FTL: Advanced Edition transforms the spacefaring rogue-like into a mind control space circus
Comments1
What’s FTL short for? Because it’s so difficult and its longevity is predicated on repeat playthroughs.
Guild Wars’ ninth anniversary starts three weeks early because of typo
Comments1
Typos make fools of us all, whether it’s writing ‘Best retards’ at the bottom of an email or the missing overbar that sent Mariner 1 into an explosive descent over Venus, but in ArenaNet’s case it’s made them the bringer of joy to Guild Wars players.
ArenaNet were planning on kicking off Guild Wars; ninth anniversary celebrations on the 22 April. Due to a typo in their internal schedule the cork was pulled three weeks early on the 2 April.
Here Be Dragons has you hunt down the monsters of the sea for Queen and country
Comment
“Christopher Columbus discovered the Americas,” write Red Zero Games, “Vasco da Gama reached India by sea. However, all great explorers would never have reached their goals if they had to face all sea and land threats without help.
“Someone had to defeat dragons and tritons, beforehand. Someone had to vanquish bloody cults. Someone had to banish supernatural ghost ships. The information about these deeds is missing from the archives, and you can’t find it in any great statesmen’s memoir. The knowledge of the “Avant Armada” was completely erased.”
Too bloody right, it’s about time their great deeds were immortalised in a computer game.
Garry’s Mod virus filled servers with sound of coughing
Comments7
Last night a virus propogated itself and spread through the Garry’s Mod’s servers quickly. Very quickly.
Exploiting a weakness in the Source Engine, the virus was able to automatically download to your machine when you connected to an infected server. If an infected machine connected to an uninfected server the code would upload to the server and then download itself onto all the machines connected to it.
Developer Facepunch released a fix this morning.
Let's talk about Thief's anti-open world
Comments8
If you play Thief, which you might well do - it’s an occasionally stonking, deeply sensual stealth game - you won’t just be heisting banks and hoisting bags of swag.
No: you’ll need to hike between its missions on foot, through a City that makes a meal of crossing the street. It’s level design at its most obtuse, and at one confused juncture or another it’ll lead you to do precisely what I’m doing now: slump back in your chair and shake your head in wonder and exasperation at this least open of all the open worlds.
InSynch is a gorgeous stop-motion animated music game out on 24 April
Comment
InSynch has you play in time to a composition that will adapt depending on how you play. That itself is a novel concept but on top of that the game is made out of paper and concrete.
Them Games built the set of their game in the real world and then filmed the inSynch’s animations using stop motion. The result is arresting.
Ubisoft has over 9,000 employees. Possibly becoming the world’s largest gaming company
Comments6
Kotaku’s Superannuation’s been at it again, this time delving into the data released on Ubisoft’s corporate website. They found that the publisher now employs more than 9,200 people, 7,800 in a production role. That’s a staggeringly large number but it goes some way to explaining how the company is able to put out a yearly Assassin’s Creed release, all while making Watch Dogs, Far Cry, and the rest of their games.
Tropico 5 challenges you to hold power for 200 years
Comments2
Tropico 5 is looking back to move the series forwards. Whereas previous games began in 1950, kicking things off at the start of the cold war, you’ll be starting Tropico 5 in 1850, while your island is still under imperial rule.
The next 200 years see you tussle with superpowers, resist corporate control, and eventually arise above all opponents. Of course, you’ll still have to rig an election or two.
You can see how the different eras play out in the new trailer.
Half-Life VR 1.3 will bring virtual reality to Episode 1
Comment
Nathan Andrews has almost finished his work bringing virtual reality to Half-Life 2: Episode 1. His mod does a lot more than just linking the Oculus Rift up to City 17. The game’s HUD has been rebuilt so that appears naturally in the world and the game’s guns can now be aimed and fired with Razer’s Hydra.
You need to see the trailer to grasp quite how cool this all is.
Child of Light video shows off its painterly fantasy world
Comment
Ubisoft’s been making quiet waves about its UbiArt Framework engine, the technology behind its recent Rayman games. The Engine also powers Child of Light, a beautiful fantasy tactical game.
The latest trailer shows off the variety in Child of Light’s world, from classical statues overgrown with leaves and weeds to 18th centure caravans to bulbous, organic hot air balloons.
Easter of the Vikings
Comment
So it’s Easter. Probably. And I honestly can’t think of a better time to go raiding and pillaging up and down the coast of England in a Viking warband, while everyone’s taking some time off, relaxing in their homes. Those Saxons sure are a slovenly lot. But longship prices have skyrocketed in the last millennium and the only chainmail I’ve ever owned was part of a Halloween costume. From when I was 10.
War of the Vikings has to suffice. That’s not a great misfortune, as War of the Vikings is really rather good. Angry, blood-drenched warriors shouting in Icelandic and Old English while trying to hack each other to death in the mud and the rain. Brilliant, primal stuff. But there’s more to these battles than slaughter. There are grudges, brave charges, tense seconds in a shield wall as enemies rush down a hill - little stories that emerge.
Splinter Cell: Echoes comics due this summer
Comments4
If you can feel the effects of repetitive strain injury kicking in and want to give your gaming implements (hands) a rest then you might want to take a look at Splinter Cell: Echoes, a four issue comic that bridges the gap between Splinter Cell: Conviction and Splinter Cell: Blacklist. Though, your hands will need to hold out a little longer, it’s not out till the summer.
John Smedley on DayZ and H1Z1 similarities: “this is our take on the Zombie Apocalypse”
Comments16
“Not going to give some politically correct dodgy b.s. answer,” SOE president John Smedley wrote on Reddit. “[H1Z1] is a survival in a Zombie Apocalypse game. So is Day Z. [Bohemia] have made a brilliant game (first I might add). They have a great vision for it and can count myself and most of the people on our team as fans and contributors.”
So, how do they differ? Well, for one, SOE can spawn zombie hordes on servers whenever they’d like.
Curses ‘N Chaos Revealed By Mercenary Kings Devs
By Alice O'Connor on April 17th, 2014 at 8:00 pm.
I’m struggling to think of things I could say about this Curses ‘N Chaos trailer that aren’t sarcastic. It’s an 8-bit-styled game where you seem to jump and stab monsters then sometimes a booby anime witch appears to say something encouraging. It’s a video game, I guess?
But that’s unkind: many of my favourite video games have involved jumping, stabbing, or monsters. The latest from Mercenary Kings developers Tribute Games is not a game that will come across well in a 93-second video of snippets. It will (or won’t, who could say?) be in the feel and timing of strikes, the tension as hordes of ghosts rush you, hoping desperately that a health pickup will drop, and the joy of collecting loads of tinkling coins. Come watch the first trailer and you’ll see.
@TheVoxelman on twitter
Essay Pro