Yearly Archives: 2015

DiscStorm Review: Murdering Hipsters with Frisbees

By Jason Harper (Hhean)

DiscStorm Review

Ah, the frisbee. Great for messing about in any park, beach or aunt’s house. DiscStorm tries to lever that iconic circular bit of plastic to make a frantic top-down shooter.

I think from just looking at the screenshots you can tell that this isn’t a very serious game.

The controls are easy to pick up. You move about, throw frisbees, deflect frisbees or pick up frisbees in the air. I rather wish that last one was mapped better, as currently the three main buttons are easy to access on a keyboard, but on a controller the “pick up” function is bound to one of your face buttons, which is a real pain as your thumb needs to flick between it and the right analogue with some real speed if you want to catch anything. In addition to this, the controller’s movement and aiming feels slugging compared to the keyboard and mouse, likely due to some kind of odd scaling going on with the analogues sticks.

Usually in a game like this you would want to keep on the move, so the limited directional inputs of the keyboard would be a big hindrance, but accuracy takes a precedent due to the low ammunition count, tight spaces, and either high enemy count (In single player) or very fast moving targets (In multiplayer). It doesn’t matter if you can plod around with precision if the enemy are busy hurling bits of plastic at you from one corner of the level to another.

As a result, the mouse and keyboard becomes a great option, since you can see exactly where your shots are going using the mouse cursor. However, this has two rather annoying downsides. The first is that all the menus are only navigable by keyboard, and don’t accept any mouse input at all, which is a clear hold-over from the intended controller input. I’d say it’s the mark of a poor PC port, but this is a PC exclusive. The second issue is that when playing locally, either you fight over who gets the keyboard and mouse, or you all agree to use the worse input method, greatly diminishing what should be the game’s real strength.

DiscStorm Review

The entire single player captured in one screenshot

Single player is a repetitive load of nonsense. Maps with similar layouts and enemy types are recycled so many times I swear I started to see the wear and tear on the sprites. As an aside, if you are shoehorning zombies as an enemy type into a game that is not explicitly about some kind of zombie apocalypse scenario, you are utterly scraping the bottom of the creativity barrel.

Every level follows the exact same format. You fight a wave of mobs, then a mini-boss, then another wave of mobs, then a tougher version of the same miniboss, then yet more mobs, then the boss. One of the levels even draws attention to this format, and makes a joke about how bad it is. It’s like the designers of the game are trying to pass off poor design by saying “Hey, at least we have a sense of humour over how bad this is.” I’m honestly not sure if I find that endearing or grating.

Some of the boss fights are interesting, while the minibosses swing between entertaining and frustrating. There is an encounter with some sirens where you have to drag a cannon about at a snail’s pace while avoiding a screen-full of projectiles that was more irritating than it was difficult.

Maps are the same size and shape, but do vary in terrain. This is okay in multiplayer, but in the single player it feels rather cheap and samey. Once you have fought in one letterbox shaped area, you kind of feel like you’ve fought in them all. What annoys me the most about this is that the frisbee is pretty much the icon of wide, open spaces, and yet you space the whole game in cramped environments. Giving the player some room to breath would have helped the game incredibly.

DiscStorm Review

You’d best start believing in Faustian stories, Miss Frisbee. You’re in one.

If the controller’s controls didn’t emulate pushing a greased up fat man around a mattress, the local multiplayer would be pretty good.  You fight a series of small bouts on the various different maps, each with a special rule on them. Beyond simple deathmatch you have one hit kills, capture the flag, collecting coins (or discs), king of the hill and a few others besides. These add a good amount of variety to the way each match is played, and give the game longer legs than it would have had otherwise. On the other hand, I do think that these different mode are almost a concession that the core play hasn’t been made to feel as good as it could be, and so is trying to distract the player with some shiny objects.

When not actually in a match though, the game still is stumbling all over itself. As far as I could tell, you can’t pick which levels to play on, or select if you want to enable/disable any game types. So if you really enjoy the factory level, and maybe want to do some high stake one-hit-kill nonsense with your friends, well screw you. You’re doing deathmatch on the pirate boat. The other rather annoying problem is that once a match is done, you get booted straight back to the main menu, so everyone then has to reselect the multiplayer option and get their characters in order before going at it again. A “Replay” button would have helped the flow of things greatly.

The music is the highlight of the game. Hands down. No question. While a few of the tracks loop quickly and feel a bit bland, they seem to be largely confined to the menus. The map specific tunes are a great listen that nail the old SNES days far better than the aesthetics.

I came into DiscStorm happy to get up to some real silly nonsense, but it’s unfortunately just a bit bland. You’re better off playing Towerfall: Ascension or Titan Souls. Both are games that use a similar mechanic where you are using a limited number of projectiles that you often need to go and retrieve, only the idea is better executed. Towerfall even did a similar format to its singleplayer content, with its maps being used for both singleplayer and multiplayer, and dealing with waves of enemies. It manages to handle this to create a great experience that’s best had co-op, while also delivering on some frantic local multiplayer action. This game is really only worth a look if you’ve played both, are tired of them and are looking for something much worse, but still similar enough to scratch an itch.

DiscStorm Review

A rare photo of that time Hitler fought mecha-Sauron while dressed as a lumberjack.

Overall Rating – Poor

It’s worth wasting a few hours on once the game drops below $5 or so. It may be worth the investment once online is added in a few months, since its competition lack that functionality. Only other reason is you really enjoy this kind of thing, and want something cheap.

Graphics: 2/5

It looks like something you’d find on Kongregate. Tries to go for the SNES look, but doesn’t quite get it. The UI doesn’t fit the theme, the larger scale character art doesn’t fit the sprites, and a number of the ‘pixels’ haven’t been scaled properly, so the look of the in game characters and environments don’t often work. Loads of recycled assets in the single player.

Controls: 2/5

The game plays like ass with a controller, and while it’s better on keyboard, you tend to slide around like a drunken ice skater.

Features: 2/5

The single player is short and repetitive. The local multiplayer is good for a few rounds, but lacks the variety of Towerfall. There’s no online at the time of writing, though it will be coming later.

Sound/Music: 4/5

Great music that really nails the best of the SNES era.

LawBreakers

LawBreakers is an arena FPS title developed by Boy Key Productions and published by Nexon America. As Nexon’s first B2P title, LawBreakers is set in an alternate future in which the world has been divided into two factions following a huge cataclysmic event known as ‘The Shattering’ that changed gravity forever. Players will have to choose either faction and participate in 5v5 battles featuring gravity manipulation, grappling hooks, jetpacks and classic arena deathmatch weaponry.

Features:

Skill, not Streaks: Gameplay is heavily focused on skillful aim and action, rather than killstreaks and perks.

Abuse gravity Use jetpacks and grappling hooks to traverse the map and fight from all sorts of directions.

Uphold the law, or break it: Play as the peacekeepers or the crime syndicates.

EVE Online’s Galatea Release Brings Chaos to Amarr Space

EVE Online’s Galatea Release Brings Chaos to Amarr Space news header

As EVE Online’s Galatea release went live today, New Eden is still reeling from one of the most dramatic events in its rich history.
Just last week the leader of the Amarr Empire, the controversial Empress Jamyl Sarum I, was confirmed assassinated at the hands of the mysterious Drifters following several major standoffs between the Amarr Navy and the powerful wormhole-dwelling forces.

Players have since held their own vigils and said their remembrances. While the mourning period will last longer, there has been much discussion amongst capsuleers of the newly announced Succession Trials.

Set for a grand finale at EVE Fanfest 2016, the Amarr Championships are part of the Succession Trials. The series of battles will feature players fighting on behalf of the heirs of the royal Amarrian houses to pick the next ruler of the largest of EVE’s major empires.

However, while anticipation may grow for that event, the Drifter threat is not over and only seems to be intensifying, as their forces have begun all-out war with the Amarrian Navy in a new feature in the Galatea release—Defense of the Throne Worlds.

Galatea isn’t solely focused on the happenings in Amarr space, and offers several other big improvements for EVE players.

  • The EVE team remains committed to evolving the Sovereignty system introduced in the Aegis release. Changes include reducing the base capture time of Command nodes, giving defenders 60% control at the beginning of a capture event, reducing the cap on total nodes and the spawn rate of new ones, and replacing the Entosis Link mass penalty with a 4000 m/s speed limit when fitted.
  • Updated animations and effects for many combat and support modules, including the devastating Doomsday weapons
  • The first Designer SKINs have come to New Eden with the blood red “Raata Sunset” line for Caldari ships. More bold new styles will be coming in the following weeks and months.
  • A more satisfying killshot: the camera will now linger over the ship you just reduced to scrap so you can enjoy your victory just that much more
  • The iconic workhorse of the Gallente Federation, the Dominix, went back to the shipyards for a redesign which evolves its original utilitarian design into a truly inspiring battleship

Full patch notes, which cover dozens more improvements, can be found here.

Age of Wulin “Chapter 7: Awakening” Now Available

Age of Wulin “Chapter 7: Awakening” Now Available news header

WEBZEN, a global developer and publisher of free-to-play games, announces that the martial arts MMORPG Age of Wulin has today released a new expansion “Chapter 7: Awakening”.

 

Age of Wulin is a free-to-play sandbox game featuring open world PvP, with more than 400 possible skills available. Chapter 7: Awakening introduces new features with the coveted 5th Internal Skills, a level cap increase for Combat and Internal Skills, and new special instances to tackle.

 

Starting today, an unlock event will offer the chance to receive many benefits and rewards. Adventurers will need to coordinate on various missions to save the ancient capital of Luoyang, while uncovering the truth behind the city’s troubles. Players will be rewarded for their efforts through the unlocking of access to the 5th Internal Skills and the new challenging instances: Jinling Incident and Qiandeng Crisis. These two zones will require players to thwart plans against the Emperor and other Great Xias.

 

Along with the release of the 5th Internal Skills for existing Sects, Jianghu Factions will benefit from a boost to their own Internal Skills.

 

In addition, the player who donates the most Jackdaw Herbs or Sect Honour Certificates during the unlock event will be able to receive five entire gold skill sets (almost €120 in value) for free.

Open Beta of Winterfrost Legacy Begins

Open Beta of Winterfrost Legacy Begins news header

Global games publisher R2Games has announced that the open beta phase of its newest browser game title, Winterfrost Legacy, will be made available globally this 10:00 AM EDT August 25, 2015.

Winterfrost Legacy is a title like no other in the R2Games library. With its own unique take on the classic fantasy genre, Winterfrost Legacy focuses on the strategic aspects of battle – with easy-to-learn, yet challenging, hands-on gameplay. Players will be drawn in by no less than 8 engaging and versatile game modes, paired with thrilling and dramatic campaign adventures. Featuring constant progression, a deep mercenary system, quests, bosses, loot, and much more, Winterfrost Legacy sets itself up to be the perfect title for all fans of the fantasy genre.

R2Games invites all fantasy game enthusiasts to discover Winterfrost Legacy and gain a head-start, as R2Games officially launches their latest browser MMORPG. Needless to say that with the release of the open beta, there won’t be any further character wipes, so players can enjoy their progress without interruption.

Hearthstone: The Grand Tournament Expansion Now Available

Hearthstone: The Grand Tournament Expansion Now Available news header

The Grand Tournament, the second expansion for Blizzard Entertainment’s award-winning online strategy card game, Hearthstone®: Heroes of Warcraft, is now live, and players around the world are invited to join in on the fun. This expansion brings over 130 knightly cards to the (round) table, along with exciting new game mechanics that will delight duelists and inspire creative new deck strategies.

The Grand Tournament takes players to the frost-covered continent of Northrend, where the heroes of the Argent Crusade once held a prestigious tournament to select the bravest and mightiest champions in all the land. Though the evil that once held this realm captive has been vanquished and order restored, the jousting continues in the spirit of fun and friendly competition!

This expansion presents duelists with powerful new tools for their arsenals, allowing them to motivate their brave champions through the Inspire mechanic or challenge an opponent to single combat in its most honorable form—the joust. Inspired minions, which are triggered by using a Hero Power, can grow in strength, restore health, and even call for reinforcements. Jousts are one-on-one contests between random minions drawn from each player’s deck. The stakes are high—if the initiating player wins a joust, they’ll earn a substantial bonus.

“With the new Inspire and Joust mechanics, and over 130 new cards to play with, The Grand Tournament brings a fun medieval-tournament vibe to Hearthstone,” said Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment. “We can’t wait to see what players come up with now that they have their hands full with tons of new deck and strategy options.”

The Grand Tournament is available now for Windows® and Mac® PCs, iOS and Android tablets, and mobile phones. Card packs can be purchased individually or in discounted bundles from the in-game Shop for gold or real-world currency (same pricing as all other Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft card packs). Players now also have the chance to win The Grand Tournament card packs as rewards in Arena Mode, or craft cards from the expansion by using Arcane Dust, which is collected from disenchanting unwanted cards.