EA knows that everybody loves theme parks. Okay, maybe not everybody…I’m not exactly fond of roller-coasters. But, your Sims love them, and now you can fulfil their dreams of having an amusement park in their city!
The Amusement Park content pack has been released for SimCity and enables players to build the ultimate in innocent fun, with three unique entrances and nine different rides/attractions including the Bigfoot Roller-Coaster, Ferris Wheel, Carousel, Go-Kart Speedway and more. Successfully managing the park will turn your city into the tourist destination. Along with all these additions, Â there are five new missions to play through within the Tourism specialisation tree. Checked out the new Edgewater Bay map provided with Update 4.0? Maybe it would be the ideal location for such a magical place.
You can purchase this digital expansion at an early Mayoral special price of $9.99 right here.
Indie developers Evelend Games aren’t new to the scene. Though they aren’t a household name yet, they have worked on three games. Pixelry is their newest contribution to the world of video games.
So, “What is Pixelry?” you may ask. Originally Kickstarted back in March, Pixelry is an 8-bit PC game that plants you firmly in the role of a knight in Pixelville. Wanting nothing more than to win the hand of the princess, Arianna Annabelle di Grandigund Hyacinthe (yes, that’s actually her name), you’ll have to train and work your way up the ranks to become a renowned jouster and earn your shot at winning the grand tournament.
You’re initially given a view of the land of Pixelville. From there, you can go to several different locations. First and foremost, you’ll probably want to stop by the barn. There you can customize your horse and, once between contests, race to earn money. Though it’s relatively limited customization (pick three colors for the horse’s cloak and the horse’s color), it gives a great sense that the steed you ride in competition truly is yours.
Beyond the barn, you can stop by your home to view your statistics and customize your flag (also known as your heraldry). Once you’ve finished there, you can wander over to the store to get goods that will aid you on your journey. You could also head to the forge to upgrade your gear, even helping the smith out some to earn a discount. On your way to the tavern, be sure to swing by the academy and check your rank. From the tavern, you can sign up for local tournaments or schedule exhibition matches against other trainees.
Pixelry really is aiming to get back to the roots of gaming. Keeping the controls simple suits the game surprisingly well. You’ll only need access to the arrow keys, space bar, and escape key. The game would literally be right at home on an NES controller.
While menu navigation is pretty straight forward, combat is somewhat more nuanced. You’ll use the left and right arrows to slow down or speed up your steed while the up and down keys will raise or lower your shield accordingly. Pressing the space bar will alter the angle of your lance for a chance to get around your opponents defenses. After a few tilts, you can be sure that one of you will be taken off your horse, while the other wins fame and wealth.
Once you’ve made a name for yourself within the kingdom, you’ll have a shot at bigger tournaments, higher stakes, and so on. You’ll have to be sure to upgrade your gear. Heading into a tournament with a weak lance or shield could mean the end of you.
The graphic design in Pixelry is 8-bit to its core. Everything from you and your horse to the single-pixel townsfolk traveling the roads in Pixelville scream of an era long gone by when controllers were shaped like bricks just as the characters on-screen were. It’s loaded with charm and enough style to keep you looking forward to every match.
The music in Pixelry is light-hearted and warm. Though it sounds like it was generated using antiquated hardware, but it gives it a unique appeal and aesthetic feel that flows right in with the rest of the game.
Though Pixelry is bringing a fun, light-hearted experience to the table, it is still evident that the game is in an alpha state. A couple of issues hamper the experience somewhat, though I’m confident Evelend Games can easily work those out before launch. For example, there are times where the English localization could use some work. Also, though the game’s progress is saved, the settings are not, so I have to go in and change the language to English every time I fire the game up. There are also the occasional spelling mistakes that could be quickly handled.
Even with a few of these issues currently present, the game is a lot of fun to play and experience. This game is certainly one to keep your eyes and ears peeled for. With some more work and content, Pixelry could be a game that really grabs attention in the days and weeks ahead.
With less than a month to go, Company of Heroes 2 seems to be on a trailer frenzy with the single player trailer released just last week. Now the sequel to Company of Heroes is getting another trailer from developer Relic Entertainment and publisher SEGA, this time focused on commanding troops instead of entrenched with them.
It’s not hard to see why Company of Heroes 2 is focusing their trailer on its strategy and command gameplay with how over abundant FPS style games have become. Plus the trailer does show off a little bit of things players can’t find many other places, land-to-land missiles for example, though it would have been nice to see some actually commanding in addition to all the pretty graphics.
Players can watch the trailer for themselves embedded below to prepare for the release of Company of Heroes 2Â for PC on June 25th, 2013 when players will be able to try their hand at commanding troops for themselves.
Independent video game studio Cyanide has revealed the first three playable factions in the free to play multiplayer game Dogs of War Online, inspired by Rackham’s Confrontation miniatures game expansion. The game will feature:
The Army of the Lion
The Barhan soldiers of the great kingdom of Alahan are the defenders of Virtue, Justice, and Light. Each day, their army fights against those who seek to enslave the inhabitants of Aarklash. Its emblem, the Lion, represents the memory of its divine ally, the Chimera, and for the qualities the legendary animal stands for: strength, courage, and nobility. On the battlefield, the Barhans are brave fighters, inspired by the feats of their ancestors. Their book of spells draws from the forces of the Elements and their knights, who are the dauntless heirs of tradition, never waver when charging at the enemy. Each battle waged by the Barhans is proof that with a valiant heart, nothing is impossible!
The Army of the Wolf
Whether roaming the wild lands or defending their territories, the Wolfen, half-man, half-wolf predators, instill fear into the heart of their enemy. Born to counter the unwavering ambitions of the Craftsman, the god who sought to overthrow order, they are the protectors of nature and the keepers of the balance of Creation. On the battlefield, the Wolfen are formidable fighters, guided by their predatory instinct. With deadly claws and fangs, they possess no need for clever tricks, but may resort to crude weapons made of stone, wood, and bone when faced with the technologically advanced arsenal of other nations. The Wolfen worship the moon goddess Yllia, whom they consider their creator, and they revere the constellation of the Wolf.
The Army of the Ram
A wave of un-dead, herded by lords reawakened from the grave, along with corrupt-minded living leaders make up the army of Acheron in all its macabre splendor. This army has its fearsome troops and the hunger for power driving the master necromancers at its side. With the Ram as its emblem, the symbol of the eternal alliance binding them to the horned lords of the Abyss, Acheron builds its strength century after century. All that matters to the liches and the necromancers who form the elite is the accumulation of power and knowledge, which feed their perversion. And the living who remain can only await their inevitable fate to be plucked from the dead as the elite’s most useful servants.
Each army will contain various fighter types, allowing players to build their own army, though harmony will have to be maintained or troops may desert your army. The battles themselves are turn based, reinforcing the spirit of the board game as well as adding a tactical aspect. Players are able to fight alone or play in a co-op mode in order to increase rewards.
Dogs of War Online will be available for free on Windows PCÂ in Q3 2013. For more information, check out the official site or go to the Dogs of War Online Facebook page.
Today Gust has released a new gameplay video for Atelier Escha & Logy: Alchemists of the Dusk Sky and this time around the video is focused around field exploration and harvesting ingredients which can be used to create various alchemical items and complete side-quests.
As you can see, the field exploration remains mostly unchanged from Atelier Ayesha though it does appear that the enemies move slower than in past games. Anyways, check out the trailer below and if you are curious about the PS2 game shown at the end, it is worth noting that all first print copies of the game in Japan come with a code for Mana Khemia 2 as an early buyer incentive.
We knew it was coming and today Sega unveiled the debut trailer for Sonic Lost World which will be released exclusively onto the Wii U and 3DS sometime later this year. In the video, which can be seen below, the new enemies hinted at a few days ago are revealed to be “The Deadly Six.”
In Sonic Lost World, the blue-blur will have a number of new abilities including wall-running and vaulting over small ledges and leaving enough after-images to make a Dragon Ball character jealous. Currently little else is known about the game’s storyline but it seems to stay true the the old-school platforming style fans love with a mix of Mario Galaxy added in.
French company Anuman, publisher of Microids’ Dracula series, has established a release date for the most recent entry into the Adventure genre series, Dracula 4: The Shadow of the Dragon. The game will be launching on the PC, Mac, iPhone, iPad and Android on the 19th of June.
To tie in with this newest information, a new Developer Diary has also been released and features Emmanuel Zaza (R&D Director) and Franck Berrois (Producer and Project Manager) talking about the gameplay mechanics featured in Dracula 4.
Fans of the Dracula series also have some more good news to look forward to. The Microids team is reportedly already working on a sequel to the game. Vice President of Microids Elliot Grassino explained the importance of the series of Adventure game fans and that the team is sure they will love Dracula 4 as well as the upcoming sequel.
You can check out the newest developers diary video below and a trailer for the game in one our previous articles.
If you’ve been thinking that the only thing your Vita is currently missing is a boxing game then we have some good news for you. Today it was announced by Vivid Games that they will be bringing a title called Real Boxing to the PlayStation Vita this August as a digital download.
Real Boxing uses the Unreal Engine 3 and allows players to train a fighter from an amateur to a pro. In an effort to make the game as realistic looking as possible, each fighting move has been motion captured for realism and facial injuries are presented in gory detail. To go along with the game’s announcement the company has released a few screenshots for the game which can be seen below.
Today Konami announced that they have released Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance onto the Games on Demand digital download service for the Xbox 360. Along with the game, the various skins for Raiden have also been placed online for download and as you already know, the game’s Jetstream Sam and Blade Wolf DLC packs are already available for purchase.
Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance costs $49.99 as a download and became one of the first great games of 2013 featuring awesome combat accompanied by an amazing soundtrack. Those who are interested in seeing my full review of Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance can check it out here.
Humble Bundle is back with their eighth bundle featuring seven indie games for a pay what you want format. All buyers will receive Tomorrow Corporation’s adventure Little Inferno, Romino Games’ MOBA platformer Awesomenauts and an exclusive chicken skin, Alientrap Games’ platformer Capsized, Mike Bithell’s platformer Thomas Was Alone, and thechineseroom’s first person adventure Dear Esther. Those who beat the average will receive Dennaton Games’ highly regarded retro shooter Hotline Miami and Ed Key and David Kanaga’s adventure game Proteus. The soundtracks for the respective games are also included in the bundle.
Humble Bundle 8 is in support of the Electronic Frontier Foundation and Child’s Play Charity. The games are available as both a DRM free download and a Steam key. All of the games run on Linux, Mac, and Windows.
