Yearly Archives: 2014

Tank Museum’s ‘Fury’ Exhibition Sponsored by Wargaming Launches Oct 20

Tank Museum The Fury

Today The Tank Museum announces the launch of its latest exhibition, ‘Fury’, sponsored generously by Wargaming. Opening its turret doors on the 20th of October, the exhibition tells the story of the museum’s integral involvement with the making of David Ayer’s visionary film, Fury, which bursts onto cinema screens across the UK on the 22nd of October. The movie casts two of The Tank Museum’s exhibits: the world’s only working Tiger 131 tank and the eponymous Fury Sherman M4 tank, in a tale of overwhelming odds deep behind enemy lines in the last days of the Second World War.

Taking center stage in the ‘Fury’ exhibition will be the film’s armour plated star, the Sherman M4, alongside imagery and footage directly from the film. Other attractions include uniforms from the film worn by some of the stars, and numerous props straight from the set, all kindly donated by Norman Productions.

“Wargaming has a long history of collaboration with The Bovington Tank Museum, we sponsored the building of a classroom in the museum, we also contributed to the restoration of the museum’s collections and now we are extremely proud to be working with the museum again, sponsoring the making of this new exciting Fury exhibition, which is a perfect match to our game World of Tanks, said Rinaldo Andreolli, General Manager Wargaming Europe.
David Willey, Curator of The Tank Museum, said, “Being a part of making this film was a remarkable opportunity for the Museum and we want to share that experience with our visitors. This exhibition will give an insight in to how The Tank Museum was involved in the Fury film, the issues we faced when working to safely use some of our historic collection and what it was like for staff on set of a Hollywood movie.”

To celebrate and acknowledge Wargaming’s continued support of The Tank Museum, the ‘Fury’ exhibition will also host various gaming stations where visitors will be invited to play World of Tanks. Using in-game tanks modeled on the armoured vehicles from the film, players will be able to clash against each other to recreate the very battles Wardaddy and his troops fight in the film within the Wargaming universe. This will be further supported by a video which intersperses film footage from Fury, with Wargaming’s tanks in-game to form a thrilling montage, overlaid with commentary by Richard Cutland, UK Historical Consultant at Wargaming.

The ‘Fury’ exhibition will open on the 20th of October at The Tank Museum, Bovington, and is scheduled to run until the end of 2015.

Brick-Force Teases New Clan Wars

Brick Force Coming Soon

Infernum has sent out an email to its Brick-Force players, teasing a new Clan Wars update coming soon.

The New Clan Wars will have improved match making and completely new clan rewards. They will run on two-week cycles with clan rankings, and a new clan point system will offer a fresh start during each ranking cycle, giving everyone an equal opportunity to compete.

As a booster, Brick-Force will offer a 200% Token Bonus from Friday through Sunday, along with a 7×7 pack giveaway to five lucky Token buyers this weekend.

Rising Generals Introduces Unit Types

Rising Generals Units Battle

InnoGames just published additional information on the unit types for its upcoming cross-platform strategy title Rising Generals. Rising Generals features over 20 unit types that work with a stone-paper-scissors system. Today, the company demonstrates the game’s impressive military arsenal through a new video. The video walks players through the most relevant actions in the game and show its defining characteristics.

Rising Generals features various unit types that fight against their enemy counterparts in three battle phases: During the airstrike, bombers and interceptor planes battle for air superiority. Afterwards, minelayers and artillery engage on the battlefield and set the stage for the main phase – during combat, armored vehicles, tanks, and battle helicopters fight it out until a winner is determined. For all phases, there are various types of combat vehicles available, all with unique strengths and weaknesses against other unit types. Players are tasked with finding the right mixture: A squad of heavy Hydra tanks might demolish lighter combat vehicles, but how to protect them from anti-tank Archangel helicopters? Simply add in a number of smaller Paladin tanks carrying anti-aircraft rockets!

Kabam Reveals Marvel: Contest of Champions at NYCC

NYCCRevealMarvelConquest

Today at New York Comic Con, Kabam unveiled the first hands-on demo for its highly anticipated Marvel Contest of Champions game at Marvel’s booth. In celebration, the company has released a brand new, high-production trailer that showcases the action-packed gameplay including battles between iconic Marvel characters.

The Collector has captured the mightiest superheroes and villains to compete in the Contest of Champions. Watch as Hulk and Wolverine battle it out in the Savage Lands, Gamora take on Ronan in the Kyln, and Deadpool brawl Punisher in the Avengers Tower. Super villains Kang the Conqueror and Thanos ominously wait in their corners to wage their own epic battles to destroy the Marvel universe.

Marvel Contest of Champions is an immersive, high-action, high-fidelity super hero combat game for mobile devices. Players fight their way through iconic locations from the Marvel Universe and collect their favorite Marvel super heroes and villains such as Iron Man, Captain America, Spider-Man and Thor to build their ultimate team of champions.  The storyline and character bios were penned by fan-favorite Marvel comic book writer Sam Humphries.

Marvel Contest of Champions is slated to release on App Stores worldwide December 2014. For the latest game info, visit www.facebook.com/MarvelContestofChampions.

SMITE World Championship Prize Pool Passes $1 Million

SMITE Odyssey Splash

The prize pool for SMITE’s first World Championships has hit a significant milestone, as it now sits at over $1 Million. This increase is thanks to the fantastic response from the SMITE community to the Odyssey, which has seen over  $400,000  in community contributions being made to the prize pool in just seven weeks.

 

Europe’s top SMITE pro teams  will fight it out on Saturday and Sunday, November 15 to 16, 2014, at the ESL Studio in Cologne, Germany for the chance to compete at the World Championships this coming January in Atlanta, USA. Eight teams from five regions will compete at the Finals for the chance to be crowned the first ever SMITE world champions.

 

Todd Harris, Chief Operating Officer of Hi-Rez Studios said:  “We are continuously humbled by how awesome and generous the SMITE Community of gamers is. They have  really rallied to support Smite eSports, and we look forward to seeing the prize pool continue to grow over the coming months leading up to the SMITE World Championship.”

 

The SMITE eSports website has also been given an upgrade to make it easier to keep up with all the SMITE Pro League action on the way to the Finals.

Legion of Heroes Launches on Google Play on Oct. 23

Legion of Heroes Characters

NEXON M, the innovative mobile game publishing arm of Nexon Co. Ltd., announced that Legion of Heroes, the massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) offering a PC-quality MMO experience for mobile devices, is coming to Google Play on Oct. 23, with an iOS version set to release soon.

 

“On Oct. 23, Legion of Heroes will deliver a vivid and immersive experience for MMO players on the go,” said John Robinson, general manager of NEXON M. “Built using the Unity engine, we’re able to deliver rich 3D graphics and true cross-platform gaming, as players can team up with other gamers to battle regardless of mobile device.”

 

Once Legion of Heroes launches on iOS, players will be able to team up with others, regardless of the version they are using.

Legion of Heroes Battle

Legion of Heroes is a high-fantasy epic tale where the Sovereign of Darkness is scheming to sink the world into chaos. Players will adventure across an expansive open world with a diversity of areas and terrains as they construct a team of heroes to do battle against an ancient evil bent on world domination.

 

Players collect and choose from hundreds of heroes to create unique and customized teams and then team up with others to create powerful guilds, explore the more than 100 dungeons and level up their skills through battle, and earn enhanced weapons, magic, and armor, all to add to the depth of the first-of-its-kind mobile game experience in Legion of Heroes.

 

For more information on Legion of Heroes, Please visit http://loh.nexonm.com/.

Star Trek Online: Delta Rising Press Preview

By Jason Parker (Ragachak)

 

STO RnR

Expanding the Final Frontier

October 14th marks the release of the latest expansion for Star Trek Online: Delta Rising!  As obvious by the title, this new content will take players into the Delta Quadrant and will feature what made the Delta Quadrant so fascinating: Voyager.  Boasting five of the original cast to record dialogue for the game, the feel and look of this expansion is truly accurate to the IP.  From Harry Kim to Seven-of-Nine, fans of the Voyager franchise will find something that appeals to them in this upcoming expansion.  There are tons of new missions, gameplay updates and even brand new species to add to the already burgeoning Delta Quadrant of space. The developers were kind enough to take me through some of the new missions and storylines and show off some of the experiences that will make the expansion worth everyone’s time.

STO Kobali Prime

I am personally pretty new to the Star Trek Online experience but I am in no way unfamiliar with the universe itself.  The Voyager itself is beautiful, and the worlds are incredibly well designed.  From the level increase (50-60), interesting stealth gameplay for Intelligence Officers, to the Tier 6 ships, there’s lots of new spread out for just about everyone to enjoy. Lore hounds on the other hand can look forward to the Federation’s dealings against the dread Vaadwaur forces, ensuring plenty of tension, drama, and fun for players new and old.  The Vaadwaur are a powerful, mysterious force plaguing the Delta Quadrant. Their combination of superior technology and military tactics honed since ancient times make them a perplexing entity on the grand stage.  There is a great deal of hand-created content resembling the IP of Star Trek; the details are nice, the areas are very easy to become immersed in.  I am really impressed with the work put into the Delta Quadrant.

 

Star Trek Online Intelligence Officer

Warp Factor 6

This is more than just a level-cap increase. The developers of STO have on offer new ships in the Tier 6 crafts. At the same time you can level your equipment (up to 14 from 12) using Technology Points; there is now a chance to upgrade not only the tier level but the quality level! Depending on circumstances there is a chance to go from rare to epic on your equipment as you upgrade which would be a pretty amazing thing to see for anyone.

Many systems are being changed, including the ships themselves.  The Captain Specialization tree is a great new addition to your ships, creating a talent tree similar to what one might find in another MMO such as World of Warcraft. These trees are passive abilities, except the final in a tree which is a click ability.  Speaking of ships, I have to say one of the coolest things to come in is the barrel roll; ships that barrel roll can briefly become immune to damage and it just looks fantastic.    Tier 6 ships can also acquire “traits”; these can be passed on to other ships that you own. Not a lot of info was given on this, but I’m interested to see where it goes. Starships can also gain “Mastery” and level up by shooting things down in outer space, which creates their leveling process.

STO Vaadwaur

On the ground front, Intelligence Officers bring something new and exciting to the game. Instead of a more run and gun style of ground combat, Intelligence Officers use their wits and cunning to get around a map and offer new stealthy gameplay. They sneak and shuffle down dark halls and in shadows, using grappling hooks, zip lines, and rappelling cables to slide around an area to hack consoles and confuse their enemies.  In the mission I previewed, Admiral Tuvok was guiding an Intel Officer through a compound he was definitely not supposed to be in, stealthing around much akin to Solid Snake.

STO Rock roll

In addition there are new adventure zones, huge areas to be explored that involve major characters of the Voyager series. Once the main stories there are complete, you can come back and up to 25 characters will be able to roam the zone.  There are a lot of intricate details going on; for example the Vaadwaur use World War II style trench warfare on the planet’s surfaces, despite being a technologically advanced race; what is the purpose behind this? There are a lot of mysteries and stories developing here, and I cannot wait for players to see what is in store.  I was definitely pleased with the zone I saw the Intelligence Officer run through; the dark caverns of a Vaadwaur Base.  The blend of the primitive world with the advanced technology hubs really sold it for me.  The planet itself that the base was set on looked like a desert planet, covered in deep fissures that are used as trenches.

 

STO Vaadwaur Trenches

Captains Log:  Hyped!

As someone fairly new to the Star Trek Online franchise, I feel pretty excited for this installment and I have very recently begun playing the MMO myself. While I know there is a lot of late-game grinding and it can be incredibly boring and frustrating for veteran players, the developers are working hard to change things like that to draw new and old alike.  The original cast of Voyager recorded a ton of dialogue to fit virtually any scenario that comes up with decision making, creating a new and interesting experience every time.  There are huge missions in space that require decisive, tactical thinking and what you decide on changes the entire mission at large!   Sadly, still no Cardassians, but it is not entirely off the block!  The developers do love the Cardassians and there is a chance they can appear in later content.  As far as other content goes, while the initial Expansion drop will have the full core story available to play out, additional bonus content will be added at a regular pace. Don’t expect new stories every week, but they will come with enough frequency to keep players interested.  Lots of surprises and twists await in Star Trek Online: Delta Rising!