Gwent developers have revealed detailed win-rate statistics for faction Leaders at the top of the ladder
- By Ash
- in News
When it comes to card games, no matter how generous they may be, there is only so many decks you can create without spending an exorbitant amount of money. So when faced with limited options most people will opt to take a peek at the various competitive tier lists in order to figure out which deck is considered the best, and then copy it.
While these types of tier lists are genuinely useful, they can also become a bit of a self-fulfilling prophecy. If a deck is considered overpowered its going to end up being copied by a large amount of the playerbase, which will only further pump up its stats and make it seem like its literally the only deck in existence. In Gwent's case, the various tier lists are quite clearly pointing towards Dagon and King Bran being by far the best decks out there, but according to Rethaz, one of the developers, the reality is much more nuanced. So if you're interested in seeing what exactly is happening with high level Gwent, here's the most interesting part of Rethaz's post:
XCOM 2: War of the Chosen's latest video highlights one of your biggest threats - The Hunter
- By Ash
- in News
XCOM 2's War of the Chosen expansion aims to greatly improve upon the original, while also adding a bunch of new storylines to explore, factions to befriend, and enemies to miss despite having a 97% hit chance. Out of all these new enemies it is the titular Chosen that are by far the most dangerous as not only are they extremely capable fighters and psionics, but they are also much smarter than the common goon. In other words, expect them to hit you when you are at your weakest, and from angles you might not even consider covering.
And out of all the newly announced Chosen it is The Hunter that is going to prove the most troublesome to unprepared teams as he is a fan of both stealth and sniper warfare. If you're wondering what all of this might look like in gameplay terms, here's the recently posted trailer showcasing just that. Have a look:
Dota 2 has just been updated with some major improvements to new player matchmaking
- By Ash
- in News
Dota 2 is one of the most complex games out there, so much so that it takes new players months, if not years to finally get a grasp on everything. It is because of this that Valve has repeatedly tinkered with the matchmaking system for new players, all in an effort to make those first few games less of a daunting task.
The latest of these new player focused updates has arrived today, bringing with it two major improvements. The first and perhaps the most obvious one is that new players will now only have access to a curated group of twenty heroes for their first twenty five games. Since all of the chosen heroes are relatively simple and straightforward it should provide an easy way for new players to get accustom to Dota 2 without having to learn any of the advanced mechanics just yet.
The bizarre action-adventure Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice is coming to PC and PS4 in early August
- By Ash
- in News
[Update]: Ninja Theory is working on a highly ambitious sequel to Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice.
Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice is an upcoming viking themed action-adventure from the developers behind Heavenly Sword, Enslaved: Odyssey to the West, and DmC: Devil May Cry. Besides beating up a variety of deformed creatures and exploring some rather gorgeous locations as you would expect from an action-adventure, Hellblade will also focus on the quickly dwindling mental state of our protagonist.
How exactly all of this will manifest in gameplay, I'm not entirely sure, but you can get a good glimpse at what exactly Hellblade is all about through the recently posted trailer. I would recommend turning up the volume a bit because the voiceover is barely understandable at the best of times. Anyway, here's the video:
Doom's recent Update 6.66 has made all of the DLC available for free
- By Ash
- in News
In a bit of a surprise update Bethesda and id have made all of Doom's multiplayer DLC and weapons available for free! I'm still not a big fan of Doom's multiplayer, but even I must admit there is now a rather impressive amount of content to be explored, and all of it is in addition to the downright excellent singleplayer campaign.
Besides all of the free DLC, Update 6.66 has also revamped the multiplayer progression system to remove randomness and promote in-game challenges. In other words, instead of hoping the gods of randomness will give you the unlock you seek, items are now obtained through either specific level requirements or in-game challenges that can be completed at any time. For example, if there's a specific helmet you need to complete your awesome armor set, you now have the ability to get it directly as long as you're willing to focus your playstyle on whatever the challenge requires. Its a simple system, but it should be an effective one.
Path of Exile developers have detailed the upcoming Harbinger Challenge League
- By Ash
- in News
Path of Exile will soon be getting its biggest expansion yet - The Fall of Oriath. Once it arrives the expansion will bring with it six new acts, thus completely removing the need for multiple difficulty levels and constant replaying of the same few zones, as well as a whole bunch of new enemies (including the damnable Bonewheel Skeletons from Dark Souls), spells, bosses, and the list goes on for quite a long while.
As is tradition with pretty much any major Path of Exile update, there will also be a brand new Challenge League for everyone to enjoy in both Softcore and Hardcore variants. The league in question is simply called "The Harbinger Challenge League", and as you might expect from the name alone you will be spending a whole lot of time fighting the new and mysterious Harbingers.
Immortal Planet, an action-RPG with a focus on challenging combat, has now arrived on Steam
- By Ash
- in Indie Games
Immortal Planet is a Dark Souls inspired action-RPG with a focus on challenging combat that rewards patience and timing above all else. In gameplay terms this means that all of your enemies and bosses will have clearly defined patterns you'll need to spot and exploit, lest you find yourself becoming yet another red stain on the floor. Chances are you're going to die quite a lot before you get the hang of things, but much like Dark Souls death should be treated as nothing more than a learning experience, so don't stress too much if you find yourself failing over and over again - we've all been there.
If you're interested in seeing how all of this translates into gameplay, you'll find one of the recently posted trailers down below. Its not overly long, but there's enough gameplay in there to give you a pretty good idea of just what kind of ARPG you're getting yourself into. Have a look: