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Publisher: Focus Home InteractiveDeveloper: Asobo StudioRelease: May 14, 2019Rating: MatureReviewed on: PlayStation 4Also on: Xbox One, PCThe middle ages were harsh. Deadly plagues ravaged entire villages, bandits laid in wait to pillage weary travelers, and those who survived even common illnesses could be undone by the era’s insane medical practices. But the version of the 14th century in A Plague Tale is even deadlier. After the murder of their parents, two kids discover how sacrifices must be made to survive in the wild. Sadly, A Plague Tale manages to be both a harrowing journey and a bit of a slog.
Asobo’s recreation of France circa 1349 is visually breathtaking, and its heartbreaking survival tale about two young orphans was so compelling I couldn’t look away. Amicia de Rune is a 15-year-old girl entrusted with the care of her kid brother Hugo. Meanwhile, Hugo is a sheltered, wide-eyed child stricken with a debilitating illness. Their journey forces both kids to wade through rivers of black, flesh-eating rats while dodging bands of patrolling Inquisition soldiers. Aside from a few awkward dialogue moments, A Plague Tale’s narrative is emotionally driven and earnest, and I was quickly absorbed by the political conspiracy that consumes these two kids.
Click here to watch embedded mediaAs Amicia, you spend a fair amount of time holding Hugo’s hand, helping him climb over ledges, and shielding him from environmental dangers. I never felt burdened by Hugo’s presence; on the contrary, I felt something close to a sibling bond as I sheltered him from trouble, and I grew nervous every time I sent him off on his own into small crawlspace to unlock a door or fetch a torch. Hugo is an adorable and innocent child, and the relationship between these two kids is genuinely touching.
While A Plague Tale’s narrative had me racing towards the credits, the basic gameplay is full of speedbumps. One of the biggest threats to the de Rune children’s safety is a plague of black rats that scurry through the shadows and threaten to overwhelm any living creature. The rats are terrified of light, and most environmental puzzles involve finding fire and using it to create a safe path. A simplified crafting system allows you to create consumables such as explosives or rat bait, and I liked being able to control fire, but I rarely felt a need to scour the environment for crafting materials, because you often find the necessary components only a few feet from every puzzle. Also, most puzzles usually have an obvious solution, so instead of feeling like I was cleverly engineering my way out of a jam, I felt like I was just going through the motions.
Click image thumbnails to view larger version
When you’re not dealing with rats, you’re dodging Inquisition soldiers who have orders to separate you from your brother and drop your corpse in a rat nest. Amicia is equipped with a sling and can hurl rocks like bullets at enemy temples, and the generous auto-aim helps compensate for its clumsy controls. You’re generally better off running and hiding from a fight, but the stealth mechanics are weak. While I never grew tired of extinguishing an enemy’s torch and watching the rats swarm them, most stealth sequences tested my patience more than my wits. Enemies have basic patrol routes and the environments are so small that you often only have one route to your destination. As a result, throwing rocks to distract enemies has all the tension and pacing of hitting the button at a crosswalk.
A Plague Tale is a double tragedy. On one hand, Amicia and Hugo’s tear-filled journey through rural France is marked by adversity, but the bigger misfortune is how this powerful story of sibling love is soured by simple puzzles and clunky stealth mechanics. A Plague Tale is a forgettable game wrapped around a memorable adventure.
Score: 7.5
Summary: A Plague Tale excels in its narrative and setting, but the moment-to-moment action is uninspired
Concept: A group of battle-hardened children struggle to survive a plague-ridden world during the middle ages
Graphics: This recreation of 14th-Century France is vibrant and detailed. The rat swarms are appropriately creepy, but sometimes struggle to accurately navigate the environment
Sound: This voice acting is impressive for a cast full of kids, and the score helps drive home the tension at the right moments
Playability: Combat is a bit clumsy but functional. Sadly, the stealth sequences are boring
Entertainment: A Plague Tale excels in its narrative and setting, but the moment-to-moment action is uninspired
Replay: MoModerately Low
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Publisher: NintendoDeveloper: Team NinjaRelease: July 19, 2019Rating: Rating PendingPlatform: Switch
Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order looks to have a massive roster of supercharged heroes. We already know about 27 playable heroes, and there are more announcements to come, stretching across the Marvel universe and including characters from The Avengers, X-Men, Spider-verse, and more. As part of our month of coverage, we're highlighting a few of our favorites. Today we take a deeper look at one of Marvel's expert bowman: Hawkeye.
Alias: Clint Barton
Comic Debut
Tales of Suspense #57 (Sept. 1964)
Bio
Raised by an abusive father, Clint Barton eventually ran away from home and joined a traveling circus where he learned how to be swordsman and trick bowman. After a short stint as a star carnival attraction, Barton was inspired to fight crime after seeing Iron Man in action. As Hawkeye, Barton eventually join both the East Coast and West Coast branches of The Avengers, and even took a turn leading the team.
Powers
Master archer; peak human conditioning; excellence eyesight; what else do you want?
Game Abilities
Exploding Arrows: Clint shoots several explosive arrows into the air that then rain down on the enemies and deal fire damage. Players can hold the attack button to aim.
Shock Value: Clint fires electric arrows in front of him dealing extra shock damage to characters in a row.
Scattershot: Clint shoots a barrage of explosive arrows at nearby enemies.
Piercing Shot: Clint's arrows pierce enemies in front of him. Players can hold the attack button to aim and hidden the attack area.
Click here to watch embedded mediaPlaystyle
Hawkeye is all about flexibility in combat. His specialty is ranged combat thanks to his arsenal off arrows. Hawkeye isn’t considered one of the most powerful avengers, but he’s pretty equally skilled in most things. He can hit his targets from across the battlefield, attack enemies in a line, rain down fire from the sky.
Come back throughout the month, because we'll have more exclusive features and character profiles on Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order. Click the banner below to visit our hub.
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Publisher: MicrosoftDeveloper: MojangRelease: 2019Platform: PC
Mojang revealed a new Minecraft spinoff at last year’s Minecon event, then seemingly took it back underground. Minecraft: Dungeons seemed like an interesting idea, with teams of four battling monsters in classic dungeon-crawler style adventures, but since that announcement we’ve heard virtually nothing else about the project. Fortunately, that’s about to change. Mojang is ready to share more information about Minecraft: Dungeons, and we were able to sit down with executive producer David Nisshagen in Mojang’s Stockholm studio and pick his brain for details.
Development on Minecraft: Dungeons began about three years ago, when an internal team of a few developers was working on a small single-player campaign. As it turned out, the team thought they were onto something fun, so they expanded its scope to include up to four players. That doesn’t mean you have to party up when you want to play, however. Solo players can venture out against the evil Arch-Illager and his monsters, and friends can drop in and out – with difficulty adjusting accordingly.
Players aren’t locked into particular combat roles, even though archetypical styles such as mages, rangers, and melee attackers are present. Rather than having innate skills and abilities, players can change their role every time they don a new piece of gear. Put on heavy armor, Nisshagen says, and you’re a tank. Or put on something lighter, and you’re faster and might excel with ranged weapons. “It’s like, do you want that cool thing? Go find it and wear it or wield it,” he says.Minecraft: Dungeons is focusing on action and adventure, so players aren’t going to be building or mining as they quest. Other elements are drawn from the main series, when appropriate, such as enchanting. Originally, Nisshagen says the team experimented with having players use the system that’s in the base game, but it proved to be unwieldy and complicated for the faster pace they were aiming for. They’ve come up with a compromise that gives players agency over how enchantments fit within their playstyle without grinding things to a halt with excessive menu manipulation.
“Think of it like this: A sword drops. The sword has a couple of different enchantments options,” Nisshagen explains. “You pick one of them and enchant it with that. The next sword drops. It has the same look and feel and combat animations and all of that stuff, but it has different randomized enchantments attached to it. One of them can be super powerful for area of effect attacks. The other could be, I don’t know, poisons enemy over time. Even if it’s the same base item, they have vastly different properties on them.” Players can also purchase weapons and gear with emeralds they pick up from defeated foes. Some items grant defensive abilities for the whole team, too, such as healing auras that protect party members – provided they stay within range of their friends.
The original trailer showed subterranean dungeons, but Nisshagen says the game takes advantage of the variety Minecraft is known for. “There are some levels or some biomes that are on the surface that are more open and sprawling.” I wasn’t able to completely pin him down on the overall structure of the game, but he said players could go back and explore areas that they’d already visited, and that there’s something similar to a hub world.
Click here to watch embedded mediaLevels are procedurally generated, which made me wonder if players would be able to share particularly interesting world-generation seeds with friends, as in Minecraft or The Binding of Isaac. He said that there are some passionate speedrunners on the team, and they recognize the importance of being able to have some kind of even playing field to accommodate that playstyle. He said he couldn’t make any promises, but it’s something they’re considering.
Even without the building, Minecraft: Dungeons manages to capture the silly essence of what makes traditional Minecraft such a joy to explore. In addition to battling familiar monsters like skeletons and spiders, Nisshagen says players will get to see some all-new mobs as well. It didn’t look particularly threatening, but one little guy seems like he’s going to both delight and frustrate players: an adorable little key, who jogs away when he spies the heroes coming. You have to hit him a few times before you can pick him up, which looks like a task that’s going to be easier said than done.
We’ll know just how fast that little guy can run later this year, when Minecraft: Dungeons comes to PC.
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Hello zorlack,
Welcome to UnityHQ Nolfseries Community. Please feel free to browse around and get to know the others. If you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask.
zorlack joined on the 05/16/2019.
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Hello Leonsuper,
Welcome to UnityHQ Nolfseries Community. Please feel free to browse around and get to know the others. If you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask.
Leonsuper joined on the 05/17/2019.
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Publisher: NintendoDeveloper: Team NinjaRelease: July 19, 2019Rating: Rating PendingPlatform: Switch
Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order looks to have a massive roster of supercharged heroes. We already know about 27 playable heroes, and there are more announcements to come, stretching across the Marvel universe and including characters from The Avengers, X-Men, Spider-verse, and more. As part of our month of coverage, we're highlighting a few of our favorites. Today we take a deeper look at one of Marvel's biggest heroes: Wolverine.
Alias: James “Logan” Howlett
Comic Debut
The Incredible Hulk #180-181 (October 1974)
Bio
Oh boy, this is complicated, but we’ll do our best. Raised in Cold Lake, Alberta, Canada, sometime between 1882 and 1885, Logan was the illegitimate son of a wealthy plantation owner and a grounds-keeper. Logan spent most of his childhood in a sickly state, until his mutant powers activated during puberty. Later, he enlisted in the military and spent years wandering the globe before he was kidnapped by the Weapon X Program, which encased his skeleton with unbreakable Adamantium. Logan eventually breaks free and finds a family in the X-Men.
Powers
Regenerative healing factor; superhuman strength, stamina, and reflexes; heightened senses; retractable claws
Game Abilities
Claw Strike: Wolverine slashes forcefully with both sets of claws, then finishes with one last big slash.
Adamantium Assault: Wolverine jumps and performs a spinning uppercut that draws enemies closer and slices them to pieces.
Berserker Barrage: Wolverine jumps forward while spinning and slashing at anything in his way. Players can hold the attack button to aim this attack.
Primal Rage: Wolverine get angry. His attack power increase for a short time and he glows with rage.
Click here to watch embedded mediaPlaystyle
Wolverine has a lot of health and durability as well as a natural healing ability that makes him an ideal tank. He loves to mix it up close range, but he also has a few moves that allow him to dart across the battlefield. This knucklehead is great for managing large groups of enemies and giving other players some room to breathe.
Come back throughout the month, because we'll have more exclusive features and character profiles on Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order. Click the banner below to visit our hub.
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Hello nkindt,
Welcome to UnityHQ Nolfseries Community. Please feel free to browse around and get to know the others. If you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask.
nkindt joined on the 05/15/2019.
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Publisher: NintendoDeveloper: Team NinjaRelease: July 19, 2019Rating: Rating PendingPlatform: Switch
Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order looks to have a massive roster of supercharged heroes. We already know about 27 playable heroes, and there are more announcements to come, stretching across the Marvel universe and including characters from The Avengers, X-Men, Spider-verse, and more. As part of our month of coverage, we're highlighting a few of our favorites. Today we take a deeper look at one of the Spider-Verses most colorful characters: Spider-Gwen.
Alias: Gwen Stacy
Comic Debut
Edge of Spider-Verse #2 (September 2014)
Bio
Born into an alternate reality, Gwen Stacy was actually bitten by the genetically-engineered spider that bite Peter Parker in the main Marvel timeline. Gwen used her newfound arachnid-like super-powers to start a career as a crimefighter, and the press quickly dubbed her Spider-Woman. In a tragic twist, Peter Parker was desperate to gain special-powers, much like his idol Spider-Woman, so he performed experiments on himself that turned him into a Lizard-like monster. Gwen was forced into a fight with Peter who accidentally died in the process.
Powers
Superhuman strength, speed, and stamina; wall-crawling; spider-sense; skilled fighter.
Game Abilities
Swing time: Gwen shoots a string of web into the air, then uses the momentum for a swing attack in the area. You can tap the attack button to lengthen the attack.
Legit Beatdown: Gwen creates a giant ball of web and swings it around her head in a circle, hitting enemies in an area.
Catchy Attack Name: Gwen releases multiple we blasts in front of her. You can tap the attack button to produce more webbing.
Disappearing Act: Gwen warps into the air above enemies and then slams to the ground unleashing a devastating shockwave. Players can hold the attack button to aim.
Click here to watch embedded mediaPlaystyle
Like Miles Morales, Gwen is really good and getting out of danger quickly. She has a lot of strong ranged attacked and allow her to play defensively. A lot of her abilities are area attacks, so she’s great and slowly chipping away and large groups of enemies. Her disappearing Action move allows her to warp above enemies, so she can quickly dodge some of the most deadly attacks. Like the rest of the Spider-Family, she can swing across the environment with her webs.
Come back throughout the month, because we'll have more exclusive features and character profiles on Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order. Click the banner below to visit our hub.
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Hello fruitloops123,
Welcome to UnityHQ Nolfseries Community. Please feel free to browse around and get to know the others. If you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask.
fruitloops123 joined on the 05/15/2019.
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A new, free Pokémon mobile title has unexpectedly materialized called Pokémon Rumble Rush.
The game is available for Android and iOS smartphones today, and players will discover and explore islands containing numerous Pokémon to defeat, collect, and power up. Each island has its own Super Boss, and combing the islands nets rewards such as a hidden stage and Legendary and Mythical Pokémon.
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Publisher: Niantic LabsDeveloper: Niantic Inc.Release: 2019Platform: iOS, Android
Warner Bros. has released a new trailer for its Niantic-developed, location-based Harry Potter game, Wizards Unite. The trailer itself doesn't offer a whole lot of new information, but it certainly sells the fantasy.
It might just be because I watched Pokémon Detective Pikachu last weekend, but this gives me some Pokémon Detective Pikachu vibes - something about the whole "what if this fantastical thing invaded our world?" premise, I think. That said, the tone of this trailer is rather different. The collision between muggles and wizards isn't a happy one in this trailer, which sees plenty of magical goings-on being captured by humans (who normally can't see this kind of stuff as it happens because of magic).
Click here to watch embedded mediaOf course, with Wizards Unite being a location-based game similar to Pokémon Go, the premise of the trailer makes sense, even if it don't see the game in action. If you want more details about how the game actually, check out our preview from earlier this year.
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Click here to watch embedded media
Publisher: Bandai NamcoDeveloper: Supermassive GamesRelease: 2019Platform: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC
Since Until Dawn in 2015, Supermassive has become known for creative, unsettling narratives with impressive visual fidelity and surprising depth in how player choice could impact the outcome of the story. In this exclusive video, we see how Supermassive's next game lives up to the hype with the first entry in The Dark Pictures Anthology, Man of Medan.
Enjoy the video above! Man Of Medan releases this summer on PS4, Xbox One and PC. For more on the game, read Kim's preview here.
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Publisher: NintendoDeveloper: Team NinjaRelease: July 19, 2019Rating: Rating PendingPlatform: Switch
Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order looks to have a massive roster of supercharged heroes. We already know about 27 of the playable heroes, and there are more announcements to come, stretching across the Marvel universe and including characters from The Avengers, X-Men, Spider-verse, and more. As part of our month of coverage, we're highlighting a few of our favorites. Today we take a deeper look at Marvel's newest Spider-Man: Miles Morales.
Alias: Miles Morales
Comic Debut
Ultimate Fallout #4 (August 2011)
Bio
Miles originally comes from an alternate reality. While visiting his uncle (who just happens to be a notorious super villain with the alias Prowler), Miles was bitten by a genetically enhanced spider similar to the spider that gave Peter Parker his powers, and Miles gains his own set of spider-powers. When Peter Parker (as Spider-Man) dies in a battle with the Green Goblin, Miles assumes the mantle of Spider-Man.
Powers
Superhuman strength, speed, and stamina; wall-crawling; near-invisibility camouflage; spider-sense; bio-electrokinetic shock
Game Abilities
Web Shooter: Miles releases multiple web blasts in front of him. Players can tap the attack button to produce more web attacks.
Surprise Strike: Miles turns invisible then closes in on enemies to strike with a burst of electricity.
Venom Strike: Miles drives both fists into the ground and releases a large sphere of electric energy in an area attack.
High Voltage Lines: Miles shoots a barrage of electrified webs at groups of enemies in front of him.
Click here to watch embedded mediaPlaystyle
Miles is a very acrobatic character. Most of his powers center on his ability to unleash electrical attacks, which stun or paralyze foes. As an agile hero, Miles can quickly dart across the battlefield and help offer support wherever it's needed. Like the rest of the Spider-Family, Miles can swing across the environment with his webs.
Come back throughout the month, because we'll have more exclusive features and character profiles on Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order. Click the banner below to visit our hub.
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Publisher: SNKDeveloper: SNKRelease: June 27, 2019Platform: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch, PC
SNK has announced the release date for the return of the long-dormant Samurai Shodown series: June 25 - on PS4 and Xbox One, anyway.
Along with the release date announcement, SNK released a new trailer breaking down the game, including the new Dojo mode. The mode learns from your actions as you play offline and creates a "ghost" of your actions, letting you play against yourself, or download other players' ghosts. You can see a quick breakdown of the mode below.
The game is also headed to Switch and PC, but that won't happen until an unannounced later date.
Click here to watch embedded media -
Publisher: UbisoftDeveloper: Ubisoft MassiveRelease: March 15, 2019Rating: Not ratedPlatform: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC
Ever since the release of The Division 2, players have been clambering for true raid content. Ubisoft has responded, and the first fruits of that labor are rolling out later this week. “Operation Dark Hours” releases this Thursday, May 16, beginning at 9:00 am Pacific, on all available platforms.
The raid is built as an eight-person activity, and details provided by Ubisoft make it clear that only the most experienced characters are going to be ready to face the challenges within; you need to have reached World Tier 5 and defeated Tidal Basin.
The Dark Hours raid takes you through the Washington National Airport, in order to halt the incoming flow of Black Tusk soldiers and supplies. Finish off the raid, and you can expect new gear including an exclusive exotic weapon.
Following in the footsteps of other MMOs and loot-focused shooters, Ubisoft also plans to acknowledge the team that snags the world-first completion. If your team wins that honor, your team photo and names to go up in the in-game White House for other players to see. If your team misses that honor, but still manages to complete the raid by May 23, you’ll get a commemorative arm patch. If you’re late to the party, but your team eventually finishes the raid at some point, you’ll get a dedicated clan banner and a trophy for your clan space.
If you’re not planning on taking a shot at world-first, but you’d like to watch the action unfold, you can follow along with the action on Twitch beginning at 9:00 am Pacific on May 16.
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Hello Quakeguy12,
Welcome to UnityHQ Nolfseries Community. Please feel free to browse around and get to know the others. If you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask.
Quakeguy12 joined on the 05/14/2019.
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Publisher: NintendoDeveloper: Team NinjaRelease: July 19, 2019Rating: Rating PendingPlatform: Switch
Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order looks to have a massive roster of supercharged heroes. We already know about 27 playable heroes, and there are more announcements to come, stretching across the Marvel universe and including characters from The Avengers, X-Men, Spider-verse, and more. As part of our month of coverage, we're highlighting a few of our favorites. Today we take a deeper look at one of Marvel's newest heroes: Ms. Marvel.
Alias: Kamala Khan
Comic Debut
Captain Marvel #14 (August 2013)
Bio
A descendant of Pakistani immigrants, Kamala gained her powers while walking home one night from a party. Kamala encountered a cloud of Terrigen Mists – a mutagenic substance that awakens latent inhuman powers. After rousing from stasis, Kamala discovered that she had an unparalleled ability to stretch and shape her body, so she assumed the alias of one of her favorite super heroes and started fighting crime as Ms. Marvel.
Powers
Elongation of limbs, size alteration, accelerated healing, and the ability to alter physical appearance (including hair and clothing).
Game Abilities
Super Face Kick: You guessed it. Ms. Marvel performs a giant lunging kick with an enlarged foot.
Giant Foot Spinny Thing: Ms. Marvel performs a tornado kick with an enlarged foot. You can press the attack button repeatedly to spin longer.
Sweet Combo Attack: Ms. Marvel unleashes a flurry of punches, finishing with an uppercut. You can tap the attack button to continue the beatdown.
Embiggen: Ms. Marvel enlarges both fists and uses them like a hammer to smash enemies in front of her.
See some of her moves in action in the gameplay video below.
Click here to watch embedded mediaPlaystyle
Ms. Marvel is really good at mid-to-close-range attacks and an excellent all-around fighter. She can dart in and out of the action quickly, and her big attacks pack a punch. She also has a lot of area-of-effect moves to help clean up enemy fodder. Thanks to her stretchy powers, Ms. Marvel is incredibly durable and hard to kill.
Come back throughout the month, because we'll have more exclusive features and character profiles on Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order. Click the banner below to visit our hub.
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Publisher: Phoenix LabsDeveloper: Phoenix LabsRelease: May 24, 2018Rating: Rating PendingPlatform: PC
Phoenix Labs today revealed a release date for Dauntless, its monster-hunting cooperative action game. Players can dig in and try the full game on May 21 on their preference of PlayStation 4, Xbox One, or on PC through the Epic Games Store.
While this signifies the game moving from beta to full release, the team has already been releasing regular content updates for some time, so this release will accompany Hunt Pass Season 5, which is called Hidden Blades.
One of the biggest things players can expect to find is a rework of the existing campaign, which aims to improve crafting, questing, as well as better details at the end of a hunt to indicate how you’ve progressed.
Whether you’re a seasoned Dauntless hunter, or you’re ready to kill some behemoths for the first time, you can learn more about Dauntless’ launch at the game’s official blog. You can also check out our initial review from last year.
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Hello Darkmatter569,
Welcome to UnityHQ Nolfseries Community. Please feel free to browse around and get to know the others. If you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask.
Darkmatter569 joined on the 05/13/2019.
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Publisher: Oddworld InhabitantsDeveloper: Oddworld InhabitantsRelease: 2020Rating: Rating PendingPlatform: PC
A brand new entry in the long-running Oddworld series, Soulstorm is an ambitious game in its own right. But the story of how it came to be, and how it fits into Oddworld's 20-year-plus continuity, is just as compelling.
Lorne Lanning and Sherry McKenna founded Oddworld Inhabitants back in 1994, with the goal of melding a new generation of gameplay with Hollywood moviemaking flair. The company’s first release, Abe’s Oddysee, presented an unlikely hero confronting a seemingly impossible life of slavery and degradation. Originally planned as a quintology that would tell one massive story about Abe’s unlikely journey, the vagaries of game development, time constraints, and publisher demands took the Oddworld games down a far different route. Several of the subsequent games further fleshed out an already intriguing fiction, but they also moved away from the series' original vision.
In 2014, Oddworld New ‘n’ Tasty revitalized the original Abe’s Oddysee with modern graphics and gameplay, but hewed closely to the original design and script, setting a new starting point for the storytelling. But that’s where the familiarity ends; subsequent games in the series are planned to represent the original vision for the quintology through new installments, and an increasingly interwoven fiction about Abe’s rise to confront tyranny. The first game representing that new path forward is Soulstorm.
I saw an extensive demo of the project in action, and it’s fascinating to observe the ways it uses the launchpad of Oddysee to take Abe in new directions. Coining the perspective “2.9D,” Soulstorm sees its characters running and jumping along 2D planes in 3D environments. The planes rotate and turn as you run along them, and other 2D planes are visible in the background and foreground. Binocular emplacements allow you to look across the way to guard stations and workers that need rescuing, and plan your route to reach them. Other sections see you on a moving platform being hauled into the background, and you must dodge enemy projectiles as you pass each enemy station. The effect is that of a 2D action/platformer, but with depth and action unfolding in the locations viewable in the distance.
Click image thumbnails to view larger version
Soulstorm focuses on replayability through a wallet economy, crafting, and the return of the quarma system. You must gather moolah to purchase new crafting materials to make everything from a rubber-band bouncing ball to a flamethrower. Completing good deeds awards ch’i charms, which let you gain consumable powers to aid in your efforts to save the poor Mudokon workers, like temporary bullet shields or antidotes to heal the sick. A global quarma system tracks how many Mudokons you save or allow to be killed, as well as how many enemy Sligs you take out in the process. Kill a bad guy to save yourself, and you lose some quarma, but cruelly kill a helpless and bound enemy, and the hit to your quarma is much bigger.
Every level has a leaderboard, along with a global leaderboard for the whole game. In addition to quarma, players unlock badges for a variety of other tasks in each level, including finding secret areas, unlocking lockers (often from pickpocketing Slig guards), and burning flammable objects along the way. The goal is to create an experience that speedy players could complete in 12 to 15 hours, but that dedicated enthusiasts and leaderboard chasers could invest 100 hours to master each location.
Through it all, you’re following a cinematic story about Abe’s strange rise to Messianic status among his people, as more and more followers are willing to run along behind him into the mortal danger of machine gun fire, speeding trains, and unsafe industrial machinery. More followers give Abe increased mystical ability for possessing others, which in turn opens up new avenues for exploration. The number of followers can eventually balloon to as many as 300 on screen at once, communicating that this is much more than a solitary journey for Abe; this is about the survival of his species.
It’s thrilling to see this new and alternate path forward for the Oddworld fiction finally taking shape after all these years. I’ve yet to play or get a feel for the platforming and action in what appeared to be some especially frenetic scenes of escape, but I’m excited we finally have a new adventure for one of my favorite video game heroes.
Oddworld: Soulstorm is headed toward release on unannounced consoles and PC sometime in 2020. Check out the new trailer below.
Click here to watch embedded media -
Publisher: Bethesda SoftworksDeveloper: Avalanche StudiosRating: Rating PendingReviewed on: PCAlso on: PlayStation 4, Xbox One
Rage 2 is a disparate experience. The shooting and arsenal are top-notch, allowing players to wield great weapons like a kickass shotgun that dishes out deadly spreads and potent focused fire with an alternate attack. That combat is enhanced by an overdrive mechanic that lets you cut loose and absolutely destroy hordes of enemies in a psychedelic bloodbath as you gain more powerful attacks and serious life regeneration during these berserker states. But outside of the heat of battle, Rage 2 has serious flaws including weak characters, boring activities and enemies, and an absolute snoozer of a shallow open world.
Click here to watch embedded mediaYou play as Walker, last of the rangers, on a mission against General Cross and the evil Authority. The world serves up deserts, houses, swamps, sewers, and more, but the areas all blend together in sort of a grayish mush that simply serves to house by-the-book bland activities that get monotonous fast. Stopping to kill your fifth Authority tower for a couple of bucks and some upgrade points hardly gets the pulse pounding, and going off-road to explore rarely feels rewarding, because there’s simply nothing exciting out there to find.
You encounter all kinds of completely forgettable wasteland denizens as enemies and allies, mutants and townsfolk. Everyone is trying as hard as possible to be edgy and failing, delivering swear words with all the enthusiasm of a sleeping accountant. You fight the same dumb mutant mini-boss over and over. You unlock some cool vehicles to cruise around the world, and even get to drive a tank, but going from point to point and taking on the occasional convoy feels like mundane filler. While you engage in a variety of activities during your romp through the wasteland, almost everything boils down to slaughtering a slew of enemies. Which is fine on a basic level, because that's Rage 2's strong point.
Click image thumbnails to view larger version
You can upgrade your weapons for significant power boosts, like incredibly fast reload times, speedier shooting, and armor breaking. The weapons feel great, and mowing down a sewer full of mutants or a roadblock of goons is a blast. Chaining kills and working into the berserker state is fun, as you unleash hell on wave after wave of mutants and desert dwellers. Some of the longer encounters of the game have you in a constant state of overdrive, where you can feel a glimmer of the uncontrolled bloodlust from which the game gets its name. Moments like these are what save Rage 2 from its otherwise monotonous shackles, combining the great gunplay with nano-fueled abilities that let you crash into the ground from above or revive yourself after death.
While traversing the land, tons of various landmarks and side destinations await discovery, but they're all lackluster diversions that lose their luster after you've done each type of encounter a few times. Whether you're blowing up a turret or going sewer-crawling to smash some pods, you can see the vast majority of what the side content offers after a few hours. While the critical path takes about 8 to 10 hours, Rage 2 has tons of optional content to explore – you just won't want to do it. Outside of the obvious perks like unlocking new weapons and abilities, it all starts to feel samey, bland, and boring.
For all of its attempts at garish glitter, Rage 2 is a muted, cliché, and uninspiring experience that's propped up by spectacular shooting and neverending battles that sometimes live up to the promise of a carnival of carnage.
Score: 7
Summary: Should you take a trek through the wasteland?
Concept: Shoot and drive your way through hordes of enemies in defiance of the Authority
Graphics: For such an “extreme” vision of the post-apocalypse, the visuals feel muted and sometimes drab
Sound: The sporadic F-bombs seem like they are trying too hard to be edgy, and they never land with impact. The crunchy blasting of bullets and heavy metal during overdrive massacres carries some oomph, though
Playability: Shooting your weapons and zipping around in various vehicles through the open world is easy, though navigating through multiple menus can be a slog
Entertainment: Rage 2 fails to deliver any interesting characters, environments, or activities. Solid shooting and cool weapons lift up the other elements of this title
Replay: Moderate
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Hey all,
We wanted to follow up on a few of the topics we discussed in our Update to Apex Legends blog. We are currently working on the next patch that will have improvements in the areas we’ll discuss below.
HIT REGISTRATION
While searching for possible explanations for this bug, we have been able to reproduce and locally fix many cases of incorrect hit registration, mostly related to mismatches between the way the game client and server pose characters in their animations, but also caused by various other factors. The next patch will address these issues.
However, we don’t believe that we are out of the woods yet. There is still more work to be done but we believe that the fixes coming next patch will be a good improvement and will help weed out many of the less severe issues people are noticing, which will help us understand more about whatever bugs may be remaining. (And when we squash this thing, our hit detection will be more solid than ever.)
FORTIFIED BUG
This is an issue that came up in the balance changes we made to Gibraltar and Caustic. We have a fix that will be deployed in the next patch.
SLOW MO AT START OF MATCH
In our Update on Apex Legends, we provided some info on where we were at with this issue. To recap:
We know that it affects some datacenters more than others, it happens on many different server configurations, and it doesn't seem to hit multiple server instances running on the same machine. In other words, it's not that a machine is overloaded and everything on it is running too slow - it's that one instance on the same machine seems to be doing more work than the others, and we're trying to nail down what work it's doing and work backwards to understand the root cause.
Some additional info this week:
By adding additional tracking and telemetry to our dedicated servers we have identified a number of machines that were passing our health checks but actually had faulty hardware. We have removed these from our server pool, and match quality should be noticeably improved in all datacenters.
We are continuing to profile our servers to catch hitches, persistent slow-mo, and other game quality issues. We have a few server optimizations rolling out but there are many more areas of work left and as we identify these, we will be rolling out optimizations and fixes and keeping players updated.
AUDIO
Two areas we can confirm will be addressed in the next patch:
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Overall audio performance [addressing sounds dropping out / stuttering / distortion]
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Footsteps audio
Other improvements are coming as well and we’ll share the details in the patch notes. Good progress has been made but we’ll still have work to do. We appreciate everyone that’s been providing clips to illustrate the issue. This is super helpful for us so please continue to report audio issues you find and if you can, include any footage and context like series of events happening in the match that lead up to your issue. Also let us know what platform, specs [if on PC] and what audio peripherals you are using [headphones, surround sound, etc] .
PIGGY-BACKING
Piggy-backing is when a player drafts off other players in the squad to carry them to a good position and level up faster but doesn't actually participate in the match [meaning they never collect a weapon, fire a shot, don’t deal any damage, etc]
We had been seeing some feedback from players around this and have been doing some internal investigations looking at game data to understand how many of the matches being played are affected by this behavior.
After looking at the data and internal discussions, we’ve decided that in the future we’ll start instituting temp bans for players that exhibit piggy-backing behavior and extreme cases could lead to a permanent ban. This change will not be immediate but wanted to give a heads up to players so you can adjust that behavior.
PS4 CRASHES AFTER 1.0.8 UPDATE
This week we deployed a small update to PS4 that was meant to update the PlayStation Store only with new reward skins for PS+ members and didn’t expect for there to be any impact for players.
Unfortunately the deployment didn’t go that way. After looking at players reports and testing to reproduce internally, we confirmed that Lifeline’s “Pick Me Up” Banner was causing crashes triggered by:
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If you've earned the Banner Card and hover over it in the customization menus.
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Viewing your Banner Card, squadmate's, or the champion's banner in the intro or on the in-world screens.
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Inspecting someone who has the card equipped by right-clicking a friend in the lobby.
We deployed a partial fix by disabling the Banner and will be fully resolving the issue in the next patch.
Please give any feedback or further questions in the thread here.
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Hello DieSkaarj,
Welcome to UnityHQ Nolfseries Community. Please feel free to browse around and get to know the others. If you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask.
DieSkaarj joined on the 05/13/2019.
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Publisher: Bethesda SoftworksDeveloper: Machine GamesRelease: July 26, 2019Platform: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC
Wolfenstein: Youngblood is the next game in the venerated Nazi-killing game from Bethesda and MachineGames, though this one is getting a little help from other Bethesda studio Arkane games. Arkane is likely best known for their Dishonored series, the stealth action semi-open world games, and they seem to be bringing some of that know-how to Wolfenstein.
In an interview with Official PlayStation Magazine, Youngblood's executive producer Jerk Gustafsson talked a little bit about the more non-linear structure they're aiming for with the new game.
“I think players will see a lot of similarities to level design in the Dishonored games, so in that sense it can be a little bit different as an experience but it can be for the benefit of the game, especially when it comes to finding different ways of approaching a combat scenario or a mission in general," Gustafsson said.
He went on to explain that the non-linear structure the game is now built around made penning a narrative a bit more difficult, which means that story content is on the lower side compared to other Wolfenstein games. That said, the overall gameplay time will be longer with fewer cutscenes.
Wolfenstein: Youngblood is scheduled to release on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch, and PC on July 26.
Team Sonic Racing Review – Falling Short Of The Podium
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The Sonic the Hedgehog franchise was built on a foundation of speed. That longstanding marriage lends itself well to the racing genre. Team Sonic Racing carries on the legacy of the Sega All-Stars Racing series from last generation, but adds new team-based mechanics and a sole focus on characters from the Sonic the Hedgehog universe. While the new teamwork elements create unique ways to compete on the speedway, they don’t elevate the experience enough to rise above the middling racing action.
Speeding around as Sonic and company is fast and enjoyable from the first lap. Easy and approachable controls lower the learning curve, making it so anyone can pick up and play with little introduction. While the driving mechanics aren’t particularly deep, new team components and a collection of 21 well-designed tracks full of alternate routes and shortcuts give you reason to dig past the surface of this kart racer.
You choose from a roster of 15 characters with unique attributes split into five teams. While I prefer speed-based characters like Sonic and Shadow, I like experimenting with the other classes. Technique characters like Tails and Chao can avoid getting slowed down by rough terrain, while power characters like Knuckles and Big the Cat can plow through obstacles.
Click here to watch embedded mediaWithin this system, teams have multiple ways for teammates to help each other; from passing items to your teammates to skimming a wiped out teammate to give them a boost, you have plenty of ways to pick up a downtrodden teammate. Every team-based action builds your ultimate meter, which has race-changing implications as your entire squad is made temporarily faster and invincible. I love the idea of working together with my team to ensure they all finish near the top, but it doesn’t always pan out how I’d like.
While the team mechanics are a net positive addition to the kart racing formula, watching a weak link bring you down in a race is frustrating. In a handful of races where I finished first, I offered nearly all my powerups to my lagging A.I. teammates, but they still finished in the lower rankings. Since your overall placement takes your entire team’s rankings into consideration, my high placement wasn’t enough in these cases.
If you want to compete on your own, you can do so in standard races. However, stripping away what makes Team Sonic Racing different highlights how it is a competent-yet-unremarkable racer. Drifting around a corner to get a boost feels good, and the game has a solid sense of speed, but the uneven team mechanics are all that sets this apart from the other kart racers. Even the suite of 14 Wisp powerups are mostly just generic takes on Mario Kart’s items. It’s unfortunate since the team mechanics deliver a unique feel, but Team Sonic feels bland outside of that fold.
The Team Adventure story mode is an inconsequential narrative told through still character images over background environments, making the uninteresting plot even less engaging. While the story is boring and nonsensical, I like the structure, which grants you stars and keys for competing in races and other events in a hub world. While simply doing well in the events is good enough to progress, the mode also offers optional objectives like finishing first individually or not using any powerups. I always tried for the highest score, but I didn’t fret if I missed an objective or two; outside of completionism, there is little incentive to complete these bonus tasks. However, I love the timed minigame-style events in Team Adventure mode, like Eggpawn Assault, where you need to destroy as many A.I. robots on the track as possible, or Daredevil, where you drift close to Star Posts in an effort to score style points.
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If you’re sick of racing against the A.I. and want to throw down against other players, you can do so locally with up to four players, or online against a full race of 12. Competing with human players on your team makes for more exciting moments, like activating your ultimate to come from behind and win. Custom lobbies allow you to set your own rules online outside of the typical casual and ranked matchmaking, helping bolster the online offerings. By the time I wrapped up Team Adventure mode, I was excited to play against human competition, so I’m glad it ships with an enticing online suite.
Team Sonic Racing delivers a fun, easy-to-play experience that bolsters its adequate gameplay with distinct flavors to help it stand out from the rest of the genre. Unfortunately, the core gameplay provides mediocre action, limiting the fun of the otherwise promising racer.
Score: 7.25
Summary: Team Sonic Racing implements interesting ideas, but ultimately fails to stand out in the kart racing genre.
Concept: Hop in a car as Sonic and other characters from the franchise and speed around various tracks in a kart racer with a team-based twist
Graphics: All 21 tracks look great in motion, with a ton of action on screen. When things get too chaotic, the framerate suffers
Sound: Sonic games typically have strong soundtracks, and Team Sonic Racing is no different, with its collection of original compositions and modern nods to the hedgehog’s past
Playability: Even in a pick-up-and-play genre like kart racing, Team Sonic Racing’s smooth and simple gameplay is accessible to players of all skill levels
Entertainment: The team-based mechanics help Team Sonic Racing stand out from other kart racers, but Mario Kart is in no danger of losing pole position in the genre
Replay: Moderate
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