The classic kart game Crash Team Racing is getting a fully fledged remaster this year
- By Ash
- in News
Given the massive success of the Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy, it was only a matter of time before the team moved onto the other Crash games. And as you might imagine, the next one on the list is the downright amazing kart game Crash Team Racing!
The upcoming Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled will bring with it improved visuals and audio, support for modern resolutions, tighter controls, and naturally, all of the classic content. As an additional 'little' bonus, Nitro-Fueled will also be adding some new karts and tracks from beyond the original game, as well as the much-needed ability to test your driving skills against other players in online matches.
Iron Harvest's alpha preview shows off some rather imaginative mechs and walking artillery
- By Ash
- in Indie Games
[Update]: Iron Harvest now has a free demo available, though only until June 22, 2020.
Iron Harvest is an upcoming real-time strategy game set in an alternate history version of the 1920s. As you might expect from the image alone, this offshoot of history will contain clunky but extremely deadly robots, heavily armored and surprisingly mobile bunkers, sword-wielding mechs, as well as variety of other imaginative technology.
While Iron Harvest is still in early alpha, the developers have recently shared a gameplay preview showing off some of the aforementioned mechs, as well as the base-building mechanics. Have a look, they're certainly a charming bunch:
Quake Champions update has added Capture the Flag and reworked the progression system
- By Ash
- in News
[Update]: Quake Champions' Season 7 update has brought in a new map and a variety of cosmetic rewards
If you were thinking about giving Quake Champions a try, now would be a pretty good time to do so. Besides the usual batch of balance changes and optimizations tweaks, the most recent update has also added a new Capture the Flag game mode alongside its own map, as well as greatly reworked the progression system.
Rather than randomly unlock cosmetics through chests, you will now be able to directly purchase the items you want by using in-game currency. There is also a new Battle Pass system that offers a variety of daily and weekly challenges to help you earn currency, as well as a paid version that contains a couple of unique cosmetics. I haven't played Quake Champions in a while so I can't comment on how faster or slower these new changes have made item acquisition, but I can certainly appreciate the removal of loot boxes in favor of simply being able to work towards the items you want!
World of Warcraft's Battle of Dazar’alor raid will be opening its doors this January 22nd
- By Ash
- in News
Even though Battle for Azeroth's Tides of Vengance update arrived in early December, the expansion's second raid Battle for Dazar'alor is still not available. The reasoning behind this delay, as is tradition for World of Warcraft, is to give players plenty of time to enjoy the holiday season before having them spend hours upon hours trying to break through the newest batch of bosses.
The holiday season is now well and truly over, however, so you might be glad to hear that Battle for Dazar'alor raid will finally be unlocked this January 22nd for Normal and Heroic difficulties. Mythic difficulty will be arriving alongside the first Raid Finder Wing on January 29th, while the second and third Wings will become available on February 12th and 26th respectively.
Celeste devs have now canceled their Metroidvania action-adventure Skytorn
- By Ash
- in Indie Games
Skytorn was supposed to be a Metroidvania action-adventure game from the developers behind the rather excellent Celeste, but unfortunately it would appear that the project has ran into some significant trouble and has now officially been canceled. The reasoning, as is often the case with these types of games, was that the procedural world design clashed heavily with the Metroidvania gameplay.
"To its core it was a procedurally generated adventure game without permadeath, but the procedural elements always clashed with the Metroidvania themes, and I didn’t know how to design around that," reads the developer update. "Taking out the procedural parts felt like it defeated the purpose of what the game was, so as it shifted towards a more linear adventure, the procedural map stayed but simply got more and more constricted, until the proceduralness of it didn’t really mean anything - it was just… there."
Bandai Namco's fighting game Jump Force will have a seemingly extensive character creation system
- By Ash
- in News
Continuing with the genre's tradition of crossovers, Jump Force is Bandai Namco's upcoming fighting game that will feature some of the most popular characters from a variety of manga (Japanese comics). You can expect to see the usual bunch of suspects from series like Dragon Ball and Naruto, as well as some less frequently seen ones like Yugi from Yu-Gi-Oh or Light from Death Note, though unfortunately it appears that Light will only be there for the story mode.
If you prefer to create your very own characters, however, you might be glad to hear that Jump Force will also have a seemingly extensive custom character creation system. You can get a bit of an idea of what this will look like, as well as what the overall story will be about, by checking out the recently posted trailer. Have a gander:
January's Humble Monthly bundle has arrived with The Division and Yakuza 0 in tow
- By Ash
- in News
If you're looking to pick up a couple of slightly older games at a steep discount, you might want to check out January's Humble Monthly bundle. It currently offers instant access to The Division and Yakuza 0 at a $12 price tag, with a bunch of other games coming in as a little bonus on February 1st.
I won't pretend I'm a big fan of either game as they're simply not my kind of thing, but they are still pretty darn good games. Even The Division, Ubisoft's open-world shooter that launched with somewhat mixed reviews, has slowly but surely managed to transform itself into something quite entertaining. So if you have even a bit of interest in the two games, for $12 I do believe they are well worth checking out.