Path of Exile's April Fools' battle royale game mode is actually surprisingly fun
- By Ash
- in News
Given the popularity of PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds and Fortnite, it was only a matter of time before the whole battle royale craze started spreading to other genres. What I didn't expect is that an ARPG like Path of Exile would be one of the first to take the leap as a part of its April Fools' joke, nor that it would be a genuinely enjoyable game mode!
As it turns out, low-level PvP is quite exciting as every single skill gem is suddenly viable, even the most abysmal of unique items are comparatively fantastic, and the matches are short and diverse enough that things never end up feeling stale. So while this is quite obviously an April Fools' joke, I sure wouldn't mind if Path of Exile kept the battle royale game mode around, even if only as a weekly event.
Mark of the Ninja: Remastered will be coming to PC and consoles later this year
- By Ash
- in News
While it might seem simple on first glance, Mark of the Ninja is one of the most impressive stealth games I've played in quite a few years, purely because of all the viable playstyles and routes each level offers. As such, I am very happy to say that the developer Klei has now announced that they are working on a remastered version!
The details are still cloaked in darkness, but you can expect Mark of the Ninja: Remastered to arrive with redone 4K Visuals for both gameplay and cutscenes, enhanced audio, a variety of new special effects, as well as all of the content from the Special Edition expansion. There is currently no release date available, but you can expect the remastered version to arrive on PC, Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and Switch at some point later this year.
Factorio will soon be leaving Steam Early Access and increasing its price to $30
- By Ash
- in News
[Update]: After nearly a decade in development, Factorio has now finally been released!
After a rather lengthy development process, the simple yet incredibly complex factory building and management sim Factorio is just about ready to launch. Once the upcoming Version 0.17 becomes stable and polished, Factorio will finally step out of Early Access and launch as a fully finished game.
There is currently no exact release date set, for obvious reasons, but what I can tell you is that after April 16th Factorio's price will be increased to 30 USD (or your regional equivalent). So if you ever wanted to give Factorio a try, or at least do a bit more research about it, now would be the time to do so as you can still grab it for a completely reasonable $20/€20.
Guild Wars 2's annual Super Adventure Festival has arrived with a bunch of retro platforming challenges
- By Ash
- in News
If you're a fan of Guild Wars 2's jumping puzzles, or just platformers so brutally difficult that you often can't decide between shouting for joy or tearing your hair out, you might be interested to hear that the Super Adventure Festival has now arrived once more! It will last until April 19th, so if you're up for exploring a brand new and highly pixelated world, make sure to visit any of the major cities as they all have a convenient portal to the Super Adventure Box.
Since trying to explain the Super Adventure Box through words alone is always going to be a bit of a pointless task, allow me to share with you the latest developer stream. The video is little bit on the long side, but even if you only watch for a couple of minutes you'll still get a pretty darn good idea whether the Super Adventure Box is something you'd enjoy or not. Have a gander:
Faeria will soon be transitioning to a buy-to-play model and cancelling the mobile versions
- By Ash
- in News
I have seen many examples of previously stagnating games switch to a free-to-play model in order to revitalize their population, but I can't exactly say I've ever seen a game attempt do the reverse. As such, I am genuinely curious to see what will happen once the currently free-to-play card game Faeria transitions to a buy-to-play model and cancels its mobile versions at some point this summer.
"After the release of Oversky (the first big expansion), we weren’t entirely sure what path forward to take for Faeria," reads the rather lengthy developer blog post. "One thing was clear: It was important for us to adapt our plans to maintain the game’s financial viability ensuring not only that Faeria will live on for a long time, but to guarantee we will be able to continue creating new and exciting content much more frequently."
Kingdom Come: Deliverance devs have added an HD Texture & Audio Pack for the PC version
- By Ash
- in News
Kingdom Come: Deliverance is already a gorgeous game, but if you feel like taking things to a whole new level, you'll be glad to hear that the developers have now added an HD Texture & Audio pack for the PC version. Simply head on over to the DLC section on Steam or GOG in order to download it, and don't worry, it is entirely free!
Before you dive in, it is worth mentioning that installing both of these packs will put significantly more strain on your PC. For example, the HD Texture Pack recommends you use a graphics card with 6GB of VRAM, most of which are pretty darn expensive these days due to the whole cryptocurrency mining craze. You can always disable the HD textures if you encounter any problems, however, so I would still say it's worth giving them a try, even if you're below the recommended specs.
Ultimate Online inspired Shroud of the Avatar has now fully released from Steam Early Access
- By Ash
- in News
Back in 2013 the Ultima and Ultimate Online inspired Shroud of the Avatar managed to secure $1,919,275 in funding on Kickstarter, after which it made its way to Steam Early Access in November of 2014. And now, after an incredibly long development cycle, the Shroud of the Avatar MMORPG has finally released in full, though unfortunately it would appear that the Steam reviews haven't become any more positive about it over the years.
Whether the criticism is fair or not, I'm afraid I simply cannot tell you as I haven't played it, but what I can do is share two of the most recent trailers. The first video is a cinematic trailer that will give you a bit of an idea of what the story is all about, while the second one is a co-op focused gameplay preview that should offer some insight into how Shroud of the Avatar is actually played. Have a look: