Starting the game with a choice of preset characters that offer up limited customization, before running through a brief tutorial of learning the basics to movement and item crafting, the latter of which becomes the most important mechanic to the overall goal of the game. Best described as a slimmed down RPG, the core mechanics of the game will have the player engaging in fetch quests, earning money, and crafting items. Why? To escape prison.

Stashing weapons and tools in your character’s pants and jail cell is the key to freedom. No pun intended. Played from a top-down perspective in which the player navigates a prison through sandbox level design. Scurrying through vents and digging underground tunnels, The Escapists offers no pre-defined routes for completion. It’s up to the player and their own level of progression through character stats and item possession, to strategize and take note of everything that’s taking place in the rest of the game.

"The Escapists does have it's few moments of chaos and unpredictability. As it stands however all of this can become very dull and very quickly."

Conversing with other inmates through speech bubble texts as they confess their worries, sins, and fears. As well as depression and evil intentions for making somebody else’s life a living hell, it never gets old. Plotting to frame other inmates, staging riots to distract guards, picking fights in the shower, and pick-pocketing valuables that will become of a greater use at a later time in the game.

The Escapists does have it’s few moments of chaos and unpredictability. As it stands however all of this can become very dull and very quickly. I feel this has something to do with the game’s lack of structure and general direction. While the game leaves the player to think for themselves and make their own moves when they’re ready, something in the way of a primary mission that the player needs to undertake would’ve been much appreciated. Now while some may enjoy this and may wish to spend their time enhancing their character’s stats, running errands, causing mischief and so on.

There really isn’t much to do outside of these tasks nor is there much in the way of exploration. Had the game incorporated an online co-operative feature whereby players can work together to complete tasks, or better yet plan a more in-depth mission of their own parameters, I feel the game could’ve been far more interesting.

"There's a real sense of dread and pressure as the guards storm about the prison, checking your cell, living out their own insecure and selfish power fantasies."

What the game does give players to work with is essentially a light-hearted RPG, as previously mentioned. Crafting tools and buying items from the other inmates not only aids in your escape, but also serves as a means of protection. This is a prison after all. Inmates may befriend you but that doesn’t mean they won’t turn on you when things are in their favour. This also goes for the guards, these guys are dirty, they hate you and they’re clearly out to make your life as horrid as possible. Whether it’s presented in the way of conversational topics, giving out orders or beating you to death with a baton, they hate you.

There’s a real sense of dread and pressure as the guards storm about the prison, checking your cell, living out their own insecure and selfish power fantasies. In terms of reflecting its theme and the mood it sets out to achieve, it does this fairly well. The problem here is that I can’t tell which parts of this was done by design and which wasn’t. For instance the game makes use of a daily timer keeping track of the routine events that’s going on such as “Evening Meal” and “Morning Free Period”.

During the day the player is meant to follow mundane tasks such as working, showering, eating, and attending the morning roll call. Outside of this the player is left to to do their own thing. This consists of requests by the other inmates and increasing your character’s stats by the way of reading, working out, and earning dirty money.

"The main problem surrounding this all is that there seems to be no higher goal, in regards to the character's main progression of levelling up and becoming more skilful. Other than trying to escape the prison which is the main priority, the game feels as though it's missing something of more significant importance."

Where everything here I’ve just described is clearly by the design of the game and it works well in reflecting prison life, certain elements of the game just feel flawed and kill the player’s enjoyability. With limited exploration and nothing to do other than what I’ve just mentioned, enjoyability is a choir at best and it becomes very repetitive, very tedious and it happens very fast. This is where I feel the game falls off in many ways as you’re often left wondering “Well hey if I don’t take part in this, then there’s nothing else for me to do”…Prison simulation or lack of depth within it’s gameplay?

The main problem surrounding this all is that there seems to be no higher goal, in regards to the character’s main progression of levelling up and becoming more skilful. Other than trying to escape the prison which is the main priority, the game feels as though it’s missing something of more significant importance.

Repetition is a strong word here and whether that’s seen by some as a negative or a positive is down to the fact that it’s a prison simulator. It’s like the player must accept the implied boredom. Frankly I’m not sure if the game is trying to invoke some form of sarcasm or unintentional irony in reflecting prison life. Hence the niche audience and the questioning of enjoyability. Particularly within the first hour or so things can be rather difficult to pursue. One thing I really have to question with the game is in regards to it’s visual style, as I sense that’s partly where it’s enjoyability will come from for a vast majority of people.

So my question here is, had the game opted for realism rather than top-down pixel art, would the game still have been attractive? In premise, yes. The idea of a prison simulator does sound rather intriguing. Insulting maybe but nonetheless an intriguing experience that many are curious about but would reject the idea off through a hands-on experience.

"There is some comedic nature to the game in terms of the characters you meet and there is some fun to be had when undertaking requests by the inmates. But as it stands I would much rather watch a playthrough of the game and laugh as the drama plays out, as opposed to playing through it myself."

Now taking into account the repetition in gameplay as it does so well at reflecting the daily life of a prisoner, with some thrown in comedy just for good measure, there’s absolutely no chance the game would have been so appealing had it made use of realistic visuals. It seems as though the game is relying on the nostalgia of pixel-art graphics as a means to its enjoyability. 

The problem with this however is Steam. Littered with retro “Artistic” games that promise a nostalgic fun-factor with the implementation of modern day game mechanics, that are vastly more in-depth to the older games that they seek to visually imitate.  The Steam store is overflowing with games of this nature and the only thing that seems to be setting each one of these titles apart, is the growing trend of an implied platforming or goofy simulation mechanic.

One thing that entices the player to push forward with it all and actually deserves some credit is the game’s soundtrack. In some instances it can provide the feeling of pressure and nervousness, while in others it can be tense and childish.

This does well in keeping the pace going as well as enhancing the theme and mood that the game places over the player. The Escapists is by no means a bad game it’s just rather unfortunate that its flaws stand out to a greater degree more so than it’s qualities, primarily within its repetition.

There is some comedic nature to the game in terms of the characters you meet and there is some fun to be had when undertaking requests by the inmates. But as it stands I would much rather watch a playthrough of the game and laugh as the drama plays out, as opposed to playing through it myself.

This game was reviewed on the PC.

Those who have played the PC version know what I am talking about, and some of you may either be new to the game or just want to know how the game plays on its handheld counterpart.

Hotline Miami has a distinct style to it, when you look at the game, it instantly makes you feel and think about the early 90’s and top-down DOS games on the PC, which is a nice feeling to have, especially in 2013. Those who’ve played video games back in those days will remember how the games used to look and feel. Hotline Miami feels like an old-school addicting DOS game due to it’s pixelated top-down graphics and fast-paced gameplay.

I would like to call this style ‘Retro’ and it goes well with the game, developers have actually tried to create something from the old era that is fun to play today. Hotline Miami has a catchy soundtrack and retro visuals that are inspired by the 1980’s culture.

The game even has a good plot that is both well-presented and intriguing all the way to the end of the game. I am going to spare you the plot details so you may focus on it when you decide to play the game. However, it is an interesting story that I think most people will enjoy due to the way the game is presented and where and when it takes place. Overall, Hotline Miami has a very strong presentation and is unique from anything else that you will find on the market today.

"What's awesome about Hotline Miami's combat mechanics is that you can use a combination of them to get through rooms as quickly as possible by chaining up a different type of attacks. "

Gameplay in Hotline Miami is something different what we come to expect from video games these days. It’s a top down retro stylized arcade beat-em up game. The game has twenty different chapter to clear with each one becoming more difficult and complicated to clear. The premise of the game is to clear a house/rooms of mobsters as fast as possible and as violently as possible.

Players can use doors to knock mobsters on the floor and then beat them up violently to their death with either melee weapons or bare-fists. Players may also pick up guns that have limited ammo to gun down other mobsters, you may also throw weapons across rooms to know enemies down and then finish them off while they’re lying on the floor.

What’s awesome about Hotline Miami’s combat mechanics is that you can use a combination of them to get through rooms as quickly as possible by chaining up a different type of attacks. For example, you can shoot one guy in the face and then throw your gun across the room to knock another guy out and then run up to the another enemy and melee them and then finish the rest of them off, and all of that will result in a satisfying combo and higher points for the chapter.

Another cool aspect about the gameplay is that as you progress through the game you will unlock different animal masks that your main character can wear. These masks are not just for different visual looks, each mask actually gives you different passive abilities. Depending on your style of play, you can choose the mask that you want for your advantage, particularly when you’re trying to achieve the highest rank in a specific chapter.

"One hit can kill you, so you must go through all the chapters without getting hit in order to progress. "

Hardest part about Hotline Miami is learning all the rooms and the enemy patrol areas. One hit can kill you, so you must go through all the chapters without getting hit in order to progress. Thankfully, once you have finished one stage in the chapter, the second stage will act as a checkpoint, and you don’t have to start over.

The difficulty is well balanced and also rewarding. Once you have finished a chapter you will be receive a final ranking based on how fast you cleared it, how many combos you pulled off and how many executions you did on your enemies.

Trophies in Hotline Miami consist mainly of completing the story-line, getting A+ ranks on all chapters, finding all of the melee weapons/guns and using them at least once and collecting all of the masks. The only ones that might give you difficulties are getting the A+ ranks on all chapters, it will take a lot of patience and skill to pull that off. There are also a couple of miscellaneous trophies such as getting 4x, 6x, 8x, and 12x combos and killing three enemies with one thrown weapon and even killing an enemy by throwing a weapon that got bounced off the wall.

For the most part, majority of the trophies will come naturally with the exception of getting A+ ranks and finding all of the melee weapons and collectables, for those trophies you need to get on your way out in order to achieve the platinum. All in all, the game has a rewarding trophy list, totally doable and adds more replay-value to an already addicting game.

Hotline Miami is a fun, fast-paced top-down beat-em up action game that is rare to come-by and is a true gem, especially in today’s gaming market. Video games are currently saturated with first-person shooters, third-person action games, puzzle games and so on. There are not that many top-down beat em ups that are as unique as Hotline Miami.

Hotline Miami is a fantastic addition to the PlayStation Vita’s line up and is totally worth the purchase due to the fact that it’s a cross-buy game and features a single-trophy list for both platforms.

This game was reviewed on PlayStation Vita.

According to a report on Paul Gale Network, the same blog that reported of PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale last year, Retro Studios is currently working on a Wii U game, but it’s nothing like what you’d expect. It’s a crossover between Nintendo’s two mainstream science fiction franchises- Star Fox and Metroid.

However, even the source of this rumour isn’t confident about its validity, so you should probably take all this with a pinch of salt for at least the next fortnight, after which Nintendo might be announcing this game at their E3 conference.

According to the report, the devs at Retro were torn between working on the Star Fox franchise 0r creating a new third person action IP. Nintendo then proposed an alternative, which led to the development of this crossover, reportedly titled ‘Star Fox – Metroid: Fusion Saga.’

The game will see Fox and his crew crashing into Samus Aran’s ship after an intergalactic war, which sends Samus crashing down into an unknown planet below. Fox attempts to reunite with Samus while she explores the strange world. They ultimately meet up and fight against the Star Fox villain Andross, who is trying to make use of the powers of the species known as Metroid.

Star Fox segments will be, true to the franchise, short burts of high intensity third person action while Metroid sections will focus on isolation and atmosphere and follow the several tropes of the Metroid Prime trilogy.

It’s unclear whether this rumour is true, but something like this would make plenty of sense. Stay tuned, we’ll keep you updated.

It’s pretty obvious that Nintendo will develop a Mario Kart game with their upcoming home console, the Wii U, but having had no official information on it yet makes this news pretty interesting.

Mario Kart producer Hideki Konno said in an interview with gaming mag Nintendo Power that he’s interesting in developing a game from the series for the upcoming home console. “I can’t get into the specifics, but I do want to create a new and enjoyable Mario Kart that uses the unique functions of the Wii U,” he said. “Anything beyond that I have to keep secret. Please bear with me for now!”

When asked if the Mario Kart series will ever include characters from Nintendo series other than Mario, he said: “We’ve never seriously considered that.”

He was also asked to confirm what Retro’s involvement in Mario Kart 7’s development exactly was, to which he replied by saying: “Knowing that Retro Studios had a strong track record and a long history of creating quality products with Nintendo, I asked them to collaborate with us on aspects like course and character design. The course designers and artists at both EAD and Retro Studios worked closely together to create what I consider to be very prolific and high-quality work.”

Mario Kart 7 releases on the 3DS in December. Stay tuned for more info.

To this day, people remember the original games fondly- everything from the graphics to the characters to the epic soundtrack have become firmly ingrained in every gamer’s consciousness. To take on the task of reviving such a series, then, is a task that would deter most developers- the chances of burning one’s fingers, and of tarnishing the brand equity, both of the franchise in question as well as the developer, are too great. And yet, Retro seems to be plowing on full steam ahead, as the game creeps towards its November release date. So far, what we’ve shown seems to be nothing more than a delicate update to the beloved formula of the SNES original- by all means, a good idea, and yet Retro runs the risk of treading ground that might be too familiar for veterans, and of sticking to a formula that is irrelevant by nineteen years of obsolescence. On the other hand, they tinker with the formula too much, and they run the risk of alienating the original fanbase.

It’s like walking on a bed of coals at the edge of a precipice. How will Donkey Kong Country Returns turn out?

BLAST FROM THE PAST

Here’s the debut trailer for Donkey Kong Country Returns, via IGN.com.

Looks great, doesn’t it? That’s because Retro has carefully and almost lovingly recreated the Super Nintendo original. Watch:

Barring the almost expected improvement in graphics that you would expect after a hiatus that was nearly a decade and a long, the two games seem to be identical. Unlike with Metroid Prime, where Retro breathed life into an old franchise by approaching it from an altogether diferent perspective, which initially angered many fans, this time, Retro seems to be playing it safe. Not that that’s a bad thing at all, mnd you. The original Donkey Kong Country is still not dated in any sense- the graphics and the sounds expectedly hold up, and the gameplay is as tight and whimsical as it ever was.

BORDERING ON BEING A REHASH?

However, with the game being so apparently familiar to its predecessors that it looks more like an update rather than a sequel, it’s almost natural to be slightly cynical- is this a quick rehash, a cash in on Nintendo’s part to shut the ever moaning hardcore gamer up? But that doesn’t seem like- as legions of Metroid Prime fans will attest to, Retro is possibly Nintendo’s most talented developer- why waste them on such an insignificant side project?

It’s obvious then, that Nintendo intends for this to be a major game. Obviously, then, there’s more to it than meets the eye, something that neither Nintendo nor Retro are letting on just yet.

Donkey Kong is a very important franchise. It represents one of Nintendo’s most lucrative brands, right behind Mario and Pokemon. Obviously, they’re not gonna mess this up. A sense of deja vu may pervade the entire experience, but a rehash this will not be.

SO, WHAT’S DIFFERENT THIS TIME AROUND?

Of course, this is Nintendo- they simply won’t stand for stagnation, and it is obvious that there has to be something in Donkey Kong Country returns that indicates the time span that separates it from its SNES progenitors. So far, we know of no major changes that may be worth mentioning- okay, so we know for sure there are no Kremlings this time around, with Tikis acting as primary antagonists instead. The inclusion of any of the Kong family except for Diddy, or of the animal buddies is up in the air too.

One major difference we know of is the fact that Didy will be playable this time around not like the SNES originals, where the same player had to control one after the other, but rather in a two player co-op experience, something like New Super Mario Bros Wii, which also makes infinitely more sense, if I may say so. Each character feels sufficiently different, so that Donkey Kong will have his own lumbering weight, while Diddy has a jetpack that enables him to negotiate long chasms, resulting in extremely different and distinctly unique platforming controls for both of them.

https://youtu.be/xPqdPrvcmTs

Of course, we have no idea how the final game will turn out. It might be a complete retreading of the SNES games- in which case, it’s likely that gamers’ nostalgia will make them impervious to this game’s fault, if there are any. However, as is most likely when you have a developer like Retro and a publisher like Nintendo, this game will be something else entirely, a landmark title that sets the standard for 2D sidescrolling platforming for years to come. And we only have to wait a couple more months before we find out.

The graphics are great, and the game is a 3D side scrolling platformer. Trust Retro to do the classic series absolute justice and for Donkey Kong Country Returns to be one of the biggest titles of its year.

DK Country Returns releases for the Wii this fall. In the meanwhile, you can check out the E3 unveiled video below.

A new entry into the ESRB has rated the side scroller for the Xbox 360. This is one of many hints that have been dropped recently that suggest a re-release of the game. The Korean Game Rating Board also listed the game last month. Back in November 2009, an update discovered on Rebecca Heineman’s LinkedIn profilealso suggested that she had been working on the re-release.

Upon original release, Manhattan Project was met with some mixed reviews- Gamespot called it, ‘frustrating’- but can a lick of paint (and some new graphics?) turn the game into a modern day retro classic?

Only time will tell, as no release date has yet been set.

Stay tuned to GamingBolt for more.