Monthly Archives: February 2014

The Secret World Game Director Letter Looks Ahead To Issues #9 and #10

TSW Flappy

The Secret World’s latest Game Director Letter for January 2014 is available, and is looking ahead to the latest raid and to Issues #9 and #10.

The Whispering Tide, an open raid against the Bird of the Zero Point Pathogen, will go live in a few days, with a maximum of 40 players. The fight will be available for 30 minutes every 3 hours, and will grant a reward bag, silver, and fragments, along with possible rare rewards including vanity items and rare raiding materials.

TSW Issues 9 and 10

Meanwhile, the team is working concurrently on Issues #9 and #10, which will open the road to new content in the Tokyo playfield. New missions, bosses, a scenario, lair, and other challenges will face players, while areas like the “Love Hotel” will take advantage of the game’s Mature rating. All of this content will be leading up to Issue #11 and the wrap-up of The Secret World’s first story.Read up more on the coming content, along with new outfits coming to the game, here.

World of Tanks: Xbox 360 Edition To Release February 12th

WoT Invades 360

Wargaming today announced that World of Tanks: Xbox 360 Edition will release globally on February 12th, 2014. Custom built specifically for the Xbox 360, World of Tanks: Xbox 360 Edition will bring the franchise’s trademark team-based tactical online tank warfare action and free-to-play accessibility to the millions of dedicated Xbox Live gamers around the globe.

Published by Microsoft and developed by Wargaming West (formerly Day 1 Studios), World of Tanks: Xbox 360 Edition will be digitally downloadable and free-to-play for Xbox Live Gold account holders, with an additional 7-day timed trial for all other Xbox Live account holders. The title will feature revamped controls, matchmaking, a new user interface and other features to take advantage of the Xbox 360’s technological capabilities and online features. World of Tanks: Xbox 360 Edition will also feature in-game purchases such as premium tanks, consumables and premium accounts to boost experience and currency accrual rates.

At launch World of Tanks: Xbox 360 Edition will feature more than 100 iconic tanks from three separate nations – the United States, Germany and the United Kingdom. The title will also be further expanded with future content downloads consisting of new tanks, nations, and more. For more information on World of Tanks: Xbox 360 Edition, please visit www.WorldofTanks.com/Xbox.

Ride into the Sunset in Digimon Masters: Two New Mounts Arrive

Digimon Mounts

Leading online game developer and publisher Joymax delighted players with two new spectacular mounts as part of the January patch for their worldwide MMO sensation, Digimon Masters.  The largest January update since its launch two years ago, this update added Digivolutions, mounts, and a special event!

Ever wanted to ride a massive Chaosmon?  Now’s the perfect time!  Tamers who grab a Chaotic Seat will be able to perch on their Digimon’s arm as he crashes around the world – and hopefully isn’t too chaotic in the process!

Owners of Imperial Dramon Paladin Mode will also be pleased to discover their Digimon can also now serve as a fast means of travel.  Installing the new White Blade on an Imperial Dramon Paladin Mode will allow players to perch on his arm while he stomps through the Digital World – just be careful when he runs fast, his sword seems to have a life of its own! These new mounts are in addition to the new Lucemon Satan Burst mode and the ongoing Free Sweets events for February.

M.A.V – New 3rd person mech shooter hits Kickstarter

Bombdog Studios, a new indie developer, has just revealed a new mech shooter by the name of M.A.V (Modular Assault Vehicle) recently on Kickstarter and Steam’s Greenlight program.

MAV

With gameplay inspired by Chromehounds and Mechwarrior, you play as a MAV pilot, fighting against an oppressive government trying to turn your home into a forced labor camp. You will be able to build your MAV, piece by piece, into the perfect weapon for your fighting style. You will need to use teamwork and a steady aim to fight against other MAV’s to protect your home and take back the areas conquered by others. There will be thousands of parts to pick from, each with its own stats and appearance. There will be a weapon for every strategy, a cockpit for every style, and an armor plate that always fits just right.

There are also lots of cosmetic changes you can make to your M.A.V., from the paint color of each part, to the camo patterns and colors that the parts have.

The Kickstarter campaign has over 25% funding from over 180+ backers in the first 24 hours alone.

For more information on M.A.V., visit their Kickstarter page: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1509489292/mav-modular-assault-vehicle
Steam Greenlight page: http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=213963346

Guild Wars 2: Edge of the Mists Introduces New Content and WvW Improvements

GW2 Kas and Jory

NCSoft and ArenaNet, publisher and developer of the acclaimed Guild Wars franchise, today introduces Guild Wars 2 players to a mysterious new realm in the ‘Edge of the Mists’. The release delivers living world content that drives forward the story of villain Scarlet Briar, exposing more of her horrific plans for Tyria and its citizens. At the same time, ‘Edge of the Mists’ introduces an overflow map with new gameplay systems and improvements to the overall experience for World vs. World (WvW), the game’s massive battle PvP mode that continues to surge in popularity.

As players will discover in the ‘Edge of the Mists’, no place is safe from the schemes of supervillain Scarlet Briar. The previously undiscovered realm is now overrun by the Aetherblades; dreaded sky pirates of Tyria who are undoubtedly pursuing the deeds of their minion Scarlet. Tragically, norn warrior Braham along with asuran child prodigy Taimi; both key characters in Guild Wars 2; have become stranded in the Mists. Players must help them while fending off attacks from the vicious Aetherblades.

GW2 Edge of the Mists Jungle Keep

The introduction of the ‘Edge of the Mists’ is also giving players a new way to experience the game’s popular WvW mode. In WvW, armies of players engage in PvP on an epic scale, competing to seize territory, lay siege to castles, raid enemy supplies, and spread mayhem on four vast maps in the Mists. Now, players will never again have to wait to participate in WvW.  ‘Edge of the Mists’ acts as an overflow map that gives them the option to continue playing in a PvP and PvE environment, with different zones that compose the map’s network of floating islands inhabited by creatures such as the kodan, ogres, and grawl.  Players continue to build rank and gain loot and achievements while still in queue to join regular WvW matches.  There’s also a new UI system in place that provides complete visibility on which maps are populated and anticipated queue times.

The living world action in today’s release isn’t limited to the Mists. Back in Tyria, players will join two other key characters, Marjory and Kasmeer, in the seedy Dead End Bar to piece together clues as to Scarlet’s true motives. Using artifacts and props from the last year of living world storylines, players will deduce Scarlet’s ultimate plan in a shocking revelation.

Valentine’s Day Events In Guns and Robots

GnR Valentines

Masthead Studios today announced they are in preparation for love-filled events in their free to play cartoon-style shooter, Guns and Robots.

Guns and Robots will surprise its fans for Valentine’s Day with two separate events, a new game mode and free accessories for the celebrations. The events will start from 10th of February and will run until 16th of February. The players who succeed in completing the objectives will win sufficient amount of credits or the big award – a brand new weapon that “charms” the opponents and leave them helpless in battle.

First event in Guns and Robots will introduce players to a new game play mode, where the objective will be to protect a teammate. One of the players will be randomly assigned as a VIP player that will have to be protected throughout the match. Succeeding in protecting the VIP will award the team with additional point and will bring each player one point closer to the big award.

Along with this event will run a “Heartbreaking” contest with an opportunity to win sufficient amount of credits. Many surprises and freebies await the players who enter the events.

Tribal Wars 2 – Unit System revealed

InnoGames released additional information on the unit system of its online strategy game Tribal Wars 2. Thirteen offensive and defensive units will be responsible for the players’ shining victory or crushing defeat on the battlefield.

Every unit brings its own set of weaknesses and strengths to the table. For example: archers are a great defense against foot soldiers, whereas rams will easily crush the enemies’ fortifications. The new special units, the powerful berserker and the trebuchet might give players an edge in heated conflicts.

Berserker

There will be lots of new strategies and tactics to test in Tribal Wars 2. Not just entirely new players, but also hardened veterans of the first game might discover something unexpected. For Example: Mounted archers are the perfect countermeasure for defenses heavily relying on archers. The Preceptory, a new building, which can be unlocked later in the game, houses even more secret weapons.

Having to choose from one of three factions, the players might get access to either the trebuchet or the berserker: the trebuchet is capable of effectively defending a village against siege weapons, whereas the berserkers feel no fear on the battlefield, they get stronger, the more enemies they have to face! Also, numerous generals support the players’ tactical advancements with additional abilities.

For more info on this system, visit www.tribalwars2.com

SWTOR: Galactic Starfighter Launch Dev Preview

By W.B. Wemyss (Tagspeech)

Star Wars: The Old Republic is undoubtedly one of the most famous and high-budget MMORPGs on the market.  With their relatively recent transition to the free-to-play model, TOR has allegedly seen an increase in playerbase and a surge in income.  With the budget for the game said to have been in the tens of millions, one can only hope for the sake of the developers working on the game that this is true.  The game’s AAA status is undeniable, with a rich, well-crafted, professionally voice-acted storyline for every class (a different one for each faction, even), and now, a free-flying, PVP-centric starfighter aspect, TOR is shaping up to be a well-rounded online gaming experience.

SWTOR_Galactic_Starfighter_Bomber_EPK_3

The new Galactic Starfighter expansion is a 12v12 game mode entirely focused on getting your ground character into a custom ship of your making, and battling it out with four different classes of fighter-craft: the scout, the strike-craft, the gunship, and the bomber.  Engines, drives, blasters, wings – all of these things alter your abilities and specializations within your own class of starship, and all of them appear in real-time on your ship, adding a huge layer of uniqueness and ownership over your personal craft.  Things like the color of your engine trails and blaster shots can be altered as well, though to get the widest selection of dyes, you’ll have to visit the cash shop.

SWTOR_Galactic_Starfighter_Screen_EPK_7

I was introduced to Galactic Starfighter by a man named Blaine Christine, the senior producer for the expansion who also happened to lead the game’s free-to-play transition.  According to the woman who gave his introductions, he can “lead you to the beer at any party.”  He was quick to show us his enthusiasm for the game and the franchise by showing off a very real, very fresh-looking tattoos on his right arm – it was the symbol of the Old Republic, a half-and-half marking of the Republic and Empire faction symbols.  In his own words he, “… bleeds the Old Republic.”

SWTOR_Galactic_Starfighter_Screen_EPK_11

After an enthusiastic introduction to the expansion by Blaine (as well as one instance of him asking us to ‘please play it[TOR]’), we were handed off to a man with a much more relaxed bearing, and then into a Q&A session about the game itself.  As a responsible journalist I felt it my duty to ask if the ink-branding of employees would become mandatory at all EA subsidiaries in the future, but my question came too late in the session, and was ignored in the end.  We confirmed that progression in the Galactic Starfighter content does level up your ground character, but that unlocking the companions to be used as co-pilots and ship crew in Galactic Starfighter can only be done in the ground game.  So, one thing (the progression of the main story) should come before the other, ideally.

SWTOR_Galactic_Starfighter_Screen_EPK_12

The matches do not yet have a PVE mode, as apparently more than half of the TOR community wanted to see these games as PVP-centric.  There are different modes of competition, usually based around objectives and free-flying through some truly dazzling arenas.  And of course, there is the 12v12 team deathmatch, in which players simply kill each other until no one on the opposite team is left to fight.  During the demo, I was surprised at how immersive and striking the gameplay was, and it was hard to imagine the Galactic Starfighter content coming from the same engine as vanilla TOR.  The whole expansion is remarkably well done, and captures much of the iconic space conflict in the Star Wars movies.

SWTOR_KuatDriveYards_EPK_1

To go along with this expanion, a new flashpoint called Kuat Driveyards is being introduced.  It’s linked to the Galactic Starfighter games, and is apparently ‘dynamic,’ in the sense that the content of the flashpoint changes every time players run through it.  This would of course do well to reduce the tediousness of back-to-back flashpoint running, and is a feature welcomed by the playerbase.  According to its developers and what I saw in the demo, TOR continues to lead the pack in art, player customization, and immersion.  It is first and foremost a Roleplaying-Game, and that’s a rare thing in the MMO genre.

SWTOR_KuatDriveYards_EPK_10

In the future, players can look forward to the Starfighter content in TOR being greatly expanded, with some speculating that the next great space arena will include some manner of gigantic, asteroid-dwelling space-worm.  Only time will tell.  New modes, new ship parts, and new ways for the ground game to interact with the spaceflight game are on the horizon, and it seems that the developers at TOR are only just getting started with what they describe as a regular, reliable rhythm to game updates and expansions.  It’s purely speculative at this time whether or not the next expansion will be for the ground game (increased level cap, continuing the story, etc.) but it’s probably safe to assume they have to get back to it at some point, no matter how expensive it is to pay all of those writers and voice-actors to keep the story going on eight different plotlines.

SWTOR_KuatDriveYards_EPK_6

So why not start your journey today? A certain tattooed producer would love to welcome you to his world.

 

Tagspeech is the alias of author W.B. Wemyss, who was responsible for the bizarre cyberpunk fever dream called Children of Athena.