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Nihilistic city builder 'Frostpunk' is free on Epic Games Store
11 Bit Studios' post-apocalyptic steampunk city builder Frostpunk is now available for free on the Epic Games Store until June 10th.
The original 'H1Z1' survival game shuts down October 24th
With all the hoopla over battle royale games, it's easy to forget that H1Z1 didn't start out as a competitive shooter. It launched as an online zombie survival title, split into two experiences and eventually saw the battle royale side take the H1Z1 name -- the original experience evolved under the Just Survive banner. And now, that initial game is going away. Daybreak has unveiled plans to shut down Just Survive on October 24th at 2PM Eastern, pinning the move on a low player count that made support impractical.
We Happy Few's dystopia is held together by drugs and denial
We Happy Few has come to fruition in a unique way. Compulsion Games first captured attentions in 2015 with its creepy, atmospheric trailers, also launching a successful Kickstarter campaign to fund continued development of its dystopian title. The following year, the game launched on early access programs for both the PC and Xbox One. It was a procedurally generated, roguelike survival game, intended to be relatively short and replayable. Only, the world Compulsion had built was too alluring. The people wanted more, being particularly fond of the game's quirky characters and the player's interactions with them. And so We Happy Few has evolved over time to become a substantial story-driven adventure. At launch on August 10th, the game will follow three very different playable characters that, for one reason or another, don't fit in with their ever-jolly neighbors.
'Fortnite' players are having too much fun with Playground mode
Fortnite's Playground mode might have been designed as a testing ground for newcomers, but that hasn't stopped players with irrepressible creative streaks from constructing things that are a little more niche. From Nintendo 64 monoliths and Mario Kart racing tracks to giant galleons, 8-bit Links and a gorgeous Loot Lake re-imagining, there's a plethora of inspiring content to behold.
'Fortnite' video contest asks gamers to make their own superhero movie
Consider yourself a budding director? Epic Games is inviting all Fortnite Battle Royale players to participate in an original filmmaking challenge. It involves using the Replay system to create a blockbuster-worthy highlights reel featuring Season 4's heroes, and promises a tempting line-up of rewards for successful applicants. Fortnite's 5th season might begin on July 12, but Epic's contest feels like a natural progression of Season 4's dancing challenge. In week 2, you might remember needing to ostentatiously swing your hips in front of cameras at different locations across the map. The rules are a bit more stringent this time around -- videos need to be between one and five minutes, use royalty free audio, and possess enough creativity and originality to capture Epic's attention -- but the bounty is handsome. Grand prize winners receive the honor of having their film screened at the meteoric Risky Reels drive-in. They also collect 25,000 V-Bucks and a poster of their film gets immortalized in the game. Epic is stretching its generosity out to five finalists who'll receive 10,000 V-Bucks as a consolation prize. If you think you've got what it takes, the Fortnite Blockbuster contest runs until July 11, 11:59PM ET. Epic said it'll announce the victors on July 24. For those who are more eSports-inclined, there's also the upcoming Fortnite competitions, which have an abundant tournament prize pool up for grabs.
'State of Decay 2' celebrates July 4th with themed DLC and fireworks
Open-world survival RPG State of Decay 2 has officially surpassed 3 million players, and to celebrate (and keep them coming back), developer Undead Labs is serving up a special July 4th-themed DLC update.
'PUBG' celebrates 50 million sales with first Steam discount
PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds is now enjoying its first Steam sale since launch. According to a recent Steam update, the price reduction -- a 33% discount which brings the price of admission down to $19.99 -- honors an important milestone: 50 million global sales.
'Metro: Exodus' treads a fine line between strategy and busy work
This year's E3 has already given us a glimpse of a wide spectrum of games, from upcoming installments in classic multiplayer franchises to new and interesting, story-driven titles. Metro: Exodus, the third game in the post-apocalyptic Metro saga, falls very much into the latter camp. Studio 4A Games announced the title at E3 2017, but all we've really heard since is that the release window has been pushed from later this year to early next. With development nearing completion, though, 4A Games is today spilling the beans on what we can expect from Metro: Exodus, both in terms of storyline and the nitty gritty of gameplay mechanics.
Apps and gadgets for the 'Blade Runner' future we didn’t ask for
Punks, monks and Harrison Ford running scared through a poisonous cityscape were just a few of the details that made the original Blade Runner feel like its environment was a standalone character in the film. It felt as alien and familiar as the way we live today, with an environment turning against us, a government that couldn't care less and a corporate ruling class that would make the Tyrell Corporation jealous. The dystopian world of Blade Runner felt like it had naturally come to be. Unlike the version of Blade Runner we seem to be living in now, which feels like someone threw a switch at New Year's, and surprise, we're living in hell. Suddenly we have to catch up to living in dystopian fiction really fast, lest we die from fires, hurricanes, connected Nazis or nuclear war. So it's probably best that we use every bit of tech to our advantage so we make it to the next noodle bar, as it were.
Fight zombies on your street with 'Walking Dead' AR mobile game
How long would you last during a zombie apocalypse? Because let's be honest, the chances are you'd be shuffling among the living dead in next to no time, no matter how good your baseball swing. But instead of waiting for the end of all humanity to prove us wrong, you can soon test your mettle against the zombie swarm in almost real life, with augmented reality mobile game The Walking Dead: Our World.
'Rain World' is a strange, ever-evolving take on survival games
In many survival-themed games, the ecosystem doesn't change much. Predators are always out to kill you, while prey just wants to mind its own business. However, you'll have to be much more thoughtful with the just-released Rain World. Videocult's long-in-the-making PS4 and Windows action adventure (its crowdfunding campaign started in 2014) has you fighting for life in a wilderness where animals learn from their interactions with you. Seemingly docile critters may start treating you as a threat if you play too aggressively, while hostile beasts might back off if you figure out what they need. Some enemies have their own predators to worry about, so you're not the only threat.
'Outlast 2' will seriously creep you out this April
The follow-up to hit survival-horror game Outlast is coming to PC, Xbox One and Playstation 4 on April 25. Outlast 2 will attempt to raise the creep factor with more genre-defining "WTF" moments than were possible in the first game, due to budgetary restrictions.
'Fallout 4' Survival Mode looks savage
Fallout 4's Survival Mode isn't going to be pretty. As VG247 reports, enterprising Redditor ShaneD53 dug through in-game files to pull out text pertaining to the upcoming game mode and got a lot of info.
Hunt dinosaurs and craft tools while stranded naked on 'ARK' island
ARK: Survival Evolved begins with a simple premise: You're stranded on an island, naked, cold and hungry, and you must survive. Also, there are dinosaurs. And other survivors. And... dragons? (Maybe it's not so simple after all). ARK is an open-world, first-person survival game, where players roam around an island occupied by dinosaurs and other legendary creatures, building tools out of natural resources, growing crops, researching technology and hunting for food -- or for sport. Every creature in the game is able to be "tamed" and the first screenshots show people riding around on the backs of dinosaurs. Awesome. Once it launches, play with friends in the same room or with hundreds of people online on Xbox One, PlayStation 4 (with full Morpheus VR support!) or Steam -- ARK goes live on Steam Early Access on June 2. Check out the game's announcement trailer below.
'Goat Simulator' is getting a ridiculous zombie survival add-on
Goat Simulator's offbeat, endearingly glitchy gameplay is about to invade yet another genre: zombie survival. Meet GoatZ, a not-so-subtle jab at DayZ and other titles where you spend as much time scrounging for supplies as you do fighting off the undead. Coffee Stain Studios' add-on is just as nuts as you'd expect (pink crossbows, anyone?), and is almost too on-point with its send-ups. It has "as many bugs" as other survival titles, and there's a "completely realistic" mode where you eat every few minutes -- because that's what you do in these sorts of games, isn't it? If that sounds at once hilarious and all too familiar, you'll be glad to hear that GoatZ will be available for $5 on Steam as of May 7th, with mobile versions also on the way.
The Long Dark welcomes 250K survivors, January update to nearly double size of wilderness
The Long Dark, Hinterland Studios' Northern woods survival simulator that's currently in Early Access, has surpassed 250,000 sales since launching on Steam's service on September 22. Unfortunately, the life expectancy for its inhabitants isn't very lengthy – an infograph coordinated with the sales announcement notes that only 24 percent of players have persevered for more than five days, with only 1.4 percent of players demonstrating the wit needed to last 50 days. While a dedicated story mode is still on the way, an update planned for later this month will nearly double The Long Dark's stretch of wilderness, adding fresh locales and threats amongst the game's snowy pines. We look forward to learning whether that helps or hinders the probability of its playerbase lasting more than a week. If you've yet to brave The Long Dark's chill, PC and Mac users can endure the elements for $19.99 on Early Access. [Image: Hinterland Studios]
The Daily Grind: How should hunger work in MMORPGs?
This week's Crowfall character creation screenshot was pretty and all, but it was the unassuming "hunger resistance" stat down in the statistics panel that caught my eye. A huge fan of cooking and food mechanics in games, I was simultaneously excited and concerned over the inclusion. I have seen hunger (and other needs/survival mechanics) done so well in MMOs (Star Wars Galaxies, EverQuest II) and in mods for other games that they're genuinely fun to play; they add much-needed flavor and immersion as well as flesh out the economy and give meaning to crafting. But I've also seen MMOs, RPGs, and player-made mods that make eating, resting, and traveling so arduous and chore-like and downright annoying that they actually distract from the core game, even when those activities weren't originally the point as they would be in an overt "survival" sandbox or roguelike (I'm not talking about those!). How do you think Crowfall will handle it? How should hunger and similar mechanics work in MMORPGs? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
Isles of Eventide invites you to live as an animal
Playing as a Human or Elf has been done to death, so why not switch over to the animal kingdom? That's the premise of the fledgling Isles of Eventide (no relation to Rubies of Eventide), which is currently seeking funds on Kickstarter. Isles of Eventide will invite players to inhabit the role of a canine, feline, or equine living on one of many islands in a magical archipelago. Survival against the elements, predators, and hunger will be one of the major themes of the game, although there will be less stressful features such as crafting and companions as well. Between adventures, players will get to travel to their own personal island, which can be customized with decorations and utilities. The team is seeking $50,000 CAD to get development going, although it certainly welcomes more. One of the stretch goals, at the $100,000 CAD tier, promises to add offspring that can be raised from birth.
The Flame in the Flood survives roguelike rains
Roguelike survival game The Flame in the Flood reached its $150,000 target on Kickstarter today, promising the delivery of the PC and Mac game. Developer The Molasses Flood will soon announce stretch goals, which may include PS4 and Xbox One ports, according to the project's FAQ. The developer includes BioShock Art Director Scott Sinclair as well as five other designers with credits in the BioShock, Halo, Guitar Hero and Rock Band series. The Flame in the Flood puts players in the shoes of Scout, a survivalist that uses her wits and patchwork raft to avoid the oncoming rains in a post-society backwater America inspired by the Mississippi Delta, Louisiana Bayou and other real-life locales. Players guide Scout and her trusty companion dog Aesop through procedurally-generated rivers, crafting new tools and hunting down resources while avoiding predatory wildlife, all to the tune of an original soundtrack by alt-country singer Chuck Ragan. The funding project will complete on Thursday, November 6 and the game is planned to launch in July 2015. [Image: The Molasses Flood]
The Long Dark ventures to Steam Early Access
Hinterland Studio launched its first-person exploration game The Long Dark on Steam Early Access this week, making the in-development survival simulator available for PC and Mac users for $20. Set in the pacific northwest, the game forces players to scavenge for resources and survive the threat of starvation, wolves and more. The Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind and The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion lead designer Ken Rolston joined the developer earlier this month. Rolston adds to a well-credited crew at Hinterland, which includes Far Cry 3 Narrative Director Raphael van Lierop. The Long Dark's journey took off with its success on Kickstarter in October 2013, at which point the developer earned $248,899. Those that want a taste of the game should revisit Joystiq Streams' archive from July, in which Hinterland took us through the dark woods for an hour. [Image: Hinterland Studio]
