Ubisoft Montreal released a new gameplay trailer and a dev diary of the upcoming title Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siegeto announce the Operators feature. It pays homage to the franchise’s literary roots by allowing players to select from a range of characters with unique skills. The game will offer twenty operators from five counter-terrorist units from around the world. I would not be surprised to see the roster increase in size through content updates or DLCs post-launch.
Each operator has a unique ability, their own personality, personal strengths, and weaknesses. Only one of each operator can be part of a single team, so players will need to choose their operators wisely to create a well balanced team that not only compliments their play style, but also their teammates.
Ubisoft made a second announcement regarding the game, revealing the Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege Art of Siege collector’s edition at the same time. It is available for pre-order at the Uplay shop and contains the game, a collector’s box, a Gold Skins Pack for all weapons, and a 120 page tactical guide providing vital stats and intel to help players plan.
Indie Gala and Capsule Computers is kicking of another year of Every Monday Bundles with seven new indie games this week. Buyers will snag the following titles for Windows (and even a few on Mac and Linux):
Ostrich Island– MeDungeon have mixed together RPGs, platformers, adventures, and ostriches for one quirky game that may just win your heart.
BiT Evolution– A platformer that pays homage to retro games, going from simple pixel based hockey games all the way to the glory days of the SNES.
SickBrick– A fast paced sci-fi FPS featuring 15 levels, 5 weapons, and a hover tank.
GunWorld– A non-linear action-platformer designed as a love letter to the 8-bit era.
Aviator – Bush Pilot– Players will engage in one of the most dangerous but vital jobs in aviation, flying small planes in far flung places like the Serengeti.
Cahors Sunset– This old French man is entering the sunset of his life and players are in control of the decisions, in hopes of keeping him alive as long as possible.
Chaos Ride– A fast paced racer inspired by the dead genre that was inhabited by the likes of Wipeout and Ballistics.
For the first 24 hours of the sale, all seven games can be purchased for only $1.89 USD. Grab your copy at Indie Gala before the price goes up.
JRPGs have kind of fallen out of favour as of late haven’t they? The old turn-based system that many of us grew up with has been done away with in lieu of a more immediate style of gameplay. However all is not lost, as coming straight from Japan themselves is Oreshika: Tainted Bloodlines, an old school JRPG with a cool family tree mechanic and a gorgeous art style, that is here to show us that the genre is far from dead.
Story
After the capital of Kyoto is ravaged by natural disaster, the emperor believes his kingdom cursed and hires a sorcerer to unravel the mystery. The sorcerer arrives and puts blame wrongfully onto a single samurai clan, and orders them all to be brutally killed.
When the gods intervene and resurrect the clan, they discover that they are cursed, being able to only live a life span of two years while also being unable to reproduce. The gods again intervene, and allow the clan members to procreate with them in order to produce offspring to help find the sorcerer and eliminate him for what he did to the family.
The concept for Oreshika: Tainted Bloodlines is pretty cool and a little out there, but the interesting part about it is how well the storyline is reflected in the actual gameplay mechanics themselves (which I will go into a little later on). However, the fact that you are only with your team members for a short time before they die and are replaced with the next generation means that there is little to no time to become invested in any characters, leaving the whole experience a little hollow.
Gameplay
This is one of those games where the storyline is built right into the game’s mechanics, creating a seamless experience that just makes sense as you play it. Firstly, since the clan members only have a life span of 2 years, it means that your party is constantly changing on your quest to fell the sorcerer who cursed you. Not only that, but you will reproduce with a number of ancient gods and goddesses in order to keep your bloodline alive and fighting fit. There is a strategy to procreating, as the gods all have their own set of skills and abilities that can be used to either complement or balance out the weaknesses of the clan members and create the perfect offspring. There is a bit of a eugenics vibe going on here, but I’m sure we can all ignore that for the sake of gameplay.
Since time is such a key part of the storyline, it is not unexpected to see it integrated into the gameplay in multiple ways. Certain events only happen at certain times of the year, meaning you have to budget the very limited time you have in order to attend festivals, have children, buy items, explore dungeons and fell demons all before your character’s 2 year limit is up.
When a new clan member is born, you are able to select with of the game’s classes they will belong to. There are initially 8 classes to choose from, and the various choices you make affect how affective and synergistic the clan is during combat. The advantage to the system presented in Oreshika is that if your current clan isn’t working out, you don’t have to wait too long before you can fix it up just the way you like.
At its core, Oreshika is an old school JRPG with a modern twist. After deploying yourself to one of the game’s numerous, huge dungeons, you will traverse the landscape and encounter random enemies for your party members to do battle against. Battles are done in a turn based style that is rarely seen nowadays, and runs as smooth as you would expect it to. Each of your party members has suggestions about what skills or attacks they think they should use in combat, but as Clan Leader you are free to ignore their advice and command them to do what you want instead. This is a double edged sword because ignoring their advice too often will lower their loyalty towards you, which in turn can have them leaving the clan for good.
Visuals & Audio
The art style used in Oreshika is some of the most impressive and unique that I have seen in a video game. It combines the style of ancient water colour paintings that are synonymous with the feudal Japanese era of clans and samurai, and mixes it with a more modern, anime-inspired look. The two very different, yet both very Japanese art styles blend perfectly and the result looks like an ancient scroll come to life on the screen. One of the cooler things to see is the fact that many attacks are highlighted in what looks like heavy black ink, which makes them pop and contrast perfectly with the otherwise faded watercolour look of the world and its inhabitants.
As for audio, since this is a Japanese game, the language is set to Japanese from the moment you boot up. This will no doubt be a pleasing feature for all of you anime lovers out there who prefer to hear audio presented in its original language. The character voices all suit their roles perfectly, and there is a good mix of voice actors so not everybody sounds the same.
Overall
Oreshika: Tainted Bloodlines is the kind of game that I really like to see; a JRPG with new elements that manages to keep itself fresh and interesting all throughout my time with it. Sadly though, as much as I enjoyed it, the whole experience felt kind of hollow, like I hadn’t achieved anything and there was no real pay off in the end. I think this is largely due to the 2 year lifespan mechanic, since your team is constantly rotating you never get the time to become invested in your characters the way you would in say Final Fantasy VII. However despite this, Oreshika is still an enjoyable game with some really solid, mechanics and an art style that is a real pleasure to look at.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment has debuted the official TV Spot for Mortal Kombat X, coming to the Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC April 14 in the U.S., and April 15 Australia-wide. The spot features System of a Down’s “Chop Suey!” and can be viewed embedded below.
Come April 6, the Launch Trailer for Mortal Kombat X will be released, also featuring System of a Down’s “Chop Suey!”, but as a special cut edited by band member Shavo Odadjian. ‘Kombat Kast’ 7 was just this past Friday, with another scheduled for this Thursday. And for anyone who missed it, and haven’t pre-ordered yet, it’s worth mentioning that the PS3 fight stick/s released in conjunction with Mortal Kombat (2011) are forward compatible with the PS4 version of Mortal Kombat X.
When I first heard about ScreamRide, I thought it was a bit like Roller Coaster Tycoon but reimagined for a new generation. Armed with only that knowledge, I was less than eager for ScreamRide, having never really enjoyed the park management games. However, once I booted it up and started playing, I found an experience that not only WASN’T Roller Coaster Tycoon, but was an incredible amount of fun. No ticket booths or public utilities to worry about here, ScreamRide is a game all about roller coasters…. or should I say, roller coasters and destroying buildings with them.
Gameplay
ScreamRide isn’t just about building roller coasters. In fact, players are able to choose between three distinct jobs within the futuristic setting; Engineer, ScreamRider and Demolition Expert. These jobs are all completely different to one another and in that way it feels like ScreamRide is three different games in one.
Engineer Mode has you building tracks to meet certain requirements, often with very limited resources. Your job is to build the best coaster you can from the pieces you are given, almost like a LEGO set with only the picture on the box to guide you. The game gives you slight hints and tips as to whether or not your coaster works as planned, or sends its patrons hurtling into the side of a building. Hint systems in games can often come across as patronising or demeaning, so I was a little taken aback when one popped up on my screen, however all of the ones I saw more pointed me to which specific piece(s) of my track were giving me grief so that I could fix them specifically.
ScreamRider mode puts you in the driver’s seat… literally. You take control of the wild and insane coasters as they go around bends, up steep inclines and upside-down. The goal is to not let the passengers fall off of the track, which sounds easy right? In practice it is a lot more challenging and fun than it seems, having to reposition yourself back on the track and to ensure you aren’t using your boost at a time that will careen you off the track and into the ocean.
The last game mode, Demolition Expert has almost nothing to do with roller coasters. In this mode, you are tasked with launching spherical cabins filled with people at the roller coasters and surrounding buildings in order to wreck the absolute crap out of them. Think Angry Birds but in 3d, with awesome destruction physics and you have a bit of an idea what Demolition Expert mode is all about. The most destruction you cause, the more points you gain, and everything is connected in one way or another so a perfectly angled shot will cause a chain reaction for an insane amount of points.
ScreamRide features a campaign mode that allows you to experience all three facets of the game through a series of increasingly difficult stages. Each level is broken up into challenges to complete and points to earn. I will note however, that ScreamRide’s campaign has a tremendous difficulty spike towards the end of the game. The last few levels are exhaustingly difficult and downright tedious at moments. However the desire to achieve all of the possible
For those of you who love to build and create without limitations, ScreamRide also includes a pretty awesome sandbox mode where you can create your own coasters, attractions and destructible buildings all from the ground up. The sandbox mode can seem a bit overwhelming at first glance, but the tools are really intuitive and in no time you will be creating and sharing your awesome new creations online.
Speaking of online, ScreamRide doesn’t feature any multiplayer mode. For many of you I know this will be a huge disappointment, but on the flip side – it does contain leaderboards so you can track your skills against other players from around the globe, as well as the ability to share and download user created maps.
Visuals & Audio
ScreamRide is set is a futuristic wonderland where everything is grey or chrome and looks like it is coming at you straight out of Interstellar or Star Wars. While a futuristic setting normally leads itself to a lot of extra flash and detail, this is the type of game where super high-end graphics aren’t necessary and the developers knew this. Opting instead to scale back and make room for the physics engine, a decision that I believe has paid off nicely for the game as a whole.
The audio is very similar in this regard, most of the sounds you will hear are the riders screaming in excitement (or is it fear?) and the sounds of buildings collapsing. Well that’s not actually entirely true, when you are running through the coasters as a ScreamRider, you will hear the constant almost incessant computerised voice telling you how well you are doing. It gets downright annoying after the first few missions and by the end you’d wish you were just playing on mute.
One thing I noticed during play was that some of the bigger levels suffered from really noticeable frame rate issues. This was particularly the case when causing destruction and toppling buildings, and it really made it hard to enjoy these sections to their full extent.
Overall
I didn’t have the greatest of expectations when heading into ScreamRide, but my misconceptions were immediately vaporised and replaced with high octane fun. Building coasters, racing through them and launching yourself into giant buildings has never been so exciting, and I think I can say that ScreamRide is the most fun I have had with my Xbox One in a long time.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
It is a gloomy afternoon here in Sydney, and as I sit on my computer I think to myself that it is the perfect weather for some Newsbeat! Xbox Newsbeat is your one stop shop for all of the goings on in the world of Microsoft. So sit back, relax and enjoy this week’s delicious helpings of news straight from the Microsoft HQ itself.
Forza Horizon 2 Presents Fast & Furious Expansion Available for Free for a Limited Time
In preparation for the upcoming film; Furious 7, Turn 10 Studios have released a special stand-alone expansion to their hit racer; Forza Horizon 2. In Forza Horizon 2 Presents Fast & Furious, you’re recruited by the Fast & Furious’ Tej Parker (voiced in the game by Christopher “Ludacris” Bridges) to help him acquire ten special cars for his Fast & Furious crew.
Forza Horizon 2 Presents: Fast & Furious requires no previous Forza game, in fact you can right now jump onto the Xbox Live store and downloading it completely free (until April 10th).
The World of Minecraft Just Got Brighter with the Pattern Texture Pack for Xbox
Have you ever sat there and thought that Minecraft needed more colour? You have? Well guess what, now you can have just that with the newly released “Pattern” Texture Pack for Xbox One and Xbox 360. You can get the new texture pack for $1.35 and fill your game with bright colours and knitted sweaters on all of your animals.
Master Chief Returns to Xbox thisOctober
You read correctly folks! The highly anticipated Halo 5: Guardians has ginally been given its release date. You will be stepping into the shoes of Master Chief on October 27th of this year. Check out our earlier hands-on preview with the game’s multiplayer mode, and also head over to HuntTheTruth.tumblr.com to see some of the episodic teases that 343 Industries have put out.
There we have it folks, another awesome edition of this week’s Newsbeat. Make sure you head over to the Xbox Live store now for your Fast & Furious game. As always, stay tuned to Capsule Computers for all the awesome Xbox news as it becomes available.
Another week, another awesome ‘Kombat Kast’. Mortal Kombat X is just over two weeks away from release, and in ‘Kombat Kast’ 7: Black Friday, NetherRealm community Manager Tyler Landsdown and designer Derek Kirtzic hosted a breakdown of new character Erron Black, the fallen Elder God Shinnok and a returning (from the dead) Liu Kang. Additionally, we got a look at the Practice Arena, which allows players to set all kinds of parameters (even interactables), a WB Play exclusive Tron-esque Raiden skin (see below) and a video on how the sound effects in the game were created. Check it all out in the ‘Kombat Kast’ embedded at the bottom of this article.
Mortal Kombat X: Erron Black Official Trailer
The expert marksman, Erron Black, is a bad-ass. Clearly taking inspiration from classic Western film icons, Mr. Black’s arsenal isn’t restricted to guns alone. In one variation, Outlaw, the Earthrealm-born warrior brandishes a modified Tarkatan arm with blade as a makeshift sword. Could this be the fate of Baraka? Also, he harkens back to Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance with a move that breaks off said sword in the opponent, causing them to bleed out over a short period of time. In his Gunslinger variation, the player gains a Cowboy trademark “stand-off” pose, from which you can pull off multiple unique attacks. He can also flip a coin in the air, ricochet a bullet off of it, and aim its trajectory towards the enemy. Show-off. That attack is range-controllable. Finally, in his Marksman variation, Erron utilises a rifle, with which he can pull off a chargeable low sniper-like shot, blast off three bullets whilst walking back, creating range, and launch his foe in the air with a rifle-butt uppercut. This is all in addition to his common specials: a slide, anti-air and rolling sand bombs and caltrops that do damage over time and stop runs.
Shinnok is no longer a copycat ladies and gentleman…mostly. In his Impostor variation, Shinnok can steal a move from the enemy, a homage to his original skill-set in Mortal Kombat 4. He has a single use only, however, signified by the colour change of the gems on his attire. He also has a “Tricky Portal” that is completely skipped over by special guest on the ‘Kast’, lead designer Paulo Garcia. Switching variations mid-fight in the Practice Arena only (neat feature), we get to Bone Shaper. In this variation, Shinnok can materialise a bone sceptre to do combos with, sweep the opponent, or shake the ground with, similar to Jax’s signature ground pound. In his final variation, Necromancer, Shinnok’s forearms are entirely skeletal, which is equal amounts creepy and cool. He can summon a giant skeletal hand that can literally flick the opponent away (how insulting!), crush them from above or emerge from the depths and squeeze them (surely that’s a Brutality waiting to happen) just like in MK4, once again. His standard specials are upwards blasts, akin to Shang Tsung’s, an amulet blast and a two-hit shoulder charge.
The De-rezz God! Those who have a WB Play profile will net this sweet Raiden skin on Day One!
Lastly, stalwart Liu Kang…dead, but not dead…it will all be explained in the story. Personally, I was happy that Liu was seemingly gone for good (unless he came back as a vengeful wraith), until I saw his gameplay in this here ‘Kombat Kast’. He is by far the fastest fighter in the game, and, with that said, embodies the spirit of Bruce Lee more than ever. His combos are insanely fast, and his X-Ray attack rattles off 15 hits! In his Dragon’s Fire variation, Liu rocks a sweet face tattoo, gains the ability to charge his classic fireballs, adds an additional hit to his flying kick and can enhance his enhanced fireball…that’s right, an enhanced ‘enhanced’ move (uses two bars of meter). In Flame Fist, the iconic bicycle kick manoeuvre turns into a punch-flurry which, if utilised whilst the namesake ability is active, will do massive damage. Blocking won’t help much either with increased chip damage. To round it all off, Dualist sees Liu becomes the embodiment of Yin and Yang. He can call upon the light to regenerate health (a charge move) or call upon the dark to give himself a slow, detonatable orb attack that doesn’t connect en-route like all over “fireballs”, but on detonation only.
MKX Kombat Kast: Episode 7 – Black Friday
Mortal Kombat X releases nationwide on April 15 for the Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC. And remember, for those who own the PS3 fight stick/s for Mortal Kombat (2011), they are cross compatible with the PS4 version of Mortal Kombat X.
Call of Duty World Championship 2015 has finished, with Denial taking home the top prizes after their defeat of Team Revenge. Those who don’t follow e-sports still had a good reason to tune in, as Activision premiered the new trailer for Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare“Ascendance.”
The trailer focuses on the new Exo Zombies map set in the iconic Burgertown restaurant. John Malkovich, Bill Paxton, Rose McGowan, and Jon Bernthal return for the second chapter, after the team narrowly escapes from the Atlas research facility packed with zombies. Unfortunately, they aren’t faring much better in the outside world, as the Exo Zombies are running rampant outside. The team is now trapped in Burgertown, fighting for their life.
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare “Ascendance” contains new multiplayer maps, the OHM direct energy weapon, the second Exo Zombies chapter, and a Exo Grapple playlist that enables the Exo Grappling Hook for multiplayer use. The DLC launches on April 1st for Xbox 360 and Xbox One as a timed exclusives, with other platforms seeing the DLC in the coming weeks.
Logitech has unveiled what they are dubbing the “Possibility Machine”, the MX Master Wireless Mouse. The MX Master is their most advanced wireless mouse ever produced, able to work across multiple screens, devices and operating systems.
The MX Master adopts a similar sculpted form to the company’s recent offering, including the stellar Logitech G502 Proteus Core Tunable Gaming Mouse. Its speed-adaptive scroll wheel allows auto-shift between click-to-click and hyper-scroll control. The distinct thumb wheel enables side-to-side scrolling among other advanced gestures, and every button can be customised to your preference.
The mouse also features Logitech’s proprietary Darkfield Laser sensor, which enables it to track accurately on virtually any surface, and can last up to 40 days on a full charge! Last but certainly not least, users can utilise Logitech’s integrated EasySwitch technology to connect either via the included Logitech Unifying receiver or Bluetooth Smart tech, enabling pairing with up to three devices at a time, which can be switched between at the touch of a button.
The Logitech MX Master Wireless Mouse is a beautifully designed, customisable mouse with the versatility of control, precision and speed. The numerous navigation options and advanced features make it our best mouse ever. – Charlotte Johs, global vice president of computer peripherals at Logitech.
The Logitech MX Master Wireless Mouse will retail at $149.95, set for launch this April. Compatible with Mac OS X 10.8 or later and Windows 7 or later via USB connection. Mac OS X 10.10 or Windows 8 and later required for Bluetooth Smart use.
Rockstar is making good on their earlier promise to launch a steady stream of new information and media leading up to the April 14th release of Grand Theft Auto Vfor the PC. They will be launching the official trailer for the game next week.
Today, they released 15 new high resolution screenshots taken from the PC version of the game. The PC version has been hit with multiple delays as Rockstar put some extra development time in. As a result, PC players will be able to benefit from some eye catching visual optimizations designed with PC hardware in mind.
Those who pre-order their copy before Tuesday March 31st will get a bonus $500,000 of in-game cash for the single player mode and an extra $1,000,000 for multiplayer.
The MX Master adopts a similar sculpted form to the company’s recent offering, including the stellar 
