New Games |
- Chrono Trigger and FFVI on PSN was an error; false alarm
- The DTOID Show: It's our TGS 2011 Wrap-Up!
- Blacklight Retribution dev diary shows the excited team
- Live show: The end of assassins comes to Backlog
- Day-one AC: Revelations PS3 copies include original game
- Vote in Backlog Series 26: Comic Relief
- Dtoid People's Choice Award: TGS Game of Show!
- Smedley: Free-to-play is the future
- Relaxation: Rage and Katamari
- 2011 GDC Online Awards announced
- Live show: Bikini zombies on Mash Tactics
- Review: TrackMania 2 Canyon
- Porn stars play games topless, because why not?
- Dtoid Exclusive: Playboy's Jo Garcia tribute to gaming
- The Jimquisition: Online Passes Are Bad For Everybody
- Call of Duty Elite beta for PlayStation 3 starts today
- Free-to-play Hellbreed is NOT about demon sex
- Dragon Age II DLC coming in October
- Review: Red Orchestra 2: Heroes of Stalingrad
| Chrono Trigger and FFVI on PSN was an error; false alarm Posted: 19 Sep 2011 04:00 PM PDT Yesterday Sony announced that, finally, North American PSN users would be able to get their paws on both Final Fantasy VI and Chrono Trigger, two of Square-Enix's most requested titles. There was much rejoicing. However, they've just admitted via Twitter that this announcement was a mistake and that neither game is coming to PSN this week. "Yesterday, we incorrectly reported Final Fantasy VI & Chrono Trigger were coming to PSN on Tuesday. They are not. We apologize for the error" It would be a bit melodramatic to call this heartbreaking, but it's Square, so why not? Consider my heart broken. Granted, these games are already available on a myriad of platforms including the Wii's virtual console, but it's still a disappointment. |
| The DTOID Show: It's our TGS 2011 Wrap-Up! Posted: 19 Sep 2011 03:45 PM PDT Greetings, viewers! We're back from the weekend with a hangover and a handful of news for ya! On the video game side of things, Dale has a new obsession with Theatrhythm Final Fantasy and Ni no Kuni, and Allistair Pinsof recently previewed Dragon's Dogma and Rhythm Thief & the Emporer's Treasure. Also, Deadshot will be a character in Batman: Arkham City, the ESRB finally rated Skyrim, and Netflix is getting into the video game business. |
| Blacklight Retribution dev diary shows the excited team Posted: 19 Sep 2011 03:30 PM PDT I remember picking up the original Blacklight, subtitled Tango Down, and thought it had some neat ideas to it, but that it could use a bit more to it. Thankfully, the guys from Zombie Studios are back, and talking their free-to-play sequel in this new developer video diary. For the most part, they just discuss what they wanted with Tango Down, and how Retribution kicked off. They also bring up some of the new additions over gameplay footage, but for the most part this is a showing of what appears to be genuine excitement for the game being made. I'm eagerly looking out for this one's release later next year. |
| Live show: The end of assassins comes to Backlog Posted: 19 Sep 2011 03:00 PM PDT [Backlog is the ongoing quest to rid Conrad Zimmerman's collection of unfinished games. As voted on by the Destructoid community, Conrad plays each game from start to finish live on Destructoid's Twitch.tv channel every weeknight at 8pm Pacific] On Friday, we should have finished No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle on Backlog, but technical difficulties prevented us from bringing you the show. So it is with great excitement that I draw your attention to tonight's show in which I intend to finally draw a close to Travis Touchdown's tale of increasingly pointless bloodlust. We're almost at the end now. Come join me and the chat goons as we polish off another Suda game. It's all going on right now over on Destructoid's Twitch.tv channel! |
| Day-one AC: Revelations PS3 copies include original game Posted: 19 Sep 2011 02:00 PM PDT Ubisoft is giving away the first Assassin's Creed for those who buy Assassin's Creed: Revelations on PlayStation 3 during launch. Day-one purchases will include the 2007 game (Has it really been that long?) on the Blu-ray disc. Considering how wary of new intellectual property game-buying consumers can be, it wouldn't shock me to hear that quite a few current series players didn't become fans until a game or two had already been released. Question is, will they want to go so far back? |
| Vote in Backlog Series 26: Comic Relief Posted: 19 Sep 2011 01:30 PM PDT [Backlog is the ongoing quest to rid Conrad Zimmerman's collection of unfinished games. As voted on by the Destructoid community, Conrad plays each game from start to finish live on Destructoid's Twitch.tv channel every weeknight at 8pm Pacific] It's time once more for you, the Destructoid audience, to determine how I spend what passes for my leisure time. We'll soon be ready to start our twenty-sixth game on Backlog and the theme this go around is as straightforward as they come. All of the games in our new crop are based on comic book properties. Take a gander at the list and pick the game you'd like to see me play through next!
Who doesn't love Wolverine? He might have been a little over-used from time to time, but that's just because there's nothing you can't apply a gruff and insensitive guy with knives in his hands to. Of the games to feature the cunning Canuck in a leading role, X-Men Origins: Wolverine is regarded by many as the very best.
Based on the graphic novel series of same name, The Red Star is a game which went through a difficult development as Acclaim Studios shut down shortly after a demo of the game appeared in August of 2004. The final product, a combination of third-person shooting and fighting game mechanics, wouldn't see release until three years later, it's development completed by Archangel Studios. Probably too late, and the completed Xbox version was never even put on store shelves. The game sounds awesome and I've always wanted to try it. The copy I picked up on the cheap has been sitting around for an awful long time.
I really like Spider-Man games, even most of the bad ones. The curse of the sandbox is magnified by all the ability orbs crammed throughout New York and I can't seem to stay on track more than a couple of minutes every time I fire up this game. But swinging through the city is always fantastic fun and I love the way the two costumes work together, so this would be a delightful choice.
I dig Hellboy. I can't resist a good alternate history, particularly if it involves nazi occultists and steampunk science. I should probably learn to do something about that because I'm led to understand that this Hellboy game is mediocre at best. I snagged it for less than a tenner, so I'm not crying any tears but I can't say that I've felt a whole lot of motivation to even drop it in at all.
Finally, we have the Mystery Game. Don't make the mistake of choosing this for curiosity's sake, as people have clamored before to know what it was and groaned when they learned. The intent here is to select the Mystery Game if none of the other games appeal to you, so voting for it just because you want to know what it is is kind of a dick move. If the Mystery Game is not chosen, it'll roll over into the next series where it will continue to be a mystery. There you have it. Make your selection in the poll below and make your case in the comments for the game you want to see next on Backlog!
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| Dtoid People's Choice Award: TGS Game of Show! Posted: 19 Sep 2011 01:00 PM PDT The Tokyo Game Show has closed its doors on another year, and what a year it's been! Between the booth babes, cosplayers, strippers and sweat, I'm as surprised as you that our esteemed editors managed to get any work done, let alone file dozens of newsworthy nuggets about the hottest upcoming games and hardware. Go team! Now that our boys are safely back in their home country, it's time for you to look back on what you saw and pick your favorites! Dale, Hamza and Allistair already voiced their opinions, but now it's your chance to be heard! So click here to cast your vote for Destructoid's 2011 People's Choice Award for TGS! (And don't forget to share your choice in the comments!) |
| Smedley: Free-to-play is the future Posted: 19 Sep 2011 12:00 PM PDT There's no denying that the free-to-play games has become increasingly more popular in the West. Not only do we have new f2p IPs popping up all over the place, established subscription games are going over to that model as well. While it's been predominant for a long time in parts of Asia, it's been a lot more controversial in the West. Fears of lack of balance or glorified demos have put some gamers off entirely. Hot on the heels of SOE's announcement of DC Universe Online's imminent transformation to a f2p MMO, SOE President John Smedley has written an editorial predicting the death of the subscription model and the future of f2p. Smedley believes that BioWare's upcoming MMO, Star Wars: The Old Republic, will be the last major subscription based MMO, he also thinks that it will have a legitimate shot at getting 2 million subscribers. He cites cost as one of the core reasons that subscriptions are on the way out as it is a big hurdle for some players. This isn't really anything new, gamers have criticized continually paying for a game since MMO's took off, but the dominant game in the MMO genre is still subscription based. However, as the market has expanded there are plenty of options for those who don't want to pay to play. Another issue with the increased market is console gamers. Outside of the Xbox LIVE subscription, console gamers don't really have to worry about extra costs unless they are purchasing new content. But the few MMOs which have made their way to consoles treat them the same way as they treat their PC counterparts. It's not just console gamers who have a problem with subscriptions. According to Smedley 40% of people who gave a reason for leaving Everquest II blamed subscriptions. Since changing to f2p the game saw an increase in players and has apparently been a success. Lord of the Rings Online is another example of this, Turbine got three times the revenue from the game when it went free and saw a significant increase in players. By taking up front and subscription costs out of the equation there is no real barrier stopping curious consumers from giving the title a shot. By appealing to a global market including China and Korea where the model is already a success and by cutting out the retail middlemen which restrict indie studios, Smedley thinks that that market will increase even more in terms of consumers and developers. I'm a big proponent of f2p games. I don't actually play for free that often since I like to experience as much of a game as possible and so often end up paying for a premium membership. Regardless, I think that having that free option makes good business sense. It opens the game up to more people than a demo or a review can, it provides a big boost in sever populations, which when low can really cripple an MMO and it gives the consumer a lot more time to decide if they want to become a paying customer. Even in the cases where the free players are restricted rather severely, they are still getting more freedom than if they were playing a demo. I don't think that it's as clear cut as Smedley makes it out to be, though. In games where community is so important I think it's risky to create a system where you get two different classes of player based on how much money they are willing to drop. It creates a divide in the community that isn't based on skill or any sort of in game mechanics. Even though hurdles such as cost have been removed, new ones have been put in their place. What do you fine folks think the future holds for f2p titles? Will it become the dominant model for online games? Should it, even? The Free Future [gamesindustry.biz] |
| Posted: 19 Sep 2011 11:30 AM PDT [Last week's Bloggers Wanted topic asked you to tell me how you use video games to relax. Our first promoted blog on that topic is from Revuhlooshun, who explains how Katamari Damacy helps takes his mind off the incredibly depressing material he has to study as a History major. If you want to participate in our Bloggers Wanted topic and see your own blog on the front page, take a look at our current prompt about TGS. -- JRo] Being a History major makes you want to smash the world sometimes. It’s a field where you dedicate your time studying the repeated failures and cruelties of human life and organized society – uplifting, to say the least. You see the world for what it was and what it is: largely, a steaming pile of crap. You notice trends and patterns that seem to govern man throughout the times, soon discovering what it shall become: largely, a steaming pile of crap. You can’t believe the things that are done, the atrocities committed, in the names of so many wild or useless ideas. It makes you mad. It makes you so mad, you just want to roll everything into a ball. A lot of people think the Prince is trying to help his family out, gathering everything he can to build new stars and planets in order to make the universe whole. I imagine him like me: on a rampage to condense all its vile, wicked, and corrupt elements and then fling it all into space. I mean, those people really can’t enjoy being bundled together with a dozen cats and a lawn mower. Traveling on an airline and sharing an arm rest is annoying enough – imagine if you had to fly like that. It’s hard not to love Katamari. You have these fighting games with long strings of combos and inputs and tier charts; shooters with a bajillion upgrades and killstreaks, dipped in melodrama; RPGs with droves of cutscenes filled with the gibberish of a homeschooled wizard; and simply all sorts of games which blend every genre they can think of, with so many things to unlock, so many things to memorize… Do you know what the instruction booklet for a Katamari game looks like? No one does, because no one looks at them. You just roll shit into a ball. That’s it. What the hell do you need a manual for? You just move your thumbs and roll things up. You don’t have to think about it, unless it’s one of those annoying levels where you have to hit a certain size, or only have a certain amount of money to roll things up with (and you inevitably grab those gold bars hidden underneath the cheap ramen because you’re not paying attention – they get me every time!). You see how the world works against itself on a daily basis. How utterly complicated and hopeless it can be at times while it pulls itself apart. You watch as the train hits the same wall over and over again, only to continue on its merry way right back into it. People begin to disregard facts in favor of their opinions, preventing any sort of discussion to help qualm the planet’s ailments. It is depressing. It saps your hope and optimism. Then comes this kid and his ball. Just rolling. And they are hating. They’re trying to catch him riding dirty. But they won’t. Because he’s going to roll their asses up. Meanwhile, the world burns, painted in ruined, miserable hues of brown and black, bombed out buildings decorating a town or village that’s probably known nothing but hatred and bloodshed for past couple of decades. Half of it starves while the other half drags off to war – there are literally around 130 or so armed conflicts going on right now across the globe. You see the images of gray and dreary cities, even in America, and you see the faces of a beaten and miserable people, for whatever reason: poverty, strife, genocide, occupation. It breaks your heart. But that’s never what it looks like in a Katamari game, it merely looks like a homeless man threw up in your face. And your only reaction is “Bro, how the hell did you even afford Prime Rib?” Every couple of years they release a new Katamari game with the same formula that remains largely unchanged. It is one of the few games I don't mind playing over and over with nothing but new levels and crazy acid-induced visuals to preoccupy my brain. In fact, I wish they would make Katamari games a yearly thing, kind of like Madden. I would buy Katamari '10, Katamari '11, Katamari '12, on and on until the end of time. It's like pizza, or sex -- it's just something that never ceases to amaze, and even the worst of it is still pretty damn good. For just an hour or two, I can escape the world. North and South Korea don’t have 160 miles worth of landmines separating them, one in five people don’t live on less than $1 a day, people aren’t being imprisoned for speaking their minds, women aren’t having their heads used as tree ornaments in Mexico, economies aren’t tanking, and no one is suffering. And if any of that is going on, you can roll it all up and make a dope ass space station for major points. |
| 2011 GDC Online Awards announced Posted: 19 Sep 2011 11:00 AM PDT The second Game Developers Choice Online Awards nominees have been announced for 2011. This year there's a variety of awards where all types of games are nominated, from Zynga's Facebook games to more established MMOs and other popular online titles. The big announcement this year is that EverQuest will be receiving the Hall of Fame award, which recognizes online titles that have advanced the genre and pioneered major shifts in design. EverQuest is certainly a far recipient, considering it's still going strong 12 years after its launch. It's probably been one of the most influential online games ever alongside World of Warcraft. Other nominees for the GDC Online Awards included titles such as League of Legends, DC Universe Online, CityVille, Dragon Age Legends and even Minecraft. There's also the chance for your voice to be head as there is an open "Audience Award" where you can vote for any online game you want to win. Best hurry, as the voting closes at the end of the week. |
| Live show: Bikini zombies on Mash Tactics Posted: 19 Sep 2011 10:30 AM PDT [Not sure what Mash Tactics is? I've included a clip from the most recent episode to show you just a glimpse of what you've been missing, you daft fool! You can see all of Destructoid's previously-aired live shows in our archives.] Today, Mash Tactics is playing the sensational new zombie romp, Dead Island. Watch us struggle against the undead horde in a tropical paradise and maybe play with us over PSN. Even though Dead Island has gained a lot of popularity, it suffered some considerable setbacks. If you've played it, what are your overall thoughts on the game? Let us know in the comments below. Mash Tactics airs Monday through Friday at 4pm Pacific. Watch Jon Carnage and Pico Mause let loose with off-the-wall humor and discuss the issues of the day in the live chat on Destructoid's Twitch.tv channel. Also, there are videogames being played. Join us for your chance to win prizes, talk to industry guests, and witness all of the glorious antics.
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| Posted: 19 Sep 2011 10:00 AM PDT Even if you haven't touched a TrackMania before, you likely are familiar with the series through its often remarkable presence on YouTube. If it's a clip of an inspired, logic-defying track in which the person playing seems infallible, chances are it's TrackMania footage you're watching. The question then usually comes down to "Is it as fun to watch as it is to play?" Well, is it? TrackMania 2 Canyon (PC) Despite there being solid racing experiences in Forza Motorsport, Gran Turismo, and likely whatever Criterion Games is working on next, you can count on Nadeo to give gamers something you won't find elsewhere. I get the clear sense that they aren't taking a different approach just to be the outlier, rather, they're making what they enjoy. Having found a successful niche for itself, the French studio is now branching out with ManiaPlanet, a platform for its "Mania" line which will eventually include other titles with a similar focus on user-generated content. In order to play TrackMania 2 Canyon, you'll need to use ManiaPlanet, so I figure it's worth a mention. At present, there isn't much to say about it; you sign up for a (presumably) cross-game account, have the option of sending messages to other users, and that's about as glamorous as it gets. Those worried about ManiaPlanet getting in the way needn't. If your Internet happens to go down, you can play the game as usual offline, excluding any online-oriented features, naturally. Solo races, track editing, replays, etc. are all fair game. I'll go ahead and assume the name "TrackMania 2 Canyon" comes off as equally weird to most of you. Basically, this installment brings significantly improved visuals, a single canyon environment (hence the title), and other miscellaneous refinements you'd expect to see in a new iteration of a racing game series. Single-player consists of increasingly difficult (and imaginative) tracks which you race across in time trials. The majority can be completed in under forty seconds, and at any time during a race, you can instantly start over. By default, you're up against a single AI opponent, though there isn't any collision -- it's a ghost. Even better, you can download ghosts of the world's greatest players, which ends up being incredibly useful for improving times. You're scored using medals (gold, silver, bronze), with the unlock of additional levels often requiring only a decent performance. Of the 65 levels included, I was able to play all but the final 15. Like I said, the game gets tough. Given the price, there's a reasonable amount of pre-made content to play. What's interesting about TrackMania 2 is how refined everything is; it's simplified in all the right ways. The entire game is played using only a few buttons, one of which is dedicated merely to restarting. As someone who has never felt particularly proud of his in-game drifting skills, I must say, drifting here is an absolute joy. It's intuitive, and doesn't feel overly sensitive. While Nadeo has cut out much of the fat -- there is no "career" to speak of -- make no mistake, there's plenty of complexity and subtle movement that goes into achieving the very best times. Progression and gear unlocks might be the norm, but it's refreshing to see Nadeo didn't feel obligated to include any of that functionality. The focus is on the racing itself, first and foremost. I'm much more into arcade-style racing than straight-up simulation, and I felt right at home with this game. To preemptively answer the obligatory question, yes, there is car damage, but it's cosmetic in nature. As hinted at earlier, TrackMania is best known for its ridiculous courses. Think Matchbox cars on a grander scale. There are loops and absurd jumps in the Nadeo-created tracks, sure, but none of them get too crazy. And that's where the in-game track editor and community at large come in. Tracks are built using a block-based system that couldn't be much easier to use. If you're not skilled when it comes to these things, you can even go with a simplified editor. Alternatively, you can count on someone else to dream up an insane track, and they probably will. There's also a rather involved video replay editor to tinker with. Sadly, it's a bit too far beyond my grasp, but I can appreciate the amount of depth being offered. Multiplayer works similar to the single-player races described above. Servers rotate levels every so often, but in that given time, you're free to race again and again, hopefully improving your placement during each attempt. While doing this, other players can be seen as well; once again, there is no collision. I haven't come across any truly spectacular fan-made tracks yet, but TrackMania 2 hasn't been out for too long. As players transition to this latest installment, I'm sure we'll start to see creativity impact the online scene. TrackMania 2 Canyon offers just enough tweaks to the formula to make it worth the download. Visually, it's not the prettiest racer out there, but the lighting can be particularly gorgeous at times and the system requirements are very reasonable. As the community settles in again, the amount of content will only grow from here given the excellent creation tools included. This is a series that is able to do its own thing successfully, and that's great -- the end result is refined, hard to put down, and worth getting into for first-time players. At such a budget price, there's not much to complain about. |
| Porn stars play games topless, because why not? Posted: 19 Sep 2011 09:30 AM PDT Professional sex ladies Alana Evans and Misti Dawn have come to the strange conclusion that the gamer demographic is predominantly male and horny. While we've yet to see any evidence of that, they have set up a brand new blog tailoring to horny males, Pwned By Girls. The fine women in question happen to be genuine fans of gaming, and are coinciding their site's launch with the release of Gears of War 3. They will play videogames without their clothes, and you will watch them, because you cannot control yourself. And you know what? I'm perfectly fine with that. They aren't just pretending to enjoy games, and they will inevitably exploit the lustful urges of gaming fans for fun and profit. It was Alana's idea in the first place, and I cannot fault her savvy business proposal. I just wonder if this means we'll be seeing Alana and Misti at industry events now that they're officially peers. I look forward to drunkenly debating the role of cutscenes and linear narrative progression with them at the next preview event I attend, because that is definitely what's going to happen! |
| Dtoid Exclusive: Playboy's Jo Garcia tribute to gaming Posted: 19 Sep 2011 09:00 AM PDT
[First we brought you the wallpaper, and here's the video! Thank Playboy for making Monday suck less.] This. Since 2006 Destructoid has published every form of conceivable games editorial imaginable. We've brought you coverage of every gaming event around the world, interviewed nearly every important gaming personality, sat with developers, chased lawyers, fought with corrupt games marketers, and have published thousands and thousands of reviews, previews, rumors, and leaks. We believe in hard-hitting gaming because that's where our passion lies and that's what our readers want most ... with one exception to the rule. In our entire canon of work do you know what our most popular article of all time is according to our server-side analytics? This nerdcore gallery of boobies from 2006. Yup. Dear reader, you are unabashedly The Dude.
When I opened up my inbox today I was surprised to find none other than email from Playboy offering our readers the enclosed high resolution wallpaper of Jo Garcia, the part-dork-part-model hybrid pictured somewhere in that vortex of video game peripherals. The ongoing series of wallpapers are housed at Playboy's Gamer Next Door, and there's also a production video coming. (No pun intended). On one hand we stubbornly have ignored our numbers and rarely strayed from core gaming news. On the other hand ... well, you don't want to know what the other hand is doing. Internet, what is is that you command me to do? In all seriousness I've asked various colleagues who publish web sites and my research has concluded is that we must absolutely participate in some way that is respectful to readers that don't want breasts-on-games, and maybe cleverly disguise it somewhere else on the site. Am I right, my naughty forum goers? Ladies and gentlemen, our magic word for this kind of content is now "kittens". If you'd like to see more kittens on Destructoid please sound off in the comments below.
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| The Jimquisition: Online Passes Are Bad For Everybody Posted: 19 Sep 2011 08:15 AM PDT In the first part of a series of Jimquisitions on used games and their place in the industry, I tackle the most recent tactic used by publishers in the fight against traded products -- online passes -- and examine why they're bad for everybody. Be you a publisher, a used gamer, or a NEW one, online passes are bad news, and I will force the truth down your little lie gullet. I know that, to you Destructoid folk, a lot of this is stuff I've said before. I'm hoping to provide the ultimate collection of my thoughts, though. Pretty handy for those at the back of the class who haven't been paying attention! |
| Call of Duty Elite beta for PlayStation 3 starts today Posted: 19 Sep 2011 07:45 AM PDT Call of Duty: Black Ops owners will want to sign up for the Call of Duty Elite beta sooner than later, as invitations for the PlayStation 3 version are going out beginning today. Stat tracking, custom player groups, competitive events, and video sharing are some of what you'll find in the beta. If you don't see an invite right away, know that more will be going out in the following weeks. Better late than never. |
| Free-to-play Hellbreed is NOT about demon sex Posted: 19 Sep 2011 07:30 AM PDT Hellbreed, which is being released today, is about a splintered world where you and a party of up to three friends need to gather together and assemble it using skills of magic, might, and mayhem. For anyone who has been looking for an experience that can at times resemble games in the spirit of Baldur's Gate, this will be your chance to hack and slash goblins, dragons, and werewolves all in the course of your lunch break. Hellbreed (PC) As the story tends to go in games of fantasy, there is a great evil in the world. In this case, it is an evil warlord named Darken who -- with his team of minions -- is trying to destroy the world. The gods in this world saw him coming with his hordes and fragmented the world so that it would be more difficult for him to control everything and that is where you and your friends come in. Your goal is to reunite the fragments of the world and locate the mystical fountain that will destroy Darken and his army of darkness. With the help of others in this game, it can still be quite a challenge, albeit a rewarding one. There are three types of warriors that you can choose from in the game. There is the Seige Master who is skilled at using all things mechanical like crossbows and ranged weapons. One of his abilities is to cast rocks from the sky to demolish enemies. There's also the Huntress for all of you elf lovers out there. She is a nimble, long-range fighter whose powers are nature-based and she can also summon beasts to help in her plight. Of course, no party would be complete without the Warrior, who is just the meat and potatoes guy of the group. He has all of the special close-range attacks and will tank when needed. Hellbreed will start out in the general meeting area which is called Jumprock; this is the staging area for your games. From there you can chat with other players and trade or sell equipment. Then when you are good and ready, you can take off into a mission to fufill your quests. When playing online, it works out well to have a good balance in your team. Although it can be fun at times to have all one type of character, there is always a chance of getting decimated pretty easily. In terms of items, the weapons are upgradeable and there are also recipes in the game that you can use to buff your current skill set. Be careful -- once you use a recipe, it will be gone. If you need more space in your pack, you can also use diamonds which are the real currency treasures in the game. You can use those diamonds to help you buy that special item that will make you totally badass or just make your time in the game go a little bit faster, and who doesn't like speed? In addition to there being a metric ton of stuff to pick up in this game, they have also included achievements that you will be able to show off to people online. This is a nice step not usually seen in free-to-play games and it is a welcome one. Now, if we can only streamline these so that there is an overarching measurement in all games like this so we can see all of them together and not just on a game-to-game basis. Hellbreed was developed all in house from an engine created by the Inflammables and it seems to be working out nicely. Along with that, they are able to offer 150 levels for you to explore. All in all, this game will give you a ton of stuff to do with your time, either in five-minute increments, or an hour or so long campaign. Since it is flash-based, it can even work on my crappy netbook! Hellbreed is live as of today. |
| Dragon Age II DLC coming in October Posted: 19 Sep 2011 07:15 AM PDT Fans of Dragon Age II (me) and superfluous DLC (also, sadly, me) will have another reason to revisit Kirkwall on October 11. BioWare's latest addition to Hawke's adventures, Mark of the Assassin, will team the hero up with elven assassin, Tallis, as they attempt to steal an ancient relic from an Orlesian nobleman's fortified estate. The DLC will flesh out the Orlesians and Qunari and adds new environments, foes and gear While that sounds horribly generic, Hawke's new companion, Tallis, sounds a tad more interesting. She has her own unique fighting style which is somewhere between Varric's and Isabella's, so expect plenty of ranged skills as well as some up close and personal brutality. The Guild writer and star, Felicia Day, will be providing the voice and look of the assassin as it's the character she portrays in the Dragon Age web series, Dragon Age: Redemption. |
| Review: Red Orchestra 2: Heroes of Stalingrad Posted: 19 Sep 2011 07:00 AM PDT World War II has never been this interesting. Five years ago, most gamers where tired of seeing WWII games, and now the cool kids are playing modern warfare shooters. If you're sick of the current trend in this genre, and want something that's a little bit different, then have I got a game for you. Red Orchestra 2: Heroes of Stalingrad (PC) Red Orchestra 2: Heroes of Stalingrad is a first-person, multiplayer-centric shooter set in WWII. You play as either the Germans or the Soviets as they fight for control over Stalingrad. Each side has its own weapons that are very realistically modeled, all of which are fun to shoot people with. The AI during the single-player is really incompetent. I had my guys running in front of my machine gun while I was firing, and sometimes they would shoot me in the back if I was standing between them and an enemy. If our goal was to defend a building, some of them would jump in and out of the windows, which is not normal behavior. Enemies can run by each other, and not react to seeing one another at all. They serve their purpose as a background for the single-player, but they fail to react in ways an actual person would. Tanks are a big part of Red Orchestra 2, and there is no simple way to drive a tank around the battlefield. You play as part of a crew, and you have to work together in order to get anything done. There is a driver, a main gunner, a machine gunner, and the commander is the one who can actually see what's going on outside. It can be really fun to be a part of a successful tank crew, but if you get stuck with a goon who drives into buildings and gets lost all the time, you will probably be bored out of your mind. While the game plays well, it does have its share of bugs. Alt-tabbing will cause your framerate to drop drastically, there are some clipping issues, texture popping, and some other small annoyances. None of these bugs are game breaking, but they are there. Thankfully, Tripwire has been on top of all of these issues, and they deliver excellent support. They are even going so far as to optimize all the maps for increased performance, which will probably be a very time consuming undertaking for them. |
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