Monthly Archives: October 2015

Total War: Warhammer Release Date, Pre-Order and High King Edition Revealed

Total War: Warhammer Release Date, Pre-Order and High King Edition Revealed news header

SEGA® Europe Ltd. and Creative Assembly today revealed the Pre-order Bonus, High King Edition and Limited Edition for Total War™: WARHAMMER®, the game that brings to life the most comprehensive vision possible of the Warhammer Fantasy Battle world –Total War: WARHAMMER will be the first in an epic trilogy, supported with free and paid-for content post-release and is set to launch on April 28th, 2016.

 

Pre-order Bonus – Chaos Warriors Race Pack:

Those gamers who pre-order any edition from participating retailers will receive Total War: WARMAMMER’s first DLC for free alongside the game on release day. The Chaos Warriors Race Pack includes three new playable Legendary Lords, enabling you to select the corrupted and powerful Chaos Warriors as your race in the Grand Campaign.

Featuring unique new mounts, bloodthirsty units and monstrous creatures, this Race Pack also brings with it a brand new, narrative-driven quest chain for each Legendary Lord, and an armoury of twisted and cursed magic items.

The Total War: WARHAMMER standard edition is now available for pre-order from Steam http://store.steampowered.com/app/364360/ and other retailers world-wide.

 

High King Edition:

The Total War: WARHAMMER High King Edition will be produced in a single, extremely limited run.

Modelled on the legendary Book of Grudges, the High King Edition will ship in a large ornate presentation box, featuring metallic gold and 3D sculpted detail in the iconic Dwarfen style. Contained within is a host of treasures guaranteed to sate the gold-lust of the mightiest Dwarfen High King; including:

 

  • Grudge Ring: This quality metal ring, with a rotating inner band is perfect to spin whilst brooding over grudges and plotting revenge. Six numbered bevels on the inner hoop allow the ring to double as a fully functioning die.
  • Slayer’s Whetstone Pendant: Made of genuine, functional whetstone and inscribed with the talismanic Master Rune of Spite, this hefty trinket would be treasured and jealously guarded by any self-respecting Slayer, who aims to keep a keen edge on their blades.
  • Dwarfen Drinking Horn & Stand: Toast your victories with this beautifully decorated drinking horn; wrought with icons and sigils in the Dwarfen craftsman style. Suitable for both display and practical use, it can hold a full pint and comes complete with its own unique metal display stand. Please note, liquid cannot be ‘sipped’ from this drinking horn, it may only be ‘quaffed’.
  • Canvas Map: Plan your campaigns of conquest as any High King should with this gorgeously illustrated canvas map of the game world.
  • Integrated Artbook: Integrated into the High King Edition’s impressive packaging is a large art book featuring exclusive concepts.
  • Metal Case: Protect your game disks from the perilous dangers of the Old World with this exclusive metal case.
  • Insider Guide: A printed strategy guide for Total War: WARHAMMER; this book will help get you started with the game and offers invaluable tactical advice to help you dominate the battlefields of the Old World.
  • Chaos Warriors Race Pack: The Chaos Warriors Race Pack offers a new playable race with a full roster of bloodthirsty units, terrifying mounts and monstrous creatures. Lead the corrupted Chaos hordes as one of three new playable Legendary Lords and embrace the Ruinous Powers as you embark on brand new quest chains, unlocking powerful items and gaining the favour of the dark Chaos Gods.

 

The High King Edition is available for pre-order now.

 

Limited Edition:

Alongside the extremely rare High King Edition, a Limited Edition will also be available at select retailers. This version includes the metal case and Insider Guide detailed above in the High King Edition.

 

Super Evil Megacorp to Host NA/EU Vainglory Autumn Season Finals

Super Evil Megacorp to Host NA/EU Vainglory Autumn Season Finals news header

Super Evil Megacorp announced today on its blog the details of the North American and European Autumn Season Finals. The North American finals will take place at the eSports Arena in Santa Ana, Calif., from Dec. 4-6, and at the European finals will take place at the ESL Studio in Katowice, Poland from Dec. 11-13.

More information about the schedule and how to get tickets to either event can be found here.

Rebel Galaxy Review: Command Your Ship How YOU Want

By Mohammad Abubakr
Sometimes it can be great to take a break from hardcore MMOs or FPS games and spend some time playing single player indie games. Rebel Galaxy let me jump away from my fantasy and war torn worlds and move into the edges of the known universe. Developed and published by Double Damage studios, Rebel Galaxy is a space adventure and action game with some RPG elements allowing players to explore, discover, and trade in the known universe. Having been founded by Travis Baldree, the project and engineering lead on Mythos, and Erich Schaefer, the co-creator and lead designer of Diablo and Diablo II, I came into Rebel Galaxy expecting another great indie game.

First of all, I am a fan of space, flight, and naval style combat. All of these interests were present and fed by Rebel Galaxy so it is not surprising that I enjoyed my time playing the press copy of Rebel Galaxy. The official game will be released on October 20, 2015 and patches fixing bugs and modifying the gameplay from community feedback are already being released. I do not expect the game to be drastically modified especially since the release is so close and therefore we can jump straight to a full review rather than just focusing on first impressions and revisiting the game in the future for a full review. There is plenty of content and polish already present in the game for it to qualify for a full review.

Large space battles can be quite intense

As mentioned above, at its core, Rebel Galaxy is an RPG. The game lets players live the life of a commander on a powerful star destroyer. You can battle pirates, explore the world, befriend aliens, mine asteroids, and even discover artifacts. All of this can be done following your own path. If you want to do good, you can, or if you want to follow the path of a rogue pirate, you can. The game truly lets you play how you want; even the responses to NPCs can be chosen manually through the dialogue system.

I personally decided to follow the law and focus on good missions and later on also take part in some mining and trading to earn money. This money can be used to upgrade your ship, purchase new parts, new ships, and even hire mercenaries. If you really want to continue to make money, you can even purchase additional goods and trade them around other stations to make a profit. I felt like I was playing Eve again, although Rebel Galaxy does have a more involved combat and movement system.

Rebel Galaxy Market Changes

The movement and combat is very well done due to the simple and intuitive controls. A gamepad is recommended and therefore the game was played using an Xbox 360 controller for this review. As you would expect, space is massive. For this reason, all ships are equipped with boosters and warp drive. If you are clear of any stellar mass, warp drive can be initiated to travel at very high speeds. It’s a blast to fly around and explore. Unfortunately, the different areas are not as unique from each other as I would like, making exploration feel a bit like a chore after a while. Another thing to note would be that the player’s movement is only in the X and Y planes, you cannot move up or down on the Z axis.

With the simple and intuitive controls, along with the responsive movement, you never feel like your ship is doing something you did not intend. The combat is fast paced and easy to follow and participate in. As briefly mentioned above, the ships fight using side mounted cannons as seen in naval combat. I have always been a fan of ships and this type of fighting but definitely was not expecting to find it in Rebel Galaxy. For those unfamiliar with ships or naval combat, in order to fire at your enemy, you must rotate your ship and fire from your left or right sides. This system makes it essential to have good positioning as you cannot always fire back at your opponents; getting caught off guard can be quite costly. There are top mounted weapons and even missiles that can be used but your main source of damage will be from your side mounted cannons. (Missiles may do more damage but they have limited rounds)

The naval style combat is a ton of fun

What you do in Rebel Galaxy is entirely up to you. There is a main storyline which players can follow or they can branch off and complete optional side missions. If you are not a fan of just fighting, you can pilot a mining barge and spend your time breaking rocks. Or if you are just in it for the money, you can travel around space to different space stations smuggling or trading. There is a lot to do in Rebel Galaxy.

Unfortunately the missions are not as exciting as I would hope for from a space action adventure game, and they are mostly made up of the generic tasks we find in MMORPGs such as deliveries or assassinations. The difficulty of some of the battles does add a lot to the game. You will have to run away from some battles or ambushes. It can be frustrating having to run away or be blown away but this only increases the satisfaction of returning in the future with a stronger ship and maybe a hired mercenary to exact revenge.

There are multiple classes of ships, each with their own advantages and disadvantages

All of this is accompanied by an amazing soundtrack. Indie games are always leading when it comes to their soundtracks. I am not a big fan of game music, typically turning it off in exchange for my own, but Rebel Galaxy hits the mark with their background tunes. Players even have the option to substitute the in game music with their own custom music!

Warp is quite cool

Conclusion: A refreshing game offering a new way to have fun and pass time.
I thoroughly enjoyed my time spent playing the reviewers copy of Rebel Galaxy. With everything offered in Rebel Galaxy, it is quite surprising to see it available for only $20! That’s right, a game with so much to do and as much polish as Rebel Galaxy is available for only $20 on Steam. It’s great to see a reasonably priced game and not have to fork out $60 (or $70-80 for us Canadians…) and still be presented with a game packed with features and polish.

I recommend this game to anyone looking to pass time and enjoy yourselves while experiencing a more unique game. Great job Double Damage Studios!

Graphics: 3/5
The graphics in Rebel Galaxy look good and there are plenty of options available for customization. I was especially happy to see an option for windowed fullscreen which is a godsend for those with multiple monitors. While the graphics look good, the level design and areas are comparatively lacking to the point I don’t feel the draw to explore. You can fly across the galaxy and yet the worlds look quite similar.

Control: 4/5
Overall, the controls in Rebel Galaxy are very well done. They are intuitive and responsive. The only complaint I have is with regards to the turning and camera controls. In Rebel Galaxy, you turn towards the direction you are facing. Sometimes this makes the turns appear very slow and can even result in unwanted turns when you simply wanted to rotate your camera.

Features: 5/5
For a game that is priced at only $20, Rebel Galaxy offers a lot for your money. There is a lot to do in the game and you can play the game how you want. This results in a lot of options and paths that can be taken with their being always something to do.

Customization: 4/5
There is a good amount of customization as you can purchase new ships and customize the ship’s loadout.

Community: -/5
Being a single player game, there isn’t much I can comment on about the community. There is a (small) following behind this game but we will see how it fairs once the game is publicly available.