Fifteen minutes of insane gameplay straight from Cologne, Germany! Control an EXO suit and get down and dirty with intense combat mechanics in The Surge!
Monthly Archives: August 2016
Attack on Titan Launch Trailer
The Titans are here and they’re making a real mess of things! In the Attack on Titan video game, you’ll play the role as one of the Scout Regiment and do battle in huge landscapes with equally huge Titans! Immerse yourself in their world.
Paragon: Open Beta Trailer
Torment: Tides of Numenera
Torment: Tides of Numenera is a buy-to-play adventure strategy RPG developed by inXile Entertainment for PC. Acting as the thematic successor to Planescape: Torment, one of the most critically acclaimed role-playing games of all time, Torment: Tides of Numenera immerses you in a singleplayer story-drive RPG from an isometric view where you are born falling from orbit. Your body is that which was once occupied by the Changing God, a being who has defied death for a millennia. Upon landing you can’t help but wonder: what does one life matter? Hopefully fighting for your life and trying to escape the Sorrow can answer that for you!
Features:
Deep Story: Experience a story like none other where the philosophical underpinnings of Torment drive both the narrative and the gameplay.
Personal Decisions: Make your own decisions in tight situations that can decide the fate of your followers and earn you a reputation, either for the better or worse.
Companions: Your companions will accompany you on your journey, being affected by the decisions you make and having a growing, or diminishing disposition towards you.
Combat Depth: Enjoy combat that is just more than blowing away enemies that stand in your path. You’ll also need to navigate social situations, solve puzzles, employ stealth and much more!
Northgard
Northgard is a 3D 4X real-time strategy game developed by Shiro Games for PC with a release date expected sometime in 2016. Here you will get the chance to explore an exciting new land called Northgard with your Viking people. Vikings have been tirelessly exploring the world for a new land to settle, and Northgard is just that. However, with all of the mystery, danger, and riches that a Viking could ask for it will be no easy feat conquering this foreign land. Only the bravest and most daring Northmen have traveled to Northgard’s shores to bring fame to their Clan and write their own history, but they will only be able to do so by surviving harsh winters, slaying undead warriors, and encountering fierce giants!
Features:
Viking Roles: Assign jobs to your Vikings like becoming a Sailor, Warrior, Farmer, Loremaster and more to provide your people with everything they need.
Land Strategy: Don’t just use the land to transport you from one point to another, but use it strategically so you can put yourself in the best position possible.
Victory Conditions: Different types of victory conditions can be met like: Conquest, Fame, Lore, Trading and more.
Chaos Chronicle
Chaos Chronicle is a free-to-play mobile fantasy RPG developed by WING Studio for Android and is expected to release for iOS. In Chaos Chronicle you can experience exciting, 2D side-scrawling brawler action where you take on the role of a hero that leads a band of other fighters from all over the world against an evil force. You’ll engage in various battles throughout stages and chapters, taking down evil wherever you go and adding more characters to your party on your adventures.
Features:
Party Management: You’ll need to swap characters in and out of your party so you can conquer any of the number of challenges that await you.
Active Skills: Every character has its own active skill that can be used in battle at opportune moments!
Character Upgrades: Your characters will earn experience as they are used, they can be equipped with different armors and weapons to increase their strength, and characters of the same type can be synthesized to form even stronger characters for your party.
Multiplayer: Fight against raid bosses alongside your allies or take to PvP battles to bring honor to your House!
Sudden Strike 4
Sudden Strike 4 is a 3D real-time strategy game developed by Kite Games for PC, Mac, Linux, and Playstation 4 and is the fourth exciting installment of the series. Sudden Strike is back in this exciting sequel, but this time with bigger battlefields, more units, better graphics, new scenarios, and commanders that have individual abilities to give them a strategic edge. With so many improved features, numerous types of units to command, and an ultra competitive multiplayer mode you’ll need to prepare yourself for the most tactical game in the Sudden Strike series yet!
Features:
Commanders: Use commanders like Bernard Montgomery or George Patton to lead your armies and give you a different way of approaching battles.
Singleplayer Campaign: Play through a 20 demanding singleplayer scenarios and lead Allied, Soviet, or German troops.
Tactical Gameplay: Use the terrain to your advantage, occupy buildings, set up ambushes, and straight up outmaneuver your opponents.
Competitive Multiplayer: Fight against other players online to hone your tactical skills and become an expert in strategic warfare.
Shadowverse Update 1.2 Interview
Questions by Darren Henderson (DizzyPW)
Answers by:
Name: Yuito Kimura
Job Title: Game Producer and Executive Director at Cygames
Background: He also produced Rage of Bahamut and Granblue Fantasy, amongst other titles. He’s behind almost every hit Cygames has had.
Roughly a month ago I had a chance to talk to Yuito Kimura about my thoughts on Shadowverse, a high fantasy anime visual styled hero CCG that has been in English alpha/beta testing since roughly April. As an avid player, though in no way hardcore (I’m mid C2 range currently with a pretty balanced win rate across all my decks) I wanted to express my thoughts on the game mechanics and get a feel for the direction the game was heading leading up to launch.
As the interview panned out, many of my concerns and comments seemed to be touching on elements that arrived in yesterday’s update 1.2. As such Cygames asked me to withhold sharing the interview until now. With its features now live and the cat out of the bag, we’re now free to discuss them. Enjoy!
- DizzyPW: Currently there are seven decks in Shadowverse with diverse strategies allowing players to either focus on earlier rush strategies/stall decks or late game power decks. Based on your metrics gathered so far, do you see all decks as equal or are some in need of toning down or buffing up?
We’re always keeping an eye on the data, but currently everything is within acceptable parameters 🙂
We balanced the game with the idea that each class should be able to win at the highest competitive level. Our design philosophy is to constantly go over the latest data from our players and perform numerous matchup tests to ensure that no one class is outperforming the others.
Win rates for every matchup can be difficult to balance. When you tip the scales in one direction – even slightly – it can have drastic effects on different matchups. Therefore, during development we decided to hold two closed beta tests which provided us with lots of very valuable information. Before release, we made some final adjustments to over 70 cards based on this data. As a result, we were able to balance each class appropriately to make sure win rates for every matchup are in an acceptable range.
- DizzyPW: Are certain heroes suited for taking down other heroes or are there strategies you can use to make each deck equal against others?
Each class has a variety of decks that are viable. Players generally do best when they match their heroes and decks to their personality and playstyle – in the right hands, any deck can be super powerful! As mentioned, on a mechanical level, through our beta testing and game updates we’ve made sure that each hero is well-balanced overall.
- DizzyPW: Currently you offer more custom deck slots than heroes in the game. Would you ever consider offering ranked players the ability to choose between pre-built decks (from the same hero they chose) after identifying which hero they have been matched against?
That specific implementation is not currently in our current roadmap, but upcoming competitions will allow a player to choose two classes for use in a best-of-three format. Players will need to consider how their classes may match up against any given opponent.
- DizzyPW: When last we spoke, you mentioned introducing new heroes as avatar variations on the existing deck archetypes. Have you pushed forward with these intentions?
We plan to include this feature in the 1.2.0 update which is slated for an August release.
- DizzyPW: Certain neutral and deck specific cards offer incredibly powerful tactical options without necessarily even tying into the unique deck strategies each hero is known for. Some examples of this are the eight energy neutral card Gilgamesh offering a super hard hitting attack if evolved on the same turn it’s played (via storm). Essentially without randomly having a ward card on the field, Gilgamesh could end your match without warning should you fall to 7 hit points. Satan which basically makes your entire deck irrelevant as it is replaced with completely overpowered cards. Mordecai the Duelist of Shadowcraft who comes back to life endlessly unless you banish him, completely ignoring the typical shadow based requirements of all powerful card effects in the deck.
We wanted these high-cost cards to act like an ace, no matter which hero you are playing with. If your opponent doesn’t know the best strategy with which they can fight back, the match will quickly come to an end. We designed the game this way so that matches wouldn’t be drawn out endlessly.
- DizzyPW: On that note, Shadowverse is notorious for allowing players to battle it out with known OP cards as they recognize that each deck has similarly OP strategies that will butt heads with it. What is your design philosophy to choose to include cards like the double turn Runecraft card, Dimension Shift?
We wanted each class to feel powerful in its own unique way. Players are able to experiment with their favorite class and deck style and then battle it out with others from around the world. Of course, with such powerful cards we have to rigorously playtest each card and deck combination and constantly track the latest data to ensure that no one card is overwhelming the others.
- DizzyPW: Let’s take a step back for a minute and look at the competitive scene. You choose to have a single rank score for an account, but an RPG style leveling system for individual decks. Do you factor both when matchmaking? Does one have higher priority?
In terms of determining fair match-ups, only a player’s rank is considered when matchmaking against another player.
- DizzyPW: Have you found the reduction of one evolution orb and giving the second player the ability to evolve first an ample balance mechanic in exchange for having second move?
Through our playtesting over the past few months, we did see data suggesting that giving the second player the ability to evolve first is not quite enough. With the latest 1.2.0 update, we’re making another tweak: players who go second will draw 2 cards on their first turn.
- DizzyPW: On that note, have you considered deck power limitations? Currently you can stuff a deck with as many legendaries as possible. What are your thoughts on limiting the amount of power a deck has to force use of bronze cards with new strategies?
We like the current freedom that players have when creating their decks, and the strategy that goes along with that. Players have to consider how they’d be able to counter powerful cards as they build their decks, and that’s part of the fun. We’re not currently considering any additional limitations.
- DizzyPW: How about a competitive draft mode?
I’m glad you asked! In the upcoming 1.2.0 update, we will be launching a new mode called “Take Two.” Players will choose a total of 15 pairs to build a 30-card deck and then fight up to five matches to win rewards. It’s a unique take on competitive draft modes and we think players will have a lot of fun with it.
- DizzyPW: On a similar note, have you considered offering a ban phase pre-match to let players self-balance the game between balance patches?
We are not considering a ban phase at this time.
- DizzyPW: Thanks for this look behind the scenes at your development choices. One final inquiry. The Cygames team has been spotted at a few eSports events recently. What have you learned from watching other games that you’d like to incorporate into promoting or improving competitive play in Shadowverse?
We have enjoyed our experience at tournaments and hope to organize similar events in the future for Shadowverse. Our goal is to capture that sense of community and excitement and bring it to our own events.
Thank you for the interview. We hope you will enjoy the latest features now available in Shadowverse!
Overwatch: The Sombra ARG – More Captivating than a Campaign Mode Could Ever Be
By Michael Sagoe (mikedot)
A few months back, Blizzard Entertainment had released their blockbuster FPS title called Overwatch and it was met with a ton of critical acclaim for being the most fun and accessible team-based FPS of 2016. During that same time, I released an extensive review on the game and gave my open thoughts, suggesting that while it may have some issues and flaws, it was indeed an enjoyable experience. One of those issues I had with the game in particular, while not being a complete dealbreaker, was the lack of a campaign story mode that would allow players to experience the events in the Overwatch lore for themselves, such as the Omnic Crisis where players would fight against the robot uprising.
For me, it was somewhat disappointing to see all this story and lore built up, but with no way for players to actually experience it for themselves. As Blizzard staff have mentioned: all multiplayer matches are considered to be non-canon, as it wouldn’t make much sense for characters like Solider 76, Tracer and Winston to be teaming up with the likes of Reaper, Widowmaker or even Symmetra (considering how much Symmetra’s ideals clash with Overwatch’s ideals of liberty and freedom.) Simply put: Overwatch was made to be a competitive, multiplayer focused experience, with story and lore only being there for show.
However, Blizzard knew how much people wanted to be part of the Overwatch story and came up with an Alternate Reality Game (ARG) that players could interact with directly, and it all started with a mysterious character simply named Sombra. After watching tons of videos and discussions on the character, I would honestly say that I would like to retract my previous statement regarding Overwatch needing any kind a story mode campaign, because the ARG that Blizzard Entertainment has given us over the past few weeks has kept me equally hooked into the world of Overwatch as much as the game itself.
How it all Started
For those that haven’t been following the mystery: It all begins on a specific game map in Overwatch known as Dorado, a city in Mexico that became a hotspot for the Overwatch task force after the end of the Omnic Crisis. In that city, there’s a huge power plant that can be see above the buildings and bits of newspaper trimmings sprinkled around the city streets. However, both the newspapers and the power plant speak of a mysterious person named Sombra, who apparently has been lurking around the area enough to warrant the power plant systems having a protocol just for Sombra. The interest of this character intrigued players enough to start snooping around for any details about them, and one major detail that popped up was a voice line by the villain Reaper which was hidden in the game files stating “Where’s Sombra when you need her?”
That was more than enough to suggest that Sombra was a character made for the game and not some throw away element made for the Dorado map, and so people started searching for more clues as to what Sombra may look like. Players went searching on different maps and found one peculiar image on the Temple of Anubis map regarding some person with a hoodie and a visor with a triangle symbol on it. The character looked mysterious enough and many people thought that the image of the hooded person was Sombra.
It quickly turned out to not be the case, as Blizzard then revealed that the hooded person was actually Ana Amari, a support sniper of the Overwatch task force and the 22nd playable hero in the game. With that one question of the hooded figured out of the way, many were still left scratching their heads regarding Sombra’s own existence.
The details (so far)
Now, there is a TON of details regarding everything that has led up to the Sombra story at the point, and you’re probably better off watching some of the conspiracy videos on Youtube, but I’ll be doing my best to cover the finer details. One main detail that we know for sure is that Sombra is Spanish for shadow, most likely referencing the “Señora de las Sombras” which translates to “Lady of the Shadows”, suggesting that Sombra is female.
After the Ana Amari character reveal, some weird pieces of footage started showing up in the recent official Overwatch videos, most notably in the The Ana Amari origin story, the developer update for Ana, and the summer games promo for PC. There was a secret message hidden in each of those videos, but the only way to read the message was to decode, decipher and decrypt various codes found within each of them. The following picture sums up how the hidden codes were received from the community:
It’s literally the perfect image to summarize the whole ordeal. Blizzard has taken so much time and effort to make up these hidden message that we have Overwatch players from all other the world gathering in discussion forums and chatrooms discussing theories and details regarding who Sombra could be and how to go about unlocking the hidden messages.
While the images above may look like random mess of text and barcodes, they’ve been the focal point for this ARG for weeks now. So far, the first two hidden messages have been figured out, and they read “She who controls the information has the power.” And “Was that easy? Now that I have your attention, let’s make things more difficult.”, which is supposedly messages from Sombra herself speaking to the players.
And with that last message mentioning about making things more difficult, it certainly wasn’t just a jest, because at the time of this article’s post, the third message has yet to be unlocked by anyone. People have come up with so many different methods on how to crack the code needed to unlock this message, but all of them have failed. One person went as far as to try and assemble a “Skysong” in order to figured out the message (https://www.reddit.com/r/Overwatch/comments/4w7ey1/the_sombra_skysong/)
Apparently, the folks attempting to use the skysong were so off base and off track that Sombra herself had to step in and give us another clue: On the official Overwatch website, in the media page, a corrupted image of Dorado was seen next to the original, non-corrupted one.
Players instantly compared and compiled the two images to find a new hidden message that states: “Why do you look to the sky? The answer is not above your heads, it’s behind you. Sometimes, you need to analyze your previous achievements.” Like with the second message, it would seem that Sombra is speaking to the players directly, suggesting that she’s actually hoping for players to figure out these messages and solve the mystery.
Previously, one player suggested that perhaps what Sombra means by “past achievements” means that we need to look back towards older promotions for the game and analyze the information within them. Most specifically, one player decided to look up the old “Recall” animated short featuring Winston and Reaper at Watchpoint: Gibraltar. When Repear tried to hack Winston’s computer data as well as Athena, the voice system that speaks to Winston (and is also the voice of the in-game announcer for Overwatch), Winston inputs a password on his keyboard to flush the virus out and save Athena from corruption, except that he doesn’t use a regular English keyboard for input. He instead uses a keyboard that has Lexigram symbols on it, based on Yerkish, a real world language system that scientists use to communicate with monkeys, gorillas and other primates in various studies. With all of this info built up, many players are starting to believe that maybe Sombra isn’t actually a person, whether human or omnic. Maybe Sombra is actually a virus that can infest data, or rather can infest live programming like Athena, who in turn can infest omnics.
Which would be really cool if that possibility was true, because as one Reddit user suggests, we would not just be getting hints about Sombra, but rather we would literally be helping Sombra get access to Athena.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Overwatch/comments/4wxs7e/sombra_arg_winstons_password/
Sadly, though, what Sombra ACTUALLY meant by past achievements was that players needed to look at the player achievement list for PlayOverwatch.com and find any new details in there, which lead to a strange achievement icon that was hidden within the site data and had another secret message hidden which said: “Damn, not bad. However, I’m getting bored. Lets try something new in the same direction.”
Along with that message, some more cypher text was found which players managed to decode very quickly, and, using the compass directions found in Summer Games video, players ended up finding this corrupted image of Volksya Industries via a url (https://blzgdapipro-a.akamaihd.net/media/screenshot/5552E494-78B3-4CE9-ACF6-EF8208F913CF.jpg). Using the same method of data comparison just with the corrupted Darado image, they found a new message stating: “It seems you like these little games. Why don’t we play a real one?”
More Fun than a Story Mode
So with that said, as players are still trying to figure out different ways to get the third message, I’m eagerly waiting to see what new developments arise from this ongoing ARG, and this entire mystery. And like I mentioned before, I really did believe that Overwatch could have used some kind of single player campaign in order to make players experience the lore of the game a lot better, but with this ARG, I feel a lot more excited and perhaps a little compelled to participate myself since we, as regular people, are taking part in the story, learning more about Sombra as a character, her possible motives, her associations with heroes and villain, and so much more.
There are so many players collaborating, sharing discoveries and new theories on how to unlock these messages that it’s kind of hard not to get caught up in it. I’ve been enjoying these developments far more than I thought I would, to the point where I can completely forgive the lack of a campaign and feel that the game doesn’t need one if Blizzard can continue to release interactive events such as this one. While a campaign would still be nice, the possibilities of how the campaign would end has already been laid out, but this ARG gives off a great sense of wonder as the story is being unfolded right before your eyes, and the audience are the ones taking center stage. We’re not playing as random soldiers or playing in the shoes of one of the many heroes in the roster. Instead, we ARE the story.
But some questions still remain. Why is Sombra sending these messages to us? Why does she WANT us to figure out these messages? Only way we’ll know is if we can figure out the third message before Blizzard deems the timing as too late.
How do you feel about the ongoing Sombra ARG? Do you think that these kinds of events are a good enough substitute for a playable campaign, or do you think the a campaign should still be included in the future?
Dual Universe – Unprecedented Scale MMORPG Trailer
Dual Universe asks the question, how many players can you really fit in one universe? They certainly intend to find out.


















