News::I Like How These Next-Gen Cars Break

News::JIG - Eastward Quest Review

JIG - You may know Lucas Molina from the artsy simulation Avant-Garde, but his latest game Eastward Quest is an entirely different beast in every possible way. Part arcade game, part RPG, you control a stalwart pixel hero rushing East and dealing with monsters along the way. Use the [WASD] or [arrow] keys to move around the field and charge into enemies to kill them and get experience points for leveling up, but since doing so damages you, you need to grab food and hearts to heal. You'll also find coins you can spend on upgrades between levels, and since these are the only things that persist on your character (any levels earned during stages are reset between them, so you start from level one again), you'll want to make good use of them.



via N4G: pc news feed http://n4g.com/news/1354984/jig-eastward-quest-review

News::Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn Review | WGTC

Nick from We Got This Covered wrote: What happens when a major publisher pushes out a huge release that ends up being buggy and receives almost unanimous criticism? Well if youre Square Enix, you spend 3 years re-designing and polishing that crap and end up producing a diamond. As someone who has played every recent major MMORPG release, and most minor ones, I can confidently say that Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn is the most polished and comprehensive MMORPG on the market today.



via N4G: pc news feed http://n4g.com/news/1354967/final-fantasy-xiv-a-realm-reborn-review-wgtc

News::TAKEDOWN: Red Sabre Fourth Fan Made Gameplay Trailer Released

Over the last couple of weeks, we have been releasing a series of fan trailers to boost the hype of TAKEDOWN: Red Sabre, which will release on 20th Septmber 2013 for Windows PC and Xbox 360, and while our first, second and third videos were successful, our fourth one is by far our best piece of work yet. Although it is based off the official gameplay trailer, we've completely built this trailer from the ground up, and we've also added some amazing music from Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter 1.



via N4G: pc news feed http://n4g.com/news/1354463/takedown-red-sabre-fourth-fan-made-gameplay-trailer-released

News::Review: The more the merrier in Rayman Legends | USAToday

"While there are a number of high-profile video games on the horizon, many aren't appropriate for kids, tweens and young teens. Parents looking for something suitable for their family should consider Ubisoft's Rayman Legends, a fun and frantic "platformer" that lets up to five gamers maybe even Mom and Dad, too play together on the same television."



via N4G: pc news feed http://n4g.com/news/1354972/review-the-more-the-merrier-in-rayman-legends-usatoday

News::One Of The World's Best Developers Is Down To 17 Staff

News::Grand Theft Auto V set to swipe gamers' time | Game Guys

Get ready for theft on a massive scale as Grand Theft Auto V - the latest installment in the billion-dollar video game franchise - lands on Tuesday.



via N4G: pc news feed http://n4g.com/news/1354975/grand-theft-auto-v-set-to-swipe-gamers-time-game-guys

News::Atlus flaunts new Etrian Odyssey Untold footage

Etrian Odyssey Untold: The Millennium Girl is hitting shelves in a little over a fortnight's time and Atlus wants to make sure you know it. The publisher has released a pair of shiny new trailers showcasing shieldmaiden Raquna Sheldon and the title's story-eschewing classic mode.

A demo of the forthcoming role-playing game will be available for download tomorrow from the Nintendo 3DS eShop, with the full game arriving on October 1.

Read more...



via destructoid http://www.destructoid.com/atlus-flaunts-new-etrian-odyssey-untold-footage-261904.phtml

News::Blinded By 'The Light'

Frank Collins covers 'The Light', which is some crazy Russian movie game.



via N4G: pc news feed http://n4g.com/news/1354616/blinded-by-the-light

News::Firefall PvP suspended while Red 5 Studios completely rethinks it

Red 5 Studios has suspended PvP in Firefall while the development team takes a look at how it can deliver players a better experience.



via N4G: pc news feed http://n4g.com/news/1354614/firefall-pvp-suspended-while-red-5-studios-completely-rethinks-it

News::Top 5 MMOs That Should Never See the Light of Day

There are many ideas that would result in great mmo games, there are others that would not! Here are the top 5 mmos that should never see the light of day.



via N4G: pc news feed http://n4g.com/news/1354543/top-5-mmos-that-should-never-see-the-light-of-day

News::Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs Review: Well-oiled | Stick Skills

Stick Skills: "Amnesia: The Dark Descent first arrived back in 2010, and brought with it a new brand of survival horror. Much in the same vein of its previous work, Frictional Games threw players into terrifying situations as a completely helpless individual. Without any combat, the only hope for survival was stealth. Three years later the followup, Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs, has finally arrived. This time around Frictional handed the reins over to Dear Esther creators The Chinese Room, choosing to take the role of publisher. The end result is something which keeps a similar aesthetic, but also forges its own path, spinning a much more melancholic tale."



via N4G: pc news feed http://n4g.com/news/1354968/amnesia-a-machine-for-pigs-review-well-oiled-stick-skills

News::SpeedRunners Preview | Pixelated Sausage

"Playing online is the best way to play SpeedRunners and it runs extremely well, especially when compared to other Early Access titles I've played with online multiplayer; however, when no single-player content is included when it exists on other platforms, it's hard to recommend SpeedRunners at its current price." - Marc Kusnierz, Pixelated Sausage



via N4G: pc news feed http://n4g.com/news/1354909/speedrunners-preview-pixelated-sausage

News::GRCast Episode 18 - GamesReviews

On episode 18, Joe, Mat, and Allison talk about Outlast before spending a bit of time discussing how terrifying it could be to be a cow. Joe is madly in love with Diablo III on console, and Mat has been playing Vita just to spite everyone. Also, other games! Its a typical (read: awesome) GR Cast!



via N4G: pc news feed http://n4g.com/news/1354738/grcast-episode-18-gamesreviews

News::GTA V Collector's Edition Unboxing

A guy bought a leaked GTA V Collector's edition or the Special edition.



via N4G: pc news feed http://n4g.com/news/1354940/gta-v-collectors-edition-unboxing

News::Weekly Digital: I am Error

"From thunderstorms to constant rain, the weather has been constantly horrible on Canadas east coast this week. Things in gaming have been the polar opposite however with the release of The Wonderful 101 on Wii U. If controlling a team of 100 heroes is 99 heroes too much, then you can relive Links second adventure in Zelda II: The Adventure of Link. Error included. Nearly a month after being released on other consoles, DuckTales: Remastered has made its way onto the Xbox 360. Remasters are always a charm to look at. Enough so that we brainstormed some HD remasters wed like to see." - Allain Richard



via N4G: pc news feed http://n4g.com/news/1354542/weekly-digital-i-am-error

News::New Battlefield 4 Trailer Shows Sniping in the Middle of a Storm

EA DICE just released a new trailer of Battlefield 4 giving a glimpse on some stormy sniping gameplay, with footage recorded during a recent focus testing group held for the game.



via N4G: pc news feed http://n4g.com/news/1354937/new-battlefield-4-trailer-shows-sniping-in-the-middle-of-a-storm

News::The Maul Squad | Garshasp: The Monster Slayer Review

The Maul Squad write: "As someone who has an active interest in games, writes about them and enjoys indie products Im supposed to look at a game made on free license software by some chumps in Iran and feel warm and fuzzy. I dont. Garshasp only makes me feel angry."



via N4G: pc news feed http://n4g.com/news/1354755/the-maul-squad-garshasp-the-monster-slayer-review

News::Star Wars: Battlefront Next Gen: 5 Top Features DICE Should Use

Punching Beta: Star Wars: Battlefront and Battlefront 2 were the kinds of games from previous generations that, when you look back on them, they make you smile. It wasnt the greatest Star Wars game series, no, but it was pure and simple fun. Running into a Battle as your favorite sides troops is cool, flying their aircraft is cooler and blowing up a Star Destroyer from the inside out by flying in with your ship, while playing as your favorite side is the coolest. Since all the troubles with the third entry in the series, many had given up. But after E3 we all know that DICE is our only hope. As DICE is such a high-profile developer whose games tend to be high quality, what could they include in the game that would make the sequel even bigger than the two which have come before?



via N4G: pc news feed http://n4g.com/news/1354828/star-wars-battlefront-next-gen-5-top-features-dice-should-use

News::Indie Spotlight: The Fall

GamR Mag Writes: "In the age of KickStarter, independent developers have gained a whole new way to fund large scale projects with little to no risk. This has proven to be an excellent way for games and ideas that may have normally never seen the light of day, to come to fruition based on projecting pitching to the public."



via N4G: pc news feed http://n4g.com/news/1354675/indie-spotlight-the-fall

News::Final Exam Nathan Character Art and Sketches

Heres another lot of images from Final Exam, with Mighty Rocket Studios choosing to focus on Nathan one of the playable characters in the 2.5D action horror sidescroller. Dont be fooled by his geeky exterior; the guy loves his explosives and is a veritable specialist at making things go boom in the game.



via N4G: pc news feed http://n4g.com/news/1354727/final-exam-nathan-character-art-and-sketches

News::Total War: Rome II Review | GameGrin

They say that all roads lead to Rome, which is perhaps why The Creative Assembly have found their way back there after a nine year journey.



via N4G: pc news feed http://n4g.com/news/1354770/total-war-rome-ii-review-gamegrin

News::GTA V Next Gen and PC Versions Should Already Exist

Because of the difference between current gen and next gen/pc architectures the porting time would be quite high. So unless Rockstar plans to release PS4/Xbox One and PC version (if at all) in 2014, they already exist.



via N4G: pc news feed http://n4g.com/news/1354786/gta-v-next-gen-and-pc-versions-should-already-exist

News::Outlast - Now Bloody Playing Pt. 4

It's time for the fourth installment of Outlast. On today's spooky chapter, I run around in circles from a doctor as murderous as he is naked, get smashed by a big 'un, and turn some valves in the name of progress. It's all scary stuff!

We may very well be coming to the end of the road after this one. It's been fun!

via destructoid http://www.destructoid.com/outlast-now-bloody-playing-pt-4-261877.phtml

News::Flights of Fancy: Two Doves - Review | AACG

Fairies, elves, gargoyles and even singing mushrooms; you are likely to find every fantasy creatures in this game. Flights of Fancy is a well-made, enjoyable game over-loaded with some random critters and cuteness.



via N4G: pc news feed http://n4g.com/news/1354647/flights-of-fancy-two-doves-review-aacg

News::Hero of the Kingdom - Review | AACG

Hero of the Kingdom is a pretty cool, non-linear adventure game although with poor visuals. It is very lovable for some reasons, even if you do not like the look of it - trying it, is still a good idea.



via N4G: pc news feed http://n4g.com/news/1354650/hero-of-the-kingdom-review-aacg

News::Metro: Last Light Rangers Mission 2 Part 2 Kshatriya

Asad Quadri of TheKoalition writes: Hello again to this playthrough of the Rangers DLC for Metro: Last Light! Last time we began the second mission of the DLC "Kshatriya" where we played as a Ranger Trainee from Polis station who's task it was to search for treasures of the old world. Here we continue our treasure hunt for a second time and find our way to the library! Things get much more tense and chilling as the atmosphere thickens and the monsters become more aggressive!



via N4G: pc news feed http://n4g.com/news/1354571/metro-last-light-rangers-mission-2-part-2-kshatriya

News::Scribblenauts Unmasked DC Comics Preview

At GameStop Expo in Las Vegas, 5th Cell developer Jon Katz previews Scribblenauts Unmasked: A DC Comics Adventure in this exclusive interview.



via N4G: pc news feed http://n4g.com/news/1354634/scribblenauts-unmasked-dc-comics-preview

News::Game Dev Tycoon Review | GameGrin

GameGrin writes: "At some point in our gaming lives we've came across the thought of developing our own games; our own unique look at a subject that would entertain millions."



via N4G: pc news feed http://n4g.com/news/1354764/game-dev-tycoon-review-gamegrin

News::Resident Evil 2 Becomes Real And Maybe Terrifying

News::Oh My God It's A 30-Foot Walking Robot Dragon

News::Review: Volgarr the Viking [Press2Reset]

Andy Breeding writes, "The bygone era of the incredibly difficult platformers, with their inexact control schemes and off-screen spawning, seems to be making a comeback. With lessons learned from past mistakes, games like Spelunky and Super Meat Boy are making it a joy to die over and over again. Adult Swim Games tries to add to the growing collection of difficult, yet fun, platformers with Volgarr the Viking. Regrettably, someone forgot about the past."



via N4G: pc news feed http://n4g.com/news/1354540/review-volgarr-the-viking-press2reset

News::Saints Row IV review - CramG

A review of Deep Silver/Volition's sandbox action game that's far removed from a certain other open world action game and much like its predecessor released just before it.



via N4G: pc news feed http://n4g.com/news/1354502/saints-row-iv-review-cramg

News::Memoria (Chains of Satinav 2) game review (ActionRadius)

Memoria is a point and click adventure game set in the rich pen-and-paper RPG game world of The Dark Eye. It is a direct sequel to Chains of Satinav.



via N4G: pc news feed http://n4g.com/news/1354677/memoria-chains-of-satinav-2-game-review-actionradius

News::Why World War I Usually Gets the Shaft in Gaming (Until Now)

Kotaku - In the last thirty years, there have been (by my count) 59 games, mods, or betas featuring a setting from World War I, otherwise called The Great War. World War II, otherwise called the Second World War, boasts something like 257 of the same.



via N4G: pc news feed http://n4g.com/news/1354497/why-world-war-i-usually-gets-the-shaft-in-gaming-until-now

News::Saints Row IV Review | GameCloud

GameCloud: "At the beginning of this review, I stated that I am a massive fan of the Saints Row series, and for all of its flaws, the latest installment hasnt changed that. In fact, it was still immensely fun to play! The design certainly has its problems, the narrative was so far out there that you needed binoculars to catch the important moments, and the background world building left something to be desired. However, when bringing all of these elements together, theres a lot to be said for what you project into the game from your own thoughts..."



via N4G: pc news feed http://n4g.com/news/1354703/saints-row-iv-review-gamecloud

News::Fan-made Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception In CryEngine 3 Gets Updated With Better Sand

DSOGaming writes: "A couple of weeks ago, we presented you some images from a fan-made project that aimed to recreate Uncharted 3 in CryEngine 3. Naturally, a lot of people criticized this project's sand textures, which is perhaps why modder 'PianoPolish' decided to enhance them and release some new screenshots."



via N4G: pc news feed http://n4g.com/news/1354630/fan-made-uncharted-3-drakes-deception-in-cryengine-3-gets-updated-with-better-sand

News::Papers, Please Review (TruePCGaming)

Armaan Khan from TPG writes: "If you enjoy unique, independently produced offerings, you should definitely consider picking up Papers, Please. The basic gameplay is challenging and rewarding, and Endless mode is a lot of fun, once you have it unlocked."



via N4G: pc news feed http://n4g.com/news/1354530/papers-please-review-truepcgaming

News::PlanetSide 2 devs working to speed up play

Sony Online Entertainment is launching "Operation: Make Faster Game" in order to increase PlanetSide 2's framerate and more, technical director Ryan Elam announced via the game's forums.



via N4G: pc news feed http://n4g.com/news/1354611/planetside-2-devs-working-to-speed-up-play

News::Time Extend: Mutant Storm Empire

If pretty good developers can often do a bit of everything, brilliant developers – particularly brilliant indie developers – tend to do one single thing extremely well. As studios go, PomPom Games is a case in point. Happy to tinker endlessly with the sparking genome that made Eugene Jarvis’ early coin-op output so fresh, the two-man team has always specialised in pared-down blasting mechanics wedded to a cheerily gynaecological art style. Squeamish, gloopy and otherworldly, PomPom’s offerings come across as flying visits for the most part: an energetic buzz over the landscape followed by the briefest of touchdowns to encounter – and generally obliterate – some of the volatile native wildlife, before it’s time to zip right back out again, head spinning, ears ringing and stomach churning.

Mutant Storm Empire was always going to be different. Following Mutant Storm Reloaded’s successful ported debut in the early days of the Xbox Live Arcade service, Empire was planned as something much bolder than another colourful reworking of Robotron: 2084 or Defender. It was to be a small game made large. It was to be an arcade epic built from brisk strokes, huge environments and dozens of bosses – each one stranger, dribblier and more inventive than the last. If PomPom’s previous titles had been day trips to single, fascinating Galápagos islands, then, this was conceived as a breathless rush across the entire archipelago. There was only one question: how would a team that specialised in tiny, detailed experiences find a way to put its stamp on such a giant undertaking?

Not through mechanical invention, certainly. Twin-stick shooters tend to be the most fiercely specific of genres, and PomPom’s peculiar skill has always been in refining the basic elements rather than offering any interesting variations on them. Like Reloaded, Empire would still be built around the simple business of strafing and shooting, offering clean, clear-headed controls in order to provide the perfect contrast to the slimy enemies spawning in ugly clusters or roaming about in grumpy, tussling herds. Smart bombs and bosses would mix things up occasionally, but – barring a new combo system that saw you chaining together kills of specific enemy types to keep your score heading upwards in exponential bursts – there would be few technical intricacies to elevate the developer’s latest from its impressive back catalogue – or, in fact, from the rest of the dual-thumbstick crowd.

PomPom didn’t plan to throw in any new narrative tricks, either. As was fast becoming the studio’s standard approach, Empire’s huge unspooling worlds and snarling, skittering, clanking beasts are explained away with a short, thrifty paragraph of jokey and bombastic non-specifics – a paragraph that trails off quickly in a typically self-deprecating manner. While there would be a supreme boss lurking at the end of the final level, your reasons for killing it would probably be limited to the fact that, like everything else you’d killed in order to get to it, it was too creatively disgusting to live. PomPom’s sickly, regurgitated art direction has always provided the best kind of motivation for the endless carnage that tends to erupt in its games, anyway – deeper levels of justification are superfluous.

Instead, the developer smartly chose to zero in on its core skill: inventive, disturbing (and yet oddly endearing) visual design. Faced with a much broader canvas, the flimsy solo chambers of Reloaded begin to reach out and branch. Their walls turn from slippery neon gelatin to barriers of rock or steel, while iron floors studded with rivets and bolts warp slickly into focus underneath them. Single rooms become first clusters, then chains and finally genuine corridors: intricate spaces bristling with ancient engineering, snug battle arenas and sneaky monster closets. There are pistons and spinning gears lurking in the darkness now. There are unappetising water features.

Far more dazzling than the shift in architectural ambition, however, is the increased scope of the game’s uniformly hideous cast. The original Mutant Storm may have given players the questionable delights of prolonged encounters with the shimmering Sperm Flower, whose taut, drum-like skin and wispy, trailing tails swim through so many sweaty arcade nightmares, or thrown them up against ranks of those punkish little Jelly Baby homunculi, covered in spikes that might be jewellery or simply pieces of their pink and green hides, but Empire chose to ramp things up considerably. Half an hour’s introductory shooting would see you facing off against vast, toothless fish, riddled with electrified breeding sacs, against blind vacuum-cleaner-nosed lumps of invertebrate flesh with mud-spewing boils, and against legions of vampiric frogspawn, itching to swarm together into frantic bait balls and tear you to pieces. Best of all, with that flailing tendril and sheeny, bulbous surface, your own avatar was hardly less disgusting than most of the enemies you blasted apart.

Taken as a whole, then, Empire’s nothing less than a dark and enjoyable horrifically mutated safari, a kind of midnight Pokémon game, where the fun isn’t just in the killing, but often in the mere sighting of a new enemy. The expanded locations, shifting from the disco urethras and pulsating intestines of the original to include cog-speckled spaceship interiors and now-dusty, ancient sea beds, allow for a wider sweep of wildlife, too, as ghastly things riddled with turrets take their places in line alongside ghastly things riddled with gills, and robot centipedes with glowing Mickey Mouse ears crawl around between clamp-jawed metal monkeys and doll-faced mechanical cat-bots. And all the while, PomPom’s singular flair isn’t just that it can call up such monsters at will, as anyone with a Wacom tablet and a copy of Maya can create endless armies of grotesques after a week of tinkering. It’s that – somehow – with the finer detailing, the studio manages to make these horrors slyly palatable at the same time.

The deeper you travel into Empire, the wavering line between environmental hazard and aborted biological horror becomes increasingly brittle. Corridors fill with murderous red bubbles, laser beams carve arenas into little pockets of death, and around each corner lurks a pelting from intestinal boulders, or oozing lakes of radioactive acid. Tying everything together, however, even when the game’s grim invention threatens to pull it to pieces, is that simple combo system at the heart of it all: a basic, almost primitive, play mechanic that quickly becomes irresistible as you try to collect every dripping scalp the adventure has to offer you. PomPom isn’t just nudging you towards high scores to wring greater strategic depths from its simple kill zones – although it turns out that they are there for the taking – it’s prompting you to explore the entire breadth of Mutant Storm’s world with sharp eyes, and to kill the innumerable queasy wonders within.

Simple to play and yet grotesquely intricate to explore, PomPom’s most elaborate game was also to be its greatest sales disappointment. Launched – on Halloween itself, as it happens – on an Xbox Live Arcade platform that was already moving in new directions, inching up the file size cap as it reached out towards grander, smirkier games, Mutant Storm Empire was crushed between franchise offshoots, slick vertical slices, puzzle ports and Doritos-powered ad tie-ins. Forever empty, the Downloadable Content tab on its start screen proves that menu options really can inspire pathos, and the game itself, in a morbidly appropriate fashion, survives as a hint at the direction in which Microsoft’s platform chose not to evolve: a lone, discarded rock pool, still bubbling with useless, viable life.

PomPom Games, meanwhile, chose to swim outwards towards the smaller platforms, with the likes of ghoulish iPhone puzzlers such as Poppi, and Alien Zombie Death, a blisteringly violent PSP mini, bringing the duo’s blend of dark, wayward biological fantasy and arcadey mechanics to whichever ecosystem would support it most naturally. Empire, however, derelict and mostly unplayed, remains both its strangest and most complete monument to date. It’s a big game and a lavish one, fizzing still with dozens of fierce little ideas.

The post Time Extend: Mutant Storm Empire appeared first on Edge Online.

via Edge Online http://www.edge-online.com/features/time-extend-mutant-storm-empire/

News::Top 10: Fall is here, save your cash for these must have Games

onPause writes: While we now have pretty good springs in terms of gaming releases (think BioShock Infinite or Mass Effect 3) and even much improved summers (Saints Row IV), the fall and winter are still the best seasons for video games.



via N4G: pc news feed http://n4g.com/news/1354639/top-10-fall-is-here-save-your-cash-for-these-must-have-games

News::Rise of the Triad - Version 1.1 Trailer

Interceptor Entertainment released an official trailer for the 1.1 update.



via N4G: pc news feed http://n4g.com/news/1354508/rise-of-the-triad-version-1-1-trailer

News::BeefJack Podcast Episode 53

The announcement of Japan only Vita TV, Steams Family Sharing, and Ouyas Free the Games controversy, are discussed in this weeks podcast. *Author's Note: You can choose which topics you want to listen to by clicking the description on the video page. You can also listen to the podcast on iTunes.



via N4G: pc news feed http://n4g.com/news/1354512/beefjack-podcast-episode-53

News::Three Monkeys: An Audio Game For The Visually Impaired

Incus Games have yesterday announced their first title in the making - Three Monkeys, an audio game with NO visuals.



via N4G: pc news feed http://n4g.com/news/1354503/three-monkeys-an-audio-game-for-the-visually-impaired

News::Make way for DLC!

OH MY GOD! I am dying, you guys! I'm dead!

This isn't the only parody that YouTuber SMNtoob slapped together. He's got a Mulan one from last month. I don't even mind the bad signing, 'cause this sh*t is golden!

Make Way For DLC! - An Aladdin Parody [YouTube via NeoGAF]

Read more...



via destructoid http://www.destructoid.com/make-way-for-dlc--261864.phtml

News::Neverending Nightmares interview with Matt Gilgenbach

Video Game Writers Dan Tunnicliffe interviews Matt Gilgenbach on his hotly anticipated indie title 'Neverending Nightmares'.



via N4G: pc news feed http://n4g.com/news/1354440/neverending-nightmares-interview-with-matt-gilgenbach