Monthly Archives: February 2018

Project CARS 2 Celebrates the 70th Anniversary of the Porsche

Project Cars 2 - Porsche

Bandai Namco is proud to announce the celebration of the 70th Anniversary of the Porsche with the ‘Porsche Legends Pack’ for Project CARS 2. It will be available across all platforms in early March. In 1948, the first Porsche hit the road (Porsche 356), and this celebration is one that should not be missed. The ‘Porsche Legends Pack’ will come with: nine legendary cars hand-picked from the storied history of Porsche, one FIA-certified track intimately associated with Porsche―a first in any simulated racing game, 20 liveries, nine community events, and five new career events; all carefully crafted to integrate into the Porsche experience. The nine iconic Porsche cars include their current GT-runner, the 2017 Porsche 911 RSR that will add this elite brand into Project CARS 2’s already stacked lineup of GT racers. The 911 RSR will join eight more historically significant Porsches hand-picked from the last 70 years, such as the 1972 Porsche 917/10―the car dubbed the “Can-Am Killer”―an analogue monster whose 5-litre flat-12 boxer was mated to two massive big-box turbos to create what many consider the most brutal car (1,200bhp!) in sportscar history.

Ahead of this, Update 4 is live on PC, and on the way for consoles. It will add numerous performance and stability improvements, gameplay tweaks, UI and render enhancements and more. The patch notes can be found here.

Any ‘Port’ In A Storm: Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age (PC-Steam)

by Jason Parker (Ragachak)

Any Port in a Storm: FFXII

Killing rats is a tough job, but someone has to do it.

This is a title I’ve actually reviewed fairly recently, so there isn’t a lot I can tell you now that you didn’t already know. But, let’s give it a go! Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age on PC/Steam is a port of the PS4 Remaster, which on its own, was already gorgeous. You play as a cast of characters ranging from “Riff Raff, Street Rat” in Vaan/Penelo, to “I’m actually the main character” in Balthier. There are exiled knights, princesses, evil corrupt judges, and a gorgeous world the likes we won’t see again until Final Fantasy XV. This version of the game does take it a step further though in several ways. First, you can set it to play at 60 fps. 60 lovely frames per second. I saw no tearing, no slowdown, no weird crap as a result of that (but I’m using a GeForce 1080 and an i7 7700k so take from that what you will), and cranking all the settings up did not slow me down in the least.

Any Port in a Storm: FFXII

So. Many. Helpful. Options. I understand few of them.

It was still a vision of loveliness. This is different because the PS4 release is hard-locked at 30 fps. Sure, that 30 fps is just fine, but 60 is better. Let’s be honest. The graphics settings are vast, and to be frank, I don’t even understand all of them. But they are plentiful and make an already visually appealing game more so. There are three options for your soundtrack too, Original, Extra Tasty Crispy, and BBQ. I mean. Original, Remastered, and OST. The remastered/OST are clearly the superior choices, and one thing I do not recall if I noticed in previous playthroughs, but the music has a very Final Fantasy Tactics feel to it. Yes, I know this takes place in Ivalice, home of said Tactics game, but still. The OST option is a very lovely sound, and I think has a lot of appeal. Again, not a necessity, but it’s there if you want it. However, this version has one giant glaring flaw that I have to bring to light. If I chose not to, what kind of journalist would I be? A bad one, that’s what.

FINAL FANTASY XII THE ZODIAC AGE PC Edition Launch Trailer - YouTube

You have Full Screen, Borderless, and Windowed options for your screen. That’s wonderful, because I tab out a lot, and want the full-screen experience, so I go with Borderless in most of my games. Any time you tab out of the game, no matter which you’re using (even in Windowed!) it pauses the game. This is a real-time battle game, so in that aspect, it’s certainly useful, but you know, there’s a pause feature! You can pause yourself if you need to! Nobody is stopping you! When I stream, I tab around a lot on my screen, checking the giveaway screen, pulling up walkthroughs if I need to, or answering work requests if they happen to come up/emails show up in the middle of the stream. That way I can see how important they are. I don’t understand why this decision was made, and it drives me absolutely damn batty. It’s the worst part about the game, and at least the other problem I had (before the game went officially live half the time it wouldn’t recognize my controller. For whatever reason, that’s fixed. For reference, PS4 wireless). It also has the “cheat” features seen in Final Fantasy X. It offers max Gil and unlimited license points, but that’s not a deal breaker one way or another. The speed-up buff that was in the PS4 version also made it over (hit L1 to 2x/4x speed, great for grinding/wandering huge maps, little else).

Who Is This For: 4/5

Final Fantasy XII Video Thumbnail

No, this game isn’t on the list. Sadly.

That’s the big question I should be asking in these port reviews, and moving forward, I shall. Who is this aimed at? Who is this for? If you had an Xbox One and love Final Fantasy, or have a Switch and simply missed the original launch, this is for you. I cannot imagine someone who already has it on PS4 wanting to get it, except to play in 60fps, or are a hardcore fan of Final Fantasy XII. All the other features, looks, and mechanics are the same on console, but if that pause function were not in the game, I’d say this is the “definitive” version of Final Fantasy XII. If for some reason you missed out, this is the best time to get the remake, in my opinion. It’s gorgeous, it has tons of gameplay and secrets (especially if you didn’t play the original), and the chests from the Zodiac Spear in the original were changed in both of these versions. In the original FFXII, there are five chests you are not supposed to open. You have no idea if you haven’t looked it up. If you open up even one of those before it’s time, you miss out on the most powerful spear in the game, the Zodiac Spear. It also has the superior License Board (Zodiac Job System) in that it’s more compact and less cluttered plus it also thematically fits into the FFT world. I love this version of the game, far more than I did the original for a whole host of reasons. If you’d like to read my more detailed review of the title, from the PS4 version, please click this link.

Ed Note: A key was provided for this review. 

Cobalt WASD Review

By Remko Molenaar (Proxzor)

Over the years we have seen a lot of sidescrollers that put a focus on being a successful and joyful shooter, but many of these games are somewhat lackluster. It’s hard to think of one actual shooter in a sidescrolling style that was very fun to enjoy for long periods of time. Perhaps I am an old fart by now, but the one I enjoyed the most was Soldat, a game that first came out back in 2002. Cobalt WASD is a game that tries to make the concept somewhat similar to shooters we know today, with a bomb defusal style of focus to make the game both very fun and tactical to give it a little competitive edge over the others.

Cobalt WASD Review Screenshot

 When you think about most shooters, only some have actually tried to bring in some actual sense of strategy such as bringing the right gun for the right time style of play. Only Counter Strike has actually put in a system that makes the player think twice on how to run his equipment and get the most out of his loadout when going against his opponent. Most other games you simply take the gun that you enjoy the most, and there aren’t any repercussions when dying or losing the round. Cobalt WASD tries to tackle this idea as well, and thus on every start of the round the player is given the option to tweak his loadout and to buy upgrades like weapons, armor, and abilities to utilize in the battle. If you survive, everything from that loadout is kept and taken with you to the next round. When you die, however, you lose everything including all the money you spent on it, and have to ‘build’ your character from the ground up.

Cobalt WASD Review Screenshot

 Cobalt WASD is a sidescroller, but that doesn’t mean the game isn’t as exciting as any other shooter. The player moves at a relatively fast speed, combined with faster rolling and jumping to make the game vertically more pleasing. The player can also get abilities like a grappling hook or even a speed boost to keep the player on their toes at all times. Kitting out your character also makes you a lot harder to hit, be it because of your speed, stealth, or even a equippable shield to surprise your enemies with. The weapons also greatly affect gameplay, since each weapon, be it either a gun orn melee weapon like a spear, excels in different scenarios. Every encounter feels unique on its own, but is so fast paced that you can barely stop to think about it. By the end of the round you are in awe wondering how you are still alive or what went wrong in that specific round.

Cobalt WASD Review Screenshot

Unfortunately the game doesn’t have a whole lot of depth and content to it. The concept of the game is very simple, and the main focus of Cobalt WASD is set on making it just a well shaped and fun all around shooter with the gameplay as its key focus for players to stick around. While I am a big fan of its style and the fast rounds this game has to offer, there is only one reason why I do not dedicate a lot of time to this game. After an hour of playing, the game becomes really stale and you simply start craving something else. Every match you play feels somewhat the same. Despite each fight being unique in its own way, by the end of a session you do feel like you want to play more because the game is simply so fun but small. I would love to see more game modes to keep the game a lot more interesting, be it either in a capture the flag style mode, or even in a mode where you have to survive against zombies or the like. Perhaps even just bigger maps, with bigger player numbers on each side to make the game feel like it isn’t so small and simple.

Cobalt WASD Review Screenshot

There aren’t a ton of players playing the game, and the community for the game simply hasn’t taken off. With the game is published by Mojang, I am sure enough players will eventually flock to the game if the required amount of advertising is given, but the game still feels like it needs more to stay relevant and I am very curious to what the future will bring. In its current state the game is a very simple search and destroy game that I thoroughly enjoy playing, but it does feel like it is somewhat of a mini game. While it is fun to play with friends or against complete strangers, and even the computer. It does wear you out over time and make you crave for some more, and I really hope they will tackle this problem so that players have more of a reason to stick around.

Cobalt WASD Review Screenshot

The concept of Cobalt WASD is actually something great. Over the years we have seen many side scrolling games like this game, but only a few of them were actually still entertaining in the long run. I am still undecided on how Cobalt WASD will actually succeed over time. As of right now it feels like a small indie game that you just launch to occasionally play a game or two. It doesn’t really give you the depth to keep you sticking around. I would love to see some form of competitiveness thrown into the game, because who doesn’t like any sense of achievement climbing through the ranks, slowly getting ranked up with and against players of your own level? It might still be too soon to think about features like these, especially with its current popularity. Cobalt WASD is on the right track to being a very fun shooter that is definitely different from the stereotype shooter of what the industry has to offer today, but it still has to find its niche, its own style to keep the lights on.

Laser League Begins Early Access

Laser League Beta Reactions [PEGI] - YouTube

Laser League is a high-octane multiplayer action sport for PC from indie publisher 505 Games, and development studio ROll7. It’s now available for Early Access on Steam, and from today on, players can join the 2v2/3v3/4v4 matches for incredible, non-stop action. Players interested in helping shape the fast-paced fun can purchase Laser League in Early Access for $14.99, but to celebrate the launch, 505 Games and Roll7 are offering a limited-time 30% discount on the title. Laser League arrives into Early Access polished and balanced, but Roll7 and 505 Games will be closely monitoring player feedback to evolve the experience on the journey to the game’s full launch later this year.

“We have been working on this title in one way, shape or form since 2014 – so we are ecstatic about finally getting it into player’s hands,” said Simon Bennett, studio director, Roll7. “Early Access marks the next phase of the development process, offering our teams an opportunity to gather and implement player feedback in order to further refine the overall game ahead of a full commercial launch in the near future.”

The Laser League Early Access program offers players robust content including:

  • Six powerful classes with two ability modifiers per class:

o   BLADE, which has a sword to slash and eliminate opponents

o   SMASH, which has a shield to knock opponents into lasers

o   THIEF, a tactical role that can steal active rival nodes to change the laser color

o   GHOST becomes invulnerable for a short time and to pass through enemy lasers

o   SHOCK, which delivers area damage that stuns rivals

o   SNIPE generates a line that enables teleportation to kill opponents

  • Three international stadiums with 12 Laser maps:
    • EMPIRE CAMPUS (London, UK): Maps including Gauntlet (restrictive map that escalates in complexity), Nine Club (hypnotic map with slow escalation and space for combat) and Spin Cycle (a defensive map with perpetual long lasers)
    • GENG HAO MEGAPLEX (Tianjin, China): Maps including Crusher (short moving lasers to create pressure and trap opponents), Battleground (end-to-end map with multiple long-beamed nodes) and Ricochet (hectic map with eight moving nodes)
    • SILVERTIP ARENA (Detroit, USA): Maps including Y Control (orbiting long central lasers and short rotating ones), Prime (interlocking lasers forcing team to expand control by owning the center) and Rotator (restrained map featuring close combat with dead zones)
  • 16 available power ups to drastically change gameplay momentum (Including, SWITCH, DRAIN, REVIVE, REVERSE or SPEED UP)
  • More than 60 characters and 250 character customizations

 

Spring Back into Dark and Light with the Spring Festival

Dark and Light Spring Festival

The chill of winter is loosening its grip on Archos, and with that, Dark and Light welcome the Spring Festival in preparation for major updates over the next couple of months. Today, a small patch drops to mark the Spring Festival, where the skies of Archos light up with ancient fireworks that drop from barrels and cave bosses or can be bought from city vendors. Players can also gather to catch a fireworks show in Archos’ major cities each night of the festival. The ‘Structure Demolish’ Timer has been removed for now. This patch also includes some updates to the game, such as the removal of the ‘Demolish Structure’ Timer. The full patch notes for this can be found here.

Street Fighter IV: Champion Edition Headed To Android

Street Fighter IV Champion Edition news

Street Fighter V might be in its third season, but Street Fighter IV is still alive and kicking! It’s coming to Android in the form of Street Fighter IV: Champion Edition! 32 world warriors are coming to mobile, with familiar controls and action. It also offers various settings and tutorials to help the more casual player walk the path of victory. Street Fighter IV: Champion Edition for Android will be available as a free download. The initial download will include one playable character (Ryu) and three AI controlled characters (Chun-Li, Guile, Zangief). Players may unlock the full game for a one time in-app purchase of $4.99.

Features Include:

  • Fight as 32 Street Fighter characters including fan favorite and Android exclusive, Dan.
  • Intuitive virtual pad controls allow players to execute full move sets including Unique Attacks, Special Moves, Focus Attacks, Super Combos and Ultra Combos
  • Take your game to the next level with a Bluetooth controller (Controllers do not work in menus, they fully function in multiplayer and single-player gameplay.)
  • Battle head-to-head against players from around the world via Wifi – Single player “arcade” and multiplayer modes.
  • Unleash super moves with a tap of the “SP” button. – Four levels of difficulty3

Pre-Ordering can be done at this link.