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Activision has officially confirmed ‘Extinction’ mode for Call of Duty: Ghosts following leaks which revealed the mode over the weekend.
The publisher has released an official trailer showing the new four-player co-op mode in action
According to the brief official blurb, Extinction is “an all-new 1-4 player cooperative game mode featuring a unique blend of fast-paced survival action, FPS base defence, scavenging and class levelling”.
The game’s official Facebook page calls it “co-op survival madness, with aliens”.
The video appears to show players using drill-like devices to destroy alien hives. Players work together to protect the drilling devices from incoming hordes of four-legged aliens.
Extinction mode was first outed when screenshots and teaser footage was leaked over the weekend.
The Call of Duty: Ghosts release date is set for November 5 on Xbox 360, PS3, Wii U and PC. It will also arrive alongside the PS4 and Xbox One on their respective launches in November.
In the final issue to be printed before the worldwide release of Pokémon X and Pokémon Y in just two days time, CoroCoro took to officially revealing a number more Pokémon that would be introduced in the new game. And while the information on other Mega evolutions may not have revealed much new – Mega Kangaskhan was first shown off in the World Championships; and other Megas were leaked last week by mainstream media – the issue finally reveals the last evolutions in the three new starter’s lines of progression, as well as Japanese names for each.
Chespin’s final evolution, Burigaron, is a 1.6m high Grass/Fighting-type weighing exactly 90kg. Fennekin’s final evolution is Mafoxy, a Fire/Psychic-type that like its pre-evolution is an anthropomorphic fox; but this time having an appearance more akin to a robed magician. It appears to use a lit stick for some of its attacks. Finally, Froakie’s final evolution, Gekkouga, is a Water/Dark-type. If Froakie was clearly a frog and Frogadier edges closer to Gecko, Gekkouga is like a weird mutant of the two; and even appears to have – to my eyes at least – a frog’s tongue as a hairstyle. It’s 1.5m high and weighs exactly 40kg.
Courtesy of Bulbanews, we can bring you scans of the CoroCoro pages showing you each final evolution’s official Sugimori art. As for their in-game appearances… well, we’ll just have to see them for ourselves in two days time 😉
One other game that was discussed during the first of October’s Nintendo Direct was the next title in the long-running Mario & Sonic Olympics franchise, titled in full as Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games Sochi 2014.
Fans of the franchise, one of your biggest criticisms of the series is finally over! For the first time in the series, players from around the globe will be able to compete simultaneously via the Internet – so says Satoru Iwata himself. Sochi 2014 will feature the ability to compete with Friends or with anyone around the Globe in four specially selected events for the mode. The events include three Winter Olympic staples – Freestyle Ski Cross, Snowboard Cross and Short Track Speed Skating 100m; and a Dream Event racecourse combining elements of all the different types of Winter Racing.
Competing Worldwide will pitch you against random other players across the globe also looking for matches; with each player acting as a representative for the country they selected as their home territory at profile creation. When you win any medal in an online contest, you will also win points towards your territories’ total score. A ranking system will be permanently in-place in the game, tallying up the scores, so countries can compare the performance of players representing them in order to see which country has the best players (or the biggest community of consistently medal-winning players – face it, some countries will always be behind just because others are bigger).
In other news, as well as selling the game on its own, Nintendo will make Sochi 2014 available in a bundle with a blue Wii Remote Plus also included. Both game and bundle will hit stores November 15.
If there’s one thing I both love and hate Nintendo for personally, it’s Nintendo Directs. I hate them because they spring up suddenly, often with very little advance notice; and the pace of reveals in them can go from sedate to break-neck making it often hard to keep up. Yet, I love them BECAUSE they’re surprising, exciting and often have a lot of cool stuff to show off. Conducting a Nintendo Direct at 3pm Yesterday, a 29-minute conference proved exactly my point, showing off tons of new information about multiple upcoming 3DS and Wii U titles.
First up was news about Super Mario 3D World, for Wii U. A two-minute trailer shows Mario, Luigi, Toad and Princess taking a midnight stroll watching shooting stars. But their attention is soon drawn to a transparent pipe that is half-buried in the middle of the path. All of a sudden, it straightens and a fairy-like character emerges from it. But before it can speak, Bowser pops out from the same pipe, catches it in its large hands and places it in a jar, taunting the gang. The gang follow Bowser down the pipe and a new adventure begins…
What also begins is a series of scenes showing off whole new features coming to the game. Naturally, Cat Mario takes most of the spotlight, Mario even picking up the Bell Mushroom that triggers the transformation from the floor of the level in a very early scene (which itself also confirms power-ups won’t JUST be in ?-blocks). Over the next few minutes we see even more of Cat Mario’s special abilities, such as touching grabbing an end of level flagpole. Instead of triggering it there and then, Mario climbs UP the flagpole and handstands on its top, triggering it at its very highest point and earning a 10,000 point bonus. Now, THAT’S a way to rack up the score! We also see Cat Mario jump against a Thromp and climb up its face, eventually finding himself atop it and able to ride it without taking any damage.
But hold on? Did we just see NEW Powerups? Why, yes we did! Collectable cherries in some levels see the collecting character (which Satoru informs us can be any of the players) split into two copies of themselves; and additional cherries adding one more. One scene shows four Mario firing a barrage of fireballs together, with some on higher ground and some on lower – though the mechanics aren’t made clear.
Also of interest is the return of Coin Block Mario. Once again it will be possible for Mario to wear a block on his head and have it shower him in coins as he runs, jumps and falls through the level. But it’s not the only headwear Mario will be sporting this time! Further scenes show off two other blocks worn on Mario’s head – a Cannon block that fires cannonballs in direction he faces at the time of firing; and the return of Propeller Blocks as wearable on-head objects. While we’re talking about Coin Showers – one level sees a geyser of coins falling through the centre of the level and Mario jumping through it to collect as many as possible. Oh Mario, has your anti-hero Wario’s greed rubbed off on you now? (Anyone who’s played New Super Mario Bros. 2 will probably say yes to that.)
And that’s not even the end! Further scenes see Mario riding through an Ice level in what appears to be an ice-skate version of the Kuribo’s Shoe (last seen in Super Mario Bros. 3); a Goomba Suit allowing Mario to look like a Goomba and enter a room filled with them without drawing attention. There will also be bombs in some levels that can be picked up and thrown, not just to blow up enemies; but also to trigger nearby POW blocks for chain explosions. We even see Mario holding a plant pot containing his own Piranha plant, which proceeds to eat any enemy within reach.
And then we get to the game world itself. The In-game Map sees levels referred to by both number and name; walking to World 1-3, we see the top-left corner of the screen refer to the level as both “World 1-3” and “Mount Beanpole”. Once in a level, each one seems to introduce a new touch to the proceedings. A level with a river flowing over part of the path sees Goombas floating around on life rings; while a Ghost House level sees Mario grab a fake flagpole that reveals itself to be an illusion created by several Boos. Elsewhere, a lava level sees Mario walk across a winding path that keeps disappearing but reveals itself with butt-stomps; while one level is played in the shadows of an unseen environment.
Driving towards the screen in a car decorated with several spikes, Bowser rounds off the Trailer by taunting us in front of his castle. Wait a minute… in a CAR? This isn’t Mario Kart…
Satoru Iwata rounded off the proceedings by informing us that while much focus has been on Super Mario 3D World being the first 3D Mario to allow co-operative multi-player, the game will also have a solid single-player campaign for those who prefer to take the challenge solo. Finally, as a special promotion, Mario and Luigi-branded Wii Remote Plus controllers will be made available in stores from November 1. These controllers are coloured either Red or Green with the appropriate Brother’s logo emblazoned on them, and yellow + and – buttons.
