Monthly Archives: June 2015
June Car Pack for Forza Horizon 2 Now Available
The June Car Pack for Forza Horizon 2 is now available, featuring six new cars for the game (one of which is free to all Forza Horizon 2 owners).
The Duracell Car Pack, available only for the Xbox One version of the game, boasts another eclectic smattering of vehicles from the US, Europe, and Japan. It includes the brand new 2015 Chevrolet Camaro Z/28, the 375-hp twin-turbo V6 2001 Audi RS 4 Avant, the highly-regarded 1995 BMW M5, the feisty 1991 Honda CR-X SiR, and the hand-built 1972 Mazda Cosmo Sport 110 Series II. Also present is the 1990 Lotus Carlton, a cult favourite and the fastest sedan in the world upon its release. The Carlton is free to download.
The June Car Pack is available now for USD$5 / AUD$6.65 / £4 on the Xbox Store or through the Forza Hub app for Xbox One.
There are Massive Tubular Plasma Structures Moving above Earth
University of Sydney undergraduate student Cleo Loi has proven that massive, invisible plasma tubes move about in Earth’s skies above.
Theorized by scientists for more than 60 years, the existence of the tubular plasma structures has never been proven until now. The research team confirmed the existence of the funnels by creatively using the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA) radio telescope to see large patches of the sky in 3D.
“This is like turning the telescope into a pair of eyes, and by that we were able to probe the 3D nature of these structures and watch them move around,” Loi, lead author on the research, said in a press release. The MWA's rapid snapshot capabilities were also exploited to capture real-time motions of the plasma.
Beyond: WTF is Going on with Vita?
This week, we talk about the state of the Vita, chances that XCOM 2 will come to PS4, and just what the hell Sony's first-party studios are up to. Max is out sick, so Marty, Goldfarb, Brian, and Jared take the helm once again to dribble their weird words into your ears.
Podcast Beyond, Episode 397 (MP3)
Turok Designer Starts Kickstarter to Fund a Graphic Novel
Turok senior designer Tim Lewinson has launched a Kickstarter campaign with three other creators for a graphic novel involving dinosaur mayhem.
Described as "Jurassic Park meets Black Hawk Down," Savage Empire tells the story of a disaster-torn west coast after a series of earthquakes causes massive amounts of destruction and portals to appear and allow passage to all manner of destructive prehistoric beasts.
The book is planned to be 64 pages in length, and a full script has already been completed. According to the team, they need the Kickstarter funding to help get the book illustrated and colored. An 8-page prologue is available for backers who contribute a minimum of $25.
Rumor: Solo, Fett Up for Star Wars Anthology #2
The feud between Han Solo and the bounty hunter Boba Fett may finally be explored at length in the second Star Wars Anthology film.
Schmoes Know has a report on multiple rumors about the two taking center stage in the film. According to the site's source, the Anthology film is targeted to debut in 2018 to follow 2016's Star Wars: Rogue One spin-off. Iron Man 1 and 2 director John Favreau and X-Men: First Class director Matthew Vaughn are both said to be circling the project. The second Star Wars Anthology film saw its original director, Fantastic Four's Josh Trank, drop out last month.
Prison Break Could Be Returning to TV
Prison Break may be getting revived by FOX.
According to TVLine, the popular drama series starring Wentworth Miller and Dominic Purcell could be returning to television in the form of a limited-series revival spanning approximately twelve episodes, a la 24: Live Another Day. Both Miller and Purcell are expected to return if the series gets the greenlight.
Dominic Purcell and Wentworth Miller in Prison Break.
Godzilla Gains Japanese Citizenship
It's official: Godzilla is now a resident of Japan.
Specifically of Tokyo's Shinjuku neighborhood, where city officials have drawn up residency papers celebrating the giant lizard's citizenship. 5,000 copies of his residency papers have been printed and are being given to Godzilla fans on a first come, first served basis.
RocketNews reports his papers say the following:
Name: Godzilla
Address: Shinjuku-ku, Kabuki-cho, 1-19-1
Date of birth: April 9, 1954
Date of becoming a Shinjuku resident: April 9, 2015
The Future of the Marvel Universe Revealed in July
If you're eager to learn what shape the Marvel Universe will take after Secret Wars, you won't have much longer to wait. Today Marvel announced a free magazine called "All-New, All-Different Marvel Previews" that will offer readers their first glimpse of the stories and characters that will headline the Marvel U. this fall.
The magazine will be made available in comics shops on Wednesday, July 1, with a digital version to follow after. It's not clear what the actual contents of the magazine will be, but Marvel's press release teases, "Exciting teams, dynamic characters, deadly villains, dazzling creators and more will be revealed!"
Arrested Development Season 5 Coming Next Year
Arrested Development will return to Netflix in mid-2016, according to producer Brian Grazer.
Grazer explained the timeline on the Adam Carolla Show podcast (via TheWrap). Production is set to begin after January 1, and the new episodes would hit Netflix about four months after that.
The producer also recently revealed that the next season will be 17 episodes long. The previous Netflix season was 15 episodes.
“Netflix is determined to do more episodes, so we’re going to do more episodes,” Grazer said.
The Emmy-winning comedy ran from 2003-2006 on FOX, and earned a cult following that prompted Netflix to revive it in 2013. Scheduling conflicts led the season to focus on individual characters instead of a large ensemble, though the plan is said to try to return to the original format for Season 5.
Interloper Review
Developer Monogon Games describes Interloper as a real-time strategy game with five-minute matches, but I would call it an RTS for people who hate the genre. This quirky example features all of the catchy conquering, tactical thinking, and fast-paced combat of the average real-time strategy game without being burdened by the base building, resource management, and game duration that scare off some of the potential audience. Toss in puzzle-like maps, an unusual setting, and faintly surreal visuals and sound, and you have a pick-up-and-play RTS for the masses that even genre veterans can appreciate for its innovations and challenge.
Simplicity is Interloper’s greatest asset. This is a two-player game in which you battle the AI or an online human opponent on small and slightly-less-small maps that never feature more than a handful of key assets to claim. The main unit is a Sentinel, a big mama that looks like a manta ray or some kind of microscopic bug, depending on which of the three tribes you are controlling (the appearance of Sentinels and color are all that differentiate the factions). Your goal is to swim through the fluid-filled corridors of each map (which are colorful and cute here, but would probably be gooey and gross in reality), claiming domain as you go. After you pass, tunnels turn your faction’s color, reminding me of ʼ80s arcade classic Crush Roller. Taking 75 percent of a map results in an instant win, which isn’t particularly easy as the enemy Sentinel and his pals are doing the exact same thing as you.
Maps feature a small number of key control points that are claimed by Sentinels. You provide juice to unit-producing centers called Assemblers by connecting them to local Power Sources, at which point they begin to automatically crank out Drones. In keeping with the quasi-organic appearance of the game, these core units look like spermatozoa...or tadpoles, depending on how you look at these things. Drones can then be used as shock troops to attack enemies en masse, or sent over to the only other building, the seed pod-resembling Factory. Here, multiple Drones are turned into the game’s three other unit types. Defenders absorb three hits of damage, making them great guards. Snipers automatically blast enemies from a distance with a recharging shot. And Destroyers serve as assault tanks that can take three hits as well, while also regenerating over time.
Movement and combat are straightforward. Basic units block Sentinels. They can phase past them, but are powerless when phased and cannot materialize back in until they reach neutral or already conquered domain. Unfriendly and neutral terrain causes automatic damage to traveling units. So you can’t tank-rush enemies without first laying down some serious friendly color on maps. Unprotected Sources can be taken over by the Sentinel in just a few moments, but Assemblers and Factories are off-limits while connected to a Source. Battles are simple wars of attrition. Drones kill each other one-to-one, so en masse assaults are a matter of simple math. Same goes with the other specialized units, which all come with set numbers of hit points noted above.
Simplicity is Interloper’s greatest asset.
The action reads more complicated than it plays. Matches are incredibly likable, compelling affairs. They move quickly, but they aren’t rapid-fire challenges to your carpal tunnel like so many other real-time games. I always had time to think before moving. This is good, because sober second thought is paramount when capturing and protecting those oh-so-valuable and oh-so-vulnerable Sources while also covering all avenues of enemy assault. Maps have a puzzle or even a bit of a board-game vibe, due to their layout and those maze-like corridors of goo. What you conquer and when you conquer are big factors as to how the war plays out.
Despite Interloper’s simple structure and quick matches, there are a lot of RTS basics under the hood here. Taking too much territory at the start of matches is a big mistake, for example. Whenever I ventured too far into the map to grab one more Source or one more Assembler, the enemy Sentinel crept in behind me to take over assets before I could get Drones produced to protect them. It’s a quick game, but trying to go too fast and steamroll the enemy isn’t a good idea.
Smart unit deployment is another essential. Even the three specialty units offer a lot of tactical depth. I loved using Snipers, which can be brutally effective at preventing enemy attacks and blowing away Drones on their way to enemy Factories. Get a mass of Snipers in the right place--which isn’t always easy, as the enemy does this, too--and I could lock down maps in short order by setting up murderous choke points. Defenders were incredibly helpful in blocking enemy approach routes and guarding Sources. And Destroyers were perfect for late-game assaults that cleaned up large numbers of enemy Drones. I loved rolling them out in the end to obliterate the last remnants of my rival’s sperm army.
Enemy AI is generally excellent when playing solo, which features a campaign of sorts with an absolutely perfect series of tutorials along with skirmish. The AI can also be adjusted via multiple settings that up the general difficulty, add to aggression, and so forth. I was challenged on most maps by the default AI. I could quibble with some of the computer’s tactics: it would occasionally get bottled up early on, which led to almost instant destruction, but it never failed to move in on areas that I left unprotected. And it sure did beat me on a fairly regular basis. Multiplayer is something of a concern right now, however. Not many people are playing, making it tough to find a match. Since the single-player is limited when it comes to the number of maps, this could impact longevity. Still, for $10, you’re getting a lot of game here.
Sober second thought is paramount when capturing and protecting those oh-so-valuable and oh-so-vulnerable Sources.
The atmosphere is distinct. I was never sure if I was in some kind of parallel dimension, a microscopic world of bacteria, or a stoner’s daydream, but it worked. Everything is weird, but not too weird, and the aesthetics never interfere with gameplay. Colors nicely blend light and dark, as well, with everything getting brighter and brighter and even pulsing if you’re cruising to a win. Sound is as offbeat as the graphics. A techno score reminiscent of second-rate Tangerine Dream (yes, that’s a compliment) and brittle sound effects accompanying unit destruction adds an oddly fitting, yet oddly sterile, sci-fi mood.
Interloper distills the core elements of every good RTS and adds a little extra to put it over the top. No matter if you love or loathe traditional real-time strategy, the deep tactics and puzzle solving crammed into a nicely condensed package here come highly recommended.