The Evil Within is only a few days away from release, and Bethesda have been steadily giving us new trailers that give us a look into the horror that we will experience, and the gameplay mechanics that we will have to master if we hope to make it out alive. While last week’s video showcased the need to conserve ammunition, this week we get a closer look at some of the horrendous monsters that will be trying to eat you alive and the traps that you can use to save yourself.
In a game like The Evil Within, actions definitely speak louder than words, so check out the new trailer below. The Evil Within is set to launch next week on October 16th, so make sure you stay tuned to Capsule Computers for all the frightening horror news as it becomes available.
Tom Clancy’s The Division is a game that impresses with every showing, teaching us a tad more about it every time. At this year’s EB Games Expo, I learnt more about the game than I expected to. Our hands-off preview, soon-to-be-published, will elucidate further, but our interview with game director Ryan Barnard clarified some common questions as well. Read on to find out exactly how the team at Ubisoft Massive defines the title, the inspiration behind the premise and setting, and most importantly details behind the MMO features and character progression.
So first off, I think after the most recent demo walkthrough that was shared online by Ubisoft, there was some confusion bred about the actual genre of The Division. There are so many elements to it, but also some non-traditional aspects that threw people off the MMO categorisation. How would you define the game?
That’s a great opener, because I do think we’re kind of – we have this mantra – “genreless”. We’re a Clancy game, we’re an online game, we have some MMO mechanics, we have an RPG flavour to everything, we’re a third-person shooter, we have a lot of guns, we have a lot of gear that you need, we have crafting in the game… so, I come from an MMO background and I definitely think that we’re making a new type of online RPG game, but I’m not sure that a straight genre really fits. So, I think that’s why you get that “I can’t really pin it down”, because it’s open-world, and it’s just a lot of things, so besides just being an online multiplayer action-RPG, then it’s however you want to define it, I guess.
In terms of the story, how did you guys come to this kind of contagion-ravaged future? Being an original IP that wasn’t based directly off of any previous Tom Clancy work, you must’ve had all this freedom to do whatever you wanted?
It was a few years back when we kind of had a mandate from – you know, we have this great license with Clancy – and they really wanted an RPG Clancy title; something different. We have a very robust suite of games; we have Ghost Recon, we have Splinter Cell, we have Rainbow, so we needed a new unit that fits in that spectrum but doesn’t step on anyone’s area, you know? So, that really was the genesis, and then basically our creative group, when you hunker down, asks “well, how is it going to be different?”. Well, the first thing that sparked it was, to be different, something has to have already happened; all of the Clancy games are about stopping this horrific thing from happening, so to really fit this new style of game we wanted to have the horrible thing happen, whatever it was at that point, and have the unit designed around responding to that sort of thing. And then, the idea of the fragility of society and the kind of dystopian world is very contemporary, and the more you research it the scarier and more real it is. It all just kinda fit and fed in, it’s like “okay, well then if we have a virus that actually hits a Western society and can spread really rapidly and is militarised…what would happen?” I can’t hunt for food, can you?! I would die immediately. So, it’s really scary when you start looking into this. I think it all just kind of filtered from there.
And specifically New York, what influenced your decision to place the events of the game in ‘the Big Apple’?
The reason why New York sort of stood out is that we wanted the game to be global. It doesn’t matter where you’re from in the world, you have an image of Times Square, you have an image of Madison Square Garden, so to be able to create this mid-crisis scenario – not post-apocalyptic – we need to be able to have this iconic locations look like “oh, something is wrong”. It’s not destroyed, but something is wrong. Besides, New York has a great cultural mix of people for enemy faction types and all types of stuff. It’s also one of, if not the most, busiest hubs of travel, which is key to our kind of scenario.
It seems like Ubisoft’s overriding M.O. as of late is to tell stories based around real-life dangers and epidemics. The Division, Watch_Dogs deals with the whole issue is privacy and security, and even Rainbow Six: Siege addresses terrorism…
I think those are very contemporary themes for cinema, for television shows; look at the movies that are out that are popular. It’s a very fascinating and entertaining kind of idea, and it’s scary basically, so there are some within Ubisoft, but I’d say it’s a kind of entertainment industry wide contemporary theme.
Okay, in terms of specifics relating to the game, clarifying for those who developed misconceptions or misunderstanding of the game and exactly what it is, can you tell us about just how you come across other players and factions, and also progression in regards to weapons, etc.?
To the first question, we actually have both types in the game, talking about the standard or, I would said, older MMOs, having a persistent world. So you can see a 4 v 4 running through your area while you’re trying to do your mission or whatever. We also have phased open-world, so when you’re out exploring New York or doing your own missions, that’s a private space for you and your group, which is what we’ve showcased in the demos. But then we have public areas which will be very clear when you come into those areas, where you can run across other players. And then in regards to progression, basically everything in the game is wrapped in it, so you start at level 1, you have experience progression, the skills that you possess have their own progression, the gear is level specific so you’ll often be replacing gear and salvaging gear. You can also craft stuff…so there’s lots of pieces there. If it works don’t fix it; in a lot of ways that’s our kind of philosophy for those kinds of mechanics. We want to create a system where players can play for a potentially limitless amount of time.
Lastly, if you wanted to play the game entirely by yourself, are you able to do that and, if so, how would the experience differ?
That’s a good question to answer, because we got those queries a lot. I mean, we always say “multiplayer, online” and that is our focus, because we know people get more engaged and you generally have more fun when you play with more people. But, you can absolutely play the game from beginning to end, never seeing another human and never grouping with anyone if you don’t want to. The game scales with the amount of players in a group too.
Awesome, I am very much looking forward to it. Thanks so much for your time.
Thanks a lot.
Thanks once again to Ryan Barnard for affording us a little bit of his time during an extremely busy day at the expo for him and the rest of the crew. As mentioned at the top, we also witnessed a brand-new demo of Tom Clancy’s The Division presented at the show, our impressions of which can be viewed here. Tom Clancy’s The Division is slated for a 2015 release.
I was excited to get my hands on Nintendo’s answer to the popular Skylanders and Disney Infinity figures at this years EB Games Expo with one big question I wanted answered, what exactly will these figures do apart from look awesome on my shelf ? Unfortunately, Nintendo Australia know about as much as we do regarding the issue and were unable to give me any more information on how they work with any title apart from Smash Brothers, which we have previously covered the functionality of in a past article. I inquired about how the figures would work with Mario Kart 8 however the Nintendo rep was just as curious as I was on the issue.
The Nintendo rep expressed that they should know more in the near future and said that all things are pointing to a 2014 release for the figures. A large collection of them were on display at the Nintendo booth and they looked awesome and very faithful to their source material. They were a lot smaller than I had imagined them being based on the promotional images we have seen so far.
On a slightly unrelated note, the Nintendo rep confirmed the Wii U has been performing above sales expectations in Australia, in most part due to the Mario Kart 8 bundle which is a great sign that the Wii U might be able to recover from its slow start. Nintendo are optimistic this momentum will only grow larger as big hitters like Super Smash Bros. Wii U and Zelda release in the future alongside a number of other great titles. The 3DS has also been performing above expectations and is expecting more of a boost with Smash Bros 3DS and the release of the New 3DS systems.
A bunch of New 3DS customizable covers were also on display alongside the New 3DS and they looked fantastic, my favourite being the Mario Bros. cover with all the enemies and other series icons on it. Check out the gallery below for some pictures of the Amiibo‘s and the New 3DS. For all our other coverage of this years EB Games Expo please follow the link.
FROMSOFTWARE have become synonymous with creating difficult, trial-and-error style action RPG’s. From King’s Field to Demon’s Souls, then Dark Souls and Dark Souls II, they have proven to be masters of the genre. Now the team is stepping it up again for the PS4 exclusive Bloodborne. Firstly the elephant in the room: Bloodborne isn’t Dark Souls, but the two games share a lot of similarities.
Instead of the Souls series’ use of medieval and fantasy locations and monsters, Bloodborne goes for the more gothic horror route. Your character and the enemies that they come up against look like they are from a puritan witch-hunter’s nightmare and it looks awesome! Decaying dogs, hollowed townspeople, and monstrous, grounded crows are just a sampling of the types of enemies that players will get to face.
While Bloodborne handles similarly to Dark Souls, it is a very different experience. While Dark Souls focused on defensive combat, hiding behind your shield and waiting for the perfect time to strike down an enemy, Bloodborne goes a different route. None of the characters available in the demo had a shield, so playing defensively is immediately off the table. Instead, you have to take on a more aggressive strategy to slay your enemies. Enemies are also more densely placed than in the Souls games, so you will often be facing upwards of five monstrous beasts at one time.
The Victorian setting also allows for one other major departure from the Souls franchise in the form of firearms. All of the demo characters came equipped with a small rifle in their left hand. While the gun itself wasn’t too powerful, it can stagger an entire group of enemies at once, allowing for you to get up close and personal with your sword strikes. Players will pick up ammunition for their gun from defeated enemies or through pick-ups scattered through the world, though it does feel like the ammunition will be a semi-scarce resource so that players don’t just go all Rambo through the game.
One of the cool new gameplay mechanics that FROM have introduced is the ability for some weapons to transform. One character is equipped with a straight-sword for quick strikes, but with a simple flick of L1 he attaches it to the stone he is carrying on his back and it becomes a massive hammer that while slower, is capable of performing devastating blows. Another character was equipped with twin blades, but could alternate between single and double with the same press of L1. Switching to single gave them access to their gun, while double blades were faster and dealt a lot more damage. The ability to switch up your play style on the fly really feeds into the whole faster pace that Bloodborne is introducing, and if executed properly may very well be one of its strongest facets.
FROMSOFTWARE have always managed to make the most out of the hardware they are building for, and Bloodborne is no different. Even though I only played a small alpha build, the game looked stunning. Everything from the character models to the lighting and particle effects really showed what developers can do with the new hardware. One of the things tha I noticed immediately is that one of the playable characters was wearing a coat that looked like it was made of raven’s feathers. As I ran around as this character, I saw that each of the feathers was individually animated and was moving on their own as the character walked or attacked. The attention to detail is staggering and I can’t wait to see what else the developers have in store for us.
The Souls franchise has gained many followers all over the world, with multiple wiki’s created to help players through the game and a bustling online community. Even 2009’s Demon’s Souls still has a strong online community, that looks like it will never slow down. Bloodborne is a bit of a departure from the norms of the series, but it still feels like the next evolution in what those games are trying to achieve. As someone who has played the Souls games extensively, I felt right at home. The controls were familiar and almost identical to their predecessors, yet the entire package felt fresh and new. The new fast pace, aggressive gameplay style really suits this new world and I can say that after running through the demo twice, I am fairly certain that on February 6th, Bloodborne will be the game that finally convinces me to buy a PS4.
For all our 2014 EB Games Expo coverage including hands-on previews and interviews, click here.
With Ubisoft releasing two very different Assassin’s Creed titles this year and everybody’s focus being on the next-gen Assassin’s Creed: Unity, I thought I would break off from the crowd and check out Assassin’s Creed: Rogue, the game that might very well be the last we see of Assassin’s Creed on the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3.
Rogue is set after the events of Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flags between 1752 and 1761 during the Seven Years’ War and has player’s traversing the North American seas, including new arctic locations. Instead of your typical assassin we are introduced to Shay Cormac, who has left the order and joined the Templars as an Assassin killer. Rogue is reported to not only finish off the trilogy that Assassin’s Creed III and IV started, but also to tie into the events of Unity.
The demo build that was available only had a sea-based section of the game, so I unfortunately wasn’t able to jump into any of the stealth, land-based. Although, I was curious to see what new additions to the naval combat that Rogue had managed to create after the excellent Black Flag.
The first thing I noticed was that the Shay’s ship manages to handle even smoother than Kenway’s from ACIV. The sailing felt quicker and the turning was even sharper than the 2013 game. The second thing I noticed was that despite the better handling, the controls had remained almost identical from the last game, so I was immediately comfortable commanding my ship and its crew.
Your ship also has access to new weapons including an oil slick that can be ignited, and an arsenal of rapidly-firing guns that can pinpoint damage spots on enemy ships (like the previous-game’s spot cannon, but firing much faster). These new weapons feel like an extension of Black Flag’s combat and really fix the fact that some of its naval battles could be unnecessarily slow and grindy.
You can also still board opposing ships once you get in close enough, and take out their crew before commandeering the vessel for yourself. However, now YOU can be boarded mid-combat, forcing you to step back from your role as commander and jumping into the thick of the fight. The new boarding makes the combat feel a lot more dynamic, requiring you to stay on your toes or else be caught off guard and lose your entire crew.
The demo showed off one of the new arctic locations, where I had to pilot my ship through ice in order to reach my destination. The ice slowed down my ship, and large Icebergs could prove to be fatal if they weren’t taken care of through cannon fire. Shay can also jump off the side of his ship and go for a dip in the ocean like before, but now your health will steadily deplete due to the frigid conditions, effectively barring you from the ocean.
Since Rogue is built for last-gen consoles, it understandably less visually impressive than the next-gen Unity, but it nevertheless looks amazing. The detail is really impressive here, and the game really shows off what can be accomplished at the end of a console’s lifetime (seriously, go compare footage of Rogue to the original Assassin’s Creed and see how far they have come). Shay’s outfit is the most detailed Assassin’s robe I have ever seen, with buttons, buckles, shirts and popped collars all looking fantastic. The ocean is as beautiful as ever, and the new ice sheets and icebergs providing a new take on the landscape both visually and mechanically that we haven’t seen before.
Assassin’s Creed: Rogue is more fluid and responsive than Black Flags, but at the same time if you go into it expecting something different and new then you might be a little disappointed. While it provides some additions and enhancements from the previous games in the series, I didn’t see anything that was particularly new or refreshing. Although, this was only a short demo version of the game and I am still looking forward to playing the real thing on November 13th.
For all of our 2014 EB Games Expo Coverage including hands-on previews and interviews, click here.
After their huge success with Left 4 Dead, Turtle Rock Studios are back and teaming up with 2K Games to bring us Evolve; a squad based 4 v 1 multiplayer game that has four humans teaming up to take down one ever-evolving monster. The humans need to use teamwork and cooperation to take down the monster before it picks them off one by one.
The hunters have four different classes – Medic, Assault, Support and Trapper. The game revolves around a strong team dynamic between the four different classes, with each of their skills being vital to the end-goal of defeating one of the monsters. Although I only got to play as the monster, I did notice that the medic seemed to be the most pivotal member of the squad, and defeating them was a massive blow to the entire squad.
The way that the hunter’s different skills and abilities play off one another, and the teamwork that is required to win feels very reminiscent of Team Fortress. However, in no squad-based game have I ever seen it being so important that the team stick together. One person going off on his or her own will immediately spell danger for the entire team. When I played, I was against a group of four friends, so they had the teamwork and unity thing down pat but I’m not sure how well this will translate across into online matchmaking but honestly I’m a little concerned.
Playing as the monster is an entirely different experience all together, the asynchronous gameplay makes it feel as if Evolve is actually two games in one. While the hunters are all about teamwork, the monster is on his own and his goal is to destroy EVERYTHING in sight. As the monster kills the wildlife around them, they get stronger, more armour and eventually evolve to a new and stronger beast.
In addition to their bevy of special attacks, all monsters also have their unique scent. By sniffing around, a monster can sense where the hunters and the wildlife are located. This is translated to the player in the form of a highlighted outline around the potential targets. I can’t tell you how often I was using my scent to find prey and stay one step ahead of the hunters (at one point, even running them around a giant rock for a whole minute before sneaking up behind them for a surprise attack).
I only got a chance to play as the Kraken, whos skills and attack style are all about long-range. In addition to his short-range flight, the Kraken has access to four different special attacks, any one of which can decimate the hunters if they are caught unaware. Playing as the monster, you have to spend the first portion of the game running and hiding from the hunters. Staying far away until you have evolved is your best strategy, biding your time and waiting for the perfect time to strike.
Visually, the game is pretty impressive. I only got a chance on one map; a river that was surrounded with short cliff-faces and densely populated with trees. Not only did it look great with its high textures and the variable height in the landscape allowed me a lot of places to hide, as well as some great vantage points where I could observe and stalk my prey.
The controls are also really solid. Although I can’t speak to any of the shooting mechanics of the hunters, the third-person gameplay of the monster feels really intuitive. keyboard/mouse combo, or plug in a gamepad and off you go. I opted for the Xbox One controller, and it was really simple to use. It only took me a few minutes in the game before I had an understanding of what each of my four special attacks did and how I could best use them in combat. This is aided by the fact that the monster’s UI is little more than his health, armour and what skills he currently has available. The minimalistic approach allowed me to really get stuck into the game without feeling bogged down.
It looks like Asynchronous gameplay is becoming a standard of modern gaming, and I for one am thrilled. The ability to create two vastly different experiences in the one game is something that not only enhances the replayability of the game, but also allows it to stay fresh and exciting. Turtle Rock seem to have gotten the asynchronous part down pat, as even though I only had a brief time with Evolve, I loved every minute of it and can’t wait to play the full game on February 10th, 2015.
For more coverage from the 2014 EB Games Expo including hands-on previews and interviews, click here.
Super Smash Bros. for the 3DS is finally out on store shelves and is a huge hit here at EB Games Expo 2014 with everyone and their dog whipping out their 3DS to collect as many StreetPass’ as possible and get into the 4 player Smash action. However I am one of the rare few who are not delving in early with the 3DS version and have always had my eyes on the HD prize with Super Smash Bros. 4, particularly as me and my brother like to break out Brawl and go a round of 5 stock, best of 5, can’t pick the same character twice to see who is doing the dishes and that just wouldn’t be the same on a smaller screen. Read on for my impressions of the Wii U version and find out who won between myself and fellow Capsule Computers writer Andrew Day. (Actually I’ll just tell you now, it was yours truly of course).
First thing you notice right off the bat is the game is gorgeous and smooth as butter. That 60 FPS frame rate never dropped once during our five or so four player bouts I took part in. The bright and cheerful colours Nintendo is known for is on display in the best possible way in Super Smash Bros. Wii U and all this is presented clear as day with the High Definition resolution. (Apparently the true resolution of the game is still very much up in the air with no official confirmations from Nintendo as of yet.)
Behind all those bright colours and great animations is the same terrific gameplay you have come to expect from the Smash series. The basic controls have pretty much remain unchanged since Super Smash Bros. Melee and I felt right at home with the GameCube controls that were being used on the demo units. (Interestingly these were original GameCube controllers and not the re-branded Smash controllers). Gameplay felt a little faster than Brawl and reports floating around the Internet that the game is less ‘floaty’ is definitely true as characters seem to have a bit more weight to them this around. The demo version featured only 4 player, items on battles on about eight different stages with 16 characters to select from, indicating it was most likely the same demo from the E3 Smash Bros. Invitation Event.
Obviously Smash Bros. for Wii U is highly anticipated and there was always a long line to play the game but we managed to sneak in a few matches during the quieter moments of the expo. I got my hand at trying Greninja, Marth, Sonic and finally Rosalina and Luma. As a long time Pokemon fan Greninja was my most anticipated character to play as and I wasn’t dissapointed. He played basically as I expected, with quick, sharp attacks that all seemed to have good knock back. If you want to win with Greninja you will really have to move a lot around the stage and use a good mix of your ranged Water Shuriken and quick close up attacks. Charging up Water Shuriken with B and then watching it hit and go through every character on the stage was a highlight of my time with the game. His down aerial attack was very unique in that it sent you straight down and bounced off any enemy you landed on which I haven’t seen in the series before. Greninja is a great addition to the roster and will probably be one of my mains.
Marth is my main Smash Bros. Brawl and unfortunately he seems to have been nerfed slightly in Super Smash Bros. Wii U, especially in his aerial game as I found myself unable to pull off two forward aerial attacks in a single jump. Other than that he basically remains unchanged from Brawl so there isn’t much to talk about with him. Sonic has definitely gone through some changes in this version though and feels better for it. You can now hold A to perform multiple one hand jabs. His dash attack now ends in a kick which seems to have reduced lag and his down smash attack now has Sonic do a split kick to hit both sides instead of the spin ball like move he had in Brawl. His Final Smash Super Sonic felt slightly slower but easier to control and did not seem to have as great knock back or last as long as it did in Brawl (I would say it lasted approximately two thirds the time it used to). One last note on Sonic and it might just be me, but does he seem to have a little more Classic Sonic influence in his look than in Brawl?
The pair of Rosalina and Luma was definitely the strangest experience I had with the demo. I don’t have much interest in playing as this character but wanted to check her out for curiosities sake. If you want to be proficient with Rosalina and Luma you will definitely have to put in some time to learn her play style which is pretty much the polar opposite of a character like Greninja. She is a lot more floaty and you will have to pay close attention to both her and the Luma’s position on the stage. Her attacks are a bit slower to initiate compared to other characters but they are generally pretty powerful and you also have the advantage of the Luma being able to attack as well. The size of Rosalina was very jarring as she towered over the other characters. I knew Rosalina was tall but she doesn’t seem to have had her size refitted to mesh with the other characters in the game which was honestly my biggest gripe with the whole demo.
We always knew Smash Bros for Wii U was going to be a huge hit except now we know for sure this has the gameplay potential to live up to the hype. Its now up for the game to be fleshed out with characters, stages and game mode content to make it a complete package. For all our other coverage of this years EB Games Expo please follow the link.
The Crew has a lot of competition within the driving genre and its time of release isn’t helping the situation with Forza Horizon 2 just launched and Driveclub right around the corner. However with its huge open world, social aspects, story and customisation The Crew is the racer I am most looking forward to when it releases later this year. We catch up with Ivory Tower Managing Director and The Crew producer Ahmed Boukhelifa to get into his head to find out more details on the story, soundtrack and the impressive map found in the game among other topics. Check out the full interview below.
Hi Ahmed, thank you for being here with us today. So when I played the beta I was surprised to learn you had a story in the game. Not many racing games these days have a story and it wasn’t advertised in any trailers that there would be a story in the game. I was happy to see this as I’ve always like story in my racers. Why did you decide to put a story in The Crew ?
Actually, The Crew is two main parts. There is the first part which is all the main progression that takes you throughout the world, throughout the whole country and take you about 30 – 50 hours while you get to level 50. This will introduce you to the gameplay, how tuning works etc. Then when you reach level 50 we are calling that the endgame, you will basically have mastered the world and have everything available to you and you will have to choose if you want to continue playing cooperatively with friends, PVP, keep on exploring the world whatever. For the first huge part, we wanted to have something to go along with the progression and keep players motivated beyond just ‘I want to be stronger, I want to own more cars, I want to be richer.’ That’s why we felt bringing in this action story to help take you along was perfect.
Was their film influence from action and racing movies like Fast and Furious ?
Definitely.
The Crew companion app also allows you to customise your car for us in game.
One of the biggest criticisms I had with the game given the strong social, multiplayer aspect was that the visual customisation was a bit lacking. If you’ve played Midnight Club L.A. the visual customisation there basically allowed you to create anything with a strong layering system. Does your team feel you have done enough with the visual customisation as people obviously want to stand out from the crowd.
Yes I have played that game along time ago. We have colours for exteriors and interiors, rims, body parts, spoilers, stickers and other car body parts you can customise. It brings lots of variety for your car. I think the customisation for a player begins even before that. When you play The Crew you will create your own unique car and it begins with which car you want to play and which spec and that’s where the customisation really starts.
Actually what we wanted to do, talking about variety, was give a fast route to accessing a large variety of very rich and detailed decals. So that’s why we created a lot of them and made them progressively unlockable to the player. It is very important to me to make sure you are unique. Creating your own decal from scratch is not something we have today but is definitely in the back of our minds.
The map is obviously one of the biggest features of The Crew. What goes into making a map that big, do you guys go and look at the locations?
Today with the Internet you can get tons of guides and photos so that is the first step. Then what we really wanted to do was to try and tap into the essence of American car culture and create the America we wanted to create. So we sent our artists and designers and put them in small crews (we both had a bit of a laugh at this) and sent them over for a week or two in different places in the U.S. with local fixers to introduce us to local scene and local places. In Detroit for example we went to all the incredible decaying places which we try to reproduce to give the special feeling you are in that city and the same for all the other major locations in the game.
A lot of work went into creating one of the biggest maps in gaming history.
Did you guys have to obtain licenses for some venues such as the Staples Centre in L.A?
For the venues no. Of course there are legal constraints in regards to what we can do and can not do. But it is pretty open in terms of what you can reproduce.
How did you pick the soundtrack and what went into making that? Can you share how many songs are in the final game?
The soundtrack is one of the parts I love the most and was one of the most difficult things to create. It’s all about taste and your taste in music so you have to try to not be sensitive about it and think about what tracks we want. The way we worked was to try and feel the vibe of the American cities we were going to reproduce and lets try and feel what would be the music that comes from those cities and create those radio stations. As for the amount of songs I don’t remember the exact numbers but it’s not far from 100. (I later did some more research and found the game will have 7 local radio stations and 120 songs in addition to an original score composed by Joseph Trapanese, known for his work on films such as Oblivion, The Raid: Redemption, The Raid 2 and TRON: Legacy, full list here)
There is no doubt The Crew spans a wide variety of areas.
What is the future for The Crew? Do you have any DLC planned or additional content coming?
For us the launch is just the beginning. We have huge content but we are already working on what will come next. You played the beta so you got a look at the skills and mission progression etc. In the first area you don’t gain access to all the missions and all the skills and you don’t get access to faction missions. Faction missions are endgame content that are unlocked after you reach level 10 which is when you can start getting into it. There are PvP missions and solo missions and these missions allow us to expand much, much more on everything The Crew has to offer. Progression missions last on average about 2 – 4 minutes, they are fast paced and you go straight to the next race.
With faction missions, as they are optional, we decided to make them longer. As you join the faction and want to help them win, by playing faction missions you will make your faction stronger and rise within the faction. Those missions we can do some pretty insane stuff, 30 person faction missions can last 45 minutes. We have some that will take 2 – 3 hours like going around all the U.S. There is definitely some cool and wicked stuff. This kind of content we are really looking forward to putting it onto the players. Looking at what people like, what they want, we can put that content into the game as well.
Alright, thank you very much Ahmed. Cheers.
Thank you.
We thank Ahmed and the Ubisoft team for giving us their time throughout the Expo. I played The Crew twice at the show and it was probably the most fun time I had there as I sat in the racing chair, headphones on fully immersed in the world of The Crew as I participated in a co-op mission with three other guys to take down a utility vehicle then raced against those same guys that had just helped me, coming in first place at the end of a close race. It was exhilarating and goes to show that the game will best be enjoyed when you are getting involved with other players. The Crew comes out on December 2nd for PS4, Xbox One and PC and you can check out my impressions from the Beta here. For all our other coverage of this years EB Games Expo including plenty of hands on impressions of upcoming games, please follow the link.
Ubisoft released a new trailer for Assassin’s Creed Unitytoday. The new trailer follows protagonist Arno Dorian as he comes of age and discovers that he is an Assassin all the way to the madness of the French Revolution, where Assassin’s Creed Unity takes place. Although light on gameplay footage, gamers will get a sneak peak of Arno completing his training to become a fully fledged member of the Assassin Brotherhood. A few historical figures make short cameos in the trailer, including Napoleon.
Assassin’s Creed Unitywill be released for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Windows on November 11, 2014 in North America and November 13th in Europe.
Ubisoft’s upcoming Racing MMO The Crew was originally set for a November 11th release date in the States but that date has now been pushed back to December 2nd. The new release date now applies worldwide so all regions will be receiving the game on the same day as opposed to before when the U.S. was getting the game three days early.
The reason given for the delay was so a second console beta could be hosted on the PS4 and Xbox One. The second beta will be used to gather more feedback and further improve the experience and will take place in November with no specific dates or instructions on how to join the beta being released yet. Creative Director Julian Gerighty had this to say on the delay.
“Our philosophy remains to deliver the best game possible. We’re all committed to delivering a revolutionary experience in the driving genre and we can’t wait for The Crew to be in the hands of the players.”
So looks like you will have to wait one more month before forming your crew and taking to the streets. If you have played The Crew either at an expo or in its beta form, let us know what you thought in the comments below. You can check out our thoughts on the beta here.
