New Games |
- Finding strength in StarCraft II, vVvSpectral speaks
- Call of Duty: Elite wants you to Compete
- New Suikoden gets a story, still not Old Suikoden's story
- New units and more Kerrigan in new StarCraft II trailer
- Hulu Plus for 3DS, Wii available by the end of the year
- Details on Blizzard DOTA and what makes it worth a look
- The DTOID Show WAS live today! It was good, we had juice
- BioWare details January-bound Mass Effect 3 demo
- Binary Domain pre-order bonuses are all about multiplayer
- BlizzCon 2011: Hands-on with the Pandaren Monk
- Diablo III's Black Soulstone cinematic is pure eye candy
- Dragons and Bubbles in this Rayman Origins trailer
- BlizzCon 2011: Examining the new Heart of the Swarm units
- Update for Monster Hunter iOS brings monsters, price drop
- Preview: Escape Plan
- Soulcalibur V's collector's edition detailed
- Preview: Sound Shapes (PS Vita)
- Review: PAYDAY: The Heist
- In-game Portal 2 map editor planned for next year
| Finding strength in StarCraft II, vVvSpectral speaks Posted: 21 Oct 2011 04:00 PM PDT Jacob Wacker was your average teenager, just spending time with friends at camp one summer. As he dove into the lake, Jacob hit the lake's sandy bottom. Unable to move, he began to slowly blackout. When he awoke, Jacob was pulled ashore and found out that he was paralyzed from the collarbone down. But Jacob was far from letting this accident stop him from doing what he loved. He slowly began to regain some of the lost strength and mobility from his arms and legs. The reason Jacob never gave up, never gave into the pain of his therapy, was because of his passion for gaming. Jacob has been a competitive gamer ever since the days of Age of Empires 2: Age of Kings. He even competed and placed second in a West Coast Halo: Combat Evolved tournament. After this accident, Jacob set his sights on a new game and a new challenge. The game was StarCraft II and the challenge was to educate the gaming community about disabled gamers and the therapeutic capabilities of games to medical professionals. Two of the ways he is getting his message across are from his live streams of games from his Twitch.TV page as well as through his many recorded matches that have been uploaded to YouTube. It also helps that he has the competitive gaming community vVv backing him up too. His campaign has been going well; he has just been invited to the 2011 International E-Sports Meet of the Disabled in Korea this November. He will be representing the United States in StarCraft II. Congratulations, Jacob! I hope that you show Korea what you can do for the good old US of A, and that you continue on with your campaign for therapeutic gaming awareness. And I hope that I never go up against you in StarCraft II. |
| Call of Duty: Elite wants you to Compete Posted: 21 Oct 2011 03:00 PM PDT
The latest look at Call of Duty: Elite's service breaks down how Compete works. Basically, Beachhead wants to give you stuff for playing Modern Warfare 3, more or less. Everyone who uses the service can enter in contests to win stuff based on their skills or enter sweepstakes and maybe get lucky. I'm really digging the Elite service and love that they want to give back to fans. Of course, if you don't care about any of this, then there's a ton of new multiplayer footage to checkout throughout the Compete breakdown. Do any of you see yourself using Call of Duty: Elite? |
| New Suikoden gets a story, still not Old Suikoden's story Posted: 21 Oct 2011 02:30 PM PDT If it wasn't clear already, fellow fans, it looks like the days of Viki, Jeane, and "DIE PIG!!!" are truly over. Suikoden: The Woven Tale of a Hundred Years, the recently-announced PSP installment of the series is set in a new setting, with a new story. As for what the story is, it seems to sound a bit like Final Fantasy X. Every hundred years or so a giant monster comes out to wreck the world. Your guy, an orphaned swordsman from the future, is whisked back in time by someone named Zephos, and must now wreck the monster before it can do its own wrecking. Presumably 108 people will be needed to do the job. If you'll excuse me, I'm off to replay Suikoden V and cry. Every Hundred Years a monster rends the world in PSP Suikoden [Siliconera] |
| New units and more Kerrigan in new StarCraft II trailer Posted: 21 Oct 2011 02:00 PM PDT
Fresh from of BlizzCon 2011, new information and an amazing new trailer have just been released for the next expansion in the StarCraft II series, Heart of the Swarm. In the trailer, we get to see a post-Queen of Blades Sarah Kerrigan still clinging onto the fact that a certain Terran Dominion Emperor may have left her for dead on planet crawling with Zerg. No biggie. After donning a new set of Ghost armor, and somehow gaining telekinetic abilities, she starts on a quest for vengeance across the stars. The trailer looks fantastic, and you can tell that Blizzard has been investing a lot of hours into StarCraft II's cutscenes. On top of all that, the new units featured in this expansion are shown. No word yet as to when Heart of the Swarm will be released, but I for one can't wait to see what kind of destruction this new Kerrigan will cause. |
| Hulu Plus for 3DS, Wii available by the end of the year Posted: 21 Oct 2011 01:30 PM PDT Later this year, Nintendo will be expanding the Wii and 3DS to include the other big entertainment streaming option, Hulu Plus. The service, which features "limited advertising," provides access to thousands of television shows and movies at a cost of $7.99 per month. Sure, choice is always nice. I won't personally be partaking in this, especially not on 3DS -- I watched 20 seconds of a Twilight Zone episode via Netflix once and never used the app again. Someone, somewhere, will likely benefit from this news. Just not me. (Also, what the eff, Ryan Gosling was Young Hercules?) |
| Details on Blizzard DOTA and what makes it worth a look Posted: 21 Oct 2011 01:00 PM PDT Straight out of BlizzCon, Blizzard has shed some light on how Blizzard DOTA will work. With League of Legends going strong, Valve's Dota 2 on the way, and a score of DotA clones out there, it's sometimes hard to imagine just how much you can vary on the formula. From differences to other DotA games, the game's cost, to heroes, Blizzard offered some good chunks of information to help you wrap your head around it. Differences between Blizzard DOTA and other DotA games Blizzard wants to take its "easy-to-learn, difficult-to-master" philosophy to the overall design of Blizzard DOTA, as they feel that this genre has a pretty demanding learning curve. They are also adding gameplay elements to encourage more aggressive, fast-paced gameplay, and team fights all over the map instead of just at key lane positions and boss creeps in jungles. Towers will have a limited amount of energy that slowly recharges over time. So a tower can run out of "ammo" if you keep harassing it, interesting. The idea is that this way teams will be more encouraged to attack as a team and to reduce early-mid game tower hugging. The jungles will be different from what you're used to. Jungles will have power nodes that are guarded by neutral creeps. Taking control of these nodes will add strength to the team's mobs in their lanes. So jungling will become more about control to strengthen the general push across the lanes than about buffs, XP, and gold for your heroes. To reduce the learning curve, Blizzard isn't saying much in terms of details but they feel players shouldn't have to read up on guides and item builds before feeling comfortable even thinking about trying a diferent hero. They're mostly interested in adding clarity by eliminating redundancies in hero abilities and items, and think that players will find this reflected in the heroes' design and the item shop. Number of heroes and roles The version of Blizzard DOTA at BlizzCon features 12 heroes that fall into four class types: tank, damage-dealer, support, and siege. Tanks and damage-dealers are what you expect them to be, soaking damage and being the squishy DPS assassins, respectively. Support heroes will do things like healing, stunning, and crowd control. Siege heroes attack from long range -- ideal for taking out towers -- and tend to have abilities that affect a wide area. There are more heroes planned for release, obviously, but Blizzard stresses that they "want to ensure every hero and ability feels unique" and to go for quality over quantity -- a thinly veiled stab at League of Legends. One of the pillars of their design philosophy that supports Blizzard DOTA is that every hero should fit their roles very strongly and promotes teamplay. Achievements, rewards and stat tracking Upon launch, the game will give you access to a small group of heroes to start with. The more you play, the more heroes will unlock. After unlocking all heroes, you can work towards unlocking cosmetic prestige items by winning games with specific heroes, which sounds like you'll have to fill some achievement bars and conditions with a hero. These prestige items can include alternate weapons, crowns, and other accessories. Blizzard DOTA will launch with an automated matchmaker that matches based on skill, like the regular StarCraft II ladder. Stats like the number of kills, destroyed towers, and average gold and XP gained per match will all be tracked. How much will it cost!? Blizzard plans to offer "a way" to play Blizzard DOTA for free, "possibly by including it as a part of the StarCraft II: Starter Edition." They haven't decided yet on what kind of content restrictions (i.e., amount of heroes, etc.) will be placed on the free-to-play version. They're also discussing the possibility of exclusive content, such as special heroes for owners of StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty and the upcoming Heart of the Swarm, but that is as yet undecided. Beta? Release date? There will be a beta "within the next few months." No release date, but at gamescom senior game designer Jonny Ebbert mentioned it would hit around the time of Heart of the Swarm. Did you really expect a specific release date?
|
| The DTOID Show WAS live today! It was good, we had juice Posted: 21 Oct 2011 12:30 PM PDT Today, we did our live show, as usual. You know, except Tara and our producer Zac are down at Blizzcon. Today I got left to my own devices with Anthony Carboni, host of Revision3's new show New Challenger, which I was on yesterday. Today, we talked about Ezio and that damn Pierre being in Soul Calibur V, the fact that Sony and Microsoft are working on new consoles, and Touch My Katamari will be a Playstation Vita launch title. In addition to that, Doom 4 is NOT postponed, or something, and UK Gamestops might be taking Modern Warfare 3's side. After that, we took some viewer questions and played Catwoman: Arkham Kitty. Stay tuned all weekend to our YouTube channel, because Tara's Blizzcon coverage of the new Kung-Fu Panda MMO will be going up tomorrow. |
| BioWare details January-bound Mass Effect 3 demo Posted: 21 Oct 2011 12:30 PM PDT Ahead of Mass Effect 3's full release in March of next year, the game will receive a playable demo in January that includes both single-player and multiplayer segments. Those who redeem the Battlefield 3 Online Pass will get early access to this multiplayer content. There will be other, unpaid ways to get it early as well, though BioWare isn't ready to explain what those methods are. Hmm, I wonder if Facebook is going to be involved. Mass Effect 3 Demo FAQ [BioWare Social Network] |
| Binary Domain pre-order bonuses are all about multiplayer Posted: 21 Oct 2011 12:15 PM PDT It looks like Binary Domain will try to keep players engaged in its multiplayer modes, as pre-ordering at GameStop will net you the Multiplayer Pack. This pack gives you an exclusive multiplayer map "Outside High-rise, Upper City" (probably set in an underwater medieval dungeon), exclusive multiplayer weapons and a new playable class. The class in question is the Ninja, supposedly "perfect for surprise attacks and adapting combat style to the situation." The weapons are the "Hoga Type 69" sniper rifle for long range action (you'd think with that number it would be short range) and the "Yamato-0 Handgun" for short range assault. Maybe the numbers indicate the amount of horse lengths they're effective at? Anyway, ninja! |
| BlizzCon 2011: Hands-on with the Pandaren Monk Posted: 21 Oct 2011 12:00 PM PDT After the announcement of the Mists of Pandaria expansion for World of Warcraft, I was able to jump right into the game and get hands-on with the class and race. Upon being dropped into the new starting area, I was instantly awed by the overwhelmingly cool visual aesthetic of an East Asian-themed kung fu panda village. Small changes made to the graphics engine have allowed Blizzard to make the game look and run even better than what we initially saw in Cataclysm. The highly-detailed landscape, sharper textures, and better lighting really help to immerse the player in the new setting. While I don't want to spoil any of the starting-area content, I will say that the quest lines and story progression was rather fun and interesting. I found myself reading through much of the quest text, invested in what was happening beyond just the amount of XP I would receive at the end. It starts off as a simple journey, with the player being tasked with helping various masters, picking up new techniques along the way. It soon turns into an important arc for the player, revealing more about the Pandaren and their role in the world of Azeroth. I moved through the village, picking up my first few quests. There were numerous Pandaren focused on their training, sparring, meditating, or even just rolling around everywhere. Your master directs you to first spar with the punching bags, an important step in understanding the new combat mechanics that Blizzard has created for the class. The Monk has no auto-attack; instead there is a completely manual combat system that utilizes Chi and Light or Dark energy to execute moves. The standard attack button uses Chi, simultaneously generating Light or Dark energy in the process. This energy can be expended during battle to unleash more devastating attacks and even combinations. Button mashing is a perfectly acceptable method of playing the class, simply hitting buttons as they light up, but I suspect that true mastery will require keen focus and timing. The new class encourages players to be constantly active, mobile, and observant of their surroundings. A new roll maneuver, while fun to simply spam while running around, is also an important tool in combat. While it is impossible to tell what all of the uses might be for the ability, I was able to use it both offensively and defensively. I could use the roll to quickly move out of harm's way, or to instantly get range on an opponent to execute a brutal flying kick. With the Monk, Blizzard is trying to cater to as many players as possible who might enjoy the new combat system, allowing the class to fulfill the role of a tank, DPS, or healer depending on their specialization choices. This certainly won't be for everyone, especially if you enjoy playing as passively as possible, but it should hopefully introduce a bit more thrill to the game for players who have gotten tired of the same old combat mechanics. For anyone who is excited about playing a Pandaren or Monk, but worried about potential racial or faction restrictions, fear not! The Pandaren are WoW's first truly neutral playable race, with players able to choose between either Horde or Alliance upon completion of the starting zone story arc. Pandaren are not restricted to playing only as a Monk: they can choose any class with the exception of Death Knights, Druids, Paladins, or Warlocks. Conversely, all other races with the exception of the Goblin and Worgen can start as a Monk. Let us know what you think about the announcement in the comments below. |
| Diablo III's Black Soulstone cinematic is pure eye candy Posted: 21 Oct 2011 11:45 AM PDT
You have to hand it to Blizzard -- they sure know how to craft an eye-catching, interest-grabbing cinematic. This video comes by way of BlizzCon 2011, and has me all pumped up to ... click on a bunch of evil dudes until they are dead. But seriously, Diablo III is something I greatly anticipate playing. Can't say I know the intricacies of what's going on here story-wise -- it's been too long since Diablo II -- but I'm interested. |
| Dragons and Bubbles in this Rayman Origins trailer Posted: 21 Oct 2011 11:30 AM PDT
Have you ever wondered what might be lurking inside the colorfully vibrant innards of an over-sized cartoon dragon? Well this new Rayman Origins trailer gives you a sneak peak at what you might encounter. Rayman Origins, as the name suggests, goes back to it's 2D platforming roots but also takes a page from Mario's book by adding four player co-op. It really stands out among the crowd of recent platformers through the use of high quality sprites and stylized environments. I just love the expressions of joy on Rayman's face; you can tell that the artists on this game really enjoyed bringing that character to life. Rayman Origins will hit store shelves November 15 for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii. But as great as this game looks, I wonder how much content the game will provide considering that this title was initially conceived as a downloadable. |
| BlizzCon 2011: Examining the new Heart of the Swarm units Posted: 21 Oct 2011 11:15 AM PDT As many of you probably saw, one of the revelations that came out of BlizzCon this morning were some of the new units that will be available in the multiplayer portion of Heart of the Swarm, the upcoming StarCraft II expansion that's focusing on the Zerg. I was able to sit down with Tony Hsu, a game producer for Heart of the Swarm. He was able to tell me quite a bit about the new units and some of the changes that will be coming to the multiplayer in this expansion. Sad news Protoss fans -- the iconic Carriers, as well as the Motherships, are being cut from Heart of the Swarm. As Tony told me, and as anyone who plays online often knows, these two units simply weren't used very much. The Mothership was too high up in the tech tree and too expensive to really be viable, and Carriers were generally ditched in favor of Void Rays and other Protoss flying units. The good news is their removals are making way for a new Protoss capital ship: the Tempest. The Tempest will hopefully eliminate one of the Protoss' current weaknesses -- dealing with large amounts of air units. Protoss players are probably painfully familiar with seeing huge swarms of mutalisks coming at them and being unable to do much to defend, so the large area-of-effect air attack the Tempest is packing may make that fight a bit more even. Another new Protoss unit, and by far the one I'm most interested in, is the Replicant. The Replicant has the ability to permanently transform into any non-massive unit on the map, as long as you have sight on it. Not only do you take on all the properties of the unit you're replicating, but you also gain all of their technology and abilities. As Tony told me, that means that (at least in its current form) if you replicate an SCV, you can use it to build a command center, and then start controlling and training more SCVs. The cost to build Replicants is very high, so you won't be able to mass them up and go crazy, but it sounds like even one might be enough to give you a huge advantage in battle. The final new Protoss unit revealed is the Oracle, which is another flying unit that mostly focuses on support. The Orcale has a range of abilities, including one that locks down a mineral field to prevent it from being harvested, one that lets you inspect an enemy building to see what's currently being built and researched, and the ability to phase out both friendly and hostile buildings, temporarily removing them entirely and preventing them from functioning or taking damage. Over on the Zerg side, Overseers are getting the axe. To replace some of their functionality, the Zerg now have a new air unit called the Viper. An air supporter with no actual attack, the Viper has some unique abilities that are pretty different than what you've seen in StarCraft before. The Viper can shoot out a Blinding Cloud, which reduces the range of all units stuck inside the cloud to one. Being harassed by a bunch of marines? Drop a cloud on them, and they can't shoot anything unless it's standing directly in front of them. The Viper also has an ability called Abduct, which lets him grab a unit with a tentacle and pull it towards him. Tony explained a variety of ways this could be used: pulling your own units out of combat to protect them, pulling enemy units out of range of friendlies, or even using the Viper to move your own units over obstacles, like cliffs or boulders. The Zerg are also lacking in siege ability, so they're getting the Swarm Host. The Swarm Host is slow and defenseless, but it can burrow. And once it's burrowed, it starts spawning a stream of melee units, Locusts, that Tony explained as currently being about as strong as a Zealot. One or two Swarm Hosts aren't hard to deal with, but if you manage to burrow a whole bunch right outside an enemy's base, they'll soon find themselves overwhelmed by Locusts. The Terrans aren't losing any units, and are seeing a number of current units get some hefty upgrades. The Hellion can now be upgraded into a Battle Hellion, a slower-moving, stronger version of the Hellion that makes them viable in mid- to late-game. Tony explained that they were looking to improve units that would be built for a specific purpose in the early game, but then ended up completely ignored as they became useless. The Thor is also getting a massive upgrade -- literally. It's even bigger than it was before. You can only have one out at a time, but it's even stronger and more powerful than its previous incarnation. As a tradeoff, it no longer can attack air units, but with regular attacks that already deal serious damage and a new, massive area-of-effect ground attack, the Thor will be a serious force to be reckoned with. The Terrans are getting a couple brand new units, as well. The Warhound is a small walking mech that functions similarly to the old, now-replaced Thor. It can't shoot anti-air missiles as far as the old Thor could, but its increased speed and maneuverability appear to make up for it. The Terrans can also build Shredders, which can't attack while moving, but once set stationary channel area-effect damage to both grounded and flying units. If any friendly units wander into its range, however, it temporarily shuts off so as not to damage them. You won't want to deploy them in the middle of a large battle. These are the major units that were revealed so far today. Other units are slated to receive a number of tweaks, both in their stats and in the way some of their abilities function, but this is the big stuff. If change scares you, or if you're not planning on grabbing Heart of the Swarm, the Wings of Liberty ladder will still be available. If, like me, you're going to jump right into Heart of the Swarm as soon as it launches, there's a lot of information here to consider as you start preparing your new strategies. GLHF. |
| Update for Monster Hunter iOS brings monsters, price drop Posted: 21 Oct 2011 11:00 AM PDT A big update for Monster Hunter Dynamic Hunting should have already made its way onto your iPhone with all its added content. As a result, you'll now be able to slay four new monsters and get your hands on brand new weapons to boot. Don't have Monster Hunter Dynamic Hunting yet but you've always wanted to check it out? Starting yesterday the price of the app has dropped from $6.99 all the way down to the irresistible price of $0.99 and will stay that way until the 24th of this month. If I had an iPhone I would totally be all over this to help tide me over for Monster Hunter 3G. Too bad it's not on Windows Phone, eh Capcom?
|
| Posted: 21 Oct 2011 10:45 AM PDT The first time I saw a video for Escape Plan, I was sold. I knew it was something I had to have because of the arresting art direction that utilized gorgeous saturation and stark, black and white contrast. Of course, all style and no substance would’ve proven a huge disappointment, so I was excited to hear that the development team is comprised of people that worked on the well-received Fat Princess. Escape Plan (PlayStation Vita)
I also had brief interaction with some of Bakuki’s more loyal minions, as well as the black sheep that populate his confines (because why not sheep?). I was able to use the rear touchpad to tap on either side of the sheep to spook them, sending them running off in either direction, typically to their death -- they were going to die anyways, mind you, because a minion was shooting blow darts at them. I also resolved a conflict with one minion. Though smarter than sheep, they will investigate foreign sounds, so I lowered a spring platform that naturally lay flush and upright against the wall, lured the minion onto it, and he eventually went splat right into the wall. While there is definitely the potential for Escape Plan to do incredibly interesting things on the gameplay front, it’s the whole package that endeared it to me. As I’ve mentioned, the art style is just fantastic, especially when Lil, Laarg, any of Bakuki’s minions or the sheep die. There’s something deviously fun about seeing your character completely splattered against a wall, forming a deep black Rorschach test. Death isn’t necessarily punished in the game, either -- it’s treated rather flippantly. Your characters each proudly wear their death count on their torsos and there is a “studio audience” that, hilariously, will laugh and jeer when you mess up, as well as cheer when you do things well. There isn’t enough comedy in games (I’m still waiting for MediEvil 3) because it’s hard to do well. From my brief time with Escape Plan, the game does it remarkably well, which is such a fresh change of pace. The game, rather fittingly, given its puzzle/platforming nature, just nails the comedic timing, whether it’s the subtle chuckle it’s able to elicit from Lil inflating like a balloon or the deep laughter that comes from Bakuki popping up in a window and wringing his hands while grumbling manically in true bad guy fashion. |
| Soulcalibur V's collector's edition detailed Posted: 21 Oct 2011 10:30 AM PDT So we know the date, the special guest character, and the pre-order incentive, but what about the uber-fancy collector's edition? Well thanks to Namco, we know that too. Coming in a delectable, collectable book box case, the collector's edition will contain a plethora of goodies for Soulcalibur fans. Included are the game, art book, original soundtrack CD, a making-of DVD, artwork and letter on reproduction parchment paper signed by the team, and a DLC card for the Black Knight and Paladin armor sets. Everything Namco is bringing appears pretty fancy and by the screens in the gallery below, the armor sets in action look quite stunning. I'm a sucker for collector's editions, especially ones with soundtracks and art books, so hopefully this one is reasonably priced when it lands next January 21. |
| Preview: Sound Shapes (PS Vita) Posted: 21 Oct 2011 10:15 AM PDT Brought to us by the mind behind the PlayStation Network hit Everyday Shooter, Sound Shapes is a PlayStation Vita game many are pointing to prove the system’s promise of quality titles early in its lifespan. But a lot of people still seem to know little more than its title, which might have something to do with it being a bit odd to conceptualize.
Aside from the Vita’s touch capabilities abetting level creation, it’s also incredibly easy to test levels. A soft button on the touch screen immediately spawns your ball and you’re free to move the spawn point to whatever section of your level you’re working on if you only need to test those sections. In addition to making level creation a painless procedure, a lot of effort is being put in to make sure the community thrive. Much like LittleBigPlanet’s LittleBigWorkshop, Sound Shapes will be getting its own online community for creators to meet up, collaborate, and share their work. One other incredibly cool feature is that custom levels, should the creator choose to leave them unlocked, can be remixed by anyone in the community, with the product of the remix clearly directing back to give the original author their due. |
| Posted: 21 Oct 2011 10:00 AM PDT Shouting comedian Dane Cook once said that every man's dream was to take part in a heist and for once he might have been correct. Diving into a dangerous situation and blazing out with tons of cash taps into our childlike machismo and it's hardly surprising that the "heist" scenario has been a staple of Hollywood for decades. We've had videogames that dabbled in the idea, naturally. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City and Kane & Lynch: Dead Men are two games that featured very memorable bank jobs, but few games are built entirely around high stakes robbery. As opportunistic as any burglar, PAYDAY: The Heist saw that gap in the market, bundled it swiftly into a swag bag, and may very well make out like a bandit. PAYDAY: The Heist (PC [reviewed], PlayStation3 [reviewed]) PAYDAY: The Heist has been described as Left 4 Dead crossed with the opening of The Dark Knight, and that's the kind of hyperbole to get any geek's blood pumping. Thematically, there are similarities to both of these things, as PAYDAY liberally copies the four-player co-op sensibilities of Valve's zombie shooter and transplants them into a game about robbers wearing clown masks. The game's six scenarios involve four criminals -- Dallas, Hoxton, Chains and Wolf -- partaking in different heists with their own unique environments, goals and rewards. The first and most popular scenario is First World Bank, an archetypal bank robbery in which players must shake down the manager to get his key, retrieve a drill, bore through a security gate, and then use thermite to burn a hole in the floor above a cash-laden vault, making sure to erase the building's security footage along the way. Other scenarios involve chasing down a fellow robber who betrayed the crew, rescuing a convict from a prison truck and even a more stealth-based mission in which the team must shut down security boxes and make off with diamonds. No matter the goal, every stage will have some running themes and teamwork will always be the crucial element of success. Players start out with a silenced pistol and assault rifle along with cable ties to take hostages. Hostages are an important asset in any heist as they can be used to trade with the cops for players who get taken out during combat. Killing civilians will increase the amount of time it takes for inactive players to respawn, so players must be careful with their shots and constantly shout at pedestrians in order to keep them on the ground and out of fire. Shouting at hostages, calling out to other players, and activating objectives is all done contextually with one button/key. Simply looking at an object and hitting the command will have the character act accordingly, be it helping up a downed colleague, placing a drill, or even demanding a security guard drop his gun, get on the ground, and cuff himself -- which never stops feeling awesome. Naturally, the long arm of the law doesn't take the crew's transgressions lying down. At regular intervals, players must defend themselves against "assaults." These assaults send waves of increasingly powerful law enforcers into the hostile zone and they can be incredibly difficult. Regular cops and SWAT team members are bad enough, but there are a number of special units that can prove highly lethal, ranging from the infuriating tazer unit who can stun players indefinitely to the terrifying Bulldozer with his high-impact shotgun and full body armor. Players can "mark" these special units to make them easier to spot, but if they become isolated with any of them, chances are good they'll be on the ground in seconds. PAYDAY is an incredibly absorbing game if you get into a session with good team players. It's definitely hard, though, and sometimes feels pretty imbalanced. For starters, assault waves seem to have random difficulty spikes, with some of them feeling pretty easy and others becoming completely overwhelming. These spikes occur at different points when the level is replayed, meaning there's definitely a random element that's making the game extra tough. Some of the more mobile maps, where the crew needs to get from one area to another, also have some nasty choke points, where assaults can create roadblocks so thick with cops that the next assault wave can be ready before the last one is even mopped up. It often feels like luck is just as much a part of the experience as skill, and it can certainly cause consternation -- especially when you get sprayed with bullets and can't even see where they're coming from. Another issue I have is with ammunition, which runs out far too quickly. Perhaps it's to encourage the use of ammunition bags that players can carry and spawn, but it gets incredibly annoying to run out of bullets so fast. The problem is intensified by the fact that enemies drop ammo in such small quantities that it might as well be considered inconsequential. Things can get quite glitchy, too. PAYDAY is a rough game and, while many of the bugs are minor, I've encountered instances of important mission objectives not updating as needed. During the bank heist, the drill kept resetting its timer whenever it counted down to zero, and this continued even with multiple mission restarts. It didn't fix until the whole session was terminated. On the PC, there is also some nasty screen tearing at moments, and no in-game option to mend it. That said, PC is definitely the preferred system for the game. I've played PAYDAY on both PS3 and PC and found that the game's stiff aiming and methodical pacing works best on computers than consoles. It's still enjoyable on PS3, but I think the computer atmosphere is far more suitable. Despite the issues with balance and the technical flaws evident, PAYDAY's engrossing gameplay shines through. It's taken the very best of Left 4 Dead and added a lot more depth to the gameplay, going so far as to add a ranking system that unlocks new weapons and perks and special equipment like ammo and health bags that the whole team can use whenever they're in a fix. With some really clever levels and the consistently gratifying premise thrown in, you've got a game that holds up surprisingly well in the face of some pretty big faults. Graphically, The Heist is a very "basic" looking game. It's not exactly hideous, but animations are stiff and textures are flat, making it look very much like the low budget offering it is. Characters will occasionally freeze or clip through objects but the saving grace is that nine out of ten visual glitches are quite entertaining in their own right. Surprisingly, the voice acting is very good (helped by the fact that Hoxton sounds like Mick from the Magic Bullet commercial) and there's some suitably sleazy music to keep things atmospheric. I've played the two versions of PAYDAY across a number of hours and haven't even succeeded in a large number of heists, but that hasn't stopped me having a real laugh with it. PAYDAY: The Heist is a classic example of a diamond in the rough, a game that is just too enjoyable at its core for any of its issues to remain unforgivable. I have a feeling that, with continued support, it will only get better and better, and I think that shooter fans looking for something both different and perversely empowering will get a real kick out of what PAYDAY: The Heist has to offer. It has most definitely stolen itself a victory. |
| In-game Portal 2 map editor planned for next year Posted: 21 Oct 2011 09:45 AM PDT Valve has divulged what's next for Portal 2, following the recent release of the "Peer Review" add-on: "an easy-to-use" map editor that's expected to come out in early 2012. This editor will hopefully push crowdsourcing a step forward, since it's said to let players "view, play, and vote" on community-created single-player and co-op test chambers "with a simple click." There was no mention of applicable platforms, though I suspect Valve is still trying to figure out if this stuff is feasible on consoles. That'd be swell. |
| You are subscribed to email updates from Destructoid To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |
