Under Defeat for DC

maxlords · Post by **maxlords** » Tue Apr 04, 2006 1:20 am

I wish I'd gotten a Mega Man sticker!

I got the UD one, a Play-Asia Capcom one that I don't recognize, and the obligatory coupon

As for the game...holy crap! UD is easily one of the most intuitive and easily playable DC shmups. I agree with the general consensus that the Reverse control scheme is way better though. I found it much simpler. It took me a while to figure out that the powerups were only for my options, but I got through to the first boss easily on a single credit and I can already beat him. It's easy to start. Amazing looking game though....can't wait to see more! WELL worth the $!

it290 · Post by **it290** » Tue Apr 04, 2006 1:36 am

Nah, the reverse option may seem more intuitive at first, but normal is much more effective for point blanking the enemies/targets, which is necessary sometimes. I used reverse at first, but switched to normal after a while and my destruction % went up quite a bit.

Neon · Post by **Neon** » Tue Apr 04, 2006 6:59 am

Is it just me or is there almost no difference between arrange/arcade soundtracks? Granted I haven't been able to play with the volume up very much.

Check my post here http://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.php?t=8115 ...hope UD runs decently on Chankast >_<

Twiddle · Post by **Twiddle** » Tue Apr 04, 2006 8:32 am

Neon wrote:Is it just me or is there almost no difference between arrange/arcade soundtracks? Granted I haven't been able to play with the volume up very much.

They have different sequences past the 40 second mark.

Guardians Knight · Post by **Guardians Knight** » Tue Apr 04, 2006 3:05 pm

yeah i got a UD sticker from PA but it seems to be the one that comes with the sega direct pack - i wonder if they made a mistake by putting it in my package?

Daigoro · Post by **Daigoro** » Wed Apr 05, 2006 2:10 am

yeah. i got my copy over a week ago. i got the Okami sticker too, nothing else (besides the coupon).

its a great game so far. i suck hard at it though. ive only put a bit over 4 hrs into it so far, but i still havent beaten the 2nd boss in one credit. (i gotta quit playing Gun.Smoke for a bit! ... nah!)

it looks and plays great though. glad i got it before the prices skyrocket on ebay.

i need to figure out if i should quit using 'reverse' and switch to normal. but once you get used to one style its so hard to train yourself to go back. i need to pick one style and stick with it.

subcons · Post by **subcons** » Wed Apr 05, 2006 3:25 am

Daigoro wrote:i need to figure out if i should quit using 'reverse' and switch to normal. but once you get used to one style its so hard to train yourself to go back. i need to pick one style and stick with it.

Reverse just feels natural to me, like invert on an FPS. It simply isn't fun to learn Normal. And that's what it's all about, the fun. I suck at shooters in general any ways, so I'm not out to break any records here, point blank shooting or not.

Daigoro · Post by **Daigoro** » Wed Apr 05, 2006 4:01 am

subcons wrote: Reverse just feels natural to me, like invert on an FPS. It simply isn't fun to learn Normal. And that's what it's all about, the fun. I suck at shooters in general any ways, so I'm not out to break any records here, point blank shooting or not.

excellent point.

oddly i never choose invert in FPS games (and im a lot better at FPS than shmups), but Reverse feels much more natural for me in Under Defeat.

you're right. its not like im going to be 1cc'ing the game or placing in the top 10 on the scoreboard here any time soon.

that second boss is going DOWN soon though. one way or another.

Kiel · Post by **Kiel** » Wed Apr 05, 2006 5:21 am

I use reverse and it feels natural to me too. I also have no problems with getting high percentages either. This game is the best thing thats come around in a long time.

iatneH · Post by **iatneH** » Wed Apr 05, 2006 5:42 am

What's all this talk about the final boss? I still haven't passed stage 2... maybe I could pass it if I actually used my bombs...
I've only logged about 2 hours of flight time so far though.

I started out with Reverse controls, and just for kicks tried out Normal, and somehow I became accustomed to Normal controls within a single credit. When I use Reverse, I often find myself moving in one direction to aim, and then immediately moving in the other direction to get closer to the enemy. With Normal controls, I can do this in a single movement.

edit: Also wanted to say I'm amazed at the detail in this game. Tiny things like trees swaying, cows, birds, smoke trails and reflections in the water, and even shell casings dropped from your helicopter when firing.. WOW.

neoalphazero · Post by **neoalphazero** » Wed Apr 05, 2006 6:53 am

G.Rev updated their magazine today with a long letter about UD DC, using Babelfish I'm not even going to try guess the point of the letter other than one bit at the end of the letter.

Under Defeat sales > Border Down

Go G.Rev, you had faith enough in the DC audience and came away with greater sales than a title released closer to the system's life span. *-neo

Post by **Dave_K.** » Wed Apr 05, 2006 7:41 am

iatneH wrote: edit: Also wanted to say I'm amazed at the detail in this game. Tiny things like trees swaying, cows, birds, smoke trails and reflections in the water, and even shell casings dropped from your helicopter when firing.. WOW.

You might have missed this, but when things blowup, any other residual smoke in the immediate area is displaced (moved) as well! Try launcing a rocket directly over the first boss just as he hits the ground and explodes...the smoke trail from your missile (that wizes over the boss) will start out straight, and then get displaced by the explosion, contouring the blast radius.

Also cool is hitting the start button at any point in the game, and then using the control to spin around the area to see exactly where things are in 3D (including all airbore debris).

RoninBuddha · Post by **RoninBuddha** » Wed Apr 05, 2006 7:53 am

Dave_K. wrote:
You might have missed this, but when things blowup, any other residual smoke in the immediate area is displaced (moved) as well! Try launcing a rocket directly over the first boss just as he hits the ground and explodes...the smoke trail from your missile (that wizes over the boss) will start out straight, and then get displaced by the explosion, contouring the blast radius.

i dont quite understand this...

but i'll test it later

chtimi-CLA · Post by **chtimi-CLA** » Wed Apr 05, 2006 7:59 am

i only got my package yesterday, the game looks incredible. so far i don't care about scoring, i just enjoy blowing shit up.
and it has the explosions AND cows!

it290 · Post by **it290** » Wed Apr 05, 2006 8:16 am

You might have missed this, but when things blowup, any other residual smoke in the immediate area is displaced (moved) as well! Try launcing a rocket directly over the first boss just as he hits the ground and explodes...the smoke trail from your missile (that wizes over the boss) will start out straight, and then get displaced by the explosion, contouring the blast radius.

Yeah, not only that, but your helicopter blades will actually blow smoke trails around if they come into contact with them. Pretty awesome. It's pretty telling that the only two games I've been playing for the last week have been UD and Oblivion, and I find the graphics in UD to be pretty much totally superior. Viva la DC!

Fenrir · Post by **Fenrir** » Wed Apr 05, 2006 10:49 am

Package arrived today.

I have not yet tried the game, but it might be interesting for you to know a couple of things.

First and all, the refurbished jap dreamcast IS a mint new DC. The package has the sega seal of guarantee, every single component is sealed inside a plastic bag, the cables have that typical zigzag shape of a factory cable, the DC is totally white and has the protection inside the lid. Joypad and connectors as well are absolutely perfect and inside their bags. The instruction manuals, the Dream Passport CD and the other manuals are inside a sealed bag as well and have that typical smell of plastic and fresh ink of something new.
In two words, it's totally brand new, unless Play-Asia has a team of people capable to turn used things back in time (which could well be, knowing asians and their magical powers).
The LTD Under Defeat game has a soundtrack CD inside the DVD box; I got the UD poster, the UD sticker, a cool Megaman sticker and a totally awesome Okami sticker.
Last but not least, I got the mandatory $5 coupon and a fantastic japanese bag of Wild Strawberry candies.

Play Asia is nuts

rtw · Post by **rtw** » Wed Apr 05, 2006 12:00 pm

Fenrir wrote:Package arrived today.

Cool, what kind of shipping did you use ?

And how much did you have to pay in customs fees ?

rtw

Fenrir · Post by **Fenrir** » Wed Apr 05, 2006 12:05 pm

They sent it via UPS and customs were the equivalent of $60/53€/630 NOK

.

faen

rtw · Post by **rtw** » Wed Apr 05, 2006 12:23 pm

Fenrir wrote:They sent it via UPS and customs were the equivalent of $60/53€/630 NOK .

faen

Thanks for the info, I forgot about the shipping price ?

rtw

Post by **undamned** » Wed Apr 05, 2006 5:02 pm

Fenrir wrote:and a totally awesome Okami sticker

Give it.
-ud

iatneH · Post by **iatneH** » Wed Apr 05, 2006 5:38 pm

undamned wrote:
Fenrir wrote:and a totally awesome Okami sticker
Give it.
-ud

Like all the Capcom stickers that you get from play-asia, this one also has a big stupid P-A logo smeared across the artwork. I think every time I got a P-A order, I ended up giving away the Capcom stickers.

Okami looks to be cool though. I bet somebody did his Ph.D thesis on how to render graphics like that.

Guardians Knight · Post by **Guardians Knight** » Wed Apr 05, 2006 10:41 pm

ooo i got the Okami and the Capcom sticker, i dont even know what okami is....

Fenrir · Post by **Fenrir** » Wed Apr 05, 2006 11:03 pm

Well, I really can't wait for Okami to come out. That must be, like, one of the prettiest and striking games ever created.
That usually happens when consoles walk their way to the sunset - the most awesomestestest games come to life.

subcons · Post by **subcons** » Wed Apr 05, 2006 11:06 pm

Guardians Knight wrote:ooo i got the Okami and the Capcom sticker, i dont even know what okami is....

Coming to PS2 (I think it was originaly intended for Gamecube?). Main draw is its graphical style and the fact that you have to "paint" with the Celestial Brush to do attacks and solve situations. Looks to be pretty original.

CMoon · Post by **CMoon** » Thu Apr 06, 2006 2:05 am

This is stupid, but after putting nearly 8 hours into this gameI have one good observation. Bomb a lot. They give you a ton of bombs, and I always die with nearly full stock. The bombs are also great since they give your option more time to charge up.

I'm consistantly getting to level 3 on one life then getting spanked. If I was better at just throwing the bombs out there, I know I'd do a lot better.

My only other half-while observation is that when you fire the rocket, it causes slow down (well, if it makes a shitload of stuff explode.) Saved my ass A LOT!

Daigoro · Post by **Daigoro** » Thu Apr 06, 2006 3:51 am

i struggle with the same thing CMoon. not just in this game either.

i am allways so hesitant to use bombs. i die far too often without ever having used one... dosent make much sense.

usually i think i can just weasel my way out of a situation with fancy bullet dodging, but more often than not, i bite it.

gotta work on that!

Frogacuda · Post by **Frogacuda** » Thu Apr 06, 2006 4:03 am

http://www.got-next.com/features_read.php?id=342

Got-Next review. It has the distinct honor of being the first game to recieve 5 stars from yours truly.

subcons · Post by **subcons** » Thu Apr 06, 2006 4:53 am

Well, nevermind what I said about the Normal/Reverse issue.

I was just screwing around with Normal for about an hour and I beat my highscore after about 3 credits of play. I see what someone said about having to make less movements to get into a position. Still kind of tough to sway back and forth with some bullet patterns coming at you. Like the first boss seems more correct with Reverse (safer?). But I think that will fade with more play.

As for the bomb, I'm in the same boat. If you're playing for score, bombs suck. But I'm just trying to survive with this one!

chtimi-CLA · Post by **chtimi-CLA** » Thu Apr 06, 2006 9:34 am

Frogacuda wrote:http://www.got-next.com/features_read.php?id=342

Got-Next review. It has the distinct honor of being the first game to recieve 5 stars from yours truly.

good review, i too like the absence of an obsfucated score system and a return to the healthy principles of shooters (blowing the fuck out of shit).
the explosions are really satisfying, they pack a punch unlike all those other transparency explosions (ikaruga, psyvariar2..). In fact this is the first time i find 3D explosions satisfying, .
even the dodging style feels classic, more based on herding and early kills.

CMoon · Post by **CMoon** » Thu Apr 06, 2006 11:05 am

Frogacuda wrote:http://www.got-next.com/features_read.php?id=342

Got-Next review. It has the distinct honor of being the first game to recieve 5 stars from yours truly.

Very nice review. I think this game has snuck its way up into my top 10. At least my top 15.