Jump to content

UHQBot

Forum Bot
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    39,329

  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    25

 Content Type 

Posts posted by UHQBot

    Watch Eight Minutes Of New Gameplay From A Plague Tale: Innocence

    in Game Previews

    Posted

    plagueofinnocence1.jpg

    Click to watch embedded media

    Publisher: Focus Home Interactive
    Developer: Asobo Studio
    Release: May 14, 2019
    Platform: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC

    A Plague Tale: Innocence is an upcoming action adventure game from developer Asobo Studio and publisher Focus Home Interactive, that takes place in 14th century France. It follows the story of two siblings, Amicia and Hugo, who attempt to survive the plague-ridden country.

    Recently, Asobo Studio showed off eight minutes of gameplay from the upcoming title. We watch teenage Amicia stealthily making her way through a village to eventually reach a university. During her journey, we see her distract enemies by launching throwables at them or even throwing a rock at a hanging corpse to catch a guard's attention.

    Some light crafting is shown, as well as how rats are afraid of light. Amicia equips a torch to fend them off. Rats pose a deadly threat, and through this demo, we see her sneakily avoiding them or leading them feed on guards instead of herself. 

    A Plague Tale: Innocence arrives for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC on May 14.

    View the full article

    Risk Of Rain 2 Roadmap Outlines Early Access Plans Until Launch

    in Game Previews

    Posted

    Publisher: Gearbox Publishing
    Developer: Hopoo Games
    Release: March 28, 2019
    Platform: PC

    riskofrain2.jpg

    The recently-released sequel to Risk of Rain came out abruptly last month around PAX East, surprising both fans of the first game and curious newcomers alike. Thanks to a surprising early promotion that gave purchasers a free copy to give to friends, Risk of Rain 2 became surprisingly popular. Now the developers at Hopoo Games are detailing how they plan to proceed with the rest of the game's early access period.

    In a post on the game's Steam forums, the developers provided this helpful infographic:

    riskofrain2info.jpg

    As you can see, they plan for new content for each of their seasonal milestones leading up to the game's release in Spring 2020. The content seems to mostly focus on things like survivors, stages, bosses, and items, which are all kind of the bread and butter of this game, so it makes sense to keep those at the top of the priority list. 

    While the game's ratings on Steam are in the "Overwhelmingly Positive" category, the few negatives that are mentioned are usually focused on a lack of content. Of course, the game did just launch in early access, but this sounds like it is laser-targeted at those complaints. In the blog post, the developers even ask fans for feedback on the roadmap should they want the resources applied elsewhere.

    Risk of Rain 2 is currently in early access on PC.

    View the full article

    An Update on Apex Legends from Respawn - 04/25/19

    in Apex Legends

    Posted

    To say that the launch of Apex Legends exceeded our expectations would be an understatement. 50 million players in the first month (and more since) is staggering for any game, let alone a new IP from a relatively small team who were taking their first swing at a free-to-play game.

     

    Rapid growth is a wonderful thing to achieve, and we’re thrilled with the response we’ve received since launch. However, that growth comes with some clear challenges, and we’ve hit a few bumps along the way, including missteps with our updates, not giving players enough visibility into future content, and not properly setting expectations on how we plan to support Apex Legends.

     

    We are 100% committed to the long-term growth of Apex Legends, and supporting the millions playing every day. So today we want to reset our commitment to you and give you some insight into where we are as a development team and how we’re approaching live service for Apex Legends.

     

    Getting a huge player base in a very short period means exploits, bugs, cheaters, and more come fast and frequently. We’ve had to react and direct resources to play whack-a-mole with lots of unexpected issues. Since launch, we’ve shipped a number of server and client patches that have addressed a range of issues.

     

    While we’ve made some good progress towards a healthier game, as our community grows issues have come up that need to be addressed. The stability of Apex Legends is very important to us, and we’ve been doing a lot of work internally to improve our processes across the board. As we are getting our house in order, some of the critical things we’re prioritizing are:

     

    Slow Server Performance at the Beginning of a Match

    • So far, 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. This is extremely high priority for us, and we'll keep you updated on our progress.

    Audio Issues

    • Currently testing some potential fixes that will hopefully address many of the performance issues we’ve seen reported.

    Cheaters

    Hit Registration Issues

    • We are adding engine features to help track down and report instances of incorrect hit registration in playtests so we can force the bug and reproduce the issue consistently. While we have made some progress with some fixes locally, more work needs to be done to address the root of the problem.

    Over the next few weeks we’ll talk more about the work that’s being done in these areas and provide updates about when we’ll be addressing them in future patches.

     

    We know that, in addition to addressing issues with the game, everyone is hungry for us to add new content. The studio culture that we’ve worked hard to cultivate, and the health of our team are very important. We take those things into account when we discuss our content roadmap, the production schedule, and the frequency in which we can update the game. Our long-term goal is to ensure Apex Legends always feels alive and thriving, with a focus on quality of content over novelty or speed of release. At the same time, we want to maintain our culture as a development team and avoid crunch that can quickly lead to burnout or worse.

     

    At launch we shared a high-level view of our roadmap, showcasing how we would be taking a seasonal approach to live service. Today we want to provide more clarity on what you can expect for content and update cadence in the future:

     

    Season Launches

    • The beginning of each season will start big with a new Battle Pass, a new Legend, something new for the meta, and more.

    Thoughtful Updates Throughout the Season

    • Just as we've done since launch, we will continue to address exploits, necessary balance changes, bug fixes, and small features throughout the course of a season. For complete transparency, our goal isn't, and never has been, to patch or update content on a weekly basis. We believe strongly in the importance of large, meaningful changes to the game that have lasting impact, thus our focus on a seasonal release cadence we laid out at launch. We will continue to follow this cadence in the future.

    Improved Communication

    • We need to provide more visibility into the future, and what we’re working on. That doesn’t mean we’re going to start telling folks everything they want to know when they want to know it, but you can expect more transparency on future updates and fewer surprise drops.

    At EA PLAY in June, we will give you the first details on what you can expect from Season 2. We’ve seen all the feedback on Season 1 and look forward to showing you the improvements we’re making. For Season 2 you can expect a Battle Pass with more meaningful content, the introduction of a new Legend, the debut of a new weapon . . . and you didn’t expect Kings Canyon to stay the same forever, did you?

     

    Lastly, regarding other games in development at Respawn, it is important to understand that there are entirely separate development teams working on Apex Legends and Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order. Additionally, in order to fully support Apex Legends, we are pushing out plans for future Titanfall games. No resources from the Apex Legends team are being shifted to other titles in development here at the studio, nor are we pulling resources from the team working on Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order.

     

    We know we have a lot of work ahead of us, but we’re up to the challenge and are looking forward to building Apex Legends to its full potential together with our players.

     

     

    Drew McCoy
    Executive Producer
    Apex Legends

     

    (Source) (Reddit Discussion)(AHQ Discussion)

    View the full article

    Madden NFL 20 Makes A Recommitment To Franchise Mode

    in Game Previews

    Posted

    mad20_wm_donald_1.jpg

    This console generation hasn’t been a great one for fans of sports franchise modes. While the dominant NBA 2K series continues to explore meaningful innovations in the space with new concepts like a GM story mode, persistent injury systems, and deep customization tools for MyLeague, the rest of the sports games have largely sat idle with decaying, dated systems. Madden has been one of the guiltiest parties when it comes to stagnation. Outside of a few scouting and progression updates, EA Tiburon has been largely content to let this mode idle while committing more resources to the lucrative Ultimate Team mode and prestige Longshot story mode. For NFL fans longing for major leap forward in franchise play, if it executes on its concepts Madden NFL 20 could be the first step toward realizing that dream. 

    “It's the most interesting year-round sport in my opinion,” says Madden NFL 20 creative director Mike Young. “We care about it all year long, and there are phases of it. [With Madden NFL 20] we want to bring to life the ability to have decisions that can impact your franchise based on how you handle personnel, morale, teammates, and employees. That just wasn't in Madden at all. It felt like a stats management game only.”

    To dig Madden’s franchise mode out of its self-dug rut and realize this ambition, Tiburon has brought a group of franchise mode enthusiasts from the community on board, like Franchise Nation’s Andre Weingarten. This strike team works not only to freshen up pre-existing systems like trade logic, free agency, and scouting, but also to help develop the Scenario Engine, Madden 20’s instrument for recreating the dramatic storylines that drive headlines all year round in the NFL.

    Click here to watch embedded media

    Introducing The Scenario Engine

    Creating an impactful narrative experience in a franchise mode isn’t as easy as writing a linear story. Though you can use that format to great effect for a shorter experience, franchise modes are dynamic systems that deliver dramatically different results based on the decisions the user makes. You can’t predict what players are going to do, but if you identify the individual elements for a good story, you could conceivably develop a software underpinning that mix and match these elements to generate a series of moments that feel in line with the stories that emerge out of the NFL every week. 

    “When we looked all year at storylines like Le'Veon Bell's holdout or Antonio Brown demanding a trade, we really didn't have anything in Madden right now to bring leadership and managing the locker room, and personalities, and cohesiveness that's needed on a football team either from a player perspective or a coaching perspective,” Young says. “The Scenario Engine is intended to create dynamic storylines week to week based on how you're playing, who you are, your record, your stats, and the personalities around you. It fires off stories that could be one-week stories, but there are also several storylines that are branching.”

    To achieve this goal, EA Tiburon essentially reverse engineered major and minor storylines from the last seven years, finding compelling scenarios that could challenge players and looking at the inputs that would be necessary to trigger these circumstances in a franchise playthrough. If a star player found out he was placed on the trade block, how would he react? If you cut ties with a future Hall of Famer in favor of a hotshot rookie, what would that do to the locker room? 

    Recreating these scenarios required the creation of a personality system that gives the players some degree of agency. Team players like Julian Edelman may be more likely to take roster disruptions and drops in their usage rate in stride, but more volatile personalities may trigger crises that coaches/general managers need to resolve. Some of these may be gameplay based. If a talented receiver like Martavis Bryant is frozen out for three games, he may demand you get him the damn ball. If you don’t, maybe he demands a trade. 

    The offseason presents dynamic obstacles to overcome as well. “If you franchise tag a guy, there should be a risk that he'll just retire or demand a trade,” Young says. “You should feel that weight when you are making these choices instead of sorting a spreadsheet and going, 'eh, he's not that good.' There's got to be a risk/reward to this stuff to really make you feel the immersion of it.” If you’re the type of GM who doesn’t like surprises, this may affect how you approach drafting. Maybe you’ll pass on a temperamental player with more potential upside just for the peace of mind knowing that your pick won’t lead a revolt against your leadership.

    Madden NFL 20 has several scenarios like that that can arise on the fly and give you player boosts or small goals with meaningful rewards. If your team is struggling, perhaps a locker room leader calls a player’s only meeting that gives a boost to the position group you think needs the most help. If your team has a short week, you can decide to push them to practice to earn some more XP, or give them time off to boost morale. If a young player has a good game, you may trigger a “breakout player scenario” that issues a specific goal for the next game. If you meet it, then the player could earn a dev trait increase mid-season, jumping his trait status from normal to star. 

    The Scenario Engine is flexible enough to incorporate more variables as Tiburon sees fit. “One thing we're really excited about is planning to add content throughout the year,” Young says. “This will be the first time we've ever done updates to franchise throughout the season.”

    mad20_wm_juju_2.jpg

    Scheme Fit System Changes

    Last year’s major new franchise mode feature was the scheme fit system, a crude and ultimately unsuccessful attempt to replicate the idea that certain players perform and develop better in certain offensive and defensive schemes. Aspiring to capture this dynamic in franchise mode was admirable, but the execution left a lot to be desired. Not all the schemes and their required archetypes were reflective of the real-life teams, and you couldn’t alter the archetypes for specific positions to better fit the scheme you wanted to employ. Making matters worse, star players who were dynamic enough to excel in several schemes wouldn’t receive the scheme fit XP boost if their top-rated skill wasn’t scheme-fit appropriate. This system isn’t going away in Madden NFL 20, but EA Tiburon hopes to smooth over the roughest patches. 

    The development team revisited the archetypes associated with schemes from Madden 19 in hopes of providing more flexibility in how teams can be built, and the reduced the XP bonus associated with scheme fits. If a player is not a scheme fit, then their progression will be slightly slower but it will “no longer feel crippling.” I’m not sure this addresses the underlying issue with the system, but we won’t know for sure until we spend more time with it. 

    Madden NFL 20 finally brings run-pass option to the game, which also necessitates the creation of some new scheme types. This year’s game introduces three new offensive schemes to the mix. The West Coast Spread is all about keeping defenses on their toes with quick-strike horizontal passes. This attack also opens up running lanes for quarterbacks. The Pistol is a shotgun-based formation that allows attackers to target the weak side of the field with runs or passes. Air Raid is a pass-heavy no-huddle system that requires the quarterback to make quick adjustments at the line of scrimmage. 

    Madden 20 also tries to inject more variety into the defensive systems with four new schemes. Coaches who want to slow down attacking offenses can employ the 4-3 Cover 3, which is designed to only allow small gains. Teams who want to pressure the quarterback can try out the 3-4 Storm scheme provided they have speed up front and linebackers who can jump passing routes. Another counter to spread offenses is the 4-3 Quarters, better known as Cover-4. The last new scheme is 3-4 Disguise, which is predicated on confusing the quarterback with symmetrical lineups and disguised concepts. 

    mad20_wm_mahomes_2.jpg

    Superstar Abilities Embolden The CPU Competition

    For too many years, there has been too little player differentiation when playing CPU opponents. Whether you were squaring off against a future hall-of-fame quarterback or a shell-shocked rookie, chances are they would complete a high percentage of short yardage passes and rarely do anything that mimicked the ability of their real-world counterparts. 

    “I feel like with franchise, a lot of people just like to play against the CPU and try to crank out Super Bowls and get to the draft and they don't enjoy playing other people, but it felt like week-to-week there wasn't a difference between who you played,” Young admits. “You weren't really that scared about playing Tom Brady and the Patriots.”

    This could change with the addition of superstar skills and X-Factor players, which we explore in great depth with this feature. This new pool of more than 70 new abilities isn’t meant to make Madden play like NFL Hitz, but rather accentuate the unique capabilities of the league’s star players. Patrick Mahomes now has unique animations that let him escape the pocket more quickly than his counterparts, as well as new abilities that raise his accuracy throwing on the run and across his body. Tom Brady can diagnose the defense quickly and find the first open target much faster than other quarterbacks. Ben Roethlisberger has a deadly pump-fake that can disrupt your coverages and spring his receivers open. 

    The same goes for the other side of the ball. If EA Tiburon succeeds in its goals with this new system, you won’t be able to simply ignore studs like Khalil Mack or Aaron Donald anymore.

    The Future of Franchise Mode

    Though I still have questions about the scheme fit system, the Scenario Engine and superstar abilities sound like promising steps in the right direction. But will EA Sports continue down this path moving forward, or reverse course and chase a different feature set next year? That danger always exists with sports titles, but Young says he has no plans to neglect franchise mode next year.

    “Franchise has come back to being a big focus on the game and it will continue to be,” Young says. “We just want to add this rich depth and immersion to it so we're starting to think about it more like a sports RPG.”

    Madden NFL 20 ships for PS4, Xbox One, and PC on August 2. To learn more about the game, read our in-depth breakdowns of the superstar skills, our discussion about how EA plans to clean up the gameplay bugs from last year, and the new Face of the Franchise career mode.

    View the full article

    Madden NFL 20 Debuts New Choice-Driven Career Mode – Face of the Franchise

    in Game Previews

    Posted

    nflroster.jpg

    Two years after debuting Longshot, a single-player story mode heavy on cinematics but light on player agency and true Madden gameplay, EA Tiburon went back to the drawing board with its career mode. It was the right call. While well-acted and well-directed, the Longshot story curiously veered too far from the superstar storylines that captivate football fans to instead focus on the trials and tribulations of simply cracking an NFL roster. While it makes for some interesting, honest moments about how hard it is to realize the dream of suiting up on Sunday, this isn’t the power fantasy most people want to experience in a career mode. With Madden NFL 20’s new career mode, Face of the Franchise: QB1, the focus shifts to a football dream fans can better relate with – becoming a dominant starting quarterback.

    Click here to watch embedded media

    Face of the Franchise essentially plays out like the stories in NBA 2K’s popular career mode. Early on, the mode delivers story beats via cinematics in-between actual on-field games where your stick skills define the direction of your career. After the prologue of your NFL career plays out, the narrative focus shifts from a reliance on cinematics to a more dynamic story delivered mostly via branching dialogue. During this phase, the mode looks at your accomplishments (or failures) and builds a story around them. "Choice is so important, and that's probably the key differentiator between a Longshot and this,” says Madden NFL 20 creative director Mike Young. “This is about personalization."

    Here’s a breakdown of how Face of the Franchise: QB1 plays out: 

    collegeplayoff.jpg

    Write Your College Legend

    Unlike Longshot hero Devin Wade, your journey doesn’t start under the Friday Night Lights. Instead, you are the unheralded backup quarterback of a college powerhouse who gets thrust into a starting role during the College Football Playoff, a similar situation to the one Cardale Jones found himself in with Ohio State during the 2014 season. 

    After customizing your face and choosing one of the three voices available for your character, you can pick one of 10 colleges in the game – Clemson, Florida, Florida St., LSU, Miami, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, Texas Tech, or USC. Then the hard work of building up your draft grade begins.  

    Before your high-pressure debut, reporters pepper you with questions. When they ask which NFL legend you look up to, your choice will lay the foundation for your quarterback archetype. When they ask you how your high-school teammates would describe you, it helps define your personality type.

    If you flame out in the first playoff game, you can kiss your dreams of being a first-round pick behind. Lead your program to the national championship with a commanding performance, however, and your draft stock naturally rises. 

    nflcombine.jpg

    Participate In The Underwear Olympics

    Once the playoff run is complete, your gunslinger heads to the NFL Combine, where you must perform a series of drills and answer some tough questions from NFL GMs. Combined with your on-field performance, your numbers in the Underwear Olympics and how you conduct yourself with league decision-makers will determine where in the draft you are likely to land. “It's about immersing you in the 2019 draft class, so we want to make it feel like you are competing right now next to Kyler Murray and Drew Lock,” Young says. “You'll get cameos from them throughout the story.” 

    Your performance in college and the combine will land you anywhere from a high first-rounder, low first-rounder, mid-rounder, or late-round pick. Sorry Kurt Warner fans, you can’t go undrafted. Even if you chuck enough pick-sixes to set the college single-game record and post a Jared Lorenzen-esque 40-time, some wayward team will still see you as a diamond in the rough. Maybe John Elway has you circled on his cheat sheet...

    nfldraft.jpg

    Draft Day Drama

    After the combine whirlwind wraps up, it’s time for the NFL draft. If you’re projected to be a high first-round pick, you don your most stylish outfit and head to the NFL Draft. Sorry, fashion aficionados, EA opted against giving you control over your off-field wardrobe à la FIFA's Alex Hunter, but the good news is you have more gear options than previous years. Sadly, tattoos are still noticeably absent.

    During the draft, you will rub shoulders with other highly touted prospects like Joey Bosa on the red carpet. If you aren’t a highly touted pick, you miss the pageantry and watch the draft on TV with your agent by your side.

    However your draft day experience plays out, don’t expect to end up on a team that already has an established young star on the roster – you won’t be unseating Patrick Mahomes in Kansas City. “We tried to make it really realistic and reflective of the teams that actually need quarterbacks that might draft you,” Young says.

    If you don’t like the team that drafted you, EA said there's a way to strongarm your way to your ideal team. 

    nflroster.jpg

    Crack The Starting Lineup

    Once you crack an NFL roster, then the journey transitions from a heavy dose of cutscenes to a branching dialogue system similar to NBA Live 19’s The One mode. “Unlike a Longshot, this is meant to be about you getting into the league, and then handing it off to our new Scenario Engine where the story doesn't stop,” Young says.

    Once you’re in the league, the Scenario Engine (which also powers connected franchise mode in Madden 20) takes over to deliver storylines that may be new each week or extend into the season. You interact with a wide assortment of people, from coaches and teammates to trainers and reporters. Not all of your conversations are peachy. If a stud receiver is being starved for touches, he’ll tell you to get him the damn ball next week. You get to decide the number of touches you promise for the next week, and if you don’t meet that threshold, his morale will take a hit. If it drops enough, depending on his personality he may request a trade. This is just one example of the types of storylines that can play out. 

    “During the whole first season, it's going to feel like there is a storyline, and the hope is that everyone will feel like they had a different storyline, both by how they played in Face of the Franchise mode, or just the different decisions, and their record, and who is on their team will trigger different events throughout the season," Young says.

    Other players may challenge you to rise to their level during the course of your career as well, which could allow you to earn one of their superstar abilities, a new feature in Madden NFL 20. Think of these like interchangeable skill powers you can swap in and out depending on the game scenario. Some give you straight up ability, like the Bazooka skill that lets you throw up to 80 yards in the air when you’re in the zone. Others are more about being a savvy field general, like the Hot Route Master skill that gives you four additional hot routes to choose while making pre-play adjustments. You can earn up to seven superstar abilities in Face of the Franchise, allowing you to experiment with the skills that best match your play style. 

    Click here to watch embedded media

    “It's not about getting to 99 [OVR] anymore, it's about trying different loadouts,” Young says. “It's a lot more like an action/adventure game where you're unlocking different abilities and maybe this one suits the way you play more and it's what you like."

    Occasionally during your career, you will be asked tough questions from reporters. Coming off a loss, an ink-stained wretch may ask, “who let you down tonight, your coach or offensive line?” If you take the Aaron Rodgers route and criticize your coach. your coach will lose confidence in you but your line will get a boost for the next game. If you take the Jay Cutler route and throw the line under the bus, they'll play worse the next game but your relationship with your coach may improve. 

    Overcome these seasonal obstacles and put up strong numbers, and you may earn a spot in the Pro Bowl, which finally returns to Madden this year. Since the career mode runs on the Connected Franchise Mode system, you can play up to 15 seasons and write your NFL legacy, with new scenarios popping up throughout your career. 

    If you aren’t interested in being a signal caller and would rather play another position, Madden NFL 20 makes that option available to you as well. You won’t have the college, combine, or draft day experience going that route, but the Scenario Engine will still sprinkle story threads throughout your career.

    Madden NFL 20 ships for PS4, Xbox One, and PC on August 2. To learn more about the game, read our in-depth breakdown of the superstar abilities, proposed fixes to gameplay issues, and franchise mode changes.

    View the full article

    How Madden 20 Is Addressing Past Gameplay Issues

    in Game Previews

    Posted

    m204.25smithschuster.jpg

    EA Sports and developer EA Tiburon have just announced Madden NFL 20 (out August 2nd), and while there are some sweet-sounding new features like superstar players and Face of the Franchise mode, fans want to know that the underlying gameplay is fixed. Last year's title was not only buggy at launch and beyond, but there were also plenty of complaints about key aspects like the running game, blocking, and catching.

    Although the developer hasn't started talking about specific gameplay changes for Madden 20, creative director Mike Young said, "There is probably going to be a laundry list of things the community would get excited about... I think we did a lot with animations. It's a cleaner and a more bug-free game."

    One of the structural things the team did to improve the game this time around was to address bugs and tune gameplay as they went along instead of trying to do it all at the end of development. Young says the game was playable earlier than ever and this has helped them fixed more bugs than previous years.

    Young says the shifted development timeline has even resulted in a gameplay feature that is being internally playtested for possible inclusion. The under-wraps feature was first meant to fix a legacy issue, but "actually became a new way to maybe play." Hopefully, the feature makes the beta as planned.

    Click here to watch embedded media

    Madden Gets Modern With The Run-Pass Option

    Run-pass option (RPO) plays were conspicuously absent last year, especially on the back of the Eagles further popularizing them on the way to their Super Bowl victory in the 2017-2018 season. At first, RPOs were considered "too big" to include, but Young says it was prototyped, polished, and added to Madden 20.

    Young thinks the result is going to be big for the teams that have RPOs in their playbooks. Along with Superstar and X-Factor abilities for the top players, Young believes RPOs are going to give teams multiple strategies to win games, whether that's in your franchise mode team or Ultimate Team.

    Speaking of playbooks, Madden 20 won't have the create-a-playbook feature, but they will be updated through the year, and overall Young says they have more variety this year, especially with the RPO.

    Madden 20 has a lot on its plate, and fixing its lingering gameplay issues and adding RPOs will hopefully make the game feel and play differently.

    Madden NFL 20 ships for PS4, Xbox One, and PC on August 2. To learn more about the game, read our in-depth breakdowns of the superstar skills, what's new in Franchise mode, and the new Face of the Franchise career mode.

    View the full article

    Madden 20's New Ability System Spotlights The League's Superstars

    in Game Previews

    Posted

    m204.25mahomes.jpg

    The NFL loves its superstars, from team-lifting QBs like Tom Brady to game-changing wide receivers like Antonio Brown, and QB-crunching monsters like Aaron Donald. But Madden hasn't always been able to highlight these kinds of players in ways that not only make them powerful but like they perform in real life.

    This year's new Superstar X-Factor feature hopes to address this fact and not only make these players feel like the stars they are, but also influence Madden across its many modes.

    "The NFL last year felt like a star-driven league," says creative director Mike Young, "appointment viewing-based TV because you had to see the Rams-Chiefs. You had to see Donald play. You had to see Khalil Mack play."

    Young says there's another reason for the new feature: How can the game go beyond ratings? "I think ratings are really good at the measurables," he says, "the combine type stats like speed, but for instance, Tom Brady has never been a great quarterback in Madden. What we've done is try to differentiate the quarterbacks and give them very unique things based on their archetype."

    Click here to watch embedded media

    Here's how it works: There are around 70 Superstar abilities in the game. Some players have none, some have multiple abilities. These abilities are shaped by real-life players' skills and in-game player archetypes. Thus, you aren't going to see a slower, bruising running back get abilities related to more nimble backs.

    Here are just a few examples:

    • The Slot Machine ability gives the receiver better separation at the line and catching ability versus contact for short routes from the slot position. Vikings receiver Adam Thielen has this ability.
    • Pocket QBs like Tom Brady with the Protected ability get more time in the pocket from their offensive linemen engaged in blocks during dropback passes.
    • Rams' defensive tackle Aaron Donald has The Fearmonger ability. This lets him apply pressure to QBs even when Donald is engaged in a block.
    • Some are dependent on the time and the game and situation. For example, Brady's Clutch ability not only reduces the requirement for him to get in the zone (more on that below), but also makes it impossible for him to be knocked out of the zone halfway through the fourth quarter in a close game.

    Most of these abilities have counter-abilities across the line of scrimmage, so that there are no automatic victories on the field, but you obviously want to pay extra attention to these players. To this end, players with superstar abilities will always be marked so everyone knows.

    But Superstar abilities are just the start; there are plenty of great players in the league, but there are also those who are a cut above. These are called X-Factor players. X-Factor players have at least two superstar abilities, but they also a zone ability that lets them get into the zone – that state that athletes talk about where their skills are extra heightened. As of the time of this writing, there are about 28 offensive X-Factor players and 22 defensive ones, with no special teamers or offensive linemen among them.

    X-Factor players have to play themselves into the zone for their zone ability to activate. For example, if JuJu Smith-Schuster catches four run-after-the-catch (RAC) passes of 20 yards or more, he's in the zone. When he's in the zone he'll usually win single-coverage RAC passes with an animation that gives him an advantage in that situation.

    • When in the zone, Cam Newton's Tackle Breaker ability allows him to frequently break the first tackle attempt against him.
    • Patrick Mahomes' Bazooka ability allows him to throw a maximum of 80 yards when he's in the zone.
    • Tom Brady has a quick read zone ability that highlights the first open receiver with a bigger on-the-field icon.

    These zone abilities are powerful, but they can also be "turned off." Brady's quick read zone ability deactivates when either he scores a touchdown or you sack him.

    Abilities aren't just in Franchise mode or Play Now, they're usable throughout the game, including Ultimate Team and the new Face of the Franchise mode. This should shake up what players use in Ultimate Team as well as help you further define your QB in Face of the Franchise. In regular CFM, abilities for draft prospects are tied to their development trait. So you'll have to keep an eye on any players with abilities as you are scouting. Then you can draft them and watch them mature and unlock their abilities.

    "What we're finding is it's made a lot more teams a lot more interesting to play," says Young. "Right now, people in the office love playing with the Browns... It's hard to say as a Steelers fan, but they are probably one of the cooler teams because they have superstar guys on both sides of the ball."

    mad20_wm_kamara_probowl_a.jpg

    More Information on Superstar Abilities & X-Factors

    • Additional X-Factor players can be added during the year. The team says it's still figuring out the "cadence" of when that might be. Young says perhaps five times during the year.
      Players may gain or lose X-Factors during the season, but overall EA Tiburon wants to keep around 50 X-Factors total.
       
    • Currently, the most superstar abilities a non-X-Factor player can have is two. X-Factor players have at least two plus their single zone ability. In Face of the Franchise mode, you can have as many as seven abilities. These can be swapped around on your player. These still adhere to an overall archetype so you can't build an overpowered player.
       
    • It might be harder for X-Factor players to get into the zone in the Competitive gameplay style versus arcade, for instance.
       
    • X-Factors and superstar abilities are included in Madden Ultimate Team player items as designated by an additional tab on the player item. Details around these aren't fully known at this point, but Young says you will be able to respec abilities and get some points back. This sounds similar to last year's Power Up items/Training Points.
       
    • Not all the abilities will be widely available. Ex. Roethslisberger has a pump fake ability. He might be one of just two QBs in the whole game with this ability.
       
    • Some players with superstar abilities also have special animations like Aaron Rodgers' throwing on the run from his tiptoes.
       
    • Abilities are highlighted on the field and in pre-play menus so that both sides of the ball can see them. This includes being able to chart how close a player is from getting into the zone.

    Madden NFL 20 ships for PS4, Xbox One, and PC on August 2. To learn more about the game, read about what's new in Franchise mode, the new Face of the Franchise career mode, and how the developer is addressing last year's gameplay issues.

    View the full article

    BoxBoy + BoxGirl Review – Another Square Deal

    in Game Reviews

    Posted

    boxboygirl6.jpg

    Publisher: Nintendo
    Developer: HAL Laboratory
    Release: April 26, 2019
    Rating: Everyone
    Reviewed on: Switch

    BoxBoy never seemed like the kind of game that would develop into a series. When HAL Laboratory debuted BoxBoy on the 3DS back in 2015, this quirky puzzle platformer with low-fi graphics seemed like an experimental one-off that had somehow squeaked through the greenlight process. Since then, this little square-jawed hero has proven he's more than a one-hit wonder. For his fourth outing, BoxBoy is joined by BoxGirl and the tall box, Qudy, for a couch co-op friendly adventure filled with some of the most creative and diverse puzzles in the series.

    BoxBoy's mechanics are deceptively simple. You are asked to string together a limited number of boxes to use as stairs, bridges, and other makeshift tools that allow you navigate an austere and obstacle-riddled world. BoxBoy's plain aesthetic puts a spotlight on HAL’s puzzle design. Early puzzles start off a little too easy, assuming players haven't engaged with the series before. However, as you slowly unlock new abilities, the puzzles become significantly more captivating and inventive.
     

    Click here to watch embedded media

    Many of BoxBoy + BoxGirl's puzzles require some out-of-the-box thinking, but I was rarely stumped for more than a few minutes. If you ever get completely stuck, a hint system readily shows you the solution and can keep you from pulling out your hair. I also appreciate that you often have multiple ways to approach each objective. But if you really want to challenge yourself, you can tackle each level with a limited number of boxes, which earns you coins that can be redeemed for oddball cosmetic items. These cosmetics don’t affect the gameplay, but I had a lot of fun dressing up my boxes as cat detectives and balding vampires.

    Some old power-ups return. For example, you can still chain boxes together like a grappling hook and zip to new areas, which is always fun. I was particularly surprised by BoxBoy's new skills, like his ability to fling boxes across the room or pound them into the ground. These new talents seem deceptively simple at first, but their merits are more apparent as you use them and each new level encourages you to use your abilities in novel ways. Every time I unlocked a new set of puzzles, I was surprised by the level of creativity and the unique solutions I was able to engineer from BoxBoy’s offbeat toolset.

    But BoxBoy is only one of the stars of this show. A second campaign starring both BoxBoy and BoxGirl allows two players to solve puzzles together. Many of the mechanics and themes from the single-player campaign return, but they are given new life since you have two sets of boxes at your disposal, and you can build increasingly unusual shapes. Some puzzles even ask you to navigate certain characters to specific points in the level, which is a neat twist. You can play through this campaign by yourself, switching between characters on the fly, but I had the most fun coordinating my box stacking with another player.

    Click image thumbnails to view larger version

    boxboygirl4.jpg boxboygirl1.jpg boxboygirl2.jpg boxboygirl3.jpg boxboygirl5.jpg boxboygirl6.jpg boxboygirl7.jpg boxboygirl8.jpg

     

                                                                                                                

    A third unlockable campaign stars an extra tall box named Qudy. Since Qudy's boxes are double-sized, he is able to quickly scale tall platforms and can practically vault over vast gaps. Qudy can rotate horizontally or vertically, which affects the orientation of his boxes. Again, this sounds like a simple change, but it has far-reaching consequences, and I was often left scratching my head trying to figure out how to squeeze Qudy's awkward body through a series of relatively simple-looking obstacles.

    Despite consistent performance over the last several years, this blocky franchise remains relatively obscure, which is a shame because BoxBoy’s adventures are engaging. HAL Laboratory does a great job shaking up the mechanics from one set of levels to the next so the action never grows stale, which seems extra impressive after four entries. We’ve already been given more BoxBoy games than I ever expected, but I hope they don’t stop coming anytime soon.

    bobox.jpg

    Score: 8.5

    Summary: BoxBoy returns with a couch co-op friendly adventure filled with some of the most creative and diverse puzzles in the series.

    Concept: Use simple boxes to create complex shapes and solve a series of clever puzzles

    Graphics: The stark, black-and-white world is endearing, and the simple visuals put a spotlight on the stellar puzzle solving

    Sound: HAL Laboratory knows how to create light and cheerful background music, and that skill is evident here. Get ready to have the main theme stuck in your head

    Playability: The controls are simple, and a few new mechanics add a welcome twists to the puzzle solving

    Entertainment: BoxBoy + BoxGirl hits the sweet spot with a series of puzzles that aren't too hard, but occasionally make you think

    Replay: Moderate

    Click to Purchase

    View the full article

    Days Gone Review – Surviving In A Divided World

    in Game Reviews

    Posted

    daysgonereview9.jpg

    Publisher: Sony Interactive Entertainment
    Developer: SIE Bend Studio
    Release: April 26, 2019
    Rating: Mature
    Reviewed on: PlayStation 4

    The pause menu of Days Gone keeps track of the time since Deacon St. John was separated from his wife, Sarah, who was helicoptered away during the chaotic zombie outbreak. Since that day, he’s been living a life similar to his old one as a biker, eschewing mandated responsibilities and trusting his own code above all else.

    However, no man is an island, and as the remaining human settlements fortify themselves against the zombie hordes and each other, Deacon is more tethered than he first thought. He might not totally buy into the anti-government paranoia, militaristic, nihilistic, or rigid philosophies of those around him, but he’s not entirely selfish, either. 

    Like Deacon, Days Gone sets off on its own path, landing between being a dynamic open world and a linear, physically constrained story. While its gameplay systems create fun and harrowing scenarios, the way Days Gone straddles the line between two extremes leaves me wanting more from both the story and open world.

    Click here to watch embedded media

    Resources are scarce in the ruined landscape, affecting almost everything you do. You have to maintain repairs on your bike, you can craft lots of equipment, and your melee weapons break frequently. The situation isn’t all grim, however. Days Gone does a good job making you feel desperate but not frustrated, leading to improvisation like making the most of your equipment. If I ran out of ammo for my favorite weapon, I might use a sound emitter 
to attract zombies to enemies’ location. What about the subsequent zombie rush that inevitably follows? That’s a problem for another time. Hopefully 
I have some ammo by then, or maybe I switch to stealth or my crafted melee weapon – a baseball bat modded with a saw blade.

    Dealing with hordes – massive gatherings of zombies – is its own tense, terrifying challenge that requires you use more of your environment to survive since you can’t simply shoot your way clear of the throng before they tear you apart. You have to use their rage against them, funneling them into choke points where you can set explosives or shoot flammables to take out chunks of them before running away and regrouping. The unpredictable horde A.I. adds intrigue in successive tries since you can’t always predict where they’re going to go. 

    You can buy better equipment and some supplies through human camp settlements, but only by earning their trust first by doing missions for them. These tasks, like clearing out a camp of Marauders or PCP-addled human Rippers aren’t novel, but Deacon’s dealing with the camps and their leadership help define him by juxtaposing him with each camp’s views on survival, such as Copeland’s anti-government conspiracy mindset. These camps also figure into your open-world activities; when you save survivors in the wild, you earn a big trust boost with the camp you send them to. 

    Click image thumbnails to view larger version

    daysgonereview2.jpg daysgonereview3.jpg daysgonereview4.jpg daysgonereview5.jpg daysgonereview6.jpg daysgonereview7.jpg daysgonereview1.jpg

     

                                                                                                                

    Rescuing survivors, hunting, and collecting random plants suggests an open-world structure ripe with possibilities, but Days Gone’s landscape is more dull than it appears. The map has a lot of land on it, but it’s not filled with intriguing side stories, characters, and situations. Instead, it contains prescribed missions and anonymous people to kill – and these tasks were not tempting or rewarding enough to draw me away from the main story.

    Days Gone’s narrative is standard and sufficient, but it trips up when it leans on minor characters at multiple points for important and/or dramatic turns in the plot. This strains credulity, makes the world feel too small, and pads out the experience with filler missions using otherwise boring stealth gameplay mechanics. My least favorite was being asked to search for a guy’s MP3 player as the story was all coming to a head.

    On the technical front it’s also worth mentioning that Days Gone lacks polish for a first-party title. The framerate can vary, and the loads are surprisingly long and frequent on the standard PS4 – something that shouldn’t be necessary at this stage.

    Days Gone has good gameplay foundations. The scarcity of supplies and ever-present threat of zombies put me on edge as much as it gave me options to escape by the skin of my teeth. But the inability to fully deliver on either the story or open world fronts makes it a title of both possibilities and limitations. 

    daysgone.jpg

    Score: 7.75

    Summary: Bend Studio sets up compelling and sometimes terrifying survival scenarios, but the story and open world don't come off as well.

    Concept: Deacon St. John is a drifter in an open world where different embattled groups of survivors fight the zombie hordes and each other

    Graphics: Characters’ faces convey a range of emotions, but the framerate is unstable

    Sound: Sam Witwer puts in a good performance as Deacon St. John, and the game’s squishy guts and sloshy gas cans provide lots of ambiance

    Playability: Some small things are annoying, like the camera during melee fights leaving you blind (it doesn’t affect your performance) and item pickup being finicky. Otherwise the controls are up to the challenge

    Entertainment: Surviving the zombie throngs can be a thrilling experience, but the story and open-world structure come in second

    Replay: Moderately High

    Click to Purchase

    View the full article

    Mortal Kombat 11 Makes Difficulty Adjustments To Towers Of Time

    in Game Previews

    Posted

    Publisher: Warner Bros. Interactive
    Developer: NetherRealm Studios
    Release: April 23, 2019
    Rating: Mature
    Platform: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch, PC

    mk11_jax_gear2.jpg

    After hearing complaints about the progression system in Mortal Kombat 11, especially how difficult it is to complete the time-limited Towers of Time, NetherRealm promised the other day to make behind-the-scenes adjustments to fix these issues. Today, in a release day Kombat Kast, they detailed exactly what that means.

    To begin with, enemy health, which can often be 10x what your character has, will be lowered to be a lot more achievable. Modifiers that shoot in from the background, like missiles, will be blockable and fire off less often. They are still looking into the frequency and value of rewards and will make various adjustments to that over time. Overall, the difficulty is lower for this mode, but they still want it to feel hard, just not as if the game is cheating you out of a victory.

    NetherRealm does stay firm on the idea that they do not ever want to sell anything that can affect gameplay and they are not going to sell anything to unlock chests in the krypt. In addition, all players will be getting a stimulus package containing 500,000 coins, 1000 souls, and 1000 time krystals, the latter of which is used to buy premium outfits. That update will be out later this week.

    You can find our review of Mortal Kombat 11 right here and read our argument for why NetherRealm should allow custom variations into the game's ranked mode.

    View the full article

    Super Mario Maker 2 Launches On June 28

    in Game Previews

    Posted

    Publisher: Nintendo
    Developer: Nintendo
    Release: June 2019
    Platform: Switch

    mariomaker2.png

    Nintendo took to Twitter today to announce that Super Mario Maker 2, the sequel to the Wii U's Mario creation suite, will be arriving in late June. This means you can go through E3 without worrying that Super Mario Maker 2 will be distracting the entire industry.

    Let’s-a go! Let your imagination run wild as you make and play the Super Mario courses of your dreams when #SuperMarioMaker2 launches for #NintendoSwitch on 6/28! https://t.co/TnK9rQwRJi pic.twitter.com/eSJfb7JSPj

    — Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) April 24, 2019

    It is a little odd to suddenly drop the date for the game out of nowhere without actually saying much about the game yet. We know that Super Mario Maker 2 contains slopes, very likely has multiplayer, probably has Toadette, has a 3D World skin, and it's hard to really know for sure what else. Hopefully Nintendo will find the time to detail the rest at some point before release.

    On the plus side, Super Mario Maker 2 is the next major Switch game out, so now we have a release date for it.

    View the full article

    Starlink Coming To PC, More Star Fox Content Coming To Switch Soon

    in Game Previews

    Posted

    Publisher: Ubisoft
    Developer: Ubisoft Toronto
    Release: October 16, 2018
    Rating: Everyone 10+
    Platform: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch

    STLK_Screen_Scanning_180611_230pm_1528725717.jpg

    It has only been a few weeks since Ubisoft's Starlink team announced that, in light of the game's low sales, they wouldn't be producing any more new toys for the game's toys-to-life lite title. But it's not like Ubisoft to give up on a game when they could keep it alive, so Starlink will still get supported in the future, and we have more of an idea of what that support will look like now.

    As was announced at a previous Nintendo Direct, the next Switch-exclusive piece of Starlink content is more Star Fox-related missions, this time centering around a story of Star Fox's teammates pursuing the rest of Star Wolf's team. You can check out a trailer for that paid expansion below.

    Click here to watch embedded media

    Crimson Moon as a whole is a free update, including new pilots, ships, racing tracks, and weapons. The Star Fox part, which is obviously exclusive to Switch, will cost $11.99 as DLC. Both updates arriving on the same day next week on April 30.

    In addition, Ubisoft is bringing Starlink to PC. While the game is perfectly playable without the physical toys, if you already own the controller attachment from either the Xbox One or PlayStation 4 versions, that will be compatible with the PC. The PC version will have all the content of the console versions, Star Fox aside, and will also launch on April 30 alongside the Crimson Moon update.

    View the full article

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Guidelines Privacy Policy.

  I accept