It’s time for Xbox One and PlayStation 4 Trove players to get ready to head underground. The Delves update has finally arrived on both systems, offering players the chance to explore the darkest depths of the Trove world — alone or as a group. Consisting of three unique modes, available in public or private, Delves can be explored by a single individual or as many as eight players in a group.
As mentioned in a previous post, challenge rewards previously earned by players completing the Shadow Tower can now be obtained via Delves. Also, a new tier of gear has been added — Crystal 4. The update also reworks some of the game’s classes, particularly Tomb Raiser which has been overhauled.
In the ninth month, the adventure of Kratos and his son will be retold in the form of a picture book called God of War: B is for Boy.
God of War has useful things to teach players, but those who are a little older because the game is suitable for adult audiences. For the younger ones to understand the story, Insight Editions, in collaboration with the game's creators, has prepared an official picture book called God of War: B is For Boy.
The picture book reliably recounts the events of the game, focusing on the relationship between father and son through their facial expressions and body language. Here and there some things could be interpreted as violent, but nothing more than the violence as propagated in Tom & Jerry cartoons, for example.
The picture book will go on sale on September 1 this year and will cost $ 17.
In the third Shadow Warrior, the legendary Lo Wang will catch a dragon in neo-feudal Japan, exclusively on the PC platform.
We knew he was coming and here he is finally - Shadow Warrior 3 has been announced. Fallen shogun Lo Wang and his assistant Orochi Zilla are returning on an incredible mission to capture an ancient dragon that has escaped from its eternal prison. The gameplay in the trio is described as a "symphony of death" and is still based on a combination of katana and firearms, running along walls and dismembering demonic forces from Japanese folklore.
Developer Flying Wild Hog, responsible for the previous two games, is working on the game, and it was announced exclusively for the PC platform, and the planned release is in 2021. We got a trailer in which we can see what the game looks like, but for the specific gameplay, we will still have to wait until July 11, when the game will be shown at 9 pm as part of the Devolver Digital conference.
The characters in the remake of the original Mafia will sound different - because the roles of the old characters have been given to completely new actors.
Mafia: Definitive Edition will not only deliver a new outfit to the cult game but will change or expand a lot of things in it. This includes the presentation of the characters themselves, primarily the protagonist Tommy Angel. Namely, it has been confirmed that the cast in the remake will be completely new, and it was built around actor Andrew Bongiorno, who will replace Michael Sorvin in the role of the main character.
The reason why the actors changed is that the creators of the Definitive Edition could not use the old materials, and although they initially considered the idea of hiring an old cast, they concluded that too much time had passed since the original game. The voices of the actors have changed and it would no longer be convincing. Sorvino is 42 years old and could probably easily reprise the role of Tommy Angel, but it was concluded that the chemistry among the actors would be better if this is the first encounter with the Mafia series for all the actors.
That is, the story holds for the English localization of the play - in the case of the Czech localization, the main character will again be played by actor Marek Vasut, and several other actors will reprise roles from the first play.
Another reason for this change is that for Mafia: Definitive Edition, it’s not just actors who would lend their voice to the characters in the game (as was once required for the original Mafia). Instead, we are also looking for actors who can act out certain emotions through facial expressions, because today's technology is still able to show more than was possible twenty years ago.
Tomorrow is America’s birthday, so it only makes sense that Captain America might show up in Fortnite. Based on the video it seems he’s arriving via the Bifrost. The First Avenger is now available in the game’s shop — or, rather his outfit and two items are.
Right now, all players can pick up Cap’s Outfit along with his Proto-Adamantium Pickaxe (Cap’s Shield) and Back Bling. There’s also the Grand Salute Emote, which involves a lot of fireworks. You can see the emote in action on the Fortnite site.
Ubisoft has started the reveal for Hyper Scape, a free-to-play sci-fi shooter set in a futuristic virtual city called Neo Arcadia, with select streamers showing off the game right now in advance of the “official” reveal. I’ve been watching Sacriel get my first impressions, and here’s what I’ve learned after checking out a few matches, with a little additional information gleaned from the official reveal.
At its core, the game is a battle royale you can play solo or in a three-player squad, akin to Apex Legends – or maybe that’s just the mode I’ve been watching, called Crown Rush. It takes place in a virtual-reality city, where you have to find weapons and abilities and fight to become the last team standing or claim and hold the Crown for 45 seconds after the map has shrunk down to a single sector.
None of that sounds too original, but Hyper Scape looks to have a few new twists to the battle royale formula. Since the game isn’t set in the “real” world, some abilities, known as “hacks,” are fittingly over-the-top and fantastical. They include:
Wall: Lets you create a very large, opaque wall that can only be busted through with melee attacks.
Slam: Jets you very high in the air – above multi-story buildings – and then back down to the ground with extreme velocity.
Ball: Turns you into a ball that you can then bounce off other players.
Armor: Makes you invulnerable for a few seconds.
As well as Invisibility and Healing abilities that do about what you’d expect. You can equip two abilities at the same time. Weapons include the usual mix of pistols, assault rifles, sniper rifles, and so on. Both abilities and weapons level up if you grab multiple copies of them.
When you die, you become a ghostly “echo” that can still move around the map and grant intel to allies. (Of course, there’s a ping system.) If you get to the location where another player died, your ally can come there and rez you.
As for the “Twitch integration” that Ubisoft was promoting, it comes in the form of voting during the match that lets viewers determine special events during the match. It requires a Twitch plug-in to be equipped by the streamer, and if nobody has one, an event is chosen randomly.
Finally, let’s talk about the presentation of the game, which is superb. The graphics and sound are AAA-quality, and there are a few nifty effects that enhance the experience and make you feel like you’re really in a virtual city. When you swap weapons, your current one disappears and the new one “forms” out of polygons and appears in your hand. Additionally, a closed-off sector doesn’t sport the ubiquitous “green fog” of other battle royales but instead gets a polygon-laden texture to make it appear like the program you’re a part of is bugging out. By not relying on a “ring” to close in around players, the playable map can be less symmetrical, as well.
All in all, I’ve got a positive first impression of Hyper Scape, though I’ll freely admit that I probably won’t be very good at it. It’s very fast-moving, and the wide range of abilities makes for fast-paced and frenzied battles. It’s eminently watchable, and the Twitch integration should only help it become a fave on that platform.
For now, you can get into the game by viewing streams that are playing the game and linking your Twitch account to Ubisoft. As was the case with Riot and Valorant, this is more about marketing than it is about testing – expect to see “Hyper Scape drew millions of Twitch viewers!” headlines in a week or two – but it’s the only way to try it for now. Previous reports had the game’s full launch coming July 12, so you might only need to wait just a little while to get into it for real.
It’s that time again. The Magic: Legends dev team is back with another behind-the-scenes look at another one of the game’s environments. This time, we get a peek at Tazeen, the jungle continent found in the plane of Zendikar.
The post explains how the developers needed to make their zone design work with the set camera angle of the game, requiring them to use lower areas to convey the denseness of the jungle. Since players will not be able to look up in Magic: Legends, the developers needed to find a way to make players feel like they were in a massive dungeon with tall trees covering them in a canopy obstructing the sunlight. To do this, they used a combination of lighting tricks and placing thin items that give the illusion of height.
The post also explains how they created vistas using silhouettes and fog and how they chose to light the jungles. If the screenshots are anything to go by, the devs have been rather successful in creating an interesting jungle environment filled with ruins, impressive views, and more. As always, this is another one of those dev posts that will be of great interest to anyone fascinated with game design and you’ll want to read it in full on the game’s site.
The Elder Scrolls Online, which recently celebrated the
launch of its Greymoor DLC – the largest expansion yet in Zenimax’s Dark Heart
of Skyrim expansion – is officially coming to Stadia later this month. The
port, which has reportedly been in development for some time, is due to launch
on the 16th of June. With the release date nearing, Zenimax and Bethesda are
reassuring fans that playing ESO on Stadia will be a smooth experience.
Elder Scrolls Online’s Stadia Port Launches This Month
“We’ve been working on this for a while,” says Eric Buhlman,
the project manager tasked with bringing Elder Scrolls Online to Stadia; “From
the dev perspective, there are some challenges there. One of the benefits we
had was that we were working on the integration alongside Google building out
pieces of the platform. So that have us a unique opportunity to solve some of
those challenges together.”
When The Elder Scrolls Online launches on Stadia in just
under two weeks’ time, the game will be available to play for anybody with a
Stadia subscription. This version of the game will also include the Morrowind
expansion for free. However, all other expansions will remain paid DLC, as they
are on other platforms. One of the game’s biggest draws is likely to be the
fact that it supports cross-progression. As such, existing ESO players will be
able to transfer their data with ease to and from Stadia and their usual
platform of choice. This transferal includes all account details and owned
expansions, of course.
According to Buhlman, the performance of ESO on Stadia is
“roughly” similar to its performance on console. However, the shift to Stadia
does mean that the MMORPG will be available on certain devices for the first
time, including mobile. “The first time I saw it on a phone was a really cool
experience,” says Buhlman; “The UI scales really well right out of the box.
It’s hard to imagine until you see it. It’s smooth. It’s working.”
We still have a little while, but Bless Unleashed is on its way to PC. Round8 Studio and Neowiz announced the upcoming release in a press release earlier today, stating we can expect it to launch in early 2021. Before that, there will be the obligatory beta test period beginning sometime this fall. Exact dates haven’t been provided.
Also not included in the press release is information on exactly how much of the game will make it to PC at launch. So, for now, there’s no telling whether PC content will release alongside Xbox One content or if the Xbox One version will roll out ahead of PC. The most recent Xbox One update, Saurin Deception, released earlier this week, so it seems likely PC players can expect at least that much. Of course, those wanting to keep track of the upcoming launch can keep an eye on the Bless Unleashed PC site.
Star Trek Online‘s 20th Season update — House Divided — is here, and as promised Cryptic Studios is giving a lot of love to the Klingons. This update is the beginning of the “Year of Klingon” and picks up where the Age of Discovery storyline left off, following the machinations of J’ula and her allies in the year 2411.
Of course, fans will recognize some of the voices that appear in this expansion as those of favorite actors from one (or several) of the Star Trek TV series. J.G. Hertzler is returning to his role as Martok, and another favorite — Robert O’Reilly, the voice of Gowron in Next Generation and Deep Space 9 — will make his first appearance in the game as the voice Gowron’s ancestor Aakar.
As a special treat, Cryptic offered us the opportunity to (virtually) sit down with Mr. O’Reilly and talk with him about taking over the role of Aakar in STO as well as the Star Trek universe in general. We’ll be posting that as a separate piece tomorrow, so keep an eye out for that.
Just as Cryptic promised back in May, the Year of Klingon and its related updates will do more than just add content. It also updates the in-game Klingon experience. Players will find the tutorial has been given a visual workup, including new cutscenes and voice-overs. Several of the Klingon characters, including J’Mpok, Adet’pa, Kagran, and Worf, have had their models updated as well.
And yes, there is new content to explore — such as a new TFO, new Patrols, and two new episodes. More information on all of this is available on the STO site.
