Rogue Factor and Focus Home Interactive launched a brand new website and trailer for Mordheim: City of the Damnedin preparation for the game’s Early Access launch. The website is packed with information, images, and developer commentary about the game. The trailer provides viewers with the first look at Mordheim: City of the Damned’s gameplay.
Additionally, Rogue Factor released more information about the Early Access release. Buyers will get a 20% discount in exchange for participating in Early Access. The beta will contain two faction, two maps with randomly generated elements, and two unique maps. Deathmatch will be the only mode available during the Early Access period of the game.
No word on the exact release date for the Early Access beyond “in a few days.”
Now that Far Cry 4has launched, Ubisoft is turning its attention to the inevitable season pass that must go with every major game release. A new trailer gives gamers the first look at the previously announced content. The trailer features gameplay from Escape from Durgesh, Overrun, and Valley of the Yetis. Of course, a Far Cry 4 trailer wouldn’t be complete without everyone’s favourite idiot Hurk making an appearance.
Far Cry 4 is out now in North America and the UK for PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, and Windows. The game will launch in Australia and Europe. Far Cry 4’s Season Pass will cost £23.99 or $30 USD.
Sexism has been prevalent throughout all forms of media for longer than anyone can remember. However, sexism within video games and gaming culture has recently become a particularly heated issue due to the Gamergate controversy. Interestingly, one country is tackling the issue head on: Sweden.
Dataspelsbranschen (or Swedish Games Industry in English) is a gaming industry trade organisation who’s recently received funding from Vinnova. Vinnovais a Swedish government-funded institution dedicated to increasing the country’s capacity for innovation by funding progressive projects and ideas. The grant issued was for 272,000 kronor (approx. 42 thousand AUD) which will be put towards the noble goal of reducing sexism and gender stereotypes in video games. The specifics of the project are yet to be decided, but will involve the company, working with several game developers, creating a set of criteria in which games can be ranked on how gender friendly they are. It is still unclear how this rank will be communicated to consumers but it looks like that it will take one of two forms. The first involves presenting all games with a label portraying the appropriate ranking while the second involves giving some type of certification to high ranking games.
In addition to addressing the content of video games, the company will also investigate the methods developers adopt to promote gender diversity and equality. When asked if the project could take away from a video game’s creative potential or it’s more fantasy-based elements, project manager Anton Albiin stated, “Of course games can be about fantasy but they can be so much more than this. They can also be a form of cultural expression – reflecting society or the society we are hoping for. Games can help us to create more diverse workplaces and can even change the way we think about things.”
While the project hopes to decrease the gender gap in the Swedish gaming industry (females only accounting for 16%), Dataspelsbranschen hopes that it will also inspire other countries to take similar measures. This is not a case of wishful thinking either. The Swedish gaming industry is a strong and constantly growing contributor to the global market. This year Sweden saw profits of 752 million euro (approx 1 billion AUD) from the video game industry alone, a 76% increase from last year. And with such exports as Battlefield 3 under their belt, who can say they’re surprised.
It’s not clear whether or not this project will succeed in creating a less sexist and more gender-equal video game industry, mostly because the program is barely taking its first steps. Despite this, the news is encouraging and it’s refreshing to see a country start to address such an important (if often ignored or denied) issue within gaming culture.
Yesterday, in one of their more intriguing PR stunts, Nokia posted a tantalising tweetletting consumers know they’re “up to something” and they certainly were. The tweet featured a picture of a black box and not much else. So what’s in the box? A bit of a trick question but the answer is the Z Launcher and a Nokia N1 Android Tablet.
The launch for these products were conducted at today’s Slushevent, a festival like showcase centred around Eurasian start-ups and tech talents, Nokia being only one of 2500 companies presenting their wares. So what exactly are the products showcased today by Nokia?
Before moving onto the tablet, let’s take a look at Z Launcher. Basically this product is used to replace your home screen in an attempt to make navigating your phone an easier task. The app presents you with an interface you can immediately “scribble” on when turning on your phone, allowing the user to write (not type) a search request for an app or file. The appeal? Being able to “just scribble and boom!” So far this isn’t too different from search functions that come already installed on Android devices. The main aspect of this app that makes the product worth while is it’s predictive quality. It learns not only how you write, but what apps you like to access at certain times of the day. This self-learning and automatically updating home screen is something interesting and new to look forward to. So far, before its official release, there has been 100 000 downloads of the Z Launcher, but these numbers are expected to rocket as the new interface is now available for free in the Google Play Store. At the end of the day though, no one is more excited about the Z Launcher than the company releasing it. As put by Nokia’s Head of Product Business Sebastian Nyström, “it’s predictive, it’s pure, it’s so Nokia.”
So what about the Nokia N1 Android Tablet? This was a bit of a surprise after Nokia CEO Rajeev Suri’s recent confirmation that the company isn’t “looking to a direct consumer return to handsets” after Microsoft’s US$7.2 billion April acquisition of Nokia’s handset business. Sure, it’s not a smart phone, but it’s bloody close. The tablet was sold at the event as something to compliment the z launcher, but due to their “what’s in the box” marketing campaign, it’s hard to believe that the Z Launcher is truly the main event. The Nokia N1 boasts a “beautiful” one piece aluminium body, no sharp edges, a thin and light design, a 7.9 inch laminated screen and a 2.3 gigahertz 64 gigabyte quad core processor. Throw in a bunch of accessories and an improved Z Launcher and you have Nokia’s newest achievement. The tablet itself doesn’t offer anything extraordinarily new or impressive, however, it does offer a competitive price. At $249 (plus tax), Nokia is presenting a competitive alternative to similar Samsung and Apple Products. For example, the new iPad Air 2 retails for $499, a whole $150 more expensive. During the event, Nokia also mentioned working with a partner (necessary after Microsoft’s acquisition) in order to release the phone on the Chinese market by Chinese New Year.
After two new releases from Nokia, I can’t help but say I’m surprised. It’s still early days, and both products are yet to prove themselves, but they do seem to promise an exciting and (kind of) new future for Nokia.
With Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth set to be released in a little over a week, Atlus USA has released a handful of new videos for the title, most of which focus on some of the game’s core mechanics. This includes the map making aspect that fans of Etrian Odyssey will be familiar with, as well as the way combat will unfold, and the powerful FOEs that populate certain dungeons.
Finally if you want to get a little extra entertainment, you will find that the final video features Atlus USA‘s PR Manager answering some fan questions and even singing a bit.
Today Square Enix shared the videos that were recently premiered at Paris Games Week for Final Fantasy XV. These videos come from the demo that will be included with the release of Final Fantasy Type-0 and you can check them both out below. The first video happens to be a tech demo primarily focused on showing off various aspects of the game while the second video is something that players can expect to experience once the demo is released.
This video shows us a glimpse at the combat as well as how Noctis and his buddies will travel through the world map. Currently Final Fantasy XV is set to be released for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One but no set release window has been revealed at this time.
A while back we reported on the existence of a follow up film to last years Dragon Ball movie revival Battle of Gods. Now after many months we finally get some details on this new film as well as a poster and a few other images depicting some new characters. The film has the Japanese title of Dragon Ball Z: Revival of F and will be released just before Golden Week in Japan on Saturday April 18th, 2015. The film will be released nationwide in both 2D and 3D formats. Credit goes to Kanzenshuu for both images used in this article.
First up, Frieza is back! That’s right one of the most recognizable villains of all time is back is back in the spotlight and he brings with him two henchmen named Sorbet (the short one) and Tagoma (the tall one). It is noted in the magazine scan that Tagoma is wearing an all new scouter with dual lenses. These two henchmen are remnants of Frieza’s army and have headed to Earth to use the Dragonballs to revive their long deceased master, it is said they succeed in this mission. It will be interesting to see how Frieza and these new henchmen will be able to compete with the Z warriors, who have long since surpassed the power levels of the famous villain.
In the poster we see both Beerus and Whis will be making a return from the last film which also places this new movie after Battle of Gods in the timeline. Goku is wearing an entirely new outfit, something we haven’t seen in a while and interestingly Krillin has shaved his head again after having hair in the last movie (this may just be an error on the poster just like how Super Saiyan Gohan was present on the Battle of Gods poster instead of being in his “Ultimate Gohan” form). Vegeta is just as prominent on the poster as Goku and Toriyama has in the past alluded to the fact Vegeta might play a more starring role in future films. Perhaps we will see a Super Saiyan God Vegeta in this new movie.
Are you excited to see Frieza back in the primary villain spot? Let us know in the comments below.
Devolver Digital and indie developer Fourattic announced their Kickstarter campaign for the upcoming action adventure game Crossing Souls. The game game stars five children who can now interact with the space between life and death after uncovering an artifact. Each child has unique abilities and weapons that will be used to solve puzzles and defeat enemies in their path.
Fourattic is looking to raise $45,000 USD to complete development. A lion’s share of the money will support development, music, and sound effects. The team hopes to release Crossing Souls for Linux, Mac, and Windows in March 2016. Copies of the game start at $10; check out their project on Kickstarter.
Indie Gala and Capsule Computers released the Every Monday Bundle #34 today. The bundle contains seven indie titles this week, all of them redeemable on Steam.
Blast Em! – A retro styled shoot’em up designed to challenge even the most seasoned shoot’em up veteran.
Dungeons: The Eye of Draconus– A co-op retro brawler inspired by old 90’s arcade games like Battle Toads, Golden Axe, and TMNT Arcade.
Forsaken Uprising– A multiplayer medieval first person survival title that gives players the chance to build epic castles, tend to crops, and battle each other with a variety of medieval weaponry. The game is currently in Early Access.
Murder Miners– The fast paced shooter that rocked Xbox Live’s Indie Game charts is now on Steam. Murder Miners features gameplay inspired by Halo, multiple gameplay modes, and destructible environments.
Pulstar– An arcade shooter mixing simple twin-stick shooter sensibilities and an eye catching package.
Rush for Glory– A tower defense game featuring a 10 scenario long campaign mode, 3 difficulty levels, and over 30 enemy types.
The Egyptian Prophecy: The Fate of Ramses– A point and click adventure starring Maya, a young magician attempting to stop the mysterious accidents at the construction site of an obelisk to the god Amon-Ra.
For the first 24 hours of the sale, all seven games can be purchased for $1.99. Grab your copy at Indie Gala before the price goes up.
Overview Ever since Halo: Combat Evolved was released in 2001, fans of the series have come to expect quality from each and every title and while the series may have had a few small disappointments so far, fans have followed the story of Master Chief and Cortana throughout the years and experienced great titles that delivered on most fronts. So now that Microsoft has not only remastered Halo 2 but released the first four Halo titles in Halo: The Master Chief Collection, does it warrant a purchase?
Story After humanity began to colonize other planets; they encountered a powerful and advanced collection of alien races known as the Covenant. With the Covenant using their superior technology and cursing humanity as an affront to their gods, humans quickly were on the losing side of the war until the SPARTAN project began placing genetically enhanced super soldiers on the front lines and none of these SPARTANs is as skilled as Master Chief.
Throughout the course of the four games included in Halo: The Master Chief Collection players will be able to experience every high point of the series’ multi-title space opera as we follow Master Chief as he battles against the Covenant, uncovers an ancient threat that will destroy everything in its path if it is not stopped, teams up with former enemies, battles against yet another ancient race of beings and more.
It can be said that those who have somehow never managed to explore the world of Halo will find that this package contains everything you will need to experience the best that the story has to offer, which is a lot. As for those who are returning to the series you will be happy to learn that every story mission is unlocked immediately when you start the title, allowing you to jump around as you please, giving the player the option to play all of their favorite moments while skipping some of the lesser sequences.
It really must be said that Halo 2: Anniversary is the real star of this collection as not only does it benefit the most from graphical enhancements and audio improvements that will be discussed later, it also features brand new snippets of storyline found in terminals as well as a number of new cutscenes that drop hints towards Halo 5: Guardians.
Gameplay
One of the best aspects of Halo has always been the way that it has handled its shooting mechanics and the intelligence of the enemy Covenant. Limited to a two weapon at a time system, players control a scientifically enhanced human that your enemies will fearfully and respectively call the Demon as he lays waste to their ranks in a series that remains one of the best designed first person shooters to date.
With your enemies varied to include weak and cowardly Grunts capable of suicide attacks and empowered by their brethren, Jackals that make use of shields formed of energy to protect their fragile frames, Elites capable of dishing out and receiving heavy punishment through the use of their recharging shields, and much more, players will always need to think on their feet to take out the numerous enemies they come across as entire areas will feature mixes of enemy types that fight intelligently and can be quite deadly on higher difficulties, especially with various modifiers on.
Throughout these games players will learn to master the Chief’s core combat mechanics as they make use of his firearms, various grenade types, powerful melee abilities, and skill with the various vehicles of war that humanity and the Covenenant have crafted to kill one another. With such a combination of weapons and tools at the player’s disposal, there are countless ways to tackle any situation no matter how daunting it may appear, and if you feel like it you can even bring an ally with, either online or locally, to help out.
As you progress throughout the four titles you will notice various changes to the way that Master Chief performs as well as the various abilities he is capable of using. In Halo: Anniversary players will need to be concerned about a health bar alongside their rechargeable shield where titles after that drop this function and focus entirely on the shield and regenerating health. He will also gain the ability to dual-wield certain weapons from game to game and once you make the jump to Halo 4 then you will be in for quite a different feel as not only does this title introduce a number of new mechanics to the game such as the ability to sprint, create bubble shields, turn invisible, and more, you will also need to face off against a different and far more challenging opponent than what was experienced in past games.
As I mentioned earlier, players can add various modifiers into every level of Halo: The Master Chief Collection to create a new experience. Since the core gameplay and various stages have remained virtually untouched, which is something of a testament to how great these mechanics really are, players will want to add various modifiers through skulls to really spice things up in the single player.
Now as for the multiplayer aspect of Halo: The Master Chief Collection, things are kind of a mixed bag. I say this because despite the multiplayer always being a key drawing point for the franchise, the competitive online play has been struggling to perform properly since the collection launched. These multiplayer modes, regardless of what title’s multiplayer you want to experience, generally always experience some sort of issue when it comes to trying to find a match. You can easily spend an hour trying to find a match even on suggested playlists only to be placed in a near empty lobby or even booted out of the game entirely.
When you do manage to enter a game of multiplayer, you will find that the experience is just the same that you remember it, featuring various game modes such as standard team deathmatch, infection, oddball, capture the flag, and more, just better looking. Fighting once again on the nostalgic battlefields of Halo 2 is a major treat and now you will also have the option to play all of the other game’s various multiplayer modes as well, though you will need to once again be prepared for the various changes in style and mechanics that the series has went through. This is thanks to the fact that if you manage to secure a solid lobby, players can easily swap between maps from all four Halo games, so one match that took place on Halo 4 can be followed by a fight in Halo 2, meaning players will quickly need to remember various tactics and the changed mechanics between titles such as certain dual-wielding weapons being disabled, lowered weapon ability, using bubble shields or lockdown, and more all depend on what title’s multiplayer you are trying out.
Visuals With the release of Halo: The Master Chief Collection, 343 Industries has brought all four titles up to support 1080p and 60 fps creating a fluid experience for the un-remastered titles, Halo 3 and 4, and making the enhanced Halo Anniversary and stunningly remade Halo 2 Anniversary look even better than fans could imagine. While the other three titles may look similar to how we remember them, Halo 2: Anniversary has been completely built from the ground up in certain areas and you can really tell the difference thanks to the ability to swap between classic and modern graphic styles instantly, even in cutscenes. The cutscenes handled by Blur are more than just stunning; they are everything that gamers should expect a modern gaming console to be able to deliver.
As I mentioned, the ability to swap between graphic styles returns in Halo 2 as well as Halo and while there might have been a small delay previously, the change is now instantaneous, making for a stark comparison to how things used to be over a decade ago in Halo 2 and how lush and detailed everything looks now.
Audio Similar to the way the graphics have been overhauled in Halo 2, the title’s sound effects and dialogue have appeared to be remastered as well. A number of the game’s weaponry has been modified to sound a bit different, though players do not have an option to swap between the old sound effects and the new. As for the actual voice work, the characters sound similar to how one may remember, though the enhanced audio quality really helps make the various cutscenes deliver on presentation.
As for the soundtrack, the Halo series has always supported an amazing orchestral soundtrack and that remains true not only in the other three titles, but also in Halo 2 where every scene featuring a rising orchestral track in the background feels that much more important as you blast your way through enemy forces and try to put a stop to whatever threat is between the Chief and his objective.
Overall Halo: The Master Chief Collection is a massive offering that not only gives players the best that the series has to offer, it also delivers on an unprecedented scale that gamers will find themselves delving into for months to come . With all four campaigns to play through, new hidden extras, a plethora of modifiers, playlists, and maps to experiment and mess with all contained on one disc with an easy to navigate menu, it will take quite some time before someone finds themselves lacking a new mode to try out. Although there are some matchmaking issues present in the title, each title’s multiplayer delivers on a scale that fans have been hoping for and newcomers will love, making Halo: The Master Chief Collection an essential title for anyone who owns an Xbox One.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
