Sonic Frontiers has now arrived onto PC and consoles alongside some highly divisive reviews
- By Ash
- in News
To say that Sonic Frontiers' original announcement went over badly would be one hell of an understatement. The initial gameplay preview featured a barren, boring world with stilted gameplay and overly tanky enemies, so right from the very start Sonic Frontiers put itself into a very unfavorable position. However, thanks to some of the follow-up trailers and hands-on previews that actually focused on the more interesting (and polished) aspects of gameplay, Sonic Frontiers slowly but surely managed to overcome that initial wave of disappointment and establish itself as a serious attempt to revitalize the 3D Sonic formula.
Whether it has succeeded in doing so, that I'm not exactly sure of as the reviews are currently incredibly polarized. Some are absolutely in love with the game and everything it represents for the series, while others cannot seem to stomach its technical problems and gameplay quirks. Whatever the case may be, Sonic Frontiers has definitely made an impression on players as there are very few mild opinions floating around!
Warhammer 40,000: Darktide's cinematic shows off the world and fate of the fan-favorite Guardsmen
- By Ash
- in News
[Update #2]: My review for Darktide is now live and, long story short, it's as rough and fascinating as the world it takes place in!
[Update]: After playing for about 50 hours now I've decided to create a beginner's guide covering some of the basic concepts and combat strategies. So if you'd like your first run through Darktide to be a nice and pleasant one, I'd welcome you to give it a look.
The Vermintide games are currently celebrating their seventh anniversary, and since the upcoming Warhammer 40,000: Darktide is also a member of the 'tide' series, Fatshark has decided to extend the festivities to it as well. As such, I'm happy to say that I have a couple of exciting bits of news to share!
First and foremost, Fatshark has now released a brand new cinematic trailer showcasing the grim darkness of the Warhammer 40k world, the horrors of warp travel, as well as the fate of the fan-favorite Guardsmen squad from the very first teaser trailer. So before I spoil anything by accident, here's the cinematic:
Endoparasitic is a minimalistic horror game that starts with monsters ripping three of your limbs straight off
- By Ash
- in Indie Games
Horror games frequently subject our characters to gruesome fates in order to amplify the tension and make the monsters feel more menacing, but the recently released Endoparasitic takes this concept to a whole new level. I say this because the very first thing that happens in Endoparasitic is that shadowy monsters rip off three of your limbs, thus leaving you with only one arm with which you have to do everything!
And when I say everything, I really do mean that as you'll need to use your singular appendage to push yourself along the ground, manipulate objects, and even painstakingly mess around with your own inventory. Things get especially messy in combat as you not only need to stand still in order to shoot, but you also need to manually reload your bullets one by one while the mangled monstrosities shamble towards your defenseless body. Needless to say, this makes Endoparasitic's gameplay incredibly stressful, yet also quite effective at conveying a real sense of dread since you are so frequently helpless.
In celebration of the series' seventh anniversary, Vermintide 2 has just added a frigid new map
- By Ash
- in News
[Update #2]: The freshly released Tower of Treachery update has added a new map with a fun surprise at the end!
[Update]: Vermintide 2 is celebrating its Fifth Anniversary with a free weekend, triple experience and festive map.
Even though Darktide is nearly upon us, I'm happy to say that Fatshark doesn't look like they're even considering giving up on Vermintide 2. Instead, in celebration of the series' seventh anniversary, they have decided to release a brand new update!
The definite highlight is the new Trail of Treachery map that will have the Ubersreik five (or four, it doesn't matter!) fight their way down a precarious mountain path in order to save a village that's apparently having problems with ghosts. What this looks like in action, that you can check out through the teaser trailer below. Have a peek:
After many months of waiting, the PC servers for Dark Souls Remastered have finally come back online
- By Ash
- in News
Shortly before Elden Ring launched a major vulnerability was discovered in the matchmaking system for the entirety of the Dark Souls series on PC. With there being no easy way to correct the problem, FromSoftware made the difficult choice of shutting down all online features on PC until a permanent solution could be found.
It took a very long time for Dark Souls 3 to get fixed, though FromSoftware did eventually pull through and brought the servers back online in August. A few months later Dark Souls 2: Scholar of the First Sin went online as well, and now the same courtesy has been extended to Dark Souls Remastered.
Warhammer 40,000: Shootas, Blood & Teef is an over-the-top, Metal Slug inspired run & gun platformer
- By Ash
- in Indie Games
There are tons of Warhammer 40k games out there these days, though for whatever reason the vast majority of them are centered around the Imperium and feature some flavor of strategy gameplay. However, the recently released Warhammer 40,000: Shootas, Blood & Teef is a major exception as it not only forgoes strategy in favor of over-the-top action, but it also ignores the usual Space Marine nonsense in favor of giving the Orks a bit of a spotlight!
As you might imagine from a game starring Orks, Shootas, Blood & Teef is all about blasting your way through a bunch of colorful levels while shouting mostly complete and utter nonsense all throughout the process. What this sort of insanity looks like in action, that you can find out through the launch trailer below. Have a peek:
Second part of Dota 2's Battle Pass has arrived with a wolf Persona for Crystal Maiden and a new Diretide PvP event
- By Ash
- in News
[Update #2]: Dota 2's next update, and quite likely the newest hero Muerta, will be unveiled on March 6th.
[Update]: Dota 2's Update 7.32d has nerfed Marci, Wraith Pact, as well as rebalanced a whole bunch of other heroes and items.
In an effort to keep the momentum going from the recent The International 2022 tournament, Valve has now unleashed the second part of the massive Battle Pass. More on that in just a moment, because it's well worth mentioning that this Battle Pass is currently entirely free for everyone to grab thanks to the recently released "The International Swag Bag", which also comes with a free Arcana-tier skin of your choice as a nice little bonus.
Now then, what does the second part of the Battle Pass bring to the table? Unsurprisingly, a whole bunch of cosmetics! First and foremost, Crystal Maiden's "Conduit of the Blueheart" Persona has transformed her into a literal wolf with brand new voice lines, animations and special effects. In my humble opinion it's easily the best cosmetic in the current Battle Pass, and as luck would have it, it's also the easiest one to acquire as you only need to reach level 148 to get it!