Deep Silver and 11 bit studios today release This War Of Mine: The Little Ones. A harrowing tale of true survival, the critically acclaimed This War of Mine: The Little Ones finally makes its debut on PlayStation4 and Xbox One £24.99 /$29.99/€29.99.
As a pocket of survivors living amidst the ruins of a besieged city, it’s up to you to decide how to survive the harsh realities of war, and live with the consequences…
This War of Mine: The Little Ones offers an unflinching portrayal of wartime survival, viewed not through the eyes of an elite soldier, but the surviving civilians with the added unique perspective of a child. The introduction of children to the lauded mix of survival-strategy gameplay forms the basis for a wealth of new strategic action and emotional narrative content.
Pretty much the only time I compete online is in the world of MOBAs. Fractured Space has been going through a huge amount of changes, tweaks and updates but is heading firmly towards the ultimate goal of a final build. It’s a good start setting off in a sci-fi universe as pretty much every single MOBA worth playing is set in a fantasy world. There’s nothing wrong with orks and elves gameplay but giant capital ships blasting away at each other in deep space holds a greater appeal to me. First though, Fractured Space has a lovely new video to take a look at so sit back enjoy.
A few alterations to the core MOBA gameplay set Fractured Space apart from the rest. Team wide resources are a consideration with the team holding the most outposts generating the most resources. The key to winning the battle of resources is undoubtedly to maintain control of the gas mining station that resides in the centre of the map. There are only short windows of opportunity to take control of the station however and you can be sure that a battle will take place whenever the timer allows it. It’s such a valuable resource that you just can’t ignore it.
Towers work differently from a standard MOBA too and in Fractured Space you will be concerned with taking control of space stations rather than destroying towers. You will need to control at least one of the stations to have the ability to travel to the enemy main base. Defeating enemy ships and capturing points is refreshingly tactical for a MOBA and also makes sure battles keep taking place. Conventionally once a tower is gone it’s gone but in Fractured Space control can be won, lost and regained which makes sure battles keep taking place throughout the match and goes some way to ensuring the winning team still has to work to win.
The way the map is split up adds even more to the back and forth battles as even a team with a huge amount of map control can quite easily lose if all their ships are in the wrong place. The enemy can simply get into your base and capture it if your team has nobody to get in their way. It takes a significant amount of time to switch zones, even for a MOBA, so careful planning and map reading will be needed to make sure you stay ahead of the enemy team.
Combat with capital ships is tactical and satisfying. Each ship has a selection of abilities that you will absolutely need to use correctly in order to win. You’re not likely to blag your way through a fight without any knowledge of what your guns do and how to effectively use them. Probably the most important thing to remember is the correct range for your chosen ship. If you’ve got a sniper you’re not going to want to let a close range enemy fight back. You might feel like you’re holding your hand on a short persons head while kicking them repeatedly but hey, that’s what the sniper is for. And you know you’ll pay for it if they get close up.
Learning the ships, their abilities and any strengths and weaknesses is just as fun as any other MOBA although I have to say it’s more manageable and accessible in Fractured Space than most MOBAs. Instead of being greeted with 100 or more characters to learn intimately before you even dare go online and let the Koreans thrash you there is a well sized but manageable roster of ships. There’s definitely a ship for all occasions but having a concise roster means you get the sense of progression and improvement that often seems so far out of reach for new players in a MOBA.
Manoeuvring so that damage is spread across all your armour while protecting any weak sections of your ship and also maintaining accuracy are definitely key to winning a fight. The feel of the ships is amazing especially considering I was using a mouse and keyboard. Keyboards don’t often give a real sense of feedback but you can very quickly learn to feel accurately how fast a ship will turn, accelerate and stop. It’s so rewarding when your manoeuvring wins you a fight as an opponent sits still and gets thrashed.
A good majority of the bugs and issues that where present have been addressed and fixed and the team continues to do a fantastic job of staying on top of them and improving the game. It’s nice to see a developer use early access as it’s meant to be with obvious and clear movement forward for the game. One of the biggest issues that Fractured Space is currently addressing is matchmaking.
I had the chance to talk to the team at Insomnia 56 and we discussed the intricacies of creating a functioning matchmaking system. One of the greatest challenges is the divide between experienced and high levelled players and those who are just starting out. It’s a difficult balance to strike between finding a game quickly and finding the right game for a player. The team knows it and are handling things in the right way, once again making sure Fractured Space keeps moving forwards towards a full release. Hopefully the influx of new players from promotions will help to get enough players to operate decent matchmaking.
But it’s nothing that makes the game unplayable even as it is. Fractured Space is a genuinely unique look at a MOBA title from a team that understands the genre well from both their personal and professional experience. There is a sense that Fractured Space has been created by someone that plays MOBAs and knows what they would want. Fractured Space is looking very promising and I strongly recommend it to any MOBA fan. Provided the game keeps striving towards a full release, addressing issues and fixing things the way it is at the minute Fractured Space will be a great MOBA and is definitely one of the most promising Early Access titles I’ve seen.
The quest for the Grand Crystal begins today as FINAL FANTASY EXPLORERS, the new action-role playing adventure, is now available in Europe and PAL territories exclusively on the Nintendo 3DS.
Through solo play, or with up to three other explorers via the game’s local and online multiplayer functionality, players will dive into dungeons to collect crystals scattered throughout the world whilst battling legendary FINAL FANTASY eidolons.
In FINAL FANTASY EXPLORERS, the first fully fledged FINAL FANTASY game available for the Nintendo 3DS system, explorers can master over 20 customisable jobs, as well as transform into 11 of the series’ most familiar heroes including; Cloud, Squall and Tifa. With more than 200 quests and hours of playable content, adventurers need never stop exploring!
Edge Case Games, developers of the tactical space MOBA, Fractured Space, today announced that it is celebrating the game’s progression toward launch with a Free Weekend on Steam. Players who download the game this weekend will keep it forever with no additional cost required. Edge Case also today unveiled a visually dazzling new trailer showcasing Unreal 4 engine capabilities.
This week’s Fractured Space update delivers performance and gameplay enhancements and resets the game’s Tech Tree to its final version—all ships, experience and credits unlocked from this point forward will be reflected in the final game, planned for full release later in 2016. The reset puts all players at level one as they start building a fleet of the game’s gigantic capital ships by successfully engaging in team-based online battles.
“Today’s update brings us one step closer to the full release of Fractured Space and we want to celebrate the game’s progress by giving everyone a chance to play and own the game for free,” said James Brooksby, CEO of Edge Case Games. “Whether you have played in the past or not, this is a great moment to start your adventure with Fractured Space, with a chance to make your mark as a new Captain on equal footing with all players.”
Fractured Space is a team-based space combat game fought in gigantic capital ships with the intensity of a shooter and the big-picture-thinking of a strategy game.
Originally launched on Steam Early Access in November 2014 to critical and commercial success, Fractured Space has attracted over 400,000 users as the game continuously evolves using an open development model where the community is encouraged to talk directly to the development team, highly influencing the development of the final game.
Ubisoft revealed early details on the post-launch plans for Tom Clancy’s the Division including what players can expect in the Season Pass. As an online open world RPG, the game is designed to provide a max-level experience and keep players entertained after the main story arc is completed.
The development team has a complete post-launch plan to keep the experience fresh for all players, including several free updates, new features and functionality, as well as 3 major expansions to provide a renewed gameplay experience after launch. The free updates to be released for all players will add new game modes such as challenging group-oriented operations to test players’ abilities in co-op mode and win unique rewards. The 3 paid expansions are included in the Season Pass and will be released over the course of the year.
Each expansion builds on The Division, continuing your agent’s journey and progress with new content, gear and gameplay as you fight to take back New York:
• Expansion I: Underground This first major expansion opens up a new area to players as they explore the uncharted underworld of New York City with up to 4 friends for intense co-op action
• Expansion II: Survival In this expansion, players will have to survive as long as possible in a very hostile environment that will challenge even the most talented agents.
• Expansion III: Last Stand Stay tuned for more information. At launch, Season Pass owners will also unlock the exclusive Sawed-off Shotgun, a unique sidearm customized for short-range destruction.
Season Pass owners also receive a set of exclusive outfits and weapon skins, as well as access to special monthly benefits including exclusive content drops and special events. The Season Pass is included in the Gold Edition and Collector’s Edition of the game. Players can also sign up for the beta program starting 28th January on Xbox One and 29th January on PlayStation 4 and PC now at www.thedivisiongame.com/beta.
Tom Clancy’s the Division will be available on Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC on March 8.
Don’t let those pesky day-to-day distractions get in the way of your time with the Awakening DLC Pack. The Replacer is back and business is booming.
The Awakening DLC Pack includes four new multiplayer maps — Skyjacked, Rise, Splash and Gauntlet — and Der Eisendrache, Treyarch’s brand new Zombies adventure that picks up where The Giant left off.
Available first on PlayStation 4 on 2nd February 2016.
Can save the world from terrorists? Mobile gamers who download Hero Forces… Playcube, a rising mobile games developer, announced today that its new PvP shooting game, Hero Forces, has launched in the UK for iPhone, iPad and Android and is available on the App Store and Google Play Store. In Hero Forces, players will step into a supercharged world where, as members of an elite task force, they will take on terrorists and mercenaries from around the globe—or challenge rivals for supremacy in pulse-pounding, real-time PvP matches to see who gets bragging rights.
In the game, players move between cover points in third-person view while aiming and shooting at opponents using intuitive FPS-style controls. In Campaign mode, gamers progress through a series of challenging scenarios over four action-packed chapters where they must eliminate enemies and achieve mission objectives as they save the world from destruction by the evil organisation D.O.O.M. As they go, players will level up, buy new gear, and boost their weapons and armour to overcome increasing levels of challenge. In Survival mode, it’s all-out war as players take down successive waves of enemies in a variety of environments ranging from rain forests to cities to deserts. Hero Forces’ real-time PvP mode allows gamers to quickly take on friends and strangers in 1-on-1 solo battles or 2 vs. 2 team matches—and players can even team up to fight zombies in Co-op mode with up to 4 players.
“Hero Forces puts players right in the middle of non-stop, action movie-style battles they can pick up and play at any time on their mobile device,” said Some Wan, Executive Producer of Hero Forces. “With over 75 levels and thrilling Single Player, Co-op and PvP modes, players can blast away with weapons including guns, RPGs and sniper rifles to take out enemies, win PvP matches and level up to become a true H.E.R.O. of the free world.”
Nearly everything in the free-to-play game can be customised and upgraded, including assault rifles, shotguns, sniper rifles, machine guns, RPGs and armour. While players can buy upgrades and speed their progress, they are not blocked from progressing if they choose to play entirely for free. Players can recruit other heroes and equip them with advanced weapons and armour before they fight alongside the selected player character. The intuitive controls can be quickly mastered by shooter fans while rewarding skilled shooting with bonuses for headshots and combo kills. Players can also utilise grenades to take out groups of opponents, use RPGs to take down vehicles such as attacking helicopters, utilise environmental hazards like oil barrels to take out multiple enemies and switch weapons on the fly to eliminate enemy snipers and tough level bosses.
Playcube will support Hero Forces post-launch with additional updates including a new fifth chapter of Campaign mode missions, 2 extra levels for Co-op mode and new in-game content so players can always find new battles and challenges.
EA is ready to shake a few things up for this years E3, with a few months from this years E3, by introducing a fan-oriented EA Play event.
The EA Play event will run from 12th – 14th June and will be located near the Los Angeles Convention Center at Club Nokia, and will be open to the public. EA will also move its pre-E3 keynote to Sunday, 12th June at 1pm PT instead of the Monday prior to the start of the show. There will also be live events going on while London will be in single date 12th June. For those who are unable to attend the EA Play event in Los Angeles.
If you can’t be either in Los Angeles or London around the time of EA Play, the company will be offering a behind-the-scenes experience that will take online viewers into their event, while also offering livestreams of all its new games, exclusive behind-the-scenes content and special online-only prizes.
Electronic Arts has traditionally been one of the highlights of E3.The American company was riding an annual show very local taste, taking advantage of the great sports licenses in his possession (NFL, NBA, PGA, FIFA, etc.).In addition, also they are holding strong intellectual property as Battlefield, Mass Effect, The Sims or exclusive rights to Star Wars.It was hoped that the new data E3 of upcoming games based on the galactic saga met.
It is not the first company to renounce the E3.Nintendo takes several years without resorting to mass Angeleno event, although replaced its classical parallel conferences streamings, its famous Nintendo Direct.The Japanese also Konami also turned away from the great American show.The first years emitted a short video on the internet announcing its developments, but eventually did not do anything extraordinary for those dates.
Today Bandai Namco and From Software have released a multi set of new Dark Souls 3 screenshots.
The new screens include a look at a Pyromancer challenging maggot like enemies, a Mercenary looking down Firelink Shrine and a new look at the High Wall of Lothric along with other images from the game.
We got to play a few hours of Ubisoft’s forthcoming game Far Cry Primal and so here is the first 15 minutes of gameplay for you.
Far Cry Primal brings players back to the Stone Age, a time of extreme danger and limitless adventure, when giant mammoths and sabretooth tigers ruled the Earth, a time when humans were not at the top of the food chain but were fighting to climb it. As the last survivor of his hunting group, the player will learn to craft a deadly arsenal, fend off fierce predators, and outsmart enemy tribes to conquer the land of Oros and become the Apex Predator.
So here is the first 15 minutes of the game, captured from the PS4 version. The build is a pre-release beta version:
Far Cry Primal will be released on February 23rd on Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC.
Are you going to play it? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
Revolution has today announced the forthcoming release of the Revolution: the 25th Anniversary Collection box set on 11th March 2016, exclusively on PC, at a price of £29.99 / €39,99.
As well as Revolution’s full roster of games, the box set will contain comic books, posters, high quality audio tracks, a Broken Sword USB, and a digital timeline with extensive behind- the-scenes materials, plus two hours of video telling the Revolution story and the making of their games, featuring interviews with key team members and creative partners such as Dave Gibbons, Rolf Saxon and Barrington Pheloung.
“As a team, we feel very privileged to still be writing adventure games after twenty-five years, and are hugely proud of the loyalty and passion of our fans over this period. It is with great pleasure that we have put together this collection of our games, posters, comics and other material, as well as a comprehensive series of movies retracing the history both of the company and the games that we have created. We hope that it will appeal to all gamers who love adventure games,” said Charles Cecil, Founder & CEO of Revolution.
Distributed exclusively by Koch Media, Revolution: the 25th Anniversary Collection will include:
Revolution’s full catalogue of adventure games:
Broken Sword 1 – Shadow of the Templars Broken Sword 1: Director’s Cut Broken Sword 2 – the Smoking Mirror Broken Sword 2: Remastered Broken Sword 3 – the Sleeping Dragon Broken Sword 4 – the Angel of Death Broken Sword 5 – the Serpent’s Curse In Cold Blood Beneath a Steel Sky Lure of the Temptress
Comic Compendium for Broken Sword 1, 2 and 5 by Dave Gibbons and Angus McKie
Beneath a SteelSky Comic by Dave Gibbons
4 double-sided Posters
Broken Sword USB Stick with the Soundtrack of all games (soundtrack also included on DVD)
Audio CD with selected tracks of all Soundtracks
Exclusive Interactive Timeline with 25 years of behind-the-scenes assets and information, as well as six episodic documentary movies covering the 25-year history of Revolution and its games.
Turtle Rock Studios has today announced that Kala, a new Support class Hunter, is now available for Evolve, the 4v1 shooter in which four Hunters cooperatively fight to take down a single-player controlled Monster. This unique new Support character utilizes abilities similar to those possessed by Evolve’s various Monsters. Kala is available individually or as part of Hunting Season 2, which also includes Gorgon (Monster), Lennox (Assault class), Jack (Trapper class) and Emet (Medic class).
Dr. Kala Kapur is an expert on Monster biology and has spliced their DNA into her own genome in order to control the Monsters’ abilities and use them in battle. Her array of unique abilities include:
Siren Missiles – an improvement on Kraken technology, these airborne missiles home in on nearby enemies. When placed on the ground, they become more powerful, slower moving homing mines
Teleport Pads – an improvement on Wraith technology, these pads allow teammates to move instantaneously from one part of the map to another
Armor Reducer – using Goliath’s armor technology, the Armor Reducer shoots a beam which temporarily removes the Monster’s armor. The armor quickly regenerates once the beam connection breaks.
Additionally, players new to Evolve can obtain all currently available and announced playable characters, including Kala, as part of the Evolve: Ultimate Edition. Available now at select UK retailers, the Evolve: Ultimate Edition includes the base game, Monster Expansion Pack, Hunting Season 1 and Hunting Season 2.
