Phineas & Ferb: Across the Second Dimension "Gelatin World" Trailer

So a game based off a Disney cartoon, huh?  And one that I'm actually excited about?  Yes, it's actually happening!

Aren't I a little bit old to be watching a Disney cartoon?  Why no, no I'm not.  I guess it helps that I have a young son, who also loves Phineas and Ferb; it's just a great program filled with clever references, topical jokes, and over-the-top scenarios.  A perfect fit for a game!  That being said, it's launching NEXT WEEK, on PlayStation 3, Wii and Nintendo DS (no love for Xbox I guess), but of course, you'll want to get it on the PS3 for the HD graphics.

Anyhow, here's a final trailer showcasing the "Gelatin World" as part of the title.  We have to bring you an official review sometime next week.

Enjoy

Go behind the scenes of the epic E3 Tomb Raider trailer

So we were all recently made aware the Tomb Raider was getting a face lift and after watching that said trailer, all of us here at MashButtons were blown away. The trailer is up there with the Dead Island trailer in regards to being artistic and emotionally engaging. So following up with us from E3, Crystal Dynamics has released an interesting making of video showing how the trailer came together in a 12 minute video.

Driver Frisco shows off single player mode

Along with massacring words by placing emphasis on wrong syllables, the new Driver trailer finally shows off single player gameplay, shifting from car to car, and contents of the Collector's Edition. This is the trailer I have been waiting for after first hearing about the game. As a fan of the original, I have been waiting for the series to get the polish that it so fittingly deserves, so enjoy the clip.

Riddler and Two Face surface to show off Arkham City

Shortly on the heels of the Catwoman trailer showing just how much of a menace Two Face is, comes the Riddler trailer and artwork for Two Face. Though it doesn't show much, it is enough to get those juices flowing to make me want to go back and play Arkham Asylum again. So for now, check out the trailer and art and keep an eye out for the next juicy release regarding Arkham City.

More FFXIII-2 screen shots to melt your eyes

 While Squenix is still being pretty mum about their follow up to the criticized Final Fantasy XIII, they are at least pushing screen shots out pretty regularly, showing off the visually stunning graphics fans of the series have come to love. So until I have more information to provide to you all, here are a couple of the screenshots.

Amazon gets exclusive Dead Island pre-order bonus

Yes, we all know that when you pre-order Dead Island from GameStop that you get the bloodbath arena and an exclusive weapon, the ripper, but what about those that loath GameStop? (Not Me) Well, if you pre-order Dead Island from Amazon, you will get an art book sent to you with the title. So which will it be for you?

Codemasters keeps pushing with F1 2011 gameplay trailer

So last year I reviewed the gritty looking but amazingly fun gameplay of that which was F1 2011. I later got to spend an hour with the developers at E3 learning about 2011, which included gameplay with the racing wheel. Finally, there are more clips being released for this title and I must say...DAMN. 2011 is by far superior looking along with the more in depth career mode, I am ready for this to release now.

MashButtons gets their hands dirty reviewing EDF: Insect Armageddon

 

 Yes, we got ourselves a review copy of the new Starship Troopers Earth Defense Force title, Insect Armageddon for all you shooter and online coop button mashers. This time around the Earth Defense Force is put up against mutant insect giants with a side of aliens in this arcade shooter that largely focuses on coop multiplayer gameplay. What this game boasts is character customization between four different armor sets and over 300 different weapons to acquire through points earned blasting bugs. The bugs are also not the only bystanders as all of New Detroit is incredibly fragile and destructible.

 To start, don’t expect an epic storyline or game changing experience. With that set aside, this game is a total guilty pleasure to pick up, play, level up, unlock more weapons, and repeat. I mentioned Starship Trooper at the start and aside from the bugs, the feeling I walked away wish afterwards was about the same. Seeing that this was a budget title at $39.99, I didn’t expect much from the game, but caught myself grinning from ear to ear when things got hairy then immediately going back for more if the objective was failed. Aside from the simple fun, the graphics looked good and the spiders were big enough and real enough to give me the heebies jeebies as someone deathly afraid of spiders. This is also definitely an online title, though it does have single player gameplay with bots, the most fun I had was playing the story mode online and seeing what I unlocked to use for the next mission. The thing that I loved, not liked, was that it felt like an arcade game, just played with other people around the world instead of at a cabinet, missions were short enough, action quickly gets frantic, and there is a reward for your performance to make you do it over and over again. What is also nice, was that weapons are specific to each class, so as you complete missions with let’s say the Battle class, you are not able to use a lot of the weapons you unlock as they are specific to a Level 4 Jetpack class.

 The things I didn’t like with the time spent playing online was when I was matched up with people who were levels above me toting weapons that I just couldn’t compete with. It also took some time to learn the interface, mainly when it came to trying to learn which weapons I prefer and how to access the weapons in which were unlocked. I also preferred playing through the story over the survival mode as it started a little slow in the first few waves and though it got pretty frantic the further I got, I have yet to play the survival mode where it ended with the same people I had started with as teammates were always dropping in and out. Lastly, I did notice lag from time to time playing online when there were large amounts of bugs onscreen, and though it did speed back up, it does take away from the moment. Here is something which may bug some, no pun intended, but when the insects are killed, they dissolve and disappear as opposed to piling a mile high in carcasses, but there was actually a reason for this, as per the developers at Vicious Cycle, it was done to keep the gameplay frantic and to increase the number of enemies on screen coming at you at the same time.

 All in all, the best way in which I can sum up Earth Defense Force: Insect Armageddon is that it is Starship Troopers with the gameplay of Left 4 Dead, level progression of Call of Duty multiplayer, and destruction similar to that seen in Red Faction: Guerilla. Though it does not have the depth of story seen in those titles, it does take what worked so well for them and added it to the existing EDF formula making a simple yet fun game with enough replay value of a full retail priced game at the price of a bargain bin title. This review was completed after playing through the online story mode on normal and then starting over on hard to increase the level cap, and will continue coming back for more to complete Inferno mode with the Trooper, then it will be on to the next class.

MashButtons review of the button masher, Dynasty Warriors Gundam 3

The next title in the Dynasty Warriors games has hit shelves and this time around you do not get to reenact samurai battles, but instead mecha battles from the Gundam anime and manga series. As a new convert to being a fan of Dynasty Warrior games after years of avoiding them like a dentist appointment, I could not wait to get my hands on the release because A) I like mech battles and B) I like in depth character customization. Dynasty Warriors Gundam 3 hosts a plethora of content which we will list before we get to the review, starting with over fifty characters and seventy Mobile Suits that are all playable and upgradeable, along, with up to four players being able to get together online to play through a number of cooperative missions. So it's time to get into your Mobile Suit and engulf yourself in thirty plus years of the Gundam history in one little disk.

To start with the good, well that is easily the fast action to keep me coming back for more, followed by the customization options and additional characters to make sure you don't stop playing. The graphics of the Mobile Suits are accented with bright colors contrasting your opposition's darker appearance looked great on a HDTV showering my eyes with the crisp anime art style. The action…well, it is a button mashing combo racking time using only a couple of the buttons available, but each mission's completion results with currency, and with currency comes more skills to master and Mobile Suits to develop and once the character's story is completed and stats are maxed out... I immediately started another character's story line. Online? It was a fun and faster way to rack up the monies to upgrade your giant robot and the character behind the wheel, all while trying to sneak in the final blow on enemies your teammates have been working on. That and seeing what support moves your teammates bring to the table when the going gets tough.

The bad, and here comes the big one, the camera. It controls like those seen in other third person action title, but on speed. You nudge the stick and almost immediately having me pulling a 180, followed by not trying to think about my sudden case of motion sickness. Throughout the gameplay, I did notice the repetition in the map layout and that they felt small in comparison to previous Dynasty Warrior games. The maps are not very open and what I mean by that is you have to find a corridor in each section to move on to conquer and increase your stronghold or to defend enemy encroachment, this combined with the camera and focusing on not letting your thrusters overheat, did cause some frustration. The smaller maps also makes the length of missions feel short, playing on medium difficulty, and significantly shorter when playing online. The short missions do, however, make it easier to play more missions and level up at a steady pace, feeling more like an arcade game.

All in all, I really had a blast with my time spent on Dynasty Warriors Gundam 3. Sure the story felt bland, mainly because I am not familiar with the series and I think I may have spent as much time fighting the camera as I did enemies and bosses throughout the single player and multiplayer mode. The thing that had me coming back for more and kept my mind off the nuances, were unlocking more Mobile Suits, upgrading them, then taking them online to kick some serious ass. After playing through my first character’s storyline, the formula had me immediately coming back for more rather than setting the game on my shelf of no return.

Driver San Francisco reveals cast of cars

We just got the cars of Driver San Francisco trails from Ubisoft and while the title boasts 125 licensed cars, the trailer shows off a handful. My eyes are on the Ford GT and the 86 Camaro Z28. Though not all cars are muscle cars it does has some of the more "mediocre", like the Chevy Volt, AMC Pacer, and the Dodge Neon.

Fighting demons isn't a game

The Atlus team has released a trailer for the new Shin Megami Tensei title, Devil Survivor Overclocked, and while I have played a couple of the previous titles, I must admit, I have not shown as much interest as I feel for Overclocked. Whether it is the lack of a solid JRPG for the 3DS or this just being a stronger title, I think the fusion of demons with the RPG elements have the ability to make this a stand out title for the 3D title.

Warner Bros. shows off LOTR War in the North Collectors Edition

We all saw it coming, and now that we saw the contents of the collector's edition, the folks here at MashButtons are chomping at the bit for this action RPG release. The War in the North collector's edition include the below listed contents and will be released for Xbox 360, PS3, and PC in Fall of 2011.

-Ranger of the North Quiver Case
-War in the North art book featuring concept art of key characters in the game, various enemies and beautiful environments in Middle-earth
-Inside Look: The Music of War in the North—content includes: interviews and footage of legendary composer Inon Zur at Abbey Road Studios and the E3 2011 Concert event, along with three tracks from the game soundtrack
-Digital content:
* Ranger of the North Avatar for Xbox Live (Xbox 360 sku) - includes the Ranger armor set, helmet, quiver and bow
* War in the North Theme Pack (PS3 sku) - includes War in the North wallpaper, fonts, icons and much more!
-The Lord of the Rings: War in the North video game

New Deus Ex dev diary introduces game's conflict

The good folks at Square Enix have released the first developer diary for Deus Ex: Human Revolution, showing of the world in the not so distant future of the year 2027 along with introducing the conflict between two medical augmentation companies, Sarif Industries and Tai Yong Medical.

The first of more NBA 2K11 to come

2K Sports has released a screenshot of its award winning basketball title, NBA 2K11. Though it doesn't show much, it is a damn good looking shot that highlights the 2011 NBA Finals, and if its going to be anything like 2K10, I can not wait.