Yearly Archives: 2016

I love/hate having so much to do at level 110 [WoW]

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I’ve had a lot to say, both good and bad [mostly good] about Legion. There’s so much to do, and it’s recommended by many people that when you hit 110, you keep going until you complete all the zones before you move on to Suramar. That’s the level 110 area for those of you who aren’t savvy. There is even more to do there, you have to help the Elves there feed their mana addictions [at least the ones you’re friends with. . .], help jump start a revolution and of course, grind forever for reputation to unlock even more content. That last part makes me die a little inside. I’ve only been 110 a few days now, and wanted to level my Priest, as well as other 100s. However. . . I’ll have to do every single zone again. None of that progress stretches across account that I’ve seen and the idea that I’ll have to go back to Highmountain honestly made me want to flee screaming from my computer. But when you hit 110, the Broken Isles begin to open up in new and exciting ways.

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The world is basically your oyster. There’s still no flight, and the first raids aren’t here yet, but they’re coming very soon. The World Quests, once you unlock them offer a new way to get gear, gold, resources, you name it! There are also Emissary Quests, which require you to do World Quests five of them] for a faction. Completing this, and returning to that faction gives you rewards, like rep and chests that can drop loot! This resets every day, so you can’t just spam them. You just have to be Friendly with the major Legion factions to unlock most of them. There’s another step for Suramar World Quests. But they are quests that frequently spawn across the Broken Isles that you can go complete, typically related to quests that already happened. You might have to save some bears, kill something, shoot birds out of the sky, or fight powerful entities. Or go into dungeons! There are so many options! Hell, there are even Pet Battle World Quests! I did one this morning where I beat up something I desperately wish I could’ve captured. What? You don’t want a legendary battle pet? Don’t lie to me. The major downside though to World Quests, is if you leave them for a few days, you have a huge backlog of things to do. It’s hard for me to remember all the crap I need to do in game, and the more 110s I have, the more taxing it’s probably going to be. I won’t lie, I’m afraid it’s going to turn into a second job again. . .

What do you guys think of World Quests and the absolute glut of content at 110? Did it make you want to come back to the game?

Space Wars: Interstellar Empires

Space Wars: Interstellar Empires is a free-to-play turn-based strategy MMO developed by ToHeroes Game Studios for PC where players can take part in outer space battles as the commander of their very own ship. Everything and anything is possible in space when you have the right resources, but managing your ship will not come easily. If you want to become one of the best captains in the galaxy then you’ll need to manage your ship’s power consumption wisely in this brain-wracking strategy-based game.

Features:

2D Hex Grid Battles: Battles will take place on 2D hex grids where propulsion, sensors, force fields, and weapons, and even line of sight obstacles will become important parts of your battle strategy.

Power Management: Delegate where and when to use your ship’s power to make the most of each and every little move that your ship makes.

Race Choice: Become one of the humans of the Sol Imperial Worlds, the Sanethi of the Genari United Empire, the Ma’Ali of the Ma’Alaketh Confederation, or even an organic space race called “The Hive”.

Race War: Fight for your race by either defending its territories that are being invaded, or attacking the bordering territories of other races to claim them for yourself.

Heavy Metal Machines

Heavy Metal Machines is a free-to-play sci-fi strategy racing game developed by Hoplon Infotainment for PC and will be available on Steam for download sometime in 2016. The apocalypse is finally over and there are only Heavy Metal Machines remaining. In a world now riddled with utter madness, chaos, and nonstop destruction your wits will be put to the test. You’ll need to choose your role and man your own crazy vehicle as you try to destroy your enemies by delivering a bomb to their base if only for your own survival.

Features:

Class Roles: Become an Interceptor, Support, or Transport vehicle to either take the bomb from the enemy, heal and shield your allies, or run the bomb to the enemy’s base.

Explosions: Don’t take too much damage otherwise your vehicle might succumb to instability and explode on you!

Team Focus: You’ll need to work with your team of allies who are also in their own wacky vehicles if you want to succeed. Play to everyone’s strengths and leave no room for weaknesses.

Of Kings and Men

Of Kings and Men is a buy-to-play 3D medieval combat game developed by Donkey Crew for PC and is available on Steam Early Access. In Of Kings and Men players can experience huge, player-driven medieval battles with over 200 players at a single time. You will need to capture territories, eliminate your foes by any means necessary, and engage in skill-oriented combat to help your team come out on top. With battles of epic proportions and heart-pumping combat, Of Kings and Men should not be overlooked.

Features:

Massive Battles: Fight in skirmishes of over 200 players that will have you marveling at just how epic your battles are.

Directional Combat: Fight against other players by changing the directions of attacks and blocks with your mouse, making combat that much more skillful and rewarding.

Choose How You Conquer: Don’t think combat is the only choice you’ll have to defeat your foes. You can also use political and economic means to bring your opponents to their knees.

Weaponry: Different kinds of weaponry can be used by your character, each of which will be more effective than others in particular situations.

NARUTO SHIPPUDEN: Ultimate Ninja Blazing

NARUTO SHIPPUDEN: Ultimate Ninja Blazing is a free-to-play mobile strategy game developed by BANDAI NAMCO for iOS and Android devices. In NARUTO SHIPPUDEN: Ultimate Ninja Blazing players can take part in Shinobi Formation Battles and set up their own formations with their favorite shinobi from the Naruto series. By exploiting your team’s Ninjutsu and Secret Techniques you’ll be able to lead them to victory and prove what a great ninja leader you are!

Features:

Singleplayer Mode: In Singleplayer Mode players can play through encounters that somewhat correlate to the Naruto anime series’ timeline.

Multiplayer Mode: Multiplayer modes will allow up to three different players to battle it out against one another with their shinobi teams.

Phantom Castle Mode: Every so often the Phantom Castle will be opened for all players that want to prove they are best, climb to the top, and hold their position.

Secret Techniques: Not only will you be able to use your team’s Ninjutsu, but some of your team members will even have Secret Techniques to exploit.

Battlefield 1 Open Beta First Impressions: Fight in World War 1

By Mohammad Abubakr

 

The last Battlefield game I played was Battlefield: Bad Company 2 so it has been a while since I’ve stepped back into the Battlefield universe. Battlefield 1’s trailer featuring a World War 1 setting made it impossible to resist trying out the game. With the game’s open beta being free for all, I had to jump in and see what it was all about. Read on for my first impressions on the Battlefield 1 Open Beta!

Following the trend of odd naming schemes, the latest installment of Battlefield jumps back to being known as Battlefield 1. Digging deeper into the name, the 1 makes more sense after finding out that this game is set during World War 1. Even so, the 14th installment in the series being named Battlefield 1 is a bit odd. Fortunately, this does not matter too much as the Battlefield name is already well known; an odd name is not going to turn off players.

 


The menu interface looks quite nice

 

It doesn’t matter how creative or not the name is if the gameplay isn’t any good. Fortunately, Battlefield 1 is quite fun to play. From what I can remember, the game still feels like your traditional Battlefield game, at least from the perspective of a casual Battlefield player. I am sure veterans of the series will have a lot more to say about how well this game represents the series but as far as I am concerned, Battlefield 1 feels like the latest evolution of core Battlefield mechanics: it has vehicles, large maps, large scale battles, class based loadout systems, and a Conquest game mode.

For those new to the series, Battlefield’s traditional Conquest game mode consists of a large scale battle on a massive map. 64 players on two teams fight with hopes of capturing and holding various control points. The longer you hold these points, the more points your team accumulates. With such a large number of players on a massive map, communication is essential towards success.  For this reason, your team is split up into smaller squads allowing for smaller groups to coordinate with each other. It would be impossible to get 32 players on your team following the same orders but a squad of five people is much more manageable.


All classes offer additional customization

Unfortunately, even with this squad system, unless you have a premade group or get very lucky, you will still be playing by yourself. Like most online games, people tend to keep to themselves and do their own thing. As a result, large scale battles often turn into random small battles enveloped in chaos. For this reason, Battlefield usually sounds good to me in theory but is not as fun when I jump into the game. Like games such as ARMA, the game has the potential to be a lot of fun but only if you find a nice group of people to play with. I highly recommend playing the game with a premade squad, or at least one other person, as doing so will lead to a much better experience. With these massive maps, it is essential that you move together towards the same objective or else your precious travel time is wasted as you repeatedly get a one way ticket to the respawn screen as soon as you get in range of doing anything meaningful.

Aside from allowing respawns on top of squad members, various vehicles such as tanks, airplanes, and horses are available to both add some flavor to the game and reduce travel time. There are a limited number of vehicles available at each point making it essential that they are used to their fullest. Seeing a tank run around doing nothing is a sad sight to see. I personally love galloping around on a horse and cutting people down with a sword.


You can ride horses!

While large scale battles in the Conquest mode offer the traditional Battlefield experience, sometimes it’s nice to kick back and relax with some fast paced smaller scale action. This is where the Rush game mode comes in. Rather than 64 players battling to capture and hold points, 24 players work to either attack or defend control points. While hardcore fans will mostly be playing the traditional game mode, it’s nice to have another option for more casual players like myself. Rush forces both sides onto specific areas ensuring constant action. The attackers work to plant bombs while defenders fight off attackers by killing enemies and defusing planted bombs. Once a point has been captured, the defenders fall back while the attackers push towards new attack points. I found myself playing Rush more than Conquest in the open beta as it let me quickly jump into the action, but I feel like I may have favored Conquest more if I had a group to play with: large scale battles are always more fun with a premade group communicating and strategizing as a team.

Moving on from the gameplay, I found the beta to be surprisingly well optimized. I came into the game expecting laggy servers and choppy framerates but DICE has gone out of their way to ensure that even their open beta provides a pleasant gameplay experience. The game does not feel like a beta game; it feels like a demo of the full game.


All classes offer unique equipment such as Support’s trip mine

Even at maximum settings, the game runs very smoothly. The single map offered in the beta looks quite good but, being a desert, it’s nothing breathtaking. However, the environment truly does feel like a war. Often times we see games where you are supposed to be in a battle but it feels like you’re taking a stroll through the park. This is not the case with Battlefield; the visuals and sound come together to fully immerse the player in a real battlefield. You hear explosions going off in the distance, planes zooming overhead, and tanks slowly creeping towards you. This is the most battlefield Battlefield has ever offered.

 

Conclusion: A great peek at what is to come

Aside from the Conquest and Rush game modes on a single map, additional content is locked in the open beta. I personally like playing Battlefield games for their campaign and stick with games such as Counter Strike and Overwatch for my multiplayer experience. From the little I have been able to play of Battlefield 1, it shows a lot of promise. I will likely pick up the game in the far future but only for its single player gameplay. I’m more a fan of smaller more fast paced shooters but players who favor strategy and teamwork will come to love the latest installment of Battlefield.


It really feels like you’re on a battlefield

The World War 1 setting is great to see as, while modern weapons are cool, it’s nice to jump into combat with some old school weapons that haven’t been touched on by 200+ games at this point. These weapons may not be as destructive as the ones we have available today but I always find myself enjoying them more in games. Simpler weapons just feel nicer to use, but it’s hard to explain why.

I’m looking forward to the game’s full release, see you all on the Battlefield!

Making Sense of Endless Space 2 PAX Prime 2016 Demo

By Darren Henderson (DizzyPW)

 

During PAX Prime 2016 we had the lucky privilege to go hands on with Endless Space 2’s first ever public demo. However, knowing nothing of the lore beyond a few playthroughs with Endless Legend, we immediately found ourselves baffled at what was happening and why. The demo was just long enough to get our feet wet before ending abruptly with us feeling unsatisfied. With the help of hindsight, and the extreme sleep deprivation that comes with a full 14 hour work week covering PAX, we believe we have at last deciphered the demo, as presented in the following slideshow. Enjoy!

 

EndlessSpaceA EndlessSpaceB EndlessSpaceC EndlessSpaceD EndlessSpaceE EndlessSpaceF EndlessSpaceG EndlessSpaceH EndlessSpaceI EndlessSpaceJ EndlessSpaceK EndlessSpaceL

EndlessSpaceM EndlessSpaceN EndlessSpaceO

EndlessSpaceP

The Answer Couldn’t be More Obvious. Stop Doritos Trucks with a Doritos Truck Cannon. We secretly moved to act before the bluecap shipment reached the Sophons homeworld.

Overall the mission was a resounding success. But a few skilled drivers still broke through the barricade.

EndlessSpaceQ EndlessSpaceR EndlessSpaceS EndlessSpaceT  EndlessSpaceU EndlessSpaceV EndlessSpaceW EndlessSpaceX EndlessSpaceY EndlessSpaceZ

Learn more at Amplitude Studio’s official site!