Source: Kotaku

Source: Giant Bomb / Kotaku

Source: Engadget / SGN

Just when you’ve read the last “First!” comment you can stand and accepted that Facebook friend request from your grandmother, the internet has a way of reminding you why you fell in love with it in the first place. Gamervision, the same team behind the amazing Inglorious Plummers, has released their vision for the God of War movie. Or should we say, the God of War movie if it were done by Wes Anderson. The trailer is absolutely genius and, if anything, should be awarded for pointing out all of the overused tropes in almost every indy film of its type. For those who love independent movies such as Rushmore, The Royal Tenenbaums, & Juno, and have a high tolerance for overt use of helvetica check out the video below.

Source: Gamervision

The effects of the experiments have taken their toll on Katorga 12 and its inhabitants. They’re now horrible creatures, mutated by the power of E99, and they’re coming for you. Singularity’s first impression is striking, taking influence from games such as Bioshock and Metro 2033, the world of Katorga 12 is detailed, haunting, and rich with character. Art-deco elements mixed with Red Army propaganda give Singularity a distinct look and sense of place. It’s just a shame the early environments later give way to some generic industrial warehouses. At times, the world can feel a bit contrived. Backwards R’s and N’s on your objectives give the game a “Russiany” look, I suppose, but it’s forgivable when you realize it’s all in good fun. Singularity isn’t trying to be Tolstoy, more like a Hollywood blockbuster’s Russian counterpart. Jerry Bruckheimervich, if you will. Somewhere along the way, history is altered. An evil man has seized power and taken over the world. It’s now up to Renko to travel through time to set things right.

Singularity sits on a foundation of solid first-person shooting mechanics. The ubiquitous pistol, shotgun, and assault rifle are naturally part of your arsenal but weapons which tie into the game’s time-travel motif are the standouts. The Seeker, a rifle that fires bullets you control as they travel through the air is pure masochistic fun. Other weapons like the sniper rifle have the ability to slow down time so pesky headshots are a thing of the past. In addition to the fun weaponry, Singularity relies heavily on a time mechanic afforded by the TMD or Time Manipulation Device.

Those mad Russian scientists managed to wield the power of E99 and create a handy (and portable, no less) weapon that can either turn back the wheels of time or move them forward. Use the TMD to age locks into dust allowing doors to open, turn enemies into ash, and restore broken staircases to their former selves. The time mechanics are, unfortunately, limited. It would have been nice to see more freedom in who or what you can move through time but, as it is, the game has a set library of objects that are susceptible to time manipulation. Mild puzzles are also sprinkled in for good measure but don’t go beyond simply figuring out how to traverse the environment. I felt like the time mechanics had so much potential, I wished the game had more of an emphasis on these puzzles. As the game progresses, upgrades to the TMD keep the action fresh and the game incredibly well paced. In another nod to Bioshock, the world is littered with upgrade stations which allow you to trade in currency for enhancements to yourself, your weapons, or the TMD itself. While Singularity doesn’t offer the dual-wielding of TMD and guns as Bioshock 2 did for plasmids and weapons, the action doesn’t suffer. The steady upgrades ensure that, even though you’re fighting the same enemy types throughout, the methods are constantly evolving and keep things feeling new.

As Renko leaps between the 1950s and the present, you’ll dispatch plenty of Russian soldiers along the way. The occasional boss battle against a gigantic monster keeps things leaning back into the realm of sci-fi. While these encounters offer some of the game’s more dramatic set pieces, it’s a shame they fall prey to the same “shoot-the-giant-glowing-spot” syndrome.

As a whole, Singularity isn’t a particularly long game. Most will get through it in a little under eight hours. It’s right in the sweet spot between offering just enough and overstaying its welcome. Fans of story-driven games will have a hard time putting it down. Bioshock-esque audio logs, notes, messages from the past which are rendered legible by the TMD, and a headache-inducing time twist really flesh out the narrative. In the end, a moral choice offers a variety of endings depending on which route you take. While the ending itself is interesting regardless of your choice, it was another area where the story felt contrived. None of your choices throughout the game up until that moment factor in to which ending you receive. It felt forced that suddenly the game introduced a moral choice when, all the while, you’d been doing what you thought was right.

Despite being a single-player focused game, Singularity does offer a decent multiplayer offering. While the standard deathmatch pitting human soldiers against the monsters of Katorga 12 is a fun, class-based distraction, it’s not likely to pull you away from your current online game of choice. Extermination is another game mode that, once again, pits humans versus creatures but is more objective-based. As the soldiers, it’s your duty to restore beacon points and protect them while they charge. As the monsters, it’s your job to stop them. If a team works well together, Extermination can actually get quite addictive. Soldier classes range from the typical medic, spec-op, and heavy units while the creatures offer a little more variety. The multiplayer isn’t the main draw of the game but it’s worth putting in for a weekend and seeing what it has to offer.

Singularity isn’t the most original game but it still manages to do a few things very well. The world of Katorga 12 is not the next Rapture but it’s damn close. Added to that, a time-travel mechanic, great shooting, and mind-bending story all work to shape a rich experience that’s worth seeing through to the end.

The story of Super Mario Galaxy 2 is next to irrelevant. Producer Shigeru Miyamoto has gone on record to say during the development process he insisted on eliminating as much story as possible and it certainly shows. The story that is there is standard Mario fare: Bowzer shows up, kidnaps Princess Peach, Mario treks across levels to get her back. The first cut-scenes are presented in a charming storybook-style page turning that works to aid the main goal: brevity. The entire experience of Super Mario Galaxy 2 is far more streamlined. Gone is the clunky hub-world of the original and, in its place, Mario travels the universe on his new mode of transportation, a spaceship shaped like his head (make that Faceship). Level progression works more like the Super Mario Bros. games of old with a direct path that has players move along as they progress through each level. It’s a welcomed fix for the confusing observatory of the original Galaxy.

Nearly everything about Super Mario Galaxy 2 feels polished and highly refined. The mechanics of the original such as gravity, moving from planet to planet, collecting Star Bits, the Comet challenges all seem to have been given a careful reconsideration. Nintendo has said Super Mario Galaxy 2 exists because, after finishing development on the first game, the developers had so many ideas left over they realized they could make another one. When it was first announced at last year’s E3, some wondered if it would be a re-hash of old ideas, thankfully those fears can all be put to rest. With the actual gameplay mechanics already in place, the developers were able to come up with some of the most dazzling level designs in the company’s history.

Every level offers some new mechanics or twist on the gameplay. Just when you think you’ve seen everything, Super Mario Galaxy 2 still manages to surprise you. Whether its new Power-Ups such as Cloud Mario, playing with Yoshi and his new abilities, or the ever-changing complexity of the levels, Galaxy 2 constantly has something new to offer. Additions like Yoshi offer a variety of new gameplay options. The dino’s trademark abilities of tongue-whipping and eating enemies are back with added power-ups such as Blimp Fruit which lets him float in the air like a balloon and red hot chilies which make him run extremely fast. It’s nice to finally have Yoshi back and playable in a 3D Mario title and, like pretty much everything else in the game, it serves the main purpose of inundating players with as many new ideas as possible. Luigi also returns as a playable character although fans won’t have to go through the trials they did in the first game just to get him. Mario’s oft-forgotten sibling shows up from time-to-time to have a go at a level. Playing as Luigi isn’t really different from Mario but it’s nice and, hey, there’s always hope for that elusive Luigi’s Mansion 2.

The sequel falls prey to the same problem many games have when up against the original. Super Mario Galaxy 2 isn’t the quantum leap forward as the first but that’s the price of being part of an iterative process. To say it’s simply “more of the same” wouldn’t be far off but it would also be doing a disservice to the creativity abound in Galaxy 2. Sure, the sequel is closely tied to the first game and a large majority of the mechanics remained unchanged, but it’s hard to complain when the outcome is this good. And frankly, there’s enough room in the world for two Galaxy games, especially when there’s this much creativity within. It’s a lot like the Beatles White Album. Sure, some have said they could have settled on one LP instead of two. They could have trimmed the fat, so to speak, and had a much tighter, shorter album. But it’s the Beatles! You get more of them which is never a bad thing so stop complaining.

However, Super Mario Galaxy 2 is not without a few issues. Some of the less-than-stellar Power-Ups from the original Galaxy return and whether you love or hate Bee Mario, there’s zero excuse anyone should ever be subjected to Spring Mario. It’s an odd thing, when the rest of a game is so finely tuned, any blemish really stands out. In a game as inventive as this, I was also disappointed to see the cooperative experience go mostly unchanged. If you have a second controller, another player can join in but forget about actually playing together. Player 2 is still relegated to collected Star Bits and other menials tasks. Sure, a second player can help out by pulling coins and objects to Mario as well as thwarting enemies and obstacles. But it still feels like a half-step into co-op play. For now, it seems like Nintendo is dividing the Mario experiences into solo and co-op play between Galaxy and New Super Mario Bros Wii.

My long-standing rivalry with unnecessary motion control continues. For the most part, the game makes the best use of the Wii’s hardware. IR is used intelligently to collect items and despite a lack of a second analog stick, camera control is a non-issue. The few stages, however, that rely on precise use of motion control gave rise to frustration. Several levels use a mechanic of shaking the Wii Remote to flip the platforms so Mario can advance. I often found my motions not registering despite shaking the remote and I quickly came back to my age-old argument of, if motion does not do anything enhance the gameplay, it should not be included. For the most part, motion is used sparingly and correctly, it’s just worth noting I ran into some instances where it did not feel as responsive as it should be.

Super Mario Galaxy 2 continues to push the system to its limits and offer a variety of stunning set pieces. The game looks gorgeous, making those praying for a Wii HD even more hopeful. But high-def or not, Nintendo knows how to get the most from its hardware. Some of the most spectacular moments are the various boss encounters. Hulking monstrosities fill the screen and while the Bowzer fights get depressingly repetitive, many of the boss battles are clever and worthwhile. In addition to the game’s visuals, special thanks should be paid to the games localization team. Nintendo’s Tree House team, which works to localize these games from Japanese to English, continues their streak of offering funny and concise dialogue. Over the last few years, I’ve really enjoyed seeing the humor they add and the direction they’ve taken characters like Bowzer.

Players worried if this game dumbs-down the experience to make room for casual Wii-Fitters need not worry; Super Mario Galaxy 2 is hard. It can definitely challenge veteran Mario players and continues to offer new trials long after they reach enough stars to beat the game. For those players who hit a rough patch, Nintendo has imported a feature from its last Mario game. The “Cosmic Guide” is similar to the “Super Guide” feature of New Super Mario Bros Wii. The game takes over and plays itself, allowing the player to take over at any time. Nifty for some of the later levels which offer quite a challenge and doesn’t get in the way of people who don’t want to use it.

Super Mario Galaxy 2 doesn’t carry the same impact as the original but it does bring some new things to the table. Added to that, there’s much to be said and appreciated about a game that takes some core mechanics and refines them down to a sharp point. The game feels like the one Nintendo has envisioned since the first time Mario ever stepped foot into 3D. It’s the product of years of fine tuning and a must-play for any Wii owner.

Let’s get a few things out of the way. Will OnLive replace traditional PC gaming for hardcore PC gamers? No. If you have the hardware that can handle these games, there are few reasons to spend the monthly subscription fee just to gain access to games you can already run. Is OnLive for people who love having a physical copy of the game? If you absolutely must have the game’s box on your shelf, lined up with all the others, then move along. This is purely cloud-based and anyone leery of owning a game for as long as they subscribe to the service need not apply. For someone like me, an avid gamer, who has often lamented my Mac’s gaming Achilles heel, the service is a no-brainer. My first reaction after installing the application was “Oh my God, it works!”

After a year of naysayers, decrying OnLive to be too far ahead of its time, I was pleasantly surprised to see Borderlands, running on my old Macbook. The specs of my Macbook run down like this:

While it’s more than adequate for running my day-to-day chores, my Macbook has always been a writing laptop first and a gaming laptop a far distant second. Valve’s recent embrace of the Mac lead to some heartbreak as, time and time again, I found my Mac unable to run games like Portal. With OnLive it looks like things are finally about to change. Anyone who knows about computer hardware will see that integrated-graphics processor as a real stumbling block when it comes to gaming. Without something a little beefier, this Macbook isn’t going to get very far.  That’s why it was such a treat to see games like Dirt 2 running and my computer’s fans hadn’t even come on.

Like any relationship, things aren’t always perfect. Currently, OnLive requires a hard-wired connection to the internet which means no wi-fi. At first, I thought I could just log-in, see what games were on offer, and deal with any lag caused by my wireless. That’s a no-go. OnLive won’t even start until you’re tethered directly to your router. As someone who lives wirelessly 99.9% of the time, I know I’ll be less inclined to relocate my whole computer set-up just to play. But I realize I could easily be in a very small minority when it comes to this. For most people, this will be a non-issue. But it’s worth noting in case some users are truly unable to access a hard-wired connection. OnLive asserts its “technology does indeed work well with good quality Wi-Fi connections” but doesn’t plan on releasing that functionality “once OnLive is better established”.

Since it was first announced, people have worried that latency would be an issue. Latency, or lag, is a constancy concern for any online gaming experience. Latency occurs when there is a spans of time between the player’s input such as firing a weapon and the results occurring in the game. In an online match, for example, lag could be the difference between life or death. OnLive has built servers around the country to cut down on the distance between your machine and its servers. The shorter the distance and the stronger your internet connection, the better it gets. In fact, unlike most discussions of PC gaming, OnLive is less about your computer’s hardware strength than it is the strength of your connection to the internet. In my time, I have yet to experience any extreme latency issues. My inputs have been mirrored in the game world faithfully. While playing Borderlands, for example, I have tested the time it’s taken for my to left-click to fire my weapon and the time my gun actually fired bullets. The time was nearly indistinguishable. I say nearly because while OnLive’s servers are doing an incredible job of translating and moving all this data, it’s merely a nanosecond behind what you would expect if playing the game directly from the disc. However, for me it quickly fell into the realm beyond “good enough” and I easily adjusted and forgot all about how the game was getting to me and just played.

The selection in the Marketplace is somewhat limited at the moment but OnLive promises more is on the way. I was annoyed to see Mass Effect 2 is only available to OnLive users connecting through a PC. I’m unsure who was behind this but the beauty of OnLive is that it is hardware agnostic yet even in the remote reaches of the cloud, the school-yard fight between Apple and Microsoft persists. It’s a shame. I’m also hoping the pricing sees some more restructuring. Players can purchase a three-day or five-day rental of some titles for $3.99 or $8.99 respectively. But not all games are available for rental. I wish there was more consistency in the pricing and availability. Full price purchases are often at the standard MSRP of $59.99. Hopefully, OnLive takes a cue from Valve and embraces the wonders of Steam Sales. The advantage of online gaming over brick and mortar retail will always be its ability to drop prices as it does not need to deal with overheads, shelf space, etc.

Other features such as the Arena which allows users to drop in and spectate on other player’s games are a fun distraction and seem more like a crowd-pleaser to show off an “ooh and ahh” factor of the service. OnLive is going to continue rolling out across the United States. The service is, at the moment, only offered in America but Perlman has expressed an interest to expand to other countries. Expect more impressions as my time with OnLive continues.

Nintendo Games

The first-party offerings kept coming and coming. Gone were the Wii Musics and Wii Plays of the world and, in their place, Nintendo strutted out the hardcore titles center stage.

The Legend of Zelda – Skyward Sword
Zelda creator and Videogame Godfather, Shigeru Miyamoto started off the event and demonstrated the next Legend of Zelda. Skyward Sword is the first entry in the series since 2006′s Twilight Princess and the first completely developed specifically for the Wii. Skyward Sword utilizes the Wii Motion Plus add-on, providing a closer 1-to-1 representation of Link’s swordplay. The on-stage demo suffered from a few technical hiccups, but E3 attendees vouched for the game as being free of issues. No specific date was given but Nintendo assured fans to expect the game sometime in 2011.

Mario Sports Mix
Mario and his Mushroom Kingdom cohorts have made their way into all manner of sports titles including basketball, baseball, golf, and tennis. Mario Sports Mix is a collection of other sports titles that might not stand on their own as a full game and have thus been put together in one collection. Ice & beach hockey, volleyball, and more are all given the Nintendo remix treatment incudling power-ups and other arcade gameplay breathe new life into these games. Coming in 2011.

Donkey Kong Country Returns
Since closing the book on its Metroid Prime trilogy, Austin developer Retro Studios has gone silent regarding its next creation. Fans of the Donkey Kong Country series from the Super Nintendo days were, no doubt, elated to see Retro is leaving Samus behind in favor of Nintendo’s trademark ape. There’s plenty of vine-swinging, barrel shooting, and banana hoarding abound in what’s sure to become Retro’s next masterpiece. After the way Retro handled Metroid, it’s exciting to see them take a chance on a platformer. Luckily, we won’t have to wait very long. Donkey Kong Country Returns drops during the Holiday Season of 2010.

Kirby’s Epic Yarn
Elements of LittleBigPlanet’s tape-and-string aesthetic combined with Nintendo’s trademark charm make up the first official Wii outing for Kirby. Masahiro Sakurai, creator of Super Smash Bros, created a new company known as Sora. This is the studio’s first release. Gameplay is a mix of platforming and fabric-based mechanics. Kirby is composed of yarn, the word is made up of felt and other fabrics. The art design is incredibly unique and the gameplay looks to offer some clever twists. Nintendo did an amazing job keeping this under the radar, Kirby’s Epic Yarn launches this holiday season.

Third Party Games

Many have argued that third party games don’t succeed on Nintendo platforms. It’s hard to argue third parties haven’t had a hard time on Wii but there’s certainly an audience. While this E3 didn’t exactly buck this trend, Nintendo did manage to put a few third party games into the spotlight.

Goldeneye
Fond memories of the split-screen multiplayer of days gone by came flooding back as Nintendo and Activision showed off a debut trailer for the Wii-exclusive Goldeneye. The game looks to be a re-imagining of the original Nintendo64 classic with added features such as online multiplayer (along with classic split-screen) and the delightfully British Daniel Craig. Goldeneye ships in the last half of 2010.

Epic Mickey
Bold, bizarre, and above all, brave in its use of the Disney license, Epic Mickey took the stage for a hands-on demo. The producers showed off some of the game’s mechanics including the paint mechanics. Players can choose between painting the world to overcome obstacles, or use paint thinner to eliminate them. The tone of the game is a strange change for Disney. It’s exciting to see them breathing new life into a character who’s more than 80 years old. The demo concluded with a 2-D platforming section. Much of the game is a third-person action/platformer but the producers showed off the Steamboat Willie level, a throwback to Mickey’s first cartoon. The art-style changed to the old black and white to mimic Mickey’s inaugural outing. The creators are set to debut Epic Mickey sometime later this year.

Nintendo 3DS

Hardware is always a show-stopper at E3 and Nintendo knows this. Smoke and fog flooded the Nintendo stage as the Nintendo 3DS, atop a rising pedestal, made its debut. Nintendo President Satoru Iwata unveiled the company’s next portable device. The Nintendo 3DS is the next evolution for the Nintendo DS line. It’s not an upgraded version ala the DSi. Instead, the 3DS is a completely new device with design characteristics similar to its predecessor. The device has two screens, the bottom is touch-sensitive. The top screen, however, is wider and employs a new kind of 3D technology. Without the use of glasses, Nintendo 3DS creates a 3D effect giving added depth and dimension to the next generation of handheld gaming. Unfortunately, Nintendo did not divulge a final release date or price but all will be known before the end of the company’s fiscal year, March 2011.

The device also sported three cameras, one on the inside for self-portraits and two lenses on the outside for 3D photographs. Yes, with the 3DS players can take their own pictures and have them project in 3D.

Other changes to the hardware include an analog stick-like device Nintendo called a “Slide Pad” above the directional pad. While Nintendo was mum on specifics, but the system is also more powerful than the original DS. Also included in the system are an accelerometer and gyroscope to implement some motion-controlled gaming. A slider along the top-screen increased or decreased the severity  of the 3D effect. Lastly, Nintendo gave some cryptic details on the added wifi features which seem to be looking for connections even while the system is closed. The implications of this are, as of now, only theoretical until developers get their hands on the device and find exciting ways to implement this technology into their games.

Games

A new system is nothing without some games to show it off. Nintendo’s big reveal was a love-letter to nostalgic fans as they unveiled Kid Icarus: Uprising. Kid Icarus hasn’t seen a game of his own in over twenty years despite making an appearance in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Gameplay is a mix of aerial combat along with third-person action/adventure platforming.

Other games announced included:

• Dj Hero 3D
• Nintendogs + Cats
• 3D Remakes of Star Fox 64 and The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time
• Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater “The Naked Sample”
• Resident Evil Revelations
• Mario Kart
• Animal Crossing
• Paper Mario
• Pilot Wings Resort
• Super Street Fighter IV

and many many more.

Nintendo listened to fans who felt somewhat unloved by the company’s new-found affinity for the casual gamer. The company proved it’s still capable of delivering a mix of hardcore nostalgia alongside games that cater to any taste. Kirby’s Epic Yarn was quite a surprise. A game that’s infectiously cute yet still looks grounded in tried-and-true mechanics. With all of the games announced combined with the one-two punch of new hardware, Nintendo set the bar incredibly high this year.

Miss the event? Watch it here courtesy of G4.

Source: Kotaku

E3 has officially started and Microsoft is leading the charge by having the first keynote press event of the week. The doors of the Wiltern Theatre in Los Angeles opened to the gaming press as Microsoft kicked things off. Here are the main highlights from today’s event:

Project Natal becomes Kinect

After showing off its motion-sensing camera at last year’s E3, Microsoft has finally renamed the code-worded Project Natal and given it an official name “Kinect”. Kinect will be shipping this Fall on November 4th 2010. Microsoft did not disclose prices but retailer Gamestop has updated its Kinect page, pricing the peripheral at $149.

Kinect uses a series of cameras to track movement and motion in real-time and space. Essentially, the cameras allow for controller-less gaming and menu navigation. Some of the non-gaming related capabilities showed off include Xbox-Dashboard navigation, voice control (say “Xbox, play Music” and it starts playing) and Video Kinect. Video Kinect is a video-chatting service working in conjunction with MSN Messenger.

Kinect will launch with 15 titles this Fall. Some of those titles include:

Kinectimals – A virtual pet game with tigers, lions, and possible bears (oh my).

Kinect Sports – It is exactly like it sounds. Microsoft isn’t mincing words when going after the casual Wii audience. Kinect Sports includes track & field activities, bowling, soccer, ping pong, boxing, and volleyball.

Kinect Adventures – Another minigame collection which includes some non-athletic events. One game demo included two players on a runaway river raft.

Joyride – A kart-style racer with Kinect controls. Put your hands at 10 and 2, and mime driving. The system can track your movements if you turn your hands- the wheel in the game turns.

Your Shape: Fitness Evolved – Ubisoft is trying to take a slice of the Nintendo-fitness pie. Yoga, strength training, and more are all possible, without the need for a balance board or controller.

Dance Central – One part Dance Dance Revolution combined with elements from Wii’s Let’s Dance. Dance Central, from the makers of Rock Band.

ESPN

ESPN has partnered with Microsoft to join the other services already available such as Netflix, Facebook, and Twitter. ESPN will be bringing over 3500 events per year to XboxLive subscribers. Thankfully, all of this will be coming at no additional cost to XboxLive Gold members.

New Model

An all-new model of the XBOX360 is shipping TODAY and will be in stores by the end of the week! The new model is about 20% smaller and said to be “whisper quiet”. The console also finally ships with built-in wifi and a 250GB hard drive.

Game Demos

Fable III
which ships on October 26th 2010.

Metal Gear Solid: Rising
Hideo Kojima unveiled the first gameplay footage of the next entry in the MGS series. It looks like a crazy mix of hack-and-slash action gameplay combined with Kojima’s trademark sense of humor.

Cliff Bleszinski from Epic showed off Gears of War 3 coming in 2011.

The creators of Forza showed off a Kinect-controlled racing game.

Lucas Art’s debuted a Kinect light-saber Star Wars game.

Video & Wrap-up
Miss the Microsoft event? Watch the video below courtesy of G4.

Overall, not a bad way to kick-off E3 Week! It’s interesting to see Microsoft going so hard after the Nintendo casual crowed with Kinect. Minigames aside, it’s nice to see some “bigger” games supporting it. How those titles will turn out is still up in the air. The branding behind Kinect makes sense; a mix of ‘connect’ with the ‘kinetic’ movement of the camera system itself. It’s surely to be a hit with kids and families. On the flip-side, it’s nice to see ESPN partnering to bring some sports content. It rounds out the console’s experience and provides a greater breadth of entertainment options. Also, it seems Microsoft finally got its act together, made like it was 2005, and dropped some wifi into the console!

Source: Kotaku

No longer on a 2-D plane, the puzzles now have the added challenge of depth as players will chip away at a block of cubes, following the same rules of logic, to create little figures. It might sound confusing but thanks to a hefty tutorial the game is accessible and once you get sucked in there’s no going back. The game is more difficult than the original Picross in that some players may have a hard time wrapping their heads around the more third-dimension-centric aspects of the gameplay. The game lends a hand by providing sliders in order to cut into the objects in order to get a handle on the cubes. However, this proved to be one of the more difficult mechanics of the game to understand. By following the clues, being sure not to eliminate the wrong blocks, and completing puzzles, players are rewarded by a robot, dog, magnifying glass, and all manner of everyday objects. Speaking of puzzles, Picross 3D offers more than 300 and at $19.99 it’s easy to recommend the game as a great value that’s sure to occupy a lot of time.

The art style has taken a bizarre, pastel-focused turn that looks a bit cheap and juvenile. But, with gameplay mechanics as good as this, the game could have been in black and white and I really wouldn’t have cared. (In fact, Mario Picross came out on the Gameboy in black and white and it was just as much fun.) Customizable background images and music make the aesthetics a tad more tolerable but it’s worth mentioning Nintendo didn’t have to make the game look like a budget title.

The sliders that let you cut-into the blocks and examine the inside of the figures was a constant source of annoyance during the more difficult puzzles. Nintendo was smart enough to make players hold a button to chip away at a cube or mark it as safe. However, no such attention was paid to the sliders which often activated as I was trying to rotate the object rather than cut into it. I wish I could have held a button to activate it as I did with other elements.

I mentioned before that Picross 3D has a lengthy tutorial. It holds your hand perhaps a bit longer than it should. I appreciate the steady pace but it would have been nice to have the ability to skip ahead to more difficult levels. As it is, players have to progress through more than 100 Easy difficulty puzzles before getting a chance to take a crack at the Medium and Hard tiers.

Despite any minor problems I had with the game from an art-style or progression standpoint, these issues pale in comparison to the truly addictive nature of Picross 3D. The game is fun and has the uncanny ability to make you travel through time, unaware of how many hours are passing, as you keep tapping and saying “just one more.”

Image courtesy of Joystiq