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'Apocalypse Cow' is a platform game inspired by 'Wreck-It Ralph'
One of the best things about attending GDC is that, more often than not, you come across some of the best-looking independent titles. Today, that honor goes to Apocalypse Cow, a cinematic adventure game that draws inspiration from animated films like Wreck-It Ralph and genre-classics such as Super Mario. This 2D platformer, developed by an indie studio called Monsters, features the story of a character named Penny who tries to figure out what caused a glitch in a digital universe made up of video game worlds -- hence the homage to Wreck-It Ralph.
Epic's long-awaited 'Fortnite' hits consoles and PC July 25th
We've been waiting on Epic Games' fort-building monster defense game Fortnite for a long, long time. First announced in 2011, the developer's initial Unreal Engine 4 title was slated to be a PC exclusive. A trailer released in 2014 gave interested fans a bit of hope, and we even saw the gameplay at E3 in 2015. Now that we've hit 2017, though, Fortnite is poised to actually release on July 25th to PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC and Mac, along with "paid early access" to the game via pre-order.
'Pokémon Go' update gives cheaters lousy monsters
With a new update, Pokémon Go cheaters won't be banned, but instead thrown into a depressing purgatory. As spotted by Reddit's hardcore Pokémon Go site, Silph Road, Niantic is now "shadowbanning" cheaters by only letting them find humdrum monsters like Pidgey. In a statement, Niantic support said "people who violate the Pokémon Go Terms of Service may have their gameplay affected and may not be able to see all the Pokémon around them."
Godzilla and King Kong will share one cinematic universe
Because everything needs a cinematic universe, Legendary Pictures and Warner Bros. have announced that Godzilla and King Kong will share one across three movies scheduled to follow the Godzilla flick released in 2014. There will be Kong: Skull Island in 2017, Godzilla 2 in 2018 and finally, Godzilla vs. Kong in 2020, while the press release dangles the possibility of other "famous creatures" joining in. While the idea of giant monsters and robots fighting is hardly new, the prospect of real-life robot combat plus an inevitable slew of spinoff toys, videogames and new effects for these movies has us more than ready. Perhaps it's even time for another Rampage -- does Warner Bros. still own those old Midway trademarks? [Image credit: Pictorial Press Ltd / Alamy]
JXE Streams: Slaying monsters with a vengeance in 'The Witcher 3'
You've likely seen the infamous "sex on a stuffed unicorn" scene by now, but what's the rest of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt really about? That's what I'm hoping to show you today on this latest edition of JXE Streams. The Witcher is kind of an anomaly, really: a long-running PC role-playing series (based upon Polish fantasy novels) with a dedicated fanbase, but when the console port The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings arrived on Xbox 360 back in 2012, not many people paid attention to it. Fast forward three years and its sequel is one of the most highly anticipated games of the month. We're going to dive into some caves, fight some monsters and hopefully avoid any not-safe-for-work shenanigans so you don't get into any trouble if the boss walks by your desk.
Fourth Evolve monster granted with pre-orders or separate purchase
Turtle Rock Studios' four-versus-one multiplayer shooter Evolve will receive a number of add-ons following the game's launch in February. For $25, the game's Hunting Season Pass will introduce four new playable hunters this spring, one for each class in the game. Each hunter will also be available for purchase for $7.49 each. Season pass holders will also get exclusive access to three monster skins at Evolve's launch: Magma Goliath, Magma Kraken and Magma Wraith. Turtle Rock Studios also revealed the Behemoth, a fourth playable "tank of a monster" that transforms into a rolling boulder, available this spring for $15. The Behemoth will also be part of the Monster Expansion Pack, a bonus for those that pre-order or pre-purchase Evolve. That expansion pack itself features a free Savage Goliath skin at the game's launch. Additionally, the developer revealed two special edition versions of the game today, each available for pre-purchase. Evolve's Digital Deluxe Edition features the monster-slaying game, its season pass and the Monster Expansion Pack for $80, available on PC, PS4 and Xbox One. PC players get a special collector's edition to themselves as well: Evolve's $100 PC Monster Race Edition features the same goodies as the Digital Deluxe Edition as well as a fifth monster, two hunters and four monster skins that will be exclusive to PC Monster Race Edition players for 30 days. Evolve will launch on February 10 and is available to pre-download starting today on Xbox One. While you can find a new trailer for the game to showcase the Behemoth after the break, stay tuned to Joystiq Streams at 4:00 p.m. ET today for a livestream of Evolve in action. [Image: 2K Games]
A dragon interloper is approaching ArcheAge
ArcheAge is gearing up for its December update, and that means getting ready for a dragon. A long time ago in the in-game lore, the dragon Misagon tried to take the land of Erenor for himself and his kin, which led to the Nuon rising up and killing him because that's just a really rude way to move in. The dragons panicked and left, but one among them started planning for Dragon Invasion II: The Dragoning. That invasion is going down as part of the December update, with the somewhat uncreatively named Red Dragon leading his minions in an assault on Erenor. This is the same dragon who resorted to feeding on other dragons to get stronger, so you know he's... well, not a good guy. Go ahead and check out the lore post for a slightly less irreverent explanation of what flies forth on crimson wings, and get ready to undertake some dragon hunting in the game's next major patch.
A look at new nautical monsters from the Korean ArcheAge
After a wait so long that more or less everyone could be forgiven for thinking it would never happen, ArcheAge has finally entered its early access period here in America. But that doesn't mean you don't have more to look forward to. Over on YouTube, InporylemQQ has taken a peek at a pair of nautical additions coming to the Korean version of the game, major PvE monsters meant to challenge players. The first foe on display is a massive sea beast that's easily larger than the vessel of the player in the video; it gets a few good hits on the ship before it slips beneath the waves. There's also a ghost ship that fires cannon at the player. Both appear to be high-end monsters meant to challenge players with adequate gear, and both were added in patch 1.7 -- which means that they're a fair way off in the game's updates in the West. Think of them as coming attractions. [Thanks to Karl for the tip!]
Monsters will eat your birthday cake next week on mobile, PC in July
SleepNinja Games' top-down environmental puzzler Monsters Ate My Birthday Cake will launch next week on iOS and Android via Google Play and Amazon, publisher Cartoon Network confirmed to Joystiq today. The colorful Zelda-inspired game will first arrive on Thursday, June 26 before making its way to Steam for PC and Mac on July 1. Monsters Ate My Birthday Cake stars birthday boy Niko, whose delicious cake is stolen by Boogin King and his shadowy minions on the island of Gogapoe. It was initially pitched by SleepNinja as a puzzler with a "16-bit aesthetic without relying on pixel art." The game hauled in $26,091 on Kickstarter in February 2013 before being picked up by Cartoon Network in April. It will cost $3.99 on mobile and $14.99 on Steam, though the publisher said the Steam version is expected to be discounted at launch by roughly 20 percent. [Image: Cartoon Network]
Monster Hunter 4G trailer plays in the sand
It'll be a long while before the next Monster Hunter game arrives in the West, so fans have plenty of time to gaze longingly at new trailers for upcoming games Capcom dishes out for Japan players. In this case, a new Monster Hunter 4G trailer emerged this week, putting the game's many beasts on display primarily in sandy locales. Monster Hunter 4G was announced in January for Japan and is only listed as a 3DS release. The game will offer players the ability to transfer their save files from the previous game, Monster Hunter 4, for use in 4G. Capcom reported in February that Monster Hunter 4 sold four million copies since it launched in September. North American players will have to wait until early 2015 for their shot at the game's new monsters; that's when Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate is slated to launch in the West. Meanwhile, Capcom is hosting a design contest to challange fans to craft their own weapons for the game and is accepting submissions until May 5. [Image: Capcom]
Black Desert shows off new features for its second beta test
The testing process for Black Desert continues apace in South Korea, and the process of staring at the monitor and speculating continues apace for Black Desert fans who are not actually in South Korea. Luckily, there's a translation available of the game's latest development blog which shows off the new features available in the game's second closed beta test. We've heard about a new region, and now we know about some of the new monsters being introduced as well as a new town. The town is a coastal fishing city known as Eferia, offering players plenty of saltwater fishing opportunities as well as the other services you'd expect from a seaside fishing town. Players will also be facing off against new monsters including what appears to be a dinosaur, a harpy, and... well, that third one isn't exactly clear. Still, it's more new stuff for players to look forward to when the second test goes live. [Thanks to levakd for the tip!]
WoW Archivist: WoW's most terrifying monsters
WoW Archivist explores the secrets of World of Warcraft's past. What did the game look like years ago? Who is etched into WoW's history? What secrets does the game still hold? Hallow's End is once more upon us. Last year, the Archivist uncovered WoW's most terrifying secrets. But much of what's terrifying in WoW is right in your face, trying to eat you, or stomp you, or shatter your mind with madness. Let's take a look at the scariest bad guys from every era. Mrrglrlrlrmgrrr: Monsters of classic WoW Murlocs To some, they're adorable, misunderstood frog people. To others, they are the amphibious stuff of nightmares. In vanilla WoW, it was nearly impossible to fight a lone murloc. Their tight-knit societies and tendency to flee meant fighting one murloc often evolved into fighting two -- or twenty. A good many early players found themselves torn to pieces by slobbering murloc hordes. Some still shudder when they hear that distinctive battle-cry. Sons of Arugal I'm not sure how Arugal managed to father so many sons while tucked away in the tower of Shadowfang Keep, but the guy certainly got around. Horde players questing in Silverpine Forest lived in dread of these elite worgen, who always seemed to aggro at the worst possible time. That damn Lurker in the water leading up to the Wailing Caverns entrance For me, this one is personal. In vanilla, fighting your way to the Wailing Caverns entrance was like a mini dungeon run all by itself. One of the caves had a small but deceptively deep pool of water. During my first trip there, I decided the water was a safe place to fire from while our tank scooped up the locals. (It was a habit I picked up.) Then something large and unknown rose up from the darkness and bit me. I've never gone for a swim there since.
Puzzle-thriller Hybris is Coraline meets Spielberg on a dark night
The alpha screenshots of Hybris speak more about the game than words do, and developer Monsters seems to have done this on purpose. We know Hybris tells the story of Kevin, a lonely kid who escapes his fragile home life by visiting the top of a hill, and while there he witnesses a light that fills the sky and alters the world. Monsters divulges the gameplay will involve physics and "inventory-based" puzzles, and a time-freezing mechanic, but doesn't specify how these will all work together. Somehow, these mechanics have to ensure Kevin survives the night. Hybris features music by Austin Wintory, the Grammy-nominated composer behind Journey, Monaco and the recent Leisure Suit Larry reboot. But that's enough of the intangibles – early images of Hybris show an eery, polished game in a style similar to Coraline, though Monsters promises it's a "pretty dark" adventure a la Spielberg. Hybris is due out in two parts, with the first one hitting in early 2014. There may be a Kickstarter to help finish development down the line, but for now that's just another layer of mystery.%Gallery-195810%
Take a tour of Final Fantasy XIV's monsters
It's no secret that Final Fantasy XIV will host quite a number of monsters. Some of those are already familiar to players from both the beta weekends and from the original game, but there are a lot of monsters even after you count those. The team behind the game has put together a new trailer showing off the various monsters and humanoid enemies that players will encounter on the fields of Eorzea. Some of these will be familiar, such as spriggans and coblyns. Some will be unfamiliar in Eorzea but familiar to fans of the series, such as the behemoth and the tonberry. And others are imported from other games or are completely novel. So whether it runs, flies, crawls, swims, or portals through the void, you can see it in the video embedded just past the break. And then you can spend the next week before testing guessing at how you're going to kill it.
Dungeons & Dragons Online screenshots show off new monsters
Just like its source material, Dungeons & Dragons Online is largely a game about killing new and interesting monsters across new and interesting landscapes. So the upcoming expansion Shadowfell Conspiracy really needs to have both. We've seen the landscapes, but now we're also getting a look at the monsters, some of which seem downright personable if you can get past the fact that they'll be trying to kill you. And if you look past the gore-soaked weapons. Maybe they're not all that personable after all. The shots in the gallery below include some general gaming staples (griffons), some specific Dungeons & Dragons staples (beholders), and some things that look like nothing even vaguely familiar. And rest assured, you'll be finding ways to kill every single one of them. So take a look at the gallery if you can't wait until August 19th to see the new face of your enemy. [Source: Turbine Entertainment press release] %Gallery-190160%
Daily iPhone App: Haunted Hollow is frighteningly good
I've been crowing about how great Firaxis' Haunted Hollow is since GDC earlier this year, so odds are that you've probably already seen me telling you once (or more) to go pick it up. But in case the message hasn't gotten through yet: Go pick it up. Firaxis' latest game is just an excellent, well-produced strategy game, something that's casual enough for even kids to pick up and play, and complex enough that strategy nuts like myself will find plenty of depth to play with. Haunted Hollow is a turn-based strategy game, where you build up a haunted house as you play, summon monsters from the various rooms in the house and then send those monsters down into a town to scare houses and fight other monsters. There's an excellent tutorial for the game that will teach you the basics, but just playing should be easy as well: The title uses "fear tokens" for each turn that make it very clear just how many actions you have left to use as you play. The game's various monsters mix things up as well: Some are very good at moving around and scaring townspeople, while others are slower but much stronger at fighting. There's a set of challenges to play through, which will introduce you to all of the game's more advanced strategies and monsters if you like. And perhaps the best thing about Haunted Hollow is its business model. The game is free to play, and you get access to one of the game's houses and its associated monsters for free. If you want, you can buy a few in-app purchase packs to pick up the rest of the various monsters. Or (and this is the best part), you can pay just $7.99 once, and get access to all of the monsters for the game's "season 1" right away. That's a great deal -- this is an excellent, well-built game, and paying just $8 for all of the content (which will run you nearly $20 if you buy it piecemeal) is a nice refreshing option given all of the various in-app purchase scams out there on the App Store. The one thing I think is missing from Haunted Hollow is some sort of out-of-game progression -- unfortunately, while you do level up throughout a match, there's no real progression system to keep you playing from match to match. But that's not a huge complaint, as playing the individual matches are plenty of fun anyway. So I recommend this one without reservation at all: Go download Haunted Hollow for free, and enjoy the great work of Firaxis in one of the best titles of the year so far.
Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen trailer has a big gross eyeball monster
Capcom has released another showcase detailing the new types of terrors players can expect to battle in Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen, chief among which is the "Gazer," a big icky gross eyeball tentacle monster with a dangerous laser and (we're assuming) bad intentions.
Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen trailer is full of burning lizards and death
Capcom's new video for Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen shows off some new enemies, one of which is literally death. Like, Death death, with a capital "D." Death shows up randomly and (surprise!) tries to kill you and your Pawns, and while killing it is possible, it reportedly takes several encounters.
Firaxis' Haunted Hollow combines monstrous fun with some serious strategy
Hearing that Firaxis Games (the famous studio behind great games like Civilization and XCOM -- which itself is coming to iPad very soon) is making an original game for iOS is very exciting. That game is Haunted Hollow, and I got to see it in action this week at GDC. Lead designers Will Miller and David McDonough have overseen the game's development for about a year. The group hopes to release Haunted Hollow later this spring. The game is surprisingly complicated, and though it definitely follows the Firaxis tradition of very well-crafted and complex strategy games, it also makes you wonder how the typically casual iOS audience will take to it. Miller told me that Haunted Hollow has always had a haunted house vibe to it. He showed off a picture used in the initial pitch, featuring two different haunted houses dangling over the edges of a town in the middle. The game contains online Game Center multiplayer, a pass-and-play mode and a single player vs. AI mode, so the title always pits you as the caretaker of one house against another house-building opponent, with a town of unsuspecting civilians lying in the middle. Each turn tells you which kind of room to build, and provides action points (called "fear points"), with which to perform various actions. Building a room allows you to create monsters, which you can then send with a movement into the town below. You pick up to five monsters to play with per game, and they all are of three types: Scary, "Fighty" or Special. Scary monsters can be used to scare townspeople, and scaring a house wins it to your side, with more fear points coming to you if you can scare a whole block. Fighty monsters can be used to fight and kill other monsters, and Special monsters offer a blend of those, or other different abilities. Ghosts, for example, are very scary but they don't survive long. Werewolves are very fighty, but can't be used to scare very well. Special monsters each have their own abilities: Wendigo can freeze the opponent, and zombies can raise an army to join the battle. As the game progresses, each player claims houses in the town by scaring them with various monsters, and the eventual goal is to claim the whole town for your color. Managing the monsters is fairly deep in terms of strategy, and other mechanics build to further complicate things. The rooms you build onto your house can be doubled up and upgraded, if you build them in the correct layout and order. There are different types of houses to choose from at the beginning of the game, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. Scaring people in the town can rile them up into an angry mob, which is a completely neutral unit that can not only kill monsters on either side, but even tear down houses completely, which means not as much territory to conquer. While the graphics on the monsters and houses may be cartoony and colorful, the strategy is definitely not playing around. Miller told me that the game should work for children, but I can't imagine anyone but the very smartest of 7-year-olds really figuring out the mechanics and best strategy. Matches are supposed to last as long as a short game of Civilization Revolution, which means this game will likely be the length (and have the depth) of a fairly serious board game. Still, for strategy junkies like myself, Haunted Hollow sounds terrific. The model may give some gamers pause: The title will be free to play, with only five monsters available for free. Firaxis plans to charge for other monster types, up to 12 different monsters at a rate around US$1.99 per monster. That would make the entire game about $24.99, which isn't a bad price, but which isn't cheap for an iOS title, either. Especially if one of the monsters is unbalanced (not likely with Firaxis at the helm, but still), the model could backfire on them. But Miller did say the team was considering a "pay-once-for-everything" price, so hopefully that will work out right. Outside of the payment model, Haunted Hollow seems like an iOS game that fits perfectly with the great Firaxis tradition and reputation, and a solid entry on the platform for the studio. I'm very excited to dive into its fascinating strategy mechanics when it arrives on the App Store this spring.
Neverwinter offers players excerpts from a manual of monsters
Some players of Neverwinter will no doubt be reminded of long nights with the Monster Manual and graph paper as epic dungeons were plotted out. The game is borrowing a bit from that classic format with two Monster Manual entries on the official site. No, the entries don't feature Activity Cycles or Hit Dice, but they do give players an idea of what to expect from the enormous Ogres and the diminutive Goblins. Of course, familiarity with the tabletop game means that these entries will have few surprises. Ogres are large, dumb, and possessed of enough physical strength to still get their way. Goblins are nuisances individually and murderous hordes collectively. If you're unfamiliar with Dungeons & Dragons, this may count as novel. Either way, it's a look at some of the more mundane threats that adventurers will face as they wander through Neverwinter, and no adventure ever got more boring with the inclusion of Ogres.
