Sid Meier's Civilization: Beyond Earth Revealed

In spaaaaaace V2.

Recently, Joystiq has posted a video trailer for a new Sid Meier's Civilization game, this one named Beyond Earth (video here). Anyone who is unfamiliar with the Civilization games, they are a series of turn based stratergy games where the player can play versus AI or other players, and the aim of the game is to win via Culture (making the people like you), which has ended mainly in the United Nations, through Global Domination caused by wiping all other players from the map or via Scientific Advancement into Space. As you can guess from the title, the game is set in space, where Earth has become so advanced that it is starting to kill the planet so they set out to form a new life elsewhere. As far as I can see from the screenshots (link here), the game will put you up against aliens rather than players, so whether it will be classic PvP racing to take control of this new planet, or maybe co-op in a bid to secure the planet from the aliens and colonise on it I do not know. However, it does look like a Civilization game, which I have enjoyed playing ever since Civilization Revolution, the most cartoon-esque title in the series. However the game turns out, it will likely be a lot of fun and I Will probably pick it up.

Titanfall Full game Review

The first Next-Gen FPS?

Titanfall is a First Person shooter created by Respawn Entertainment. Respawn is a team headed up by some of the ex-high up guys from Infinity Ward, creators of Call of Duty 4 and Modern Warfare 2. So we can safely say, they have experience in the First Person Shooter genre. However, this game obviously is different from a Call of Duty game because, well you can't just rip off other games and sell well (Companies really need to learn this). So what makes it different? Well for a start, there is no single player campaign. Ever played Brink (yes, the god of all games), well Titanfall does campaign the same kind of way that did, but a lot worse. When I started playing I was kind of excited, you play 9 "missions" which is basically a certain game mode, either Attrition or Hardpoint Domination, and I do not think victory dictates the outcome, but as you play through each you get some story plot and some plot in between games. The first nine missions are played from the Perspective of the IMC. A giant war between the Interstellar Manufacturing Corporation, a group who can be seen as the bad guys or the good guys, who are attempting to progress humanity through technological advancement (they created the titans originally) and the militia, a team who are trying to defeat the rule of the IMC. The IMC have been seen to be testing out their new Spectres (robotic soldiers) on innocent civilians. After the nine missions, you get the ending for the Militia campaign and receive the second of three titans to unlock, and are encouraged to play the IMC side. This is where the disappointment comes. The IMC side of the Campaign is essentially the same as the Militia side but a little different. This is why it is worse than brink, the campaign really is not enjoyable after the first 9 missions and really, the game would be better without the campaign feature in my opinion.

So o ther than the campaign, there is a lot of good gameplay. The Titans, rather than being a massively overpowered destructo-bot, is actually fairly well balanced. The only ones available at the start of the match are AI controlled and really don't last long and can offer a lot of free points and XP. For all the other Titans, they spawn on a three minute timer which can be lowered by killing enemies (AI or player). Once they are in, they can either be set to Gaurd or Follow, where it will stay in the area it is dropped and defend against any enemies or follow the pilot who called it in and defend, which is fairly useful, or pilot it yourself, which gives access to all of the features but leaves you open to enemy pilots jumping on your titan and killing it (as pictured above), which is by far my favourite thing to do. Pilots are also choice of anti-titan weapons so, although they can pretty much be one shot by titans, gives them a chance to fight back if they are distracted. The pilots themselves are all players, and run around the map with a primary, a secondary, anti titan weapons, ordnance (grenades and the like) and a set of perks with one active ability. They are also accompanied by AI controlled grunts (basically one shot of any gun and very little points or XP) and later Spectres which are tougher, grant more XP and can be hacked into your team. Pilots have a lot of manoeuvrability, with double jumps and parkour, as well as abilities which can turn them invisible (to bots, they still leave a kind of haze where the player is), or speed up and increase health regen - which is really good for out gun fighting enemies. The pilot combat is fairly balanced, but in my opinion there is one superior set up, with the Carbine and Sidewinder anti-titan gun, which wins against anything over mid range combat, which is what most of the battles which takes place are. The game has a Call of Duty style level up system to unlock new weapons and perks, with prestiges as well. This is a standard FPS style of gameplay.

The graphics are pretty top-notch, with amazing weapon and world detail and not too hard system requirements. This is on the PC edition, the console editions seem to be hit pretty damn hard, but apparently do play better with better servers. The only problem with the graphics, the buildings seem to have similar colours all around, and can bug out a bit when flying around. So other than the slight unbalance in the combat, and the disappointing added extra campaign, the game is pretty good. Worth the price? I think so. The other thing people are complaining about is the matchmaking, as level 1s can be matched with 30+, but since there is little effect of being a higher level, it doesn't really batter. SO overall, it is a very good game and as a FPS god (played CoD since the second one), it has my approval.

Goat Simulator Review

The most realistic simulation game ever created?

Goat Simulator is a simulation game created by Coffee Stain Studios, creators of Sanctum 2. It is a game designed to show the life of a young goat in a field living out his life to the fullest. Except this goat is a little special and has headbutts that can blow up cars and a tongue which can drag boulders of death around the world. In reality, this game is about causing as much destruction as possible whilst also trying to find all the secrets in the map to gain bonus points. As of current, the game sets place in a relatively small town, but there is bigger towns that can be seen, though there is an invisible wall in the way. Whether the other towns will ever be used is unknown, as of yet there is no actual plans to expand the game world according to the game profile on steam. However, it is also linked with the Steam workshop. so there will be a hell of a lot of user based content able to be downloaded. There is no storyline as it is a highly unrealistic simulator about a goat. The graphics are pretty good, even if there is nothing exactly graphically complex about the world. There is a hell of a lot of bugs in the game, include the goat's neck glitching out whenever you use a ladder and actually most of the time. The developers have said "We're only eliminating the crash-bugs, everything else is hilarious and we're keeping it ." showing that this game is quite clearly not meant to be taken seriously.  However, it is a £7 game. For a game of that price, you would expect a fair bit of gameplay (considering that Angry Birds and the likes can provide days of gameplay on a phone for 99p), but gameplay is a thing that is highly lacking in the game. One aspect which tries to prolong the re-playability (if you could call it that) is a custom game mode where you can add speacial abilities earned by collecting the goat statues across the map and by completing the achievement based challenges. After about an hour or two though, you will get bored. Unless you are someone who really likes extremely buggy hilarity, it will only last an hour or so and then you will get bored and wonder why you ever paid that much for this. The thing is, it''s kind of a gimic of a game, not meant to be taken seriously. Unless Coffee Stain Studios expand the size of the map, it offers very little to players. Therefore, this game will probably join my collection of games that get played for an hour then left in the deep dark corner of the Steam Library.

Borderlands the PreSequel Announced!

In spaaaace.

(Image is not mine but was downloaded from the 2K website)

So yesterday, there was revealed rumours about a new Borderlands game that took place between the 2 current games. Today, those rumours have been confirmed as true. Borderlands the PreSequel will take place following the story of Handsome Jack on his journey to crazy ass psychopath in Borderlands 2. It will take place in none other than Pandora's moon, bringing in 4 new elements: 0 gravity, a "cyro" elemental effect, oxygen tanks/jetpacks and laser weaponry. It will also bring in 4 new playable characters. These are:

Athena, the Gladiator who made her début in The Secret Armory of General Knoxx DLC for the first Borderlands game.(Her power is the only to be revealed which is a "Kinetic Aspis" - a sheild which will deal more damage back based on the damage it absorbs.

Wilhelm, The Enforcer - the first robot boss in the second game (although this time looking more like a human than a robot).

Nisha, The Lawbringer, the sheriff of Lynchwood in Borderlands 2 (No power disclosed).

And finally, and most importantly, Claptrap, The Fragtrap. Yes you can play as the almighty Claptrap. On the moon. With guns. (Not a freaking clue what his ability could be).

The game is set to release Fall this year on PS3, Xbox 360 and PC, and personally as a fan of the series, I Cannot wait. IT looks beautiful, hilarious and slightly insane. All information (and a video with some alpha footage) can be found here on the official 2k Games site. What is your opinions about the PreSequel? Pile of trash or the next stop on the hype train?

My Expectations For Elder Scrolls Online

Recently, I have been playing a large amount of The Elder Scrolls Skyrim so I thought to myself "What's happening with Elder Scrolls Online?". As you may have seen, I contacted the developers and have conducted a report on my expectations for this title

.
Bethesda and Zenimax Online Studios are working together on an Elder Scrolls version of a MMO. The thing is, they have pledged to be different to the "usual" MMOs (such as World of Warcraft) and branch into a unique experience with this title. My first concern upon hearing of the title was "Will it be the typical third person MMO or will it play like its storyline predecessor, Skyrim. As I have no had access to the beta I can not say how it plays but it definately looks like the typical Elder Scrolls game with the first person perspective, unique combat style and Mana/Health/Stamina bars at the bottom and the world compass at the top. It does have the usual MMO styled dungeons etc. but these seem to be based on storyline quests rather than for the purpose of grinding.
  A little bit about the game and story itself, it is set in all (yes all) of Tamriel. This means you will be able to explore the lands of Morrowind etc. with your friends while gaining XP for discovering locations. You can simply switch between first and third person views with the ease of a mouse scroll but also switch your own preset weapons with the press of a button. This means that players can go straight from a bow with all the bow skills to dual wielding blades without a problem. From gameplay revealed in August 2013, there appears to be three allegiances with 3 races in each. Your race is bound to an allegiance so if you want nord you're stuck with that group. However, other than that there apears to be very little restrictions. As they described, players can decide to go from a mage with all the mage skills etc. to finding a badass sword and becoming a swordsmen instead. Freedom at last. Also, loot is individual to the player so no fighting over that legendary boss item. Levelling up skills is done by discovering sky shards, 3 gives you the chance to learn or morph and ability. As I've seen little of the morphing I'm assuming it is a term that they are using for upgrading or changing it to a certain aspect e.g. fire.
  If this game keeps along this path, it is to be the best thing that has happened to fans of the Elder Scrolls franchise as it will give them access to all of their favourite areas in one game with the multiplayer that they have begged for as well. Along with the excellent customer service provided by Bethesda and Zenimax it should be a real highpoint of 2014 in terms of games. The only downside is the fact it will be a monthly subscription based MMO but so was World of Warcraft and it now has one of the largest fan bases going so fair play. I'm ver much looking forward to its release early this year.

My Recent Experience with Bethesda and Zenimax Online Studios

Today I was going to post an article going through my expectations for Bethesda's The Elder Scrolls Online MMORPG due to be released in 2014. I sent them a message asking for any information on some certain aspects of the game that I was interested in discussing and the possibility of a beta key to get a feel for the game. In response I received this email:

Greetings and well met, Wise One Patrick!

 

Thank you for contacting The Elder Scrolls Online Team! We are always excited to talk with our fans about the game.

 

I commend you for your bravery of asking for a Beta Key. My parents taught me you'll never know something if you don't ask. Sadly, I can not guarantee you a beta key. You see the selection process for testers is out of our hands here.

 

You see, in one of his crazy fits, the Mad God Sheogorath launched a siege upon the studio with a fleet of mudcrabs and purple butterflies. Luckily, no one was injured (severely) but in the confusion he got away with all of the beta keys! Now only he is able to choose who receives keys and last I heard he chose by tossing the applications down a set of stairs and seeing which ones fly the farthest...

 

We have convinced him, though, start start giving more keys out though. Our upcoming beta events will be getting larger and larger towards launch, so there's still a chance he might decide to grant you a key! You will be under an NDA agreement though, so you would not be able to blog about your game play or even tell your readers that you are in the closed beta tests. I'm sure you understand, we're trying to save our best secrets for launch so as not to ruin the new game play experience for anyone.

 

I can help you out with your questions though! I think the answer to your gameplay inquiry can best be summed up in this video the studio released of some live gameplay footage from QuakeCon 2013. I always feel watching it first hand is better than someone explaining it second hand. :)

 

http://youtu.be/_oWuw-mo_MQ

 

I hope that helps with your blog article! I highly recommend checking out more of our videos on our YouTube page at http://www.youtube.com/user/ZenimaxOnlineStudios as well the articles on our website, https://www.elderscrollsonline.com, for more insight into the design of the game.

 

Stay thirsty for knowledge, friend!

Taryn

The Elder Scrolls Online Team

Let's be honest, I'm a small time blogger, I get very little recognition and most companies, even the indie ones, ignore my messages all together. This is a large company messaging me back with what appears to be a personal response. Obviously the thing about the beta key could be completely generic but it is a nice touch. IT literally made my day that this is something that the big companies still do and I'd like to commend the man who did it.

Darkout Review

Oh hey there Terraria Clone!

This 2D action/adventure survival game developed by Allgraf has some pretty high ratings on Steam so I thought I'd pick it up. Firstly, the tutorial is okay, it tells you what to do but doesn't show you where some things are and is fairly minimal in most areas. The graphics are dark, even with the torches there will be a lot of squinting and "I can't see what block that is." Players will take the roll of a character whose space ship has crash landed on a strange planet. They aim to survive whilst being able to upgrade sciences,weapons and everything in between. There is hostile mobs and cave systems and everything you'd expect from this kind of game.

(please ignore the stupidity that F10 brings up the world seed)

Graphics are pretty but it is hard to see most of them due to the darkness of the night time of the game. Now I'll go into what I find are huge problems. You start with a basic set of tools which as far as I've seen do not require upgrading at all. While some players will think this is a bonus, I call it babying the player. To a audience who will undoubtedly be familiar with Terraria and Minecraft, upgrades and crafting is a well known and highly beneficial game mechanic. Another problem is using the tools. To clear dirt blocks, the game often chooses to clear 3 blocks in a cluster which makes it semi-impossible to create a flat landscape. Then there is the scientific and system upgrade features which to me seem like this genre is being mixed into a genre which it doesn't belong in. The darkness for cave entries looks exactly the same as the dirt blocks so I found myself falling down into a cave that I couldn't get out of as I couldn't see the place I fell in. This is a massive problem.

 Now comes the biggest problem. It is essentially a more expensive yet worse Terraria. The entire rilliance of that game was its simplicity and blocky art style. This is a slightly more 3D inspired version which want to be more advanced. More advanced does not work for this game type. As a non-paid reviewer, it annoys me most when I pay out for a game that promises so much yet lets me down. As indie titles go, this is one to stay clear of. 3/10