Monthly Archives: May 2016

Battlefield 1

Battlefield 1 is a buy to play 3D shooter being developed by EA DICE for PS4, Xbox One, and Origin on PC. It has been inspired by the historical events of World War I and as such will be set in the World War I time period. A large variety of iconic World War I weapons and vehicles will be at your disposal and even more players will be able to take part in online battles that emphasize teamwork more than ever before. Only the most seasoned players will be able to survive in the adrenaline-pumping atmosphere Battlefield 1 delivers.

Features:

Vehicles: Take control of different kinds of tanks, battleships, aircraft, and even horses to give you an edge on the battlefield.

Open Campaign: Battlefield 1’s campaign includes more expansive, open environments that will allow you to approach missions from a variety of angles.

Melee Combat: Battlefield 1 has reworked the melee combat of the Battlefield franchise and will include both heavy and light melee weapons that can be used.

Massive Multiplayer Battles: Take part in adrenaline-pumping multiplayer battles that can support up to 64 players.

Squad System: Players can join up with Battlefield 1’s squad system, using it to enter and leave games as a single unit.

Hero Defense – Haunted Island Multiplayer Update Available

Hero Defense - Haunted Island Multiplayer Update Available

Berlin-based independent developer Happy Tuesday is excited to announce today that the competitive multiplayer update to their smash hit tower-defense-action-RPG hybrid game, Hero Defense – Haunted Island, is now available for download on Steam.

Players of Hero Defense – Haunted Island can take each other on in a fast-paced, highly-competitive synchronous 1v1 multiplayer mode where a keen eye and strategy comes into play. Each player must arm their five heroes with the appropriate skills and runes to best the opposing player, smartly maneuvering heroes to optimal locations on the map to combat waves of enemy creeps in order to protect their own barriers, and acquire magical orbs for additional offensive capabilities. Whoever eliminates their wave of undead creeps first can strategically dismantle their opponent’s defense though Punishments – the ability to customize the enemy’s upcoming creep wave, either via stat boosts or by swapping them for a different creep type entirely bested only by a specific hero. It’s each player’s goal to overwhelm their opponents by taking advantage of their vulnerabilities so that creeps can destroy their opponent’s barricade.

Hero Defense – Haunted Island’s multiplayer update adds three new maps (with a total of eight maps planned for when the game leaves Steam’s Early Access program later this summer).

Today also brings the first Multiplayer Season to Hero Defense – Haunted Island, a week-long event where players can compete in ranked matches to claim the title of ultimate champion. Multiplayer Seasons will be held each and every week, and progress will be reset at the end of the season preceding the next.

“After a week of closed beta testing with our beloved community members, multiplayer is now available,” said Karsten Härle, CEO of Happy Tuesday. “We’ve worked long and hard to innovate on classic Tower Defense mechanics, and I think players of Hero Defense will be quite surprised how competitive we’ve made this mode. I look forward to their reactions!”

Shadowverse Announces Soft-Launch Plans

Shadowverse Announces Soft-Launch Plans

On its Facebook page, the Shadowverse team has announced its plans for a soft-launch:

The soft launch of ‪#‎shadowverse‬ is slated for release on iOS and Android in mid-June! There’s no need to sign up early; anyone who downloads the app will be eligible to play.

We plan to carry over most of your progress from the soft launch to the official release.

The soft-launch will allow Cygames to focus on final polish and bug fixes before marketing to the general public.

 

World Esports Association (WESA) Founded

World Esports Association (WESA) Founded

The foundation of the World Esports Association (WESA) has been announced today, as the result of joint efforts between industry-leading professional esports teams and ESL, the world’s largest esports company. Based on similar traditional sports associations, WESA is an open and inclusive organization that will further professionalize esports by introducing elements of player representation, standardized regulations, and revenue sharing for teams. WESA will seek to create predictable schedules for fans, players, organizers and broadcasters, and for the first time bring all stakeholders to the discussion table. The formation of WESA concludes over a year of negotiation between many teams and organizers, and it aims to bring much needed structure to a crowded esports ecosystem. The ESL Pro League for Counter-Strike: Global Offensive will be the first professional esports competition that will be played under WESA regulations.

A total of eight teams have contributed to the formation of WESA, with founding teams including some of the world’s most well-known multi-gaming brands: Fnatic, Natus Vincere, EnVyUs, Virtus.Pro, G2 Esports, Faze, mousesports and Ninjas in Pyjamas. WESA aims to add more members and is continuing talks with a number of organizations in Europe and North America.

“We’ve established Fnatic across numerous games over the past twelve years, and we welcome an organization like WESA to help speak to the interests of teams and players,” said Wouter Sleijffers, CEO of Team Fnatic. Mike Rufail, Managing Director of Team EnVyUs continued: “Our team has worked hard with organizers, like ESL, in the past to provide feedback and ensure a positive evolution for the events specifically and the industry. Team EnVyUs players welcome both the challenge and responsibility that WESA brings with it.”

On the topic of responsibility, Natus Vincere Team Owner Alexander Kokhanovskyy, said: “We welcome the inclusion that WESA offers in the decision-making process for competitions like the ESL CS:GO Pro League. The partnership, if I can call it that, goes one step further as well: Natus Vincere, along with all WESA teams, share in the profits when it comes to the WESA and their sanctioned events. That’s a huge step for the industry.” Owner and CEO of FaZe Clan, Thomas Oliveira, echoed the sentiment: “The incentive was certainly there to get involved in WESA. Not just financially, but intrinsically: this is a sign of the industry recognizing the value and role that teams play. We look forward to working with WESA to make a difference in the scene.”

As an organization promoting, supporting and strengthening players’ roles in building leagues, WESA will be the first institution to feature an operative Player Council. The player-elected Council will advocate on behalf of the pro gamers in relation to league policies, rulesets, player transfers and more, empowering players when it comes to decision-making in regards to tournaments operated under WESA regulations. By bringing players to the discussion table, the Council will give them important insight into the balances of league decision making as well as the formation and adjustment of rules which directly affect player careers.

“WESA offers many opportunities to the Member Teams and their Players, but we’re most excited about the esports’s first official player representative finally becoming a reality” said Wiktor “TaZ” Wojtas, Player for Team Virtus.Pro. “For the first time in the history of esports, players will come together to organize themselves, and that will enable all of us to get a real say in decisions that directly influence us. With a Player Council sitting at the table with the rest of the decision makers, we’re going to continue improve the tournament and league organization”.

“It’s an incredibly exciting time to be a part of the esports industry, and its rapid growth in just a few years has made it very clear: there’s growing and more pressing need to structurize it, both on the tournament organizer’s side as well as on the players’ side” said Christopher “GeT_RiGhT” Alesund of team Ninjas in Pyjamas. “WESA will offer us a platform to do just that – organize our work and careers, build a network of safety, and offer a solution to business and legal disputes.”

WESA teams will participate in offline events based on their scheduling and standards developed through the Association. Additionally, WESA teams will participate in other leagues, whose schedules have been balanced prior to today’s announcement with ESL Pro League.

“The formation of WESA is a critical milestone on our way to grow esports globally, and we’re incredibly excited to work with some of the world’s best professional teams” said Ralf Reichert, Managing Director at ESL. “Their continuous support to the formation and structuring of the Association only further cemented our belief that esports is well on its way to become the leading source of entertainment of gaming fans around the world.”

The Player Council will work alongside WESA representatives and in keeping with the League Commissioner. Pietro Fringuelli will take on the role of the Interim League Commissioner, bringing a wealth of experience from the sports industry, including expertise gained during his time as advisor for some of the biggest sports organizations in Europe.

“I’m incredibly honored and excited to join the World Esports Association today, and am looking forward to bringing my years of experience from traditional sports into the world of electronic sports” said Pietro Fringuelli, Interim WESA League Commissioner. “The formation of WESA, and the growth of the Association in the coming years, will be the critical performance indicators for the entire esports industry – and a real game changer for its every stakeholder.”

SMITE Susano’oh Review: God of the Summer Storm

By Jason Parker (Ragachak)

SMITE‘s Japanese Pantheon is still new, and the third God to make their appearance in it has made the biggest splash. Sibling to Amaterasu, he is the polar opposite of the serene Goddess. Wild, impetuous, and quite keen on destroying whatever happens to pester him. Izanagi might not have approved, and sent him to the Underworld, but I certainly do! The Slayer of Orochi and wielder of the Ten-Span Sword has a fantastic look and feel to him. There are a lot of little touches that I really appreciate in this assassin. His slouched, casual look as he rests his blade on his shoulder; it belies the difficulty that comes with him. He’s rated “Hard” and I can definitely agree with that. He has lots of pros to go with the difficulty though! Mastery of the Summer Storm can see you gliding in and out of combat at your leisure, destroying a God or Gods, and escaping with none being the wiser.  Timing, and a wise approach will be the key to wielding Susano. Perhaps the biggest difficulty to mastering him though comes from an outside source. Season 3 has seen the Conquest jungle reworked and tweaked so many times, only a truly dedicated jungler has any idea what’s going on anymore. Learning a difficult assassin in such an ever changing environment isn’t advised for the casual player. I certainly don’t belong there on the conquest map, but thankfully Susano excels in any mode, weaving through the battleground of the gods like a hot knife through butter.

Pros:

Mobility:  Susano has two initiates/escapes, technically three! His ult pulls people into place and can be, in a pinch, used to get out of a sticky situation, utilizing its knock up and damage to stop a group of attackers in their tracks. The last “hit” of his third strike can be used as an escape, as well as popping his “3” [Jet Stream] and dipping out by hitting it again immediately.  Don’t stop running! Hell, even his passive is a constant movement speed buff when you’re playing a spam happy with enough mana in your build. He can teleport in and out of combat just about whenever he wants, and that’s important to be aware of.

Stop There, Criminal Scum:  His ability to control a crowd is second to none. His second ability, Wind Siphon will drag people who get caught into the center of the storm. There’s no limit on how many it can pull, so if you time it right you can set up a whole team for something nasty like a Scylla ulti! Put them into position, and then activate the ultimate to hold them long enough for your team to capitalize. Susano joins the likes of Ratatoskr in that he almost always picks the engagement. You have to pack some serious CC chain if you want to lock him down long enough for a surprise kill. Most of the time you’ll have to anticipate and counter his engage to trap this slippery monster.

Cons:

Squishy:  He’s an assassin, so he’s no tank. Getting an early defensive item will make it a bit less obvious, but no amount of defense will save you from poor play. This is not new for any assassin-style character, and his abilities are not cheap.  If you do not manage your defensive stats and mana carefully, you might not have the mana to flee an unfortunate situation.

Damage:  When he gets closer to the mid-late game, he’s a nightmare – a whirling dervish of destruction and pain.  But when the game starts, he’s not really that much of a threat other than he still has CC pretty much right out of the gate.  I did not feel like his damage was very great until later in the game, but that might be my build choice more so than the god.

Susano is an Assassin, so he calls the jungle his home by default.  Popping out of the wilderness, catching people from behind or by surprise, he’s definitely good at that.  I can also see him being very powerful in the solo lane, if the other enemy does not have a lot of strong poke damage, or is squishy like himself. Then it comes down to who is more mobile and who has the skill. Against tanks, it will be an uphill battle until he’s got some armor penetration or the superior damage. Until then, he just slowly farms, and waits until momentum snowballs. Speaking of which, you have to stay moving at all times for best results. Even if your passive is off cooldown I’d keep moving. Being where the enemy doesn’t expect you to be is his whole gambit. Taking Swiftness or Teleport as relics is all the better to keep them guessing.   Especially if he’s in lane, he could land a kill, sneak into the jungle where he can’t be seen, and teleport elsewhere to help the Hunter lane get a kill or two!  However. . . his cooldowns are on the long side, so I’d be careful in lane. That would be something I reserve for a lot of practice. But he shines in a position where people can’t escape and he can. The jungle, Joust, even Arena. But do be aware that even if he throws his Storm over a wall to leap, he can’t. The Jet Stream can’t be fired through walls, but if you fire around a wall and move to safety, he can teleport that way.  You have three seconds to make the move, so be aware. But what can he really do?

 

Passive: Swift as the Summer Storm: For every ability on cooldown, Susano gains movement speed. [4% per ability]  This is one of the best ways to get in and out of combat, and the more Ham he went, the easier it can potentially be to escape.

Action 1: Storm Kata:  A pretty unique move, Susano makes three quick strikes, activated by hitting left click again. Each is different. First is a cone, second is a circle around him, the third does no damage, but is a dash.  The damage is pretty strong, but it does get +90% of his Physical Damage, so the longer the game goes on, the harder it will be to ignore.  There are clever things to do with this though…

Action 2: Wind Siphon:  As the God of the Summer Storm, Susano throws a cone of wind in front of him. Enemies in the heart of the storm [marked by the UI] will be pulled towards him; the ones outside the center take damage but do not get moved. Not a hard hitter, but definitely a lovely move to position your prey, or prevent someone from escaping.

Action 3: Jet Stream: Susano throws a little storm cloud that attaches to an enemy or minion. If it whiffs, it will stay hovering in the air, crackling ominously. It does damage over time and within 3 seconds you can teleport directly to that cloud.  You can use it to engage, to secure a kill, or to escape if you’re fast enough. If you teleport to the Enemy, the cooldown is reduced by 6 seconds, which is handy to use again.

Action 4:  Typhoon:  Susano creates a humongous hurricane on his location, and any enemies within get pulled to the center.  It grows to double its size, at which time it will knock up anyone within and deal them damage. Or you can activate it early, and whatever direction he’s facing it will move, knocking up opponents in its path.  It’s an amazing ultimate, feeling particularly mage like for an assassin. Whether you want to escape, initiate [again, notice a trend?], pull enemies into position, or keep a winning fight going for an extra slap around round with your Action 1, Typhoon is there to serve your needs. Then you walk away like a big shot when they get popped into the air, because Cool Guys don’t look at explosions. Or you just do enough damage to kill them and hit [VVGG].

 

Personally, as far as maxing abilities goes, I focus 4, 1, 2, 3. Storm Kata’s damage goes up as you increase ranks, and his ultimate is always good. Jet Stream I focus last because if you land it, the cooldown drop and the damage on it isn’t that relevant. Thus, I want to be hitting the Storm Kata as fast as possible so I can blast people with sudden and relevant damage. His builds between Arena and Standard games are pretty similar. Your core items: Jotuun’s Wrath, Heartseeker, Warrior’s Tabi.  From there you build around certain needs. Relic Choices are pretty standard: Sanctuary, Purification, Sprint, and Curse. These are all fantastic, depending on team comp vs. how hard you want to go into a fight.  Damage Items I narrow down to Stone Cutting Sword [Phys Power and Move Speed; no contest], Brawler’s Beatstick [Phys Power and Penetration] or Titan’s Bane [Phys Power, all AAs get Penetration]. All of these are great choices, but personally I want penetration, unless there are no tanks in my way. Then I just go deep pen and damage. The just reworked Bloodforge is godly on him, but I’m afraid to become partial to it as there’s just no way that item is going to stay that strong through the next few patches.

Defensive items… my favorite item is Bulwark of Hope, for the damage shield. When I go in, I go all the way; if I decide I made a poor life decision, I can run away and hope the shield will keep me alive! The MR and -20% CC is just icing on the cake. If I’m really ahead, I like Mail of Renewal though. The health/mana back on kills and assists allows me to stay around and bully people just that much longer.  You can’t go wrong with Magi’s Blessing late game when a single CC can be a death sentence.  I tend to only grab one or two [at MOST] defensive items. Any more and you will be hitting like a butterfly.

Susano excels in being able to get in and out with great speed and deal plenty of damage.  The big piece of his kit, other than his Jet Stream to dive, is the Storm Kata. It’s very important to note that you have a full three seconds between each move to reposition, and prepare the next part of the move. You can also cancel it if you want to land a few basic attacks between patterns before resuming the next piece of the skill. So with enough attack speed you can Activate, cancel, swing, activate, Wind Siphon, dash. You can do truly crazy things and maneuver around people before they even know how to react.  Use that time to your advantage and only use the parts of the Kata you need when you need. If you wait too long, the move resets and goes on cooldown though, cutting out your most surefire escape.  I feel genuinely that Susano is the strongest member of the Japanese pantheon yet, but I think he has more synergy with Amaterasu than Raijin.  The stun from Amaterasu leading into Susano can be infuriating and deadly. Any Gods with heavy CC kits will be his best friend or worst enemy, depending on what side of the fence they’re on.  Susano may look relaxed and calm, but dwelling in him is a burning rage, and it’s up to you to channel it through the blade and into the guts of your foes!

 

 

Doom Launches Worldwide

Doom Launches Worldwide

Bethesda Softworks®, a ZeniMax® Media company, today announced that its highly-anticipated first-person shooter, DOOM, is now available worldwide for the Xbox One, PlayStation® 4 computer entertainment system, and PC. DOOM – the iconic game that defined a genre and considered one of the most influential games ever made – returns as a brutally fun and challenging modern-day shooter experience.

“We’re thrilled to be establishing an all new chapter in the world of  DOOM. We set out to create a game that captures the signature feel of DOOM but is built for a modern gaming audience on cutting-edge technology,” said Marty Stratton, executive producer at id Software.  “At its core, DOOM is about powerful guns, crazy demons, and fast, relentless gameplay.  We believe that fans of the original and new players to the franchise will enjoy all that  DOOM  has to offer and we can’t wait for everyone to finally get their hands on it.”

DOOM was developed at id Software®, the studio that pioneered the first-person shooter genre. Relentless demons, impossibly destructive guns, and fast, fluid movement provide the foundation for intense, first-person combat – whether you’re obliterating demon hordes through the depths of Hell in the single-player campaign, or competing against your friends in numerous multiplayer modes. Expand your gameplay experience using DOOM SnapMap™ game editor to easily create, play, and share your content with the world.

For more information about DOOM, visit www.DOOM.com .