REVIEW / SpellForce III (PC)

 

The RPG genre and I go back a long way. In fact, a little known RPG called Times of Lore was one of the first games I ever played and loved. This being the case, I’m always interested when a new addition to the RPG genre comes along even though the genre is a mixed bag. You could say that every genre is, but plot heavy, story driven RPGs especially are at a disadvantage; if it doesn’t hook you and quickly, all the other aspects of the game no matter how cleverly and gorgeously executed become redundant. I would even go as far to say that a game could look and sound like it’s been developed by a kindergarten class, but I’d still play it if the story was good. This is the first thing I noticed about SpellForce III. In my opinion it didn’t start particularly well.

 

 

I’m not sure I like tutorials that don’t let you play as the character you’ve just created. I want to sink into their shoes, not be told that the hour I’ve just put in is kinda important to the story but it’s all set years before the start of the game proper. Just tell me what happened in the prologue and let me go from there. With this being said, and because I can’t write a fair review after an hour of gameplay, I trudged grimly through the tutorial. Thankfully what I was met with beyond it was far more to my liking. If I’d just decided to have a quick look though, I might not have chosen to go any further.

You set out playing the son or daughter of a corrupt mage. You only have your head on your shoulders because you betrayed your father and were saved from sacrifice. You join the royal guard, known as The Wolf Guard, and manage to rise in its ranks. You certainly aren’t classed as a hero; you’re an outcast, but this is probably the best kind of character. At the beginning of the first real chapter of the game, you are sent out to investigate a magical plague that has beset one of the local villages. This is where I’m going to stop, story-wise; we don’t want any spoilers now do we?

 

 

SpellForce III combines two very different, well known styles. There’s the very traditional, top down RPG in the style of the Baldurs Gate games or more recently Pillars of Eternity. This is a tried and tested format that works really well. This style is combined with building mechanics similar to those in games such as Command & Conquer. Blending two genres that are really distinct is a great idea. You aren’t doing both at the same time of course (that would require brain splitting tantamount to multiple personalities), but rather switch between the two as the story demands.

The RPG elements shine in SpellForce III‘s great skill tree which makes the different heroes feel unique. This is important as there are areas where you can pick your party. Choosing your skills wisely is doubly important as you’ll be using them in the RTS sections of the game as well. You can’t just think like an RPG player. In an RPG, you build your character for a party of up to five heroes. In this game, you’re dealing with your troops as well. This makes your choices really important as your favorite dungeon running build might not work for a more strategic encounter.

 

 

Graphically, SpellForce III has a very late-90s look. This isn’t a criticism by any means. The game doesn’t feel outdated, rather it seems that this was very much a deliberate move by the devs. They could have ended up going for style over substance and it’s very clear that they haven’t. The SpellForce franchise has been around for a good while now, so it makes sense to stick to the game’s roots and what it’s always done well rather than giving it a total revamp just for the sake of it. This being said, alongside the retro feel (have we gotten to the stage of calling the late nineties/early noughts retro yet?) there are some really lovely FMV sequences thrown into the mix.

So, let’s have a little of my likes and dislkikes, shall we? Well, I’ve already mentioned the prologue. This isn’t a huge dislike; it’s entirely a matter of taste and I’m not down-marking for it. I totally get there’s different ways to tell a story, but personally I’d have done it differently. Another point that I can’t 100% make my mind up on is that you’re kind of drip-fed the gameplay mechanics. It’s not a case of learning everything in the first five minutes and just going for it.

 

 

For example, I didn’t find Godstones, which are pretty important teleportation/re-spawn devices, until I was about five or so hours into the game. Incidentally, for those of you that found them much quicker, well done; I’m slow. These are really useful and very necessary but aren’t even mentioned at the very beginning of the game. I like this because you’re discovering new things all the time but for no-nonsense gamers, I’m not sure whether this is a fitting approach.

Speaking of being drip fed – and I mean in a good way – let’s go back to narrative for a moment. I really enjoy story-driven games where I don’t know quite what’s coming. I’m at a stage where I’m not really sure who the good guys are and I really rather like this. A note to developers: we don’t always want to know who or what we’re up against, sometimes a little bit of back-stabbing crookedness is a good thing.

 

 

A con for me is that the game feels a bit awkward in places. When there’s a lot going on, and there can be some pretty big battles especially in the RTS sections, the game can feel a bit clunky. You’re trying to control your own characters and watch what your troops are doing, and build new ones and … yeah, a lot of ands. This is fine, but I lost count of the amount of times I had to restart bits of battles because I’d had to dart off and build more units only to see one of my heroes die. Is this bad gaming on my part? I seriously hope not, but it didn’t always feel 100% fluid.

Another con for me is some of the voice acting. Every conversation is spoken. Though some of it is very good, I’d say that there are definitely a few actors who shouldn’t give up his or her day job any time soon. There are certain exchanges that feel slightly stilted and even a tiny bit cringe-worthy. You could turn the sound off, but this isn’t really in the spirit of the game.

 

 

All in all, SpellForce III is a solid RPG with a good story and some interesting gameplay mechanics. The RTS bits make the game appealing and the two styles balance well with each other. Actually, I’d say this almost adds a few points to the game. If SpellForce III were just a stand-alone RPG or RTS, I think I’d probably be saying that it’s good but there’s better out there. The blending of the two styles mixed with the really intriguing story (once you get into it) actually makes the game greater than the sum of its individual parts.

 

 

 

This review is based on a retail copy of the game provided by the publisher.

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REVIEW / They Are Billions (PC)

 

I had wondered why They Are Billions was becoming so popular on Steam. It seemed to me like any other RTS game you may experience. To an extent this is true. The game is rife with resource-management, fortification, and survival. However, They Are Billions expands upon the genre by introducing new mechanics and an overall higher level of difficulty comparative to other games like it.

 

 

Let me preface this by stating that I am an RTS noob. I have never had a full game experience with this specific type of gameplay. Not even through a mobile device. The genre has just never really piqued my interest. However, in my attempt to broaden my gaming horizons, I accepted this review as a challenge. Knowing the success of the game gave me some more confidence as well. They Are Billions has lived on the front page of Steam’s top sellers to this date since its release. Although I went into it with some skepticism, I was able to maintain objectivity and experience everything the game has to offer.

 

Gameplay

In my effort to be transparent, I will admit that I had to walk away from this game a few times. I attribute most of the reasoning to the fact that I am in no way adept at the mechanics in this type of game. After getting around the learning curve, I began to understand how to be more responsible with resources and when to build specific structures. The gameplay has straightforward mechanics if you are familiar with real-time strategy. As you expand your colony, you must segment your population throughout to do different tasks. Colonists, workers, soldiers, etc. will either protect, fortify, or gather resources for the colony. All the while, you fight against the clock as a hoard of infected zombies threaten to wipe out your entire colony.

A mechanic I found helpful was being able to group up different soldiers to be stationed at different areas of the map. You can also build towers to station various soldier-types to give them increased range against any infected in the vicinity. I learned very quickly just how essential it was to protect your soldiers. Numerous attempts of leaving them to fight the infected on the ground led to SEVERAL failures. In the meantime, you must allocate resources and workers to build and farm the land around you. Each building adds and takes away more things necessary to your colony’s survival.

 

 

It is easy to see how stressful this game can become, particularly to those unfamiliar with the mechanics. In my opinion, this was a risky move by indie dev Numantian Games, easily pushing away gamers unfamiliar with this genre. However, I think in the long run, the platform in which it is played on works to the games benefit. Casual gamers are prone towards console, while more serious gamers’ platform of choice is on PC. Knowing this, Numantian believed that more gamers (RTS experienced or not) would “stick to it” and take time to understand how to succeed in the game.

I say this because I experienced it firsthand. Although I had several bouts of desire to give up, I took it upon myself to learn through trial and error what works and what doesn’t. I had a little help from the internet as well. Overall, I found myself wanting to get better at the game. The idea of losing all progress and starting from the beginning every time you failed gave me enough drive to try to get further along on my next attempt.

 

Design

I found the most interesting design feature was how in every new game scenario, you start off in a completely new territory. Resources and biomes are placed in different areas throughout the map. Each game you start, you must adapt to your surroundings and survive based on what is available. You can use more natural barriers like lakes, wooded areas, and rock formations to your benefit or detriment. The environment paired with a Steampunk-Victorian architecture introduces the player to a world that feels surrealistic. The game also has several other unlockable environments achieved from a successful surviving of the base environment, The Dark Moorland.

Another factor that adds depth to this game is the ability to engineer new buildings over time as well as attain new classes of soldiers like mercenaries. You can use these soldiers to defeat tougher enemies that come later in the game. With higher levels of soldiers comes a need to have more resources like food. Which in turn creates a need for more workers. It quickly becomes a domino-effect to decide what is most important for your colony to survive. The player is forced to multi-task and think of the different outcomes and consequences of their actions.

 

 

The main gripe to be argued about this game is the lack of tutorial. This game does not hold your hand. It expects you to learn how to beat it through systematic trial by error and reasoning. There are no hints, tips, or tricks to guide you. This is a subjective criticism because some gamers love it when a game lets them figure out things for their own. While others wouldn’t mind having a few guidelines to help them become better.

At first, I wanted to say this was a legitimate criticism on my part. However, after taking a step back I can see how that might be unfair. This is a game where even the “easy” difficulties are strenuous. Although I wouldn’t discourage those who are more casual gamers. I would recommend this game to those who are determined and patient enough to overcome the obstacles this game will throw at them.

 

Plot

This game knows what it is. And it is not a story-driven game. The game drops you into a world with little to no context into how it got that way. However, in the grand scheme, it truly doesn’t matter and doesn’t take away anything from the experience. Of course, if you were going into it hoping for detailed plot, you would be disappointed. Although I think it would be awesome to have a real story backing up this game, I don’t think it’s fair to criticize for something it never promised to deliver. Besides, the game offers so much more to fill the players time, I think that it goes easily unnoticed. This being the case, I will not let the lack of story-telling affect my overall rating of the game.

 

Conclusion

In the end, They Are Billions is a unique take on a familiar genre. The added depth from a constantly changing environment filled with new obstacles makes for a survival game that anyone looking for a challenge will easily enjoy.  You can purchase and download the game from Steam here and follow Numantian Games on Facebook for updates.

 

 

This review is based on a retail copy of the game provided by the publisher.

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REVIEW / InnerSpace (PS4)

 

If you like flying puzzle games, than InnerSpace is the game for you. In PolyKnight Game’s exploration flying game, you control a tiny airplane piloted by an AI called the Cartographer. InnerSpace opens with a quick prologue of the world before the game started. it tells you about the Ancients, and how they used a energy called Wind to create the Inverse. Then demigods came and took all the Wind causing the Ancients to slowly die out and disappear. The main objective of InnerSpace is the explore the Inverse; the in-game worlds; looking for relics and collecting Wind. The relics vary from being frame parts to skeletons of creatures long extinct, while Wind is used to open doors and upgrade your frame. That is about all I could derive from this game.

 

 

Now for the fun stuff. I wasn’t a huge fan of InnerSpace. It seemed a little unguided which may be fine for some people but I usually prefer a little more direction. The controls and the design were great but the actual movement and navigation seemed off kilter. Navigating that tiny airplane into the tight corridors and hitting switches seemed tedious. Luckily for those of us that aren’t flying aces there aren’t deaths or fiery explosions to worry about so that offsets the navigating difficulty.

 

 

When it came to the plot of InnerSpace, I had some trouble connecting with it. It was almost a good plot but the gameplay didn’t complete the hook for me. This game is definitely a casual game for the casual gamer. For me, the plot didn’t have any element of fear or intrigue. Which I prefer a little bit of consequence, or anxiety driving me to finish the plot. But for a game you throw on maybe before bed, or on a lazy Sunday, this game is the perfect casual game. The plot has all the bones of a great story but it trips just shy of “Whoa.”

 

 

The graphics for InnerSpace were gorgeous. I found myself staring at the world more than once before bouncing off a wall. The game levels were very confusing for me, but for those of you that are going to try Innerspace for yourself, I recommend taking Dramamine and paying vigilant attention to which direction you need to go. Some of the features in the levels were definitely a blast to navigate, for example, I found a secret tunnel that was only a smidge bigger than your airframe, reminding me of that tight squeeze scene you see in any action movie with an airplane, jetfighter, or spaceship.

 

 

Now InnerSpace is by no means a bad game. It just wasn’t my type of game. I’m a simple man, I see a monster, I mash a button. InnerSpace required a little more finesse than I was capable of. I personally tried to get into it but it reminded me too much of crashing over and over again in Battlefield airplanes *shudder with embarrassment* but has none of the fear of exploding in a fireball and being laughed at by a vastly superior 9-year-old. Be sure to check out InnerSpace for yourself on Xbox One, PS4, Nintendo Switch, PC and tell me how wrong I am.

 

 

 

This review is based on a retail copy of the game provided by the publisher.

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Aperion Cyberstorm joins Switch, Wii U, and PC libraries this February

 

There seem to be a lot of twin-stick shooters on the market at the moment. It always fascinates me to see trends in gaming. The issue you have with an upswing in any genre is that there will always be people out there who are just looking to jump on the band wagon for the money. I have a personal, severe dislike of clones. It’s all well and good taking a format and expanding on it but copying something and altering a few names is not game development, it’s (in my personal opinion) cheating. This being said I’m pretty pleased to announce a title that seems to be doing something a little different with a great genre, specifically a game called Aperion Cyberstorm.

Aperion Cyberstorm which is about to hit the Nintendo Switch, Wii U and PC via Steam is a twin-stick bullet-hell that has been quite some years in the making. Development was begun back in 2013 by British indie crew aPrioriDigital, this is clearly a case of good things coming to those who wait. It’s nice when a game can be genuinely called finished on release, a term a few other companies would do well to learn.

So what is it then? Well as I’ve mentioned already it’s a slick, twin-stick shooter with all the bells and whistles. This is also a cooperative affair and will see groups of up to five gamers at a time flying through hundreds of maps across three game modes. You will find yourself matching dynamic abilities with elemental effects to create a virtually endless variety of explosive combinations. Don’t particularly want to spend your time blowing your mates to bits in Versus mode? Something that you can do across a total of 32 maps (sixteen with another sixteen unclockable.) That’s fine. You’ll be able to uncover a conspiracy in the game’s story campaign or for a change of pace survive waves of enemies across sixteen maps in Onslaught mode.

Johnathan Price, co-founder and designer said, “Prototyping for Aperion Cyberstorm began development in October 2013 as a cooperating space shooter made with the XNA framework and in mid-2014 we decided to move the game from XNA to Unity. This then gave us the ability to bring the game to Nintendo Wii U. During the lifetime of the project, we have revised the release date more times than we would like. The reason for doing so is that we understand that the game may not make back its development costs, which is a reality that a lot of studios face, but we wanted to make a game we could be proud of and that can be played years from now by a variety of people of different abilities.”

Jack David, co-founder and artist added “At aPriori we find joy in making games and we are delighted to finally be able to bring Aperion Cyberstorm to market this year. The development process has really been a case of life imitating art – as a studio we’ve enjoyed the ride and we hope gamers will enjoy their virtual ride when they get their hands on the code in February.”

Aperion Cyberstorm will see launch on Switch, Wii U and Steam on February 8th. For those of you interested, the game is also billed for an Xbox One launch later this year. Twin-stick shooter fans out there might want to give those thumbs a bit of a workout, you’ve got two weeks before something a bit new is going to be out there ready to test them.

 

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Xbox Game Pass expands to include new releases from Microsoft Studios

 

It was announced that Xbox Game Pass will now include all new releases from Microsoft Studios. This will begin to take effect with the release of Sea of Thieves in March, to be followed by both State of Decay 2 and Crackdown 3.

The team at Xbox also stated that this will also be the case for upcoming releases that have yet to be announced by Microsoft Studios, including any future installments to the Forza Motorsport franchise.

This is no doubt an incredible deal for gamers everywhere. For those looking to buy a new console, the Xbox Game Pass has been a major factor, but now that it will include new and upcoming Microsoft Studios games, this will surely draw in the attention of current Xbox gamers everywhere.

For more information on all things Xbox, and to see future impressions of some of these new games coming to Xbox Game Pass, stick right here to That VideoGame Blog.

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The first Assassin’s Creed: Origins DLC is out now

 

It’s been a few months since Ubisoft released the universally well-received Assassin’s Creed: Origins. And to their credit, those few months have not been devoid of life: the game has been supplemented fairly constantly by the Trials of the Gods events and fairly unusual collaborations with Square Enix’s Final Fantasy XV, not to mention Reda the wandering child-salesman (edit: he is a child, he does not sell children) and his daily quests.

Sobek. God of ripped crocodile-people.

But the die-hard among us have already completed multiple play-throughs of the game, and are now tapping their feet impatiently as they wait for something with a little more, well, substance.

Every elephant, killed. Every viewpoint, scaled. Now what?

This is where the first DLC for Assassin’s Creed: Origins comes in. Named The Hidden Ones, the new content brings us brand new weapons, new outfits, a higher level cap, and an extension of the current narrative that sees Bayek and Aya (sorry, Amunet) travel to the Sinai region to test their newly formed Brotherhood against the invading Roman forces. Check out the trailer:

Why are the bad guys always British? The Hidden Ones marks the official start of the DLC season for Assassin’s Creed: Origins, and is the first of two central DLC drops slated for the game. The second is titled The Curse of the Pharoahs, and will include another brand new region in the form of the Valley of the Kings (as well as a potentially bizarre new story). Check out fellow TVGB-er Haya’s post on the subject for more.

As I mentioned in my review of the base game, Assassin’s Creed: Origins is hindered only by its occasionally lacklustre narrative. As such, The Hidden Ones would be the perfect opportunity to prove that it is possible to give Bayek a convincing villainous counterpart; that the age-old fight between the Assassins and the Templars is still worth revisiting at its roots in Ancient Egypt. Oh, and I’ll be mightily disappointed if we don’t get a single new mechanic/feature to mark the beginning of the Assassin’s Creed.

I hope you’re listening, Ubisoft.

Assassin’s Creed: Origins’ first DLC, The Hidden Ones, is out on January 23rd for console and PC. The season pass is priced at GBP £34.99, whilst the pack itself will come in at closer to £15.

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Mutant Football League crashes onto console

 

As a general rule, I don’t go for sports games. This has nothing to do with not liking the concept; I just don’t particularly follow sport. I think this has a certain amount to do with evil flashbacks of my gangle, milky white legs feebly limping around my school playing field for 45 minutes a week. Not being at all athletic sort of puts you off a little bit. What I do like is a good bit of senseless violence. Now, nearly killing your opponent in an ordinary game of rugby (let’s remember I’m British, virtually the same game as American Football without the armour) is probably frowned upon. Nearly killing your opponent in a game like Mutant Football League is virtually mandatory and therefore instantly far more appealing than say … one of the John Madden series of games. “Alex, what are you rambling on about this time?” Well you see, Mutant Football League, a favourite of mine from the old Genesis/Megadrive days, has just been rebooted and hit console. To be honest, I couldn’t be happier.

Available in digital format for $19.99 on your respective Xbox One and PS4 stores, Mutant Football League is loaded with guts, gore, and humour that would make even Dave Chappelle blush. Choose from a total of eighteen teams comprised of an array of miscreant races, from skeletons to orcs to mutant humans, and face off in deep, strategic 7 – 7 gameplay. If you’re looking to play in the spirit of fairness, you’ll be looking in the wrong place. To win at this game, you’ll need to be doing everything from bribing the ref to chucking bombs about the place. If you have your wits about you, you might even get your team to the Mayhem Bowl in one piece. The game also supports two-player online and local play for up to four players if you get sick of thrashing (or getting thrashed by) the CPU and want to have a go at your mates.

In MFL, literally everything is out to get you. If the opposing players don’t manage to do your team in, you have the fans to worry about, and I’m not just referring to those following the opposing team. The stadiums aren’t a great deal more friendly, being trapped with everything from landmines and buzz saws to lava flows and toxic mist.

Legendary voice over artist Tim Kitzrow (NBA Jam) will be offering his vocal talents as your commentator. What is a good clean game of anything without comments about soft balls, shotgun hits and decapitation protocol? Well, you aren’t expecting your skull splitting to be serious, now are you? In a marvelously old school twist, Brian Schmidt, remembered for his work on classic games such as Crue Ball, Madden 93 – 96 and Jungle Strike will be providing sound design and ferocious rock-driven music tracks, along with a bunch of Indie bands perfectly fitting for the on-screen mayhem.

“Thanks to our community and a stellar dev team you can now play MFL on console – where it belongs! The game delivers a new experience of fun, arcade style football action for a new generation of gamers, while retaining the spirit of the original game,” said Michael Mendheim, Creative Director.

Support from die-hard fans of the 1993 Sega Genesis original game resulted in a successful Kickstarter campaign to raise funds to complete MFL‘s development. Thanks to this support the campaign reached its pledge goal in just four days, oddly receiving its funding goals on none other than Super Bowl Sunday.

I very fondly rememember the original MFL and can’t wait to get my mitts on a copy of this little beauty. If, like me, you fancy a bit of nostalgic bloodshed, you might want to do the same. If on the other hand you aren’t old enough to have gotten this on the Genesis and really enjoy a few globs of gore, this looks like a very promising option for you. If it’s anything as enjoyable as the original, this title is going to do very well indeed.

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PREVIEW / Laser League (PC)

 

This past week, I got a spend an hour playing Laser League in an early access event with some of the developers. The game is published by 505 games and developed by Roll7, makers of pixel based side scrollers OlliOlli and NOT A HERO. Their latest game ditches the pixels and plays from a top-down perspective where you can see the whole arena at all times. Laser League is a competitive futuristic “sport” game where two teams must eliminate each other by lighting up laser nodes to their color and avoiding colors of the enemy team. If a player makes contact with an opposing color, they go down until either the round ends or a teammate revives them. When all players on a team go down, the winning team, as you would expect, scores a point. In the online matches we played, three points wins a team a round, and two round victories win the game.

 

 

The gameplay of Laser League is a lot of fun. The longer the round that you are in goes on, the faster and more unpredictable the lasers begin to move. While at first things start out slow and boring, they can quickly get out of hand if you find yourself on the team with fewer lasers. Probably the thing I liked most about the game is that it forces you to think fast, or you are screwed. I had plenty times in my hour of play that I knew right after going down what I should have done differently. You have to be fast-reacting which makes for exhilarating play and crazy moments.

This was an early version of the game that I played, but I will note that there were times I thought the hit boxes between the characters and the lasers were a little off. I would see replays where people went down when they were successfully out running a laser or moved to the side in time. I am sure this is an issue that will be taken care of before the game officially releases, but I noticed it on quite a few different occasions.

 

 

The environment of the game is simple. You can tell that they are going for that Tron aesthetic, and they nail it pretty well. If given the money and time, I am sure Roll7 could easily make a fun light cycle mode, but I digress. Like any sport, Laser League takes place in arenas around the world. When talking with the developers, I was told there are multiple arenas, each with multiple laser set ups, but in the hour that I played I only got one arena and two set ups so seeing more of a variety would have been nice.

As the match goes on random power-ups will appear on the floor and these can be complete game changers. There is a power-up that will reverse the way all lasers are moving, swap colors on all lasers, one that will erase all nodes, and quite more. I was told that there are a total of 16 different power-ups. Just grabbing them without thinking is not a smart practice however. There can be instances where you have the upper hand and grabbing a power-up could completely shift things in the other teams favor.

 

 

As I mentioned earlier, downed players can be revived by teammates. When a player goes down they leave a marker on the field. When a teammate runs over that marker the player will be revived with probably about a half second or so of invincibility. As an opponent, guarding the revive spots on the field can cause a lot of headaches for the other team and was one thing I had quite a bit of fun with doing when just running for lasers in that area of the map.

One of the best decisions the developers made with the game is that at the end of each round, the loser of the round gets choose a new class. This will allow teams to strategize and make fixes to picks that are not working. One of the more interesting choices of the game is that there are a number of classes you can choose from that are much different than the rest. Blade, Thief, Ghost, Smash, Snipe, and Shock are the available classes to choose from, each having two different modifiers to them.

 

Blade

Blade is the first type I played as. He has a short, quick slash attack that will down enemies he comes into contact with. I never actually got to take anyone down with him, one, because I had not figured out the controls yet, and two, it’s not as easy as it would seem to dash through an enemy and avoid lasers on the other side. Overall, he was a simple character and I feel many newcomers will play as him.

Thief

Thief was the one I played as the most and the one I had the most fun with. He gives the player the ability to steal enemy lasers and turn them into his own teams. When you press the ability button a ring surrounds him for maybe a second and a half. Any activated nodes of the opposing color that enter that ring will change to yours. This ability got me out of some tricky situations and made for some quick turnarounds on enemies who thought they had me on the ropes. He is a great one for strategizers to use.

Ghost

This is the only class I believe that I never saw in a game. As you would guess by his name, Ghost turns invisible for a short period of time where he cannot be hit by anything. He is free to walk through lasers and enemies for a brief period of time. A great pick for getting out of sticky situations of reviving teammates.

Smash

As you can tell by his name, Smash is the bruiser of the lot. He has a longer dash than Blade that will send enemies flying backwards quite a ways. This can be used for knocking enemies out of position or just knocking them into your own lasers. Just avoid what I did a couple times where I accidentally knocked the enemy into safety.

Snipe

Snipe is an interesting class that got me killed a few times during my play time. Snipe can drop down a marker and as he walks from it a line will be connected between him and the marker. When he presses the ability button he will warp back to the marker, taking down any enemies in the path. Between dodging lasers and trying to decide where to make my next move I had a very hard time not just avoiding, but looking for Snipe’s lines.

Shock

Personally, Shock was by far the most irritating class to play against. When the ability button is pressed, an electric shield will surround Shock. Any enemies that make contact with this shield will be stunned for a couple precious seconds. During this time they are sitting ducks for any other enemy attacks or moving lasers.

 

 

Probably the thing I heard the developers bragging about the game the most was the customization of the classes. They really wanted me to understand that each hero has their own leveling system and as you level each one you unlock more customization items. Personally, I didn’t really care about this detail, but for those who like unique-looking characters,  there are supposed to be over 250 customization items in the game.

Overall, I had a blast playing Laser League. This is a highly intense game that had me yelling with excitement by the end of my playtime. I truly believe this little developer has a great game on their hands and I hope to see it do well. Personally, seeing what the finished product will play like excites me, as long as they can get the hit box issue taken care of and add some more variety to the laser patterns. If the game works when it comes out, and it is handled correctly, it could be another Rocket League-like success story.

 

 

I asked the developers if there was any plan to bring the game to consoles and they said that it was being talked about and work on the console versions would be beginning once the game hits early access on Steam. Laser League is expected to go into early access sometime this year with no release date announced yet. The open beta starts Friday January 26 at 9:00 AM PST and goes until Sunday, January 28 at 10:00 PM PST. If you have a PC, give this game a try this weekend.

 

 

 

This preview is based on an early access demo provided by the developer.

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REVIEW / Candleman: The Complete Journey (PC)

 

Do you or someone you know want to learn how to play platformers and enjoy good ambiance to boot? Well, I just have the game for you! Let me introduce Candleman: The Complete Journey, developed by Zodiac Interactive and published by Spotlightor Interactive. This charming platformer follows the story of an enchanted candlestick with legs throughout its journey to a lighthouse to figure out its existence. Candleman actually came out for the Xbox One around this time last year, and because of its strong reception in that platform, Spotlightor Games has decided to roll it out the PCs via Steam at the end of this month.

 

 

What makes Candleman the perfect game to learn platforming lies in its combination of simplistic controls and the intricate gameplay mechanics that appear in each level. The candle with legs has three moves: walking/running, jumping, and letting its light blaze. The game revolves heavily around the last move, as the titular Candleman lets his wick create a small flicker of light to illuminate surrounding obstacles. He has only 10 seconds of self-immolation before burning out. The game is set in a dark atmosphere, and you must guide the candle through a ship, the woods, a lighthouse, and beyond utilizing the small amount of light.

 

 

Fortunately, Candleman is not a game of the blind leading the blind. First, there are other candles all over that can be set aflame to faintly illuminate the surrounding area. These candles actually serve as the game’s collectibles, as some of them are either hidden and/or can be found with some tricky maneuvering. There are also candles (stouter than the rest) that serve as checkpoints; once Candleman lights these fatter candles, the game will continue from those points if he burns out, falls in a pit, or gets crushed. Second, the game environment plays with the dichotomy of light and dark.

 

 

Which leads me to the game mechanics of Candleman. These mechanics are the ones that you typically would find in a platformer with the added intricacy of illumination and darkness. For example, in the woods levels, Candleman can cast light to make nearby flowers bloom, allowing him to then jump on them. There are also some spiked plants that drop from vines when light shines on them, which can create added difficulty in your travels since it will be game over if those spiked plants touch the little candle. It does not mean, however, that you need to avoid letting those spiked plants drop all the time; sometimes those spiked plants are necessary to drop down and raze some flora to pave a path for Candleman to reach its destination. Thus, the balancing the dark and light becomes a huge decision for you in order to guide the candle to the end of the level.

 

 

As a hint, the level’s title almost always gives a description of the game mechanic that you and the little candle will be facing. For example, the first level in Chapter 7 is called “Massive stones they push with force” and will pit you to moving blocks that will push you off to pits. If guiding a candle in the dark with a trifling amount of light seems a bit overwhelming, it’s really not; my experience with Candleman  has been a very forgiving experience. You are given 10 lives to complete short levels (within five to ten minutes, maybe fifteen minutes maximum), which, to me, is the perfect way to learn how platformers work. If you are using a controller to play Candleman, my only recommendation is to use the d-pad in some certain portions of the game, specifically the 2D-like vertical ones. While the game is completely 3D, there are times when the camera pans the level in a 2D-like area. When you are using the joystick to move Candleman around these areas, even though you are guiding him to move just left of right right, you end up moving him slightly down which will make him fall to his doom.

 

 

I wholeheartedly recommend you pick up Candleman for its really good platforming aspects with the added layer of light and darkness. In fact, as I mentioned in the beginning of this review, this is a great tutorial game for someone green in the world of platformers. To be frank, after you finish Candleman, you can probably beat the first game in the Crash Bandicoot series with little problems since you will be facing the same gameplay mechanics.

 

 

 

This review is based on a retail copy of the game provided by the publisher.

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Activision releases Call of Duty: WWII – The Resistance Event trailer

 

Listen up, recruits!  The Resistance is in search of new soldiers to stick it to the enemy in this brand-new upcoming Community Event.

Get your rucksack ready and prepare for Call of Duty: WWII – The Resistance DLC1 with a new free limited time in-game event that will be running from Jan. 23 to Feb 27.

This new piece of DLC will include the new Resistance Division free for all players.  In addition, more free weapons will be made available to buff up your current load-out.

New weapons such as a tactical knife, a pistol, the Volkssturmgewehr machine gun, and the Orso automatic rifle are just what the doctor ordered.  All of these new weapons pack a solid punch and will put you head-and-shoulders above the competition.

And if that wasn’t enough, the return of Demolition, the mode that sets you to blowing up everything in your way to victory is sure to thrill.  There will also be an all-new free Resistance themed supply drop every month that will contain new uniforms and new weapon variants as well as new Resistance gear, 2XP playlists, and much, much more.

Check out the video below but make sure that the kiddies aren’t in the room as this one is pretty graphic.

 

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Life is Strange: Before the Storm Limited Editions coming in March

 

Before the Storm

Prepare to freak out, Life is Strange fans! Before the Storm is getting both Limited and Vinyl Editions of the game with a ton of extra content. Square Enix, publishers of Life is Strange: Before the Storm, the prequel to the original award-winning game, has just confirmed that a physical release is on the way, including a super special Vinyl Edition that includes a ton of collectible items!

There are three separate versions available: the Standard Edition, the Limited Edition, and the Square Enix Vinyl Edition.

 

2 Special Editions Coming Soon

Check out the images below to see what each set will include!

Both editions will include the complete edition of Before the Storm, including the bonus episode! The bonus episode allows players to see the return of a young Max Caulfield. Check out the recently released Behind the Scenes video below to see more details on the bonus episode titled ‘Farewell.’ Extra digital features are also available such as:

– Mixtape Mode – Design your own playlist from the Life is Strange soundtrack
– Outfit pack – 3 new outfits will be added to Chloe’s wardrobe, including Punk Doe, Hawt Dawg Man & Illuminati outfits!
– Episode 1 from the original Life is Strange game

 

Both digital and box editions are set for a release on March 6th 2018 in the US and March 9th for all PAL regions. ‘Farewell’ will also be launching digitally across all territories on March 6th for players who already own the digital season pass. Both editions are now available for pre-order from Square Enix , with price points of $39.99 for the Limited edition and $69.99 for the Vinyl Edition.

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Steam gamers meet the Candleman this month

There is an old adage that simply states that if you’re going to do something you should do it properly. This would evidently apply to killing off players. Why just make a level hard when you can also make it deliberately dark? This is the definition of doing it properly, this is Candleman: The Complete Journey which will be arriving on Steam later this month.

This is a title that has already done really quite well for itself this last year when it released as an Xbox One exclusive. So what does this fiendish little platform puzzler developed by Spotlightor Interactive entail then? Well you have to get your way through obstacle filled levels alive. This isn’t new. What is new is that you only have ten seconds of candlelight per level. When you choose to call upon Candleman’s flame is entirely up to you but you’d better be using your gray cells when you do it. Levels include creaky ships, enchanted forests and mystic caves. You’ll explore all of these locations in your quest to find the faintly glowing light guiding you from the distance.

“The positive reviews received from the press and our players overwhelmed us for the whole year after its debut on Xbox.” Says Gao Ming, creator of Candleman, “We are extremely proud to see the game we created at Ludlum Dare 27 being recognized by influential individuals like Phil Spencer.”

As mentioned, Candleman: The Complete Journey was created for the Ludlum Dare game jam competition with the theme “10 seconds of light.” The game emerged from that competition with awards in several categories so it’s definitely worth a look if you happen to be a fan of the platform-puzzle genre. The Steam release which will be available from the 31st of January will come with all the original plus DLC content included, telling the complete Candleman story. In addition to this a new Time Challange mode has been added for players who get a kick from beating their own scores.

If you’re a gaming masochist, and many of us are, you may very well want to get your mits on this interesting looking title. It certainly seems to be coming with glowing references. Sorry I’ll go away now and let you illuminate yourselves further over at the Steam page.

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REVIEW / Divinity Original Sin II (PC)

 

Back in the PS2 era of gaming, there was a little-known RPG called Champions of Norrath. By “little known” I mean that I played it with my brothers, but no one else knew what I was talking about. In Champions of Norrath, you are tasked with freeing the land of Norrath from the tyranny of the demon/monster Innoruuk. While traveling through Norrath, my tiny 10-year-old self was blown away by the level of detail and options that I was able to put into my character. This was the first time I came across Skill Trees and actual Character Progress. It was in this game that I started to see all the hype behind tabletop games. Being sucked into a character is easier when I feel like I have had a hand I’m molding how that character reacts to the world. It was this feeling that gets amplified in Divinity Origin Sin II.

 

 

I don’t know why I missed the first Divinity game, but I knew when I saw Divinity II in action that I had to be part of that world. Let’s for one second forget about all the praise the game has gotten. Ignore all the spectacular things you have heard about this game. At its core, Divinity Original Sin II is about one thing: interaction. This first presented itself in the games opening moments. As you create your character you start to see just how in-depth this game actually is. It even advises you not to change any of the skills of the classes if this is your first time though. It wants you to get a feel for what a character can do before you mess with them.

You can also pick from an assortment of pre-generated characters with backstories that will come to light as you play them. These characters can be fun, but I always like to leave my own special mark on the world. Once you are done with the generator, you find yourself a slave on a ship being transported to an island for those who use Sorce Magic. The problem with Sorce magic is that it attracts creatures that feed on its power, thus you and several others like you have been enslaved in order to be cleansed of this disease.

 

 

While on the boat, things don’t go quite according to plan as a powerful Source user damages the vessel. From this point on the choices you make are your own. Because I created an elf, I had the ability to eat body parts of the dead and see visions, usually of their last moments alive. This changed the way I solved quests as I was always looking for something to eat in order to gain clues.

On my quest, I came across several locked doors. I turned to find clues to where keys could possibly be, but when I couldn’t find anything I decided to knock the door down with my weapon. In any other game, I would have been swatting at the door in vain, but not this one. It took no time for me to break down the door with my weapon.

 

 

With the door destroyed, so too was my thought process on how this world was supposed to work. I tried the same strategy with a treasure chest to varying degrees of success. I found that the best way to dispatch enemies was to sneak between their lines of sight and make a beeline for the strongest one. This put the others into a small state of confusion as they seem to be processing what just happened. Taking away their time to prepare for the battle by getting into a defensive formation turned the tide of battle my way a lot.

I also learned that fire was my most powerful ally and my most loathsome foe. I learned to plan out every avenue of attack and not to be afraid of trying something crazy. During a rescue mission, I teleported the person I was trying to save out of his prison only for him to be killed by his jailer. I scrapped that idea entirely and had to try something new. This is the mindset that D:OS II injects into your brain, one of infinite possibilities.

 

 

The story is your classic fantasy affair with a multiplayer twist. After killing or talking your way to freedom, you are tasked with staying alive long enough to figure out what is really going on. Not to mention that you have the worlds strongest Source User gunning for you. However, the main story wasn’t what drew me into the world. What really got to me was the depth of the NPC’s around me. Not only did they all have their own lives, dreams, and secrets but they also had unique personalities and responded differently to you depending on who you were playing as.

D:OS II has a underline racism running through it with other character being violent to races they deem are less than. There was a woman I met very early on who wouldn’t say anything to me because I was an elf. I also had an interesting conversation with a kid who thought I killed people and ate them for fun. I mean, I do. Sometimes. But this kid didn’t need to know what my elf did in his spare time.

 

 

Combat is a beautiful and frustrating process. On the one hand, you can enter a fight with doing everything right and end up destroying all the opposition with minimal effort. On the other hand, I have entered fights I didn’t even know was thereby triggering traps that I didn’t see coming in order to fight the wave of monsters I wasn’t prepared for. Live by the sword I suppose.

Different characters can combine attacks in order to create a devastating situation for the enemy. For instance, spreading oil everywhere and then throwing a fireball does about what you will expect to happen. One of the worst deaths you can occur comes at your own hands when you forget about footing. In this game, I learned just how important save scumming is. If I even sneezed the wrong way I would reload an earlier save.

 

 

If I had to give the game any criticism it would have to be the map and direction system. While playing in an open world like Skyrim, you’d think you’d spend a lot of time getting lost. However, I always seemed to know where I was going and how I was going to get there. Quest were laid out and I never got frustrated. Divinity Original Sin II is another story altogether.

I frequently get lost while playing. I get it, that’s part of the experience. When I was younger I wouldn’t have minded playing four hours and only progressing one mission because I seemed to just be walking in circles. As an adult with limited time, this sort of thing irks me to no end. I would like to know exactly where I’m going and where I want to go next. Maybe put the mindless exploration in a harder difficulty. I’m not saying it doesn’t deserve a place in the game, what I’m saying is I don’t have the time I used to devote to getting lost.

 

 

If you have not played Divinity Original Sin II, then I can not recommend it enough. There are even more things for you to do in this world than what I have listed. You can talk to animals, pickpocket quest items off of people after you finish the quest, murder anyone in sight, it is totally up to you.  If you want a deeply involving game that will force you to think outside the box when it comes to combat, looting, mission, interactions, and a whole host of other features than this is the game for you.

 

 

 

This review is based on a retail copy of the game provided by the publisher.

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