Nintendo has issued an official statement updating fans on the progress of Metroid Prime 4. Sadly, development of the game has been entirely restarted.
The message comes from Shinya Takahashi, Senior Managing Executive Officer at Nintendo. In the video above, Takahashi thanks fans for their continued excitement and support, before stating that “the current development progress has not reached the standard we seek in a sequel to the Metroid Prime series”.
It’s a refreshingly open and honest update, and one that, while incredibly saddening for fans of the game, should hopefully provide reassurance that Nintendo wants this upcoming title to be of the highest quality.
As such, development has been restructured entirely, and its producer Kensuke Tanabe will now work alongside Retro Studios, the team that developed the original Metroid Prime series.
Naturally, this means it will be quite some time before we hear anything new about the game; Takahashi apologies for this again, ending the video by promising that the game “will stand shoulder to shoulder with the past Metroid Prime series titles”.
We imagine you weren’t expecting to hear this today. Feel free to share your thoughts with us in the comments below.
Strictly Limited Games, one of several publishers which specialises in physical releases of fan-favourite indie games, has revealed that it will bring a limited run of Velocity 2X to Switch.
The game has you slipping into the role of Lt. Kai Tana, a former test pilot captured by a race of hostile aliens. During her captivity, Kai’s body has undergone various cybernetic modifications and, freed by a precious ally, she must now use her new abilities and the teleporting power of her ship to evade the Vokh and free the universe from this dangerous threat.
We thoroughly enjoyed our time with the game in our review, saying that the game offered “an immaculately designed, endlessly replayable arcade experience that shows just how engaging twitch gameplay can be”.
As you can see in the tweet above, pre-orders start this Sunday, 27th January, and will be available exclusively through Strictly Limited Games’ online store. 2,500 copies of a Standard release (€29.99) are set to be published, as well as just 1,500 copies of a Collector’s Edition which will cost €49.99.
Have you already played this one on Switch? Will you be snapping up any of these physical editions? Tell us below.
Yesterday, an update found its way to Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes, extending the game’s intro to showcase exactly how Badman found out Travis was hiding out in Texas. If you want to experience the shocking revelation for yourself, this is your last chance to stop yourselves from being spoiled by our analysis. Just update the game and fire up your Death Mark II console.
Still with us? Happy to be spoiled? In the name of Harman, hit that play button below.
At first, the voice was familiar, but we could not quite place it. Eventually, the revolver made us connect the dots and finally, the grand reveal: Dan Smith! Fifteen odd years after the original release of Killer7, Michael Gough is back to voice “the Hellion” and forever merge both games in a common canon. For years, Suda51 fans have been asking a sequel to both No More Heroes and Killer7. Due to this shocking development, a single game combining both universes might just pull the trick. Moe indeed! Did you see this one coming? Do you think this small cameo increases the chances of a Killer7 remastered port coming to the Switch? Master, write your thoughts in the comments section.
Loading up your copy of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate today will present you with a new message indicating that Version 2.0.0 is on the way. As always, this means you’ll need to get your favourite replay videos saved and exported.
Just like with the 1.2.0 update last month, this update will wipe any of the replays you have saved in the game. Instructions on how to save your favourite videos are included in the message; we captured a screenshot for you down below.
The specific contents of the 2.0.0 update have not been revealed, although the change to version ‘2’ rather than a smaller jump suggests that this will be bigger than your average update. We already know that the first DLC character, Piranha Plant, is set to arrive “around” February, so chances are that the character’s data will be pumped into the game with this update.
Speaking of Piranha Plant, you only have a few days remaining to claim the character for free. If you need help with this, make sure to read up on it here.
What do you think we’ll see in 2.0.0? Do you regularly use the replay feature in the game? Let us know in the comments.
Completely out of the blue, publisher Two Tribes has revealed that Swords & Soldiers is available on Nintendo Switch. That’s right – not “coming soon” or “planned to release on so-and-so” – you can go ahead and download it right now.
If you haven’t seen this one before, the game has players preparing for war on side-scrolling battlefields. You need to build your forces before engaging in a tug-of-war for gold and energy, defeating your pesky foes along the way. Four different factions are available to play as – the Vikings, Aztecs, Chinese, and Chief Meat’s army – and each has its own differences for you to explore and utilise in battle.
We called the game “an essential download” when it arrived on WiiWare around a decade ago, and it was still just as enjoyable several years later on Wii U. The Switch version is said to be an “improved” edition of the game, too, including that fancy single-screen multiplayer feature shown off towards the end of the trailer. Here are some more details:
Features: – Hilariously playable 2D action-strategy – Includes the Super Saucy Sausage Fest expansion as free DLC – Tons of crazy units, including berserkers, giant boulders and ninja monkeys (yes, ninja monkeys!) – 4 unique factions with their own singleplayer campaigns – Go head-to-head with a friend on a single split-screen touch screen – 29 tricky Achievements
The game’s standard price is $7.49 / €7.49, but you can actually grab it for $4.94 / €4.94 for its “first few weeks” on sale. If that’s not enough, developer Ronimo Games has also revealed that Swords & Soldiers II Shawarmageddon will launch on Switch on 1st March. Blimey.
Are you a Swords & Soldiers fan? Are you hastily loading up the Switch eShop to download it as we speak? Let us know in the comments.
You may well have noticed that a little game called Resident Evil 2 is launching today across PS4, Xbox One and PC, acting as a remake of the 1998 original that first launched on PlayStation. You may also be aware that the original game was ported to the Nintendo 64, with the console’s limited cartridge storage space making that version a particularly interesting edition at the time.
Well, it just so happens that Resident Evil fans both new and old are most certainly in luck, as the development team behind the N64 version of the game are planning to get together to livestream the new remake. As well as showing off the new game and playing through everything it has to offer (obviously), the stream is set to feature commentaries from the team and even some original N64 gameplay, giving viewers an insight into how it was made and the differences between the two versions.
Resident Evil 2 on Nintendo 64
Even if you don’t own a non-Nintendo system, or if you weren’t planning on picking up a copy of the new release, this still sounds like it could be a great way to spend your time. The stream is set to be broadcast on Twitch on 1st February from 2pm PST (that’s 10pm GMT) if you’re interested.
Our chums over Push Square said that the new release “might be one of the most accomplished remakes of the generation”, so we have high hopes for this one all round. Are you a Resident Evil fan? Did you play the original on N64 back in the day? Let us know in the comments.
Despite the fact that the Switch has been selling like hotcakes as of late, actually outselling its main rivals to become the best-selling console of 2018 in the US, rumours and mumblings of a potential new model (or a price cut to the existing model) have been circulating for some time.
Earlier this month, analysts shared their beliefs that Nintendo will release a new version of the console this year, potentially even going as far as to ditch the Joy-Con setup altogether as part of a 100% portable ‘Switch Mini’ system. While a change or revision seems likely at some stage, Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa has suggested that things are staying exactly as they are for now in a recent interview with Japanese publication The Sankei News.
In the interview, Furukawa was once again asked about the 20 million Switch units goal for this financial year. We’ve heard his comments about it being “ambitious” countless times before, but the next part of the comment stands out here (translation via Nintendo Everything).
Furukawa: “It is an extremely ambitious, but worthwhile achievement. So, we will maintain this goal. Nintendo Switch is our primary sales objective, and we are not considering a successor or a price cut at this time.”
So, not only is the 20 million units goal still very much on, but Nintendo appears to believe that it can be reached without any changes to its current strategy. If the console’s still selling at a comfortable rate, perhaps any potential hardware revisions or price drops can be pushed back. ‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ – and all that.
Were you expecting to see any price drops or new Switch models this year? What do you think will be the first change if and when it does eventually arrive? Share your thoughts with us below.
Dragon: Marked for Death by Inti Creates was first announced during the 2017 Nindie Summer Showcase. Since then, its release has been repeatedly pushed back. Fortunately, the digital version was locked in for 31st January 2019 not long ago (in both Europe and North America) and now the publisher has Nighthawk Interactive has officially confirmed the physical version for these regions will be out on 26th March.
This version will set you back USD$49.00. If you do opt with the physical game card, you won’t have to worry about any of the DLC as it already contains both character packs. First-print copies of the physical editions will also contain the “Striker Gear Pack” downloadable content. To read more about the DLC, click here.
Can you hold out a little bit longer for the physical release? Tell us below.
If there’s one group of historical nasties you can always rely on to invoke some of literature’s most eldritch nightmares, it’s the Nazis. From the pages of Hellboy to just about every Call of Duty in recent memory, those militarised fascists love dabbling in the occult, so it’s no great shock to see them teaming up once more for Achtung! Cthulhu Tactics. Mixing together turn-based battles, squad-based tactics and a dollop of horror, the end product is something that’s both refreshingly different and, oddly, a little dull at times.
Based on the Achtung! Cthulhu tabletop RPG, you play a small squad from Section M, the Allies’ supernatural taskforce. Turns out those pesky Nazis have been – you guessed it – messing with dark forces near the forest of Ardennes, so you’ve been dispatched to root out the enemy and stop Hitler’s horrific plan to stem the Allied invasion of Europe. Of course, it’s all a ruse and when the Nazi trap is sprung, your squad finds itself behind enemy lines facing a foe using occultist technology and Lovecraftian monsters to hunt you down.
One of the great things about the game is how hard it tries to weave in horror – a genre that one wouldn’t normally associate with something as dry and strategy focused as a tactics game – in order to sell its HP Lovecraft-inspired influences, rather than use them as a cheap pop culture reference. ACT refines its combat to small, contained battles where you can only see so far in any direction. This veil of darkness is called the Shroud, a kind of fog of war that makes every bit of progress fraught with potential danger.
Not only does it tie into that very Lovecraftian trait of fearing the unknown, but it helps add an extra layer of unpredictability when you run into a Nazi death squad or a tentacle-flailing Shoggoth and get stung for your courage (or allowing your foes to retreat into a position you can no longer perceive as the Shroud only recedes so far around your squad). It’s a mechanic that forces you to be bold and accept the damage you’ll take in order to learn enemy positions and move your own forces accordingly.
These close-quarters battles will be familiar to anyone that’s played Space Hulk Tactics or any of the X-COMs. With a four-man squad, you’ll need to utilise cover and ensure each operative is facing the best direction. Not only does this increase your chances of hitting your enemy when you do choose to attack, it also means using special abilities such as Overwatch (which enables one or more characters to automatically attack an enemy if they stray into their vision cone) can be utilised effectively.
Combat uses two different currencies – AP and MP – and each one governs everything from movement to reloading a weapon. Action Points (AP) is the standard one that refills after every turn, and you can use it to position your squad behind cover, flank the enemy, or simply suppress them for a short while. Momentum Points (MP) are a little bit different, and enable you to perform special moves that can often mean the difference between losing and surviving a Nazi encounter. These abilities differ depending on the character – for instance, you might elect to briefly extend your vision and identify enemy types faster, or you could pull out your pistol and inflict extra damage on a particularly tough foe – and are easily some of the most fun to pull off.
You can refill your MP in a number of ways, including pulling of critical hits in battle. It all ties into a system that tracks the current mental state of your squad. This is a game involving the madness-inducing gobbledegook of Cthulhu, so you’ll need to keep an eye on whether your individual fighters are calm or verging on the insane. The more stressed the character, the more likely they’ll start missing shots or fail to move correctly. It’s a system that feeds into stealth as well, with the need to avoid certain enemies so that your squad doesn’t witness too many horrors and start unravelling as a result.
Visually, ACT isn’t particularly striking, sticking mostly to the drab corridors of Nazi bases and the green and brown forest. In fact, most of your time will be spent among the ferns, so much so that it doesn’t take long for you to yearn for a little environmental variety. There’s creativity applied to enemy design – especially when you start encountering Nazis warped by their occultist shenanigans – but ACT never quite manages to shed a decidedly ‘old-gen’ look that instantly dates it. There are also some issues with pacing, which can often take the bite out of the impending dread that the game tries to maintain. That being said, this Switch port runs almost without a hitch, although the lack of support for touchscreen controls does seem like a missed trick considering how well ACT suits on-the-go play.
Conclusion
While Achtung! Cthulhu Tactics doesn’t quite capture the intensity of the tabletop game it’s based on, it still does an admirable job of doing something a little bit different with the tactics genre. By focusing more on story and the horror aspect of its lore, you get to experience intense close-quarters battles and ranged skirmishes while building on an unknown threat that could appear at any time, and in any form. Pacing problems and a lack of environmental variety can affect how well this all comes together, but if you’re looking for a more focused tactical/strategy title on Switch, this Lovecraftian odyssey awaits.
Next week sees the launch of Airheart – Tales of broken Wings on Nintendo Switch, a game full of airplanes, action, and a whole lot of battling.
The game is described as a “dieselpunk airplane action game”, all set in the world above the clouds. As you can see in the trailer up above, every level is built on top of the last one, with the world around you seemingly going from season to season as you make it all the way up to the stratosphere. You’ll be defeating enemies as you explore, salvaging their scrap and reusing it to craft new parts for your airplane.
The Switch release brings with it some new, exclusive content in the form of a Party Mode. In this mode, players can aim to beat their highscore, playing with up to three friends locally in an attempt to manoeuvre the exploration Zeppelin on its way to the stratosphere. You can find more details about the game in the feature list below:
Features:
– Action packed airplane battles against pirates, high tech drones and furious bosses – Search and hunt for flying fish in an ecosystem that changes depending on your behaviour. – Unique tinkering system to craft over 40 airplane parts and weapons to customise your plane – Explore 14 levels with ever changing seasons, built on top of each other. – Custom made soundtrack and a story narration voiced by Kira Buckland
If you like the look of this one, you’ll be able to pick it up on Switch from 31st January for $17.99 / £11.99. It released on Steam last summer to “mostly positive” reviews.
What do you think? Are you feeling ready to take to the skies? Share your thoughts with us in the comments.
