Minecraft: Story Mode - Episode 1 is free on Steam for a "limited time"
- By Ash
- in News
If this title sounds a bit familiar, it would be because Minecraft: Story Mode - Episode 1 has been free on the Windows Store for a little while now as a sort of Windows 10 'exclusive offer'. As of today, however, it is also available as a free 'demo' on Steam! So if you're interested in seeing what Telltale has managed to do with Minecraft, but don't actually own Windows 10, now you finally have a chance to check it out.
And if you have no idea what Minecraft: Story mode is even all about, here's a rather stylish trailer for Episode 1 - The Order of the Stone:
Killing Floor 2 Gameplay Showcase - Lighting the world on fire with the Firebug
- By Ash
- in Gameplay Showcase
In the most basic terms, Killing Floor 2 is a co-op shooter that pits you against ever-increasing waves of mutants, monsters, and other such nasties. While that alone might not sound like much, Killing Floor 2 distinguishes itself from the rest by having an extremely satisfying arsenal of weaponry... of which my favorite is the good ol' flamethrower.
So if you're interested in seeing what Killing Floor 2 is all about, and more importantly how awesome the flamethrower looks, I've prepared a brief gameplay video showcasing just that. Have a look:
Planet Coaster's Update 1.0.1 has brought in a harder challenge mode, performance improvements, and new blueprints
- By Ash
- in News
Planet Coaster, the theme park creator and management game, launched around a week ago to overwhelmingly positive reviews. But rather than sit back and enjoy their success, the developers have instead decided to release a rather significant update.
The boringly named Update 1.0.1 brings with it a new and much 'harder' challenge mode, a variety of new blueprints to toy around with, and most importantly, numerous optimization and stability improvements. Given that the biggest problems currently plaguing Planet Coaster are performance and difficulty, I hope you can now understand how positively delightful it is to see this patch arrive so quickly after release!
As for the patch notes themselves, here's the full list, though keep in mind that most of the 'important' stuff is hidden in between the lines:
Ubisoft is offering a brand new mystery gift (including games) every single day until December 23
- By Ash
- in News
Ubisoft is celebrating their 30th anniversary, and in order to get everyone else into the festive mood they have decided to offer a brand new mystery gift every single day until December 23. And as an added bonus they are also currently giving away Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon, though it isn't technically a part of the "30 Days of Giveaways" promotion.
So if you're up for grabbing various gaming knickknacks, but also fully fledged games, head over to the Ubisoft website. Do bear in mind that you will need a Uplay account in order to claim these rewards, but other than that there is no catch. And if you're wondering what exactly you missed so far, or what's coming in the near future, here's the full list of rewards and their corresponding dates:
Starcraft 2's most recent patch has brought in significant balance changes for all three races
- By Ash
- in News
Even though its competitive scene might not be as booming as it once was, there are plenty of interesting things going in with Starcraft 2 right now. The third mission pack for the Nova Covert Ops solo campaign just recently became available, a couple of new co-op missions have been added to spice things up, and after years of begging there's even brand new unit cosmetics to mess around with!
The only thing left to round out all of the content was to also release a significant balance update, and as it so happens - Blizzard recently recently did just that! Given that I haven't played Legacy of the Void in quite a while I won't even begin to guess how impactful these changes will actually end up being, but for what its worth, there sure is a lot of changes on display. You can find the full patch notes over at the Starcraft 2 website, but if you're just looking for the balance changes, here's the list:
The first big update for Endless Space 2 has brought in a new faction and an increased turn limit
- By Ash
- in News
Endless Space 2, the turn-based, 4X strategy game currently in Early Access, has just recently received its first major update. It has added a brand new major faction by the name of The United Empire, as well as three minor factions and a whole array of quests related to them. But perhaps most importantly, the turn limit has been increased, so you will now be able to continue playing even after achieving victory at turn 100!
And if you're wondering what this new "The United Empire" faction is all about, here's a rather Starship Troopers inspired trailer. The message is far from subtle, but I have to admit this is one extremely well done propaganda video! Have a look:
The voting for the very first Steam Awards is now live, and will end on November 29
- By Ash
- in News
If you're a fan of pointless award ceremonies that are nothing more than a popularity vote, you'll be glad to hear that Valve is as well! But don't worry, they're not doing this completely straight-faced. I mean, one of the categories is literally called "I Thought This Game Was Cool Before It Won An Award", so what do you even say to that?
As silly as the whole concept is, I still have to admit that I actually went through the 'massive' trouble of filling all of it out. Perhaps its the ridiculous nature of it, and perhaps I'm just insane, but deciding which games to pick has been a surprising degree of fun. Its not every day that you get to ponder which game has made the best use of farm animals after all!
If you feel like joining this parade of madness, also known as the Steam Awards, here are all of the categories: