Aegis of Earth: Protonovus Assault begins with a brief summary of the state of the world, outlining that following the ‘Silent Apocalypse’ humans have retreated to a number of fortified cities. Here, they harvest a new element known as Altenite, which is also sought after by giant monsters known as Protonovus. By managing resources and defending your cities from these monsters, your goal is to ensure humanity’s survival, and provide a safe haven for as many people as you possibly can.

Through a fairly tedious tutorial, where you’re often sitting listening to characters instead of actually playing, you find that Aegis of Earth is divided into two main parts: Planning and Strikes. Planning mode has you focusing on improving your city by constructing residential buildings and military weapons, as well as researching new technology.

Strike mode, on the other hand, requires you to defeat waves of enemies before they reach your city. Every city in Aegis of Earth is circular and divided into rings, and you can rotate these rings using the left analogue stick to target your weapons in the direction of enemies. Strikes only take a couple of minutes each, but are fast-paced and require a fair bit of dexterity in the latter stages, as you’re constantly assessing threats and rotating your city to ensure that every enemy is dealt with swiftly.

Before each strike, you’re allowed to choose (from a selection of three) which set of enemies you will be targeting, with each choice being of a different level and consisting of different enemy types. Some are fast moving and some are slow, and some types come in a pack while others are singular but larger. Upon completion of a strike, you are told how many people are impressed with your city’s defenses and therefore want to migrate, as well as how many crystals you have gained, which are used to pay for research and construction. You’re also shown how well each member of your team did, and whether you want to single out any particular member for special praise.

There are quite a few options for who you want on your team, with most characters unlocking at a reasonable pace as you progress through the story. Unfortunately, almost every one of them is annoying, and they all talk far too much, with much of what they say being repetitious and largely inconsequential. You’re never really given much reason to care why you’re doing what you’re doing in Aegis of Earth, aside from the whole saving the Earth thing, but if the remains of humanity are represented by your team members here, I honestly wouldn’t be too upset if they all perished.

Progression through the game is measured in chapters, with each chapter containing a number of objectives. Most of these involve researching and building a particular unit, or defeating a certain number of a particular type of enemy, and each can often be completed in a few minutes. This game is quite well designed for on-the-go, and thankfully features cross-save between the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita.

Aegis of Earth plays nearly identically on Vita as it does on PS4, although I did notice a little bit more slowdown on the handheld system. Graphically, Aegis of Earth isn’t particularly pretty to look at on the PS4, with muddy textures and a generally bland design, and this holds true for the Vita version as well, though with the added caveat that the smaller screen makes it a little more difficult to see what you’re doing, which can be a particular problem in the planning mode of the game.

Aegis of Earth: Protonovus Assault is a strange beast, in that it could almost exist perfectly happily as a small part of a larger game. As it is, it’s a fairly unique title, with a mixture of gameplay not really seen anywhere else. It’s far from perfect, and is pretty forgettable, but I had a lot of fun with the game, and I could see a lot of other gamers enjoying it too, provided that they could make their way past the cringe-worthy dialogue and irritating characters. Aegis of Earth offers up a fast-paced and fairly intense burst of defense-minded gaming, and while it won’t become a mainstream hit, I can see those who do play the game enjoying themselves greatly.

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When it comes to racing games, I love the realism and beauty of what the best simulators have to offer, but every once in a while you just need to have some ridiculousness with titles like Jet Car Stunts for PS3 and PS Vita. Many people with smartphones may already be familiar with this game but now PlayStation gets an all new tweaked experience for their console and handheld platform.

In the vein of games like Trackmania and San Francisco Rush, Jet Car Stunts puts you in the driver seat of a rocket powered jet car as you attempt to traverse some of the wildest and devilishly created tracks that I think I’ve seen. It’s safe to say that after playing this both on my PS3 and Vita thanks to being a Cross-Buy title that I don’t think that I’ve ever played a racing game as hard as this one.

What makes Jet Car Stunts interesting and difficult is that every course that you attempt is floating high in the sky as if you were in a surreal dream. The tracks start off with a decent length of track before throwing wide gaps into the mix. While some are quite easy others require ramps or and the right amount of rocket boosting to make. As this was originally a mobile game that used motion to steer your car but now an actual controller makes it a bit more manageable with the refinement and weight of using physical buttons.

This however doesn’t mean that Jet Car Stunts will be ultimately easier as I’ve had to try levels over and over again due to mistiming a boost or not using the air brake at just the right time. Your skills will really be put to the test with challenges like having to navigate through tight orange oblong shapes sideways before correcting to land on the other side. Using a controller or the Vita’s analog sticks does make it easier and with a lot of practice you can start to master each track.

For those returning to Jet Car Stunts you can try how good you are in the brand new Collector mode. This mode tasks you with collecting stars that are in places that you never thought possible of reaching. As veterans of the game already know you can shave seconds off your track times with shortcuts and this mode will being really cool makes you look at the colorful track decorations in a whole new perspective as an angled cube becomes a ramp or a line of squares becomes a bridge.

There are 36 tracks including the tutorials that will put your patience to test but they are as unique as they are vibrant. Both the Vita and PS3 versions look pretty good with vibrant colors and a redefined physics design. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve seen my sleek racer break up into a lot of little pieces by clipping the stark white edge of a track the wrong way. Jet Car Stunts does have a minimalistic approach to its level design which is what makes it look deceptively easy but there is definitely some clever design lurking under that colorful exterior that I like.

One of the things that I like about Jet Car Stunts is that while it is primarily a single player game it does feature an asynchronous multiplayer feature which features ghosts of the best players on each track. While this does give you something to work for as you try to make your way to the top of the leaderboards it’s a great way to see the tricks that the best players in the world use to get there.

Jet Car Stunts is a game that features a simplistic design but the gameplay is anything but it’s both enjoyable and challenging at the same time. What’s good is that you can play this in short sessions anywhere with the Vita or at home via the PS3. If you want a real racing challenge and haven’t tried Jet Car Stunts then check it out. Caution: Patience is required.

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Zen Studios keeps cranking out the hits when it comes to DLC tables for their highly enjoyable and totally addicting Zen Pinball 2 game for the PlayStation 4. This time they are taking on those adorable scamps from South Park Colorado in a two-table pack that features South Park: Super Sweet Pinball and South Park: Butters’ Very Own Pinball Game.

Both of these new tables exemplify the very essence of South Park with bright bold colors and 3D constructs for the various thematic elements from the show. Zen is known to throw in some 3D animated character models in their licensed tables, but seeing as how this show is created from virtual construction paper they do a great job with 2D characters that pop-up much like a shooting gallery target.

South Park: Super Sweet Pinball

First up is the Super Sweet Pinball table that encompasses the entire cast, as well as key locations from the fictional city of South Park. In a classic spoof of the O.J. Simpson chase episode Kenny rams the ball into action from the highway launch chute right into a miniature South Park Cows football field where you try to keep the ball in play for as long as possible with dedicated flippers.  Eventually the ball will drop down onto the table where you will find plenty of ramps, targets, bumpers, and lanes that all relate to various characters, and moments pulled from episodes of the long-running series.

The one thing I loved (and hated) about this table is that for the first time Zen Studios is making some interesting use with the vertical back panel of the pinball table, which features a large movie theater screen with always-changing images, based on your current goal in the game. The sad thing is that there are only two or three camera angles that actually give you a good view of this back screen, and none of those are particularly good for playing pinball due to their low angle that makes it way too easy to lose track of the ball.  I was really torn between playing from the 1W view to see all the content and playing from view 5 or 6 where I can actually get high scores.

South Park: Butters’ Very Own Pinball Game

If you are wondering why Butters got his own table then you haven’t been watching the recent seasons of the show. Butters is the breakout character of the cast, even achieving his own dedicated episode, so having South Park: Butters’ Very Own Pinball Game was only logical.   His table is a bit simplified but no less elegant with plenty of gold rails that elevate the ball above numerous ramps and curved lanes that all lead to targets and mission goals.  While all of the content is centered on Butters the rest of the cast makes frequent cameos in homages to episodes dealing with Professor Chaos, the Coon, the show where Butters infiltrates the girls slumber party to steal their “future telling device”, and my personal favorite, Good Time With Weapons.  Professor Chaos even gets his own mini-pinball table if you can manage to trigger it.  Butters is such a central character to the show now that they could have easily created two tables worth of content.

Both tables are loaded with sound clips from the show including favorite lines from Chef, Crabtree, and Mr. Garrison as well as all the boys and girls. Admittedly, some get very repetitive, especially on the Super Sweet table where it is entirely too easy to keep dropping the ball in Stan’s blue chute triggering the same lines and romantic music cue.  But as someone who has seen every episode of South Park at least 4-5 times I am no stranger to repetition and these tables always put a smile on my face.

The PS4 version of the new South Park tables delivers fantastic visuals in stunning 1080p with a few DualShock 4 specific features like view panning using the touchpad and SIXAXIS panning around the table. Admittedly, these aren’t huge bullet items and I would have preferred some sort of use for the built-in speaker.  Of course the biggest and best perk of playing on Sony’s platform is that a single purchase gets you the PS3, PS4, and Vita copies of the DLC thanks to the cross-buy system – just make sure you redeem the code on the PS3 first then import your tables to PS4.  I still love playing all of these tables on the Vita if for no other reason than being able to rotate the game and play vertically.

Make no mistake about it – The Walking Dead table is still my favorite pinball table to date, but South Park makes a valiant effort to unseat the reigning champ, and if you love South Park more than The Walking Dead this latest two-pack could easily become your favorite. Zen Studios has once again taken everything we love about a licensed property and somehow managed to turn it into a fun and addictive game of pinball.

Now if you’ll excuse me…I need to clean the Cheesy Poof crumbs off my controller.

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From a gamer’s perspective, it interesting to see the progression of how games have evolved or devolved over the years. While games get prettier and flashier there seems to be a drastic reduction in the quality of gameplay sometimes. Anyone who grew up during the Nintendo-Hard era, like me, can attest to that as games weren’t always the prettiest but they offered some of the most frustrating yet rewarding (sometimes) experiences at the time. Even today those games are enough to inspire rage quits.

Today we have games like Dark Souls to fill that empty space where truly hard games, by design or otherwise, have been missing over the years. Well it’s time to add another title to my list of games that will test my resolve and skill with the release of NAtURAL DOCtRINE for the PlayStation 4. This Strategy RPG follows the somewhat loose story of Geoff who wishes to prove his worth and gain citizenship into Feste, the last fortress city and stronghold for the human race. Along with companions, Vasily and Zeke, they set out as bodyguards to protect a young Bergman named Anka as she seeks to find the rare magical substance known as Pluton. The overall theme of the game is that of survival and natural selection and NAtURAL DOCtRINE isn’t about to take it easy on you.

To say that NAtURAL DOCtRINE is one of the hardest games I’ve played isn’t an exaggeration though luckily I have a bit more patience at times than most so I welcomed the challenge. After the introductory tutorial, I soon got the feel for what was in store for me. Combat takes place on three dimensional battlefields through dungeons, mines and other locales around the area surrounding the city of Feste. Each battle is accessed via the World Map and there are two kinds of missions you can select from here, Story and Free Missions. It’s also extremely important to note that the World Map is the only place where you can save your game as well as the change up battle formations and purchase skills or reallocate them.

For the most part I rather enjoy NAtURAL DOCtRINE’s turn-based combat system as it offers up something fresh. A lot of it has to do with the Link Turn feature that is both interesting and frustrating at the same time. As you move through areas, like the mines early in, you move through blue outlined grids and position your party members where they will be most effective. It’s nice to see that you have the freedom to do this as most games in the SRPG genre limit you to moving square by square. Here you can set up defenses like positioning Geoff with his shield in front of Anka so that he takes the brunt of enemy attacks while she can execute her gun based cover fire ability to get the drop on enemies.

The tricky part about these link turns is that while they can be incredibly effective they end the turn of all participating units. I cannot tell you how many times I’ve made a bad call and gotten trounced by an unrelenting wave of enemy attacks. Each character has their own level of Initiative so it pays pay attention to the order of both allies and enemies alike at the top of the screen. When a link turn works you can effective shut down an entire grid of enemies with a set of commands. When it doesn’t though you run into the possibility of a defeat if just one member of your team goes down. Yeah you read right. You can fail an entire mission if just ONE of your characters goes down. No revives, no nothing. On the bright side you don’t have to start the game over from the beginning.

The game takes things even further into the realm of hard in the fact there are no shops to be found in the game. So any new gear and weapons you find will be done so while exploring mines or defeating enemies. You can’t even buy potions for health or magic use. The reason for this is that Anka serves as you resident healer in your group and potions are a skill and not an item. Potions recharge after each battle but there are recovery spells that can be used. The second reason is that the use of magical abilities, both offensive and defensive, is powered by the rather rare Pluton which I mentioned before. This material can be found deep in mines and amongst the contents of chests. The important thing to know is that total amount of this rare material is fixed, so if you go and burn it all early in the game then your future may not be looking so great. The trick is to know when to use it and when to find another way to resolve a problem.

NAtURAL DOCtRINE’s biggest issue for me is the fact that despite giving you the freedom to plan your attacks the developer’s level design seems to keep you down a gauntlet of close quarters corridors and doors…plenty of enemy ambushing doors. Even as I opened each door as a challenge it felt like it was another way to drag on the gameplay and story. NAtURAL DOCtRINE does have a few features that adds some interesting gameplay to the mix. Unlike most SRPG, the game features a Multiplayer mode where two players can put their cards and skills on the line in combat. These cards are the equivalent of units that you control on the field and you can mix and match the unlikeliest of allies to wage battle.

While I only was able to manage one match by pure luck it was fun but not enough people are playing NAtURAL DOCtRINE at this time for me to experiment further. The game does support cross-play capabilities so PS4 owners can go up against Vita owners and possibly PS3 owners. Vita owners, should you find another person or friends with the game, can play together locally via Ad-Hoc which is nice. If you buy the game on either system you get the other free which is something I’m coming to love about the Sony platform. This also means that you’re never far away from you’re battle as you can utilize Cross-Save to transfer your save file back and forth between the three systems.

I really like that there is so much flexibility in ways to play the game so it’s only natural that the graphics had to be equal across all three. In this Kadokawa did a nice job as the character models and interface are sharp. The game is quite detailed to look at times especially at the world map and when viewing the armor the characters armor in the close third person view. As a lot of RPGs go, NAtURAL DOCtRINE, features a rather cool CG movie mixed with anime stills of the game’s main cast of characters. Story elements are done using spoken dialogue, which is pretty decent for the most part, and combined with various still image styles depending on your tastes. The music of NAtURAL DOCtRINE is decent and features the traditional RPG but nothing really stuck with me.

NAtURAL DOCtRINE is definitely an interesting title with plenty of tough battles to keep the hardcore strategy player’s busy for a while. I actually enjoyed it for the most part though it would be hard to recommend NAtURAL DOCtRINE to anyone that doesn’t really love these kinds of title due to the rather unforgiving nature of the gameplay. NAtURAL DOCtRINE’s combat system and versatility for allowing me to continue my adventure between systems are easily the highlights of my experience. So if you love a good hardcore strategy that takes no prisoners, other than your time, then I definitely recommend checking out NAtURAL DOCtRINE for the PS4, PS3 and PS Vita.

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