Monthly Archives: January 2015
Fallout Creator Announces New Bard’s Tale Sequel
With Wasteland 2 released and Torment: Tides of Nemenera on the way, Brian Fargo is returning to yet another classic franchise for his team's next project: The Bard's Tale IV.
After creating his own studio in 2002, Fargo began work on The Bard's Tale, a comical reimagining of the franchise's tropes, that would release in 2004. The Bard's Tale IV is a proper sequel, though, marking the first since 1988's The Bard's Tale III: Thief of Fate.
"This project has always been really personal to me," Fargo told IGN. "It was a game that put both me and Interplay on the map, back in the day. And it's also the franchise that launched inXile."
InXile Entertainment is planning a Kickstarter for The Bard's Tale IV. Details about the game are still light, but Fargo did say the team will be pulling from the original as far as overarching ideas go. From a story perspective, players will be returning to Skara Brae, where it all began. But on the gameplay side of things, Fargo is planning a deviation.
Why Assassin’s Creed: Unity Deserves a Second Chance
Ubisoft’s crown jewel of the holiday release season received a lukewarm reception, as word leaked out before launch day that Assassin’s Creed: Unity was a buggy, unfinished mess. Framerates were troubling, occasionally faces wouldn’t render, there were issues with connecting to servers — a laundry list of fixes were needed. A day-one patch helped in some areas, while others still required urgent attention.
Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns Expansion Announced
ArenaNet has revealed the first expansion pack for its popular MMO Guild Wars 2, titled Crown of Thorns.
Taking to the stage today at a PAX South panel, co-founder Mike O'Brien and game direction Colin Johanson revealed the Maguuma Jungle will be the setting of the new content, promising some of the deepest and most detailed content we've seen.
Unusually for an expansion pack, the developer has revealed it will not be raising the level cap in order to make sure all gear and old content is still relevant. The team has never wanted to focus on the so-called "gear treadmill", but promised endgame character progression will change through the new Masteries system.
Put simply, the Masteries system will enable you to survive in the jungle and facing its new foes. These skills and abilities will then be used in new group challenges. New profession specialisations will also be available. In essence, the expansion serves as a new vision for endgame progression in the title.
Which Game At PAX South Made Us Feel Like Ninjas?
I love it when a plan comes together. Not like, Thanksgiving dinner plans; ninjas don't make those kinds of plans, and I am clearly a ninja. Or at least, that's how playing Ronin for 15 minutes at PAX South made me feel. It's control scheme, and mix between real-time movement and turn-based elements takes a little figuring out, but once it clicks, it's incredibly satisfying.
I'll be honest, I made a pretty lackluster ninja my first time through. General movement happens in real-time, but as soon as you encounter enemies, or start platforming, the game pauses and becomes turn-based, allowing you to plan your leaps and attacks with nin-nin precision. And plan you must, because doing un-ninja-like things such as killing civilians, or using doors you could have otherwise circumvented will hurt your score tremendously.
Mortal Kombat X Dev Teases More Character Reveals
Mortal Kombat series co-creator Ed Boon is teasing that up to two new characters from Mortal Kombat X could be revealed in a NetherRealm Studios live stream scheduled for January 29.
Viewers can catch the live stream on NetherRealm's Twitch channel. It begins at 1pm (PST), 3pm (CST), and 4pm (EST), and will include a gameplay demonstration and at least one character reveal, according to a tweet from Boon today. A follow-up tweet mentions the possibility of two character reveals and new videos.
Fighting Trolls In Social Justice Warriors
The first thing I thought, feared even, when I saw a sign for a game called Social Justice Warriors on the PAX South show floor, was that it was the first in an incoming wave of games decrying the the so-called "social justice" movement in the gaming community, or as I like to call it "being generally not-crappy to one another." Happily, it's the farthest thing from it.
Speaking to its creator, Eric Ford, was refreshing, if for no other reason than that his goal isn't so much to "fight the good fight," but to elevate the way gamers, critics, and everyone in-between have the conversation. In Social Justice Warriors, the most effective way to "defeat" your opponent isn't always the right one.
Dungeon Defenders 2’s Triumphant Return From Development Hell
It's been a long road for the team at Trendy Entertainment and Dungeon Defenders 2. Like many developers do, they found themselves in a situation where they'd gone a long way down the wrong path (in this case, making Dungeon Defenders 2 a MOBA). Unlike most developers though, they tossed out over a year's worth of work and decided to do what they, and their fans really wanted: a true successor to the original, critically acclaimed and highly successful Dungeon Defenders.
I had a chance to chat with the game's Senior Producer, Brad Logston about Dungeon Defender 2's long path here, and where it's headed in the future. "We heard a resounding 'guys we want a real DD1 successor, not a MOBA...'" he said, referencing the first time Trendy showed Dungeon Defenders 2 in MOBA form to he public. I know that's how I felt when I first heard it was going the MOBA route, and I was elated when I first found out they had changed directions. I spent a lot of time playing DD1 on consoles, and I was hungry for them to more fully explore the possibilities of that Dungeon Defenders, rather than re-invent it entirely.
Tech Fetish Episode 221: Windows 10 Event Recap
The Tech Fetish crew is joined this week by returning guest member Adam Barenblat for a discussion about this week's Windows 10 announcements: we chat about Cortana, Continuum, and the newly announced HoloLens augmented-reality headset, as well as other things like Microsoft's history of breaking hearts.
(For Xbox/PC gaming discussion, we ran out of time - so tune into Podcast Unlocked next week, when Alaina makes her first guest appearance!)
Flash Sale Discounts Indie Games on PS4, PS3, Vita
Starting today and ending on Monday, January 26 at 9am PT, several indie games will be available at discounted prices during the PlayStation Network's flash sale.
Resogun, Shadow Warrior, Contrast, Costume Quest 2, and Fez are some of the games available for the PlayStation 4, while Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, Castle Crashers, Dead Nation, OlliOlli, and Tokyo Jungle are a handful of the games currently discounted on PlayStation 3.
Several games on PlayStation Vita are on sale as well, including Guacamelee!, The Unfinished Swan, When Vikings Attack, and OlliOlli.
To see the full list of games in the flash sale, visit the PlayStation Blog.
Borderlands 3 Announcement Teased At PAX South
Gearbox is going to have something to say about the next full title in the Borderlands franchise at their Borderlands panel this Sunday at PAX South.
This comes straight from Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford, who teased the announcement when answering a fan's question during Gearbox's Q&A panel earlier today. No details were given, and he didn't even confirm the game as being called "Borderlands 3," so we still don't know where or when in the Borderlands timeline it takes place, but perhaps we'll get some more clues this weekend.
The panel at which the announcement will take place will happen at 5:00pm Central Time. We'll be there filming it, so check back at IGN to get the skinny.