Gaming News, Features Pieces and Reviews

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Next Red Dead Confirmed by Rockstar

Fans of Read Dead Redemption may finally receive the news they’ve been waiting for. This afternoon Rockstar posted the rockstar logo behind it, a red background. Rockstar didn’t caption the photo, but the replies from excited fans suggest that if this is just an empty tease people are going to be mad. 

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Anthraxx - Now On Kicksarter

Anthraxx, the pixel-art multiplayer mech shooter, is now on Kickstarter. We wrote about Anthraxx some time ago, and the lead developer recently reached out to let us know about their new Kickstarter project. At the time of writing, they’ve raised just over €450, of their €30,000 goal.

The games Kickstater trailer is available on YouTube. If you want to try the games demo, it’s available through the chrome browser, on their website. The developers appear very passionate about their project which seems a rare gem with assest flip games and shit simulator games on Steam Greenlight.

New Post has been published on http://untoldgaming.com/resident-evil-4-remaster-review/

Resident Evil 4 Remaster - Review

Resident Evil 4 is well known as the progenitor of the third person over the shoulder action title. It has seen re-releases on almost every console since its 2005 debut on the GameCube. Many people see it as the beginning of the end of the franchise.

Not me though I love it.

So when I learned Resident Evil 4 would be seeing a HD re-release on current gen consoles I got mad excited! But this re-release isn’t all sunshine and rainbows so before I start showering the game in a frenzy of praise, allow me to cover my small issues.

When porting the game over to PS4 and Xbox One the game saw a dramatic increase in the graphical fidelity of the in-game cutscenes, making the game look fantastic, however this wasn’t performed across the board, with the secret campaign Separate Ways featuring what look like the same cutscenes used in the PS2 version of the game. These look monumentally rough and blocky and boggle the mind why Capcom would bother stretching them to widescreen. If they had no intention of making the cutscenes look better, why display them in a format that makes them look uglier than a Las Plagas parasite sprouting out of your neck.

The controls are also beginning to show their age as the game feels like a chore to control and makes you question “Where the controls this shit back then, or am I just really bad?” and the answer is: no the controls where really that shit back then.

However, once you re-familiarise yourself with the awkward control scheme it all starts to comeback. Playing the opening fight in the village brought back so many memories of hearing the familiar revving of the chainsaw and instantly feeling that dread knowing that if I am not careful a one hit kill and a botched hair cut later I could be having to restart the fight. The gunplay is smooth and addictive, shooting enemies feels satisfying, staggering them for a melee strike that knocks several enemies away is immensely gratifying but not as gratifying as shooting a stick of dynamite out of an enemies hand and watching it explode killing the surrounding hapless ganados.

Speaking of shooting things, Resident Evil 4 has probably one of the greatest systems for unlocking new guns and for storing them. First up, unlocking them. Guns are purchased using in game currency and the list of available firearms updates the further into the game you progress. Multiple new handguns, shotguns and sniper rifles become available along with a machine pistol and other unique goodies. Each of these weapons feel unique, even the various different handguns have a different feel across the board. If you are rather taken with a specific weapon you can tune it up so that the firepower, firing speed, reload speed and capacity become better, and upgrading everything for a certain weapon will unlock its exclusive upgrade which can range from better firepower to an absurdly massive magazine size.

Storing weapons, grenades, ammo and healing items is done so in a Tetris style inventory manager which is like a small mini-game in itself as you move your items around to make space for new weapons and other goodies. This system alone is better than any later entry in the series for giving you complete freedom of storing items however you like.

You can’t talk much about Resident Evil 4 without mentioning its story and my god; it revels in how cliché it is. The Los Illuminados (A cult of people infected with a parasite called Las Plagas) have kidnapped the president of the United States daughter; Ashley Graham. The president dispatched Leon S. Kennedy to save his daughter from the cult and bring her home. Leon wise cracks, shit talks and overall is a badass throughout. The good thing about Resident Evil 4 is that it balanced the cliché story and situation with some genuinely disturbing creepy moments (I am sure we all remember when the parasite first erupted from the neck of a dead enemy…) and with atmosphere that can set you on the edge of your seat. However, despite all of this the story never takes itself seriously, and a lot of the back story is still told through some classic “Resident Evil” style conveniently placed notes including one such note that details the plan of the cult in great detail towards the end of the game just to make sure we are all on the same page. It is delightful in how self aware it can be, but it balances the tense atmosphere with these moments really well.

On top of this strong single player offering Resident Evil 4 also offers some damn good extras. Separate Ways is a side campaign of 5 missions featuring the femme fatale herself; Ada Wong. As we see what she got up too during Leon’s mission. We also have another dose of Ada Wong with Assignment Ada which is a fun little bonus mode where you collect samples of parasites before escaping the area, and of course the granddaddy of all the bonus modes. The Mercenaries. The Mercenaries is a mode where you take one of 5 characters from the “Resident Evil” universe across 4 maps and kill everything in sight to get a high score within the time limit. Killing enemies in a row increases the combo and can lead to some big points pay outs if you can get it high enough. It sounds so basic and fairly dull but it can lead to some of the most enjoyable moments in the game as you scramble to time pick-ups so you can stay in the fight for longer.

I was getting so wrapped in how amazing the game is I nearly forgot to talk about the graphics! While it is certainly showing its age, it is impressive to think that Capcom managed to make this 11 year old game look as good as they have. It is clearly a game from a bygone era, but with all the graphical bells and whistles, it is looking the best it has ever looked.

Along with all of this good stuff, Resident Evil 4 comes with a plethora of unlockable weapons to take into the main game and with new game + being unlocked after completion there are several hours you could sink into Resident Evil 4 and still find enjoyment coming back for more. It is a shame that Capcom chose to ignore the Separate Ways cutscenes, making it look fairly wank when stacked against the rest of the package, but I cannot deny I had an absolute blast replaying Resident Evil 4 again and would recommend this title to anybody in a heartbeat.

Now if you will excuse me I am going back to play New Game + now.

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Battlefield 1 – Impressions from the Beta

With Overwatch going strong, yet another Call of Duty on the way and Titanfall 2 preparing to show Playstation owners just what they missed first time around, fans of First Person Shooters will have plenty to keep them busy this Winter.  But while all of these titles have their appeal, it’s Battlefield 1 that really grabbed my attention back in May and is most likely to be going on my Christmas list.  And after spending around 15 hours with the Beta so far, here are here are my initial impressions.

The code’s still not perfect

It’s not the sexiest place to start but for me it’s probably one of the most important.  When Battlefield 4 launched on what were brand new “next gen” consoles, it was basically a hot mess.  Players expecting epic 64 on 64 battles were more likely to find server issues, kick outs and problems with chat and the party system.  It didn’t help that the consoles were new and (certainly in the case of the Xbox One) some of the system software had gone backwards but the game itself was essentially broken.  And it’s the reason I haven’t bought a multiplayer game at launch since.

So why all this pre-amble and what about Battlefield 1?  Well, the point is that I’m probably more cautious that most so – while a lot of my experience with the Beta was rock solid – I’m not exactly reassured.   On launch day it was pretty awful, with server trouble, kick outs and glitches a go-go.  Since then I’ve had very little problem during play but am still experiencing a surprising number of issues for a game that launches is just over a month.

None of these are that major – I’ve been kicked out about twice since Thursday (on a very solid connection) and otherwise it’s been weird text formatting or, most commonly, glitches in the in game menu and respawn processes.  I can’t imagine how complicated a launch like this would be and, yes, it’s a beta so you can argue this is exactly what it’s there for.   But it still makes me nervous given the history I, and many others, have with the series.  And it’s a real shame, because the rest of the beta is simply wonderful.

Battlefield’s version of WW1 looks and sounds fantastic

Battlefield 1 is on track to be a beautiful, beautiful game.  It looked incredible in screenshots but seeing it in action with all the sand, explosions and particle effects is an absolute joy to behold.  And it sounds fantastic too.  Turn up the home cinema or whack in some earphones and you’ll be surrounded by a cacophony of noise – horses galloping past you, wind howling around your ears a bullets flying towards (or, in my case, usually into) you with terrifying frequency.  If this is what it looks and sounds like on console I can only imagine what you get from a high-end PC.

Battlefield 4 was no slouch to look at itself, but nostalgia tends to give older titles a mental “HD remaster” as well as the traditional rose-tinting.  It was Star Wars Battlefront that really raised the stakes in both graphics and sound and it seems like Battlefield 1 has continued to build on that work – what it loses in AT-ATs and licensed score it gains from being grounded in reality.  Because it’s more than just gloss, that quality also gives the game a sense of authenticity that feels much needed.  Quite rightly, the chaos can be disorientating and overwhelming at times – giving just a tiny insight into what it must have felt like for the soldiers (even, of course, without any of the fear and genuine terror they must have experienced).  There is also something weirdly touching about having checkpoints called “Apples”, “Butter” and similar – reminding us that this was an era before NATO and betraying a certain simplicity and tragic innocence.  Well, that’s how I felt anyway – plenty of people on the EA forums seem to think it just sounds stupid.  It’s all about opinions apparently.  Hmmm.

Maps and modes

Ok map.  Look, as much as I’d love EA to give away the whole game for free – I do understand that the developers have bills to pay and that games companies are not idiots.  So, what we got was both Conquest and Rush game modes on just the Sinai Desert map.  While it would be great to try out something else, the Sinai Desert is HUGE and features some pretty good variety with urban, ruin, canyon and more open areas.  Being so open, there are plenty of places where it’s not good to be an infantry soldier – my most common experience early on was getting sniped from afar or mown down vehicles or fixed positions.  However, given that a) it’s WW1 and b) you’re not playing as Private Wolverine that’s pretty believable and has the benefit of making you think more tactically or joining comrades in a tank.

The map also demonstrates just how much effect that destruction (let’s never say “levolution” again, dammit) and weather will have on gameplay in the final game – the weather particularly helping in those open areas by providing a degree of cover that wasn’t there before.  Sandstorms blow in, buildings and sometimes bridges crumble – it keeps the map fresh and makes sure that each team needs to think on their feet rather than stick to tried and tested tactics.  But while Conquest was really fun, a few too many of my games people ended up centered around the town area (checkpoints B/C/D) wasting large parts of the map and reducing the variety on offer.  I’m also not fully convinced about the armoured train (this map’s “behemoth”, meant to be a game changer) or its impact but I like the idea and understand it’s been scaled back for the beta.  Time will tell I guess.

On the other hand, I actually found myself playing Rush more and more on this map and finding it the more enjoyable experience over my extended play time.  Sure, it lacks some of the dynamic elements from Conquest but, by moving the teams through the map, Rush has the benefit of providing good variety and requiring teams to mix up their tactics even more.  There was a real sense of progression for the attackers as you advanced to the town and a corresponding “last stand” feel for defenders at the same point in the game.   Based on previous Battlefields, the formula of Rush can get stale quicker than some other game modes so it will be interesting to see if this carries on the more I play.  Whatever happens, I expect the main game to keep me pretty well occupied based on the Beta.

Gameplay that’s simply brilliant

Of course, plenty has been and probably will be written about the ethics of making a game set during the Great War though I’ll leave that debate for another place and time.   But from a purely gaming perspective, the Beta suggests that it was a brilliant decision to go back to WW1.  It has enabled DICE to create a stripped back experience free of the gadgets and gimmicks of most recent First Person Shooters.  It also feel fresh, years having passed since Medal or Honor (yes, I know, it’s their spelling ok?), the early Call of Duty games and the heyday of the “historical shooter”.

And I mention these games, all set in or around WW2 but taking a liberal approach to realism, as it feels like DICE have allowed themselves plenty of artistic licence to create a fast-paced, exciting game.  I’m not a WW1 expert but movement, shooting and reload times have clearly been designed for fun rather than period accuracy and that’s just fine by me – if you want that then something like Verdun might be your best bet.   Similarly, although much of the build-up has been about WW1 being a pivotal moment in warfare – with soldiers wielding swords on horseback legitimately appearing alongside tanks etc – the Battlefield 1 version of this situation feels much more balanced than I expect it went down in reality.  Although it’s pretty risky, here it is possible for an infantryman to take on a tank, to go a single rider to charge into a camp and go to town on them, It’s that familiar Battlefield gameplay – a rock/scissor/paper game that’s a mixture of chaos, lone-wolfery, teamwork, destruction and epic unscripted moments as you and your teammates charge across the map.   And it’s just as good as ever.

So bring on October or, in my case, just a few weeks later.  See you on the Battlefield.

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Call of Duty - Infinite Warfare and Modern Warfare Remastered Multiplayer Breakdown

Call of Duty XP. The conference for everything Call of Duty, has just wrapped and to help you understand what has been revealed, we got you covered with a breakdown of the conference… Well specifically a breakdown on the multiplayer reveals of Infinite Warfare and Modern Warfare Remastered.

Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare – Multiplayer

We know it’s the thing most people care about when they buy a CoD game, so let’s jump straight in. Firstly what will you find familiar with Infinite Warfare’s Multiplayer? Well from what we have seen during the trailer the movement system will be very similar to Black Ops 3. The advanced movement appears to be almost identical, however the developers have mentioned it will be faster.

Pick 10 also returns in Create-A-Class allowing you to select what weapons, equipment and perks you wish to be taking with you into battle. There seems to be a bigger emphasis on making equipment worthwhile with brand new gear such as the Bio-Spike which acts like a throwing knife, however when it hits it’s intended target it explodes causing shrapnel damage to surrounding enemies.

The Combat Rig appears to be a unique take on the Specialists from Black Ops 3, featuring a Trait and Payload. Traits are special abilities that are active on your character, things such as enhanced power slide and sonar pings from kills. The Payload is essentially the Specialist Weapon, giving you access to a laser pistol that vaporises enemies on contact and a shield charge that protects against damage and instantly kills whoever it smashes into. Each Combat Rig feature 3 Traits and Payloads for you to select from, which is an interesting change from Black Ops 3 where you took an ability OR a weapon.

Speaking of weapons, there is a new system in place called “Proto-Type Weapons” and from what was shown it appears to mirror the variant system from Advanced Warfare. There is a new crafting component called Salvage that you use to create Proto-Type weapons and they seem to come with unique skins and attributes. Salvage is earned through playing the game but not much was mentioned on how much Salvage you earn nor how the creation of Proto-Type Weapons work. However, these Proto-Type Weapons aren’t the only new change as you can now select a Gun Perk which adds a unique ability to that weapon from increased damage at range to the Tactical Nuke.

Scorestreaks where briefly touched on with the: UAV, C-UAV, Trinity Rocket and Advanced UAV returning with new scorestreaks such as the Shock Sentry (a sentry turret that fires electric rounds that damage enemies and surrounding enemies) and the R-C08 a heavily armoured robotic helper that can be piloted remotely or set to sentry mode to watch your back.

Maps appear very varied and vibrant with a lot of new locations shown. The classic map terminal was briefly shown which looks up to snuff with its older counterpart except with a sci-fi inspired redesign and several other locations where shown from space, earth and different planets.

Lots of classic modes where shown to be making a comeback among them fan favourites such as: “Uplink”, “Kill Confirmed” and “Search and Destroy”. However, a new mode “Defender” also was revealed where the team battles for control of a drone, while holding the drone they get points until the drone timer resets and it spawns elsewhere. It looks to take cue from “Uplink” but with less about point scoring and more about teamwork.

One thing I noticed while watching is that there is a new visual cue in the form of lifebars. They aren’t garish or huge on the HUD; they appear as a thin line above an enemy player when highlighted and are an interesting addition.

So that was a lot of information but one last nugget of Infinite Warfare news was that the Multiplayer will receive a beta test on PlayStation 4 on October 14th and you can pre-order for access. Other consoles will follow but it wasn’t revealed when. If it is similar to the Black Ops 3 beta it should only be a week or a few days before it drops on Xbox One.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered – Multiplayer

Arguably the most anticipated remaster seen for quite some time, Modern Warfare Remastered made a brief appearance at CoD XP. A multiplayer trailer was shown with showed the first gameplay of the classic shooter in action and it looks largely the same. The HUD has been updated to look more like the current titles with medals popping up on screen for completing various tasks.

The biggest piece of news for Modern Warfare Remastered however was that the original deal of 10 Multiplayer Maps has been scrapped and in its place we will get all 16 maps from the original. At launch the package will contain 10 of the Multiplayer Maps however in December (Possibly January for Xbox One players) we will see the remaining 6 maps added as free DLC to the game, completing the package.

There was some showing of the Single Player for Infinite Warfare but it was so brief and added barely anything extra aside from the fact that there will be no loading screens in the campaign and your ship is used as your HUB to try out new guns and other stuff that we have mostly seen already in the E3 Demo.

So there you have it, everything noteworthy from CoD XP regarding Infinite Warfare and Modern Warfare Remastered. For a look at the crazy Multiplayer action check below for the reveal trailer.

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No Man's Sky Woes

  Released just shy of a month ago, No Man’s Sky has made waves in the most unintended of ways by failing to deliver the game of the year in so many gamers’ imagination. Developed by Hello Games, NMS was expected set sales records but now finds itself embroiled in controversy, as cries of false advertising are being thrown around by many of the would-be fans.

Hello Games has been oddly quiet in discussing any ways to improve the relationship with their upset customers. Even sites, such as onemanslie.info and NMS‘s reddit page, have broken down everything that was claimed to be in the game and their stark absence. Whats more, 81% of its original player base has dropped off in less than a month. Some 186,000 players put down their controllers and found something better to do. That’s not to say that’s inconsistent with other major released games (Fallout 4 and Doom lost 74% and 85% respectively of their player count in the their first months).

The underwhelming success of this game has even put Sony in uncomfortable waters, as many Playstation owners are demanding a refund through Sony’s refund system claiming the game is in an unfinished state. Amazon is honoring their return policy on their NMS’s physical disc sales. Steam, however, remains unwavering in their refund policy, even going as far as to add to the No Man’s Sky store page that there are “no special exemptions” outside of their 14 day and 2hr model refund policy.

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King of Fighters 14 - Review

Review copy purchased by writer

Version tested: PS4

King of Fighters 14 marks the return of the popular fighting franchise from SNK but does King of Fighters 14 leave you burning to fight, or is this a misstep for the franchise?

So let’s talk about the system, which is arguably the most important part of a fighting game. King of Fighters 14 (from now referred to as KOF14) takes a lot from its past entries as well as from other fighters to create a system that feels fresh, unique and massively addicting. It keeps the signature 3v3 fighting system that it is known for and combo’s operate the same as in prior entries and feel fairly simple to pull off, thanks to a decent tutorial that teaches you the main mechanics. Where KOF14 differs from the standard fighting games is in how it uses super meter.

Meter is determined by the amount of characters you have left. All three team members will give you a max of three bars and you will gain a bar for every member lost. This means your final character could be using up to 5 bars of super meter. Super meter can be spent on counter attacks to knock opponents piling on the offensive pressure away or on evasive rolls allowing you to roll safely out of high pressure offense for the cost of 1 bar and both performed while guarding. KOF14 keeps the standard normal super attacks for one bar of meter and the upgraded versions for 2 bars. New to the series is the Climax Combo, a high damage super attack that costs 3 bars, but what makes this unique? Well in KOF14 you can cancel these into each other. The highest damage in the game can be earned through doing a short combo into an upgraded super combo and then cancelling into a Climax Combo. It is simple and massively satisfying.

Another big change to the system is the addition of MAX mode. Popping MAX mode gives your character access to upgraded special moves for a limited amount of time. Where MAX mode gets interesting is when you discover you can extend combos beyond normal lengths by activating max mode at the end of unique normal attacks to extend your combos. Learning how to effectively cancel into MAX mode is one of the more rewarding aspects of the game and paves the way for the higher damage combos.

Upon firing up KOF14 and heading into the character select screen you will likely be rather surprised at the sheer amount of fighters on display. Ranging from the fan favourites such as Terry, Kyo, Mai, Iori and King to newcomers such as Kukiri, Sylvie and Nelson. KOF14 definitely offers a large cast of characters to play around with each with their own unique play style, supers and Climax Combos. Each of these characters have 5 combo trials with varying difficulty and allow you to get to grips with your chosen warriors.

There are plenty of modes to take your team into from survival, time attack and the aforementioned trials mode. The game also has a story mode however, it is nowhere near the quality of other titles. Story mode in KOF14 operates very much like the arcade mode featured in classic games. You battle through a gauntlet of opponents sometimes running into brief cutscenes where characters talk to one another before fighting, to reach the sub-boss and then the final boss. When stacked up against titles like Mortal Kombat X, Dead or Alive 5 and even Street Fighter V it falls massively short.

It also suffers from some fairly basic and bland presentation. The graphics look less than impressive with some models looking completely atrocious and others looking fairly serviceable, the sound design for music is fairly decent with some remixed classic tracks, however hit sound effects (especially blocked hits) sound rather like stock and bland.

Also in a bid to make the game less daunting to casual fans SNK introduced the rush combo, where players can mash the Light Punch to perform combos ending in a level 1 super combo if they have the meter. The feature cannot be turned off and even though it doesn’t do a lot of damage it cheapens online matches where laggy matches can become frustrating when you attempt combos only to drop them due to lag, while your opponent sails through by using the rush combo.

Speaking of lag, KOF14 unfortunately suffers from a massive amount of it. Pre-release reviews stated the netcode to be fairly good, however upon release KOF14 has suffered from some serious lag issues and while SNK have announced they are tackling it, it isn’t a good start. Thankfully when the game runs well it is a blast to play online and I am excited for SNK to fix it so I can play more.

That isn’t to say SNK didn’t put any effort into KOF14’s online, as clearly this was well thought out, with ranked matches, player matches that can allow for lobbies full of players challenging eachother, single fights where players use one character and Party Vs, where the 3 team members are played by different people. It is all fairly impressive and shows SNK was committed to making a robust online experience, which makes it more of a shame that the servers are experiencing lag issues.

There are plenty of reasons to return to the game, each official team has an ending in story mode, there is unlockable artwork, special music and all manner of nifty little unlockables to keep the playtime interesting.

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September's "Playstation Meeting" – 5 things I’m hoping for

With IFA in full swing over in Berlin and Apple’s traditional showcase lined up for next week, September is always a busy time in the world of tech.   However, this year it looks like the gamers will be joining the announcement party with Nintendo rumoured to unveil the NX later this month and, first up on September 7th, Sony’s latest “Playstation Meeting” (catchy name guys) live from New York.  It’s a brave or very confident company that organises something on the same day as Apple.  So, with that in mind, here are the five things I’m hoping feature at next week’s show.

1) Specs and launch details for the PS4K/Neo

Well, this is clearly the big one isn’t it?

We’ve had official confirmation of a new, more powerful PS4 codenamed “Neo” since June, when Sony gave an interview in the Financial Times.  But since then, and despite a November launch being originally rumoured, everything has gone kind of quiet.  Nothing at E3 (as, to be fair, they had indicated), nothing at Gamescom, nothing in between, just nothing.

Of course, maybe it was just part of the original plan – to tease a new machine early, focus on PSVR and then bring the two together at a Sony specific event when all eyes are on them.  But, if so, it’s an interesting contrast to Sony’s approach to the PS4 slim, which is still waiting for an official confirmation despite being a real, working thing that’s apparently sat in warehouses and occasionally breaking into the wild on places like Gumtree.

And since that original interview, Microsoft have not just announced the Xbox One S but gone ahead and released it – not only make their console smaller and more desirable but also adding some subtle upgrades in the process which could steal some of Neo’s thunder.  They have also surprised the world by announcing Project Scorpio and sharing some pretty impressive specs and a late 2017 launch date, along with Xbox Play Anywhere and the “end of console generations”.  Is the Neo even the same machine that Sony had intended back in June?  Are they agile enough to change plans at such a late stage in development?  Could it still really launch in just two or three months time?  Is it wise to launch so close to the slim model we’ve seen tested? We are surely about to find out.

2) Software demos

With Neo, PSVR and hey maybe even some kind of PS4 Slim (shock horror!) I’m expecting the big headlines of the event to be all about hardware – but Sony have been successful this generation by focussing on the games.  And as their plans appear to be more advanced than Microsoft, I’m hopeful that this means we’ll get to see Sony’s new machine in action to help bring to life the inevitable Powerpoint slide showing the numbers, letters and gigaflops.  I do love a good slide though.

Sony has shown they are not afraid to show “target footage” of new titles and while this could backfire (anyone remember that first Killzone 2 teaser at E3 2005?) it would be a great way to get people excited about the new machine.  However, my feeling is that we’ll see some demonstration of upcoming or existing titles with “Neo mode” (or whatever) enabled.  As well as showing off the new hardware, this would be a great way to help gamers understand how the two models will coexist and appeal to both potential Neo and PS4 Slim buyers.  Sony will have a tightrope to walk talking up the new machine without aggravating existing PS4 owners or dissuading potential PS4 Slim customers.

The accepted wisdom seems to be that games for Neo will be a mandated minimum resolution but that any other improvements (be that better framerates or increased effects) will be left to the developer to decide on.  Although it might not be possible (particularly given EA seem to have built a closer and closer relationship with Xbox over recent years) I could see something like Battlefield 1 demonstrating this perfectly.  It would be possible to show how owners of both specs will get a great game the same experience just with Neo offering an additional level of fidelity and polish.  With Sony going second in this respect, they will have seen the reaction to Microsoft’s slightly vague notion of “no exclusives” and have an opportunity not just to explain how this new, fully-compatible gaming world works, but to show it.

3) Clarity on PSVR

Partly building on the point above, perhaps, but one thing I’m both expecting and really hoping for is a bit more clarity on how each of the two models (taking the original and slim as one) will run with PSVR.  Based on the specs and the apparent consensus of people much better placed to comment than me, I have to say that I’m still doubtful that the “standard” PS4 will be able to keep up.  It might technically “cope” – and given Sony’s PR so far, I can’t imagine the fallout if it doesn’t – but I’m expecting Neo to deliver a much better and maybe more comfortable experience and to be marketed as such.

Again, Sony will have a tightrope to walk in this respect – encouraging current owners to dive in to PSVR but still positioning Neo as a premium device, worth the additional investment.  I’m also expecting a formal bundle deal with Neo (as well as plenty of unofficially ones) so I’ll be looking for more details on both these points before putting down any of my cash.  Morpheus and Neo together again, just like old times.

4) Something to justify the North American PS+ price rise

Back in late July, Sony announced some pretty significant price rises for PS Plus in the US and Canada.  They were quick and right to point out that “this marks the first time that PS Plus membership prices will increase in the U.S. and Canada since the launch of the service in 2010” but an annual increase of $10/20% (it’s $20/40% in Canada!) is still a significant chunk of change, however dominant their market position.  Yes, this only brings the US pricing into line with Xbox Live but that will only draw more comparisons in terms of reliability and value.  Given the location and timing of the event (the price rise comes into effect from September 22nd) I wouldn’t be surprised to hear it get a mention here.

But how can Sony do this and still sell it as a positive (assuming they aren’t just cocky enough to rub the price increase in people’s faces)?  Well, we now know that September’s free games will be the critically acclaimed “Journey” and the well-received and relatively recent “Lords of the Fallen”.  With these both landing the day before the Playstation Meeting, I’m expecting Sony to make a point of highlighting this step-up in value and to commit to continuing the trend in October and future months.

And as for the rest of the world?  Well, there is no word yet of any increase for the UK (although prices for one and three month subscriptions did rise already last year) or other regions.  Perhaps the past year’s exchange rate movements mean that we get the benefit with none of the (current) extra cost?   Well maybe, but history and the general pattern of gaming pricing mean I’d not be surprised to get our own announcement soon.  Personally, I wouldn’t like it but I do still think PS+ (and Xbox Live, and EA Access) subscriptions offer pretty good value considering what you get for them.     

5) Confirmation of the PS4 slim

Because, well, for goodness sake Sony …

… just announce the damn thing already!

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FIE Swordplay Review

Tested on: Samsung Galaxy Core

Most mobile games these days are big piles of steaming shite, often being shameless cash grabs. Most of these, upon further inspection, have so little to do they just become chores more than anything else. This is why I am delighted to stumble across FIE Swordplay, a metaphorical gem in the murky mess that is the mobile gaming industry.

FIE is a fencing game. Kind of. It uses real fencing physics and moves, and it looks the part, but if you were to take up fencing, this is not what you would be doing. Like many movies, FIE has simplified the sport, primarily by mixing up the three weapons used in fencing; Foil, Epee and Sabre. Because of this you can hit with the side of the blade, score a touch on any part of the body from the waist up, and fight without the limitations of right of way rules. This is not a bad thing, however, as it makes the game far more accessible as well as increasing the excitement of each bout.

The game is split in to 2 modes: Campaign and multiplayer. In the campaign; you progress through multiple countries by duelling in each country and working up enough XP points until you can fight that country’s champion. There are 7 different types of bouts in the game: from the standard first to five (points), to a Guitar Hero-styled rhythmic button-mashing sequence. The ultimate goal is to get to Rio, which would be far more interesting if they didn’t use the same arenas as every other location. The repetitiveness of the campaign can make the game feel boring at times, but the different variety of styles used by the AI opponents offer a reprieve to the unchanging scenery. However, the same can’t be said for the end game, which is a dull slog of fighting the same people again and again in Rio.

The multiplayer easily adds a few hours more to your playtime. Keep in mind, this isn’t real-time multiplayer. Instead, you will be fighting AI controlling other players characters. This doesn’t sound like much, but the repertoire system plays right in to the multiplayer’s hand. The repertoire system is one of the 2 customisation options available to the player and allows you to choose and master your play style. Each repertoire is a set of 3 moves, which will be the only moves you can use during a bout. For instance, I use the classical repertoire which consists of the “Thrust,” “Lunge” and “Parry” moves. In the single player, this limitation doesn’t really effect the game too much, as the AI isn’t restricted to 3 moves (though they do tend to stick to the same ones). This limitation is something the AI has to work with in the multi-player as well, as it will use whatever repertoire that player uses.

On the whole, the actual fighting in the game feels smooth, correct, and real. The weapons will often go right through an enemies body when you score a point, though, and walking backwards and forwards can sometimes feel “floaty,” but just like the real thing, to score a well-earned touch can be amazingly satisfying.The concentration meter is an interesting addition to the combat, and I feel it works well: Once the bar fills up, your next attack will go straight through an opponent’s parry, or you will dodge an attack that you did not parry successfully, whichever comes first. Keep in mind that your opponent will never have a concentration bar, and the size of the bar and the speed can be changed depended on what equipment you are wearing.

The game also has uniform customisation, consisting of alternate designs on the masks and what weapon you fight with. You can even dress up as a pirate, something that has never ceased to amuse me. It seems like quite a small thing, but the customisation of your equipment gives the game a personal touch and a layer of depth not usually found in a mobile release.

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But there is one large problem with the game. The use of micro-transactions. Now as it’s a free game, I can cut it some slack but it is still a problem. The game has 2 main currencies: which is just money. It is easy to earn and after completing the campaign and spending a good few hours in the multiplayer (also level-capping the game), I can tell you that it does not get harder to earn money. I’m actually confused why there is an option to pay for it in the first place. The game also uses “energy” as a sort of point system, each bout taking away one “energy”. When you get through all 6, you have to wait or spend the second type of currency. This second currency will buy you energy and flags that will offer improvements to your player. This is harder to obtain but still not too hard thanks to the amount you get for finishing a multiplayer tournament. Each currency is- luckily- used for separate things, and are kept separate for the whole game.

Overall, A worthwhile game that is worth your time, and one I would heartily recommend.

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Ni-Oh - Beta Test 2 Impressions

Team Ninja’s Samurai version of Dark Souls- and all-around Onimusha, Ninja Gaiden (insert other action RPG franchise) inspired title- Ni-Oh (or Nioh) has had its 2nd beta test recently. The title was fairly well-received amongst gamers the first time around and, minus a few issues, was a fairly solid and fun experience, but how is the game currently shaping up after Team Ninja’s latest tweaks?

The combat feels smooth and satisfying, giving a sense of power as you cut down humans and yokai (phantoms) alike with your choice of weaponry, ranging from katanas, dual katanas, to spears, axes, and hammers. The great thing about the combat in Ni-Oh is that the system allows for a much more varied experience, giving you access to three separate stances for different styles of play. Mastering all three styles of fighting is one of the game’s more challenging aspects. Ni-Oh also features an upgrade tree where you can spend skill points earned on new attacks or buffs that can be applied to certain weapons and stances. The combat is surprisingly deep for a game that many are already claiming is just another Dark Souls clone.

Attacks and techniques aren’t the only thing you can spend your points on: the game gives you the ability to learn magic and Ninjitsu. Ninjitsu, however, and at least when I used it, seemed to be the weaker class as I rarely felt the need to use it over my magic.

In regards to enemies, the deck seems much more fairly stacked than last time. Damage has definitely been decreased- a welcome change when cheap deaths from one-hit kills were aplenty in the game’s first beta- making the game far more enjoyable. Ni-Oh is not without its challenges, but the game play now feels far more balanced and the effort more evenly distributed.

However, in true Team Ninja fashion, Ni-Oh suffers from a lot of cheap tricks to artificially enhance the difficulty. There are a number of times (especially in the 2nd main mission of the beta) in which the player will be approaching an area only to have bats fly out of an opening, causing your character to be pushed off the edge of a cliff and fall to their death. These moments happen fairly frequently and sometimes appear at random. The damage from the hazard itself is low but the possibility of instant death dials the game from “fun challenge” all the way to “complete fucking nightmare.”

We’re not just talking random hazards that cause controller smashing frustration, either; some of the boss characters have moves that are insanely overpowered. The boss of the 2nd mission has a grab that is unblockable, and unlike other enemies with unblockable attacks, this move does not feature a visual cue, leading to many deaths from an attack I could not anticipate. The final boss of the beta is by far one of the cheapest, using lightning-fast attacks that can’t be blocked. Beating them can get your adrenaline pumping but it can sometimes feel like the game would be far more enjoyable and the fights more tense if some enemies were simply tweaked just a little more to be a fairer challenge.

One change in this beta that does feel strange is the complete removal of the durability system. Before, your weapons and armour would weaken and break over time, in the first beta this system was insanely brutal, however, rather than tweak the durability and give players a chance to repair weapons at shrines, Team Ninja outright removed it. This isn’t a negative change but is a bizarre one.

The 2nd beta for Ni-Oh has significantly improved the formula overall, and the re-balancing of the difficulty is welcome. All that Team Ninja needs to do- in this writer’s opinion- is to stop artificially enhancing the difficulty with blind traps that can cause instant deaths and perhaps work on some of the boss characters, fixing some of their broken offense. Bearing these and other possible future modifications in mind, Ni-Oh could be poised to take the action RPG throne.

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The Thrill of the Fight: First Impressions

The Thrill of the Fight  is an early access VR boxing game, currently available for the HTC Vive only. Being developed by a single man, Ian Fitz, I can attest that this labor of love is a genuinely good time for anyone looking to actualize on their inner Rocky.

The game begins with a weigh in: you step on a scale (thank god it’s not accurate), look up, your photo is taken, the game then dissolves around you, and you reappear in a small gym, in front of who I like to call, “the angry dude”, whom I assume is your trainer. You’re then prompted to mimic the way in which he holds the controllers, ensuring a safe & secure grip (let us not forget the lessons of Wii bowling), walk to the cork board, and literally punch a ticket with a fighter’s name on it.

This all may sound pretty bland, but I assure you, it is not. With my buddy Steve in tow, I helped him put on the Vive head set. Mick to his Rocky, I handed him the controllers- which appear as gloves in game- and watched the magic unfold. I observed on my monitor from a distance in a chair as he touched gloves with his opponent. I immediately saw Steve’s posture change from loose to sure footed, and looking ready to throw hay-makers. We laughed and jeered at the opponent as he attempted to fend off the AI’s advances. Steve took a defensive tact, which ultimately led to him being knocked down two times, one knock down away from a TKO. But Steve would not disappoint. Down 2-1, he rallied to TKO his opponent, and a loud roar arose from the both of us as his opponent hit the canvas.

Now it was my turn. I entered the ring for the first time with the “angry dude’s” look alike (or is it him? I don’t know), touched gloves, and I was off. Having witnessed Steve’s near loss, I wasn’t taking any chances and went buck wild on my opponent. If he blocked my left jab, I immediately punched him in the gut with my right, and vice versa. I gained momentum as I heard Steve shouting “you’re kicking his ass!.” Before I knew it, I had TKO’d the AI with nary a scratch. Later on, when Steve had gone home, I went all the way and beat the four available fighters, without once being knocked out. I found out early on that if I held up my hands in a style similar to Thai Boxing, I could easily deflect my opponent’s punches with a single glove, something which has since been addressed with an update, listed here:

Steam store note:

Ian Fitz Update #5 AUGUST 14 – FYIANDEV This week’s update is focused mainly on increasing the game’s difficulty. Update #3 made enemy blocking too weak, and Update #4 made player blocking too strong. This has been evened out in Update #5.

Enemy blocking has been revamped. Enemies are blocking more than they used to, and their blocking is harder to break through than it was previously. Player blocking is a little more difficult. It’s now easier for punches to slip around your guard if it’s not tight enough (your arms won’t get pushed apart like they did before Update #4, though). Enemies now start to sweat during the match. Enemies now hit a bit harder. Deflecting the enemy’s arms is less powerful. Hitboxes have been adjusted across the board to be more accurate and to make arm tangling happen less. Small tweaks to enemy movement

The variety of the fighters so far is acceptable, but one fighter in particular does stand out: Edmund “the Spider” Carter. This opponent absolutely towers over you, giving you an immediate sense of dread. He’s also very pale skinned and gray-haired, a stark contrast to the other fighters who are of average skin tones, similar height to your own avatar, and generally “normal” in their appearance. Going forward, there’s no doubt I’d like to see some more variety to the character models.

Also lacking thus far is a crowd. I really wanted to see people’s reactions as my opponent hit the canvas, or even turn around and pull a Hulk Hogan and do his signature rally gestures towards my new and adoring fans.

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Skyrim's newest Mod, Enderal

  For those awaiting the highly anticipated Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition on 28th October and have started playing it again in preparation, than this new total conversion Mod might be right up your street!

Enderal: The Shards of Order, from the German based company, SureAI, have been making this mod since 2011 and now with a fully localised version of Enderal, Skyrim fans can jump into this mod as if experiencing a slightly alternate version of the beloved Skyrim.

This total conversion mod will replace your master file of Skyrim (so be sure to make a backup) thus using the framework that Skyrim was built on to tell a new story, a new RPG. With more than 30 hours of gameplay and new systems to try out, this is one of (if not THE) most ambitious mod out there.

Skyrim has been refitted with replacement systems for its iconic Shouts with talent systems and a new old-styled experience levelling system, that goes back to any RPG out there. They have rid Skyrim of its fast waypoints and gone back to a Morrowind feel, with Myrads (four-eyed birds) that can take you wherever you want for a small fee. Quests also have a star rating system that tells the player how hard each one will be.

The story sets the player in a world where an earlier civilization of Pyreans fell without warning in an event called the Cleansing by the High Ones, the evil foe of this story. With diseases and hardships, it is your task to help prevent such a catastrophe from happening again.

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Watch Dogs 2 – will this dog have its day?

Looking ahead at the usual pre-Christmas silly season and it appears it’ll be another bumper period for new releases.  But in among the usual suspects and the eye-catching announcements made over the summer, one game seems to have gone slightly under the radar – and it’s Watch Dogs 2.  It’s a game I’ve had on my list ever since completing the original and, regardless of what you thought of first one, history suggests that maybe you should too.

Like most people, when Ubisoft dropped a demo for the first game back at E3 2012, I found it hard to believe what I was seeing.  Teasing a glimpse of the future, before the current generation of consoles had even been announced, it was like nothing I had seen before.  Set in a stormy, modern-day Chicago but with a moody style reminiscent of Blade Runner, the graphics looked spectacular and the gameplay promised something truly new and seemingly unique.  It was the poster-boy of an undefined next-generation where games would be photo-realistic, run at 60fps and offer new and exciting experiences that we just couldn’t get on our PS3s and Xbox360s.

However, as a cautious type of guy, I had my suspicions.  And, of course, by the time Watch Dogs launched we had learnt that the new consoles were not quite the quantum leap forward in power that we had hoped for, and that 2012 demo really was too good to be true.  With the failure to live up to expectations and a sense of injustice from gamers who felt they had been deliberately misled, it probably wasn’t a huge surprise that the first Watch Dogs failed to live up to the hype.  I patted myself on the back for not pre-ordering and moved on to something else.

But it was by no means a failure.  As well as becoming Ubisoft’s best-selling new IP (then) in terms of first day sales, Watch Dogs apparently went on to ship over 10 million copies – meaning that a sequel was basically inevitable.  Also, despite the backlash, reviews were actually pretty decent praising a lot of what the game did while also highlighting the wasted potential and room to improve.  The consensus seemed to be that Watch Dogs was not the game-changer many had hoped for but neither was it the mess some had suggested.  Not a pedigree breed but a lovable mongrel, with flaws just like the rest of us.  It was with this in mind that I picked up the first game on the cheap around 18 months ago.

And when I did, I was very pleasantly surprised.  The core mechanics weren’t revolutionary but were still solid and it was a game that was good, dumb fun.  Combat was a bit dubious in terms of the story (unless you believe every American is a natural born marksman – and let’s not go there) but was tighter and more satisfying than GTA had even been to that point.  Driving was a little floaty but fun when you got to grips with it and allowed for some excellent chases through the streets of Chicago and beyond.  The story and main character were clichéd but no more so than 90% of other action titles, and the superfluous open world quests were just as easy to ignore as in every other Ubiworld*.  It was, in short, pretty good.

*Seriously, a quick digression here.  If I’m on a quest to avenge my murdered niece and uncover a conspiracy, is it just me that thinks it’s a little irresponsible to spend my time arsing around playing chess or taking part in AR races?  No, good, because I ignored them for that reason.  Anyway, where was I?

However, there were also a couple of things that Watch Dogs did very right that have me excited about the sequel.  First off, it was nice to visit and even learn about Chicago.  Ok, not the real Chicago and not necessarily a version that residents of the Windy City would want to sell to tourists (I’m guessing – or at least hope – that there are fewer explosions and car chases in real life) but it felt like a living city and which, crucially, was somewhere new.  Choosing to relocate the sequel to San Francisco makes total sense for the story but also means I’ll have another new city to explore – albeit one that I’m a little more familiar with both virtually (hello MSR, we miss you) and in real life.

Secondly, the hacking mechanic was a great idea – however patchily it was executed.  Those Dukes of Hazard style car chases?  Not only would they have been half as fun without the ability to raise bollards, access shortcuts and generally cause mayhem, some of them would have been impossible.  Hacking also added variety to infiltrations and shootouts even if in some cases that was just the Watch Dogs version of shooting the big red barrel.   And it was cool to hack into conversations and learn more about my law-abiding and not-so-law-abiding fellow citizens – although stealing money from them didn’t have the “should I or shouldn’t I?” moral aspect that I imagine the designers had hoped for.

But, for me, the real triumph of the first Watch Dogs was in the multiplayer modes.  Online races were fun and chaotic although not particularly radical or novel.  But it was in the other modes where Watch Dogs was felt most revolutionary and closest to the original premise.  Once activated in the settings, the ability to have “my” game invaded by another player brought a sense of tension and dynamism to the main game world that I had never experienced before nor had since trading the game in.  It was not integrated into the story but consistent with it.  Rather than an unconnected session found only through a menu, it blended right into my single-player experience.  I loved chasing down my infiltrator in Invasion or stalking someone else in Online Tailing and it is this that I hope they build on with the sequel.  And the good news is that it sounds like they will with Bounty Hunter and a number of co-op modes.

Ubisoft have already showed they can deliver what’s needed and the previews are encouraging.  With Assassin’s Creed 2, they took a good game with excellent potential and built on it to deliver a gaming masterpiece.  Here, they’ve ditched the moody cliché of a character and revenge storyline, upped the focus on hacking, added variety, introduced coop and moved to a new city.  It’s also encouraging that they’ve taken their time for this sequel, and are confident enough to give their other franchises the year off from their increasingly harmful annual release schedules.

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TEKKEN 7 - Lee Chaolan revealed and more Story Mode details

  TEKKEN 7 has landed at Gamescom this year and has brought some crazy announcements.

First up a new character added to the roster in the form of “Lee Chaolan”, returning from previous entries sporting a brand new costume, Lee looks to be filled to the brim with flashy combos and his signature scream. Interestingly Lee will also coming with his palette swap counterpart “Violet”. Violet appeared as Lee’s disguise back in TEKKEN 4 and again in TEKKEN Tag Tournament 2 and is appearing once again in TEKKEN 7.

            How Lee will impact the storyline of TEKKEN 7 remains to be seen but being the adoptive son of Heihachi Mishima, Lee will certainly play a role in the games cinematic story mode when it lands on consoles.

Speaking of story mode we have been given new information regarding playable characters and how the mode will function.

“TEKKEN 7’s engaging story mode is composed of several hours of gameplay (including side stories that players can unlock progressively). Not only can you play as the Mishimas in Story Mode, but there are other arcs that involve fighters outside of the Mishima clan, such as Claudio Serafino, and his group of exorcists.

The Archers of Sirius are a group of exorcists who have been banishing supernatural entities from this world since ancient times. A highly secretive organization, its existence is unknown to the public. Although it is not known how their existence was revealed, the Archers of Sirius were suddenly approached by the Mishima Zaibatsu. They were heavy-handedly requested by the Mishima Zaibatsu to join their conglomerate, but naturally refused. This did not stop the persistent pressure from Mishima Zaibatsu, however.

Eventually, the news of this approach from the Mishima Zaibatsu reached the de facto leader of the Archers of Sirius, Claudio Serafino. Determined to uncover the motives behind the Mishima Zaibatsu’s actions, Claudio begins to investigate the powerful conglomerate.”

Confirmed scenes for story mode outside of the Heihachi Vs Akuma fight we saw at E3 is Young Heihachi Vs Kid Kazuya, which looks to recreate the pivotal moment in the series from the before the first game.

TEKKEN 7 hits home consoles in early 2017 and you can check out the Lee reveal trailer below:

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Injustice 2 - Harley and Deadshot revealed

Injustice 2 is getting a double dose of Suicide Squad as returning fighter “Harley Quinn” and newcomer “Deadshot” are the latest confirmed fighters.

“Harley” looks to be very similar to her original counterpart with a lot of similar special moves and combos however, her pets “Lou” and “Bud” appear alongside her for her super combo, which will no doubt make fans very happy. She appears to follow the standard for returning fighters with a largely similar command list with maybe some new additions.

“Deadshot” looks like an interesting new character with lots of projectile gun attacks along with some close quarters combos. Just from viewing the footage he reminds me of the cyborg ninjas from Mortal Kombat with lots of slick martial arts with plenty of devious trickery.

Check out the trailer below:

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Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare - Zombies Mode Revealed

Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare will follow the series trend started in 2008’s World at War and include a zombie mode at release.

The zombie map revealed today takes place on the moon, in a 80’s inspired amusement park featuring several beloved 80’s stereotypes as your players… and David Hasslehoff. “Zombies in Spaceland” looks to be a much more tongue in cheek take on the zombies universe, with breakdancing zombies and disgusting 80’s clothing with neon lighting as far as the eyes can see!

Infinity Ward has taken a step into uncharted territory with this latest zombie mode, as previously the studio has been known for the spec ops mode from Modern Warfare 2 and the extinction mode from Ghosts.

Whether or not “Zombies in Spaceland” follows the cannon from either Sledgehammer Games or Treyarch’s own zombies mode remains to be seen, but it certainly looks like Infinite Warfare is pulling out all the stops to please fans after the fairly negative reception to the reveal.

Check out the trailer below