Commander Keen: Keen Dreams source code released to be poked and prodded at
Before Wolfenstein and Doom id made a game more devilish, more monstrous, more nefarious than you could tentatively imagine: Commander Keen. You played as an 8-year-old boy flung across the galaxy with his pogo stick to battle the alien forces massing for an invasion of Earth. At least in Doom you had a shotgun.
The source code for that ancient platformer’s been released for anyone to take a look at.
Xbox One PC controller release date set for November
Microsoft have finally finished work on their PC version of the Xbox One controller. It’s taken a surprisingly long time considering the console launched almost a year ago and essentially the difference between the pc controller and the console is the added presence of a USB wire but its arrival is very welcome.
While an exact release date hasn’t been announced we know it’s set to come out this November.
Legend of Grimrock 2 trailer takes the dungeon crawler out of the dungeon
Legend of Grimrock gave you a group of prisoners and through you into a mountaintop dungeon, forcing you to go through it level by descending level to you could escape at the mountain’s base. It was dark, dank, and very dungeony.
Its sequel shipwrecks you on a bright, colourful island. It’s quite the change and one well worth seeing in its latest trailer.
Flagship’s an Oculus Rift-focused RTS that puts you on the bridge of a starship
Something the Oculus Rift, and the general surge of interest in VR, promises is a new perspective on classic genres - both figuratively and literally. Matt and Brad Jeffrey are doing just that for the RTS genre with their game, Flagship. It puts you in a first-person perspective on the bridge of a capital ship and leaves you to command your fleet against incoming enemy forces.
The shift to first-person gives you a completely different view of the battlefield as well as putting a focus on defending your flagship above all other ships under your command because without it you can’t lead.
To get a grasp on how impressive Flagship looks you really need to take a look at the Kickstarter pitch.
Alien: Isolation trailer reveals survivor mode. Challenge your friends to play with your predator
Alien: Isolation is already a challenge, you’re being hunted by an AI alien that is stronger, faster, and, certainly in my case, smarter than you. Your weapons can’t kill it and your items can only ever distract it for a short while. So, naturally, Creative Assembly made a mode where it’s significantly more difficult.
Survivor mode pits you against the alien, limits your resources, and gives you a time limit. On the plus side you now get a lovely score at the end which you can compare with your friends.
Ultraworld trailer unveils off colourful polygonal world for the exploring
In the vein of Dear Esther and Gone Home, James Beech has made Ultraworld, an arresting game world you’re given to explore and find its secrets.
Ultraworld doesn’t feature “jumping, shooting, crafting, survival, Nazis, zombies, space marines, fetch quests, high scores, co-op, multiplayer, microtransactions, DLC, or DRM,” Beech says. What it does feature is “exploring, relaxing, and thinking.”
You need to see the trailer to understand why Ultraworld makes that quite so enticing a prospect.
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