The Steam Link app is designed to extend Steam’s suite of services and accessibility, and is now available free of charge for iOS and Apple TV users, at this link. The Steam Link app allows gamers to experience their Steam library of games on Apple (iPhone, iPad, Apple TV) devices while connected via 5Ghz network or wired Ethernet to a host computer running Steam. The Steam Link app features support for the Steam Controller, MFI controllers, and more.
Monthly Archives: May 2019
Epic Games Announces ‘Epic Mega Sale’
Epic Games announced a massive sale starting tomorrow (May 16th) and lasting until June 13th. With it comes up to 75% off on select games, and an additional $10 off from Epic. During this sale, developer sand publishers are discounting a ton of games, and for every purchase over 14.99, Epic Games will add that additional $10 off at no cost to the publisher or developer.
In addition, Epic Games also announced they’re expanding the “free game every two weeks” program during this Epic Mega Sale. uring this sales period, Epic will be offering a free game every week, starting with No Code’s experimental adventure game, Stories Untold. Players should check back every week during the Epic Mega Sale for new free game offers. Additional details can be found here.
Conglomerate 451 Hacks Into Steam Early Access this May 2019
The beautiful neon colors of a cyberpunk setting are coming to Steam’s Early Access on May 23rd, as Conglomerate 451 comes to life. Conglomerate 451 embraces its grid-based RPG roots and has a unique take on the cyberpunk genre. Set in a city overrun with corrupt corporations, assemble a squad of cloned agents in a bid to restore order to sector 451.
From altering your agents’ DNA and installing ability-granting neural implants to equipping them with powerful cyberlimbs and literally hacking the world around you mid-conflict, you’ll need to take every advantage you can get. Players have to beware though, because agents lost in battle start as fresh clones, losing all of their previous progress. Even the most basic and light of wounds can have an impact on your agents since they can evolve into permanent disadvantages. Conglomerate 451 plans on launching the full release later this year.
Key Features:
- Classic dungeon crawling – Face your enemies in a cyberpunk take on classic, turn-based dungeon crawling gameplay by choosing the best strategy, taking advantage of their weak points and making the most out of your agents’ skills
- Manage your resources – Make use of your own personal R&D department to research advanced technology, unlocking new features, powers and options for progression
- More than just body mods – In addition to upgrading weapon and armor proficiencies, augment your body with interchangeable cyber implants that completely change your agent’s skills and utility
- Pain and Trauma system – Even the smallest wounds can have a lasting impact. By taking damage in combat, agents risk generating permanent Traumas that will follow them between missions
- Procedural cyber dungeons – Experience the dungeon crawling you love, mixed with future technology as you take on procedurally-generated dungeons and missions
- If you die in the game… – Each mission could be your last thanks to agent permadeath. Consider every move, because if an agent dies in battle, they will be lost forever
- Hack the world – Enter cyberspace mid-mission and hack your way ahead of the competition to get crucial intel and give yourself the advantage
Total War: Three Kingdoms Liu Bei Launch Trailer
The Han is weak and crumbling, but one hero has the blood of the Han flowing through his veins: Liu Bei. His heart beats for the good of the country and stands against impossible odds. Other lords might have money and massive armies, but Liu Bei has the people.
In just one week, this underdog and his sworn brothers will face off against the cruelty of Dong Zhuo, the might of Sun Jian, and the cunning of Cao Cao for control of Ancient China. Join him – or fight against him – when Total War: THREE KINGDOMS releases for Windows PC on May 23rd.
Total War: Three Kingdoms Review
by Jason Parker (Ragachak)
This is the game I’ve been waiting on in this franchise since I first heard about it. I’ve waited years and years for this, and to be honest, I wasn’t disappointed. I’ve been playing the Three Kingdoms games since I was in Middle School, so my expectations were pretty damn high. The Three Kingdoms Era is practically built for this franchise, and the game takes place at the very beginning of the Three Kingdoms Era. We’re right at the end of the Yellow Turban Rebellion, and the land is fractured, perhaps beyond repair. All of the governors, bandits, nobles, and lords are all vying for hegemony (dominance overall, in particular, one country or social group). Total War: Three Kingdoms really runs the gammut of the possible playable factions, too. We have everyone from Governors (Kong Rong), members of the Anti-Dong Zhuo Coalition (Cao Cao), and Potentially Fictional Bandits (Zheng Jiang). For the people that acquire the DLC, you can also play as the Yellow Turbans (with three options for leaders), which I can only imagine will be soul-crushingly difficult.
In Total War: Three Kingdoms, you will always start in the same time period, and there is an overarching story of uniting China under your banner, but each faction also has their own story, and completing the missions that are a part of it are always worth it. The question winds up being “Is it worth it to do it now? Or should I wait”? If you wait too long to deal with a mission that has a faction-kill in it, for example, they could get out of control strong by the time you get around to them. As a fun fact, even though the game will say you need to defeat them (EG: Tao Qian), as long as someone defeats them, that’s all that matters. I still received credit. These personal missions often have very difficult choices to make in them, that will alter the course of events for you. Cao Cao is a prime example of this. Early in the timeline, Tao Qian’s men kill Cao Song, Cao Cao’s father. Regardless of whether Tao Qian actually gave the order, Cao Cao holds him responsible. There’s a choice to bide your time (giving you more of a relationship with Tao Qian) or to go to war with him.
Depending on what you are doing at this time, you could wind up with multiple fronts to do battle on. In one of my playthroughs, I agreed to help Yuan Shao do battle against another faction, putting me in a war on two fronts that I was ill-prepared to deal with. Other characters have similar situations to be put in, such as Ma Teng deciding to declare war on Dong Zhuo or not. There are rewards for succeeding in these tasks and will push forward with your personal story. This creates an additional level of strategy, so you have to consider every single turn and move you make. Each faction also plays differently, which is not new to the Total War franchise. Each faction has their own special units, buildings, and playstyle, so definitely go through each one of them in the starting menu to find what works for you. I personally spent the most time as Cao Cao (my personal favorite of the warlords), though I tried several of them just to get a feel for how they play. It’s good to know that each playthrough will be separated on the load/save screen, each with their own list of save files, so you won’t get them confused.

It’s far more satisfying to control the powerful, mighty generals. But your opponents have them too.
One of the biggest things about Total War Three Kingdoms, in terms of game mechanics, is that there are two very different ways to play the game. You have the standard historic mode, where the generals are just your army leaders. They’re just normal people, and the battles are slower, and there’s a greater emphasis put on the fatigue and stamina of your units. Romance, however, is the mode I prefer to play. The generals and lords are larger than life characters, with special abilities, passive abilities, and have way more hit points than any of the other units. They can also participate in awesome duels on the battlefield, so they are certainly different experiences and approaches to the same game. I like having the awesome, incredibly powerful generals though. Timing is key for duels. If a battle isn’t going your way, and you can successfully coax an enemy into a duel and defeat them? That general is out of the battle, and his troops will descend into chaos. Take advantage of the tools you have!
The actual turn-based decision making and battles feel similar to the other games in the Total War franchise, so you’ll probably be right at home there. Leveling up your towns will give better bonuses, more buildings to unlock and improve, and as turns pass, you’ll also have Reforms to pass. These come up every Spring (five turns), and they are formed as a huge cherry blossom tree. They are divided into sections: military government, infrastructure, and economy, then philosophy, trade, and agriculture. I tend to build what I’m looking for at the moment, but you really can’t go wrong with higher commerce. Building and maintaining an army is quite expensive, so being able to field an army at a moment’s notice is very beneficial. But there is something that Three Kingdoms fans might not be used to, that needs to be mentioned: Limited numbers of armies. Depending on how high your rank is, you can only field a certain number of armies at a time. You can have a different number of actual armies, but only a certain amount can be in the field. An army consists of a General, and up to two other generals, and each general has an archetype, which is designated by color.
You can tell what they’re good at by the color-coded stats and their color-coded gear. The actual units match these colors too. This is where some of the best strategies come in for me since I want to mix and match the armies to find the best combinations of leader skills+units. When a faction has specific/special units, these are a bit more expensive so I will put maybe one or two out at once, typically for important battles. Characters are not only defined by their skills though. One of the new features is character relationships. One of the common occurrences in the Three Kingdoms era is the bonds the generals share. As characters (friends and family) fight together, their bonds will grow, giving bonuses in defense. However, rivals that fight together will fight with greater zeal, but can also create jealousy and bad feelings. It’s not always going to be a good thing! But these relationships are powerful, and so it’s important to foster these relationships.
Speaking of new features, I absolutely love that you can send a spy into enemy factions (or even friendly factions), and have them report to you. Once you’ve reached a certain rank, you’ll unlock the power to send a character of yours into a specific faction’s territory. If you’re lucky, they’ll get recruited, and they will try to worm their way into the good graces of their lord. The best part about this? If everything goes well, they can become the heir apparent, and if that lord dies, you can steal their territory with little to no effort. They can help you trigger civil wars, rifts between other generals, and more. This is such an amazing feature. The right spy in the right location can make some of your battles much better. Speaking of battles, I love them in this game. Your generals have abilities they can trigger on the field, and since I tend to prefer romance, these lords can really spice things up. Even if a battle is going to be a “decisive failure”, you can work hard, outplay the enemy, and defeat their generals. Once you’ve battered their generals, the morale goes to pot and provided you have the manpower, you can sweep what was going to be a crushing defeat into a brilliant success. If you love the Total War combat engine, this one will really do it for you. It’s beautiful, there are plenty of cities and landscapes to battle across, and should you be ambushed, it’s not the end of the world! There’s an escape point system now, where instead of just trying to win, you can back out and retreat.
Another truly special thing in this Total War game is the Diplomacy system. It’s had such a huge, amazing overhaul. Cao Cao for example, his great skills are in the Diplomacy menu. One of his powers is to incite wars between factions, at the cost of his “credibility”. This is a gauge that will refill over time. Need to secure an alliance? Offer marriage between your daughter and his son! You can create huge, powerful coalitions and deny weaker factions to be a part of them. There are, of course, diplomatic, trade, and military treaties. Once your rank is high enough (Duke), you can bully weaker factions into being your vassal. As a vassal, they mostly have their autonomy, but part of their wealth and income is now yours, and you can order them to fight and die for you. But remember, the actions you take with one faction can (and usually will) have repercussions with the others. These lords aren’t stupid.
There Can Be Only Three: 4.5/5:
Three Kingdoms, that is! Look, they can’t all be winners. But Total War: Three Kingdoms is. There are plenty of factions that all play differently, so there is plenty of replayability. The goal will always be the same (uniting China), but it’s how you get there that matters. The difficulties range from Easy (just Cao Cao), to Very Hard (the Bandits, Yellow Turbans). There are 12 factions, not counting the DLC, and the unlockable Dong Zhuo (reach Emperor rank or defeat him in a game to unlock him). It’s a beautiful game, the challenge is more than the present, the events are interesting, and it really feels to me like they did their homework on the era, the characters, and the environment. It’s chaotic, and even 100/200 turns in, I’m still as vested as I was at the very beginning of a playthrough. Seeing some kind of in-game lore on the characters would also be pretty fantastic, but that doesn’t affect gameplay either. There’s a lot of information to take in, but the game is pretty good about telling you what you need to know. Hovering over most things in the game will give you further details/descriptions if you need it. For fans of the Three Kingdoms era, and fans of the Total War franchise, I doubt you’ll find yourself disappointed here. The Three Kingdoms era is perfect for this engine and franchise, and I’m sincerely satisfied with it.
A code was provided for the purposes of this review.
Steep: Uplay Giveaway Trailer
Castlevania Anniversary Collection – Launch Trailer
Castlevania Anniversary Collection is being released as a part of the Konami 50th Anniversary celebration, and there are some timeless Castlevania hits here! From Kid Dracula to Super Castlevania 4, you won’t want to miss it.
Golem Gates Launch Trailer – PS4
Golem Gates is coming to Playstation 4 on May 28th, 2019. It’s a post-apocalyptic sci-fi game that combines action-strategy and card battling, pitting your conjured armies against otherworldly forces. Developed by Laser Guided Games, players need to act fast and play the right card at the right time, to summon units to attack and defend. Players can place emergency defenses, or hide in an outpost using Fog of War. The enemy has access to the same tricks and tactics, so beware! Golem Gates hits PS4 on May 28th, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch on May 31st. The Xbox One X will also have full 4K support.
“Golem Gates is a great title and we wanted to make it the best it could possibly be on console. Laser Guided Games’ vision has been fully retained and whether it’s enjoying the game in 1080p, full 4K or on the go, Golem Gates has been fully optimised for every console platform and its individual capabilities,” said Digerati Director Nick Alfieri.
“We are so excited that we can finally reveal Golem Gates’ release date on console,” said the game’s creator, Matt Oelfke. “It’s coming soon and we can’t wait to see how console gamers take to the game. We’ve poured our heart and soul into Golem Gates, so we hope it resonates with players.”
SEGA Genesis Mini Reveals 10 More Games – Mega Man: The Wily Wars, Street Fighter II Championship Edition, More
SEGA released another list of the upcoming 40 titles on the way to the SEGA Genesis Mini, hitting shelves on September 19th, 2019. Capcom has a nice wide selection of titles coming to the SEGA Genesis Mini, including Mega Man: The Wily Wars, which was once exclusive to the SEGA Channel in North America. Mega Man: The Wily Wars is a compilation of the first three Mega Man, and will be on the SEGA Genesis Mini. Below is a list of the next ten games coming to the SEGA Genesis Mini.
- Mega Man: The Wily Wars
- Street Fighter II’: Special Champion Edition
- Ghouls ‘n Ghosts
- Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle
- Beyond Oasis
- Golden Axe
- Phantasy Star IV: The End of the Millennium
- Sonic the Hedgehog Spinball
- Vectorman
- Wonder Boy in Monster World
Vambrace: Cold Soul Reveals First Feature Trailer
Devepresso Games and Headup reveal the first in a new series of trailers to show off their upcoming roguelike fantasy adventure, Vambrace: Cold Soul. The first is released today and shows off the enclave of Dalearch – which serves as your central hub. Evelia Lyric uses Dalearch as a starting point for adventures, crafting items, storing loot and increasing their power. There’s a colorful cast of characters here to help you on your way. This is the first in a three-part feature to show off the challenges, characters, and strategy needed to succeed in Vambrace: Cold Soul. It’s coming to Steam and GOG on May 28th, 2019, and the Nintendo Switch, Playstation 4 and Xbox One in Q3 2019.










