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Art Friday : The Weird and Wonderful World of Afu Chan aka aznmextofu

October 30th, 2009

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Afu Chan or aznmextofu @ deviantART has a knack for conjuring up some of the most wildly fantastic artwork that I’ve ever laid my eyes on – quite reminds me of several of my dreams in the past, only much weirder, more violent and most definitely much more fascinating and intriguing

One of my favourites is Fishbones Attack – a tie wearing horseman lets loose a blast from his shotgun on the rolling gunmen-infested deck of a ship with giant fish (tuna?) leaping into the air in the background. Also notice the nice little detail where the rear hoof of our horseman’s black charger has stomped on the left hand of one of the fallen gunmen. And that unfortunate guy’s probably isn’t dead yet because his face has just turned very red All very odd which makes Afu’s stuff so interesting.

Something’s about to turn real ugly soon as these two girls stand by patiently with weapons loaded and ready to ROCK!

Street Fight 07 – a martial arts movie-like scene set in the streets with the ragdoll-like agility of Matrix.

A day out in Zombie City

Street Fighter II done in Afu’s distinctive style.

The Lugaidh Brothers and Sisters – a band of unconventional pugilists with totally unkungfu-ish sounding names From left to right : Frank, Stephanie, Cindy, Paul, Monica, David and the guy up front is Lugaidh himself. The word Nepenthes is also the genus name for the carnivorous pitcher plants.

Swordfights in the sky – City of Violence – ever seen a punch so powerful that it breaks a passing airliner into two – Bruce Lee’s famous one inch punch doesn’t even come close

More chaos in Fight Back to School,

… in a forest with Daruma dolls hanging from the trees (Heaven & Earth),

… and in a church with walls pockmarked with bullet holes (Battle Royal 08). The funny thing is no one seems to have managed to hit and shatter any of the stained glass windows yet

Check out more of Afu Chan’s fantastic artwork at deviantART.

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Art Friday : Steve Argyle’s Wallpapers Galore!

October 16th, 2009

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What better way to introduce a yet unfeatured artist here at The Download Munkey than to overload your senses with lots of delicious eye candy Let’s just say all this is a brillant masterstroke by artist Steve Argyle to win the hearts of new minions (as he affectionately refers to the subscribers of his mailing list like me).

With his recent release of 65 wallpapers featuring 55+ different pieces of Steve’s awesome work for the likes of Legend of the Five Rings, Magic : The Gathering and Dungeons & Dragons, I’m pretty sure hordes of new minions will be eagerly flocking to his website and mailing list

A preview of some of my favourite wallpapers.

Chuda Ruri of the Snake Clan from the Legend of the Five Rings.

A gigantic samurai gets his moustache cleaned in Return of the Shogun.

The Kaiu Wall which guards the Crab Clan from the beasts beyond.

Nightlife in Scorpion City.

Don’t like samurai? How about some Star Wars instead? Perhaps Darth Vader suits your taste better

There’s more in the Star Wars section including an awesome Rohlan Dyre commissioned for the Knights of the Old Republic Campaign Guide, a Star Wars RPG supplement.

Maybe, sci-fi’s not your cup of tea? Good old fantasy should do the trick then, like this lithe Naya Battlemage from the Shards of Alara expansion set for Magic : The Gathering.

Age of Tyranny (above) and Dwarf Barbarian from Dungeons & Dragons.

This small selection of artwork is just the tip of the iceberg – there’s plenty more eye candy at Steve Argyle’s official site. And if 1600×1200 wallpapers are not enough, you always have the option to purchase prints of your favourite artworks

Check out Steve Argyle’s official website or head down right to the wallpaper collection.

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Tags: Art Artists Recommended Samurai Wallpapers

Games Thursday : Mini Ninjas Demo Impressions

September 10th, 2009

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Just played through the demo of IO Interactive’s Mini Ninjas – an enjoyable but rather short little romp through a cartoonishly rendered medieval Japan. You control a party of three different Ninjas (more in the full game) and can switch between them at will – little Hiro who can possess nearby animals and then sneak past enemy guards, Futo a big brawny fellow with more than a passing resemblance to Mr Incredible from Pixar’s The Incredibles and Suzume whom I haven’t figured out her specialty yet.

While it’s nothing particularly innovative or challenging, Mini Ninjas is surprisingly immersive and engaging – I have played the demo over and over for more than five times, mainly trying to find all the secret areas and hunt down every single artifact.

Maybe it’s the goofy character design and animation, or the silly cutscenes or simply the lightheartedness of the game or even its soothing music which keeps me playing on and on.

Watching the exaggerated motion of the enemy samurai goose-step with armor clinking as they patrol along paths in the bamboo forest or chitter “Ninja Ninja” incessantly like insects as they swarm towards you, never gets old for me

Different types of enemy samurai ensure that a little more than simple button-mashing is required if you’re going for the brute force approach. As with IO Interactive’s Hitman series and with ninjas in general, the preferred way is to rely on stealth and use force only when necessary – sneaking past enemy patrols by creeping around in tall grass is a viable option even for big bad Futo although you’re always welcome to cut the enemy at your own discretion.

More devious gamers will be delighted to find that there are more fancy tricks at your disposal for every situation. You can sprinkle caltrops as a gift for pursuing samurai when you’re feeling nasty or you can always switch to Hiro and use his Spirit Form spell to sneak past enemy strongpoints as a harmless chicken to avoid shedding blood (especially your own ).

I guess Mini Ninjas won’t last long judging from the length and linearity of the demo but it’s a blast while it lasts (hey, it rhymes )

Download the demo and other goodies (click on the Castle to download wallpapers) at the official Mini Ninjas website.

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Tags: Cute Games Games Downloads Medieval Ninjas Samurai

Wallpapers Wednesday : Urban War

March 04th, 2009

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From Urban Mammoth‘s sci-fi miniatures games Urban War comes these wallpapers featuring some fabulously illustrated characters from four of the seven in-game factions.

Roman gladiators transported to the far future to conquer by fire and sword. The mighty Exo-Suit Provocator (top) is definitely awe-inspiring The bottom character is a Secutor with a distinctive battle-shield inspired by the Roman scutum and the helmet of his historical namesake.

Heavily-armed marines of the Viridian trading empire – think Killzone’s Helghast, Warhammer 40,000′s Death Korps of Krieg orTannhauser’s Strosstruppen.

Cybernetic samurai and sumo wrestlers like this Oni Class Shogun Battlesuit (top) and Sumitori (bottom) belonging to underworld criminal gangs or triads.

Sleek lines and cold metal define the look of the Syntha, half human, half machine warriors like this Achilles Class biomech (top) and Androsynth (bottom) armed with a pulse rifle.

Download these Urban War wallpapers or read more about Urban War.

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Wallpapers Wednesday : Exclusive Hero Saga Laevatein Wallpapers @ GA Graphic

December 24th, 2008

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Here’s something different from the often cutesy anime and manga characters on the wallpapers that Japanese website GA Graphic offers for free download every week – a set of six stylish wallpapers for the Nintendo DS game Hero Saga Laevatein.

Illustrated by Hiroyuki Taguchi, these wallpapers are exclusive to GA Graphic only.

Ten more beautifully illustrated wallpapers are also available for download at GungHo Works’ official Hero Saga Laevatein site.

Remember to check back at GA Graphic every week for new wallpapers. Here’s a preview of what they usually offer each week, this one being their Christmas special.