Has LEGO’s Chamber Of Secrets Been Opened? LEGO Harry Potter Collection Rumoured For PS4

A new rumour is doing the rounds today concerning a PS4 collection of the two LEGO Harry Potter games. According to LEGO fan site Brick Fanatics, Brazil’s game ratings board has listed a rating for a currently unannounced LEGO Harry Potter Collection release. It is unclear whether the LEGO Harry Potter Collection would be a PS4 exclusive, although it would seem odd for it not to be released on the Xbox One and Wii U.  Presumably the game would be similar to LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga for PC, PS3, Xbox 360, DS and Wii which boasted every level from LEGO Star Wars: The Videogame and LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy alongside updated High-Definition graphics and new gameplay mechanics.

Whilst both LEGO Harry Potter entries were released on HD consoles, graphics have improved significantly since their release so it is possible that we could see a similar graphical upgrade to the LEGO Star Wars remaster. Some new cut scenes utilising dialogue from the films would be nice and I would also like to see a more expansive hub world, perhaps with the ability to journey to Diagon Alley on the Hogwarts Express.  Imagine being able to walk from the Hogwarts grounds to Hogsmeade or pay the Weasleys a visit at their family home The Burrow?

Also: would it be too much to ask for Traveller’s Tales to include six levels based on Harry Potter and the Cursed Child?

The LEGO Harry Potter Collection may be a few twists of the Time Turner away but the LEGO Dimensions Harry Potter team pack is set to be released 30th September 2016. The pack will include Harry Potter and Lord Voldemort NFC minifigures, alongside mini builds of the Hogwarts Express and the flying Ford Anglia from The Chamber of Secrets. Also confirmed is a Hermione Granger fun pack, although further details and a release date have yet to be announced.

Rainbow Six Siege Is Free To Play For This Weekend+New Expansion Coming Next Week!

Because Rainbow Six Siege is getting a new expansion (Operation Skull Rain) on 2nd of August, Microsoft has announced that Siege will be free on Xbox One for Xbox Live Gold members from Thursday(today!) to Sunday. If you ever wondered if you’d like the game, now’s a great opportunity to try it out, especially since the game will be on sale now so you can continue gaming after the weekend for a reduced price.

 

 

Operation Skull Rain will add two Operators and a map, like the earlier expansions. The new expansion will take place in a Brazilian favela, and Microsoft has claimed it to be “most destructible map to date.” The new operators are from Brazil’s Batalhão de Operações Policiais Especiais or BOPE. There will be a female sneak type character called Caveira, she is a defense character and is equipped with an M12 or SPAS-15 as a primary weapon, a PRB92 secondary, and C4 or barbed wire. she has the “Silent Step” skill that enables her to sneak up on enemies to immobilize and then interrogate them to reveal their teammates’ location. The other character, Capitão, will be the offense character and he is equipped with n M-249 or PARA-308, PRB92, and frag or stun grenades. He also has a crossbow that fires “asphyxiating bolts that burn oxygen within a certain radius” or “micro” smoke grenades. The characters are available for the season pass holders exclusively for the first week. After that they are available to purchase for in-game currency. The map is going to be free for all players right away. Also the much wanted Tactical Realism custom game mode will be added.

Play with passion!

auburn.geek

REVIEW: Overwatch

Review: This article goes in depth about a game and opens a dialogue about the positive and negative aspects that compose that game. At the end of the review, the author notes whether he or she feels this game was worth playing. Keep in mind that this review reflects the author’s opinion; you may have a different experience with this game!

Time Spent: About 20 hours

Version Played: PC

Available For: PC ($39.99 or $59.99 version), Xbox One and PS4 ($59.99)

I have found that writing a review about a video game can become incredibly difficult; sometimes I simply enjoy playing the loving creation of hundreds of hours of hard work from a team of men and women who express their passion through this medium. I’m not one to rush things. When it comes to life and even the video games I play, I always take my time and delve into the very fabric of the game. What makes it tick? Why do the characters have these particular motivations? What drives them? Reviewing games can sometimes complicate this process. Instead of launching myself forward into a brand new world, I set up my notebook so I can take notes and as soon as I have a thought, I write it down for further refinement. Rarely may I simply experience a game.

That problem becomes increasingly difficult when reviewing a game that technically has no story or single-player mode. In a world where multi-player only games grow with each passing year, how does a game reviewer fully immerse him- or herself into the lore and background?

Developed by Blizzard Entertainment, the same minds behind the wildly successful World of Warcraft and Starcraft, Overwatch has taken the gaming community by storm. Set up in a similar style akin to Team Fortress 2 with some elements of a MOBA, this first person shooter provides gamers with 21 unique and dynamic heroes all with his or her own abilities that can radically impact how an individual plays the game. Let’s get the first point out of the way before we go into the mechanics and balance of Overwatch.

There is no story. Ok, that’s not technically true. Blizzard has provided some background lore about the fictional Earth set within Overwatch’s universe. In the not-so-distant future, sentient robots known as Omnics have taken over a majority of the intensive labor which has allowed humanity to undergo a “golden age.” Space exploration begins and technological progress skyrockets. Some of the Omnics, however, begin to go rogue and this triggers the event known as the “First Omnic Crisis”. The factories producing these Omnics (and namely the primary combat version known as “Bastions”) somehow manufactured hostile AI and the world was thrown into war. To combat this threat, the nations of Earth formed a division of elite and specialized soldiers under the leadership of Jack Morrison and Gabriel Reyes. Called “Overwatch”, these two men recruited some of the brightest minds and toughest soldiers from around the world. Destroying all but one of the last hostile Omnics, the soldiers of Overwatch ushered in another era of peace.

Unfortunately, peace never lasts and after several high-profile mission failures and growing disagreements between Jack Morrison and Gabriel Reyes, the two founders of Overwatch eventually entered into a heated argument which developed into outright conflict. The Swiss headquarters of Overwatch collapsed due to Morrison and Reyes’ own personal battle and both were never seen again. The United Nations eventually called for an end to Overwatch’s actions and forbade any further vigilante missions by the now defunct organization, lest anyone associated with it be deemed felons. As predicted, the world now suffers from terrorist actions, Russia struggles with a second Omnic crisis, and giant corporations exploit the common man and woman. Will Overwatch return?

That’s a cool story, right? Sure it has a few cliches, but the rich animation and incredible depth to the characters involved give Overwatch a breath of life I would have never expected in a multi-player only game. I remain disappointed that Blizzard did not include some type of single-player campaign, yet surprisingly this seems to work for Overwatch’s benefit. Blizzard has begun publishing comic and video shorts detailing the adventures and lore of some of the characters which not only serves to feed the hype behind the game, it allows fans to further develop his or her favorite hero to an even greater extent. Blizzard made a brilliant move and even I have found myself looking up more lore about the world and those phenomenal heroes who swear to protect or destroy it!

The world could always use more heroes.

Overwatch is a competitive team-based shooter. You and up to five other players join a randomly selected match with randomly determined objectives. Sometimes you might find yourself tasked with guarding two checkpoints. If the attacking team secures the first, then you and your allies must retreat to the second and form a last ditch defense until either the attacking team runs out of time or they take the point from you. Other times you might play a king of the hill style match. While the game modes certainly don’t offer much in terms of innovation, it’s the heroes and the way gamers play them that truly differentiates every match.

Take your pick. There’s 21 different men and women to choose from and each one has a variety of skills and one ultimate ability that can turn the tide of combat. Do you like fast-paced action? Try Tracer, Overwatch’s youthful and engaging mascot. She can teleport around the battlefield, recall herself to an earlier point in time to restore health and ammo, shred enemies with her pulse sub-machine guns, or use her ultimate sticky bomb to potentially crush a tightly grouped cluster of players. Or perhaps you prefer to soak up all of the damage and protect your team? Reinhardt is a superb choice as he can use his arm shield to defend his teammates from the opposing team’s wrath. Not only that, but he can swing his rocket hammer to deal excellent melee damage, fire a flaming burst at range, charge and ram an opponent into a wall, or use his ultimate hammer slam which knocks over enemies and stuns them. It’s also incredibly useful for disrupting the ultimate abilities of the enemy! Each hero has a wide range of powers that you will find yourself spending hours experimenting with the best way to utilize your character.

I think that’s another impressive feat on Blizzard’s part. Despite some odd damage discrepancies with characters such as McCree, the heroes of Overwatch have incredible balance. Some characters perfectly counter another and switching mid-game is a completely viable and recommended tactic. This is not to say that a good player cannot overcome his or her direct counter; truly, I have witnessed some impressive feats by men and women in this game. It’s just that some heroes have abilities that hamper another hero’s performance. All of it has a commendable level of detail and Blizzard presents it masterfully.

A point of contention stands with the microtransaction system. With every level, players gain a loot box that contains four unlockable items (voice lines, character skins, emotes, etc.) of varying rarity. Leveling up takes significantly longer as your rank increases and these loot boxes seem to provide duplicate or common items with aggravating frequency. When you receive a duplicate, you earn some in-game currency for the purchase of items you may want, but often the amount you earn is paltry at best. Still, this does not have an effect on the mechanics of the game and remains an annoyance that many players may ignore.

Unlock flavorful tags, character skins, victory poses, and more!

Despite all of the fun I had with Overwatch, I couldn’t help but wonder how much entertainment I could have with it. Eventually, the maps and game modes became repetitious and while I still found myself laughing with joy or shouting with frustration, the back of my mind still felt clouded. A few questions came to mind:

Was this worth the $39.99 I paid for this game? What about my friends on the Xbox or Playstation? At least I could play Overwatch for a reduced price. They simply did not have a choice and had to pay $59.99 if they wanted to engage in the experience. I struggle to justify this and as I mentioned earlier, companies continue to cut single-player content in favor of multi-player. While we have intriguing lore and a series of videos (with probably more on the way) from the developer, what are we actually paying for? A series of skirmishes with no real meaning and no impact on the world of Overwatch? Or is this the beginning of something bigger and will Overwatch grow into a franchise that may carry on into the foreseeable future?

I honestly can’t say. In the meantime, I’ll be patching people up as Mercy while I think more on this dilemma.

Happy gaming!

-Valiant

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

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

REVIEW: Dark Souls 3

Review: This article goes in depth about a game and opens a dialogue about the positive and negative aspects that compose that game. At the end of the review, the author notes whether he or she feels this game was worth playing. Keep in mind that this review reflects the author’s opinion; you may have a different experience with this game!

Time Spent: About 65 hours. Extra time was spent testing the patch changes.

Version Played: PC and Xbox One

Loneliness. It’s a theme that writers and musicians have often detailed and described to the best of their ability. We all experience it; from time to time we all feel the incalculable feeling that despite our best efforts, the journey we have embarked upon remains solitary. Yes we may have passing encounters with colorful and dynamic men and women. Yes we may feel the sting of bitter defeat. Yes there will be those who seek to destroy everything we desire and everything we have accomplished. Ultimately though, these instances are fleeting and serve to remind us of our bitter mortality and the inescapable fate we all must endure.

Few games have embodied this like Dark Souls. Created by From Software as the third (and supposedly last) installation in their series of games, Dark Souls 3 returns the player to the Kingdom of Lothric and breathes life into familiar locales such as the Firelink Shrine and the dismal catacombs but also introduces countless new enemies and locations as well as a refined combat system. There’s a great deal to discuss about the final addition to the series, so let’s begin with how it stacks up with the previous games.

I don’t think anything can ever replace the experience I had with the first Dark Souls. It was intense, traumatic, and utterly breathtaking. I had never played a game that wanted to make me quit so badly, yet constantly dangled the idea of success in front of my face. The story never really became clear and while a great deal could be gleaned from character and item backstories and flavor text, a majority of it remained up to the player to simply guess. While this isn’t a terrible way to tell a story and certainly encourages dutiful research into the world, it felt as though the first Dark Souls took a “hands off” approach and left a great deal unanswered. The characters had personality and while a few of them stuck (SOLAIRE!!!), others seemed forgettable.

Dark Souls 3 completely changes that. It certainly doesn’t have the same impact that the first game did (like I said, I don’t think anything will), but the story is slightly more compelling, the flavor text behind items seems to be more in-depth, and the characters…Oh the characters! Dark Souls 3 has added a massive cast to the game and each character has a motivation as well as a questline. Some of the characters make a fantastic return (such as Andre, Patches, and Siegward) and Dark Souls 3 adds plenty of nods to the first two games. Those of you who have played 1 and 2 will immediately recognize some of the equipment or flavor text that exists in Lothric. These returning characters add to the engaging cast of new ones; from the noble Astoran knight Anri to the hopeful Irina to the very cunning Yoel of Londor, Dark Souls 3 eclipses the other games in terms of character development and personality by leaps and bounds. Save for Lucatiel, I barely remember most of the characters from Dark Souls 2 and I often did not feel compelled to find out more about them. For Dark Souls 3, I went out of my way to research their quests and work to complete as many of them as I could. The story is the standard Dark Souls affair: You, the enkindled, must join the other enkindled souls and reunite the Lords of the First Flame (by killing them) in order to relight the First Flame, the source of power (and in some sense, the recurring darkness) that resides in the Dark Souls universe. You find out more about the bosses and the characters throughout the game, but the story doesn’t really evolve from there.

The first Dark Souls had some truly wonderful boss fights and thankfully, Dark Souls 3 seems to respect its ancestor’s heritage by adding some horribly difficult and utterly awe inspiring bosses to the latest iteration in Hidetaka Miyazaki’s masterpiece. One of the most cinematic and flavorful bosses to fight? The Abyss Watchers. One of the bosses that had me shivering in fear and nearly frothing in rage? Dancer of the Boreal Valley. I felt a wide gamut of emotions from the bosses of Dark Souls 3 and while all of them aren’t exactly memorable, I still find myself marveling at some of the designs or mechanics implemented into their combat styles.

I got goosebumps from this fight.

Truly, many people play Dark Souls and its kin Bloodborne, for the opportunity to cut down their opponents with sword, axe, or spear or even launch powerful spells to split their foes in twain. Dark Souls 2, while certainly not as spectacular as the first game, greatly improved upon the first game’s mechanics and refined some of the combat. We got to experience dual-wielding weapons for the first time and while some were opposed to how From Software revamped the magic system, the Dark Souls series desperately needed something to balance out the power of magic. Clearly taking inspiration from the success of Bloodborne, From Software and Hidetaka Miyazaki have refined the combat system to an even greater degree; while not as fast paced as its sister game, Dark Souls 3 has a more rapid flow to its combat than the previous installations and every single weapon has a “combat style” that allows the player to truly revamp the way he or she uses that weapon. In addition to their HP and stamina bars, players now have a new bar called the “FP bar.” This bar drains when you cast spells as well as when you use your weapon’s combat style. For example, I normally use a Lightning Claymore +10. Swinging it normally drains stamina and I go through the weapon’s normal attack patterns. Should I desire, however, I can two-hand the weapon and hold my left trigger on my controller. This will cause my character to assume a high guard with the sword pointed directly at my opponent. From here, I can thrust forward or go into a sweeping lunge. Some weapons can even combo off your original special attack! This greatly changes the way Dark Souls plays and lets players truly customize a play style all to him or herself!

You can refill this FP bar using some of your Estus Flask uses, thus enabling someone who wants to build a character based on spellcasting or special attacks a completely viable option! This is easily the most customizable of the three games and From Software made a phenomenal choice incorporating some of the positive elements of Bloodborne into Dark Souls 3.

Despite my adoration for this game, not all remains well. As I’ve previously mentioned, Dark Souls games rarely go into detail about their stories and while Dark Souls 3 certainly provides a great deal of lore and certainly provides a significantly improved cast of characters, it still leaves the player with countless questions. Rarely do the cast of NPCs ever have any true resolution; yes you can complete their quests but ultimately, their fate remains the same and you discover very little in the way about who they could have become. I love Dark Souls‘ inherent loneliness and fatalism (it’s easily the top reason I play this game), but for once I would like to go significantly more into a particular NPC’s story. The entire plot about reuniting the First Flame doesn’t drive me forward; fighting bosses and experiencing the challenge is what makes me constantly come back to this game. The story simply feels like filler.

Speaking of challenges…The Nameless King was an intense fight.

Multiplayer has always been both a highlight and a stumbling point for the Dark Souls franchise. Summoning friends has never felt easier as From Software incorporated a password protected summoning option for people who want to play together (another thing they adapted from Bloodborne)! You can even join a friend’s game regardless of how high of a level you may be. You’ll suffer a reduction of your stats down to your friend’s level, but the removal of the “summoning cap” was a spectacular move on From’s part. Unfortunately, every Dark Souls game has suffered from a cheating problem and Dark Souls 3 is not exempt. Countless times did I experience the wrath of invincible invaders or players who had incomprehensibly powerful spells. Countless times did I perish at their hands. From Software released many patches stating that they had helped mitigate the cheating problem, resolved crashing issues, and added “balance changes”, but the company still remains incredibly vague on exactly everything they have accomplished with these patches. As far as mechanical issues, some of them certainly helped as my PC version of Dark Souls 3 rarely crashed. Others, such as the weapon balance changes and the multiplayer work, didn’t seem as effective. This can be frustrating for players, especially those who were outright banned from using multiplayer with the general population for accidentally accepting “illegal items” (items that were obtained using an exploit or were modded) or for those who were banned for no reason at all. These activities by From Software diminish the overall experience of the game.

While easily the best PC version of the entire Dark Souls series, both the PC and Xbox One versions still suffer from notable framerate drops, with the Xbox One version being more notable. When Dark Souls 3 ran well on my PC, it looked and handled spectacularly and while nothing will ever beat the gargantuan slow downs of Blight Town from the first game, Dark Souls 3 has its moments of FPS dips that can elicit frustration.

Beyond all of this, however, Dark Souls 3 manages to shine. I had a blast completing the main story with two of my friends and I plan on constantly replaying the game in the future. Despite some hiccups along the road, Dark Souls 3 stands as a fitting conclusion to the series and offers plenty of subtle and blatant nods to its predecessors. I greatly await From Software’s further patches and additions to this game. Hopefully the expansions are just as good!

Praise the sun!

-Valiant

Lionhead Studios Is No More

I think we all saw this coming. A little over a month ago, I detailed an article about the cancellation of Fable Legends and the uncertain fate of its developer and creator of the Fable franchise, Lionhead Studios. On March 7th, Microsoft declared that they would enter into a six week period mandated by British law to discuss the “proposed closure” of Lionhead Studios. This gives the employees time to consider their options if the company shutters its doors.

Unfortunately, that time has arrived and Microsoft has made it official: Lionhead Studios will cease to exist. In an article from Kotaku,  a Microsoft representative noted that “We have nothing but heart-felt thanks for the team at Lionhead for their significant contributions to Xbox and the games industry.” Obviously official corporate jargon, the representative does make a point. Fable made a significant impact with the original Xbox community and spawned the relatively well received Fable trilogy along with the unimpressive Fable: The Journey and an HD remake of the original Fable.

Lionhead’s work extends beyond just the Fable franchise. Creators of the intriguing Black and White series that let players become the god of their realm and the less well known title called The Movies, Microsoft’s representative doesn’t do Lionhead’s memory justice. While all studios have setbacks, make poor decisions, and sometimes disappoint their fans, every game leaves an impression upon us and the society of gaming. I will forever remember my first experience with Fable and playing it countless times to experience both the extreme good and horrid evil an individual could embody. While each game beyond the first didn’t have the same “magic” of my first Fable experience, they still left their mark and inspired me to play more RPGs and incorporate more choices and consequences in my own Pathfinder campaigns. After Fable, I became readily aware of the decisions I made in every game. Do you remember the original tagline of the first game? It feels all the more poignant now…

“For every choice, a consequence.”

Rest in peace, Lionhead. We at Skatronixxx wish your former employees the best of luck.

-Valiant

One Week Until Time Shatters

Be honest with me.

If you had the ability to manipulate time, what would you do? Would you go back and alter some minor and utterly insignificant event that plagues you to this day? Would you pull an Albert Einstein from the Command and Conquer universe and use your chronosphere to kill Hitler? Or perhaps you would choose to go forward in time and see exactly what our future holds. Whatever your decision, you must realize one incredible and undeniable fact:

Playing with time is a dangerous thing.

Set to release on April 5th, 2016, Remedy Entertainment‘s newest game titled Quantum Break is a third-person shooter exclusive to the Xbox One and the PC. Set in a world where time does not follow the same linear flow as ours, players take on the persona of Jack Joyce (played by Shawn Ashmore of X-Men fame) as he diligently fights against the machinations of his equally gifted antagonist, Paul Serene (played by Aidan Gillen of Shanghai Knights and The Dark Knight Rises). Loaded with even more star-studded talent such as the phenomenal Lance Reddick and the equally talented Dominic Monaghan, Microsoft has spared no expense in generating hype for their latest exclusive. Rumored to be the spiritual successor to the third-person thriller title Alan Wake, Quantum Break not only rhymes with it but shares similar elements with its distant cousin, most notably Remedy’s careful attention to detail and their graphical fidelity.

The story of Quantum Break seems somewhat vague. It follows the story of Jack Joyce in his search for revenge against Paul Serene. Serene executed William Joyce in cold blood, but William apparently had the ability to “end time” as a trailer stated and with his death, time has shattered and both Jack and Paul have intriguing abilities. For example, Jack can stop time, reverse the direction of bullets, and even warp across a sizable distance to initiate a powerful melee take-down on an opponent. On the other hand, Paul does not have any of the flashy and powerful abilities of Jack, yet he has a gift that could turn the entire world in his favor: the ability to predict the future. Another protagonist by the name of Beth Wilder (played by the awesome Courtney Hope!) may also have such abilities and both Joyce and Wilder must escape from Serene’s corporation known as “Monarch Solutions.” Quantum Break understandably escalates and I can only imagine that the destruction as well as the utter endangerment of the space-time continuum progressively worsens as the player completes the campaign.

Armed soldier versus Iceman? I think we know who wins.

Intriguingly, Remedy Entertainment plans on making their newest title into a two part experience; combining the aspects of video games and television, Quantum Break will deliver gamers both a traditional video game and a linked series of short episodes as he or she progresses through the story. While playing the game, he or she will step into the role of Jack Joyce, but when the story reaches a certain point and it switches over to the television short, players will see the story from Paul Serene’s side and may make a “prediction” using Serene’s ability in order to change events in the video game. If it all sounds a little complex, don’t worry. You’re not alone. While I love the idea of incorporating two different mediums within a video game, Remedy must understand the risk this poses to destroying the immersion factor of Quantum Break. Simply put, it could work spectacularly or fail miserably. Thankfully, both producer and developer have enlisted the help of an incredible cast as well as worked with scientists at CERN to make the time manipulation theoretically relevant and the script believable. Hopefully Quantum Break can deliver on all of the hype!

Even with the incredible hype machine blasting at full volume, Remedy has not forgotten about another form of entertainment that currently prevails in gaming culture: Let’s Plays. A recent article by engadget noted that the developers have added a feature that allows YouTubers and Twitch streamers to completely disable licensed music playback in order to avoid copyright notifications. A surprisingly unheard of gesture in the AAA video game realm, it appears as though the company recognizes the popularity of major YouTubers and their ability to unintentionally boost the sales of games. Timothy Seppala, the author of this article, does warn players that Sam Lake (the creative director) specifically chose music for each section of the game and that disabling the licensed track could diminish the overall experience of Quantum Break. That’s something to keep in mind!

Stay tuned for my eventual review of Quantum Break!

Happy gaming! Victorus aut Mortis!

-Valiant

REVIEW: The Division

Review: This article goes in depth about a game and opens a dialogue about the positive and negative aspects that compose that game. At the end of the review, the author notes whether he or she feels this game was worth playing. Keep in mind that this review reflects the author’s opinion; you may have a different experience with this game!

Time Spent: 30+ hours

Version Played: PC

Hello Dark Zone my old friend,

I’m going to hunt in you again.

And while my enemies are all sleeping,

I shall go about my reaping.

All the trouble they have sown…

Will soon be theirs to own…

Video games have become one of the most dynamic forms of storytelling in the past two decades. With the evolution of the medium, the development of new technologies, and the constant hard work of game development companies, we have seen a vast number of superb video games released in my lifetime and can expect many more in the foreseeable future. What makes this medium spectacular? Everyone has an opinion and when writing something as potentially divisive as opinion pieces on explosive topics like video games and the gaming world, I try to take every aspect into account. Ultimately, what drives me to complete a video game isn’t the graphics and while good gameplay certainly helps me appreciate a game, it doesn’t make me beholden to it.

“What then?” You may ask me as I ramble on about a broad subject that isn’t The Division. I’m getting there. I promise. What really sells a game, in my opinion, is two-fold: Heavy emphasis on quality storytelling and to what degree I am immersed in the experience. Created by Ubisoft Massive and Red Storm Entertainment and published by Ubisoft, The Division is another installation in the long running collection of games with the late Tom Clancy’s moniker. With their first foray into the quasi-mmo experience, Ubisoft has seen resounding success and sold millions of copies of The Division. How does their new flagship title stack up?

Let’s keep in mind the two elements I mentioned earlier. Set in the not-so-distant future, The Division puts you in control of your own customizable character who is a part of a secretive organization known as, you guessed it, “The Division.” Tasked with bring a silent sentinel until such a time arrives when the government activates you, the worst case scenario strikes New York City. On Black Friday, someone releases a modified strain of the smallpox virus and spreads the virus using contaminated currency. The results are catastrophic as people become infected, the virus spreads, casualties mount, and infrastructure collapses. Activated as a part of the “second wave” of agents, your own agent must work with acting Division commander Faye Lau and your fellow agents to restore order to New York and discover who unleashed the plague upon the innocent residents.

If The Division excels in one category, the level of immersion present still astounds me. Now, I concede that Ubisoft’s newest game doesn’t always land this experience with perfection. Understandable elements such as a medical gun, a rolling seeker bomb, smart cover, and bullet sponge enemies have their place and certainly make sense mechanically, but they detract from the overall immersion. They don’t seem incredibly realistic which a majority of Tom Clancy games have tried to champion. Please don’t think that any of these point detract from the enjoyment of the game, they just simply complicate the immersion factor. Beyond all of this, however, The Division manages to capture my attention whenever I play. The story, while certainly leagues better than Destiny, has some predictable Tom Clancy elements and mostly serves as a centerpiece for the greater world of the setting and it is here The Division shines.

Roaming around New York and seeing the aftermath of chaos, watching as a civilian dies in the street, and listening to the many different collectibles and audio logs truly enhances the feeling of sorrow. The worst part of it all, though, is that a catastrophe such as this could happen. While a little over the top at times, The Division doesn’t take a heavy science fiction approach and instead offers somewhat plausible future scenarios with technology that we may eventually achieve. Even some of the enemies have motivations that give them character and breathe life into this virtual New York. While these characters certainly don’t have the breadth of personality compared to story driven titles such as Mass Effect or Bastion, I was surprised with the feelings some of them evoked. Do you all remember those Cleaners I talked about in my impression article about The Division? Well, they’re still bastards but they and their leader Joe Farro have motivations and a drive that, while I certainly do not agree with, I can understand. The Rikers, however, serve little purpose except to piss me off. I won’t spoil anything for you all, but one mission in particular drew my unwavering ire. A video game’s ability to capture these feelings is an accomplishment.

They go from bad to worse!

While not as large of an accomplishment, The Division offers decent gunplay with a nice mix of abilities, perks, and talents to customize your play style. Even better, as you upgrade your base of operations, you can unlock more of your abilities and discover unique modifications to your existing skills and powers. The Division exists for team play and while going alone can be done, bringing along friends truly completes the experience. The gunplay isn’t Ubisoft or Red Storm’s crowning achievement, but it doesn’t detract from the quality of the game in any way.

The missions and side quests range from repetitive, aggravating affairs filled with little true content to relatively dynamic and emotionally charged events that elicit the aforementioned feelings and push the player to drive deeper into the experience. In between the campaign, gamers may enter into The Division’s PvE and PvP arena known as the “Dark Zone,” where difficult computer controlled enemies and high level chests spawn and have the chance for dropping rare and exotic loot. The key to the Dark Zone, however, rests on the shoulders of the players; by entering the Dark Zone, you stand the chance of being killed by other humans without any warning at all. By shooting at or killing another agent, you effectively become “rogue” for a certain amount of time that can be extended by damaging other players or being damaged by other players. This can net you significant Dark Zone experience (a separate experience statistic from your character level) and Dark Zone currency, but also paints you as a target for every other agent in your area. Should they kill you, they receive a bounty of DZ experience and currency.

With Ubisoft’s most recent patch (1.02), they have significantly increased the amount of DZ experience you gain by killing other agents and killing rogue agents. This has altered the dynamic of the Dark Zone in an interesting way. Essentially, going rogue now has appropriate rewards and slightly smaller risks and defeating a rogue agent now grants more rewards. While I’m not a fan of going rogue in the Dark Zone, for others this can act as an incentive to initiate a PvP exchange and an individual such as myself now has even more drive to hunt player-killers down.

Truly entertaining and intense, the Dark Zone is Ubisoft’s greatest addition to The Division. Every time you find powerful equipment, you have to extract it from the Dark Zone by running to an extraction location, firing off a flare to signal a helicopter (which alerts EVERYONE in the area that you’re doing it), and wait  one minute and thirty seconds for the helicopter to arrive. This adds incredible tension and anxiety to the already dangerous environment and I absolutely adore it. I wish more games had an open PvP zone like this! Even better, extracting that gear you worked hard for leaves you with a feeling of euphoria. Ubisoft created something wonderful with the Dark Zone.

Going alone is not recommended.

It is a shame then that upon reaching level 30 (and even at times during the journey to 30), the game becomes an incessant grind. The same cookie cutter side missions permeate The Division’s primary campaign and after the first several offerings, you will become accustomed to exactly what missions you will need to complete in each area. Thankfully, completing all of the side quests in one area generally rewards you with a craftable item, but it only serves as a reminder that you have another neighborhood in New York to repeat the same missions. Unfortunately, the Dark Zone doesn’t fare much better. In order to purchase high level exotic gear known as “high end” items, you must attain currency called “Phoenix Credits.” These credits can be attained through doing specially marked Daily missions at higher difficulties or killing powerful named enemies. These minibosses generally drop 1-3 credits (after the patch) and some of the high end equipment can cost in the hundreds of credits. Dedicated players can easily attain the amount he or she needs, but it still becomes quite the grind. Even worse, your previously attained Dark Zone credits are rendered somewhat moot.

Thankfully, Ubisoft has increased the drop rate of high end items in some of the chests you can find throughout the Dark Zone as well as on some of the names enemies. This does help mitigate some of the grind, but unfortunately leaves such drops up to chance. Regardless, it is refreshing to see Ubisoft address player issues with incredible speed. Should they show such support in the future, we can expect The Division to have a very fruitful life. Starting in April, gamers will be able to undertake raids known as “Incursions” in order to gain other exotic items and the future for The Division is certainly filled with more content. I struggle to maintain that this review is complete due to the future content in development by Ubisoft, but as of right now The Division is an intriguing, fun, and grindy experience that has some substance underneath its somewhat bleak exterior.

Ultimately, I had a lot of fun with The Division. It has its very noticeable issues and it certainly isn’t for everyone, but I greatly look forward to its future.

Happy gaming! Victorus aut Mortis!

-Valiant

Sony Interested, Vague About Cross-Platform Play

About a week ago, my lovely partner in crime auburn.geek reported on a very intriguing and potentially ground breaking article about how Microsoft wants to extend cross-platform play with Rocket League. Though not explicitly stating that they wanted to link up with Sony’s PSN or Nintendo’s own online network, Microsoft implied that such a possibility was not completely unfounded and that we could see such cross-platform functionality in the future. Now, while gamers have had some connection between consoles and PC games, never before have Xbox or Playstation owners been able to compete or cooperate with one another. As auburn.geek said, it’s very exciting!

Once again, GameSpot offered a report on Sony’s response to Microsoft’s invitation. Sony’s message is as follows:

“PlayStation has been supporting cross-platform play between PC on several software titles starting with Final Fantasy 11 on PS2 and PC back in 2002…We would be happy to have the conversation with any publishers or developers who are interested in cross platform play.”

I used to play Final Fantasy 11 back in the day! It astounded me that I could run with my friends who had it on PC while I played on PS2. To think that an idea like that could potentially offer vast connection with an utterly massive base of gamers…wow! Really, Sony’s response seems positive but incredibly vague. No hard details have surfaced and neither company has officially extended a hand to one another in order to initiate such a cooperative venture, but the fact that the interest exists means a great deal for the gaming world.

Could you imagine playing some of your favorite games regardless of what console you purchased? To think that my PlayStation friends who own Destiny could play with my Xbox friends, or my Xbox friends who purchased The Division could run around and engage in shenanigans with me on my PC makes me absolutely excited for what the future could hold! *Takes a deep breath* We still must remember that none of this remains confirmed, neither company has taken action, and the outcome of such a monumental decision escapes prediction. Let’s hope this goes well and we see nothing but positive results.

Happy gaming! Victorus aut Mortis!

-Valiant