- By Ash
- in News
Rising Storm 2: Vietnam is a 64-player brawl between the US forces and the Vietnamese, with each side having access to their own unique abilities, weapons, and tactical advantages such as napalm strikes and artillery barrages. The entirety of Rising Storm 2 is focused around relatively realistic and authentic combat, so expect to see low kill times, plenty of squad-based strategies, and a whole bunch of enemies that don't exactly want to leave the cover of their tunnels.
Despite being a member of the most popular genre around, Rising Storm 2: Vietnam is not a game that's going to appeal to everyone, and this unfortunately includes me as I simply could not get into it. On the positive side, there is currently a free weekend available on Steam, so if you ever wanted to give tactical FPS games a try you now have a chance to do just that. The free weekend will last for another 2 days (from the time of writing), so you should have plenty of time to see just about everything Rising Storm 2 has to offer.
- By Ash
- in News
If you were living under a rock the past few days, much like me, you might be interested to hear that Sonic Mania has now finally made its way to PC as well. I haven't had a lot of time to play it just yet, but from everything I've experienced so far I can confidently say that Sonic Mania has managed to achieve exactly what it set out to do: modernize and enhance the oldschool 2D Sonic gameplay.
Since trying to explain a Sonic game through words alone is a bit of a pointless venture, allow me to share with you the relatively recent launch trailer. The cheesy intro aside, it should give you a pretty damn good idea of what to expect from Sonic Mania. Have a look:
- By Ash
- in News
The Warhammer world is no stranger to messed up creatures and horribly mutated servants of Chaos, but the monstrosities the Skaven of Clan Moulder put together are something else entirely. Out of all of these nightmarish horrors that lurk in the darkness it is the Hell Pit Abomination that is by far and wide the most disturbing and terrifying to meet on the field of battle. To put it simply, the Hell Pit Abomination is a misshapen blend of multiple creatures and crude metallic weapons, all grafted together without any real care or precision, with the end result being a creature whose entire existence is constant agony and hunger.
On the positive side, at least for the Skaven anyway, the Hell Pit Abomination's unique upbringing makes it just about invincible, and as such a rather handy 'beast' of war. If you're wondering what this lovely creature might look like in Total War: Warhammer 2, and what sort of design the developers are going for, you'll find what you seek in the video right below. Have a look:
- By Ash
- in News
CDPR has never been afraid of digging deep into Gwent and changing its very fundamentals if they were found to be problematic. They changed how weather functions multiple times, they created entirely new archetypes, they reworked factions from the ground up, and now they're reshuffling the overall power level of cards.
The value of Bronze cards has gone significantly up, previously useless archetypes such as Norther Realms Armor or Scoia'Tael Mulligan are now genuinely powerful, and perhaps most importantly of all, Gold cards are no longer immune to damage and lock effects! As you might imagine, this has brought with it a significant shift in how Gwent's played as previously powerful Round 3 finishers are now easily dealt with, while more tempo-orientated decks are finding it harder to get punished for over-extension. Whether this is going to end up being good or bad, I must admit I have no idea, but its certainly an interesting period in Gwent's development!
- By Ash
- in News
After an extremely short break Overwatch's Competitive Play mode has now returned with Season 6 in tow. While Season 5 may have been a bit of a mess, to put things lightly, Season 6 appears to be starting things off on the right foot. Placement matches are now more accurate and no longer artificially lower your Skill Rating, high SR queue times have been increased in order to provide better matches, the report system has been made significantly more strict, and a variety of previously underpowered heroes have been buffed to competitive viability... and this actually includes Roadhog as well!
If you're looking for all of the details you'll find the patch notes over at the Blizzard website. For those of you just interested in the hero changes, however, allow me to give you the brief list. Have a look:
- By Ash
- in News
Gamescom 2017 has brought with it an absolute treasure trove of Total War: Warhammer 2 announcements and gameplay previews. Just the past week or so Creative Assembly has released a detailed image of the Vortex campaign map, a brief video overview of all the starting positions and potential opponents, a lengthy video showing off the Dark Elf campaign mechanics and rituals, and even a gameplay video featuring a large battle between Dark Elves and High Elves!
While the most recent announcement is not exactly on the same level, you might still be interested to hear that Creative Assembly has now revealed all of Total War: Warhammer 2's achievements. There's far too many to list out, so if you're interested in browsing through all of them you'll find what you seek on the Total War Blog. That said, I do have one very intriguing achievement to highlight:
- By Ash
- in News
Tropico 6, as you're no doubt aware by this point, is an upcoming 'banana republic simulator' that will give you the ability to completely ruin your nation in whichever way you like. Besides all of the standard features, the newest installment in the series will bring with it the largest landmass so far, revised research and political systems, cooperative and competitive multiplayer, as well as some greatly improved visuals.
While the most recent gamescom video does not cover any of the gameplay improvements, it does a rather good job of showcasing the fancy new visuals. So if you're interested in a brief glance at what Tropico 6 has to offer, you'll find the video right below. Have a look:
- By Ash
- in News
[Update]: The long wait is now finally over - Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord has now arrived onto Steam Early Access!
Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord has initially been announced in the ancient times of 2012, after which the developers have gone relatively quiet, releasing only bits of information and gameplay footage here and there. While its launch date is still shrouded in mystery, I am very glad to say that according to all of the gamescom footage Bannerlord is shaping up to be pretty damn excellent!
Since there is no better way to prove this than to show you the actual footage, allow me to share with you the recently posted Battania vs Empire gameplay video. Its about nine minutes long and mostly focused on the "Captain Mode", but it should still give you a good idea of what to expect from Bannerlord. Have a look:
- By Ash
- in News
Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony is an upcoming visual novel spiced up with adventure game elements and a story that is both hilarious and absolutely insane at the same time. After being available on Japanese consoles for a little while now Killing Harmony will be making its way to PC and Steam on September 26th.
While Killing Harmony and the entirety of the Danganronpa series are well regarded and often positively reviewed, they're not exactly games that appeal to a wide assortment of people. Thankfully, the PC version of Killing Harmony now has a free demo available, so if you ever wanted to give the series a try now would be the best time to do so. Simply head over to Steam, click the play game button, and you'll be doing the bidding of an evil teddy bear in no time.
- By Ash
- in News
Creative Assembly has been on an absolute rampage with Total War: Warhammer 2 videos this week. They've already showcased the entirety of the Vortex map as well as the Dark Elf campaign and their unique mechanics, and now they have also released an extended gameplay video featuring a massive battle between Dark Elves and High Elves.
So if you're interested in seeing what sort of toys the Dark Elves get to play around with, as well as how the Black Ark's bombardment ability works in battle, you'll find what you seek in the video below. Have a look, its pretty damn awesome: