Koei Tecmo has announced four more playable characters for the upcoming Arslan: The Warriors of Legend video game. Esfan, Kubard, Tus, and Zaravant have been revealed alongside a number of new stages such as Pars Village, Zarbule Castle, and Saint Emmanuel Castle in the latest batch of screenshots for the game.
They also released a couple of new trailers showing how the previously announced characters of Jaswant and Kishard will play once Arslan: The Warriors of Legend is released in Japan for the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 3 on October 1st and in North America and Europe in early 2016 with an additional Xbox One release.
Sony surprised many when they revealed that The Last Guardian is indeed still in the works and that it is being developed for the PlayStation 4 and now with Tokyo Game Show set to take place next week we may be seeing a little bit more about the game.
We say this because a tweet from the company genDesign, a company started by Fumito Ueda who is on the creative team for The Last Guardian, is hinting that the game will be shown at the event. The tweet reads “We are thinking about how to take Trico to the Makuhari (in a new and different way),” and is accompanied by the above image where we can see Trico’s foot. It is also worth noting that Tokyo Game Show is being held at a convention center named Makuhari Messe so we will likely be hearing more about the game sometime between Septmeber 15th and the 20th.
Square Enix has announced that when they release Dragon Quest Heroes: The World Tree’s Woe and the Blight Below in the West that they will be including all of the post-launch DLC that was released in Japan on-disc for free. The DLC includes a number of episodes that allow players to experience new pieces of the story as well as unlock additional costumes for a few of the characters.
These missions will become available once the player has reached a certain point in the storyline. Dragon Quest Heroes: The World Tree’s Woe and the Blight Below is set to be released on the PlayStation 4 in North America on October 13th.
To help celebrate the 30th anniversary of Super Mario Bros., Nintendo of Europe shared a video featuring Shigeru Miyamoto, creator of Super Mario Bros. and many other hugely successful video game franchises. In this video, which lasts just 78 seconds, Shigeru Miyamoto reveals the truth about many popular Mario-related myths.
If you want to find out the truth behind Mario’s name, who Bowser Jr.’s mother is and other myths surrounding the iconic character, check out the official video, which is embedded below. The latest game in the series, Super Mario Maker for Wii U, is available now available in Japan, North America, Europe and Australia.
Two New Arenas and Ranking System Introduced Tonight
IRVINE, CALIF.– Sept. 11, 2015 – As announced earlier this week, ESTsoft, Inc. has provided the next free update for CABAL 2, “Trial of Champions.”
The new update features two new arenas; one featuring PVE challenges for individual players brave enough to go alone, and one which pits two players against each other in fierce one-on-one PVP combat. Both arenas require players to be level 10 or higher to enter.
There is also a new ranking system that will track players in the new arenas and in-game battlegrounds. This feature tracks the amount of points that players rack up during these events and gives them a ranking. At the end of each season players will be awarded prizes based off of their ranking.
Evolving from the wildly-successful CABAL Online, which hosts nearly 30 million users from more than 60 countries around the world, CABAL 2 is a high-fantasy MMO for PC which combines deep, immersive RPG elements with epic skill-based battles. This next chapter in the CABAL series bring a unique style of gameplay sure to appeal to players who are both nostalgic for the classic MMOs of the past, but also still enjoy the technical advancements of modern PC gaming.
For more information, and to download CABAL 2 and check out the “Trial of Champions” update, please visit www.cabal2.com.
About ESTsoft, Inc.
ESTsoft Inc. is the North American publishing and operations arm of ESTsoft Corp, a leading Korean software company since 1993. ESTsoft delivers essential software products and innovative online games around the world. ESTsoft has been a KOSDAQ listed company since 2008.
CHARGE THROUGH THE ENEMY LINES WITH THE HARD-HEADED PACHY IN ARK: SURVIVAL EVOLVED
Furthering its relentless effort to expand the diversity of lifeforms on ARK: Survival Evolved, Studio Wildcard has brought forth the next creature from its extensive library of dino dossiers, the hard-charging, bone-headed Pachycephalosaurus (“Pachy” to its friends). For players who own ARK, update the game and find him hanging out within the Jungles and Grasslands.
See the Pachy in action via its announcement gameplay trailer on YouTube HERE
The rather svelte Pachy is a nimble creature and easy-to-tame herbivore, with a singularly exceptional ability: it can execute a “charge” attack that rapidly builds speed, and the harder it hits anything with its bone-plated spiked skull, the more “torpor”-inducing damage it causes. It can even charge straight through structures with this powerful attack, making it a one-of-a-kind creature for quickly causing a KO on your enemies!
Also in today’s ARK“v207” update, among many new features, Studio Wildcard has added a Raft to explore the oceans & live a life at sea, and a massive new system for building structures on top of large platforms including mobile Bronto bases, providing Tribes with tremendous new tactical possibilities.
The most popular open-world Early Access game on Steam, ARK: Survival Evolved brings a new level of depth to the survival genre with a unique blend of emergent multiplayer cooperation and competition. Players awake naked and starving on the beach of a mysterious island among a herd of other confused humans and must explore the vast island of ARK to survive. What is the secret to survival?
Developed by Studio Wildcard, in conjunction with Instinct Games, ARK: Survival Evolved will launch in June 2016 on Xbox One via the ID@Xbox program, PlayStation®4 with Project Morpheus support, and full release on Steam. The game is currently in Steam’s Early Access program and 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 over to Steam 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 www.playark.com and watch us tame and train leviathan dinosaurs on Twitch.TV.
Overview So Warhammer 40000 Regicide is a turn-based strategy game who takes inspiration from an in-universe chess-like game in the 40k universe. I previewed the title a couple of months ago (which you can read about here) and I wrote that I felt the game provided an interesting scaffold upon which more could be added. I return once more, into the maelstrom of battle, to give you my final verdict on whether or not this game has provided the substance I felt it needed.
Story The story follows the exploits of a contingent of the Blood Angels Space Marine chapter as they fight regain a world lost to Greenskin forces… or something to that effect. To be honest I am not entirely sure as it wasn’t conveyed in a particularly engaging way. Besides an opening cinematic which was released in one of the trailers, pretty much everything is told in voiced dialogue between characters before each mission. I stopped paying too much attention to the story largely because the information it was giving me was rather banal and was disjointed from what was happening in the missions themselves (which were actually quite good). Although the universe of Warhammer 40000 is rich and dark, you won’t really find much of that here…
Gameplay A ‘cynical Warhammer license cash-in’ this game is not and it’s in the gameplay where the devs effort shines through. The game does feature a regular version of chess with the various 40k models representing pawns, bishops, rooks, etc. It’s the chess we all know and love but with pretty cool looking models.
Where the game gets interesting is with its ‘Regicide’ game mode. Here pieces move and can capture other pieces just like in chess. Unlike chess however, these units also have secondary abilities as well as attacks which can kill other units. This extra element seemed shallow to me at first glance, but then I grew to appreciate the intricacies which these added elements brought in to the traditional chess gameplay.
In Regicide, the turn is split up into movement and initiative phases. The movement phase is essentially the same as chess while the initiative phase allows you to use a limited number of points to activate unit attacks and special abilities. Each unit has its own health and armour which can go down with attacks against them. It is entirely possible to wipe out another player without capturing a single piece. It would be time consuming, but it is definitely possible.
Furthermore you can spend these points on abilities which have a variety of effects, ranging from increasing your units offensive and defensive capabilities, preventing enemy units from using their abilities, or creating shields. This does add an extra layer of randomness to what is essentially a game of pure logic but it’s a strategic randomness in a similar vein to the likes of XCOM with the player able to manage risk with reward.
The single player campaign introduces you to all these abilities and tactics at a gradual pace. It isn’t however just training for a multiplayer endgame as the design of some of these missions is quite nefarious. I would compare them to logic puzzles which require you to consider all the variables and options before making a decision.
In one example, I was tasked with escorting my captain (king) piece to the other side of the board with only tactical marines (pawns) to keep him company. The opposing ork forces outnumbered me with pawns, knights, and bishops. I lost my captain many times doing that mission, but finally succeeding felt like quite an achievement as I figured out a strategy to get my captain to run the gauntlet.
My one problem with playing against the computer in the campaign is that the AI can be very erratic at times with determining when to capture a piece. On many occasions, I had pieces which were open and unguarded but were not captured by the AI. Instead, the computer would actually retreat its pieces back. This could have been the result of a very cautious strategy but it didn’t appear to have much sense to winning the match or being in-keeping with the ork mentality…
Visuals The visual design here is fairly damn spot-on. The unit models are intricate and close attention to detail have been paid to make these units look beautiful. During certain occasions when a unit attacks or captures another piece, the camera will zoom in to an over-the-shoulder shot to show the two units fighting each other. Once again, this very reminiscent of XCOM but also appears to have taken quite some inspiration from the kill animations of the Dawn of War series.
My main concern with the visuals is how the units are animated. Most of the time, things look awesome and fluid as units eviscerate, mow down, and generally brutalise each other in very macabre but beautiful little scenes. This is very much in keeping with the grim dark style of the 40k license but there are several instances however where the animation feels clunky or untrue to the universe. The walking animation for some units (like the devastator and meganob) looks less like a stride and more a waddle which is certainly amusing but kinda defuses the awesome factor of the models.
One instance I found a little disconcerting was when the space marine captain basically shanks an ork with a power sword repeatedly. The disconcerting part wasn’t the violence but rather the inelegant way in which the captain was using the sword. Maybe I’m just being pedantic but from what I know (and imagine) from the lore, power weapons are more akin to ‘lightsabers’ than they are to conventional weapons. But hey, maybe I’ll be the only one to split this particular hair.
There are also a number of visual bugs with shots not connecting properly (when they should) and hitting their target (when they shouldn’t). Most of the time this isn’t a problem, but it is still frequent enough in a single match that it’s worth mentioning.
Audio The music in the game is basically a lot of deep orchestral movements interspersed with some industrial tones and chanting. These tones I’ve encountered in other 40k strategy games like the aforementioned Dawn of War series and it works well to accompany the strategic play style of the game.
Where the audio does fall down is in regards to the voice acting of various characters within the game. The voice acting for the units themselves is solid and everyone sounds suitably superhuman/orky in this aspect. The narrative campaign, however, features some pretty bad voice acting. I’d be willing to look past this if the dialogue had something of value to say, but unfortunately this isn’t the case. You’ll probably end up reading through everything yourself… assuming you don’t skip it entirely and just read the mission briefs.
Overall Overall, I have mixed feelings about this game and I’m a little disappointed with the execution of some aspects. It has some of the best unit models I have seen in a 40k game but also some pretty bad unit animations to go along with it. The campaign narrative is a mess while the actual mission designs you play out are actually quite fun to figure out. The sound design is solid but has some glaring faults when it comes to voice acting in its narrative aspects. I found certain aspects of the gameplay to be quite fun but I was disappointed with a lack of polish in other parts. If you’re fan of chess and the 40k universe then get it on sale but if not; then this game is not for you.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
LONDON, UK — September 11th, 2015 — Today Ubisoft announced that the Rabbids Invasion TV Show has been adapted for interactive play on mobile devices with the launch of Rabbids Appisodes The Interactive TV Show. Developed by Ubisoft Paris, Rabbids Appisodes The Interactive TV Show is now available to download on Google Play and the Amazon Store.
Rabbids Appisodes The Interactive TV Show is based on the successful Rabbids Invasion TV show created by Ubisoft Motion Pictures, broadcasted in the UK on Nickelodeon. Launched in 2013, the hit TV show has already been viewed more than 450 million times worldwide*.
Rabbids Appisodes The Interactive TV Show is a brand new experience in which kids can not only watch their favorite animated TV show, but also play along to unleash the Rabbids’ silliness. While the episode is playing, kids will interact alongside the Rabbids on their crazy adventures. Kids can mimic the Rabbids through fun-filled activities such as finding hidden objects, and various mini-games using touch, movement and voice controls.
Download all seven Appisodes for only £2.49 on Google Play and the Amazon Appstore.
* Sources: Nickelodeon and France Télévisions
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 2014-15 fiscal year Ubisoft generated sales of €1,464 million. To learn more, please visit www.ubisoftgroup.com.
Bigmoon Entertainment announces first story details for classic-style RPG Demons Age
Gaia, Portugal — September 11, 2015 — Bigmoon Entertainment today shared the first details of the backstory for Demons Age, a classic-style turn-based roleplaying game with modern graphics and a deep, rich storyline. Currently slated for release on PC, PS4 and Xbox One in Q1 2016, Demons Age takes place in the kingdom of Moragon, a peninsula located in the northern regions of the Abidon Sea.
“It’s important for us to involve players in the lore of Demons Age because, true to the classic turn-based RPG that we have drawn inspiration from, the backstory plays a big role in where you are and what you are aiming to accomplish”, said Paulo J. Games from Bigmoon Entertainment. “Stories are a key aspect in every game I have the opportunity to direct. In Demons Age we wanted to create a story that forms the basis for an experience which combines adventure, mystery and revelations!”
For centuries, Moragon had been a peaceful land where Elves, Dwarves and Halflings have lived their lives with little or no interaction between their respective communities. But when humans arrived, they brought with them trade and in the process established routes from the north to the south of the peninsula, radically changing the lives of the inhabitants as mutual benefits were enjoyed by all throughout. Yet, as is often the case with financial success, greed, jealousy and aggression soon followed, resulting in vicious power struggles amongst the different beings of Moragon. Taking advantage of the disarray, the opportunistic Vazuhr, the Lord of Darkness who had lain dormant for thousands of years in the depths of Moragon, seized the chance to rise again. He soon found a perfect ally in Zogalon, a powerful warlord who had already conquered the biggest port in Moragon and recruited Orcs into his ranks. Together, Vazuhr and Zogalon managed to open the portals of hell and unleash Vazuhr’s legions, but the people of Moragon stood firm and defeated the army of demons, banishing Vazuhr once again to the depths of hell, and restoring peace to the peninsula.
After a century of peace, rumors of strange events and demon sightings made their way to the current king, Konrad Lijak, who investigated the rumours. The news that was delivered to him by his mage, Kaldulor, drove him insane, and Konrad dissapeared without a trace. Despite Kaldulor’s attempts to explain what had happened, he was accused of treason and the King’s children, Princess Pellora and Prince Karan, were left to to rule in his stead. They tried to re-establish order in the peninsula, however the news that a sect is trying to open the gates of hell to unleash demons on Moragon plunges the kingdom into further chaos.
In the midst of this chaos, you are washed ashore when the ship you were being held prisoner on runs aground during a terrible storm. You wake up on the beaches of this dangerous land without weapons or equipment, making your first task to find something in the wreckage to defend yourself against the monsters of Moragon. Thus, your adventure begins.
In the coming months, Bigmoon Entertainment will be releasing details regularly about the lore and gameplay features of Demons Age, so keep an eye out for more information and follow them on http://www.demonsage.com.
About Bigmoon Entertainment
Since its foundation, BIGMOON has set a simple goal: “Develop the best games possible”.
Immersive stories, fantasy world exploration, innovative challenges and great characters are in our DNA as we focus our drive and passion on developing Core RPG, Action-adventure and Strategy games for Core gamers. BIGMOON is an authorized developer for all major game platforms, including Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo. BIGMOON also developed “Trapped Dead: Lockdown” and “Space Empires V: Battle for Artemis” as well as produced art for well-known racing games, such as “WRC 5”, “WRC 3” and “MotoGP 13”. For more information on BIGMOON, please visit: www.bigmoonstudios.com.
Rockstar are excited to announce the arrival of Freemode Events to Grand Theft Auto Online next week, on September 15th. The new advancement in open world gameplay, allows players more access to a range of seamlessly integrated games and challenges in GTA Online’s Freemode. With next gen consoles, it’s never been easier to open the Freemode session with your crew, without the hassle of waiting in lobbies for friends to join in the game.
In GTA Online Freemode, there are plenty of spontaneous events for players to choose from, as well as customise their session to decide exactly which ones they want to occur. Freemode Events offer tons of unique new experiences – insane stunt challenges, all out turf war in King of the Castle and team chase in Hunt the Beast – and more opportunities for reaping GTA rewards online. See the trailer below:
The Freemode Events Update next week will also include two brand new Adversary Modes:
Hunting Pack: players are part of a team tasked to deliver a priority vehicle rigged to explode if it drops below a minimum speed, while their opponents race, ram and batter to take it down.
Cross the Line: heavily-armed squads face off across a neutral zone, with the goal of having all team members strategically penetrate their opponents territory to claim victory.
The Grand Theft Auto Online update brings Rockstar Editor to PlayStation 4 and Xbox One with new features (also being added for current PC users as well), such as an ambient audio and sound effects library, Snapmatic integration, Director Mode updates and more. Let us know what you think of the new updates, in the comments section below.
