Archived News:

Friday, Jun 27, 2014

Space Hulk: Deathwing Trailer

A new summer trailer is now available for Space Hulk: Deathwing, offering a look at this upcoming first-person shooter set in the Warhammer 40,000 universe. Here's word on the debut gameplay footage this offers: "This first in-game video, created using the game engine (Unreal Engine 4), plunges you headlong into a Space Hulk, with the game's main character - a Librarian of the Deathwing, and a squad of Deathwing Terminators, in their a head-on confrontation with the merciless Genestealers. A clash that will prove deadly for the elite warriors of the Dark Angels and the outcome of which has a HUGE surprise in store." Continue here to read the full story.

STYX: Master of Shadows Gameplay Video

Focus Home Interactive invites us to the Paradise Theater for a movie from STYX: Master of Shadows showing gameplay from the upcoming infiltration game that was on display at the recently concluded E3. The clip runs 14 minutes, showing a continuous unedited game sequence with commentary from the developers at Cyanide Studio. Here's word:
This is an exciting opportunity to discover the gameplay options available in Styx: Master of Shadows. Infiltration, the special talents and skills of the goblin character you play and all the game mechanics will allow you to scale the dizzying heights of the vast Tower of Akenash that contains your ultimate objective: the heart of the World Tree, the source of the amber, immense power and fabulous riches; because let's not forget that Styx is essentially a master thief!
Continue here to read the full story.

Stronghold Crusader 2 Video Diary

A new video developer diary from Stronghold Crusader 2 allows us to "Meet the Rat," without even having to take the NYC subway. There's a related post on the website for the upcoming siege warfare strategy sequel explaining plans on bringing back the Rat from the original, as well as the Snake, the Pig, and the Wolf. Word is: "These characters are synonymous with the original Stronghold games, players grew up with them and naturally want to fight them in Crusader 2. We have said this many times before but it’s yet another perk of self-publishing, we can make calls like these and decide on the AI character line up ourselves." Continue here to read the full story.

Evening Crowdfunding Roundup

Op Ed

Polygon - Tom Clancy's Bonestorm 2014, and why video game titles need to grow up. Thanks nin.
But compelling games are sometimes saddled with adolescent titles in a bid for mainstream appeal. The title Red Dead Redemption, for instance, suggests a lethal quest for vengeance when the game itself functions as a tragic rumination on the hollowness of revenge.

There’s a recent trend, too, of video game developers "ironically" deploying adolescent titles like Bulletstorm or Broforce. While these titles can be cute, there’s only a hair-splitting difference between the actual adolescent game and the "ironic" adolescent game. Even the most discerning of video game outsiders would react to a title like Bulletstorm in the same way that Marge Simpson reacts to Bonestorm.

Call of Duty Ghosts Double XP Weekend

Activision announces a double experience points weekend is underway for Call of Duty: Ghosts on all platforms, celebrating next week's launch of the Invasion DLC for the Windows and PlayStation editions of the military shooter sequel ((thanks MP1st). They outline the plan in this tweet:
#CODGhosts #Invasion is coming to PSN/PC July 3! Ready up with 2XP this weekend, live for all platforms on Friday.

Steamships Ahoy - Sniper Elite 3

Sniper Elite 3 is now available, with the sharpshooting simulation being sold through the Rebellion Gamestore, though all roads on this game will lead to Steam, where they have a concise write-up in their announcement: "Sniper Elite 3 is a tactical third-person shooter that combines stealth, gameplay choice and genre-defining ballistics with huge, open levels and the exotic terrain of World War 2 North Africa." Here's a new launch trailer that celebrates the news. Continue here to read the full story.

Ships Ahoy - Shovel Knight

Yacht Club Games announces the release of Shovel Knight for Windows, Wii U, and 3DS, offering an adventure game that attempts to split the difference between the old swords and ploughshares debate. Here's are some details:
Shovel Knight is a sweeping classic action adventure game with awesome gameplay, memorable characters, and an 8-bit retro aesthetic created by Yacht Club Games. You play as the eponymous Shovel Knight, a small knight with a huge quest. Shovel Knight has come to this valley with two goals: to defeat the evil Enchantress and save his lost beloved. He wields a ShovelBlade; a multipurpose weapon whose techniques have now been lost to the ages. Always honest and helpful, Shovel Knight is a shining example of the code of Shovelry: Slash Mercilessly and Dig Tirelessly!

However, between Shovel Knight and his beloved stands a cadre of villainous knights. These terrible foes, known as The Order of No Quarter, have been dispatched to prevent Shovel Knight from reaching the Enchantress at any cost!

Goat Simulator for OS X and Linux

Though the news is not yet reflected on the Goat Simulator website, Coffee Stain Studios announces OS X and Linux support are now available in this self-confessed "small, broken and stupid game." Here's word on the port, which also updates us on the status of the eagerly anticipated N-Gage version:
Goat Simulator developer Coffee Stain Studios announces that Goat Simulator is now available for Mac and Linux.

Everyone who already owns the game on PC will be able to play it on Mac and Linux too, while people who don’t can buy it at a discounted price on Lord Protector Gaben’s annual Steam Summer Sales.

A port for the Nokia N-Gage is also being worked on, but there is no ETA yet.

Divinity: Original Sin Beta Toolkit

A beta toolkit is now available on Steam for Divinity: Original Sin, the Early Access next installment in the Larian Studios' RPG series (thanks Vendra). There are more details in this Steam Community announcement, which says this is the last update before the game's official release:
This will be the last early access update before release, and we wanted to thank everybody who supported us via Early Access. You helped make Divinity:Original Sin into the game it is now & we hope you'll have tons of fun with this monday. Your words of encouragement, your criticism and your feedback have been incredibly motivating, and we feel honoured to have been able to develop this game together with you.

You will notice that the mod section in the main menu is now active & you can fool around with a small mod called Cow Simulator. Right now it doesn't do a lot but we'll be using it as a tutorial so expect it to be expanded.

Dawn of War Swaps GameSpy for Steam

A post from last week on the Steam community forums outlines how the GameSpy services shutdown is being handled for owners of Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War, the Warhammer 4K strategy game (thanks Akkinokage). Word is the game's backend has been migrated to Steamworks, and there are more details on that in this previous letter to the community. The new note also describes how SEGA is going the extra yard to provide Steam keys for those who own retail boxed copies of the game:
With the shutting of Gamespy servers, we have been migrating our players over to Steam.

However if you purchased box versions of the game and do not own the game on Steam, you do not need to re-purchase the games. We are supplying owners of boxed copies with free steam keys so you can continue to enjoy the DoW franchise without paying again.

You can request your steam keys by filing a ticket through the following page:

https://help.sega.com/anonymous_requests/new

Please note that Sega will need to verify your boxed copies, this may involve them requesting photos of your box or other information. Due to the volume of requests it may also take a few days for them to reply - we apologize this and thank the community for it's patience.

We did not want to see DoW end with the closure of the Gamespy servers, and are happy to see that our players are still quite passionate!

Morning Interviews

Morning Previews

Game Reviews

Hardware Reviews

Out of the Blue

With grim fascination I watched portions last night's NBA draft. This has nothing to do with the Knicks, as my thoughts on them are always grim, but rather with the assortment of clown suits worn by so many of the draftees. I am no fashionista, and am colorblind to boot, so it's probably obvious I would favor a more conservative style, but some of those outfits would scare Liberace. The thing is, this has actually gotten better over recent years. At least tailoring has come back into style... there is nothing goofier-looking than a seven-foot tall man in a baggy orange suit (check out Glenn Robinson in 1994). Me playing Mr. Blackwell aside, this was a pretty touching wrap-up to the Isaiah Austin draft saga.

Links: Thanks Ant and Acleacius.
Play: Fire Element.
Yellow Dreamer.
Knight Slider.
Link: 4 Smug Predictions That Were Hilariously Wrong.
Media: Game Of Thrones First Person.
Drone Captures Rare & Unusual Event in the Ocean. Thanks nin.
Follow-up: NYC loses appeal to ban large sugary drinks. Thanks Slashdot.
After Gobbling Up Corvettes at Museum, Sinkhole Becomes a Star. Thanks j.c.f.
Has the Large Hadron Collider destroyed the world yet?
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