Dotemu, Guardcrush, and Lizardcube have finally released the trailer for their brilliant Streets of Rage 4's first DLC titled Mr. X Nightmare.
According to the Steam page:
"The fight continues in Wood Oak City.
After the events of Streets of Rage 4, our heroes wanted to prepare themselves for future threats. Axel, Blaze and their mates will start a very special deranged training with the help of Dr. Zan, who built an AI program from the remnants of Mister X’s brain that simulates every kind of danger they could be facing."
The trailer reveals that not only will we be getting more gameplay, but it includes new special moves, new weapons, new enemies, and 3 new playable characters- of which we only currently see the highly anticipated Estel Aguirre! Though the silhouettes at the end appear to hint at new Max and possibly the updated Shiva. Many of us are also hoping to see long time fan-favorites join like Dr. Zan, Skate, and Roo so perhaps we'll eventually see a second DLC released further down the road with them as well..
They've stated that the DLC will allow players to customize their move sets giving players the ability to build the characters to their own kind of playstyles. Dotemu has gathered a crew that seems to have given 200% in updating this beloved franchise. Keep up the great work!
Streets of Rage 4: Mr. X Nightmare is listed as "Coming Soon." [ Steam ]
As has been speculated for the last year or so, it looks as if there will be an absolutely new story DLC for Borderlands 2 coming. It's been almost 7 years since the game originally launched and this appears to be a bridge between the last game and its highly anticipated sequel.
According to a post on ResetEra, Twitter user @RobotBrush had spotted the Steam page leak. Some of the details included things like a level cap raise to 80, new enemies, vehicle skins, rainbow rarity weapons, a major new villain, and a wonderful little fact that it'll be 100% free. The Steam page has since been taken down but not before having things been screencapped, saved, and noted.
The leaked description reads:
"Return to the award winning shooter-looter for a new adventure that sets the stage for the upcoming Borderlands 3. Sanctuary is under siege, the Vault's map has been stolen and a toxic gas is poisoning Pandora. Fight new bosses, explore new zones, get new loot (including an entirely new tier beyond Legendary) and join up with Lilith and the Crimson Raiders to take on a deranged villain hell-bent on ruling the planet.
Returning players can pursue an increased level cap of 80, while newcomers can automatically boost to level 30 and dive straight into the action."
With the HD remasters, new Borderlands 2 DLC, and Borderlands 3 all hitting this year- it's truly the year of the Borderlands. Now we can only wait and see what other goodies Gearbox might be cooking up for fans. Personally I hope we get a mobile tie in game, and a plethora of entertainment merchandise like comics and toys.
And probably the best part of the leak is that...
...it claims that Commander Lilith & The Fight for Sanctuary drops June 9th!
I've been following Morphite for over a year. It's one of the best looking games that is heading to mobile, and it is slated to arrive in about a month and a half. Developers Crescent Moon Games and We're Five Games had originally planned a late spring release, but announced a delay so they could port the game to other systems, and now we have a release date for all but Android devices.
Morphite is a gorgeous sci fi action-exploration game described as:
"Myrah Kale will voyage to the furthest corners of space and explore uncharted procedurally- generated planets, each with diverse landscapes and teeming with exotic flora and fauna. With the help of a scanner, Myrah will sell biological information for ship, suit and weapon upgrades. She will explore hand-crafted worlds as part of the main storyline.
Inside Myrah’s vessel, players will engage in random encounters with real-time space combat, trade with other travelers across the galaxy and navigate outer space with Morphite’s easy-to- use Starmap system."
Morphite releases on September 7th for the Nintendo Switch, X Box One, PS4, iOS, and Srtam.
Of course, Android is left behind, and will release "A little bit later."
My previous Morphite coverage [ 1 & 2 ] and on Droidgamers [ 1 & 2 ]
Ginger: Beyond The Crystal is a new 3D platforming adventure game brought to us by Drakhar Studios, an indie game developer out of Spain. The game hearkens back to a time when Super Mario 64, Banjo Kazooie, and Conker's Bad Fur Day reigned at the top of the charts.
It's the story of Ginger, a small blue being tasked by a mysterious goddess with restoring a world beset by the destruction and corruption of the world's crystals by an unnamed menace. The main game itself is broken into 3 major hub worlds that each contain 5 core side-scrolling levels and another 5 smaller red crystal platforming levels, as well as a bunch of miscellaneous fetch quests, some time trials, and so on that add some extra gameplay substance.
To restore balance back to the world you must go from town to town clearing the map by not only purifying the red crystals into blue ones (via the platforming red crystal levels), but also by collecting the smaller blue crystals to be used as currency. The first way this is done is spending them at each hub world town's giant main crystal to bring back the townspeople that had been transported to somewhere far away. Upon their return however, they are less than pleased with things that've happened, which leads to the second way the small crystals are used- to buy vanity items for the people to use to increase their happiness. A pair of Groucho glasses with their silly nose, moustache, and eyebrows can add quite a bit of joy to a waning public opinion.
There's also a small additional building game where you slowly gather supplies through the other levels and tasks and use them to build structures of your choice throughout the towns. I haven't been able to discern exactly what they do other than take up space, but for city-building fans it may be a highlight.
Ginger combines elements from multiple game genres such as platforming, collecting, and some city-building and then adds the Metroidvania staple of unlocking new abilities (via costumes that give extra skills) you can use to access more regions and items. There's a mouse suit that lets you shrink through tiny areas, a lizard suit that spews fire, and a bard's outfit that opens a mini-game where you have to play back a button combination song on your instrument. The exploration of the main hub worlds is extremely entertaining as there's always something you can do, and is probably the highlight of the game.
The controls are very responsive and my only complaint about it is with the combat. There's a lot of enemies that need to be dispatched and the normal attack is useless resulting in taking damage every time you deal damage. The dash attack is tough to aim or land properly, and that leaves us with the only effective way to eliminate bad guys being the jump-and-stomp attack that gives out a shock wave you can see. Sadly, that's the only attack I used because it was the only reliable one that didn't get me killed.
In the essence of honesty I have to say that there were a few other annoyances as well. Not being able to skip (or speed through text) was a big one. It's very sluggish and having to sit for so long after reading each piece got irritating. I also noticed that in the red crystal purification levels, there was a tendency to occasionally fall through the ground. It didn't set me back too far, but it did bother me when it occurred seconds before the final crystal of the level. Lastly is the camera. Often, I found myself plagued by a camera that was obscured by objects in the way and trying to adjust it constantly was a pain. Having things go consistently transparent so I could see would've been a massive benefit in those cases. But, as I said, these were really just annoyances and not too awful in the bigger scheme of things.
It may be a little glitchy at times, but falling through the floors and death never set you back more than a couple minutes and that fact is far outweighed by the sheer fun factor, which is all of what my younger self would want out of a game. Ginger: Beyond the Crystal is a decent game with a lot of heart and charm to fill in where it lacks. It should be clear this game may appear shallow and repetitive for adults, but the game's whole design is pretty clearly aimed at a younger audiences, and that's exactly where it shines. The graphics and music are fitting, the world is designed with plenty of creativity, the characters are all uniquely made, and the world itself has a lot of options for exploration. Ginger: Beyond the Crystal is a game made purely for simple enjoyment, with many nods to its 3D platforming predecessors. It's a delightful homage to the games of yesteryear, and it offers an imaginative world that is quite immersive and highly entertaining despite its few flaws.
Zenith is a sci-fi/fantasy action-RPG in the same vein as Final Fantasy, if it was run through a Terry Pratchett filter and then dunked in a thick coating of sarcasm creating a wonderful homage to the action-RPG's of yesteryear. The game is presented as a parody, having the protagonist Argus attempting to stop a bunch of self proclaimed "chosen" heroes from inadvertently causing another apocalypse with their idiotic, angst-filled, teen-aged escapades.
THE BAD
The very first thing I noticed was that the trailer has Argus speaking, but there's no actual spoken dialogue in the game. It's a small disappointment, but one that nagged at the back of my mind. Then there's some very curious uses of text in game- sometimes speaking happens in text boxes, and others they have brightly colored text appearing around the screen. It makes a little sense in a way once you figure out how it's working, but putting those into specific color coding or colored text boxes may have helped the strange way it appears.
Zenith's game mechanics have a ton of issues. The combat is really imbalanced and made more troublesome due to clunky controls. The melee combat leads to taking massive amounts of damage because enemies all hit way too hard and fast, the blocks and rolls are useless against constant hordes of enemies, and health potions have an extremely long refresh times for use.
The skill trees has some decent things such as adding a hit to a melee combo, small increases in elemental damages, and even a node to transform the roll into a fire dash. The problem here is that the stats are all weighted towards whatever armors you have with the highest stats- meaning weapons and spells you get aren't given damage stats- the damage is determined by the kinds of armor you are wearing.
The music has volume control issues with it randomly being way too loud, menus need to be opened multiple times in order to actually function at times, and even enemies being stuck in geometry requiring the game to be restarted from my last save point. There's a plethora of bothersome issues, and honestly, a patch could easily balance this up and make the mechanics of the game less frustrating.
THE GOOD
Though, with that said, I have to say I still really, really, REALLY liked the game. The reason I say this is what Zenith does right is with wit and humor. That's where the real enjoyment comes from. It's the first game in a very long time that consistently made me laugh out loud. All the gameplay problems aside- the writing is where Zenith absolutely shines. It provides a commentary on the genre, little nods to other things, and funny new ways to view some of pop-cultures most popular series'.
The game has a lot of flaws but I think the writing more than makes up for it. The game is completely loaded with references to not just games like Skyrim, Bioshock, and Metal Gear, but also the communities and mods related to them. I mean the sheer brilliance of the "celebrity testimonials" on the website in itself is absolutely hilarious.
Zenith may not play the best, but it definitely offers a ton of laughs and an intriguing well put together story loaded to the brim with humor, sarcasm, wit, and a dash of charm. It gives us a kind of poor man's version of The Bard's Tale, twisting the conventions of the genre into something new and entertaining. I would very much like to see the developers make another game with the same characters in the same universe, but with a larger budget. This is a game with a tons of potential and could definitely benefit from more time and money to make something even greater.
If you appreciate funny fantasy games like Dragon Fantasy Book, Dink Smallwood, or The Secret of Monkey Island- I would highly recommend you give Zenith a chance- you'll be rewarded with a surprisingly great story and a whole lot of laughs.
First we got a ratings leak, then a cover art leak, then we got an achievements leak, now we finally get some actual screenshots leaked for Platinum Games' upcoming Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants in Manhattan. The game still hasn't even been officially announced by either Activision or Platinum, but I can officially say it looks amazing.
This looks to be the exact type of game I have been waiting for- a cel-shaded open world brawl-filled possible multiplayer funfest. If this game is anything near as good as Transformers: Devastation, it'll be something that might renew our hopes for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles game franchise.
This is probably the best looking, and yet completely unconfirmed game I've seen ever.
At first I thought this was a joke, but apparently the creators of the Far Cry series are taking us all the way back to the Stone Age for our first-person survival enjoyment in a new prehistoric open-world sandbox with Far Cry Primal. I should've guessed it with Ubisoft running a cave painting teaser on all their streams yesterday.
This new installment of the series brings us to a time of danger and savagery in Oros, a land filled with lumbering mammoths and deadly sabretooth tigers. Humans are far from the top of the food chain here, and we will no longer have machine guns, mortars, or any other high-powered weaponry to assist us in our efforts just to keep from being devoured by hungry predators.
Here's some of the features:
RISE ABOVE EXTINCTION You will play as Takkar, a seasoned hunter and the last surviving member of your group. You have one goal: survival in a world where you are the prey. STONE AGE BY FAR CRY This isn’t the Stone Age you thought you knew. This is the Stone Age with irreverence and mayhem. This is the Stone Age by Far Cry. A WORLD RULED BY GIANT BEASTS After the last Ice Age, the glaciers retreated to leave behind a land blooming with nature and resources where humans and animals alike can thrive – provided they have what it takes to prove their dominance.
With such an interesting take, I wonder why we don't get the long rumored Far Cry with dinosaurs? Perhaps we may still get some- this time period might not be close enough to the Ice Age era- but that doesn't mean the creators won't have a dino-filled lost world somewhere in the game. Think of how strange and amazing Far Cry: Blood Dragon was, and now apply that DLC logic to Primal and the possibility then remains that we could indeed see such marvelous beasts. I mean, they do say, as noted above, this is "the Stone Age by Far Cry."
Far Cry Primal is set for a February 23rd, 2016 release on PSS4 and XBox One
And a PC version to follow shortly after in March.
An uneasy feeling of paranoia completely permeates Wellington Wells, an isolated island town located in the southwest of England in 1964. Compulsion Games' upcoming title We Happy Few is set in a place where players take the role of the only person not being medicated with the drug "Joy" into a life of blissful content and eerie optimism.
The drug-addled townspeople are against any forms of deviation in their dystopian world, and have been made hyper-alert to those that don't conform to their "perfect" society. If the townsfolk become suspicious and start to believe you haven't been popping Joy (and thus be labelled a "Downer"), they'll become violent quite quickly in an effort to eradicate anyone not taking their happy pills. Players must find ways of blending while working out a way to escape the island town.
In this first-person survival roguelike players begin in an underground shelter with a small workbench and a few supplies, and then exit into a procedurally generated world. At the players disposal will be a multitude of ways of working it out, hopefully finding new tidbits and clues with each death. Players will have to rely on a slew of skills such as stealth, combat, crafting weapons and devices, along with the need to hunt for food and supplies.
One can even take, either purposely or accidentally through tainted liquids, the prescribed Joy yourself in order to appear to conform with this cookie-cutter society. This proves to be a highly interesting game mechanic taking Joy slowly leads to brighter and more vivid colors in the world, with more upbeat music and other characters won't attack you in this state. But at the potential cost of overdosing and suffering the consequences of dropping into a slowed down black-and-white world where hunger and thirst come at greater rates. A brilliant risk versus reward system.
We Happy few looks to be a wonderful survival roguelike steeped in the same atmosphere of paranoia as Bioshock andis currently slated to arrive on PC and XBox One.
After a long run of rumor and speculation of a coming sequel to the 2012 hit game Dishonored (which I thought was "pretty damn fun"), we get an official announcement trailer for Dishonored 2 from Arkane Studios!
Dishonored 2 takes your protagonist -- choose between Corvo Attano and Emily Kaldwin -- to the coastal city of Karnaca where the choices you make will have significant impact on the world.
Both assassins have their own unique set of powers, weapons, and tools to provide creative and exciting new ways to eliminate targets.
It shouldn't come as any surprise that Arkane would be working on a sequel to Dishonored with how well it sold. What is a small surprise is the choice of EITHER Corvo or newcomer Emily Kaldwin. Which makes me wonder if we not only get 2 characters will we also get 2 storylines as well? If the trailer is any indication Arkane has another great hit on the way with Dishonored 2.
Dishonored 2 will be available for PS4, Xbox One, and PC Spring 2016.
The newest trailer for the highly anticipated Batman: Arkham Knight has a lot of little interesting things to make it better than the average trailer.
The first thing I noticed is the transformation from Batwing to Batmobile at the 1:00 mark. A very intriguing development, does this mean we'll get to fly the Batwng as well? Then I saw what looked to be a lot of Riddler bots, the return of Azrael wearing the same colors as the Arkham Knight and the military men, and the most notable addition- the secondary characters working with Batman in a dual play mode. So far Catwoman, Nightwing, Robin, and Azrael have all been confirmed to be in the game here and the cast is expanding greatly. I just hope they find a way to squeeze in Mr. Freeze again in a small, but meaningful cameo.
As for the "Dual Play" stuff, I really can't tell whether this will be single player alternating between characters, two players working together, or just a simple added combo maneuver with the extra characters nearby. We'll get to know soon enough, I'm personally hoping for some alternate in game characters instead of only being able to use them in challenge maps.
Batman: Arkham Knight will hit PS4, XBox One, and PC on June 23.
After getting a slight delay (3 weeks) in release date, Rocksteady has given us a nice little 7 minute gameplay trailer titled "Officer Down." It's got some story, some Bat-combat, and a whole lot of Batmobile action all captured on a Playstation 4- and it looks damn good to boot.
Batman: Arkham Knight will be released on June 23, 2015.
Far Cry 4's second DLC, Valley of the Yetis, gets a fancy new trailer to back up the curiosity inducing previous images we've seen. It looks like players will be attempting to uncover mysterious Himalayan secrets while avoiding being killed by some angry abominable snow men. It also looks to be quite entertaining.
There is no word yet if this will contain the same perma-death element that the first DLC, Escape from Durgesh Prison, did.
Valley of the Yetis DLC will be available March 10th for Xbox One, Xbox 360, and PC
and on Playstation 3 & 4 on March 11th.
No individual price has been given, but the season pass is still available for $29.99.
Hot on the tails of the news that the game will be rated "M" for mature, making Batman: Arkham Knight the first of the trilogy to receive that rating, we get the new trailer, and it looks good. Really good. Like REALLY good.
I see we get a lot more stuff hinting towards the actual story, most notably with the "City is under my protection now" and "Over my dead body" lines. It looks as if the Scarecrow is putting together a band of super villains to finally put an end to the Dark Knight reign of skull-crunching justice.
It also looks like he might succeed.
Batman: Arkham Knight will arrive on Playstation 4, X Box One, and PC June 2, 2015.
The release of Styx: Master of Shadows is a mere 5 days away. With Focus Interactive and Cyanide Studio's new game so close they've released a nice compact little launch trailer.
...but his blade'll never fail, you'll see.
It isn't often that I get this excited for a game like this. I'm preparing for some sweet stealth-and-strategy gaming with my soon-to-be friend Styx, the Amber-addicted assassin on his way through the Tower of Akenash to find the heart of the World Tree, the source of his power and addiction.
Developer Cyanide Studios and publisher Focus Home Interactive's upcoming stealth game Styx: Master of Shadows debuts another homage-titled trailer today aptly called "Die Harder." It shows off a variety of ways that Styx may be killed during the game. Whether it be by trolls, traps, or magic guards- it's always quick. Stabbed, shot, strangled, thrown from ledges, and crushed by giant fists. There's plenty of ways to die if found.
The most important thing to take away from this is if you are caught- run away! Styx isn't strong enough to take on even a few enemies at a time. The game does show the option to parry, but to what extent is not shown. I believe it'll be just enough to separate yourself from the situation and back to the shadows.
Styx: Master of Shadows will be available for in October for PS4, XBox One, and PC.
Only Steam has an exact date (Oct. 7th) listed and a price of $29.99.
Steam also has an exclusive 20% off pre-order bonus.
Ubisoft has finally announced Far Cry 4, and for this installment they are taking players to the dangerous and beautiful Himalayas.
"Taking a sharp turn away from the lush island jungles of the top-rated Far Cry 3, Far Cry 4 is set in Kyrat, an untamed region currently ruled by a despotic self-appointed king. But don’t be lulled into a false sense of security by the achingly beautiful views; Kyrat is a wild land full of perils. Once again, players will be able to craft their own stories as they travel through this exotic open world teeming with wildlife – using their wits along with an assortment of powerful weapons and diverse vehicles."
We Far Cry fans can only hope they can match the expansive and wonderfully immersive world that Far Cry 3 had created. Many of us are also hoping they can create a character with as much charisma as Vaas had. He was a brilliant creation, full of madness and entertainment.
...and maybe they'll have something as originally hilarious as the Blood Dragon stand alone DLC.
Far Cry 4 will be available November 18 (USA) on:
PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, and Windows PC
Ubisoft will have its exclusive first look at their E3 media briefing.
Ubisoft Montreal seems to have generated quite a game here. An RPG inspired by fairy tales and taking place in Lemuria. The visuals alone look to be worth the time to play it.
Child of Light will be available on April 30th for PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Wii U, and PC.
Yes, you read that CORRECTLY. Michael Mendheim, the creator of the original games has opened a Kickstarter for a new Mutant League Football. The funding for the project is open until October 16th, 2013. I also just noticed it's switched to Mutant Football League.
As a generally disinterested-in-sports person, I did love the Mutant League games. Granted I was also a fan of the NBA Jam games and the various Boxing games out there, but the Mutant League games opened up an interest in sports. Not much, but at least a little.
The old Sega Genesis version was a violent, yet hilarious parody of American Football. I recall getting penalties for booger picking and throwing peoples torn off heads. I would personally like a new version of Mutant League Hockey, but this is a start.
So far it's only planned for iOS, Android, and X Box Live. I may support it if they port to Playstation or Vita. And I'd definitely support it if they announce a new Mutant League Hockey. Hell, if they could make an immense retro 16 bit version of the game, tons of fans would donate just for nostalgic glory.
This post has been in a draft form for a while. Quite a while, as in 3 years or so, and this new Reggie Fils-Amie (The President of Nintendo of America (NOA)) quote has sparked this draft's revision and completion:
"It’s all about the games. The competitive systems have announced their launch lineups. I’m allowed to say ‘Meh,’" Fils-Aime said. "I look at our lineup of titles and I feel good about our lineup. We’ve got Zelda. We’ve got Mario. We’ve got Donkey Kong. In addition to great titles like Pikmin 3 and Wonderful 101, I feel very good about our lineup, and I feel very good about the value proposition we’re putting out there for the consumer."
Nintendo has become redundant. After 1,000 Pokemons, a plethora Mario games, and Zelda games that really haven't been anything new or inspired in years Nintendo is losing (lost already?) their hold has a gaming superpower. Which is funny because the Mario, Zelda, and Donkey Kong creator Shigeru Miyamoto himself had this to say:
"From my perspective, with regard to the more powerful hardware systems, to me what still remains incredibly important is the developers maintaining a focus on creating unique games because if all that everyone does is uses the enhanced power to create more and more games that look and feel the same, then all that it becomes is a competition about the power of the hardware rather than the uniqueness of the experience. That, to me, is where developers should be devoting their effort."
It's a good thing Nintendo is following that advice. I hope anyone reading this gathered the huge amount of sarcasm I loaded that last sentence with. We need new versions of things (or just plain new things). I love the old games, but really, where's a new Earthbound? A completely new take on Pokemon? I have been complaining for years about needing a Zelda that actually features ZELDA in the lead role. Shiek (Zelda in a suit, not her magic-ed into a boy) as the lead protagonist. Even if it was in Windwaker style. I, along with a bazillion other fans, would love that. Make her not save Link, but have her own adventure. Hell, even her as the pirate Tetra would be great.
Way to move backwards again Reggie.
What Nintendo is doing is recycling what worked 25 years ago. They're marketing to children, as seen with the new "2DS" system which has been said to be for 5-6 year olds. Another step backwards in my mind. Nintendo needs to take off the kiddie gloves and take chances. Where's the risky games like Naughty Dog's The Last of Us for PS3? Where's all the mature games for people that were fans of the original NES games, and now have their own children, but are STILL gamers looking for a true GAMING EXPERIENCE as the 2 above quotes say?
I mean, we've grown as gamers and fans, so why hasn't Nintendo grown as a game-maker?
Sure, there's always a place in my heart for A Link to the Past and the Metroid series, but my wallet stopped funding it long ago. Nostalgia can only do so much. They need to stop looking back at the safe sales- stop regurgitating the same old crap. I've quit buying Nintendo stuff because they have nothing of note now, nothing worthwhile. Until they do something like the big two, X Box and Playstation, Nintendo has lost me as a supporter.
...but... if they manage to create something new, something different and unique from all the repetitive garbage they're tossing out yearly, I'll gladly return to them. If, as Fils-Amie says, “...for us it’s about games, about the fun, about the entertainment value, and not about the tech,” then they need to give us fans what we want- grown up games for the modern gamers, not a spiffed up version of something we've played a million times before.
Nintendo- you've got to stop hording your beloved properties like the toys of the five-year-olds you market to, and take chances with the series'. Think outside the box, make something interesting, and take chances with third party developers. I want to be excited about these franchises again. Have Mario actually do his job and plumb a shit-clogged toilet- hey, at least it's something different! Rock the damn boat on the way to Yoshi's Island- you never know, something wonderful could happen.
Nintendo, something needs to change, and I think many gamers know what.
