We’ve partnered with Systence Games to offer you a chance to play in this weekend’s closed beta test for The Maestros!
The Maestros is a team vs team action-strategy arena about transforming cute animals and clunky robot minions into battle-ready beasts and bots.
You will get a Steam key that gives access to The Maestros multiplayer Closed Beta Weekend (05/25 @ 2:00pm PT – 05/27 @ 6:00pm PT). You can also download and play offline (tutorial & bots) outside of the weekend!
To redeem your key, log into (and/or download) Steam, in the bottom left of your “Library” view, click “Add a Game” > “Activate a Product on Steam” > click through and paste the key to download & install!
Knight Defender – Hero Rush is a F2P asymmetrical online multiplayer tower defense game with RPG elements. Recruit legendary heroes or terrifying demons to protect your castle or destroy others. Available for Android.
Features:
Variety is the Spice of Life: Mix and match from over 100 characters, each featuring their own unique attributes and abilities.
Getting Time In: Practice your moves in the laid back PVE or put your skills to the test in the player versus player game modes.
Playing Everywhere: Never miss a moment to duke it out with other people from around the globe.
Have you ever wondered what it would be like if you threw a real-time strategy game together with a card collecting game and combined them? Golem Gates might just be the game to show you that outcome. This concept isn’t entirely new when it comes to card games these days. We’ve seen a lot of games have a go at these two genres, but unfortunately none of them really have that special charm that makes players stick to it. While Golem Gates does its best to have a card system in place, the real-time strategy aspect of the game is where it really shines.
Before I talk about the game, I really want to talk about the audio, more specifically the music. It’s not a subject I bring up a lot, because most of the time more time and effort is put into other parts of the game. Usually the audio is somewhat lacking, especially when it comes to MMO’s that we usually cover. But Golem Gates throws you into this special ambiance where you can tell you just got dropped into a special war, and because of its very interesting style, intrigues you to find out more. It’s got the right feel to it, and the music is the cherry on the cake, a finishing touch on the whole package. I want to give kudos to Laser Guided Games because it isn’t often that I am amazed by the sound blasting through my headphones.
Onto the rest of the game. You are the harbinger, and you are called upon to clean the infected land. You have the ability to manipulate and command nanites from the ash, a power that is leftover manifesting itself in the barren world’s atmosphere. Together with the combination of your deck you get to bring up units, traps, structures, and even abilities to deal with the dangers laying ahead. But Golem Gates isn’t your usual card game. You start out with a deck that you can switch cards out from, in the hope to get better replacement cards in return. You don’t have to deal with turn based combat, or have to be a chess expert to play this game. While the game does feel a lot more casual than other real time strategy games, Golem Gates is still a very active game.
Depending on the mission, challenge, or game mode you select, you will have a few steps for completing a game. At the start you as the Harbinger spawn on one side of the map, and have to work your way forwards by slowly capturing more zones, and destroying your enemy’s tech. While there are a lot of different missions and game modes, most of them come down to the exact same objective. For the most part they look very similar when it comes to completing the objective, but depending on the size of the map there might be an extra step here or there. It all comes down to slowly advancing forward, capturing the nodes, and making sure the enemy force or enemy harbinger is stopped in its path and you are slowly pressuring him backwards.
This is where Golem Gates falls short a bit. There are plenty of challenges and missions to attempt, and even the extensive Campaign that is enjoyable, but more of the same. It feels a little like after you have done all of this, there isn’t a whole lot more that you can do besides play the random skirmishes against the computer. Now this isn’t necessarily the game’s fault, because we see this a lot in most real-time strategy games. Because the game itself is so simple, though, it has to rely heavily on the cards system for the meta to keep it interesting in the long run. While the card system definitely proves to be enjoyable, not too hard to understand, and slow enough so you cannot really rush the game and ‘cheese’ it like you can in some of the strategy games, most of the time playing your deck is somewhat linear. The cards may be randomly drawn, but you cannot really run out of cards in the long run. When you have used up all of your cards, your harbinger can reload them in exchange for staying put for fifteen seconds, and then you can have another go with the exact same deck that you built. I would’ve rather had a smaller deck like most card games, and have the player forced to play more tactically and come up with a strategy before heading into battle. Right now, in most game modes you just spawn as many units as you possible can, and only get to think strategically what you do with your turrets and other tech such as the abilities.
Golem Gates isn’t very old, and does have a bit of a price tag to it. It is a bit difficult to find an open lobby with someone else to play against. While this isn’t uncommon with real time strategy games, since it unfortunately is a dying genre, it’s a bit of a shame I had no one to really test my decks against. While the computer proves to be a worthy opponent, it doesn’t really scratch that itch of measuring how well you’re doing and feeling good about yourself when you do win a game. The people who played the game and wrote a review on Steam are over 90% positive about the game itself, so I hope that the game gets into the spotlight soon and kicks off into an interesting online multiplayer game.
Not only is the audio absolutely magnificent, but the graphics are definitely worth a mention. The visual effects both in the lobby and in the actual game are done right. Immediately you feel like you just launched into a game, not some simple, early access, bare bone game that only had its foundation built while the rest is still being worked on. Golem Gates looks properly done, both in sound and graphics. But while I do sound overly positive, Golem Gates also comes with a set of issues. The gameplay itself feels great: It plays well and even functions such as Attack Moving is in the game. While this isn’t a lot to ask for, a lot of strategy games do not think about the functionality of the game, and how simple it should be to steer your units into battle. This is where the issues come to light. While it is easy to send your units into battle, it feels like sometimes they don’t quite want to do what you’re telling them. The pathing sometimes makes them do an extra circle around a structure, or instead of moving forward its like they’re ice skating but haven’t figured out how to keep their skates straight. Even the Harbinger itself can sometimes look like he isn’t quite getting it, and this is a little disappointing since pathing has to be essential when it comes to a real time strategy’s gameplay.
Conclusion: Great (4/5) RTS done right. While it does have its issues here and there, it’s not game breaking and I’m sure can be fixed with a patch here and there.
Golem Gates isn’t a perfect game, and even though I sound very positive, it does come with its quirks and issues. If you can overlook these simple issues, Golem Gates really shines above a lot of other games we see these days. The combination of the card game style into a real time strategy game like this is done extremely well, but it could do with some tweaking and balancing. While visually the game is beautiful and the sound and music are like Hans Zimmer himself helped making them, Golem Gates does need that extra element to the formula to become the perfect mixture for a strategy game: And that is more players. I loved doing the campaign, and challenges, and while most of the objectives are simple, Golem Gates is fun enough to play with and against the computer, and proves to be quite the challenge at times. Once that content dries a little up, you want more of it, actual human battles. One might wonder where the audience is, while everyone is mostly ecstatic about the game, not many are buying into it. Perhaps the game is a little too high prices? One can only speculate, but from what I’ve seen so far, every penny is worth it.
Note: A game key was provided for review purposes.
Returners is a F2P 5v5 online battler featuring gorgeous stylized cartoon graphics and a variety of legendary characters to collect and upgrade. Assemble your team, go to battle, and aim for the top spots on the daily rankings. Available for iOS and Android.
Features:
To Be the Best: Practice on the daily and showcase your tactical prowess in league tournaments.
I Need a Hero!: Discover historical or mythological legends – such as the gallant Robin Hood – and recruit them for your squad.
Fighting Gods: Take on the terrifying Nightmare King for the ultimate challenge.
Wavedash Games unveiled their exciting new platform fighter today, Icons: Combat Arena. Designed from the ground up to be a tactical fighting game yet also accessible, it will give players a streamlined multiplayer experience where they’ll punch, kick, dash and slash their way to victory. Icons: Combat Arena will launch on the Steam Early Access program on July 12th with a variety of characters. To celebrate this unveiling, select players will gain access to the final Icons closed beta test, kicking off this weekend (May 26-27). Those interested can sign up at this link.
“As a fan of platform fighting games, and having been involved in the competitive side of them for over a decade, we designed Icons: Combat Arena for all those who love online competition,” said Matt Fairchild, CEO and co-founder of Wavedash Studios. “This final closed beta is a major milestone, as we take the best elements of the genre and make them accessible to anyone who owns a PC.”
The SEGA Genesis Classics Collection is coming soon, and SEGA is kicking off the festivities with two must-see events. There will be a full six days of live-streamed Genesis action from a Mixer-exclusive tournament and launch celebration. Competing head to head in some of the most well-known SEGA Genesis games of all time (Streets of Rage, Sonic the Hedgehog, Virtua Fighter, Golden Axe and more) and broadcast live from the Microsoft Flagship Store in New York City. The Mixer-exclusive stream begins at 3 pm EDT on Thursday, May 24th and will feature Outside Xbox and a host of other well-known gaming personalities. If that weren’t enough, on the speedgaming Twitch channel there will be a five-day speedrunning tournament across nine classic SEGA Genesis classics! It begins on Friday, May 25th at 5 pm EDT.
As if that wasn’t enough, closing out the celebrations on Tuesday will be a bonus Mirror Mode speedrunning competition – because who doesn’t want to see some of the fastest gamers in the world going fast the wrong way ’round?
I could listen to Chrono Trigger and Chrono Cross’ soundtracks all day and not get tired of it for even a minute. But I’d be remiss in ignoring how Chrono Cross makes me feel. The story makes my blood boil, and though I have to go back to it once again to see if I can make sense of all the weird decisions, Chrono Cross is, from a storyline perspective, one of my least favorite games of all time. Funny that, as Chrono Trigger is one of my absolute favorites, so that paradigm is kind of entertaining in and of itself. However, Chrono Cross had amazing game mechanics, tons of characters, and had a lot of heart. Shame they borked it all up. However, we’re here to talk music today, and I have “At the End of Time”, from GameLark and Materia Collective. I’ve really come to love these albums, and this one’s definitely no exception. There are some really interesting stylistic choices, and all it makes me want to do is play more Chrono Trigger. From violins to electronic sounds, this collection is about an hour long and it’s 100% worth owning.
“Our goal with At the End of Time was simple,” explains album producer AllenBrasch. “We wanted to offer listeners a unique, memorable journey whether they’ve experienced these games or not. The album art also hints that no matter who you are, you are going to be pulled into this adventure, and you might not be the same when it ends.”
Every single one of these tracks is amazing, and while there are some songs I think could have been added, the ones they picked were remarkable. You can find this album on Spotify, iTunes, and Bandcamp.
Wind Scene by Qumu (Track 2 – Chrono Trigger 600 AD): “Yearnings of Wind” may just be my favorite overworld song of all time, from any RPG ever. The only song that remotely comes close is Tina/Terra’s theme (early game Overworld from FFVI) or the Broken World music from FFVI. No other song can match it. It’s so peaceful and soothing, despite Chrono now being in a land that “looks” familiar, but unfortunately is not. A slow fog rolls over Guardia, and Chrono desperately tries to get his bearings. The shift from the piano and soft tapping sounds shifts into a viola (it sounds to me), but that clacking sound keeps plodding on rhythmically, the ticking of a clock that fits so neatly into the story and the song. From there, we have an acoustic guitar, completing this soft, quiet song. It’s one of those rare moments that a relaxing overworld song sets the tone perfectly.
The Future is Primitive by Daniel Romberger (Track 8 – Chrono Trigger Prehistory): The electronic sounds mixed with horns made it come across like a Super Sentai/Kamen Rider show from the 70s and 80s and I absolutely loved every minute. It had the sinister intent that the Reptites had for man, and even included a haunting “But the future refused to change. . . ” that you only see in the game when you get a Game Over. After all, the future belongs to the Reptites, if you believe Azala. The blend of trumpet sounds and electronica were superb, and I think this might have been one of my favorite songs on the album, easy.
Garden of the Gods by Kain White (Track 5, Chrono Cross): While I’m amazed, even disappointed that the Chrono Cross opening theme is not on this album (because it’s easily the best piece of music in the game), but Garden of the Gods is a pretty close second. Garden of God has a peaceful, almost aquatic nature to it, flowing patiently, as does time itself. I believe this was where you fought the Water Dragon in Chrono Cross, making it all tie together nicely. The original track, Garden of God also features a heavenly choir singing lightly over what sounds like a harp, and the song fills me with tranquility in a time where I desperately need it. It’s soothing, calming, and every so often, I think that’s what we need. This version is just as peaceful, a steady beat backing the relaxing song. It’s almost like footsteps pushing forward, and I like the complete presentation of the song from Chrono Cross.
Undersea Palace by Ro Panuganti (Track 15, Chrono Trigger Dark Ages): The Undersea Palace was metal af. A palace, powered by the Mammon Machine, by Lavos itself, built on the bottom of the dark ages ocean? That’s fitting of an electric guitar provided here by Ro Panuganti. It has that same steady pace of the original song in a more metal package. The only dungeon more metal than this in the whole game is the Black Omen anyway. The chorus scaling up and down, followed by that gritty, grind sound, before shifting back to a more power metal ballad style? It’s perfection. As a lover of all things metal, this is a combination that definitely does the original track justice. I can’t think of anything darker in Chrono Trigger than running to the bottom of the ocean inside of a palace made of metal, stone and magic, to do battle with ancient evil.