Team Ninja and Dark Horse Comics Launch Part 2 YAIBA: NINJA GAIDEN Z

Chris Hare
-
0
Team Ninja and Dark Horse Comics Launch Part 2 YAIBA: NINJA GAIDEN Z

Team NINJA and Dark Horse Comics today launched part two of the three-part YAIBA: NINJA GAIDEN Z digital comic series continuing the saga of the cyborg ninja’s legendary sword named “Heartless”. Part two finds Yaiba continuing on his quest to attain the mystical “Heartless” sword, encountering a new ally along his way. With different motivations, but both ultimately in the name of revenge, the two must work together in unexpected ways to conquer “the River of Three Crossings” and reach the Storm Temple.

YAIBANGZ_ Issue #2 Cover Art

Initially released digitally with an all-new full colour print comic to be available with first run retail releases of the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 on the 21st March 21st, the series is brought to life by Writers Tim Seeley and Josh Emmons, Artist Rafael Ortiz, Colorist Carlos Badilla with special cover art by James Harren.

YNGZ page 09

The comic will be available for free download at the Dark Horse Digital Store, www.digital.darkhorse.com, as well as through the Dark Horse Comics app (available through iTunes & Google Play). Additional information can be found at: https://digital.darkhorse.com/profile/4128.yaiba-ninja-gaiden-z-2/.

Perfecting Your GTA Online Races

Chris Hare
-
0
Perfecting Your GTA Online Races

The latest edition of Rockstar Game Tips is designed to help you get the most out of the Race Creator, with some general guidance that should ensure your Races are intuitive and fun to play. For avid Creators out there, read on for Race game design pro tips including some do’s and don’ts specifically suggested by our dev teams who are on the lookout for standout Jobs with Rockstar Verified potential. Definitely take note if you’re aspiring to join that illustrious group with one of your custom-made Jobs.

For those yet to jump into the Creator, we’re leading off with a guide to getting started, and be sure to look out for a future Game Tips article covering Deathmatch creations very soon.

Getting Started

Your first decision is to settle on which kind of Race you would like to build. Over and above deciding on a Land, Sea or Air Race, is it going to be a multi-terrain endurance on two wheels, a coast-to-coast sprint in classic sports cars, a jet stream through the city to test those knife flying skills, or something else entirely? Knowing this from the outset will give your Race a sense of identity that you can work towards when creating it.

In the Race Details Menu, you can set a range of parameters, including available vehicles, time of day, number of laps and weather. And don’t fret: all of these details can be adjusted later on should you change your mind or discover something’s not quite right during play-testing.

gta online

Location, Location, Location

Your first step in creating a Race is placing a Trigger. This is where players will need to go in Freemode to start your Race and also the approximate area where the Starting Grid will be. If you’re currently far away from where you’d like to start creating, just hit the Start button and select where you’d like to be on the map to head there instantly. You can also take a shot for the Lobby Camera, selecting the backdrop where players will gather before the start of the Race.

Your next port of call is to lay those all-important Checkpoints that will mark out your Race route. You can navigate around the game world using the left stick to move the camera, the right stick to pan and the L2/LT and R2/RT buttons to zoom. Take your time and carefully consider what terrain and locations you want your Race to cover, especially considering the Vehicle Settings you decided on in the Race Details Menu (although these can be changed at any point).

If you want to insert a new Checkpoint between two already existing ones, make sure the new Checkpoint is touching the blue line that appears on screen between the two previous ones, otherwise it will be placed at the end of the Race. The blue line will be highlighted yellow to indicate that you’re going to insert a checkpoint between two already existing ones.

If you select Laps as your Route Type in the Race Details Menu, then bear in mind that your Race layout will need to loop back on itself to work well. If you select Point to Point, then the final Checkpoint you place will automatically become the Finish Line. Note that all Races must be at least 0.62 miles and you must have completed at least one full Test (although we highly recommend doing more than just one Test of course for proper due diligence) before you can Publish.

Perfect Placement

Creative placement of Props, Weapons and Boosts is your opportunity to add to the existing layout of the game world and come up with something truly unique, so play around with it!

For those who choose to play it as a GTA Race, you can place Weapons, Health and Boosts along your Race route. These can all be found in the Placement > Weapons Menu, while Props can be found at Placement > Props. Smart placement allows you to block off a bridge, build a jump to add a little Vinewood spectacle to proceedings – or anything else your imagination can summon. You can also place a Stunt Jump so that the camera will cut to a special angle when going over a specific ramp. To do this you will need to place two markers – one at the end of the ramp, where players will take off from, and one to set the position of the Stunt Jump camera. The camera’s height can be adjusted by pressing the analog sticks.

gta online above

Land, Sea or Air?

Creating Land Races and Sea Races follow a similar process other than the obvious distinction that Land Race Checkpoints can only be placed on solid terrain and Sea Race Checkpoints can only be placed on water. Also be aware that certain Props can only be placed in certain areas: Buoys and Water Ramps, for example, are designed specifically for the wet stuff.

When creating Air Races you also have to consider the height of each of your Checkpoints – you can raise each Checkpoint by clicking in the left stick and lower them by clicking in the right stick.

Testing 1, 2, 3

As with all game development, rigorous testing and refinement is the best way to come up with something truly special. You can select the Test option at any point to play the Race for yourself without worrying about losing any of your progress. If you discover something you’re not happy with, return to the Creator by hitting down on the d-pad and you’ll shoot right to that point for a quick tweak or a major overhaul. You can also switch to in-game camera by pressing the Select/Back button to place Checkpoints and Props from the comfort of your vehicle. Not only does this allow you to place Race Checkpoints on the fly, it also gets you into areas that the Creator cursor can’t reach, such as underground tunnels.

When testing Races, it’s important to make sure each of the respawn points works properly, especially if they happen to be close to an obstacle or large structure.

gta online cars

Back to the Drawing Board

It happens to the best of us: sometimes you end up with a road to nowhere and Checkpoints messier than a Trevor Phillips bar crawl. If you want to go back to a blank canvas at any point, you can delete all Checkpoints or everything entirely in Placement > Delete Options (you can also delete All Weapons, All Props, All Dynamic Props, and All Stunt Jumps).

Design Tips

Now that you’re acquainted with some of the basic functions of the Content Creator, here are some words of advice to ensure that your Race stands out from the crowd.

  • Always make sure the next Checkpoint is easily visible. You want your Races to be settled by skill, not confusion.
  • For tight turns, place your Checkpoint slightly before the apex of  the corner. This will give the player ample notice to brake and allow them to focus on maintaining a good racing line.
  • 99% of the time, a well-placed Checkpoint is a better indication of an upcoming turn than a row of wrecked buses.
  • Use the description to let your players know how best to play your Race. If you’re using lots of Props to create roadblocks, for example, and you find in testing that the Race plays better with traffic disabled, let people know that.
  • Make sure Weapon and Health pickups are placed far enough apart so that a single player can’t grab them both at the same time. This will keep      your GTA Race competitive by not giving the leader too great an advantage.
  • Weapon pickups, specifically Rockets, should be used sparingly enough so that they present a potential turning point in the GTA Race, rather than a constant malaise. Consider placing them where they might be most tactically effective, like at the beginning of a long straight section.
  • Remember that all created Races can be played as GTA Races but only if you take the time to place weapon pickups. Ensuring that your Races are      well-balanced and enjoyable in both standard and GTA Race formats gives your players an incentive to come back for more.
  • Jumps should also be used sparingly. Too many jumps, or badly placed ones, can harm the flow and make your Race memorable for the wrong reasons.
  • Boost pickups should be placed on straight sections and key overtaking positions where they can be most effective.
  • Don’t place Stunt Jump cameras before turns as the player may lose sight of their vehicle.
  • Vehicle selection should always be carefully considered according to the layout and terrain of your course. Compacts are best suited to intricate city routes while the Off-Road class of vehicles is most at home in the mud and blood of Blaine County. If you’d like to experiment with different combinations of vehicle class, such as Sports Cars and Off-Road, then you’ll want to mix up the terrain and course so that neither has an inherent advantage. You can even select parts of the game world that provide split routes, such as tight, risky shortcuts for bikes on mountain trails. Balance is everything and the way to achieve that is through meticulous testing – try out your Race using various vehicles until you’re consistently setting similar times across the board.
  • Air Races should test pilots with a mixture of vertical and lateral, side-to-side movement, in order to break the routine of straight  flying for long periods of time. There are no handbrakes in the sky so extremely tight turns might make your Race too difficult or even unplayable. You may find it useful to switch to the in-game camera to      get a feel for the turning capabilities of each aircraft when fine tuning Checkpoint placement.
  • If you really want to test your players’ cockpit skills then think about how to combine Checkpoint placement and the game world itself to create challenging sections. For example, a series of Checkpoints weaving above and under bridges will test their altitude control, while placing one between neighboring skyscrapers will force them into knife flying position.
  • With everything here, experimentation is the key, so play around and have fun!

Sharing is Caring

When you’re completely happy, hit Publish and your Race will be available for the Social Club community. Players in your Freemode session will be able to access it via the Social Club website and from there they can download, play, rate and share your Job at any time.

Review: Strider

Sean Labode
-
0
Review: Strider

Struggling to find new titles for this generation of consoles I was pleased to try out the new Strider game on the Xbox One. Trying out this game soon became addictively playing, not taking breaks and then became an amazing nostalgic trip into old school side scrolling 2D action. Strider hasn’t been it’s own standalone game since it was out on the PlayStation back  in 2000.

Citygate_01_bmp_jpgcopy

14 years has passed and still it uses the same formula and mechanics of classic, fun gameplay and proves how revamping a retro game can be done successfully. So what makes Strider work, how has this style survived and is it worth a position in your console’s arcade library?

Back in the heyday of coin operated arcade machines players didn’t have any issues with playing games that weren’t fun. The simplicity of goals, destroy everything in sight with colourful explosions, an awesome memorable soundtrack and unique sound effects.

Strider has always followed this and what better setting of an urban ninja scaling the futuristic  metallic metropolis environments could there be? One thing that isn’t too important and isn’t appealing is the story itself. To be fair I didn’t pay too much attention to it and still had a great time playing which is a good sign that the gameplay was on point.

Underground_09_bmp_jpgcopy
You’ll have to charge up your attack by holding down the strike button mixing up the action. Later on ll find yourself hammering the attacks whilst dashing through hordes of robot foes and what Capcom does to keep this from being this simple is throwing frequent t affect the pacing at all.

The further you progress the more abilities you unlock and you’ll find yourself as the player becoming stronger and more versatile against previously tough enemies. As I sliced my way through the rooftops and sewers of the game I couldn’t help but realise how unique each level was, adapting with how strong the Strider was becoming. Areas I previously cleared out  became populated with new enemy types that were surprisingly relieving to see as I didn’t want to cut through the same bots over and over again.

Underground_11_bmp_jpgcopy
You’ll see some of the best level mechanics come into play as you fight and traverse across antigravity  stages which mixes up the gameplay as you run upside down and become mesmerised with what else could be thrown your way in such a game. And this game keeps on delivering the unknown, weird and wonderful keeping up the pacing and action from the start to completion.

The extra features include a survival mode from different unlocked levels in the campaign as well as a timed race against the clock mode where you must head through checkpoints in the fastest time. The traditional Capcom artwork for character and level design is amongst the bonus features and if you’re up for a challenge there are several difficulty settings to master. I  completed the base standard game less than 6 hours and that was barely pushing the 50% completion rating which even at that is longer than your typical games on the market already.

HQ_05_bmp_jpgcopy
I was pleased with how addictive this arcade title was and would happily say this style of genre hasn’t lost touch with the old school roots. Strider defiantly deserves a place in your arcade library.

Doom 4 Beta access for Wolfenstein: The New Order Pre-orders

Chris Hare
-
0
Doom 4 Beta access for Wolfenstein: The New Order Pre-orders

Today Bethesda Softworks announced that Doom 4 beta access will be given to anyone who pre-orders Wolfenstein: The New Order.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0H5-VfXDXLI

The news in was delivered in the Wolfenstein‘s latest trailer, which also revealed 23rd May as the release date for the MachineGames first-person shooter.

Wolfenstein: The New Order will launch on PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One and PC.

Review: Fifa 14

Sam Thompson
-
1
Review: Fifa 14

 

Deafening crowd roars, rippling shirts and more animations than you can shake a goal post at. Fifa 14 on the PS4 is here; due to the lack of a competitor, can it cement it’s victory by default by showing us what a multiplatform, next generation experience can do?

fifa14_ps4_dortmund_psg_inairplay

It’s not long before you’re dumped into a match with names synonymous with football greatness. Instantly, the ‘production values’ are noticeably high, the pre-match intro screams broadcast, stadiums are fully realised with crowds that not only have actual depth but are placed in the correct stands. Fans will roar at each other and fill the stadium with opposing chants, ball boys will occasionally over eagerly help out and throw an extra ball on the field and throw-ins take place in cut-scene free, real time. Ball physics have improved over previous iterations, no longer does a wayward ball guarantee the opposition gains possession. Small, inconsequential animations such as rolling your feet over the ball happen automatically; though they have no real world effect, they all add to the overall impression of detail.

Pace isn’t the most important stat anymore, stronger players have a much higher capacity to fend off others whilst keeping the ball. Passing works well, if not with the immediacy you might expect, occasionally players might take an extra touch before offloading to a teammate which can be frustrating. Players can make ordered runs into space to receive an all to often, defence splitting, through ball. Headers are generally hit and miss, with at times attackers managing dubious feats one minute and the next, not even bothering to jump. Defending, once you’ve sussed it out, is a matter of pressing the attackers whilst keeping your formation intact, it’s just a pity it’s not explained very well.

Whilst the skill games are fairly intuitive and there is a practice mode to hone your set piece plays, the lack of a basic tutorial is rather baffling. Unlike previous iterations in the Fifa universe, you’ll struggle getting past the most basic defender in a one on one scenario. The AI can be infuriatingly adept at closing the distance and putting some serious pressure on the attacker. However, as usual, they’re incredibly susceptible to a not-to-well placed through ball. Fortunately for all the people that are either new, or have taken a break, difficulty can be tailored to your needs, as along with the several standard levels, there are also customisable tweaks to configure should you wish.

fifa14_xboxone_etihad_livingworlds_crowd

Despite the initial settings offer great playability as standard, you can also adjust the player and AI settings to create a tailored playstyle to suit you. The sliders can be adjusted to make differences as subtle or ostentatious as you like. Everything from the likelihood of wayward passes to the width of defenders and their ability to push up the wings can be altered to increase the believability of the game. Simply playing around with the sliders can yield trial and error results, yet there are many tutorials on the internet explaining what each of the somewhat vaguely named bars do; along with setups to create an altogether different feeling game.

In the past, Fifa launch titles have, on occasion, been a little lacklustre. Fifa 14 has made up the difference this time however. Despite lacking a local coop career mode and the bewildering occlusion of a tournament mode on the PS4 and Xbox One, other great things have taken their place. An all new engine bespoke for the next gen has been implemented along with new, more varied animations. Player collisions and rather their abilities to avoid collisions are spruced up and manage to wow in slow motion replays.

Ultimate Team has of course returned with an all new mechanic that rewards synergy with teammates. When considering your starting line-up, it may be best to swap a few players around to get the most potential out of your squad. For example, players who are of the same nationality, or even play for the same league team should be placed adjacent to one another to reap more of a benefit. Balancing this along with giving players their preferred role can become quite tactical, fortunately, there is an indicator bar that will show you how effective you’ve been. Another positive is that Ultimate Team will transfer across the console generation should you decide to upgrade.

fifa14_xboxone_psg_marseille_elitetechnique

The one major criticism I have of Fifa 14, is the complete lack of engagement if you are offline. The career mode, outside of playing matches is devoid of any personality, there are no press interviews or training games, just the arbitrary managerial decisions that dictate whether or not you’ll participate in the next match or not without any explanation regarding the outcome. The cycling news ticker that often highlights interesting posts to read, usually opens a list of unrelated topics, so when you do decide to click on an article you actually want to read, you must manually find it instead of it opening outright.

Presentation across the board is high if not sometimes unnecessary, the graphics and player animations due to the newly developed Ignite engine are fantastic; especially considering it’s release on pretty much every console you can think of. Team rosters and licences are of the usual upmost quality, even if the eyes of some players posses a certain haunt-like quality. The main menu is a little over done however, a slew of content is strewn somewhat haphazardly across a few pages in a Windows 8 style, with many tiles being links to online portions of the game.

Some singleplayer frustrations keep Fifa from becoming all it could be. Matches flow with purpose, beauty and poise yet the immersion values of being offline are too low. Without an online connection, you’ll be missing out on some of the better parts of Fifa 14: Ultimate Team and generally playing against other humans enthrals such a different experience, even if you do get thrashed game after game!

Review: The Lego Movie Videogame

phillvine
-
0
Review: The Lego Movie Videogame

The long-awaited Lego Movie is now out. And I can’t possibly imagine who wouldn’t want to see it. The humour in the Lego videogames has entertained me for long enough and to see it make it to a fully fledged movie is great. And then bizarrely we’ve now got the video game of that movie.

For fans of the Lego games there isn’t too much that’s going to shock and surprise you in The Lego Movie’s gameplay. The familiar combat makes a return although the characters don’t have quite as many abilities as we’ve become accustomed to. Especially when compared with the recent Marvel Superheroes the combat can at times become a bit tired.

The LEGO Movie Videogame_Batman_7

But it’s reasonably well paced and you usually don’t do too much fighting without coming across a puzzle to solve or a cutscene to watch. And again the puzzles are nothing out of the ordinary but rather what we have all come to expect from Lego games. Usually it’s a case of destroying a pile of bricks to make a new object or finding certain parts before you proceed. It’s the simple gameplay we’ve all grown to love backed up with a reliance on the completionist that lurks inside all of us.

There’s the usual gold bricks to collect and red bricks that unlock crazy stud multipliers. Free play will allow you to replay a level with whichever characters you choose to pick up anything you might have missed. Although constant character switching that occasionally caused tedium on Marvel Superheroes is greatly reduced. Admittedly this means less variation between characters’ abilities but when all that actually means is having to complete a level repeatedly just because you can’t bring along enough characters I’m glad for the change.

And the amount of characters you can take to a level is larger too and without a ridiculously long load time if you decide to switch one out. So things are generally smoother and just less dull for the player, especially when going for completion. And because of the reduction in abilities there is less chance you will need to be constantly swapping anyway.

That’s not to say there isn’t any variation between characters and with the entire Lego universe at its command there are all sorts of totally different characters available. This obviously not only opens up options for comedy but for gameplay too. As funny as interactions between characters are it’s great to be a wizard or a pirate one second and a spaceman in the next.

Benny

In fact Benny has to be the best character in the film/game purely because I owned one (and still do somewhere) so long ago that had the exact same broken helmet. Or possibly Unikitty I can’t decide. Or Batman. It’s impossible to decide but watching the gruff caped crusader argue with the cutest character in anything ever is absolute genius. And when batman refuses to walk a plank claiming “I didn’t bring my shark repellent spray” I nearly died with laughter. This game is basically a family friendly Family Guy. Sure there’s loads of stuff for the kids but they likely don’t own a Robby with his crappy broken helmet. Or know the original Batman movies – how tragic for them.

Graphically things keep looking better for Lego games even if it is only by almost unnoticeably small amounts. The overly shiny plastic and all-Lego scenery looks better than ever and the muddle of pieces from all the completely different Lego universes creates a wonderfully vibrant world. And it’s been a long time since I’ve played a movie tie in that uses clips of the movie as cutscenes but I found myself looking forward to them every time.

The movie itself really does look stunning. Visually speaking it’s impossible to tell that the movie is CG and not painfully crafted from a million Lego pieces. It does stand as a rather stark contrast to the gameplay visuals and I wonder if eventually the Lego games might look more like the movie. I reckon that’d be pretty cool.

The LEGO Movie Videogame_Lincoln_01_New

The Lego Movie Videogame is everything we’ve come to expect from a Lego game. Unfortunately it does very little above and beyond and I have to wonder where the future of the franchise will go – as far as videogames are concerned. I can’t help but enjoy the games thoroughly and look forward to each new edition but there has to come a point where things need to move forwards. It’s difficult to expect much from a game that is essentially a tie-in to a toy franchise but the Lego videogames are a lot more than that now and next time it’d be nice to see something new to keep the titles fresh.

It strikes me a bit like “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”. There’s very little to fault with The Lego Movie Videogame but at the same time it doesn’t do much to wow us. The humour derived from having so many different characters involved rather than just limited to a single universe is brilliant and it carries from the movie to the video game with aplomb, with jokes not even seen in the movie. So it’s good fun, looks nice and this instalment is particularly funny.

Even given this I feel the Lego videogames need to change something up. I’m not sure what it might be but if they continue to follow the same formula over and over eventually they will become stale and this was the first time I felt they’re rapidly approaching that point. It’s a little formulaic but it’s also probably the best videogame movie tie-in I’ve been on in a long time. Everything is average, and that’s just fine for now.

Assassin’s Creed Freedom Cry Single player Standalone DLC out today

Chris Hare
-
0
Assassin’s Creed Freedom Cry Single player Standalone DLC out today

Ubisoft has announced that the single-player adventure, Assassin’s Creed Freedom Cry, will be available today, 19th February as a stand-alone game exclusively for download on PlayStation4 and PlayStation 3. The Windows PC version will be available on 25th February. Originally released as an add-on adventure for Assassin’s Creed IV Black Flag, Assassin’s Creed Freedom Cry will not require the purchase of Assassin’s Creed IV Black Flag.

LOGO_Freedom_Cry Standalone UK

Assassin’s Creed Freedom Cry tells the story of Adewale, a man born into slavery. Once a pirate and now a trained Assassin, Adewale is shipwrecked in 18th-century Haiti, home to the most brutal slavery in the West Indies. In an effort to get back to the sea, Adewale assists the locals in exchange for a crew and a ship.

ShowPaP_DLCStandalone

The more he fights for freedom from slavery, however, the more he is drawn into the Maroon slave community, forcing him to face his vicious past. In the game, Adewale will take his new crew and set of weapons, including a machete and a blunderbuss, to assassinate enemies and free slaves, delivering merciless justice in plantations and cities alike.

No stranger to the sea, Adewale will command a fearsome brig to take down slave owners in the Caribbean.

Bioshock Irrational Games to close doors

Chris Hare
-
0
Bioshock Irrational Games to close doors

Today BioShock developer Irrational Games is being cut down to a team of 15, the Co-Founder Ken Levine revealed in an update on the studio’s website. When to think that the developer was sitting strong at 200 employees fewer than two years ago for Bioshock Infinite.

irrational-logo

“I am winding down Irrational Games as you know it. I’ll be starting a smaller, more entrepreneurial endeavor at Take-Two. That is going to mean parting ways with all but about fifteen members of the Irrational team,” Levine wrote. “There’s no great way to lay people off, and our first concern is to make sure that the people who are leaving have as much support as we can give them during this transition.”

Levine says on the website that current staff will “have access to the studio for a period of time to say their goodbyes and put together their portfolios,” and that other Take-Two studios will be available to “discuss opportunities within the company.” Third-party developers and publishers will be able to participate in a “recruiting day” hosted by Irrational Games, offering outgoing employees interviews for other positions.

Irrational’s goal moving forward is “to make narrative-driven games for the core gamer that are highly replayable.”  Additionally, Levine says the developer will move into the digital space exclusively to “foster the most direct relationship with our fans possible.”

Final Fantasy XIV : A Realm Reborn now out on Steam

Chris Hare
-
0
Final Fantasy XIV : A Realm Reborn now out on Steam

Square Enix Ltd today announced that its massively multiplayer online role playing game (MMORPG) FINAL FANTASY XIV: A REALM REBORN  is now available on the Steam PC digital service.

Final Fantasy XIV A Realm Reborn

In addition, to celebrate the launch on Steam, FINAL FANTASY XIV: A Realm Reborn will be available for 50% off the regular price for both the Standard and Collector’s Editions. This special promotional offer, which is running across Europe and North America, commences the first week from launch and will end on 25th February 18:00 GMT.

FINAL FANTASY XIV: A Realm Reborn is available now on the PlayStation 3 and Windows PC and comes to PlayStation 4, 14th April. A free 30-day trial is included for new accounts, with monthly subscriptions starting at £7.69 / €10.99.

Rayman Legends Out Today on PS4 and Xbox One in the US

Chris Hare
-
0
Rayman Legends Out Today on PS4 and Xbox One in the US

Ubisoft announced that Rayman Legends, the acclaimed platformer developed by Ubisoft Montpellier under the direction of Michel Ancel, is now available in the United States for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, and will hit UK shelves on 21st February.

RL_NEXTGEN_Screen_3

It’s now even better on next-gen with exclusive content and new features. With the upgraded capabilities of next-gen consoles, the award-winning visuals of Rayman Legends have been enhanced to show the gorgeous hand-drawn artwork and fluid animations in even sharper detail, while loading time between maps has been suppressed.

Each platform will have a set of exclusive playable characters to unlock in the Heroes Gallery. On Xbox One, there are two characters designed after the infamous villain from Far Cry 3, Ray Vaas and Far Glob, as well as Splinter Ray, inspired by Sam Fisher. PlayStation®4 players will have access to Assassin Ray, inspired by the hero Edward Kenway from Assassin’s Creed IV Black Flag. Both platforms will also include a new VIP status and hero, Champion Ray, which will be granted to the most active and highest-ranked players in the Online Challenges, as well as to players who are actively involved in the Rayman Legends community.

RL_NEXTGEN_Screen_1

Each console will also have a set of exclusive gameplay features. The Xbox One version will include 10 exclusive challenges to unlock new achievements. These challenges require you to perform specific actions during a limited amount of time and are associated with various aspects of the game, such as player skills, co-op play, Kung Foot, and more. The PlayStation 4 will allow use of the controller’s touchpad for actions such as scratching Lucky Tickets, as well as a new Camera Mode. In this mode, players use the touchpad to freeze the screen and zoom in and out of the picture. Focusing on the hand-drawn visuals and animated-nuisances created during development, camera mode allows you to share these treasured moments with the rest of the community.

RL_NEXTGEN_Screen_4

Rayman Legends on PlayStation 4 will also support Remote Play so you can continue playing from your PS Vita while the TV is turned off.

Daedalic announce DLC and major update for roguish RPG Blackguards

Chris Hare
-
0
Daedalic announce DLC and major update for roguish RPG Blackguards

Daedalic Entertainment today announce Untold Legends, new DLC for turn-based RPG Blackguards releasing 4th Match 2014. The release a major update for the game that will implement balancing improvements.

blackguards_2014-02-18_11-17-16-36

Shedding light on the background and heritage of the former slave and arena fighter Takate, Untold Legends expands the story of Blackguards. From his home in the foothills of the rainforest of South Aventuria, players will learn how Takate became a slave gladiator and get the opportunity to carry out his revenge on the slavers who caused him a life of pain. In addition to new story elements, Untold Legends introduces new weapons, additional quests, more than 10 new battle maps as well as 25 previously unreleased music tracks.

blackguards_2014-02-18_11-06-33-23

Alongside the DLC, Daedalic will release Patch 1.3 for the main game, implementing improvements to the games balancing system as well as giving players further insight into their character’s hit chances and how these can be improved. Hit chances will be shown during all battles for all characters and is no longer dependent on Animal Lore or Warcraft talent, giving players the opportunity to weight the odds of their attacks. The patch will also give players the option to display a full battle log, including dice rolls, during combat enabling full transparency of events.

Players who purchased the Blackguards Contributors Edition through Steam will receive Untold Legends automatically for free. Those who purchase the Deluxe Edition will receive the 25 previously unreleased tracks for free when installing Patch 1.3.

Untold Legends will release on 4th March 2014 through digital download portals for £3.99.

First look at the Order 1886 Trailer can you get you guns out

Chris Hare
-
0
First look at the Order 1886 Trailer can you get you guns out

Watch the new trailer of The Order 1886, the Ready at Dawn’s upcoming PS4 exclusive, The Order: 1886 looks to be an interesting new take on Arthurian legend. The game being a third-person shooter, details on gameplay have been a bit scant, but Ready at Dawn has now shared a little of what Ready at Dawns unique take on Victorian London will bring to the PlayStation 4.

The Order’s most distinctive features is the ambitious blend between cutscenes and gameplay.

Here are 18 screenshots from The Order 1886 what do you think so far of game.

gaming-the-order-1886-screenshot-1 gaming-the-order-1886-screenshot-2 gaming-the-order-1886-screenshot-3 gaming-the-order-1886-screenshot-4 gaming-the-order-1886-screenshot-5 gaming-the-order-1886-screenshot-6 gaming-the-order-1886-screenshot-7 gaming-the-order-1886-screenshot-8 gaming-the-order-1886-screenshot-9 gaming-the-order-1886-screenshot-10 gaming-the-order-1886-screenshot-11 gaming-the-order-1886-screenshot-12 gaming-the-order-1886-screenshot-13 gaming-the-order-1886-screenshot-14 gaming-the-order-1886-screenshot-15 gaming-the-order-1886-screenshot-16 gaming-the-order-1886-screenshot-17 gaming-the-order-1886-screenshot-18

The Order: 1886 will be released on PS4 in 2014, with an Autumn release recently teased.

Heroes of Tyria Must Rally to Save Lion’s Arch in Latest Guild Wars 2

Chris Hare
-
0
Heroes of Tyria Must Rally to Save Lion’s Arch in Latest Guild Wars 2

NCSOFT and ArenaNet, has introduces the penultimate chapter in the saga of super villain Scarlet Briar today with its latest living world release, “Escape from Lion’s Arch”. The release opens with the cosmopolitan city of Lion’s Arch, a multicultural centre of trade dating back to the original Guild Wars, under siege by Scarlet’s forces. Even as the heroes of Tyria, made up of players and the iconic characters of this diverse world, rally to save the city, the ominous sense that Guild Wars 2 will never be the same is evident from the opening scene. Lion’s Arch is burning!

GW2_-_02-2014_-_EFLA_-_Screenshot_07

For the past year, players have battled Scarlet’s minions, foiled her schemes, and discovered more about her sinister goals. Now, after months of planning, Scarlet’s attack on Lion’s Arch sets the stage for a final ruthless push in her still mysterious grand plan. In “Escape from Lion’s Arch”, players battle alongside the Lionguard to take on Scarlet’s dark allies and evacuate as many citizens from the city as possible. They will face ferocious challenges as her minions roam freely through the besieged city and in the waters of the harbour. To protect the innocent, players will have to battle everything from the brutal charr of the Flame Legion and the towering clockwork watchknights to vicious creatures such as the krait and the feared Aetherblade sky pirates.

GW2_-_02-2014_-_EFLA_-_Screenshot_01

As all of this takes place, a deadly miasma poison spreads across the city, forcing desperate survivors into refugee camps in the outskirts. At the Vigil Keep in the Gendarran Fields, players will find a new rallying point and an impromptu hub of trades and services they’ll need to defend Lion’s Arch. Only they stand between Scarlet and total devastation for one of the most important cities in Guild Wars 2.

 

Game Announces 100 Special Thief LockIn Events for you friends

Chris Hare
-
0
Game Announces 100 Special Thief LockIn Events for you friends

GAME and PlayStation are joining forces with Square Enix to offer 100 lucky GAME Reward members and their friends the chance to win their very own VIP launch night event for upcoming title Thief, released on 28th February.

thief_thumb.jpg

100 GAME stores throughout the UK will give fans the chance to win an exclusive lock-in launch party for themselves and three friends to be hosted on Thursday 27th February. To be in with a chance to win, gamers need to visit their local participating store or head online to its Twitter page and make their claim for why they deserve to win, using #GAMEthief100 (participating stores listed below). Entry opens from 11.00am 18th February and closes at midday on 26th February.

The best pitch will be selected by the participating stores and 100 lucky gamers will win their own private GAME lock-in as well as a sleeve signed by Nicholas Cantin (Art and Game Director) and Daniel Windfeld Schmit (Lead Level Designer). At the end of the night, the winners will also be able to purchase the much anticipated game before anyone else.

Gamers must be aged 18 or over with a pre-order of the game on their GAME Reward account to be considered. ID will be required for all attendees.

Ailsa McKnight, Marketing Director at GAME said:
“Our exclusive lock-in events give gamers the chance to come together as a community and get early, hands on access to the best titles in gaming. We’re once again partnering with the teams at Square Enix and PlayStation, this time to bring the long-awaited and hugely popular Thief to life in our biggest lock-in series to date. For one lucky gamer in each of the 100 stores taking part this really will be a money-can’t-buy experience.

“The biggest titles demand the best events – and at GAME we will always deliver for our gaming community, whether that is with incredible lock-ins, exclusive in-game content or the best midnight launches on the high street.”

The 100 Thief Stores taking part can be contacted in store or via twitter below, further details can be found on http://instore.game.co.uk/

1...922923924...1,616Page 923 of 1,616