Tag - Rust

Fallout 76: You Can't Get Killed If You're Under Level 5, But You Sure Can Fast Travel

Wed, 4 Jul 2018 05:37:15 +0000

From GameWatcher: "There has been some concern among the Fallout fans about the upcoming offshoot of the core series: Fallout 76. In particular, we know for a fact that there will be no singleplayer as such, and we know that there will be no human NPCs either. Bethesda have explained that Fallout 76 is an experimental experience - something different to keep things fresh. With that, we also know that Fallout 76 is going to be a survival multiplayer game first and foremost, with DNA from the likes of Rust and ARK: Survival Evolved."

PUBG developer debunks accusation maps are "asset flips"

Wed, 4 Jul 2018 02:47:15 +0000

The developer of PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds has debunked what it calls "misinformation" and "oversimplified tales" about the way the game is developed.
The criticism here revolves around the re-use of certain assets across PUBG's maps, and the buying of pre-made assets from the Unreal marketplace. Posts like the one below occasionally pop up on the , alongside the accusation that the vast majority of the game's maps were bought-in. Some even accuse PUBG of being an "asset flip" game.
This debate kicked off again this week after PUBG creator Brendan "PlayerUnknown" Greene expressed his frustration at the "asset flip" jibe in an interview with Geoff Keighley at E3, saying it "kills me a little inside".

Semispheres review for PS Vita, PS4, Switch

Wed, 4 Jul 2018 01:59:15 +0000

Pleasantly frustrating.
View the full article, here:

Objects in Space and the thrill of interstellar trucking

Tue, 3 Jul 2018 09:00:00 +0000

I love passing the time in Flat Earth's . In fact, I love passing the time in Objects rather more than I love actually achieving things in many other games. An absorbing blend of submarine and space sim distinguished by some decadently throwback interface design, it sees you hauling passengers and cargo across 2D star systems while dodging pirates or indulging in a bit of skyway robbery yourself. These journeys can take upwards of 10 minutes from system jump to system jump, and once you've given the autopilot a heading, there's essentially nothing to do save twiddle your thumbs and luxuriate in the retro ambience of your ship, with its chevron-fringed levers, neon grids and see-saw hum of cooling fans.
You might hop back to your comms room and check your email (best not to do this while the engine is firing, however, as the FTL modem drains power and your reactor can only handle so much in one go - I once managed to paralyse myself by downloading a newsletter in the middle of a braking manoeuvre). You could also turn on the MP3 player for a little light synth, or study the peeling posters in your bunkroom. Or you could click away from the game entirely, leaving it to tick over in another window till a rumble of thrusters indicates that you're approaching your destination. Objects in Space is discreetly composed of tabs, with different parts of your ship (or any space station you're aboard) accessed by hitting right or left arrow. Switching to your computer's desktop feels oddly like a continuation of this: it's as though the very hardware running the game were just another boxy nugget of 80s technology, lodged in amongst the raster displays and light-up buttons that comprise your bridge.
Out now in Early Access, Objects in Space lacks the more obvious grandeur of an Elite: Dangerous - there's no 3D galaxy map, no panoramic third-person view, just a spiral of pixel stars through the comms room viewport - but its grubby pocket of space-time feels every bit as lively as Elite's universe, and no less Dangerous. Each system is aswarm with merchant craft, enforcers, military ships, smugglers and banditos, their interactions tracked by your bridge sensors and hailing screen. Eavesdropping on those interactions is another great way of whiling away the longer voyages. As I write these words, the captain of the nearby Pygmy Giant is having a particularly terrible day - fined for possession of contraband just after leaving port, only to fall afoul of a pirate in the shadow of a nebula.

Generation Zero Is A Game You Should Keep Your Eye On

Tue, 3 Jul 2018 02:38:06 +0000

The latest in the slew of games the Avalanche Studios, Generation Zero is much quieter than the chaos inherent in both Rage 2 and Just Cause 4, both in its gameplay and development. A small project with only around 40 people developing it and no publisher attached to it, the demo we saw for Generation Zero managed to leave an impression thanks to its unique vibe and killer presentation.
Set in an alternate version of the 80s, Generation Zero takes place in Sweden and finds you playing as a teenager (or a group of teenagers) who have come home to find from a trip from an isolated island to find that the nation has been overrun with violent robots made out of junky cart parts. People are missing or worse, and there’s only you, maybe your friends, and a countryside filled with murderous machines.
Generation Zero immediately draws comparisons to the cult classic S.T.A.L.K.E.R and earns them, giving you a wide and desolated landmass to explore, filled with towns and settlements, most of them occupied by neighborhoods with houses that you can go into and explore—or use as barricades for when the action gets tough. Runing on the Apex engine, the same engine that powers both Just Cause 4 and Rage 2, Generation Zero’s version of Sweden is stunning, with light that cuts through the trees and a slight fog that makes figures in the distance all the more ominous. Game Director Emil Kraftling points to some island in the distance, saying that co-op players can explore the entire island while in a multiplayer session without being tethered to one another, if they so choose.
The demoer spends the first few minutes scavenging ammo and loot from cars and boxes, armed with only a rusty PPK. We come across one of the machines, a runner, that looks like four pipes stuck to a car engine with a lamp for a head. The demoer manages to kill it with a few shots to the head but Kraftling warns that the vast majority of machines aren’t that easy to take down. You’ll have to be smart if you want to survive.
Many of the robots have specific body parts you can disable that will give you an advantage in battle. Clip a robot’s legs and it can’t move (though it can still fire at you with machienguns), shoot one in its visor and it won’t be able to use heat seeking signatures to track you. Environmental objects also let you even the odds when you come across a pack of foes. During our session, the demoer found three Runners in a town center. Using a boombox he picked up earlier, our player tosses it next to a nearby electrical station. The Runners investigating the song playing from the boombox immediately suffer a shock to their systems when the demoer unleashes a volley of bullets on the electrical station. He quickly takes them out while they’re stunned.
The best thing about Generation Zero is just how effective and uniquely eerie the game’s atmosphere is. Despite being set in the 80s, you won’t find an obnoxious amount of neon splashing your screen or hear Michael Jackson blaring from nearby radios. From what we’ve seen Generation Zero refuses to give into the temptation of paying excess homage to the decade of excess. Instead, there’s an unnerving level of HG Wells-style crypticness about the whole affair. Where did the machines come from? What do they want? How do you repel them? Avalanche says that answering these questions will drive the game’s narrative which, again, can be experienced as a solo player or with a squad.
Our demo ends when our player comes across a new kind of mech in a field, one that dwarfs the Runner in size, awkwardly strutting about like a hobbled giraffe. There are square shaped boxes on its shoulder. The player takes a rifle shot at the mech and it responds by opening those boxes and showering the entire field with a rainstorm of missiles that kill the demoer and cutting to black.
We came away impressed with this slice of gameplay from Avalanche’s latest. As far as setting a mood, Generation Zero fires on all cylinders, engendering a spooky horror atmosphere that makes the game stand part from both Avalanche’s trademark zany output as well as the vast majority of other open-world survival games. We’ll have to wait more to learn about Generation Zero, which is due out in 2019, but this is one spooky co-op fest that has our undivided attention.

Dark Souls Remastered - Skewed 'n Reviewed

Mon, 2 Jul 2018 15:37:47 +0000

Michael at Skewed and Reviewed has posted a very positive review for the remastered Dark Souls. He states that it is still a very hard game to complete but it looks better and is lots of frustrating fun.

Best PC controller 2018

Mon, 2 Jul 2018 15:35:47 +0000

Want to know what the best PC controller is? We’ve tested all the best current game pads to help you make the decision as to which top plug into your gaming PC.
You could argue you've already got the best PC controller plumbed into your machine when you've got a trusty keyboard and mouse. But, sometimes (and only sometimes) having a specific gaming controller to hand can be quite useful. Whether it’s a great wired or wireless pad, an official or third-party device, having a well-built, comfortable controller can really make the difference to your game. So it’s important you make the right choice.
Pads are great, but it’s also important to make sure you’ve got the .
We’ve checked out the official Microsoft Xbox One and Elite pads, as well as the excellent Sony DualShock controller. But the likes of Scuf and Razer are still making decent alternatives if you’re looking to peacock with a funky design or just want a host of different buttons at your thumbs’ disposal.
But there are specific controllers for other game genres too. A flight or space-based sim really demands a quality flightstick, especially one with a separate throttle for those BSG Viper-esque, non-Newtonian dogfights. And if you’re a dedicated racer then a steering wheel, with good force-feedback, can shave valuable seconds off your in-game lap times.

Dark Souls Remastered - Skewed 'n Reviewed

Mon, 2 Jul 2018 15:34:48 +0000

The emotional Ankkoro "smartband that will definitely change your gamer life" really won't

Mon, 2 Jul 2018 12:01:00 +0000

If you’ve ever wanted to know just how infuriating a particular Dark Souls boss is, the Ankkoro smartband may one day be able to tell you. This Kickstarter smartband utilises four sensors to sense your emotional state and potentially inform the game or an entire audience of Twitch viewers how you feel - whether that’s happy, sad, stressed, worried, or even bored.

The Ankkoro bracelet monitors your body temperature, gestures and movements, skin reaction, and heart rate to create a constantly updating image of your emotional state. The creator’s believe this tech has the capacity for a huge range of applications, from game development to real-time events in-game.

Prefer to take the traditional approach to gaming? Here are the we have had our mitts on.

Currently only a handful of titles are supported by the smartband. Four out of the six listed games are VR titles, which the creators believe will separate the bracelet from other biometric devices. After all, Ankkoro isn’t the first of its kind, but while others were often head-mounted - and therefore incompatible with VR - Ankkoro isn’t so limited due to its location on your wrist.

These games will directly interact with the information provided by the smartband in a variety of ways - from saving short clips when your emotions spike, to actually changing how the game plays to infuriate or scare you. The project also outlines uses for developers in game-testing for the most frustrating areas of a game or experience, and Twitch integration, allowing you to share your emotional state with your viewers.

Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden Gameplay Trailer

Mon, 2 Jul 2018 05:07:14 +0000

Announced just a few months ago, Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden rustled quite a few feathers when it introduced a crossbow-wielding, bipedal, and unusually sassy duck to the otherwise bleak apocalypse genre in its unique and surprising reveal CGI. During the E3 in Los Angeles, publisher Funcom and the developers at The Bearded Ladies...

Esper puzzles onto PSVR next week

Mon, 2 Jul 2018 01:47:05 +0000

I do love a good puzzle game, more so when it's in VR and Coastsink Software are bringing their popular mobile VR puzzler, Esper, to PSVR next week and it looks like great fun. Like something from the minds of Aperture Science Laboratories – it seems that you are cast into a whole sequence of testing on account of an unusual telekinetic ability to move objects – there's the point of reason of context for PSVR. Essentially it's a cool set of puzzles in VR. “Esper is where the VR journey began for Coatsink and it holds a dear place in our hearts. Having Oculus approach us in the early days of modern day VR and trust our then small team to build and create an acclaimed VR game for Gear VR was nothing short of incredible." Tom Beardsmore, CEO of Coastsink Software Esper launches on June 29th, 2018.

We asked three burning questions about E3 2018 video

Mon, 2 Jul 2018 01:43:07 +0000

Because we can't only trust Jeff Bakalar's opinion, he asked CBSi colleagues about what they thought of E3 2018.

Six Changes That Make NHL 19 The Most Promising Hockey Game Of The Generation

Mon, 2 Jul 2018 01:38:43 +0000

After starting the console generation in the hole with a handicapped debut, EA’s NHL series has slowly skated back toward relevancy by rebuilding popular modes like EASHL and introducing new ways to play like NHL Threes. But despite incremental changes, the game has never felt truly next gen. Based on our early impressions with NHL 19’s new skating and physics systems, that time could finally be coming.
In addition to getting hands-on time with the title, we sat down with longtime producer Sean Ramjagsingh and new creative director William Ho, who most recently worked on the Need for Speed franchise, to talk about the big changes coming to NHL 19 both on and off the ice. Here are the standout changes.
A Revolutionary New Skating System
For years, we’ve been asking for dramatically improved player handling to give us more fidelity in moving in small spaces, more agility when making turns so it doesn’t feel like you are steering the Titanic, and better puck pickups. EA Canada thinks it can go three for three on these requests thanks to the integration of the Real Player Motion animation technology and significant changes to how players skate.
Grabbing the controller, it only took a matter of seconds to understand just how dramatically the skating system has improved. Players burst out of their stops, showing the acceleration of world-class athletes. Their edgework, crossovers, and carving looks line with NHL players, and it’s much easier to turn, cut, and make hard stops. Turns are more responsive and natural feeling. "Before it was difficult to just take a step or two over, now you can actually do that," Ho says. That fidelity of movement is going to be necessary, because when elite stick handlers get used to the new skating, they could be even harder to stop.
You should also notice a wider variety of skating animations from player to player. For the first time in the series, EA motion-capped small, mid-sized, and large players to give them unique movements.
The wide new variety of animations makes it easier for the players to reach for the puck, kick the puck to their stick, or glove the puck, which hopefully alleviates the myriad frustrations around puck pickups. “We've really dramatically improved in this department," Ho says.
More Realistic Player Collisions
The new skating animation system couples with a new physics engine to add a lot more variety to the types of hits you see across the ice.
“The new physics engine gives us the ability to tune every single limb on the character, and because you see them in new positions they were never in before, we're seeing tons of new checks,” Ramjagsingh says.
We saw several of these hits in action in our brief time with the game. Some examples include a larger player driving through his target, open ice hits that stop the puck carrier flat, and awkward collisions that take out a players’ arms and legs on the same side. Ramjagsingh says they’ve even seen players helicopter spin when hit right.
The incidental contact when players are fighting for the puck also looks more realistic based on the brief time we’ve had with the game thus far.
With physicality returning to a more prominent place in the game, the team is still refining defensive tools like poke checks to make sure they aren’t too overpowered. As the game is currently tuned, if a puck carrier is protecting the puck properly, there is a very low chance of getting poke checked and a higher chance of drawing a penalty.

Introducing The World Of Chel
The EASHL is the NHL franchise’s stickiest mode, so when exploring new ways of capturing the essence of the sport, EA wanted to expand the way players compete against one another. Enter The World of Chel.
This new social hub includes EASHL, Threes pick-up games, plus two new modes. The first is NHL Pro-Am, which allows players who want to play online to hone their skills against A.I. before jumping into real competitions. This mode offers 40 3v3 challenges against the best hockey players past and present. The second is Ones, a new skill-based competition that pits your talents against others in a three-for-all where the player who scores the most goals against an A.I. goalie in a certain amount of time wins.
As you win these 1v1v1 competitions, you earn points that can eventually move you up the competitive tiers. Conversely, if you’re on a losing streak you face the real threat of being relegated back down the ladder. You start playing in a parking lot rink, and can earn your way up to the cove rink, dock rink, and eventually a resort-style rink with massive stands, a festival atmosphere, and live music. These outdoor environments are partially inspired by events like the U.S. Pond Hockey Championships (and feature a unique announcer), but EA took some liberties with the locations. For instance, one is modeled after Lake Louise in Banff National Park, which has the beautiful Canadian Rockies as a backdrop.
Ones hosts a daily tournament, so whoever ends up in first place gets a special reward in the form of cosmetics. Another player who sees you wearing a Ones reward will know you're a past champion. These matches are quick, so while this mode won’t be a destination experience for me, I could see myself killing time in these games while waiting for my EASHL team to form up.
Greater Player Customization
No matter which World of Chel mode you play, your created player earns XP and rewards in the form of hockey bags.
When first creating your player, you can choose your height and weight, which has parameters based on the 12 available player classes that break down according to classic hockey archetypes (sniper, playmaker, grinder, etc). From there, you can pick from dozens of traits to activate in a primary and secondary slot, as well as specializations. The primary trait is more heavily weighted, and the secondary gets about half the weight. The game gives feedback when you are activating a trait via new HUD icons that light up in the lower left-hand corner, so you can understand if the trait fits with your play style. A large number of traits are unlocked right from the start, and the game awards the rest quickly as you level up.
Specializations are more context-based, like getting more energy late in a period or giving your team energy boosts if you get a late goal.
Since you won’t always be playing the same class in EASHL, NHL 19 allows you to save multiple loadouts so you can develop different roles like stay-at-home defensemen, hitting sniper, etc.
"Ultimately, we want people to have their favorite loadout so that when they're playing with their buddies, they are min-maxing,” Ho says. “They are strategizing as a group in how they are going to go in as a team with everyone playing their role on the team with their different loadouts."
Every time you level up, you earn a hockey bag that includes a random cosmetic item. Given that EA wants to expand into the wider hockey culture, this means you will receive apparel well beyond team jerseys. Yes, there is a lot team-brandedded apparel (for current teams – don’t expect a lot of Whalers and North Stars gear), but you can also earn parkas, hoodies, hats, track pants, cargo pants, breezers, unique skates, and fun sticks like an NHL ’94 themed twig. In all, EA says it has more than 900 customization items in the game, with more to come post-release.
Given this is EA we’re talking about, you’re probably wondering if these hockey bags are microtransaction focused. "They're not monetized, I'll say that right away,” Ho says. So why is it randomized instead of letting players pick what they want? “We wanted to create a lot of divergence so everyone is getting different rewards so they'll equip different pieces of apparel. We'll get instant variety on the ice."
You can’t trade items with other players, but at least you won't have to contend duplicates.
Doubling Down On Legends
We’ve had NHL legends appear in various modes like Hockey Ultimate Team before. But thanks to an agreement with the NHL Alumni Association, EA Canada is bringing enough legends to NHL 19 to fill out several all-time teams. More than 200 legends are featured in this year’s title, including The Great One himself, Wayne Gretzky. These legends aren’t all from recent eras, either. The game has Hall of Famers extending back to the days of black and white television, including stars from teams relegated to the dustbin of history like the Hartford Whalers and Minnesota North Stars.
A New Scouting System
We plan to go into greater detail on this at a later date, but what we can tell you right now is EA has designed its franchise mode scouting system to give players more control on how they scout, which results in more useful information on prospects. The CPU teams also have access to this new system, and should be much more active in draft day trades to make sure they get their most coveted prospects.
In addition to handling amateur scouts, you will also be managing a team of pro scouts, who will need to be deployed so you understand how other team’s prospects are progressing and whether or not aging players are regressing. These changes should add teresting management options for players who like to tinker with roster creation.
NHL 19 is scheduled to release on September 14 for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.

Hollow Knight review - a slick, stylish, and super tough Metroidvania | Eurogamer

Sun, 1 Jul 2018 21:37:19 +0000

Vikki Blake writes, "There's so much more to talk about: the quirky cast, the stunning, subtle setpieces, the special abilities, the colosseum, the grubs (oh, I love them so), but really, this is a journey tailormade for exploration and self-discovery, so rather than read about it, I can only urge you to play it. If you've been looking for a polished platformer (and can take on a tough little Metroidvania without screaming in anger or frustration), put this on your wishlist, or better still, grab it now. You won't regret it."

Games need to take a Minit and think about their huge worlds

Sun, 1 Jul 2018 01:57:21 +0000

Time limits are a much maligned bit of game design. A single level with a race against time is fine, Halo's final warthog run or Call of Duty Modern Warfare's desperate fight through a nuclear silo. But turn that into a whole game? People still argue over The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask and Dead Rising. The creeping pressure is quite the stress, and finding a balance that still pays off people's potentially lengthy investment should they fail to meet certain actions in time is evidently not easy. Minit's solution is right there in the name and it's magic.
Minit has a time limit, at the end of which you will die and lose your progress through the game's world. Some things are kept but you'll be starting from the last bed you slept in. What makes it work? You're only sent back a mere minute in time. That sharp focus and tiny scale turns the time limit from just an obstacle and into a way to actively encourage the player. 60 seconds isn't much to lose and so instead of a frustration, it's a prompt to do things better, quicker and smarter next time. It pushes you to really engage with the world because, when every second counts, you've got to find every shortcut, every exploit and get very good at taking out or avoiding enemies. That self-imposed limit means the designers have to fill every space, every single screen with things to do as players will return again and again. Density over vastness.
This mechanic highlights so many of the problems in other game worlds, especially open worlds. Some games are so big, and yet we engage with such a small percentage of their space in a meaningful way. When time isn't an obstacle, why not have miles and miles of samey fields? "More is better" is such a common characteristic of big budget titles and the result is big spaces, filled with repetitive content and scarcely anything memorable. Our interactions with so many gaming worlds is passive. Even when they're pretty enough to make us stop and snap a screenshot we're still not learning them or unravelling them. They just want to get us to the next item on a checklist.

The Best Cheat Systems On PS4

Sun, 1 Jul 2018 01:48:29 +0000

Hey, we get it. Sometimes that boss, that stage, that single enemy is just too difficult. You’re a busy person, and you have a very busy life; you don’t have time to waste banging your head against a metaphorical brick wall over and over again (or perhaps a physical one if the frustration is that ...

Games need to take a Minit and think about their huge worlds

Sun, 1 Jul 2018 01:46:05 +0000