Techland and Warner Bros. have announced that the next piece of DLC for Dying Light is called “The Bozak Horde” and will be released on May 26th for $9.99 USD / €9.99 EUR / £6.99 GBP, though if you are a Season Pass owner it will be included in the Season Pass. This DLC adds on a new game mode to Dying Light as it allows players to fight by themselves or with their friends as they compete in Bozak’s challenges to earn the highest score.
The trials are described as the “ultimate co-op challenge” where even four seasoned survivors will be struggling to stay alive in a brand new location where the government first fought, and lost, their battle against the virus. Those who can complete the challenges laid before them will unlock a compound hunting bow that can fire various types of arrows.
Square Enix has announced that they will be releasing Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King to the Nintendo 3DS in August for Japan. The title was originally released for the PlayStation 2 in 2004 and was recently released on smartphones late last year.
This 3DS release (that cannot be played in the West due to Nintendo’s region locked handheld) will include new scenarios, new female party members in the form of a thief named Gerda and Dragon Quest: Monster Battle Road‘s Morrie, full voice overs, and support for the 3DS’ StreetPass system. Currently Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King‘s 3DS remake has only been announced for release in Japan and you can check out the official website here.
As we learned last month, Activision is dragging the old milk cow Guitar Hero out for another new game with a few changes to the formula with Guitar Hero Live. Now the company has revealed the first twenty four tracks that will be available in the game’s soundtrack and well… let’s just say that you should be prepare for some disappointment, then again considering Skrillex was included in the title’s announcement you likely already were ready for this.
Now while there are a number of great songs included in the tracklist, many of them have been played to death at this point by previous games in the series but I’ll let you decide on how to feel after you check out the full list below:
Judas Priest – “Breaking the Law”
Pantera – “Cowboys From Hell”
Alter Bridge – “Cry of Achilles”
Rage Against the Machine – “Guerrilla Radio”
Red Hot Chili Peppers – “Higher Ground”
Sleigh Bells – “Bitter Rivals”
System of a Down – “Chop Suey!”
Black Veil Brides – “In The End”
The Pretty Reckless – “Going to Hell”
Broken Bells – “Leave it Alone”
Alt-J – “Left Hand Free”
The Rolling Stones – “Paint it Black”
My Chemical Romance – “Na Na Na”
Fall Out Boy – “My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark (Light Em Up)”
Green Day – “Nuclear Family”
Pierce the Veil – “King for a Day (feat. Kellin Quinn)”
Blitz Kids – “Sometimes”
The Black Keys – “Gold on the Ceiling”
The Killers – “When You Were Young”
Gary Clark Jr. – “Don’t Owe You a Thang”
The War on Drugs – “Under The Pressure”
The Lumineers – “Ho Hey”
Ed Sheeran – “Sing”
Skrillex – “Bangarang”
Microsoft was very sneaky this week, sliding in a second Xbox Newsbeat announcement. In honour of the stealth attack, I have sneakily commandeered Andrew’s keyboard. The weekend bonus announcement covers a little bit of everything, from system updates to Assassin’s Creed Syndicate.
Xbox One May System Update: Voice Messages, Party Chat Improvements Out Now
The May system update went out for all Xbox Ones. Gamers should see some new features aimed for a better social experience, many of them requested by users.
According to Microsoft, the main features are as follows:
· Voice Messages –You can now send and receive voice messages from the Xbox One messages app. This is the No. 1 feature requested in the Friends and Parties area on the Xbox Feedback site. Quickly and easily record audio to send to your friends or others through your snapped messages app, accessed through a simple quick double tap of the Xbox button. Additionally, voice messages can be exchanged between Xbox 360 and Xbox One consoles.
· Power On/Off from Xbox One SmartGlass – The Xbox One SmartGlass app for Windows, Windows Phone, iOS and Android has been updated to let you power your Xbox One on and off when your devices are on the same home network as your console. This feature request had more than 4,000 votes on the Xbox Feedback site.
· User Selectable Power Mode – The initial setup experience is also changing on Xbox One worldwide to enable you to select your preferred power mode. Instant-on enables you to use the “Xbox on” voice command and receive background updates to console, game and app updates. Energy-saving mode is a low power state that requires you to press the Xbox button on your console to start up your Xbox One.
· Dedicated Servers for Party Chat – Back in March, Xbox enabled dedicated chat relay servers for Xbox One preview members to solve NAT traversal issues that prevented some people from being able to use party chat. Over the coming weeks, Xbox will start to expand the availability of the party chat relay services beyond preview members to a broader audience and continue to fine tune the feature and scale out the servers needed to support party chat relay services.
Assassin’s Creed Syndicate Prepares for Gang Warfare
In case you are living under a rock or you missed the announcement, the next Assassin’s Creed title will be taking place in Victorian London during the height of the Industrial Revolution. In probably the biggest change in human history since the development of agriculture, players will guide twins Jacob and Evie Frye as they battle against the Templar Order who are oppressing the mass of people who have left the farms for the factories. Players will explore new set of vehicles to reflect the new setting, such as steamboats, trains, and cars.
Forza Takes A Ride in the FoustLane…
Check out the third season of Rockstar Energy Drink’s video series “Life in the Foust Lane” starring Tanner Foust. Episodes three just been released and covers the #ForzaFuel event, a visit to Turn 10 Studios and Microsoft, and the Seattle round of Global Rallycross. You can check out the series on YouTube at Rockstar’s official channel.
Killer Instinct Community Fund Raises US$100,000 for Tournaments, Shadow Jago to Become a Full Character
Nothing warms my heart more than to see a gamers come together to support their community. The Killer Instinct team put together the Community Bundle in hopes of raising money for prizes in hopes of bringing Killer Instinct to fighting game events like EVO. Within the first three days, the community responded by raising the full $100,000 the developers were looking for by buying the bundle containing the Shadow Jago character and 7500 KI Gold.
As thanks for the overwhelming response, the developers will be creating a full set of moves for Shadow Jago, turning him into a unique character ready for competitive play.
That’s all for this week. To my fellow Canadians, have a great Victoria Day long weekend! Remember to put down the Xbox One controller for a bit and enjoy some time outside with loved ones, as you do have an extra day to play Xbox. Now it’s time for me to sneak on out of here before Andrew discovers I’ve rearranged the keys on his keyboard.
TGIF! Indie Gala and Capsule Computers are giving you something to be thankful for with a brand new Friday Special bundle. This bundle contains 12 great indie titles. For a minimum of $1.00, buyers will get:
Ninja Guy – Your teacher Holy Cow Sensei has sent you on an epic quest to take down the Minotaur, will you survive?
Shadows of War – A blend of RTS and 2D sidescroller, mixed with a beautiful minimalist design.
Isaac the Adventurer – Help Isaac achieve his goal of becoming a master adventurer by helping him through ancient temples full of traps, puzzles, and enemies.
For the first 24 hours of the sale, those who pay more than $1.99 will get nine extra games!
Retro/Grade – Playable with a regular controller, keyboard, or even a guitar, Retro/Grade is a rhythm based shoot ’em up in reverse.
Pixel Piracy – Gather your crew and loot, pillage, and plunder your way to fame! Or maybe just die in a ship full of poo.
Final Dusk – An action puzzler that will challenge player to create safe paths from Vampire Princess Mina.
Bermuda – A visual novel with stealth puzzle elements about several friends who await a possible execution in an alien submarine.
SCHAR: Blue Shield Alliance – A four player co-op shooter that takes elements from the classic MMORPG triad.
Magnetic By Nature – A platformer without the platforms that will test players reaction times.
Space Station Alpha – Build and manage your space station, the oxygenated tin can in the middle of the vastness of space that is keeping your crew alive.
Roiteer – A tricky puzzle that will have players rotating the entire level to solve the puzzles.
Siege of Turtle Enclave – A mix between turn based war game and real time battle where the players will lead an army of turtles against the evil owls.
For the first 24 hours of the sale, the second tier is only $1.99, so be sure to grab your copy from Indie Gala before the price goes up.
Focus Home Interactive is bringing Larian Studios’ 2014 computer RPG of the year to PlayStation 4 and Xbox One with Divinity: Original Sin – Enhanced Edition.
Check out the teaser below:
Of the partnership with Focus Home for the console release, Larian Studios CEO, Swen Vincke, said:
“There was a lot of publisher interest for [the console version] but when Focus approached us, the decision was rapidly made. We know each other well, having worked together since 2002, and that means there’s a lot of mutual trust & respect. Focus’ recent growth as well as the energy and enthusiasm showcased by their team makes me confident they’ll do a great job in publishing the Xbox One & PS4 versions of Divinity: Original Sin – Enhanced Edition.”
Last year’s Divinity: Original Sin was well received by many outlets, including our own review, calling it the game fans of classic RPGs like Neverwinter Nights and Baldur’s Gate “have been waiting for” and “a must buy for RPG fans”. Nearly selling one million copies on PC, Divinity: Original Sin – Enhanced Edition will bring its isometric, turn-based combat to a wide audience on new platforms.
Divinity: Original Sin – Enhanced Edition is slated for release on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One before the end of 2015.
With Hyperdimension Neptunia U: Action Unleashed set to be released next week on the PlayStation Vita, Idea Factory International has released a new set of screenshots for the game. This latest batch focuses on showing off more of the game’s action packed battles with nearly every playable character fighting as well as a few of them transformed into their CPU forms, or in Dengekiko and Famitsu’s case, some stronger cosplay.
You can check out the screenshots for this action spin-off below and as for the game itself, Hyperdimension Neptunia U: Action Unleashed will be released in North America on May 19th and in Europe on May 22nd.
Atlus USA has released a brand new trailer for Etrian Odyssey 2 Untold: The Fafnir Knight that introduces Arianna, the Princess of Caledonia, one of the five party members that players will be fighting with in the game. Arianna is eager to run into battle with everyone else and she is modeled after the “Sovereign” class which features a strong balance of defense and support abilities as well as passive healing.
As the Princess of Caledonia, Arianna must trek to ancient, mysterious ruins and complete a ritual to fulfill a royal tradition to save her kingdom. The abandoned ruins have become a home to a horde of dangerous monsters however, and it is up to your party to help Arianna finish her quest.
Also announced by Atlus today are three 3DS themes that will be launched one per week starting on July 14th. The three themes are Story, Classic, and Cafe (not shown) and each one will be priced at $.99. The company went on to note that anyone who pre-orders Etrian Odyssey 2 Untold: The Fafnir Knight from GameStop will be given a free code for the Story 3DS theme.
Earlier today XSEED announced that they will be releasing the PC version of Akiba’s Trip: Undead & Undressed in two weeks on May 26th through Steam. The title will be priced at $29.99 / €26.99 / £19.99 but will be discounted 10% for one week after release.
Similar to the PlayStation 4 version of the game, this Steam release includes a visual editor to allow players to customize every aspect of the game’s look, Steam achievements and trading cards, enhanced visuals, and of course dual-audio as well as plenty of references to various bits of otaku culture. You can check out our review of the PlayStation 4 version of Akiba’s Trip: Undead & Undressedhere.
NIS America has announced that they are planning on releasing The Disgaea Triple Play Collection in Europe on July 10th. This release is exclusive for Europe and bundles the original versions of Disgaea 3: Absence of Justice, Disgaea 4: A Promise Unforgotten, and Disgaea D2: A Brighter Darkness, in one convenient release.
When released this triple pack will cost £39.99 / 39.99 EUR. This serves as a great way for newcomers to the series to pick up a large collection of Disgaea titles at a fairly cheap price and get acclimated to the series before the upcoming release of Disgaea 5 for the PlayStation 4, though it is worth noting that both Disgaea 3 and Disgaea 4 have been released on the PS Vita with all DLC included, something that this collection does not offer.
