League of Legends will soon be adding solo/due queue, as well as the long-awaited replay system
- By Ash
- in News
Even if you haven't been playing League of Legends you're most likely aware of the outrage that happened with Riot Games removed the solo queue option in favor of dynamic queue. If not, let's just say that there was a whole lot of shouting and arguing, and for once it wasn't pointless as the system really did have some deep-seated flaws.
After the most recent ranked updates ended up not producing the desired results, Riot has finally decided to admit defeat and not only bring back solo/duo queue, but also introduce a couple of other improvements to the League of Legends ranked ladder! You can read more about this over at the official website, but for now I just want to highlight the most interesting part of the entire announcement - Riot's willingness to experiment and further improve upon the system:
Starcraft 2's upcoming Patch 3.7 will add numerous customization options and race specific MMR
- By Ash
- in News
If you find the default Starcraft 2 announcers to be terribly boring, and would instead prefer to have someone like Alarak spend the entire game questioning your worth, you'll be glad to hear that Starcraft 2's upcoming Patch 3.7 will be bringing with it a bunch of cosmetic customization options! You'll soon be able to adjust the armor and appearance of your units, their dance animations, your decal and player icon, and naturally, the smooth voice of your friendly announcer.
Since these are some fairly major changes, to Starcraft 2 anyway, the developers have prepared a Patch Overview video to guide you through all of these new additions. Here's the video:
Uncover the secrets of the Ninth World with Torment: Tides of Numenera's latest lore video
- By Ash
- in News
Much like Planescape: Torment that came before it, Torment: Tides of Numenera features a world full of mystery and intrigue, as well as a cast of characters that make all of that madness truly come to life. Even after doing two reviews of the Early Access version I am still discovering new storylines, new characters, and new plot points - the world is simply too wast and too intricate to uncover so easily.
While I am a big fan of complexity when it comes to storytelling, there is no denying that too much complexity can just leave the players dazed and confused, rather than intrigued and immersed. In order to hopefully correct this little issue ahead of launch, inXile recently released a lore video to get you familiarized with Torment's bizarre Ninth World and its even more bizarre inhabitants. Have a look:
The Wasteland 3 crowdfunding campaign has begun, and its already gathered an impressive $2,000,000
- By Ash
- in News
[Update]: Turn-Based RPG Wasteland 3 has now made its way to PC and consoles!
Following the success of Wasteland 2 (and to a certain extent Torment: Tides of Numenera which is still in Early Access) inXile has decided to once again turn to crowdfunding. As it so happens, that was a rather brilliant idea given that Wasteland 3 has already gathered over $2,000,000 in funding, and we're still only on day one of the Fig campaign! Mind you, $1,600,000 of that comes as an investment from Fig themselves, but even with that considered these are still impressive numbers for a rather niche turn-based RPG.
And speaking of RPGs, if you're wondering what Wasteland 3 is going to look like, you're in luck as inXile have also released a brief gameplay video showcasing their work so far. It might not be finished or fully polished, but even this early on it still looks and feels much more engaging than Wasteland 2! Have a look:
The latest Overwatch developer update is teasing new heroes, maps, and balance changes
- By Ash
- in News
Continuing the trend of being absolutely amazing towards the Overwatch community, Game Director Jeff Kaplan has released yet another Developer Update discussing upcoming features, hero and map additions, balance changes, and community concerns. Most importantly for all you Symmetra players out there, Kaplan has officially confirmed that Symmetra is currently undergoing a rework in other to make her more than a "first point defender"!
If you're interested in watching the full ~14 minute video you can find it embedded right below, but if you're just interested in the short version I'll also include my brief summary. Anyway, here's the video:
Rocket League has recently been updated with a brand new arena and numerous cosmetic changes
- By Ash
- in News
If playing a strange version of football with rocket-powered acrobatic cars just isn't exciting enough to you anymore, you'll be happy to hear that a new update has raised the stakes even further - by putting the action underwater! Or as normal people would say it: the all-new AquaDome Arena has been added to all Playlists, for free.
Besides the new arena, the V1.24 patch has also brought with it two DLC Battle-Cars, a whole bunch of cosmetic items, and naturally, some bug fixes to round everything out. You can read all about the new cosmetics and achievements over at the Rocket League website, but for now here are all of the changes that will affect the actual gameplay:
Anno 2025's final expansion, Frontiers, brings with it cyborgs and three new sectors to conquer
- By Ash
- in News
Anno 2025, Blue Byte's futuristic citybuilder/management sim, has just received its final expansion - Frontiers. Given the rather descriptive name it shouldn't come as much of a surprise to hear that Frontiers brings with it three brand new regions to explore and conquer: the tiny and widly spread Madrigal Islands, the frosty and inhospitable Savik Province, and the lush forests of the Greentide Archipelago.
What you might not so easily guess from the title, however, is that Frontiers brings with it one more massive addition into Anno 2025 - Synthetics. This combination of man and machine will present players with a rather unique challenge given how many resources are needed for their 'construction', but should you manage to master the process you will be rewarded with an extremely efficient workforce - the likes of which the world has never seen before!
And speaking of seeing, if you're wondering what all of this might look like in terms of gameplay, here's the recently posted launch trailer: