SHAWN ASHMORE, STAR OF XBOX ONE AND REMEDY ENTERTAINMENT’S QUANTUM BREAK, TO APPEAR AT SUPANOVA POP CULTURE EXPO IN GOLD COAST, AUSTRALIA
Xbox Australia, in collaboration with Supanova Pop Culture Expo, today announced that Shawn Ashmore, star of the highly-anticipated upcoming Xbox One and Windows 10 exclusive, Quantum Break, will be a headline artist at the fan-favourite event on the Gold Coast in Australia, this April 8-9.
Best known for his role as ‘Iceman’ in the X-Men movies (X-Men, X2, X-Men: The Last Stand and X-Men: Days of Future Past) and Mike Weston in television hit The Following, Ashmore brings his Hollywood cache and vast experience to the world of interactive games. In Remedy Entertainment’s Quantum Break – part video game, part in-game live action show – Ashmore takes on the role of Jack Joyce, the lead protagonist capable of freezing and manipulating time.
In addition to attending the Supanova Preview Night on Friday 8 April 2016, Ashmore will sign autographs for fans and take part in an interactive Q&A panel on Saturday 9 April. During this session, Ashmore will discuss his involvement in Quantum Break and the challenges of creating a unique entertainment experience that blurs the lines between two of pop culture’s most popular entertainment mediums.
For fans unable attend the Gold Coast event, Ashmore will also attend an exclusive fan event at the Microsoft Flagship Store, Sydney. More details for this event will be revealed on the Microsoft Store and Xbox Australia social channels shortly.
Tickets for Supanova Gold Coast are on sale now through Moshtix.
Quantum Break is available in Australia and around the world from April 5th 2016. Visit MicrosoftStore.com to pre-order now. To join the conversation, visit Xbox Australia on Facebook, Instagram or follow the #QuantumBreak hashtag on Twitter
Nicalis will Bring the Voodoo of Full Mojo Rampage to PlayStation®4 and Xbox One This Spring
‘The Binding of Isaac’ and ‘Cave Story’ Developer/Publisher to Enchant Console Gamers with Mojo-motif Roguelike Action RPG
Santa Ana, Calif.—March 28, 2016—Nicalis Inc., a publisher known for its work on critically-acclaimed titles such as The Binding of Isaac and Cave Story, today announce its spring season plans to publish Full Mojo Rampage, a voodoo-infused roguelike action RPG, for the PlayStation®4 and Xbox One.
Slated to bewitch players with the brand new Endless Mode as well as a multitude of visual, content and gameplay improvements based on player feedback, the PS4™ and Xbox One versions of Full Mojo Rampage are guaranteed to conjure up a curse of a good time!
Set in the mystical shoes of a knowledge-hungry apprentice, players serve deities known as Loa in their pursuit of strange dark magic. Utilizing abilities bestowed by Loa alongside an ever-changing array of enchanted items known as mojos, up to 4 players will venture through randomly generated spooky 3D environments. Alone or co-op, they will slaughter, steal and summon their way to sorcerous splendor. Players can also engage in a variety of awesome online versus modes that support up to 8 players, including challenges such as Capture the Flag, Deathmatch and King of Mojo.
Features of Full Mojo Rampage!
Battle strange and challenging foes via intense, roguelike action RPG style gameplay
Tear through the Voodoo realm in randomly generated vivid environments brimming with secret rooms, shrines and loot. Forcefully avenge the Voodoo gods known as Loa to earn special items and enhancements
Voodoo with up to 4 players cooperatively on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, featuring a multitude of improvements such as enhanced visuals, new content and gameplay adjustments based on player feedback
Play solo, or experience a wide variety of cooperative game modes including Campaign, Daily Quests, Survival Mode and Endless Mode, as well as up-to-8-player competitive modes such as Capture the Flag, Deathmatch and King of Mojo
Gain power and upgrade characters via earned experience and gold, which persist through death – dying is not an end, it is only a means of becoming a stronger voodoo soul!
Jam out to an original soundtrack composed by Alistar Lindsay of Prison Architect fame
Developed by Over The Top Games and published by Nicalis, Full Mojo Rampage is headed to PS4 and Xbox One in spring 2016. For more information on Full Mojo Rampage, mojo on over to the official website at www.fullmojorampage.com. This title has yet to be rated by the ESRB.
About Nicalis, Inc.
Based in Southern California and founded in 2007, Nicalis, Inc. is an independent developer and publisher with a proven track record for developing and publishing well-polished games. More information on Nicalis can be found at http://www.nicalis.com . Follow Nicalis at: http://www.twitter.com/nicalis
Indie Gala and Capsule Computers are getting into the swing of spring (or fall) with a brand new Every Monday Bundle. This week’s bundle contains seven indie games for only $1.49.
hocus – A puzzler inspired by M.C. Escher’s mind bending art.
RePete – A puzzle platformer that will have players saving looped replays of themselves to solve the game’s puzzles.
Star Sky 2 – A beautiful moonlit adventure about the choices we make in life.
Tropical Fish Shop 2 – A hidden object adventure mixed with match 3 puzzles and some light shop simulation.
Cruel Arena – A platforming zombie survival game drawn in doodle style with over the top violence.
Trackmania Turbo is the latest release in the long running Trackmania series which, unbeknownst to me, has had over 10 different iterations over the past 10 or so years. Best labelled as a stunt driver as opposed to a racer, Trackmania Turbo promises hundreds of micro challenges filled with ramps, loop-the-loops, tight corners and much more across number of fun and colourful environments and game modes. As someone new to the series and was interested in it from a trailer I believe was from E3 last year, I was keen to take the game out for a spin to see what its all about. Read on for my full review.
Gameplay
Now contrary to what I believed when I first started the game, Trackmania Turbo is NOT a racer. There are actually no races against a physical opponent in the entire game, however there often ghosts opponents of your previous time or the time to beat which work almost as well. The closest thing I can think to compare Trackmania Turbo to is actually Super Monkey Ball, just you are up against the clock and moving at very high speeds. The main solo mode contains 200 micro courses to race through that lasts for about 30 seconds on average sans a few multi lap events that cross over the minute mark.
Time is your main opponent in Trackmania
These tracks rely on physics to make them enjoyable and contain jumps, loops, water, pitfalls, tight corners and more to create a challenging course that you have to try and traverse in the shortest time you can. Repeating a track continuously to shave half a second off your time is the name of the game here. It’s fun, fast paced, and just like all those annoying apps that become really popular from time to time such as Flappy Bird, the challenge keeps you coming back for more.
The courses have four main themes to them as well as four different cars to match each one, with each one handling fairly differently from the last. The F1 like vehicle with tight controls is probably my favorite, with the very strong turning ability of the off-road buggy putting it at a close second. You won’t be able to blame the controls here for your failings as they are very precise. There is definitely a bit of a learning curve here especially in regards with how to take corners as handling them correctly is integral to achieving better times. Some terrains such as dirt and sand can wreak havoc with the controls you have mastered and are very frustrating on your first encounters but do add to the challenge and add variety. Practice makes perfect here and the more time you spend with the game the more rewarding it becomes.
Driving on walls is standard fare in Trackmania Turbo
One thing that really surprised me is that your car has no boost function, with boost zones being limited to certain spaces on the track. The lack of a seemingly essential feature in an arcade racer may seem detrimental, but in the scope of Trackmania it’s not. It simply puts the focus on accuracy when taking corners and ramps as opposed to boost gauge management, which is great for the competitive environment of the game.
All your time in game is made competitive by the constant leader board progress which could be the best I have seen in any game to date. Leader boards seemingly update in real time and a ranking based on the world, country and even your state from the total amount of players in that area is repeatedly shown to you. This is a game best shared among competitive friends but challenging the world and your state is a pretty good substitute.
I hope you’re not a completionist…
In respects to game modes there are plenty of options here. You’ve got the main solo campaign with 200 unique courses to go through. Each track has a bronze, silver and gold time as well as a very hard to get Track Master rank which I only got 1 of throughout my play through. Getting enough of each type of medal unlocks more tracks which does feel limiting especially at the beginning when you can only play one type of car for 10 races, but it does ensure a steady rise in difficulty. This is where people will spend most of their time perfecting their runs, climbing leader boards and unlocking more tracks and car customisation options.
There is also a pretty heavy focus on local multiplayer which I’m sure some older games will appreciate. We have split screen, arcade mode, a hot seat mode and perhaps most unique, a mode called Double Driver which you can complete the entire career in if you’re game enough. This mode lets two people control a car where the car will steer somewhat in the middle of both players inputs. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to test these modes for myself so I can’t comment on their fun factor, but you should know they exist and it’s nice to see some attention being paid to a mode that is sadly becoming a relic of gaming.
I feel your pain brothers…
Luckily for people without friends who like games or two controllers, we have online mode. This mode is a lot of fun in that it gives you five minutes to record the best time on a track while up to 100 other racers do the same. You can see the ghost of every player as well; so on that first really hard corner or surprise pitfall, about you and 50 other cars are all crashing at the same time as you struggle to learn the track. Your ranking in the group is continually updated and the five minutes goes by really fast which is a testament to how much fun the mode is. For those who want to play with a friend online privately that is also an option and I will also note I had no lag issues in the online modes.
On top of all that there is a track builder broken down perfectly for those who want to tweak every aspect of their custom course or just want the CPU to randomly create one in a matter of seconds. This short paragraph really doesn’t give the track builder the props it deserves but there’s not much to say about it. It’s robust, has all the options you would expect and more and caters towards players of all skill levels. It also does a good job of making your track fit in with the rest of the game, as on beginner mode at least the course will be automatically decorated with buildings or trees. One thing you can’t say about Trackmania Turbo is that it doesn’t have lasting appeal.
Build your own unique courses with the robust track builder
My only really major gripe with the gameplay is more just an issue on how you learn the game, without any type of tutorial or even a way to view the controllers button layout in game available. This lead to some frustration especially at the start where I was constantly restarting a run saying what the hell is going on until I figured out that B was a reset button.
I understand the series isn’t new and the gameplay is rather simple, but being the first Trackmania to arrive on consoles in a long while. More care should have been taken in explaining some of the less conventional things like how you bounce off water like a trampoline or that your engine shuts off when you cross red x marks (that most players, myself included), probably won’t even notice the first few times. Even the main abilities of cars are left up to the player to figure out in the process of playing, such as the F1 car having the ability to maneuver in the air. Some player guidance would have been greatly appreciated.
Trackmania Turbo’s looks match the quality of it’s gameplay
Visuals
Trackmania Turbo looks great. High quality models, high resolution textures, beautiful and visually stimulating environments, all delivered at a smooth 60 frames per second. There’s not much else you could ask for. The game adapts a very colourful ‘world tour’ theme, with lots of signs in different languages and cultural references which really fit with the arcade vibe the game has and give the game a unique identity.
Just enough customisation options to make your design your own.
You have the option to customise each car with a sticker, number, basic stylized paint job, country flag and a material type. It’s rather basic but it’s perfect for this type of title and gives you some goals to work towards as you unlock more designs in each category as you progress.
My only negative about the visuals is that the game forces you in to the first person camera whenever you are on a roller coaster like ramp. This can throw off your momentum and the change back to the third person camera is jarring as well. I’m sure the developers deemed this a must for some reason or another, but it’s still a bit off-putting each time it happens.
The forced perspective change can be jarring
Audio
There’s not much to say about the audio really. There’s about 40 House/Electro tracks that match the speed of the game well but are ultimately forgettable. You can set these to off/on in the settings but I think after a couple hours you will most likely switch to your own music. Unfortunately the settings are missing some essential features such as volume for music, voice and sound effects so while music won’t play during races there doesn’t seem to be a way to silence it at all times.
As for sound effects and voice the game goes for that arcade feel and does a good job of it. Car engines, drifting, crashes, etc. all sound good as do all the rewarding arcade sounds all the way up to the menus. The cockpit guy telling you to watch the paint whenever you hit a wall gets a bit annoying and has limited lines but luckily he can be turned off.
Geronimo!!!
Overall
It’s very hard to nail down a specific score for Trackmania Turbo. I can see people playing a couple levels and instantly giving up on the game due to frustration but I can see fans of the series and those who love a challenge absolutely loving it. I personally feel like I fall right in the middle of those two categories but there is no doubt Trackmania Turbo is a fantastic looking, well polished game filled with a healthy amount of content and modes. The game does what it sets out to do near perfectly, with a great variety in the courses and a very competitive community. Your decision to buy it will basically come down to if this type of game is your thing or not, but if you think at all that Trackmania Turbo will appeal to you then I’d say definitely give it a shot.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
ARK: SURVIVAL EVOLVED BRINGS STEAM PLAYERS AN EGGSCELLENT ADVENTURE FOR EASTER! (*GROAN*)…
Major Environment Expansions Added With New Swamp and Snow Cave-Dungeons
SEATTLE, WA – Friday, March 25, 2016 – Studio Wildcard, the studio that never sleeps, has today launched a major content update for ARK: Survival Evolved. Available today on Steam, ARK players can now experience the one-week-only “Eggscellent Adventure” Event. During this limited-time event, players can collect special “Bunny Eggs” across the ARK, which they can paint or use in special recipes to craft Easter-themed items such as Bunny Ears, or even a Bunny Costume for the Procoptodon — but beware the ferocious Bunny-DodoRex that will roam the ARK throughout the week!
This update also includes the challenging new Swamp and Snow Caves, which are heavily-geared toward High Level Survivors, containing high-end loot, advanced artifacts, and more clues towards the mysterious Origins of the ARK; just watch out for the Snow Cave Yetis!
ARK: Survival Evolved will launch in 2016 on Xbox One via the ID@Xbox program, PlayStation®4 with PlayStation VR support, and full release on Steam PC. The game is currently playable in Microsoft’s Game Preview on Xbox One and Steam’s Early Access program, which includes Oculus Rift VR support and an integration of Steam community features such as Steam Economy and Steam Workshop for custom maps and mods. Players can host private/LAN servers and have access to a custom-built version of the Unreal Engine 4 Editor for creating mods. The world of ARK is designed to be modder-friendly and ever-expanding!To join our growing band of survivors, journey to Steam or Microsoft’s Game Preview on Xbox One to download the game. For the latest updates follow us on Twitter, like us on Facebook, subscribe to us on YouTube, visit the Website at playark.com and watch us tame and train leviathan dinosaurs on Twitch.TV.
After numerous delays, Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End recently went gold and what better way to celebrate that than with a brand new CG trailer for the game. Sony and Naughty Dog have released a fairly short CG trailer for the game that they are calling “Heads or Tails.”
You can check out the video below, where Drake questions how many times he could have had a normal life and whether or not everything he has done up to this point has been worth it, and as for the game itself, Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End will finally be released for the PlayStation 4 on May 10th.
Today Sega has announced that they will be releasing 7th Dragon III Code: VFD in North America on July 12th and as previously discussed, all launch copies of the game will come with a special “Collector’s box” that contains the game itself as well as a 28 page art book.
In 7th Dragon III Code: VFD players will need to travel through time in order to put a stop to the dragon’s that have invaded the planet. There are “True Dragons” found in three different periods of time and players must defeat them before attempting to finish off the most dangerous one of all.
With Trillion: God of Destruction set to be released next week Idea Factory International has released their final gameplay trailer for the game and what better way to end things than to show off how the gameplay will look when you are actually fighting against Trillion. Players will need to make use of a variety of skills and strategies to defeat Trillion’s army and attack the boss himself, but be careful, Trillion can transform throughout the battle and cause players to immediately go on the defensive.
To go along with this video the company has also released a new set of screenshots introducing the Overlord of Pride, Ruche, and the Overlord of Gluttony, Perpell. You can check all of those out below and keep an eye out for the game when it is released for the PS Vita in North America on March 29th and Europe on April 1st.
Overview Fallout 4 was released last November and many people are still finding new things to do in the Commonwealth, whether it be scavenging for junk to help craft elaborate structures or trying out different character builds, these fans have been waiting to see what Bethesda would be offering with their first piece of DLC. Now that the first of three already announced packs, Fallout 4: Automatron, has been released, is this first entry worth your time?
Story Fallout 4: Automatron’s story arc begins as anyone who is familiar with Fallout DLC would expect. When loading into the game the lone survivor will receive an unknown radio signal on their Pip-Boy about a caravan being attacked. When you arrive on the scene, strange looking robots are battling it out against a separate force and once the dust settles, only one thing is left standing, a heavily modified looking Assaultron that goes by the name of Ada.
Ada informs the player that her caravan has been dealing with these strange robots, proclaiming themselves machines created by The Mechanist, since they arrived in the Commonwealth and now she is seeking some manner of revenge against the robots and their nefarious creator. To do so players will be sent on a handful of quests to take down the returning Robobrains, face off against a brand new faction, and enter into the Mechanict’s lore filled lair.
Fallout 4: Automatron may provide plenty of new mechanics, that we will touch on in a bit, but as far as story content goes players will find that there really isn’t too much on offer here. Ada serves as a fairly standard companion that develops a bit over the course of the mission but, considering her limitations, never really stands out while other characters players encounter are either enemies or fairly standard, though the way the final encounter can be handled does offer a bit of choice.
The real story here comes from the amount of content that is scattered around the lair of the Mechanist. This means that players will need to spend time checking out various computer terminals to learn about the history of the place as well as the way that Robobrains were initially created in order to get the biggest bang for their buck here. Investigating both areas, the lair and the new faction’s area, does help extend the DLC’s playtime a bit since even examining every nook and cranny only took around two hours to finish.
Gameplay That being said, while there is a serviceable story addition here, the biggest content for Fallout 4: Automatron comes in the form of being able to create your own robots from scratch. After completing the first mission, Ada provides the player with a Robot Workbench blueprint that allows players to customize any mechanic characters they have, such as Codsworth, possibly Curie, Ada, or even create their own from scratch. At the start players will find that the modifications available right off the bat are rather lackluster but there is a reason for this.
As you play throughout the DLC and fight off the mechanical hordes that stand in your way they will drop various mods that are then unlocked for use on the Workbench. This means that while players start off with some basic customization, the more enemies you defeat the more options open up and boy are there tons of modifications to pick through, especially once everything is unlocked. Players can create mechanical monstrosities covered in jagged edges, decorated with skulls, and capable of wielding devastating firepower, sleek machines designed to absorb as much damage as they can dish out, and everything in-between.
Feel like turning Codsworth into a massive sentry bot or decking him out with a better flying body? No problem. This creates some exciting possibilities though it is worth noting that you better hope that you’ve been storing away plenty of mechanical pieces and have specc’d your character a bit into various crafting perks or you’ll find out that some of the best weaponry and armor mods will be locked behind levels of science, robotics, and blacksmithing.
Outside of the fun robot customization that allows for tons of creative combinations, a few new weapons and pieces of armor are included in this DLC. Various pieces of robotic armor can now be worn on the player and two unfortunately uninspired melee weapons, based off robotic melee weaponry, are included alongside two new guns. The one happens to be a manually charging salvaged robot head that is fun to mess around with as well as a customizable Tesla Rifle that shoots out changeable bolts of electricity that can chain between enemies.
Visuals & Audio Thanks to the wide range of mods available players will be encountering numerous new looking opponents throughout their time exploring what Fallout 4: Automatron has to offer. The various machines you face off against are all cobbled together with random mods, making it something of a delight to see in V.A.T.S. mode and provides a fresh feeling to most encounters since you never know exactly what the next robot will be using.
The new faction is fairly predictable in their designs but have numerous post-apocalyptic decorations that really take advantage of the mechanical theme. As far as the voice work goes, players can unfortunately not do too much regarding the voices of the machines they build and though the new characters do come off rather decent sounding.
Overall Fallout 4: Automatron may not offer a very long quest line but this mission does offer players plenty of backstory to search for and a decent story on its own. The biggest draw however comes in the form of all of the extensive robot building that is on offer here and that is a true delight, especially since players can create and set up robots like settlers in their settlements. Fallout 4: Automatron may not have as much meat as one would have hoped for the first piece of DLC but those technologically inclined will be more than delighted with what they find here. Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
Celebrate Easter with a brand new Friday Special Bundle from Indie Gala and Capsule Computers! The bundle packs 12 indie titles with plenty of Steam Trading Cards for one low price.
For a minimum purchase of $1.00, buyers will receive:
Arcane Sorcery – A fantasy 4X strategy game where the player is a sorcerer king controlling a mighty army.
Circuits – An audio based puzzle that will challenge players to build circuits by creating music.
The Land Of Lamia – You and your sister have woken up in a strange new world based on a book from your bookshelf.
For a minimum purchase of price of $2.99, buyers will also get:
Showtime 2073 – A sci-fi FPS set in a futuristic gladiatorial arena where players must survive for five not so short levels.
Toy Soldiers: Complete – This bundle comes packed with Toy Soldiers, Toy Soldiers: Cold War and all the DLCs.
