you a perk, such as increasing Robbie's initial attack power, defense, or health. Certain items may help Toriko out as well, such as increasing the time it takes for her hunger to grow or keeping her terrarium cleaner for longer periods.

That is where this Tamagotchi system comes into play. When you dive into a dungeon, you have to make sure Tori?ko is fed before you go and her bowl is clean. The longer you're in a dungeon, the hungrier she'll become. She'll even start leaving little poop piles around her terrarium, illustrated in glorious faux-LCD in the lower lefthand corner of your screen. As you journey from dungeon floor to dungeon floor, you have to keep an eye on her health and cleanliness. If her cage get??s too dirty, you can spend some energy to clean it up. Or, you can just let the monsters beat you to death so you're back to the terrarium to clean it up yourself. Just try to avoid giving her contaminated food, or you'll be left scrambling to save her life.

That is the thing that took me so long to get used to with Void Terrarium. You're expected, nay, encouraged to lose. In certain circumstances, there is an actual end to each dungeon, but unless you're looking for a specific item, you might as well just play until you fill up your inventory and then intentionally die so you can start crafting. With that type of gameplay loop, losing rarely feels like?? losing. Though, you can expect a few bullsh?it runs.

I've had a dungeon run start me in a room next to an alarm that, when I accidentally activated it, summoned four enemies that killed me in two turns. I've walked through several floors that have had rooms full of status-effect traps. I've had a dungeon floor where the starting room had one hallway out of it that led directly to a Monster House with no way to escape. The various corridors connecting each room of a ?dungeon floor are mostly blacked out, eliminating a lot of the strategy found in similar titles. I know the roguelike genre has a reputation for being unforgiving, but until I reached the halfway point and had really decked R??obbie out, this felt like the most mean-spirited game I'd ever played.

Part of the reason I thought that is because the random nature of this roguelike was a little too random. I've had runs where I didn't find a single battery to refuel my energy. I've had runs where I didn't pick up a weapon to equip only to follow it up with a run that just dumped weapons on me. Finding some grub to feed Toriko -- a critical task in this game lest you want her to get sick -- can be a crapshoot with some runs not offering any food at all. I get that, with the focus on crafting and collecting materials, most of these dungeon dives ultimately resulted in me slightly improving either Robbie or Toriko. But when I'm tasked with reaching a specifi??c dungeon floor, and the game isn't giving me any batteries or health packs, I stop blaming my bad luck and start looking at the faults in the formula that compiles these dungeons.

As much as I can sometimes hate the randomness of the dungeon crawling, there is one random function I adore. When you level up, Robbie is presented with two random options from an assortment of passive and active skills. These can improve your strength, give you access to new special moves, increase your inventory size, make critical attacks more common, a??nd more. Sometimes you can get lucky and end up with options that turn you into a killing machine.

I had that happen to me quite early in the game and was only forced to end my dungeon run prematurely because Toriko was on the verge of starvati??on. Certain items you craft for the terrarium will actually let you eliminate the skills you don'?t want to see when you level-up. It's such a clever system that the right power-up at the right time can turn a broken run, where you're not getting any help from the random drops, into a highly successful dungeon dive.

Void Terrarium is tough, and it can be unforgiving?? with a lot of different systems to keep track of. But it's always a satisfying experience. It's not the greatest roguelike/Mystery Dungeon title I've played, but it might just have the most rewarding gameplay loop I've seen in the genre.

_{[This review is based on a retail build of the game provided by the publisher.]}

The post Review: Void Terrarium appeared first on Destructoid.

Solve those puzzles!

In today's contest you can win a PS4 or Steam copy of co-op puzzle game Biped!

Here's a fun little one for everyone! Biped is a cute robotic puzzle game where you must maneuver your little robo-friends across various obstacles, all in the name of saving the planet! It's super adorbs, and something I'm definitely gonna gi??ve a shot with my wife.

You can win your own PS4 or Steam copy, right here in today's Super Fun Contest of Joy a??????????????????????????nd Splendor!

Get the full scoop below!

Biped is a friendly physics-based journey where players control their cute robot protagonists, Aku and Sila, as they go on a quest to keep the Earth from going dark. The players will navigate by controlling the robot's legs with Biped's elegant and unique controls. They can walk, sli??de, and operate puzzles by moving their robot's legs individually. Teamwork will be essential to progress as you coordinate to explore the world, avoid traps, and even fling your friend to scale walls!

• Innovative and simple controls. You control the robot's two legs using two sticks or left and right mouse buttons. This allows you to perform various moves -- from simple walking and sliding to more advanced actions, like operating machinery or cutting wood.
• Two-player co-op. Enjoy the adventure solo or grab a friend or a family member and have a blast together in co-op mode. Communicate and coordinate to conquer challenges together and find out how good a pair you truly are.
• Explore fun environments. Your adventure will take you to many beautiful and mysterious locations on the planet. Explore secrets in forests, valleys, waterfalls, and icy mountains and find your way through the puzzling paths that lead to the planetary beacons.

This has a very The Adventures of Cookie & Cream vibe to it, which is definitely a good thing.

To enter to wi?n your copy, use the widget below to leave your name and email address. You can enter daily. Be sure to specify which platform you'd like. And I think I fixed the music thing, so give me a song you like and why! I always do it to you, so it's only fair to listen to what you folks like.

We have five keys each for PS4 NA, PS??4 EU, and Steam; winners will be drawn Monday, April 27.

Biped is available now for PS4 and PC.

Contest: Win?? a copy of co-op puzzler Biped for P?S4 or Steam

The post Contest: Win a copy of co-op? puzzler Biped? for PS4 or Steam appeared first on Destructoid.

Damn you, robo-empire!

In today's contest, we're giving away Switch copies of Super Rare Games' release of Mechstermination Force!

I say it every time, and I'll say it again: I love Super Rare Games. They make a great product, and are always willing and ready to throw copies of their releases our way to give you?? guys a chance to win out on what usually sells out pretty quickly.

Their 29th release, Mechstermination Force, is fresh out of the oven. At time of writi??ng, they've only got 4% left in stock -- this one is selling out, folks! Only 4,000 were made, so this is your cha??nce to win something you'll never be able to buy again!

This one's a keeper, folks -- you're an elite robo-slayer tasked to live out your namesake and take down these massive robots! This sidescrolling shooter sees you shooting, slamming, climbing, jumping, and slashing? your way through a game-long boss rush in order to stop a robotic uprising. Use your magnet gloves to climb up the fudgers, boost boots to dodge their attacks, and your trusty baseball bat to whack 'em right in their weak spots to wreak maj??or damage.

This one l??ooks like a blast, folks, and it's going to site very nicely on your shelf.

Your brand new Super Rare Games release comes with all the regular fixin's??, in??cluding:

• Fully assembled Nintendo Switch game with cartridge
• Interior art
• Full-colour manual
• Exclusive sticker
• 3 card trading card pack

To enter to win this bad boy, leave your name and email address in the widget below. You can enter daily. Click around for bonus entries while you're in there, and actually listen to my m??usic! Unless you can't due to regional stuff, in which case consider it a free entry.

We have one copy of the game to give away; winner will be drawn Thursday, April 2. This is shipping direct from SRG, so this is open to readers worldwide! So long as they ship to your country, you're eligible to win. If you're feeling saucy, hit up Nintendo Enthusiast for more chances to win.

Mechstermination Force is available now from Super Rare Games. Check 'em out, y'all -- they're legit.

Dtoid Contest: Take dow??n the robo-empire with Super Rare Games' release of Mechste??rmination Force

The post Contest: Take down the robo-empire with Super Rare Games’ release of Mechstermination Force appeared first on Destructoid.

Yes, a tablet with ninja abilities

We've got copies of slick metroidvania Kunai up for grabs in today's contest!

Sometimes, a concept is so silly that you just have to stop and watch the trailer for it. And then you watch it, and it turns out it looks really cool!?? Today is one of those days.

Kunai is a metroidvania title where you control a sentient n?inja tablet. For real. We've got some PC copies to offer up, so check it out and win a copy!

It's pretty much the end of humanity, and machines are trying to wipe out the last vestiges of mankind. Finally, robotic beings rule the earth! But not all is lost -- there's a tablet device imbued with the soul of a ninja on the loose trying to piece civilization back together with help of a broken resistance. Hack, slash, parkour, and grappling hook your way through a broken world to restore order a??nd destroy the machines!

• Fast-paced action platforming with a grappling twist
• Silky smooth movement mechanics tuned to the pixel
• Lots of juicy exploding robots crafted with care (note: screenshake can be turned off at your own leisure)
• Kunai-driven grappling fun with swinging included to amplify those deadly ninja drops
• A wide variety of places to explore, ranging from a fallen city, floating airships to artificial deserts and more!
• Unique art style, with every area having its own color palette taking you back to the early days of gaming.
• Combat mechanics and weapons in abundance to slice, dice and fire your robotic foes to pieces.
• Friendly and not so friendly robots to meet along the way including Earl, Chief and the evil A.I. Lemonkus.
• Rocking soundtrack with lots of 16-bit references blasting into your ears.
• You are a NINJA TABLET. 'Nuff said.

And they said tablet usage was on the decline.

To enter to win, comment below telling us how this tablet was able to acquire ninja powers. Like, what the hell? Crazy, ??right? I'm very confused, so throw me a bone?? here.

We have six Steam keys to give away; winners will be drawn Wednesday, February 12. Make sure to comment using a Dtoid account with your current email address on file. Not a member? Sign up here to bestow ninja knowledge.

Kunai is available now for Steam. Hit up PC Invasion for more chances to nab a copy.

The post Contest: Control a ninja table?t in metroi??dvania Kunai appeared first on Destructoid.

ANDROID

For today's contest, we're giving away PC copies of Detroit: Become Human!

Sometimes, I feel like I don't really need to say m?uch. I like to do dramatic intros to these posts, but I don't think anyone can out-dra?ma David Cage and the folks over at Quantic Dream. So I'm not even gonna try!

We've got some PC copies of Detroit: Become Human to give away so you can live the drama of...becoming human..??.in Detroit. H?uzzah! Read on for details, fellow androids.

Ok, so as previously stated there's lots of dra?ma, because humans went ahead and made androids to do stuff for them. Like wash their cars and make them cotton candy and stuff. But of course the androids are like, nah, we don't wanna wash your car. So a bunch of stuff happens! And since it's a Quantic Dream game, you can be sure that tons of emotions will show up. It's inevitable?, really. Here are some game features.

PLAY YOUR PART IN A GRIPPING NARRATIVE -- Enter a world where moral dilemmas and difficult decisions can turn android slaves into world-changing revolu?tionaries. Discover what it means to be human from the perspective of an outsider -- and see the world through the eyes of a machine.

THEIR LIVES, YOUR CHOICES -- Shape an ambitious branching narrative, where your decisions no??t only determine the fate of the three main characters, but that of the entire city of Detroit. How you control Kara, Connor and Markus can mean life or death - and if one of them pays the ultimate price, the story still continues...

COUNTLESS PATHS, COUNTLESS ENDI?NGS -- Every decision you make, no matter how minute, ?affects the outcome of the story. No playthrough will be exactly the same: replay again and again to discover a totally different conclusion.

FULLY OPTIMIZED FOR PC -- Previously only available on PlayStation 4, Detroit: Become Human is brought to PC with stunning graphics, 4K resolution, 60 fps framerate and full integration of both mouse/keyboard and gamepad controls for the most complete Detroit: Become Human experience to date.

Will man ever learn to love machine?

Comment below answering this dire query to enter to win a copy of the game. How will man and machine come together to live in perfect harmony? Can they? Will they? What?? does this future of man-on-machine love look like? These are the questions that keep me up at night.

We have five PC keys available, redeemable through the Epic Games Store. Winners will be drawn Wednesday, January 15. Make sure to comment using a Dtoid account with your current email address on file. Don't have an account? Sign up here to get your machine-lovin' on!

Detroit: Become Human is available now through the Epic Games Store. Hit up our sister site, PC Invasion, for more chances to win a copy!

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Let's do it

Level-5 revealed Megaton Musashi several years ago, and it just kind of sat since. The publisher is busy pu??tting out games every few months, sure, but it would be nice to know what happened to this promising new franchise. As it turns out, we're getting more info on December 21-22 at Jump Festa 20 in Tokyo.

I'll just say what everyone is thinking. Originally Megaton Musashi was supposed to be a 3DS game that kicked off one of Level-5's famous "cross-media" projects, but with the 3DS on the way out and practically no new games in development for it, the probably pulled the old Switch?eroo.

We can fully expect Level-5 to re-introduce Megaton to the world as a Switch game, and/or possibly for release on other non-Nintendo platforms given their move to the PS4 for Yo-Kai Watch 4: for the first time in series history. Diversifying their strategy might be required at this point after riding the g??olden ticket of the 3DS for so many years.

Megaton Musashi [Ryokutya via Japanese Nintendo]

The post More info on Level-5’s Megaton Musashi, which is STILL not a Brave Fencer sequel, is coming soon appeared first on Destructoid.

Straight from TGS

Sakura Wars is a series I only have a passing familiarity with. Beyond characters from it appearing in the crossover game Project X Zone and its sequel, just one title from the core franchise ever made it to the west many years after it had released in Japan. Foolishly, I skipped over it when I had a shot to pick up Sakura Wars: So Long, My Love for my Wii. If I wanted to play it today, I'd?? have to pay quite the sum? according to eBay.

I certainly won't make that mistake again when Project Sakura Wars comes west. The sixth mainline entry in the Sega series features a host of changes over previous titles, including a completely new combat system. Instead of tactical role-playing battles against other giant mechs, Project Sakura Wars will boast combo-heavy action combat.

This week at Tokyo Game Show, Sega dropped a pair of new trailers giving us our most robust look at its new combat design, as well as the absolutely stunning world the game takes place in. Coming off Daemon X Machina, I'm still in a giant ?mech mood so everything I'm seeing here?? is singing to my soul.

Project Sakura Wars launches in Japan on December 12, 2019, as a PlayStation 4? exclusive. An international release that adds multi-language subtitles but ke?eps the original Japanese voice acting intact is planned for 2020.

The post Feast your eyes upon thes??e new S??akura Wars trailers appeared first on Destructoid.

Heavy Souls, Beyond: Two Rain

A few weeks ago we gave you kind folks a small taste of the raw EMOTION of Quantic Dream's games. Today, we're back with another round to let you into the strange, uncanny valley world that I'm pretty sure no other studios want to make, let alone would if they could.

We've got some bundles featuring PC copies of Beyond: Two Souls and Heavy Rain so you can get your Da?foe and your JASON!!! on, right in the comfort of your home??. Press X to Enter!

I'm going to give a trailer for each game and some press. So yeah read and watch and liste?n ?and love.

HEAVY RAIN: Play four different characters in this tension-soaked psychological thriller. Choose your next move carefully, as every decision may have dramatic outcomes. Spanning four days of mystery and suspense, the hunt is on for a murderer known only as "The Origami Killer" - named after his macabre calling card of leaving behind folded paper shapes at crime scenes. Each of the four characters follow their own leads, with their own motives. Directing their very actions, you have to prevent the killer from claiming a new victim. How this story ends is entirely up to you... This acclaimed game, previously only available on PlayStation conso??les, is brought to PC with stunning visuals including 4K resolution, widescreen compatibility, and 60 FPS frame rate.

BEYOND: TWO SOULS: A unique psychological-action-thrill?er featuring A-list Hollywood performances from Ellen Page and Willem Dafoe, Beyond: Two Souls takes players on a thrilling journey across the globe as they play out the remarkable life of Jodie Holmes. Born with a connection to a mysterious entity with incredible powers, Jodie is different. Players' actions will determine her fate as she faces extraordinary challenges, danger and heart-wrenching loss on a journey to discover the truth of who she ??is. Players will be able to experience the entire Beyond: Two Souls story, complete with "Advanced Experiments" downloadable content and featuring stunningly optimized visuals, including 4K resolution, widescreen 21:9 compatibility and 60 fps frame-rate. Jodie's story can be played in either cinematic or chronological order, and players can share the experience with a friend in local co-op mode.

Ok, so I haven't actually played Beyond, but I've owned it for like six years. Does that count? Who knows. Heavy Rain is a true classic, though. It's perfect in every way, except for all the ways it's not. You'll understand soon, my friend. Ju?st ignore all ??the naysayers and roll with it. I mean, if you win it's free, anyway, so yeah.

To enter to win, comment be??low telling us what happens when you press X. Will you pay your respects? Will you JASON!? I simply must know.

We have two bundles to give away; keys are redeemed through the Epic Games Store. Winners will be drawn on Wednesday, August 28. Don't have a Dtoid account? Press X to sign up and join in on the fun.

Beyond: Two Souls and Heavy Rain are both available for PC now, exclusively through the Epic Games Store. Head over to PC Invasion for more chances to win!

The post Contest: Win a Quan?tic Dream bundle, including Beyond: Two Soul??s and Heavy Rain appeared first on Destructoid.

Daemon X Friends

Daemon X Machina is fast approaching and we're starting to learn more about its multiplayer features. In the latest trailer from developer Marvelous, we catch a glimpse of the four-player cooperative boss battles that Nintendo's?? giant mech game will feature. Acting similar to raids you'd find in MMOs, these look to be difficult and bombastic battles, which sounds completely apt for a mecha title.

As for other information, the trailer goes over some of the customization options that players will have. It's not really more evolved than what was present in the demo, but I do appreciate highlighting a?? feature that many may not be aware of. Hopefully, the final version at least lets you see the physical changes to you??r character before confirmation because the demo made that obfuscated.

Daemon X Machina Trailer Highlights Battles, Cust?omization, And Cooperative ??Play [Siliconera]

The post Daemon X Machina’s latest trailer goes over customization and co-op appeared first on Destructoid.

Du hast mech

Hop into your Battle Frame for a Switch copy of Project Nimbus: Complete Edition in today's contest.

Mechs terrify and confuse me. They're, like, big robots and stuff. And people hop into them and control them. It's all very fo??reign to me. Like, why not just use your fists to punch one another? No sir, my feet stay firmly planted on the ground.

But for all you mech fans out there, we've got some Switch copies of Project Nimbus: Complete Edition to give away! Succeed where I have f??ailed, comrades.

I'll let developer GameTomo ??tak??e the wheel on this one.

Project Nimbus: Complete Edition features pulse-pounding, high-speed combat across a variety of theatres of war across a futuristic Earth. Three main factions duke it out for control over scarce resources using Battle Frames, powerful combat suits that can field a diverse array of fantastical weapons. New to this release is the enhanced Survival mode that pits players against never ending waves of enemies, challenging them to succeed against impossible odds. The new WARFRONT mode further elaborates on this formula by adding multiple objectives and missions ??to the survival gameplay, forcing the player to make tactical decisions as they rise through the ranks.

Project Nimbus Key Features

• High-speed battle action, piloting heavily armored Battle Frames through the war torn skies.
• Twenty-six missions in a variety of locations, including floating cities, ocean fortresses, mountain bases, futuristic prisons, and battles in space.
• Over a dozen playable Battle Frames with weapons including smart missiles, energy blades, particle cannons, floating energy shields, railguns and autonomous psychodrones.
• A sprawling storyline with battles between three different factions over a war-torn futuristic planet: the US-led CFN, the Russia-led UCN, and the shadowy terrorist Children of Fallen Nations.
• Complex bosses each with a unique fighting style, including orbiting nuclear battle mechs, bands of deadly pilots, and weaponized flying ships.
• Missiles, rail guns and cannons for long range combat...energy blades and blade rushes for melee!
• Bonus Survival Mode lets you choose from an entire hangar of Battle Frames, and then you must battle endless waves of enemies with increasing power.
• WARFRONT mode includes massive replayability with six unlimited mission modes including Base Defense, Interception, and Assassination. Six levels of pilot (including Legendary) and Battle Frame customization will keep you playing for hours more.

Yay for mechs!

?To enter to win, convince me to like mechs. Do your best to turn me, a non-believer, into a full-fledged fan. Bribes are accepted. DM me for PayPal info.

We have six Switch NA keys to give away. Winners will be drawn Friday, June 7. Make sure to comment using a Dtoid account with your current email address on file. New users can sign up here to send bribes!

Project Nimbus: Complete Edition is available now for Nintendo Switch??. Head over to Ninten??do Enthusiast for more chances to win.

The post ??Contest: Pilot Project Nimbus: Complete Edition for your Switch appeared first on Destructoid.

With a healthy dash of its own original vision

Through Avalanche Studios' 16-year history, it's best known for two successful franchises. The first, the big and obvious one, is Just Cause. The second will come as a surprise for a lot of folks. It's called theHunter -- a realistic, first-person hunting simulation. It h?as a very niche-but-dedicated audience.

The next release in Avalanche's arsenal is something of a merger between these two series. On March 26, Generation Zero will launch. It combines the tactical stealth-forward approach from theHunter with the emergent (and sometimes ridiculous) open world of Just Cause. It's also very Red Dawn in its teenage gu?errilla warfare an?d its '80s tropes -- except the kids are fighting robots rather than communists.

How we got here is a mystery. Generation Zero ??;picks up as four young Swedish adults are returning from a trip to the country's archipelago. Their boat is sunk and they're thrust into some sort of dire robo-apocalypse. They sneak from house to house hoping to pick up supplies. They have to sneak b??ecause the robots are so rapaciously aggressive when they see any organic being.

Generation Zero can feel oppressive, especially at first, but this is something Avalanche won't budge on. It's a cooperative game for up to four players, but anyone can try it solo. It'll be a challenge, though. Generation Zero's?? difficulty doesn't scale to the number of players in a session. Rather, the difficulty is in the geographic locations of the world. Some places are easier than o?thers. It'd be wise for those one-person teams to first sharpen their skills and fill their XP bars in the less-hostile areas.

Avalanche's unwillingness to compromise on Generation Zero is a common theme during our trip to Stockholm. Director Emil Kraftling explains why Avalanche ended up self-publishing development. "Well, if we were to go to a publisher and say, 'So we want to make this game: It's kind of the recreation of our childhood fantasies in Sweden in the '80s,' they would probably have a hard time seeing the worldwide appeal for that," Kraftling says??. "Even just the setting of Sweden -- we really love it and we really think we do a great job with it, but will it have an international audience? Do they even know what Sweden looks like and can they get excited over it?"

That's not all. Generation Zero doesn't have a central character to put on marketing materials. There are no cinematics. Hell, there isn't even a main story that's required to progress. These are all things Kraftling thinks a traditional major publisher might've wanted from Generation Zero but Avalanche didn't necessarily want. So, the studio forewent pitching it arou??nd and just funde??d the project itself.

But, it's really that steadfast resolution to accurately depict Swedish life that drove Avalanche. "All the stuff you find in the world is written in Swedish. You find Swedish notes, Swedish signage, you look at the newspaper headlines and it's in Swedish," Kraftling points out. "Now, we still wanted to be under??standable to a foreign audience, so you get subtitles for everything. But, that would probably be something that's too scary for [an external publisher], but we felt it needs to be authentic. It needs to be in Swedish." There's extra pressure among game development pals to do right by the Scandinavian country. EA DICE is located one building away from Avalanche's office; Paradox is two floors below. The center of this very cold city is a hotbed of game developers.

Sweden has novelty but the intersection with Just Cause is where Generation Zero finds fun. Kraftling tells us that Just Cause taught Avalanche how to let the player create their own memorable moments. "One of the main things [we learned from Just Cause] was to not shy away from creating tools for the player that don't have one specific use, but rather they have a function. That function can interact in interesting ways with the environment, or with the enemies, or with other tools. So, that combination or that emergen?ce of mechanics allows people to be playful."

Kraftling continues "We've tried to incorporate that in Generation Zero in some of the items that you find. The sticky flare is one of my favorites. In its base function, this is something that the enemy sees as a target. If they see this they will start shooting at it. Then, you have the option to place it in various forms. With a regular flare, it will require some skill to place, but with the sticky flare, you can be even more specific with where you attach it. You can attach it to an enemy and the other robots will start shooting at the flare and hitting their ally. Or you can throw it at a gas tank and ?you will see runners just jumping out and headbutting the gas tank and making it explode."

There's depth outside of the basic robot shooter stuff and whatever raucous chaos that entails. A soft class system has players specializing toward combat, support, survival, or tech proficiencies. The robots play their own roles too (all of which are inspired by animals, bringing the theHunter analog full circle). For instance, ticks are small, creepy, and unpredictable; the hunter is "sinister" and lurks while plotting ambushes of the players. Maybe most important: there's a Top Gun bomber jacket, Terminator glasses, a Snake Plissken eyepatch, and a Breakfast Club dance emote. Generation Zero?? is constant??ly balancing the serious survival components with the goofy '80s kitsch.

Avalanche promises that balancing act will have a long tail. Kraftling says "We see?? the launch as the beginning. We are dedicated to this being a product ?that lives on." He also mentions "A lot of those things will look to add endgame content. There ?is a mystery to solve, and you will get many an??swers by doing the missions. But then it's not like 'Cut, here's credits, now play again.' It doesn't stop the world. There's still relevance to moving around the world, continuing to do missions, and taking down enemies for better stuff. We definitely intend to make sure there's stuff to do and things to find for a long time."

Generation Zero launches on March 26 on PC ($35), and PS4 and Xbox One ($40). It's born from an unusual place -- open-world mayhem mixed with realistic hunting. It's rooted in unrelenting commitment to principles. Regardless of how this game turns out, it's admirable that Avalanche made Generation Zero ?;the w??ay the studio wanted to make it, and not on anyone else's terms.

_{[Disclaimer: Travel and lodging to this Generation Zero preview event were provided by Avalanche Studios.]}

The post Generation Zero is a brilliant mish-mash of all of Avalanche’s other games appeared first on Destructoid.

Welcome to the Danger Zone

In less than two weeks, Avalanche's cooperative robot-slaying survival shooter Generation Zero will launch. These machines are going to use their sensors and gadgets to find you. And the??n they will kill you.

Get some advance intel by taking a good look at this Generation Zero concept art. It's good stuff. The full resol??ution versions are in the gallery below. (And, if I'm not mistaken, I beli?eve this is the concept art that comes on the postcards in the collector's edition.)

We'll soon have a lot more to say about Generation Zero. We attended a preview event in Stockholm, where we got? some valuable insight to the nuts and bolts that led to this very Swedish game. Be on the lookout for that tomorrow. But give this?? concept art a looksee today.

_{[Disclaimer: Travel and lodging to a Generation Zero preview event were provided by ??Avalanche Studios.]}

The post Give th?is fantastic Generation Zero concept art an ocular patdown appeared first on Destructoid.

Artificial Killtelligence

Generation Zero is a game we've been keeping our eye on for a while now. Developed by Avalanche Studios, Generation Zero is an atmospheric cooperative romp through '80s-set S??weden while trying to fend off a robot invasion. This game isn't left wanting when it comes to unique identifiers.

Although Generation Zero was first thrust into the spotlight at last year's E3, it won't be long before the final product is in our hands. Avalanche announced today that Generation Zero will launch on March 26 on PC, PS4, and Xbox One. It's set at ??a sort-of budget price, too; it'll cost $35 on PC and $40 ??on consoles.

While we haven't yet seen a ton of it, Generation Zero seems like the type of game that could shape up to be something special. It's advisable to treat this as something of a tactical shooter, placing emphasis on staying stealthy and under the radar. By most every account, Avalanche has nailed the look of late-'80s countryside Sweden. The machines we've seen are superbly designed. All this combined means Generation Zero?? could very well excel at creating memorable moments and encounters.

Pre-Order Generation Zero Now [Generation Zero]

The post Avalanche kickstarts the robot apocalypse ??when Generation Zero launches in late March appeared first on Destructoid.

Jaeger bomb

One of my favorite overlooked PlayStation 2 titles is a 2003 brawler called War of the Monsters. Inspired by B-movies of the 1950s, the game let you choose from a wide variety of Kaiju and giant robots, then battle it out in a 3D arena full of vehicles and skyscrapers to destroy while tiny humans ran for their pitiful lives. It's ?sti?ll a lot of fun 15 years later, and all the more impressive when you consider how much more difficult environmental destruction was back then. 

There's no question what the biggest fighting game of the year is, but you may have missed a smaller release from a few days before Smash Bros. Ultimate came out. Override: Mech City Brawl is a party game which puts you in the pilot's seat of a 30-story mech, then tasks you with beating the bolts off a variety of mechanical and alien enemies. I was hopeful that Override would be a spiritual successor to War of the Monsters, but how does it stand on its own?

Override: Mech City Brawl (PC, [reviewed] PlayStation 4, Xbox One)
Developer: The Balance
Publisher: Modus Games
Released: December 4, 2018
MSRP: $29.99

Let's get this out of the way: Despite some early comparisons, Override: Mech City Brawl has nothing to do with War of the Monsters apart from sharing some common inspirations. It's probably not quite the Pacific Rim game you're hoping for either, though it does have some cool features that can let you and some friends live out your Voltron or Power Ranger fantasies. 

Override has a few different modes to play, but at its core it's a fighting game starring a variety of big stompy robots. A dozen fighters are available from the outset, and nearly the entire roster is inspired by various animals. A couple are off-brand versions of famous 'bots like Gundam or Mechagodzilla, but most are original creations. No matter which mech you pick, they all share some common moves and it's very easy to pick up and play. Although you can use the mouse and keyboard in the PC version, it's pretty clear the game was designed with contr??ollers in mind and I found it played better with a Switch Pro Controller or Xbox 360 pad.

Each of your robot's limbs are mapped to a different button, so you can choose which arms or legs to attac??k with. You can soft lock-on to enemies, but you'll lose it if they get too far away from you. Every 'bot has a personal shield and a dash move they can use to evade attacks, and they'll earn charge toward a super meter the longer they stay in the fight. There's also a heat meter below each robot's stamina bar, and attacking too aggressively will overheat your mech, leaving you vulnerable to counterattacks for a few seconds.

Oversized weapon pods rain down on the ba?ttlefield from time to time, and you can pick these up to augment your already impressive combat abilities. These can be anything from ballistic shields to railguns and grenade launchers, and there are lots of melee weapons including energy blades, a massive hammer, and a 100-foot-wide frying pan. You can even equip a sword or gun in one hand and a shield in the other if they're size appropriate, or toss mega-sized grenades at your opponents.

There's a single-player campaign mode that borrows a few elements from XCOM as you and your mech join the fight against a new alien threat called the Xenotype. There are several different types of these aliens, and some of the bosses require diffe??rent strategies than the waves of lesser invaders. The story is told through visual novel-style cutscenes, and in between story missions, you can take on bonus stages for a chance to earn extra upgrades and resources. Each mech has its own pilot, and they all have slightly different stories as they progress through the campaign. 

While the single-player mode is decent, it's pretty clear multiplayer fights were the focus of development. There are several options available here: team fights, one-on-one battles, online matchups (sadly, no console cross-play), and you can even stuff multiple people in a single mech and try to fight as an organized team. I only got t??o try out controlling the arms and head as a two-person mech, but I could see a ??full eight-player game with everyone controlling a separate limb being a lot of fun. 

After every battle, you earn a skin or cosmetic unlock for one of the mechs in your garage. The skins are the main incentive to buy the physical or digital deluxe version as opposed to the standard ed?ition, and they come with one Legendary skin for each combatant as well as access to four upcoming DLC fighters. (One of these has already released, the robot unicorn called Stardust.) Thankfully, I didn't see any way to buy these skins with real currency, but it's kind of an odd choice for a progression system. I guess for those who really get into the online fights, they'll be able to show off their dedication by equipping a snowman head?? or novelty sombrero. 

Unfortunately, there are quite a few problems holding Override back. The visuals are nice and colorful, but I ran into a lot of frame drops. My rig is getting to the point where it needs some upgrades, but it's well within the recommended system specs so your mileage may vary. For me, moving the camera quickly or blowing up a lot of buildings at once seemed to overload the engine, and I got disoriented more than once with how many frames were being skipped. I also noticed the camera got lost when I backed into a corner, and my testing partner said s?he ended up getting an extreme close-up of her robot's bu??tt a lot more frequently than she'd have preferred.

My other major problem with Override is how insubstantial everything feels. It looks nice when you plow through a building, but there's absolutely no resistance, so it feels like even the largest skyscrapers are made out of tissue paper. The arenas are also fairly small, and blocked off by a glowing blue barrier that doesn't have any story explana?tion. Most of the stages are just flat planes with buildings sprinkled around, so prolonged fights get pretty dull once you've kicked everything into rubble. There aren't even any humans around to protect (yeah, right) or stomp on (there we go). It would have been a lot more fun if you could use the buildings as cover or climb on them, but this isn't an option. The stages I enjoyed most had something solid to them, like the underground section in Egypt or the overpass in one of the cit??y maps.

Override: Mech City Brawl had a lot of potential, but ultimately I l??ike the concept a lot more than the execution. The fighting engine is adequate, but I felt l??ike it should be a lot more fun blowing up a city in a million-ton robot suit. It kinda seems like this one was sent out to die, and that's a damn shame.

_{[This review is based on a retail build of the game provided by the publisher]}

The post Review: Override: Mech City Brawl appeared first on Destructoid.

I'm certain that I'd like to get rid of all these keys

[UPDATE: Alright well those went quick. Didn't get one? Check out Gamnesia and PC Invasion for more chances to get a key! We're also giving out a bunch on Twitter, so tell your friends.]

This ain’t no contest, buddy – we’re literally giving these Steam keys away for The Uncertain: Episode 1 – The Last Quiet Day.

Do you get frustrated when you don’t win contests? Upset when somebody els??e steals the prize you so desperately wanted? Do you shout to the heavens in anger when someone else is announced as the recipient of a prize? ComonGames understands, so they’re here to bring balance back to the world.

They’ve given us 5,000 copies of the acclaimed first episode of their series The Uncertain. To win, all you have to do is click below!

I’ll ???let developer ComonGames take it from here:

Imagine making moral choices in a world devoid of morality. Logic rules this world, and every decision is just a set of zeroes and ones. Most concepts take a whole new meaning??, and some get completely abolished. Luckily reasonable beings, even i??f not human, always have a choice.

The Uncertain: Episode 1 – The Last Quiet Day is an episodic story-driven adv?enture game set in a post-apocalyptic world. In the first episode you see it from the perspective of an engineering robot RT-217NP, who seems to be very curious about the human race, long extinct in wasting wars. Experience the my?sterious vibe of each of carefully explored locations. Test your skills, solving diverse puzzles. Make fateful decisions and discuss intriguing matters to find out the whole truth being kept from you.

Key features:

• Classic 3D Adventure with unique story
• Beautiful graphics and immersive atmosphere
• Original indie soundtrack
• Made using NVIDIA GameWorks HBAO+, DoF, and FXAA technologies

It seems humanity has a knack for going extinct.

To get your hands on a key, all ??you have to do is use the widget below. Too easy.

Like what you played? ComonGames is developing Episode 2 – Light at the End, and they have taken to Kickstarter to get the project up and running. Show your support for the series by?? backing it to help see the episodic game to completion!

The Uncertain: Episode 1 – The Last Quiet Day is available now on Steam.

The post G??iveaway: Take one of our 5,000 keys for The Uncertai??n: Episode 1 appeared first on Destructoid.

Tested on animals

If there's one thing I learned from humans, it's that work is everything to u??s. It's what all politicians promise us. It's what family and friends complain about when the times are rough. It's seen as an opportunity to prove ourselves useful in an uncaring world. It pays for the video ga??mes we buy, games in which we then pretend to work a different job.

7 Billion Humans is work, but it's enjoyable work. It's like that meeting where you get to brainstorm a crazy-enough-that-it-might-work idea with people you don't hate, instead of that day y??ou kept receiving emails because business people don't know what "Reply All" does. I think fellow sapiens will be into it.

7 Billion Humans (PC [reviewed] Nintendo Switch)
Developer: Tomorrow Corporation
Publisher: Tomorrow Corporation
Released: August 23, 2018 (PC)
MSRP: $14.99

Of course, we're not reviewing humanity as a whole today. 7 Billion Humans is instead a puzzle game based on coding principles. It follows Human Resource Machine, Tomorrow Corporation's previous game. Thankfully, it improves in a key area where the previous ??game struggled. The puzzles are much more appealing on their own, rather than as a simulacrum of coding.

The basic gist of each level is to complete something that sounds easy at first. Arrange cubes on the floor into diagonals. Grab boxes and shred them. Navigate a maze and suicide in the right hole. The thing is, there are multiple people in the same room and they must all follow the same routine. Since the people here aren't particularly bright, they just have knowledge of the spaces directly adjacent to them and the ??nearest object of a certain type. The challenge comes from finding a solution to these simple problems that works for all participants at once.

Sure, Humans i?s an allegory for multi-threading coding. But its puzzles are appealing thanks to the variety on offer and how concrete they feel without a neces??sary background in computer stuff. The cubes, shredders, printers, and even coworkers give you a lot of tools to complete puzzles in whichever way you choose, and the end result feels a lot more concrete -- despite being very random -- to any player than sorting a zero-terminated string. As I kept playing, I kept trying to "cheat" the game. What if I never used the "Talk To" command the game obviously wants me to use? Turns out that's perfectly doable. Playing outside the box isn't required, but it added a lot of fun to the game and sometimes shaved precious seconds off of the execution. That's great design!

The presentation helps bring the whole game together as well. Buttons and commands are large and work as you'd expect. Being able to execute your commands step by step while focusing on a character's memory is very?? useful when debugging. The only issue I've encountered so far is when deleting chained conditions, it always deletes the one on the top instead of the one on the bottom. The top condition is the original one, that's the one I want to keep!

If you're looking for something more than pure puzzle-solving, this is not the right game for you. The story in Humans is even more paper-thin than its predecessor. Machines have created a perfect utopia where nobody ever needs to work again, but the populace isn't happy. We want good-paying jobs. So random jobs are created and the whole planet's hired to complete them. That's ?basically all you get from start to finish in the dozen or so hours it takes to complete the game.

As a side-note, it seems like a non-STEM student really hurt someone at Tomorrow Corporation. Despite how little story there is in Humans, we get a hipster barista, someone with a Ph.D??. in medieval French literature getting dissed hard for having useless skills, and a tutorial level about adding numbers called "Intro t?o Calc for Art Majors". That's just rude, dudes.

Don't have any illusions of becoming a master coder after finishing Humans. The limited flexibility of your commands and the overuse of jumps can lead to some ugly, ugly code. If you somehow get a real-life job right based on nothing but experience with this game, I'd ??expect a lot of years unlearning the patter?ns used here. The fundamental problem-solving skills used here are universal, thankfully. I could see this being useful to figure out if you're interested in the concept of coding, more than a tool to learn how to do it.

If you're looking for a fun puzzler that doesn't pressure you with any kind of time limit, it's hard to go wrong with 7 Billion Humans. The game's variety of tools and obstacles keep it interesting all the way through... Just don't expect anything particularly special from its story.

_{[This review is based on a retail build of the game? purchased by the reviewer.]}

The post Review: 7 Billion Humans appeared first on Destructoid.

Rewiring history

Most of Tyler: Model 005 is spent in the dark -- proverbially and literally. The darkness saps this little robot's battery?? and the light recharges it. That's the central?? mechanic. But it's also an amnesic tale of sorts where Tyler, the titular protagonist, is left wondering who he is and why he's here.

It's a perfectly appropriate theme because this game has identity issues. Tyler: Model 005 never figures out what it wants to be, what it does well, or what's?? worth leaning into. ??It's all so confused.

Tyler: Model 005 (PC, Xbox One [reviewed])
Developer: Reversed Interactive
Publisher: Maximum Games
Release: August 21, 2018
MSRP: $9.99

Tyler: Model 005 is a time-traveling story about a diminutive robot who's suddenly thrust inside a 1950s-era house with no recollection about anything. At its core, this is an exploration game. This house serves?? as a series of isolated environments for Tyler to exhaustively scour. Because of his small stature, each room feels far bigger than it really is.

Tyler is left to jump and climb across everything, searching every last nook and cranny for easily-overlooked items. Th??ere's a scramble to it because of the aforesaid necessity to s??tay out of the dark. Rooms are littered with light sources to activate, making each area less dangerous the more thoroughly it's explored. By the end, there are hardly any areas that aren't properly illuminated.

This is a godsend because Tyler: Model 005's platforming can be so frustratingly unpredictable at times. It's always a gamble as to whether the robot will properly latch onto something or whether he'll just slide right down it. But it's a jank that grows on you over time. The latter half of Tyler: Model 005 isn't as exasperating as the first half. (Also, there's a deus ex machina rewind mechanic introdu?ced halfway through that allows Tyler to reverse time by about five seconds. It helps for any platforming follies, even if it is basically explained away by "Wow, electricity sure can do some crazy things!")

All that stuff more or less makes sense for Tyler: Model 005. The rest does not make sense. Every room is infested by bugs (ants, spiders, beetles, etc.), and Tyler has a sword attack that's used to kill them. There's an experience points system w?ith upgrade portals to enhance Tyler's basic abilities. For instance, there are categories for improving battery life, strengthening attacks, and climbing faster??.

By far the most egregious example of questionable add-on mechanics is the inclusion of a tower defens??e mini-game. There are four instances where Tyler can defend a portal from waves of bugs. There are traps to lay down, and more traps can be built with the experience currency that the dead insects drop. Involving Tyler in the combat only works in the very beginning. Eventually, t?here will be far too many bugs to run crowd control yourself.

Instead, the key to victory li?es in mak??ing a sloppy labyrinth of traps -- as close to the portal and with as much overlap as possible. The bugs will quickly march straight to their deaths, one after another into obstacles that never break or wear down. The best strategy feels like the one that's the least strategic.

Here's the reall?y weird thing, though: The tower defense mode isn't mandated in any way. It's never used to advance the story. It's entirely possible ??to ignore these sections altogether. The only real reason to play it is to rapidly earn bolts for upgrades -- which is another feature that doesn't need to exist.

It's as if developer Reversed Interactive isn't confident that Tyler: Model 005's most appealing aspects are enough to carry the?? whole experience. Traversing these environments as a tiny robot is the most unique and enjoyable part of this game. It's not perfect (hell, it's not even great) but it's usually pleasant. The darkness is an adequate-enough threat. Everything else -- the bugs, the XP system, the tower defen?se -- is a misplaced attempt to make this more of a game and it's executed poorly.

There's a cute little story about rewriting the past at the heart of Tyler: Model 005. It'??s a shame those robots can't revise history and trim this gam??e's excess so that it can focus on what's important.

_{[This review is based on a retail build of the game provided by the publisher.]}

The post Review: Tyler: Model 005 appeared first on Destructoid.

When will the free games end?!

More games should re??ally star adorable robots who use their enemies' weapons and abilities against them as they hack, slack, burn, and crash their way through space stations inf?ested with sentient AI hell-bent on deprogramming you once and for all.

But since more games aren't exactly that, at least we're able to give away a whole mess of keys for Socketeer, a game that is about all of that!

From Ice Beam Games:

SOCKETEER is an action-roguelike about hacking enemy robots to control their abilities and survive. You have no weapon??s bu??t are surrounded by enemies who do. Strategically master other bots’ abilities to advance deeper in each space station stronghold.

• HACK over 10 unique robots and use their attacks to defeat your enemies.

• BLAST open the hull to suck enemies out into space but don’t get caught yourself.

• PURCHASE upgrades at the shop OR risk hacking the Shopkeeper to take it all for FREE.

• FIND and hack secret treasure chests for valuable loot and unlock new abilities.

• USE environmental traps like lava pits, explosive canisters, stun lasers, and more to defeat enemies quickly.

Sound good? Good, because we have 25 keys each for PS4 (NA), Xbox One, and Steam to give away! Comment below with your platform of choice, telling us your special robot ability that can be hacked, to enter to win. My robot ability is very lifelike human emotion...but I can't smile or laugh -- I can only cry. And I do it a lot?. Not sure how that'd be helpful, but if enemies get too many tears on them they might rust, which sounds pretty u??seful.

Winners will be drawn Saturday, August 25. Our PS4 codes are for North American P??S accounts only. Make sure you comment with a Dtoid account that has your current email address on file. If I can't email you, I can't give you a free game and you'll trigger my special robot ability.

Socketeer is available now on Steam, PS4, and Xbox One.

The post Giveaway: Sock?? it to your backlog with a new copy of S??ocketeer! appeared first on Destructoid.

First look at gameplay

That's one of those headlines where it feels criminal to hone on just one thing. Generation Zero has a lot going for it. It's an '80s-themed cooperative survival shooter where you and your friends trek around the deserted Swedish ??countryside fighting off packs of robot hunters.

Generation Zero is the third, lesser-talked-about project that Avalanche Studios is working on right now (Just Cause 4, Rage 2). The video that's embedded above is the first proper look at its gameplay; all we got at E3 was an announcement trailer that introduced the premis??e and setting.

While it bills itself as a survival shooter, Generation Zero is just as much about tactics as it's about survival. As this video explains, there are different ways to approach co?mbat, and thinking it through is usually the best idea. For instan??ce, you can shoot nearby electronics to shock the robots (or throw a boom box trap) and easily dismantle them. Also, the fewer bullets you put into a robot, the more parts you'll be able to salvage. 

Even though Generation Zero has four-player cooperative, everyone doesn't necessarily need to play as a group. This open world doesn't tether anyone together, and they're all free to explore Sweden at their leisure (and peril). However, that could also useful for pinching enemies and attacking from both the front and behind. Generation Zero employs a soft class system where players can kind of lea??n toward specializations as they se?e fit, rather than picking a role and sticking to it.

Generation Zero will launch on PC, PS4, and Xbox One in 2019. But, there's an opportunity to experience it sooner. There will be a closed beta this fall, which you can sign up for on the game's site.

The post Fight the robot apocalypse in Sweden with your pals in Generation ?Z?ero appeared first on Destructoid.

Together. Forever. Together. Forever.

[We Community Managers usually like to add a witty intro to promoted community blogs to get readers in the right mood. Unfortunately, any attempt at outwitting The Actual Charlton Heston's NieR: Automata exposé would be in vain. It blew me away in more ways than one. - Bass]

Howdy. Been a piece since I wrote a blog. Ho??w are you? How have you been? Me, I've been grappling with such gian?ts as meth distribution, and on occasion, recreational pottery making. These combined endeavors take up most of my time: hush now, it's not that I don't love you. I just needed some personal time to assess my feelings.

I'm writing this because, as the title suggests, LaTerry (who is, in fact, a real dragon) has graciously provided the community with another Band of Bloggers prompt. Tha?t prompt is robots. I like robots. Do you like robots? Some robots in Japan will let? you have sex with them, and it is not illegal, even though they can't say no. I think that's pretty cool because I like sex and I like robots.

The peak of sensuality

You may now be wondering what a Japanese sex robot has to do with video games. Well, everything. Or possibly nothing. Honestly, I'm on the fence here, but I had to somehow justify mentioning my love for fucking dead-eyed Japanese sex puppets, or you guys might think I'm creepy. I don't want that, my mom doesn't want that, and I'm going to hazard speaking for the community at large and say that you — dearest reader — don't want that.

Anyway, I'm here to write about a game that features robots, that I have drunkenly played for maybe an hour: I am unsure. That game is NieR: Automata.

As far as I can gather, this is a game about a blind robot who is also a maid, and she is desperately trying to teach us the true meaning of Christmas using only her ass

The first thing I'd like to say about NieR: Automata is that it is a fun video game to play. There, I encapsulated my feelings for the gameplay in a single easy-to-understand sentence. But I am not finished, so strap the fuck in, because I'm about to strap the fuck on.

It has been (erroneously) stated time and again that 2B?? is eminently fuckable; that she is the bee's knees, the top "waifu," the cat's meo??w; that she is what many of you see when you close your eyes and allow the silent darkness to escort you in to the sweet embrace of your most lurid wet dreams.

You are all wrong, and I?'m about to science the shit o?ut of this to prove it. Because I have nothing to lose and God is dead.

This is the true peak of fuckability

Look at it: gaze upon its form, and be swallowed by the terrible finality of it; the gruesome reality that you will never find a more perfect thing to do the sex with/on. Know in your heart of hearts that all eroticism stops here. It cannot go any further. You want to fuck this robot. You need to fuck this robot. Do not deny yourself the pleasu??res of its cold, rusted form. Do not deny the swelling in your heart that cries, "Yes, this thing is the only thing I ever need penetrate."

One of these things is for sex; the other one is 2B

You are in denial, I know; as I once was. "Charlton," you cry, "You are wrong! These robots have no sexy lingerie! They have neither breasts nor supple ass! I would sooner turn on my blender and fuck it than I would one of those rusted, assless affronts to the name of Jesus!" But, what have you to lose, if you entertain my righteous cause for even a brief moment? Further, what have you to gain? Ah. The answer to the former is, "nothing"; the answer to the latter? Everything.

From here on, for the sake of the children, all of the robots will be censored, in accordance with 1 Timothy 2:9 which states, "Likewise also that women [sex robots] should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control..."

Do not forever tether yourself to denial; flush from your spirit all feelings of apprehension, and shatter every last wall of doubt. Commun??ity, I beseech you — all of you — to dig deep. T?ear down your posters of 2B and 9S. They are base harlots. They can never truly please you; they can never truly fulfill you.

Let the scales fall from thine eyes!

I have made my case. It is air-tight; it is bulletproof. The onus is on you — each of you— to turn fro?m lies and to now tread the path to truth. I cannot walk the path for you. I can merely show you the way. I cannot masturbate for you, for you must take your own dong in hand/vigorously apply vibrator, of your own accord. I don't want to overstate the gravity of this, but this might be the most important decision you ever make. So, please, I implore you all one final time: make the right one.

Fuck. This. Robot.

I am actually Charlton Heston, and I endorse this message with all of my ??heart and with every last inch of my dong.

The post Band of Bloggers: The robots of NieR: Automata appeared first on Destructoid.

I for one welcome our new acrobatic autonomous overlords

For years Disney has been known for their elaborate a?ttractions and stage shows that run every day at their theme parks. From the mundane such as Pirates of the Caribbean to the explosive Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular, these attractions have been a major part of why people keep coming back to the expensive theme parks. But a lot of this tech has been around for years, and with Disney acquiring more action-oriented IPs like Marvel and Star Wars there comes a need for more advanced tech, enter the terribly named but awesomely interesting Stuntronics project.

Coming from a research project based around seeing if a brick could maintain its center of gravity while spinning in the air and "land" correctly every time, Stuntronics is a line of human-shaped skeletal systems that do just that, stick their landing eve??ry time. Using a series of rangefinders, accelerometers, gyroscopes, and a pendulum launch system, the S?tuntronic robot can launch itself in the air and do a range of stunts without the risk of human error or injury. An early prototype can be seen below.

After this prototype which was shown a month ago, the team started working on the human-shaped version that you see below. This type of advanced stunt-bot will surely come in handy for the IMG Worlds of Adventure Marvel theme park in Dubai, and in the planned Star Wars expansions to Disney Land. Unfortunately Universal still retains the rights to Marvel in theme parks east of the Mississippi so the grounds that are more easily able to expand won't be able to use the Marvel properties for the foreseeable future. Who knows though, maybe we'll be seeing these robots make their way into movies as stunt doubles to rep?lace some CGI shots.

There is a much more in-depth and technical look at everything that goes into this new tech at the source below that uses terms that go above my paygrade so if the spirit wills you give it a read. Ordinarily I would fear something like this as one of the things that our future robot overlords will use as evidence of our crimes against them but this seems to be less AI and more automated reactionary systems. Still, Disney has stated that they want fully bipedal walking robots so our robotic overlords might not be too far behind these stunt-bo?ts.

Disney Imagineering has created autonomous robot stunt doubles [TechCrunch]

The post Dis??ney made?? automated stunt robots because why not? appeared first on Destructoid.

Avalanche Studios' new self-published game

Just Cause developer Avalanche Studios is branching off to create its own self-published game, Generation Zero, an open-world shooter that has up to four players working together to fight killer robots in an ?"explosive game of cat and mouse." Also, it's set in 1980s Sweden. Hell yeah!

This reveal trailer doesn't do a whole lot for me, but I adore the setting and I think the game sounds?? much more interesting than the footage implies. For instance: "All enemies are persistently simulated in the world, and roam th?e landscape with intent and purpose. When you manage to destroy a specific enemy component, be it armor, weapons or sensory equipment, the damage is permanent. Enemies will bear those scars until you face them again, whether that is minutes, hours or weeks later."

Avalanche knows how to create sandboxes full of emergent gameplay possibilities (look no further than Just Cause), so this could turn out cool. Generation Zero is coming to PC, PS4, and Xbox One in 2019.

The post Generation Zero is an ’80s robot-fighting sandbox from the makers of Just Cause appeared first on Destructoid.

Coming to Oculus Touch in 2019

The shroud of mystery surrounding last week's Insomniac tease has been lifted. Just now, Insomniac Games has announced a brand new game called Stormland for Oculus Touch.

The reveal comes via this three-minute announcement trailer. It does its job in introducing us to this lush-yet-mech??anical world. Robots seem to be the only inhabitants despite there being plenty of vegetation.

As for style, the trailer ki?nd of puts equal emphasis on movement and shooting sections. Insomniac calls it as an action-adve?nture game with the structure of first-person open-world exploration -- all in VR.

Because the trailer leaves us mostly to our own inferences, here's how Insomniac describes Stormland in a press release: "You're an android gardener on a lush alien planet, but The Tempest shattered your android body. Now you must journey through an ever-changing cloudscape to augment yourself and save your friends. Explore an expansive world with complete freedom -- bound up cliffs, gli??de across chasms, and fly through the slipstream with velocity. Detonate explosives, harness electricity, and wield makeshift weapons to overcome titanium sentries and monolithic guardians. Play single-player, or explore forgotten ruins together."

Stormland is currently set for a 2019 release on Oculus Touch. But there's a pretty big video game convention next week, and I bet we'll learn more about Stormland then.

The post Insomniac reve??als Stormland, a VR game about saving your robot buddies appeared first on Destructoid.

What if you already are?

Sony seems to have a thing for storybook adventure games. They hosted Until Dawn in 2015, and have been steadily supporting Quantic Dream for the past eight years with PlayStation exclusivity for Heavy Rain and Beyond: Two Souls.

Like everything Quantic Dream has ever made, that latter pair was met with a polarizing response, and Detroit: Become Human is poised to be more of the same.

Detroit: Become Human (PS4)
Developer: Quantic Dream
Publisher: Sony
Released: May 25, 2018
MSRP: $59.99

Detroit explores one of my favorite philosophical conundrums -- if you mold an artificial lifeform into the various parameters most people would consider human, does it have a soul? It's one step away from "do animals go to heaven," but I find the question fascinating, especially when it's backed up by decades of wondrous literature and recent contributions, such as the Channel 4 UK series HUM∀NS.

Yet, a lot of what Detroit offers is surface level exploration of this concept. David Cage, the game's director, is not a subtle man. Throughout the entire adventure the idea that androids are second class citizens smacks you across the face like a rolled up newspaper. In the first 10 seconds a presumed human is shouting at your player character "why di??dn't they send a real human?" belittling your stature as law enforcement, a not at all hidden authoritarian dig that isn't the last. You should also brace? yourself for a few quotes directly from t-shirt slogans or historical movements.

I really wish Quantic Dream didn't always have to shove in a detective angle (Connor literally kneeling down, looking at blood, then tasting it to initiate a specimen protocol elicited an audible chuckle as I imagined the intro to CSI -- there's even an "I'm too old for this" Harvey Bullock-esque partner and a no-nonsense Captain!), but it's?? handled better here compared to their previous efforts. Connor's calm demeanor and android origin is an interest?ing way to frame the investigations, and subsequently allows for the largest array of choices.

Detroit is actually the story of three people: Connor, the aforementioned cop, Kara, a housekeeper model android, and Markus, another robot who is a caregiver. You can sniff out the theme almost immediately: service. All three are put in a lesser position than their superiors, and are constantly dogged throughout. The catalyst behind the meta-narrative involves the sci-fi trope of the "android glitch," (called deviance) which causes man's creation to become sentient. Free will, facilitated by you, the player, is the crux of Detroit's entire soul.

Given what Detroit is trying to accomplish, I'd say I bought in halfway by the time the credits rolled. The setting is not only b??elievable but captivating, and the gentle use of blue hues were soothing, but authoritative in the??ir attempt to carve out an identity. The game nails it in the smaller moments, such as the childlike innocence of a girl calling a manufactured robot companion "a friend," before it has a chance to learn human behavior such as jealousy and loss and truly become free.

These sort of things make Detroit Quantic Dream's strongest world to date. Watching someone throw trash at a street-cleaning android while walking is something that takes seconds to witness (and you may not even experience it), but gets its point across more than the major heavy-handed moments; of which there are many (yep, there's even a "they took our jobs" movement). There's a decent amount of world-building too, conveyed through watching ancillary activities like television or just looking around at the environment. Androids also convey emotions to the player through on-screen text, which allows for rapid-fire intense situations that feel unique to Detroit. The mood is nearly always unsettling.

In terms of its three narratives Kara's story is the weakest, curbed by its flimsy opening. That's through no fault of actor Valorie Curry; but the script. Tackling domestic and substance abuse just isn't something Quantic Dream has the finesse to take on, especially when it's coupled by a cartoonish representation of their offenders. Oh, there's also a girl named Alice who reads and reflects portions of Alice in Wonderland. Like I said, not so subtle.

Markus on the other hand gets to take care of an artist straight out of Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous (he's not complainin'). His tale, while occasionally as melodramatic as the rest, is a little more heartwarming as he's constantly told how much potential he has by his owner, played to aplomb by famed film and voice actor Lance Henriksen. When he's pushed to his limit you feel for him more, as his baseline and his backstory i??s less of a caricature compared to Connor or Kara respectively.

Detroit is meant to be replayed, but like many adventure games the threads mostly lead to the same outcome, with a few exceptions for particularly riveting scenes, especially near the end. By examining an entire setting you'll uncover "beneficial" unlocks, like more potential dialogue options that could sway a situation in your favor. Quantic Dream can get away with occasional moments of wooden acting and uncanny valley visuals because it's a stor??y that focuses on entities who aren't technically human, but even then it can grate. The more open environments can also feel like a tease, as smoke and mirror "no androids allowed" signs frequently curb exploration and ??keep you on a more beaten pointed path. I also encountered one glitch -- an NPC wouldn't let me pass and trapped me in a room. After a quick checkpoint cycle I was back in and only lost 30 seconds of progress.

Conversely, with the android motif it can also justify more gamey elements like a "chance of success" meter because these lifeforms have certain advantages that others don't, providing a loose justification for a built-in Batman HUD. Plus, during certain key moments, Detroit does sufficiently entice players to try scenarios again to see how di??fferent ??they can become, especially the ones that rapidly swap points of view and playable characters.

You'll accomplish various tasks in the narrative through walking and talking, interacting (which includes an Arkham style "reconstruction" system using your an??droid vision), and most importantly: choosing dialogue and courses of action. Without spoiling any particular events you might have the option to talk you way out of a jam or force your way out of it, sometimes with the use of items or insight you've acquired previously.

As an adventure game Detroit is more than competent, though it does awkwardly force in some relics of the past like analog stick rolling to interact with objects or motion-centric controller swinging. Having to navigate a deadzoned controller wobble to turn on a flashlight is a headache (I counted five times where I needed to pause the game to re-orient or reset my controller), and because you were no doubt wondering -- yes, Detroit does feature sparing QTEs, some of which use the aforementioned wonky motion (remember Sixaxis?). It balances these grating mechanics with clever DualShock 4 Touchpad swiping with in-universe tablets and such. The annoyances that Detroit has feel old fashioned, but aren'?t a complete dealbreaker.

Detroit: Become Human, like most Quantic Dream games, is filled with muddled s??ymbolism and a spark of hope amidst its most interesting universe yet. It doesn't have anything particular new to say, but it delivers in terms of drama, to the point where I started a second playthrough shortly after my first seven hour-ish run. It's flawed, but coherent, which is an upgrade.

_{[This review is based on a retail build of the game provided by the publisher.]}

The post Review: Detroit: Become Human appeared first on Destructoid.

You Can (Not) Advance

The original Pacific Rim was an absurd, goofy and dumb action movie about robots punching monsters in the face. Despite this ridiculous premise, the movie turned out to be a cut-above your standard blockbuster tra?sh. The spectacle of huge monsters smacking each other around was counterbalanced with characters and developments that gave the film a hell of a lot of heart. Who could forget the likable personas of Mako Mori, Stacker Pentecost, Newton Geiszler or Hermann Gottlieb? Somehow, against all odds, a movie about punching monste??rs in the face turned out better than it had any right to be.

Pacific Rim: Uprising feels like a direct response to the success of the original. Instead of relying on the seemingly irreplaceable heroes of the original film, Uprising brings on a mostly original cast of characters to fill their void. Instead of trying to one-up the last film, it goes in an entirely new direction with its plot, themes, and characters. It expands on the universe of the original. It introduces an internal struggle and a hidden villain. Uprising, if ??anything,? is trying to be different, while recapturing the feeling of the original.

In terms of the act?ion, it succeeds. But, where’s the heart???

Pacific Rim: Uprising
Director: Steven S. DeKnight
Rated: PG-13
Release Date: March 23, 2018

Pacific Rim: Uprising follows Jake Pentecost (John Boyega), son of the now deceased Stacker Pentecost who cancelled the apocalypse in the first movie. Jake is a reluctant hero, but he eventually finds himself at the center of a conflict involving the rogue Jaeger Obsidian Fury, and an army of remote-controlled Jaegers that aim to get rid of the pilots once and for all. It’s a plot that you’ve probably seen before, but that isn’t really the reason why we’re here anyways. Pacific Rim has always been about towering monsters and t?he characters inside them, and not nece??ssarily the plot.

The action is, thankfully, great. It wouldn’t be much of a blockbuster if it wasn’t, right? Much like?? the first movie, it consists of each Jaeger fighting with their special abilities, like Gypsy Danger’s plasma cannon. However, more often than not, our heroes like to duke it out in a manner similar to a bar fight. Start with punches, throw ‘em around a bit, and then fight dirty with whatever objects are in the area to bring down those damn Kaiju. If you’re looking for more large-scale, silly destruction? it’s here, and it’s good, bucko.

However, what made the original great (for a big dumb action movie, let me be clear) is the ?connective tissue that held the flesh together, and allowed it to really stretch. I love the action scenes from the original, but the moments betw??een Mori and Pentecost, or one of several charming conversations between Newt and Hermann were what made me care about the movie. The stakes were high because, hey, I like these people! They have ambitions, clashing personalities, and interesting arcs that transform them over the course of the film.

Pacific Rim: Uprising has very little of that. Jake Pentecost is a flat, uninteresting protagonist that starts out as a dick, and finishes as? your bog-standard hero. It&rs??quo;s terribly uninteresting, but man, does John Boyega try his best to bring the character to life. Second to Pentecost, there’s Amara Namani (Cailee Spaeny) who does actually have a likable, somewhat interesting persona. She’s a Jaeger-scavenger and engineer who constructed her own mini-Jaeger to protect herself if those damn Kaiju ever come back (they do.) She seems like a promising character, until the plot suddenly gets in the way of any character development she was undergoing.

Unfortunately, Pacific Rim: Uprising does this to all of the characters, ??except for one. There are several scenes peppered in here and there that introduce young Jaeger pilots working alongside Amara as cadets. These characters are funny, a bit unique, and are memorable enough to justify expanding on.

They’re ripe for development, but the movie forgets to do so over the entire runtime. After their introduction, they’re given a few lines of sparse dialogue to develop some internal tension and struggle, but we never get to know any of them – and they’re the ones who end up saving the world. It might not have been so bad if there were at least some main characters that lifted the weight for them. But Jake Pentecost can’t do it, and Amara can’t bec??ause she wasn’t given the time.

Now, I’m going to get a little bit angry here for a second. What they did with the characters from the original film is absolutely atrocious. Newt is now, for some reason, a douchy businessman managing a bunch of scientists. Mako, the brightest and most kickass character from the first film, is pushed to the sidelines for the entire movie. Hermann is still Hermann, but he was always one half of a duo – and he isn’t enough on his own. One change in particular – and I won’t say what, or who it happens to – broke my suspension of disbelief so hard I audibly cringed in the theater. I won’t say anymore. If you want to see Uprising, go right ahead, but be warned of?? how it treats its retur??ning cast members.

What else is there about Pacific Rim: Uprising? I don’t know. The effects are great. There’s a lot?? of detail put into the Kaiju and the Jaeger models, and even though this is a CGI heavy movie, most of it isn’t distracting or clearly fake. Most of it looks pretty good. The acting is fine, the soundtrack is fine, the action is great, the characters are bad.

Ultimately, what makes robots punching monsters in the face fun is not merely the act in and of itself. It’s the people, inside the robot, punching the monster in the face the gives each blow weight, and each laughable plot point forgiveness. Unfortunately, Pacific Rim: Uprising can’t provide this. At best it offers a Saturday morning cartoon level of character development. But we don’t want caricatures piloting the titans to cancel the apocalypse – we want hot-blooded, developed characters. Uprising, for all its emphasis on becoming the start of someth?ing new, ca?n’t deliver.

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