League of Legends.It has taken the internet by storm since it first hit the PCs in 2009. Well now, Riot Games are bringing one of the world’s most popular and competitive esports is finally making its way down under with the Oceanic Pro League.
The league started in February and is set to wrap off its season with the grand final being held in Sydney at the ever popular Lunar Park on August 8th.Players can experience a full day of fun with free community activities around the park, ranging from cosplay competitions and workshops to themed games, starting from 11am AEST. The live Grand Final will then kick off at 5pm AEST with ticket holders taking their seats to watch the OPL’s two top teams go head-to-head for the crown.
If you want to head to the event, there are 1300 tickets available at the following prices (also note that tickets also come with a s-shirt, exclusive skin and more):
Single OPL Grand Final Only ticket, RRP $15
Team Deal OPL Grand Final Only (5 Tickets), RRP $60
Click hereto buy your tickets and make sure you stay tuned to Capsule Computers for all of the awesome League of Legends news as it becomes available.
Suicide Squad director, David Ayer, has taken to Twitter to share a couple of images of most of the costumed cast from his upcoming Warner Bros./DC Comics antihero superhero flick.
Upon sending this first tweet, telling fans to get ready on Saturday evening, Ayer followed up with a cast photo on Sunday with much of the cast in character:
Since we already got to see Jared Leto’s Joker last week, Ayer shared most of the rest of the main cast from Suicide Squad. From the left, the cast lines up as follows: Adam Beach as Slipknot, Jai Courtney as Boomerang, Cara Delevingne as Enchantress, Karen Fukuhara as Katana, Joel Kinnaman as Rick Flagg, Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn, Will Smith as Deadshot, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje as Killer Croc, and Jay Hernandez as El Diablo.
Missing in action are Leto as Joker and Viola Davis as Amanda Waller as well as Ike Barinholtz and Common, of whom the characters they are playing are still a mystery.
Then, about an hour and a half later, Ayer shared a close-up of Will Smith’s Deadshot in full costume:
Suicide Squad will be released next year on August 5, 2016 as part of Warner Bros. and DC Comics’ upcoming shared cinematic universe, begun by 2013’s Man of Steel. It is written and directed by David Ayer (Training Day, End of Watch).
While I am hesitant of this film as one who grew up on DC Comics, despised Man of Steel, and thinks the sun has already set on Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, I think the cast for Suicide Squad is pretty spectacular and the costumes are looking pretty cool thus far. What do you think? As the first non-hero film in this universe, will this be DC’s Guardians of the Galaxy?
Kickstarted back in August 2014, Fallen: A2P Protocol is a tactical RPG that pays tribute to the glory days of the genre. The game is set in a post-apocalyptic world inspired by the likes of Fallout. Fallen: A2P Protocol is currently on Steam Early Access and still in alpha
Currently, the game has a handful of campaign mission along with a few side missions. Developers Red Katana estimate that most people should be able to get through the content in four to five hours. It is quite clear that the game is still in active development as plenty of content is filled with placeholders. The heart and soul of the game is ready to roll, the combat system.
Combat uses an action point system. For starters, each character has 10 action points that can be spent on anything involving movement, attacking, or moving inventory. A larger pool of action points can be earned with certain character skills. Each character has a small inventory and armour slots for their body. Ranged weapons require ammunition, which also takes up space in the inventory. Ammunition is extremely limited, so players are able to swap out their empty ranged weapon for a melee weapon without an AP cost; however, reloading the weapon with another magazine will cost a small bit of AP. Once the player has expended all their AP, any enemy that is within visual range will take their turn.
As a tactical RPG, positioning is of utmost importance in Fallen: A2P Protocol. Being able to hide behind cover is the difference between life and death. The game makes it very easy to identify cover during movement. All raised surfaces in the environment that provide cover are marked with a floating blue shield, while those which don’t provide cover are marked in red. Enemy units are hidden from the player until they enter a character’s line of sight. From there, players will be able to keep track of their enemy’s movements. The mechanic adds a bit of uncertainty and fear to moving around, but at the same time it makes kill all enemy maps a bit annoying, as chasing down the final enemy can cause the player the start wandering around the map randomly until the last enemy pops up.
I have enjoyed the combat system so far. Red Katana has struck a good balance between ranged and melee weapons in the face of the limited ammunition. Because attacking is expensive and the maps are rather large, players have to balance expending precious ammo to rain down attacks from afar or spending turns to close the gap and attack with a melee weapon. Currently, there is no vendor implemented in the game, so ammunition must be scavenged from certain points on the map or looted from dead bodies, making it even scarcer. Once the inventory management system is improved, the greater challenge will be managing the limited inventory space, keeping enough ammunition, weapons, and med kits to win a fight, while keeping enough inventory space open for looting dead enemies.
Fallen: A2P Protocol adds a new strategic element in the game with the varying weather effects. Each map comes with its own weather forecast and weather changes constantly while in game. Effects can be as benign as a sandstorm that reduces vision to as deadly as a torrent of acid rain.
Character progress through four skill trees currently. Two are for ranged characters, one is for survivability, and the last is for melee combat. The skill tree isn’t so much a tree, but rather four separate ladders. Currently, players get four points per level and must purchase the previous skill to be able to purchase the next one. The system is a bit rigid, but it does allow for the development of well-rounded characters. The game is extremely generous with points right now and levelling up is easy, which I suspect and hope is a temporary state while the game is in alpha.
The controls are a little rough right now. The button placement on the right side of the screen is a little awkwardly placed and the AP buttons are a little glitchy right now. It gets easier with a little practice, but the escape key is the magical key that will solve most of the AP button bugs.
Currently, the start of a larger story campaign is in place. Six out of an eventual 16 story missions are currently available. Fallen: A2P Protocol’s plot will be completely linear. The theme of vengeance and betrayal already run strong in the alpha build, but it’s hard to say how the story will turn out at this point. One thing is certain, Fallout’s influence on the world is unmistakable.
Fallen: A2P Protocol has a slightly cartoony look. The environment is looking pretty good right now, though currently a touch repetitive. The characters look excellent, except for the awkward run animations that have a very unnatural gait.
The audio presentation sounds good so far. The sound effects are solid. The music is enjoyable to listen to, striking a very epic tone.
Fallen: A2P Protocol is definitely on the right track. The game is by no means finished, but the combat system is growing into a game worthy enough to pay tribute to the games Red Katana is trying to pay homage to. Red Katana has created the foundational lore for a great post-apocalyptic setting.
Following on from the successful Halo: Spartan Assault on PC and Windows Phone, Microsoft has done the imaginable and bought Halo to the iPad with the new top-down shooter; Halo: Spartan Strike. This top-down, twin stick entry into the Halo franchise is the most fun I have had with the series in quite a while and is one of the few iOS games that I will come back to over time.
Story
The game begins during the events of Halo 2 and gives players a chance to get used to the controls and setting before skipping ahead a few years to after the events of Spartan Assault (but before Halo 4). We get to visit a lot of previously known locations that fans will immediately recognise, like New Mombasa, and a few newcomers like the Installation 03 Altar.
Unlike most spin-offs, Spartan Strike doesn’t do a whole lot of world building, instead mostly opting to tell a new story in the preexisting confines. That isn’t to say that there is nothing new to be learned about the Halo universe from this game, just that there isn’t all that much.
Gameplay
Spartan Strike is a top down, twin-stick shooter set in the Halo universe. Its funny how with that one sentence, I feel like I have almost explained the entirety of the game. Players take on the role of a SPARTAN as you progress through the beautifully rendered stages and gun down Covenant and Promethean enemies. As with most twin-stick shooters, the controls are surprisingly simple, yet the touch gestures allow you to do so much with them. throwing a grenade is as simple as double tapping on the screen, while a melee attack is as simple as a quick swipe.
Usually when it comes to digital buttons and joysticks I am a little hesitant, but I have always found that twin stick shooters feel right at home on the iPad, and this is no exception. The controls felt incredibly natural and responded to my gestures exactly how I wanted them too. While there can be a lot going on
The best part about Halo: Spartan Strike? No microtransactions! It is rare that a mobile game will do this but it is exciting none the less. While there are purchasable upgrades and weapons, these are all done with the in-game currancy, meaning that after your intial $6 outlay, that’s it – you have the entire game’s content.
Visuals & Audio
Having recently updated to the latest hardware has given me a whole new respect for mobile games, and a lot of the reasons for that are beautifully executed by Spartan Strike. The game makes the most of its hardware and ends up being an absolutely beautiful experience that just looks like a true to life Halo game.
As is typical with top-down shooters, the screen is panned quite far away from the action, allowing the player to see around them in 360 degrees. This means that the player character, NPCs and enemies are quite small, even on the iPad’s screen, however the level of detail is absolutely staggering. While this is no Master Chief Collection, everything looks really good here, with everything from individual armor plates to tiles on the sidewalk being rendered.
This is one of those games where screenshots don’t do it justice. When the game is frozen in place you can see the imperfections and few jagged lines, but in action the game runs and looks as smooth as silk.
Overall
iOS games have come a long way since the iPhone first released its App Store. What was once a wasteland of sudoku and match-three puzzlers has evolved to be one of the best places for quick bursts of gaming, and Halo: Spartan Strike is a testament to that. With simple controls that let you jump right into the action, a story that fills in some gaps in the Halo lore and visuals that are really above and beyond what they needed to be, Halo: Spartan Strike is a worthy addition to the Halo franchise and mobile gaming.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
May looks to be a big month for Monster Hunter fans everywhere, as Capcom have now released a new trailer displaying all of the DLC you can pick up during the month for the fantastic portable entry (check out our review HERE if you have yet to do so). The first thing to speak of are new challenge quests, allowing users to download missions to face new beasts.
Those who want some cosplay action are also in luck, as new Street Fighter, Metroid, and Mega Man skins have also been added, adding a little more flare to the already boasting experience. Check out the clip below and get ready for all of the DLC that May promises to bring to Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate.
London based indie developers Endtimes Studio are turning to Kickstarter to raise funds for their upcoming Oculus Rift adventure game Plugged. The game runs on Unreal Engine 4 and is designed to update the venerable point and click adventure genre for the virtual reality space. Dubbed “Look and Click,” players will use their eyes and head instead of a mouse cursor to interact with the world and solve puzzles.
Endtimes Studio is looking to raise £20,000 (roughly $30,000 USD) to push the project to completion. The devs plans on using the money raised on Kickstarter to increase the number of endings in the decision driven narrative to double the number of possible endings to eight, add more puzzles, and generally polish the game. The stretch goals will add more possible endings to the game.
Be sure to check out the project on Kickstarter and back the campaign before May 30, 2015.
Black Mesa is a Source Engine remake of the original Half-Life that has been available for a while now, but has yet to make its way to Steam despite being one of the first titles added to Steam Greenlight in 2012. But we may be hearing something new about the first-person shooter remake very soon.
Recently, a mysterious banner image appeared at the top of the Black Mesa site that leads to a different false site for the Black Mesa Research Facility (the setting of Half-Life), home to a countdown clock. The clock is counting down to Tuesday, May 5 at 10:47 am EST/7:47 am PST/1447 UTC. May 5 is a significant date in the Half-Life universe as it is the date which Gordon Freeman is officially hired at Black Mesa, according to the Half-Life wiki page.
This may very well be an announcement of when we will find out Black Mesa reaches Steam. Heck, if we continue to go by the original Half-Life timeline, we may very well see Black Mesa on Steam by May 16 (Gordon Freeman’s first day at Black Mesa). Either way, we will report back here on Tuesday when we know more.
Nintendo are putting a lot of faith in their latest IP, and want you to see it in action with a brand new Nintendo Direct. On May 7th, you can view the Splatoon Nintendo Direct, which will highlight gameplay and show off features for the fresh title.
These little inklings seem to be a wave of the future and display a direction that Nintendo have always wanted to go in with online multiplayer, but as of yet have not done thus far. The jury is still out but Splatoon does launch this month, so check out a few new pieces of art down below and visit the link at 4pm CEST on May 7th for the big news.
The official Twitter account for Silver Link’s anime adaptation of Atto’s manga series Non Non Biyori has revealed that the second season of the adaptation, titled Non Non Biyori Repeat, will premiere on Japanese television this coming July. The exact premiere date has not yet been revealed. This announcement comes more than one year after the second season was green-lit.
The first season of the anime adaptation is available on DVD and Blu-ray in North America with English subtitles however the OVA episode, which was bundled with the seventh volume of the manga series last July, has not yet been released to home-video with English subtitles.
Recently Swery announced that D4: Dark Dreams Don’t Die will be heading to the PC sometime in the future and today Access Games has updated the official website for the game with a list containing the various changes that have been made to the original game, most of which involve the removal of Kinect features that have now been replaced with mouse movements, as well as the minimum and recommended PC requirements.
The changes to the PC version are as follows:
Kinect control functionality has been removed. Instead, the entire game can be played using only the mouse.
Kinect gesture input controls have been removed and replaced with mouse commands.
Synchronous Kinect inputs have been changed to new mouse commands.
All Kinect Commands during Synchro Stunts (QTEs) have been removed. Instead, the QTEs can be played entirely using mouse controls.
All Xbox One DLC is now in-game content.
Along with the above changes, the user interface has also been redone.
All voice controls have been removed.
Synchro Stunt (QTE) grading has been revised.
Item parameters and locations have been revised.
Options unique to the PC version have been added.
The game now runs at 60fps.
Load times have been shortened.
Previously discovered bugs have been fixed.
Content unique to the Xbox One version has been removed.
The PC requirements for D4: Dark Dreams Don’t Die are below:
Recommended Specifications:
OS: Windows 7 64-bit edition or Windows 8 64-bit edition
CPU: Intel Core i7 4770K @ 3.5GHz or AMD CPU or equivalent
Memory: 8GB RAM
Graphics Card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 670 or AMD Radeon HD 7850 (VRAM 2GB)
Display: Supports 1920×1080 resolution
DirectX: DirectX 11
Hard Disk: Hard disk with 20GB of free space
Sound Card: DirectX 11 compatible sound card
Other: Keyboard and mouse required. Compatible with Xbox Controller using XInput
Minimum Specifications:
OS: Windows 7 64-bit edition or Windows 8 64-bit edition
CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 @ 2.83GHz or AMD CPU or equivalent
Memory: 6GB RAM
Graphics Card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 470 or AMD Radeon HD 6870 (VRAM 1GB)
Display: Supports 1280×720 resolution
DirectX: DirectX 11
Hard Disk: Hard disk with 10GB of free space
Sound Card: DirectX 11 compatible sound card
Other: Keyboard and mouse required. Compatible with Xbox Controller using XInput
