Tag Archive

PAX: Fast Racing NEO Made Me Realize How Much I Missed Futuristic Racers

Posted on September 6, 2016 by Rae Michelle Richards

Contemporary racers might have sleek and powerful machines but they’re still confined by the restraints of modern automobile technology. With no proper F-Zero release in sight and the WipeOut franchise all but extinct there hasn’t really been an option for those of us who want to turn corners at several hundred kilometers an hour. If you want to break the sound barrier you’re going to have to go FAST!

screenshot03

Fast Racing NEO is a futuristic racing title for the Wii-U that has drawn a lot of comparisons to Nintendo’s own F-Zero franchise over the last couple years and was well received when it was released last fall. In the game players race down a number of different tracks at hundreds of kilometers an hour, unlike other far off racers like Sony’s WipeOut FSN features no weapons or offensive combat. Instead each ship has a boost meter that they must manage, using the R button on the pro-controller to speed forward, and traveling through colored strips to replenish the meter. Racers can quickly shift their “polarity color” with the tap of a button in FSN’s unique twist on the racing genre. Should a player come into combat with a oppositely colored strip their speed is greatly reduced.

So why exactly was Nintendo showcasing a game that came out almost a year ago at their indie booth at PAX West? Well not only Fast Racing Neo getting a physical release in North America on September 30th but also the NEO Future pack will also be released alongside the physical disc. This add-on gives owners access to 10 brand new vehicles, 8 new racing tracks and 18 new audio tracks to jam out.

Speaking of Sony’s formally active futuristic racing franchise – I also played a whole ton of WipeOut 2048 on my PS Vita while on the flight to PAX West. While mechanically similar to NEO aesthetically and somewhat musically it is a very different game due to the inclusion of offensive weapons. Regardless, both of these experiences reminded me just how much I love futuristic racing titles and it seems that AAA developers have all but abandoned the genre. It is nice to see that smaller developers and indies have picked up the mantle and are racing towards the finish line.

2888340-wiiu_fast_racing_neo_titlescreen0

0

Nuka-World Official Trailer Released Today

Posted on August 15, 2016 by Les Major

Nuka-World DLC

On August 30th, Fallout 4 fans will get to take on last summer vacation before we get into September. Bethesda Softworks’s last DLC entry in the post apocalyptic RPG adventure takes players to a theme park based on the Nuka Cola brand! Nuka-World seems to be a Disney parody sort of park with quite a lot to do. I mean, there’s even a Space Mountain like ride! Plus there’s Skee ball! Check out the trailer below for the latest on this new location being added to the game.

I have to give Bethesda credit. In a world where there are a ton of locations and side quests to explore, they do keep DLC coming that does encourage players to diverge off the beaten path for awhile and seek out something new.

0

Star Wars Battlefront: Death Star DLC Details

Posted on August 7, 2016 by Rae Michelle Richards

Last year’s Star Wars Battlefront reboot will receive its third add-on DLC in just a few weeks. We’ve known for a while that players would be taking to the lower orbit  above the Death Star to fight alongside Luke or Vader and now we’ve got some more details about $14.99 DLC – which two new heroic units will be joining, two of the  new vehicles and a brand new mechanics for the Death Star’s included maps.

Players will build up a separate experience level tied to the individual maps, based upon the level earned your objectives will change. In example: a player with low experience may fight above the Death Star while a more experienced pilot may take on the icon Trench Run from A New Hope.

Here’s the lowdown on the confirmed features for the Death Star expansion:

New Heroes
Light Side: Chewbacca
Dark Side: Bossk

New Vehicles
Darth Vader’s Advanced Tie Fighter
Luke’s Episode IV Red 5 X-Wing

New Map Mechanics
Dynamic map objectives based upon unique map-based experience

No specific launch date for the Death Star expansion has been confirmed yet, however it is expected to be launched either in late August or early September for Season’s Pass holders. It will be released two weeks later for everyone else on Xbox Live, PlayStation Network and EA Origin for Windows PC.

0

DOOM’s First Paid DLC – Unto The Evil – Arrives

Posted on August 5, 2016 by Rae Michelle Richards

Bethesda has released the first downloadable content for id Software’s DOOM on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Windows PC. The $15 USD DLC pack is called “Unto The Evil” and it adds 3 new maps to the multiplayer, one new weapon, a playable demon and new color sets for player armor.

Unto The Evil won’t be entirely gated behind a paywall – thanks to Bethesda’s “PartyPlay” system the host of  a multiplayer loby is able to share their purchased maps with their friends in the party.

I find the PartyPlay system an interesting addition but I can’t help wonder if eventually Bethesda will have to just release the paid DLC for free to keep the community from fracturing and dwindling. This is why Microsoft’s approach to Gears 4 DLC is so refreshing – paying for DLC is only required in private lobbies in that game.

Here is the complete breakdown of Unto The Evil’s new content:

New Maps

  • Cataclysm
  • Offering
  • Ritual

New Equipment

  • Kinetic Mine

New Weapon

  • UAC EMG Pistol

New Demon

  • The Harvestor

DOOM is currently 50% off on Xbox Live, PlayStation Network and Steam in celebration of QuakeCon.

0

All of Titan Fall 2’s DLC will be free

Posted on June 21, 2016 by Fionna Schweit

It is all too easy to lose sight of news post E3 and just talk about all of the amazing games you played, things you saw, and stuff you did. However something as important as this shouldn’t be ignored. Titan Fall was a good shooter, its lack of campaign kept it back from being great, and it had a few mechanics that needed tweaking, but it introduced several elements that most modern shooters now emulate.  So good was it that even with lack luster sales on PC and a fan base that cried for a single player experience in its rich world it is still getting a sequel. Rae and I both got to play that sequel at EA’s fanfest, and we will bring you a review when its out, you can read the preview here. Now I fully expected EA and Respawn to fuck up the sequel with that oh so EA day one DLC. So you can imagine my surprise when last week it was annoucned that all of the DLC for the game would be free.

During EA play Titanfall 2’s lead programmer Jon Shiring said: all of Titanfall 2’s maps and modes will be free. “One of our lessons is we’re not gonna sell maps anymore,” Shiring says. “All the modes and maps coming to Titanfall 2 after release will all be free.”

titanfall2

Well that awesome I thought at the time, and well still mostly do. Now we are getting a little bit more detail about what really went in to that decision. Vince Zampella head of Respwan entertainment said yesterday: “We still want to provide post launch content because people want it, but it’s not free to do. If we’re going to support the game, that costs money. The specifics aren’t nailed down yet, which is why it’s really hard to talk about it, but the smart money would seem to be on paid DLC that won’t keep people from playing together if they don’t all have it: cosmetic items, boosts, and that sort of thing.”

I have never minded cosmetic DLC, and find that I even end up buying some usually, especially if it has that cool element of gambling or randomness like crates in Overwatch, or cases in CS:GO. I guess we wont know what exactly the DLC model will be until Titanfall 2 comes out on Octobter 28, but we do know it wont involve maps or game mode, so good on you Vince and EA.

0

Parker Quinn’s Charge Card Actually Has A Use In Fallout 4’s New DLC

Posted on May 19, 2016 by Rae Michelle Richards

When Fallout 4 launched last November players quickly came across an NPC named Parker Quinn who offered to sell the player a “charge card” in exchange for caps. That is all well & good but the damn thing didn’t really do much, as one of our former editor’s found out in his lengthy impressions of the game.

As Kotaku pointed out on their YouTube channel – Bethesda’s open world add-on to Fallout 4, Far Harbor contains a hidden quest that is only available if you in possession of Parker Quinn’s charge card.

Read More

0

DLC releasing day and date with Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE

Posted on May 14, 2016 by Jason Nason

The upcoming Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE game will launch on June 24th for the Nintendo Wii U and Nintendo has announced that downloadable content (DLC) will be available on the same day!

Developed by Atlus, the role-playing game fuses strategic, turn-based combat with over-the-top, pop-culture style. You’ll be able to expand the game right away with new costumes and items via five DLC packs, available for purchase on Nintendo eShop.

Read More

0

New DLC Maps Headed to Fire Emblem Fates Starting May 5

Posted on April 29, 2016 by Jason Nason

The second round of DLC maps for Fire Emblem Fates is on the way, with the first round arriving next week.

Starting May 5th, the first map, I: In Endless Dreams, can be downloaded for only $0.49 USD, with subsequent maps launching weekly until June 9th for $1.99 USD each. As with before fans that want to automatically receive each new map as it releases can do so by purchasing Map Pack 2 for $7.99 USD. As an added incentive there a significant savings for purchasing Map Pack 2 as the content would run you more than $10 USD if purchased individually.

Unlike the contents of Map Pack 1, the stages included in Map Pack 2 tell an ongoing story.

Across dimensions, other versions of the Hoshidan and Nohrian children are under attack. Born and raised in the Deeprealms, these fledgling warriors must now rise up to save themselves and their parents as they unravel the mystery of their adversaries. In this six-map series, units leveled up in the main game cannot lend support. Players must devise a strategy using a fresh team to reap the rewards, but only if all units survive.

Read More

0

Black OPs III Second DLC Pack, Eclipse, Comes To PS4 In Two Weeks

Posted on April 4, 2016 by Rae Michelle Richards

Activision is set to release the second DLC add-on for Call of Duty: Black Ops III – Eclipse– in just over two weeks. On April 19th PS4 players will be able to dive-in to four brand new multiplayer maps: Spire, Rift, Knockout and Verge. Eclipse also contains a brand new Zombies experience, titled Zetsubou No Shima, set in World War II’s Pacific Theater according to a press release issued by Activision Publishing.

Zetsubou No Shima continues the multi-character story that kicked off in the on-disc Zombies mode “Shadows of Evil”. In the latest installment our four main characters – voiced by Jeff Goldblum, Heather Graham, Neil McDonough and Ron Perlman – find themselves investigating experiments involving a mysterious compound called Element 115 at the Division 9 facilities in the Pacific islands.

COD_Zombies

Read More

0

March 17th Nintendo Download

Posted on March 18, 2016 by Jason Nason

Nintendo Wii U eShop

Pokkén Tournament – Battle Pokémon like never before in new action-packed arena fights. Perform vivid Pokémon moves using an intuitive fighting system and unleash devastating attacks upon your opponent to become the Pokkén Tournament champion! Pokkén Tournament will be available on March 18.

Mutant Mudds Super Challenge – Renegade Kid’s beloved dimension-defying platformer is back with a new game – Mutant Mudds Super Challenge – featuring a host of exciting, fresh platforming challenges and boss fights. The game supports cross-buy for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U, and offers a 15 percent Loyalty Discount for the first 30 days if you purchased the original Mutant Mudds game or downloaded the Nindies@Home Preview demo of Mutant Mudds Super Challenge.​

Also New this Week

 

Read More

0

Darkest Dungeon update brings new class

Posted on March 9, 2016 by Fionna Schweit

Darkest Dungon is a site favorite. Many of us have sunk over 100 hours in the game since its first release to early access, and it just keeps getting better. The developers have delivered yes another piece of free DLC in an update on Steam today. The new class, the Antiquarian,  sacrifices almost all of her fighting strength for the opportunity to haul more treasure back to your estate. Sounds a bit like a waste, but I remember plenty of missions where I would want more loot, or better loot from the end boss.

newclass

Image via PCgamer

Read More

0

Fallout 4 DLC detailed!

Posted on February 16, 2016 by Tamsin Heineman

 

automatron_411
Bethesda revealed today on their official site details on the upcoming expansion packs for Fallout 4.  The first DLC, titled “Automatron” arriving at $9.99 USD offers a new story line and the ability to build and repair your own robotic companions just as you would with a set of power armor. Here’s the official description. “The mysterious Mechanist has unleashed a horde of evil robots into the Commonwealth, including the devious Robobrain. Hunt them down and harvest their parts to build and mod your own custom robot companions. Choose from hundreds of mods; mixing limbs, armor, abilities, and weapons like the all-new lightning chain gun. Even customize their paint schemes and choose their voices!”

wasteland_workshop
The second bit of DLC is named “Wasteland Workshop” coming in at a mere $4.99 USD. This DLC adds a slew of new build-able items to your settlement workshop as well as cool new “cages” that allow you to trap everything from raiders to deathclaws. Build your own arena! Here’s the official description. “With the Wasteland Workshop, design and set cages to capture live creatures – from raiders to Deathclaws! Tame them or have them face off in battle, even against your fellow settlers. The Wasteland Workshop also includes a suite of new design options for your settlements like nixie tube lighting, letter kits, taxidermy and more!”

far_harbor
The third and most meaty DLC so far is “Far Harbor” listed at $24.99 USD.  A case comes in at the Valentine detective agency and of course your character has to check it out for themselves. The DLC leads you on a quest to find some woman among an island full of synthetics named “Far Harbor” off the coast of Maine. The official description is as thus. “A new case from Valentine’s Detective Agency leads you on a search for a young woman and a secret colony of synths. Travel off the coast of Maine to the mysterious island of Far Harbor, where higher levels of radiation have created a more feral world. Navigate through the growing conflict between the synths, the Children of Atom, and the local townspeople. Will you work towards bringing peace to Far Harbor, and at what cost? Far Harbor features the largest landmass for an add-on that we’ve ever created, filled with new faction quests, settlements, lethal creatures and dungeons. Become more powerful with new, higher-level armor and weapons. The choices are all yours.”

It is of note that the season pass will increase in price from the current $29.99 to $49.99 USD on March 1, 2016. Of course if you have already purchased the season pass for $29.99 nothing changes.

All of it looks very exciting and I certainly hope they offer all the fans have been asking for, which looks like it might be the case.

0

Capcom Releases Street Fighter V DLC Roadmap To Fans

Posted on February 12, 2016 by Rae Michelle Richards

Capcom Releases Street Fighter V DLC Roadmap To Fans

The long running Street Fighter franchise gets turned on its head with the release of Street Fighter V next week.  Sure gameplay additions like V-Triggers and V-Skills are going to force long time fighters to adapt to a new flow in combat but there’s something even more dramatic coming in the following months.

Instead of releasing Street Fighter V: SUPER ULTRA MEGA EDITION 2016 Capcom will roll out new characters on a monthly basis after the game’s release this Tuesday. Players will have the choice of either spending real world cash for each additional fighter or by using ‘fight money’ which they accumulate by completing single player content & playing online with others.

Not only has Capcom now outline it’s roadmap for future character releases for the next several months they’ve also said that players will able to buy the first additional character, Alex, with the fight money accumulated with just the on-disc story content.

Here’s the quote and roadmap as per the Capcom-Unity blog:

Some of you may have heard the news that Alex will be available to all Street Fighter V players in March 2016 as well, and I’m happy to re-confirm that news here. At launch, playing through most of the single player content (in fact, just the Character Stories) will give you enough Fight Money to get Alex for free! We’ll have more information to share on Alex and the other post launch characters soon, so stay tuned.

SFV

0

Fallout 4 DLC Confirmed For Near Future

Posted on February 11, 2016 by Broken Joysticks

Fallout 4 DLC

Today Bethesda took to twitter to let us know Fallout 4 DLC is in the pipelines. While this is not a major surprise to anyone, it is still interesting to hear about it now after a relatively long period of time since release. Fallout 4 has been out for three months now and is still waiting for it’s first major piece of DLC to be officially announced. By comparison, Fallout 3’s Operation Anchorage was released only about two months after the game’s release. It is unknown whether the longer wait this time around has to do with more ambitious plans for the DLC , or other factors.

In a second tweet Bethesda also talked about an overhaul to survival mode.  No specifics were given other than that it would involve “food, sleep, diseases, danger and more”. As of time of writing, it is not known exactly how much worse this overhaul will be than the myriad of mods that add the same features.

0

EA’s Star Wars Battlefront DLC Plans Unveiled

Posted on January 26, 2016 by Rae Michelle Richards

Electronic Arts has finally outlined its plans for downloadable content for Star Wars: Battlefront for three content drops that will arrive between January and March as well as the mysterious Season’s Pass that has until now only been described in quite vague terms.

Players who chose to not invest in the potentially overpriced Season’s Pass will be treated to a free Tatooine map survival map, new outfits for Luke and Han and the ability to create private matches. February’s update will bring a new Hoth map that supports a number of game modes and the Turning Point mode being available on all maps that support Walker Assault. March’s free update will include a new Endor map for Walker Assault.

If you want a detailed breakdown of what’s included in the Season’s Pass head on over to Game Informer, apparently they’ve found everything including a list of included maps & modes.

I honestly think that the amount of content in the free updates will have me coming back to the game at least a few time in the next few months. The Tatooine survival maps sound interesting as well as a new Hoth map should have me rooting for the Rebels for taking down the Empire’s AT-ATs.

Here are all the details as provided by Game Informer:

January Free Content Drop

  • The Tatooine Survival map (called Raider Camp) will support Blast, Droid Run, Drop Zone, Hero Hunt, and Heroes vs. Villains modes
  • Hoth outfits for Luke and Han (previously unlocked upon completion of the Heroes’ Holiday community mission)
  • The ability to create private matches
  • Daily Challenges and Community Events
  • General weapon and mode balancing tweaks.

Free February Content Drop

  • Survival mission on Hoth (map not disclosed)
  • New Hoth multiplayer map supporting Walker Assault, Supremacy, Fighter Squadron, and Turning Point.
  • Turning Point mode available on all maps that currently support Walker Assault and Supremacy.

Free March Content Drop:

  • New Endor multiplayer map supporting Walker Assault, Supremacy, and Turning Point.
  • Tatooine Survival map.

What’s Included In The Season’s Pass?

  • Star Wars Battlefront Outer Rim (March 2016) – Fight among the factories of Sullust and battle within Jabba the Hutt’s palace on Tatooine
  • Star Wars Battlefront Bespin (Summer 2016) – It’s hunt or be hunted in this action-packed experience set in the Cloud City of Bespin
  • Star Wars Battlefront Death Star (Fall 2016) – That’s no moon! One of the most iconic locations in the Star Wars universe makes its debut in Star Wars Battlefront.
  • Star Wars Battlefront Expansion Pack 4 – Title TBA (Early 2017)

0

Get the latest articles and news from BrokenJoysticks and a selection of excellent articles from other sources.

Simply fill out the form below and you’ll be on your way to getting our upcoming newsletter.