Gaming News Fallout 4

Patrick Lacey

There was already speculation of a new Fallout game with the creation of this site: http://www.thesurvivor2299.com/It is believed that this is a teaser website to the reveal or release of a new Fallout game. However this site domain was not bought by the same account that the other Fallout sites are purchased by. So whether or not it is a teaser website or just a troll trying to annoy people who knows. It also has a pretty annoying beeping noise.
But why has the speculation suddenly peaked? Today Bethesda has purchased a trademark for the name "Fallout 4". Evidence here: http://esearch.oami.europa.eu/copla/trademark/data/012311734This was actually purchased by Bethesda, so either they are winding us up, stopping trolls from using their names or are actually in the development process of Fallout 4 we don't know. As of yet Bethesda themselves have not revealed anything so keep your heads up for a press statement. However, Erik Todd Dellums (the voice actor behind Three Dog, the radio host from Fallout 3) has been tweeting out some songs which sounds a lot like the style that Fallout uses on their radio stations under the hashtag #sharethelove #threedog and what looks like it could be in game introductions to the songs @ETDeelums. This has got Fallout fans across the globe hyped as earlier in the year he was believed to have been called in by Bethesda.Are you looking forward to this title? Believe the rumours or thin
Are you looking forward to this title? Believe the rumours or think it's just hype? Lave your opinions below.

Call of Duty: Ghosts Review

Activision had three developer teams on this, was it worth it?

Call of Duty: Ghosts is the latest game in the Call of Duty series. It was developed by Infinity Ward, Raven and Neversoft and published by Activision. The game is based around a group of legendary soldiers known as Ghosts (Ghost from MW2 anyone?) in a post nuclear war America (both North and South is involved). If you want to play this on PC, players will need 60GB of Hard Drive free for memory.

I'll start with the campaign. As a long term CoD player, I've played all campaigns from 2-Ghosts. In Ghosts, the main playable character is Logan, with aid from his brother Hesh and his father who has a deeper past than his sons initially realise. 15 years after a nuclear attack from the federation, a military force controlling all of South America, the USA government have built a wall to separate themselves from the south. However, the federation plans more attacks and they must be stopped, at all costs. I won't include any spoilers but there is plot twists all the way through (some predictable some not), even in the final moments. My after thoughts of the campaign itself was holy mother of Jesus. This is in my opinion, the best Call of Duty campaign I have ever played. It was not only an amazing story, but the mechanics have been so much more improved since previous titles. No more infinite spawn zones, you clear the area and push forward, as a game should be. There is many different routes to take, different techniques to use, it's everything I'd been hoping for. As for graphics, there is nothing exceptional about them, they are just good.

Next we move on to the multiplayer. Ghosts has brought in an array of new game modes for PvP games, including my two favourites Search and Rescue and Hunted. Search and Rescue is a combination of Search and Destroy and Kill Confirmed, meaning that when the player or enemy gets killed, they drop dog tags that can be collected by the opposing team to eliminate you from that round, or be collected by allies to recue you and bring you back in. Hunted starts you off with a pistol with 1 magazine of ammo, 2 throwing knives and a flash bang. Crates are dropped containing random weapons with 6 weapons per crate. The more kills you get the more points and perks you get. winning team is the first to 65 kills. The multiplayer has been vastly improved since MW3 or BO2, weapons are more balanced, there is more game modes and the class customisation is better. The only problem I faced was that it is harder to level up. In addition to PvP, Ghosts has an additional Squads mode. This is where you create a team of 5 AIs, customising their loadouts and your own soldier, then play against other AI or friend's squads. You can have your friends on your team or you can play up to 4 players vs waves of AI. These modes give you experience for your online games as well.

Next is the extinction game mode. This is Infinity Ward's attempt at countering zombies. Players play as a team of up to 4 people, each with their own specialisation (medic, tank etc.), verse alien creatures caused by the nuclear attacks. he aim is to destroy their hives and progress into the heart of their invasion and nuke them. Players gain money for killing aliens and destroying hives that can buy weapons/traps/the equivalent of killstreaks to help them in the fight. They also gain skill points by destroying hives and completing hive specific challenges to level up your pistol/specialisation/help that game. You level up based on enemies killed and progress through the game to unlock new specialisations and aids. This is an interesting concept that I think is better than zombies as it actually has an end goal. It is also very fun to play and well worth a try out.
  All in all I think that this is deffinately the best Call of Duty game in a long time, possibly ever. It does have some bugs/minor issues but nothing that is game ruining. Well worth the cost. 9/10.

Herathstone Heroes of Warcraft Beta Review

You all know Blizzard, the developers of the famous World of Warcraft, but do you know they are brining out a digital card game?

Hearthstone Heroes of Warcraft is not an unheard of concept, but it implements easier to use features and well known characters from the World of Warcraft universe. Leroy Jenkins, Mad Bomber and even Deathwing make an appearance in all their glory. The story behind this as far as I can tell is that it is essentially a table top bar game in Azeroth (Judging by what is told by what little narrating there is). Then again, this type of game rarely has much of a back story, it's about the gameplay, the balancing and the experience. You play as one of nine characters, each with their own deck and special "hero ability", this is a 2 mana cost ability, often with a small amount of power but very useful. What separates this from other digital card games I've played is the use of mana crystals, gaining one per turn, rather than having to play (and have in your deck) cards that allow you to summon minions. The advantage of this is that it is not only simpler, but less luck of the draw style play. It also gives the game a fluency that I sorely missed when playing the most recent Magic game.

  As for the graphics, they are high quality, very pleasing on the eye and, most importantly, leagues above what would be it's main competitor, Magic. Take a look above, see how nice the design looks? Each little design in the corner of the board does different animations when clicked, one is even a catapult! The golden card on my side is animated which means not only does it look badass, it is badass. The game plays essentially the same as other games in the genre, but it just feels like that little bit extra has been put into it. It really feels like a game that should be played for hours. It has 4 game modes, vs AI, normal, ranked and arena. The only one which needs explaining is Arena - you pay £1.50 or 150 gold (earned by winning or doing daily quests) to get in. You assign a deck from 30 lots of 3 cards, choosing 1 card from each lot of 3. You then play PvP games until you either win 9 games or lose 3. You are assigned a set of 5 rewards depending on how many games you won. An interesting concept.
 

  Now for the bad things. This is a beta so there is a truck load of glitches (as pictured above, this is the smallest I've seen). However this will most likely be fixed before release. Another problem is hat packs and arena is quite expensive, especially since packs are the only way to gain none deck specific cards. The only other bad thing I can think of is the incredibly tiny amount of beta keys given out. You find yourself playing against either a pro or someone who has bought every card in the game. This will also be fixed when the game is released. 

 Overall I do like this game and it shows good promise for release. 8/10

Game Review - Solstice Arena

Another Free to Play MOBA, but is it any good?

A free to Play MOBA for PC and apple mobile devices created by... Zynga, who are known for their Facebook/mobile games. So what's the catch? Big company, cross platform (well kind of). First let me tell you a little about the game.

This is the centre point of the map. I can't show you it all at once from in game images as you are locked to your character, which is ridiculously annoying when you see a fight break out of screen and have no idea what to do. And there is only one map. And only one game mode. So it's a 3v3 game mode with the objective being to destroy the enemy's main base structure. There is 3 towers which stand in the way of you and that base. I'm sensing this game was based around the number 3, as guess what? Each character has 3 abilities. These are 2 standard abilities and one "signature" ability that does more damage. All abilities are unique to the character (but not unique to the game *cough* seen these abilities everywhere *cough*), they are also unusual in ways. Players can level up each character and by levelling, players upgrade 1 ability by 1 point per level. To make it even easier, there is no mana costs for anything. Now obviously a MOBA wouldn't be able to be played on a mobile device without frying it unless it had some qualities lowered (like graphics). However Solstice Arena has no minions. It is known as a "Speed MOBA" which means that basically rather than sitting around farming out lanes, it's solely PvP . So how do players destroy the towers? Well if all enemy characters are in the base to heal/buy items etc. players are able to attack structures without them attacking characters. The alternative is face tanking but that's always risky. Basically this game is a dumbed down MOBA designed for people who want quick games.
  Another problem I encountered was that some characters are "Free trial" so players can purchase them if they go off (I assume it's on a weekly rotor). However others players have to pay for and they aren't cheap. Around $10 for a champion and around $20 for a skin. I call rip-off on that Zynga. Shame on you. As in other MOBAs you can purchase them with favour earned in matches. I've played 10 matches and not even got 10% of what is needed for 1 champion. Another key focus of the game is a chest in the centre (as seen above) that when taken grants gold to the team. Players can also gain buffs strewn around and randomly generated.

So why would you play this game? Well contrary to all that I said, it is genuinely quite fun if you just want to mess around solo or with some mates. The graphics aren't too horrible (although players can't optimize them or anything) and it is quite nice to win a game in 6 minutes rather than 55 (curse you League). However I see no competitive scene for this game in the slightest. And if anyone pumps money into this game I have no respect for you because it is quite frankly pointless. Do not fall into the EA-ish Zynga trap!
  In conclusion I'd say for a bit of fun, and as a free to play title, it's good to just mess around in. 5/10
  -Patrick Lacey

Why League of Legends is Successful

League of Legends - you've all heard of it but what makes it so well known?

League of Legends is a top down MOBA created by Riot Games. It is their only game but it is in a constant phase of changes. It is a free to play game so how do they earn money? Well you can buy the in game champions with either IP (earned by winning matches) or by LP (you have to pay for this). You can also buy champion skins and other non-essential non-beneficial items. This means that it is NOT a pay to win game. The player starts out at summoner level 1 with minimal summoner spells. As you progress you are matched with players of the same (or near) level and you unlock more summoner spells. The experience required to gain a level increases with each level, resulting in a large amount of gameplay required if you want to hit that level 30.

Now this is where most games falter. In League of Legends you cannot play ranked games until you reach level 30 so that you should of gained significant skill levels not to make everyone's life a living hell. Playing ranked steps the challenge of the game up a notch and adds a high stakes factor to the game. The player does 5 challenge games to place them at a point in the Bronze league. There is 5 tiers in each league from 5-1.You gain points for a win and lose points for a loss (obviously). If you reach 100 points you have to win 2/3 (3/5 at tier 1) to progress to the next tier/league. The leagues go up from Bronze, Silver, Gold, Diamond, Platinum. A lot of players spend a lot of time trying to climb to Platinum 1 and hen progress to the challenger league which is the best of the best. Now to play ranked, it is ridiculously hard  to specialise in one role, as a lot of other players are trying to do the same which means you can't always play it. This requires each summoner to have at least 1 champion for each role (money for Riot). Then there is people who like to buy skins to look better than the rest (more money). 

What makes the real difference is that Riot doesn't just sit on this income and think "I'll just keep all this", they use it to create more champions and skins (more income), to make the game look better and play more fairly (happy players) and also to keep the competitive scene up. Recently was the League of Legends World Championship Series which puts the best teams from each region against each other for a money (a total of around $2 million spread between teams). The amount of competitive tournaments there is across the world pumps not only money but interest into the game, provide a target for any player - to become a pro. 

In conclusion, a mixture of challenge, additional content and competitive interest and careers makes this free to play game not only a success, but a fan favourite for years to come.

 Patrick Lacey

Infinite Crisis Review

Another MOBA comes along, but can this one stay?

So many little MOBAs come and go, but when Warner Brothers Games invest into one it's got to be good, right? Well it's true, this game does have some strong points. It is another top view 5v5 MOBA based on DC comic's creations. This means you can play as your favourite super heroes, well for now not many of them but in the future there will be many. Currently there is more versions of heroes than I would of thought required. For example there is a Batman and a Gaslight Batman, both of which are in the same character class but have different abilities. The first unique aspect of this game we come across is the map. Unlike the typical 3 lanes and a jungle it is based in a city with 2 lanes in a pentagram and a suburbs area with the camps/buffs.  This confused me at first (still kind of does) because it is not anything like I'm used to.

Now we run into our first problem. There is no tutorial. I am a hard core League of Legends player but every time I try a new MOBA I like there to be a tutorial so I can get the grasp of the individual game. This has nothing, not even bot games, you are thrown in at the deep end with no idea what to do, just running round like a headless chicken. Then there is the heroes themselves. They don't seem to have any form of balance, I'd go 2-0 up then get completely assassinated with a 2v1 in my favour by nightmare Batman. He is completely ridiculous. At first I thought although the abilities were not too similar to other main MOBAs, which is good, but then I realised you can't target for more than a certain time because it auto casts, the hit detection is off and some just do absolutely nothing to help you.

But less on the bad points, more on the positives. The summoner spells (or equivalent) are all unlocked level 1, and each hero gives a unique power to 1 of the spells. Each game starts with a cutscene of the 5 heroes on your team (as displayed above) and so far I haven't come across raging 12 year old's that are so common in League. With some development (addition of tutorials, balances etc) and some more progression this has the opportunity to be among the big ones. But until that time, Infinite Crisis you are a 4/10, not what I expected from such a big company.

Game Dev Tycoon Revion

Reviewing a game where the objective is to get the best reviews, the irony.

Game Dev Tycoon is an indie game, recently pushed through Steam Greenlight. It is developed by Greenheart Games and is their first tittle. This will only be a short review as not being an AAA tittle, it isn't the most indepth game. You play the role of a game developer in his career to start a company and become a successful game developing firm. The game starts with yourself in a garage and progress to untapped opportunities. At one point, the developers at Greenheart thank you for buying their game with a popup message which I found to be a nice touch. As you gain in size and money you can produce bigger games, research genres, develop your own engine and try to produce the perfect game. In terms of graphics, since there is little movement or any advanced simulations, it is all basic and very obviously not meant to be an ultra realistic simulation but is cute and all good quality. You can find yourself spending hours making use of new possibilities, acting on ideas or (as I did) try to produce as many games that rip off famous tittles as possible.
  To get the perfect game, you have to balance work loads out between differently trained employees, try to use the precise formula of different game aspects (Sound, graphics, gameplay etc.) and platform to achieve the desired effect of the game genre you have chosen. Sounds complex but if you follow the tutorial it is super easy, just requiring some experimentation to find that sweet combo. For me the fantasy RPG of First Fantasy did it, scoring me a perfect score which I have yet to replicate. Greenheart have mastered the rip off technique, since you have to get an idea of platforms, they use names such as zonny and the mBox, giving me a good chuckle as I played.

 At the low price of around $10 this is a nice little pick up that definitely deserves a play, even with the challenge of knowing why level design is different from world design. 6/10. More games please.