Yearly Archives: 2018

Override: Mech City Brawl Unveils New Features

Override: Mech City Brawl revealed a new trailer today to show off the devastation that players can dole out to each other starting on December 4th, when it goes live. Whether solo or multiplayer, the action is non-stop and the mech design is unique and interesting. There are also a host of epic and legendary skins for players to earn and equip using the Garage feature. This trailer shows off the story campaign that has players fighting other mechs and disgusting alien invaders that infest the cityscapes and exotic locales. But each mech comes complete with its own attacks, combat abilities, and an overwhelming Ultimate Attack to get themselves out of sticky situations. If this weren’t exciting enough, up to four players can team up, each controlling a limb of a Mech, to do battle against the world in online pvp.

Override: Mech City Brawl Features:

  • Explosive Battles. Take control of a gigantic mech and lay waste to entire cities as you fight other massive opponents.
  • Supercharged Mechs. Pilot 12 outrageous mechs of epic, skyscraper-sized proportions, each with diverse fighting styles and unique skills.
  • Real-World Locations. Destroy 3D arenas modeled after actual cities and countries, including Tokyo, Egypt, San Francisco, and Mexico.
  • Multiple Game Modes. Challenge other players in local and online Versus & Co-Op modes and experience Override’s story in a single-player campaign.
  • Party Co-Op. Gather 2 to 4 friends to engage in party co-op where each player is responsible for one part of a towering mech!
  • The Garage. Customize your mechs in the Garage, changing their accessories and skins to create your own unique style.

Stardew Valley Official Piano Collection (Music Review)

by Jason Parker (Ragachak)

Cover (small)

This album’s a pretty big deal to me for a few reasons. First, I adore piano collections. I have quite a few of them now, and they never get old. I remember collecting Final Fantasy piano collections years back, and I loved every one of them. The second reason being, I adored Harvest Moon. Somehow, despite enjoying that game tremendously, I have not spent any real time with Stardew Valley. Hell, I own it on at least one platform, probably more! The curse of being in games journalism, I suppose. But listening to these songs made me want to play, so I installed it and plan to make time to play, whether on stream or not. The third being that Eric Barone himself gave approval for the album (creator of Stardew Valley), and I think that’s wonderful. I have the quote below where they talk about it. This collection of Stardew Valley piano masterpieces were arranged by Matthew Bridgham and performed by Augustine Mayuga Gonzales. Materia Collective continues to blow me away with the talent they have producing this music. Also kudos to the original composer of the music. I went back to listen to the Stardew Valley OST after this, and, man. Now I really want to enjoy some soothing farming.

“Three bonus tracks were added after getting official approval from the man himself, Eric Barone (ConcernedApe),” comments arranger Matthew Bridgham. “He was so excited for this album that one night he sent us the then-unreleased music from the update. I was, of course, happy to oblige, arranging these three the same evening. But my job felt easy. Nearly every piece from Stardew fit the hands beautifully, hitting close to home.”

Winter (The Wind Can Be Still) (Track 17): Winter is my favorite season, and funny enough, this is probably my favorite track on the album. It’s slow, quiet, and really the title really works well with this style of piano playing. It starts nice and slow as if snow were gently falling outside and picks up a nice, steady deliberate pace about halfway through. It was hard to pick between Nocturne of Ice, and The Wind Can Be Still, though. Winter can be a cold, cruel, unforgiving month, and the turn of lower, harder played notes fits that role nicely. The gentle chiming of the higher notes overlaid across these lower notes is really fascinating. Even if winter is difficult and hard, much like life is, the spring is just around the corner. This song kind of felt like I would hear it in Mother 2, or maybe My Time In Portia.

Spring (Wild Horseradish Jam) (Track 4): How can I not like a song called “Wild Horseradish Jam”? As I sat here listening to this song, I realized how little I know about Stardew Valley, but I want to correct that. I wondered if this song is named for an actual type of Jam (I prefer grape jelly, but that’s me), or was a dance or something of that nature. I could see it being a dance song, but more likely one where the hero is wandering around out in nature. It definitely has that “We’re new at this but doing our best” sound. There’s a lot on the plate of the hero of Stardew Valley, I did learn that Wild Horseradish is found in the Springtime of Stardew Valley, so, huzzah! I learned something new. One of the longer songs on the album, it has a solid deliberate style, notes played firmly. The staccato here was very lovely.

Mines (Crystal Bells) (Track 9): Mines (Crystal Bells) feels like you’re down in a mine, and I appreciate that sort of attention to detail. It’s very slow, quiet, with occasional dips into louder, lower notes. And with a name like “Crystal Bells”, I imagine there’s something majestic hidden down in these mines, which coincides with the louder, higher-pitched notes utilized in the piece. All this album has done is to make me want to play Stardew Valley, which I imagine is one of the goals. Well, it worked. While the piece begins very simple and quiet, it picks up complexity and tempo a bit towards the end of the track, where I can only imagine the explorer has come to the greater depths of the mines.

This was a very fun album to review, but it was incredibly hard (as per usual) to pick a few tracks to highlight. There is 22 total on the album, and all are worth listening to. You can find this album on Bandcamp, iTunes, and Spotify, and there are also limited CD formats.

Heavy Fire: Red Shadow Now Available on PS4/PS4 and PC

Heavy Fire_ Red Shadow Pre-Launch Trailer - YouTube

Don’t worry, Xbox One fans – the Xbox One version hits on October 19th. Heavy Fire: Red Shadow brings 360 fixed-position fps action back in this latest title. It’s available on Playstation 4, PSVR and PC today. There’s also a special edition of Heavy Fire: Red Shadow for PS4 exclusively at Walmart for 19.99. In Heavy Fire: Red Shadow, Sgt. Will has narrowly survived a North Korean missile attack on Guam, and must almost single-handedly defend against a large-scale North Korean raid.

Features of Heavy Fire: Red Shadow:

  • 360° White-knuckle Action! Use a devastatingly powerful turret-mounted machine gun and rocket launcher combo to mow down enemies in 360° across eight stages in Campaign Mode, or fight non-stop in Endless Mode.
  • Call in Support! Call in supply drops and support from elite infantry troops, fighter aircraft, attack helicopters, and more.
  • Get Promoted and Powered Up! With more than 30 unlockable Field Promotions, players earn power-ups to upgrade and customize their machine gun, rocket launcher, health, and support skills.
  • The Right Tools for the Job! Experience a new level of exciting gameplay with Mixer support on Xbox One, the style and function of RAZER CHROMA support on PC, and the immersion of PS VR support on PS4™ (included free in the physical edition of Heavy Fire: Red Shadow, available exclusively at Walmart).