Until Dawn sees a group of eight friends on their annual mountain getaway, which turns into a night of sheer terror. However, before things go awry you’ll get to know the characters and understand the complex relationships in their social circle.
When you start the game you will meet the characters as they couple off around the house (by choice or circumstance) before their holiday turns into an all-out fight for survival. If you’ve watched previous trailers and demos you’re already familiar with Ashley and Chris and their ‘will-they won’t-they’ friendship. One of our favourite things about this dynamic is that their relationship is not pre-defined at the beginning of the game; your choices will decide if the relationship either blossoms or wilts before the night is out. That is, if they survive.
Choice is a central tenet of Until Dawn. Your actions not only determine who lives or dies, but will also directly influence the relationships between the characters (romantic or otherwise). You will even influence how characters react to each other.
Choice & Consequence – Make the impossible choices, where every decision in your terrifying search for answers could mean the difference between life and death, but for who?
Next-Gen Horror – Harnessing the power of an evolved Killzone Shadow Fall engine, Until Dawn will shock you with realistic graphics and terrify you edge-of-your seat gameplay.
Butterfly Effect – Carve your path to survival with branching story lines that promise no two experiences will be the same. The choices you make may ripple unseen into moments of grave peril, or they may very well save a life.
Gripping Story – Immerse yourself in a truly spine-tingling story written in collaboration with famed cult writer/directors Larry Fessenden & Graham Reznick.
If you are mean to a friend, they may or may not choose to save you later in the game. The narrative will always continue forward, adapting to your decisions throughout the game – meaning that your game will be noticeably different from anyone else’s.
Showcase Peterborough and the European Gaming League are excited to bring a live eSports event to the big screen for the first time.
Streamed live from the grand final in central London, the audience will experience a Halo 2 tournament like they have never seen it before, complete with live commentary from Europe’s top talent.
Europe’s best players will be fighting it out to win €10,000 and a wild card place at the Halo Championship Series Season Finals in the US in March. The event will include special food & drink packages and customers booking luxurious XLR seating will receive an exclusive Halo T-shirt.
Glen Elliot, Founder of the European Gaming League says,“We are very excited to be partnering with Showcase Cinemas in bringing the UK’s first ever console eSports event shown live on a cinema screen”.
Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate is available today for the Nintendo 3DS. The game is compatible with the whole Nintendo 3DS family including the New Nintendo 3DS which has also released today! Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate is the essential purchase and can be found on the Nintendo eShop as well as at retail stores across Europe and North America.
A free downloadable Starter Pack will be available in-game for a limited time starting today through 15th March which includes useful items to assist players as they start their hunting journey. The items include a variety of potions, bombs and traps as well as Super Mushrooms which provide early access to the Mario or Luigi gear for the Felyne Palico companions.
In addition, fans that purchase the digital version of the game on Nintendo eShop through 15th March will receive a bonus download code for a free “MH4U Gore & Seregios” theme that can be used to customize the Nintendo 3DS system’s HOME Menu background.
Watch the first trailer for Just Cause 3 coming from Avalanche Studios and Square Enix announced which will be heading to PC, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4 later this year and today, we’re being treated to one of the first trailers for the game.
The Firestarter trailer for Just Cause 3 is full of CG goodness, although there are some subtle hints pointing at some new features Avalanche Studios is bringing to the game as well as setting the tone for the game. Just Cause 3 will focus more on Rico this time around as we learn what motivates him to travel the world to destroy as a way to preserve freedom.
The trailer, entitled “Firestarter”, takes a look inside the mind’s eye of Rico Rodriguez, the most explosive action hero in gaming.
The development of Space Hulk: Deathwing, the First Person Shooter for PC and consoles from StreumOn Studio, with the glimpses of the game’s first environments now emerging. Each and every one of the game’s elements have been carefully crafted by the talented teams from StreumOn, with flawless regard for detail and respect for the Space Hulk license created by Games Workshop.
This is perfectly illustrated in the new trailer below for Rise of the Terminators. Supported by an original soundtrack from band Kadebostany “Walking with a Ghost“, its powerful images will immerse you in the Warhammer 40,000 universe. Terminators and Genestealers come alive and clash together in a deadly struggle, and this is only beginning.
Space Hulk: Deathwing will release on consoles and PC.
Space Hulk: Deathwing is a First-Person Shooter experience of Games Workshops classic Space Hulk boardgame set in the universe of Warhammer 40,000, developed on Unreal Engine 4 by Streum On Studio, the team behind E.Y.E: Divine Cybermancy. Published by Focus Home Interactive and co-produced by Cyanide Studio, Space Hulk: Deathwing offers players the chance to experience a desperate battle against Genestealers in the claustrophobic tunnels of a Space Hulk, as they will gain skills, new abilities and new equipment thanks to experience earned during perilous missions.
Space Hulks drift along the currents of the Warp, the immaterial dimension of Chaos. Made up of gigantic mangled asteroids, derelict ship wrecks and other spatial debris, they sometimes grow to the size of a moon and often contain treasured and ancient lost technologies. However, they are ripe with danger including infestations of the lethal Genestealers.
Players take on the role of a Space Marine from one of the most secret and most feared Space Marine Companies: the Deathwing from the Dark Angels. Strap on your Terminator armour and equip the emblematic weaponry of the Space Marines to overcome the threats awaiting you in the Space Hulk. As a Librarian, you will also master the destructive powers of the Psykers. Your skills and performance in battle grant you Fervor Points, to spend on 4 skill trees allowing you to improve your abilities, unlock new powers, access powerful relics and devastating new weapons.
Today the video game concert production company Merregnon Studios it pleased to announce that Final Symphony, a brand new album of musical arrangements from the FINAL FANTASY video game, and based on the sell-out concert tour of the same name, will be releasing globally as digital download on 23rd February.
Performed by the world-famous London Symphony Orchestra in the presence of composer Nobuo Uematsu, and completely recorded, mixed and mastered at London’s legendary Abbey Road Studios, Final Symphony the album represents a new benchmark in video game music production. Featuring the talents of conductor Eckehard Stier and solo pianist Katharina Treutler, both of whom delighted audiences during the award-winning tour, Final Symphony is sure to enchant music fans the world over
“For me, this album marks the ultimate video game music production,” commented Merregnon Studios’ Thomas Böcker, producer of Final Symphony. “It was an absolute musical privilege to work with the London Symphony Orchestra on Final Symphony in 2013 – the orchestra’s first ever live performance of music from a video game – and to have them back in the same room as Nobuo Uematsu at Abbey Road Studios is like hitting the video game music jackpot. This album will showcase video game music at its very highest quality and I can’t wait to share it with the world.”
Final Symphony is an officially licensed series of concerts featuring symphonic music from the video games Final Fantasy VI, VII and X, with exclusive arrangements penned by Masashi Hamauzu, Jonne Valtonen and Roger Wanamo. First performed in May 2013, Final Symphony has enjoyed sell-out success in Germany, United Kingdom, Japan, Denmark, Sweden and Finland, featuring the virtuoso talents of some of the world’s leading orchestras and soloists.
TECMO EUROPE revealed today exciting new information and additional features for ‘Toukiden: Kiwami’, the demon slaying epic currently in development for the PlayStation 4 and the PlayStation Vita , which will be released across Europe on 27th March 2015.
‘Kiwami’s’ new story starts three months after the conclusion of the original Toukiden with a deeper introduction into the intricate hierarchy of the Slayer organisation. Players are introduced to an elite slayer unit, ‘the Hundred Demon Corps.’ and their heroic Captain, Soma. Soma has made a name for himself during the wars of the Awakening and is now leading the Third Company to the Utakata Village to re-enforce their resistance against Oni coming from the north. His weapon of choice is an enormous spiked club and he wields it with such bravery and conviction that it has earned him the unwavering loyalty of his men.
With him travels Reki, a young slayer with an uncanny proficiency in the naginata. Reki was send from the Village of Shiranui to join the ‘Hundred Demon Corps’ and has quickly proven herself composed, focused and cool in a fight.
The last of the new Slayer characters that join the roster in ‘Toukiden: Kiwami’ is the sweet yet mysterious Horo; a girl with little memory of her past who suddenly appeared in Utakata and took up the fight against the Oni. Horo brings with her an exciting new weapon addition to the Toukiden armoury: an oversized rifle. Despite its size, the rifle is a weapon of great strength and accuracy and it provides a great long-ranged alternative to bows as it fires both rounds and grenades.
Apart from the new weapons and character additions, ‘Toukiden: Kiwami’ also includes an increased number of Mitama (300 in total, up from 200 in the previous title). Mitama are the freed souls of fallen heroes who remain to assist the slayers in their fight. The souls can be equipped by the player and their powers can be upgraded up to 12 levels (two more than in ‘the Age of Demons’). Fully levelling up a Mitama gives access to extra boosts and powers that will help the player survive through the challenges of the treacherous hunts.
First look at HITMAN: AGENT 47 (UK cinemas 27th August 2015) centres on an elite assassin (Rupert Friend) who was genetically engineered from conception to be the perfect killing machine, and is known only by the last two digits on the barcode tattooed on the back of his neck. He is the culmination of decades of research – and forty-six earlier Agent clones — endowing him with unprecedented strength, speed, stamina and intelligence.
His latest target is a mega-corporation that plans to unlock the secret of Agent 47’s past to create an army of killers whose powers surpass even his own. Teaming up with a young woman who may hold the secret to overcoming their powerful and clandestine enemies, 47 confronts stunning revelations about his own origins and squares off in an epic battle with his deadliest foe.
Today Techland has announced that it will be adding some free DLC to Dying Light that will introduce a new hard mode to the game in response to some players who aren’t finding the game enough of a challenge.
As well as the new level of difficulty, the free add-on will also bring a few new skins to the zombie table.
The hope is that hard mode will make the tough night phases even more dangerous, with Volatiles proving fatal and undead enemies proving more deadly than usual. Stealth will be of paramount importance to survive. Or you can do what we do and cower in a building until morning comes.
Hard Mode will feature various changes to the gameplay including:
Ramped up nighttime difficulty
Deadlier and more vicious foes
Increased need for stealth and silence
Scarce resources and supplies
… and plenty of other additions
Dying Light’s upcoming free hard mode update will be “coming soon”
Beat the winter blues with over £70 worth of apps free from the Amazon Appstore
Amazon has announced that the Amazon Appstore is offering over £70 worth of Android apps and games completely free. The promotion will run from 12th-14th February, giving users three days to help themselves to a range of great apps at no cost.
Exercise!
Kick off a new fitness regime with your new personal trainer, Sworkit PRO(£0.65), for daily circuit training workouts, Yoga, Pilates and stretching routines. Or, map and track your sports and fitness activities, such as running, jogging, biking or walking withRuntastic PRO (£3.30).
Train your brain
Too cold to go outside? Give your brain a workout and learn to speed-read with a range of viewing exercises which train your eyes to process text quicker with Speed Reading Trainer Full(£1.27), or indulge your musical side and learn play the guitar with Guitar Pro (£4.89). And to top it off, why not learn how to cook some new healthy recipes to feed your brain withCaveman Feast – Paleo Recipes(£1.83).
Stay entertained
Love podcasts? DownloadDoggCatcher Podcast Player (£1.92), an excellent way to find new podcasts to download for offline playback to keep you entertained wherever you are.
Take a vacation
Everyone knows the best way to beat the winter blues is to book a getaway, and no matter where you’re off to,MeteoEarth (£2.99) will be able to show you the weather forecast. When you arrive Travel Interpreter (£5.99) will allow you to translate English words and phrases into 32 different languages so you can book hotel rooms, get directions, or even order a meal in a restaurant.
Guy Ritchie is back with his take on the iconic 1960s spy-fi series, The Man from U.N.C.L.E (out 14th August), the result is cool-looking, self-mocking, and full of funny action. At least, this first trailer makes the U.N.C.L.E. movie look like a total blast.
In this new version of U.N.C.L.E., Henry Cavill (aka Superman) is Napoleon Solo, the suave American spy who has to team up with the Russian Illya Kuryakin (Armie Hammer, aka the Lone Ranger). They have to team up to stop a rogue organization that’s got its own nukes, etc. Mostly, there is zany “I work alone” humor, and clashing heroic styles, along with funny stunts. If this movie were directed by anyone but Ritchie, it would risk being somewhat humdrum and nostalgic — but this looks like it’s genuinely a blast. Good use of the Temptations, too
Watch the first behind the scenes action with Daniel Craig, Léa Seydoux, Dave Bautista and Director Sam Mendes from the next James Bond film called SPECTRE out 6th November 2015.
Associate Producer, Gregg Wilson says “We have to deliver an amazing sequence and this is going to be one of the major action sequences of the movie, a jewel in the crown so to speak. It’s going to be spectacular and Austria seemed to offer everything that we needed to pull it off.”
Production Designer Dennis Gassner adds, “The thing that Sam and I talked about was how we are going to top SKYFALL, it’s going to be SPECTRE and so far it’s a great start. I think that we are going to continue the history of the Bond films, making things that are exciting for the audience to look at and what could be more exciting than to be on top of the world.”
SYNOPSIS:
A cryptic message from Bond’s past sends him on a trail to uncover a sinister organisation. While M battles political forces to keep the secret service alive, Bond peels back the layers of deceit to reveal the terrible truth behind SPECTRE.
With such a wait between each of Telltales’ episodic content releases, I’m often torn between frustration and excitement. In Telltale Games, we have one of the few, rare developers who don’t instantly ruin an established franchise as soon as they’re let loose upon it. Instead, they take their time, work to the series’ strengths and always attempt to emulate the experience of watching an episode. Can they continue upon their success of the first chapter and deliver the thrills once more in ‘The Lost Lords’?
Continuing on from the shockingly dramatic end of the previous episode, we’re thrown in once more with a mix of both new and returning characters. New to the table is Asher, a son of the Forrester’s, and Beskha, his dangerous and flirty mercenary partner. Aside from the ever present and ever irritating quick time event fight scenes of which you’ll no doubt enjoy, it’s business as usual. After you’ve muddled your way through the surprisingly well choreographed, yet frustratingly confusing, fight scene, it’s off to explore Telltale’s other avenues of gameplay, namely dialogue and a small amount of pottering.
This has to end well
Whereas the first episode clearly had its prerogative set to introducing the series’ characters, this second chapter can be now devoted to setting up and exploring the overarching plot that will run throughout the remaining episodes. Each character gets a significant portion of screen time to further engage in their plights; and scenarios that felt lacking from the first episode get a little more attention too. Gared Tuttle, for example, gets a few more deserved heavy hitting scenes, including one with the popular John Snow. Likewise, Mira Forrester, one of the weaker characters in episode one, save for the Cersei scene, feels a little more fleshed out; with her narrative becoming increasingly more standalone and unlike that of Sasha Stark’s.
Along with the tense, if not occasionally slightly ambiguous conversational choices, the timer returns once again to pile on the pressure to either blurt something out or hold your tongue. Whilst some decisions from the previous episode already seem to be making their mark, there are plenty others present in this one that’ll also have you fumbling for the ‘right answer’. After being sceptical about the timed choices before, in a game that doesn’t require you put over 60 hours into it, they can be a welcome addition. Instead of sitting back and having a good old think about what you’re going to say, you’re always on edge, forcibly listening to the dialogue and trying to anticipate the set of answers available. It tends to flow much more like a real conversation and makes situations mirror the source material more accurately.
Moody brooding 101
Much like the previous chapter, you’re let out of the stressful conversational constraints once in a while to have a little wander. Unfortunately, much like the previous chapter, there’s not a lot of wandering to be done. Once again, you’ll get the opportunity to talk to a smattering of people and get to ‘investigate’ various objects of interest. Just because it resembles an old school point and click adventure however, don’t expect witty retorts and gainful insights from searching around. Despite what they could’ve been, the free sections feel more as though they were put there simply to spread out the pacing and freshen things up a little for the player; it would be nice to get a tad more meaningful freedom in the future.
As ever with Telltale games, it’s not so much about the fidelity, but rather the stylised picture as a whole; the brushstroke-esque filter works as well with scenic backdrops as it does with the individual characters faces. Unfortunately, as has been with the past few Telltale games, there are the odd few technical hiccups. Certainly not enough to ruin the game, but they’re on the rough side of noticeable; and as prominent as the art style is, if the game jutters, loses audio sync and struggles with the occasional timely button press, it’s more enough to take you out of the experience.
Just because there’s a sunset, it doesn’t mean everyone’s happy…
The Lost Lords is a solid, if not slightly safe, episode in the saga; it follows on well from the first chapter and impressively, improves upon some of the pacing aspects too. Both the good and bad things regarding this series so far, is that it is quintessentially a Telltale game. It brings all the things you love from the developers such as the difficult moral choices, the well thought out characters and the distinctive art styling. However, hand in hand, it also brings along QTE’s (sigh) and the odd bug too. There’s by no means anything particularly wrong with The Lost Lords, or the Game of Thrones adaptation as a whole in fact, it’s just you know exactly what you’re getting; meaning there’s no real innovation anymore, and that your enjoyment is reliant purely on the source material its based upon.
Have a look at the infographic for the Skylanders franchise which highlights the most up to date stats.
with fun facts, from the infographic that Skylanders Trap Team was the number 1 top-selling kids console videogame globally for the fourth year in a row and Skylanders is now the 15th top selling videogame franchise of all time!
