Players with Battlefield 4 Premium have something to look forward to today as the China Rising DLC has just been released for those with the service, while those without are having to wait until the 17th of this month. Just what does the “China Rising” DLC entail?
Four huge new maps, new vehicles, and high-tech equipment are what players can expect from this new DLC for Battlefield 4. Though anyone wanting to see a bit more can watch the “China Rising” DLC trailer embedded below to see what EA and DICE have been cooking up for their players.
Battlefield 4 is now available for Xbox 360, PS3, Xbox One, PS4, and PC. Those wanting to see how the latest in the series stacks up can check out out Battlefield 4 Review, those that already have it can check out “China Rising” now with Premium or wait until December 17th.
Ubisoft is preparing a new update for Might & Magic: Duel of Champions and in addition to some additional card types they are adding in one new feature that players have been clamoring for for a while. Where originally players needed to get the same card multiple times to use in different decks, the new update will allow cards to be used across multiple decks, just like in real life.
The new card types that are coming to Duel of Champions are buildings and melee-shooters through the Five Tower expansion, which will be adding 80 new cards. Buildings can be played on battleground positions and give buffs to players’ creatures, while the melee-shooters are a new type of creature that can attack from anyway and be used on any battleground space. Those wanting to see a little bit of what the new Might & Magic: Duel of Champions update will look like can click on the images in the gallery below to see the full-sizes screenshots and also check out the game here.
Back at the end of August, Square Enix released the first of what is to be three developer diary videos going into the the making of Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII. This new video delves into the character creations of Tetsuya Nomura , particularly of course Lightning herself.
But, the behind the scenes video isn’t just about the character and their creations, but goes much deeper looking at every aspect of it and hearing from people all over Square Enix from those in production, the art direction, and even lighting. It’s pretty impressive just how many people are inspired just by Testsuya Nomura’s work.
Those wanting the inside scoop on this can check out “Inside The Square #2” which is embedded below and be on the look out for when they release part 3. Hopefully, that will be some at least a little before Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII releases to Xbox 360 and PS3 in February 2014.
MIGHT & MAGIC® DUEL OF CHAMPIONS ANNOUCES THAT PLAYERS WILL BE ABLE TO ADD CARDS IN MULTIPLE DECKS
Update reveals 80 new cards and introduces buildings, a brand new card type
London, UK – December 3, 2013 – Today,Ubisoft® announced that players of Might & Magic® Duel of Champions will now be able to use any card they own in every deck they create. The update also brings a new Five Tower expansion, introducing 80 new cards and two new cards types – adding powerful new game mechanics and strategies with Buildings and Melee-Shooters.
Using cards in multiple decks!
“Our community has been requesting the ability to add a card in multiple decks and we’re happy to say that with this next update coming in just two days time, this will now be possible.As with physical card games, where players can swap their cards from one deck to another, Duel of Champions players can now use the same cards in every deck they create. We expect this feature to be helpful in the use of Epic and neutral cards and it will reduce the amount of cards players have to keep in their collection,” said Samuel Jobin, live producer of the game. “We are always listening to our community and will continue to do our best to keep bringing exciting updates to Duel of Champions!”
The feature is part of the deck builder which all players will have access to when creating their decks. With their extra cards, players can now decide to either keep them in their card collection or to burn them in the Infernal Pit, where they will receive specific cards and gold in exchange.
Introducing new cards and new gameplay: Buildings
Five Towers also introduces the new concept of Buildings. As positioning is a key strategy in the game, buildings can be now deployed on any battleground position a player controls, and used on creatures to give them new buffs and abilities. Those cards can be collected and added to players’ decks just as they would with creatures, spells, and fortunes.
Also expanding gameplay is another new creature type, the melee-shooter. Deployable on any battleground space, they can attack from anywhere but are vulnerable to counterattacks like flyer and melee creatures.
For more information on the Five Tower expansion, have a look at the official Might & Magic Duel of Champions®Twitch page on Wednesday, December 4th at 6pm CET.
FINAL FANTASY XIV: A REALM REBORN RECEIVES “SPECIAL AWARD” AT PLAYSTATION® AWARDS 2013
PlayStation®4 version Beta Testing to Start February, Launch Planned for April
LONDON (3 December, 2013) – Square Enix Ltd., publishers of SQUARE ENIX® interactive entertainment products in Europe and PAL territories, is pleased to announce that FINAL FANTASY® XIV: A REALM REBORN™ received the “Special Award” at the 2013 PlayStation® Awards in Tokyo, Japan.
PlayStation® Awards, hosted by Sony Computer Entertainment Japan Asia (SCEJA), is an event that recognizes hit titles released on the PlayStation platform. The “Special Award” was newly-created this year to recognize outstanding titles on the overall combination of the following qualities: Newness, buzz worthiness, influence and performance.
In related news, Square Enix also announced that the start of beta testing for the PlayStation®4 computer entertainment system version of FINAL FANTASY XIV: A Realm Reborn will coincide with the Japanese release date of the console on February 22nd, 2014. Players across the world with the new console are invited to participate. The official launch date for the PlayStation®4 system version is scheduled for April 2014.
As part of the 11th instalment of Producer Letter LIVE, Naoki Yoshida (producer/director) will demonstrate the new PlayStation®4 system version on Saturday, December 14th, 2013. Other featured PLL 11 highlights include: “Wolves’ Den,” “Treasure Hunting,” and “Primal Daily Quest.” content from the major Patch 2.1 update A Realm Awoken, scheduled to be released on Tuesday, 17th December.
FINAL FANTASY XIV: A Realm Reborn is available now on the PlayStation®3 system and Windows PC. A free 30-day trial is included for new accounts, with monthly subscriptions starting at £7.69 / 10.99 €.
RuneScape announces new membership packages and Terrifying level 90 Slayer monsters to test player’s mettle this holiday season!
RuneScape kicks off December with the release of Airut – vanguard of the feral goddess Tuska – in a brand new Slayer update, designed to satisfy the thirst of any high level RuneScape veteran.
Players will need top-end gear, high combat skills and quick wits in order to survive against these multi-style monstrosities. Prevail, and players can get their hands on Kaigi’s journal – a first-hand account of Tuska’s destructive power; the mighty razorback gauntlets – level 90 melee power armour; or pieces of the XP-giving Tuska mask – the terrifying face of things to come.
If this content isn’t tantalising enough, RuneScape’s creators Jagex, have also announced a new range of Premier Club packs. These limited time membership packs come in three tiers, Bronze, Silver and Gold, and offer players a host of benefits and bonuses in addition to discounted RuneScape membership.
The Gold package includes:
12 months membership
150,000 loyalty points
An exclusive pet – plus emotes and effects
Access to VIP gold worlds
Access to exclusive developer Q&A’s
A VIP badge
1 extra daily spin on Squeal of Fortune
All promotional cosmetic items from 2013 and new items throughout 2014
Finally, the festive aura will be making a triumphant return after a year of hiding in the RS office Christmas decoration box. The Aura is available to all members on the 1st of December and gives players a 50% XP boost for 30 minutes each and every day during December.
Log on to RuneScape.com to find out more about these and all recent updates to the world’s most popular free-to-play MMO.
A new trailer for Disgaea 4 Return has been released and this one gives us a look at the extra content that is being released for this version of the game. The highlight of this trailer happens to be Nagi Clockwork, which is a new character that uses a tank for her special moves and a storyline that will be exclusive to Disgaea 4 Return which involves Fuka and Desco going back in time to learn about what happened between Tyrant Valvatorez and Sister Artnia.
The trailer can be found below and if you pay attention to the trailer you’ll notice that Rutile, a character from Disgaea 3 Return, also makes an appearance in the game. Currently Disgaea 4 Return is set to be released in Japan on January 30th and at the moment, NIS America has not announced the localization of the game.
InnoGames Invites Fans to Tribal Wars 2 Alpha Arena Competition
Two players get a sneak peak of upcoming strategy game in InnoGames office
Hamburg, December 3, 2013. Two weeks after the announcement of new title Tribal Wars 2, InnoGames invites two players to join an exclusive preview of the game: the Alpha Arena competition. The speed round battle will take place on December 19 at InnoGames, including more than 50 community managers and the entire Tribal Wars development team. InnoGames sums up how to win one of the two slots on the Tribal Wars 2 facebook page.
The alpha arena competition will start at 9:00am (UTC +1) and end at 5:00pm the same day. The team organized the event to test the game balance of Tribal Wars 2 and gather feedback from experienced players. As the speed will be x500 faster than regular game speed, players will reach late game status during the competition. Feedback arising from the battle will be implemented into further development of the game. InnoGames will provide devices for players, so no hardware is needed.
In Tribal Wars 2, players find themselves as leader of a small village in the midst of a medieval world. Tasked with growing and expanding their empire within a war-torn landscape, they have to fight in order to survive. The MMO’s focus is real-time strategic battles with and against other players. Army size is not all that matters – political alliances and military pacts are crucial for success. Team play is a key aspect of the game. Tribal Wars 2 will be released as cross-platform game for Android, iOS and all browsers. Therefore, players can set up one account for all platforms and play from whichever combination of devices they choose.
The original Tribal Wars is one of the most successful browser games ever. Launching in 2003, it now boasts more than 50 million registered players. With more than 110 million registered players, InnoGames is one of the world’s leading developers and providers of online games. Next to Tribal Wars, the Hamburg-based company has scored major successes with games such as Forge of Empires and Grepolis.
It is the most popular theme song in the long history of the One Pieceanime series and now the fifth opening theme song ‘Kokoro no Chizu’ has been the subject of a particularly awesome 8-bit chiptune remix.
The remix comes from 8-bit music artist Megaane. Besides his One Piece remix, Megaane has also remixed several other classic shonen theme songs from popular series like Saint Seiya, City Hunter, Rurouni Kenshin and Fist of the North Star. You can check out Megaane’s youtube channel here to see the rest of them.
Check out the brilliant ‘Kokoro no Chizu’ 8-bit remix in the video below. Let us know what you think of Megaane’s awesome remixes in the comments section below.
Dead Rising 3 Developer:Capcom Vancouver Publisher:Microsoft Platform:Xbox One Install Size:19.9GB Release Date: November 22, 2013 Price: $59.99 – Available Here
Overview Messing with an established franchise can have some rather volatile results and when Dead Rising 3 was first announced for the Xbox One, it set off a powder keg. Not only was the game billed as being darker, the developers said that they were “going for a Call of Duty audience.” This quickly set people running for the hills and despairing over a franchise they loved. After that fallout, Capcom went into damage control mode for the exclusive and showed everyone that it is still campy. But the proof is in the game itself, so now that the Xbox One has been released and along with it, Dead Rising 3, is it still everything fans expect?
Story Somewhere around ten years after the events of Dead Rising 2 and Dead Rising 2: Case West, laws have been passed to place a chip inside of everyone who is infected with the zombie virus and this chip is meant to deliver Zombrex so that the chipped person no longer changes, but it also keeps an eye on them courtesy of an implanted GPS tracker.
Despite this new advancement in Zombrex, a new outbreak has occurred in the city of Los Perdidos, California. The outbreak has been in full swing for a couple of days and players step into the boots of Nick Ramos, a mechanic with a number tattooed on his neck while he is trying to find supplies for a group of survivors hiding out in an abandoned diner.
After things quickly go south, the Nick, Dick (the character the co-op partner ends up controlling) and Rick’s boss Rhonda head to her garage to try and formulate a plan of escape after it quickly becomes clear that the group cannot rely on their government to help them. With the help of a survivor hiding out in a ZDC (Zombie Defense and Control) monitoring station that provides Nick with various locations of side-missions, Nick must do whatever he can to escape the infected city.
Thanks to the fact that ten years have passed since the events that took place in Dead Rising 2, it has given a number of story elements some time to mature and develop. Meaning that despite featuring an all new character in a brand new location, Dead Rising 3’s story actually ties multiple plot points together from all three games. Fans of the series will be awestruck by a number of revelations that come to light over the course of the game, including a number of appearances by familiar faces. Multiple endings also return as well as an Overtime mode, meaning that it may take players more than one try to get the best ending.
It is worth noting that the storyline here remains relatively dark as there are multiple conspiracies at work within the government, similar to past games, but just because the main game might feature a number of twists and major reveals, that doesn’t mean that the side-missions and humor that past games were known for have been lost in transition. They’ve just been reduced a bit, but made more meaningful at the same time.
Over the course of the game players will encounter a number of crazy characters, including brand new Psychos who interestingly enough, mimic the seven deadly sins through their actions, various survivors who are completely out of their mind and want the player to complete some rather odd tasks for them, even though it usually means they’ll die in the process and other random occurrences. The random and humorous encounters feel less plentiful than previous games and a number of side-missions have sad consequences, meaning that there is less fun and games this time around and although Nick makes for a more believable main character, he doesn’t have the charm that Frank or even Chuck had in past titles.
Gameplay The moment that the player steps into the tutorial mission at the beginning of the game, fans of the series will feel right at home as everything is very familiar. Since only a few zombies are in the area and basic weapons are available, the game feels like any other Dead Rising before it except for the fact that the player can attract zombies by saying “Over Here” to the Kinect.
Where Dead Rising 3 immediately shines is as soon as they step out of the beginning tutorial area and directly onto a highway and it might actually take gamers a few seconds to recognize that the prior cutscene has already ended and they are now in control of Nick, as the highway is literally a sea of zombies. Players can obviously choose to fight through the mob but doing so would be suicidal, leaving players with only the option to hop from vehicle to overturned vehicle to stay out of the hands of the undead.
This is far from a one-time scripted occurrence however as the zombies in Dead Rising 3 are so plentiful it is entirely possible to become overwhelmed with over a hundred zombies swarming Nick, forcing even a decently equipped player to make a break for it. As with past games, players earn PP for various actions and stringing along kill combos adds bonus PP to each kill, even allowing for special finishing moves occasionally, allowing the player to level up quicker, though even then a large horde can present quite a problem. However thanks to a number of key gameplay mechanics that have been altered and added into Dead Rising 3, players will likely be able to face down smaller hordes of zombies and plow through others.
You see, while Dead Rising 2 forced players to create combo weapons at a work bench only, Dead Rising 3 allows the player to do so wherever they please, even creating weapons right before heading into a zombie horde. With over a hundred weapon blueprints scattered around the map and learned from survivors, there is almost no limit to the amount of weaponry the player can use against the undead. To make things even more interesting, players can even create combo vehicles with the various modes of transportation that are scattered through a level. So while traveling through an area with a simple motorcycle might be okay for a bit, placing a steamroller on the front of it makes it all the better.
Now you may have seen that I mentioned blueprints and transportation and there is a good reason for the latter. Dead Rising 3’s open world map may not be the largest of its kind, but it certainly is the most dangerous and expansive. Almost every building and rooftop can be explored and numerous collectibles, such as blueprints, tragic death scenes, Frank West statues, random survivors to rescue (though sadly these survivors run off), and ZDC speakers are scattered around the map, making the title one that is absolutely bursting with little collectibles to gather even while you’re fighting against the zombies. To top all that off? Outside of the initial load time when starting the game there are no loading screens during the game itself, meaning that players can cross from one side of the map to the other without pausing once for the game to load a new area.
For those who disliked the time limit of past Dead Rising titles, Dead Rising 3 has all but removed the basic time limit from the standard version of the game. Time still progresses but at an incredibly slow rate and story missions can be done at any time, though side-missions will still vanish if the player takes too long. Along those lines, the game also allows the player to save whenever they want making it easy to sit down and play for a period of time and stop whenever you feel like.
For those who like things a bit more classic, there is the Nightmare mode which brings back a number of the key mechanics that past games are known for. The timer will always be running and it is possible to fail story missions and the only way you can save is through bathrooms. Even zombies feel more aggressive in Nightmare mode, giving Dead Rising 3 a little something for everyone.
Similar to Dead Rising 2, Dead Rising 3 features co-op where the second player takes control of the trucker named Dick but this time around the co-op mode has been streamlined. Second players will be able to retain all of the progress made in the campaign, keep any blueprints found in that session and more whenever they switch back to their own game. For those who don’t want to play with other living people, there is also the option to fight with other survivors you have rescued via side missions. These survivors all have various stats and if the player manages to unlock certain skills, they can even take five survivors out with them at a time which creates quite a zombie killing force.
That being said, Dead Rising 3 has more than its fair share of glitches. There were two instances where side-quests could not be completed thanks to the NPC either becoming locked inside of a house or falling through the level, only to respawn and become completely stationary, with no interactions available. Vehicles also tend to glitch into objects often which is a major issue if it just so happens to occur in the middle of a zombie packed highway.
Visuals The cut-scenes in Dead Rising 3 deliver a great looking experience as the faces of the characters are incredibly detailed, but while Dead Rising 3 may not have the individual graphical impact that some people are looking for in their next-gen games, it does feature something that past generations could not, an engine capable of producing a true zombie horror apocalypse experience. While in the past it was possible to spawn about thirty or, at the best, fifty zombies in an area, it is now possible to come across hundreds of zombies in an area, with more crawling out of buildings or even air vents to always keep the threat feeling real.
That being said, Dead Rising 3 has toned down the coloration a bit with some more realistic looking colorations and environments. There are still a few strange and colorful stores that can be explored but for the most part the game has lost a bit of its signature aesthetic this time around. It is also worth noting that it is possible to see a few objects appear out of nowhere if you happen to be driving incredibly fast, though they don’t seem to pop-in so much as materialize. There also arises a problem that sees objects randomly floating in mid-air where they can still be picked up and used like normal.
Audio All of the characters in Dead Rising 3 have been given English voice work and for the most part everything sounds pleasant enough with believable characters. Though sadly, as mentioned earlier, Nick does not make for a charming or charismatic lead compared to past games. That being said, the title does feel very atmospheric as it is possible to hear gunshots firing in the distance, the moans of zombies approaching and even Nick making comments whenever he is either approaching or escaping zombies.
One of the special parts of past Dead Rising games is the background music that would play for the various psycho fights that players came across. The various psychos in Dead Rising 3 still feature special background music but sadly it is not only forgetful, but the psychos also tend to be rather easy to defeat this time around, making for a lesser experience this time around.
Overall A lot of people were scared back when Dead Rising 3 was initially shown off and I happened to be one of them. Thankfully I can say that Capcom has proven us wrong by offering an amazing experience that can currently only be found in Dead Rising 3. It might have a few glitches here and there and some of its signature wackiness has been lost, but it still feels like what fans used to love and also delivers an enjoyable storyline that helps tie up a number of loose ends from the series, making Dead Rising 3 a must have for anyone with an Xbox One.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
