Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows

[Arcade Racer CC14]

Looks interesting. Bit of an odd choice using a grittier style for something apparently based on the new show, but I can dig it. Here's hoping that it's actually somewhat enjoyable to play and not an exercise in tedium like TMNT: Arcade Attack.

[Balding Spider]

Well, apparently this is the TMNT game that was rumored all along.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbIjCxilbKU

 

Doesn't look  too bad, but why did they tie it to the show yet none of the designs look anything like the characters from the show...

 

Those models man, it looks they made them to resemble a live action movie incarnation. Are these how the new turtles will look now?

 

 

Ah yes, a new TMNT game based off of the Nick cartoon... Rated PEGI 16 no less, because that series wasn't totally wholesome and a return to form.

Developed by Red Fly Studios, you know, the same guys who made such thrilling titles like Thor: God of Thunder, the Wii port of Ghostbusters: The Video Game, and Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2.

Have I mentioned it looks like shit?

Edited March 5, 2013 by Balding Spider

[Cola]

Kill me now

[Jacky]

i feel like you guys are getting way too worked up over the character designs, yeah they look ugly as hell, but it's not like you can't tell they're Ninja Turtles or anything.



i hope this is good cause i'm hungry for a new Turtles game, loved the game for the 03 show, this better have 4 player multiplayer tho.

[Jango]

Reminds me of that shitty TMNT game for the PS2, GC and Wii (the one based upon the CGi movie). I HOPE it's not like it. Oh yeah, the new design looks horrible.

[Gabz Girl]

What is up with those designs? They rival the Coming Out of Our Shells Turtles in shittyness!

 

PEGI 16? WHAT. WHY? TMNT is for kids and teens right? Why are they doing this! >_<

[Speederino]

Destructoid has close-up screenshots of the fugly Turtles. I think the top commenter puts it best:

 

They look like the goombas from Bob Hoskin's Mario.

 

 

[Doctor MK]

After seeing those screenshots, I just couldn't resist whipping this up on Photoshop...

 

 

[Badnik Mechanic]

Gameplay footage.

 

 

 

Ugh...

[Conando]

Eugh, Donatello. What did they do to your face?

[Badnik Mechanic]

Eugh, Donatello. What did they do to your face?

 

Well... Donatello does machines.

 

The machines did Donatello.

[Speederino]

Bad character design aside, the gameplay here really does look like my type of thing. Count me as cautiously optimistic.

[AlphaRuby]

Um, I'm pretty sure that the most important thing in a game is the gameplay, NOT the character design. It's like Sonic 4 all over again with some of you.

Edited April 15, 2013 by dwibs93

[Cola]

Not even remotely close.

Sonic in Sonic 4 uses an established Sonic design that some people dislike.

This game uses new, ugly designs that seem to be almost unanimously disliked.

(and yeah gameplay IS the most important thing but whatever that's not what we're complaining about; the game isn't ruined forever by these designs, it just makes it less appealing)

Edited April 15, 2013 by Cola

[Badnik Mechanic]

 

Cowabunga?

[smogfog]

Cowabunga?

More like zombanga.

[Milo]

Foreshadowing to the Micheal Bay movie, anyone?

 

 

Those models man, it looks they made them to resemble a live action movie incarnation. Are these how the new turtles will look now?

 

 

Wait, so this is a game that is marketed towards kids, yet it has a pegi rating the same as Darksiders 2 and Call of Duty Modern Warfare?

 

 

Destructoid has close-up screenshots of the fugly Turtles. I think the top commenter puts it best:

 

 

I think DarkLight may be on to something here....

[KHCast]

I hope to god splinter doesn't give me nightmares...o-o

[Jango]

Generic. This is the word to describe this game. Same old open room with identical enemies, mash square to win and watch "cool" combos. Getting tired of that shit already.

Edited April 25, 2013 by Jango

[Doctor MK]

So, this game is out now... and it's actually not too bad!

 

It's by no means a masterpiece - it has its fair share of repetitive fights, oft-clunky gameplay, and graphical glitches (I've already encountered one where an AI-controlled Leo had an enemy stuck on his head... while running around in endless circles). Yet it's still probably the best Turtles game in ages. It may be devoid of any direct connection to a TV series or film, but that probably works to the game's benefit - it's left to its own devices to run free with throwbacks spanning the entire TMNT continuity and have a character all of its own. You know you're in for a good time when the title screen opens up on a classic pose set to the awesome music of "T-U-R-T-L-E Power". Yes, some will find the new gritty Turtles fugly, but their personalities still shine through and their interactions are as crazy as ever. Plus, Out of the Shadows lets you feel more like a ninja than ever before, basically parkouring your way up walls and over rooftops to get to the next batch of enemies and kick some shell.

 

And holy damn, some of the set pieces! There's one bit in Chapter 2 that especially sticks out so far:

Deep within the sewers, you reach a long and obstacle-filled tunnel... only to be faced with the oncoming threat of an army of mousers right behind you. If they swarm you, you're finished. This lead to a fast-paced ninja parkour chase sequence with you jumping under and over pipes and through small passageways, all in a bid to evade being eaten alive by the mob of metallic rodents.

 

The difficulty is quite tough, too. There's no choice between Easy/Medium/Hard/etc, it's just one solid difficulty the whole way through. Expect to be overwhelmed at times by sheer enemy numbers, but it's never too frustrating that you absolutely feel it's impossible to progress.

 

My verdict so far? If you're a Turtles fan, you'll probably find something to like here. If not, maybe watch some YouTube videos of it first, but it's not a terrible game by any stretch of the imagination.

 

I'll leave you now with some cool screenshots I managed to get in one section of a level... cool shadowy effect is cool!

 

 

 

 

Heroes in a half shell... TURTLE POWER!

[Yong]

I didn't care for the combat much from the demo I played. It felt very slow overall (should note I was playing Killer is Dead earlier that morning). The combat mechanics are too overcomplicated for their own good. You have a wide variety of combo moves for each turtle, but you can't just mash out moves cause whiffing a punch resets your combo meter, so I ended up just ignoring combos altogether and just doing timed presses with just the X button, occasionally using Y to break guards, going into a Batman mindset. Then you end up losing your meter anyway cause the other 3 turtles are killing the other enemies. And then there's like half a dozen different attack tells and you only have a split second to figure out what counter to use, cause if you counter "too late" you end up doing just a normal block (which has a meter). It feels like they wanted to use Arkham's combat style but made everything more complex in an effort to differentiate themselves, which completely defeats the purpose of using Arkham's combat style. I also have no idea what compeled them to use RT + motions on the right stick as the means to using special attacks. Not only would RT + face buttons been simpler, there's an inherent delay using the current method as well.

 

Might be fun in coop and if you just get over trying to fight "perfectly." Otherwise I don't think it's worth $15.