New Batman Game Coming From Telltale Games!

The popular Telltale Games is soon releasing another addition to it’s ever growing list of point-and-click graphic adventure games. The unique gameplay and style is going to depict Batman’s exploits, not only as Batman but also as Bruce Wayne. At some scenes the player is able to choose whether to approach a situation as Batman or mr. Wayne. And of course we can expect the same kind of effect from our chosen actions as in the games before. The art and the engine used in the new game is selected to be as perfectly suited as possible for illustrating the comic bookish style that Batman deserves. The moment in which the game takes place is the early years of Batman’s career. The game will be in 5 pieces just as the other Telltale Games’ titles have been. The sequences will be around 90-120 minutes long and the maturity of the game should resemble Telltale Games’ earlier works, The Walking Dead and The Wolf Among us. The first episode is due this summer.

Play with passion!

auburn.geek

Pokemon Sun And Moon, Shines Like The Sun And Glows Like The Moon at E3

Day one of E3 for Nintendo and they brought out the big guns, Zelda and Pokemon. Of course Zelda is taking 95% of the day but that is okay. We got a bunch of new information from Pokemon and that is exciting in and of itself.

I have been a fan of Pokemon now since I was 6 in 1998. It is such a fantastic series and it has only gotten more vibrant and wonderful as time has passed.

So at first it seemed like they weren’t going to show much but after showing the trailer we have seen before, they jumped into game play.

I really enjoy E3 because they play games for the viewer, these hardened Big N employees are always playing these games. I love getting their fresh thoughts alongside the developers because it is so natural.

Seeing this game in a video certainly isn’t as magical as when you really play it but it is something to hold the players over. Seeing the sheer joy on their faces as they come across Pokemon, and how even though they have been playing the game it is still just as fun. I know it may be overdone for the viewers but it is nice.

Now, this short event showed off three new Pokemon and the first big battle between the Rival and the player character.

I really enjoyed seeing the new Pokemon as I always do.

There is Pikipek the sweet little woodpecker. He is a Normal/Flying Type.

Yungoos the terrifying yet adorable mongoose. This little creature is the standard normal type in the game.

Lastly a Pokemon not really shown was Grubbin this generation’s initial bug type.

The first battle between the rival and the player is a battle of stage. A ceremonial battle that connects to the wonderful ideas of Hawaiian Folklore. I love that they really are going all out to show off the beauty that Hawaii and that they really are taking everything to the next level. It really is a trip to Hawaii and even though it may be just like other Pokemon games in a lot of ways, it is clearly going to show off how Hawaii is even if it is just nice things like this.

It was also shown that there will be a Battle Royal. Four players enter with up to three Pokemon. The first to lose all there Pokemon ends the Royal. It is a nice change up to the normal battle system.

I am super excited for November 18th of this year, and my chance to jump into the Alola Region with Generation 7 and Sun&Moon. Tweet me at @Starkwyvrngamer with any thoughts on this game.

Update the full E3 Pokemon Sun and Moon stream

Legend of Zelda : Breath Of The Wild Is A Breath Of Fresh Air

For a while now, we have all known Nintendo is going to mostly show off the upcoming Legend of Zelda game at E3. I have been waiting for this game since I finished Skyward Sword. This game has been pushed back twice and now it is finally going to be released next year.

Opening up their day’s activities with a new trailer, I was blown away by its majesty. Yes, it was released hours ago, but honestly I had to collect myself. I’m writing up an account of the rest of the days events, because a whole days worth of news needs a little parsing.

Now this game will be an open world Zelda experience, a seamless adventure unlike any Zelda game before it. I for one am psyched to see this world fully, as the tease of today is just a tease, a drip from a seemingly infinite fountain.

Just watching this trailer all of my hype is back to boiling. I was stunned to see what they came up with. Far more survival type game play and as much as it really different that difference really just ups my excitement. Really is a breath of fresh air.

I can’t wait to see more and with 2 more days of E3 I am sure I will see a good deal more of the game.

The other cool thing has to be the Amiibo which really do look incredible. I really do love seeing this expanding line of figures and how anything can make for a figure.

Below is the trailer, which I’m sure I will watch many times because it is just that good. Feel free to tweet me at @Starkwyvrngamer with your thoughts.

Microsoft Press Conference Recap Part 1

Hello everyone! I hope you all caught the Microsoft Press Conference yesterday. May I say that it was generally quite good and Microsoft walked out with a strong showing of exclusive titles and new content for their Xbox One gaming console. This article opens up a dialogue about their new games and projects, so join me as I provide some of my opinion and anticipation. We have a lot to talk about and please feel free to comment with your thoughts. Let’s cover the biggest game releases first.

Gears of War 4

I really wasn’t impressed with last year’s showing of the new Gears game. Honestly, it looked like more of the same with better graphics and a more diverse cast of characters than our famously muscle-bound protagonists. This year’s E3 showing for Gears gave me a bit more hope. It appears as though The Coalition has put a great deal of effort into crafting this latest title in the Gears franchise and much like 343 Industries and Halo 4 before them, perhaps they can truly reinvigorate a genre of games that has become a bit stale over the years.

The characters seem engaging enough and the environments have an air of destructibility to them, though to what degree you can actually modify the enemy’s cover or if we simply saw a very scripted scene during the press conference remains to be seen. There’s an impressive amount of violence and a wide variety of ways to utterly annihilate your opponents. Hopefully the story can match Gears of War 4’s powerfully dynamic combat. Oh and we can’t forget about Old Man Marcus! I’m curious to see what role he will play in this game and I very much appreciate that John DiMaggio returned to voice the character. Gears of War 4 is slated to release on October 11, 2016.

Forza Horizon 3

I used to play the Forza series of games religiously. There was something about being able to modify some of the best vehicles in the world and then race them against the AI or friends that just spoke to me. Eventually, I stopped playing Forza and focused my interests elsewhere but now that Microsoft has announced the new Forza Horizon 3 for the Xbox One, I find my interest piqued. Playground Games has clearly taken a heavy emphasis on the Australian setting and the visuals look absolutely staggering, easily the best of any Forza game so far. Now set in an open world, players can travel around and enjoy the scenery or join up with friends to engage in a variety of races.

Microsoft also announced that Forza Horizon 3 would have a four-player co-operative multiplayer campaign. I never really knew that Forza games had a “campaign” per se, but I am interested in seeing exactly what they’re talking about. Do you like beautiful graphics? How about off-road racing? What about phenomenal supercars? Forza may be for you. It is set to release on the 27th of September, 2016.

ReCore

Last year we saw a short trailer involving a dynamic young woman and her mechanical dog companion fighting off other mechanical creatures. After they won, she discovered that her friend perished in the fight. Unwilling to settle for this, the woman sets her friend’s core into another body and it awakens once again. And that was it.

Finally, we have more information about ReCore, the newest game by Keiji Inafune and Comcept. Designed as an action-adventure/platformer, ReCore takes a heavy emphasis on level design as well as gives the protagonist a wide variety of ways to get around the different levels; from rocket boots to a grappling hook to a robot companion that can climb the walls, movement and mobility seem like essential concepts in ReCore. While we don’t have any details about the story, the game mixes combat and adventure much like Metroid Prime (in fact, Comcept was formed by designers who worked on Metroid Prime 3: Corruption and Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate). It looks like ReCore has an all-star cast of developers. Hopefully they can deliver a well crafted title worthy of action-adventure and platformers everywhere. ReCore is set to release on September 13th, 2016 in North America and on the 16th in Europe.

Battlefield 1

A few things remain constant in the gaming world: Assassin’s Creed, Call of Duty, and Battlefield releases. We will probably never see the end of these franchises and sometimes, that’s a bad thing. In the case, however, we may have a unique title on our hands. Called “Battlefield 1” by its developer Electronic Arts, the newest Battlefield game takes place during World War 1. This alone sets it apart from many other games as World War 1 hardly has any video games set during its climactic battles because a vast majority of the war (at least in Europe) saw both sides fighting along various trenches that changed quite little until 1917 when Russia’s government eventually collapsed and the Germans, now freed from the Eastern Front, launched a gargantuan Western Front offensive and were subsequently pushed back.

The trailer, however, seemed filled with intense action and the following gameplay demo during regular E3 hours had furious warfare between 64 players. EA seems to have developed a relatively unique (for a Battlefield game) addition to their franchise; players can use a variety of melee weapons, gas attacks, artillery, and even horses to wage war! Environmental destruction still exists and watching that zeppelin come crashing down into that village definitely looked impressive. EA plans on an October 21st, 2016 release for the entire world.

Scalebound

THAR BE DRAGONS!

In development by Platinum Games, Scalebound is an action role-playing video game set in the third person perspective that takes a heavier emphasis on graphical fidelity and role-playing. You control Drew, the protagonist, and with the help of his dragon Thuban, you must go about and defeat the enemies that stand in your way. Much like any RPG, you can upgrade and gain new abilities that affect Drew, Thuban, or both and significantly alter how you approach combat. While Thuban is controlled by the AI, players can order him to do particular actions or even use Thuban as a mount and directly control him.

Scalebound doesn’t have a linear storyline so players are encouraged to explore the world of Draconis and discover its many secrets. Enemies will not scale (Get it? Because Thuban’s a dragon?) based on Drew’s level and you can invite your friends to four-player co-operative sessions. It reminds me a great deal of the newest Final Fantasy XV in the sense that its an action RPG, but it clearly has significant differences. I’m really looking forward to Scalebound and while Platinum Games hasn’t set an exact release date, they plan to release their latest title in 2017.

Final Fantasy XV

The latest title in a long running series of titles by developer Square Enix, Final Fantasy XV is yet another action role-playing game shown off by Microsoft during their press conference. Set in the world of Eos which resembles a relatively modern day Earth, the evil empire known as Niflheim has invaded the nation of Lucis. The heir of the Lucian throne and our protagonist, Noctis Lucis Caelum, must set out to defeat Niflheim and make the world right once more.

Final Fantasy XV has suffered from a troubled development. Originally set to be released on the Playstation 3 as Final Fantasy Versus XIII, Square Enix decided to rework the game and announced their latest Final Fantasy title in May of 2006. 10 years later, we finally have a release date and even more information. Set for a September 30th worldwide release, XV uses the “Active Cross Battle” system for its combat sequences. If you’ve played a game like Kingdom Hearts, then you will be intimately familiar with how this works. Instead of the traditional JRPG turn-based combat, players will be able to select particular actions for Noctis and watch as those actions are carried out. They may move and jump around the battlefield and Square Enix promises that players will seamlessly enter into combat without loading scenes.

A surprising first for the series, using magical abilities will not cost MP but instead, the player must focus on the environment around him or her in order to maximize the use of a particular spell. For example, if a player is currently fighting in the heat of day, fire spells will have a profound effect and may even harm allies. I really appreciate this change and while XV isn’t really on my personal list of hyped titles, I do look forward to its release.

Halo Wars 2

In development by Creative Assembly and 343 Industries, fans of the first Halo Wars will finally see a continuation of the original story. Set 28 years after the original game and directly after Halo 5: Guardians, Captain James Cutter and his crew aboard the Spirit of Fire discover the Ark. They run into a Covenant Splinter faction known as “The Banished” lead by the Brute warlord Atriox and must fight for their lives in order to halt Atriox’s grand plans. Just like the first game, Halo Wars 2 is a real-time strategy game set to release for the Xbox One and Windows PC.

We can look forward to seeing new units and abilities in this iteration and judging by the CG trailer, there are a wide variety of new ways to destroy your opponent’s armies. We can’t really glean a great deal of information from trailers such as these, but the overall design of the game looks solid and hopefully it lives up to the commercial success of the first game. Microsoft released a week long beta for Halo Wars 2 and I plan on playing some of that later today. I’ll report back with more information as soon as I am able! Some features we do know about:

Players can engage in multiplayer matches with up to six players or can skirmish alone or with friends against the AI. Creative Assembly also plans on adding a Deathmatch mode that involves a “Last Person Standing” type of victory and a Stronghold and Domination mode reminiscent of Company of Heroes’ control points. A new multiplayer mode called “Blitz” is also in the works. Halo Wars 2 is set for a February 21st, 2017 release.

Ok everyone! Those are the biggest titles Microsoft showed off at E3 this year. Stay tuned for part 2 where I go over some of the new indie games set to release as well as detail the Xbox One S, Project Scorpio, and Microsoft’s new Play Anywhere concept. Thank you for reading!

Happy gaming!

-Valiant

E3 – Hideo Kojima and Norman Reedus Join Forces for ‘Death Stranding’

Hideo Kojima wowed crowds at E3 this year, with a stunning showcase of his latest game Death Stranding, starring none other than Norman Reedus (The Walking Dead,  The Boondock Saints, Triple 9) as the featured character.

The emotional and enigmatic opening shown at E3 showed a crying Reedus, clutching a baby to his chest – soon after, the baby vanishes from his arms, and he appears to be covered in a black, ink-like substance.

The last time the The Walking Dead star teamed up with the renowned creator of the beloved Metal Gear Solid franchise, was for Silent Hills. As the gaming community sadly knows, this project sadly fell through due to the separation of Kojima and Konami, and resulted in even the much acclaimed demo P.T. being completely wiped from the Playstation Store.

It’ll be more than interesting to see what this team up will result in, and what kind of emotional journey Kojima is planning to take gamers on next.

 

 

Crash Bandicoot Remakes Are Coming!

Good news for Crash Bandicoot fans! As I told you earlier Crash is going to show up on Skylanders, but now it is confirmed by Sony that three of the original Crash games, namely the original, Cortex Strikes Back and Warped, are having a second coming on Playstation 4!  The Remakes will be released as a collection sometime next year, so we have plenty of time to get the nostalgia hype going on. I for one am very excited to see how this turns out, and I can’t help but wonder if this remake collection is an overture for a whole new game. One can always hope right?

For Crash Bandicoot newbies, the game series was started by Naughty Dog in 1996. Originally the game was a platformer but there’s also a few fun racing games we all loved to play with our friends. There has been 15 games in total thus far and the latest one was published in 2008 so we have been waiting for quite a long time for Crash Bandicoot to make a comeback. Naughty Dog(that has been owned by Sony since 2001) has made other famous games too. The Uncharted series and The Last of Us came from the same source of awesomeness.

Play with passion!

auburn.geek

Blown Away By The Playstation Experience

Playstation is a company that is synonymous with amazing. They have always created such amazing games that people can’t help but want to play. I’ve always been a Nintendo gamer but I enjoy Playstation games especially over its rival Xbox. They always manage to put on a show, and show off things we could never imagine. Moments in time that show dreams do come true.

Now this amazing experience was just a never ending explosion of amazing new content. Honestly haven’t digested what I saw, but I know I was astounded and games  I hadn’t even thought about buying are now on my radar. It was just a stream of awesome games, accompanied by a live orchestra really put it all over the top.

Sony got the ball rolling with an amazing new God of War game involving Kratos and his son hunting. Now this “Dad of War” really wants to help his son to become a man. Does this mean our hero is going to bite the dust? Far different from any of its predecessors, this game looks stunning.

The Last Guardian is a game that people have been dying to see for a long time now. Now that they finally have a release date set for October 25th of this year their prayers are answered. I’m still honestly a little unclear about the game but it really does look like a masterpiece.

Sam Witwer in Days Gone looks to be another apocalyptic game. A good survival story of a man and his bike. I love seeing how technology is always changing in leaps and bounds, becoming even more real with every generation, even by year. It is such an action packed game, I honestly felt like I was or had experienced what was going on before my eyes.

Horizon Zero Dawn, has it all, robot animals, a prehistoric setting, and a foxy Red headed heroine. I honestly had only heard its name but had never seen anything. All I can say is I honestly need this game. It looks to be a brilliant experience, a visceral gritty,  animalistic expedition. Can’t  wait to see more now.

There was also Detroit Become Human, which looks to be a choose your own story game involving androids. The trailer is all about a young girl getting kidnapped and it is up to an Android to save her. What you do and how you do it will lead the story, and that is something I can always get behind.

Virtual reality is here and it is glorious. It has been a long time coming for Virtual Reality and with 50 games at launch Playstation is working with magic. From Resident Evil to Final Fantasy, everyone should find something they will want to play.

My favorite Virtual reality game is certainly Rocksteady’s Arkham  game. Hearing Mark Hamill’s amazing Joker voice sent chills up my spine. He constantly flirts with the idea of never voicing the Clown Prince of Crime, but it is clear that once the Joker is in your head, he is there to stay. Now hopefully this is even more of a definitive Batman experience as the player literally dons the cowl of the Bat.

I love how a trailer that literally just showed off the Batsuit with the Joker’s voice flowing through it, made me want to play the game. This shows that Rocksteady really knows what it’s doing which is no surprise as the trilogy was spectacular.

Crash is back! This line is basically the start of its own article as this amazing bandicoot has been gone for awhile. Seeing him in Skylanders Imaginators is a little weird because he doesn’t really look like he used to. Excited that they are remastering the original trilogy, and bringing an amazing series back into the limelight. Crash certainly deserves all the love he can get as the major fans of the game are old enough to have kids who are ready to play this iconic series.

Skylander’s Imaginators looks to be a fantastic game. The fact that you can create your own heroes is outstanding. I wonder what kind of characters people are actually going to make.

Insomniac’s Spiderman game looks to be as amazing as Rocksteady’s Arkham series. A game where you really are Spiderman, webbing your  way around New York City. Seeing Spiderman fly through the city knocking out criminals is by far one of the most exciting things I’ve seen in a game. Spiderman definitely is deserving of a game like this!

Lego Starwars the Force Awakens is another comical entry into a wonderful series of games. While retaining the story the team has some fun with it at the characters expense. I honestly find these games refreshing as they can be so easy. Easy and just simply enjoyable games can sometimes be far and between. This certainly looks to be a fun one.

Norman Reedus, a favorite of many, finally in a Kojima game. Now he was teased to be in a new Silent Hill but that was done away with when Kojima  parted ways with his former studio. Now that Kojima has started his new studio this looks to be a new chapter. Death Stranding, stars Norman Reedus in a game that looks to be about the afterlife.

I was a little unnerved by the trailer, scratch that, I was very unnerved by the trailer. A naked Reedus with a baby in his arms that slowly vanishes and oily hand prints appear on his skin. Who else but Kojima would be able to elicit such a reaction from a person, not many.

Last but certainly not least was a sizzle reel of all the games and more to come for Sony. I know I saw a few things, a long nosed man by the name of Igor made a brief appearance, along with so many flashes of cool stuff. Can’t wait to learn and see more of these games, including Persona 5 which will be shown off soon enough.

All in all, Playstation is well on there way to winning E3. Though there have been a lot of other good attempts so far with such amazing games being shown. Nintendo is up tomorrow, and I hope they blast away most of the competition. But clearly in my humble opinion Playstation will be hard to beat.

What did you think of Sony’s E3 Experience? Feel free to tweet me your thoughts @Starkwyrvngamer.

This article will be updated as I look for the trailers.

Microsoft E3 Press Event

Hello everyone! I hope you’re all having a good Monday because we’re about to see what Microsoft has to offer at E3. There’s a great deal of information out there; from the new, slimmer Xbox One to more information about new triple A titles such as Halo Wars 2, Dead Rising, or Forza, I am expecting a pretty big set of releases. Microsoft always likes to hide a surprise at the end of their conference, so definitely stay tuned until the end!

If you’re interested in staying up to date on some of the new releases for games, please be sure to follow me on Twitter @ValiantAngel25 and watch as I unleash my inner nerd (ok, more like unleash my super nerd) or offer my absolute disdain for what Microsoft shows us.

The Microsoft Press Event begins at 9:30AM PDT or 12:30PM EDT. Kotaku made this helpful chart that details all of the upcoming events. I’ll try to keep you all updated on all of events as the day goes on. Stay tuned and happy gaming!

-Valiant

Mass Effect Andromeda New Trailer released!

Bioware’s upcoming game, Mass Effect Andromeda, got a new intriguing trailer at the E3. The trailer is a short peep at the new game, it’s creators and developement. I personally loved the new trailer although it didn’t show a lot of game play. As a Mass Effect fan from the first game onward I am very excited about Andromeda and how it is going to turn out. I’ve shortly explained what the new game is all about after the trailer that I put in here just for you!

Andromeda is a whole new game based in a whole new world(Andromeda galaxy). The events take place long after the original trilogy and it is not considered a sequel, but a new game that’s standing on it’s on feet. We will be able to play as either a male or female human character. I’m a bit dissapointed at this because I was really looking forward to playing other races from Mass Effect, but alas it seems I will not be prancing around as a quarian after all. What’s fun news though is that we should get to drive and mod the new six-wheeled buggy-type Mako. I personally am very exited to get to drive around in my own customizable ride! The genre under which Bioware has put the new game is third-person shooter combat. This is something I am not very happy about, since the original Mass Effect(especially parts 1&2) were rpg shooters and I’ve seen too many awesome roleplaying games lose their rpg characteristics already. What do the big companies have against roleplaying games? I suppose they aren’t popular enough for the big audience. Oh well.

Here are some things (found on the official Andromeda site) that the developers have promised us:

• More Freedom: One of our biggest ambitions is to give players an unprecedented level of freedom for a Mass Effect experience –where you’ll go, how you’ll get there, and how you’ll play.

• New Uncharted Worlds: We’re leaving the Milky Way behind and headed to Andromeda, where we’ll meet new allies, confront new enemies, and explore fascinating new worlds.

• The Next Great Mass Effect Experience: Mass Effect: Andromeda will be the first Mass Effect game for today’s consoles and the first built on the Frostbite engine. We’re pushing the technology to deliver visuals, story, and gameplay that have never been done in franchise history.

Play with passion!

auburn.geek

Tallenna

Lego Dimensions adds a slew of characters

Lego Dimensions has been out for awhile and already has characters from Lord of the Rings, DC Superheros, The Simpsons and many more.

New characters have been announced in a trailer you can watch below. From Finn and Jake of Adventure Time, to the Goonies and Gizmo, even the blue blue Sonic the Hedgehog is making an appearance.

Fans of the game are in for a wait for these new toys to life characters but a wait is always good. I think these characters will really expand this game and introduce a new generation to characters so many people have enjoyed for years.

The fun begins on September 27th with the new Ghostbusters movie pack and the rest will roll out until summer of 2017.

I do enjoy the fact that this new set of packs and characters are mostly from the 80’s and 90’s as it really will expand the young players horizons in terms of what they recognize which is never a bad thing.

Here is the link to the trailer below. I really enjoyed seeing them meld the universe’s together and the end is definitely my favorite part!