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PlayStation Plus in February | For Honor and Hitman: The Complete First Season

Sony Interactive Entertainment Australia has today revealed the official lineup of games available for PlayStation Plus members for the month of February. From February 5th, PlayStation Plus members can look forward to playing action warrior title For Honour and stealth spy-thriller Hitman: The Complete First Season.

Also coming from February, PlayStation will be expanding cloud storage space from 10GB to 100GB for all PS Plus members playing on PS4 – giving even more space to keep all those game saves. With cloud storage, you can save your game progress and character profiles on one system, and then continue the game on another system later without losing progress.

For Honor: (Ubisoft)

Witness the bloody brutality of the battlefield as history’s most iconic warriors come face to face. Choose between the agile Chosen, the brutal Warborn or the brave knights of The Legions and fight for land and glory. Combine cunning, strategy and team play with brutal hand-to-hand melee combat to bring your enemies to their knees Watch the trailer here.

Hitman: The Complete First Season: (Square Enix) 

Play as Agent 47 to take out powerful high-profile targets in an intense spy-thriller story across a world of assassination. The Complete First Season has over 100 hours of gameplay, featuring all of the Season One locations and episodes from the Prologue, France and Italy to Morocco, Thailand, USA and Japan. Watch the trailer here.

This month, PlayStation Plus members can also enjoy PS3 titles Divekick and Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots and PS Vita titles GUNHOUSE and Rogue Aces

Head to the PlayStation Blog to find out more about the full line up of PS Plus games for February.

In the meantime, why not check out January’s lineup?

PlayStation Plus lets you unleash the full power of PlayStation 4. Players can get even more out of their favourite games with online multiplayer, joining millions of other players and exploring new worlds with friends. Members can make big savings with the biggest and best deals reserved exclusively for PS Plus members on PlayStation Store. And of course, PS Plus monthly games means you’ll never run out of games to play, with members getting two PS4 games to download every month.For the latest PlayStation news, follow on FacebookTwitterYouTube and Instagram

Abbey Games Looking to Expand Godhood with Kickstarter Funding

Dutch indie developers Abbey Games (Reus) is turning to Kickstarter for funding to add more content to their upcoming god simulator Godhood. Abbey Games says they currently have enough funding to release the game on Steam Early Access, which is currently planned for May 2019. It looks like they expect to fund the completion of the game using profits from Steam Early Access, but the early access period would strictly be for bug stomping and polishing.

The developers would like to add more content to the game before the final launch, so they are turning to Kickstarter to raise €50,000 (approximately $72,000 AUD/$57,500 USD) so they can add the highly requested ancient eldritch god to the game. Digital copies of the game on Kickstarter start at €20 (approximately $32 AUD/$23 USD). The campaign will end on March 1.

New Sid Meier’s Civilization VI: Gathering Storm Trailers Breaks Down New Features

2K and Firaxis Games released a brand new trailer for Sid Meier’s Civilization VI: Gathering Storm. The new expansion’s main new mechanic is the ecological change. Every land type can change due to ecological disaster. Those who can withstand the initial pain may find an enriched land left in the wake of the disaster. The best leaders will be able to protect vital areas with investments in infrastructure and exploit the opportunities offered by disasters.

Fuel and power is now added to the game. Once players reach the Industrial Age, they will need to power their buildings and supply units for optimal efficiency. This is a double edge sword however As the game progresses, players will have to grapple with climate change. The rate of climate change is based on what sort of power resources players are using for fuel.

Some smaller changes are also covered in the video, such as the World Congress, updated technology and civic trees, new civilizations, and new content.

Sid Meier’s Civilization VI: Gathering Storm coming to PC on February 14

Artifact Player Numbers in Steady Decline

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Artifact, the online collectable card game based in the DOTA 2 universe and developed by Valve Corporation, has failed to live up to expectations two months after release.

According to data collected by steamcharts.com and steamdb.info, the game has been experiencing a steady decline since its release on November 28th, 2018, as shown below.

Along with this drop in player numbers, Artifact today had a lower 24-hour peak playerbase than many of Valve’s older games, such as Portal 2, Left 4 Dead 2 and even the original Counter-Strike, released in 2000.

Many have blamed this on the US$19.99/AU$27.95 price tag, with many wondering when, not if, the game will become free to play.

Others have blamed this dip in the numbers on gameplay issues present in Artifact, with some complaining that the gameplay is geared too much towards the hardcore playerbase, unlike Hearthstone’s casual playerbase. These issues are expressed through the games reviews on Steam, with mostly negative reviews recently and mixed reviews overall.

One thing’s for sure though, Valve needs to make some major changes to salvage this game.

Metro Exodus to be an Epic Games Store Exclusive

Epic Games’ aggressive push to unseat Steam’s monopoly on the PC gaming market continues as Deep Silver announced they will be pulling Metro Exodus from the Steam store as part of an exclusivity agreement with Epic Games. Those who have pre-ordered Metro Exodus on Steam will have their pre-orders honoured. It is unknown if Steam gift copies of the game can be traded at this time. If so, the going price for those gift copies will likely skyrocket like other rare Steam titles.

Deep Silver confirmed in their announcement that Epic Games’ revenue terms played a major role on the agreement, though the rest of the terms were not revealed. Epic Games has used a standard 88%/12% revenue split as a major lure to bring developers on board. Steam in comparison allegedly offers a 70%/30% revenue split as a starting baseline, which improves after certain sales milestones are reached.

Metro Exodus will launch on PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One on February 15th.

Epic Games and Deep Silver Announce Partnership to Release

Epic Games and Deep Silver Announce Partnership to Release

Metro Exodus for PC on the Epic Games Store

Larkspur, Calif. – Jan. 28, 2019 – Epic Games and Deep Silver today announced a partnership that will see the digitally-distributed PC version of the highly anticipated Metro Exodus release on February 15th 2019 solely through the Epic Games store.

Players worldwide can now pre-purchase both Standard and Gold Editions at EpicGames.com, from $49.99 in North America and €59.99 in most European countries*. All pre-orders include the Metro Exodus Original Soundtrack and ‘The World of Metro’ Digital Art Book.

“Metro Exodus is amazing and is deservedly one of the most anticipated PC titles of 2019,” said Tim Sweeney, founder and CEO of Epic. “We are partnering with Deep Silver to launch Metro Exodus, underpinned by Epic’s marketing support and commitment to offering an 88 percent revenue split, enabling game creators to further reinvest in building great games and improving the economics of game stores for everybody.”

“We are delighted to partner with Epic to bring the digital PC version of Metro Exodus to market,” said Dr. Klemens Kundratitz, CEO at Deep Silver. “Epic’s generous revenue terms are a game changer that will allow publishers to invest more into content creation, or pass on savings to the players. By teaming up with Epic we will be able to invest more into the future of Metro and our ongoing partnership with series developer 4A Games, to the benefit of our Metro fans.”

Any customer with an outstanding pre-order for Metro Exodus on PC through any digital retailer will receive their game as expected.

Metro Exodus is an epic, story-driven first-person shooter from 4A Games that blends deadly combat and stealth with exploration and survival horror in one of the most immersive game worlds ever created. Explore the Russian wilderness across vast, non-linear levels and follow a thrilling story-line that spans an entire year through spring, summer and autumn to the depths of nuclear winter. Inspired by the novels of Dmitry Glukhovsky, Metro Exodus continues Artyom’s story in the greatest Metro adventure yet.

Metro Exodus will be released on February 15 for Xbox One, the all-in-one games and entertainment system from Microsoft, the PlayStation® 4 computer entertainment system, and PC. 

In addition, Deep Silver will release Metro 2033 Redux and Metro: Last Light Redux to the Epic Games store later this year.

For more information, visit www.metrothegame.com.

*Regional pricing may vary.

MORE ABOUT METRO EXODUS

The year is 2036.

A quarter-century after nuclear war devastated the earth, a few thousand survivors still cling to existence beneath the ruins of Moscow, in the tunnels of the Metro.

They have struggled against the poisoned elements, fought mutated beasts and paranormal horrors, and suffered the flames of civil war.

But now, as Artyom, you must flee the Metro and lead a band of Spartan Rangers on an incredible, continent-spanning journey across post-apocalyptic Russia in search of a new life in the East.

Metro Exodus is an epic, story-driven first person shooter from 4A Games that blends deadly combat and stealth with exploration and survival horror in one of the most immersive game worlds ever created.

Explore the Russian wilderness across vast, non-linear levels and follow a thrilling story-line that spans an entire year through spring, summer and autumn to the depths of nuclear winter.

Inspired by the novels of Dmitry Glukhovsky, Metro Exodus continues Artyom’s story in the greatest Metro adventure yet.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Embark on an incredible journey – board the Aurora, a heavily modified steam locomotive, and join a handful of survivors as they search for a new life in the East

Experience Sandbox Survival – a gripping story links together classic Metro gameplay with new huge, non-linear levels

A beautiful, hostile world – discover the post-apocalyptic Russian wilderness, brought to life with stunning day / night cycles and dynamic weather

Deadly combat and stealth – scavenge and craft in the field to customize your arsenal of hand-made weaponry, and engage human and mutant foes in thrilling tactical combat

Your choices determine your comrades’ fate – not all your companions will survive the journey; your decisions have consequence in a gripping storyline that offers massive re-playability

The ultimate in atmosphere and immersion – a flickering candle in the darkness; a ragged gasp as your gasmask frosts over; the howl of a mutant on the night wind – Metro will immerse and terrify you like no other game…

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© 2019 Koch Media GmbH and published by Deep Silver. Developed by 4A Games. 4A Games Limited and their respective logo are trademarks of 4A Games Limited. Metro Exodus is inspired by the internationally best-selling novels METRO 2033 and METRO 2035 by Dmitry Glukhovsky. All other trademarks, logos and copyrights are property of their respective owners.

ABOUT EPIC GAMES

Founded in 1991, Epic Games is the creator of Fortnite, Unreal, Gears of War, Shadow Complex, and the Infinity Blade series of games. Epic’s Unreal Engine technology, which brings high-fidelity, interactive experiences to PC, console, mobile, AR, VR and the Web, is freely available at unrealengine.com. The Epic Games store offers a handpicked library of games, available at epicgames.com. Follow @EpicGames for updates.

ABOUT DEEP SILVER

Deep Silver develops and distributes interactive games for all platforms. The Deep Silver label means to captivate all gamers who have a passion for thrilling gameplay in exciting game worlds. Deep Silver works with its partners to achieve a maximum of success while maintaining the highest possible quality, always focusing on what the customer desires.

Deep Silver has published more than 200 games since 2003, including its own brands like the open world extravaganza Saints Row, the zombie action franchise Dead Island, the irreverent super-hero action game Agents of Mayhem and the grim post-apocalyptic future of the Metro series. Upcoming highlights from Deep Silver include Dead Island 2 and Metro Exodus. Deep Silver also owns the development studios Deep Silver Dambuster Studios in Nottingham, UK; Deep Silver Fishlabs in Hamburg, Germany, and Deep Silver Volition based in Champaign, IL, USA. For more information please visit www.deepsilver.com.  

Koch Media is a leading producer and distributor of digital entertainment products (software, games and films). The company’s own publishing activities, marketing and distribution extend throughout Europe and the USA. The Koch Media group has more than 20 years of experience in the digital media business, and has risen to become the number one distributor in Europe. It has also formed strategic alliances with numerous games and software publishers: Bethesda, Capcom, Kaspersky Labs, NC SOFT, Sega, Square Enix and Tecmo-Koei, etc. in various European countries. With Headquarters in Planegg near Munich/Germany, Koch Media owns branches in Germany, England, France, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, the Nordic regions, Benelux and the United States.

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BANDAI NAMCO ENTERTAINMENT AMERICA TO PRESENT THE MOST DRAMATIC AND EPIC TELLING OF THE DRAGON BALL Z STORY

BANDAI NAMCO ENTERTAINMENT AMERICA TO PRESENT THE MOST DRAMATIC AND EPIC TELLING OF THE DRAGON BALL Z STORY

Players to Experience a Legendary Journey in New Action Role-Playing-Game Through the Eyes of the Most Famous and Powerful Saiyan

SANTA CLARA, Calif., (January 28, 2019) – Leading anime video game developer and publisher BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment America Inc. today announced DRAGON BALL GAME – PROJECT Z (working title)for the Americas on the PlayStation®4 computer entertainment system, Xbox One, and PCs via STEAM®. This new Action RPG (role-playing-game) is slated for a 2019 launch and will take players on the most dramatic and epic telling of the DRAGON BALL Z story, experienced through the eyes of Kakarot, the Saiyan better known as Goku.

Currently in development at Tokyo, Japan based video game developer, CyberConnect2; the game will tell the legendary story of DRAGON BALL Z, taking players on an unforgettable adventure to experience over-the-top battles and challenging quests, create life-long friendships, and crusade to protect Earth from fearsome villains.

“Combining the fabled story of DRAGON BALL Z with a proven video game development studio is a surefire way to create an awesome DRAGON BALL adventure,” said Eric Hartness, Vice President of Marketing at BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment America Inc. “We can’t wait to unveil the official name for the game and share more gameplay details with players!”

DRAGON BALL GAME – PROJECT Z (working title) is scheduled to launch in theAmericas in 2019 for the PlayStation 4 system, Xbox One, and PCs via STEAM. For more information regarding DRAGON BALL GAME – PROJECT Z (working title)or other products from BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment America Inc., please visit: https://www.bandainamcoent.com, or follow us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/BandaiNamcoUS, or join the conversation on Twitter at: https://www.twitter.com/BandaiNamcoUS.

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About BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment America Inc.

BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment America Inc., part of BANDAI NAMCO Holdings Inc., is a leading global publisher and developer of interactive entertainment for all major video game consoles, iOS, Android, and online platforms. The company is known for creating and publishing many of the industry’s top video game franchises including PAC-MAN®, GALAGA®, TEKKEN®, SOULCALIBUR®, and ACE COMBAT®. BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment America Inc. is the premier publisher in the Western hemisphere for anime based video games including NARUTO SHIPPUDEN™, DRAGON BALL Z®, and ONE PIECE®. More information about the company and its products can be found at http://www.bandainamcoent.com or www.facebook.com/BandaiNamcoUS

Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown Review

Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown

Developer: Bandai Namco
Publisher: Bandai Namco
Platform: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Windows (Reviewed)
Release Date: 31 January 2019 (PC), 18 January 2019 (Consoles)
Price: $59.99 USD – Available Here / $79.95 (PC), $99.95 AUD (Consoles) – Available Here

Video Review

Overview

Ace Combat fans rejoice. Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown is reaching a bunch of firsts for the franchise. It is the first to be developed from the ground up for the latest generation of consoles, the first to launch on PC, and the first to offer support for VR devices, albeit as a timed exclusive for PlayStation VR.

Story

Ace combat 7: Skies Unknown’s story is a mess. It feels like two completely different writers were used. While the world feels relevant to today’s political and technological environment, there are a few gaping plot holes and chunks of unexplained story that come of out nowhere. The cutscene content feels disjointed from what the player is experiencing, serving as world building than actual context for the player’s actions. The writing in the cutscenes are generally very good, especially compared to the rest of the game. The writing for the missions is bad. The chatter between pilots is absolutely grating. Instead of getting a lovable band of rogues, the prisoners and their captors are one-dimensional stereotypes with the depth of a puddle. Things improve a bit in the second half of the game when players work with more professional pilots. The briefings and debriefings in the second half of the game are generally decent, but the early debriefings are a mess, often feeling like an incoherent set of lines tossed into a cup, shaken thoroughly, and emptied in a word processor. The resulting trainwreck makes me suspect the whole prisoner plotline was tacked in last minute.

Gameplay

Unfortunately, we weren’t able to test the multiplayer or VR aspects of the game as it was not available on PC during our review period. We did, however, have plenty of time to dig into the singleplayer portions of the game.

Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown continues to offer an excellent arcade flight sim experience. The controls feel extremely tight. Newbies to the franchise can use the simplified controls to ease their way into the game, then switch to the traditional expert level controls. While playing the game with mouse and keyboard is possible, Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown is way more enjoyable with a controller or a full flight stick set up.

The controls give players lots of options for dog fights, including the newly introduced post-stall maneuvers. I only wish the game offered a better tutorial that introduces new players to the more advanced maneuvers and tactics. Many of these are hinted to in the tooltips during load screens, but new players will have to take to the internet to learn on their own as the in-game tutorial is limited to the extremely basic this is how you fly and this is how you shoot type instructions.

ACE COMBAT™ 7: SKIES UNKNOWN_20180719174922

The Aircraft Tree offers new aircraft and upgrades for use in both campaign and multiplayer modes. Each aircraft can hold up to eight upgrade parts. Parts can upgrade either body, armaments, or miscellaneous equipment. Each upgrade part is worth a certain number of points, and each plane has a cap for each of the three types of upgrades. Each aircraft has three special weapons to choose from based on the plane’s role. There is a good mix of European, Russian, and American crafts from the back half of the Cold War, with a few older planes tossed in for good measure.

Players will use the MRP currency to unlock planes and parts in the tree. MRP is earned from playing campaign mission or multiplayer matches. There is no way to unlock the entire Aircraft Tree from one run of the campaign, so players will have to either repeat singleplayer missions or play online matches to grind out MRP.

The mission design is generally very good with a few frustrating missions thrown in. The levels are an excellent mix of open skies and tight areas that require players to practically maneuver around in a phone booth. There’s also a good balance between dog fighting missions and bombing runs that will give plenty of opportunity for players to use more specialized aircraft. There are some frustrating missions that will make players want to yank out their hair at times. These missions require players to attack ground-based targets in a certain order to successfully complete the mission within the time limit. I found those missions to be really frustrating until I could figure out the right strategy to tackle the mission. The dog fighting missions is where Ace Combat 7 is at its best though. The action is intense, especially against rival aces where it feels like any error could be deadly.

Visuals

Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown is a gorgeous game. The cutscenes have a unique art style that mixes traditional CGI with some visual elements taken from photographs and videos. The in-game art style shoots for a realistic look that serves the game well. The skies look excellent. The weather effects are fantastic. The icing effect that occurs when players spend too much time in the clouds is really well done. The ground looks good, though the natural elements look a bit better than the human-made ones.

Audio

Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown’s audio is very good. The sound effects are excellent, creating an immersive experience. The music is a wonderfully eclectic mix of rock, jazz, electronic music, and traditional orchestral video game scores. The soundtrack is modern and hits the right emotional notes at the right time. It’s a shame the soundtrack has yet to be released on its own, because it’s set a high bar for the rest of 2019. The voice acting is the weakest part of Ace Combat 7’s audio experience. The cutscenes offer the best voice acting in the game. The in-game, briefing, and debriefing voice acting falls flat in comparison. There are a few weak voice actors, but there are also some decent ones who are simply hamstrung by a terrible script. Some of the lines are just so bad that I don’t think it’s humanly possible to make it sound natural.

Overall

Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown delivers an excellent arcade fighter experience. The controls are solid, and the action is intense. The audio/visual presentation is very good. However, the game has its warts. There are a few missions that are incredibly frustrating. The story is a disjointed mess, and some of the lines are so bad I don’t think any actor could make them sound good. Even with its flaws, it’s still worth it to experience Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown.

Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.

Battlefleet Gothic: Armada 2 Launches on Steam

Focus Home Interactive and Tindalos Interactive have launched their space RTS Battlefleet Gothic: Armada 2 on Steam. It’s priced at $39.99 USD or $49.95 AUD.

Battlefleet Gothic: Armada 2 is based on the popular Warhammer 40,000 tabletop game. The sequel offers 3 massive new campaigns, all 12 factions from the tabletop game, and support for larger fleets. It’s the first video game in the new Warhammer 40,000 Gathering Storm setting.

The three campaigns are for the Tyranids, Necrons, and Imperium. The three campaigns will offer over a hundred hours of content. A fourth campaign is currently in development.

To celebrate the launch, a new trailer with plenty of large fleet on fleet combat.

Tech Executive Tycoon Impressions

Tech Executive Tycoon

Developer: WEB Gaming Entertainment
PublisherWEB Gaming Entertainment
Platform
PC
Release Date: 21 December 2018
Price: $19.99 USD/28.95 AUD – Available Here

I love simulation/tycoon games. I always have. Ever since I got my first taste of them with Roller Coaster Tycoon 3, I’ve been addicted. My tastes have always been varied with games like Locomotion, Theme Hospital, Farming Simulator, The Movies and a lot more.

So when I saw WEB Gaming Entertainment’s Tech Executive Tycoon for the first time on Indiegogo back in 2014, I pledged $15. From the creator’s videos and plans, it looked like the perfect game for me, mixing in elements what I loved about games like Software Inc., Game Dev Tycoon, Gamebiz and Capitalism.

So after waiting for close to five years, has the game delivered?

No… Well, not yet anyway.

To be fair to the game it’s improved since its release to Early Access in late December. The furniture placement feels more fluid and that was a noticeable difference immediately when picking the game back up. But sadly, placing furniture is the only task in this game that doesn’t overly confuse the player, making this game more fun as an Office Decorator Simulator.

But to actually make a product in this game, the game is unnecessarily difficult. I spent the best part of an hour just trying to figure out how to form teams, how to get them to work on a product and then once all that is figured out, I shipped the products out only for my product to not seem to sell any copies, additionally I’m not sure the advertising segments of the game are functional yet or if its a bug.

I think game design has failed when a player can’t tell if something in a game is a bug or a feature. One of the strangest things I encountered while playing this game was that my employees weren’t anywhere to be seen, yet still working on projects. They could be seen when I played the game in late December, so where are they now? I could understand this if there was some ‘working from home’ element to the game, but it’s probably a bug.

To give the game credit, its at least pleasing to the eyes graphically, which shouldn’t be surprising given the game is running on Unity, although the UI needs a major overhaul in terms of usability and aesthetics and the game could greatly benefit from more than one looped music track, preferably something that’s not obviously stock music.

Game creators and the gaming community as a whole have typically used the mantra of Early Access or beta to avoid criticism about games in this state. (Not that I’m accusing the developer of this game of doing so) Regardless, this game has been in development for close to five years and to release in this state where the game seemingly can’t even be played properly, and charge full price, is beyond belief. For the same price as this game (US$19.99/A$28.95) you could buy Airport CEO, or Production Line: Car Factory Simulator, or Black Mesa, or any other early access game that released into Early Access in a majority completed state.

Despite these negatives, surprisingly, I can see a kernel of a good game here somewhere, and it’s just waiting its turn to pop. The foundations for a solid tycoon game are clear in the plans for the game, as detailed on their website. I would advise the average gamer to hold onto their money for a year or two and wait until the game matures, especially since the developer is clearly working hard to complete this game. Let’s just hope that the game doesn’t end up abandoned like many Early Access games.