Tag Archive

Space Survival Game – Hellion – Gets First Major Update

Posted on June 27, 2017 by Rae Michelle Richards

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.

 

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Savage Lands Is Actually Pretty Neat

Posted on August 22, 2016 by Les Major

Savage Lands Campfire

As far as early access goes and something that was nearly given away on the base tier of a recent Humble Bundle, Savage Lands is actually a pretty fun experience. At first glance I just assumed it was a basic indie Elder Scrolls sort of game, but it actually falls more into the survival and crafting genre. Sure this early access experience is still a little rough around the edges, but it’s the basics that kind of work the best for it. Stepping out of the way of lunging skeletons, strafing around an enraged boar, firing that one last arrow that hits a deer yards away while you’re character is starving to death, there’s a lot to be said about the little things.

Savage Lands dumps you on the shore of a pretty rough island. The aforementioned skeletons are just one of the dangers you’ll encounter. Let alone starving, freezing to death, and other fun activities. Normally you’d prepare to explore and set off without a care in the world. Meanwhile in this title, you’re more concerned with getting set up at the start. On the plus side there is gear to discover nearby, places to begin turning into a home, and trees to cut down to keep a fire stoked to cook your meals. As the Humble Bundle theme stated, it’s more about survival.

In a way, that makes Savage Lands more of a medieval Lost In Blue rather than an Oblivion like adventure. You could just sit on the beach and watch the icebergs drift by, or you can get going and start establishing yourself in this harsh and savage land.

Things are still rough, and the odd time I’ve been caught up on a hillside or a doorway, but it’s something different. There is a multiplayer component as well, so if you’d rather wander the world with some companions, that’s an option too. I was happy just to see that there was a single player local mode. Still, it’s a fun experience if you’re just looking to take things slow, collect up your resources and enjoy the chilly wilderness. Especially if you picked up the bundle, be sure to actually give the game a go. It’s shaping up to be quite the neat adventure.

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Escape from Tarkov reveals first location for closed Alpha

Posted on July 21, 2016 by Fionna Schweit

So, if you have been following Escape from Tarkov at all, you know its been plagues with slowness, developer problems, and a severe lack of information. Well, Battlestate Games has released a new screenshot pack from its in-development title Escape from Tarkov. So, now you can look at how pretty it is. You know, because gameplay is less important than graphics.

Battlestate Games says the new screen shots are from the Alpha, presumably meaning that the game is at least in a partly finished state. The screen shots show the area “The Customs”.

In “The Customs” most of the abandoned or occupied places are guarded by bands of civilian Scavengers who took over most of the Tarkov when the conflict started. These ‘Scavs’ are desperate for loot and ruthless in protecting what they have managed to salvage.

eft_prealpha_interface_inventory_gear

The game features an extensive inventory system

Escape from where now?

Ill forgive you for not knowing that this game is coming up. Mostly because I also had no idea. It’s basically an atmospheric survival/shooter, very similar to the S.T.A.L.K.E.R series, only it’s also an MMO.

Escape from Tarkov is a hardcore story-driven MMO featuring elements of FPS and RPG. The events take place in the Russian city of Tarkov, which has been sealed of by roadblocks and sunk into the chaos of local warfare between private military companies. Escape from Tarkov’s Hazardous Environment Combat Simulator employs a number of custom system modules to create incredibly immersive gameplay and make players feel the reality of what is happening in the game.

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Weapon modding is also present

Why do I care?

Survival games aren’t for everyone, sure. But, for this game, you can expect a sort of fall out meets Day Z vibe. A huge part of the game will no doubt be just surviving. Since this is supposed to be like S.T.A.L.K.E.R I assume that bullets will be scarce, and you will have to save them for when you most need. There has never really been a good MMO like this before. So, this is new ground. Also this game is pretty, so its better than other games, because it has graphics. If you want to sign up for the Alpha you can do it here.

Good luck out there.

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Valley Releases first Trailer

Posted on June 9, 2016 by Fionna Schweit

developer Blue Isle Studios have released the first trailer for their upcomming game Valley The new trailer, which we have embedded above this article, showcases several minutes of gameplay footage, and features a mix of combat, freerunning and environments from the game. It sure does look pretty, but with only previous micro-horror title Slender under their belts you have to wonder if such an expansive game is too much for Bue Isle to take on.

Set for release this summer for PC, PlayStation®4 and Xbox One, Valley will introduce players to an mysterious and magical world, filled with secrets and danger. Through the powers of the L.E.A.F. Suit, a special exoskeleton that grants users incredible speed and agility, players will leap to great heights, explore secretive spaces, battle dangerous foes and even bring back the dead.

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ITS: Into The Stars

Posted on April 18, 2016 by Kyle Scarboro

Title

Word around the information super highway is that this little game, aptly named Into the Stars, is a hybrid of Star Trek Commander and FTL: Faster Than Light, but is it really? The people have spoken and the people are generally right. Into the Stars is filling the void of the lack of spaceship commander based games that are out there. With inspiration gathered from these games and mixing it with a collection of modern ideas and stunning graphics, Into the Stars is paving the way and breaking ground on a genre that has not been explored to its full potential yet.

Into the Stars is the first title to come out of the California based studio Fugitive Games and published by Iceberg Interactive based out of The Netherlands. With just a team of four at Fugitive Games, they managed to squeeze out some of the finest graphics in a space based game that I’ve seen from the Unreal Engine 4. Though, the level of artistry and talent comes at no surprise when mentioning the team behind this game. Being former EA DICE and Spark Unlimited developers means that this game should be held at a higher pillar than most. Some of their past titles they’ve worked on are Lost Planet, Battlefield, and Medal of Honor. If working on AAA titles wasn’t enough, they managed to get Jack Wall to work on their soundtrack. For those who do not know Jack Wall’s works, he is the man behind Myst IV, Jade Empire, Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow, Lost Planet 3, but most notably from the Mass Effect series.

Like most small developing teams these days, Into the Stars was conceived by crowd funding through Kickstarter and surpassed their goal on January 16th, 2015 and by their last day on February 4th, they managed to raise over $110,000. By early July, they were Greenlit through Steam and up for Early Access. Now into 2016, their game is finally released, but does it hold up to the ideals they instilled in their 4,000+ backers and many others who helped through early access?

Story+

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The Culling is everything King of the Hill should be

Posted on March 8, 2016 by Fionna Schweit

Have you ever wanted to feel like you are in the Hunger games? Yah, me either, but I always thought it would make a cool video game. The culling starts off sounding like it’s just another king of the hill style combat game with some light crafting and exploration, but its managed to win over my heart because it’s so much more.  A rock-paper-scissors style combat system, the scarcity of firearms, and the simplicity of the crafting really make this game fun. While it’s still pretty basic, with only one map, it is in early access which gives the developers more time to work on and add to it.

Don’t let the fact that its early access fool you, this is a feature complete game. You drop in, and are forced to craft and find resources to survive. There is no instance where this game feels unpolished or not done. It has a great crafting system which relies on a resource called F.U.N.C and players have several ways to earn it. The easiest is to roam around the map and find barrels it’s stored in, or collect it from dead animals and piles of bones. The fastest way to gather F.U.N.C is to kill other players. Players also gather a limited amount over time and based on how far they move.  Everything in the game requires F.U.N.C to create.

cullingspear

This tier three spear is not something you will be crafting.

Crafting is basic; the game has two materials, sticks and rocks. Both can be found lying around on the ground or produced by hitting trees or stone outcroppings. This means that the game basically has an infinite amount of basic crafting materials. However at least for now, you can only craft a small amount of items. These items are basically all tier one (weapons are divided in to tiers I, II, III and IV), and won’t do you much good in the later parts of the game. Still, after playing other games completely relying on RNG, it is pretty nice to be able to drop in and if you aren’t near any buildings or other lootables instead craft your early tier weapons. Currently there are about a dozen basic craftables, from a stone knife, to bandages. Most of what you need in the early part of the game is there.  Crafting however won’t get you the win, though basic weapons like a spear and a bow can be crafted, more powerful weapons are scattered around the map waiting to be looted.

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Battle Royale Game Coming to Steam and it features 16 player combat

Posted on February 4, 2016 by Fionna Schweit

Ever wished you could enact the hunger games somewhere that had a bit better graphics than Minecraft? Well, your prayers have been answered. The Culling will be coming to Steam early access in March. The game features 16 players on an island, who are given various weapons and sent off to kill each other. The launch trailer features, crafting, scavenging, and  a whole lot of killing. “There is no second place, only one can be called the winner”

[youtube id=Ol2BiUUJj0]

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DayZ to get predatory animals, including wolves

Posted on December 13, 2015 by Fionna Schweit

Wildly popular ARMA mod turned stand alone game DayZ is getting yet another content update. The newest update will include several predatory animals, such as wolves. In a Blog  the developers promise new and exciting mechanics with the predatory animals. Evidently these will include getting eviscerated by the wolves, and killing and cooking them.

many people will remember DayZ as the ARMA mod that launched a thousand zombie and other survival games, but its developers banded together and created a stand alone, non-mod game, which they have provided frequent updates to since its initial launch. This update will also include bikes, both of the motored variety, and the pedal type. check out the video and see how far this one time mod has come.

[youtube id=to3x7B14D1U]

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Life Is Feudal, But At Least It’s A Nice Place

Posted on September 21, 2014 by Les Major

Life Is Feudal: Your Own is an interesting mix of survival game concepts that is shaping up to be a quality title to enjoy. The main focus is playing with a sandbox of a medieval world that you can craft into your own design. Currently on Steam in early Alpha, many players have already decided to give it a go and boost the game to the number one Top Seller spot on the store. It’s really quite interesting, mostly due to it’s context menu. In general, Life Is Feudal has a realistic landscape look, while holding a Minecraft like digging system for looking for ore.Read More

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