Tag Archive

Gamescom: Arena of Valor Coming To Nintendo Switch This September

Posted on August 21, 2018 by Rae Michelle Richards

Tencent games confirmed today via an official trailer that their free to play MOBA Arena of Valor (known as Honor of Kings in China) will be officially launching on the Nintendo Switch this September. Features enhanced from the original mobile phone release for this Switch port include enhanced graphics, physical controls via the system’s Joy-Cons and the option to play a single world wide server.

Having played the mobile version of Arena of Valor quite a bit, I’ve found the gameplay to translate fairly well from other MOBAs on PC, which arguably have much more fluid control options than on touch screens. Offering over 30 heroes, several of which are unlockable for free with minimum grind thanks to the ‘Road to Glory’ tutorial system, Arena of Valor does make a genuine effort to make AOV accessible for those of us who do not wish to put down any cash initially.  Each hero has a unique set of abilities and passive traits, as you would expect – from ranged assassins that utilize physical weapons to dangerous spell casters capable of attacking multiple enemies from afar, a lot of different archetypes within the MOBA genre are present and accounted for. One other thing that has stuck out about AoV when compared to other games like Heroes of the Storm or League of Legends is the number of different modes on offer. Only have 5 minutes to play AoV before heading out? No problem there’s a 3v3 deathmatch mode for that! AoV does a good job of offering up a number of different modes that offering varying lengths and objective types.

Arena of Valor will launch on Switch this September.

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Paladins Impressions (Nintendo Switch)

Posted on July 25, 2018 by Rae Michelle Richards

At first blush Hi-Rez Studios Paladins is easily compared to Blizzard’s Overwatch – both games are bright and colorful, both games feature a large roster of heroes with different play styles and both games are all about co-operative teamplay. In the two years since launch Hi-Rez has worked hard to distance their game from Blizzard’s offerings so much so that they’ve revamped player progression twice and even cancelled entire game modes – Siege and Survival (that latter being spun off as Realm Royale). 

Hi-Rez’s PR department sent me a Founders Pack code for Paladins on Nintendo Switch ahead of today’s free-to-play. With the recent Rise of Furia event ending on PC and PS4 with the release of the latest patch – which should be out on Nintendo Switch sometime soon – I thought it would be a perfect time to share my thoughts on the game. 

Core Gameplay Is Solid 

As a team based first person shooter Paladins has quite a bit of competition, mainly from Splatoon, which also has a bright and distinct art style of its own. Paladins feels great to play with the joycons both in docked mode and handheld (which I used primarily while playing for this piece). Draw distance, team markers and character effects are all readable and get your attention even on the smaller screen. Once you get used to the game’s UI everything just works when playing in handheld, which is excellent. Similar to Overwatch, Paladins doesn’t bog you down with death percentages or KDAs, instead even assisting with a kill will count as an elimination – something that I wish more competitive FPS games would adopt.  Paladins in Switch might not run at the same 60 FPS as its PC counterpart but this is really not a huge drawback, given how well it seems to hold at 30FPS in handheld mode and can be played anywhere.

Progression Feels Like A Mess (and is RNG Dependent)  

Paladin’s Founder’s Pack instantly granted me access to all of the available champions with the promise of automatically receiving any future additions for free. When comparable MOBAs can single characters for upwards of $15 USD the $29.99 Founders Pack seems like a no-brainer, when it comes to Free to Play Title. What’s not advertised however is that the majority of the “progression” in Paladins is unavailable even with all of the unlockables provided within the Founders Pack. 

By completing games in either of the available modes you’ll earn gold which can be used to level up an individual champion.  Along the way, throughout the 50 individual character levels your chosen champion will be granted a spare amount of emotes, alternate voice lines and there’s a final “golden skin” available for those who make the ascent to level 50. The remaining various unlocks for all of Paladin’s champions are hidden behind RNG loot boxes which can only be earned through a premium currency. It is true that this currency can be earned in small amounts by completing 7 days of login rewards but it would take you almost a month to earn enough for a single chest, and even then you’ll have no control over what cosmetics are unlocked.

Playing As Furia

Furia wields a semi automatic mid range rifle with a bayonet attached. She is a ranged healer who can use one of the abilities automatically bound to the left shoulder buttons to apply a massive 1000 HP heal to a single target. Pyre Blade summons a slow moving vertical beam of light that deals a massive amount of damage over time to opponents who are within its range. Her utlimate – Inflame – acts as a sort of team boost, making Furia un-targetable for 2 seconds while giving teammates increased damage and movement speed. In the right hands Furia can be a valuable clutch healer and kill streak powerhouse, during my time playing her I think I racked up multiple 20+ streaks.

Try It For Yourself

Paladins: Champions of the Realm is now free to play on Nintendo Switch. You can go grab the game’s client and try it out for free from the Nintendo e-Shop as of today. Hi-Rez PR provided an advance copy of the Founder’s Pack prior to the public release for our consideration meaning that I had all of the game’s characters unlocked from the start. The free to play version provides a rotation of ever-changing free characters as well as the ability to complete daily challenges to unlock gold to purchase individual characters.

 

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Fortnite Alternate Reality Game Grips Community Days Before Season 5 Begins

Posted on July 9, 2018 by Rae Michelle Richards

Fortnite’s Battle Royal community is buzzing with anticipation for the beginning of the game’s fifth season – all of this excitement has so far been capped off with an alternate reality game (ARG) that has seen recognizable in-game items leap into the real world. With vortexes appearing the sky, large burger mascots now living in the desert and rocket launches going awry it can be hard to keep track of it all.

Here is a brief, chronological look at the major events that have occurred thus far, leading up to the start of Season 5:

Sat June 30th– Countdown Ends With Rocket Launch

Televisions across the Fortnite Battle Royale map were counting down to … something. As the days ticked away to become hours and minutes players could hear a distinct sound in the skies above. Last Monday, as players stopped killing each other in order to watch what all of the fuss was about, a rocket was launched into the skies. Sadly, things went sideways as the rocket exploded, opening up rifts in the skies above. One player took it upon themselves to kill all the other players in their match while they watched the rocket ascend into the skies – setting a new multi kill record for the game.

Fri July 6th – Durr Burger From Greasy Grove Found In California

This past weekend Players noticed that the burg chain’s mascot found in Greasy Grove was missing, possibly sucked into the rift never to be seen again. Los Angeles area photographer and twitter user @Sekashiloni found the burger in the California Desert of all places. Accompanying the mascot were a police car from the world of Fortnite and a sign warning passers by about the dangers of dimensional rifts.

Tues July 9th – Supply Llamas Show Up All Over Europe

Today’s development is even stranger than a large cartoon burger entering the real world – Supply Llamas, which contain building materials and weapons within Battle Royale have been found in multiple locations across Europe.  Confirmed locations for these rare drops include London, Cologne, Cannes and Warsaw. Photos of the Loot Llamas in these major cities are currently among the highest up-voted content to be found on the /r/FortniteBR sub reddit as of the time of publication.

[Image via Reddit]

What does it all mean? Only Epic knows at this point in time. Many have speculated that the Battle Royale map will be radically changed when Season 5 launches on July 12th. Save The World – Fortnite’s P.V.E mode has had an official development roadmap revealed over the weekend that includes flintlock weapons and western themed heroes. Will the new Battle Royale map not only be based upon the real world but also history as well?

We’ll find out soon enough.

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Major Quake Champions Patch Makes Fundamental Changes To Loot System, Adds Bots

Posted on June 8, 2018 by Rae Michelle Richards

Sabre Interactive and Bethesda released a brand new patch for Quake Champions yesterday that adds many features that the community have been asking for since the Open Beta last summer. Bots, further Champion adjustments and a fundamental redesign of how the tribolt weapon works. Despite all of the positive additions the one thing that’s been widely panned by the QC community is how skins are crafted and what “shards” can be spent on. 

Positive: Bots Now Exist But Not Like You Think 

Veterans of previous Quake games have always had offline bots as a fallback option for when a stable internet connection isn’t available or to spend countless hours practicing against in order to hone those twitchy fragging reflexes. QC’s developers have spent a lot of time working on the fundamentals of QC and while bots have always topped the list of requested features, only now nearly 12 months after the Open Beta are we seeing playable progress on them. 

For those hoping for offline bots to practice against will be disappointed that not only is Quake Champions still not playable without a connection to the central server but the first stage of QC bots cannot be used in custom games or parties. 

On the positive side, Quake Champion’s bots are pretty challenging. You can face off against one of them in the brand-new tutorial. Bots wil also be used fillout the roster of games where another player disconnected or there isn’t a high enough population to fill out a team roster. Bethesda has promised that adding bots to Custom Games with selectable difficulty levels will come in a future patch. 

Here’s Bethesda’s official description of bots:

BOTS GALORE – Want to hone your skill? Did some quitter bail from a game mid-match, leaving your TDM crew a bit short? Well, now Bots are here to save you. That’s right, the same kind of AI that will soon reach singularity and grow into our apocalyptic overlords now powers (optional) enemies in-game! Featuring a scalable skill level to help players practice and improve in training mode, Bots will also automagically fill slots in live games where needed. This small, first phase of the impending robo-pocalypse – in Quake form – supports Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, and Instagib modes. More exciting updates on our road to Matrix-style Armageddon are scheduled to come soon!

Positive: Champion Stats Are Now Aligned 

Individual champion statistics are no more! Instead all of the available characters are divided into Light, Medium and Heavy and the heroes within these categories will share the same armor, health and speed statistics. 

Here’s the rundown: 

Balance Changes: In addition to the more on-the-surface improvements, Quake Champions is receiving some under-the-hood tweaks to improve the overall balance of the game. These changes include alterations to movement speed, health and armor stacks for Light, Medium and Heavy Champions as well as changes to certain weapon statistics and specific Champions abilities. 

Negative: Skins Can No Longer Be Crafted, Shards Are Only Usable For Loot boxes 

Oh dear… so this change is not “controversial”, it’s downright removing player’s ability to choose what kind of rewards that they want to work towards. Prior to yesterday’s update duplicates found within Backpacks or Chests (loot boxes) would reward players with “shards”. Saving up between 300 – 600 shards players could purchase pieces of a given skin set. While very grindy and still reliant on RNG loot boxes – which are predatory – did provide players with some agency on the type of things they could unlock through play. 

Under the newer system duplicates no longer provide shards at all and individual pieces cannot be crafted at all as well. Want that really cool Scalebearer skin or want to relive Quake III with the classic machinegun skin? Better hope it drops from a chest which you can only get with real money or by leveling up after a couple of hours. It’s all RNG.

Are you enjoying this latest Quake Champions patch? I’d love to hear thoughts on this latest update to Bethesda’s soon to be free-to-play online shooter in the comments. 

 

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Quake Champions Next Update Brings Quake 2’s Strogg and a New Arena

Posted on April 9, 2018 by Rae Michelle Richards

Bethesda and Sabre Interactive has released a brief tease about future content coming to Quake Champions. Future patches will that bring forward a classic Quake enemy – the baddies of Quake II, The Strogg – as a playable champion.  Also introduced in this latest patch is a brand new map called Awoken – this ruinous labyrinth is sure to be home to many bloodbaths when it is finally released.

Here is the official description of the upcoming champion the Strogg and its drone companion, Peeker:

Half metal, half decaying flesh, and 100% ready to rage, the primary enemy of Quake II and Quake 4 is back as Strogg fights to be freed from the Dreamlands and reestablish contact with his ruthless warlord, Makron.

Players will also be able to take control and fight as Strogg’s drone sidekick, Peeker, who can fly around the battlefield, shoot at enemies and deal damage with its explosive self-destruct attack. Enemy kills are turned into a nutritional paste called Stroyent that provides 25HP, but players need to act fast – other Strogg players can steal your Stroyent!

New Weapon: The Plasma Cannon

Quake III’s face melting Plasma Cannon will finally find its way into Quake Champions in a future update. For many Q3A Veterans the lack of a proper Plasma Canon has made the available arsenal feel a bit bare.

Here’s the official description:

A blast from the past, the Plasma Gun from Quake III Arena finds its new home in Quake Champions! This high-powered cannon melts unwitting foes with bursts of pure energy and is sure to shake things up when it joins the Quake Champions arsenal later this month!

Last month’s March Update also brought a number of new modes and enhancements to Quake Champions, which unfortunately I did not have time to write about at the time of release. That patch saw the implementation of the much requested insta-gib mode where players are killed in a single hit as well as a brand new 2 Vs. 2 Ranked Mode.

Here’s the official description from those two features from last month’s patch:

NEW GAMEPLAY – Everyone, meet Instagib – The fast-moving, gib-tastic classic will finally make its way to Quake Champions, introducing a fun, fast and casual game where every shot is a one-hit kill. Players will start each match with the only weapons available – the Rail Gun and the Gauntlet – and there will not be weapon, health, armor, or power-up pickups. Champions will still be able to use active and passive abilities, and cool-down hourglasses will spawn on the map.

NEW RANKS – Introducing 2v2 TDM Ranked Mode – In addition to the head-to-head intensity of Duel mode, players will be able to grab a buddy and face off against teams from around the world in deadly 2v2 showdowns. Finding the right Champion and ability combinations will make the difference in the fight for the top spot on the leaderboard.

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H1Z1: Battle Royal Is Now Free To Play, E-Sports League Announced

Posted on March 8, 2018 by Rae Michelle Richards

Daybreak Studios announced this morning that their once highly popular battle royale title, H1Z1: Battle Royale would no longer have an entry fee. As of today H1Z1: Battle Royale will be free to play on Steam.

For players who purchased the game for $19.99 USD between the games’ split from H1Z1: Just Survive in January 2016 and today’s free to play launch will receive a special “H1Z1 Appreciation Pack” which includes the following:

  • Gasrunner Hoodie
  • Bloom Survivor T-Shirt
  • Splinter Camo ARV
  • 10 Victory Crates
  • 10,000 Skulls

Editor’s Note: H1Z1 does use the much maligned and manipulative “loot box” mechanic which ties to drops with RNG (random number generated) aspects. Meaning you’ll pay cash up front and recieve pretty much anything in the box. Loot boxes are specifically designed to manipulate the customer into buying “just one more” and it’s a topic I’ve covered extensively.

In terms of the number of concurrent players actually waiting it out in the post apocalyptic world of H1Z1: Just Survive – according to stat tracking service Steam Charts the most popular month for the game was July 2017 when an average of 86,807 players would be trying to survive at any given moment. The player count steadily declined over the next six months with the past 30 days (prior to F2P) with an average of just 7,261 players at any given time. With just a few hours in, the playerbase has already more than doubled with 21,000 players online as of press time.

Also announced today was a partnership with Facebook for the H1Z1: Pro League which will feature 15 teams during its inaugural season.

[Source]

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Epic Games’ Paragon To Cease Operations on April 26, Refunds Available For All Players

Posted on January 27, 2018 by Rae Michelle Richards

Visually stunning, action focused M.O.B.A Paragon will cease operations on April 26th developer Epic Games announced in a statement to the remaining players within the Paragon Community yesterday.  

The Paragon Team thanked all of the players who have stuck with the game and, in what is probably the most honest / direct statement I’ve seen from a AAA developer in a long time, admitted that their vision for Paragon wasn’t sustainable. Despite their best effort the Paragon Team ‘failed’ their player base and were sorry to see Paragon shut down. 

Refunds for the Paragon Game (originally priced at $19.99 USD for Early Access) and any in-game purchases can be requested directly from Epic Games themselves. Often when it comes time for the online portion of a particular title to be sunsetted, developers and publishers rarely offer any form of refund at all. This is not only a welcome change of pace from what we’ve become accustomed too from AAA publishers but should also foster some goodwill within the Paragon community, despite the bad news. 

Below is the full statement announcing Paragon’s closing. Epic Game’s other Unreal 4 engine title, Fortnite, has been hugely popular – drawing in more than 40 million players thanks to its free Battle Royale mode.  

“Hey Everyone,

It’s with heavy hearts we’ve decided to close down Paragon.

We truly appreciate everything you’ve put into Paragon. We received many passionate ideas for where to take the game; the outpouring of thoughtful suggestions is another testament to this incredible community.

After careful consideration, and many difficult internal debates, we feel there isn’t a clear path for us to grow Paragon into a MOBA that retains enough players to be sustainable.

We didn’t execute well enough to deliver on the promise of Paragon. We have failed you — despite the team’s incredibly hard work — and we’re sorry.

To try to make this right, Epic is offering a full refund to every Paragon player for every purchase on any platform. This refund will come directly from Epic rather than your platform provider.

To request your refund, follow these steps:

  1. If you’re not playing on PC, link your Epic account (create one if necessary).
  2. If you play on PC, or have already linked your Epic account, you can request your refund here.

We’ll continue operating Paragon servers until April 26, 2018. As the player population continues to  decrease, matchmaking times and quality will further degrade.

Thank you for joining us on this journey and for your dedication to Paragon.”

[Source]

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No Date For NA Arena of Valor Switch Beta Test, Transfer of Mobile Progress Possible

Posted on January 18, 2018 by Rae Michelle Richards

Popular mobile Multiplayer Online Battle Arena Arena of Valor was originally set to make its debut on the Nintendo Switch in North America last month, needless to say the scheduled beta Christmas time beta test never materialized.  Outlet Comicbook.com got a chance to sit down wth reps from publisher TenCent and get an update on the upcoming Switch port, plans for North American beta testing and obviously quite a few questions about the licensed D.C Comics heroes.

It seems like TenCent will roll the beta version of Arena of Valor in European territories first with North America to follow sometime after. Just as the mobile version on iOS and Android was launched in European territories first, TenCent will start taking applications for Switch Beta testers very soon – with a later, unspecified date, in mind for North America.

“The Nintendo version of Arena of Valor is being handled by a different team at the moment. We’re supporting the Nintendo version with beta testing, branding, and everything company-side. We have the closed beta testing coming up for Europe, and after we have the results from that beta testing, we’ll have a more clear timetable for launches in different regions.”

Comicbook.com also asked a question that I hadn’t considered – would it be possible for mobile players of Arena of Valor to transfer their gold, talent shards and unlocked heroes to the Nintendo Switch version? TenCent says that this is certainly technically feasible but they do have to consider the imbalance that this would create for new players who are just starting out on Switch.  From the sound of things there’s still some deliberation going on about the possibility of porting over account progress from one platform to another.

“We had that discussion earlier, internally. The answer is that the decision is still being made. It is technically possible, but having people on the mobile version and Switch version competing with each other may compromise the arena as a “fair” arena, if you see what I mean. Because they’re using different devices, when they compete with each other we feel it could generate complaints of unfair competition, so we’re still balancing it.”

Lastly, the topic of Monetization has of course came up. Naturally with many calling last year – “the year of the loot box” – it is understandable that potential players might be a little skeptical of a free to play title on Nintendo’s latest platform. From my own personal experience, Arena of Valor is filled with blind boxes (loot boxes)  – both in the “free” daily variety and those paid for with real currency.

“We haven’t made a decision about that. Monetization has never been the “start.” It’s not the major concern early on, for any version of the game. We will have more information after the beta test in EU.”

Arena of Valor will launch sometime in 2018 in both North America and Europe. The free to play mobile version is currently available in most countries on both Google Android and Apple’s iOS platforms. I’ve played a couple hours here and there on my phone and found it to be a competent M.O.B.A experience, even if I don’t really recognize or resonate with many of the heroes on offer.

[Source]

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War Pike Added To Online Monster Slaying Title Dauntless

Posted on November 22, 2017 by Rae Michelle Richards

Dauntless is an early access online monster slaying, title not unlike Capcom’s own Monster Hunter, series that offers players the chance to take down larger than life enemies using a variety of different weapons.  

The War Pike is a brand-new weapon type coming to the game with this December’s Sharpen Your Skills update. As a polearm the War Pike brings a bit of a difference in terms of gameplay mechanics for seasoned hunters out there who might be sued to the other four weapon classes. Instead of memorizing specific sets of inputs to maximize damage the War Pike allows players to chain basic and heavy attacks together for seamless interwoven combat. As slayers successfully land successive hits their special meter will fill, allowing them to pull off devastating finishing moves. Once a finishing move has been earned it can be stored as a “charge” for use later on, this is especially useful when playing as a party and coordinating strategy together. 

Over on the official Dauntless blog you can read all about how the War Pike works, its role in group content and how it differs from the other four weapon types on offer. 

Dauntless is currently in a paid closed beta available through random key give away or through a $39.99 USD “Founder’s Pack”. It is expected to enter open beta, and eventually fully supported free to play launch, sometime in 2018. 

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Nexon Closing Ghost In The Shell: First Assault On December 6th

Posted on September 29, 2017 by Rae Michelle Richards

Nexon has announced that it will be shutter (“sunsetting”) the F2P first-person shooter Ghost In The Shell: Stand Alone Complex First Assault in four regions in early December. Players who purchased in-game currency will receive a refund of 100% if it was purchased before Feb of 2017, all other in-game purchases will be refunded at a rate of 50% but this does not apply to the initial purchase of the game client if bought through one of the several Early Access bundles sold before the F2p launch. 

I enjoyed the 4 or so hours I spent with the early access version of Ghost In The Shell back in 2015. Gameplay wise First Assault always felt somewhat lacking but the overall aesthetic, voicework and presentation certainly nailed the GITS aesthetic.  

In their official statement, which was emailed to registered players, the Chinese, Japanese, and South Korean regions are not mentioned as being slated for closure. This could mean that these three regions may still receive First Assault game support, but it simply went unstated. 

Below is Nexon’s message to players: 

“We’re sorry to inform you that we will be sunsetting Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex First Assault Online in North and South America, Europe, and the Oceania region, with final closure scheduled for December 6. 

This was a very tough decision to make. The game has been in development for a long time, supported by the developer, publisher, and community effort. Ultimately, we decided that continued development wasn’t going to help the game become what we all hoped it could become. We will be supporting the game for the next several months during the sunset period, allowing both the development and publishing teams and the community to say goodbye and enjoy the game. 

As a courtesy to our fantastic community, we will provide players with NX for items purchased.” 

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Tekken Mobile | Review

Posted on September 1, 2017 by Rae Michelle Richards

Bandai Namco isn’t exactly known for adapting the Tekken franchise for mobile devices. Over the past decade or so there have been two serious efforts: Tekken 6 on the PSP in 2006 and Tekken 3D on the Nintendo 3DS in 2011. Both of those previous games, although premium priced titles, had different shortcomings when adapting the technical fighting style Tekken is known for to both Sony and Nintendo’s handhelds. Seemingly coming out of nowhere – a free to play version of Tekken launched on the Android Play Store and iTunes App Store in Canada. What follows are my thoughts on this iteration of the King of Iron Fist Tournament based upon the still in limited rollout version of Tekken Mobile that is available.

There are a few key features that Tekken has been known for since its’ inception: like a complicated list of multi button combos, rock paper scissors like input system of high & low punches or kicks and three-dimensional movement. Let’s get the unfortunate news out of the way first – none of these well-known gameplay mechanics appear in Tekken Mobile at all. Drastic changes to the core gameplay experience may have longtime series fans asking “Does that make it any less of a true Tekken title if the strategy of move input is removed and movement is restricted to a 2D plane?”

Combat in Tekken Mobile is a huge departure from what the franchise is known for but it is also a huge departure from what Namco’s sometimes collaborator / sometimes rival Capcom have done in the mobile fighting space. Bouts are still 1 Vs 1 affairs but the three round system has been removed in favor of a single 90 second round. Basic attacks are performed by simply tapping the right side of the screen while blocks are performed using the left side of the touchscreen. Swiping in the center allows you to have your character dash forward or back quickly. Once I had adjusted to how combat worked in Tekken Mobile I found myself being able to time successful chains of blocks before rushing in and pulling off one of three available special moves for Asuka, Jin or Nina with ease. In place of the complicated input system by the console games or even the more robust virtual d-pads and buttons used by Capcom, these cards provide ways for fighters to pull off intricate interlinking combos by tapping the appropriate card. Tekken Mobile will even label cards with a “1..2…3” icon, signaling the proper order for maximum damage. Namco Bandai Vancouver has developed a unique fighting system that for the most part enables a sense of strategy while differing itself from the competition. It can be a little annoying when you think you’re going to tap on the right side for a basic attack and accidentally dash in but I chalk that up to my own clumsiness and not the game’s fault.

Characters in Tekken Mobile will be familiar to those who have played previous entries in the series, regardless of platform or generation. Mainstays like Jin, Kazuya and Steve Fox are joined by latter additions to the roster like Asuka and Shaheen. There are four brand new characters who were created specifically for this new mobile iteration – Isaak, Ruby, Tiger Miyagi and Yue. Each character has a rarity rating (measured in Stars), one set of equip-able bonuses tied to their Star Rating, a character level, an element type and a full deck of Wanza special moves. If all of this sounds a bit convoluted and confusing – well was for me at the start. Given that this is a free to play title, it makes sense that Namco didn’t hand over every fighter off the hop but managing fighters can become tedious (more on that in the next section). With 15 returning characters and 4 brand new characters there is a lot of room in the roster for expansion before Tekken Mobile becomes packed to the brim with fighters. Here is hoping that longtime antagonist Heihachi and newcomer Lucky Chloe make the cut in future updates.

Managing your stable of fighters can become daunting after a few hours of play but it isn’t an insurmountable challenge. Your fighters overall power appears tied directly to your characters level. Additional Wanza cards and slotted buffs can make a bit of an overall difference but they don’t appear to weight as high as the power rating that is calculated for each character. There is no restriction on the level of a character when challenging opponents – if you want to have a 2000 rated Jin take on a 400 rated Bruce or the other way around you certainly can. What will change is the amount of damage dealt and absorbed by the two fighters. Once a character has been eliminated in any of the three available modes they’ll be knocked out until a real world timer has finished (typically 10 – 15 minutes) or once their health has been restored. You can, of course, bypass these time limits with in-app purchases…

After all of this discussion about available characters, gameplay systems and adapting the Tekken formula for mobile devices the discussion comes full circle as the specter of micro-transactions rears its head.  Tekken Mobile contains not one, not two but four different forms of in-game loot boxes that can provide everything from Shards needed to unlock new fighters, to free revive and healing items to rare Wanza cards and elemental crystals used to boost characters overall level. This means that as a player you are managing multiple stats per characters, your level of crystals on hand and an in-game gold currency used for purchasing loot boxes. The drop of in-game gold is quite low: 100 for a win or 25 for a loss but since rounds can take as little as 20 seconds – you can earn a box in about 30 minutes of game play. Tekken Mobile wants you to fork over real world cash for an arbitrary gem currency for randomly generated items you have no control over, but you’ll never find yourself hitting a content wall unless all of your fighters die and you run out of revival items.

Tekken Mobile has quickly become one of my most played iOS games in the past few weeks – easily eclipsing long-time installs like Pokemon Go. Rounds are short enough that completing a single round campaign mission or a three round Dojo match can be done while waiting for the bus or standing in line at the supermarket. Once I acquired a number of fighters and leveled them up extended gameplay sessions were possible – the other morning I spent 45 minutes battling it out against the CPU before all of my 1 star fighters were retired.  Whether or not you’ll get enjoyment out of Tekken Mobile will probably depend on how much RNG loot boxes and fighter countdowns you can stand before uninstalling the game or forking over some cold hard cash for gems. I’ve probably sunk a good ten hours into Tekken Mobile and haven’t paid a cent. Complaints about the loot boxes and limited roster aside I’m impressed with the surprisingly functional combat system and this game is probably the closest a Tekken portable title has ever come to capturing the aesthetic presentation of modern entries in the franchise.

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First Major Update For Halo Online In Years– ElDewrito 0.60 – Due Out For Halo 3’s 10th Anniversary

Posted on August 26, 2017 by Rae Michelle Richards

Microsoft may have no public plans to mark the upcoming 10th anniversary of Halo 3 on the Xbox 360 but that hasn’t stopped a group of dedicated fans from working on a project that Microsoft themselves abandoned. For the first time in several years, the first major update to Halo Online will be made available before the end of September 2017. 

Halo Online was short lived free to play adaptation of Halo 3’s multiplayer component ported to modern x64 Windows operating systems and updated with original content and Sabre Interactive’s own proprietary online technology. The game was never publicly available and Microsoft only ever tested the game in a limited alpha state and beta tests in Russia between Spring 2015 and August 2016. 

Fans got their hands on a leaked build of the Halo Online game client shortly after one of the initial Alpha tests in Spring 2015and quickly built the Eldewrito client/server that provided Halo 3 veterans a chance to relive the iconic multiplayer from 2007 on a brand new platform. While development slowed down and eventually splintered into two separate teams: Eldewrito and Project Anvil, things seem to have culminated behind the scenes in the first major update to the game just in time to commemorate a decade since Master Chief’s initial jump to the Xbox 360. 

Eldewrito 0.60 can be expected to have three major pillars of new content and adjustments with this new patch. Dual Wielding was missing from the leaked alpha build that Eldewrito was based upon but it looks like the development team has added their own take on this Halo 3 mainstay. Another addition new to the Halo franchise that debuted in Halo 3 but has been missing from Halo Online is deployable equipment and now that alongside brand-new server settings, server browser adjustments and customization options are coming. The other two major categories for version 0.6.0 are Forge Additions and Quality of Life updates. 

It would be disingenuous to write about Halo Online without acknowledging that Microsoft eventually ported Halo 5’s Forge and Multiplayer mode to Windows 10 and even eventually added a Custom Games Browser allowing players to the latest multiplayer suite and create new maps with Forge for free on PC. Despite the official backing of Microsoft and the marketing muscle that is implied – Halo Online has at least six games that are public and near full during the writing of this post. Halo 5: Forge returned just five open game sessions during the same period. 

Halo Online has quite a bit of staying power, especially considering that the whole thing is community run and developed by a group of volunteers. Check out some dedicated highlights of Eldewrito 0.6 features taken from a recent Reddit post. You can also check out a preview of 0.6’s updated menu in the embedded video below. Sabre Interactive wouldn’t be shy away from the F2P online shooter genre – as they’re currently working alongside id Software on the recently launched Quake Champions. 

 

Feature/Content Additions  

  • Dual Wielding 
  • Equipment Yes, we’ve completely fixed equipment (Bubble Shield, Trip Mine, ect.) and even have a couple new ones that were not in Halo 3. 
  • Multi-Team 
  • Automated Dedicated Servers 
  • Configurable Voting Systems 
  • Halo 3 Veto style 
  • Halo Reach style 
  • UI Improvements/Additions 
  • Player Customization 
  • Game/Server Settings 
  • In-Game Server Browsers – ScooterPSU – Halostats 
  • Lots of HUD fixups – Voice Chat indicator – Binoculars – Dual Wielding hud 

Massive Forge Improvements 

  •  New Forge Pieces – Another Creation 
  • Increased Object Limit 
  • Object Grouping and Cloning/Duplication 
  • Quick Search 
  • Magnets (snap objects by refined points/magnets) 
  • Rotation Snap 
  • WIP forge improvements (materials, phase toggle) – subject to change 

Quality Of Life Improvements & Major Bug Fixes 

  •  Completely Removed Scaleform (Saber’s UI)  This results in about a 5 fps increase from 0.5.1.1 
  • Audio lag/delay has been fixed. 
  • Broken spawn system has been fixed. 
  • Physics have been Fixed. (You no longer drop like a rock off of ledges) 
  • Micro stutters have been fixed. 
  • Global memory expansion. Allows Forging on Edge 
  • Password-protected Rcon 

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Quake Champions Releasing On Steam Early Access As A Paid Product This Coming Tuesday

Posted on August 17, 2017 by Rae Michelle Richards

Bethesda and  more specifically id Software have a large convention coming up on Thursday August 24th – QuakeCon. To celebrate the convention’s namesake or perhaps capitalize on the finals for the Quake Champions World Championship $1 million dollar tournament that is coming to a close at QuakeCon, Quake Champions will leave open beta testing and appear on Steam for the first time since the game’s announcement.

Let’s get the bit of news that is probably going to polarize possible new players before diving into the meaty details of the first Early Access patch – Quake Champion’s monetization model. Originally Champions was advertised as a free to play title and it is clear from the titles core design that this is still the case: renting champions, multiple forms of currency and loot boxes are all still in the game. What is changing with the Early Access release on Steam is that Quake Champions will not be free to play right out of the gate.

Returning closed & open beta testers can still play the tittle for free in ‘free to play mode’ (meaning Ranger only with rentals via ‘favor’ or in app purchases) but only players willing to fork over $29.99 USD (increasing to $39.99 USD once Early Access ends) to gain access to the game, all 11 Champions currently available and any future champions released in 2018. New free to play players who did not participate in the beta phase will be welcome into the game but it is unknown when that will occur – Bethesda simply says ‘at a later date’.

So what will the first Early Access patch bring to the game? First and foremost is a brand new champion in the form of Doom’s DoomSlayer protagonist. Clad in his UAC green armor from last year’s excellent reboot, the Doom Slayer joins the original cast of Quake Champions and B.J Blazkowicz from Bethesda’s Wolfenstein franchise in the arena. Quake Champions players can also look forward to the release of two new maps, brand new Rune Challenges, in-game voice chat and an in-game Lore browser that will feed players in-universe tidbits of information just like Doom (2016) did.

Here is a summary of the new features coming to Quake Champions:

  • Two New Maps: Church of Azathoth and Tempest Shrine
  • Rune Challenges: Players will be rewarded for completing new Rune Challenges found in Backpacks
  • Lore System: Players will find Lore Items hidden throughout Arenas in vases. By collecting all 10 Lore Items for a specific Champion, they will unlock that Champion’s high-end Lore Skin.
  • Improved New Player Onboarding: New features to help get fresh fraggers up to speed include a movement tutorial, shooting gallery and the ability to choose a skill level
  • New Customization Options: New options include new Champion skin sets and weapon shaders
  • In-Game Voice Chat

I’ve covered Quake Champions extensively over the past couple months and participated in both the closed and open beta test phases. You can read my impressions of an early Closed Beta build of the game right here and I’ll be posting up to date impressions from the Early Access build of Quake Champions later next week.

[Source]

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Partial Player Data Reset As Massive Quake Champions Beta Patch Drops

Posted on August 3, 2017 by Rae Michelle Richards

The first patch for Quake Champions in nearly a month has finally arrived and with it comes a partial data reset for existing players. Beta testers should be familiar with the practice by now but since this is an open beta sometimes players are caught off guard by data resets and progression loss. Developers do this for a number of reasons: testing new systems, getting feedback on progression changes or deeply rooted system or data changes that necessitate players be taken back to square one.

As for what was reset: any challenge progression for challenges left incomplete and the overall statistics data for players accounts have been wiped. Unlocks like shaders/skins from Loot Boxes and purchasable vanity items have all been reset as well. Individual nicknames and skill ratings remain intact alongside unlocked champions.

Here is a segment from the recent patch notes:

Player content that will be reset include:

  • User States (Armors, Weapons, Attachments, Shaders, Currency)
  • Challenges

Content that will NOT be reset includes:

  • Champions
  • Friends
  • Skill Rating
  • Nicknames

Currently, the Quake Champions community is in the midst of a $1,00,000 world tournament on the road to this month’s Quake Con. Id Software and Sabre Interactive have said that they don’t want to shake up the game’s meta too muuch while the tournament is ongoing but there have been a number of game breaking bugs including rockets that do 0 DMG and stuttering lag that hamper the online experience. With that being said this patch is more of a collection of long requested fixes and tech tweaks – you’ll see very little Champion balancing happening during the Regionals.

Previously Quake Champions only had a very basic friends list with CBT 13 a whole number of social options including spectating friends, ignoring players and a reporting system to root out abusive players.

New Social Screen

  • Player can observe all current in-match players and blocked players
  • Player can now blacklist players, which blocks invites from unwanted users
  • Player can now ignore user invites
  • Player can now report users

On the tech side of things id & co have fixed several issues with system auto detect, implemented a new “play now” screen and introduced some fixes for the ever present memory leaks which have plagued the game since the first Closed Beta but this issue has been steadily improving with each major patch.

Tech

  • Fixed an issue that could occur when the game would not revert to the player’s native resolution when changing to Borderless mode with a lower aspect ratio.
  • Fixed a localization text issue
  • Updated the list of supported video cards for a correct auto-detect
  • Fixed an issue where killed players could become stuck in place and invincible
  • Fixed an issue where local configurations would not be saved properly when including Cyrillic letters
  • Fixed an issue where Champions were not synchronized with moving objects

Performance

  • Optimized various memory leaks

New Play Now Screen

  • New screen layout integrated
  • Player can choose multiple game modes in quick match and match-make between them randomly
  • Tutorial videos available from Play Now screen

Clutch has seen the most adjustment of any Champion in the game. Originally positioned as a Tank class hero with a strong barrier shield, Clutch was later on adjusted to include the ability to float through the air while deploying its shield. This was later patched out and now Clutch is the focus of the majority of the Champion adjustments – with a new acceleration icon and several small statistics changes.

Perhaps the one bug fix everyone in the Quake community has been finally implemented: Rocket Launchers finally work again! No more Nyx players taking three rockets to the face without taking a single point of damage. Rockets also no longer penetrate Clutch’s shield.

Balance

  • Clutch’s “Advanced Shielding” passive has been removed
  • Clutch’s Active Ability cool-down has now been set to 40 seconds
  • Clutch’s Health and Armor stats revised: Health from 150/150 to 100/100; Armor from 50/100 to 100/150
  • Slash’s Starting Armor increased +25 ap
  • Profile Progression: XP requirements tweaked
  • Random Drop: Rebalance of drop rates in Backpacks Crates and Reliquaries
  • Crafting: Item prices in shards and dismantle values changed

Champions

  • New effect for Ranger’s Dire Orb
  • Fixed a light effect issue affecting Anarki’s Banner vanity item
  • Fixed an issue affecting audio during Anarki’s hover board movement
  • Fixed issue that could occur with BJ Blazkowicz’s shooting animation while dual-wielding
  • Fixed a twitching animation issue with BJ Blazkowicz after being shot while idle
  • Enemies within 120u of the player are outlined
  • New Clutch acceleration icon added
  • Fixed an issue where rock and drill medals pop without hitting the 1000 damage requirements
  • Fixed an issue when RL damage through Clutch’s shield

[Source]

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Steam’s Latest Free To Play Darling, Black Squad, Has Attracted Thousands of Concurrent Players

Posted on July 29, 2017 by Rae Michelle Richards

The world of free to play games can be daunting with the amount of sheer choice available and if you’re not careful you might end up choosing a game that is more advertisement for the in-game cash shop than a proper video game.

Thousands of Steam users – almost 8,000 concurrently at the moment of the writing of this article – have decided to download and try out this previously under the radar free to play shooter. On a weekend where Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare is free to play for everyone, what could this imported and 3-year-old FPS from Korea offer players that Activision isn’t?

Black Squad’s gameplay feels like a throwback to the shooters of the 90s- eschewing recent staples like vertical movement, wall-running or peaking behind cover. In their place are the identical hit boxes for every player, fast movement / res-pawn time and a limited selection of weapons. As quickly as players die in TDM they respawn and are thrown back into the fray. Combine all of this with some trappings from Counter Strike: the previously mentioned role based selection of weapons, running animations featuring a knife and a loud announcer and you’ve got a recipe for a nostalgic throwback of a game that doesn’t really care for the current trends in the genre.

In terms of modes, there is the standard Free for All and Team Death Match (where I spent the majority of my three hours with the game last night). Also offered are two objective modes where special abilities can be used based upon the amount of experience you’ve accrued throughout the match.  These range from the mundane: placing down a sentry turret or ammo packs for your team-mates; to the spectacular: calling in a devastating airstrike that rains hellfire from above. XP rewards aren’t nearly as flashy or differentiated as the Kill Streaks in Call of Duty but in a game like this, they don’t really have to be.

With the gameplay being provided for free there has to be some form of monetization. Black Squad comes with the requisite cash shop and multiple forms of currency (one earned through completing matches, another purchased with real dollars and yet a third “medal” currency awarded for weekly challenges). Despite the onslaught of currencies available Black Squad doesn’t feel pay to win. Each gun has a number of different stats that are tweaked depending on what other options the gun offers – silencer, scope, laser sight etc. – but it all feels balanced enough. This isn’t a game where someone can put down $20 on the table and buy a super powered sniper rifle and one shot everyone. The minor difference in stats & armor don’t appear to give paying players any sizeable advantage; instead, the developers hope to earn cash through limited edition skins and weapon models sold through loot crates. It is great to see them prioritizing balance & fun factor for all players versus taking the easy route of offering a $99.99 USD Golden Gun that could kill anyone.

Who knows if the sizeable community that has formed around Black Squad will stick around for the long term. Steam fads have a tendency to come and go with the whims of the players- who is still playing The Culling? The thousands of people who flocked to the revamped Battleborn have all but left, leaving that game with similar to numbers to before the Free to Play transition. Then again, some thought (myself included) that Player Unknown’s Battlegrounds was going to be a flash in the pan next to H1Z1: King of the Kill and PUBG has had considerable staying power – enough so that it has spawned imitators like Last Man Standing.

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