Monthly Archives: March 2015
12 Monkeys’ Aaron Stanford on Cole’s Time Travel Struggles
Note: Spoilers for last week's 12 Monkeys follow.
12 Monkeys has continued to deliver a ton of twists and turns in its first season, and that continued in last week's episode, as Cole (Aaron Stanford) was stuck in the rubble from an explosion...
...only for him (and us!) to discover he'd jumped to the year 2017, after the plague he's been fighting to stop had already begun, in what was only the latest clever move the show has taken with its time travel storylines.
Aaron Stanford recently stopped by the IGN office, where I sat down with him to talk about 12 Monkeys, the show's use of time travel and much more - including his time on Nikita and in the X-Men films.
There Came An Echo Review
When I play There Came An Echo, I feel like an idiot. I'm sitting in a room, alone, and talking to my PC. "Miranda, move to alpha three," I say to my squad member in a snippy tone one would use to tell a dog to 'drop it'--in fact, it's the same tone I use to frustratingly say "Xbox, on" before just reaching for its power button. Sometimes, my PC listens, and Miranda chirps an affirmative confirmation before moving into position. At other times, nothing happens, and I have to wait a moment before trying the vocal command again--this time, slightly louder; this time, it's more of a demand. "Miranda. Move. To. Alpha. Three."
"You're a little too loud," the in-game character says, as she fails to react to my command once again. This only amplifies my frustration, making it harder to deliver my next order in a "quiet and collected manner" as the loading screen tips suggest. In There Came An Echo's real-time tactical battles, simply getting characters to move to appropriate spots on the top-down map can be an ordeal. That's because the game can be played almost entirely through voice control--aside from using the mouse or the arrow keys to pan the camera, every order can be spoken into a microphone. You can tell your units to move into position, focus on targets, switch weapons, and even queue up actions by following any command with "On my mark...".
When it all works, the game offers the kind of battlefield commander fantasy that is lost when just pointing and clicking to issue orders with the mouse. In order for it to work, there are so many factors that need to be just right. You need to issue the command at the right volume. You must clearly enunciate every syllable. Your microphone needs to be the correct distance from your mouth. There can't be too much background noise. On top of those, you'll need to spend a few missions calibrating the voice recognition system using the in-game options. Unfortunately, even with all these factors taken into account, the failure rate for voice commands being recognised is high enough to shatter that commander fantasy multiple times each mission.
There Came An Echo feels like it has been designed to allow for a degree of non-responsiveness. Characters exchange fire with futuristic energy weapons, whilst coming equipped with shields that absorb a significant amount of hits before you need to start worrying about their safety. Combat isn't fast and brutal; instead, you'll be whittling down health bars at a slow pace that plays nicely into the time it takes to issue vocal orders.
Your actual tactical freedom, however, is limited. You do not have direct control over your small squad; they can only be ordered to move to pre-determined waypoints on the map. Those waypoints are placed in obvious locations, and serve to dictate the way in which each encounter will play out. You occasionally have the opportunity to flank units and whittle their health down faster, or switch between slightly different weapon types, but by the time you're able to get the voice recognition system to work, the encounter is usually over--the enemies are dead, or all your squad members are down.
The failure rate for voice commands being recognised is high enough to shatter that commander fantasy
Though the voice commands are There Came An Echo's primary method of control, the same orders can also be issued with the mouse. You have no greater direct control over your units, however. Instead, you simply select text versions of the same voice commands from a radial menu. It's evident that there is no deeper quality to the game's tactical engagements when the problematic voice control system is removed. Once the novelty of having your voice recognised by the game wears off, there is little here to propel you through each mission.
The cutscenes that bookend each encounter don't fill that void, either. Though the voice acting is above average, the writing has characters constantly bickering and arguing over nothing, regularly cutting each other off and telling each other to "shut up" both in and out of missions. It feels like a woeful imitation of Archer's screwball character comedy antics. This dialogue also jars with the otherwise dark and serious nature of the convoluted plot, which deals with issues of over-surveillance and paranoia through excessive techno-babble.
Though the plot is poorly delivered, it provides an appropriate context for the role you assume as the omniscient commander. There is an eerie sensation when you realise your PC is actually listening to you. Unfortunately, far too often, it simply isn't.
Homefront: The Revolution Has Been Delayed
Homefront: The Revolution has been delayed until 2016.
It was originally thought Homefront: The Revolution would ship at some point during 2015, but that is no longer the case.
“Dambuster Studios are an extraordinarily talented group,” says Deep Silver CEO Dr. Klemens Kundratitz. “We are giving the team every opportunity to turn Homefront: The Revolution into a best-selling title, and have set a 2016 release date to provide them the time they need to achieve this. You can expect to hear more about the game later this year.”
Back in July, of 2014, Deep Silver revealed the company had purchased all rights to the Homefront IP and assets from Crytek UK. Deep Silver then went on to form a new development team by the name of Dambuster Studios, which is now in charge of seeing Homefront: The Revolution through to completion.
Bloodborne Goes Gold
Bloodborne, From Software's action role-playing game, has gone gold.
A Twitter post by Sony's That Kid Chris has confirmed development on the highly anticipated PS4 exclusive has wrapped.
Bloodborne Gone Gold event! A selection of goodies on display. With @giwamasa @YasuhiroKitao @yosp pic.twitter.com/dN7RoF5xdH
— That Kid Chris™ (@That_Kid_Chris) March 12, 2015
Author Terry Pratchett Dies Aged 66
Author Terry Pratchett has died, following a long battle with Alzheimer’s Disease. The acclaimed novelist – best known for his Discworld series – was 66.
Pratchett wrote more than 70 books, which sold over 85m copies and have been translated into 37 languages. His first novel - The Carpet People - was published in 1971, while the first of his Discworld efforts - The Colour of Magic - was published in 1983. He went onto write more than 40 books in the series, several of which were used as the basis for video games, role-playing games, TV shows and graphic novels.
Terry Pratchett with his Good Omens collaborator Neill Gaiman.
The Kwik-E-Mart Simpsons LEGO Set is Coming in May
The LEGO Group has announced The Simpsons Kwik-E-Mart set is coming this May.
The set includes a replica of the Kwik-E-Mart, complete with interior and side parts which can be opened, a dumpster, and a Springfield police car. In terms of figures, the set includes Apu, Bart, Homer, Marge, Chief Wiggum, and Snake Jailbird, who is exclusive to the set.
While there isn’t a specific release date yet, or pricing info, we’ll be sure to let you know once we hear anything.
Elite: Dangerous Gets a Leonard Nimoy Memorial Spacestation
Elite: Dangerous has released its own memorial to Star Trek legend Leonard Nimoy.
As documented by a user on Imgur, the memorial features a planet, named Vulcan, and a specially-designed Leonard Nimoy spacestation.
The memorial comes after the passing of Nimoy, aged 83, on February 27, 2015. According to Nimoy’s wife, Susan Bay Nimoy, the cause of death was end-stage chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
Cities: Skylines Sells 250,000 in First 24 Hours
Colossal Order and Paradox Interactive have announced its city-building sim Cities: Skylines has wracked up sales of 250,000 in its first 24 hours.
The number includes pre-orders and breaks the record for every other title in Paradox's stables over the same period of time. Considering the development team began life with just nine people on board, it's a remarkable achievement.
An antidote to the disappointment caused by 2013's SimCity, our review of Cities: Skylines (which, it should be noted, isn't part of the Cities series of games like Cities XXL made by Focus Home Interactive) gave the title an 8.5 after finding its huge, bustling cities to be incredible fun.
"Cities: Skylines is about the simple joy of building," wrote IGN's Dan Stapleton. "It’s a really impressive and often beautiful simulation, where an amazing number of virtual people go about their business across a huge swath of land. Getting in and creating something is easy, though mastering it will require extensive research on community wikis to understand why growth is stunted even when you address your citizens’ apparent concerns."
Forza Horizon 2 Getting Free Mazda MX-5 Car Pack DLC
Forza Horizon 2 is set to get another batch of free DLC, this time adding four Mazda MX-5 models spanning 20 years.
The DLC will be available from March 17, and includes the 1990 Mazda MX-5 Miata, the 2005 Mazda Mazdaspeed MX-5, the 2010 Mazda MX-5 Super20 and the 2016 Mazda MX-5 Miata.
Sonya Blade Confirmed For Mortal Kombat X
Sonya Blade has been revealed as the next classic fighter set to return in Mortal Kombat X.
A new trailer, which you can see below, confirms the legendary US Special Forces officer will be a playable kombatant as she fights alongside her daughter Cassie and ex-husband Johnny.
When we got to play through part of the game's Story Mode recently, we also faced off against Shinnok and Jax. Though neither have been confirmed as returning fighters, it does seem odd NetherRealm would bother creating full movesets for the duo and not let us get our hands on them. A heap of other cameos, meanwhile, suggest they won't be the only familiar faces set to re-enter the fray.