Monthly Archives: May 2019

Ram Pressure

RAM Pressure is a story-driven turn-based tactics game featuring both singleplayer and competitive multiplayer content in a grounded sci-fi setting. Team up with the world’s most talented special operations mercenaries and work together to uncover futuristic alien technology and a global government conspiracy to rule the population at the same time.

Business Model: Free-to-Play

Microtransactions: Yes, players can upgrade their account for early-adopter access and other privileges.

Key Features:

Gear Potential: Mix and match from an enormous selection of armaments, professions, and abilities.

Arms Race: Scout, secure, and deliver key items and intel from the crash site.

Stay Frosty: Adapt to the ever changing battle conditions as a result of procedurally generated maps, weather, and a rotating day/night cycle.

I’m the Juggernaut: Create new strategic options on the fly by making the most out of a destructible environment.

We’re #1: Join and represent your clan as apart of the complex alliance system.

Galactic Civilizations III v.3.7 Anniversary Update Launches

Stardock released a new update for Galactic Civilizations III today, v3.7 and celebrates the 4th anniversary of the game. Stardoc focused on a top-to-bottom series of improvements, based on fan requests. This update adds improved ship AI, multiplayer performance, memory use, pathfinding performance, pacing, and empire management UI. There is also a list of minor bugs that were fixed, which can be found on their forums. This update is a free download for owners of the game and there is a limited-time sale for the Core Edition (85%) and the Gold Edition (70%) when purchased through their site directly.

“After four years, we’ve come to know what fans want and don’t want in a space 4X very well,”
said Brad Wardell, CEO of Stardock. “To thank them for their help and support, we decided to
tackle a lot of improvements that aren’t particularly glorious but improve the overall experience
of the game.”

Samurai Showdown – Return of a Legend and Genjuro Trailer

Today we have a double dose of Samurai Showdown news. The first is a trailer going over the return of this legendary franchise. It faithfully reproduces the mechanics and atmosphere that made the games so popular 11 years ago and longer. The second trailer confirms another character is returning: Genjuro! He’s a man of many vices – drinking, gambling, and fighting. But he always commits to his tasks 100%. He’s coming to Embrace Death June 25th.

Red Dead Online – Title Update

A new update hit Red Dead Online today, that added new gameplay improvements, such as new cooperative story missions. Also included are Free Roam activities, and the addition of Poker. This is in addition to other improvements and updates to the game as a whole to strengthen its foundation.

SteamWorld Quest Hits Steam in May 2019

Image & Form’s RPG SteamWorld Quest is officially coming to Steam (for Windows, macOS and Linux) on May 31st, 2019! In SteamWorld Quest, you lead a team of heroes who take on whatever stands in their path using a crafted deck of cards. There are over 100 unique punch cards, and beautiful worlds filled with magic, dragons, gold, and more awaits. it also has an XP system, turn-based combat, and the typical features that RPG fans love. It’s a mix of steam-power and traditional fantasy, and it’s coming soon to PC.

JetX Review

By Terris Harned (NWOrpheus)

If you’ve ever seen a toddler learning to walk, it’s kind of an amazing thing. The process happens in a number of stages. First they pull themselves up onto their feet, then they let go and fall on their butts. Then they get to the stage where they hold onto things and shift their feet a little side to side. Next, they take a few tentative steps away from support, and again, they fall down. After a while, they begin taking those cute little bow-legged steps across the floor. Finally, they get walking down and try running. They’re not quite ready for it though, so they sort of lean forward, and their heads cause their center of gravity to shift, and their feet pump beneath their little bodies, trying to keep up. And then they slide across the floor, face first. It’s absolutely adorable.

In many ways, VR games are in the toddler stage. The racing game/arena shooter JetX, which actually offers VR and PC crossplay, is one of these toddler VR games, and it is definitely in that last phase. It’s not ready to run yet, so it puts everything forward, and then pumps to keep up, but inevitably it’s going to fall flat on its face.

You can see, things are pretty easy. I didn’t die until I switched weapons, which I did just to show you folks. The basic brawler is definitely the most reliable imo.

That’s a real pity, too. The game’s premise isn’t terrible: you’re in control of a robotic jet (I think?) doing things in far distant locals. The graphics are bright and catchy, if a bit monotone within their own structure. For example, one of the race tracks is called “Ruins of Raymar”. In it there are these large brown rocks that rotate, and you’re supposed to fly within the gap of the rocks. The problem is, the gap is really small, and the rocks all look like the rocks right behind. Furthermore, you’re going really fast (or trying to, it’s a race after all), and so you really can’t see the gap until you’re slamming face first into the boulder.

The controls aren’t the tightest either. I played the game both on VR (Oculus Rift) and on PC, and feel like the controls were definitely designed more with VR in mind, and PC as an afterthought. For example, there’s no way to look behind you on PC, where in VR your view is tethered to your head. It’s actually tethered to both your head and the thumbsticks, but I couldn’t find anywhere to adjust the sensitivity of the thumbsticks, so they were really jumpy.

In fact, there weren’t really options at all, to speak of. Yeah, there’s a few graphics options, and the PC version lets you adjust mouse sensitivity, but you can’t remap the keys at all on the PC version. You can on the VR version, but there’s only so many buttons to use, so there’s really very little point. The audio options were limited to volume controls and muting other players. I didn’t see any place for push to talk options, either on PC or on VR.

Here the AI is set to normal, and they just absolutely leave me in their dust from moment one, until the very end, when they’re fighting each other.

Not that there was anyone to talk to. I tried a few times to join matches, which I was always able to do, quickly. Unfortunately, this is because the matchmaker will simply drop you into a fresh game or, presumably, whatever game is currently going. This is somewhat troublesome, because if you’re in a deathmatch where the objective is to get 15 kills, and you get dropped into a game where a person has 13 kills, it’s rather unlikely you’re going to catch up. Again though, this doesn’t seem to be much of a problem, as it mostly seems like the multiplayer in JetX is a ghost town.

It’s also a little frustrating that a lot of the content is progression walled. There are seven guns total in the game; five guns for both VR and PC, and then one weapon which is exclusive to each platform. You can equip a different weapon type to each hand (or mouse button for PC) and they fire independently of each other. When you start the game, however, only three of these weapons are unlocked. It seems that the AI only ever use the basic weapon, the brawler, which is generally a sort of fast firing repeating laser.

Then there’s the AI itself. It has three difficulty levels: easy, normal, and insane. It should be: pathetic, insane, and just don’t bother. Easy wasn’t even remotely challenging, especially on PC, even as a new player, but normal was very very tough. I guess it’s for the best they don’t use power-ups, but even this seems like a failure on the part of the developers.

The AI essentially doesn’t miss in deathmatch, and in races they go unerringly towards the target. It’s possible to beat them in races, but basically only by shooting them. The game in fact knows that the AI is too good, it seems, because if you fall too far behind it gives you a magic portal on the track to help you catch up.

One of the better ways of taking AI out is power ups. There’s a decent little selection, from the black hole, which sucks enemies in and damages them, to the homing missile, which delivers a sound pounding. In some ways, it’s like Mario Kart, but without the randomness, and with 3D tracks that it’s very easy to lose your way on.

JetX PowerUps

Sorry I couldn’t get a clearer picture. There’s no way to not lock on that bot.

I’m loathe to simply say to avoid JetX. For all its foibles, it’s a pretty adorable little bit of tech. Playing around in VR is fun, at least for a time, and the game has a pretty low price point. As of the writing of this article, it’s only $14.99. That being said, there’s a certain element to it that makes it feel like it’s Early Release. Not so much that it’s terribly buggy or anything, but it definitely feels like they should have done some market testing before releasing it to fine tune the mechanics. Bottom line is, if you’ve got a VR system you can probably afford to blow $14.99 on something you might get a couple hours out of. Just don’t expect too much, and you won’t be disappointed.

I give JetX 2 out of 5 afterburners.

Battle for the Galaxy Ice Bastion Giveaway

We’ve partnered with AMT Games to offer visitors the Ice Bastion Pack for the freemium MMO, Battle for the Galaxy!

Battle for the Galaxy is a freemium cross-platform MMO strategy video game.

  • Join the battle: become a Commander of a star fleet, start as a Trooper and become the General of the Galaxy!
  • Unite in Corporations: find allies in numerous fights for galactic supremacy!
  • Protect your planet: deploy towers, traps and walls on your base;
  • Destroy enemy bases: send your army on assaults and earn Titanum and Energy;
  • Build your own strategy: plan successful attacks using countless combinations of troops, technologies and modules!
  • Prove yourself: participate in daily League competitions, Duels and Raids.

Your code offers the Ice Bastion DLC Pack on Steam, which includes additional content which will become available in-game after purchase:

  • 5 rare modules – modules provide permanent boost to your army and buildings
  • 500 antimatter – premium currency to spend on special buildings or lootboxes
  • 10 instant trainings – replenish your forces instantly and return to the battlefield
  • 2 legendary modules – even more power for your army!
  • Antimatter bunker – unique bunker that can be built over capacity
  • Ice world – icy decoration for your base (can be changed to default and back if needed)

To Redeem your Key:

  • Launch the Steam client software and log into your Steam account.
  • Click the Games Menu.
  • Choose Activate a Product on Steam…
  • Follow the onscreen instructions to complete the process.
 Note: Unfortunately ad blockers may interfere with our site. If you have any issues claiming a key, please disable them and try again.

Project C Announces Applications for the Open World Multiplayer Title

 

Project C New Art

Darewise Entertainment announced today that players are now welcome to apply for access to their Project C. This is an as-of-yet unnamed open-world multiplayer title, and interested parties can click here to sign up.  This is to gain access to the pre-Alpha test, that will cover multiple elements of the game. The goal of Project C is to give players a persistent open-world multiplayer experience, where they can join clans, build societies, and explore an otherwise abandoned planet. Corvus is the planet that this will take place on, and it has exotic wildlife, resources, and also powerful technology.

But players will have to take a survey to join this test, and once approved, they will go through an onboarding process that includes a live video chat with a member of Darewise. Darewise is a new studio led by Charbit, a former lead on Assassin’s Creed, who has assembled an all-star team of development talent including Half-Life 2 and Dishonored visual design director Viktor Antonov. The team is intent on evolving open world gaming and has partnered with Improbable to use its SpatialOS development platform.

“Players are always at the center of a great multiplayer gaming experience, which is why we’re inviting a select group of gamers to join Project C now in such an early stage of development,” Darewise CEO Benjamin Charbit said. “The greatest adventures happen with friends and that’s the real ambition of Project C – to give players a truly dynamic open-world gaming experience to play with and compete against one another.”

“Developing a truly world class video game has always required a standout vision, great team and technical know-how,” Darewise chief technical officer Samuel Kahn said. “Today’s best games are also deeply connected to their community. For us to reach the vision and goals we’ve set for Project C, we’re going to need players to join us on this adventure and help us make an entirely new open world experience.”