Cliffy B: Fans Have Huge Impact At Epic

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It’s not been long since Gears of War 2 ‘ s sixth title update was announced , and Epic Games design director Cliff Bleszinski (affectionately known as Cliffy B) admits that the fans are mainly to thank for the update.

It’s been a long road of evolution for Gears 2 multiplayer (and Bleszinski admitted that it was a little bumpy at first) but thanks to the input from fans, the team at Epic was able to work on the multiplayer – providing a smoother experience.

“We’ve always had a tradition of supporting our products as well as a continued culture of ongoing learning. The launch of Gears 2’s online was bumpy – Over the last while we’ve continued to tweak and refine that experience through regular title updates that not only improve the online performance and matchmaking times but also tune the game and weapon balance. Many of those game tweaks have come from our design team interacting with our fans on the official Epic forums.”

Considering Epic is hard at work on, it’s refreshing to see the company truly interacts first-hand with feedback from players – and is willing to make revisions to a previous title.

News of the sixth title update was posted on the Epic Forumsbefore it was posted anywhere else, and I think it emphasizes the relationship Epic has developed with its core fanbase.

“The gaming world right now is filled with so many stellar games vying for players attention and the best way to remain successful and relevant is by keeping your fans happy. Listening to them, interacting with them, and quite often simply giving them what they want when possible keeps them engaged as long term fans of your studio. Bungie and Blizzard have done a stellar job at this and we’re evolving into a studio that embraces our fan base more than ever. Besides, today’s Epic fan and promising UDK modder could be tomorrow’s star Epic programmer/designer.”

Truer words have never been said. An early rapport with gamers could make the difference when a successful programmer graduates and looking at job offers.

In either case, it’s good to see a game company interacting with fans – and most importantly, taking the feedback to heart.

Source: CVG

New Gears of War 3 Horde 2.0 Trailer Feat. Music By Ice-T

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Early this summer, I watched as actor/musician Ice-T and Epic Games ‘ Cliff Bleszinski exchanged engaged in some Twitter banter regarding Ice-T’s Gears of War fan obsession.

fan obsession. Not long after that, the pair came on stage together at the Xbox 360 E3 press conferenceto showcase some of the co-operative campaign gameplay in Gears of War 3 . See, real friendships form through Twitter.

Ice-T also performed a surprise concert during the Horde 2.0 showcaseevent at E3and solidified himself as a cog in the Gears of War marketing machine. In keeping with that love affair with, Microsoft and Epic Games released a new Horde 2.0 gameplay trailer which features music from Ice-T’s thrash metal band, Body Count.

The song is titled “Horde 2.0: Five Against All,” aptly named after the multiplayer mode’s 5-player co-op against waves of Lucusts and Lambent forces. The trailer showcases the type of action Gears fans are familiar with in addition to plenty of footage of the buildable defensive structures new to Horde 2.0.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0cp34hiSFxk

We at Game Rant love Gears of War 3 and it was easily one of the best games shown at E3 (it won the Game Rant E3 2011 Awardfor best multiplayer). Not only did many of our team play countless hours of the Gears of War 3 beta, but we participated in a Gears of War 3 multiplayer beta tournamentand won (here’s the trophyto prove it). That all being said, this trailer is not a great selling point for those few who aren’t sold on picking up Gears of War 3 . The music, and how it’s cut together with gameplay footage, feels like a fan video, and not something the marketing teams at Epic and Microsoft would create on their own.

If you’re a gamer desperately looking for solid co-operative gaming experiences, definitely take a look, but unless you’re a diehard Ice-T/Body Count fan, this isn’t the best video.

If you’re fan, check out Epic’s latest developer diary video which discusses the end of the Gears of War trilogy.

Gears of War 3 launches on September 20th exclusively on the Xbox 360.

Follow me on Twitter @ rob_keyes.

Rainbow Six: Patriots’ Cancelled Because of Next-Gen Consoles

‘Rainbow Six: Patriots’ Cancelled Because of Next-Gen Consoles
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After months of speculation, Rainbow Six: Patriots was eventually confirmed in 2011 with a logo, a trailer and an intriguing plot about a patriotic, anti-government terrorist group.

was eventually confirmed in 2011 with a logo, a trailer and an intriguing plot about a patriotic, anti-government terrorist group. Many were excited by the long-running franchise’s return, but after long stretches of silence about the title, that interest somewhat fizzled out.

Fan support was piqued once more however, in spite of the radio silence from the publisher (and amidst rumours that Rainbow Six: Patriots had been cancelled), with mentions of the game on a developer’s professional profile. There was even staff shuffling, restructuringand promises that the game would be released, all while Patriots was on shaky ground.

So shaky, in fact, that we found that the game had been canned in favor of, which seems to be more of the team-based, tactical gameplay that we’re used to. But even with the heavy impact that Siege had at the Ubisoft press conference earlier this month, questions still remain about the game that so many fans were interested in playing. Finally, we have a concrete answer as to why Rainbow Six: Patriots was cancelled.

Speaking to Rock, Paper, Shotgun , Technical Artist Oliver Couture revealed that next-gen consoles were the primary reason behind the game’s cancellation, explaining that the final straw on the (already rather wary) camel’s back was the need to release the game on PS4 and Xbox One too.

“To be completely transparent, I worked on Patriots — on Rainbow Six for three-and-a-half years — and Patriots was old-gen. Xbox 360 and PS3. Next-gen consoles were just around the corner, and we were like, ‘OK, we want to also have a next-gen experience. What can we do for that?’ We were trying stuff out with destruction technology, and we realized destruction really changes the game. We tried to see how it could fit with old-gen, but it just didn’t work out. So for us it was just a better solution to clean the slate, reset, and make what’s best for the players.”

That’s not to say that all of the work on Rainbow Six: Patriots had to go to waste, though, as that’s certainly a great deal of work to dash in the bin. Specifically, the part that could be preserved for Rainbow: Six Siege is its single player, as the game has yet to find a solo counterpart to the multiplayer gameplay we saw at E3.

“We know that single-player is also an important part of the Rainbow Six experience. We understand that while this year we showed multiplayer — because we want to have fun playing against each other internally, it’s a good test to know if a game is fun — but we are 100 percent aware that single-player is a big part. We’re currently working on that too.”

What a final version of Rainbow Six: Siege ’s single player mode could offer is uncertain, but fans will be curious to know which, if any, parts of Patriots will be preserved. The parallels of Patriots ’ hard hitting story and the Occupy movements of 2011 (the year the game was announced) were impactful and presented in a cinematic way could have led to a fantastic game. They were also quite controversial.

“The scope of the single-player is not completely clear yet, so I cannot really elaborate on it. All I know is that the message we have on the production floor is like, ‘All the comments online, people are always talking about single-player. So we’re gonna have something for them.’ But I can’t say if it will be more cinematic [like Patriots was] yet.”

Rainbow Six: Siege isn’t scheduled to be released until sometime in 2015 (along with Ubi’s other Tom Clancy game, The Division ) so there’s still plenty of time for them to show off what Siege is made of and, of course, impress us the way Rainbow Six: Patriots did so many years ago.

Rainbow Six: Siege will release in 2015 for the PC, PS4, Xbox One.

Source: Rock, Paper, Shotgun

Rainbow Six Siege’ Closed Alpha Video & First Impressions

‘Rainbow Six Siege’ Closed Alpha Video & First Impressions
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Expectations are riding high for Rainbow Six Siege , which represents Ubisoft’s next entry into their long running tactical shooter series.

, which represents Ubisoft’s next entry into their long running tactical shooter series. After the release of Rainbow Six Vegas 2 back in 2008, the series has gone through a long transitional period filled with delays and false starts. With the ill-fated Rainbow 6: Patriots suffering multiple delays before officially being canceledback in 2014, the franchise is looking to restore its past glory with Siege .

While Game Rant was able to attend a preview event for Rainbow Six Siege a week ago, the closed alpha has finally launched for select members of the public, giving us another chance to play the upcoming shooter. And so far, we’re really enjoying what this promising title is bringing to the table. The game seems to be a great point of entry for series veterans and newcomers alike.

With the closed Alpha now in full swing for those with a code, Rainbow Six Siege presents players with one game mode, two maps, and ten operators to select from (five for each team). Even with so little content on display, Siege manages to keep players engaged and thrilled with just the amount of randomness and variety that can happen in each match.

Upon arriving at the main menu, players will only have the Hostage Rescue game mode available to play. The premise of this mode is fairly simple: one team works to defend a hostage in a certain area of the map while the other team attempts to rescue and extract the NPC. Each match is set to a best-out-of-four scoring system with players switching sides after every round. Before the round officially begins, each team has a one minute “preparation phase”. It’s here that the attacking team can scout the map using camera bots while the team on defense uses that time to fortify the area with reinforced walls, jamming devices, blockades, and anything else at their disposal.

From there, the siege style match kicks off as each team tries it’s best to carefully eliminate the other while avoiding death. Yes, that’s right Ubisoft has brought no respawns back to the series. The tension quickly rises as the offensive team looks to find the best point of entry while the defenders keep an eye on all possible attack points. With breaching charges available, players never know where an enemy player may strike. One thing that rang true during the alpha was that whether playing on defense or offense, the experience proves to be balanced and fun regardless of the side players are on.

Rainbow Six Siege also presents players with five classes to pick from per side. The classes each have a unique look and a specific talent to help the team. For example, Mute is able to place down jamming devices that seriously hinder attacking player’s ability to scout the map during the preparation phase. Thermite, on the other hand, is equipped with an exothermic charge that is able to blow through barricaded walls. These class options help to add a new tactical layer to the experience and keep the matches feeling fresh.

Ubisoft’s brand new destruction engine, Realblast, is extremely satisfying even in this alpha state. Players are able to shred the maps to pieces, as bullets and explosions leave realistic holes (big and small) in the structures. Players can also breach glass windows or wooden baracades through melee attacks as well. While some of the physics are not yet up to release standards, this destruction element is a welcomed and terrifying addition to the experience.

One thing that stood out upon initially playing was that the defensive team no longer looks like a criminal faction that Ubisoft showed last year at E3. Instead, both teams are now based on classic Rainbow Six squads, Raven Shield and Rogue Spear. There’s been no word on why this change was made, though players can speculate that it better fits the class system in place now.

As mentioned above, the closed alpha introduces players to two small maps, one of which was shown extensively at Ubisoft’s E3 press conference last year. While the lighting and atmosphere from the trailer is absent here, House is still a multi-story home set in the suburbs. Defenders have multiple rooms they can choose to fortify while the attackers have multiple points of entry, as well as grappling hooks for scaling the sides of the building. The other available map, Plane, feels even more claustrophobic than House, as both teams battle it out inside of a parked passenger jet. There’s a lot more entry points than it appears and each match felt more and more tense due to the small spaces to work with.

There looks to be a number of hints towards features that will be in the retail version of the game inlcuding a banner and icon that point towards a progression system. Considering most multiplayer games typically go this route, it wouldn’t be surprising.

While the game is still in a alpha state, it ran very smoothly on PC and already looks impressive, due in large part to the Anvil-Next engine. Control wise, Siege is very responsive and easy to pick up; there’s not a huge amount of moves or abilities for players to master on the keyboard. For players not comfortable for using a keyboard and mouse, Ubisoft also managed to include a gamepad option that works really well.

With a lot of new elements being brought to the table, one thing that hasn’t changed in Rainbow Six Siege is the tactical nature of this franchise. Hostage Rescue demands players communicate and work as a team. While fans continue to wait for more information about the single player campaign or whether or not Ubisoft plans to bring back the popular Terrorist Hunt mode, the multiplayer alpha managed to leave a great impression even in such an early state of development.

Rainbow Six Siege is scheduled to arrive on PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One sometime later in 2015.