Heroes of the Storm enters open beta with this teaser trailer showcasing the heroes in action.
Heroes of the Storm – Enter the Nexus Open Beta Trailer
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Yearly Archives: 2015
Heroes of the Storm Enters Open Beta
Tired of begging MMO forum after forum for a closed beta key to get into Blizzard’s unifying universe MOBA, Heroes of the Storm? Well beg no longer as today marks the opening of the Nexus to all! PC and MAC players can now join the ultimate battle free of charge, as the open beta test is now upon us.
Players can download the game and start playing immediately by heading over to the official Heroes of the Storm website to get started. So get ready to unleash the Burning Hells with Diablo, kick up a revolution with Raynor, and seek vengeance with Sylvanas! If you didn’t get the chance to leap into the fray during our Technical Alpha or Closed Beta phases, right now is a great opportunity for you and your pals to dive headlong into our raucous online team brawler before the game launches on June 2.
Of course Blizzard won’t be sitting by twiddling their thumbs, as they have much more in store to improve the game prior to launch, plus some sweet lead up events! First, they’ll be celebrating the Heroes launch with a spectacular event in London, UK, featuring developer interviews, live musical entertainment, and much more. You can tune in from home by watching the live broadcast on YouTube, and be sure to join in the mayhem using #NexusCalling on Twitter and Facebook. You can find more details at http://www.nexuscalling.com/, and stay tuned for more updates about local events.
SMITE Dev Talk: Ratatoskr
Drybear and HiRezBart talk about the latest godly design to hit SMITE: Ratatoskr.
Orcs Must Die! Unchained Hero Overview: Cygnus
Cygnus, the Master of the Order returns to defend the Rifts in Orcs Must Die! Unchained.
Victory Command Beta Impressions
By Jason Parker (Ragachak)
Yellow Alert
From one of the minds that brought you Command and Conquer and End of Nations comes Victory Command! Petroglyph, Victory Commander’s developer, has a great deal of RTS in their veins with Grey Goo, Star Wars: Empire at War, as well as the Dune/Command and Conquer RTS series. So there is little doubt that they are familiar with the genre. Victory Command is a different kind of military strategy title in its own way. Instead of a first or third person shooter, it is an over the top RTS that is played online with a group of four other players.
I was fortunate enough to acquire a code during the third weekend beta, which may or may not have involved me overthrowing my boss and taking hold of his beta key. Your goal is to either destroy the opposing vehicles or acquire enough points (250 in total) to claim victory. It is ultimately a battle arena, where two teams of five with a variety of jeeps, tanks, or infantry units will work together to claim the map for yourself. The game is pretty simple to get into, but how well you work with your team and utilize your particular skills to emphasize your strengths will determine victory or defeat. Multiplayer RTS arena would appear to be pretty tricky, but map awareness, spy drones, and a few rockets will net you intense excitement at every turn.
Rock, Paper, Rockets
There are three types of units in the game, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. These can vary as you progress through the tiers, since each vehicle is different, but they seem to follow a pretty logical pattern. You have Infantry, Jeeps, and Tanks. It feels similar to Rock Paper Scissors, but luckily as the game progresses you can customize these units to make each and every battle unique. Each unit also has a trio of abilities: a base evacuation skill, an attack skill, and a utility skill such as “Ninja Vanish” to cloud the area, a heal over time, a speed boost, and many other powers. These are on a cooldown so they cannot be dropped repeatedly.
Units are separated into tiers, which require experience in that type of vehicle to research, plus gold to purchase the researched vehicle or technology. This puts me off, since it’s really no different from War Thunder, World of <Insert Vehicle>, or any other military game. I was hoping as an RTS instead of a shooter, they would try a different, more interesting system, even a leveling system! This is pretty disappointing, but the vehicles are all quite different from each other. The Tier 1 tanks are a Flame Tank that you can unlock and the starter vehicle, with the Flame Tank bringing an unusual counterbalance to its position by being strong vs Infantry, while other tanks have a rough time. It is also important to note that height of terrain is an efficient means of overcoming a disadvantage. There are choke points with higher elevations over them where you can position guards or scouts to protect zones or ambush foes. Just as dangerous is the risk of getting caught by tanks while moving through low valleys with your troops crammed into a British line. Always pay attention to your surroundings, and consider if you’re putting your squadron at risk!
Give Me Victory or Give me Command
We can’t all be winners, you know. One of the things I think is interesting about this title is that there is no respawn mechanic. Once all of the units you have are dead, that’s it. This happened remarkably fast in my very first match. I stormed into a blindspot creating bush thinking I was unstoppable! On the other side was the entire enemy team, that ended my match in a barrage of bullets about as quickly as my mind registered how screwed I was. Each type of vehicle has a different number of units. So far, Jeeps have 4, Tanks have 2, and Infantry have 6. Luckily this is an RTS, so you do not have to move them all at once. You can move them in as many different places as you would like, but be aware that they are not as strong alone. The game becomes a mix of risking partial squadrons to scout and pinpoint weaknesses before uniting to crush your foes when they least expect it. It is high risk, high reward unforgiving gameplay. Vision is incredibly important, enough so that risking half your team is well worth it. You have Spy Drones that you can deploy which act as wards in a regular MOBA, but if they do not have camo, the drone can be blown up. There are lengths of bush similar to League of Legends which you can hide in, though Drones will show you if they are in range.
The goal of the game is to rack up enough points to secure victory or to simply blow up the entire enemy team in the process. Good coordination and teamwork will make these both fairly trying if your own team cannot work together though. This is definitely a team game, and one player will not be able to do it on his own. Each map is put together a little differently, but they all have three Chokepoints (A, B, C), as well as other points (Helipad, Spy Satellites and more) that have benefits to your team. The Helipad, for example, decreases your evac time, and locking the position under your control also lowers the time until you’re marked as out of the fight. “Locking” is a game mechanic that is pretty interesting as well. After you control a point, you can stay longer and “lock” the point to you, which will tick down over a set period of time. This will prevent the enemy from simply entering and taking it instantly; instead they will have to wait and hope you don’t see them there, or flat out blown you out of the region to take it by force!
The Bullets Must Flow
Though my time with this game was brief over this three day event, I have to say I’m pretty intrigued by it. Even though there’s no respawn mechanic, you can still influence the game and that’s pretty cool. I noticed that you can still deploy Spy Drones so that you at least benefit your team somewhat. Though portions of it feel incredibly generic, such as the research system, and the voices were sparse at the time, I understand this is still in beta. When I saw that my pilot was a Russian sociopath, I expected to sound the part. Instead I still sounded like a Southern US Marine, and I was definitely thrown off by that. I’m hoping as the game progresses through Steam Early Access, these minor gripes will be addressed.
Considering the beta state though, there are already some much needed features already in place. The ability to queue with only people who are choosing vehicles in your tier is a Godsend. That means you won’t have to potentially deal with all the amazing, super powerful high-tier weaponry that’s beyond your research level. Though if you’re looking to speed queue up, or just get a preview of the glory to come as you progress in the game, you can queue with everyone to remove this restriction. My only worry on this is veterans busting out their lower tier units to dominate novices, though I’m sure an elo system is already in the works to address this once the playerbase grows. Overall the game is fun and pretty fast paced, and will offer something new to the military gamer.
Lethal Tactics: Colonia Level Tactical Overview
A detailed look at the Colonia level in Lethal Tactics.
BlazBlue: Battle Cards
BlazBlue: Battle Cards is a mobile CCG based on the popular fighting game series. Use well known characters from each BlazBlue game in the series and use devastating attacks to defeat your enemies.
Features:
Official characcters : Collect popular BlazBlue characaters including, Ragna, Bang, Hakumen and more.
Online play: Engage in epic online battles
Fighting moves: Collect characters with signature BlazBlue attacks
Deck building: Build the ultimate deck.
Tactical Military Shooter H-Hour: World’s Elite Hits Early Access
SOF Studios, an independent developer comprised of both armed forces and game industry veterans, has released H-Hour: World’s Elite™, a tactical, team-based military shooter, via Steam’s “Early Access” program. The game has been in private testing this Spring and heads to Steam as a pre-alpha, community-focused build.
H-Hour: World’s Elite has already drawn a strong group of more than 10,000 early supporters on the forums at www.sofstudios.com that has helped bring the game to Early Access. New players are invited to join in and help shape the future of the game with their impressions, feedback and ideas. The game can be found online on Steam at http://store.steampowered.com/app/293220/ for $24.99 U.S.D.
“H-Hour: World’s Elite is truly a community-led project, with long-time fans of games like Delta Force and SOCOM already providing incredible feedback and ideas to help shape the future gameplay and features of H-Hour,” said Tom Flanagan, Co-Owner and President, SOF Studios. “Steam’s Early Access platform allows us to engage with an even broader community of players who want to share their experience and opinions. We hope everyone interested in reviving the military shooter genre will download H-Hour and help us build the game that they will love to play with their friends for years to come.”
The Early Access version of H-Hour: World’s Elite will include the main framework for the multiplayer experience, including lobbies, 8-v-8 matches, several maps, two game modes, and weapon and armament selection for characters. The game is currently in a pre-alpha state, so players looking for a full-featured game, without bugs, are encouraged to wait until the game’s official release in the future. However, players who enjoy having a real voice in shaping the games they play will find a thriving and excited community of like-minded gamers driving the development of H-Hour alongside them.
Developed by a unique combination of decorated US Special Operations veterans and experienced game creators with past work on titles like Sony’s SOCOM series, H-Hour: World’s Elite aims to revive the tactical military shooter, where teamwork and strategy are paramount to success. The development team includes studio head Tom Flanagan, a retired Army Special Operations veteran with several years of direct action combat; Art Director Russell Phillips, who formerly shaped the look of SOCOM: US Navy SEALs for Zipper Interactive; Creative Direction support by David Sears, former Creative Director for SOCOM: US Navy SEALs; Lead Audio Designer Nathan Brenholdt, whose previous work appeared in SOCOM: US Navy SEALs, God of War, Twisted Metal, Uncharted, and more; and Game Designer Kevin De Respino, formerly of his own independent studio, Look At It Games.
Metaversal Studios
Metaversal Studios
Destiny Expansion II: House of Wolves Brings New Adventures for All
Bungie and Activision Publishing, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Activision Blizzard, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATVI), announced today that Destiny Expansion II: House of Wolves is now available for download on PlayStation®4 and PlayStation®3 computer entertainment systems, Xbox One and Xbox 360. Destiny Expansion II: House of Wolves marks the second official expansion to the Destiny universe that adds a wealth of new weapons, armor and gear to earn in new story missions and quests, three new competitive multiplayer maps and a new co-op Strike. In addition, the expansion welcomes new activities to Destiny with the introduction of a brand-new competitive multiplayer event in the Crucible called Trials of Osiris, and a brand new co-op arena activity called the Prison of Elders.
“We continue to be humbled by the Destiny community, and remain fully committed to creating the best experience we can for the fans,” said Pete Parsons, COO of Bungie. “That means we’re listening every day to real-time feedback from the players. In the eight months since launch, we’ve supported the game with 17 updates that we believe have grown and improved the universe. House of Wolves is no different. For example, we’ve engineered a new upgrade path for your existing Exotic and Legendary gear, and we’re revamping our PvP system with a new rewards system and new PvP event called Trials of Osiris. We’re excited to see the response.”
Destiny Expansion II: House of Wolves features the following:
- New Co-op Arena Activity – Set in the Prison of Elders, teams of three players can take on waves of increasingly difficult enemies to earn high-level legendary and exotic rewards.
- New Competitive Multiplayer Event – The Trials of Osiris is a brand new, weekly 3v3 elimination event where power levels matter.
- New Loot and Customizations – Earn new weapons, armor, and gear, including Legendary, Exotic, Faction and Fallen-themed items.
- Level Increase – Raise your Light Level to 34, including the introduction of gear ascension to increase the maximum level of previously earned Legendary and Exotic weapons and armor.
- New Story Missions and Quests – Take on new adventures through new missions and quests featuring Petra Venj of the Queensguard and Variks, a Fallen loyal to the Queen.
- New Social Space – Visit a brand new space in The Reef, set within the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter,with new vendors offering unique rewards, new bounties and more.
- New Strike: The Shadow Thief – Journey to the Moon and hunt down a notoriously cutthroat Fallen mercenary named Taniks.
- New Competitive Multiplayer Maps:
- o Black Shield – a decommissioned Firebase is believed to have been a key defensive position used by the Cabal when they established their warbase on Mars
- o Thieves’ Den – a Fallen hideout located in the calderas of Venus with precarious drops that offer alternate routes for those willing to risk the fall
- o Widow’s Court – an asymmetrical map with both long sightlines and tight interiors, set in the European Dead Zone on Earth
- PlayStation® Exclusive Content* – PlayStation® gamers will also get access to a fourth competitive multiplayer map, Timekeeper, which is set within a mysterious clockwork-like structure on Mars built by the Vex. *Timed exclusive until at least Fall 2015
Players can purchase Destiny Expansion II: House of Wolves**individually ($19.99), or as part of the Destiny Expansion Pass** ($34.99), which includes both Expansion I and Expansion II, on PlayStation®4 system, PlayStation®3 system, Xbox One, and Xbox 360. **Destiny game required to play, sold separately.
As an added bonus for all players of the game, the competitive multiplayer maps from Destiny Expansion I: The Dark Below are now available for everyone.