Deep Silver has unveiled Dambuster Studios, it’s latest studio which is working on the upcoming open-world FPS, Homefront: The Revolution.
Dambuster Studios was founded in July 2014, in Nottingham, UK. Lead by Hasit Zala (also Game Director on Homefront: The Revolution) the studio currently has 126 staff, the vast majority of whom are veterans of Crytek UK (formerly Free Radical Design).
Development on Homefront: The Revolution continues at full speed, with the game now scheduled for release on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Mac, as well as Windows and Linux PC in 2016.
“We are excited that Deep Silver’s acquisition of the Homefront IP and assets from Crytek has allowed development of Homefront: The Revolution to continue with minimum disruption,” said Hasit Zala. “The team here believes we are working on something truly special.”
“Dambuster Studios are an extraordinarily talented group,” said Dr. Klemens Kundratitz, CEO Deep Silver. “We are giving the team every opportunity to turn Homefront: The Revolution into a best-selling title, and have set a 2016 release date to provide them the time they need to achieve this. You can expect to hear more about the game later this year.”
Besides Dambuster Studios, the publisher owns the renowned Deep Silver Volition based in Champaign, Illinois; and mobile developer Deep Silver Fishlabs in Hamburg, Germany.
If you love your planet, and I’m sure you do, you owe it to yourself to enlist into ‘Super Earths’ Helldivers programme. A coop, twin thumbstick shooter from the sadistically team killing folks at Arrowhead, Helldivers will test your patience, your skill and of course your planetary patriotism.
If you can get through the game’s opening cutscene without either fawning over Starship Troopers or at the very least, bursting into laughter, then this is likely a fair warning for you. As demonstrated by the overly elaborate recruitment campaign, Helldivers takes few things seriously; and who could expect any different from the people who bestowed upon us the carnage that was Magicka? In terms of narrative, the game gets off to weak, if not still hilarious start. Super Earth, as it’s now known as in the future, is ruled by a ‘managed democracy’ and finds itself in the middle of a galactic battle against three hostile species.
It’s never this well organised…
Fighting a war on several fronts is never going to be easy, just ask you know who; this is reflected in the game via a synchronised global effort. In an attempt to create a variable sense of struggle and conflict, each faction will need to be pushed back into their own territory and eventually invaded themselves. Conversely, this can also happen in reverse too; not keeping up the aggressive pace will eventually see everyone having to band together and repel the occupying forces. For now it’s unclear as to how this will affect players in the long term, but already it’s nice to have a common overall goal for the community.
Over-arching objectives and intentionally hammy plotlines aside however; it’s the gameplay that’s likely to hold your attention. With room for couch coop alongside online support too, the methodically paced combat comes into its own as soon as another person joins your plight. The game’s tutorial does a fair old job of explaining the basics, such as how to shoot, move and get down whilst also (not so subtly) hinting at the possibility of death and how often to expect it. Everything will kill you in Helldivers, friendly fire is one thing to contend with, but there’s more… Calling in an ammo resupply atop an unsuspecting player will reduce them to pulp, an airdropped turret will differentiate between neither friend nor foe, and even the extraction shuttle won’t think twice about landing on your face should you be daft enough to stand beneath it.
Ah the bridge, the place where you spin in circles
Helldivers is hard, make no mistake about it, it’s a very challenging game. Whilst the early levels can easily be completed by oneself via employing stealthy tactics and keeping a watchful eye on the mini map for enemy patrols, the game will soon ramp up the difficulty. Each planet plays host to a specific set of enemies, whether it be the swarming, melee oriented bugs, the augmented cyborgs or the clairvoyant aliens, fighting each type demands a new set of tactics. Armoured enemies, ideally, need to be perpendicular to your gunfire to maximise damage and reduce the chances of deflected shots. Also certain ‘Stratagems’ perform better against different targets too, napalm style strikes work better on fleshier enemies than they do reinforced ones for example.
Aside from the standard weapons you deploy with, consisting of a primary and a pistol, you also get to choose four Stratagems to take into battle. Whilst they’re not crucial to the success of a mission, they’re there to help. As with everything else, they’re unlocked via level progression and completing select sets of missions. Deployable in game via a surprisingly tricky (when under pressure) d-pad combination, you can call in ammo supplies, bombing runs, turrets and many other helpful tools to aid you at any point. Balanced by a cooldown timer, and of course the threat of viciously maiming your team mates, they can often spell the difference between success and failure in a mission. Whether you prefer the stealthy or ‘loud’ approach, choosing where to deploy before starting a game matters significantly. You can choose to drop in right next to the objective at the risk of instantly alerting enemies that are likely lurking beside it, or you can go for the conservative approach and take a leisurely stroll in the hope you’ll stumble across some research-gaining pickups or some extra ammo along the way.
This is honestly, fairly calm
In terms of keeping players interested for the long haul, Arrowhead seem to have tried their best with unlockable kit, customisation options, a main level to rank up and of course the overall community goal to help contribute to. There are just a few things that let it down slightly, the largest culprit for me, being how quickly it starts to drag when you play alone. The difficulty is woefully unbalanced and the lack of hilarity from drop pods landing on teammates soon starts to kick in. To further impound this, mission objectives are distressingly repetitive. Within the first hour or so, you’ll have seen the majority of variation on offer, accelerating the notion that you shouldn’t be playing this by yourself.
At a glance, Helldivers can unfortunately often look quite bland, especially during the quieter moments. The environments are mostly a generic pastel shade and the enemy designs are nothing original to say the least. When it all inevitably kicks off however, it can get quite colourful and diverse, even if it does become chaotically difficult to differentiate between enemies at times.
Helldivers is not a game for those who like to go it alone, it’s also best played with a group of friends who aren’t partial to flipping out at the first sign of ‘accidental’ friendly fire. When not taken too seriously, there’s a lot of fun to be had here, even if it’s often at someone else’s expense. The variation in mission design will get dull quickly, but hopefully the carrot-on-a-stick mentality of unlocking new gear and upgrades should ensure Super Earth’s survival for a little while longer. Just remember accidents can and will happen…
With EA set to release Battlefield Hardline next week, we got to play a lot of multiplayer, so we thought we would share it with you.
There are 9 new maps and 7 new modes for Hardline, here are a few of them all captured in 1080p from the PlayStation 4 version of the game, and thanks to @Teflon for being the one who was playing:
Riptide Rescue
The Block Rescue
Bank Job Crosshair
Everglades Blood Money
Bank Job Team Deathmatch
Battlefield Hardline will be available March 20th on Xbox One, Xbox 360, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3 and PC.
Are you going to play it? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
Today Sony has confirmed that the next system software update 2.50 for the PS4, codenamed “Yukimura”, will soon deliver Suspend/Resume, as well as a number of other requested features to PS4.
Suspend/Resume will create an atmosphere where your games are immediately available at any time — just pick up your DUALSHOCK 4 controller, hit the PS button and get right back into the action of your games. When it’s time to log off, simply put your PS4 in Rest Mode and when you power up the next time, you’ll start your game where you left off*1. Spend less time getting into your games and more time playing your games.
Here is a list of new features and changes coming soon in “Yukimura”:
Sub-account to master account upgrade: Users with a sub-account will now be able to upgrade to a master account directly from their PS4 when they turn 18, removing restrictions for chat, enabling users to fund their own wallet, make purchases and more. Currently, users can upgrade their sub-accounts online.
Facebook friend search: Gamers globally have jumped into PS4 as a redefined social gaming experience and connecting with friends over the network is a huge part of what makes the PS4 community so special. PlayStation now lets you go even bigger by connecting with your Facebook friends on PS4 using your linked account. Search for Facebook friends who are PSN members and build on the foundation of Friends you already have in your list.
Remote Play & Share Play at 60 fps: The ability to customise the frame rate of Remote Play and Share Play will be added with “Yukimura”. Play to your bandwidth strengths and use this option to stream gameplay at 60 or 30 fps when using Remote Play or Share Play.
Accessibility Options: “Yukimura” introduces a wide variety of options to make the PS4 entertainment experience even more accessible. Options include text to speech, enlarged text, bolder fonts, higher contrast UI, zoom for displayed pictures, invert colours on screen and more. Users will also be able to reassign buttons for DUALSHOCK 4, making it easier for users with limited manual dexterity or limited reach and strength to play.
Trophy Improvements: We have received a tonne of feedback to improve Trophies. In “Yukimura”, a screenshot will automatically be captured at the moment a Trophy is earned, making it easier than ever for you to share your greatest gaming moments with your friends. We’re also adding more sorting options along with the new ability to remove games from the Trophy list that have 0% completion.
Share Video Clips to Dailymotion: When sharing standout PS4 moments via the Share button on DualShock 4, “Yukimura” will allow players to upload directly to Dailymotion.
No date for the next PS4 update, but I’m guessing very soon.
Ubisoft and Carbon Games announced that AirMech Arena is headed to the Xbox One, and PlayStation 4. The competitive real-time action strategy game will be free-to-play on Xbox Live accounts on Xbox One, and PlayStation Network in spring 2015.
In AirMech Arena, players control powerful transforming weapons known as AirMechs to protect their bases and takeover enemy fortresses. Gamers will collect up to nine available AirMechs, each with its own unique abilities, and command them to deploy defence units from the air or to transform into ground mode and defeat armies on the front line.
As they gain experience, they will earn kudos (in-game currency) to unlock upgrades, new units and pilots to expand their collection, and customise their appearance with exclusive skins and effects.
AirMech Arena allows players to complete quests and earn rewards in solo games, or partner with up to four friends for co-operative play online. Competitors can test their skills in ranked matches, or spar for practice in unranked mode. Teamwork is vital to succeed in multiplayer as allies must simultaneously manage resources and protect their bases while attempting to capture their opponent’s territory and defend against the opposition. The game also supports a spectator mode, which gives gamers the opportunity to view each other’s matches and see the top competitive players in action.
Today Slightly Mad Studios has announced that Project CARS will be available for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC delayed until mid-May 2015, with no mention of the Wii U version in today’s announcement. The shift of the release date is due to the team’s continued dedication to polishing the game.
“Despite our long heritage and pedigree in making critically-acclaimed racing games, Project CARS is by far the grandest and most intricately detailed of them all. Despite therefore the game being 99.9% complete, the remaining 0.1% attending to small issues and bugs has been tricky to anticipate. We’re absolutely dedicated to delivering a ground-breaking experience and by targeting mid-May fans can be assured that’s what they’ll receive” said Ian Bell, Head of Studio at Slightly Mad Studios. “Again, we want to thank our fans for their support and patience on this matter. There’s a high expectancy from racing fans around the world that Project CARS is going to be an exciting new contender in the simulation racing space and we firmly believe gamers deserve it to be in its most complete and polished state when they come to play it on day one. And since the gaming community is our primary focus and has always been at the heart of the project during development, we would like to offer some free content to all players as compensation for this short delay and as acknowledgement of how grateful we are. This gift, that we’re sure is going to excite fans, will be available from day one and revealed shortly. Keep an eye on our website for more info.”
Project CARS aims to deliver the most authentic, beautiful, intense, and technically-advanced racing game on the planet. Crowd-funded by a passionate community that has been involved in the development process from day-one to create their ultimate racing experience, Project CARS includes the largest track roster of any recent racing game, a huge variety of motorsports to play, a freeform and authentic career mode, world-class graphics and handling, dynamic time of day & weather, and a suite of community features and connectivity that leave the competition behind in the dust.
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts has today confirmed a number of nominees, presenters and other attendees at tomorrow’s British Academy Games Awards.
The Grade 1 listed Tobacco Dock, London, will be lit up by stars from across the spectrum of popular entertainment and the gaming industry to celebrate the very best games of the past 12 months and highlighting an outstanding level of creative excellence from a broad range of UK and international development teams.
The British Academy Games Awards, hosted by actor Rufus Hound, will be streamed live at www.twitch.tv/bafta from 17.30, featuring pre-show interviews on the red carpet and the ceremony itself from 19.00.
British music sensation Riva Taylor will open the Awards with an original song composed especially for this year’s ceremony. Taylor will also present an award, as will Coronation Street star Georgia May Foote, comedian Rob Beckett, singer-songwriter Dan Croll, actress and model Alix Wilton Regan, presenter Andy Akinwolere and more to be confirmed.
Industry luminaries confirmed to attend include Tim Schafer, co-designer of The Secret of Monkey Island, Mike Bithell, creator of Thomas Was Alone, and Martin Hollis, the game designer behind the console hit of the 90s, GoldenEye 007.
It’s literally hunt or be hunted in Evolve. You either play as a giant monster struggling to survive or the team of hunters tasked with taking the beast down. It’s a fresh take on multiplayer which is rare these days so I was keen to get involved.
As usual getting stuck in and playing games is the best way to learn. But there is a simple tutorial that explains the basic ideas. There are also a basic and advanced videos showing tactics for each character buried in the menu. It’s well worth checking out and to my surprise the advanced videos actually showed decent tactics worthy of any YouTube tutorial.
The hunters have four different classes available Assault, Trapper, Medic and Support. Assault is in charge of dealing damage plain and simple. The Trapper is charged with finding the monster and keeping it from escaping while the team gets to work trying to kill it. The Medic is required for the team to stay healthy, and living. Support does just that providing shields and the like for the rest of the team although they serve as good secondary damage dealers too.
Each class has three characters to choose from and each has a unique set of equipment and a class dependant ability. But even considering the unique loadouts there isn’t really much to play with. The Assault gets a personal shield to sponge damage, the Trapper gets the mobile arena which creates a barrier so you can actually fight the monster, the medic has an AOE healing mist and the support gets an area effect cloaking field.
Other than that load outs are absolutely unique and varied which is cool but they offer zero customization or freedom. Beyond picking a character there are no decisions to make other than a single alternate skin for each character. Honestly I don’t care all that much about the way I look. I’d far rather have had scopes and other equipment to make a class unique. It’s very restricting to select a character which chooses all three pieces of equipment and have no combinations or alternatives at all.
It won’t take long to unlock all the characters which would be a bonus except there’s not much else to unlock in Evolve. Once you’ve picked your character and got them unlocked that’s really it. Each piece of equipment has three upgrades but they do such a small amount, like 2% range or 2% damage, they really don’t matter. And the character perks aren’t enough to change gameplay noticeably. I didn’t find the sense of progression satisfying for long and without it the only reason to keep coming back is for the gameplay itself.
It also doesn’t help that the game has self described ‘key classes’ which are the Trapper and Medic classes. Given that your task as the hunters is to track, catch and kill the monster the Trapper is undisputedly the most important class. With a bad Trapper you will not find the monster. You will not catch it and therefore cannot deal any damage to it. A close second to that is the medic who is very much necessary to keep everyone alive in a battle. A bad medic will get the team killed quickly. The other two classes are far less important and primarily act as damage dealers.
It’s a shame that as Assault or Support you spend almost all your time following a Trapper, who’s doing all the work, deal some damage and then begin following again. The Trapper is definitely the key and there’s very little to do when you play as anyone else. Your Assault could be running on the spot in a corner all day and nobody would notice. If your Trapper doesn’t find and catch the target before it evolves you’re much more likely to lose.
Which leads me nicely onto playing as the monster. There are three monsters to choose from and each one has four unique abilities. Goliath is Godzilla like with fire breath and physical attacks. Kraken can fly to a limited degree and has some really devastating ranged electricity attacks. Finally Wraith plays as an assassin class using evasion and stealth techniques to win. Your job as monster is to basically play as a jungler and kill as many AI animals as you can so that you can evolve. All the time evading capture from the hunters.
In your first stage your pretty vulnerable and whilst you can probably survive a round in the mobile arena with the hunters it’s best avoided at this stage. At evolution 2 you have much more chance of standing up to the hunters and can give them a pretty rough time so really your goal is to reach the second evolution as soon as possible. Should you make it to the third evolution you can easily take on the Hunters. Even a Goliath’s fire breath becomes a ridiculously devastating AOE attack that can quickly end the game.
They key to success with the monster is strangely to run. So many times I’ve seen people stand and fight in the first evolution when running away would have let them fight back later when they’re almost unstoppable. And that’s where Evolve’s gameplay falls down for me.
If the monster runs and evolves quickly there’s very little chance of the Hunters winning. If you die and find that your medic is running around shooting a dead animal on the floor while your team dies you’re going to lose. If your Trapper can’t find the monster you’re going to lose. All you can hope is your team is good and your foe doesn’t know he/she should run away at the start. And that you don’t get surprised by a man eating plant that completely disables you without any chance of escape other than help from a team mate. How fun it is when you track the monster and a hidden plant grabs you only to reveal that your teammates are too far away to help and you can do nothing but sit and wait to die.
Evolve would definitely benefit from a more considered approach to tracking rather than the ‘never quite enough sprint’ approach it opted for. Tracking damaged foliage, animal corpses and disturbed birds are all well implemented ideas but are pointless in practice because you spend too much time running just to keep up. Even when trapped in an arena dome the best players will hide behind rocks and obstacles leading to a ridiculous looking game of hide and seek with a giant beast holding a thin branch in front its face as a disguise.
It’s easy for hunters at evolution one and almost impossible for them at three. There’s a forcibly rushed feeling to the tracking which stops any sense of tension or atmosphere from forming. A lack of meaningful upgrades and general lack of options in how to play result in a very short life span for Evolve. Unbalanced gameplay can lead to frustrating experiences and with nothing to look forward to in the future there’s very little to keep you interested in Evolve beyond the initial premise.
But I’m a sucker for originality and Turtle Rock Studios have done something new. There is definitely co-op fun to be had in Evolve, provided you’re not playing with complete lemons, which is often not your choice. Ultimately though Evolve is a great idea that has been poorly realised and frankly that’s a damn shame.
Over on the Playstation Blog it’s been confirmed that ‘Uncharted 4 – A Thief’s End’ will now be released Spring of 2016.
In a note on the blog, Naughty Dog directors Bruce Straley and Neil Druckmann have explained:
“After spending so many years with Nathan Drake, he means a lot to the team, and telling the climactic chapter of his adventures is a task we don’t take lightly – this game deserves every bit of the attention to detail, precise pacing, and nuanced storytelling Naughty Dog is known for.
So we’ve made the difficult choice of pushing the game’s release date. Giving us a few extra months will make certain that Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End not only meets the team’s high standards but the high standards that gamers have come to expect from a Naughty Dog title.
Thank you for your patience – we know the extra wait will be excruciating, but you’ll see it will be worth it as we reveal more about Uncharted 4 over the next year. The team at Naughty Dog will be heads down working through 2015 making sure that Nathan Drake’s story gets the closure it deserves. Come Spring 2016, you and Nate are in for one thrilling, emotional ride.”
