Microsoft alongside State of Decay 2 developer Undead Labs released four new screenshots and a brand new trailer for the 2018 survival title at GamesCom in Cologne, Germany.
State of Decay 2 is, of course, a direct sequel to the 2012 Xbox 360 original that was ported to Windows PC a year later. Like its predecessor, SoD2 will allow players to immerse themselves in a single-player experience where they must team up with other survivors and build settlers to keep themselves safe from the oncoming hordes of the head.
New features and changes from the original game are to be expected: new to State of Decay 2 is the ability for up to three friends to join your game for some co-op survival fun. Unlike the previous game there is no single player character – instead, every survivor in your game world will have their own unique appearance and stats. Other noteworthy additions include Xbox One X enhancements for Microsoft’s upcoming beefed up Xbox One Console. State of Decay 2 will also be a “Xbox Play Anywhere” title meaning that if you purchase it for the home console or through the Windows 10 Store you’ll get it on all supported platforms.
Wanna see it in motion? Check out our gallery of new screenshots and a trailer below.
The Australian crime duo of Roadhog and Junkrat star in a hilarious animated short designed to promote the upcoming map, Junkertown. A mix between the stylish post-apocalyptic aesthetic of Mad max and the comedic tomfoolery of a character like Junkrat, these two pieces of media provide our first in-game glimpse of the Australia wasteland that has been teased since the game’s release.
I think my favorite part of the whole trailer has to be Junkrat’s continually revised plan and of course the gold crown on Pachimari – because if any Overwatch character deserves some swag it is Pachimari.
Here is a bit about the founding of Junkertown curotesy of the Overwatch Wikia:
“After the Omnic Crisis, the Australian government hoped to restore peace with the omnics by granting them a large area of land surrounding the Australian omnium. In doing so, many residents of the outback were displaced, and some of them, including Roadhog, formed a group of rebels they called the Australian Liberation Front. The ALF eventually managed to sabotage the omnium’s fusion core, which blew up the omnium, irradiated the area, and scattered scrap metal across the outback.
Survivors would go on to build Junkertown in the ruins of the destroyed omnium. The town’s residents, called Junkers, make a living scavenging parts from the omnium’s skeleton. In the center of town is a gladiatorial arena called the Scrapyard where the Queen of Junkertown oversees mech battles.”
It is unknown if both the upcoming free for all and team death match modes and Junkertown will launch on the live servers simotanously as one update or if they’ll be spread across two updates over the course of September. FFA and TDM are already available on PTR.
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.
I probably lost you at the headline… Zombies and Virtual Reality? Is there a combination of things that been overdone in the past few years than immersive goggles and the undead? Well nDreams’ Bloody Zombies isn’t your typical wave based Zombie FPS title that has risen to flood the steam store as of late. It is more of a VR enhanced title with a cartoony art style and from the promotional trailers and materials looks like it will be one to keep an out on.
Bloody Zombies is a cel-shaded 2.5D brawler with colorful cartoony graphics reminiscent of Cel Damage HD or 2002’s XIII. It looks more like a gruesome over the top vibrant work of art come to life than it does the grey/brown mess other “realistic” zombie titles have adopted (is it fair to call a Zombie game realistic when it involves corpse reanimating themselves?) In this side scrolling beat ‘em up you and four friends get to explore a post apocalyptic London – finding new ways to re-murder the undead before they turn you into one of the shambling hordes. VR and non-VR players battle side by side with VR players being able to unlock hidden secrets for the rest of the party.
Anthony White, co-founder of Paw Print Games had this to say about their latest title in a recent press release:
“We’re massive fans of brawler games and have spent countless hours analyzing the genre, crafting Bloody Zombies in to a modern interpretation of the classics. VR adds a new twist to what is already a great TV experience; enhancing the gameplay and visuals and adding a wow factor. We can’t wait for people to get their hands on Bloody Zombies…”
Bloody Zombies is available for pre-order on both the PlayStation Network and Steam store front. It is currently priced at $15.19 CDN (including a pre-release 10% discount) on Steam, no official pricing is available on the North American PlayStation Store as of press time. It will launch worldwide on September 12th.
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.
Overwatch’s 25th hero, Doomfist, has finished his testing phase on the PTR and is now live on the PC and console versions of the game. Alongside the release of Doomfist – who has been adjusted considerably since his initial reveal – this latest patch brings a number of changes to player mobility across a number of heroes and voice lines for both D.VA and Genji.
Doomfist
I’ve covered Doomfist in the past two weeks a couple of times. So to get a quick impression of what he is capable of, here is a summary of his abilities that I posted a few weeks back. Primarily his adjustments on the PTR involved how far his rocket punch and uppercut abilities launched opponents and moved. The actual functionality of the moves hasn’t really changed.
Doomfist Abilities:
Hand Cannon – Fires short ranged projectile from the knuckles of his smaller hand. Ammunition is automatically regenerated over time. Seismic Slam – Doomfist leaps forward into the air and smashes down to the ground affecting any foes below him. Rising Uppercut – Launches enemies that are in front of Doomfist into the air. Rocket Punch – A powerful charge forward that completes with a massive blow from Doomfist’s mechanical arm. Meteor Strike (Ultimate) – Leap into the sky and then come crashing down to deal damage and stun opponents. The Best Defense (Passive – Gain a temporary shield when dealing ability damage to opponents.
Movement Changes
Mcree’s flash bang now slows targets considerably faster than before. This means that a swift striking Genji can’t dodge the slowing effect of the Flash Bang’s stung.
Graviton Surge, Zarya’s ultimate ability, now stops all hero movement for those in the affected area. This means that using Genji’s Swift Strike or spending all of Tracer’s blink charges are no longer viable strategies to escape the Gravity well. Ditto for Mercy’s shift ability which allows her to fly towards a friendly target.
Highlight System
Remember that highlight system that Jeff Kaplan talked about during a recent developer update? It is now live on PC! Overwatch will now curate your top 5 daily clips and store them for a full 24 hours. Players are also now able to generate 12-second clips by using a new bindable record button. One thing to remember about these highlights is that they are only valid until the next patch – regardless if it is a major or minor addition to the game. Make sure to export your highlights often!
“The game will continue to automatically generate highlights for you based on your recent gameplay. These auto-generated highlights—now categorized as “Today’s Top 5”—will be surfaced on a daily basis and persist for a full 24 hours (or until the game client is patched, whichever happens first).
Players can now generate their own highlights! The ability to capture 12 seconds of your own gameplay has been added to the game, and can be bound to a single button of your choice (or a button per highlight slot) in the Options menu under “Request Highlight.” These player-generated highlights will be saved under a new section called “Recently Captured” and will persist until the game client is patched. Players can have up to 36 recently-captured highlights stored at one time.
With the above, players can now record any of their “Top 5” or “Recently Captured” highlights, exporting them as a video file to their gaming platform’s designated media library (on console) or directory (on PC). On PC, players will also have the option to select the quality at which these highlights are exported, supporting up to 4K for Windows 8 or higher operating systems, and up to 1080p on Windows 7.”
Get A Video Rundown
Want to know more about the latest Overwatch Patch? Check out the handy video recap in the player below or read the official notes on Blizzard’s site.
The next hero to join Overwatch, the much hyped Doomfist, will be making his way onto the live servers this coming Thursday, July 27th. Ahead of his debut in the live version of the game Blizzard hosted a panel yesterday at the San Diego Comic Con where they talked about the development behind one of Overwatch’s most mysterious heroes.
Filming doesn’t appear to have been allowed at the panel, as every YouTube video discussing the panel is an original work rather than a recording of the panel itself. Luckily for those of us not in California right now GameSpot was able to attend the panel and grabs some cool photographs of early concept art for Doomfist.
Early concepts for Doomfist allowed him to pick up enemy combatants and use them as human shields – blocking damage. Doomfist players could also simply throw their opponents off of clips, which I’m sure made for some hilarious deaths during the opening stages of Route 66. Blizzard also experimented with making him a melee only character and at one point in development, he was even considered for the tank role. Like the Overwatch’s early experiments with a melee only version of Genji, melee only Doomfist simply was too difficult to balance around the other heroes so they added the shotgun knuckles that he posses in his final iteration.
How do you feel about Doomfist’s beginnings? Would you have liked to see him as another Tank rather than the DPS role her currently fills? Excited to play him in competitive? Let us know in the comments section.
Astervoid 2000 is a totally awesome and difficult throwback to the old days of arcade cabinet multiplayer space shoot em ups. It wouldn’t be unfair if your mind went straight to Bizarre Creations (RIP) 2005 smash hit, Geometry Wars or the 1980s Asteroid games that inspired it after seeing Astervoid 2000 in action.
Right off the bat, I want to say this game has a really awesome soundtrack that sticks to the genre’s roots of being sort of remixed electronic soundtracks reminiscent of the golden days of video arcades during the 80s and 90s. The soundtrack still manages to provide a fresh coat of paint for a more grown up audience the game encourages you right from the get-go to gather some friends up and play this on your big screen tv while having fun. I do love what the developers did with their licensed music – they put the name of the artist and track at the beginning of a stage. I think that not only shows respect for the work the band or individual put into making that track, it also helps spread recognition for their artists and even can help out both the artists and the players connect through channels that aren’t Astervoid 2000.
The movement of your little fighter of your choice is definitely more designed for a game controller than a keyboard and mouse but it is pretty responsive all in all. I do however have a few complaints about the controls- while they are definitely responsive they can also feel too loose as if the slightest tap may send your little space ship hurtling into an asteroid, a mine, an enemy ship. While fun and entertaining and giving you the choice of your little-pixelated ship (which may I add reminds me A LOT of an old flash game I used to play. Gods help me if I remember the name of it) there’s not much real long term gameplay in this title.
One thing I do love and did make me smile and keeps having me come back for “one more round” is the added benefit of a global leaderboard fight to get the high score and see your name up there with others who have fought so hard to get where you are, who may have worn down the analogue sticks on their controllers or battled through carpel tunnel and no sleep to get where you are now (
As much as I love to peel back the layers upon layers of modern videogames, and take a look at its roots and the origins of how the genre started – I can’t really say much that everyone else has already stated. Astervoid 2000 sure does owe itself to some of the very first videogames ever developed and this long lasting influence shows. It is fast-paced, easy to pick up and to learn and still will keep you coming back for more. I do also love how the game offers about 8 difficult but worthwhile achievements to get. In closing, this game is a game that anyone of any age can pick up, play and enjoy. I’m not sure if this could help but if anyone out there can use a joystick to play it let me know if the controls feel a bit tighter as I feel a joystick may offer tighter more precise control than what a PC enabled controller may offer.
A copy of Astervoids2000 was provided by the developer for our consideration.
After teasing the existence of the third Doomfist since the original cinematic reveal trailer back in 2014, one of the leaders of Talon has finally come to the world of Overwatch in playable form. Today’s reveal comes alongside the release of a developer update featuring game Director Jeff Kaplan, an animated anime short featuring Overwatch Vs. Doomfist and the availability of the mighty fisted fighter on the Public Test Region!
Let’s get the bad news for dedicated followers of Overwatch out of the way – for whatever reason (be it character related, overall direction, perhaps they never considered him for the role) – Terry Crews does not worse Doomfist. Blizzard chose to go with the talent of Sahr Ngaujah – who is known for roles in 2007’s The Signal & Stomp The Yard, as well as last year’s Money Monster.
Jeff Kaplan outlines Doomfist’s key abilities, including his colossus of an ultimate, and goes on to explain that Doomfist is designed as a front line brawler who excels at taking on one or two enemy heroes. He is able to launch heroes into the ground and any time Doomfist gets some air he can slam down dealing damage. Players who are successful at mitigating damage and dealing blows will be rewarded with a temporary shield, extending their survivability, thanks to Doomfist’s passive trait.
Jeff Kaplan outlines Doomfist’s key abilities, including his colossus of an ultimate, and goes on to explain that Doomfist is designed as a front line brawler who excels at taking on one or two enemy heroes. He is able to launch heroes into the ground and any time Doomfist gets some air he can slam down dealing damage. Players who are successful at mitigating damage and dealing blows will be rewarded with a temporary shield, extending their survivability, thanks to Doomfist’s passive trait.
Here are Doomfist’s abilities:
Hand Cannon – Fires short ranged projectile from the knuckles of his smaller hand. Ammunition is automatically regenerated over time.
Seismic Slam – Doomfist leaps forward into the air and smashes down to the ground affecting any foes below him.
Rising Uppercut – Launches enemies that are in front of Doomfist into the air.’
Rocket Punch – A powerful charge forward that completes with a massive blow from Doomfist’s mechanical arm.
Meteor Strike (Ultimate) – Leap into the sky and then come crashing down to deal damage and stun opponents.
The Best Defense (Passive – Gain a temporary shield when dealing ability damage to opponents.
If you are a fan of Blizzard’s origin shorts – such as The Last Bastion or Infiltration (Sombra) then be prepared for a massive treat – OVERWATCH IN ANIME!!! – poor Tracer gets absolutely clobbered by our newest villain however.
So what do you think of Doomfist and his almost fighting game-like ability to send opponents flying upwards and then crashing them into the ground? For me, it brought back memories of infinite air combos from Magneto in MVC2 and I couldn’t help but be reminded of Sentinel after hearing that one of his abilities was called “Rocket Punch”. If you want to have a go as Doomfist he is currently available on PTR, no word yet on when we can expect a release on the non-test version but this usually happens within a week or two.
Great job Blizzard, thanks for not dragging this reveal out for months!
Zenimax Online Studios will launch a log-in campaign for The Elder Scrolls Online that includes bonuses for both existing subscribers and users who chose to play without a recurring monthly free. Starting tomorrow at 7 AM PST non-subscribers can gain access to a 5-day trial that will give them all of the benefits of the ESO + subscription. Current ESO+ subscribers will be given 1 free Dwarven loot box (valued at approximately $5 USD per) for each of the five days of the promotion, provided that they sign into the game. ESO’s log-in campaign will come to a close on July 10th at 7 AM PST.
Here is a rundown of the benefits of ESO+, which is available for a number of different price points depending on the # of months purchased in advance:
Full access to all DLC game packs, including Imperial City, Orsinium, Thieves Guild, Dark Brotherhood, and Shadows of the Hist – that’s a bunch of new zones, hours and hours of new quests, additional dungeons, and more!
1,500 Crowns per month to spend on the in-game store (paid members only – the Free Trial will not reward 1,500 Crowns)
Unlimited storage for crafting materials
Double bank space for your account
A 10% increase to Experience and Gold acquisition, Crafting Inspiration, and Trait Research
Double Furnishings and Collectibles space in player housing
Exclusive ability to dye costumes
Dwarven Crown Crates contain a number of exclusive items such as themed costumes, bonus experience scrolls, riding training scrolls, crafting boost and of course the ever coveted epically rare mounts. ESO’s Crates are much more expensive than other buy to play (B2P) games – CS GO’s crates are given out as rare round rewards for free put require keys that sell for as little as $2.50 USD on the community market. Overwatch also charges for additional loot boxes starting at $0.99 USD per or earned for free by playing the game and earning levels.
As an avid player of The Elder Scrolls Online I think the ESO+ log-in campaign is an excellent idea. ESO’s base game contains access to 10 provinces, multiple guilds and almost 1,500 fully voiced quests that could keep players entertained for hundreds of hours – there is a lot of content to be had. That being said ESO+ provides access to the add-on DLC that adds Elder Scrolls staples like the thieves guild, the Imperial City and a fully PVE focused questing zone. ESO is perhaps one of the best deals around in terms of dollars per hour of content – check out my full review if you’d like to hear more of my thoughts on the base game.
It has been a week since the launch of Stormblood, the latest expansion for Final Fantasy XIV and I thought it would be a perfect time to share some updated impressions now that I am several hours further into the expansion’s narrative. Unlike my last impressions entry, this one is not free of spoilers, be forewarned that ahead of this paragraph are bullet points that may contain story, quest and NPC related spoilers.
If At First You Don’t Succeed, Try and Try Again
Throughout the first four levels of the campaign (60 – 63) the Warrior of Light & Co. has had their share of failures and setbacks assisting the resistance. As Lyse, The Warrior of Light, and Aliase enter the occupied lands of Gyr Abania they are not treated with the hospitality that House Fortemps showed the party in 2015’s Heavensward. Instead, the people of Ala Mhigo are hesitant to work alongside the heroes, for a wide variety of reasons. Some of these reasons are macro-focused (such as the Eorzean Alliances thus far refusing military involvement against the occupying Garleans), and some are on a more local level (the bloodbath that took place at Baelsar’s Wall didn’t leave anyone that could help). It’s going to take a lot more than small favors, fetch quests and heartfelt speeches to rally the hearts of a population that has been trampled by oppression for decades, one that would be risking the superior numbers of the Garlean forces coming down on them even harder should another organized resistance fail.
Residents of Gyr Abania despise the empire, and the tyranny it has thrust upon them but it is understandable that they refuse the help of our players, this is not just one quest NPC for the Warrior of Light to fight – this revolution belongs to the hearts of the people of Gyr Abania. All of this is a lot deeper than the political fare found within the 2.X and 3.X series of patches where the leaders of the Alliance stand around the groves of Gradania, talk and then nothing really changes.
The Towering City of Kugane
The bloodbath at Rhalgar’s Reach complicates things even further, after rallying the survivors of the previous revolutions and standing alongside both the eager and formerly unconvinced the people as well as members of the player’s party take a literal beating. Efforts are then turned towards the on-going resistance in the Far Eastern lands of Othard.
It is here in Othard that we are introduced to the second major city, Kugane, a large trading hub and the only port open to outsiders. Like Gyr Abania the residents of Othard are under Imperial rule and the flow of people, good and information coming in and out of Othard is tightly controlled. Right from the outset it is clear that the political climate and overall atmosphere of Kugane does not set the expectation for whatever other areas the continent of Othard has in store for us. The party must keep a low profile to avoid the Empire’s attention, this means that direct action against Imperial forces is off the table for the time being and using a corporate headquarters just down the road from the Garlean Empire will have to suffice. Outsiders are known by the label of “Ijin” (an obvious parallel to the Japanese concept of “Gaijin”) but the Ijin concept stretches far beyond societal labels, with the immediate tangible ramification of the Ijin label being a separate housing district for outsiders. From a gameplay perspective, Kugane’s large red bridges and absolutely stunning architecture are home to the usual suspects – a market board, a materia handler, an aetherite and several NPC vendors. Curiously there are two things that make Kugane distinct from other major quest hubs in XIV – the lack of any Job or Crafting guilds and the fact that none of Kugane’s side-quests involve combat in any way.
Fans of the survival genre have a lot of choices when it comes to meeting their needs, and I’m not just talking about filling the stamina, health and water gauges either. Hellion, a sci-fi themed space survival title recently released their first major update alongside a 20% discount during the Steam Summer Sale.
Here is a rundown of what is included in the 0.2 version update:
Big work on optimization and stability
Improved navigation and flight systems
Survival gameplay mechanics enhanced and improved
Content
Loot distribution system and zones (civilian, industrial and military zone)
Security system (authorization, locking/unlocking system and defense turrets)
Ship and station customization (ship and station naming and interior design)
Doomed outposts as world events
Female character
New weapons
A lot of new items and inventory changes
Basic tutorial and glossary (learn to play and find out what you can find in Hellion)
Hellion takes players into 23rd century – a distant solar system far away from earth to be precise. The player’s avatar was part of a 100-year mission to populate this distant solar system aboard one of the first colonization system. During transport, something went horribly wrong, with the inhabitants of the colony waking up decades away from their intended destination and any sort of assistance. Take control of your fighter, scan down enemies, engage in combat, salvage and upgrade your ship to survive another day. All of the core mechanics for survival are already in-place in Hellion Version 0.2 – and if you’re intrigued, the game is available for $19.99 on the Steam Store.
The game’s developer Zero Gravity provided Broken Joysticks with a Steam code for Hellion and we will bring you impressions later this month.
Gunplay and the overall feel of the variety of weapons in the original Destiny was one of the highlights of an addictive if otherwise flawed title. Perhaps then it is a little perplexing that Destiny 2 PC Project Lead, Mark Noseworthy, spoke with Finder.com.au about the joint decision between Bungie and Vicarious Vision to remove recoil from the upcoming PC port of Destiny 2. His reasoning included that aiming a weapon with recoil just wouldn’t feel right if the player’s mouse was moving without physical input.
Here’s the full quote from Noseworthy:
“Yeah, we’ve thought about that quite a bit. Ultimately, we have one design for the game. And so, if you’re playing the Raid on PC or you’re playing it on PlayStation [4], it’s the same Raid. It’s the same experience. And we’re going to try and keep them as similar as possible because hopefully, we want this to be the best experience. We may look in a few places where weapons need to be handled differently, and we’ll treat them slightly differently.
For instance, there’s no recoil on guns on PC because recoil on the controller feels really good. ‘I’m firing, I’m firing, I’m firing, oh, I’m losing control of my gun a little bit.’ That feels great, especially with magnetism and all the magic in the controller that makes you feel it. With a mouse and keyboard, you don’t want the mouse moving without you moving it, so recoil doesn’t feel good, so there is no recoil on PC.
There are a couple of key ways we’re going to try and change it, make it so it feels native to that platform because we want people to feel like Destiny 2 is built for PC”
All of this seems a little odd considering PC first person shooters have featured recoil on weapons for decades. Half-Life 2’s shotgun would firmly jutter into the air after taking a shot at the Combine and DoomGuy’s iconic BFG 9000 could recoil back with enough strength to take someone’s arm off after unleashing one of its’ megaton blasts on hell spawn. Even games like the more recent Call of Duty titles have taken recoil in an RPG direction – giving players the ability to reduce and control precise amounts of recoil depending on the modifications equipped to the weapon or perks that they have active.
From Noseworthy’s comment, it seems that the console and PC versions of Destiny 2 – in terms of content – will be as alike as possible, if not downright identical. Using a keyboard & mouse is widely seen as more precise than even the most sensitive controller, so I have to wonder if the removal of recoil in the PC version (if this does indeed stay as it is currently is when the game ships this October) will make Destiny 2 PC feel like a different game when compared to the console versions.
Twitch & Amazon are bringing yet another AAA freebie with the announcement of special Golden Loot Boxes for Blizzard’s Overwatch. Every few weeks Twitch releases a brand new free loot for Twitch / Amazon subscribers, usually items and boosters for free to play titles.
Existing Twitch Prime members can snag a one-time use code for Battle.net which will add a single golden Loot box to their Overwatch game. golden boxes are guaranteed to contain at least one legendary, and this is the first time that these particular boxes have been offered. This isn’t the end of the Blizzard X Twitch promotion either – Prime members will receive a code for 5 free standard loot boxes sometime in August and another 5 standard boxes this coming October (just in time for Junkenstien perhaps?)
The announcement page for this promotion also teases more free loot for Heroes of the Storm and Hearthstone coming in the future.
Want to see what opening a golden loot box looks like? We’ve got you covered:
The latest Final Fantasy XIV expansion, Stormblood has been in early access for the past 72 hours and despite constant disconnects, server crashes and long queues I’ve played through the first story arc until level 62. Here is a point by point recount of my experience with the game.
Thoughts of Level 60 – 70 Bard Changes
Bards are now a lot more mobile thanks to the removal of “casting times” during the usage of Wander’s Minuet. The mobility is certainly welcome but I was used to the split second timing of waiting for the cast time and then moving to avoid AOEs. Not having cast time takes away from a damage bonus we had previously while Wander’s was up and active.
Changes to Bard’s active songs are a welcomed addition. I thought it would be difficult to manage the critical strike bonus and additional effects of Wander’s Minuet, Mage’s Ballad and Army’s Paean. Surprisingly I find myself cycling from song to song rather naturally and the new rotation was starting to form muscle memory within the first hour or two.
Pitch Perfect – the flashy new ability linked to Wander’s is probably my absolute favorite of the three changed songs. It is so satisfying to see the bright flash of light that comes with having three Pitch Perfect Charges.
Having a “Job Gauge” makes managing procs and other timed abilities a lot easier to handle – I had feared it would have added additional “visual clutter” to the layout.
Thoughts of New Zones & Story
After seeing three different areas of Gyr Abania, it is very clear that we aren’t in for hours and hours of simple dry desert. Instead, Gyr Abania is full of lush vegetation alongside running oasis and rivers. When your character enters the settlement of Rhelgar’s Reach giant tents, several NPCs and a large statue measuring in the 100s of feet tall greet you.
The resistance settlements feel alive, as do the members of the resistance I’ve met thus far. For sure the stand out for me – without giving spoilers would have to be M’Naago.
I can’t wait for my Bard, Reka Ai’a to help out the resistance and experience the tale that Final Fantasy XIV: Stormblood has to offer. I’m intentionally avoiding ANY spoilers since the game is in Early Access and the general release date is tomorrow. My full thoughts will be shared throughout the next week or so.
Server Instability
Stormblood has had a number of high-profile hiccups during Early Access. Throughout the first 24 hours or so the game’s “instance servers” which handle Party Finder, Duty Finder and some customized quests for Main Story crashed under the intense load. This meant that even if you got access to the game, you were stuck behind a bottleneck of players spam clicking to get into one of the two instanced early story sections that were required to continue.
Square Enix has issued multiple statements and conducted emergency maintenance more than once on the North American and European data centers to address these issues. For the most part, the quest related bottlenecks and instance server crashes appear to be a thing of the past.
Login times on the most crowded servers, including my home – Balmung, can take up to two and a half hours to complete. For most people this would probably be a deal killer – but I’ve struggled through the wait times thanks to Netflix and other games. So far Stormblood has delivered a positive story experience that is well worth the wait. At the peak, I’ve seen queues up to 4500 people – with 100 or so entering every 5 minutes. It doesn’t help that some players are abusing a logout glitch that keeps their player active on the server for an infinite amount of time without performing any action. This has lead to characters idling in town, taking up valuable slots, while their owners sleep or do other things.
What’s Next?
Reka Ai’a is on her way to the Far East and the lands of Doma, where she will meet up with the Ninja Yugiri. I’m looking forward to where the story will take her, I also look forward to sharing my specific thoughts on Main Story Quest Events and Dungeons after Stormblood releases on PS4 and PC tomorrow.
Here’s hoping tomorrow’s full release doesn’t make the queue times on Balmung even worse. I wouldn’t want to have to watch the entire LOTR trilogy before continuing my journey.
