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UHQBot

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  1. BFV.png

    Today Battlefield V offered a decidedly cinematic look at its single-player campaign. Like Battlefield 1, V's campaign will be a series of short stories that will be taking place across the world with multiple protagonists.

    Though there doesn't appear to be any gameplay to speak of in the trailer, you can watch it in all its globe-bouncing glory above.

    For more on Battlefield V, check out our last look at Battlefield V.

    View the full article

  2. lego-villains-1.jpg

    Momentum is a powerful force – just ask anyone who’s been on the receiving end of one of Superman’s flying kicks. On a more grounded level, the impulse to continue with what’s worked in the past can make a creative endeavor feel stale, whether we’re talking about superhero movies, comic books, or video games. Lego DC Super-Villains isn’t reimagining the core of the Lego games, but TT Games has clearly learned from recent missteps. The result is one of the best (and baddest) games that the studio has released.

    The name should clue you in to its setup; forget about Batman and his super friends, this one’s all about the villains. In true Lego fashion, the roster includes big names like Joker and Lex Luthor, and a dizzying array of fun second-tier heels like Mirror Master and Granny Goodness. The original story is a hoot. The Justice League suddenly disappears, replaced with a group of shady individuals from Earth 3 calling themselves the Justice Syndicate. These also-rans seem like close-enough versions of their contemporaries, with Ultraman filling in Superman’s boots and Owlman donning Batman’s cowl. Ultimately, they’re up to no good, which is something that only Earth’s villains seem to notice. They can’t let these interlopers take advantage of Earth’s plunder; that’s their job! It’s a fun setup for the familiar sight gags, snappy (and well voiced) dialogue, and humorous tone we all know from TT Games.

    You’re part of it all, too. In one of the boldest departures from past games, your created character is no longer relegated to free play. Instead, your creation is part of the narrative, right from the start. I enjoyed watching my minifig doppelganger gain new abilities throughout the tale, becoming one of the more powerful faces around (and an excellent utility player that helped minimize the need for swapping characters). I’ve never gotten into custom characters as much as my kids have, but this time around I was fine-tuning my hero as I unlocked new visual options.

    DC Super-Villains backs up its charm with a host of gameplay improvements. First and foremost, it’s not prone to crashing or bugging out relentlessly. It also has little quality-of-life improvements sprinkled throughout. In the past, when you encounter a task that your current character can’t perform, such as blowing up silver bricks as Harley-Quinn, your character will look at the camera and shrug. Ordinarily, you’d then have to manually cycle through the roster to find the correct person for the job. Now, when you swap, it immediately jumps to an appropriate one – a particular time-saver in free-play mode, which offers more than a 100 different characters to pore over. Platforming is more precise than in past games, and level designs don’t lean on extended jumping sections as much as they have in the past. That aspect has always been weak, and it’s about time that TT Games gave it some attention. Puzzles can still occasionally be a little out there, but loads of built-in hints keep younger players and their impatient parents moving if needed.

     

    When you’re done with the story, you explore a huge open world divided into well-known locations like Metropolis, Gotham City, and Smallville. You’ll probably spend most of your time exploring those spaces, solving one-off environmental puzzles and helping your fellow villains with silly side missions. You’re still a villain at heart, however, which means your actions can draw the attention of law enforcement if you’re not careful. It’s a low-key riff on Grand Theft Auto’s wanted levels, which answers the question: Why doesn’t anyone care that I’m breaking everything? Answer: They do, but it doesn’t get in the way too much.

    I was disappointed with last year’s Lego Marvel Super-Heroes 2, but Lego DC Super-Villains addresses virtually everything I saw wrong with that release. If you hate Lego games, this isn’t going to change your mind. For everyone else, this is a delightful return to form which hopefully serves as a reference for TT Games’ future projects.

    View the full article

  3. NewOct18Journo.jpeg
     

    Photographs is the next game from Luca Redwood's EightyEight Games, the developer behind 1000000 and its sort-of sequel, You Must Build A Boat. Since its reveal, Redwood has said it would be releasing this year, but it looks like we're going to have a wait a little bit later. Redwood doesn't have a specific release date, but says that it has moved into 2019.

    NewOct18Preventer.gif

    Along with the new release window, Redwood has offered new screenshots, the GIF you can see above, and a new developer diary, which you can see below.

    For more on Photographs you can watch us play the game here.

    View the full article

  4. controlheader.jpg

    As part of its presence at New York Comic Con recently, Remedy Games revealed the cast for its upcoming game, Control, revealing it to be a reunion for the developer.

    James McCaffrey is playing Zachariah Trench. McCaffrey provided the voice of Max Payne for all the Max Payne games, including Max Payne 3 which was not developed by Remedy.

    Dig into the character development of @ControlRemedy's key players with the latest installment of Dev Diary. pic.twitter.com/aJTzjbPEzU

    — PlayStation (@PlayStation) October 10, 2018

    Matthew Porretta is playing a character names Dr. Casper Darling. Porretta played the eponymous Alan Wake in the main game as well as in the "sequel", Alan Wake's American Nightmare.

    And Courtney Hope, as we learned at E3 earlier this year, is playing Control's main protagonist, Jesse Faden. Hope played Beth Wilder in Quantum Break.

    Between the three of them, they're covering about 17 years of Remedy history. For more on Control, head here.

    View the full article

  5. mp1.png

    Every year, the unceasing refrain that Call of Duty is the same gets repeated like a dogmatic mantra. With Call of Duty: Black Ops 4, Treyarch takes a big risk in removing a franchise staple – the single-player campaign – and embraces nothing but online multiplayer. The gamble pays off, as the title features more modes, settings, and ways to engage than any game in the series I can recall. The blazing new Blackout mode steals the zeitgeist of the battle royale’s thunder, packaging it in a polished, powerful entry to the burgeoning genre. If you’re willing to eschew single-player completely, the payoff is worth it.

    While the other modes are great and could easily carry the title on their own, the unquestionable star of the show is Blackout, Call of Duty’s first foray into the battle-royale space. The pacing of the experience is almost perfect, with a lot less foraging and a lot more action thanks to a map size that facilitates a focus on fighting. Moments where you’re running around in the doldrums of fields, rocks, and trees without enemy contact are few and far between. Intense conflict is incentivized with supply drops and mystery boxes. To get the best weapons you often need to take on A.I. zombies, creating enjoyable risk-reward situations that must continually be weighed. Epic encounters are constant, from intense helicopter assaults that often end in fiery wrecks to cargo-truck supply-drop steals. Using tools from the traditional multiplayer modes, like the grapple gun or combat hatchet, is a joy, and even if you end up being a victim during an action-packed drop in the first moments of a match, the next is only moments away. You can play this mode solo, but it really sizzles in four-player squads with your friends.

    Zombies mode is more expansive than ever, with three different cooperative experiences available (four if you have the season pass) and a slew of dials to turn, allowing players to create a tuned challenge to exacting specifications and modifiers. Players lamenting the absence of a campaign may find story-driven solace here, with each immersive and arcade-like scenario delving into the depths of horror and the occult. Weaving around environments pulled from Roman, Norse, Egyptian, and Celtic mythology in the time-twisting IX or searching the depths of a sinking Titanic in Voyage of Despair, zombies has tales to tell betwixt each wave. Secrets abound, but new interactions like banging on gongs to summon challenging champions in the depths under the arena or attempting to swim your way to the submerged rooms of the sinking ship provide interesting fare for all styles. Not only can you turn the dials to handcraft a zombie expedition to exacting specifications, but the character unlocks and progression are expansive as well, allowing made-to-order loadouts. Powerful talismans even allow you to break the rules, like starting a match off with an AR. With engaging characters, bizarre stories, and copious customization options, zombies is the best it has ever been.

    Traditional multiplayer has been tweaked a bit, but the boots-on-the-ground solid shooting and scooting is rooted in classic Call of Duty. Players have a bit more health, an active heal, and additional incentives to embrace teamplay over simple kill-death-assist metrics, but the core is satisfying, fast, and fluid. The Counter-Strike-inspired Heist mode gives something a little different, as you purchase weapons and accessories each round for a single spawn. Still, the franchise underpinnings remain strong, even if they don’t reinvent the rifle. Those looking to prestige and explore new weapons, abilities, and operator mods have a large array of options.

    Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 makes a sacrifice that’s sure to be off-putting to some with the lack of a campaign, but the surrender of tradition comes with sweeping and significant benefits. Blackout is the best battle-royale experience available today, zombies offers crazy customizable co-op, and multiplayer keeps things grounded for those looking for the classic core.

    View the full article

  6. gillian.jpg

    This week at CitizenCon, a new trailer launched for Star Citizen's Squadron 42 campaign. And, boy, the single-player mode is packed with some star-studded talent. 

    The footage focuses on the cinematics and voice acting, with a short action sequence at the end, which you can see above. It also provides a chance to view the celebrity talent involved. So far it looks like you can expect to see the likes of Gillian Anderson, Mark Hamill, Henry Cavill, Gary Oldman, Mark Strong, John Rhys Davies, Liam Cunningham, and Ben Mendelsohn in action. We previously saw some of this mode about a year ago

    It's no surprise Cloud Imperium Games had the funds to cover such a famous cast. Its crowdfunding campaign has so far earned it $195,170,562, from over 2 million people.

    There is still no official release date for the project. 

    View the full article

  7. ss09_b.jpg

    Memoria is a remote island off the coast of Maine rumored to awaken the memories of everyone who sets foot on its deserted shores. When two young adults named J.J. and Emily set foot on the island for an intimate camping weekend, they inadvertently dredge up repressed emotions that send them into a destructive spiral. The Missing is the latest game from Deadly Premonition director Hidetaka “Swery” Suehiro. As Swery fan have come to expect, The Missing features its fair share of bizarre and awkward moments, but it ultimately tells a poignant story using a mechanic that asks players to continually dismember their character.

    As J.J. travels across Memoria Island looking for her missing friend, she encounters a series of deadly environmental hazards like electrified pools of water, razor-sharp buzzsaws, and fiery deathtraps. While most would meet a grizzly end in this harsh world, J.J. has the remarkable ability to regenerate her body and recover from any injury. Growing back lost limbs at the push of a button is a lot of fun, but how The Missing incorporates these body horrors into its puzzle is often brilliant. For example, at several points, I had to set J.J.’s body on fire to light up darkened corridors or use her charred flesh to set overgrown brambles ablaze.

    One of my favorite ways to injure J.J. was to break her neck, which causes the entire world to flip upside-down. This leads to a series of clever environmental mazes that ask you to continually flip between these two perspectives. Fortunately, The Missing doesn’t belabor its gimmicks. As soon as I got the handle on one puzzle type, White Owls introduced a new element or put a new spin on an old mechanic in a fun way.

    The Missing doesn’t hold your broken hands when you get stuck; it encourages trial and error. Fortunately, most of The Missing’s environmental puzzles are easily solved through logical deduction and exploration. On the other hand, The Missing fails to properly explain a few basic mechanics. I got stuck for far too long during one early puzzle because I didn’t realize I could throw objects, since you have to hold down a button to do so. Fortunately, there were only a handful of moments where I could have used a tooltip, and The Missing’s environmental challenges are rewarding enough that I found it easy to quickly move on to the next thing.

    A sense of dread and sorrow underlies J.J.’s entire adventure, but the themes of destruction and regeneration tie into the narrative in a clever way. The Missing’s story features its fair share of weirdness, such as a doctor with a moose head or a talking stuffed animal, but, in the end, The Missing told a moving story about J.J.’s personal struggles that caught me off guard more than once. Like its surprisingly heartfelt narrative, this quirky indie side-scroller came out of nowhere, but I’m glad I didn’t miss out on The Missing.

    View the full article

  8. creaksA.jpg

    Amanita Design has revealed a trailer and a few details about its upcoming adventure game, Creaks. Creaks seems to follow in the trail of the studio's previous work, with a whimsical art style and puzzle-focused gameplay. But, if the trailer can be interpreted, this game explores the idea of what lies behind those creaky walls in an old house.

    Amanita Design has won praise for its previous games, including Machinarium and Botanicula.

    Creaks is targeting release on PC and consoles in 2019.  

    View the full article

  9. fotl2018_tower.jpg

    Bungie today offered details about what Guardians can expect to discover in this year’s Festival of the Lost, which is set to run from October 16 to November 6. While the event has yet to begin, the initial announcement suggests that the event is significantly more robust and feature-rich than some players have come to expect.

    In addition to an engram-themed redecoration of the Tower, there are several discrete activities and collectibles to pursue as well. The character Eva Levante used to be the centerpiece character of the Festival, but she has been missing since the events of Destiny 2’s core game. Instead, Shipwright Amanda Holliday will step up as the main vendor for this year’s event. She will offer daily bounties that reward fragmented souls – this new currency, in turn, can be used to purchase new masks, as well as a new legendary auto rifle called Horror Story.

    A new activity area is also opening up called the Haunted Forest. Inside, players attack enemies and see how deep into the area they can reach in 15 minutes, with the challenges becoming more difficult the further in you go. Bungie doesn’t offer a lot of additional detail about this new locale and activity, so we don’t know if the Haunted Forest will come along with any specific loot. The Haunted Forest is available to play solo, with a premade team, or with matchmaking – a fact that will come as welcome news to many players frustrated by the absence of matchmaking for modes like Escalation Protocol and Blind Well.

    Festival of the Lost will also serve as the launching ground for a multi-week murder mystery, beginning on October 30. Master Ives, the Cryptarch of the Vestian Outpost from the original Destiny, has been killed, and players must figure out who did the deed. The connected quest line includes a new powerful engram to be earned each week, so it’s one more way to level up. We clarified with Bungie, and while the Festival of the Lost will only run until November 6, the new powerful engram and its weekly reward will continue on past that conclusion date for a few additional weeks.

    As players level up throughout the Festival of the Lost, you’ll also gain a new Eververse Ephemeral Engram with each level passed, along with the standard Steadfast Engram you always get. The Ephemeral Engram seems to feature a number of new rewards, including ships, Ghost shells, and emotes. This new engram type can also be purchased using real money. Tess will also sell a selection of specific items from the event for direct purchase using Bright Dust.

    Festival of the Lost will be available to all Destiny 2 players (regardless of expansions owned), and on all its platforms - PS4, Xbox One, and PC.

    [Source: Bungie]

    View the full article

  10. The Resident Evil 2 remake has generated all kinds of positive buzz since it was unveiled at E3. With the game just a few months away, Capcom has been showcasing more and more of its re-envisioning of the beloved entry. Leon and Claire both have their own campaigns, with some overlap. While Leon was the focus of E3; Gamescom was Claire’s time to shine, putting her in a hectic battle with William Birkin. Most recently, Capcom let us see what happens after that intense encounter, providing some gameplay surrounding the meat-and-potatoes of classic Resident Evil: exploration and puzzle solving. Here’s what stood out from our demo. 

    RE2_Claire_Oct8_screen7.jpg

    Every Encounter Feels Dangerous

    One thing Resident Evil 2 does right is how it approaches each menace around Raccoon City and their power level. Each enemy is a threat and none of them can be taken lightly, even on their own. When facing multiple enemies, you may be looking at a crisis for anything tougher than your run-of-the-mill t-virus zombies. Precision and understanding your arsenal are key – without the right weaponry used in the right way, you’ll find yourself up a creek. 

    You have some options for how you protect yourself. When in the clutches of a zombie, the knife is worth its weight in gold. I slammed it into the zombie’s side – not enough to kill it, but enough to escape the deadly bear hug. This removed the knife from my inventory, but not all was lost. Once you take care of the enemy, you can recover it, but if the danger’s too high, you might have to walk away from it and hope you can find another knife. Knives are also breakable, so keep that in mind when you bust it out. 

    Although fighting isn’t always your best option...

    RE2_Claire_Oct8_screen2.jpg

    Running Is Vital To Survival 

    Claire Redfield isn’t Master Chief; she doesn’t have to fight everyone within a five-mile radius. You often have to think quickly and depend on your instincts. Don’t feel bad if you choose to run, because it’s an extremely useful tool. As I explored the police station, I encountered a corridor with a licker on one side of the door. With just handgun ammo in my inventory, I was in no mood to battle, so I ran… directly into the other licker around the corner. Without the firepower to take down the one, much less a second, I booked it for the end of the hallway. Somehow, I made it through without taking any damage whatsoever, and the lickers were happy in their corridor. Although, I did have instances where enemies followed me, even one sneaking up behind me when a door was ajar. 

    Avoiding combat is frequently worthwhile, but some enemies can be more tenacious than the lickers. I blew past some standard-issue zombies after I found a car key and wanted to figure out just what car it opened. After spending some time in the parking garage, I was startled to find those two former officers waddling in to find some brains. I took them down in short order, because I made sure to investigate every area thoroughly for items and had the ammo to spare.

    RE2_Claire_Oct8_screen1.jpg

    Searching Can Be Just As Rewarding As It Is Dangerous

    Exploration matters if you want to survive, because it gets you all sorts of goodies. The car trunk contained a powerful handgun along with ammunition. I explored a morgue, filled with dead people who (mostly) were just that. Each of the refrigerators could be individually opened and explored, revealing, aside from the corpses, things you’d normally find: herbs, ammunition, and keys. Don’t forget, exploring and trying to suss out every item also comes with its share of risks. Opening one refrigerator to find a red herb on the side of a corpse ended up being more than I bargained for, as that body was instead a zombie ready for battle.

    After making quick work of it thanks to the aforementioned handgun, I went to pick up the red herb, only to find that all 12 slots of my inventory were full. Resident Evil 2 might be a brand-new reimagining of its former self, but the bogeyman still remains.

    RE2_Claire_Oct8_screen6.jpg

    Resource Management Is Still A Big Part Of Strategy 

    Capcom’s producers and directors were quick to make note that inventory and resource management are still important. The delicate balance of deciding between what you need and can ditch has always been an essential part of the series. Just because this is a remake doesn’t mean the developers are easing up or changing their tune on this element. When I asked point-blank about any kind of auto-management, the response was that it wouldn’t happen, as it adds to the ambiance of Raccoon City. Want to load up on weaponry? That’s less space for healing items or key items like cranks and keys.

    The traditional storage chest system does return, so you can keep items you don’t need right now, but the decision always looms. However, one new convenience is the ability to know when a key item is used up and can be discarded. When I opened the car trunk, a checkmark appeared next to the key, alerting me there wouldn’t be any other uses for it. I could simply remove it from my inventory, freeing up space for more pressing items.

    RE2_Oct8_screen8.jpg

    The Updated Graphics Take Things To A New Level

    Our demo ended shortly after our exploration of the police station, spawning a cinematic sequence with Chief Irons, Claire, and young Sherry Birkin, ending with Irons locking Claire in the parking garage and escaping with Sherry. I was impressed with my short time with the game. It’s clear Capcom has put a significant amount of work into updating this classic, while still retaining the charm it had when it first launched on the PS1. 

    The team also added plenty of nods and Easter eggs for longtime fans. Even more impressive is how much the new graphics make a difference. “We tried to update it for a more believable, grander feel because it’s using the RE engine for this amazing photorealistic look,” says producer Yoshiaki Hirabayashi. This new realistic touch informed everything, right down having puzzle objects make sense for the setting and the look of the zombies.

     “We want to make sure that every zombie and character in this game is truly terrifying and life-threatening,” adds producer Tsuyoshi Kanda. “We got this ‘wet gore,’ as we call it, where they just look glistening and horrible. We also have the ragdoll physics on the way the zombies move. You might think you’ve got them down but then they come back to life and grab you again. Even the way you can aim for different parts and dismember them, we put a lot of effort into realistic damage and making the zombies the best zombies we ever made.”

    Based on the tension and terror I felt as I explored, I’d say they’ve done just that.

    Resident Evil 2 launches January 29 on PS4, Xbox One, and PC.

     

    View the full article

  11. DOA6_lostparadisegimmick5.jpg

    At a recent KOEI Tecmo event, the Dead or Alive developer let us sit down with the latest build of its new fighting game, Dead or Alive 6. 

    I lost got a chance to sit down with Dead or Alive 6 with E3 and was not feeling it at the time. Since then, Team Ninja has made a number of changes to the special attack system, including incorporating it into the game's sidestep mechanic. This current build contained newcomer Diego, but did not have the recently-shown Tina, Bass, and Mila.

    The Fatal Rush mechanic, which allowed players to perform an auto-combo and end with a super, has been toned down quit a bit since E3. It now does less damage overall and isn't a trump card that would ultimately become useless. The biggest change is incorporating the special button into the dodge, letting you perform an evasive move during a sidestep that blasts enemies similar to Dead or Alive 5's power blow.

    The new stages are also more interactive than before. The pirate ship stage shown off earlier has multiple levels, each with different hazards. On the top deck, a kraken picks up characters and throws them around. A lower deck has treasure lining the floor, while another deck is lined with burning gun powder and tons of explosions. Another arena brings dinosaurs back to the series and delves into different Jurassic Park-like environments, complete with angry dinos.

    You can check out a few matches I played with Team Ninja's community manager, Emmanuel MASTER Rodriguez, who claimed he was going all out on me. Considering his tournament wins, I am not sure I believe him, because I managed to hit him once or twice.

    Dead or Alive 6 releases on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC on February 15.

    View the full article

  12. HITMAN%202_Colombia_Oct18_1.jpg

    The path of the Hitman series has been as circuitous and complicated as one of the conspiracy-tinged stories that follow Agent 47 through the twists and turns of the path of bodies he has left behind him. With the confusingly-named Hitman 2 releasing soon, IO Interactive is backing off from the episodic model of the previous game, this time backed by a new publisher. We got to go hands-on with the latest revealed level of the game, Colombia, and take out three narco-kingpins in the jungles of Santa Fortuna.

    Agent 47 stalks through a jungle-village with multiple compounds surrounding it. In the village center, a party is being set up by the cartel to welcome themselves as liberators of the people, replete with musicians, drunkards, and soldiers to watch over the whole thing. There’s rarely a place to blend in without a patrol unit walking by, a camera capturing your presence, or a villager going about their day and eyeing up the weird bald guy walking around the village.

    There is something about Santa Fortuna that makes it feel unique in that way. The tried-and-true methods of following someone to an empty room and then whacking them with a soda can to steal their clothes will still work, but there’s far fewer opportunities that Hitman maps have had before. There’s less sprawl to Santa Fortuna and that works in its favor. There are always people around and assuming you’re alone will not work out in most cases.

    Colombia is similar to the previous game’s Marrakesh level, which had riots and protests in the streets, but makes its NPCs more mobile. A guard I lured over to a garden with a running hose came at the same time the gardener also checked it out. Following the gardener leads back to his house where he has an argument with his wife, making me wonder if it would have been better if I had hit him with a wrench like I planned.

    Things escalate as you go to the actual cartel compound, which is populated by personal bodyguards, soldiers, and service staff. There’s no single disguise that fools all three groups, forcing you to switch outfits here and there, block suspicion by hiding, or hoping for the best as you dash through the hallways to get the outfit you need to get and hope you’re not compromised.

    Of course, the disguises are a key part of the Hitman formula and Hitman 2 loves giving you plenty of cosplay for Agent 47 to use no matter what execution you choose. Dress up like a soldier and head to the jungle to look for some missing cargo or disguise yourself as a drummer for some actions that may help you take down a target. Almost every NPC you find will unwillingly give you their clothes after knocking them out and I was unable to find any, like in the previous title, that had no disguise to give.

    You can check out the Colombia mission in action in the video below, where I take out two targets in one planned way and one happy accident.

    IO Interactive's last Hitman game was published under Square Enix and the switch to Warner Bros. doesn't seem like it has forced any errors on IO's part for the sequel. It remains to be seen if it can be every bit as amazing as its predecessor, but everything looks good for fans so far.

    Hitman 2 releases on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC on November 13.

    View the full article

  13. SystemShockAdventureAlpha.jpg

    Backers of the System Shock remaster kickstarter campaign will soon have access to the Adventure Alpha, which aims to be an early version of the game that's actually playable. To accompany the announcement of the alpha, developer Night Dive studios has released a new trailer showing off the remake.

    Fans of the original should be able to recognize most of the levels shown, even if they've been retooled with higher-resolution textures. Of course, this being an alpha, the actual look of the game has not been finalized. "Not only will these re-tooled textures make the Adventure Alpha more interesting but it will provide the team with a blueprint of how to approach updated art, lighting, level design, and more," the studio posted.

    After being put on hiatus until recently, but is expected to release in 2020 on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC, Mac, and Linux.

    View the full article

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