The latest iteration in the Silkroad series of games, Silkroad-R, recently launched worldwide and to celebrate the upcoming holiday of Valentines day, the game is hosting an event. Titled The Battlefield of Infinity, the event has monsters dropping rare items that are used to woo fellow players in a manner similar to human courtship.
This Battlefield of Infinity is an arena that players enter to do battle with massive foes, as either a party or solo, in order to protect the Guardian Stone and to win rewards and prizes. Unfortunately, recovery items will not work in this arena, and with a cap of four attempts per day, you will want to bring the best players that you can find. The best part of the event, however, would certainly be the rare chocolate that drops.
Any player that has this chocolate traded to them gets a bleeding heart buff that increases strength and intelligence. Any two players that submit a screenshot of their love will be in the draw for a unique “Wedding Avatar”. Make sure your photo is the best, as there are only 20 of these available.
To quote Joymax –
“Valentine’s Day is a popular event for our users because of the number of couples, whether they’re friends or married, that play our game together,” said Joymax CEO, Nam-chul Kim. “Alongside the new Battlefield of Infinity, which gives players a daily challenge to overcome either individually or with their closest warriors, there’s even more to LOVE about Silkroad-R.”
For more information, be sure to check out the official website.
… On every major PC distribution that isn’t Linux (though I’m sure if you really wanted to play it on Linux, you can find a way to). As you may recall, Abobo’s Big Adventure was the parody game that took the gaming world by storm earlier this year and has been gaining popularity ever since.
Now! You can own this fabulous game in all its game-glory by downloading it from the official website. The game features parodies on many games, namely Double Dragon, but also others, such as The Legend of Zelda and Donkey Kong.
His games, including Grim Fandango, Day of the Tentacle, Psychonauts, Brutal Legend, and the recent Sesame Street Kinect game Once Upon A Monster, have all been ingenious gems, full of character, humour, and interesting twists on game mechanics.
His brand of auteurship is something we don’t see much of in this industry, likely because making a video game is such a collaborative effort, involving hundreds of cooks stirring the broth. Many of those cooks simply have money as their goal, and that can steer the game into directions the developers may not want.
Schafer’s studio, Double Fine, is now trying to combat the dreaded hand of the publisher, with an experiment with the game development process. They’ve launched a Kickstarter project, which directly asks consumers to help fund a project that gives them creative freedom.
Think of it as an early pre-order: $15 will get you a copy of the game in the end, as well as an insight into the whole process and the chance to give feedback during production. If you want to donate more, your reward will not only be a greater sense of self-satisfaction, but exclusive production art, videos, your name in the credits, and if you’re particularly generous, could get you lunch with the man himself.
To all players who pick up a copy of Cloudberry Kingdoms, the developers have issued the following challenge:
We’re offering a $1,000 prize to whomever can be the first to beat the game on its hardest difficulty.
How many developers are that confident in their games ability to create a fully completable level that players will find absolutely too difficult to complete? Not that many, I can assure you. But if you think you have what it takes, make sure you take them up on their challenge!
For more information on this conflict, check out the official website and the video embedded below.
Some may remember that True Crime: Hong Kong was dropped by Activision last year due to some rather unsatisfying explanations. However later in 2011 some hope for the series was revived as Square Enix picked up the rights to the game in development. Now Square Enix only purchased the rights to that game, but not to True Crime itself, so that means that when they release the title it will be under a different name.
Thus we have Sleeping Dogs. Square Enix revealed today that they will be releasing the game later this year and it is still being developed by United Front Games. To commemorate this announcement they have released an amazing live-action trailer for the game which can be seen below. Almost makes you wish that they were making a movie rather than a game.
Anuman Interactive are doing their very best to corner the adventure game market. In that vein they have just acquired the right to re-release Nikopol: Secrets of the Immortals under the Microids brand. Nikopol was originally released in France in 2008, adapted from a trilogy of graphic novels by Enki Bilal.
The game is inspired by the original books, the plot of which follows one Alcide Nikopol as he returns to a future Paris after spending 30 years imprisoned in cryopreservation. After orbiting the earth for so long, Alcide finds that France has fallen under fascist rule following two nuclear wars. Although the plot for the game has been adapted slightly, it still retains the tone and themes of the original, and is aimed squarely at fans of the adventure game genre and comic books.
This reissue will be exclusive to Europe, coming to both digital and retail stores in March.
Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning Publisher: EA Games Developer: Big Huge Games Platforms: Xbox 360 (Reviewed), Playstation 3, PC Release Date:February 9, 2012 Price: $59.95 – Available Here
Overview:
What is it that we look for in an RPG? Do we look for an immersive world with a deep mythology? Do we look for characters that engage us? Do we look for an adventure through a wild world completely different to our own? Or do we look for freedom?
All of these are things players have looked for in RPGs and also things they have discovered in RPGs over the years. So how does that all tie in with Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning? Well, it doesn’t. Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning is an RPG the likes of which has not been seen before.
Reckoning takes all of these tenets into account, but it never truly grasps them. Instead it allows them each to be decided by the player, giving gamers an unprecedented level of choice in what they get out of this game.
What do you look for in an RPG? Reckoning wants to know and it’s willing to provide. Your fate is entirely in your hands, welcome to the Kingdoms of Amalur.
Story: Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning doesn’t so much feature a plot line as it does a concept and universe. The story begins with the player awakening after having been thought dead, you are the only person in the entire world who is not bound by fate. From that point the player holds the fate of the world and themselves in their hands.
The universe of Amalur is a vibrant, expansive and well conceived one at that. It’s a world filled with intrigue and adventure, all waiting for the player to choose which path they will take.
The Kingdoms of Amalur world is massive and as such features an almost unfathomable mythology, arguably more so than other Western RPGs on the market such as Skyrim and Fable (Both of which have clearly positively inspired the world of Amalur in one way or another).
Fantasy lovers will find themselves in utter glee as they explore and uncover more about the history and mythos of the Kingdoms of Amalur and even the most complacent of fantasy fans can appreciate the scope.
Gameplay: Reckoning plays like most RPGs. You fight monsters, tackle dungeons, level your character, grow stronger and explore. It may seem like another generic RPG fare there but believe me when I say that it is far from that.
The game begins with the player having resurrected and looking to escape the dungeon you are trapped in. Throughout this first dungeon, players are given a taste of every possible play choice available in the game. You are given a chance to try out every fighting style available throughout the game, leaving you ultimately to decide which way you want it.
That choice right there from the very get go of the game is crucial to what makes Reckoning so very unique. More than anything the emphasis is on deciding your own fate in Reckoning. That is the main focus of the gameplay, particularly in the combat side of things.
Combat in Reckoning is put simply; amazing. There is so much customization and a plethora of different fighting style available, from the fast paced or stealth based fighting of Rogue classes to the more spell based fighting of the Magic using classes. This gives players a real MMO feel in the sense that there is multiple different ways to play with an incredibly deep level of customization to weaponry, spells, moves, etc.
This customization is capped off with what is without a doubt a revolutionary idea for an RPG – the ability to change class and fighting style by just pausing the game and flipping it over. It’s so simple a concept yet so effective in it’s execution. If there is a boss who is weak toward magic for example, but you play as a Rogue mostly and are having difficulty taking him on, you can simply swap to a magic user (pertaining you have magic gear) and adapt to the action.
If you love ploughing through dungeons or fighting monsters, you are sure to be pleased with Reckoning’s customization and emphasis on combat. This emphasis is pure indulgent fun, as it rightfully should be.
In terms of storyline and quests however, things don’t hold up as well as the combat system and customization. That’s not to say there are major problems, it’s all simply minor. For example a lot of the side quests are rather repetitive (a problem that plagues a lot of Western RPGs), but there is enough variety that it shouldn’t bother players too greatly.
That brings me to the other facets of the game. There are a few minor glitches and bugs, as you’d expect from a massive game such as this. The worst problem I suffered was a troublesome camera that would rapidly fly about with a life of it’s own when battling in narrow parts of dungeons which made it rather difficult to fight, but it wasn’t anything that lasted. It was only a brief and small problem. Other glitches are mostly graphical and nothing on the level of Skyrim thankfully.
Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning is an RPG fanatics fantasy game, there is a multitude of choices available as to how you want to play this game as well as a combat system that is by far one of the best ever implemented in a Western RPG. There is just so much unbridled fun available to players in Reckoning and that’s what people will take away from this.
Visuals and Audio:
On an aesthetic level, Reckoning is a visual feast for the eyes. The world is filled with vibrant colours and well conceived character designs alongside unique environments that just beg players to explore.
The graphics are certainly up to par and the universe of Amalur is so well designed that you will definitely find yourself immersed in the wonders and small eccentricities hidden within this giant world. It’s a place players want to spend their time in and that is certainly in part due to the spectacular visual aspect of the game.
From an audio stand point, Reckoning features work from the great Grant Kirkhope of Rare fame. He has composed an amazing soundtrack that provides the right atmosphere to Amalur no matter the situation and should be praised for that feat.
All in all, Reckoning is a lesson in how visuals and audio should be in a modern day video-game.
Overall:
Whatever choice you make, Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning is a brilliant game and a great start for what promises to be an impressive new franchise in the making.
Getting back to my original question, what is it we look for in an RPG? Well, whatever it is you are looking for in a role-playing game, Reckoning can give you that, and then some.
Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning has proven itself to be the hottest new RPG on the market and one that reminds players that it’s not always about the nitty gritty, but about the fun of gaming. Reckoning is pure enjoyment and is an experience that must be had. Journey into the Kingdoms of Amalur, it’s the right choice in a world with so many possibilities.
Because why the world wouldn’t they create a Battleship video game? Anyways… Activision and Double Helix have revealed that they are currently working on creating a lovely video game adaptation of the Battleship movie which is set to be released in a few months… The movie itself is an adaptation of the board game Battleship so…
The game will combine aspects of the classic board game alongside FPS gameplay and is being developed for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. There will also be “uniquely designed versions” released for the Wii, DS and 3DS. So what is next… Chutes and Ladders the video game? Or how about Candy Land? Perhaps a treasure hunting game where if you Connect 4 you will save the world…
Competition in a marketplace usually ends up benefiting the consumer and it seems that Nintendo is ready to throw a curveball at Sony’s PlayStation Vita launch. If a consumer were to go to GameStop right now and pick up the Nintendo 3DS it would only cost them $149.99 rather than the normal price of $169.99.
This $20 price drop is currently only lasting for a week and GameStop is the only retailer selling the handheld at this discount. But it is interesting to see such a deal occurring right before the launch of another dedicated gaming handheld. Will things get a bit more viscous between the two companies in the coming months? We shall see.
It will come as no surprise that Turtle Beach have been confirmed as the highest selling gaming headset manufacturer in Australia for the year of 2011. Figures from NPD Group Australia show that the amount of Turtle Beach headsets sold equates to over $12 million, with the brand outselling even first party manufacturers.
If you take all gaming peripherals into account rather than just headsets, then only Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo outstrip Turtle Beach – it’s become the leading third party manufacturer based on value sales. In fact sales of the headsets have seen the ‘Gaming Audio’ genre grow substantially in 2011, no doubt thanks to the release of several critically acclaimed sets and a partnership with Activision for the release of Modern Warfare 3.
2012 looks to be no less successful, with the brand promising six new headsets this year for both console/PC and mobile gamers.
