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Sega unveils 'Total War: Warhammer 3' with a trailer full of magic and monsters
The latest entry in the real-time strategy series will arrive later this year.
'Jet Set Radio' is absolutely free on Steam
Cupid may have left you high and dry, but have no fear: Sega wants you to have some free games to make up for it. See, as part of the publisher's Make War Not Love event this year, everyone on Steam can grab gratis copies of Jet Set Radio, Golden Axe and all of Hell Yeah! Wrath of the Dead Rabbit. Just hit the promo's Steam page to add the games to your library of (mostly) unplayed games.
'Halo Wars 2' exists, hits Xbox One and Windows 10 in 2016
Halo Wars 2 is the sequel to 2009's troubled yet generally beloved real-time strategy game, and it's on its way to Xbox One and Windows 10 in fall 2016. Microsoft presented Halo Wars 2 as the cherry on top of its Xbox Gamescom conference in Cologne, Germany, today, offering us a short and sweet cinematic. Halo Wars 2 comes from current Halo developer 343 Industries and Alien: Isolation studio Creative Assembly.
Tube TVs, VCRs and magnets give 'Alien: Isolation' its signature look
From Halo to Dead Space and countless titles in between, the influence of the Alien franchise can be felt just about just about everywhere in video games. But hardly any of the releases starring the titular onyx xenomorphs actually capture aspects of what made Ridley Scott's beloved 1979 sci-fi flick so special -- a feeling that somewhere in space this could all actually happen. To do that, the team behind Alien: Isolation (out today for PC, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One) had an altogether different plan of attack: a retro lo-fi aesthetic that limited them to not having any technology in the game couldn't have existed on-set in 1979. Achieving that took some creativity on the part of developer Creative Assembly, though. "Lo-fi didn't necessarily mean crappy," creative lead Alistair Hope tells us. "It's just that it's more of a stamp in time and an approach. We're doing sci-fi set in the future, but there's no sense that the crew on the Nostromo should be looking for a massive sci-fi gun... It's a disillusioned view of the future."
Sega brings Total War Battles back to the Mac
I really liked Sega's Total War Battles when it first arrived on iOS. Classic RTS developers Creative Assembly did a lot of good thinking about how to bring that complicated genre over to the iPad's touchscreen, and they did an excellent job, keeping things simple and accessible without compromising on depth or complexity. They've done so well that Sega is now bringing the game back to the desktop. Total War Battles Shogun is now available on Steam, for both the PC and the Mac. There's no new content, as far as I can tell, but the game has been made completely compatible with Steam, including leaderboard and achievements for that platform. If you missed this one when it first arrived on iOS, and wouldn't mind having something fun to play on your Mac, definitely give it a look.
Daily iPad App: Total War Battles brings big-time RTS to iOS
I first saw Total War Battles (now out on the iPad and iPhone) at GDC earlier this year, and walked away excited about its potential. The Creative Assembly has been making phenomenal Total War games for the PC for years, with deep, intelligent war strategy across several time periods. Now Creative Assembly faces the challenge of bringing an involved, deep strategy game meant for a mouse and keyboard to iOS. Their answer is Total War Battles. It's been streamlined a lot, but all of the elements of real-time strategy combat are still there. You build bases, hire units, and lead them forward onto a (very compressed, hex-based) battlefield. What Creative Assembly actually came up with is somewhat similar to the popular Legendary Wars, but I think it's a bit cleaner and nicer than that one. That's not surprising, given how experienced Creative Assembly already was at making great games. Aside from the hex battle maps, there's a ten-hour long, story-based campaign to play through, and as Creative Assembly told me at GDC, the basic storyline is fairly easy, meant for more casual players. More difficult maps are available to those who want a challenge. Total War Battles also offers local multiplayer. You can face off against an opponent 1v1 on the same iPad screen. It's not quite as deep as the core game, but it is kind of a wacky take on strategy that's worth a try. Total War Battles is US$6.99, and despite its quality, I'm pretty sure that Creative Assembly won't get nearly the audience they're hoping to at that price. Still, it's a great game -- if you like real-time strategy games, it's a must-play, and if you play PC games at all, TWB is worth a look just to see the choices Creative Assembly made in translating its work to the iOS screen. And if all else fails, just wait -- the next time Sega runs a big sale, this will likely be a little cheaper.
Stormrise devs call PC market a 'strong niche'
You may think that strategy games are the domain of the keyboard and mouse, but don't tell that to the guys at Creative Assembly. During E3, company reps walked us through several minutes of their upcoming console-focused RTS, Stormrise, but not before while lamenting the reason for the studio's move beyond the PC -- a market project director Ken Turner calls a "good, strong niche."Awwe, thanks man, that's so sweet of you to...hey wait a sec! Why you! "We're hoping that there will be other people out there who'll appreciate what we can do," explained Turner, who calls the now three-and-a-half year old effort a "breaking away" project for the company. He further noted that Creative Assembly "targeted the console directly," and "distilled it down to an interface where 90% of what you do is with two thumbsticks and one button." After watching Stormrise being played his words certainly ring true, though admittedly it's hard to hear his point beneath the claxon of so many PC gamers' disdain.
Sega announces console-specific RTS in Stormrise
Okay class, it's time to take out your notebooks and no. 2 pencils. Today we're going to be learning a new word -- verticality. The word traces its origins back to the Total War chaps at Sega-owned The Creative Assembly, who coined the term to describe the studio's latest project, Stormrise, a new real-time strategy game "built from the ground up" specifically for the Xbox 360 and PS3.Who here can tell the class what verticality means? Billy, put your hand down. No one? Verticality, according to Sega, is a means of allowing players to control multiple layers of units, from the sky to beneath Stormrise's "bleak and barren" earth. Currently gathering resources for a 2009 release, the game represents The Creative Assembly's first attempt at creating a RTS for consoles, so if they fall on their face we must do our best to keep any criticisms constructive. Class dismissed.[Via PS3 Fanboy]
Sega introduces Viking: Battle for Asgard
Sega has announced plans to bring Viking: Battle for Asgard from Creative Assembly (Spartan: Total Warrior) to the Xbox 360 and PS3. The game centers around the exploits of Skarin, a warrior chosen by the gods to defend the mortal realm from a rampaging goddess. The goddess, you see, is a little miffed that Odin kicked her out of Asgard, the home of the gods in Norse mythology. As such, she has seen fit to raise an army of undead vikings and let them do what they do best: wreak havoc. It's Skarin's job to put a stop to all this of course, and he will command soldiers and mythical beasts in order to do so. Naturally, he's not shy about busting heads himself either. Sounds like good times to us. Viking will be making an appearance in Leipzig later this week, so expect impressions to start hitting the net soon. In the meantime, hit the "read" link for more info and head over to Xboxygen for the first screens of Viking.Pirates, ninjas, and vikings? What did we ever do to deserve all this?
