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Extinction Soars onto Shelves Today

Philip Federico
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Extinction Soars onto Shelves Today

Available on the PlayStation®4, Xbox One and Windows PC

WALNUT CREEK, Calif. (April 10, 2018) — Humanity must survive! Save the population from colossal giants in the new action adventure game, Extinction, available today from Iron Galaxy and Modus Games.

Play as Avil, one of the last remaining Sentinels and the only warrior equipped with the skills to take down the fearsome Ravenii. These 150-foot-tall bloodthirsty monsters were previously only spoken of in fables, but today they return with a vengeance.

“When we first brainstormed the idea behind Extinction, we thought wouldn’t it be cool to scale these giant monsters and use actual, real-time combat skills to cut them down,” said Derek Neal, Executive Producer at Modus Games. “With the help of the amazing team at Iron Galaxy, we’re so excited to finally have players put those skills to test.”

“From the very beginning, Extinction was a game about two things: strategy and combat,” said Kraig Kujawa, Game Director at Iron Galaxy.  “Every situation you encounter is going to force you to think strategically – do I battle my way through a horde of minions to save this group of civilians or do I scale up this tower to jump on the back of the ogre who’s destroying the city?”

Featuring a single-player campaign with dynamic side missions, players will be able to master ultra-flexible melee combat and gravity-defying traversal mechanics throughout the world of Dolorum.

Other features include:

  • Skill-Based Combat. Travel horizontally and vertically, perform wall runs, and use your whip as a vault to execute devastating air assaults. Master dynamic combat manoeuvres to effectively traverse the giant beasts and expose their weak points, progressing along different skill trees to develop a path best suited to your playstyle.
  • Interactive Environment. Move freely around a fully destructible environment and use objects throughout the world to your strategic advantage.
  • Innumerable Battle Scenarios. Every battlefield is different from the last, ensuring a unique combat situation each time you play.
  • Skirmish Mode. Create unique battlegrounds and challenge players online to compete for the top score.
  • Extinction Mode. Fight off a continuous horde of assailants as wave after wave of ogres and their minions attack without relent.

Extinction launches today on the PlayStation®4 computer entertainment system, Xbox One and Windows PC, digitally and in stores. Its first DLC titled “Jackal Invasion” drops in May and is available to purchase separately or as part of the “Days of Dolorum” Season Pass.

For more information:

About Iron Galaxy
Located in Chicago and Orlando and founded in 2008, Iron Galaxy is a leading independent video game development studio that focuses on tech outsourcing, porting and developing quality games. The company’s most notable products include Killer Instinct, Wreckateer, Divekick and Videoball. For more information, please visit www.irongalaxystudios.com.

About Modus Games
Modus is a premier global publisher of video games across all major physical and digital entertainment platforms. The label prides itself on collaborating with talented developers around the world to bring innovative games to the masses.

Game Info
Name: Extinction
Publisher: Modus Games
Developer: Iron Galaxy
Street Date: April 10th, 2018
Price: £54.99 / €59.99 Standard – £64.99 / €69.99 Deluxe
Platforms: PlayStation®4 / Xbox One / PC (Windows)
Category: Action
PEGI 16 / USK 16

Black Desert Online becomes more Magical with the Addition of Fairies

Philip Federico
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Black Desert Online becomes more Magical with the Addition of Fairies

Amsterdam, The Netherlands – 10th of April, 2018/ Pearl Abyss and Kakao Games have announced today that Black Desert Online players can soon enjoy the long-awaited fairy system which will go live tomorrow after this week’s maintenance.

Fairies are peaceful creatures that enjoy the flowers under the grace of Queen Theiah. One day, a golden rift broke open in the fairy world. Unable to resist its own curiosity, Laila bravely embarked on an adventure and tumbled into the world of Black Desert. Players can seek Laila fairies as a companion in their journey by completing a recurring quest. Each can learn different skills that benefit their characters and makes life in Black Desert Online more pleasurable.

To give more character and personality, Melissa Hutchison was chosen to cover Laila’s in-game voice. The talented voice actress is known amongst many gamers for her work on Telltale’s The Walking Dead series where she has voiced the main character, Clementine. She also delivered the voice work for League of Legends’ champion Ashe. She can be heard in a new trailer that highlights the new content.

Laila exists in 4 different tiers, where the tier indicates the maximum level of which the fairy can grow towards. At every 10 levels, Laila will be able to obtain a random skill. All fairies automatically learn and equip the Luck +1 skill which increases the chance of obtaining rare items.

Her skills can help in numerous ways, the most obvious being a lantern function to help players navigate dark places. Other skills include auto purified water consumption which is ideal for desert survival, underwater breathing, instant resurrection without penalties, and last but not least, auto potion consumption when HP is low.

Adventurers can grow and level their Laila by feeding her equipment such as Rocaba and Grunil or the item Sweet Honey Wine, which is a craftable item in Black Desert Online. The level cap for the highest tier fairy is 40.

For more information on Black Desert Online and access to the 7-day trial please visit blackdesertonline.com

About Black Desert Online
Black Desert Online is an open world action MMORPG with cutting-edge visuals and skill-based combat that redefines how we see the genre. Black Desert Online has the most fully developed character customization system of any game that is currently on the market. This feature allows users to break out of the norm and make unique characters that truly represent each and every player. Its intuitive controls, beautifully designed world and extensive lore will excite both newcomers and veterans of MMO games and action RPGs in general. The game has been successfully launched in over 150 countries, is available in 12 languages and has over 8.5 million registered users. The mobile and console version are scheduled to launch globally in 2018.

About Kakao Games
Kakao Games is a leading online games publisher. Founded in 2015, Kakao Games is currently focused on publishing the critically acclaimed MMORPG Black Desert Online in North American and European markets. For more information on Black Desert Online please visit blackdesertonline.com

Death Road To Canada Launches April 25th on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One

Philip Federico
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Death Road To Canada Launches April 25th on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One

Escape the zombie apocalypse in the critically acclaimed, absurdist roguelike

London, United Kingdom  – April 10th, 2018 –  Independent publisher, UKIYO Publishing, in partnership with Rocketcat Games and Madgarden, are proud to announce that the randomly generated, zombie-filled road-trip. Death Road To Canada will launch on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on April 25th. Players will be able to take the highly esteemed, cadaverous journey from Florida to Ontario, soaking up its immaculately gruesome pixel-art take on the undead apocalypse.

Death Road To Canada tasks players with surviving its brutal, hyper-violent combat with over-the-top, looted weaponry. Scavenging the derelict environment, tough, sometimes hilarious decisions will have to be made along the way, either alone or in its two-player local co-op mode. Death Road To Canada will be available for $14.99, €14.99, £11.99 with a 20% launch discount during its first two weeks of sale.

“We’re thrilled to announce the console release date for Death Road To Canada,” said Kepa Auwae, Co-Founder of Rocketcat Games. “We’ve been hard at work on the ports and we can’t wait for players to try and outrun our hordes of pixelated zombie. As far as we know, this is the first time console players have been tasked with escaping to Canada.”

Tipped off that Canada might just be free from the threat of zombies, the long, winding Death Road is all that stands between the player and their goal. Players will explore iconic sites such as Y’all-Mart and the Muscle! Bomb!! Gym!!!, meeting and recruiting a host of strange and bizarre companions along the way. Unusually for randomly generated roguelikes, Death Road To Canada features a heavy emphasis on narrative, its Interactive Fiction events making or breaking friendships, all the while adding character-driven drama to the blood and guts chaos of combat.

SAM FISHER FROM TOM CLANCY’S SPLINTER CELL® JOINS THE GHOSTS FOR A SPECIAL MISSION IN TOM CLANCY’S GHOST RECON® WILDLANDS

Philip Federico
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SAM FISHER FROM TOM CLANCY’S SPLINTER CELL® JOINS THE GHOSTS FOR A SPECIAL MISSION IN TOM CLANCY’S GHOST RECON® WILDLANDS

Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon® Wildlands Celebrates Year 2 with a Free Weekend on all Platforms Starting April 12 

SYDNEY, Australia — April 10, 2018 — Ubisoft has announced that Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon® Wildlands will introduce a free special Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell®–themed mission featuring the legendary Sam Fisher voiced my Michael Ironside as part of Special Operation I, the first major update of the second year of post-launch content for the game. Players will be able to team up with Sam in this special crossover event for free starting tomorrow, April 11, on Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and Windows PC. Additionally, players will have full access to Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon® Wildlands during the upcoming free weekend taking place from April 12 until April 15, 2018. The free weekend will be available on all platforms and will give newcomers the opportunity to try out everything including Ghost War PvP mode, Predator mission and Special Operation I.

 

From April 10, a wealth of exclusive Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell® content will be introduced to the Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon® Wildlands main game and Ghost War PvP mode, including a new PvE mission, exclusive customisation items and a new Ghost War PvP class. Players* will be able to play alongside Sam Fisher, the iconic character from the critically acclaimed Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell® espionage series, and help him complete his new high-risk infiltration mission in fictionalised future Bolivia. This new special challenge is playable solo or with up to four players in co-op and is one of the most difficult missions the Ghosts have ever faced. The nighttime stealth mission will require players to use all the tools at their disposal to succeed.

“We are all super excited to bring such an iconic character as Sam Fisher into Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Wildlands,” said Nouredine Abboud, senior producer, Ubisoft. “Teaming up with Sam Fisher will require the Ghosts’ stealth, cleverness and tactics…we can’t wait to see the reactions of our players as they face this new challenge!”

Upon completing the mission, players will be rewarded with exclusive items such as Sam’s iconic sonar goggles with a new night-vision filter and more. Even though the mission will forever be available in-game, these rewards will only be available until the Special Challenge ends on May 16. In addition to the rewards for completing the challenge, players can further customise and arm their Ghosts with the Splinter Cell Gear Pack, which includes new customisation items and weapons such as the Karambit Knife; an exclusive close-combat blade inspired by Splinter Cell® Blacklist®, or the fully customisable SC 4000 prototype Splinter Cell assault rifle.

Special Operation 1 will also bring the Echelon, a new assault class available in all PvP modes that will expand the Ghost War roster to 18 unique classes. The Echelon is a part of Sam Fisher’s Fourth Echelon team, and therefore has access to high-tech equipment as well as the Sonar Pulse ability that allows him to see enemies behind walls at short range and gain tactical advantage over the opposing team. Ghost War players will be able to get early-access to the new class by using their Prestige points or with the Year 2 Pass.

For more information about Special Operation I or free weekend, please visit: ghostrecon.com/freeweekend

Developed by Ubisoft Paris,* Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Wildlands is a military shooter entirely playable in up to four-player co-op or single-player from beginning to end. Players have total freedom to accomplish their missions how they want and watch as the world reacts to their actions. Players can choose to move quietly in the night, go in hot at dawn or work together to execute a sync shot that takes out enemies in one fell swoop. Each choice has a consequence, and players must improvise or adapt their plans to ensure the completion and success of each mission. Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Wildlands Ghost War allows players to live the ultimate co-op experience in 4v4 modes. Featuring a growing roster of classes, maps and PvP modes, Ghost War focuses on teamwork, strategy and tense tactical engagements.

For more information about Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Wildlands, please visit ghostrecon.com, follow us on twitter.com/ghostrecon or facebook.com/ghostrecon and join the conversation by using #GhostRecon.

For the latest on all Ubisoft games, please visit news.ubisoft.com.

*Xbox Live Gold and PlayStation Plus subscriptions required to play during the free weekend

**In collaboration with Ubisoft Annecy, Bucharest, Montpellier, Milan, Belgrade and Reflections studios.

About Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Wildlands

Launched in 2001 with critical acclaim from fans of the Tom Clancy’s world, the Ghost Recon franchise has since convinced 25 million players thanks to breakthrough releases and has become the best-selling Tom Clancy’s brand on the last generation of consoles and PC. Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Wildlands brings the franchise to the next level with an episode designed from the ground up for a new generation, featuring a massive and visually stunning open world, playable for the first time online in four-player co-op.

Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Wildlands is a work of fiction. Like similar Tom Clancy’s games from Ubisoft, the game takes place in a modern universe inspired by reality, but the characters, locations and stories are created solely for entertainment purposes. One of the reasons Bolivia was chosen as the background of this game was due to its magnificent landscapes and rich culture. While the game’s premise imagines a different reality than the one that exists in Bolivia today, we do hope that the in-game world comes close to representing the country’s beautiful topography, and that players enjoy exploring the diverse and open landscapes it moved us to create. Any resemblance to actual events or any real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

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 2016–17 fiscal year Ubisoft generated sales of €1,460 million. To learn more, please visit www.ubisoft.com.

© 2002–2018 Ubisoft Entertainment. All Rights Reserved. Tom Clancy’s, Ghost Recon, Splinter Cell, Blacklist, Sam Fisher, the Soldier Icon, Ubisoft, and the Ubisoft logo are registered or unregistered trademarks of Ubisoft Entertainment in the US and/or other countries.v

Extinction Review

Jamie Laike Tsui
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Extinction Review

Extinction

Developer: Iron Galaxy
Publisher: Modus Games
Platform: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Windows (Reviewed)
Release Date: 10 April 2018
Price: $59.99 USD – Available Here

Video Review

Overview

Extinction is an action game featuring skill-based combat, destructible environments, and massive ogres. Known as the Ravenii, the ogres are staging a relentless assault on the cities. To save the human race, players will need to rescue civilians, battle countless beasts, and scale the ogres to strike them at their most vulnerable spots.

Story

Extinction stars Avil, one of the last Sentinels. The Sentinels have long faded into myth as the heroes who defended humanity from the Ravenii hordes. Now, the return of the Ravenii has brought Avil and his partner Xandra out of the shadows as humanity’s last hope.

The story of Extinction is an enjoyable tale, with plenty of meat considering the game’s action heavy premise. Without spoiling much, the game’s twists and turns were unexpected. It added a pleasant touch of maturity to the game. The main dialogue is well written, but the comments that are triggered based on certain gameplay actions need a lot more variety. Since there are only a few comments for things like deaths or kills, players will often hear the same line at least twice in most levels.

Gameplay

Extinction is a hack and slash action game with strong aerial mechanics. The movement system feels very tight. It has a generous skill floor that is easy enough to learn. The game also has a decent ceiling that will reward players who can master the movement system with high speed traversals around the map. The only hitch with the game’s movement system is the Ravenii themselves, as it’s quite easy to get stuck in an armpit or any body part that causes an overhang, like a chin.

Combat is a bit of a mixed bag. The basic attack is generally useless. The Ravenii are only affected by rune strikes and taking out Jackals with Rune Strikes is always faster and more efficient. This turns Extinction’s combat into a one note affair. Extinction is obviously at its best when players are pit against the towering Ravenii. The general tactic for dealing with Ravenii is the same no matter what: knock out the leg armour, cut off a leg to slow the advance, and hack off its head as soon as the Rune Strike meter is full. The Ravenii wear different types of armour, each with its own weak points that need to be targeted. The early armours are easy enough. Later armours, however, require a mix of taunting Ravenii and dodging the incoming blows before the armour can be destroyed, making for an exhilarating challenge.

The combat so far may sound really boring, but Extinction’s strength is that its sum is greater than its parts.  The extinction meter is what ties the entire combat experience together. With every civilian death and destroyed building, the extinction meter ticks down. If it hits zero, it’s game over. While the Jackals can whittle down the occasional percent or two with the death of a civilian, the Ravenii are truly terrifying. Capable of knocking off chunks of the extinction meter with every swing of the club or stomp of the foot, the panicked battle to control multiple rampaging Ravenii while saving enough civilians to build up a full Rune Strike meter is some of the most exciting and tense moments Extinction has to offer.

The game does offer some progression. A variety of skills available for purchase, ranging from stat boosts to new movement abilities. While a few like health, Rune Strike meter bonuses, and faster civilian rescues are absolutely crucial, most are quality of life enhancements.

Extinction offers a campaign mode and a variety of side missions. The campaign mode is a mix of handmade levels and randomly generated missions. The handmade levels are by far more entertaining. The random levels offer a pre-set main objective, while the bonus objective and map are randomly generated. The difficulty of the randomly generated levels is often up to chance. Bonus objectives range from trivial requirements like killing a certain number of jackals to mechanically impossible, like dismembering 2 Ravenii on a map that will only spawn one. On the other hand, the handmade levels offer three bonus medals with more interesting level designs like parkour-based levels. Side missions range from the daily challenge to the endless extinction mode that will test the player’s endurance. These side missions aren’t much different from the main randomly generated missions in practice.

A high mobility game like Extinction will live and die by its controls, and Extinction does not disappoint. The controls are simple, but responsive. Since basic attacks pale in comparison to Rune Strikes, memorizing the basic attack combos are not necessary, freeing players to focus on mastering movement skills. Targeting Rune Strikes will temporarily slow time and gravity, giving players time to adjust their aim or contemplate their next move. The dodge window is quite generous. Jackals provide plenty of time between initially telegraphing their attack and actually doing damage. The Ravenii are a little more challenging, as their sheer size make them hard to dodge.

The PC port quality is decent. Extinction handles controllers and mouse and keyboard combos well. The game seamlessly swaps between key prompts for the last used input device. The game features the bare minimum visual options, but ran well on my test system.

Visuals

Extinction’s visual design is very good. Important gameplay mechanics are immediately noticeable, usually with a splash of blue. The in-game art style is on the cartoony side, but still extremely violent. The game definitely channels a little Kill Bill with all the dismemberments and decapitations. The cut-scenes use a traditional western animation style similar to the Saturday morning cartoons many people grew up watching. The style softens the often gory nature of the cutscenes.

Audio

The audio experience is solid. The soundtrack and sound effects are enjoyable.  The voice acting is a little shy of an AAA title, but the actors do a respectable job.

Overall

Extinction features tense gameplay combined with a responsive movement system. The writers have crafted an enjoyable tale, and the audio/visual presentation is excellent. It’s a shame that the game is bogged down too many randomly generated campaign missions that result in repetitive gameplay.

Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.

Hand of Fate 2 Shuffles in Limitless Adventures in Endless Mode

Philip Federico
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Hand of Fate 2 Shuffles in Limitless Adventures in Endless Mode

Available Now on PC, Coming to PlayStation 4, Xbox One in May

BRISBANE – 10 April, 2018 – Hand of Fate 2, the action-RPG from Defiant Development that blends roguelike dungeon crawling, tabletop roleplaying and collectible card games, offers never-ending escapades to PC gamers with today’s free addition of endless mode. PlayStation 4 and Xbox One owners will be dealt in next month.

Endless Mode offers competitive players a chance to battle for the top spot on the leaderboards via infinitely replayable quests that get progressively difficult with each level. More difficult enemies are shuffled into the dealer’s deck and random pain or curse cards are dealt upon completion of each stage. To support the release of endless mode, Defiant has added a plethora of new adventures, collectible token shards, enemies and narrative branches to the core encounters, ensuring that no two dungeon runs are exactly alike.

In addition to Endless Mode, Defiant Development has a few more aces up its sleeve in the form of upcoming DLC. New companions, challenges and more are planned for the remainder of the year.

“Hand of Fate 2 was praised for adding a plethora of new features and improving upon every aspect of the original title that was enjoyed by more than two million gamers,” says Morgan Jaffit, director, Defiant Development. “Today’s addition of endless mode provides even more content to our passionate community and we eagerly anticipate giving them even more in the coming months.”

In Hand of Fate 2 players overcome trials built from collectible cards handed out by the dealer. Each trial is represented by a location on the map in the meta board game, and presents custom rules and challenges. Gamers are tested through combo-based third-person combat, the exploration of dangerous and exotic locations, high-risk high-reward minigames, deck-building and Dungeons & Dragons-style decision making.

Hand of Fate 2 is available for $29.99 in English, French, Italian, German, Spanish, Russian, Hungarian, Japanese, Korean, Ukrainian, Brazilian Portuguese and Simplified Chinese.

To learn more about Hand of Fate 2, visit the official website, check out the Steam page, like the game on Facebook, or follow Defiant Development on Twitter.

About Defiant Development

Defiant Development is the Brisbane, Australia-based developer behind 2015’s surprise hit, Hand of Fate. The 20-person studio has previously developed Heroes Call and Ski Safari for mobile platforms, with the latter accumulating more than 120 million downloads.

Magical Star Pillars Set to Release on Steam on April 25th 2018

Philip Federico
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Magical Star Pillars Set to Release on Steam on April 25th 2018

Puzzle platformer Magical Star Pillars set to release imminently on Steam

Toolkitz Games is happy to announce that our biggest game yet; puzzle platformer Magical Star Pillars is set to release on April 25th 2018 via Steam for US $6.99, CDN $7.99, A$8.25, GBP £5.19, €5.69, Japanese Yen ¥720 or Chinese Yuan ¥28 with further equivalent pricing in each region. You can try Magical Star Pillars before you buy as a free demo is available to download from http://store.steampowered.com/app/778900

Magical Star Pillars features over 100 levels comprising of a variety of challenging puzzles throughout 7 islands which each have their own unique theme; a storyline that unfolds in parallel to each level; 7 playable characters to find; exploration and experimentation within the environments to discover secret areas; keyboard and controller support; and much more besides.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWhhvo0w-PY

If you enjoy Magical Star Pillars’ gameplay and want the adventure to continue, then you will be pleased to hear that free post-launch downloadable content is set to release in the third quarter of 2018 to celebrate the fifth anniversary of Toolkitz Games including:

Two new islands with harder levels named Gold Island; medallion challenge in which collecting every medallion scattered throughout each level unlocks a secret island called Legacy Island that contains 12 secret levels themed upon Toolkitz Games previous games; extra levels within the normal islands; unlockable behind the scenes items such as concept art, old development footage and trivia about making the game; and more besides.

Follow Toolkitz Games on social media:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/toolkitzgames/
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/Toolkitz_Games
Indie DB: http://www.indiedb.com/games/magical-star-pillars

#MagicalStarPillars

Review Requests for Gaming Publications, News Articles, Official Gameplay Screenshots and Streaming Embargo

Gaming publications can communicate with Toolkitz Games at [email protected] to register your interest in reviewing Magical Star Pillars and a redeem code will be provided when they are available and feel free to ask any further questions. Official gameplay screenshots from the demo are available via the Steam store page at http://store.steampowered.com/app/778900 and a Facebook photo album at https://www.facebook.com/pg/toolkitzgames/photos/?tab=album&album_id=1465644550228432 for inclusion in any of your reviews and news articles. There is no embargo for written or video reviews, previews, news articles or gameplay video streaming. Please let Toolkitz Games know when your reviews and news articles have been published and when live gameplay video streams are taking place or if a gameplay video stream has been archived for further viewing for Magical Star Pillars or any of the developer’s other games; as we will share reviews, news articles and videos on our official social media channels as a token of our appreciation for providing support for Magical Star Pillars.

About Toolkitz Games

Toolkitz Games is a small yet ambitious indie developer based in Los Angeles, California that is about to release their biggest game yet titled Magical Star Pillars; having previously developed Wunderkind and Fractured Layers amongst other games.

HYPERNOVA: ESCAPE FROM HADEA RELAUNCHED

Philip Federico
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HYPERNOVA: ESCAPE FROM HADEA RELAUNCHED

** The Original RTDS **

Ljubljana, Slovenia – April 9, 2018 – As of today, Hypernova: Escape from Hadea is enjoying a new lease on life. This innovative, colorful and deep strategy game released last autumn has received a major update, been translated into Russian, Spanish, Simplified Chinese and Traditional Chinese, and re-released at a lower price point for a limited time to find an even wider audience. Hypernova combines classic real-time strategy with tower defense in a vast open world, becoming something special in the process – the original RTDS! The player decides where to land the mothership on a strange moon, what resources to gather, which tech to research and where to put or move the defense towers to combat waves of humorous beasts. The alien world of Hadea is colorful and charming, but make no mistake: this is a deep and diverse strategy game with old school sensibilities.

“We are thrilled to introduce new changes in Hypernova that will help expand our community even more,” said Simon Sukljan, CEO of ActaLogic. “Combining real-time strategy and tower defence genres, Hypernova challenges players with complex strategic decision-making while exploring the colourful and whimsical game world. We hope that new and old players will appreciate the revamp of the game and look forward to hearing what they think!”

A planetary system called Hadea is in danger as its huge star Naidira is becoming increasingly unstable. Realizing it is only a matter of time before an apocalyptic explosion destroys their entire planet, the natives, Scynthians, devise a plan to escape Hadea and rebuild their civilization somewhere else. The salvation lies in an interstellar teleportation device. Unfortunately, the raw materials required to build and power up such a device have long since been depleted. The only place offering more is Hadea’s moon Haya. This is an inhospitable world with a toxic corrosive atmosphere, inhabited by strange creatures. In a desperate effort to save their race, the Scynthians send an expedition to Haya to find a way to power the escape technology and save their culture from extinction.

In Hypernova, the players take on the role of a Scynthian leader with a clear goal: gather enough resources to power up an interstellar teleportation device and escape the doom of Naidira’s explosion. They need to build settlements and grow the population while gathering minerals necessary to develop the Scynthian technology. They may also come across ancient relics scattered around the moon, granting in-game resources and completing achievements, while the online leaderboards allow the players to compete for the title of the ultimate Scynthian leader!

In order to survive the attacks from creatures sleeping in lairs and roaming the unforgiving Hayan landscape, the players must set up a system of defense towers. These towers can be moved, but the suitable terrain is in short supply, especially since it is also needed for other buildings. Where should the towers and buildings be placed? Where and when to expand? What creatures to battle, which minerals to gather, what technology to research? Where to land the mothership in the first place? Decisions, decisions!

Buy Hypernova: Escape from Hadea on Steam with a 30% discount:  http://store.steampowered.com/app/650750/HYPERNOVA_Escape_from_Hadea/

Official Website: http://www.HypernovaGame.com
Like Hypernova: Escape from Hadea on Facebook: http://facebook.com/HypernovaGame
Follow Hypernova: Escape from Hadea on Twitter: http://twitter.com/ActaLogic
More articles about Hypernova on IndieDB: http://www.indiedb.com/games/hypernova

About ActaLogic

© ActaLogic, 2018. Actalogic is an independent developer from Ljubljana, Slovenia, with several games under its belt, including the well-received empire building sim Industry Manager. We are committed to developing and publishing quality video games across a variety of platforms. Find us at http://www.actalogic.com/.

Grab Some Exclusive Warframe Goodies With Tennocon Digital Ticket

Admir Brkic
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Grab Some Exclusive Warframe Goodies With Tennocon Digital Ticket

I wrote last time about Tennocon tickets going on sale soon and now I can shed more light on what’s included in different packages. Tennocon starts on July 7 and regular tickets will from $30.00CAD to a whopping $1000.00CAD. The last tier contains everything from lower tiers, including devstream team session, custom Warframe glyph, a pack of Tennocon t-shirts and an NPC voice recording session. Oh, and it’s already sold out. Considering Warframe has many fans all over the world and not everyone will be able to fly to the event, Digital Extremes is also offering a purchase of a Tennocon Digital Ticket to everyone. It requires no plane trip and everyone can grab it right now via this link. I got myself one for PC, so let’s delve deeper into what’s offered here.

First off, you get 370 platinum, an exclusive glyph, Tennocon display art (a decoration for your ship), Tennocon sigil, Tennocon exclusive armor set and a relay key. These last two items are especially tempting and you’ll see why.

The exclusive armor set looks great on all Warframes, although it makes my Harrow from above especially dashing. Lastly, the Tennocon relay key is something every player should take advantage of. During the convention, you will be able to buy some exclusive mods and cosmetics from a special in-game merchant called Baro Ki’Teer. While he appears in the game every two weeks, during Tennocon he will be in a special location for everyone who purchased a digital ticket and selling -get this- every item he ever had. So better start saving up some ducats right now.

With all this said, most exciting part of Tennocon will be finding out more about a new open world area in Warframe as well as some surprises. The reveal of Plains of Eidolon from last year rocked our world and I can’t wait to see what’s in store for us this time.

The Neverending Story Review

Mateja Simovic
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The Neverending Story Review

The Neverending Story

Studios: Producers Sales Organisation
Publisher: Warner Bros
Platforms: Cinema
Release Date: Out Now

Overview

The Neverending Story is a film I’ve often heard or been told about in the various circles I move through but never actually got around to watching it of my own accord. It was to my delight that I saw that the good folks at In the House would be screening it as part of this season’s line-up. So I got a hold of my nearest friendly luck dragon and rode on down to George Street cinemas for their screening of the children’s classic.

Our MCs for the evening were David ‘Quinny’ Quinn and Anthony Kieran who spoke a bit about some of the trivia behind the film we were about to watch. An interesting piece of trivia that Quinny mentioned was that Alan Oppenheimer, who voices a number of characters in this film (some uncredited), also voiced the character of Skeletor in the Masters of the Universe animated series. The film holds a special place in Quinny’s heart especially and it was cute to see that he had brought a plush toy of Falkor the luck dragon to the screening with him. It’s always a pleasure to see people who are unremittingly passionate and happy about a film or other media and I’m glad that In The House works to foster and share that passion with it’s cinemagoing audience.

Story

Our story follows a shy bookworm named Bastian (Barret Oliver) as he escapes the bullies and tragedy of his real life into the world of books. He happens across a mysterious book which tells the story of the hero, Atreyu (Noah Hathaway), who is on a quest to save the world of Fantasia. Fantasia is being destroyed by a great nothing which is simply swallowing up whole swathes of the world in non-existence and so Atreyu has been tasked by the Fantasia’s Empress to find a way to defeat it. As Bastian reads on and the audience sees more of the story, we begin to learn that there is something a bit unusual about the book and it’s capability to transport it’s reader to another world.

In regards to the performances of the cast, I found there wasn’t too much which stood out beside Alan Oppenheimer. Oppenheimer’s voice work as the Rock Biter, Falkor, and the narrator certainly showcases his emotional range as a voice actor. There’s one scene especially in his performance as the Rock Biter that I found particularly touching and moving. I have a special place in my heart for the melodramatic tragedy which is sometimes found in films made for children and this scene hit me right in the melancholic feels.

I also very much appreciate that the story’s narrative follows the episodic structure of classic children’s fairy tales. The adventure itself can be broken up into discrete parts with Atreyu generally needing to go someplace and do or learn something new to advance his goal. The strength of this type of storytelling really rests upon the action itself and I’m glad to say that the narrative is able to draw upon a varied and interesting catalogue to things to keep things interesting even after Atreyu’s quest concludes. It uses this narrative framework to also provide a metafictive commentary on the experience of reading itself with a lot of the action serving as allegory for the experience of reading. This is an element I’m certainly impressed with in a children’s movie especially and I appreciate being given that dimension to enjoy as well.

The film’s central thesis would have certainly resonated with many an insecure young child but may fall a bit flat to anyone who approaches this fresh as an adult. I don’t say that this means that the story’s moral of believing in yourself is wrong or that children shouldn’t be told to think well of themselves but I’d argue it’s ultimately a very milquetoast lesson to teach. That isn’t to say that the film doesn’t explore interesting facets within it’s story and there were a few scenes where the character grapples with existential questions and fights nihilism. Perhaps the film was trying to make itself more appealing to children, which isn’t of itself a problem, but I’d be concerned about adults coming to the film and being a tad bit underwhelmed.

I think that my enjoyment of the film was stilted somewhat by the fact I am obviously not the target audience for this film. My childhood is long behind me and I eagerly left it behind in my transition to young adulthood. This film was not made for me as an adult and since I was not given the chance to see it in my childhood, I don’t even have the chance to watch it through the lens of nostalgia. So despite everything that I’ve said about this film, I can see why it has such a cult following because if I’d have loved exactly this kind of film when I small nerdy kid; I regret that I didn’t have the opportunity to love this film as much as they do.

Visuals

The visual design of much of the film is quite inspired with the creature and set design standing out especially. The sets are almost all unique and interesting in their own ways and certainly work to create images which will set a child’s imagination ablaze with possibility. Falkor’s design is a great example of a child-friendly monster which looks like a cross between a puppy and one of the long serpentine Asian dragons from mythology.  It’s completely unsurprising that Quinny loved his Falcor toy so much considering how friendly he’s made to look with his big eyes and droopy ears.

Audio

The film’s soundtrack is largely serviceable but with the film’s main theme being a hammy exception. The theme is a mix of synths, orchestrals and vocals which often works together to provide an upbeat punctuation in the film’s narrative when it’s needed. Most of the other pieces on the soundtrack are straightforward orchestral pieces which don’t leave a noticeable impression beyond the film’s run time. It’s a solid score but, excepting for the main theme, probably won’t be recognisable to you after the film’s credits roll.

Overall

I ultimately found this film to be a bit underwhelming unfortunately. The story had some great performances and explored a number of interesting concepts but ultimately didn’t reach much of an interesting conclusion. The film features some pretty great visual design for it’s creatures and sets with the loveable Falkor being a particular exemplar. The soundtrack is not much to write home about except for the film’s main theme which is a wonderful tune straight out of the synthy 80s. My recommendation is that you get your kids to watch this film and love it of their own accord as I don’t believe that it will have the same first impression on anyone who has outgrown the innocence of childhood.

For other films which In The House is screening, feel free to check out their schedule for the next season here.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.

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