gameplay
Latest
EA Sports UFC trailer gets knocked down, but it gets up again
One of the lacking aspects of previous mixed martial arts games like THQ's UFC 3 is the true sense of physical contact between the fighters on screen. EA Sports UFC will attempt to close that gap on next-gen consoles, if the game's latest trailer is any indicator. Creative Director Brian Hayes discusses the interaction between fighters and their surroundings in the gameplay trailer, putting skin-rippling kicks and arm-wrenching submissions on display. It also shows the effects of a "full-body deformation system" in which "flesh displaces flesh," which sounds pretty gross the more we think about it. EA Sports UFC will launch sometime this year for Xbox One and PS4. [Image: EA Sports]
The Toy Maker in Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 is a play-date of terror
The Toy Maker from Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fate makes a return appearance in Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2, though neither he nor Gabriel seem too pleased about it. Konami has released footage of the boss fight that occurs when Gabriel meets up with the pudgy amnesiac for all to enjoy, and possibly use as a strategy guide when the game comes out. Lords of Shadow 2 takes place in modern day, but we get the feeling Gabriel hasn't gotten out much over the past couple thousand years. Had he watched movies like Child's Play, The Woman in Black, or Dead Silence, he'd have known right away that a lover of toys in a spooky castle is just screaming "red flag." [Image: Konami]
The Elder Scrolls Online beta is absolutely nothing special
I've always had a profound antipathy toward the Elder Scrolls franchise. Part of this may very well be timing; the first three major installments released when I didn't have a computer that could handle them (I was generally more of a console gamer), and so I've no memories of happily chugging away across Tamriel as a young lad to sustain me. But I've also never seen anything that's reached out and grabbed me, no inspiring bits of lore, no systems that particularly grab my interest, just the promise that "you can do anything you want" without a great deal of encouragement. The point I'm making here is that the franchise is not my jam. But that's part of the reason I wanted to try out The Elder Scrolls Online in the first place. Sure, at a glance, it seemed like a fairly generic fantasy RPG that had the weight of a franchise behind it, but that's an evaluation based on nothing but bits of story and gameplay videos. So I settled in over the past weekend to play the beta and see what all the fuss was about, to give it a more fair evaluation than one based simply on the name of the franchise and what I saw at a glance.
Lightning Returns to an 'evolved' battle system in latest trailer
Square Enix offered a new trailer for Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy 13 today, showing flashes of the game's combat system. The sequel to the sequel of the 2010 RPG features skill-changing equipment customization options as well as tactics like evade, overwhelm and stagger, emphasizing strategic methods of ripping enemies apart. The trailer also includes a brief glimpse at Lightning's confrontation with Caius Ballad, a character first seen in the previous game. Lightning Returns will launch on February 11 in North America and February 14 in Europe for PS3 and Xbox 360. The game's demo and pre-order bonuses were revealed earlier this week, so players can check it out for themselves.
New Rambo: The Video Game trailer shows helicopter genocide
Rambo: The Video Game has a new reel of gameplay available to watch. Really, we could just end this post there. But we won't, because then we couldn't tell you about the features being touted for the upcoming first-person shooter. For example, we couldn't tell you about the stealth bow-and-arrow takedowns. We couldn't tell you that the game features environmental destruction, including caves collapsing and huts being blown to smithereens. We couldn't talk about the QTEs that, even when performed early, seem to impose no punishment on the player. And we definitely couldn't talk about how much Rambo seems to hate helicopters. Seriously. Dude shoots a lot of helicopters. You'll be able to see for yourself when you Sylvester Stall-own Rambo: The Video Game later this year.
EVE Evolved: Has colonisation been forgotten?
At last year's EVE Online Fanfest, CCP revealed its ambitious plan to take the game where no sandbox MMO has ever gone before: full deep space colonisation. The plan will be delivered over the next five years and will end with the incredibly exciting vision of players building their own stargates and colonising brand-new solar systems that lie off the grid. Rubicon was intended as the first step toward this glorious plan, and its new focus on deployable sandbox structures certainly seemed to be introducing a more player-directed form of colonisation. I've been cautiously optimistic about the whole endeavour so far, but five years is hell of a long time to wait for that vision to come to fruition. Rubicon's Mobile Depot structure was a great first step toward player-run empires on all scales, but none of the recently announced Rubicon 1.1 deployables has continued along the same theme of colonisation and exploration. The Mobile Micro Jump Drive and Mobile Scan Inhibitor structures I looked at last week provide extra tactical options in PvP, and the three new structures revealed this week are all designed to steal money and resources from nullsec corporations. In this week's EVE Evolved, I ask whether the newly revealed Encounter Surveillance System and alternate Siphon Units are a step in the wrong direction. With games like Star Citizen and Elite: Dangerous on the way, CCP may not have five years to deliver the promise of colonisation.
Atomic Poison Ivy vine-whips opponents in Infinite Crisis trailer
Turbine's heroic MOBA Infinite Crisis will include Atomic Poison Ivy as a playable character. The latest trailer explains the newest Champion's skills, which will be showcased when the free-to-play game launches this year. Turbine is still accepting participants in its beta program.
SOCOM spiritual successor H-Hour gets pre-alpha trailer
Pre-alpha action for H-Hour: World's Elite was shown off in trailer form today. The developer, SOF Studios, stressed that the tactical shooter hasn't been tuned or polished yet, so the smaller details seen in the teaser video are best viewed in a more forgiving light. The game comes from former SOCOM Creative Director David Sears, who earned $252,662 on Kickstarter in July 2013 to develop what he called a "spiritual successor" to the series. H-Hour: World's Elite is a team-based PC and PS4 game, and as such it will feature community and clan management support. The multiplayer shooter is currently aiming to enter its beta program in July 2014, launching in full on PC in January 2015, according to the reward tiers on its Kickstarter page.
Here's a 20-minute video explaining how Mega Man The Board Game works
Jasco Games has put together a new video explaining how its Mega Man board game operates. The 20-minute video takes viewers through basic turns in the game, which is officially licensed from Capcom. Mega Man The Board Game reached its $70,000 goal on Kickstarter rather quickly back in mid-December 2013, and earned more than $160,000 in its first 24 hours on the crowdfunding platform. The board game has 10 days left in its campaign to reach stretch goals like Time Man and Oil Man 12-card pack add-ons. The project is sitting at $294,712 in funding. Standard versions of the game, which start at $70, are expected to ship in October.
Watch two whole minutes of Mario Kart 8 right here
Actually, make that two minutes and four seconds of high-octane Nintendon't-know-how-to-slow-down kart racing. Mario Kart 8 will launch in spring 2014 on Wii U and will feature new buggy-type vehicles, as announced during today's Nintendo Direct livestream.
Yoshi's Island Zone is one of two Sonic: Lost World DLC stages, out now
Sonic: Lost World will receive two pieces of downloadable content on Wii U, Nintendo President Satoru Iwata announced during today's Nintendo Direct livestream. The DLC stages will be based on Nintendo properties, the first being a level pulling inspiration and elements from Yoshi's New Island, Nintendo's 3DS entry in the series due out in spring 2014. Called Yoshi's Island Zone, the first piece of DLC is available now for free, and has Sonic "speeding through areas filled with pipes, coins, Shy Guys and Piranha Plants." A brief look at the level can be found in the archived Nintendo Direct presentation.
Yoshi's New Island arriving in spring 2014 [Update: Trailer added]
Nintendo announced that Yoshi's New Island will launch in spring 2014 for 3DS during today's Nintendo Direct livestream. What's more, the series' original creator Takashi Tezuka is working on the project. Yoshi's New Island was first announced in June and was originally expected to launch this holiday season. Nintendo President Satoru Iwata also announced a new Wii U action game known as Hyrule Warriors during the stream.
.jpg.cf.jpg)
'Hyrule Warriors' 3D action game announced for Wii U [Update: Trailer added]
Nintendo announced Hyrule Warriors during today's Nintendo Direct livestream. Gameplay video for the Wii U action game showed The Legend of Zelda's Link hacking and slashing enemies with an over-the-shoulder camera angle similar to the Dynasty Warriors series. Nintendo President Satoru Iwata stressed that the game is not a new installment in The Legend of Zelda series, but is a collaborative effort with Tecmo Koei. Hyrule Warriors, which is not the game's final name, will launch in 2014.
Dying Light hits the streets in nighttime gameplay video
This gameplay walkthrough video for Dying Light, which is nearly ten minutes long, guides players through the game's changes from day to night and shows the amped-up zombie threat as light in the game, well, dies out. The game will launch in 2014 for PC, Xbox 360, PS3, Xbox One and PS4.
Massively's hands-on with WildStar's Medic
My favorite classes in games are the ones that inspire spit-takes. The fact is that I don't really hate your bog-standard Warriors or Mages or whatever. But the classes that really get me interested are classes that demand that you explain what they do and how someone came up with that concept. Guild Wars has the Dervish, World of Warcraft has the Shaman, Final Fantasy XI has the Corsair -- they're flavorful, they're unique, and they're just plain neat. Combine that with my love of melee and WildStar's Medic had me from hello. I really like getting into the paint with things, I like the idea of a healer focused on getting up close and dancing, and I love the idea that medics balance between being doctors and technological shock troops. So jumping into the beta, I was happy to dive into the shoes of the doctor and start doing a whole lot of harm to anyone and everyone who opposed the Dominion.
Square Enix offers up five Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD trailers
Square Enix unleashed five trailers for its Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster remakes today. The trailers hone in on two of the games' chraracters, Wakka and Rikku, and also show battles and blitzball matches, both prettier than their respective PS2 games. The final video of the bunch highlights the first game's iconic moment between Yuna and Tidus at the Holy Springs. The PS3 version of the remastered compilation was delayed to March 18, 2014 in North America and March 21 in Europe with details of the Vita version's new release date yet to come. Square Enix is on track to launch both on December 26 in Japan.
Mew-Genics wants you to hoard attribute-boosting furniture
Team Meat recently unveiled another aspect of Mew-Genics' gameplay: furniture collecting. Super Meat Boy creator Edmund McMillen discussed the game's furniture system in a blog post on the game's site, drawing comparisons to Nintendo's Animal Crossing series. In Mew-Genics, players acquire furniture through Baby Jack's store then place it in a room in their house. Each piece of furniture, which belongs to one of five "types," influences a variety of stats in the game, from disease rates to each cat's life span. The five types of furniture are large, medium, small, wall furniture and those belonging to item sets. Team Meat says Mew-Genics will include 750 pieces of furniture in total, not including rare alternates for each one. The cat genetics and breeding game will launch in 2014 for Steam, iOS and Android.
Push two cats together to create a new one in Mew-Genics
Team Meat's Edmund McMillen recently attempted to explain how the Super Meat Boy developer's next game, Mew-Genics, operates. Naturally, McMillen opted to describe the game in webcomic form, noting that it is about "cat genetics and the forced evolution of the most adaptive species on this whole planet." The comic illustrates players' ability in the breeding game to mash two cats together in order to create a new kitten, care for them as well as enter them into battles and pageant-style contests. Team Meat previously referred to Mew-Genics as a "cat lady sim" that blends elements of "The Sims and Pokemon with a sprinkling of Animal Crossing and a dash of Tamagotchi." McMillen likened Mew-Genics to an unreleased Nintendo game called Cabbage that was in development by Earthbound creator Shigesato Itoi and Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto for the canceled Nintendo 64DD system. Cabbage was a multiplayer breeding game that was expected to allow players to take their creature on the go with their Game Boy systems. Mew-Genics is in development for Steam, iOS and Android, and will launch in 2014.
Guild Wars 2 developer preview livestream delves into Fractured update
Guild Wars 2 is focusing on the Fractals in its upcoming Fractured update, which is slated to go live tomorrow, November 26th. But if you just absolutely cannot wait even one more day without absorbing every available bit of information you can find, then you might be interested in the recording of ArenaNet's official Fractured developer preview that was livestreamed earlier today. In the video, developers Anthony Ordon and Jake Miller give players a firsthand look at some of the new content they can expect to experience when Fractured goes live. The video is over half an hour long, so the sheer breadth of features and details covered is nearly impossible to summarize, but rest assured that there will be plenty of Fractal goodness. So make yourself comfy, settle in, and head on past the cut for the full video.
The first Dyscourse gameplay video shows how to not kill a boar
Dyscourse is a quirky survival game that developer Owlchemy Labs promises is heavy on narrative and player choice – and finally we can see what all of that means. The first gameplay video of Dyscourse follows Rita and a few crabby tourists as they attempt to survive in the wasteland where their plane crashed, narrated by Owlchemy founder Alex Schwartz. Dyscourse is looking for $40,000 on Kickstarter and has 13 days to go, with $19,000 in the bank. When Owlchemy launched the campaign, Schwartz told us that player choice in Dyscourse really, really mattered. Really.
