[E3 2012] Zen Studios (CastleStorm/KickBeat/Avengers Chronicles)

[Psykoboy2]

This year at E3 for me there were a lot of my appointments that came straight from seeing people at the show or just floating appointments where I was told to just stop by and say hello and if they had some time, they’d show off their games. One of those appointments was with Zen Studios. I’m a big fan of Zen and what they do which so far has been Pinball games. If you know me, then you know how excited I was to see them, but they’ve got more than just pinball. Here I’m going to cover 3 new titles of theirs with only one of which being in the realm of pinball gaming.

CastleStorm

No, this isn’t Angry Birds. Stop thinking that right now. This is CastleStorm...it’s more of a Scorched Earth than an Angry Birds. It’s essentially two castles fighting it out to either capture the other castle’s flag and bring it back to base or destroy the enemies castle where it stands. Over the 12 different levels of the game, there will be other objectives that can bring out a win in a scenario but we were only told of those two ways so far. And you’ll do this with your main weapon - a projectile launcher than mainly fires arrows, but there’s a number of different weapons you’ll have access to and can launch at the enemy - even sheep. Yeah...sheep. You’ll also have access to ground troops who can make their way to the castle in order to gain the flag victory as well keep the enemies troops at bay from stealing your flag.

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Castles can be built by yourself from the ground up. And that means customization is key. If you build your troop training room close to the front and it gets taken out by the enemy, expect a pretty poor class of troops trying to defend and attack for you.

The game is due out on all digital platforms possibly sometime this year and you can easily expect multiplayer to be included. There’s also a co-op system where you and a friend can battle through waves of enemies.

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KickBeat

So they’ve got the pinball game nailed down. And with CastleStorm they’re trying something different. With KickBeat for the PlayStation Vita, Zen Studios has its sights set on the rhythm game genre. And they’re starting out pretty well since it’s described as a Kung Fu Rhythm game. There’s 18 licensed tracks for the game and the gameplay seems pretty simple.

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You stand in the center of a room and attacks come in directions mapped out to the d-pad or the face buttons. Pretty simple, really, but as rhythm games go, simple doesn’t mean easy. As you’ll be attacked at times from multiple directions required you to press more than one button or do a sweep with the d-pad.

What I liked about KickBeat was that it’s a rhythm game without the usual layout of those types of games. No arrows or rails or colored cue systems to let you know when to press a button. It isn’t abstract, I guess is what I’m trying to say. KickBeat will have multiplayer when it releases on the PlayStation Vita sometime this year.

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Avengers Chronicles

Pinball! Zen Studios continues their ongoing Marvel Pinball franchise with the Avengers Chronicles. This is a set of 4 brand new tables based not only on the Avengers film but also other storylines in the Marvel Universe. I thought it was interesting how they aren’t just picking characters to base tables on but actual story arcs from the comics.

It’s very hard to describe how a table works as part of the fun of pinball is the discovery of a table’s layout and all the interesting secrets it holds. So while I can’t tell you that (because it wasn’t told to me), I can give you an idea of what to expect from the Avengers Chronicles pack.

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The Avengers table is based on the film. In fact, the table is actually set on top of the Helicarrier flying above a cityscape. The unique thing about this table is that each Avenger has his own pinball with different attributes based on that character's ability. I have no idea what Black Widow does.

The World War Hulk table is based on the same storyline from the comics and is just an all out Hulk table.

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The Infinity Gauntlet table is based on the storyline from 1991. Yep, they are going that far back for a pinball table. The focus on this table are the infinity gems. As you collect them and activate them, they will affect the table. Even to the point of one of the gems flipping the table upside down.

The Fear Itself table is based on the storyline from 2011 and is a very Thor-centric table.

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The Avengers Chronicles four pack will hit XBLA (integrated into Pinball FX 2) and PSN (integrated into Zen Pinball 2) next week while the PS Vita will see a release sometime later this year.

[menage]

Awesome, their pinball games are the best out there.

[Widgetcraft]

From what I'm hearing, Zen Pinball 2 has been delayed, and the new Avengers tables will be launching without it for now. That's what Joystiq was reporting, anyway. I've been eagerly awaiting Zen Pinball 2 so that I could play the tables on my Vita.

[Talanvor]

I can't wait for those new tables. I was excited when they first announced they'd be available in May. One more week, just one more. If I end up buying a Vita I'll have to rebuy all of those tables since I got them on the 360 originally. Oh well.

CastleStorm looks interesting, though I admit when I first looked at it I thought Angry Birds with castles. KickBeat might be good, I'll have to actually play a demo first. How it controls will make or break a game like that for me.

[Kielaran]

CastleStorm looks really interesting. I'll have to keep an eye on it.