It has been awfully quiet on the Spider-Man front as of late. Oh sure, there is a huge co-produced Marvel & Sony Pictures film coming out next month but I meant in terms of Insomniac’s web-slinging simulator announced at E3 2016. A year later and Sony closed their press conference last night with an [X] demo, surely they were hoping to wow the crowd by recreating Spider-Man’s signature moves in video game form.
The demo picks up with Spidey taking on a series of henchmen on the inside of an unfinished skyscraper. Spidey dodges, leaps and performs acrobatics exactly like you’d expect someone with superhuman reflexes to react – seamlessly going from launching a henchman up in the air with a high kick, only to web-shoot him out the window mid-jump a split second later. All of this action is broken up by a mid-demo FaceTime conversation between Spider-Man and an imprisoned Kingpin. All of these henchmen that Spidey have been laying waste to are actually trying to take down Kingpin’s assets while he’s imprisoned and if Spidey wants to discover the true identity of this criminal mastermind Spider-Man will have to rescue Kingpin’s men and save the high-rise. Without giving away the climactic action sequence towards the demo’s end or the surprise post-credits reveal, it looks like Insomniac’s Spider-Man is going to be worth the wait until it ships sometime next year.
Today, SEGA revealed the third gameplay style in Sonic Forces is a powerful gadget touting customizable character. For the first time in the Sonic series, players can create their own original Hero Character, and customize how the character plays and how it looks. This newly revealed playstyle in Sonic Forces is in addition to the previously revealed fast-paced action of Modern Sonic and the thrilling platforming of Classic Sonic.
Players will be equipping their custom Hero Character with one of a variety of powerful unique gadgets called Wispons. Wispons are an evolution of the Color Powers from Sonic Colors and double as both offensive abilities and as a way to platform through levels quickly. Along with the Wispon, the Hero Character will have a grappling hook they can utilize to quickly traverse across zones. Players can also customize the Hero Character’s looks by choosing and swapping between hundreds of accessories and outfit options to change the character’s appearance as they play through the game.
There are seven base animal types that players can select from, each with varying special abilities:
Wolf – Automatically draws in rings when near them
Rabbit – Has longer invincible time after receiving damage
Cat – Keeps one ring after being hit
Dog – Restarts with five rings after the player dies
Bear – Blows away enemies with a homing attack
Bird – Flies high with double jump abilities
Hedgehog – Collects rings when getting damaged
The created character will also be a key part of the story, appearing not only in cut scenes, but by being a crucial element in the story.
Sonic Forces will be available for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, & PC this holiday.
Natsume and Rising Star Games today announced an all-new title in the long running Harvest Moon series, which will be making its debut on the Nintendo Switch, Steam, and PlayStation 4 later this year. The game will be called Harvest Moon: Light of Hope and will encompass twenty years of spirit that has made the franchise what it is today.
This is the first time the Harvest Moon brand will be on Steam and the Nintendo Switch. The title will be playable on both Switch and PC in the Natsume booth at E3 in June.
Veteran developers known for the “Tales of” franchise – Takumi Miyama (scenario writer) and Kosoke Fujishima (character designer) – bring JRPG fans a brand new title with the upcoming release of Dark Rose Valkyrie on PlayStation 4 this coming June.
Dark Rose Valkyrie casts the player in the role as the leader of an elite military unit known as ACID (anti chimera interception division) who must protect humanity from horrifying creatures – once human, but now transformed due to a mysterious virus. The game’s narrative takes us to an alternate 1929 when a massive meteorite crashes into Earth – unleashing the Chimera Virus which wipes out 3% of the planet’s population. Players must lead their squad through the main story to solve the mystery of the Chimera Virus, the Black Meteorite and prevent another pass eradication of humanity.
We originally brought you news of Dark Rose Valkyrie back in November of last year. The full version will be available in both physical and digital formats on June 6th with the European release set for June 9th.
Along with the announcement of the release date for Dark Rose Valkyrie publisher Idea Factory Internationalism released some brand new screenshots:
Developed by Saber Interactive, NBA Playgrounds is a new, high-flying, arcade-style basketball game. This classic 2-on-2 action experience will be available on the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and Windows PC (Steam) as a digital-only release in May 2017. The digital release is slated to eTail for $19.99 USD.
“Basketball is such a pick-up-and-play sport at heart – we really wanted to bring that spirit into gaming,” said Saber’s CEO, Matt Karch. “NBA Playgrounds has a lot of depth for pros who’ve mastered their game, but it’s accessible enough that anyone can jump in, have fun and feel competitive.“
All 30 NBA teams are featured in NBA Playgrounds, as well an extensive roster of current and retired NBA players that you can level up over time. The game can be played solo, with friends in local and online multiplayer, or against the world in online tournaments. There are hundreds of over-the-top dunks and moves to unleash for show-stopping displays of acrobatic skill on lively playgrounds across the globe.
Telltale Games revealed the first ever trailer for Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy: The Telltale Series, which is set to premiere the first of five episodes on April 18th for $4.99 USD. The game will be released on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Windows PC, and Mac, as well as available for download on the App Store and Google Play.
The series will also be available as a special ‘Season Pass Disc’ on May 2nd at retailers across North America for an MSRP of $29.99 USD, and on May 5th at retailers in the rest of the world.
The special ‘Season Pass Disc’ will include Episode One: Tangled Up in Blue, and will grant access to download the subsequent four episodes via online updates as they are released in the coming months of 2017.
Additional platforms for release are yet to be announced.
Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy: The Telltale Series is a brand new story of the universe’s unlikeliest heroes: Star-Lord, Gamora, Drax, Rocket, and Groot. In the wake of an epic battle, the Guardians discover an artifact of unspeakable power. Each of them has a reason to desire this relic, as does a ruthless enemy who is the last of her kind, and who will stop at nothing to tear it from their hands.
From Earth to the Milano to Knowhere and beyond, and set to the beat of awesome music, you wear the rocket-powered boots of Star-Lord in an original Guardians adventure, where your decisions and actions drive the story you experience.
The series will feature a star-studded cast of voice talent, including Scott Porter (Friday Night Lights, The Walking Dead: The Telltale Series) as Star-Lord, Emily O’Brien (The Young and the Restless, Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor) as Gamora, Nolan North (the Uncharted series, Pretty Little Liars) as Rocket, Brandon Paul Eells (Watch Dogs) as Drax, and Adam Harrington (The Wolf Among Us, League of Legends) as Groot.
Ubisoft’s year old open world third person shooter set in a post-federal government Manhatten, Tom Clancy’s The Division now has a free trial available on Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and Windows PC via Uplay. After downloading the client brand new agents are able to play for free until level 8 or after eight hours have elapsed. In terms of the character level cap this is the exact same level cap that was used during the games’ alpha & beta tests.
Players on Xbox One have had access to the trial since the end of last week while those on Sony’s console will have to wait a few more days from now, as The Division’s trial will not go live on the PlayStation Network until March 9th.
If you haven’t checked out last year’s mega-hit (and subsequent abandoned ghost town) The Division then now might be the perfect time. When Ubisoft released patch 1.6 in January they did a lot to address player criticism when it came to The Dark Zone, which has been a massive haven for hackers & cheaters.
If you are intended to play on PC, make sure your rig meets the recommended specs below. Regardless of what your platform of choice is you are in for a massive download.
Recommended PC System Requirements:
OS: Windows 7, Windows 8.1, Windows 10 (64-bit versions only)
Processor: Intel Core i7-3770, AMD FX-8350, or better.
North Californian developers Vector Unit has unleashed their latest fast-paced watercraft racing title Riptide GP: Renegade onto Windows 10 and Xbox One as an Xbox Play Anywhere title, allowing owners of the game to play the title on either Xbox One or Windows and take their save with them.
Featuring futuristic environments, improved water physics over other enhanced versions of the original Riptide GP, 12 courses, 3 modes and 7 vehicles – Riptide GP: Renegade might just fill the gap left behind with fans as other watercraft based franchises lack modern entries, like Nintendo’s neglected Wave Race series or Midway’s defunct Hydro Thunder series.
Speaking about the jump to Windows 10, co-founder of Vector Unit, Matt Small said:
“We really wanted to wait until we could take advantage of the Xbox Play Anywhere program and have the game be available across Microsoft platforms all at once. It’s been a labor of love getting Riptide GP: Renegadeout on all these different platforms and we’re excited to see the Xbox One and Windows 10 communities join the party.”
The Xbox One version of Riptide GP supports local multiplayer with up to 4 players at once, 2 – 4 player online multiplayer races and of course achievements. Riptide GP is also available on Steam, PlayStation 4, Android and Apple’s iOS platforms.
Rebellion Developments the U.K based development house behind the Sniper Elite series has confirmed that the latest entry in the franchise, Sniper Elite 4, will support additional features on the PlayStation 4 Pro. PS4 pro owners will not only have the option to play the game in 4K if they have the set for it but also able to enjoy higher frame rates, increased load times and additional levels of detail not possible on a standard PS4.
Speaking about the enhancements that the PS4 PRO and Microsoft Direct X12 is able to bring to the game, Rebellion CTO Chris Kingsley said:
“The power of PlayStation®4 Pro, and DirectX 12 on PC, means we can take things even further for our fans who want the best sniper experience in the world. We’re turning everything up to 12!”
Here is a full list of additional PC / PS4 Pro featuring coming to Sniper Elite 4 on launch day: SNIPER ELITE®4 FEATURES ON PLAYSTATION®4 PRO INCLUDE:
• Enhanced frame rate
• Increased draw distances
• Increased geometry level of detail
• Improved lighting and shadows fidelity
• Increased image quality of reflections
• Faster loading times
Sniper Elite 4 will be available on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 4 Pro and Xbox One on February 14th. We got the chance to preview the game back in June at E3, go check out what we thought of the game back then.
Square Enix announced today during the Final Fantasy 30th Anniversary Opening Ceremony event in Tokyo that Final Fantasy XII The Zodiac Age will be released on July 11th. The game will be released for PlayStation 4.
Accompanied with the announcement was a brand-new piece of key art from famed character designer and artist Akihiko Yoshida.
Final Fantasy XII The Zodiac Age features the world of Ivalice like never before with enhanced high-definition graphics and for the first time ever, western audiences will be able to experience the Zodiac Job System, a 12-job character progression system first introduced in the Japan-only release, Final Fantasy XII The Zodiac Age International Zodiac System.
The title will also feature a remastered soundtrack, 7.1-surround sound, an auto-save feature, faster loading times, a new Trial Mode and more.
Check out the trailer for the game from the Tokyo Game Show
Bethesda has announced that both a high resolution texture pack for Fallout 4 on PC and support for the PlayStation Pro will be coming next week to the Boston wastes. The most interesting thing from their announcement has actually been pulled – the recommended requirement of a AMD 490 graphics card , a card which up as of right now does not exist.
Perhaps the 490 listing was an error, or perhaps it really was a slip-up as AMD has not launched a new GPU since this past summer when they released the RX 480, 470 and 460. To utilize the high resolution texture pack PC players will have to make sure they have an addition 58 GBs of available storage – that is larger than the base installation of the game!
Here is how Bethesda described the new high res pack:
“We’re excited to announce the release of the game’s High-Resolution Texture Pack. Consider this free download a love letter to our amazing PC fans that have supported us – not just with Fallout 4, but across multiple decades and games.”
Kotaku was able to copy the minimum requirements listing the unannounced AMD card before the page was changed. Interestingly neither set of requirements recommend that you use an AMD CPU for playing with the high resolution pack, again not surprising since the Ryzen line of processes is expected to be released next month and the aging Bulldozer successors probably aren’t up to the task.
Delisted Minimum Specs:
Windows 7/8/10 (64-bit OS required)
Intel Core i7-5820K or better
GTX 1080 8GB/AMD Radeon RX 490 8GB
8GB+ Ram
Also coming next week will be added mod support for PlayStation 4, with more information on that coming soon, as well as PlayStation 4 Pro support that adds much requested features like enhanced draw distance.
Here’s Bethesda’s description of the PlayStation 4 Pro support including features:
“Beginning next week, Fallout 4’s Update 1.9 on PlayStation 4 adds support for the power of the PlayStation 4 Pro console. The update provides enhanced lighting and graphic features, including:
Native 1440p resolution
Enhanced draw distance for trees, grass, objects and NPCs
Killing Floor 2 gets a huge content infusion with the release of the Tropical Bash Content Pack on Windows PC and PlayStation 4 today. Bringing a brand new map set on a tropical island, a new mace & shield for the Berserker class, a new type of energy and the ability to cross-class certain weapon types – this update looks to kick off 2017 with a bang.
New Map
Set on the tropical island of Zed Landing (isn’t that name appropriate for an area infested with the undead), this brand new maps sees players explore a downed helicopter while an imposing volcano bellows smoke off in the distance. Alongside this brand new map is a whole set of new achievements for Zed slayers to collect.
New Enemy
A brand new horrifying monstrosity is awaiting to be unleashed on Zed Landing, the Gore Fiend. Featuring a grotesque long tongue and two rusty blades for hands this new undead nightmare is nothing to laugh at, perhaps it is really a cut above the rest of the Zeds?
New Weapons For Berserker
Berserkers get a brand new tier 4 weapon with the addition of the Bone Crusher. Comprised of a spiked circular shield and a make-shift mace made out of a baseball bat and some long nails this new kit should enable the Berserker to crush in the skulls of the hordes of Zed. The hubcap shield can also be used to parry enemies causing them to stagger backwards.
Cross-Classing Weapons
Do you find yourself picking a class like Command only to find yourself adopting a single weapon from another class because it suits your playstyle more? With the new cross-class system many different weapons can be combined during play which should open up new options for those who like to stick to a single class. While Tripwire didn’t publish a complete list of cross-class weapon combinations they did provide a few examples:
Use the HMTech Medical Assault Rifle, the Incendary Trench Gun or M16 M293 as the Commando.
Use the VLAD-1000 Nail Gun as Support.
Use the HMTech-201 Sub Machinegun as SWAT.
Killing Floor 2 is currently also on sale on Steam for $19.99 USD. Check out Tripwire’s official blog post for more information on the latest update.
Two puzzle game juggernauts collide as Tetris, one of the largest-selling and recognized brands in gaming history, and Puyo Puyo from SEGA have combined to create a fun-to-play, fast-paced, competitive party game like no other!
The game will be released in North America and Europe on PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch in spring 2017.
Puyo Puyo Tetris will have a number of gameplay styles – from single-player Adventure and Challenge modes to competition with up-to-four player Arcade modes. Plus, an in-game Shop enables players to unlock new characters and skins for Puyos and Tetriminos.
Warner Bros Interactive is assigning their veteran LEGO cop Chase McCain to another adventure through LEGO City with the current generation re-release of 2013’s previously Wii U exclusive LEGO City Undercover.
LEGO City Undercover is an open world city exploration titles that allows players to guide McCain through 20 unique districts filled with both minor crimes, collectables and story missions to keep the detective busy. Over 100 different vehicles roam the streets of LEGO City with a number of different categories including motorcycles, helicopters, sports cars, trucks and some truly exotic rides. LEGO City Undercover wouldn’t do the franchise justice without dozens of movie references and allusions to pop culture that allow the LEGO games to be enjoyed by gamers of all ages.
“It’s hard to find faults with this game. I loved it! For long time gamers or youth, there is content to be enjoyed here. From movie parodies, to just the comedy in general, the writing is fun, clever, and keeps you interested throughout the game. “
Make sure to check out the embedded trailer below for the cross platform version:
The Yakuza games have always been a peculiar mix of gritty crime drama, bombastic martial arts, goofy side stories, and lots of minigames. Yakuza 0 is no exception, blending its cinematic storytelling with an almost overwhelming amount of side content to distract you from the game’s harsher elements.
As the title suggests, the game is a prequel to the long-running franchise, set back in the 80s and showing off the early days of series protagonist Kiryu Kazama and his recurring rival Goro Majima. The two characters operate in different cities, and their gameplay while similar, are stylistically different enough to keep the variety going.
Kiryu, when not partaking of the various diversions offered in Kamurocho, does a lot of muscle work – many of the problems he faces are solved through liberal applications of violence. He does this work both for the Yakuza and later as part of a real estate business. Fortunately, Kiryu is essentially the god of war with devastating combos to chain together into brutal finishers.
Combat is a spectacle with exciting martial arts manoeuvres and styles shown off, and each weighty punch and kick knocking piles of cash out of the recipient. Being able to change styles mid-battle makes for some fun strategizing, enhancing the martial arts movie feel the combat thrives on.
Majima has his own set of styles, which are in general a bit more stylish than Kiryu’s, though no less brutal – indeed, one of his styles, “Slugger”, is focused entirely around baseball bat fighting. To contrast, the similar style that Kiryu learns is “Beast”, which involves improvised weapons ranging from from boxes, furniture, or motorcycles, depending what is handy. A common refrain from defeated foes is “What are you?” which, given the ridiculous violence that can be pulled off, is a reasonable question.
Majima’s chapters take place in Sotenbori, where he manages a popular night club. When he’s not dealing with some very shady dealings and seedy characters that come with his job, the town offers more distractions, though it feels a little less overwhelming than Kamurocho. Oddly, it is here that the crafting system exists. Why there is crafting system I’m not sure, but it includes a system of dispatching agents around the world to find materials and recipes. This is something I’ve always had a soft spot for, so I welcome the opportunity.
Presentation is a strength of the game. It looks great, and features some great sound design. There’s a lot going on that screams 80s, including some familiar sound-alike music, parody characters, and, of course, brick-sized mobile phones. In a curious decision there are multiple styles for cutscenes, with some being simple cinematics, while others are sort of motion-comic styled vignettes.
Yakuza 0 is no exception game that attempts to blend over the top action with some gritty, and often uncomfortable, drama. Inferences and threats made to characters can and do approach some difficult territory – torture, mutilation and sexual violence are brought up, and some people may be understandably turned off from the game because of these, as well as some of the ways women are portrayed.
John Bridgman is a Canadian games journalist who has freelanced for various publications, and a host of the Downloadable Concept podcast (http://dlc.invincible.ink is our URL). He can be found on Twitter @JEBWrench. Yakuza 0’s publisher, SEGA, provided Broken Joysticks with a single download code for Yakuza 0 for our consideration.
