Yearly Archives: 2014

Take Ancient Greece By Storm in Total War: Rome II – Wrath of Sparta

Total War Rome II Wrath of Sparta

Set in 432 BC at the outset of the Peloponnesian War, Wrath of Sparta is an entirely new campaign expansion for Total War™: ROME II, will be released on December 16, 2014 and is the earliest period that Total War has ever attempted.

 

As the legendary warriors of Sparta are called into open conflict against an arrogant Athens by scheming Korinthos and Boiotia, Wrath of Sparta challenges you to dominate the Hellenic world. However, while the City States vie for control of their homelands, across the Aegean Sea the vengeful Persian Empire watches its old foe closely…

 

Across a bespoke campaign map focusing on a highly-detailed ancient Greece, the Greek Islands and the Ionian Coast, this campaign pack features all new tech-trees, battlefield and naval units, great wonders and famous Greek heroes. In addition, a flavor-packed focus on ancient Greek culture is delivered through many iconic athletic competitions and festivals.

 

Wrath of Sparta is a campaign pack like no other, and brings this desperate conflict to life in thrilling detail across hundreds of hours of gameplay.

 

For more information, catch the latest episode of community show Rally Point http://youtu.be/Yi9sigONVEk or the store page here: http://download-store.sega.com/eshop/total-war/rome-2-3418.html

Lake-town Expansion Released For The Hobbit: Kingdoms of Middle-earth

Hobbit Laketown

Kabam today released Lake-town Expansion Pack for its popular mobile game The Hobbit: Kingdoms of Middle-earth, which is co-published with Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment.  The free-to-play strategy game, inspired by Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit film Trilogy and produced by New Line Cinema and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures (MGM), challenges players to build their own empire in Middle-earth and features fan favorites Gandalf, Legolas and Thorin Oakenshield.

 

In the new Lake-town Expansion Pack, Lake-town is open and ready for business. Players will be able to explore and prosper in the legendary settlement by discovering new resources and completing new quests. All new characters and heroes, such as Bard, are also available. Engaging gameplay and rich visuals inspired by the films make The Hobbit: Kingdoms of Middle-earth mobile game and the Lake-town Expansion Pack a must-have for any fan.

 

“We worked very closely with Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment to make sure we got each detail of the Lake-town environment right- from the glimmer on the water, to the way the light hits the side of the buildings in town,” said Weiwei Geng, executive producer on the game. “We wanted the players to enter the city and feel immersed in the world the filmmakers created for The Hobbit films.”

 

An in-depth look at the Lake-town Expansion Pack can be found in The Hobbit: Kingdoms of Middle-earth Magazine, an interactive app launching in conjunction with the update. This free app is available in 15 languages and will feature exclusive content such as tips and tactics, a behind-the-scenes look at development of the game, and official news posts. The app will be available for all mobile devices.

 

Fans can also look forward to a special in-game event on December 17th celebrating the premiere of the much anticipated film, The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies.

League of Legends: Season 5 Preview

By Jason Parker (Ragachak)

 

 

LeagueOFLegendsS5Chase

Wake, Killstreak, Repeat

Anyone who has followed my articles to this point knows I play a moderate amount of League of Legends, and I am here again to cover the next big change: Season 5!  The big buzzword this time is “Strategic Diversity” and unlike most seasons past, I actually believe in it.  I have been faithfully following the upcoming changes to champions (A “One-Day” Taric Visual/Rework Update), improvements to make Baron and Dragon relevant, new buffs, items coming and going (R.I.P. Feral Flare: Season 4-Season 4), and much more. I’m going to outline some of the more important changes and what they could potentially mean to you in the upcoming season.

LOLS5The-Chase-is-Real

Just covering all of the changes in a list would be insulting; anyone can go and read the patch notes (even though I think not enough players do so.) Instead I am going to be pointing out the most important things to be on the lookout for. This is by no means complete. There is still much inhouse/player testing coming up and things could change at any moment. I’m incredibly excited though!  While not always a fan of change, I think these changes could shake up the League community in a positive direction.  With more choices than ever before, I would expect a lot of normally unplayed champions to resurface as the wildcards of the community experiment!

 

Bad-decisions

A True Display of Skill

One of the most infuriating things is to watch one champion single handedly backdoor. Your team is helpless as Master Yi, Tryndamere, Hecarim, Shaco, or some other champ decides they want to come back and just push other lanes solo, with so much speed and damage that nothing can deter them.  This is something that Riot has evaluated, and finally has a solution for.  Stats on Towers have changed a bit, but that isn’t the important bit.  Inner Turrets now have a regeneration field given to nearby champions to help prevent them being pushed down without a fight.  Inhibitor Turrets are even more dangerous; instead of little shots, they fire a deadly laser beam that slows, deals terrific damage, AND reduces the targets damage output!  Still think that tower dive is worth it?

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The idea is not to ruin any chance of backdooring, but rather to make it more balanced. If one player can singlehandedly change the entire game, there is likely something wrong.  Now they can adjust/scale the towers, instead of simply nerfing a champion into the earth (as has happened on many occasions in the past).  Speaking of the lane, assist gold is changing, and now early game kills give full gold instead of the lessened amount that we saw in Season 4.  Starting at 50% of the kill and going up to 75% as the game progresses, this is another way to hand supports gold. That’s fantastic with the new item choices; ultimately this will hopefully shake up what the supports are building, and not just one or two sets of items.

 

 

LeagueOFLegendss5Dragon

Alas, Poor Roshan

Gone are the days of Baron being an afterthought, the days of champions soloing/duoing Baron without a great deal of power and skill.  Dragon moreso, perhaps, with the permanent buff he offers.  Dragon was once a gold farm, creating a very easy gap between teams.  Now, with each Dragon kill your team gains a permanent buff that grows with each successful Dragon kill your team gets.  The buff ranges from a bit of damage block, all the way to tripling all other bonuses, as well as giving your attacks True Damage over time.  The final buff (five kills) is not permanent, lasting only 180 seconds.  I do not forsee it being a factor in many games. As teams will clamor and fight desperately to attain the buffs, more strategy and ward coverage will be required.  Teams that let the adversary simply take Dragon without a fight will regret the choice.

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Baron gives two very new and different buffs in this season.  Gone is the enhanced regen/cdr that we normally see. The Enhanced Recall I think is a little ridiculous, but it does allow for swift regrouping as well as quick pushing from lane to lane to stop minions from getting ahead of your turrets.  The real winner here are the Empowered Minions.  When your minions are near someone with the Baron Buff, the minions grow more powerful.  Better Caster Minions, Tankier Melee’ Minions, and Rangier Cannon Minions.  Combine this with Banner of Command for hilarious results!  The idea here is to create a siege breaker.  If the enemy just can’t be beaten through, grab Baron and overwhelm their defense!  Expect Baron to be stronger to defeat, balancing the higher reward with more risk than ever before.

 

 

LeagueOfLegendss5BattleBigAss

Items, Items, Everywhere

And not a drop to drink.  Many items are leaving us, some that have been around for ages (such as Atma’s Impaler) and are likely never to be seen again. Some items were simply a failure or not what was intended, such as the Feral Flare, which lasted a whopping one season.  The old jungler items are gone as well.  This is probably the biggest change to the itemization; new items that build out of the Hunter’s Machete influence how your “Smite” spell works, which will probably passively force junglers who refuse to use Smite (Looking at you Maokai, Shaco) into using it, if for no other reason than the faster jungle clear.  There are four new items that adjust your Smite, ranging from AOE damage to the ability to damage other players. This is brand new never touched utility to help change up how junglers’ see their summon skill. I feel that there will be fewer “must-buy” items, and more situational items.

LeagueOFLegendss5itemization

There are other items that are also making a grand arrival, such as Righteous Glory.  A new tanky support item, it offers HP/Mana, but more importantly, gives movement speed to nearby allies who are moving towards enemies/turrets!  Combine that with its activated ability which culminates in a shockwave-style slow.  This is an item I feel will be a complete game-changer.  Another item I foresee making a comeback due to changes is Ohmwrecker.  I desperately wanted this item to be used, and its ability to shut off turrets could make diving worth it. Alas, last season, it saw virtually no play at all.  But it had a retool, and it certainly is for the best.

 

Elixirs! These are gone.  Replacing them are pricier/better consumable potions, only one of which can be active at a time.  Instead of generic damage buff potions, we have the Elixir of Iron, which increases size of champion/tankiness as well as Path of Iron buff (players who follow the path gain movement speed), or the Elixir of Wrath, which gives damage, a “Bloodlust” buff, and damage to champions gives back percentage of hp.  Kills/assists also increase its duration by 30 seconds, so assassins will be taking this with frequency.

 

 

LeagueOFLegendss5He-ulted

What Does This Mean?

There are a lot of changes, that’s what!  Tons of new items; the jungle has changed, with large mobs in the jungle each offering a buff with Smite kills; the scuttling “Rift Crab” that is a neutral river mob, giving vision to people who kill it. The big word this season so far is “Strategy.”  There are far too many changes to go over all of them right here.  Summoners should take the time to learn what changes are coming and play to experience them first-hand.

Playstyles may be disrupted or changed with all of the nerfs, buffs, and item changes.  I genuinely feel that there is something for everyone in this season, which adds some radical new updates to how the game is played.  Now if only they could do something about the servers, that’d be perhaps the next new project.  There are of course detractors that miss their precious Feral Flare, but when junglers are simply farming jungle and never coming out, are they still junglers? Or is it just another lane to worry about?  These changes are being rolled out into all facets of the game, so ideally, people will play more normals/team builder before jumping into the ranked preseason.  Also: To those curious, ranked matches in the preseason DO matter.  If someone tells you otherwise and plays poorly on purpose, they are wrong.  It will affect your MMR. I wish everyone luck and new, exciting experiences in Season 5!

Dying Light

Dying Light is a first-person action survival game developed by Techland. The game is set in a vast and dangerous open world. During the day, you roam an urban environment devastated by a mysterious epidemic, scavenging for supplies and crafting weapons to help you defeat the hordes of mindless, flesh-hungry enemies the plague has created. At night, the hunter becomes the prey as the infected grow in strength and aggression – but even more lethal are the nocturnal, inhuman predators that leave their nests to feed. You will need to make use of all your skills and any available means to survive till dawn.

Note: This is a B2P title.

Features:

Vast Open World: Dying Light lets you traverse an extensive world plunged into chaos and destruction. In this diverse environment, you fight for survival against many kinds of enemies since the infected are not the only threat: facing down other desperate humans is often the only way to get precious supplies.

Parkour-Style Movement: Whether you hunt or escape the hunters, you can move around the city with ease and speed. Jump between rooftops, climb walls, and attack your foes from above. Dying Light gives players a freedom of movement never seen in open world games before.

Choose Your Play Style: Make use of weapons, your surroundings, and traps set by other survivors. Provoke groups of enemies to attack each other. Complete objectives by day or at night. Take advantage of darkness, fog, and storm to remain unseen. Turn the odds in your favor with offensive and defensive gadgets. It’s always your call!

Co-op Mode for 4 Players: Cooperate with other players in the extreme conditions of a zombie apocalypse. Show your individuality and customize your character.