Yearly Archives: 2014

Skyforge Reveals the Paladin Class

Skyforge is continuing to reveal its classes, and today has revealed the Paladin class, a defender of the oppressed and a fearless warrior. Here is the information they’ve revealed about this armored protectors.

Skyforge Paladin 1

“Born in the gloom, terrible bloodshed and chaos of the first years of the New Age – Paladin’s emerged as guardians of order. Eternal law states that chaos is doomed to create order. They rose from the fires of countless feuds and fratricidal wars, and dared stand for order, and dedicate their lives to protecting the weak and oppressed. They are the spiritual heirs of Aeli, and a true weapon of good.” – Asterius’s Encyclopedia

The Paladin prefers to fight in the forefront the battle, and is not afraid to meet the enemy face-to-face. Paladins have a decent amount of health, which allows them to withstand the attack of any force and to “tank” several enemies at once, while fast regeneration means they are able to fight monsters non-stop, performing powerful attacks and spectacular combos as they move form enemy to enemy. Paladins can easily find allies for group adventures, and their companions will find the Paladin to be a powerful and assiduous protector. He will defend allies with shields that reduce incoming damage, remove any weakening effects, and keep the new effects from landing. First to engage in a fight, the brave warrior takes on most of the damage, drawing the enemies away from his less sturdy companions. As he performs basic attacks, he accumulates righteous anger which can be spent on more powerful techniques.

Skyforge Paladin 2

Basic abilities:

  • Righteous Blow (LMB) – The Paladin attacks the enemy with a sword and inflicts minor damage. First strike in a series of basic attacks.
  • Waves of Wrath (RMB) – This ability needs to be charged and can be activated by holding down the mouse button. The character swings his sword in a circle, hitting several enemies at once and knocking them off their feet. The weaker the opponent, the longer they will stay down.

The following series of attacks (combos) are based on those two basic abilities:

  • Seal of Light (LMB+RMB) – The Paladin swings his sword crosswise, inflicting moderate damage to the target and all enemies in the line behind it.
  • Punishing Bolt (LMB+LMB+LMB) – The Paladin sword deals a powerful downward strike. On Holy Ground the target will be struck by lightning, and the attack will inflict increased damage.
  • Justice Blade (LMB+LMB+LMB+LMB) – After Righteous Blow the Paladin does three quick strikes with the sword, each dealing mode damage than the previous one.
  • Divine Scourge (LMB+LMB+LMB+RMB) – On the fourth hit the character jumps in the air and deals a downward blow, accompanied by lightning that strikes several targets. If the paladin is affected by Celestial Shield (one of the defensive skills), the shield explodes, inflicting additional damage. On the Holy Ground or when righteous anger is used, the radius and the force of the attack increase.

Other abilities:

  • Holy Ground – The Paladin sanctifies the ground around him and gains inexhaustible power. While the Holy Ground is active, character’s skills do not consume righteous anger even outside its borders.
  • Aegis of Light – The character raises his shield in the air. A bright beam of light strikes it, making the character invulnerable and immune to control effects for some time.
  • Radiant Aspect (special ability) – The Paladin calls upon the divine power, rising into the skies and shaking off all negative effects. A moment later he strikes nearby enemies, knocking them down and inflicting massive damage. The character becomes temporarily immune to control effects, his attacks inflict increased damage, and all incoming damage is reduced. Once the attack is activated, Holy Ground appears next to the Paladin.

These are just a few of the paladin’s abilities.

The main feature of this class is a large number of defensive skills that include the removal of negative effects and resistance to control. The Paladin’s abilities do not end there: some of them massively increase damage, others make monsters focus on him. He can also control his enemies, stun them and knock them down, slow down and even immobilize them. Unlocked talents will multiply your damage, restore health and increase your movement speed. All of these abilities can be used to create various combinations that will best suit your play style. But keep in mind that the potential of the “tank” class should be tested out in group play. A good combination of passive and active skills will help heroes and their allies emerge victorious from the most dangerous fights.

The Paladin is one of the most durable and hardy classes in the game. Temporary invincibility will help him escape from a seemingly hopeless situations and turn the tide of battle. When things go really bad, the hero sanctifies the ground around him and gains the ability to use any skill without spending “righteous anger.” For continuous DPS, a Paladin must be near his target. He can either draw the fleeing enemy to himself or dash towards them knocking them down. The attacks of this class are not the strongest, but they are not Paladin’s only weapon. His primary task is to draw enemies’ attention to himself and let his teammates or his high survivability do the rest.

Skyforge Paladin 3

The Paladin will be picked by those who want be at the forefront, in the midst of battle, and prefer not to hide behind someone’s back. Who will rush into the thick of battle, shielding his allies, and take the first hit. Players that choose the Paladin often become the leaders of the group, because it is usually up to them to decide when and how how they are going to lead their allies to victory!

 

Interstellar Marines: A Decade In The Making

By Jason Parker (Ragachak)

Warned too late

More Than Meets The Eye:

Disclaimer:  I understand that this is an alpha. I get that it is in early access.  I also understand that this game has been in development for ten years. Early Access has been available for well over a year.  I also understand that this is not exactly a huge company and the game is quite the undertaking.  But the development/progress has been incredibly slow and for what is on offer (a PVP mode and two “secret” modes that are only really known if you browse Steam forums or peruse your Steam folders on your PC), I do not understand how there is 1.5 million dollars in profit being boasted by the developers.  What does exist is rather underwhelming, but I will be as fair as possible.

Capture

To say that I was feeling some form of hype once I saw the trailer videos is an understatement.  The game looked absolutely fantastic: space marines running around with fantastic guns shooting people in beautiful landscapes sounded terrific. I was expecting to find some form of co-op play after it being in early-access for a year, but alas it is still not released (more on that later).  Overall, I’m disappointed; there was so much hope, and so little to be seen. The majority of the PVP appears to be based in Europe and Australia, so matches are difficult to find at normal North American hours.  So much could be done with this setting; yet as of this writing, there is so very little to be seen and experienced. With that in mind, here we go!

Dat detail

Here I Go Again (On My Own):

The build which I reviewed has just one mode: Multiplayer.  For a game that is going to tout a unique and fun story, glorious graphics, and terrific co-op, they are all conspicuously absent. With that, it is terribly difficult to say that this game is well on the way or not.  Multiplayer matches are available by joining servers on the main game.  Generally these hold 18 players and will be a best of three rounds.  Between rounds you can switch sides if you’d like (if for example, the other team loses someone and you’d really like to start winning).  But there are guns!  Yes, there are guns in this game.  However, in all of my matches I have not seen any alternate loadouts or other guns.  I have two automatic rifles with differing recoils and damage.  I have seen no grenades, jetpacks, lasers, or any other staples of the science-fiction genre.  Instead, I only see guns taken straight from Call of Duty.

Bots

The maps are not exceptionally large at this stage in the game, and there are two ways to win from what I have seen.  The first is by capturing all of the choke points on the map.  If an enemy team takes one, of course you can claim it for yourselves.  If the time runs out, the team with more of them is declared the winner and the game moves on to the next round.  In smaller matches (I had several one on one matches) the person who killed the other team off wins.  When a player dies, they have an incredibly long respawn time (roughly ~120 seconds), but if a team mate captures a spawn point, you respawn early.  However, if the enemy team (or your team) winds up capturing the points while the other team is down, they can win that way.  There are no other multiplayer modes available at this moment.  I cannot help but feel like an entire year of “Early Access” with just this could be considered stale.

Dead

Good News (and Bad News):

There are two “bonus” modes available right now!  That is, if you constantly browse the Steam forums (or know someone who does) or you often find yourself searching through your C:/ folders to try and find something new and exciting!  The first mode is “Get Killed By Bots” mode and it is just as it would imply: you get killed by bots repeatedly.  The mode features one map, a very blank room with several strangely placed walls similar to the Maze on the Isle of Crete in ancient Greece.  The way one might think to approach this is to be stealthy, check the map to see where the enemy is and act appropriately.  However there is no mini map to be had on any mode!  No matter how crafty or clever you might think you are, the bots will find you.  They will peek just slightly around a corner and pop you in the head with a single shot.  Then you die and respawn; there are no score counts and no way to win. You simply die to bots repeatedly until you give in and leave for the main menu.  Every so often you might kill one of them, and then the screen goes red as the one you can’t see is blasting you with bullets.

Game Over

Finally we have co-op, the thing that we are all waiting for!  Until PAX Prime, there was no co-op mode at all.  Those fortunate enough to be at PAX could enjoy this mode straight away.  For those of us who were not (or could not be) there, again it can be found as a hidden mode.  However, if you try to join the co-op in the normal “Multiplayer” option in the game itself, it will inform you that you have the wrong version of the game and you will be kicked back to the servers.  When I went to access co-op in the hidden path, as soon as I connected, I died instantly and it said “Game Over”.  “Surely this is an anomaly!” I thought to myself as I tried again, only to meet the same dark fate.

I tried this for approximately fifteen minutes before I gave in and went to try some kind of single player action.   The word “action” is a misnomer.  You can walk around in the various maps the game has to offer and see the sights. You can see spaceships!  Glowing red lights!  Snow falling inside buildings!  Yes, roofed buildings have snow drifting down from the sky; when you climb to the second floor, the snow is gone.  But no enemies, no friends. Just emptiness, a deep sense of abandonment as I wander the world alone. Just me and my two guns. No justice, no peace.

Snowblind

If A Bullet Fires In the Snow, Is it Snowblind?  Needs work.

I had so many high hopes when I heard I was going to be tackling this title, but I have felt nothing but a deep disappointment.  I have played my fair share of alpha/beta titles, as well as early access games, but most, if not all of those at least had more than one feature to offer the players who sank time and money into their work.  I think the part that bothered me the most was having to search and seek for “modes” to play, only to find disappointment in them.  The trailers for the game are fantastic, don’t get me wrong; but the early access itself is nowhere even close to what they are currently promising.  If this is as far as they have gotten in ten years’ time, or even a year’s time, I cannot help but wonder how long this is going to take to be completed. Perhaps this could be the PC’s Duke Nukem Forever? One expects glitches and inconsistencies in an early release but I cannot fathom how someone could spend money on something that has had this much development time only to be this underwhelmed.  However, there is a bright point is that September 18th, the full co-op gameplay will be released.  So there is a silver lining in that I can hope that it will show more about what this game is promised to be.

Total War: Rome 2

In Total War: Rome 2, players take on the role of a general in control of the Roman armies at the height of their power. It is up to the player to balance diplomacy, politics, and military might with their ultimate goals, be they loyal to Rome or not.

Features:

Incredible Graphics: Players will see exotic ancient cities and colossal armies rendered in incredible detail, while jaw-dropping cinematic battles unfold. New unit cameras allow players to see the battle from every perspective.

Real-time Combat: Players will feel the thunderous clash of battle as the Roman war-machine takes to the field in real-time combat. Tens of thousands of men collide in bone-splintering detail that you directly control.

Flexible Performance Requirements: Total War: Rome 2 has a scaling experience, with performance optimized for PC or laptop. Players can witness the awesome scale of Total War: Rome II, from minimum spec upwards.