Archived News:

Thursday, Jun 25, 2015

Total War Free Weekend & Sale

Creative Assembly informs us that this month marks the 15th anniversary of the Total War series, revealing several ways they are celebrating the occasion, including rereleases, sales, and a free weekend. They offer the Steam debuts of SHOGUN: Total War Gold Edition and MEDIEVAL: Total War Gold Edition and most of the Total War collection including DLC on Steam is now in sale for up to 75% off. They are also providing a free weekend all weekend on Steam for several installments in the historical strategy series: Total War: ATTILA, Total War: ROME II, Total War: SHOGUN 2, Total War: SHOGUN 2 – Fall of the Samurai, EMPIRE: Total War, NAPOLEON: Total War, and MEDIEVAL II: Total War. This page lists all the games on sale.

XCOM2 E3 Trailer

The XCOM website now offers the official E3 2015 trailer from XCOM 2, showing off gameplay from the upcoming sequel to XCOM: Enemy Unknown. This looks like it may well contain all the content of the IGN video we linked to during the show, but we have not conducted a frame-by-frame comparison. Word is: "Watch as XCOM soldiers strike back against the alien occupation by sabotaging an ADVENT landmark in the first official gameplay as presented at E3 2015." Continue here to read the full story.

Lost Horizon 2 Announced

Deep Silver announces Lost Horizon 2, an upcoming point-and-click adventure in the works at Animation Arts as a sequel to the original Lost Horizon, which was released in 2010. This is coming first to Germany, where it is expected on August 28th, while an international release will follow on October 2nd. Here's the plan:
Lost Horizon 2 continues the story of the first part’s hero, Fenton Paddock, from the 1940s and 50s onwards, where this time he is facing the hardest fight of his life. While the tensions between the superpowers threaten to tear the world apart, the British soldier has to save his family that has been caught by powerful enemies. His adventure leads Fenton far beyond the Iron Curtain and finally onwards to mysterious, uncharted territory. He has to finally face the dark powers of his past and learn what it means to take on responsibility.

Thanks to the Unity 5.0 3D Engine the developers created a vigorous and rich 3D World with a love for detail which players can dive right into. At the same time all the zones keep their hand-crafted charm which fans of the genre love and enjoy so much.

Studio Lead Marco Zeugner says -“We are delighted to bring the next installment of the adored Lost Horizon series to our fans, and with the natural progression of the story and characters, combined with technological advancements across all aspects of the game that we´ve made, we feel sure that both historical fans of the titles and new fans alike will love Lost Horizon 2”

Steamship Ahoy - Lethis - Path of Progress

Lethis - Path of Progress is now available on Steam, a Windows city-building game with a steampunk setting. The launch trailer offers a look, and the announcement covers the release, and their support plans for the immediate future:
Here we go , Lethis – Path of Progess is finally available ! After 9 months of hard work, we're exhausted, yet extremely happy to know that you'll finally be able to play our game. This game was built by a small team of 6 people and a musician who all wanted to bring back the feeling of old-school games of their youth.

We're very proud of all the work we've already done, and promise to further establish and improve our game ! In the following days and weeks, we'll do everything to enhance your experience, and implement new features and extras – all free of charge of course !

We're assuring you as well that we will fix every bug you may encounter.

We hope that you have as much fun as we had developing and programming the game !

And now : It's time to build a city !
Continue here to read the full story.

Overwatch Trailer

Blizzard's weekly trailer releases for Overwatch are like Sith, always two there are. No more, no less. This week's second clip from the upcoming team shooter shows off Zarya in action. Here's word: "Zarya guards her allies in this complete, unedited match from an early version of Overwatch, captured in 60fps on PC. Here, Zarya plays on the defending team in the Temple of Anubis, a Point Capture map located on the enigmatic Giza Plateau." Continue here to read the full story.

Skyforge Trailer

Here's a new trailer from Skyforge, offering a look at the Eskenian Peninsula, one of the open-world zones in Obsidian's upcoming MMORPG. Here's the description from the clip: "We take you live to one of Skyforge's latest Open World zones, Eskenian Peninsula, to discover this magnificent reserve with a rich, yet dark past. A gem of Aelion, the beautiful Eskenian Peninsula has been invaded and its inhabitants threatened by hordes of Demons flowing out of unsealed portals within the region's ancient temple." Continue here to read the full story.

Legends of Eisenwald Trailer

A new video from Legends of Eisenwald shows off combat from this medieval combat game. Here's the brief accompanying description, which reminds us the game is expected next month: "Today, Aterdux Entertainment is pleased to make available a new gameplay video from Legends of Eisenwald, their medieval-era tactical-RPG, set for a July 2 release. This new video features narrated footage of in-game combat and some of the recently updated special effects in Legends of Eisenwald." Continue here to read the full story.

On Sale

Evening Interviews

  • There's no multiplayer in 'Fallout 4,' but some ideas were tossed around. "Believe it or not, every time we do a game we design a multiplayer mode just to see what we would do." -- Todd Howard. Thanks GameInformer.
  • XCOM 2 interview - Gaming Nexus. "So Firaxis is, our pedigree has been PC games for almost 20 years now. That's what we do and when you look at that and the things that we want to do with XCOM 2 in particular even different from Enemy Unknown, it allowed us to say how do we stay as focused possible making the best game, the best game about splitting mindshare across multiple platforms. So it made a lot of sense for us to say we're going to be PC focus for now."

Evening Previews

etc., etc.

Thanks Ant.

Into the Black

Link of the Day: Gamer's wish granted: He can pay for Fallout 4 with real bottle caps. The follow-up is as good as the original story. Thanks JStarX7.

R.I.P.: Avengers star Patrick Macnee dies.

Portal Stories: Mel Released

Portal Stories: Mel is now available on Steam, offering a free modification for all owners of Portal 2 to add new gameplay to the first-person puzzle sequel. The announcement simply says: "After years of hard work Portal Stories: Mel is now finally released! Featuring 22 levels full of brand new tests, dialogue and much much more!" You can have a look in this launch trailer, and here's a description:
1952, in the early years of Aperture: Science Innovators, Cave Johnson’s scientists experimented with whatever they wanted. Not everything worked as it should have though, but that wasn't going to get in the way of the progress of Science! Mel unfortunately took part in a faulty test called the Aperture: Science Innovators Short-Term Relaxation Vault, falling asleep for years. When she finally wakes, there is a fake Cave Johnson telling her she needs to escape the facility and a new device called the Aperture Handheld Portal Device, her mind races with questions. “Who is this imposter Cave Johnson?” “What happened to the facility and its staff?”

"What happened to me?"

Main Features

  • 22 levels, with an estimated gameplay time of ~6-10 hours
  • Custom Story with 350 separate in-game voicelines
  • Over an hour of custom music with the Free soundtrack included
  • Huge amount of custom assets
  • 27 steam achievements
  • Standalone mod (You do not need Portal 2 installed to play)
  • Free to Play (You must own Portal 2)
  • Logic based puzzles, not execution based puzzles

Continue here to read the full story.

Tropico 5 Supercomputer DLC Released

Kalypso Media announces that the Supercomputer DLC for Tropico 5 is now available, hoping the new content for the island dictator game is a hit, rather than a petaflop. The Steam version is naturally available on Steam, while other versions of the game can be updated through the Kalypso Launcher. Here's word on what to expect: "Together with the support of the brightest scientists in all of Tropico, you must build the biggest and most efficient supercomputer in the world in order to research new technology faster than your rival nations and find the answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe, and everything. In the new mission 'The Supercomputer,' you will be required to conduct research faster than your competitors so that you can keep your technological dominance on the worldwide stage."

Dying Light XP Boost & Free DLC Plans

Techland announces plans for free DLC packs for Dying Light as part of a #DrinkForDLC viral marketing campaign for the zombie game that's sort of like an Ice Bucket Challenge for those who aren't into challenges (or energy drinks). Inspired by how the whole water drinking thing has taken off (word is every single person on Earth is participating to some degree), they announce plans for an XP boost this weekend, and a stream of free DLC to come to the game with new content:
Yesterday Dying Light playfully encouraged people to drink water in exchange for a free docket code that gives players a high-tier weapon to redeem in-game. The response from the community was overwhelmingly positive with fans from all over the globe joining in.

To thank fans for their amazing involvement, today Techland announced an extension to the Drink For DLC campaign. Techland have decided to design, create and release a number of all new free DLC packs for Dying Light throughout the second half of the year. The campaign will be led by the fans reaching successive stretch goals - by posting pictures of themselves drinking water on Twitter and tagging them with #DrinkForDLC.

All fans who have already participated will have their submissions added to the total tweet count. A full breakdown of the stretch goals are listed in the attached image along with the originally promised docket code.

However, the very first stretch goal will be a more immediate reward. As the tweet count is already nearing 5,000, Techland decided to reward all the water-loving fans with a 50% XP boost to player agility. The perk will be active for 24 hours, starting this Sunday, June 28th (Pacific Time).

Techland will keep fans informed on the campaign progress via the official Dying Light Twitter account and will announce the number of upcoming free DLCs by the end of July 2015.

GMG Arkham Knight Refunds

Following news that sales have been suspended for Batman: Arkham Knight, the GMG & Playfire Community Blog announces that in addition to halting sales of the superhero sequel, they are also offering refunds to those who purchased it from them. Just yesterday they announced they would offer refunds to those who could still not play the game after an upcoming patch to address complaints, but they are no longer waiting. Here's word:
WBIE also confirmed to us by email that "those customers who have already activated the game will be able to play the game during this time and will automatically be updated to the new version when it is available." So if you don't request a refund, you'll still be able to play the game even though it's been removed from sale. We're big fans of Warner Bros here at Green Man Gaming, they make some absolutely fantastic games and will continue to do so, and we have every faith that they will do all they can to make Batman: Arkham Knight on PC the best it can be.

To update our earlier statement regarding refunds for this title, all refund requests will be honoured as per WBIE's request. If you would like to submit a request for a refund for this title, please contact our helpdesk by clicking here and submitting a support ticket. We thank you in advance for your patience in this regard ­– we'll be dealing with every ticket we receive as swiftly as possible.

Crusader Kings II: Horse Lords Next Month

Paradox Interactive announces July 14th is the planned release date for the Horse Lords expansion for Crusader Kings II, the strategy/RPG sequel:
It is rather unlike hordes of nomadic invaders to stick to schedule, but the Horse Lords have told us that we can expect a rainfall of arrows on July 14. Horse Lords is the latest expansion for Paradox Development Studios’s much-loved grand strategy RPG CrusaderKings II and it will bring the hellfire of war on the steppes to glorious map-painting life on your desktop.

With a heavy focus on the Mongol and Turkic invaders of the Central Asian plains, Horse Lords adds an expanded map, new ruling systems for the fascinating culture of the nomadic tribes that changed the course of world history from the saddle. There are also some minor tweaks that will affect everyone, including the construction of temporary forts to hold an area in your control and introducing the Silk Road – the wealthy trade highway that ran from the Mediterranean to East Asia.

Door Kickers Adds New Content and iPad Version

KillHouse Games announces the release of an iPad version of Door Kickers which includes cross-platform saves with the desktop version (they also say Android tablet support will follow, and they are also looking into possibly supporting large-screen iPhones), offering a trailer to show off the mobile version. The cross-platform saves require a new patch for the Windows, OS X, and Linux editions of the heist game, and the new version 1.08 also adds a new campaign, two new shotguns, and more. Here are the patch notes:
New Features:

  • New campaign, in celebration of the iPad release.
  • Two new shotguns.
  • Tablet mode: activate the new GUI and control scheme optimized for touchscreen displays and trackpads.
  • Added import/export save-games capability, to share progress between different platforms (PC-Mac-Linux-iOS).
  • Improved path-drawing smoothness on some maps.
  • Increased maximum zoom-in distance.

Fixes:

Continue here to read the full story.

T500 RS Wheel Firmware; Wheel Not Discontinued

We received a reply today from Thrustmaster to our inquiry about a rumor that their high-end T500RS racing wheels are being discontinued, which they categorically deny. Word from the peripheral manufacturer is: "We inform you that the T500 RS is still being produced so we deny any claims that it was discontinued." As we noted yesterday, there are new drivers for the wheel on their website which support Windows 10, and there is also new firmware for the wheel to better optimize cooling fan and power supply management.

Batman: Arkham Knight PC Sales Suspended

A post to the WB Games Community forum from a community admin explains that WBIE is suspending sales of the PC edition of Batman: Arkham Knight until they can address the issues running the superhero sequel under Windows (with reported assistance from NVIDIA). They ask for patience, and the refunds they mention are based on the policies of where the game was purchased:
Dear Batman: Arkham Knight PC owners,

We want to apologize to those of you who are experiencing performance issues with Batman: Arkham Knight on PC. We take these issues very seriously and have therefore decided to suspend future game sales of the PC version while we work to address these issues to satisfy our quality standards. We greatly value our customers and know that while there are a significant amount of players who are enjoying the game on PC, we want to do whatever we can to make the experience better for PC players overall.

Thank you to those players who have already given valuable feedback. We are continuously monitoring all threads posted in the Official Batman: Arkham Knight Community and Steam forums, as well as any issues logged with our Customer Support (support.wbgames.com). If you purchased your copy of the game and are not satisfied with your experience, then we ask for your patience while these issues are resolved. If desired, you can request a refund at help.steampowered.com (Steam refund policies can be found here: http://store.steampowered.com/steam_refunds) or the retail location where you purchased the game.

The Batman: Arkham fans have continually supported the franchise to its current height of success, and we want to thank you for your patience as we work to deliver an updated version of Batman: Arkham Knight on PC so you can all enjoy the final chapter of the Batman: Arkham series as it was meant to be played.

Pillars of Eternity Expansion Details; Patch Plans

A new Project Eternity Kickstarter update claims to announce the previously revealed and announced White March expansion for Pillars of Eternity, also offering details on an upcoming version 2.0 update for Obsidian's role-playing game (thanks nin). There are details on Zahua the monk and the Devil of Caroc, two new companions in the expansion, and they say they will be announcing release date for the two-part expansion "soon," adding that "part 1 is not far in the future." Version 2.0 will come around the same time, and will be released for all owners of the game even if they don't buy the expansion. They explain this will include "a few new features and quality of life improvement options." They have a video to show some of then new features. Continue here to read the full story.

Overwatch Video

Here's another new video from Overwatch, showing the Bastion character in action in Blizzard's upcoming team shooter. Here's the explanation: "Bastion's combat programming takes control in this unedited match from an early version of Overwatch, captured in 60fps on PC. Here, Bastion plays on the attacking team in King's Row, a Point Capture/Payload hybrid map situated in the heart of England." Continue here to read the full story.

Game Reviews

Hardware Reviews

Out of the Blue

The Knicks have the fourth pick in the draft tonight. How optimistic am I? I'll answer with some Knicks trivia. The title David Lee won with the Golden State Warriors is the first Knicks first-round pick to win a championship since before the team drafted Patrick Ewing. That covers the entire 30 years of the draft lottery. And like Lee, the last Knicks' first-rounder to win a title before that did so with another team. So no, I'm not optimistic, but I'll be happy to be proven wrong.

Drafty Links: Thanks Ant and Acleacius.
Play: Aztec: Tactical Conquest.
Helmet Heroes.
Street Rally 2015.
Link: Can you solve it? Are you smarter than Jo Nesbø? Thanks Devicer.
Science: It Pays to Be Nice. Thanks Boing Boing.
'No hoax': Lexus creates a hoverboard. Thanks Slashdot.
Media: Super Mario Pick-Up Artist.
10 Minutes of Dominos Falling.
Aerial video of crowd filling NYC park for free movie. Feel like an amoeba yet?
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