Monthly Archives: May 2014

Two New Gas Guzzlers Extreme DLC Coming Soon

GGE Full Metal Frenzy

Iceberg Interactive announced today that Gas Guzzlers Extreme, the fast, furious, trigger-happy, metal-tearing, rubber-burning, sparkplug-breaking and engrossing multiplayer combat racing game for PC that shipped last summer, has two new DLC packs coming soon to Steam – Full Metal Frenzy and Full Metal Zombie. Gas Guzzlers Extreme is available for PC and Mac on Steam with a Linux version currently in development.

The first Gas Guzzlers Extreme DLC pack, Full Metal Frenzy, will debut on Steam next week and features two new race arenas, three new game modes, a female announcer, and many more new additions.

Full Metal Frenzy DLC Includes:

  • Two levels (arenas)
  • Two new cars
  • One new team skin for all 20 cars, including police skin with siren and lights
  • Female announcer voice-over
  • Two new power-ups
  • Three new game modes

GGE FMZ

The second DLC, Full Metal Zombie, will launch summer 2014, complete with nine different types of zombies and a thrilling new game mode Defend the Base.

Full Metal Zombie DLC Includes:

  • One new level (arena)
  • One New car
  • One new team skin, for all 21 cars
  • Nine zombie types and animations
  • One new game mode ‘Defend the Base’

Darkfall: Unholy Wars Free Weekend Review

By Jason Parker (Ragachak)

 

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Wonderful Concept. . .

. . . Less than desirable result.  Darkfall: Unholy Wars is the leviathan sequel of Darkfall, a PC PVP MMO.  Greenlit by the Steam Community, this title (in celebration of its one year anniversary) gave all players, new and old, a free weekend to log on and see just what Darkfall is all about, to bring back old players, and perhaps snare some new ones.  In this interesting title, you pick a race and a class that suits your playstyle.  You are given a primary and secondary skillset and you pick two of the three available.  It’s a fairly unique concept, not seen in very many MMOS (except one of the last titles I reviewed, the alpha of Albion Online) these days.

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Players can construct their own fortresses and cities, and rule there for as long as the player clans are capable of keeping it in their grasp.  The game itself is level-free, similar to Albion, in that you grow stronger via “Renown.”  Renown is gained in doing virtually everything in the game, from chopping wood and gathering wool, to destroying the undead in graveyards.  You can play this game by yourself, but it is not recommended.  It would be much wiser to join a clan, and participate in their events, waging war against others.  If that is not something you wish to do, I would consider overlooking this title.  It is really only for the hardcore PVP gamer.

 

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What Has Been Seen Cannot Be Unseen

One of the most horrific things I have seen in this game is the UI.  If you do not do the entirety of the tutorial, you may actually wind up missing parts of the UI for your own use. Not that that is a bad thing in and of itself, but it is hard to see many things; the icons are tiny on default, and useful, important information is printed on the top of the screen in a tiny, almost 4pt font.  I had no idea I was even farming wood until I glanced at the top of my screen.  Progress is measured in this UI, as you can see your feats there, which show what you have done or not done just yet.  Simply killing an enemy creature displays in bold letters across your screen that have you slain something; it is as if they want you to feel like it is an accomplishment, but don’t be mistaken.  Every kill is an accomplishment. Resulting in another oversized pop-up ad nausea.  Not like World of Warcraft’s huge trash packs (groups of unimportant enemies in small clumps).

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The map is atrocious; this I cannot say enough. It is a blob of colors and tiny icons, a contrast from the sharp details one might see in the regular world.  It is crude, and hazy, not what a map ought to be. It’s terribly unclear, and if you don’t click on the icons to add them to your map, you might never know where you are.  The tutorial does make mention of how to do it, but I’m personally of the opinion that certain important landmarks should actually be on a map. That’s why there are maps in the first place!

If you accidentally click it away, the social tab does hide something very useful. One great positive I can highlight is the Mentor system. This is a system where a new player is paired with a veteran who signs up, and they will (in theory) teach them the workings of the game.  As long as student and master are both willing and able, this is a fantastic idea, as the game feels pretty complex, and there are a myriad of things one can be doing while playing.

 

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A Whole New World

There are positives about Darkfall: Unholy Wars. The idea of it being pure-PK may not be for everyone, but gamers in this niche will love the concept of murdering an enemy clan in thousands on thousands PVP, utterly wiping them out in order to take their hard-earned money and equipment. The thought of setting so many people back weeks and months of real game time may not appeal to you, but consider this: it is a truly ever-changing world.  In this setting, cities can be started, stolen, and torn asunder.  I feel that this concept’s time has come.  Other MMOs have tried this in the past, and not many have really succeeded.  Albion is attempting something similar, but I think this is a grander portrayal, based on looks. The graphics are wholly grungy and dark, but they are fairly sharp.

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But this is still, at its core, Pure Hardcore PVP.  It is unforgiving and cruel, and as a new player, I would expect to die, and die often.  It is highly recommended to gain membership of a clan as soon as possible, and farm a bunch of spare parts in your bank for when you perish in the meantime.  There are safe havens where you may not be killed, but should you venture into the territory of another clan, or into a conflicted zone, be wary.  You could be on the fast track to a corpse run; but, since they will be no doubt looting everything you own and love, it will be a trip back to the trees and brush to farm new materials.

 

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What Is Most Important In Life?

Clans make up most of the action and excitement in Darkfall.  Clans can take over an area in the world and exert their influence over it, creating a holding there.  From there, you have a heap of rubble and barren emptiness, so the next logical step would be to build!  Going from a hamlet to even a city, your clan works together, coming up with the correct building materials including wood, stone, and more. This of course is pending on being given the clan permission to erect structures in your clan’s name.  The clan screen has the list of structures you can build, and provided you have the necessary components, you can use the “edit holding” button to add on to make something unique and comfortable for your fellows to call home.

If you should decide however, that this is not enough, and your clan needs some “elbow room,” or maybe they’re simply angry and aggressive, you can challenge another clan to their holding.  There are a series of challenges that are undertaken, and any clan that is aggressive or at war with the challenged may help; this can create some fantastic alliances, and terrific wars that take up several days of non-stop action.  You can tear down walls of your opponent’s hold, and eventually overtake their binding stone, holding their fortress until they are strong enough to take it back.

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Which leads me to combat.  Combat is brutal and fast-paced, and if you aren’t prepared with both twitch skills and knowledge of the popular attacks, you could be in for a great deal of unpleasantness. Your left and right click mouse buttons do the brunt of the work, but you can use the scroll wheel to re-equip items that are in a slot on your “paper doll,” on your equipment screen.  There are also skills that may or may not have a cast time.  Aiming can be incredibly frustrating with arrows and spellcasts, as your enemy is no doubt going to keep moving, and skillshots (aiming and firing without a guarantee of a hit) is how this game works.  To keep up with all of your skills that you acquire, there is a radial wheel that you can access in game to swap skills on the fly.  This is handy, as there are lots of different situations where you may want to cast spells, or use your giant axe to pound away at your foes.

There are a few combat types as well. Melee fighters have the usual axes and swords to play with. Bows and arrows offer rapid ranged fighting while those with a calm hand and trusted allies may take to the stave to cast ranged spells. If you are on a ship or boat, you can attach and fire cannons from them to blast your foes asunder.  Mounted combat is also available if you have a mount of your own. Mounts can attack from the front or behind on the fly with a quick push of the “T” key.

 

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A Kick in The Grass

Conclusion: Good

This is a title that I still feel needs quite a bit of polish, despite its predecessor being out for over five years.  It is going in the right direction, and I feel it attracts the right audience. There are of course, toxic elements.  That is bound to happen in any MMO, but in this environment, it’s not really going to be a shock or surprise.  Body looting and killing is a natural aspect of the game, and it is made painfully apparent to you if you do any reading at all.  So, there is no way for a player to not know unless they are purposefully misled; the Mentor system cuts back on that. Plus, with the mentor system, the person who taught the newbie is rewarded: 10% of all renown they get goes to their Mentor, so it’s not like they do it for free. I do like the idea a great deal, but I feel more needs to happen here.

 

Graphics: 3/5

The graphics are not groundbreaking by any means.  They convey the sense of hopelessness and chaos in the world, sure. But rivers of molten fire flowing next to rivers of water? That just doesn’t mesh with me.  I could walk less than a few paces and likely see both.  Movement animations don’t feel fluid in this game either. All in all, not terrible, but not award-winning by any stretch of the imagination.  It feels very much as though it crawled out of 2005, or one of the earlier Elder Scrolls titles.

 

Controls: 2/5

I have to say Darkfall: Unholy Wars has terrible controls.  Melee is not bad, and feels as good as it possibly can.  But having to mouse down at shorter targets can become annoying, even if accurate.  What really did me in was being a spellcaster, and firing my spell bolts from a range. It takes time to charge the spell bolt, and the movement of the staff felt incredibly jerky, and more often than not, I’d miss.

 

Features/Gameplay: 3/5

There is a fair amount to do in this game besides murder your fellow man. Most of it feels like it is required to get anywhere. You will farm more than you probably ever have before, even if you work in the agricultural field.  This is a game that requires a lot of time investment, though the payoff usually matches the investment. One annoyance though is the AI of the NPC bad guys is really momentous. I was starting to think I was fighting an army of psychic rock piles at times.  It blew my mind how I could be a hilltop or two away, and zombies would shamble angrily in my direction.  It did not feel as though I could break threat at any distance. They chase, until I turn and kill them or die in the process.

 

Music/Sound: 4/5

Music is good, sound effects are certainly on point. The sizzling of magic, and the clank of steel on bone is fantastic.  It really fits the mood of the game, I feel, to listen to the booming music of Darkfall.  Even the subtle footsteps of boots upon gravel, sand, or brick differ, and I really appreciate that sort of attention to detail.

Carlo Ancelotti Will be the New Face of United Eleven

U11 News

Today, Nexon Europe has the pleasure to announce the partnership with the chief of Real Madrid Carlo Ancelotti. The multi-title winning titan of football will be the new face of United Eleven, the highly anticipated upcoming football management simulation game.

 

Carlo Ancelotti has demonstrated his management prowess time and time again, achieving numerous successes in professional football with united teams. The team work and personality of his teams together with his tactical nous have been key features in Ancelotti’s accomplishment in top clubs. The aspects of United Eleven follows these traits in which the game focuses on building a united team and competing in a match against other football managers.

 

A press conference will be held on Thursday May 8, at 4:00 p.m. CEST/ 7 a.m. PDT/ 10 a.m. EDT in Central Madrid, InterContinental Hotel, to mark the occasion of Ancelotti’s involvement with United Eleven, during which he will inform the press about his partnership with Nexon Europe.

 

“We are honoured to begin the first chapter of United Eleven with Carlo Ancelotti,” says Kenny Chang, CEO of Nexon Europe. “With the remarkable and distinctive strategies and tactics that Carlo Ancelotti has shown in the real football world, he is the perfect representative of the core features of United Eleven. I believe anyone who strives to be the best football manager in United Eleven will be inspired by Ancelotti’s experience and achievement. All in all, we’re enormously pleased he’s on board.”

 

Developed by NHN BlackPick Corporation, United Eleven combines the actual names and faces of over 50,000 football players registered at FIFPro with the most sophisticated match engine available – all accessible via browser and with mobile compatibility. It provides a complete football management experience by recruiting, training, and substituting players. Everything from team selection to tactics and player chemistry will need to be considered if victory is to be achieved.

 

The pre-season, which will be Beta testing for United Eleven, will begin on May 15. The game will be published in Europe, North and South America, Oceania and North Africa in eight languages: English, German, French, Italian, Polish, Spanish, Portuguese, and Turkish.

Redbana announces Closed Beta Launch for FC Manager

FC Manager Tactics

Leading game publisher of popular free-to-play MMORPGs, Redbana Corporation announced today the Closed Beta launch of FC Manager, the highly anticipated online football game for the PC set on May 15. FC Manager is made for football fans, to let them experience managing a team.

“There are thousands of football fans out there. Some even aspire to become a manager and have a team of their own. This game could serve as a stepping stone for their dream as this is one of the best games to challenge one’s knowledge about football,” says Jun Hyun Kim, CEO of Redbana. “We are looking forward to its launch and the excitement it would bring to the players.”

FC Manager is a casual game made for hardcore football fans. From the very beginning, players are thrust neck deep into the responsibilities of a football manager. In order to form a club, managers are tasked with recruiting and training players, setting up strategies that play to the team’s strengths and employing tactics best used against competition, all for the goal of becoming the best club in the world.

For more information, visit http://fcm.t3fun.com/

Path of Exile Launches First Ever Charity Race to Benefit Child’s Play

Path of Exile

Grinding Gear Games announced today that they are launching a two-week Path of Exile Ambush/Invasion race event to benefit the Child’s Play charity. The event will start at 1pm Pacific on Saturday, May 10, 2014 in the Path of Exile game and run till Saturday, May 24, 1pm Pacific.

Grinding Gear Games has created an exclusive new helmet skin call the Angelic Mask specifically for this charity event. The mask will cost $5.00 and only be available during the two week event with 100% of the proceeds being donated directly to the Child’s Play charity.

Participants during the event will be able to win great in-game prizes such as special micro-transactions as well as signed art from Path of Exile. Additionally, Grinding Gear Game’s partners such as NVIDIA and Razer have contributed an awesome array of keyboards, mice and graphic cards that will also be awarded to participants.  Grinding Gear Games will pick winners randomly from the participants whose characters reach the following levels or higher. Participants can win prizes from multiple tiers as their characters level up.

Prizes available in the random draw include:

  • Level 15: 100x Stash Tab Bundles
  • Level 20: 100x Premium Stash Tab Bundles
  • Level 25: 10x Razer Mice
  • Level 30: 5x Razer Keyboards
  • Level 35: 5x NVIDIA High-performance Graphics Cards
  • Level 50: 10x Sets of all Seraph Micro transactions (Armor pieces, Wings, Weapon Effect and Footprint Effect)
  • Level 65: 5x Sets of Signed Prints of Original Early Concept Art
  • Level 85: 1x One hour private Q&A on Skype with Chris, Jonathan and Erik

In addition, the top 5 players (ranked by experience) will receive an Alternate Art Demigod’s Bounty unique item.

More information about the Path of Exile 2 Week Charity Race to Benefit the Child’s Play Charity can be found at: https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/915739/page/1

Wargaming.net League 2014: First Season Kicks Off

Wargaming

Wargaming today announced that the first season of the Wargaming.net League 2014 has officially begun in a number of regions around the world, complete with a $2.5 million prize pool. The company will invest $10,000,000 in eSports’ promotion in 2014.

“At our Grand Finals in Warsaw, Poland, we saw the sheer amount of passion, excitement, and dedication that players around the globe have for World of Tanks,” said Mohamed Fadl, eSports Director of Europe and North America at Wargaming. “Starting up the first season of our 2014 activities will once again see the most skillful fight for the right to be called the best World of Tanks players in the world, and we can’t wait to watch the action unfold.”
The first season will see competitors from five key regions around the world battle for World of Tanks supremacy, including the Commonwealth of Independent States, the European Union, North America, China, and Asia. A change from last year, the Asia region will now include the nation of Korea to offer players a higher degree of competition, while providing spectators with more action-packed and exciting matches.
Below are the dates of the official launch of Season 1 of the Wargaming.net League per region:

  • Asia (including Korea)—May 10th
  • European Union—May 12th
  • North America—May 12th
  • Commonwealth of Independent States—May 19th
  • China—May 26th

For more information on the Wargaming.net League, please visit: http://wgleague.net

GoD Factory Wingmen: Closed Beta Coming Soon

God Factory

BANDAI NAMCO Games Europe S.A.S. is excited to confirm that the Closed-Beta Test for GoD Factory: Wingmen began on yesterday for players worldwide on PC. Players who wish to take part in this merciless space war can already register for the Closed Beta Test at the official website, then click on the “Join the Beta!” button.

GoD Factory: Wingmen is a 4v4 competitive space combat game where four intergalactic species fight against each other using gunships. The goal is to destroy the enemy’s carrier ship while defending your own.

Each species has its own abilities and players have the possibility to customize their gunships from their look to their stats and their abilities. In order to come out of these intense dogfights victorious, pilots will have to create the finest strategies and to support each other at any cost.

GoD Factory: Wingmen’s Closed Beta will push players’ skill to their very limits. Cooperation between pilots is key to victory.

GoD Factory: Wingmen will be launching worldwide in 2014 on PCs. For more information, visit http://www.godfactorygame.com/

WildStar: Open Beta set for May 8th

WildStar

NCSOFT and Carbine are pleased to announce the launch of the Open Beta starting on Thursday, 8th May through 18th May. The Open Beta period runs for 10 days, and has an increased level cap, level 30.

Other highlights include:

Open Beta LiveStream- Thursday, 8th May, 2014 at 19:00 BST

To kick off the Open Beta, there will be a 30 minute LiveStream here: www.twitch.tv/wildstar. Mike Donatelli, product director, Chad Moore, creative director, Stephen Frost, producer and voice of DevSpeak, and Matt Mocarski, development director will be answering questions, discussing the state of the game and how Wildstar is going to take the MMO category by storm.

Developer LiveStream- Friday 9th May, 2014 at 19:00 BST

Jeremy Gaffney will be discussing the challenges behind getting the game ready for launch on 3rd June. There will also be play-by-play of some exciting Raids and Warplots activity as well as a sneak peek into higher level Open Beta content and possibly some post launch gameplay activity.

Social Media Q&A – Friday 9th May, 2014 at 19:00 BST

Friday’s developer livestream will also be part of a massive social AMA, run by Carbine, which will be opened up to every social media platforms. Developers will be taking questions from Facebook, Reddit, Tumblr, Twitter, Forums, Twitch and Vine to name but a few.

For more info, visit www.wildstar-online.com