Spectrobes - hands-on

Even though there's a ton of stuff to work on in the main game, there will be plenty to keep fans busy while they recharge their DS Lites. First and foremost is the huge online presence the game will have, featuring leaderboards and Xbox Live-like achievement awards for players who accomplish certain goals in the game. Spectrobe trainers will be able to upload their progress, preferred monster lists and other deets for rivals to check out, plus download exclusive content not available offline. In a strange, perhaps unnecessary twist, you'll have to log on the site each week to catch a batch of "Download Points" to retrieve items off the site. Miss a week and those points are gone for good. So play along and send somerandom clicks their way, alright?

A much more ingenious method of accessing exclusive content comes packed with each copy of the game. A set of four translucent cards can be laid over the touch screen and used to deliver whatever's on the card into the game. How's that work? Each card has a few tiny holes punched in it. When the card is laid over the screen, those holes line up with specific, unseen coordinates that will activate once touched. Yeah, it seems like a gimmick (especially since these cards aren't sold anywhere), but we'd be lying if we said it wasn't fun to unlock new weapons by tapping through secret agent-looking cards.

CATEGORIES
Brett Elston

A fomer Executive Editor at GamesRadar, Brett also contributed content to many other Future gaming publications including Nintendo Power, PC Gamer and Official Xbox Magazine. Brett has worked at Capcom in several senior roles, is an experienced podcaster, and now works as a Senior Manager of Content Communications at PlayStation SIE. 

Latest in RPG
Baldur's Gate 3 mind flayer with pale purple skin and facial tentacles stares ahead with glowing yellow eyes
Console players, good news – you might be able to play custom Baldur's Gate 3 campaigns soon, thanks to the D&D RPG's official mod manager
A screenshot of a sword fight during, Kingdom Come Deliverance 2, one of the best games like Hogwarts Legacy.
Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 patch brings mod support, barber shop, and over 1,000 changes like this: "Mutt can no longer enter the fighting arena in the Jewish quarter"
harry holding a molotov as kim stands by, hands in pockets - he's so cool
After a landmark RPG, Disco Elysium mobile wants to "captivate the TikTok user," which is maybe the worst thing I've ever read in my entire life
Kai fighting spiders in Avowed
From Skyrim to Baldur's Gate 3, spiders are universally horrible – but Avowed finds a way to make them worse than ever
The Legend of Vox Machina
If you're craving more D&D after Baldur's Gate 3, Critical Role is "hard at work" on a video game – and it'll be unveiled "any day" now
Astarion from Baldur's Gate 3
Baldur's Gate 3 Astarion actor Neil Newbon says he "got rid of" agents who deliberately kept him away from video game gigs: "They just didn't want me to do it"
Latest in Features
Kai fighting spiders in Avowed
From Skyrim to Baldur's Gate 3, spiders are universally horrible – but Avowed finds a way to make them worse than ever
A decorated purple car speeding head-on down a road in Toyko Xtreme Racer
Tokyo Xtreme Racer is a novel throwback to classic PS2 racing games like Midnight Club, and I can't get enough of it
Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba and Ariana Grande as Glinda in Wicked
Wicked: For Good release date, cast, story, and everything else you need to know about Wicked Part 2
Invincible
Invincible season 4 release date speculation, story, cast, and more
Key art for Assassin's Creed Rogue Remastered showing Shay Patrick Cormac in a black and red outfit that's a cross between Assassin and Templar armor, with his ship The Morrigan behind him
Assassin's Creed Shadows can wait – I spent 40 hours mopping up the map in the one game in the series everyone skipped
Avowed screenshot showing a corpse-like figure's face with glowing purple mushroom/spore growths
I thought I was going evil in Avowed, but one quest changed everything I thought I knew about morality in this RPG