Today Microsoft and Insomniac Games released the launch trailer for Sunset Overdrive which is set to be released next week on October 28th in North America and on October 31st for Europe. This trailer features all of the style and customization that players can expect once they pick up this over the top looking game.
You can check out the trailer below and if you want to learn some extra details about the game, we recently interviewed Marcus Smith, the creative director for Sunset Overdrive, and you can find that full interview here.
You can check out the character trailers below but for those who want to get a glimpse of the 38 page art book, featuring artwork and character designs from Shigenori Soejima that will be included in “The Wild Cards” premium edition version of the game, you can check out a sample of it here.
Today XSEED Games revealed that Senran Kagura: Bon Appétit will be released digitally in North America on November 11th and November 12th in Europe. This first release will cost $14.99 and feature the girls from Hanzo and Homura’s Crimson Squad and a couple of weeks later on November 25th the $14.99 “Gessen x Hebijo” pack will be released, adding the girls from both schools into the game and bringing the total playable number of shinobi up to twenty.
Those who previously downloaded DLC for Senran Kagura: Shinovi Versus will be able to import their clothing into Senran Kagura: Bon Appétit to add extra customization options and this also includes Rin and Daidoji, though it is worth noting that you will need to purchase the “Gessen x Hebijo” expansion to play as Rin.
To go along with this announcement a gameplay trailer and some new character art and English screenshots for Senran Kagura: Bon Appétit have been released and you can check it all out below.
Samurai Warriors fans will be happy to hear that the latest game in the series from Koei Tecmo is now available for purchase in North America. Samurai Warriors 4 can be purchased at retail for $59.99 on the PlayStation 4 while the PlayStation 3 and PS Vita versions of the game can only be purchased digitally for $49.99 and $39.99 respectively.
This latest installment adds a number of new characters to the game, bringing the total number of playable fighters up to 55, a number of new features and better graphics, and it is also the first game in the series to be playable on the latest generation of consoles. We recently had some hands on time with Samurai Warriors 4 and you can check out our impressions here.
Overview The Alien franchise has been ripe for the picking ever since the first movie debuted in 1979, spawning a handful of sequels, spin-offs, and numerous video games. However despite the large number of video games created using the concept and story of Alien, few, if any, were able to capture the atmosphere and horror that was brilliantly displayed in the movie that started it all. Now, so many years later, we have a game that delivers practically everything an Alien fan could ask for in the form of Alien: Isolation.
Story Alien: Isolation takes place fifteen years after the events of Alien and players step into the role of Amanda Ripley, the daughter of Ellen Ripley, traveling alongside a Weyland-Yutani crew to a soon to be decommissioned space station called Sevastapol owned by the Seegson Corporation. Amanda’s goal is to track down the black box from The Nostromo which has fallen into Seegson’s possession.
While Amanda is hopeful that this mission will give her some clue as to what happened to her missing mother, things go south incredibly quickly. Stuck aboard a station filled with trigger-happy survivors, malfunctioning homicidal synthetics, and a creature that is beyond her understanding, Amanda’s mission soon becomes one of survival against nigh-impossible odds.
Alien: Isolation doesn’t exactly tell an enthralling storyline and even the few twists that do exist are easy to predict, however the way that it tells the story is what makes it great. Amanda is a believable enough character to exist within the actual Alien canon and players are with her every minute of the game as she tries to survive and escape. It also helps that there is some great world building in effect thanks to numerous terminals and audio logs that reveal the events that took place in various parts of Sevastapol as everything went to hell.
Gameplay Many games claim to fit into the survival horror genre, very few of these titles actually nail the “survival” part while Aliens: Isolation handles it perfectly. Players can always attempt to fight against the threats that they are facing but stealth and trickery are your best bets to survival. Amanda will obtain various firearms and explosives throughout the campaign but despite these weapons being useful for taking down a single opponent, chances for survival are slim.
Not only does Sevastapol house human enemies that travel in groups and are usually ready to shoot at anything that moves with impressive accuracy, there are also deadly synthetics that take quite a beating before going down and are immune to certain weapons. Combine that with the fact that Amanda has limited health that can only be restored using medkits and the limited amount of ammo you will come across and you will quickly find direct confrontation something to avoid.
Instead players will learn to make use of all of the cover that the game provides, including sliding under desks, hiding in lockers, sneaking through air vents in the floors and walls as well as all of the tools you can create. Throughout Sevastapol various blueprints will give players ways to create various items such as noisemakers, EMP mines, medkits, explosives and more to help her survive. However since all of these items require specific ingredients and you can only hold so many of these ingredients, players will need to find a fine balance between crafting and using tools when necessary and making sure not to leave any important ingredients behind.
It is highly recommended that you test out any tool in your possession though as waiting until your back is against the wall is a mistake since there can be deadly consequences to your actions. Not only will Amanda have to worry about the synthetics and survivors she comes across, but also an incredibly intelligent killing machine as well in the form of a Xenomorph.
Players will spend a bit of time before they encounter this creature but once they do, Alien: Isolation becomes a game of inches as you do everything in your power to avoid being killed. The Xenomorph will stalk Amanda throughout the rest of the game and players have very few options to deal with it. Bullets bounce right off of the creatures exoskeleton and even explosives will only temporarily stun it. At best once players obtain a flamethrower and molotovs you can attempt to scare it away, however do not trust this crafty Xenomorph to not be prepared for next time.
You will need to constantly be on the lookout for the creature as it searches for its prey. Even the smallest noises can draw its attention, meaning that fighting against humans or synthetics can not only result in death by these enemies, but also the creature arriving to slaughter everyone. At the same time however, you can do whatever it takes to avoid detection by sneaking around, hiding, and making use of the iconic motion tracker to keep an eye on its location. Be careful though, while the motion tracker is a useful tool the Xenomorph can hear it as well.
The most enthralling and at times frustrating aspect of Alien: Isolation is how intelligent the Xenomorph’s AI is. Not only is the creature unpredictable but it appears to learn from things that you have done in the past. There is no predictable pattern to its actions as it stalks through the hallways, slithers into vents, and drops down looking for something to kill. While you can make use of the creature’s deadly nature to clear an area of enemies by drawing its attention with a noise maker or even smacking the wall, you best be prepared for the consequences.
Not only does the Xenomorph shrug off bullets, it is faster than Amanda and will catch up to her and kill her if you choose to simply run away. In fact there are times when there is just no other option than to die as the creature appears from out of nowhere and players are left trying to find a way to survive an inescapable situation.
It is thanks to these moments that Alien: Isolation can feel unfair at times, since not only does the Xenomorph appear to always be in the vicinity of Amanda, even if you managed to escape the creature without drawing its attention a single time and used a tram to enter a new area of Sevastapol, but the title uses an old save system requiring players to save manually at specific areas in the game. If you happen to die before saving then you will lose all progress made from that point. This can make certain areas feel like quite a chore at times, but you will be absolutely delighted once you manage to make it through and find the next save point.
Everything in Alien: Isolation comes with a risk. Hacking equipment and burning through hatches all takes time and stationary positioning, meaning that you will be at the mercy of the Xenomorph if it appears in the area. To ratchet the tension up another notch, these save spots require a few seconds to activate which means that it is possible to die while waiting for the save system to warm up and boy is it frustrating when this happens.
Visuals & Audio Alien: Isolation is a game that requires players to not only properly sneak around and make use of their tools accordingly in order to survive; it also is one that needs the player to keep an eye on their surroundings and their ears to the ground. Once the Xenomorph appears, you will need to always keep an ear out for its location, identified by the thumping of the vents as it crawls through them or the sound of its feet hitting the ground. Nothing is more terrifying than being in an isolated area and hearing the creature slide out of a vent in the other room.
If you really want to get the most out of Alien: Isolation’s graphics then I recommend checking out the original movie before playing, as you will appreciate the amount of effort that the team put into replicating numerous systems and elements from the movie into the game’s environment. Everything feels and looks authentic thanks to the way that the lighting in the game is handled and creates an atmosphere filled with tension and danger around every corner as you keep an eye out for drool dripping from the ceiling and an ear out for the threatening noise of the ever present Xenomorph.
Overall Alien: Isolation feels like a game that was developed with a lot of love for the franchise and it shows. From the way the Xenomorph behaves to threatening atmosphere fitting environment design, it is the game fans of Alien have been waiting for. You will die, quite often in fact, and the game will feel like it is being sadistic at times with its save system and the ever present threat of the Xenomorph, but it is a title that feels like it has grasped hold of the concept of survival horror like few have and created an amazing Alien game.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
The first of Sega and Creative Assembly‘s five planned add-on packs for Alien: Isolation will be available before the end of this month. ‘Corporate Lockdown’ gives the player a new character in Seegson Executive Ransome to embody as they tackle three additional challenge maps in Survivor’s Mode, and perhaps attempt to complete all three back-to-back, without dying, in the newly provided Gauntlet mode.
Ransome realises that his employers have abandoned him upon Sevastopol Station. Set during the days just before the Torrens’ arrival, Ransome decides to make a daring escape that would see him board the incoming Weyland-Yutani ship, all the while carrying decoded Nostromo data (those who’ve played the first hour of Alien: Isolation are piecing this together as they read it). However, he decides to take care of loose-ends with what little time remains before the crew’s ETA. The three maps, ‘Severance’, ‘Scorched Earth’ and ‘Loose Ends’ present unique objectives during the process of escaping the station. Side quests, as well as some hidden bonus objectives, are also included.
‘Corporate Lockdown’ will be downloadable from October 28 for MSRP $7.99/€6.99/£5.59, with four more add-on packs to come in ‘Trauma’, ‘Safe Haven’, ‘Lost Contact’ and ‘The Trigger’. Each will follow the same format in regards to content; new character, new maps, new mode. If you are keen to explore the Sevastopol to the fullest extent, then save 20% by purchasing the Season Pass. All DLC will be released by March, 2015. Just remember, “Nobody’s clean; everyone’s got a little dirt on them. You just gotta know how to use it to make them squirm.”
Wargaming has announced their presence at PAX Australia later this month, bringing with them a multi-platform line-up of playable titles. World of Tanks Blitz will be available to play on both iOS and Android devices; World of Tanks will of course be featured on PC stations in the booth; World of Tanks: Xbox 360 Edition will also be playable. But, the big point of interest is that attendees will be able to go hands-on with the upcoming World of Warships for the first time in Australia.
Jasper Nicolas General Manager of Wargaming Asia, stated;
Wargaming has an extremely passionate player community in Australia. Coming to a show like PAX provides us with a unique and exciting opportunity to interact with our players.
Additionally, the Wargaming team will host a slew of activities such as bumper cars, prize-winning opportunities and contests for Razer, Corsair, Asus and Plantronics gear, and daily Q&A sessions with World of Warships and World of Tanks Blitz developers. Aussie pro-gamers Freshmeat, a member of Australia’s largest eSports organization, Avant Garde, along with Batman, pro-gamer from PVP Super Friends team, and one of Australia’s popular streamers, Paige, will also feature in hourly livestreams at the booth.
So if you’re attending PAX Australia 2014 from October 31 to November 2 at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, visit Wargaming at booth 1830.
With the Nintendo 3DS version of Super Smash Bros. 4 now released worldwide with every little secret about it floating somewhere on the Internet, the Wii U version still holds a great deal of mystery especially in terms of stages and game modes. Well it seems like some of that shroud of mystery will be unveiled in a special Smash Bros Wii U centric Nintendo Direct taking place on Friday at 9:00 (AEDT) in Australia. If you wish to watch this broadcast you can head to the official Nintendo Australia broadcasting page at the correct time.
With the 3DS being the only version to receive Smash Run it only seems fitting the Wii U will also get it’s own major game mode aside from the classic and all-star series staples. Will we see the shock announcement of new characters or possibly future DLC? Your guess is as good as ours at the moment but leave what you think one (or all) of the 50 must see things are below in the comments and if you’re right you will be able to say ‘called it’ until no one cares anymore. Super Smash Bros. Wii U has a December 6th release date, two weeks after the U.S. gets the game on November 21st.
Pinnacle Entertainment Group president Shane Hensley, creator of tabletop role-playing gamesDeadlands and Savage Worlds, lead writer for City of Villansand executive producer for the MMORPGNeverwinter, is bringing another to market based on the system introduced in the latter. Called The Last Parsec, the sci-fi tabletop RPG was funded on Kickstarter within the first hour of its campaign!
The Last Parsec will see players explore the galaxy, finding new civilizations, battling enemies such a hostile aliens, space pirates and myriad other creatures. Characters do so under the banner of an intergalactic mega-corporation called JumpCorp, who contract out security, bounty hunting, transportation and all other manner of jobs. At this very moment, the project has received over 800% funding, with about 59 hours left to contribute. Looking forward to the remaining 2.5 days, there are three immediate stretch goals at $70K, $80K, and $90K that will allow Pinnacle Entertainment Group to create and provide miniature-tier backers with bonus tabletop figurines of the Florian, Saurian, and Rakashan alien races, respectively.
For more information and your chance to jump on board, visit The Last Parsec‘sKickstarter page here. Check out some released artwork in the gallery below.
Like any major modern release, Far Cry 4will be supported post launch with a season pass worth of DLC content. Ubisoft announced that Far Cry 4‘s Season Pass will contain four pieces of mission based content and a PvP mode. “The Syringe,” “Escape from Durgesh Prison,” “Hurk Deluxe Pack,” and “Valley of the Yetis” will provide players with two smaller missions and two mini-campaigns. Only “Escape from Durgesh Prison” will require a friend to complete, while the rest can be played either alone or co-operatively. “Overrun” introduces a domination mode to the game’s multiplayer.
Far Cry 4’s Season Pass will cost £23.99 or $30 USD. Buyers using digital retailers like Uplay, PlayStation Network, and Xbox Marketplace can pick up Far Cry 4 Gold Edition for $89.99 USD, which will net them both the base game and the season pass at a discount. Far Cry 4 will be released for PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, and Windows
