Monthly Archives: February 2017

Rumormonger: Hearthstone Expansion Leak?

Hearthstone Rumor Editorial

I haven’t really kept up with Hearthstone in a long time. It’s very hard to get back into once you’ve gotten out, and blah blah blah, expensive card game, etc etc. But that’s not what I want to talk about today. Today, according to PCgamer, a potential expansion leak happened! A document was leaked, that Lani Minella will be voicing something to do with “Hearthstone: Lost secrets of Un’goro”. And honestly, that could be anything. I highly doubt that “Hearthstone: Lost Secrets of Un’goro” is a new Adventure in the same vein as Naxxramas, or the others that have come after it, like One Night in Karazhan. I doubt we can expect fossil cards, cool crystals, and giant dinosaur cards that will be ridiculously powerful in this not at all coming Expansion/Adventure that is absolutely not happening. The game is still quite unbalanced, and from what I understand, that is coming before the end of the month. I remain skeptical on that. Lani’s voiced in quite a few Hearthstone/Warcraft adventures, but that’s just jumping the gun honestly. Maybe it’s a video piece! Perhaps it’s something for Starcraft. That “Hearthstone” label could be a misnomer.

Okay, I’m done jerking peoples’ chains. It seems like it’s a very solid lead, and even though I’m not in the Hearthstone game anymore, I’m pretty excited. There is so much cool content down in that volcanic crater, so we’ll just have to keep our eyes glued. As always, as soon as we know something, you’ll be the first to know it.

World of Tanks Blitz Review: A Worthy Replacement?

Written by Remko Molenaar (Proxzor)

 

World of Tanks is the game to play if you are a fan of tanks. From the get go, you operate several different types of tanks, and you slowly advance further into the tech tree to unlock more upgrades and higher tier tanks. Even though we already have a World of Tanks game on the PC, the new World of Tanks Blitz that was once only available on iOS and Android is now also playable on the PC. So I went ahead and investigated to see if Blitz is really worth it as a replacement for the normal World of Tanks that has been out for years.

World of Tanks Blitz PC Review

Over the years, I have played World of Tanks regularly. Even though it is an extremely fun game to play, sticking around for the long run never happened. I usually just picked it up when I was bored, and never really played it for more a few weeks straight. Its just one of those games you play when you just want to hop into a quick game and make something explode. Despite this, the genre itself is extremely popular. We have seen a lot of different games with the same style of approach, but World of Tanks is in a league of its own, and its not a surprise they aimed to draw in mobile gamers as well. I even tried World of Tanks Blitz when it first came out and found it enjoyable; it was somewhat the same, except a bit more simple.

World of Tanks Blitz PC Review

Nothing much has changed for this PC version. In fact, its the exact same simple game as it was back then. Just like in the PC version of World of Tanks, you are given a simple Tier 1 tank from any nation you pick. By playing you will unlock more gold, credits and experience. Where gold is the cash-purchased currency that is used to unlock everything a little quicker than the rest, credits are the regular currency you earn while playing the game that is used to buy new upgrades and vehicles. The game isn’t pay to win, and never has been: you can’t buy your way straight to the higher tiers.  Every upgrade or tank has a minimum required amount of experience, and you still need to meet this required amount to use them. So while you can’t skip these requirements with a cash shop purchase, you can use your wallet to obtain premium, which gives you 50% more experience.

World of Tanks Blitz PC Review

Now that we have this out of the way, let’s talk about the game itself. What are the biggest differences between the normal game and this mobile phone port (ported now to PC)? The first thing that you will quickly find out is that the game, in general, is a lot more simple. The maps are smaller and the game is more straightforward (although World of Tanks has never been really difficult). The game feels a bit more casual in that regard. Games are also a lot quicker than your average game on the PC. Since the maps feel so small, you will find an enemy after only a few seconds of driving forward into a battle, and thus it is somewhat easier to get into the action than on the PC. My biggest problem in the normal version is that the maps sometimes feel a bit too big. People can easily hide or surprise you from all sides when you are driving straight into the middle of the battlefield. I know that its my fault because I can’t adjust right to the pace of the game, but to me it just seems boring to wait around a corner, hoping for a poor soul to cross by, or waiting for your whole team so you slowly advance. No, I want to go straight into action and blast away with the rockets.

World of Tanks Blitz PC Review

And this is what works so well in the Blitz version. Every game is action packed, and you cannot really hide from the enemies. You still have to play strategically to stay alive as long as possible, but its not like you’re play hide and seek with the enemy across a large map. One of the greatest things is that there is no artillery either, so you cannot randomly explode like you might in the normal game. I never really liked the artillery, and a lot of people seem to agree with this, but destroying a tank that is nowhere near you and unable to see you at all seems somewhat unbalanced.

World of Tanks Blitz PC Review

Since the game was made for mobile devices initially, the graphics aren’t on par of that in the desktop version of World of Tanks. Honestly this can scare people off. It just doesn’t come as close at all to the original, and it really feels like you are playing a generally old game. To me it doesn’t matter that much and I think it also looks a lot cleaner. No unnecessary foliage that can block your view or things like that, in general it feels a lot more fair and balanced.

World of Tanks Blitz PC Review

Conclusion: Not a PC Contender (3/5)

The big question is, which one do I prefer? Well, despite the faster games, the simpler mechanics, and the lack of artillery, I would still go for the normal World of Tanks version when playing on PC. It offers you more, and it is just a bigger package in general. World of Tanks Blitz is still a very fun game, but I honestly do not really understand why they made this particular version available for the PC. Its simply the same game with less features, and not as far in content releases as the actual PC game is. Unfortunately you cannot play on the same account on both your PC and the mobile versions of Blitz either, so I really do not see the point of picking Blitz over the normal World of Tanks. If you absolutely hate theartillery, and don’t mind the more simplistic graphics, Blitz is worth the try. Besides that, I just ask myself, why bother?

Alwa’s Awakening: A true return to the “Good Ol’ Days”

Alwa’s Awakening Live STream from TheBottomTier on www.twitch.tv/thebottomtier

I’m a child of the 80s. That’s not new. So I have a lot of experience playing balls-crushingly difficult platformers. Batman, Blaster Master [sort of a platformer], Kid Icarus, Metroid, you name it, I played it. I even had Clash at Demonhead! So when I saw Alwa’s Awakening, and was told it would be as difficult as the games of my youth, I was immediately skeptical, because I played some really horribly hard games. So, let’s talk about this game! Alwa’s Awakening is a retro-style platformer, done in a very clean 8-bit style, complete with catchy, memorable chiptune soundtrack. It reminds me of Shovel Knight, but that is in no way a slam or a negative. Because Shovel Knight really brought that style of game back to the forefront and proved that retro is most definitely not dead. Alwa’s Awakening places you in the role of Zoe who acquires a very special magical wand. You will use it to save the land of Alwa by defeating evil, and solving puzzles. Most of which the game won’t tell you what to do for! For. . . none of them that I solved, anyway.

Alwas-Awakening Editorial/Review

This is not a game that will hold you hand. Ever. Hell, I didn’t even know about one of the tricks or skills you had to learn. Like what? Well, as you explore Alwa’s deep dungeons, you gain new gems that you can slot into your wand. Each one does something different, like Green creates blocks you can push/stand on [one at a time though], and Blue creates bubbles, and there’s still more to find. But that leads me back to something that game does not teach you. You can jump, cast a block into the air, land on it, and have a sort of double jump, to reach areas you normally can’t. And you have to make sure it’s on the way up on the jump. If you do it too high, you will fail. It’s all about problem solving, fighting bad guys, and not falling to your death. But the game’s not impossibly difficult; but it is is hard, let’s not mince words or lie. This game is difficult, but you don’t have a certain amount of lives! The game tracks how many times you die though, so it’s not going hold your hand but it will mock your repeated failures. Gratefully, save points will heal you, and they are pretty plentiful. This game is definitely in the same vein as a Metroidvania, where you backtrack and head forward again, looking for powerups and secrets, and believe me: There are lots of secrets. Also don’t forget to talk to everyone. If you don’t, you won’t know that the blue gems you pick up make your boss fights a bit easier! Yes, the more gems you collect, the more damage you do in the pretty challenging boss fights. So learn how to get to those gems!

Alwa- Puzzles

Just some mild puzzle solving. .

Tale as Old as Time:  4/5 Hype Train Took Off!

I love this game. There are things I would sort of like to see, but I’ve yet to beat it. I’ve spent quite a bit of time on it, and even livestreamed it, which you can likely find at the top of this article! Alwa’s Awakening is a trip back through time in the best way. It’s not clunky or hard to play because of controls. It’s smooth, fun, while also being hard as hell. I’m so glad I got to see and experience it! It doesn’t bog you down with a ton of story, which I do admittedly love. . . It thrusts you into the action quite quickly. You find the wand, and get into the action, dungeon diving, warping between areas, smacking bad guys with said wand [and zapping them when you upgrade that far!], and wandering. It’s easy to see if the next room will be a save point [Star blocks above/below the exit of the room], which is a Godsend. Thankfully, you have infinite lives, so you can always try, try again. You won’t want to stop, once you’ve started. Alwa’s Awakening really captured my attention, and it will yours too.

Pokemon Duel

Pokemon Duel is a free-to-play mobile fantasy strategy game developed by The Pokemon Company for iOS and Android. In Pokemon Duel players can build their very own party of Pokemon through representative figures and use them in strategic battles. Battles are fought on a game board where the objective is to move your Pokemon figures into your opponent’s goal in their territory before they can do the same to you. If you love Pokemon, but find that you’re yearning for some even greater strategic depth then Pokemon Duels just might be your calling. By forming your team and helping them grow you’ll become an unstoppable Pokemon Master!

Features:

Team Building: Form your active team out of six different Pokemon figures, each of which has its own strengths, weaknesses, and steps it can move.

Strategic Matches: Out maneuver your opponents on the game board by predicting their movements, while planning your future ones. If you happen to encounter your opponent’s Pokemon on the game board, then fight them in a battle and show them what you can do!

Training Center: Fight against predetermined AI teams to get some practice while earning some new items and Pokemon figures to use.

Pokemon Fusion: Fuse unused Pokemon with your favorites to strengthen them even more and make them miss less attacks!

Spellsouls: Duel of Legends

Spellsouls: Duel of Legends is a free-to-play fantasy mobile MOBA developed by Nordeus released on iOS and has an upcoming Android release as well. In Spellsouls: Duel of Legends players can enter the fantastical kingdom of Eldonia as one of its Master Spellcasters, using their magical decks of cards to summon creatures and cast spells. It’s come time for you to recognize your calling as one of the most influential Master Spellcasters of Eldonia. Build your deck, enter the battleground, and show your opponents no mercy!

Features:

Deck Building: Strategically build your deck outside of matches so that your cards work well together and can counter your opponent’s moves.

Quick Matches: With matches that typically last 3-5 minutes all that you have to do is summon your creatures and help them eliminate your opponent’s hero at the other end of the battlefield.

Chests: Open chests with keys to earn better quality cards to make your deck up with, increasing your power!

Hero Units: At the end of your lane is your last standing unit, your hero. Each hero has their own unique spells, so select your hero based on your playstyle and take over the battlefield.