Well, it was bound to happen. Massive space sim exploration game No Mans Sky, which some people have been waiting for since 2013, has been pushed back again. Kotaku first reported that the games date had been removed from promotional media, then several other sources, now its been confirmed via images from Game Stop.
The coming soon sticker over the old release date
Show of hands who is surprised here? No one? Thought so the studio behind No Mans Sky is TINY, like indie style tiny, but they are working to produce a game whose scale is basically unprecedented in gaming. The game has been hyped since it was revealed back in 2013, seeing extensive coverage everywhere from the Stephen Colbert show to The New Yorker. As of just a few days ago the release was supposed to be June, but now it seems that’s not going to happen. I will continue to hope that this is a delay for polish and not any of the other many reasons it could be. I never mind when a developer says, our game its not quite ready, so we need some time, what I do mind is when politics pushes a game back.
Ubisoft and developer Massive rolled out The Division‘s latest major patch – Version 1.2 – a few days ago and with users finally settling in and logging on, it seems that there are more than a few problems with this latest update. Some bugs appear to be minor and can be fixed with a simple log out/log in while others have made entire characters inaccessible.
One of the most pressing glitches for players who are at the forefront of new content is the inability to sometimes complete matching making for the new incursion (The Division’s version of raids). Players will successfully join together but as soon as the matchmaking process finishes and players begin to spawn others appear to vanish as soon as they enter the mission area.
Here is how AdrianwithaW described this particular glitch on Reddit:
Another problem that one poster has come across is the inability to use skills after using them a number of times during the same encounter. This is actually a problem that has existed in the game since launch and some players have had success mitigating it by cycling through their weapons a couple of times but there is confirmed 100% solution to this particular bug.
Here is a recent description of the inability to use skills bug:
Fan reaction to this latest patch hasn’t been entirely negative. Some fans have praised Massive for the S&D and HVT missions, which allow high level agents to enter areas that they explored during the opening levels of their playing career. The high level Dark Zone areas – DZ25 & 26 – have also received praise from high level players stating that they feel the Dark Zone is finally full of tension and reward, rather than hackers.
Here are magicalmethods in-depth impressions of the latest patch:
The Division Update 1.2 adds a brand new incursion called Clear Sky that is aimed at players who are at least level 30 and is balanced towards a team of 4 people. The hard mode version of Clear Sky was released yesterday, but you’d be hardpressed to know that with all the bug reports floating around the community. This latest update also adds four new gear sets for high level players – Final Measures, Hunter’s Faith, Lone Star and Predator’s Mask. A new category of missions is also added for players who have reached max level and completed all encounters and side missions in a given area – Search & Destroy missions. You can read the exhaustive changes than The Division 1.2 introduces in the lengthy official patch notes.
What do you think about 1.2 and some of the problems agents are facing? Let us know in the comments section.
Yesterday Sony revealed brand new details for its upcoming racer Gran Turismo Sport including a new trailer, a release date and new gameplay features.
Polyphony Digital is positioning the game for a North American launch on November 15th – the same day that Japan will get the racing title. Fans in the United Kingdom will have to wait a few more days, with Gran Turismo Sport launching on November 18th 2016.
In terms of new features a number of new details been announced for Sport including the presence of weather & damage effects, a timeline experience for events, a photo mode currently called “scrapes” as well as a companion app. Developers are targeting the game to support full 1080p / 60FPS output in the final build and the final game will include 130 “super premium cars” with 19 locations (totalling 27 track variants).
When Gran Turismo Sport was announced last Fall Sony also announced that the game would have an open beta. Unfortunately this is no longer the case, as completing the beta would have added an extra three months to the development time – pushing GT Sport into 2017.
Speaking about the cancellation of the beta series creator Kazunori Yamauchi said:
“Just because it’s beta we can’t just throw it out there. It’s required that in order to do an open beta we have to create a proper master for it, and considering the release timing that we announced, we decided that we just don’t have enough time to do two gold masters for the game. By omitting that it saves us about three months of time.”
Gran Turismo Sport is currently available for pre-order on the PlayStation Network for $59.99 CDN. By preodering the game digitally owners are given the following perks upon release:
The 3-Car Pack includes:
– Peugeot 908 HDi FAP
– Ford Mustang Gr.B Rally Car
– Toyota FT-1 Vision GT Gr.3
I Want to be Human is a new game from the indie developer Sinclair Strange, over in the UK. It is a run’n’gun 2D platformer with tight jumping puzzles and Super Meat Boy like wall climbing. The game also features a soundtrack from Jimmy Urine, a member of Mindless Self Indulgence and a very unique visual aesthetic with a comic book style and featuring only white, black and red coloring. Out on Windows via Steam at the moment, with major console releases expected as well.
Let’s start with the positives for this game, the joypad controls and movement are tight and easy to pick up, enemies are varied and the electronic punk soundtrack is a joy. The intro song is great, and worth listening to on its own. There’s a lot to recommend this game on those merits. I enjoyed that the main character is a vampire wearing her now bat-boyfriend as a hat. It reminded me of Banjo Kazooie in a good way. There are plenty of levels, giant bad-ass bosses and lots of challenges and collectibles. All that said, the game suffers from common issues of a tiny development team.
To me, the most frustrating issue is frame rate. On Windows 7, with a GTX960 card, I had constant stuttering. Even the level selection area had a lot ton of it, and it seemed to be connected to certain in-game effects as some levels barely stuttered. My system is a solid mid-range gaming PC, and far more intense 2D and not games have given me no trouble at high quality settings. This is something that can hopefully be resolved with some bug fixing and performance patching. I do hope the developer sees that through, but it’s frustrating that these bugs made it through development without being caught.
This should not cause stuttering
There are design choices that were made that I don’t think a larger team would have let through development. For starters, the color palette. The game uses a few shades each of red, white and black. That’s it. I think the intention is to give it a penciled, kids comic book like feel and in that regard it succeeds. The problem is in actual game play. Telling everything apart is difficult at times, which blotch of grays of reds are enemies and which are the level itself? The limited palette, heavy gore and constant effects combine to make screen mush. Even with this, it was easy enough to get through any level with a C on the first try (challenge levels excepted). How to improve my score was never made clear after any attempt, though.
Somewhere, I’m sure, a 9-year-old is giggling
A further issue is the writing. If I were still a kid living in the nineties, I probably would have found it cool or edgy. Sort of like a low quality Invader Zim. As someone over the age of 16, though it comes across as sophomoric, dull and uninventive. Not only that, but there are many basic spelling mistakes littered throughout. Since this is an action oriented platformer, it could have been excused, but there is such constant dialogue and it gets right over parts of the screen I need to see to play. Honestly, I’d prefer the game if it simply didn’t have the running commentary and dialogue between you and your bat boyfriend. The writing is there though, and pretty constant as you mow through enemies. Ironically, the game likes to try and make fun of indie games and the people who enjoy them while falling into almost every trope it mocks. If it were more self-effacing it would be funny, but it’s not. The low quality of the writing makes the jabs at other indie games sad, like you’re trying to piss off your customers.
Not with that spelling you aren’t
This game had a lot of potential for me. I like almost every category it fits in: comics, music, pixel art, punk music, and platformers. I had really hoped to enjoy this game, but simply couldn’t. Some parts of it would be easy enough to iron out. I do hope the poor spelling and random stuttering are worked out before long. The other issues are just too much a part of the game itself to ever be resolved. I respect that the developer stuck with their choices, but it comes out as mush. Graphics that stutter and run together, writing that comes across as insecure for the games’ own genre, and seemingly inconsequential level scoring. All of this leads to me not being able to recommend this game.
Indie horror sensation Five Nights At Freddy’s could get a remake on current generation consoles according to the game’s developer, Scott Cawthon. According to Scott he is already in talks with “a few companies” about fully remaking the games to take advantage of the 8th generation of consoles.
The original Five Nights At Freddy’s and its’ sequels were developed in ClickTeam Fusions 2.5 – an visual orientated game development suite that eschews traditional scripting languages like C++ or C# for an easy to understand “Event Editor” grid system. While Fusion 2.5 is a very versatile creation suite that supports a number of platforms – and version 3.0 looks even more promising – it currently does not support major games consoles, making a full remake necessary.
FNAF and its spin-offs became almost overnight sensations after the first game’s massive success on YouTube in 2014. The player takes the role of a night watchmen during the 12 AM – 6AM security shift at Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza, a Chucky E Cheese analogue. Developer Scott Cawthron has developed 2 direct sequels to the original game and one less than praised attempt to turn the series into an RPG.
The latest hero to enter the combat arena in Paragon is GRIM.EXE a fully functional battle robot that comes with his own infomercial. Using an unlimited energy source that powers a large pulse canon GRIM.EXE is able to unleash devastating blasts at medium range, shield himself using another one of his abilities and knockback opponents with another. His ultimate – a “Gyro Targeted Force Orb” – can pass through solid objects and home in on a single target, dealing them their final blow.
GRIM.EXE (and the little imp who issues him commands) will be coming for free to the PlayStation 4 and PC versions of Paragon on May 10th. Check out the chuckle worthy faux infomercial in the embedded player below. If you’ve never played Paragon before make sure to read our in-depth impressions before jumping in, Paragon is currently available as part of a $20 buy-in for access to the “pre-alpha” season.
Playrise Digital, the developers behind the brand new indie release Table Top Racing: World Tour have released their game for free as part of this month’s PlayStation Plus line- up on PS4. Alongside Table Top Racing Playrise has also made the game’s first optional DLC add-on, “The Super Charger Pack”, available for $8.49 USD. The Super Charger Pack adds one new track 4 ultra cool cars 3 brand new circuits and 16 additional special events.
Table Top: World Tour is the brain child of Nick Burcombe, one of the co-creators of the WipeOut franchise. Originally released as an indie mobile title, Table Top: World Racing features micro sized vehicular combat with 12 cars and 24 tracks included in the base game.
For a complete list of May’s PlayStation Plus line-up make sure to check out our previous coverage. If Table Top Racers fills your need for vehicular mayhem that series like Twisted Metal and Vigilante 8 have left in your heart, let us know in the comments section.
Today is May 4th, otherwise known as Star Wars Day – an officially recognized day of celebration for a certain particular science fiction franchise set in a galaxy far far away. Traveler’s Tales and Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment have released a brand new trailer for Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens that reveals new details about levels and the details of events set between Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens.
Adventure Mode will allow players to experience six tales that have gone unexplored until now. After watching TFA did you wonder how Han Solo & Chewbacca got a hold of the Rathtars? Or just how C-3PO got that Big Boss looking red arm? Then look no further than the Adventures Mode for these answers and more!
According to WBIE’s press-release here is a list of all 6 included adventures:
Rathtar Hunting – Follows Han Solo and Chewbacca’s voyage to capture the ravenous Rathtars.
Lor San Tekka’s Return – Uncovers secrets behind Lor San Tekka’s journey to the Jakku Village.
Poe to the Rescue – Details Poe Dameron’s daring rescue mission to save Admiral Ackbar.
Crimson Corsair– Explores how the notorious Outer Rim pirate, the Crimson Corsair, foiled the plans of the First Order.
Trouble Over Taul– Follows the events leading up C-3PO’s acquisition of his new red arm.
Ottegan Assault– Reveals a puzzle piece to how the Resistance and the First Order find Lor San Tekka on Jakku.
Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens features several actors from TFA reprising their roles for the LEGO game adaptation. Daisy Ridley returns as Rey, Adam Driver reprises his role as Kylo Ren, veteran princess and hair bun wearer Carrie Fischer makes a comeback as Leia Organa and Harrison Ford shoots first as the renowned bounty hunter Han Solo. There are many other actors from TFA and original trilogy who make appearances in Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens as well!
Check out the new trailer below, the full game will be released on June 28th 2016.
Bethesda‘s Dishonored II will be dropping on November 11th 2016 according to an image that appeared on the German branch of the publisher’s website. It is unknown if this post was made live by mistake but no English version of the post has yet to appear. The full title of the game appears to be Dishonored 2: Legacy of the Mask” if this German post is accurate.
In part (according to google translate) the post reads:
“Take what belongs to you! Under the slogan starts on November 11th worldwide “Dishonored 2: The Legacy of the Mask”, the successor of Arkane Studios’ critically acclaimed first-person action game on PS4, Xbox One and PC.”
Dishonored II was originally revealed at E3 2015 by Arkane Studios, a re-mastered version of the original Dishonored was released on PS4 and Xbox One last Fall.
Naughty Dog is well known for their work on last generations huge PlayStation exclusive franchises Uncharted and The Last of Us, but before they took on the task of redefining third person combat the studio was well known for a PlayStation One exclusive staring a certain marsupial.
Crash Bandicoot put both the PlayStation brand and Naughty Dog on the map back in the early 90s. With its fast 3D platforming action and an ‘tude only the mid 90s could produce, the series went on to produce three successful games on the original PlayStation before Sony’s exclusivity deal with Vivendi Universal ended in 2000.
Tucked away in Uncharted 4 – according to one image that originated on Twitter – purports to show a character holding a jewel case for Crash Bandicoot for the PlayStation 1. Could this mean that Sony is teasing the return of the franchise to Naughty Dog? Sony has been not so subtly through some of their official twitter accounts for some time.
Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End is a PlayStation 4 exclusive and is scheduled for release on May 10th.
Aksys Games, tri-Ace and Spike Chunsoft announced today that Exist Archive: The Other Side of the Sky will release on October 18th physically and digitally in North America for the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita.
tri-Ace, architects of the JRPG series Star Ocean and Valkyrie Profile celebrate 20 years of RPG mastery with Exist Archive: The Other Side of the Sky.
The game is an expansive RPG adventure that plunges the player into a mysterious realm. You’ll brandish godlike powers in intense combo based battles with unspeakable horrors and vicious bosses! Traverse sprawling 2D dungeons as you scour the realm for loot, monsters and answers to the mysterious Underworld.
During PAX East Fionna and I had a chance to check out Croixleur Sigma on the show floor at the indie megabooth. This stylized anime infused action game includes a number of different modes and during the show I got the chance to play a few solid minutes while talking with some of the developer’s PR reps.
From what I played the survival mode has your character facing off against waves of enemies, stringing along combos builds your character’s score and is the key to making progress in the survival mode. Each face button on the PlayStation four controller corresponds with a different weapon that I was able to assign prior to the beginning of survival mode.
The steam version was released in 2014 and features 2 playable characters, 5 game modes and twenty different weapons. More information on the Windows PC version is available here.
Croixleur Sigma is available for PlayStation on the PlayStation Network. We’ll hopefully have more on this game in the coming weeks.
RockSteady’s original two Batman Arkham games will be re-released in a new Batman Arkham HD Collection for the PS4 and Xbox One according to a GameStop employee. The collection will reportedly include 2009’s Batman: Arkham Asylum and 2011’s Batman: Arkham City with graphical improvements and optimization for both platforms. It will also include all of the previously released DLC for both titles as well. It will be available for pre-order later today with a release date set for June 10th.
I reviewed RockSteady‘s last game, Batman: Arkham Knight on PS4 last summer. Here is what I had to say on that game:
“At the end of the day Batman: Arkham Knight is a solid open world title that packs in a number of different side activities and main story missions that will keep players engaged for many hours. The larger open world environments are a welcomed change of pace for the Arkham series but arbitrary gating of new territory tied to story missions is something that I had hoped Arkham Knight wouldn’t have continued. The writing in Arkham Knight is also problematic in how it handles its female characters and falling clearly into trope territory while leaving Batman as an un-relatable avatar that exists solely to facilitate the game’s excellent combat.”
Previously released DLC for Arkham City included: Several skins for batman packaged as a Skin Pack, an optional Challenge Room pack that included The Bat Cave and Joker’s Carnival and a playable NightWing pack that included a new playabale character and challenge maps.
Previously released DLC for Arkham Asylum included: Several challenge maps – Dem Bones, Crime Alley, Heart of Darkness, Hothouse Prey and the previously PS4 / OSX exclusive The Joker Challenge Map collection.
The latest patch for Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain adds a brand new online survival mode that can be played on all platforms. Somewhat buried in the official patch notes is mention that the new Survival Mode is available on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC – players must use a consumable item called “survival tickets” to access this new mode. Each player is given 10 survival tickets per weeks during weekly maintenance and the free tickets do not rollover from week to week. By purchasing the “Cloaked in Silence” expansion DLC for $4 players can try out survival mode as much as they’d like – in addition to the new maps & Quiet skin.
[SURVIVAL]
– New “SURVIVAL” mode has been added.
*You can play SURVIVAL even if you don’t have the EXPANSION PACK “CLOAKED IN SILENCE”, as long as you have a minimum of one (1) SURVIVAL TICKET.
*10 (non-stackable) SURVIVAL TICKETS are distributed during the regularly scheduled maintenance each week. SURVIVAL TICKETS do not carry over week upon week.
Sony announced via the PlayStation Blog this morning that the latest PlayStation 4 firmware, version 3.50 – code-name Musashi will be hitting console starting tomorrow. Firmware updates are usually a mundane thing that no one really thinks about but alongside the usual bug fixes & minor features is something major – the ability to use Remote Play on Windows PC / Mac. By using the official PS4 Remote Play app and configuring their PS4 users games can be played over either wireless or wired connections.
The official specs required for Remote Play on PC aren’t really that demanding, although to be honest the lack of support for Windows 7 is a little baffling considering that it currently has a 51% market share. Sony’s official Remote Play app won’t work on the original version of Windows 8 either, if you happen to be running that for some reason.Read More
