From a bygone era that nearly broke Sega, Shenmue III rose from the ashes to breathe life into a franchise that had one of the more dedicated followings among gaming communities online: once developer Ys Net and creator Yu Suzuki presented the unveiling of the Kickstarter project at E3, it sent ripples felt all over the gaming world. This was, to me, one of the larger announcements of the entire conference and, as such, was the center of a lot of controversy.
Now in it’s third month of development, Suzuki revealed on Shenmue III‘s Kickstarter page that most of the planning for the game has come into its final stages and it’s finally time to start making things real. He opened up about how planning for stages were going and how development for some of the core placeholders for the game were coming along but the big thing that everyone’s been salivating for are these screenshots:
Considering this is all very early work it’s hard to not get excited if you have played any of the previous Shenmue titles at all: they were perhaps the first foray into a truly open and alive world that lived and breathed much the same way the real world does. Of course, back then, this was a very expensive undertaking and if that was them going all out back then I can only imagine, thanks to these small tastes of what’s to come, what this could mean for this day and age.
Have you seen the trailer for the new Friday the 13th? I don’t mean the movie, which is due out next February from Paramount Pictures. I mean the game. Yes, there is a game on the way.
Like the 2009 film was kind of a modern retelling of the original 1980 film, this is also a modern video game retelling. Heck, the last Friday the 13th game was for the NES way back in 1989!
In a slight change of pace, Sony decided to give us PlayStation Plus users a chance to delve into some great indie titles for the PlayStation 4: Broken Age and Super Meat Boy, both games I have never given myself the chance to play. I find that, usually, the PlayStation Plus titles were merely alright – while they’re great by indie standards and stand the test of time, for some of them, they didn’t always hit home with me – and this was a welcome change.
Broken Age
Put together by Tim Schafer and the fine folks at Double Fine Productions, Broken Age is a tale of two teenagers who come from two drastically different worlds to eventually come together in a common battle to free their people from oppression. A point-and-click game reminiscent of Schafer’s old work and stuff like the old PC point-and-click adventure games from companies like Sierra, you take control of Vella and Shay in what appears, at first, to be two completely different adventures. It’s this variety and diversity of characters and motives that keeps a game like this fresh and interesting but the one part that kept me hanging on more than anything was the fact that the game’s script and direction was extremely mature without coming off as “gritty” or dark. This was one of the things I liked about games like this back in the 90s; the game respected your ability to learn and discover things about the world around you to solve its mysteries and puzzles. There was no hand-holding, there was no signs of the game doing anything but immersing you in the environment like a well-told storybook. While some of the whimsy and wonder that was present in games like those in gaming’s past is missing from Broken Age, it holds its interest in being extremely easy to relate to and intriguing without being heavy-handed or philosophical.
That being said, I thoroughly enjoyed the game. Considering I got the game for free through PlayStation Plus, this is one heck of a great deal and it’s one of those few times that I’m extremely happy I’m a member. It’s games like this that take me back and keep me in touch with my inner child.
Super Meat Boy
Yet another one of those games that was fostered on Newgrounds and got enough of a reputation that the next logical step was to take this game to new platforms: the result it Super Meat Boy. It has all the makings and trappings of a typical flash game that succeeds on a site like Newgrounds: light on premise, huge on user-friendliness, with enough to keep you playing and keep you succeeding. In case you haven’t heard much about the game you take the role of Meat Boy, whose girlfriend is kidnapped by a mad scientist baby and your missing is to rescue said girlfriend. This mission takes you across several different courses and stages with tons of bonuses along the way. While the gameplay is simple, a good majority of the courses aren’t; the difficulty scales slowly until the game, essentially, stops holding your hand altogether and unleashes hell on you.
I ought to say that I’m not much for this kind of time-trial style platforming where there’s almost zero room for error but for all the messes that AAA developers will stuff in your face that feign to be philosophical and meaningful, it’s nice to put that down in exchange for a light-hearted romp through rampant and colorful death. I get why a lot of people like the game and while I could get myself through a good portion of the courses I know that it just isn’t the type of game I’m terribly into, I would only be able to play so much at a time before the game frustrates the hell out of me but for the low price of free, it’s definitely worth spending some time with.
Whether they jumped on for a short time and hated it or loved it and stuck it through the entire beta phase, the game’s senior producer, Sigurlina Ingvarsdottir, revealed the the beta is officially the largest open beta in Electronic Arts history by accruing over nine million active users through the course of its tenure.
Considering that a lot of Star Wars franchise fans have been salivating for a Battlefront game for a very, very long time, now, this isn’t entirely surprising. What is surprising, however, is the mixed responses it’s gotten from those who have played. While there are reports that this game is one of the most anticipated of the last quarter of the year, after playing the beta, there seems to be some hesitation among some of the people I know that are playing the game, hoping, at the very least, that it will improve.
Star Wars: Battlefront is coming on November 17th of this year, putting it in direct competition with another titan of a franchise being release around the same time: Fallout 4, which is coming out a week earlier. The season pass, which will set you back fifty dollars, will give you access to all planned expansion content.
Dragon Age is another in a strong list of BioWare franchises that has a strong, loyal, and sometimes fierce following; when games in their franchises try to hit a massive audience outside of their core user base things often get kind of messy and, unfortunately, as a result, good standalone games and franchise entries get dragged through the dirt. Inquisition is one of those games and, in an effort to try and re-establish itself with that wider audience and show some loyalty to its core audience, BioWare releases a Game of the Year edition to give those who either haven’t played the game at all or haven’t engaged in any of the extra content that’s available for the game.
The Good, The Bad and The Ugly
Like most AAA role playing games, the first twenty minutes is almost purely exposition and introduction to the setting, the characters, and the gameplay: what you’re getting and what you’re introduced to is a blending of the previous titles in the franchise and looks to wrap everything up. Even if you’re a newcomer to the series, there’s not a noticeable detriment to coming into the franchise as you have options; you can either work with the default world state or you can experiment on Dragon Age Keep, a website that ties into your Origin account and allows you to mess around with world states, which is really cool. Due to circumstances out of my control, Dragon Age Keep allowed me to recreate the world state in saves I had used in previous titles.
Introduction to combat doesn’t happen without too much hand-holding and it’s done within the narrative so it doesn’t feel as though it creates too much of a interruption in the experience. The first bit of this game is exactly what I expected to see from a BioWare title.
In my humble opinion, they took everything that succeeded in both of the former titles in the franchise and blended them together to provide the framework that this game is built around. BioWare knows that if they have a vision they know how to bring it to life and that’s something they’ve done for as long as I’ve known them and their role playing games have been spot-on for this. Inquisition is absolutely no different in this as it provides an experience that feels just as great at being a game as it is a wonderfully presented narrative.
One of the largest things that stand out for this game is that it was made with two ideals in mind: broad appeal and taking advantage of current generation technology. It’s very clear that they’re trying to create a singular type of experience and if you’re a fan of the franchise like I am, this is exactly what you want. I came in with a certain set of expectations and I feel that Inquisition hit every one of them. I feel that one could dive in as any kind of player and feel that you could be immersed relatively quickly.
The graphical and audio presentation is extremely satisfying – on current generation consoles, the game looks, feels, and sounds marvelous. Voice acting is very well done and, surprisingly so, the lip sync is actually done pretty well, most times. There’s rarely any slowdown.
Its greatest strength, however, is also its greatest failings: I feel that the experience does not transfer over in the same way into previous generation’s systems. The appeal is so broad that, at times, it feels watered down. It’s clear to me that Inquisition was tailored for a very specific experience and everyone else that has any different demands from the game gets to suffer.
There are trivial issues that I could list off that are nothing more than just pet peeves but there are enough of them to note that I feel they should not be featured in the game the way that they have been: the worst of all is the removal of mana and healing magics. This means that, between rest stops and reload points, you’re limited to a certain number of healing potions and that is it. That’s creating a false sense of difficulty and that’s a terribly lazy design choice. In previous generation systems, there are a massive amount of pathfinding and collision detection bugs that can break the experience of traveling between locales. Story progression happens in spurts and the spots in between those spurts really only cater to those who greatly enjoy the lore of the franchise.
While this defines me, gameplay and story progression only rewards those who greatly enjoy both. If you feel that one or the two are lacking, it will taint the other experience. This game would be awesome if only it were way more refined, smooth, and immersive.Read More
Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain is now complete with the addition of its Metal Gear Online feature, the third of its kind in the franchise and it has never felt better. Like previous renditions, this version of MGO uses the engine of the game you have been playing alongside it for so long and turned the scenario on its head. You’re given a series of basic scenarios and it’s up to you to be the best damn infiltrator you can be.
Writers Note: This beta was reviewed using the PlayStation 4 copy of the game.
There was a time when I was actually pretty decent at FPS games: back when graphics on PC games weren’t as demanding so the variety of computers they worked on was greater, back when twitch shooting wasn’t the entire focus of gameplay, back when franchises like Rainbow Six focused on tactical play and thinking outside of the box. You see, I like FPS games when they demand a little more than being the quickest, most accurate trigger on the block. I like when FPS games require a lot of tactical thinking and even the most trigger-happy, balls-out shooter on the team can be taken down by preemptive thinking. Rainbow Six: Siege seems to be a kind of return to form for this franchise in that regard and for that, it makes me feel like the kind of FPS player that can actually grow and become more skillful as I play. That’s the kind of game I like.
We’ve got two PSN vouchers for the upcoming Call of Duty Black Ops III beta and we are giving them away to our readers. To celebrate the beta which beings tomorrow on PlayStation 4 we want to know some of our readers favorite COD moments – singleplayer or multiplayer.
Call of Duty: Black Ops III‘s beta allows players to try out 7 different playlists, the brand new specialists and the weapons paintshop. The beta contains 3 maps which Activision describes as:
Hunted: This big game hunting lodge is situated beneath a waterfall in the lush mountains of Ethiopia, where rugged terrain opens up to long sightlines and a stealthy underwater pathway.
Combine: Set in the remote Egyptian Sahara, this vertical farming and sustainability research facility plays fast and frenetic with tight interiors, an open middle and a dangerous flank path.
Evac: An abandoned emergency evacuation zone atop an overgrown rooftop in the middle of Singapore’s flooded quarantine zone.
Entering this contest is simple: Send an email to BrokenJoysticksDotnet[AT]Gmail.com with your favorite COD moment! We had a contact form previously but the server doesn’t seem to be handling it all that well 🙁
The Fine Print:
1. This contest will close at 6pm EST tomorrow afternoon (around the time the PlayStation store generally updates)
2. Entrants must be over the age of 18 as COD Black Ops III is a M Rated title
3. We may republish the screen names of winners and “favorite COD moment” text entries in a future article announcing the winners
4. This contest is only open to North American residents.
5. Winners will be selected via random number generator.
Sony has released a substantial update to the PlayStation 4’s firmware that adds a number of exciting options to Sony’s latest home console. Headlining the “Yukimura” update are a whole suite of accessibility options, the long awaiting ability to suspend games when entering rest mode and 60 FPS Remote Play on PS Vita!
During Sony’s PlayStation Experience keynote presentation Naughty Dog showed off the first gameplay demo for Uncharted 4: A Thiefs End. In this demo we see Nathan Drake climb and sneak his way through a lush jungle island. There are quite a few awesome mechanics at play – I’m not sure if they are scripted or contextual but they still impress – like when Drake uses a rope to swing across a gap and knock out an enemy right before grabbing the guys gun while in mid swing.
We know this demonstration was played in real-time on Sony’s stage because at one point the person playing fell through the game world! If you can stomach a groaning one liner or sarcastic remark approximately every minute I highly recommend checking out this trailer.
A Thief’s End is still early in development. We don’t have a solid release date yet for this PlayStation 4 exclusive but I’m sure we will see more of Nathan Drake at next year’s E3.
Remember when RockStar Games announced that Grand Theft Auto V would be coming to current generation consoles like the PlayStation 4 sometime soon? The studio revealed this week that the latest GTA will be making its way on to the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 on November 18th 2014 and will be available on Windows PC on January 27th 2015!
Will there be better graphics? Most definitely, but that is not the only improvement that RockStar is working on for GTA’s 8th generation debut. Multiplayer matches will now feature up to 30 players on PS4 & Xbox One, they’ve also added new vehicles, new weapons, new activities and enhanced damage / weather systems.
Did you take a trip to Los Santos when GTA V was released last September? If you didn’t, then the current-gen version sounds like the best way to experience the latest GTA. Check out several screenshots of GTA V for Xbox One / PS4 after the jump. We’ve also got the full press-release from RockStar games!
The next entry in the Mortal Kombat franchise has just been announced for the Xbox One, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Windows PC. Set for release in 2015 this cross-generation entry in the long running fighting franchise has a lot to live up to after the huge success of 2011’s Mortal Kombat.
A brief two minute debut trailer was released alongside the announcement of the game. Rival ninjas Scorpion and Sub-Zero battle it out in this two minute all out brawl, which of course finishes off with a brutal decapitation. Some mechanics from the 2011 game return including the brutal X-Ray attacks. In one of the absolute standout moments we see Sub-Zero use the environment to his advantage by swinging from a tree branch, delivering a swift kick to the face. Perhaps environments will play a larger role in Mortal Kombat X?
Check out the debut trailer after the jump, we’ll have more on the game as it become available.Read More
After a long wait the first huge Playstation 4 exclusive is here. A new entry in this innovative and fun franchise is welcomed to the next generation of consoles. So how does the game stand up? Is it more of the same? Does it continue to innovate? Well read on and find out.Read More
The Dark Knight swoops his way onto the brand new Xbox One & PlayStation 4 this Fall with the release of Batman: Arkham Knight. Billed as the final chapter in RockSteady’s long running Arkham series – following 2009’s Arkham Asylum and 2011’s Arkham City – this brand new title will finally allow players stop baddies while cruising through Gotham City in the bat-mobile. Prior games featured the signature car but Knight marks the first time that players will actually be able to get behind the wheel. Aside from the reveal of the lead platform we also know more about the game’s plot and mechanics.Read More
Sony has added a few more games to their PlayStation Plus Instant Game Collection, which will be available to donwload after today’s store update. One of the two new games will be PlayStation 4 title Outlast with PS3 game Metro: Last Light filling in the other slot. Also a few game discounts are also being dished out. Check out the list below.
Outlast (PS4)
Outlast Hell is an experiment you can’t survive in Outlast, a first-person survival horror game developed by veterans of some of the biggest game franchises in history. As investigative journalist Miles Upshur, explore Mount Massive Asylum and try to survive long enough to discover its terrible secret… if you dare.
Metro: Last Light (PS3)
Metro Last Light It is the year 2034. Beneath the ruins of post-apocalyptic Moscow, in the tunnels of the Metro, the remnants of mankind are besieged by deadly threats from outside – and within. Mutants stalk the catacombs beneath the desolate surface, and hunt amidst the poisoned skies above. But rather than stand united, the station-cities of the Metro are locked in a struggle for the ultimate power, a doomsday device from the military vaults of D6. A civil war is stirring that could wipe humanity from the face of the earth forever. As Artyom, burdened by guilt but driven by hope, you hold the key to our survival – the last light in our darkest hour…
