The FTL-inspired naval strategy/adventure Abandon Ship has now docked onto Steam Early Access
- By Ash
- in Indie Games
As the title would suggest, Abandon Ship is a naval strategy/adventure game that's most similar in spirit to FTL. You will need to take control of a single ship and its small crew in order to explore a massive and randomly generated world, solve a variety of quests that for me tend to end with one of my crewmen getting eaten, and naturally, fight off a whole horde of pirates, cultists and other such nasties that would love nothing more than to plunder your ship.
If you're wondering what all of this might look like in-game, wonder no more as the developers have shared posted a launch trailer. The video isn't very long, but it should give you a pretty darn good idea of what to expect from Abandon Ship. Have a look:
Warhammer: Vermintide has been updated with a free mission that bridges the gap between it and the upcoming Vermintide 2
- By Ash
- in News
Vermintide 2 is set to arrive this March, and as such the glory days of the original Vermintide are slowly coming to an end. However, instead of simply letting their older game fade away, Fatshark has just released a brand new (and free) mission that bridges the gap between the two games!
The aptly titled "Waylaid" mission will have you venture through a confusing maze of Skaven tunnels in order to face off against a familiar foe. It's a fairly short mission so I can't exactly tell you more without spoiling the surprise, but let's just say that it gives Vermintide 2 an excuse to start the campaign just about anywhere! And if you are wondering if Fatshark snuck in any Chaos Warriors for us to fight, I'm afraid they are adding more spikes to their armor and as such are going to be unavailable until Vermintide 2.
Stellaris devs have released a brief overview of the various features coming in with the upcoming Apocalypse expansion
- By Ash
- in News
Last month Paradox announced the Apocalypse, or rather a brand new expansion for Stellaris. As is tradition, the announcement only brought with it a comparatively tiny amount of information, thus leaving us to ponder over what exactly the enormous Titan capital ships are capable of, and perhaps most importantly, how the planet-killing weaponry will function!
While they're still not being as detailed as I would perhaps like, I am glad to say that Paradox has recently posted a brief developer video going over the features coming in with the Apocalypse expansion, as well as what the free accompanying update will have to offer. So if you're interested in creating your very own Death Star, you'll find the video right below. Have a look:
Total War: Thrones of Britannia has been confirmed for both Mac and Linux
- By Ash
- in News
The upcoming Thrones of Britannia is the very first of the Total War Saga series. What this means is that instead of trying to capture an entire historical era, Thrones of Britannia will offer a detailed look at some of the most interesting events that happened in a relatively short time frame. In terms of gameplay improvements you can expect to see the most detailed Total War map to date, ten playable and diverse factions, a variety of victory conditions that align with each faction's history, and perhaps most importantly, some major changes to how recruitment, politics and research is handled.
The Windows version of Thrones of Britannia is set to arrive this April 19th, but if you prefer to do your gaming on Mac or Linux there's no need to worry as the developers have just confirmed that it will be making its way there as well. Unfortunately, there is currently no release date set, but according to Feral Interactive the Mac and Linux ports are going to arrive "shortly after the Windows version."
The vampire themed action-RPG Vampyr has been pinned for an early June release date
- By Ash
- in News
Vampyr is an upcoming vampire themed action-RPG from Dontnod, the studio behind Life is Strange and Remember Me. You'll be taking on the role of a doctor trying to cure a deadly plague that's sweeping through London, while also wrestling with the vampiric curse that forces the otherwise noble doctor to feed on his fellow citizens in order to survive. The more you feed the stronger you will be, though as a result the already chaotic state in the city is likely to get even worse as militias rise up in response to the rampant vampire attacks. In other words, expect to make some rather difficult choices!
If this sounds like the type of game you would like to try out, you might be interested to hear that Vampyr will be coming to PC and consoles on June 5th. This information comes to us from the most recent developer video, so if you're looking for a few more details you'll find it right below. Have a look:
Warhammer: Vermintide 2 Preview - It's shaping up to be an extremely solid sequel
- By Ash
- in Reviews
Warhammer: Vermintide 2 is due to arrive next month, bringing with it an assortment of new maps, enemies, and specializations to mess around with. That last part is perhaps the most significant since the already diverse and interesting cast of heroes is getting even more customization options. So instead of just being a 'normal' Dwarf, Bardin will be able to don the immensely heavy gear of the Ironbreaker, focus on ranged weaponry through the Ranger Veteran career, or just grow a giant mohawk and throw himself into the thickest fighting as a Slayer.
If you don't know much about the Warhammer world those specializations might seem a bit on the generic side, but as someone that has spent the last ten or so years fawning over both Warhammer Fantasy and 40k, I must say their inclusion fills me with a great deal of joy. After all, it's not every day that you get to play as a half-naked Dwarf with a serious case of anger management issues!
Speaking of playing, I recently had the chance to explore Vermintide 2's fairly brief demo. Bardin and his lovely mohawk were unfortunately unavailable, but I did get to check out Markus Kruber and his warhammer-wielding Knight loadout, as well as Kerillian's Dark Elf inspired Shade specialization that came with a rather stylish ornate spear. The whole demo took me around 10 minutes to finish, but even that was enough to show me that Vermintide 2 is shaping up to be an extremely solid sequel - one that expands upon the original in a variety of ways, while still keeping the core gameplay at the forefront.
The full 3D remake of Secret of Mana has now arrived for both PC and consoles
- By Ash
- in News
The classic Secret of Mana is an action RPG released for the SNES in the ancient times of 1993. While nothing special these days, Secret of Mana received quite a lot of praise back then for avoiding the genre standard turn-based system and going with a more action-orientated real-time combat. Combine this with a lengthy and story-focused campaign and it's easy to see why Secret of Mana got quite the cult following over the years.
Given its popularity it was only a matter of time before Square Enix attempted to do a modern version, which is where the newly released 3D remake of Secret of Mana comes into play. However, unlike the usual remakes that only offer improved visuals and support for widescreen resolutions, the modern Secret of Mana also brings with it a variety of gameplay tweaks meant to modernize the combat, as well as English voice acting. Whether these improvements were a success or not, that is currently the big question.