Yearly Archives: 2016

Wargaming now under fire from War Thunder!

The final gauntlet has been thrown down.

Gauntlet_640x380

Not that gauntlet.

This is War Thunder!

Today we announced the upcoming content for War Thunder: Knights of the Sea. This is going to add oceanic action! We saw cool airplanes diving over the water, pelting warships with bullets in fast-paced combat! But what does this all mean? A year ago or so I covered War Thunder on the PS4 and found it was probably the most realistic wargame I’d ever played. It was fun, it had airplanes and tanks on the same field if you will, and you could soar down and do battle with them or stick to the skies and dogfight. Gaijin took the time to make sure all the parts worked together in one title, that they were balanced and enjoyable. And finally, with the Knights of the Sea content, land, sea and air are all in one place. The final gauntlet has truly been tossed, and with authority no less. Both franchises have incredibly solid gameplay and are very physically appealing. I love both games, but I do like being able to do it all in one place. . .Though I do enjoy the work of both companies, War Thunder has a very extreme edge that we can’t just ignore:

World Of Warships Arpeggio

All three of these content styles are in one damn game. I don’t have to install War Thunder: Tanks, War Thunder: Trains, or War Thunder: Automobiles just to play the style I want. I can just . . . play War Thunder! That’s fantastic. I appreciate the depth that Wargaming has put into their separate content, but what if I want to do something a bit more mixed? Wargaming’s gonna really have to step it up with their upcoming content if they want to compete with Gaijin’s War Thunder! Simply doing “Anime Waifu” themed boats isn’t going to do it when people are able to use boats, planes and tanks all in one handy location. War Thunder has taken careful aim and over the past few years has steadily put themselves into a really interesting position. The “War Gaming” arena’s not empty, and the time for resting on ones’ laurels is quite over. I’m really looking forward to seeing what happens over the next year! Maybe Wargaming will take some effort to combining their games so the content can interact? Or will the stick to their guns? I fear it’s too late for Wargaming to set sail on their original idea to have the games interact. It would be a financial and balancing nightmare. But they have to take measures to hold against the tide! That’s enough combat puns for me. Anyway, I think it’s a really interesting dynamic that has taken hold of the War Gaming scene and I’m really looking forward to see how the two companies progress.

 

Black Desert Online – An Updated Look August 2016

By Jordan Hall (ApocaRUFF)

 

 

It’s been several months since Black Desert Online released in North America and Europe. In that time the game has had some major updates, plenty of disgruntled players, but plenty more that are satisfied. It’s easy to see that, overall, Black Desert has been a huge success. To add to that success, Daum and Pearl Abyss has finally released Siege Warfare along with the Ninja and Kunoichi classes, with some minor changes added on. So, let’ hop into the game and see what’s changed.

 

 

Major Additions

The biggest, and most obvious, changes are the addition of the much-wanted Territory Control and Siege systems. Guilds can now fight for control of the various nodes and cities within the game, something that I feel should have been made available much sooner. The second biggest change is the addition of two new classes, the Ninja and the Kunoichi. The Ninja/Kunoichi are essentially the rogues of Black Desert Online, with the ability to disappear in the shadows and do amazing burst damage. Also, if you’re an old Age of Wushu player, there is an unintentional Easter Egg in some of the ability animations.

 

Black Desert Kunoichi

Bustyninja is my name, boob physics is my game.

 

Of course, me being me, I made a Kunoichi, which is basically the female version of the male Ninja. I also named my character Bustyninja, which is entirely appropriate if you look at my character model (which is a very slightly modified version of the default). I will never get tired of Black Deserts attention-to-detail, especially when it comes to boob and butt physics. The costumes for Kunoichi are alright, but I honestly didn’t enjoy them too much. If you play a ninja, however, the stuff looks a bit better in my opinion. Especially if you don’t mind fishnets.

 

Black Desert Kunoichi Kunoichi Character Creation

Busty and Scantily clothed, just as Naruto taught us female Ninja’s should be.

 

I haven’t yet maxed out my Kunoichi, but so far the gameplay feels very smooth. If you enjoy doing a ton of damage and quickly switching between targets or taking down multiple targets at once, I have to say that the Kunoichi is only second to the Witch in terms of fun. I can teleport (in a fashion that looks straight out of Naruto) from a distance into a group of enemies, knock them down, proceed to slap them with a ton of damage and status effects (mostly knockbacks/downs). At this point I can either choose to give myself a speed boost to take down any runners or, if things are getting a bit too hot, I can throw down a smoke bomb and disappear, making myself immune to damage for a few seconds along the way. Mobility is definitely the name of the game when it comes to the Ninja and Kunoichi, with their double jumps, teleports, and various ways of escaping and chasing. It’s literally Naruto in a lot of cases.

 

Black Desert Ninja Combat

Lots of movement, with flips, double jumps, and teleports.

 

Siege Warfare is something I didn’t really get too deep into, unfortunately. It’s a feature that requires that you be part of a guild, and to be part of a guild you need to be active. Which I’m not yet. I’m thinking of starting to play actively again, but between my new-found love of all things Pokemon (thanks, Pokemon Go!), I find myself not wanting to spend time with a game that burned me once already. However, the game didn’t burn me nearly as bad as Trion and ArcheAge did, so coming back is a very real possibility in the future. And trust me, I’m thinking about it.

 

Black Desert

Each node can be controlled.

 

The Siege System/Territory Control is broken into two different types. Node Wars is the first type, which happen daily and are a very volatile thing with ownerships often changing between the nodes. The nodes are also very numerous, so there’s a chance that most guilds will get a chance to own a node if they make a real attempt at it. The real fight, though, happens in Conquest Wars. This is a weekly fight that requires strategy and tactics; your guild will have to work hard as this is where the best of the best compete.

 

Black Desert

And the Regional castles/nodes, too.

 

If your guild wins the Conquest War for a region, you will get a massive leg-up in all things thanks to the taxation system. The system is a lot more in-depth than this, obviously. But thankfully Daum has created an awesome guide that will lead you to victory in six easy steps. I’ve provided the guide below. Really, though, the system IS huge and it requires more than a few paragraphs or a picture to fully grasp. Before you jump into the action, definitely check out said guide here. If you’ve been waiting for the Territory/Siege system before coming back into the game, I suggest you take a look at that link. The system is very rich with features and detail. After reading it I have to struggle to keep myself from jumping back into the game full swing.

 

Black Desert 6 Easy Steps

It’s THAT easy!

 

 

Minor Additions

My favorite things so far are the removal of energy cost in processing AND removal of cost for resetting skills. It makes the game SO MUCH more fun. Where before I stressed over my build constantly, I can now focus on trying out new things and taking risk. Also, before the removal of energy cost in processing, I just couldn’t justify to myself the node system. My original dream when I came into the game was to set up a lumberjack empire in the Southern portions of ______. However, when I tried this I was hit with the cold reality of the game; Most of the raw wood I got was useless to other players and wouldn’t sell well. If I wanted to process it into more coveted higher-tier wood products, I would have to spend more energy than I had to make a profit in a reasonable amount of time. Grinding for an hour would net me many times more money than I could get in a week through the node system, either trading or selling to other players. It was upsetting and was a key reason that lead to me drifting from the game.

 

Black Desert Processing

No energy cost!

 

There’s also a few other minor changes that may skip the notice of most such as additions to the cash shop. Me being me, the first stop once I had the client updated and finally got into the game was the Cash Shop. Not much has changed; there’s a few new outfits, some new loyalty point options, and some enticing deals. Nothing too game breaking, at least compared to how it looked originally.

 

Black Desert

This is a nice addition to help encourage players to log in.

 

 

Conclusion

Now is probably the best time to come to the game. Processing no longer costs energy, there’s been four classes added to the game since launch, there’s now a log-in bonus reward system (though I have no idea how long that will stay), and there’s the Territory Control system which essentially doubles the content of the game and completely re-defines the PVP aspect. There’s something for everyone; the casuals, the PVPers, and the crafters. Sure, there’s still issues with the game, but they’re relatively minor from my perspective and Daum has shown that they will (if slowly) improve the game. I see no reason to hold a grudge and stay away from the game, and my conclusion is the same as it was when I originally reviewed the game: Great.

And it seems there’s plenty more content still coming in right on the horizon

 

War Thunder Announces Naval Battles

War Thunder Announces Naval Battles

Gaijin Entertainment has announced today that its closed beta for Naval Battles, a highly sought after mode in War Thunder, will begin, with an exclusive hands-on at this year’s Gamescom. Naval Battles will give War Thunder players the first chance to battle from land, air, or sea.

The participants of naval battles upcoming closed beta will be called the “Knights of the Sea.” Made up of torpedo, artillery and missile boats, coast guard vessels and submarine chasers, they are the so-called “small” naval contingent that served in all oceanic theatres of World War 2.

“The high level of realism is one of the key design features of War Thunder. Vehicles are as close to their real life counterparts as possible. Classic large ship battles during the war were contests of patience and planning, where engagements could last from several hours to several days. In War Thunder, where all kinds of vehicles fight in one battle and players can control aircraft, tanks and ships, it is not possible to change the size of the ships or make time run faster, as everything needs to remain consistent.

Our internal testing showed that battles with large battleships were too long and slow or required design changes that made ships entirely unrealistic. For this reason, we are leading with fast attack-based craft, which are rarely reproduced in games. Ships, that are more suitable for the formula of our game. These fast, agile and dangerous “Knights of the Sea” are worthy contenders for aircraft and tanks on the ground” said creative director Kirill Yudintsev of Gaijin Entertainment.

All nations in War Thunder will get naval forces. Invited players and those who purchase one of two Starter packs with unique ships will be able to join the closed testing as soon as the testing phase begins later this year.

The first Starter Pack includes a Soviet Project 1124 Armored River Boat. The T-34 turret and two 12.7mm machine guns allow the gunboat to efficiently eliminate enemy ships and low-flying aircraft; but the main destructive power of the Project 1124 lies in her M-13-M1 unguided rocket launcher, the legendary Katyusha.

The second starter pack includes the famous American PT-109, a motor torpedo boat on which the future US President John F. Kennedy served and performed acts of wartime heroism. During one of the operations the boat was subjected to a surprise ram attack from the Japanese destroyer, Amagiri. Despite a serious back injury, Lieutenant Kennedy acted wisely and decisively, saving all ten surviving crew members. In War Thunder, this boat is a fast and maneuverable ship destroyer. Her four torpedoes, each weighing almost 1,200 kg, come in handy for destroying large naval targets. Both ships will be available on the start of closed beta testing.

The first to take part in the naval battles of War Thunder will be the visitors of Gamescom 2016. In the game booth in Hall 6, Gaijin Entertainment has organized a special closed area, where guests can try their hand as captains of attack boats. For those unable to visit the exhibition, there will be a special video broadcast from the official Twitch booth and new developer blog updates each day, where developers of the game discuss the new regime, present ships of different nations and run giveaways of closed beta access codes for the viewers.