Life Is Strange

Once upon a time, casual gamers weren’t emotionally invested. The character would die, we’d swear and we’d try again.

There was Lara Croft who we’d throw off the cliff, just to see how long it would take before she lost her cool. There was Mario Party, the game that made you detest every damn character. Hey, we’d even take the ladder out of the swimming pools in The Sims so they couldn’t escape.

Sympathy, schmpathy. These characters weren’t real and we knew it.

But we’ve grown as a gaming species. 3 months after completion and I’m still thinking about what I put my characters through in Life is Strange.

Once you get used to the sticky controls and the slow start, Life Is Strange is by far the best “choose your own ending” game I’ve played.

Fall victim to stressful decisions such as saving your trouble-making friend, dobbing on a delinquent and choosing your own sexuality.

The best part? The protagonist wields the ability to rewind time, allowing the player to trial every scenario before exiting the game to Google the best outcome.

I’m both excited and fearful of the sequel. It’s going to be difficult to live up to its predecessor, but nonetheless, I’ll be the first to download it.

With twists and turns aplenty, I cannot recommend Life Is Strange enough. Check this one out if you like choice-based games, epic storylines and potential tearjerkers.

Zombies Everywhere!

So, I’ve been in the mood for some good old zombie apocalypse theme in games and movies for the last few days. It may have something to do with the fact that we’ve been roleplaying an awesome pen&paper rpg All flesh must be eaten, which is the most awesome horror survival you can play old school style. It has been super fun and it’s inspired me to play some cool zombie games on my xbox 360 and playstation 4. So the point of this post is to make a list of a couple of my favourite zombie videogames and see if you get inspired to try out or re-play some of them too!

1. State of Decay. This game seems to have it all. You get to play different survivors depending on what skills and other qualities you prefer in a character. You get to build, upgrade and protect one or several bases, this is made easy and fun so you are quite free to try out different options. The map in this game is pretty big, at least for a survival game, and there are lots of things happening 24/7, quests to complete and people to help. You may also lose playable characters since when you are not controlling them, they do stuff on their own and might get in trouble. It’s a fun and lively game, no way this get boring!  Available for Xbox 360 and Xbox One, also available on Steam.
2. Dead Island. This game is pretty straight forward: you try to help yourself and people around you in a zombie infested paradise island, and your only option is to try and get a hold of some good weapons and hack your way through many different kinds of zombies. The game does have some negative qualities, I personally think most of the voice acting is poor and some tasks given are a bit weird when you think of the fact that you are trying to survive here and not fetch some lost jewelery etc. BUT these features are of minor importance and the game is very much fun. One  warning though if you want to co-op with your friend on the same sofa, it seems on the game cover that you could play the game co-op locally(split screen style), but that only works if you have another set of tv, xbox and another copy of the game(or the same with a computer). Dead Island 2 is on it’s way, it’s good to know there’s more to play when I get bored with the first one! Available for Xbox, playstation and on Steam.
3. Resident Evil Remake. You’ve probably heard of this game series a lot already, but if you are into some real horror survival and not just hack&slash style zombie games, this remake of the first game is the one you want. The remake is very faithfull to the original(well it IS a remake) and I think it carries through the scary ambiance very well. In this game you get to kill zombies, solve some puzzles and follow an interesting plot line. You can also choose between the two main characters, Jill Valentine and Chris Redfield. The game is a bit different with each character. The game is available for Xbox and Playstation and on Steam.
4. How to Survive.  Now this is a fun and challenging zombie survival game! And you can play co-op with your friend! The game is pretty simple both in idea and graphics but I think that’s what makes it more awesome, not trying too hard to look like the bigger games. We are getting a sequel for this game soon too and it’s actually already on early access phase as we speak, if you are interested. How to Survive has a variety of different zombies, many weapons and crafting options, and it monitors the character’s hunger, thirst and sleep levels giving the game a more real feel of battling for survival. One thing that annoyed me a bit was this Kovac character(whose survival guide we are following in the game), I’m not sure if it’s only me, or if he really does seem a bit too Borderlandsy(mimicing the game series Borderlands). This game can be bought for Xbox and Playstation(a demo is available for these two too!) and on Steam.

I hope you’ll find something new to play or something old to replay after reading this zombie inspired post! If you are still needing more zombie themed stuff to do, here’s some of my favorite zombie flicks if you wanna watch them: Dawn of the Dead(2004), 28 days later/28 weeks later, Zombieland, Resident Evil(2002), Shaun of the Dead.

Play with passion!

auburn.geek

 

UPDATE Battlefleet Gothic: Armada

UPDATE 3/28/2016: Tindalos, the development team behind Armada recently released a new patch that enables everyone who pre-ordered the game to play as the Ork faction and has promised that everyone who pre-purchases the game will gain access to the Space Marine fleet and one extra fleet that Tindalos has promised that they will “unveil soon.” What that faction could be is anyone’s guess. In addition, we now have a hard release date for Armada: April 21st. You can read more here.

In the grim darkness of the far future…

There are only LARGE CATASTROPHIC EXPLOSIONS using massive ships styled after Gothic cathedrals!

By now you all know that I absolutely adore Warhammer 40,000 so I apologize for throwing more of it at you, but I can’t ignore this very intriguing and utterly explosive (get it? Yeah? Yeah?!) new title in the Warhammer franchise. Surprisingly, Battlefleet Gothic: Armada takes a step away from the usually ground warfare centered themes of the many other Warhammer 40,000 titles and instead propels you into the horrifying world of space combat. Beset on all sides, the Imperium of Man must defend itself from xenos, heretics, and demons all the while struggling to maintain the trillions upon trillions that swear allegiance to their God-Emperor and the Imperium as a whole.

In charge of commanding your own fleet of ships ranging anywhere from the quick and lethal frigates all the way up to the utterly awe inspiring 8km long battleship and beyond, Armada looks to be a very intense strategy game somewhat stylized on the now defunct tabletop game Games Workshop released many years back. Called “Battlefleet Gothic”, players could assemble their own fleets from nearly every faction and battle it out in space with a variety of fun rules and scenarios to change up the gameplay. Unfortunately, Gothic became something of a niche game and Games Workshop eventually ceased their support of the product.

All is not lost, however, for Focus Home Interactive announced the development of Armada on January 16th of last year and the game is slated to release this month! No exact date has been given, but we should see it sometime soon!

You can ram your ship into the enemies. It is not only an effective tactic, but HIGHLY encouraged!

If you’re interested in seeing how the game will play, check out this gameplay trailer. It features the Imperial Navy, but you will be able to play as Chaos, Orks, and Eldar factions. Focus Interactive really looks like they’re incorporating powerful and innovative strategies (that make sense!) to Armada as well as adding familiar elements such as persistent captains and crews that level up as they survive battles and the ability to warp out to repair and warp back in later in the fight. The Chaos and Imperial factions look very distinctive and I can’t wait to see how the Orks and Eldar play. I can only imagine the Orks run like they do on the tabletop, their ramshackle vessels somehow operational and utterly terrifying with the amount of bullets they can expend, while the Eldar have advanced technology and incredible speed.

Did any of you ever play Nexus: The Jupiter Incident? Or maybe Star Wars: Empire at War? Armada looks like it takes a lot of inspiration from both of those games and I greatly appreciate the attention to detail on the literally Gothic cathedrals that make up the Imperial vessels and the disturbing chaotic marks that adorn the vessels of Chaos. I only hope the actual game delivers on all of its promises and truly lets us delve into a deep strategic experience.

Happy gaming, everyone! Victorus aut Mortis!

-Valiant

My Thoughts On Top Game Firewatch

Hi everyone!

Today I’m taking you for a little tour to a gaming experience that I had recently. Some of you probably have played Firewatch through already, but for the sake of those who are still new to the game, I will avoid spoilers! This will only be a short description and introduction to Firewatch. If you want to know more just click the link in the next paragraph or buy the game and see for yourself!

Firewatch is a story driven adventure game made by Campo Santo, you can buy it for your Playstation4 in the Playstation store, or for your computer on Steam if your user interface is either Windows, MAC or Linux.

The game is based in the Wyoming wilderness in the year 1989. The main character, a middle aged man named Henry, joins the Firewatch team as a fire lookout to have a little time alone with his thoughts after having some hard times with his life. Henry’s only social interraction in the game happens through walkie talkies with his supervisor Delilah and this is the most important building block of the game. I thought the different dialogue options were authentic and the conversations were engaging. The atmosphere is well constructed and the events that come up during the story are many times pretty surprising. There is some well built suspension and even hints of dread. The graphics are minimalistic but beautiful and wandering in the wilderness and watching the scenes is entertaining. The whole game is a sweet well- balanced cluster of beauty and thrill. I give a few negative marks on some illogical restrictions to player’s movement (can’t get through some invisible wall or a bush thats only 1m high). And I myself was a bit unsatisfied with the ending, because i thought it didn’t fit that well to the awesomeness of the rest of the game. The careful and thorough build up of tension during the story kind of fell flat. But that may be because I ‘ve studied too much story structure in my university and I can’t avoid nitpicking. All in all Firewatch was an enjoyable package and if you like beautiful story based adventures you should try it!

Play with passion!

auburn.geek

Microsoft Wants To Extend Cross- Platform Functionality

Interesting bit of news people!

Microsoft has enabled Xbox One’s cross platform functionality to Rocket League’s PC version and they wish to see more platforms connecting. Microsoft has announced that opening Xbox Live to PC games is also “an open invitation for other networks to participate as well.” Now both Xbox One and Playstation 4 have opened a channel with PC online players, will they connect with each other in the future? I first saw this news on Gamespot.com and I got quite exited, so I wanted to share this with all of you. There is no guarantee that this idea will be actualized, but at least this is the first move towards a world where console gamers could play more freely with each other. This would open a lot of neat possibilities in the gaming industry and in the gamer community. I for one would love to play The Elder Scrolls online with friends who have it on a different platform.

Play with passion!

auburn.geek

So what DO you play then?

Hi everyone,

I already wrote a short introduction before so you know a little bit of what to expect when reading my posts. Today I wanted to clarify my style in more detail and tell you about my gaming attitude which is that i play(and thus write about) whatever I want at any given time, not what is the next new or cool thing. Okay sometimes I get hyped just like anyone else and get sucked into the current game of the moment if it interests me (I’m not a hipster after all!). The reason why I’m telling you this is because my topics are not always following the hot gaming trends, but rather whatever I’m experiencing at the moment as a gamer. This may at times confuse someone who is following my posts so I think it’s important to explain myself a bit.

One question that I hear all the time is:”Do you play any cod/destiny/halo/Bo3?” and some people seem to think it weird that my answer is:”no, I do not play those games”. Why? Well they just don’t appeal to me. Not every gamer likes the same games, even if the games at hand are very popular among most. Anyway, after I tell people that I don’t play online shooters they usually ask “so what DO you play then?” as if these were the only games worthwhile. Well for everyone’s information I enjoy story driven roleplaying games like Arcanum, Morrowind and Fallout New Vegas the best. I love creepy horror games like Silent Hill 2 and Dark Fall. And I adore the passion of indie games like The Vanishing of Ethan Carter. These are of course just a scratch on the surface since my gaming hobby is 20+ years old. But my point in this chaos of a post is that there are a whole lot of very good and interesting games in the world, some of which are old and/or unknown to the newest generation of gamers, and I love every freaking piece of it. This is what I am about, and what my posts are about. Games that I love, no matter what the platform or the age. I hope you will find something new everytime you visit my blog section, be it a game you never heard about or a gaming related idea you find interesting.

Play with passion!

auburn.geek

 

South By Southwest Festival

Last week I sent off my interview questions for Demi Louise a singer/ songwriter from Oz, whilst doing a bit of research about her I came across a festival that she has played at and was headed back to play at the festival again for the second year in a row this month.

So what is South by Southwest festival you ask? Well South by Southwest  (SXSW) is an annual set of film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences that take place in mid March in Austin, Texas, USA. SXSW  began in 1987 and has continually grown in size every year.

SXSW Music Component;

SXWS Music is the largest music festival of its kind in the world, as of 2014 the festival had more the 2,000 acts. SXWS Music offers artist- provided music and video samples of featured artists at each festival via their official YouTube channel, the event has grown from 700 registrants in 1987 to over 28,000 registrants.

The Music Festival has help launched the careers of many artists including that of singer-songwriter John Mayer who preformed at SXSW Music festival 2000, which led to signing with Aware Records, his first record label. James Blunt was discovered by producer Lind Perry in 2004 and shortly after was signed to her Custard Records, where he went on to release all three of his subsequent albums, other big nanes of the Music Festival attendees include; Talib Kweli, Lil’ Wayne, Big Sean, Kanye West, Indi bands MENEW, The Shins, Bruce Springsteen and Lady Gaga.

SXSW Film Component;

The Film Conference consists of keynote speakers, panels, workshops, mentor sessions with expert filmmakers and industry leaders. There are some big name that were past notable speakers including, Ryan Gosling, Nicolas Cage, Alejandro Jodorowsky, Seth MacFarlane, Henry Rollins, Amy Schumacher, Robert Rodriguez  and many more. The SXSW Film Festival and The SXSW Film Conference run simultaneously and celebrates raw innovation and emerging telent both behind and in front of the camera. Some past notable premieres include Furious 7, Neighbors, Bridesmaid, 21 Jump Street and Insidious. TV series Girls, Silicon Valley and Penny Dreadful also premiered at SXSW Film Festival.

SXSW Interactive Component;

SXWS Interactive focuses on emerging technology, that focus has earned the festival a reputation as a breeding ground for new ideas and creative technologies. In  2006 a video game component “Screenburn at SXSW” was added to SXSW Interactive but in 2013 was remamed to SXSW Gaming & SXSW Gaming Expo. The Interactive Festival has help app’s such as Twitter which gained a good deal of early traction and buzz at SXSW Interactive, the Foursquare was launched at the Festival along with legend Mike Tyson’s iPhone game.

This years SXSW Festival features

Music Festival: Four On The Floor UK Rock Band, NAS, DJ Khaled, Indie label showcase and heaps more

Film Festival: Secrets of the force awakens; a cinematic journey to world premiere, Documentary Theme Going home, Key & Peel, Meet short filmmakes and heaps more going on

Inteactive/Gaming Festival: Samsungs Galaxy Life, Virtual Reality with New York Times, The Five Gods of Smash, Sonic the Hedgehog: 25 Year anniversary, BATMAN: Telltale Unmasked with Greg Miller, LINE Webtoon – Women in Digital Comics just to name a few.

Without festivals like SXSW our creative geniuses wouldn’t have a platform to be heard or be able to showcase, nor would new talent be discovered or inspired so we have these festivals to thank for that and for new films, new TV shows, new music and new apps.

SXWS Festival 2016 Dates

Interactive: March 11-15th

Film: March 11-19th

Music: March 15- 20th

Held in Austin, Texas

http://www.sxsw.com

References: Wikipedia, SXSW

 

An Introduction From ‘Our New Geek In Town’ Auburn.Geek

Hi everyone!

I’m Jade aka auburn.geek and I’m the newest addition to the Skatronixxx site. This post is a short intro to my section of the blog! You will get to know me better by reading my future posts, which will be about gaming and other geeky topics. I will do my best to entertain you in a casual style, please note that I am not a professional writer and my opinions are my own! If you have any thoughts, topic suggestions or questions please leave a comment! Any rude or foul comments will of course be ignored and deleted, so let’s try to behave ourselves and have fun, right? If you want to see more content from me, check my instagram profile @auburn.geek  where I post random stuff daily.

Dark Souls III – The Hype is Real

Dark Souls is something of a mystery to some people. The dark, medieval themes, the unforgiving and brutal combat, and the general lack of direct storytelling can put off a lot of would be players. Those detractors have a good reason to look warily in Dark Souls’ direction. Simply put, with From Software’s popularly difficult creation, you get exactly what you pay for: an experience unlike many of the triple-A titles you find on the market today. This franchise speaks to gamers in a unique way.

I remember playing the first Dark Souls on my Xbox 360. Unsure of the title, but aware of the reputation the game had as a “dying simulator”, I couldn’t pass up a $10 game set in a fantasy medieval world. Hell, I got my degree in Medieval European studies! Why wouldn’t I like this game? Booting it up and creating my character set me on a journey I would never forget. Ladies and gentlemen, I died an incredible number of times. I restarted my character when I realized that I had no idea how to optimize my stats. I began to slowly refine my combat style and discover the secrets and characters that defined more of the story. By the time I beat Dark Souls, something happened.

I fell in love with a series.

The insane difficulty of some of the encounters didn’t matter to me. From Software built a franchise that millions of gamers would come to rabidly adore, birthing a very own wiki dedicated to every secret, weapon, and combat style available to the players. The fantastic, though perhaps not as magical, Dark Souls 2 picked up after the first Dark Souls and improved on some of the combat formulas. It took a slightly more direct route in the storytelling, though did not modify the essential elements of a Dark Souls narrative. Essentially vague with its plot, Dark Souls 2 had difficulty matching its predecessor in terms of level design and a few pieces of the story. Regardless of this fact, I beat the second game several times and loved every minute.

Dark Souls has left a lasting impression on many other video games with its unique game-play and wonderfully impersonal multiplayer mechanics. Even with a game like Destiny, Bungie noted how they drew inspiration from Dark Souls and the way you connected with other players. Unlike many of those games, however, you always felt alone. Even as other players could come and go through your personal story, that creeping loneliness always sunk in once more. I identified with this feeling. I understood this feeling all too well.

You are the Ashen One, tasked with reuniting the Lords of Cinder. It’s a lonely road.

So you can probably understand my excitement whenever another article appears about the third iteration in the series, Dark Souls 3. The fine ladies and gentlemen over at Polygon received the opportunity to play four hours of the third game and having watched their video entitled “Dark Souls 3: The First 30 Minutes of Gameplay”, I can’t help but feel my heart beat a little faster. Unfortunately, I could spend a significant amount of time discussing everything I saw in this little preview so I can’t go into incredible detail. Beyond that, my first impressions of other people playing this game look good. GOOD. It captures the Dark Souls aesthetic and mood, the sound design seems equally lovely, and I am impressed by the upgraded visuals. Though I would love to see a Souls game with graphics as good as a heavily modded version of Skyrim, I also understand that such a decision would defeat the overall artistic vision of a game like this.

You all should go watch the video. Seriously. Tell me what you think!

Did you watch the video? I hope you did. Several things seem different about the game. Until I am able to get my hands on a controller and begin really digging into Dark Souls 3, I won’t be able to say exactly what they are, but it does seem as fluid as the second game in the series. Several of the starting classes seem similar as well. A lot of this information is drawn from Polygon’s report of their time spent with the game.

THE KNIGHT: Your overall tank who starts with high vitality (as always) and excellent starting gear.
THE MERCENARY: Polygon reports that the Mercenary has a high dex, perfect for those dual wielders.
THE WARRIOR: Hey there strength builds. 😉
THE HERALD: This seems new to me. Perhaps they are going for something along the lines of a hoplite? Polygon does mention that it starts with a spear and a healing spell, which could be wonderfully useful at the beginning of the game.
THE THIEF: Thieves have been around for awhile. Do you like backstabbing opponents and doing a lot of critical damage? The Thief is your choice.
THE ASSASSIN: This one is new. Apparently focused on mixing melee and offensive magic, the Assassin is a nice middle-ground for those who might want a little of both worlds.
THE SORCERER: All of you Dark Souls veterans know about the Sorcerer. Spells, spells, and more spells!
THE PYROMANCER: We all know him and love him. A unique variant spellcaster focused on flame magic.
THE CLERIC: My old standby, perfect for faith builds and wonderful for doing cooperative play.
THE DEPRIVED: Another constant character in the series, the Deprived once again starts with nothing but a shield and a club. Dark Souls on hard mode.

Other changes are readily apparent besides the classes. You have different starting item options, the enemies appear a bit more driven to kill you, and some of the characters you meet are new. A few, however, have been confirmed to return (or at least, they seem similar to the characters you met in the first game)! Andre the Blacksmith is back, baby! In addition, I’ve heard that the game does not incorporate a hallowing mechanic like the previous games did, which makes for a very interesting twist to one of the more consistent mechanics.

As you watch the video, you’ll notice that the player encounters a boss named Judex Gundyr. Midway through the fight, the boss becomes some sort of bizarre monster and his stats seem to skyrocket from the transformation. Apparently another new addition to the series, these transformations can affect bosses and regular enemies alike. Just what Dark Souls needed! A way to make it more difficult!

I CAN’T WAIT!

Veterans will also notice a blue bar underneath your health. This is called your “FP Bar” and represents some of your special abilities. Doing combo attacks with two weapons will drain your FP Bar and apparently, other weapons have special attacks as well (though this is not new to the series). You will notice that whenever the player gets his Estus Flask, he or she also finds an FP Flask usable for restoring this FP Bar. How useful! I am curious to see how this modifies the game-play and would love to see how players incorporate these powers into cooperative and competitive play.

Leveling seems the same, though the stats may influence a few more categories than before and just like the second Dark Souls, you can’t level at any bonfire. You have to head back to the very different looking Firelink Shrine and speak to the Firekeeper in order to progress.

Ok ok. Can we just stop for a moment and take a look at the visual design of the new Firelink Shrine? Wow. Just wow. This might be the most interesting, grim, and darkly beautiful of the series yet (I haven’t played Bloodborne, sorry everyone. I don’t have a PS4. Sad day.)!

You should see what they’ve done with the place!

Look, I could go on and on about the newest Dark Souls. The level of fanboy I have achieved almost ranks higher than my obsession with Warhammer 40,000. Almost.

Dark Souls 3 releases on April 12, 2016 worldwide with a Japanese release on March 24th. Available for PC, Playstation 4, and Xbox One, I will certainly catch some of you online on the Xbox! Let me know what you think about the newest in the series and let me know if you want to participate in some jolly cooperation!

Happy gaming!

Victorus aut Mortis!

-Valiant

The Lord Inquisitor and Future 40K Media

This article is the second part of a two part series discussing the development of Warhammer 40,000 in popular media.

“I am the hammer.

I am the point of his spear.

I am the mail that is faced.

I am the bane of his foes and the woes of the treacherous

I am the end.”

–The Lord Inquisitor “Grey Knights” Teaser

Shivers. Shivers, ladies and gentlemen. I love Warhammer 40,000. It’s a rich universe filled with potential. Not only has the extensive history of 40K been widely detailed by Games Workshop and its Black Library writers, Warhammer slowly creeps into more and more modern media. Last week we talked a bit about the Ultramarines movie and how this film, while decidedly flawed in many ways, gave us hope for a future filled with more 40K movies and video games. Ultramarines did something right; it provided fans a mode of entertainment that allowed us to see some of our favorite warriors of the universe voiced by sublime talent and kicking serious butt. For any war gaming man or woman, this prospect further attaches and drives him or her farther into a fandom. To know that a company treasures its creation to such an extent that they want to project this creation into every form of entertainment available speaks bounds about the dedication of a fan-base.

Games Workshop, however, has not always practiced good business with retailers and its customers. The power creep present in every edition, the constant update of Codexes and price hikes of models, the utter inability to understand the power of online retail, and the absolute refusal to move the universe forward dissuades some and disillusions others. Few universes have the depth and history of Warhammer 40,000. Fewer still have the blatant mismanagement commonly known to Games Workshop. Do you remember how I said that 40K has such potential? With their superb Black Library authors, talented support staff, and a dedicated base of fans, Games Workshop could become a global juggernaut with the right maneuvering.

Do you know what I want to see? I want to see a Warhammer 40,000 movie on the big screen. I want to wait in line surrounded by fellow fans to see the epic premiere of a phenomenal film about some of my favorite fictional super soldiers. I want to see the hard work and dedication of people who not only get paid to do what they do, but people who want to do what they love!

Then, a man named Erasmus Brosdau walked into the light and declared that he had a wonderful idea. A Senior 3D Artist and Art Director at Crytek (the same people who made games such as Crysis and Warface), Brosdau began developing an idea. In 2010 he called upon talented artists and designers to begin development of a simple trailer. Currently at 1.8 million views at the time of writing, fans and curious minds alike devoured the beautiful animation and adored the potential. Titled The Lord Inquisitor, work has continued and a projected release date (April 2017) for a full film has been set. Since then, he has made a variety of other trailers, one being about the Grey Knights (the Inquisition’s personal force of Demon Hunters who are given the best equipment and tasked with annihilating the demonic threat without and within), and another showing the main character of Brosdau’s film, Marcus Allenbrisk. The quote at the beginning of this article is from the Grey Knights trailer (I also own a small force of Grey Knights in addition to my Raven Guard) and channels the dark science fiction nature of the intellectual property.

The attention to detail is absolutely dazzling.

Brosdau and his team clearly adore this universe. You can feel the painstaking care to which they crafted every frame of these trailers, forged every line of dialogue, and selected each song. Warhammer 40,000 can become this! Ultramarines gave us the example. Men and women like Brosdau can lead us forward into a new generation of 40K media. Anyone can appreciate an idea like this, not just fans of the 40K universe.

On the gaming side of things, Warhammer 40,000 has continued to make strides into the gaming medium. Probably one of the larger hits, the Dawn of War series created by Relic has seen substantial commercial success and opened up 40K to a larger audience. I’ll be honest with you all; playing Dawn of War II is what piqued my interest in Warhammer! I found the gritty science fiction themes utterly attractive and enjoyable. As I delved further and further into the history and the myriad factions involved, I found several friends who played the tabletop war game and invested in a few models to start.

Now I’m hooked. Games like Dawn of War and the wonderfully underrated Space Marine give us yet another form of enjoyment. It allows us to transpose ourselves into a world or a galaxy that we absolutely enjoy. Do not think that I discount the glorious work of the capable Black Library writers! Warhammer fiction, too, influences all of these mediums. Yet with a video game, a man or woman is able to place him or herself directly in control of a character’s actions and influence the outcome of a storyline. In my opinion, this greatly enhances the immersion, second only to actually playing a tabletop roleplaying game such as Dark Heresy or Deathwatch. Created by Fantasy Flight Games, these represent another way for fans and interested parties to dive into the lore and truly become a part of the universe.

The Warhammer 40,000 universe, however, can only survive as long as men and women continue to appreciate and relish the evolving content created by Games Workshop. With the new release of the Space Wolves’ Wulfen codex, it appears as though GW may finally begin to advance the storyline and give gamers the content they so crave.

As it has been shown by the men and women in Brosdau’s creative team and the many video game developers working on the newest Warhammer 40,000 title Eternal Crusade, enough dedication and passion for a project and lead to incredible results.

Happy gaming!

Victorus aut Mortis!

-Valiant