Game Rant Open Discussion: December 25th

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Whether you celebrate on or before December 25th, or maybe you don’t even celebrate at all, it’s hard to deny there’s something magical about the last weeks of December.

Whether you celebrate on or before December 25th, or maybe you don’t even celebrate at all, it’s hard to deny there’s something magical about the last weeks of December. Gamers everywhere are getting and giving their favorite or most anticipated games as gifts, and then spending the next few days marathoning through them solo or with their family.

With that in mind, most of the major news this week was kept to a minimum in order to avoid getting lost in the holiday chaos. Even so, there were some stories worth discussing, so here we go!

Uncharted 4 Delayed

Perhaps the biggest news this week was the announcement that Uncharted 4 has been delayedyet again, this time from March until April 24th. While not as devastating a delay as the first, which pushed Uncharted 4 from fall 2015 to spring 2016, this is still likely to be seen as a disappointment by some.

Thankfully, developer Naughty Dog was quick to couple the news with a promise that the extra time will ensuremeets fans’ high expectations. With this being the final game for Nathan Drake, anticipation is high, as is the pressure, and Naughty Dog wants to make sure every element is as perfect as it can be.

No More Episode 7 DLC for Star Wars Battlefront

Star Wars may be taking the world by storm right now with cross-promotions between the recently released Episode 7 and nearly every product on the market, but one video game is sadly passing on any future crossover potential. In a Twitter exchange this week, an Electronic Arts dev confirmed that there are no current plans for more Episode 7 DLC.

Obviously, with developer DICE at the helm,is going to get DLC, but its focus will apparently be on the original trilogy. That isn’t to say DICE won’t change its mine, but that’s the plan right now.

Steam Security Leak

On Christmas day, while many gamers were happily enjoying their presents and time with the family, Valve was working overtime trying to correct a major security issue with its Steam digital storefront. While it’s unclear how the issue started, many users began reporting the ability to see other users’ information, including credit cards and PayPal accounts. Obviously, Valve quickly jumped on the issue and tried to resolve, even going so far as to take Steam offline for a short while.

For now, though, it appears things are back to normal and gamers can enjoy the Steam Winter Sale as intended.

Continue the Conversation

We invite our readers to discuss the above items, as well as any topics you wish to introduce. We ask that you remain civil and avoid any inappropriate topics. Enjoy the conversation!

Dying Light Expansion Features Dune Buggy Vehicle & More

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Polish developer Techland dipped its toes into the well-trodden zombie genre with 2011’s Dead Island , a game that, sadly, is still most notable for that impressive and emotional backwards trailer.

, a game that, sadly, is still most notable for that impressive and emotional backwards trailer. The 2013 sequel Dead Island: Riptide was, for the most part, just more of the same, serving up more first-person mayhem without really adding anything new to the mix. This year’s Dying Light was their third trip back to the same well filled with walking dead, but it at least tried to shake things up a bit, adding parkour free-running and a day/night cycle that directly affected gameplay. The resulting game earned mostly positive reviews, including Game Rant’s own 3.5 out of 5evaluation.

It’s been six months sincefirst saw the light of day, and Season Pass holders have gotten several DLC packs since then, including May’s, which added, well, a horde mode. There have been a lot of other games released in those intervening six months, but now Techland is hoping to lure players back to the zombie-infested city of Harran with a new story-based expansion called The Following . And they’re even offering gamers a badass ride to sweeten the pot.

Techland teased vehicles for Dying Light in a video last week, and, sure enough, the upcoming expansion The Following will give players some wheels. Specifically, The Following will introduce drivable all-terrain dirt buggies. Given that the core game mainly takes place in the urban sprawl of Harran, the addition of dune buggies suggests players will be getting some wide-open new areas to roam, and several of the images released along with the Following announcement seem to bear that out. The screenshots show off large, open, rural areas full of hills and fields…and zombies, of course.

Techland describes The Following as “a feature-heavy, story-based expansion pack,” suggesting this will be quite a bit meatier than the previous DLC releases. The expansion will be showcased at Gamescomnext month, but in the meantime producer Tymon Smektala is teasing that The Following will add “a number of bold game-changers … that will give the game a brand-new flavor.” While details are sparse at this point, Techland’s announcement does reveal that the expansion’s new map is as big as all of the previous Dying Light maps combined.

The Following will be available for standalone purchase, but it will also be available free to all Dying Light Season Pass holders, which is certainly good news. Season Passes are often controversial for asking gamers to put their cash on the barrelhead with no clear idea of what they’re paying for — witness Batman: Arkham Knight ‘s thus-far disappointing DLC outings— so it’s always good to see a developer offering something substantial as part of the package.

Given that much of Dying Light ‘s story arc involved trying to secure a cure for the zombie plague, it seems likely that this narrative may continue in The Following . If nothing else, it seems clear players will be venturing beyond Harran, and probably not just for sight-seeing purposes. In addition to the rural setting and automotive action, the stills from the expansion feature a large factory or industrial complex that could serve as an enemy stronghold or even player base of operations. After all, players will need someplace to park those dune buggies.

With over 4.5 million players as of June 2015, Dying Light currently stands as Techland’s best-selling game. The Following can only help drive those numbers even higher.

The Dying Light is now available on PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. There’s no official price or release date for The Following yet, but both will likely be revealed at Gamescom. The previous DLC, The Bozak Horde , cost $9.99, so expect The Following to cost more than that.

Just Cause 3’s Load Times are Really Bad

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Console gamers are experiencing serious issues in Just Cause 3, with load time up to 15 minutes and framerate dropping to 17fps if they play for longer than an hour.

One of the most exciting games of the yearmay be having serious issues for gamers on Xbox One. According to a report from NX Gamer, the Xbox One version of Just Cause 3 experiences serious load time issues and framerate drops when played for extended periods of time.

In fact, the report reveals that players who spend more than an hour inon Xbox One may experience load times up to 15 minutes, and framerate drops as low as 17fps. That’s a serious problem for an open-world action game that’s easy to get lost in.

NX Gamer provided additional details about the issue in the report:

“You do get incredibly long loading times and if you play more than an hour or so it can actually take nearly 15 minutes to reload a save. And this just looks like memory leakages where it’s clearing out RAM.”

“In my tests so far we’re looking at a low of 17fps, and this can be really bad and compounded by the fact that along with this the actual physics engine itself and animation system then gets slowdown, which is like to a hark back to the old 16-bit days where the whole game just slows down in presentation. Even though the framerate might actually still be hitting 30, it feels like you’re running and turning through treacle.”

But wait, there’s more. It sounds like the issue also leads to the enhanced AIbaddies doing weird things and the physics get thrown off. Here’s what NX Gamer says about that:

“Some of the AI goes mad, the physics can react really oddly and unfortunately on top of all these problems, the performance with a game that’s totally designed around blowing stuff up and having this chaotic… world doesn’t perform very well at all.”

Needless to say, this game-breaking issue needs to be resolved quickly, or Avalanche Studios and Square Enix are going to be in a world of hurt during the holiday shopping season. Granted, this is only reported on Xbox One, but that could be due to the fact that NX Gamer hasn’t yet tested the PS4 version of the game. A quick check on social media seems to prove that it’s happening on both consoles quite consistently. This isn’t surprising since the PS4 has a higher resolutionthan the Xbox One version of the game. With that in mind, those looking to pick up the game may want to wait until the issue has been patched.

Are you having load time and framerate issues in Just Cause 3? Let us know in the comments, along with which console you’re using.

Just Cause 3 is available now on PC, PS4, and Xbox One.

Source: NX Gamer

Just Cause 3 and the Open World Blues

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Even after releasing just last week, the thrilling adventure I was expecting to have with Just Cause 3 just ended up being a sense of open world fatigue.

I fell hard for the pre-release hype for Just Cause 3 . Featuring a bunch of cool trailers like the one Avalanche Studios put out called Firestarter, and the promise of causing all out chaos in a beautiful world called Medici, I was ready to dive in. Playing a game that didn’t take itself too seriously after a long stretch of realistic/military shooters and games that tried to tell a serious story was another big reason why Just Cause 3 stood out to me. For a game which has enough explosions that would even make filmmaker Michael Bay blush, Just Cause 3 unfortunately didn’t quite provide the experience I was looking for.

While the world was indeed beautiful and it was fun using the tools available to action hero Rico Rodriguez, after a couple of hours with the game, I started to get a sense of familiarity with it as a result of its gameplay mechanics. While the game does have dedicated campaign missions, the main gameplay hook with Just Cause 3 is liberating settlements across the fictional country of Medici. This involves doing things like destroying government equipment such as loud speakers, satellite dishes, and even taking over enemy outposts. Sound a little familiar?

Within the past few years, there have been a ton of open world games to feature a gameplay mechanic where the player would be forced to either capture territory from an enemy faction or reduce an enemy threat in a zone to eventually free it. The biggest examples come from the last couple of games in the Saints Row and Far Cry franchises, tasking players with capturing outposts to remove enemy control from a portion of the map.

More recently, Assassin’s Creed Syndicate introduced a similar mechanic where players could reduce Templar control in various London boroughsby completing side missions and then taking out the Templar agent in charge. Even Batman Arkham Knight got in on the territory control aspect with side missions that revolve around destroying their checkpoints and towers around the city belonging to the Arkham Knight’s militia. When did territory control become such a crutch for open world games?

It should be noted that there are a few outliers to this trend. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt introduced players to a massive and sprawling world controlled by different factions. Instead of worrying about joining a faction and wiping out the others, players simply worried about earning coin, finishing quests, and taking in all there was to do in that world. The same applies for the recently released Fallout 4 which also has varying factions all with their own beliefs. Players were free to help or fight against any one of them as they pleased, and doing so wouldn’t affect any sort of influence or occupation percentage.

With the popularity of open world games continuing to skyrocket, there’s no shortage of open world games on the horizon for 2016. The first major game is coming from Ubisoft with FarCry Primal , a game that was announced in the past few months through a CG trailer and minimal details. Gamers recently got their first look at the game thanks to The Game Awards 2015, and there does appear to be some outpost capturing going on. I’ll fully admit, the premise for this game is cool where the player is thrown into the Stone Age, but I have a feeling that the mechanics will rely on the tried and true methods of past games in the franchise. I hope I’m wrong, however.

Tom Clancy’s The Division , another game from Ubisoft, primarily features an open world New York City that has fallen to a biological outbreak and players must work to try and restore order. So far fans have seen combat against the AI and other players in the PvP area called the Dark Zone. In terms of traditional gameplay elements, it’s still unknown with how players will be making a difference. The same can be said for Homefront: The Revolution , a game that’s had a tumultuous development cycleto say the least. The player is fighting back against an enemy that has taken over the United States, so territory conquest seems like a viable option, but here’s hoping for something a little more unique.

What do you think of this open world trend? Has it gotten stale for you or are you still enjoying it? I’m curious to hear your thoughts below in the comments.

Far Cry Primal Gets M Rating for Violence, Nudity

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According to Far Cry Primal ‘s official rating from the ESRB, the forthcoming action-adventure game from Ubisoft is rated M for violence, nudity, and sexual scenes.

The ESRB has given Far Cry Primal a rating of M for Mature due to its violent gameplay and imagery, in addition to points in the game in which men and women characters can be seen in various states of undress, as well as scenes that depict sexual activity, albeit non-explicit ones. Given Far Cry Primal ‘s setting at the beginning of the Mesolithic period, none of this should come as a surprise to gaming fans.

The Far Cry franchise is no stranger to violence, nudity, or sexuality. After all, Far Cry 4 ‘s fictional version of the Nepalese Civil Warcontained its fair share of all three elements. Be that as it may, the content of Far Cry Primal might prove to be coarser and more intense than its predecessors, as the ESRB’s rating description reads:

“Players use arrows, spears, and clubs to kill enemies in frenetic combat. Some sequences require stealth kills in which enemies are stabbed in the head or slashed close-up. One cutscene depicts a character being held in a fire while screaming; another depicts Takkar tapping a hole in another character’s skull as the man screams. Some scenes depict corpses in various states of mutilation: heads and torsos on spikes; ears cut off and kept as trophies; headless bodies lying in pools of blood. Certain scenes or camera angles can depict male genitalia under garments or in shadows; some female characters are depicted topless. A handful of scenes depict characters engaged in sexual activity while clothed; grunts and short moans can be heard, though no explicit details are seen.”

Since its reveal trailera few months ago, most of the promotional materials for Far Cry Primal has shied away from showing anything overtly violent or sexual, relying mostly on the game’s lush visuals of a prehistoric era to sell it. In fact, the gameplay trailer at the Game Awards 2015stuck mostly to showing off panoramas of plains, mountain regions, and the game’s various wildlife. Even so, fans familiar with the subject matter of all of the series’ previous titles definitely expected Far Cry Primal ‘s protagonist Takkar – played by voice actor Elias Toufexis– to be engaged in a world that depicted mature themes.

As developers have previously explained, due to Far Cry Primal being set nearly 12,000 years in the past, the game’s combat will eschew gunplay and modern technology in order to maintain its verisimilitude. Despite that, the action should be just as ferocious, if not more so than prior entries, as Takkar’s survival is crucial. For those looking for a better understanding of the type of gameplay the title will contain, our hands-on previewfor Far Cry Primal offers up a solid primer on what’s to come.

With video games reaching a wider audience than they ever have before, the medium has now become a viable outlet for developers and storytellers to express narratives with more complex themes and mature components. Bearing that in mind, Far Cry Primal ‘s violence, nudity, and sexual scenes are par for the course at this point. Naturally, though, not all games reflect humanity’s grittiest features, as there will always be a market for more all-inclusive releases like Super Mario Bros.

Far Cry Primal will be available on February 23, 2016 for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, and it has a release date of March 1, 2016 for PC.

Source: ESRB(via Gamereactor)

Activision Blizzard Acquires MLG Assets for $46 Million

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Major League Gaming was once the largest eSports company in all of North America, but 2015 hasn’t been a smooth ride for the eSports juggernaut.

[UPDATE: Activision has made it official and contrary to the below rumor, the full MLG staff will be joining Activision Blizzard. Read official details here.]

was once the largest eSports company in all of North America, but 2015 hasn’t been a smooth ride for the eSports juggernaut. They took a hit losing out on the Call of Duty World League to their rivals the ESL, and had to hold tight while the eSports world had its first huge drug use controversy.  Despite those controversies, ESPN started covering more eSports events, marking a significant milestone in the eSports world for being accepted by a major cable sports channel.

Now just a few days into 2016, it looks like massive changes are afoot for Major League Gaming. Activision Blizzard has reportedly purchased ‘substantially all’ of their assets for 46 million dollars, marking a complete change of ownership for the company that helped grow eSports into the 65,000 seat stadium filling attractionit is today. The company is still building its own 15,000 seat stadium in Hengqin despite being sold to a larger corporate entity.

As per terms of the agreement, MLG CEO Sundance DiGiovanni seems to have left the company, and is being replaced by the previous CFO of MLG, Greg Chrisholm. Earlier this year, Major League Gaming co-founder Mike Sepso left MLS to join Activision as an executive in their their newly formed eSports division.

The sale notably went through with less than 100% consent from MLS stockholders, meaning several investors didn’t think the move bode well for the eSports tournament organizer and their own stock value, but didn’t ultimately have a say in the sale as per Delaware General Corporation law. The previously mentioned co-founder Mike Sepso was still a stockholder in MLG, though he hasn’t stated whether he was for or against the sale of his old company.

One anonymous stockholder wasn’t afraid to express the non-consensual sale without vulgarity, saying “I got [censored] for stock”. Much of the 46 million dollar acquisition price is reportedly going to pay off existing debts that Major League Gaming has incurred, leaving less to go around for the stockholders who were forced to cash out early. Another investor reported that as a Type B Shareholder, he wasn’t even informed of the sale until after it happened:

I have Series B shares in MLG due to the Gotfrag buyout and I was only notified about this sale earlier today, not sure about others.

— Scott Smith (@SirScoots) January 1, 2016

MLG was founded back in 2002, hosting small Call of Duty and Halo tournaments before branching out into now games more well known for eSports tournaments like StarCraft , DOTA , and League of Legends . The company was in the midst of organizing atournament in late March, which may now see some drastic changes.

Only time will tell what the future holds for the new face of Major League Gaming, and if Activision Blizzard may ultimately improve the company as a whole. For the time being, however, we can only say that the Major League Gaming that helped establish the genre itselfis now over, and hopefully the future will still feature plenty of quality eSports entertainment.

What do you think about the sale of Major League Gaming to Activision Blizzard, Ranters? Do you think the company will change drastically?

Source: esportsobserver

20 Million People Tuned In For International ‘Dota 2’ Championships

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Those who don’t know much about the eSports scene will probably be surprised that more than 20,000,000 fans streamed The International Dota 2 tournament two weeks ago The event, which ran from July 18th-21st, had over 2 million concurrent viewers in their run-up to the grand total of 20 million streamers.

With the best Dota 2 teams from the entire world assembled, it was a must-see for active fans of the gameand evidently garnered interested from elsewhere too. In the end, the International Dota 2 Championships have certainly made a strong case for e-sports as a whole.

The total prize pool for the tournament totaled just over 10 million dollars, with the winning team taking a cool 5 million US dollars for their efforts along the path to success. With such serious money and support behind the tournament, it’s not surprising to know that the event was covered online and through mobile devices by both ESPN2 and ESPN3, which marks one of the first times a major sports network has gone all out to air an e-sports competition. Valve’s very own founder, Gabe Newell, appeared on the channel this past Sunday – and his coworker Erik Johnson had this to say about the event:

From the success of the Compendium to the collaboration with ESPN, this year’s International really demonstrates how much competitive gaming has grown to rival traditional sports. We believe the teams have also pushed to a new level of play this year and will further demonstrate the incredible advances made across this tournament since it first began three short years ago.

The competition had a unique way of raising funds for the event called the Compendium system. Players could purchase a compendium in-game, of which $2.50 would go to funding the prize pool of the tournament. The compendium could then be leveled by making purchases within the Dota 2 store, or collecting drops inside the game, which would then reward the players with different tiers of cosmetic items. The system was a huge success – it would be hard to argue that the 10 million dollar prize pool was in any way a failure.

Compared to last year’s championships, 2014 brought in about double the number of concurrent streamers. Games like Dota 2 , StarCraft 2 , and League of Legends have made strong impacts on the eSports scene, which isn’t devoid of its own controversies. We won’t even go into the popularity of online gambling base on the game. Though still more popular in countries like South Korea and China, it’s good to see the influence and competitiveness of competitions like this are on the rise in North America and Europe as well.

What do you think about e-sports, Ranters? Is this your scene, or would  you prefer to watch different games?

Follow John Jacques on Twitter @ Makelevi.

Source: GameIndustry

Call of Duty’ Championship Coming in March with $1 Million Prize Pool

‘Call of Duty’ Championship Coming in March with $1 Million Prize Pool
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At this point, the debate over whether or not competitive gaming is is a ‘real’ sport seems irrelevant; last summer’s Dota 2 championships attracted over twenty million viewers and were streamed live on ESPN2 and ESPN3.

and were streamed live on ESPN2 and ESPN3. Top-levelplayers can now pull in up to $700,000 a year, and American colleges are starting to hand out scholarshipsto competitive game players, while the biggest gaming tournaments sell out 45,000-seat stadiumswith ease.

Like them or not, professional video game competitions are here to stay. And that’s due, in large part, to Call of Duty . Activision’s first-person military shooter has been a crucial part of the professional gaming scene for years. In fact, pro gamers are such a huge part of Call of Duty’s audience that they’re actually impacting the development of the franchise.

As such, it’s not surprising that Activision’s holding the Call of Duty Championship, a 32-team tournament with a $1 million prize pool, for the third straight year. The competition, which is co-hosted by Major League Gaming and sponsored by Microsoft, is scheduled for March 27 through March 29, and will be held in Los Angeles. Gamers will compete via the most recent entry in the series,, while curious observers can watch via MLG.tv and Xbox Live.

Teams interested in competing in the Call of Duty Championship will need qualify at one of Activision’s regional tournaments, which can be attended either in person or online in late February and early March. More information on these qualifying bouts will be posted on the official; presumably, details will emerge closer to the tournaments’ start dates. Anyone who’s interested in competing should start practicing now, but be warned: the Call of Duty Championship traditionally attracts the best of the best, as gamers from all over the world vie for the $400,000 first-place prize.

Traditionally, Call of Duty has been one of the few console titles to penetrate the eSports scene, which is largely dominated by PC games like League of Legends, Dota 2, and StarCraft . Still, games on other platforms are quickly making their way into competitive circles: fighting titles like Smash Bros. and Street Fighter are increasingly popular among a certain set of professional gamers, while Microsoft and 343 industries recently teamed with the eSports League to launch the.

Expect to see more games follow suit in the near future. After all, professional gaming is becoming a major business, and once publishers catch on, they’ll undoubtedly want to take as advantage as much as possible.

Source: Call of Duty

Latest Layers of Fear News

Layers of Fear delivers on its promise of a unique vision of gothic horror, but the game leans heavily on cliche genre gimmicks to jump scare players.

By Denny Connolly | 2 months ago

The PlayStation Blog reveals the release date for psychological horror game Layers of Fear, pegging the game for a February 16th release on PlayStation 4.

By Dalton Cooper | 3 months ago

© 2009-2016 Game Rant, LLC

Is Microsoft Working on a Cheaper, Smaller Xbox One?

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Microsoft has been doing all it can to help keep the Xbox One competitive.

competitive. Initially, the tech giant’s home console was being dominated in sales by its competitor, Sony’s PS4. There were many reasons cited for this, from a higher price due to the Xbox One’s mandatory Kinect feature, to a backlash against unpopular business practices regarding second-hand gamesand launch parity requirements, and the PS4’s apparent higher visual quality. It all came down to monthafter monthof the PS4 winning the sales race.

However, Microsoft then took some drastic steps. Kinect was dropped as a requirement, and bumped back to the peripheral it was for the Xbox 360. There was a price drop to coincide with this, and there will be even more reductions in price for bundlesas we near the holiday season. These plans have, for the time being, worked. Sales doubled in Juneafter Kinect was dropped, and the Xbox One beat the PS4 in sales for September. Now, the first signs are dropping about a new, smaller Xbox One.

Forum user Mosen over at Beyond3D discovered an intriguing listing on the LinkedIn page of Daniel McConnell, a senior manager at Advanced Micro Devices, or AMD. AMD is the chip manufacturer for the Xbox One, and McConnell revealed a project that he had been working on in a now-deleted update. Apparently, McConnell has “successfully planned and executed the first APU for Microsoft’s XBOX One Game Console in 28nm technology and a cost-reduced derivative in 20nm technology.”

So what, exactly, does this mean for the Xbox One? Currently the Xbox One’s processor is fabricated at 28nm, and a reduction to 20nm could potentially mean a reduction in manufacturing cost and consumption of power, leading to a smaller casing design and different cooling solutions. It may well be the first steps towards a new, slim-line Xbox One.

There are even more hints that Microsoft are looking to adapt the Xbox One. Microsoft has created a LinkedIn job listingfor an electrical engineer to work on the Xbox Game Console Development Team. Candidates are expected to work on development of the memory subsystem, and to work on “different solution options for performance, functionality, stability, cost and risk for the memory subsystem within the platform.”

It is, however, worth noting that this Xbox One Slim could be some ways off just yet. Richard Leadbetter at Eurogamer has revealed that production economics are likely stopping Microsoft from developing a new model immediately. Leadbetter states that new chip fabrication is “notoriously expensive,” and that TSMC – the factory physically making Xbox One processors – is busy creating processors for the iPhone 6, 6 Plus, and iPad Air 2.

So what can Microsoft do in the meantime? Head of Xbox, Phil Spencer, may have something up his sleeve. Spencer has recently hinted that Microsoft is looking for new stories and charactersto create brand new IPs for the console, with rumors that developer Rare may be involved in the creation of something fresh. Let’s see whether these new IPs will have a smaller model Xbox One to call home.

Source: Beyond3D, Eurogamer

Xbox One: Microsoft Talks Digital-Only Future & Multiplayer Improvements

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It’s been a long-time coming for the video game industry, but it looks like a digital-only future is slowly becoming more and more a reality.

It’s been a long-time coming for the video game industry, but it looks like a digital-only future is slowly becoming more and more a reality. Both the PS4and Xbox One are offering digital copies of games day-and-date with retail copies, and many publishers are encouraging gamers to purchase digital either through sales, discounts, or special bonuses.

Clearly, both console makers can see the writing is on the wall, and whether or not gamers as a whole like it, there may soon come a time when physical copies of games simply don’t exist. Microsoft‘s Phil Harrison, for example, addressed such a future, saying that there is an “unstoppable, inexorable momentum” pushing the industry towards a digital-only market.

Harrison’s comments come courtesy of an interview with MCV in which he addresses his own comments about the digital-only future. Specifically, Harrison stressed the viability and convenience of having a game available day-and-date on digital storefronts.

To be fair, Harrison did acknowledge that both Sonyand Nintendowere first to the day-and-date concept (on consoles), but he says there were certain technical and policy reasons keeping Microsoft behind. That will all change with the Xbox One, though, as Microsoft’s next-gen system will offer every release on Xbox Live.

Granted, Microsoft may have invested a little quickly in a digital-only future with some policies that were not consumer friendly, but they have since learned the error of their ways. Now the focus is on showing gamers that digital is the way to go, and then maybe those policies might return.

With Microsoft well aware that digital is the way of the future, the question then becomes whether that will be during the Xbox One’s lifecycle or its successor’s. Well, according to Harrison, the Xbox One will have a 10-year lifecycle. He says that Microsoft will continue to improve the feature-set, functionality, and performance of the console, keeping it competitive for a long time to come.

In addition to moving towards a digital-only future, Microsoft is also looking to improve multiplayer on the Xbox One. As the above video shows, Microsoft has made significant changes to their reputation system, which now evaluates players on a greater scale. If, for example, a player gets blocked, or if they tend to grief, actions will be taken that will lower the player’s reputation.

However, reputation is only one part of Microsoft’s move towards improving their multiplayer experience. That other part, the Smart Matchsystem, takes a player’s reputation and matches them with similar gamers. In theory, Smart Match should ensure that gamers who are in good standing are never matched with players who tend to disrupt the experience. It’s a smart way to approach multiplayer, but we’ve seen reputation-like systems before, and they don’t always work.

Additionally, Microsoft is beefing up their server support with their new cloud-based services, ensuring players’ multiplayer matches run without problem. The cloud is a big buzzword for the next-gen, and both Microsoft and Sony are looking to leverage their individual cloud-based services to improve online gameplay, as well as the user experience.

Although a full reliance on digital copies is still a few years away, Microsoft is also looking to give players beneficial features for the here and now. Some, like achievementsand friends lists, feature small tweaks, while others have been completely revamped. However, it’s only when these features are put into practice that we will truly know how successful they are.

How long do you think it will be before games are only available digitally? Do you prefer a digital or disc-based copy of a game?

Microsoft’s Xbox One will be available November 22, 2013.

Source: MCV, Microsoft

Silent Hills’ P.T. Can Be Re-Downloaded

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After having been cancelled and removed from the PlayStation Store entirely, it’s now possible to re-download Silent Hills ‘ fiendishly frightening P.T.
Several months ago, the highly anticipated Silent Hills got cancelled with a “scorched earth approach” as described by the game’s co-director Guillermo del Toro, and he wasn’t joking, for Konami went on to make sure that gamers could not download its P.T. demo ever again.

ever again. However, thanks to a heads up from one intrepid fan over on the Gamexeon forums known as “orangelupa”, it is now possible for folks to once again have the Silent Hills playable teaser on their PlayStation 4 consoles.

Although the news is indeed exciting, it’s important to note that in order to re-download P.T. , fans will be using unofficial means and third-party software to do so, meaning that those who follow through with it will be putting their data and PlayStation Network account at risk for corruption, or worse, being banned outright. With that out of the way, gamers can follow along with the instructions in the video below in order to have P.T. once more.

Unfortunately, even though P.T. can be obtained again using the process in the clip, only fans who owned the demo prior to its removal will have the opportunity to re-download it. Basically, in order for the method to work, players’ PSN accounts had to have been authorized before Konami’s decision to have it removed from the network altogether.

At any rate, those who either can’t acquire P.T. or choose to not chance having their PSN account blocked by Sony for attempting to download it can at least take comfort in the knowledge that UK developer Lilith Ltd is releasing a spiritual successor to P.T. with Alison Road . Nevertheless, the fact that some fans will not be able to experience the chilling and visceral magic of the original P.T. due to Konami’s and Hideo Kojima’s failed relationshipis indeed a shame.

Speaking of which, there’s still the possibility that gamers might at least be able to play a horror-themed title envisioned by the popular director, with a new Kojima studio making a PlayStation exclusive game. After all, it’s been said in the past that the leading creative minds behind Silent Hills have been willing to team up once more to put out a quality fright-fest, as Kojima and del Toro were planning a new horror gameeven after the tumultuous ordeal went down.

Of course, since Konami owns the rights to Silent Hill and all of its assets, we’ll likely never see a proper sequel or reboot made with del Toro and Kojima attached anytime soon. Be that as it may, the Japanese game publisher can’t stop them from re-imagining and retooling preexisting concepts and designs to make a unique property all its own.

Silent Hills has been discontinued, but fans can look forward to the currently untitled Hideo Kojima game coming out in the future exclusively for the PlayStation 4.

Source: moreuse – YouTube(via GamesRadar, Gamexeon)

Top 5 Games That Survived Development Hell

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The phrase ‘development hell’ is one that is likely to send shivers down the spines of gamers everywhere.

The phrase ‘development hell’ is one that is likely to send shivers down the spines of gamers everywhere. When games face severe delays during the development process, with no finite end date in sight, it is often a death knell, resulting in the cancellation of some very ambitious projects. The roster of titles that have never ascended from development hell includes highly anticipated titles such asand.

Thankfully, some games are still able to make it to store shelves, even when a release date seems a long way away. What’s more, video game fans have recently had a pair of titles confirmed for release that were long thought to be lost in the world of development hell. During E3 2015, Sony revealed that Team ICO’s Shadow of the Colossus follow-up The Last Guardian would finally see the light of day, whilst the publisher also announced that Shenmue 3 would see a release – albeit with the help of crowdfunding.

Although there are plenty more projects still in limbo, with the likes oflooking less and less likely to make it to gamers’ libraries, the video gaming community can still find some solace in those games that have eventually seen release. Here are our picks of the best five games to be resurrected from development hell.

Team Fortress 2

For many,is the go-to game for high-octane multiplayer FPS action. The shooter has amassed a huge army of fans, with high praise coming for its cartoonish graphics and intensely fun gameplay. However, Team Fortress 2’s development process was not always smooth sailing, facing delays severe even by Valve’s standings.

The follow-up to the hugely popular Quake mod had a development cycle of over nine years, with an announcement all the way back in 1998. The title seemed to disappear off the face of the earth for several years, as behind-the-scenes work shifted the title to Valve’s Source engine. Valve had even built three or four prototypes of the game before settling on the final product.

Over that time, much would change about Team Fortress 2 – beyond just the change of engine. In particular, the game’s visual style changed massively over the course of development, going from a realistic, militaristic feel to the caricatures that now make Team Fortress 2 iconic. Now, Valve, where’s that Half Life 3 announcement?

LA Noire

Team Bondi and Rockstar’s collaboration may not have hit the heights of Red Dead Redemption or the Grand Theft Auto series, but the title was nonetheless an interesting and unique open world title. Set in the noir-esque landscape of 1940’s Los Angeles, the title drew influence from real life events such as the Black Dahlia murder to provide a gripping mystery for the player to solve.

Perhaps the title’s biggest achievement was the use of motion capture to create some of the most realistic character models in gaming history, as players were charged with working out which suspects and interviewees were being truthful. All of that pioneering MotionScan technology came at a price, however, andspent an achingly long time in development. Finally, after seven years, the game saw release.

Unfortunately, LA Noire did not have a happy ending for Team Bondi. The developer was forced into administration after it failed to secure another project amid allegations of poor working conditions. Behind the scenes, stories broke of the development team being worked to the bone by managers to get the game ready, leaving an unfortunate tarnishing mark on both Team Bondi and LA Noire .

Diablo 3

The Diablo series is seen by many as the pinnacle of the hack’n’slash RPG genre. Known for its brooding, dark aesthetic and vicious, demonic enemies, the franchise finally received its third chapter in the form of, which was released in 2012 for PC and 2013 for home consoles. The title’s route to release was anything but easy, however, and was just as hellish as some of the game’s own quests.

Work on Diablo 3 actually started in 2001, but the game was not even announced to the public until 2008. During that time, the title had apparently gone through three revisions before Blizzard was finally happy with a product that could be shown to the series’ fans. Even then, gamers were forced to wait another four years to see the finished game.

Given the game’s commercial and critical successes, however, perhaps the wait was worth it. The title received a hugely positive response from those who played it, gaining millions of fans. Diablo 3 was so successful that it even earned a remastered edition for Xbox One and PS4, which was released in 2014.

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Up Next: Monstrous Mutants and Vicious Viruses

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Will We Ever See Another Good Spider-Man Game?

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The past few months have seen endless speculation that Spider-Man was set to take his rightful place in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and earlier today we received confirmation that the rumors were true .

. After the middling Amazing Spider-Man movies, it seems that the web-head might be given a film befitting the character’s immense popularity — but will we see a similarly worthy video game adaptation?

It’s not like there haven’t been great Spider-Man games in the past. At this point, the character has been starring in games for the majority of his fifty-year lifespan, so it’s no surprise that at least some of those titles have lived up to expectations. That said, the first to make a real impact with fans were perhaps the side-scrollers that launched for the Sega Genesisand SNESback in the 90s.

Early Spider-Man Games

However, those games struggled somewhat to properly replicated the free-flowing web-slinging that makes Spider-Man such a fun character to control. The artfully titled Spider-Man , released in 2000, brought the character into the world of 3D gaming, and is still fondly remembered to this day for its varied story, broad list of fan-favorite antagonists and masses of bonus content.

That game was developed by Neversoft, which led to the arachnid’s inclusion as an unlockable character in Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2 . However, Vicarious Visions took over development duties for the sequels to Spidey’s first 3D outing, releasing Enter Electro for the PlayStation and Mysterio’s Menace for the Game Boy Advance over the course of 2001.

The following year, the release of the hugely successful cinema debut of Spider-Man called for a video game adaptation, as was far more common for blockbusters back then. Developed by Treyarch— now of Call of Duty fame — the game was a solid effort, but would soon be eclipsed by the title released alongside Spider-Man 2 in 2004.

The Success of Spider-Man 2

With an open world and a major focus on the feeling of web-swinging, Spider-Man 2 remains one of the most fondly remembered superhero games of all time. Despite minor issues like its repetitive side-missions, the game remains the best outing that the character has had in a video game.

Subsequent titles would attempt to replicate the winning formula of Spider-Man 2 , but few would reach the same heights. These games would largely fall into one of two categories; straightforward follow-ups that didn’t change all that much and suffered from a sense of diminishing returns, or titles that offered different playable characters and felt watered down as a result.

Playing as Venom in Ultimate Spider-Man and the various lesser-known versions of Spider-Man himself in Shattered Dimensions was great for hardcore comic book fans, but neither attempt offered all too much in terms of refining the gameplay formula. The most recent Spider-Man games have been mediocre film tie-ins that suffered from a pervasive lack of imagination.

Now, it would seem that the character is set to embark on a new chapter of his life on film, and it’ll be interesting to see what that means for future video game appearances. The nature of Spider-Man gives him great potential as a gaming protagonist, but his interactive outlook might not be as promising as it first seems.

Spidey Comes Home to Marvel

Blockbuster tie-ins have fallen out of favor over the past decade, and Marvelmovies in particular aren’t known for their video game adaptations; Iron Man and Captain America had a few sub-par games between them, but the fact that an intriguing Avengers game was thrown outshould speak volumes about how much of a focus the studio has on video games.

That said, things could change with Spider-Man back in the fold. It’s a property that’s hugely popular with audiences of all ages and ripe for endless video game adaptations. That being said, it’s not yet clear how these developments will affect the video game license for the character, but it’s safe to expect a major video game tie-in when the character’s first movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe releases in 2017.

When that happens, we can only hope the results are closer to the excellent Arkham series of Batman gamesthan the low standards often set for superhero video games. Nevertheless, this is an exciting time for Spider-Fans — their beloved web-slinger might be about to reach his highest level of popularity yet.

What do you think is necessary for a good Spider-Man game? Will a new title release alongside Spidey’s return to Marvel?

Will We Ever See Another Good Spider-Man Game?

234
The past few months have seen endless speculation that Spider-Man was set to take his rightful place in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and earlier today we received confirmation that the rumors were true .

. After the middling Amazing Spider-Man movies, it seems that the web-head might be given a film befitting the character’s immense popularity — but will we see a similarly worthy video game adaptation?

It’s not like there haven’t been great Spider-Man games in the past. At this point, the character has been starring in games for the majority of his fifty-year lifespan, so it’s no surprise that at least some of those titles have lived up to expectations. That said, the first to make a real impact with fans were perhaps the side-scrollers that launched for the Sega Genesisand SNESback in the 90s.

Early Spider-Man Games

However, those games struggled somewhat to properly replicated the free-flowing web-slinging that makes Spider-Man such a fun character to control. The artfully titled Spider-Man , released in 2000, brought the character into the world of 3D gaming, and is still fondly remembered to this day for its varied story, broad list of fan-favorite antagonists and masses of bonus content.

That game was developed by Neversoft, which led to the arachnid’s inclusion as an unlockable character in Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2 . However, Vicarious Visions took over development duties for the sequels to Spidey’s first 3D outing, releasing Enter Electro for the PlayStation and Mysterio’s Menace for the Game Boy Advance over the course of 2001.

The following year, the release of the hugely successful cinema debut of Spider-Man called for a video game adaptation, as was far more common for blockbusters back then. Developed by Treyarch— now of Call of Duty fame — the game was a solid effort, but would soon be eclipsed by the title released alongside Spider-Man 2 in 2004.

The Success of Spider-Man 2

With an open world and a major focus on the feeling of web-swinging, Spider-Man 2 remains one of the most fondly remembered superhero games of all time. Despite minor issues like its repetitive side-missions, the game remains the best outing that the character has had in a video game.

Subsequent titles would attempt to replicate the winning formula of Spider-Man 2 , but few would reach the same heights. These games would largely fall into one of two categories; straightforward follow-ups that didn’t change all that much and suffered from a sense of diminishing returns, or titles that offered different playable characters and felt watered down as a result.

Playing as Venom in Ultimate Spider-Man and the various lesser-known versions of Spider-Man himself in Shattered Dimensions was great for hardcore comic book fans, but neither attempt offered all too much in terms of refining the gameplay formula. The most recent Spider-Man games have been mediocre film tie-ins that suffered from a pervasive lack of imagination.

Now, it would seem that the character is set to embark on a new chapter of his life on film, and it’ll be interesting to see what that means for future video game appearances. The nature of Spider-Man gives him great potential as a gaming protagonist, but his interactive outlook might not be as promising as it first seems.

Spidey Comes Home to Marvel

Blockbuster tie-ins have fallen out of favor over the past decade, and Marvelmovies in particular aren’t known for their video game adaptations; Iron Man and Captain America had a few sub-par games between them, but the fact that an intriguing Avengers game was thrown outshould speak volumes about how much of a focus the studio has on video games.

That said, things could change with Spider-Man back in the fold. It’s a property that’s hugely popular with audiences of all ages and ripe for endless video game adaptations. That being said, it’s not yet clear how these developments will affect the video game license for the character, but it’s safe to expect a major video game tie-in when the character’s first movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe releases in 2017.

When that happens, we can only hope the results are closer to the excellent Arkham series of Batman gamesthan the low standards often set for superhero video games. Nevertheless, this is an exciting time for Spider-Fans — their beloved web-slinger might be about to reach his highest level of popularity yet.

What do you think is necessary for a good Spider-Man game? Will a new title release alongside Spidey’s return to Marvel?

The 5 Best Batman Video Games of All Time

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Batman is one character that needs absolutely no introduction.

is one character that needs absolutely no introduction. The iconic caped crusader has enjoyed success in all media, beginning life in the pages of comic books in 1939, and later jumping to television for the campy Adam West interpretation and the dark, brooding animated series of the ’90s. Batman has also appeared in a number of films, some great like Tim Burton’s original and the Christopher Nolan trilogy, and others a train wreck, like the Schumacher debacles.

The Dark Knight has also appeared in an exhausting amount of video games over the years, practically spanning the entire lifespan of the industry. Unfortunately, the vast majority of Batman games simply are not good, suffering from the same issues of most licensed games, wherein they are rushed efforts that are simple cash grabs. However, there have been at least a handful of good Batman games, and even a couple that can be considered two of the best video games of all time.

These are the 5 best Batmangames to date.

5. The Adventures of Batman & Robin (1994)

Earlier we mentioned the critically-acclaimed cartoon Batman: The Animated Series . Well, due to the popularity of that show, it’s no surprise that a video game based on it was commissioned. The result is The Adventures of Batman & Robin , which released for the SNES in 1994, and is not only a great adaptation of the animated series, but it’s also one of the first Batman games that can be considered truly excellent.

The game allows Batman to utilize a variety of gadgets in order to successfully traverse the stages, an element of the character that also plays heavily into later interpretations as well. The game uses the art style of the animated series, and the included villains read like a who’s who of Batman’s rogues gallery, including The Joker, Penguin, Catwoman, Two-Face, Scarecrow, and more. Fans of the animated series will also be happy to know that each level in the game is based on an episode from the show.

The animated series gave way to an entire DC Animated Universe, which included the creation of the popular Batman Beyond , and the titular character of that show. The DCAU and Batman Beyond will live on in the next Batman game,, thanks to a Batman Beyond skin pre-order bonus.

4. Batman Returns (1993)

Tim Burton’s 1989 film holds up today as one of the best superhero movies ever made. His 1992 followup, featuring Michael Keaton yet again under the cape and cowl, was also quite good, offering an even more twisted look at Gotham City than ever before. A video game adaptation was inevitable, and as it turns out, Batman Returns is one of the better games based on a movie based on a comic book.

The Batman Returns video game is a side-scrolling beat ’em up, but it also features some more traditional platforming segments and even a harrowing Batmobile chase. This is one of the few games to do Batman’s iconic wheels any justice, but the upcoming Batman: Arkham Knight will also feature the Batmobile.

3. LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes (2012)

What’s cooler than a LEGO-ized Batman ? Not much. Traveller’s Tales brought the Batman LEGO sets to life with the original game, but took it all to the next level with the followup,. DC Super Heroes features 70 playable characters from not only the Batman comics, but the DCU in general, with appearances by Superman, Wonder Woman, and many more.

Not only is LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes an excellent Batman game, but it’s also the first LEGO game in the series to utilize full voice acting, which was a significant advancement for the video game franchise. The game also renewed popularity in the LEGO Batman franchise in general, prompting the release of the sequel,, as well as paving the way for the character of LEGO Batman to be included in The Lego Movie , and even his own upcoming standalone film.

2. Batman: Arkham Asylum (2009)

While the preceding three games are all great, the first Batman game that can really be considered an absolute video game classic is Rocksteady’s 2009 adventure,. The game blew away all expectations, delivering the most authentic and exciting Batman experience ever at the time.

It allows players to truly feel as though they’re Batman, exploring the harrowing halls of Arkham Asylum with the aid of Batman’s extensive amount of unique gadgets. Rocksteady found a winning formula with Arkham Asylum , and the game was such a success that the studio immediately went to work on developing a followup, which has turned out to be the best Batman video game to date.

1. Batman: Arkham City (2011)

took everything that was great about Arkham Asylum and dialed it up to 11. Eschewing the corridors of Arkham Asylum in favor of an expansive, walled-off city meant for villains to run amok, Arkham City is the open world Batman games fans have been dreaming of for years.

There’s little else that can match the pure excitement of gliding through the skies as Batman, except maybe uncovering the secrets of the game’s complex plot. Batman fans will be left breathless by the time the credits roll, in one of the most jaw-dropping and shocking finales in video game history. Simply put, Arkham City has it all:  great gameplay, story, graphics, music, voice acting, and more. It’s the definitive Batman experience, and it stands as one of the best games ever made.

Closing Thoughts

The last few years have given Batman his greatest gaming adventures to date, however, it’s possible that the best Batman game is actually right around the corner. Batman: Arkham Knight , the thrilling conclusion to Rocksteady’s brilliant trilogy of Arkham games, is due for release on June 23rd for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.

Will Batman’s eighth gen debut live up to the hype? According to early reviews, Arkham Knight is yet another resounding success for Rocksteady. Fans will have a chance to decide for themselves soon enough, when Batman: Arkham Knight launches worldwide this Tuesday.

Sony Trademarks ‘VRPG’: Is a Virtual Reality RPG On the Way?

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Sony Computer Entertainment Japan files to trademark the phrase ‘VRPG’, leading some fans to suggest that a virtual reality role-playing game is on the way.

Sony has been incredibly busy with its trademarking lately. Just last week the company made headlines when its plans to trademark ‘Let’s Play’were revealed. Backlash from gamers and the YouTube community ensued and the USPTO soon denied the request for being too similar to an existing trademark. The company’s Day’s Gone trademark also made the rounds, with Sony filing for it in relation to a game that may have some sort of online component. Apparently the company’s not done yet, having filed a trademark for the phrase ‘VRPG’.

Filed by Sony Computer Entertainment Japan (SCEJ) back in December, the trademark filing was listed online by the Japanese Patent and Trademark Office. The document is entirely in Japanese but DualShockers states that the filing is Class 9 (which is used for games) and “includes pretty much all the standard definition for game trademarks.” Unfortunately, there’s little else to go on, but one popular theory from fans is that VRPG actually stands for Virtual Role-Playing Game and relates to a new PlayStation VRgame.

If the trademark does relate to an upcoming virtual reality RPG, then PlayStation VR early adopters will no doubt be overjoyed. The upcoming headset already has a strong lineup of games including Psychonauts: In the Rhombus of Ruin , Robinson: The Journey , and Tekken 7 and a fully-fledged role-playing game would only bolster that list. The PlayStation VR headset is predicted to sell 1.9 million units in 2016alone but if Sony can show gamers that the device has a varied list of games coming to it, then the actual sales may even outpace that prediction.

However, the team behind these VRPGs will have to be careful, as they can’t just function like normal RPGs. Fallout 4 is one ‘traditional’ RPG that has over 400 hours worth of contentin it, but trying to do the same thing with a virtual reality headset may not be feasible. Consumers may not want to have the headset on for that long and so the developer may have to think about ways to break up the gameplay and make it playable in bitesize chunks.

Moreover, Masayasu Ito, EVP, Division president of PS Product Business and VP (Software Design Division) has said that the name PlayStation VR “directly expresses an entirely new experience from PlayStation.”Fans will expect something different, then, and will not just want to play a Witcher 3 clone (even if it has been voted one of the best games of last year). The trademark is just speculation for the moment, though, so it could be some time until this ‘VRPG’ shows its face.

Source: DualShockers

The Witness Puzzle Guide: How to Activate the Symmetry Laser

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To say that some of the puzzles in The Witness can be frustrating would be to put it mildly.

can be frustrating would be to put it mildly. Sure, developer Jonathan Blowand his team at Thekla, Inc. have provided players with all of the “tools” necessary to solve each puzzle, but sometimes the answer doesn’t seem apparent at first blush. Like with Blow’s other title, Braid , it’s the fact that you know the solution is there that can make the puzzles that much more difficult to grasp; there’s no superhuman logic required.

With that being said, we’d recommend The Witness players try to solve each puzzle themselves, and avoid consulting a guide. The feeling of accomplishment that comes with completing each line puzzle is what makes the game so addicting, and there’s nothing better then finishing a whole section and watching the laser beam zip off towards to the mountain in the distance.

But, for those players who simply “have to know,” the fine folks at PS4 Trophies have put together a video guide to assist with one of the earliest puzzles groups in The Witness, commonly referred to as the ‘Symmetry’ section. Perhaps once players understand some of the rules learned in this section they might even have an easier time wrapping their minds around future sections.

For the most part, the Symmetry puzzles are fairly straightforward, requiring a little bit of critical thinking and some trial and error. Essentially, what players must do is c omplete the line puzzleswhile navigating two pathways at once. It starts out pretty simple and then gets more complex as things progress.

This is likely also the first place that players will begin to see how The Witness “bends” or modifies its rules. For example, the earlier puzzles teach players to match colors (i.e. the blue lines absorb the blue pellets and the yellow lines absorb the yellow pellets), but later ones require they use the opposite colors. It’s this teach a rule, and then break it scenario that plays out throughout a lot of the game.

Eventually the Symmetry section will test player’s critical thinking skills, as they try to solve a puzzle without being able to see one of the symmetrical lines. It’s likely these last few puzzles that will give players the most trouble if they don’t make the 1-to-1 connection that the yellow line is fading out but still staying on the board.

Ultimately, the Symmetry puzzle is the tip of the iceberg as far as The Witness ’ puzzles are concerned, but it does teach players some important skills that apply throughout the rest of the game. Knowing that the rules can switch from puzzle to puzzle is important, and visualizing without being able to see is also a huge part of later puzzles as well.

Also, feel free to let us know what other puzzles you are struggling with in The Witness , and perhaps we can put together some helpful tipsfor those sections as well. And don’t worry, we won’t tell anyone that you asked for help.

The Witness is out now for PC and PS4.

Source: PS4 Trophies

Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: China’ Review

‘Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: China’ Review
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The Assassin’s Creed franchise is nothing if not consistent.

franchise is nothing if not consistent. Without fail, Ubisoftreleases a new, mainline game in the fall, and typically takes players to a new time period and an intriguing locale (France, Colonial America, the Caribbean). Over time, however, the franchise has grown to include offshoots and spin-offs, many of which take the same approach of Assassin’s Creed proper, but incorporate unique twists. Some would say that these spin-offs are where the real innovation happens, while the main games stick to a pretty strict formula.

That is no truer than with Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: China , the first 2.5D side-scrolling adventurein a planned offshoot series. Assassin’s Creed Chronicles retains the stealth focus of the main franchise, but assimilates that into a slightly different framework. Players are still seeking out assassination targets and sneaking past guards, but how they achieve those goals is markedly different.

As the subtitle implies, Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: China takes players to the Far East and casts them as female assassin Shao Jun. An apprentice of Assassin’s Creed 2 hero, Ezio Auditore, Shao Jun is a relatively untested assassin and like her master is also out for revenge. In true Assassin’s Creed form, that means navigating a handful of environments while taking out a few lower totem pole villains before eventually taking down the big bad, who just so happens to have a mysterious box in his possession.

With 16th century China as its base, Assassin’s Creed Chronicles breathes new life into the franchise on the back of a bold new art style. Almost like a moving oil painting, AC Chronicles channels a calligraphic sensibility that both evokes the time period and is stunning on screen. As they progress through the game, players will see all that the Ming Dynasty has to offer, from bustling markets to rain-covered ships. What’s more, the game finds a clever way to keep the environments dynamic through its multi-layered level design. Although players are technically on a 2D plane, traversal will take players into the foreground and background, mixing up the level layout along the way. At times the design can get a bit derivative, but there’s enough compelling elements to make the game a visual treat.

Combat, on the other hand, is a very mixed bag. On the one hand, Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: China ’s 2.5D side scrolling stealth combat calls to mind the very successful Mark of the Ninja , as Shao Jun stalks her prey from foreground and background hiding spots. If there’s one thing that the game gets consistently right it’s the movement, be it climbing up facades, darting between dark doorways, or slinking across the ceiling. The animations are silky smooth and the stealth mechanics are as tight as can be expected, making players feel like an agile assassin and leaving the enemies ripe for the picking.

The game also outfits Shao Jun with a nice arsenal of weapons and gadgets to accommodate her stealthy antics. There’s a noise dart for directing guards away and a firecracker for stunning, and while they are not used for offense the throwing knives can cut ropes and unlock new pathways. Ultimately, though, these tools become the means by which players redirect or block the guard’s vision cones, allowing forward progress. So, while the means are actually quite interesting, the basic actions, like assassinating guards, are pretty standard.

However, while players can take out any enemies they like, the game strongly encourages stealth over anything else. At certain intervals the game will score the player based on only one of three categories – Assassin, Shadow, Brawler – and depending on how they approached the area they will be given a Gold, Silver, or Bronze designation. So, players can run through the area and assassinate targets, but they will need to take out more than just a single enemy to get an Assassin rank Gold. Moreover, they can go in wildly swinging their sword, but triggering that category and getting gold requires more than winning just a single fight. Realistically, a combination of stealth, assassinations, and occasional combat would suit the game well, but Assassin’s Creed Chronicles ’ scoring system forces players to pick a style and stick with it. If they dabble, chances are players will come away with a Bronze or Silver.

But where the game’s assassinations are of the single button press variety, straight combat in Assassin’s Creed Chronicles is the most involved it has ever been. Rather than the dull, hang-back-and-counter approach, this game forces players to be active during the entire fight. While in combat, players trigger counters by perfectly timed actions, but any followup can leave Shao Jun vulnerable. As well, specific enemies will require more than just a set of basic attacks – some may need to have their shield destroyed before they can take damage, for example. As a result, combat should be the last option on players’ lists, despite some reasonably clever mechanics. And Shao Jun’s health is so limited that it’s best to save the fighting for single enemies, but even then there is a lot of risk.

Packaging the stealth and combat together, Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: China finds a competent way of bringing the main franchise’s gameplay to the 2.5D environment. But by discouraging open combat and favoring stealth, the game succumbs to the pratfalls of the genre. Sure, players can try to hide when they are spotted but in most cases it’s best to simply start the area again. However, restarts don’t change anything about guard behavior or level set-up. As a result, players will spend a lot of time following the same path and triggering the same actions, which takes a lot of the fun out of the game. And by the end, getting through the levels loses most of its luster.

Although the game is short, it does encourage replayability through the aforementioned scoring system. For each medal a player receives they will earn points, and those points go towards a final score for each level. At its core, those scores unlock upgrades at certain thresholds, but they also fuel that high score mentality. On top of that, the game includes both a ‘New Game Plus’ and a ‘New Game Plus Hard’ option after completion, in case players want to up the difficulty and run back through the game.

It’s hard to imagine too many players feeling that urge, though, as 4 hours with Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: China is more than enough. We wouldn’t say that the game overstays its welcome, but by the midway point getting through the levels starts to become a chore. The visuals and level design shine thanks to the minimalistic, hand drawn aesthetic, and the gameplay has some really smart concepts at play. But, in the end, the game faces the same struggle of the average stealth game: how does one make a game about avoiding action engaging? At times Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: China offers that excitement, but other times it’s pretty boring.

Trailer

Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: China is available now for PC, PS4, and Xbox One. Game Rant was provided a PS4 code for this review.

Undercover Operation Recovers Stolen ‘Magic’ Card Collection

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The fantasy trading card game Magic: The Gathering has been going strong for over 20 years, first launched by Wizards of the Coast in 1993.

in 1993. The game pits players against each other as “planeswalkers,” wizard who battle each other using spells, summoned creatures, and magical artifacts. The game has developed a deep and diverse community over the years, with organized tournaments pitting the best against the best, and some players spending thousands of dollars to craft the perfect deck. So just imagine how maddening it would be to have all those years of work stolen away in a random criminal act.

That’s precisely what happened to 23-year-old Kemper Pogue, a native of Prince William County, VA. He faced a frustration many of us have encountered at some point over the years — his car was broken into. Unfortunately, he lost more than just a bunch of old CDs. He had approximately $8,000 worth ofcards in the car. All stolen.

As reported by the Washington Post, the thieves took over 300 of Pogue’s prized cards, leaving him understandably upset. Pogue told the Post, “I went in the house, cracked open a beer, had a few sips and promptly started screaming expletives as I waited for the police to arrive. I’d been collecting these cards since I was a kid and over the years they’ve only increased in value.”

Pogue wasn’t going to take the indignity lying down, however. After contacting the police, he also composed a Facebook message to tell his friends in the Magic community about the theft. The next step was to call stores across Virginia and Maryland that specialized in selling and trading Magic cards. It was a longshot, of course. There was no guarantee that the thieves would even realize what they had, nor that they would be foolish enough to try and sell the stolen cards locally.

But the thieves’ ignorance of Magic — or at least the loyalty of the Magic community —  put them on a collision course with karma. Sure enough, two men soon attempted to sell a set of Magic cardsmatching the description of Pogue’s stolen merchandise at a Virginia card store. The owner of the shop was a friend of Pogue’s, so he directed them to a different shop in Springfield…and then contacted the police. The employees at Curio Cavern in Fairfax County, employees of the store were already tipped off and waiting. When the worker they were dealing with determined they didn’t have all the stolen cards with them, he talked them into returning later that night with the rest.

Plainclothes officers were on hand and waiting later that night, but things were complicated by a large Magic tournament that was scheduled to unfold at the store, and the fact that one of the suspects had a history of robbery with a deadly weapon. It was important that nothing tip the suspects off that anything was amiss, but it was also a potentially dangerous scenario. The police informed the tournament players of the situation and gave them the chance to leave before the suspects showed up — but, in a show of solidarity, all of them stayed.

Shortly thereafter, the crooks arrived, the cops descended, and justice was served. Craig Cunningham, a Prince William County police detective assigned to the case, told the Post, “From what I understand, they had at least 10 guys out there plus a canine unit. They were well-prepared to take these guys down and it went very smooth.”

Twenty-year-old Solomon Dyonne Reed was charged with felony possession of stolen property with intent to sell. Police believe the other man with Reed was unaware of the crime, and was thus not charged.

Pogue was understandably elated about how it had all gone down. “We burned ’em!” he told the Post. “We were one step ahead every step of the way.”

Obviously, the Magic community is still strong, devoted, and loyal even two decades in. The game has only expanded over the years, branching out to encompass other media such as novels, comics, and, of course, video games.has been letting Magic gamers compete online since 2009, and it was one of the top Xbox Live Arcade gamesfor that year.