SMITE reveals Chang’e’s couples skin, Sun’s Bride.
Monthly Archives: August 2015
The Kickstarter Campaign for Aquanox Deep Descent is Now Live
Nordic Games and Digital Arrow announced the Kickstarter of Aquanox Deep Descent. Backers can vote on which stretch goals should be prioritized.
In addition to that, assets and research from an unreleased THQ underwater action game called Deep Six have been integrated into the pre-production of the game.
More in-depth information can be found on the Kickstarter Page.
“Reaching the main funding goal of the Kickstarter campaign will allow us to create a new Aquanox game of the size and complexity it deserves, for gamers around the globe. At the same time, it also allows us to make its future players an integral part in development decisions surrounding the game at its earliest stages,” comments Norbert Varga, project lead at Digital Arrow.
“We’ve had long discussions with Digital Arrow about the scope of the game and the transition to Unreal Engine 4. Based on our positive previous experience with Kickstarter (The Book of Unwritten Tales 2 together with the developer KING ART), we firmly believe it is the right platform to help us achieve our joint vision for the future of Aquanox”, adds Martin Kreuch, producer at Nordic Games.
Aquanox Deep Descent is a re-imagining of both the gameplay and world of the original AquaNox-series, taking into account the scientific advances made since the first game. Like its predecessors, the game will be an underwater vehicle shooter, in which players control a variety of customizable ships to engage in submarine battles in the dystopian deep sea world of Aqua.
Heroes of the Storm: Kharazim Now Available (August 18 Patch)
Today sees the launch of a new patch today for Heroes of the Storm, introducing the new hero Kharazim and more.
Kharazim is a new Support Hero based on the Monk of Diablo III. Blizzard has also changed some bundles to Dynamic Bundles, and introduced Ranked Play queue. There are also many new rewards and changes in place. You can read the full patch notes here.
Rush of Heroes Review: Mobile ARPG Done Right
By: Ojogo
To be in the business of producing small-scale games in a free-to-play market, you’d either have to be able to pass off reinventing and reskinning tried formulas as your own, or you’d have to be really creative.
Well, you don’t really HAVE to be all that to be in business, but if you want to be known, consistently sell your games, and develop a following, you might as well try walking that extra mile to guarantee success, right? Take Firefly Games, Inc. for instance, with their latest venture: Rush of Heroes. It’s the perfect example of go big or go home, with them banking on the earlier.
Overview
Rush of Heroes is a free-to-play mobile MMORPG. It plays actually like any old ARPG available in the app store. It’s an active time turn-based battle, with characters having their own attack and skill cooldown timers. Units are to be gathered, leveled, and fused, then you just form a party consisting of units you have that produce the best numbers.
Truth be told, there isn’t much that is ground-breaking and new in Rush of Heroes, but that’s not really all that bad. Because what Rush of Heroes brings to the table is something not most mobile games in its category would even do – and that’s delivering content. Quality content, even.
Content
Rush of Heroes presents an intensive and deep plotline for players to follow, and it’s styled along top-grade humor and wit. The writing is its main appeal. Imagine a game where you start off as a deformed chibi cow warrior, partying with other chibi characters that go on epic adventures and participate in fantastical fights against fully proportioned mythical enemies.
The stark contrast is comedic and whimsical, as it is adorable, but that’s the appeal. It’s also nice to note that your characters – your main character, the cow, especially – come with a lot of zingy and funny one-liners that builds character and depth so you can’t help but be emotionally invested in them. It’s also interesting how much story is packed within each playable chapter.
Gameplay
As is usual in most mobile RPGs, the game only actually has two modes of interaction which is the lobby/town part of the game, and the battle parts. The lobby is your usual over-glorified inventory screen where you manage and recruit your units, level them via fusion, arrange them in parties, etc. Arranging your party’s formation actually is a strategic concern so as to make full use of their ranged and targeting abilities.
During battle, players have to fight their way to the end within a given time limit. The sooner you finish, the better your rewards will be. Fights happen in a familiar Dot Arena fashion. Units from each side rush in then start attacking simultaneously, but not in a senseless, chaotic kind of way. Units attack in intervals based on their speed stat, but they can also act out of turn by performing their special attacks. Special abilities can only be used when their power gauge is filled, and that can only be achieved by successfully hitting or killing an enemy. This is repeated wave after wave until you reach the boss of the level. What’s notable about boss fights is not only are they rendered on a completely different scale and style for comical effect (your units being usually cartoony and chibi, while the enemies are fully proportioned and detailed), the cameras also change to different dynamic views, making the last fight of a level really refreshing and exciting. Beyond visuals, these fights are noticeably more challenging to wake you up after slaughtering the worthless creep waves before them.
After the fight, you are then entitled to receive rewards appropriate to your performance in the level, and not like the random drops regardless of how well you fought like in most mobile games. Most of these drops are equipment that boosts your units’ combat power. These equips can also be upgraded to further improve your party’s stats, and when you reach certain caps, the equips as well as the hero wearing them will change appearance.
The game also features an online PVP system, though it is not as interactive as normal play. Your characters will always be in auto-battle due to the asynchronous nature of it to prevent you from manually outperforming the AI. PVP Arena allows you to choose up to 8 heroes to bring with you. It also allows you to ban up to 3 heroes from the enemy team when you’re challenging, so there’s still some semblance of strategy and control. Another social feature the game offers is being able to join a guild, which grants you additional support in terms of stats and resources, while giving you access to exclusive guild-only items and dungeons.
Critique
Rush of Heroes really tries to emulate the feel of enjoyment from games of old as it dulls out content as you earn it through your progress. Feature upon feature is unlocked as you further progress in the game, giving leveling far more of an addictive factor than in most games.
Though you spend most of your time in battle, the constant evolving systems prevent the game from feeling too repetitive. Those into the story will enjoy the witty banter, while those that like micromanaging combat can continually hone and discover the perfect combat combos. All the while looking really good while doing it.
The game looks good for being such a small file, and plays well even on older devices. Everything is beautifully rendered and animated in 3D. Each unit, hero or enemy, is masterfully designed and quite unique looking. The fact that the heroes and the bosses have strikingly different art styles as well adds charm to it, as it makes one side more endearing and the other cooler.
Conclusion: Great
All in all, Rush of Heroes is one of the more expertly done games to enter the free to play mobile market. Even if it doesn’t really bring anything new to the table in terms of mechanics, it still delivers with an eye for quality and refreshing dedication to the details. Rush of Heroes is most definitely a must-download for the modern day RPG enthusiasts.
Trove Surpasses 1 Million Monthly Active Users
Trion Worlds today announced that Trove, the online building/role playing game, has seen more than 1 million monthly active users enter game’s the voxel-powered worlds in less than a month. Since launching in July, Trove has been rapidly taking off with players, providing them with a unique blend of action-adventure and builder gameplay, all set in player-created worlds filled with limitless possibility. Trove is now available for download on Steam.
Trove invites players into a universe of endless adventures, where role-playing and crafting collide, opening the game to be shaped by the community. Offering gamers the power to explore, craft, and create their own adventures, Trove pushes the boundaries of community-created content, featuring procedurally generated worlds that are fully buildable and destructible. Trove’s long-term development goals have propelled it towards being a one-of-a-kind experience that rewards player creativity and individuality and the reaction from players shows that it is achieving those objectives.
Trove features 9 playable classes (including Boomeranger, Pirate Captain and Candy Barbarian); challenging procedurally generated dungeons, landscapes, and lairs; a limitless supply of loot and a deep crafting system. Creators can quickly save designs for instant building and use the game’s Cornerstones mechanic to preserve their creations.
Relic Hunters Zero Launch Trailer
Relic Hunters Zero hits Steam today, bringing retro co-op action with old school poppy beats sure to get stuck forever in your skull.
Crowfall – Legionnaire Animations and Thomas Blair
See the centaur class, Legionnaire, in an early test demo of animations. And learn the backstory of Thomas Blair.
ARK: Survival Evolved Giganto Spotlight
ARK throws a monkey into the mix for giant fun. Get ready for Giganto.
Das Tal Players Face a New Threat
With drastic improvements made to the way computer controlled enemies interact with players in Das Tal, it is time for another public test. Mobs now not only attack with a range of abilities, but also patrol the map and guard certain key areas. The test event will be headlined by a boss fight, which will bring players together for a large battle towards the end.
“The boss mob’s appearance will help to make the test go out with a bang, and get players all fighting in one place. We have been continuously optimising the game, so we do want to have this be a bit of a stress test, at the same time as having everyone check out the mob AI and other changes.” – David Wells, Head of Communications
Being a public playtest, anyone who has been interested in taking a look at Das Tal can do so for free at this event. Anyone wanting to participate in further tests can sign up for alpha testing, or help fund the game by purchasing a supporter pack. Temporary accounts can be made on the day of the test using the key ‘DEFENDER’. The dev’s ask that anyone interested in coming along sign up using their new event registration tool, which was put together by one of their community members, Seonnyn.
Moon Hunters August 2015 Update
Kitfox Games offers their latest update, teaming their upcoming Steam appearance along with initial online game testing for Moon Hunters.











