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While I'm still not sure whether Star Citizen is the brain child of a genius or a madman, there is no denying that its scope is absolutely massive. The final version is supposedly going to feature interplanetary exploration, a massive and fully realized universe, trading, various crafting professions, traditional space-sim combat, and even a dash of FPS combat to spice all of that up. And that's just all of the things the developers are talking about right now, who knows what they're going to cook up in the future!
But rather than focus on what might happen when Star Citizen finally releases, let's instead focus on what's coming with the upcoming Alpha version 2.6 - FPS combat! And in order to give you a taste of what is to come the developers released a brief gameplay preview showcasing all of that 'Star Marine' action. Have a look:
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[Update]: The System Shock Remake has now arrived, and it's looking quite good so far! The console versions are also on the way, though those will be coming at a later date.
Ever since System Shock Remastered got successfully Kickstarted back in July the estimated release date was set for December, 2017. As you can probably guess from the title, this is no longer case given that the latest Kickstarter Update has brought with it a brand new estimate - the second quarter of 2018. While these sort of delays are certainly to be expected given how early in development System Shock Remastered currently is, I still can't help but feel a tinge of sadness knowing that I won't get to play it for well over a year.
Then again, that is not technically true as System Shock Remastered already has a playable demo, albeit from a very early alpha build. If you're interested in what that might look like, the developers also released an accompanying trailer showcasing their work so far. Check it out:
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Ubisoft's extreme winter sports game Steep is set to release soon, and if you're interested in getting in an early sneak peek you currently have a chance to do so. All you have to do is head over to its Steam page, install the open beta, and try to make it down the mountain without 'tagging' every single tree along the way.
The open beta will end on November 21, however, so if you really want to give it a proper try I would recommend starting the download as soon as possible. On the other hand, if you have absolutely no idea what Steep is all about, let alone whether you should even care about it, here's the recent overview trailer to hopefully clue you in:
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Back in the 'old days' you could simply start up a Rocket League match, bounce the ball around like a drunken maniac, and occasionally score a goal while doing so. These days, not so much. While Rocket League didn't become any more complicated over the months, at least not to a significant degree, the playerbase has most definitely become a lot better at it!
Given the rather sharp increase in player skill it has become quite apparent that the in-game training options are just not up to par. Thankfully, Psyonix has just recently announced that not only are they well aware of these issues, but that they are almost ready to release their solution - a customized training mode!
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Arthur C. Clarke once said that any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic, and it is exactly this concepts that Torment: Tides of Numenera's Nano class embodies. Unlike sorcerers and wizards you might be familiar with from other RPGs, the Nanos posses knowledge of ancient, advanced technologies (the titular Numenera) with which they can unleash a variety of 'magical' abilities.
If you're interested in what this means in gameplay terms, allow me to show you one of Torment's most recent videos. Its a brief preview of the Nano class, how it plays, and what's it truly capable of. Have a look:
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Patch 7.1.5 recently arrived to the test realms with some much needed buffs to Legendary items, but also some truly ridiculous balance changes. Such was scope of these changes that I didn't realize until yesterday that this wasn't all the patch brought with it. As unearthed by MMO-Champion, there have been numerous new Strings added, each one seemingly pointing towards World of Warcraft's gold getting a much more important role.
Naturally, none of this is officially confirmed and there is no guarantee this will ever successfully make it through testing, but it does appear that Blizzard will allow you to purchase Battle.Net Balance with in-game gold at some point in the future. In other words, allow you to purchase Blizzard games and cosmetic items with currency you earn by simply playing WoW! And just to prove that these aren't the ravings of a madman, here are the Strings in question:
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Overwatch is currently one of the most popular games around, and even if you're not an FPS player I'm sure you've at some point wondered about giving it a try. If this is the case, allow me to give you some extremely good news as the Overwatch free-to-play weekend has just begun across all three platforms!
Starting from today and lasting all the way until November 21 you'll be able to experience everything Overwatch has to offer. In other words, you will have full access to all of the heroes, all of the maps, the newly added Arcade Mode, and even all of the cosmetic Loot Boxes you get by playing matches! So if you ever wanted to check out what Overwatch is all about, now would be the best time to do so!
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If any of you played Path of Exile at some of the higher levels then you're most likely aware of how laggy things can become when you open a Strongbox and spawn an entire screen full of enemies. In most other games this would be a minor annoyance you can simply ignore, but since Path of Exile both supports and encourages playing in the perma-death mode it is a bit more serious than that!
To Grinding Gear Games' credit, however, they have done major reworks of the engine over the past few years in order to combat these issues, and the latest 2.4.2 patch is an extension of that effort. As for the results? In the couple of maps I've tested out so far the newly added (and currently experimental) 64-bit DX11 client did not suffer more than a few milliseconds of stuttering, even while using my patented 'fill the screen full of glowy stuff' build. Quite impressive given how taxing POE can get on the CPU!
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Its been quite a few months since Total War: Warhammer first arrived, and much to my pleasure Creative Assembly is showing no signs of stopping just yet. The King and the Warlord DLC arrived only last month, and already there is an announcement for the next piece of content.
As you can probably guess from the title alone, the Realm of the Wood Elves DLC will bring with it the Wood Elves faction along with new Legendary Lords, exclusive units, a mini story campaign, and a variety of other features. But rather than simply ramble on, allow me to show you the announcement trailer as it features pretty much all of the above. Have a look:
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[Update]: Overwatch is getting its very own novel starring Orisa and Efi - The Hero of Numbani.
While you probably won't notice this in-game, Overwatch has quite an expansive and story-rich world. Unfortunately for us lore fans, there are very few ways to actually learn more about it. The occasional animated short helped expand upon some of the concepts, but when it comes to figuring out what really happened with the original Overwatch crew we're pretty much just stumbling through the dark.
This is why the Overwatch: First Strike graphic novel was so significant. It was to be our first glimpse into the early days of Overwatch, and more importantly, into what exactly happened between Soldier 76 and Reaper that set them so far apart. Sadly these are going to be stories for another time as Blizzard has announced that the First Strike graphic novel has now been canceled. As for the reason why, this is what they had to say: