Yearly Archives: 2015

ARK: Survival of the Fittest Contest Disrupts E-Sports With New Formula

ARK: Survival of the Fittest Contest Disrupts E-Sports With New Formula news header

Studio Wildcard announced today the start of its biggest and fiercest online multiplayer ARK: Survival of the Fittest tournament to date. ‘The Last Stand’ is the final event in the 2015 ‘ARK Survival of the Fittest’ series, starting September 24 and ending October 24. Anyone with a copy of the highly-popular survival-adventure game ARK: Survival Evolved and a PC with a high speed Internet connection can enter until the servers are full. With nearly 2 million ARK survivors having downloaded the game, players will duke it out in six-player tribes to see who qualifies for…The Last Stand!

Tune into Twitch to watch the tournament finale livestream on Saturday, October 24, in the largest single ARK game ever with 230 contestants – 70 popular Twitch streamers and 160 qualifying contestants – doing battle using hand-crafted weapons and tamed dinosaurs while facing down all three ARK Boss creatures, including the Giant Ape, the monolithic, web-slinging Broodmother and the ominous fire-breathing Dragon.

“With the League of Legends Season World Championship being watched by more than 27 million viewers (in 2014), nearly 12 million more than the NBA Finals, it’s clear that there is a hungry worldwide audience itching to see something extraordinary,” said Jesse Rapczak, co-founder and co-creative director at Studio Wildcard. “ARK’s survival-adventure gameplay offers a totally different e-sports experience that captures the thrill of organized competition in an entirely new way.”

Servers for ‘The Last Stand’ Preliminary Rounds will be open to all gamers from Noon EST through 8pm EST, on the following days:

  • Thursday, September 24, and Saturday, September 26
  • Tuesday, September 29; Thursday, October 1, and Saturday, October 3
  • Tuesday, October 6, and Thursday, October 8
  • Tuesday, October 13, and Thursday, October 15

The Winning Tribes from the Preliminary Rounds will be exclusively invited it to ‘The Last Stand Pre-Championships,’ being held from Noon – 8pm EST, on the following days, from which the top 160 finale contestants will be calculated:

  • Saturday, October 17 and Tuesday, October 20

Prizes for ‘The Last Stand’ October 24th Championship Include:

  • First Place Winning Tribe receives: $24,000 (split six ways)
  • Second Place Winning Tribe receives: $12,000 (split six ways)
  • Third Place Winning Tribe receives: $6,000 (split six ways)
  • Each of ‘The Last Stand’ 230 entrants receives a $100 Steam Gift Card
  • All three Championship Winning Tribes will receive an in-game Gold/Silver/Bronze Trophy Structure Skin, customized with their Tribe details, for everyone to marvel at with envy!

Each ARK: Survival of the Fittest tournament has been modified with new creatures, life-threatening events, and more. Changes for ‘The Last Stand’ include:

  • Three Boss Creatures! At key points through the match, each Boss makes an appearance available for taming at the central platform. That includes the Broodmother, the Dragon, and the previously unrevealed Giant Ape, who can easily smash through forests and throw huge boulders to demolish survivors and their dinosaurs.
  • Six Player Tribes: Stay in competition longer as extra-large teams have more chances to claim victory!
  • Improved Competitive Game Balance! This time, you won’t advance by hiding in a box.
  • Four New Evolution Events: The world-altering events are triggered by player-voting so that the audience can participate in the action!
  • Acid Rain: Seek cover! This red-tinted rain won’t quench your thirst, but it will chew through your armor and slowly sap your Health!
  • I Love You, You Love Me: Mate-Boost effects are doubled! An ideal time to launch your assault with gender-paired creatures, but be careful about wild mates, as they can be extra dangerous.
  • Hail to the King: A powerful explosive item is dropped at every player’s position… use it wisely!
  • Food of the Gods: This extra-special Mega Loot crate contains instant-taming Feed.

12 is Better Than 6 Kickstarter Alpha Preview

By Remko Molenaar (Proxzor)

 

12 Is Better Than 6 Preview

Losing your memory is tough, but being Mexican and living in America in 1873 is a whole new story, one you are about to experience. 12 is Better Than 6 isn’t released yet, but I was given the chance to play the pre-alpha Kickstarter demo client and try it out. The Kickstarter is on-going, plus the game has been Greenlit on Steam so expect 12 is Better Than 6 on Steam Early Access soon. But first, lets talk about this amazing game.

You are Juan, a Mexican escaped convict that lost his memory and somehow ended up in North America. As you can expect, back in the day both Mexicans and Americans weren’t entirely friendly with each other. Racial tension has a shoot first and ask questions later theme going in this game. That said, if you mind your own business and keep your head low, the two sides can still get along. Somehow Juan manages to get into serious trouble wherever he goes, and the locals become increasingly unhappy and gun totting as a result.

12 Is Better Than 6 Preview

In this top down shooter you will have to play as someJuan that is better off not seen. Gameplay is brutally unforgiving, and anyone that tries barging in guns blazing likely won’t last a full minute on any mission. In the first tutorial level you are shown that using your knife is a key element to clearing levels. And even though you can switch between your knife and a gun, most of the time you are better off clearing the level with your knife and stabbing people in the backs. The moment you will use your gun, the rest of the guards will come look and check out what that loud noise was. If they find a body, well lets just say that they will not be happy to see this (obviously) and you are in for the old fashioned equivalent of a high wanted rating in GTA. Since the game takes place in the wild west, you will have to blow up the occasional sheriff or bandit while trying to get your memory back.

Everything that you find along the way, you can take to the next level. Since the levels are fairly small compared to most modern games, you will really have to play around with your arsenal making it feel partially like a puzzle game at times. The added twist is that other than your knife, you can only have one real weapon with you at a time. So if your plan is to bring dynamite in as your primary weapon, you’d best have a plan to blow everyone up before they know what happened, or you can look forward to bringing a knife to a gun fight after the gunpowder clears.

12 Is Better Than 6 Preview

12 is Better Than 6 has a really unique art style to it; basically the game looks like it was all drawn with a pen. And this might sound a bit lackluster, but it really isn’t. The game flows amazingly well, even with the limitations of a top-down view. While playing this game I felt like I was playing a top down Assassin in the wild west rather than a Bandit. This is a great change of pace from all the twitch reliant bullet-hells saturating the indie market right now. Though being conditioned on said bullethells as I am, it can be frustrating to want to shoot up a saloon with my fancy new gun even though I know certain death awaits. Despite the high risk of utilizing your fire arm, the result typically isn’t even that good though. Every time you fire a bullet, you will have to reload a round into the chamber (authentic 1800s weaponry) and thus you cannot really handle more than one enemy at a time. When things go south, your only bet is to kite the enemy into narrow corridors to force them to come at you in a line instead of letting them surround you. If your timing is spot on, this allows you to shoot through multiple pursuers with a single shot, adding even greater tactics to the already challenging gameplay.

12 Is Better Than 6 Preview

The game is so heavily focused on stealth, that you can actually complete the whole game without having to kill anyone. Currently the game is a six hour long story where you have to fight for your freedom, and on your way you will find multiple characters that have their own view on life. They want something from you and you need them to survive. This will get Juan into some serious situations that you will have to fight yourself out from. And as the saying goes, It is better to be judged by 12 than carried by 6. From revolvers, to shotguns, to dynamite, to freaking cannons, you will get to play around with a lot of tools to keep each mission fresh. Sometimes I would even die on purpose at the end of levels just because an idea struck my fancy, and I wanted to try to clear it again in a more creative method. I imagine once an achievement system gets implemented, this game’s replayability will go through the roof.

In 12 is Better Than 6 you will meet old and new friends, and every single one of the characters you will meet will have a view on the world, and their view might change depending on what happens around them. They might be your friend, but once you do something that they do not accept, well lets just say that you have Juan less friend. I didn’t get to see this in the demo I was given unfortunately, but they have a lot of promising features coming with the full game, including co-op gameplay should the stretch goal be reached.

 

12 Is Better Than 6 Preview

Conclusion

Even though the gameplay is really basic, the story, art style, and the incredible amounts of fun I had playing this game really make up for it. You will get to know Juan, the good, the bad and the ugly. As the story develops you realize how the times were back in the wild west in 1873. Right now the game is far from reaching its goal on Kickstarter, but it truly deserves all the support it can get. Even though the demo was only showing a small part of the game, I cannot wait until I get to play the full release because the game was really enjoyable in its own unique style.

Albion Online Introduces Upgradable Islands

Albion Online Introduces Upgradable Islands news header

In preparation for the closed beta of the first true cross-platform sandbox MMORPG Albion Online this November, developer Sandbox Interactive continues to bring good news to the fans of the Albion Universe – one of the most unique features, Albion’s system of Private Islands, receives a highly anticipated ‘upgrade’. After listening to community requests to expand upon the idea, the developers decided to improve the player experience by introducing different island levels with additional building and farming plots, as well as a broader variety of decorative options so that players can customize the environment.

 

In the major cities, players can purchase Private Islands as a hideaway place, where they can build houses and workshops, even decorate and farm. With the new system, the number of farming and building plots can now be increased with an investment of Silver. The upgrade clears off the rubble and any other obstructions allowing to expand the area which offers numerous opportunities on improving player’s own little private haven. A total of five levels of Private Islands is in the works, each providing different customization options for the player to make these habitats truly unique.

 

In addition, the closed beta for Albion Online starting in November will bring a new system of hirable non-player characters for resource collection – Laborers. A more detailed introduction to the Laborers system will follow at a later date.

Block N Load Announces Three New Characters

Block N Load Announces Three New Characters news header

Jagex Games Studio is proud to announce three new heroes will be taking up arms in the Block N Load roster on Thursday 1st October, as the largest ever update to the game is released. Until now players of the team-based online first-person shooter, which launched earlier this year on PC, have enjoyed an eccentric selection of nine maverick heroes, but that number increases by three with the arrival of newcomers Yury the Yeti, Kira-chan, and Vander Graaf.

Ready to shake up the old guard with new moves, new attitudes, and new tactics, this triple-bill of top-line troops are primed to rock the block from next week!

New characters and abilities

Yury the Yeti: Hailing from the frozen wastes of Siberia, Yury combines Cold War tactics with mountain equipment found on a mutilated ski slope worker. (Hey, he just found him that way!) Armed with snowballs, the SnowThrower 6000 SUX, and the ability to call down an avalanche on his foes, Yury is hoping the time for perestroika and glasnost in Block N Load is over.

Kira-chan: This singing superstar throws down destruction just like her lyrics – with flair. Rainbows and J-Pop are your new nightmare, and you’ll wish for a simple explosion or just a well-placed bullet instead. Kira-chan’s Kitty Launcher, which fires out explosive cat dolls, customised SMG ‘Hidari & Migi’, and the ‘J-Pop star’ ability that turns every firefight into an OTT music video (and provides her with temporary unlimited ammo) means she’s determined to stay top of the pops.

Vander Graaf: A master of electricity and disco dance moves, Vander Graaf is literally a walking dynamo. With clever use of his Tesla Coils and Static Gloves, he can be shockingly effective in both attack and defence. Be sure to avoid his Lightning Cage ability however, otherwise you may find the results electrifying.

“The loyal Block N Load community has spent many months getting to grips with our current hero line-up. They’ve built and destroyed millions of blocks, and we love their feedback, enthusiasm and ideas. Now we’re really excited to see what they make of Yuri, Kira and Vander when they arrive in-game next Thursday. The addition of new heroes into the line-up is part of the largest update to Block N Load yet, and we’re looking forward to sharing the full information on this in the very near future!”

-David Solari, vice president of Block N Load