16 September 2014 • 13 hours 33 min ago •
Story by Jeremy Peel
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When Warlords of Draenor launches in November, new players will become indistinguishable from old. Not only will fresh subscribers sport level 90 characters, but some of them will take the names of old, lapsed accounts too.
Perhaps you’ll become RaiderOfTheLostOrc? Maybe claim the identity of a FrodoSam1066? Hell, it might even be worth checking the availability of LeeeeroyJenkins, give or take a couple of vowels.
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16 September 2014 • 12 hours 54 min ago •
Story by Jeremy Peel
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Here, there’s somebody Riot want you to meet: new League of Legends champion Azir. A nuisance at the beach but an asset in the lanes, the Emperor of the Sands can summon dusty soldiers to do his bidding. And when he’s not reclaiming his rightful place as ruler of the Shuriman desert, Azir can channel the sand to throw his enemies high in the air. As you’re about to see.
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16 September 2014 • 11 hours 24 min ago •
Story by Jeremy Peel
Comments1
The world watched as Microsoft bought Mojang for a country-floating $2.5 billion, and so did Garry ‘sMod’ Newman. But while the world at large mostly wailed and muttered dire warnings, the Rust mastermind decided that this is a deal in which “everyone wins”.
“Long story short. I’d have done the same thing,” he blogged. “The money is enough to very much take care of all the staff. The game is in relatively safe hands. Mojang’s legacy is as a huge success story instead of a one hit wonder.
“Can you seriously say you’d have done it differently?”
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16 September 2014 • 9 hours 37 min ago •
Story by Tim Edwards
Comments2
Watch_Dogs was divisive. Controversial. In all honesty, despite the stick it received, I really liked and admired its ambition. I liked its open world - I liked the paranoia it generated by having other hackers invade and track you. I loved its sense of prurient power: listening in on phone conversation, picking and choosing who to hack based on their background.
But it had problems. The lead character, Aiden, was a fence-post in a trench-coat. The mid-game Enforcer bosses ruined the stealth combat. And it just didn’t feel like it was taking advantage of the tools it had created.
I’ve played about half of the game’s forthcoming DLC, Bad Blood. It feels better. Aiden is barely mentioned - you play as the far more interesting artist-demolition’s expert T-Bone. He is gruff and interesting, wears a bit too much denim, and looks like he needs a good wash. He has a new toy: a remote controlled car that can flit through small tunnels and ducts.
But most importantly, in Bad Blood Ubi’s game designers have started to figure out how to expand on Watch_Dog’s core conceit: hacking.
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16 September 2014 • 5 hours 57 min ago •
Story by Fraser Brown
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I’m not sure if love can be bought, or what a reasonable price would be. I would probably say I loved you if you bought me a puppy, for instance, but would I mean it? The only way to find out is to buy me a puppy, I suppose.
EA has been exploring the price of love a lot, lately. With it’s Game Time and On the House programs, it’s been flinging games at people for free. Today it makes another attempt with Bejeweled 3, which you can download for free on Origin.
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16 September 2014 • 4 hours 38 min ago •
Story by Fraser Brown
Comments4
I’m not certain if I want to go back to regular Assassin’s Creed after the swashbuckling adventures of Black Flag, but the opportunity to jump across the Parisian rooftops with three buddies is certainly a tantalising one.
Ubisoft’s got another stylish trailer for Assassin’s Creed Unity that’s probably not actually representative of the game but looks and sounds good anyway. Slap your eyes on it below.
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16 September 2014 • 3 hours 32 min ago •
Story by Fraser Brown
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I am thoroughly enjoying these wee Alien: Isolation vignettes, even though they promise screams and pant-wetting terror. The latest piece of advice from Creative Assembly is just generally excellent advice even if you aren’t trapped on a space station with a hungry xenomorph.
Don’t linger in the air vents.
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16 September 2014 • 2 hours 56 min ago •
Story by Fraser Brown
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I can’t recall what my first heist movie was, though the earliest one I remember watching clearly was The Italian Job, thinking to myself how I’d really like to be Michael Caine when I grew up. More specifically, I wanted to be involved in a great heist, a “one last job” kind of deal.
The closest I’ve gotten is in our lovely digital realm, thanks to the likes of Payday, Monaco and Grand Theft Auto V - but none of them scratched my itch. Monaco was too silly, Payday was too focused on violence and shooting and Grand Theft Auto’s heists were too simple and short. The Masterplan, though, recently released through Steam Early Access, well - it has potential.
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17 September 2014 • 1 hour 44 min ago •
Story by Rob Zacny
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It really can’t be stressed enough how much Distance impressed me when I saw it back at PAX East. The futuristic arcade racer brought back warm memories of games like F-Zero and Delta V, with its stylized cyberpunk world and driving soundtrack.
Soon, however, you won’t have to take my word for it. Refract Studios just announced that Distance will be on Early Access this fall, and released an enticing new trailer to give you a taste of Distance’s taut action and hypnotic art and music.
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