Home Blog Page 2393

Assassin’s Creed Odyssey “Legacy of the First Blade” Episode 1 DLC Launching on Dec. 4

Ubisoft announced Assassin’s Creed Odyssey’s first story DLC will launch on December 4th on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Windows PC. “Hunted” will be the first of three episodes of the “Legacy of the First Blade” story arc. Players will get to meet Darius, the first wielder of the Hidden Blade. The episode will focus on the tense relationship with Darius as players attempt to piece together his motivations.

The remaining two episodes “Shadow Heritage” and “Bloodline” is set to launch in 2019. Ubisoft will also follow up “Legacy of the First Blade” with a second story arc called “The Fate of Atlantis” in 2019. Both story arcs is part of the Season Pass, which also includes HD remasters of Assassin’s Creed III and Assassin’s Creed Liberation.

Darksiders III Review

Darksiders III

Developer: Gunfire Games
Publisher: THQ Nordic
FormatPlayStation 4Xbox OnePC (Reviewed)
Release Date: 27 Nov 2018
Price: $59.99USD – Available Here

Overview

Well, there’s only one month left in 2018 but it seems like most of the devs and publishers saved the best for last. In my recent HITMAN 2 review, I gave praises to the game and said it was a sequel done right. Right now, I got my hands on Darksiders III and in most of the aspects, it’s an improvement than the previous game in the series. Yep, I’m already telling you that it’s a good game worth your time (and money) so lets’ go through the steps now and see why is that.

Story

The story of Darksiders III is a direct continuation from the previous game, except we are now in control of a different Horseman of the Apocalypse, Fury. In contrast to the sarcastic and cynical Death from Darksiders II, Fury is a bit brash, full of temper and dare I say….furyous (heh). In any case, we are tasked with hunting and destroying Seven Deadly Sins on a war-torn Earth. It is a task given to her by a supreme Charred Council. Soon enough, a new entity called Lord of the Hollow joins the story, telling us that there is more to our quest and she is being manipulated by the Charred Council. It is up to us to discover which side is telling the truth while trying to hunt down the Seven Deadly Sins and bring the balance in the war between Angels and Demons.

Gameplay

A lot of things in Darksiders III could be summed up as a case of “less is more” but in this particular case, I’d even say that less is better. A lot of the improvements here (especially when comparing it to previous Darksiders II) came from going back to the roots. No more MMO type loot, gazillion armor sets to collect and hundreds of side quests that reward you with a measly amount of exp. You have a couple of weapons (usually obtained after taking down bosses) that can be upgraded and you can distribute your skill points to either health, strength or arcane boosts. You obtain skill points by collecting souls from enemies which you can either spend (at our friendly merchant demon) on various health items or use them to earn some skill points. Again, everything is far simpler compared to the previous game and it doesn’t overstay its welcome with unnecessary length. Aside from stripping down some things, the game also came with some additions. The most obvious is revamped combat. Since I was in a bit of a rush recently, I figured to pick the easiest difficulty setting when playing the game and just enjoy the story. It should have been fairly simple. Spoiler: it wasn’t. This time around, you have to be careful. Days of jumping into a group of enemies and mowing everyone down with combos are gone. A group of 3-4 enemies is a considerable challenge while bosses require a lot of trial & error approach. However, not everything is without its flaws. One of the two issues I have with Darksiders III is a lack of a decent navigation system. The map is gone and we now have……..well, almost nothing. There is some sort of a compass marker above you but it’s not always consistent. If the objective is above you, under you or around the sharp corner, the pointer may go haywire or give you the illusion as you arrived at the correct spot. The other thing is a block button. As in, there is none. Especially when you encounter enemies that can block and defend from your attacks while you can’t do the same. The only thing left to do is to time your strikes and dodge/roll away from theirs. Not like you have any other choice.

Visuals

While the game is an open world, a lot of the areas are interconnected. With that and a challenging combat system, it’s clear to where a lot of the inspiration came from. I’ll give you a hint – it’s a series that rhymes with Bark Holes. It’s not a bad thing, especially since a lot of inspiration resulted in some really stunning visuals. Most of the areas you go through are remnants of pre-apocalyptic Earth, long before the war of Angels and Demons that destroyed everything. Each of the areas around Seven Deadly Sins has a specific setting to it. There is not much you can do given such a restricted setup to play with but Gunfire Games did some wonders on the visual front.

Audio

While some scenery is nothing short of breathtaking, I cannot say the same for the audio department. It’s not that it’s bad, it’s just that it’s there and does what’s expected of it. It certainly doesn’t stand out. You’re accompanied with some eerie and soft orchestral chants and mildly menacing instrumentals while platforming. It changes slightly depending on the areas you’re in but the basics are the same. The music kicks into something climactic while slashing enemies and during boss fights but that’s all there is to it. It certainly doesn’t make you feel alone while traversing the open areas.

Overall

I imagine there were some strong expectations for Gunfire Games. After the closure of Vigil Games, the previous dev for Darksiders, they had a task of stepping in and continuing with the next game in the series. Despite all of that, Darksiders III comes with some welcomed changes, new additions and tweaked gameplay mechanics. More than enough to establish its own identity and a promise of many good things to come from Gunfire Games. The game is fun, challenging, visually stunning and it feels like a breath of fresh air for the series. It’s all I could ever ask for.

Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.

ASSASSIN’S CREED® ODYSSEY LEGACY OF THE FIRST BLADE, EPISODE 1, AVAILABLE DECEMBER 4

ASSASSIN’S CREED® ODYSSEY LEGACY OF THE FIRST BLADE, EPISODE 1, AVAILABLE DECEMBER 4

Play the First Episode of the New Episodic Post-Launch Story Arc from the Biggest and Most Ambitious Post-Launch Plan for Assassin’s Creed  

Sydney, Australia — November 28, 2018 — Today, Ubisoft® announced the release dates for the episodes of the first post-launch story arc of Assassin’s Creed® Odyssey, Legacy of the First Blade. The first episode, Hunted, will release December 4 across all available platforms. Throughout Hunted and the following two episodes, players will continue their grand Greek Odyssey to encounter Darius, the legend who was first to wield the Assassin’s Hidden Blade.

As the story of Hunted unfolds, players will discover whether Darius is friend or foe, while meeting new characters, engaging in gripping naval combat, fighting new and powerful enemies, and uncovering revelations about the Assassin’s Creed universe. Legacy of the First Blade continues to bring players’ choice to the forefront through the relationships they build with colourful characters and the decisions they make along the way. In Legacy of the First Blade, players can also customize new equipment and master new special abilities as they fight their way across Greece, engaging in visceral battles on land and on sea to continue their Odyssey and become a true hero of legend. After Hunted releases on December 4, the second episode, Shadow Heritage, and the third episode, Bloodline, will complete the first story arc early 2019 on all platforms.

The Assassin’s Creed Odyssey post-launch plan is the biggest and most ambitious in the franchise, and the launch of Legacy of the First Blade is just the beginning for players who wish to progress further with new content in Ancient Greece. Season Pass owners will access two major episodic storylines, Legacy of the First Blade and The Fate of Atlantis. Players can dive into new episodes as they premiere, or experience the epic adventures in their entirety once all episodes are available. The Season Pass also includes Assassin’s Creed® III Remastered and Assassin’s Creed® Liberation Remastered, which will be released in March 2019.

Legacy of the First Blade can be purchased as part of the Assassin’s Creed Odyssey Season Pass from $59.95 AUD, and will be downloadable for free for players who already own the Season Pass or Gold Edition on December 4.

For more information on Assassin’s Creed, please visit: assassinscreed.com.

For the latest on Assassin’s Creed Odyssey and all of Ubisoft’s games, visit Ubisoft News: https://news.ubisoft.com

ABOUT UBISOFT
Ubisoft is a leading creator, publisher and distributor of interactive entertainment and services, with a rich portfolio of world-renowned brands, including Assassin’s Creed, Just Dance, Tom Clancy’s video game series, Rayman, Far Cry and Watch Dogs. The teams throughout Ubisoft’s worldwide network of studios and business offices are committed to delivering original and memorable gaming experiences across all popular platforms, including consoles, mobile phones, tablets and PCs. For the 2017–18 fiscal year Ubisoft generated sales of €1,732 million. To learn more, please visit www.ubisoft.com.

© 2018 Ubisoft Entertainment. All Rights Reserved. Assassin’s Creed, Ubisoft, and the Ubisoft logo are registered or unregistered trademarks of Ubisoft Entertainment in the US and/or other countries.

MARVEL FUTURE FIGHT INTRODUCES NEW ORIGINAL CHARACTER CRESCENT

MARVEL FUTURE FIGHT INTRODUCES NEW ORIGINAL CHARACTER CRESCENT

Update Also Includes New Characters Morgan Le Fay and White Fox

LOS ANGELES (November 28, 2018) – Netmarble Corp. has announced three new characters available now in the superhero mobile game, MARVEL Future Fight. The new characters include an original character, Crescent, as well as fan favorite characters from MARVEL Comics, Morgan Le Fay and White Fox.

Crescent is a 10-year old girl named Dan Bi who grew up in Korea, raised by her single father, an antiques dealer who was forced to acquire powerful artifacts for the ancient sorceress Morgan Le Fay. By touching one of the artifacts, a mystical bear mask, Dan Bi summoned a “half-moon” bear spirit named Io, who bonded with her to become her protector. Crescent and Io use a unique combination of taekwondo, magical power absorption, super strength and other abilities in battle, as they search for Crescent’s missing father. Crescent is the third original, powerful, female character introduced to the world through MARVEL Future Fight, as previously introduced characters Sharon Rogers and Luna Snow have been embraced by gamers and comic fans alike.

In addition to Crescent, the ancient, villainous sorceress Morgan Le Fay will bring her mystical abilities to MARVEL Future Fight, alongside Korean super-agent White Fox, who utilizes her heightened senses and animalistic combat skills in battle.

Players who pre-registered for the Crescent update will also receive several bonus items, including Boost Points, Crystals, Gold and Crescent Biometrics. These bonuses were acquired by the MARVEL Future Fight player base as a reward for the total number of more than 420,000 pre-registrations logged.

Additional updates to MARVEL Future Fight include:

  • Four new uniforms, including
    • Captain America (Sharon Rogers) – Dark Star Armor
    • Luna Snow – Andromeda Suit
    • Spider-Man (Miles Morales) – Into the Spider-Verse
    • Hyperion – Classic
  • Tier-3 Upgrade for Captain America (Sharon Rogers) and Potential Realization for Crescent, Morgan Le Fay, White Fox, Captain America (Sharon Rogers), Luna Snow, Spider-Man (Miles Morales) and Hyperion
  • Crescent-themed Event Battle
  • White Fox Heroic Quest Pack and Heroic Quest Improvements
  • New Monthly Bonus Deals, Giant Boss Raid improvements and a Special Mission Quest Pack

MARVEL Future Fight recently celebrated its third anniversary, hosting special in-game events for its audience of more than 86 million players around the world. The game is currently available worldwide in the App Store® and Google Play™.

App Store®: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/marvel-future-fight/id955705796

Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.netmarble.mherosgb

For more information on MARVEL Future Fight, please visit http://marvelfuturefight.netmarble.com.

About Netmarble Corporation
Netmarble Corporation strives to entertain audiences of all ages around the world by providing great mobile gaming experiences. Established in Korea in 2000, Netmarble is one of the fastest-growing mobile game companies and consistently ranks as a top mobile developer and publisher worldwide. With more than 5,000 employees, Netmarble has been producing and servicing some of the most successful mobile games including Lineage 2: Revolution, MARVEL Future Fight, Everybody’s Marble, and Seven Knights. As a parent company to Kabam, a top mobile game developer in massively multiplayer free-to-play games, and the largest shareholder to Jam City, a leading casual social game developer, Netmarble has a strategic partnership with CJ ENM Corporation, Asia’s largest entertainment company, Tencent Holdings, Asia’s largest internet company, and NCsoft, a prominent MMORPG company. More information can be found at http://company.netmarble.com

About Marvel Entertainment
Marvel Entertainment, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company, is one of the world’s most prominent character-based entertainment companies, built on a proven library of more than 8,000 characters featured in a variety of media over seventy-five years. Marvel utilizes its character franchises in entertainment, licensing and publishing. For more information visit marvel.com. © 2018 MARVEL

App Store is a trademark of Apple Inc., registered in the US and other countries.  App Store is a service mark of Apple Inc. Google Play is a trademark of Google Inc.

TEEN TITANS GO! FIGURE’S NEW “LEGION OF DOOM” UPDATE ADDS MULTIPLAYER BATTLES AND MORE ON DEC. 6

TEEN TITANS GO! FIGURE’S NEW “LEGION OF DOOM” UPDATE ADDS MULTIPLAYER BATTLES AND MORE ON DEC. 6

Digital franchise reaches milestone of over one million global downloads

ATLANTA  Nov. 27, 2018  Cartoon Network has announced that the super-sized “Legion of Doom” update for Teen Titans GO Figure!, the blockbuster sequel to the best-selling mobile game Teeny Titans, will launch on Dec. 6, 2018. On the heels of this update, the global mobile game franchise has hit a milestone with over one million downloads.

“Legion of Doom” will introduce a highly requested fan feature: multiplayer battles! Face off with friends and other players with new Teeny Titans figures – including Lex Luthor, Cheetah, The Riddler and more – to climb the ranks and earn exclusive figures. The update also lets you visit the Hall of Doom and adds brand-new tournaments, figure repaints and fun missions to keep your journey going for hours on end.

Teen Titans GO Figure! is developed by Grumpyface Studios based on Teen Titans Go!, Cartoon Network’s popular animated series from DC and Warner Bros. Animation, and inspired by the hit summer Warner Bros. Animation film “Teen Titans GO! To The Movies,” which is now available on digital. The game combines the adorable 3D stylized figures, action-packed battles and exciting shopping system of the original Teeny Titans with a new adventure featuring the Justice League. Experience fan-favorite characters and locations from the DC universe while collecting and battling nearly 100 customizable figures, including Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Green Lantern, Black Lightning, Swamp Thing, Shazam and more.

Teen Titans GO Figure! is available now for iOS and Android smartphones and tablets on the App Store, Google Play and Amazon Appstore. This game is rated E10+ (Everyone 10+) by the ESRB and licensed by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment on behalf of DC Entertainment.

###

About Cartoon Network

Cartoon Network is Turner’s global entertainment brand and the # 1 animation network in the U.S., offering the best in original content for kids and families with such hits as Adventure Time, The Powerpuff Girls, Steven Universe, We Bare Bears and The Amazing World of Gumball. Seen in 192 countries and over 400 million homes, Cartoon Network is known for being a leader in innovation with its approach to engaging and inspiring kids at the intersection of creativity and technology. Its pro-social initiative, Stop Bullying: Speak Up, is an acknowledged and often-used resource for kids and adults looking for tools that can assist in dealing with the ongoing issue of bullying.

Turner, a WarnerMedia company, a global entertainment, sports and news company that creates premium content and delivers exceptional experiences to fans whenever and wherever they consume content. These efforts are fueled by data-driven insights and industry-leading technology. Turner owns and operates some of the most valuable brands in the world, including Adult Swim, Bleacher Report, Boomerang, Cartoon Network, CNN, ELEAGUE, Great Big Story, HLN, iStreamPlanet, TBS, Turner Classic Movies (TCM), TNT, truTV and Turner Sports.

About “Teen Titans GO! to the Movies”

When the Teen Titans go to the big screen, they go big! “Teen Titans GO! to the Movies” finds our egocentric, wildly satirical superheroes in their first feature film extravaganza—a fresh, gleefully clever, kid-appropriately crass and tongue-in-cheek play on the superhero genre, complete with musical numbers.

Will Arnett (The LEGO® Batman Movie) and Kristen Bell (Frozen) lend their voices to the first-ever big-screen version of DC Entertainment and Cartoon Network’s animated TV show, which also stars Greg Cipes (TV’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) as Beast Boy, Scott Menville (TV’s Spider-Man) as Robin, Khary Payton (The Walking Dead) as Cyborg, Tara Strong (the My Little Pony franchise) as Raven, and Hynden Walch (TV’s Adventure Time with Finn & Jake) as Starfire, reprising their roles from the series.

The film was directed by Peter Rida Michail and Aaron Horvath, from a screenplay by Michael Jelenic & Horvath, based on characters from DC. Horvath, Jelenic, Peggy Regan, Michail and Arnett produced, with Sam Register serving as executive producer. The music is by Jared Faber. Apart from Arnett, all are Teen Titans GO! series contributors. Superman was created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.

From Warner Bros. Animation, the film is available digitally from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment and will be available on Blu-ray Oct. 30. It is rated PG for action and rude humor. TeenTitansGO-movie.com

About Warner Bros. Animation

Warner Bros. Animation (WBA) is one of the leading producers of animation in the entertainment industry, producing and developing projects for multiple platforms, both domestically and internationally. Theatrically, WBA’s full-length film, Teen Titans GO! to the Movies, released on July 27, 2018. WBA’s TV series include Teen Titans Go!, Unikitty! and the upcoming DC Super Hero Girls and ThunderCats Roar for Cartoon Network; Be Cool Scooby-Doo!, Bunnicula, Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz, The Tom and Jerry Show, New Looney Tunes, Wacky Races and the upcoming Scooby-Doo! and Guess Who? and Yabba Dabba Dinosaurs for Boomerang; Mike Tyson Mysteries for Adult Swim; Green Eggs and Ham for Netflix; Harley Quinn and Young Justice: Outsiders for DC Universe; Animaniacs for Hulu; and the upcoming Looney Tunes Cartoons content initiative. As home to the iconic animated characters from the DC, Hanna-Barbera, MGM and Looney Tunes libraries, WBA also produces highly successful animated films — including the DC Universe Animated Original Movies — for DVD, Blu-ray® and digital media. One of the most-honored animation studios in history, WBA has won six Academy Awards®, 35 Emmy® Awards, the George Foster Peabody Award, an Environmental Media Award, a Parents’ Choice Award, the HUMANITAS Prize, two Prism Awards and 20 Annie Awards (honoring excellence in animation).

KOEI TECMO EUROPE UNVEILS THE LONG-AWAITED RELEASE DATE FOR NELKE & THE LEGENDARY ALCHEMISTS: ATELIERS OF THE NEW WORLD

KOEI TECMO EUROPE UNVEILS THE LONG-AWAITED RELEASE DATE FOR NELKE & THE LEGENDARY ALCHEMISTS: ATELIERS OF THE NEW WORLD

Deepen Your Relationships with Townsfolk and Beloved Alchemists to Help Build a Prosperous City

Hertfordshire, 27th November 2018 – Today, KOEI TECMO Europe revealed the highly-anticipated release date for Nelke & the Legendary Alchemists: Ateliers of the New World, alongside a variety of exciting gameplay features. The latest entry in the Atelier series is slated for physical and digital release on the 29th March 2019 for the PlayStation®4 Computer Entertainment System, Nintendo Switch™, and digital-only on Windows PC via Steam®.

In Nelke & the Legendary Alchemists: Ateliers of the New World players assume the role of young noblewoman, Nelke von Lestamm; tasked with building up the quaint village of Westwald into a prosperous city. For her to develop buildings and extend the size of Westwald, she will need to earn money from the businesses she runs or sell synthesised items for cash.

Exploring the areas outside of Westwald with alchemists allows Nelke to collect raw materials perfect for synthesis. Though she is inexperienced in the art of alchemy, she’ll have to entrust one of the many alchemists in town to synthesise the resources into sellable goods. Each alchemist has their own specialties which allow them to offer improved item creation – players will have to carefully decide what would be the most effective alchemist for which items.

A Weekly Report is prepared at the end of each week which shows the current town population, the amount of income made, number of properties, and the number of synthesised items. Using this report, players can decide how they will spend their time in Westwald, perhaps they will tackle quests and town development during the weekday and develop relationships with residents on the weekend. As Nelke spends time with people in Westwald she’ll deepen her bonds with them leading to not only exciting events between characters, but new town facilities and alchemist skills which aid in both synthesis and battle!

Fans of the Atelier series will be able to get their hands on a delightful Collector’s Edition of Nelke & the Legendary Alchemists: Ateliers of the New World, exclusively available through the NISA Europe Online Store. This must-have version of the game contains a hardcover art book, the game’s official soundtrack, a deluxe cloth poster, and an acrylic standee featuring the main character Nelke, all packaged into a beautiful collector’s box featuring artwork of the famous alchemists which appear in the game.

More information for Nelke & the Legendary Alchemists: Ateliers of the New World  is set to be revealed in the coming weeks, but in the meantime be sure to check out our official website http://www.ateliergames.eu/nelke/, Like us on www.facebook.com/ateliergames and Follow us on Twitter @koeitecmoeurope for all the latest details.

ABOUT KOEI TECMO EUROPE LTD.
KOEI TECMO EUROPE LTD. is a publisher of interactive entertainment software for current generation consoles, handhelds and digital download content based in Letchworth, Hertfordshire, UK. The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of KOEI TECMO HOLDINGS CO., LTD., headquartered in Yokohama, Japan. KOEI TECMO’s best known for their signature ‘one versus thousands’ Warriors series, the fan-favourite Ninja Gaiden and fighting entertainment title Dead or Alive. Through collaboration with strong existing franchises, such as A.O.T. Wings of Freedom (Attack on Titan), has brought fan-favourite shows to life in video game form. The company’s desire for innovation and diversity has seen the creation of the critically acclaimed dark-samurai action title Nioh, which takes on new and unique gameplay styles. The company’s acquisition of GUST, developer of a variety of heart-warming titles, has seen their flagship Atelier series span generations of consoles and fans alike. More information about KOEI TECMO EUROPE LTD and its products can be found at www.koeitecmoeurope.com

World of Tanks: Mercenaries Gets A Real-Time Strategy Perspective

World of Tanks: Mercenaries Gets A Real-Time Strategy Perspective

A new mode is coming, and a comic book legend boosts our Mercenary ranks

November 26, 2018 — Battles are heating up in World of Tanks: Mercenaries this November, with a brand-new game mode on the horizon that brings an all-new perspective and degree of strategy to the game. We also have new tanks from one of the finest artists in the comic book industry, and a mighty French Hero tank.

Fans of real-time strategy games will love Commander Mode, the latest evolution of World of Tanks’ classic tank combat experience and exclusive on Consoles. Players can take command of nine tanks with a strategic, birds-eye view of the battlefield as the Commander. Give single tanks direct orders to flank and outwit your enemies or send groups into the fray en masse for a heavy-handed cavalry attack! You can also assume the role of the Tanker and, alongside a team of five other players, work together to bring down the powerful Commander.

Wargaming West has been working on Commander Mode directly with the help and constructive input of our community, refining the experience to make it as exciting, intuitive, and fun to play as possible. Fight with unlimited ammunition and forget about the deeper intricacies of typical tank combat. Put on your strategy hat and fight from a new perspective in Commander Mode from November 30 through December 9!

Elsewhere in the World of Tanks, we recently welcomed a bombastic new trio of Mercenaries to the game. The Outcasts are a band of dangerous soldiers created in partnership with Parisian art collective ARTtitude by Brett Parson, the legendary comic book artist best known for his stellar work on Tank Girl and New Romancer. With a breadth of experience in crafting weird and wonderful worlds and bringing colorful and crazy characters to life, we couldn’t think of a better person to help us expand the universe of World of Tanks: Mercenaries than Brett!

Available together in the Outcasts Mega collection or individually until December 11, get to know this ragtag bunch of misfits:

  • Banana Buster – a deliberate brawler with awesome armor. It’s captained by 40 Watt Club, a French Resistance fighter who delights in hunting down members of German high command!
  • Beach Party – the resilient hybrid of three nations’ engineering prowess, it’s fronted with a magnificently powerful weapon. Battalion 23, an American soldier who went mad surviving and fighting his way through the forests of Japan after World War II, is at its helm.
  • T.A.N.K. – this absolute unit has excellent speed, agility, and close-range combat prowess. The Buck is its master, a cruel and vindictive war criminal who operates a nefarious network of Mercenaries who sweep Europe like a plague of locusts.

Also, France will have a new Hero tank fighting on its frontlines when the Audace AMX Canon d’assaut 105 joins the fray on November 27! This combat vehicle is a speed demon, allowing it to position itself for combat with ease and escape quickly if necessary. Its streamlined profile makes it a stealthy combatant, while its ferocious firepower and swift aim time mean it also isn’t afraid to get stuck into a proper fight!

To stay on top of all the latest news and releases for World of Tanks: Mercenaries, keep your eyes glued to the official website!

Outcasts – Created by Brett Parson: https://console.worldoftanks.com/news/outcasts-mega

About World of Tanks: Mercenaries

World of Tanks: Mercenaries is a team-based massively multiplayer online action game dedicated to armored combat, created by Wargaming West in Chicago, USA. Players immerse themselves in fierce 15-v-15 tank combat with opponents from around the world, and can fight it out on more than 90 different maps, and take command of their preferred vehicle out of over 740 tanks from 10 different nations. For the first time in the history of the World of Tanks series, a new Mercenaries line allows players to forsake nationalities and take the wheel on a new range of powerful tanks, exclusive to the console experience.

World of Tanks: Mercenaries is played by more than 17 million players worldwide and is available on all generations of PlayStation®4, Xbox One, and Xbox 360. World of Tanks: Mercenaries can be downloaded for free by all PlayStation Network and Xbox Live account holders, with stunning 4K resolution and HDR support on PlayStation®4 Pro and Xbox One X. The epic, story-driven campaign mode War Stories can also be played for free, with regular episodic stories giving players the chance to rewrite history in immersive single-player and co-operative battles.

Official website: http://console.worldoftanks.com

About Wargaming

Wargaming is an award-winning online game developer and publisher headquartered in Nicosia, Cyprus. Founded in 1998, Wargaming has grown to become one of the leaders in the gaming industry with 4400+ employees and offices spread all over the world. Over 200 million players enjoy Wargaming’s titles across all major gaming platforms. Their flagship products include the massively popular free-to-play hit World of Tanks and the strategic naval action game World of Warships.

The company’s dedicated unit, Wargaming Mobile, is forging collaborations to deliver new mobile experiences alongside their in-house game development.

Official website: www.wargaming.com

Overkill’s The Walking Dead Review

Overkill’s The Walking Dead

Developer: Overkill
Publisher: Starbreeze
Platform: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Windows (Reviewed)
Release Date: 6 November 2018 (PC), 2019 (Consoles)
Price: $59.99 USD – Available Here

Video Review

Overview

Overkill’s The Walking Dead comes from PayDay veterans Overkill. Part of The Walking Dead’s canon, players head out to Washington D.C. where a group of survivors are eking out a living. Up to four players will work together to scavenge supplies, fight the undead, and deal with ruthless human enemies.

Story

Players play Maya, Grant, Heather, and Aiden, four members of the Anderson Camp. The game’s first season kicks off with the camp’s not so friendly neighbours attempting to extort protection money from the camp. It turns out the living are even worse than the dead. The Family are not the last of the Anderson Camp’s troubles as a greater threat looms in the distance.

The multiplayer nature of Overkill’s The Walking Dead doesn’t leave much room for a deep story, but the game still manages a decent tale. The story maintains a dark feeling throughout. The characters are chatty, and there aren’t that many lines for specific situations. As a result, you will hear the same few lines in a level. While the game has a lot of lore collectibles scattered around the levels, I am disappointed to see there is no theatre mode to rewatch cutscenes. I found myself missing out on cutscenes due to the need to hop into games quickly and the common black screen glitch that prevents cutscenes from playing.

Gameplay

Overkill’s The Walking Dead builds upon PayDay 2’s basic four player co-op gameplay and layers on game mechanics specifically designed for the zombie apocalypse. The Walking Dead has the potential to be a serviceable co-op shooter some day like PayDay 2; however, the game’s current condition is far from ready. The gun balance on its own is just passable, but the character skills system makes it worse. Each character has skill bonuses for a type of melee, secondary, and primary weapon; however, those types of weapons are not always the best tool for the job. For example, camp defense missions against gun-toting humans make crossbows and bolt action rifles utterly useless, putting Grant and Heather at a disadvantage compared to Maya and Aidan.

Each character levels individually. Although they all share the same Core Skill Tree, spent points do not carry over. While this initially felt unfair, I soon noticed that the XP rate is quite generous. I found camp supplies to increase the camp buildings was actually the bigger bottleneck.

The level design is disappointing. Several maps are used repeatedly with minor adjustments and different enemy. While there are a lot of missions, the overall number of actual levels is quite low. The defense missions involving human enemies are an exercise in frustration, especially the two set in Anderson Camp. I like the idea of random variation in map objectives and wish there was more of it in game. Many maps will have two or three variation of a single major objective, but most boil down to the same collect some items and jam it into the right slot to proceed.

The game’s difficulty level is frustrating. The zombie mechanics make playing with random players tough. Ammunition is a bit limited and the zombie spawn rate increases as more noise is made. Some noise is controllable by using melee weapons and suppressors, while some aren’t, such as human enemies firing their weapons. Noise level is a permanent increase for the rest of the level and suppressors break after a certain number of shots, so zombie spawns can easily snowball into a horde if a player with poor aim decides to fire at everything that moves. I am not a fan of how headshot difficulty for living enemies increases as the game progresses. Later levels are swarmed with helmeted enemies that make one shot kills to the head very difficult for weapons completely reliant on those types of kills.

Noise management and suppressors could use a bit of an overhaul. Suppressors are incredibly valuable, so I would have liked some better control over their use. If the gun is modded with a suppressor, the player will only get one for the entire level. If it is not possible to craft or find replacements within the level, I would have preferred the option to temporarily remove the suppressor. There is no point wasting valuable suppressor life when engaging in an all-out gun battle against human enemies.

The camp is a decent distraction between maps but needs to be organized better. The more common activities are available within the menus. The survivor missions are a good way to spend extra resources to top up ones you may be short on. The ability to stack high level survivors in buildings for reasonably helpful in-game bonuses is a plus. The major annoyance is the in-game camp map. In general, the map is pointless considering the services it offers. The shop, bank, and quest manager could all be moved into the game menus. I would have preferred a shooting range in the camp to help players get a feel for new weapons and learn how to aim the crossbow instead of learning on the job.

The game is buggy and needs a good bit of optimization. NPCs trying to follow players have problems pathing down jumpable objects and climbing over anything above knee height is almost impossible. This makes the rescue Reina mission a huge pain. Hitboxes on stairs feels off compared to flat ground. I’ve seen other players suddenly float a meter into the air for no real reason. Cutscenes randomly do not play between levels. Loading into levels takes forever, which is tolerable if the game was fully loaded by the time the player spawns into the world. Instead, I always found myself thrown into the world with severe lag and texture popping for the first 30 seconds while the game finished loading. Things lock up again every time a new player loads into the map in the middle of the match. Considering this game is so melee heavy, these lag spikes can be a death sentence. Things have improved a little since release, but the game is still far from perfect.

Visuals

Overkill’s The Walking Dead looks very dated. The player character models and textures are low resolution. There’s a shortage of NPC textures, as the zombie hordes generally look the same and armoured tanks share the same zombie style innards texture on the back no matter if they are alive or the living dead. The environment looks a little more modern, but several levels are lightly modified variants of each other. The firearm animations are decent, but hand and melee animations look unnatural.

Audio

The audio experience is decent. The music works well for the game. The sound effects are good. Voice acting on the other hand is a mixed bag. Main characters tend to be higher quality, but still fall short of a proper AAA performance. The minor characters tend to lack both quantity and quality.

Overall

Overkill’s The Walking Dead is an exercise in frustration. The game has a lot of potential, but it is bogged down by a few poor game design choices, bugs, lack of content, and dated presentation. It feels like The Walking Dead would have benefited from more development time. If Overkill is willing to continue development and support The Walking Dead over the next year or two, they may be able to turn things around. But in its current state, it’s hard to recommend Overkill’s The Walking Dead.

Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.

Tetris Effect Review

Tetris Effect

Developer: Resonair
Publisher: Enhance
PlatformsPlayStation 4
Release Date: 09/11/2018
Price: 54,95 AU$ – Available Here

Overview

Tetris was probably one of my first… if not my first video game ever, that I’ve played endless hours on Nintendo’s Game Boy. Following the concept “Easy to Learn, Hard to Master” I was really enjoying how this simple idea kept giving me tough challenges. And of course we can’t forget to mention the awesome soundtrack, which got stuck in our head for days after our gameplay sessions. Unfortunately there was never another original Tetris game, that I’ve played for a long time. The only similar and mentionable title is Tricky Towers from developer WeirdBeard. Now there is Tetris Effect and I had high hopes since I first saw the announcement. Below I’ll share my thoughts on this artistic take from the developers behind Rez and Lumines.

Story

With development starting in 2012, the idea of Tetris Effect was a music-based game around Tetris. After some difficulties with the licence, it’s now finally available for PlayStation 4 and includes support for PlayStation VR.  The final product delivers a wonderful ride through different scenarios presented through colorful effects and an awesome soundtrack based on your actions. After playing the first level I couldn’t get enough of it and I spent several hours playing. Tetris Effect is Tetris how I knew it when I was a child and the modern take on it is very well done by the Japanese companies behind it.

Gameplay

Tetris Effect sticks to the core Tetris gameplay and offers some additional modes. Unfortunately there is no multiplayer included and I’m not sure of the reason but I suppose that the developers wanted to deliver a strong experience for solo players. With thirty different stages there is definitely a lot of content to explore during your journey and every level is very unique on it’s own. Sometimes we find ourselves underwater and sometimes we’re flying through the air. The difficulty is rising the more you advance and this refers to the speed level, that determines how fast the blocks are coming down. Before you start a level you also have the option to choose between three difficulty modes, it’s the same deal here meaning if you took the easiest one, the speed level will not increase that much compared to the other settings.

During my playthrough I struggled with some levels, but I kept jumping in again for another try. I’m pretty sure that also experienced players will find their challenge in Tetris Effect. On the other side the game also allows casual players to find joy. Due to the variety of the stages you’ll find yourself equally in slow paced moments and stressful situations. Also there might be some stages that you like more than others, this is pretty normal in video games nowadays. If you have a PlayStation VR available then you can also enjoy a better latency, which helps you to play faster and more accurate. The use of the device is not really to move your head around and watch what’s going on around you – it’s about diving into this beautiful experience and forget about your surroundings for a while.

The Zone ability is something new and you can fill it up by clearing lines. Simply activate it with one button and time stands still, which allows you to be more precise with your placements of the blocks and it also gives you the chance for the first time in Tetris history to achieve a Decahextris; a 16 line combo. If you rather want to play a bit more relaxed, you can switch from Journey Mode to Effect Mode and customize your gameplay experience depending on your mood. There are several categories like Relax, Focus, Classic or Adventurous available for you to explore. Last but not least I want to mention that there’s a special surprise waiting for you after you’ve finished the Journey Mode.

We already talked about the missing multiplayer, but the team behind Tetris Effect at least included an event called Weekend Ritual. The community has 24 hours time to collect points and reach the goal. Rewards like in-game avatars are waiting for you here. I found this a nice extra and am looking forward to participate in some of those events to see if the community has what it takes.

Visuals & Audio

As  mentioned before the visual presentation in combination with an amazing soundtrack is just excellent. Effects are plopping up everywhere and    the variety in it  got me  attached to Tetris Effect for hours every time I started the game. The best part about the music is, that even if the tracks might not be something that you’d listen to in your free time, I’m sure you’ll gonna like them in the game. I can’t remember when this happened to me the last time, but Tetris Effect is definitely the biggest surprise for me and also one of the best games this year.

Overall

Perfection! Tetris Effect is flawless and one of the most wonderful game experiences I’ve had since a while. The core gameplay is addictive and I can listen to the songs forever while watching at all those effects happening on my screen. The missing multiplayer might be a missed chance, but it doesn’t change the fact that Tetris Effect is a 10 out of 10.Try it out and I promise, you won’t be disappointed.

WORLDS COLLIDE IN PAC-MAN: RALPH BREAKS THE MAZE, AVAILABLE NOW ON THE APP STORE AND GOOGLE PLAY

WORLDS COLLIDE IN PAC-MAN: RALPH BREAKS THE MAZE, AVAILABLE NOW ON THE APP STORE AND GOOGLE PLAY

Wreck-It Ralph and his Gutsy, Energetic Friend Vanellope Meet PAC-MAN in a Colorful Mobile Mash-Up from BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment America Inc.

Leading interactive entertainment developer and publisher BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment America Inc. today announces the official launch of PAC-MAN: Ralph Breaks the Maze. Disney fans and gamers alike can collect the characters from Ralph Breaks the Internet and from the Disney characters featured in the film in a remastered version of the iconic chasing adventure, PAC-MAN. Players will eat power pellets to weaken ghosts and use items unique to characters from the Disney universe to earn bonus points for smashing high scores. The game is available now as a free download on the App Store and Google Play.

Players will guide the classic coin-op arcade hero, PAC-MAN, through new mazes in PAC-MAN: Ralph Breaks the Maze. They can run away or eat ghosts to earn high scores and higher levels while chowing down on special items and collecting characters from Ralph Break the Internet and other favorite Disney movies. Unlockable characters come with themed power-ups that add to the excitement.

At participating retailers, fans can also purchase BANDAI America’s Wreck-It Ralph Power PAC Mini Figure toys that unlock even more content. Each collection of colorful figurines features special redeem codes inside the box that unlock characters in the PAC-MAN: Ralph Breaks the Maze app for added interactive fun. These characters include Wreck-It Ralph, Vanellope von Schweetz, Fix-It Felix Jr., Elsa, Eeyore, Snow White, and more. The characters are available through in-app purchase or within the retail package, unlocking the characters is as simple as downloading the app and entering the code found in the box or by purchasing the character directly within through the app.