Author: Tom Buxton

Writer for Nitchigamer and lifelong fan of all things virtual. Used to be an adventurer like you but then took an arrow to the knee. If outdated jokes like those make you cringe then you'll find the door between my typewriter and NES.

Past Blast: Mass Effect 2

by Tom Buxton, posted in Past Blasts

With Mass Effect 2, in 2010, gamers were taken aback by the sheer immersion that this once glitch-infested universe now held, incorporating seedy alien organisations, planets filled with wonder and corruption and a storyline that matched all the greatest icons of the sci-fi genre both in this industry and in others (Star Wars? Meh. George Lucas didn’t have an army of Reapers preparing to converge on our planet.).

Certainly, there’s one thing that’s impossible to deny upon booting up the disc again for the first time in a while – the production values are astounding. From the layered and deep menus to the beautifully animated cut scenes and battles, there really is not a single moment in Mass Effect 2 where you’ll lose the sense of being fully integrated into its twisting and breath-taking plot threads. That BioWare had the sheer audacity to seemingly kill Commander Shepherd – the man who many of us had spent us hours upon hours levelling up in preparation for the sequel – off in the opening moments of the game, sending him hurtling into the lonely void of space with no oxygen remaining in his tanks, still resonates deeply, while also highlighting the developer’s justified confidence in the entire project.

Things don’t get any less ambitious from there, either, as we’re then thrown into the revelation that alleged terrorists Cerberus have resurrected Shepherd for a suicide mission (as if one literal near-death experience wasn’t enough), whereby he must gather a team to face terrible odds in order to stop the menacing Collector army building a new Reaper out of stolen human tissue. The countless red herrings and ground-breaking narrative shifts that are thrown your way throughout genuinely make for some of the most emotional and stomach-churning moments in modern video gaming, sure to push you to your absolute limits in terms of character empathy as they have with me a good while after my first playthrough.

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Perhaps it’s easy to forget, but Mass Effect 2 in itself was incredibly focused on its third-person shooter action, such to the point that you would barely go five or ten minutes of the main campaign without being engaged in some kind of firefight, be it against renegade human forces like the Black Suns or indeed the overwhelming Collector threat. The frequency of these dangerous interludes cannot be ignored, and yet it is all the more unexpected to me that all of the battles still feel integral to the overall storyline, really serving as the crux of the reason why even now Mass Effect 2 remains such a compelling, nay, gripping experience to relive.

The final moments on the Collector base only serve to heighten the tension and emotive drama that build steadily and convincingly throughout the game – if you can name one other title that provides such an impactful climax, whereby team members can be gunned down at random regardless of their loyalty or indeed their romantic status with Shepherd, then I’ll be amazed. I can assure you now that seeing my weathered and worn incarnation of the N7 Commander (who apparently has quite a few favourite shops in the Citadel, or so I’m informed) grimace over the graves of Tali and Mordin – both of whom failed to survive due to a reckless decision I made earlier regarding Tali’s father – was just as heartbreaking as when the majority of my team were gunned down back in 2010.

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For a video game to still provide just as many surprises, tears and thrills as it did two years before is one thing, but it’s that Mass Effect 2 retains the same heart, overwhelmingly engaging set pieces and true-to-life cast of human and alien characters that to me makes it one of the best releases of all time.

What did you think of Mass Effect 2 when you originally played it? Have you tried it again recently?

NeoGAF Theft Auto VI – groundbreaking leak or fake news triumphant?

by Tom Buxton, posted in Posts

Of all the challenges faced by industry marketing teams today, internal leaks must surely rank as by far the most commonplace. Just ask Ubisoft, who seemingly can’t even consider developing a new Assassin’s Creed entry without the press’ knowledge, or anyone responsible for organising Microsoft or Sony’s rarely watertight annual E3 showcases.

Less notorious for such slip-ups is Rockstar Games, a studio renowned for its complete refusal to publish new details on its upcoming projects until ready, doubtless infuriating its social media team as a result. Recent days might’ve seemed an exception to the rule with supposed leaks abound, but has GTA VI really broken cover? Let’s examine the evidence.

Takeaways:

  • Boosting NeoGAF’s building industry reputation as a viable web-scouring source, users of the platform have flagged up an intriguing new role listed by thespian Tim Neff on his purported official website.
  • The Suburbicon and Why Him? actor seemingly added a motion-capture contribution to a project entitled Grand Theft Auto VI last week, as well as Rockstar’s already-announced open-world Western sequel Red Dead Redemption 2.
  • Quite whether the ‘leaked’ information is accurate or a prime example of wishful thinking – and resume hacking – on the part of the GTA fanbase remains up to debate, however. For his part, Neff says he “worked on GTA V a long time ago” and hasn’t met Rockstar since, with his agent calling the resume and listing “made up”.
  • But at risk of us becoming conspiracy theorists, such denials don’t completely rule Neff out given his past Rockstar collaborations and the studio’s virtually guaranteed enthusiasm to continue their most successful IP in the near future. Who’s to say Rockstar hasn’t eyed up contributors to the project, even if Neff isn’t pulling our leg?

The prospect of Rockstar getting to work on their next GTA outing offers tantalising food for thought, regardless of the validity of Neff’s now-disputed listing.

Stay tuned to D-pad Joy for all the latest updates on – and accuracy-evaluating critiques of – both Rockstar’s confirmed and rumoured AAA productions as we move closer towards Red Dead Redemption 2’s spring 2018 release window and whatever lies beyond.

Metroid: Samus Returns gets tougher (and cuter) with new difficulty mode

by Tom Buxton, posted in Nintendo, Posts

First came console exclusives. Then came Day 1 DLC. Now Nintendo has found a whole new way to “gate off” craved gameplay elements, specifically those contained within the code of perhaps its most anticipated first-party portable production in years: the 3DS-only sci-fi adventure known best to rabid franchise fans as Metroid: Samus Returns.

Takeaways:

  • As with most of Nintendo’s recent Wii U, Switch and 3DS projects, the impending remake of beloved 1991 Game Boy side-scroller Return of Samus will boast Amiibo compatibility, with new plastic renditions of series protagonist Aran and her long-running gelatinous Metroid foes launching to celebrate the occasion.
  • There’s a catch, though. On top of granting Returns players the exclusive ability to hunt down and slaughter in-game Metroids aplenty by tapping the 3DS’ screen, the latter Amiibo will be a compulsory purchase for any brave souls hoping to tackle its campaign’s toughest difficulty setting, Fusion Mode.
  • Other Amiibo-exclusive features include an energy recharge function for Samus’ suit and a Metroid: Fusion-inspired costume with which to make the armoured bounty hunter resemble her GBA counterpart, both accessed via her own figure.

Predictably not everyone’s welcomed the news with the open arms that Nintendo and their co-developers MercurySteam would’ve probably hoped for, the prospect of paying a further £40 or more to own both Amiibos – and thus all bonus DLC – proving an enraging one for those hoping to access all content through the main game alone.

More than anything, though, it’s a sign of the times, what with Nintendo’s recent efforts to recoup its Wii U operating losses from last year via mobile products like Super Mario Run, the launch of their first ever Season Pass with The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and now Returns’ Amiibo-locked gameplay features.

Will that harsh economic reality appease those long-running Metroid avids feeling betrayed by the change of tact this time around? Almost certainly not, but it’s worth bearing in mind the need for such concessions in order for Nintendo to keep producing its – usually critically acclaimed – software before marching on their offices with pitchforks and torches tonight.

Be sure to let us know your thoughts on this contentious announcement in the comments below, and don’t miss our continuing coverage of Samus Returns here at D-pad Joy ahead of its release exclusively on September 15th.

Top 5 Open Worlds of Last Generation

by Tom Buxton, posted in Viewpoints

Ah, the open world. Perhaps the most tricky element of modern video gaming for developers to master, the idea of creating a huge gameplay area for players to roam at their own pace and explore to their heart’s content is certainly not unique.

But which open-worlds stood out the most in the last generation and can serve as a guiding light for this one? Where can you go to be completely immersed into the storyline experience of a particular game? Here are my Top 5 picks of the best open-worlds we saw on Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii, PlayStation 3 and the other, now, last generation consoles…

5. ROME (Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood)

From the moment that fans got a glimpse of the legendary city of Rome in the Renaissance era of Assassin’s Creed II, Ubisoft must have known they were destined to fulfil expectations and head there next. In doing so, they gave us a beautiful portrayal of the ancient landmark, showing us vast rural landscapes juxtaposed with the iconic Colosseum and its neighbouring developing urban areas.

The Montreal studio didn’t just make their depiction of Rome realistic, though – they filled it with countless tasks and highlights. From the dangerous Borgia Towers to the plenitudes of Brotherhood recruits and side missions, there wasn’t a moment when something couldn’t be found to do in Brotherhood‘s rich world. It’s not often that an environment is one of the title’s main selling points, yet that was most definitely the case in this sublime continuation of the ACII trilogy.

4. GOTHAM CITY (LEGO Batman 2: DC Superheroes)

In the past, Rocksteady have created some amazing locations for us to discover (and I’ll get back to them later), but there’s one iconic place in Batman lore to which they’ve never truly allowed us access. Any self-respecting Dark Knight fan out there will know I’m talking about Gotham City itself.

That didn’t have to mean that we wouldn’t get to see a version of Bruce Wayne’s hometown this generation, though. In fact, the city’s on-screen salvation came at the hands of the fantastic second LEGO Batman game. I could go on about the countless ways in which developer TT Games succeeded in portraying the classic fictitious crime central perfectly, but I need only refer you to the breathtaking experience of flying amongst the skyscrapers and stars of Gotham as Superman to sum it all up.

Soaring around the city using the digital map as the Man Of Steel is a video game event that few other licensed titles have hoped to match this generation. TT’s attention to detail is incredible, with references to the DC universe scattered throughout the world. Perhaps the actual interactivity of the city is a little lacking, but that can’t possibly lay a notable scratch on such a beautiful blocky creation.

3. PARADISE CITY (Burnout Paradise)

Criterion never needed to prove themselves in the racing genre. The Burnout franchise had always been a consistent cult success long before the release of their 2008 entry Paradise. All the same, their divisive choice to enter the open-world fray with the aforementioned current-gen debut was to prove a major hit, as their fictitious Paradise City was a groundbreaking work of innovation.

Anyone who has played Burnout Paradise will no doubt recall that you can barely cruise a mile in your vehicle before stumbling upon a new race or trick event, allowing for a level of engagement and constant addiction that isn’t found in many other racing titles. That the game world looks so impressive for its time is of no detriment either, nor that there’s a brilliant backing soundtrack of hundreds of rock classics to blaze along to as you go.

2. ARKHAM CITY (Batman: Arkham City)

Remember when I said I’d get back to Rocksteady? Well, here we are. It is rather uncommon for me to choose two instalments in the same licensed franchise to appear in a Top 5 feature, but for the Caped Crusader’s current generation run, I just had to make an exception.

For all the good TT Games’ great, somewhat cartoony take on Gotham City could do for Batman fans, there was one key element which it lacked to make it higher on the list – realistic immersion. In this respect, the titular Arkham City soars – to make a believable game depiction of a historical or modern real-world location is one thing, yet to adapt a fictitious comic world in a way that it makes it seem completely real is another challenge altogether.

What Arkham City lacks in sheer size and breadth, it makes up for in subtle scale. The intricate layers of detail the team’s artists and programmers have integrated into their world reach their peak in a moment that some players may have missed, yet to me stands as one of the most emotional sequences in video gaming ever.

Having entered this cordoned-off district of Gotham, Batman can choose to fly to the rear of Monarch Theatre to the back streets of Crime Alley. This dark and dingy alleyway holds the drawn silhouettes of Martha and Thomas Wayne (who were killed there in Bruce Wayne’s childhood) along with a bouquet of flowers. As the Dark Knight examines this tragic monument of his inception, the player has the option to have the protagonist bend down and pay tribute to his folks. At this point, a melancholic melody slowly begins to seep into the game’s gothic soundtrack, until the latter has all but faded away and the player is left only with the haunting vision of a man forced into darkness by the seeds of crime.

If ever fans wanted proof that Rocksteady truly understands their fanbase and indeed the universe their games inhabit, this touching moment is it. That this sequence is but a fragment of what Arkham City has to offer as an open-world stands testament to its quality and legacy.

1. LIBERTY CITY (Grand Theft Auto IV)

It would be impossible to even contemplate the development of the open-world genre in the current generation without referring to GTA IV‘s breathtaking Liberty City. As such, this stunning benchmark for video game environments stands tall at the top of this prestigious and tightly-fought list of rankings.

I can’t begin to count the number of times I’ve simply just lived in the world of Liberty City. What do I mean by this, exactly? In all of video gaming, I can’t name another time where I can truly just walk, drive or fly through an environment and remain totally immersed by its random events and characters. This even carries through to Chinatown Wars to some extent, the pixelated top-down world being the only thing that breaks the immersion in the DS spin-off.

Liberty City has its own radios, television stations, internet cafes, dating services and so many other elements that place it high above its competitors, simply because they can almost lure you into forgetting that you’re playing a video game. Play Super Mario Galaxy 2, Portal 2 or The Force Unleashed and you’ll be left in no doubt as to what entertainment format you’re taking ahold of, yet head back into GTA IV at any time and you may become so dazzled by the lights and heights, (bar the dated graphics) the lines between digitalisation and reality may start to blur.

Bayonetta Games with Gold

August Xbox Games with Gold deliver trials, factions and slime

by Tom Buxton, posted in Posts

While its programming wizards and marketing mojos are hard at work preparing the Xbox One X for its November 7th global launch, not to mention the bevvy of ‘enhanced’ AAA projects following in its wake, that doesn’t mean Microsoft has any plans of slacking on their monthly Games with Gold range during the interim.

True to form, the publishers are bringing another quartet of once-hallowed 360 and One titles back into the limelight in August, providing Gold subscribers with the opportunity to repeatedly slaughter hopelessly fragile motorcyclists, engage in guerrilla warfare aplenty or wade through countless foes as a femme fatale like no other…

Takeaways:

  • First up Xbox One owners can dive into a goo-laden open-world on August 1st via Steam Rancher, a first-person quasi-reimagining of Giants Software’s Farming Simulator series tasking players with breeding and caring for a remarkably intelligent bunch of slime life forms on an extra-terrestrial ranch quite unlike Old McDonald’s.
  • But come August 16th, Monomi Park’s quirky sci-fi sim steps aside, leaving the door wide open for the arrival of a cult classic. Enter Trials Fusion, the RedLynx-helmed fifth entry in the long-running vehicular puzzle saga, which packs 8-player online modes and countless means by which sadists can send hapless motorists to their demise.
  • Meanwhile loyal 360 devotees – and Xbox One owners thanks to backwards-compatibility – get two commercial underperformers but critical hits free of charge. Bayonetta leads the pack on August 1st-15th, introducing newcomers to Platinum’s visceral yet gorgeous slasher while also leaving them bemoaning the sequel’s Wii U exclusivity.
  • Then lands Red Faction: Armageddon, bringing up the rear on August 16th – September 3rd. Although Voalition’s grim sci-fi franchise has faded in recognition since the emergence of their Saint’s Row IP, any shooter reaping 72% on Metacritic nowadays certainly warrants a look, especially at a painless £0.00 price-tag.

As always, accessing these titles simply requires an Xbox Live Gold subscription on either console, after which members need only select the GWG icon on their dashboard to download each of these third-party efforts on the above dates. If you’re still undecided though, then we’ve included Microsoft’s showcase of their four August freebies below.

Be sure to let us know your thoughts on the latest Games with Gold line-up in the comments section, and keep it D-pad Joy in the months to come for regular updates on what’s to come for Xbox Live Gold and Silver members alike.

MCU-inspired worlds collide in LEGO Marvel Superheroes 2 trailer

by Tom Buxton, posted in Nintendo, Posts

Riding on San Diego Comic-Con’s hype-fuelled wave, TT Games have ramped up the marketing for the sequel to 2013’s LEGO Marvel Superheroes a step further. The inventively-named LEGO Marvel Superheroes 2 now lies only four months away and to celebrate we’ve gotten a new trailer focused on its main campaign’s central antagonist.

Takeaways:

  • Whereas the original instalment in this makeshift, brick-busting franchise of licensed platformers brought a band of classic Marvel Comics foes together to wage war on Earth’s mightiest heroes, this time around the Avengers must reunite to battle the near-omnipotent menace of Kang the Conqueror and his armada of alien invaders.
  • Judging by our first glimpses at Kang as he lays siege to Earth, transforming iconic Marvel locales from our world – not to mention time-zones such as the Old West and 2099 – into the tyrannical city of Chronopolis, he scarcely needs any back-up, overseeing the predictable carnage from his high-flying intergalactic cruiser.
  • The sequel’s narrative would naturally seem short-lived without some resistance from a protagonist or 100, however. Sure enough, we catch glimpses of a plethora of heroes like Iron Man, Spider-Man and the Guardians of the Galaxy fighting back, with most closely resembling their big-screen Marvel Cinematic Universe counterparts.
  • That said, new recruits are evidently along for the ride too, not least Spidey’s fan-favourite multiverse rival Spider-Gwen and – for those willing to shell out some extra cash for Superheroes 2’s newly-christened Deluxe Edition – the original Guardians roster, some of whom were recently teased in James Gunn’s Guardians Vol. 2.

Check out the full gameplay trailer in all its madcap, quite literally world-shattering glory for yourselves below. LEGO Marvel Superheroes 2 assembles on PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One – no word on an ‘enhanced for X’ version yet, however – and PC this November 14th.

Katheryn Winnick joins doctors and daredevils in COD: WWII Zombies

by Tom Buxton, posted in Posts

With just over three months standing between developer Sledgehammer Games and their latest project’s release, Activision has confirmed Katheryn Winnick as the newest addition to the voice cast of Call of Duty: WWII’s multiplayer Zombies campaign.

Takeaways:

  • The co-op component in question focuses on “an entirely new story” to previous Zombies-featuring entries like World at War or Black Ops, substituting the hilariously over-the-top confrontation between JFK, Nixon and the living dead for what Sledgehammer calls a “pretty horrifying” alternative rendition of WW2’s titular conflict.
  • Winnick will wade into this desperate battle for survival as Marie Fischer, an “intrepid” avatar who’ll bear witness – albeit in an as yet unconfirmed capacity of friend of foe – to “the Third Reich’s desperate attempt to create an army in the final stages of the war”.
  • The 39-year-old actress needn’t fear a sense of isolation in the Zombies recording booth, however, since this bonus COD adventure has already attracted plenty of star talent; listen out for past Doctor Who and Kinect Sports Rivals narrator David Tennant along with Elodie Young, better known to TV fans as Daredevil and The Defenders’ bandana-donning version of ninja fatale Elektra.

It’s safe to say given Sledgehammer’s emphasis on WW2’s back to basics formula that Zombies won’t likely get quite as much attention in the latest FPS instalment’s marketing as the solo plot. Even so, the more iconic stars like these that Activision attracts to lend their vocal chords, the more hype the mode’s sure to generate in the run-up to release.

Speaking of which, keep those vintage 1940s binoculars trained on D-pad Joy for all the latest news, opinions and our final verdict on Call of Duty: WWII in its entirety as its November 3rd launch on PS4, Xbox One and PC nears ever closer.

Meanwhile, check out the Zombies reveal trailer below…

Xbox One X family grows with next Bethesda titles

by Tom Buxton, posted in Posts

A somewhat confounding theme park setting aside – trust us, you had to be there – Bethesda’s E3 2017 showcase didn’t carry an abundance of earth-trembling shocks last month. Among the most welcome attendees, though, were the Wolfenstein and The Evil Within franchises, both of which earned themselves sequel announcements from the studio.

At the time the publishers confirmed the respectively Machine Games and Tango Gameworks-developed series would return to Xbox One, PS4 and PC. However, with the former hardware’s ‘console family’ expanding to include the Xbox One X at E3 too, Microsoft shifted the pieces on the industry’s chessboard for every publisher, Bethesda included…

Takeaways:

  • Enter the newly-announced Xbox One X versions of both MachineGames’ fantasy FPS follow-up Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus and Tango’s chilling third-person survival The Evil Within 2, which owners of the upgraded One console can witness via High Dynamic Range (HDR) graphics and a healthy 1080p 4K resolution.
  • The two upcoming productions join heaps of other titles set to launch both on the original One and in a technologically ‘enhanced’ form on the X, including past hits like Battlefield 1 and Dishonored 2 as well as many of 2017’s most-anticipated remaining AAA releases such as Assassin’s Creed: Origins and Need for Speed: Payback.
  • As to what players can expect from Bethesda’s partner studios, details are slim beyond the trailers below, but The New Colossus will likely pick up where 2014’s New Order left off, with wearied warrior B.J. leading the Resistance through further Nazi turmoil, whereas Evil Within 2 will almost certainly test how much psychological torment anyone brave enough to try its campaign can endure.

Naturally such news won’t appease those Bethesda fans still reeling from the near-complete absence of the Fallout and Elder Scrolls series from their E3 agenda, yet both underdog licences aren’t doing themselves any critical harm right now, with The New Order reaping a healthy 80% Metacritic score and 2014’s original Evil Within falling just behind at 72%.

But regardless of whether you’re a hardcore fan of these two franchises or haven’t heard of them until today, rest assured we’ll continue to bring you all the newsworthy updates on both projects’ development right up until The Evil Within 2’s October 13th debut on Xbox One, its X counterpart, PC and PS4 and The New Colossus’ launch two weeks later on October 27th.

Star Wars: Battlefront 2 beta awakens in October

by Tom Buxton, posted in Posts

Electronic Arts have drawn back the veil on the launch date for the multiplayer beta of their latest licensed tie-in, Star Wars: Battlefront II.

Set to meld together iconic set-pieces from all eight films in a long-awaited single-player campaign and a plentiful array of online modes, the first-person-shooter sequel will strive to right its predecessor’s much-vaunted wrongs, not least by ditching the 2015 original’s scorned season pass model and throwing a character class system into the mixture to boot.

Takeaways:

  • Come October 6th, Battlefront II’s online beta will arrive on Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC – via the Origin store – for every farm-raised hero, charming scoundrel and nerfherder alike to consume in all its far-flung, space operatic glory over three days.
  • As well as experiencing the expansive Naboo map showcased at E3 – with its Clones, Droids and magnificently over-powered Heroes – in Galactic Assault, fans can take flight too via the newly-announced Starfighter Assault mode, where EA promise “a variety of the most memorable Starfighters” from the hit sci-fi series.
  • But for “Han Shot First”- proclaiming, Holiday Special-defending devotees who can’t wait until October 6th for all of that content, pre-ordering the full game in the interim will offer two-day early beta access from October 4th, not to mention a rare “Yoda’s Epic Lightsaber Mastery” Star Card which practically sells itself on its name alone…

While holding off until approximately a month before Battlefront II’’s full-scale launch to trial its online component’s technical strengths and weaknesses might seem a risky gamble on EA’s part at first – not to mention an irksome delaying tactic in the eyes of fans who couldn’t attend E3 last month – there’s likely method behind the publisher’s madness.

After all, rather than showcasing a glitch-ridden, unfinished build of their foray into a galaxy far, far away in the next few weeks, the beta’s October launch should give the development team the chance to truly impress players with a near-complete version, yet at the same gathering data as vital as the Death Star plans to allow for tweaks before release.

Keep your eyes locked on D-pad Joy in the coming weeks to stay on target with all the latest Battlefront II news and views, ahead of both its multiplayer beta on October 6th-9th and its retail launch on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, PC and as an Xbox One X ‘Enhanced’ title this November 17th.

The Order: 1866 developers dive into VR with Lone Echo

by Tom Buxton, posted in Posts

Depending on whether you welcome Virtual Reality’s presence on the gaming scene, one of the two old adages may apply: it never rains but it pours, or you wait for one bus then two come along at once. Either way, what with the Tekken, Batman, Gran Turismo and Final Fantasy franchises all having played host to VR modes lately, the technology is here to stay.

That’s presumably why we’ve received word this week of the team behind such acclaimed AAA releases as God of War: Origins Collection, Ōkami and The Order: 1866, joining forces with the creators of the Oculus Rift head-set to delve into those same reality-bending realms with their next project.

Takeaways:

  • Currently going by the intriguing name of Lone Echo, the first ever collaboration between Ready at Dawn and Oculus Studios takes players on an interplanetary trip to Saturn’s rings, where they’ll encounter an “unknown anomaly” while exploring a desolate space station with their human companion. What could possibly go wrong?
  • Discovering the devastating answer to that not-so-rhetorical question will require no shortage of cunning or bladder restraint either, with the developers teasing “stomach twisting zero-G mobility” and “real-time problem solving” challenges in the single-player campaign for both the player and their avatar, one Captain Olivia Rhodes.
  • For now it’s exclusively a PC release with no other platforms teased at this stage, but nothing’s out of the question given Ready at Dawn’s past dabbling with Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony hardware alike, not to mention the latter corporation’s development of dedicated PlayStation VR hardware for titles like this one.

In the event that we’ve followed Leo DiCaprio’s lead in Django Unchained by capturing both your curiosity and attention, then rest assured that there’s not long now standing between you and Lone Echo’s launch, since this 2017 space odyssey will make its debut on the Oculus Store alone in just a few days’ time – July 20th, to be precise.

Be sure to let us know your thoughts on the latest addition to the ever-densifying VR pantheon – as well as the debatable merits of the technology’s exponentially enhanced influence on the industry in recent years – below, and stay tuned to D-pad Joy as the year progresses for all the latest coverage on such projects and their all-important hit record.

Mass Effect: Andromeda multiplayer DLC revealed

by Tom Buxton, posted in Posts

Never mind Star Trek’s iconic opening line; the “final frontier”, of greatest interest to fans of the Mass Effect series is Andromeda, the divisive latest instalment of BioWare Montreal’s sci-fi RPG franchise which some critics believe might have represented its last-chance saloon.

The project’s developers are predictably remaining silent regarding recent reports of their staff having been shipped off to work on Mass Effect publisher EA’s other AAA releases for 2017 like Battlefront II and Battlefield I DLC, but we do now know for certain to expect further downloadable content for Andromeda in the near future.

  • The DLC in question will take the form of an additional difficulty mode and playable alien species for the third-person-shooter’s APEX multiplayer component. The former goes by the name Platinum Difficulty, and while that title’s as much as the Mass Effect Twitter account seems willing to disclose right now, one would have to assume it’s bound to test even the most hardcore series veterans’ skills to their very limits…or need some serious technical overhauling if it doesn’t live up to that objective.
  • As for the new characters, fans of the first Mass Effect’s “Bring Down the Sky” DLC or their subsequent appearances in the other two chapters of the original trilogy can rejoice at the news that the Batarians are making a comeback, bringing all four of their intimidating jet-black eyes along to the stare contest to boot.
  • Just as one would expect of the franchise’s ever-devoted followers, some are already questioning how the fan-favourite extra-terrestrial soldiers managed to reach Andromeda’s titular star system given that they – to our knowledge based on the events of the campaign, anyway – weren’t present on the star-ships carrying colonists from an array of Milky Way races to a supposed new home.
  • The canon reason? Producer Fernando Melo wouldn’t spill the beans on Twitter, only teasing “[l]ore secrets (until the update)”. Let the countdown to the still-to-be confirmed update’s launch window begin, in other words…

Whilst this probably seems quite the opposite of closure or clarity which many fans were hoping for with regards to one of BioWare’s most successful IPs to date, if nothing else the studio appear to have at least offered their disciples a kernel of hope, confirming Andromeda’s planned DLC campaign hasn’t stopped dead in its tracks as some had suspected.

Could Mass Effect still delay facing its “final frontier” for now, then? Perhaps, or perhaps EA simply hope fans will end up too busy ploughing their way through Platinum Difficulty mode as Batarians to care for the time being. Only time – or indeed the wallets of anyone who for whatever reason couldn’t justifying picking up this one until Batarians entered the fray – will tell.

Until we hear more on the new multiplayer DLC pack’s release date, be sure to check out our 4/5 review of Andromeda here, courtesy of D-pad Joy’s Chris Wheatley.

Total War Saga, a new spin-off series, announced

by Tom Buxton, posted in Posts

As if it wasn’t enough for RTS stalwarts Creative Assembly to chronicle historical warfare across a whole range of eras – not to mention fantastical conflicts like those of the Warhammer universe – they’ve now apparently got plans to further expand their Total War workload.

On top of its upcoming Warhammer II, Arena and Battles: Kingdom instalments, the multi-decade-spanning PC franchise will soon add a spin-off saga to its belt with Total War Saga, a new strand seemingly unlike anything the developers have produced so far.

Takeaways:

  • Whereas past Total War outings like the Rome and Shogun entries have transported players from the beginnings of their titular epoch right until their downfall, the Saga entries will span far slimmer periods of time, prioritising minor military skirmishes which wrapped up within weeks or months of kicking off.
  • If that micro approach to storytelling sounds a tad familiar to anyone who caught Disney’s first big-screen Star Wars spin-off, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, last December, then you’re not alone – in fact, all Saga chapters will not-so-coincidentally carry the sub-title of ‘A Total War Saga’ to showcase their isolation from the franchise’s core ongoing narratives, a la Jyn Ero’s Rogue One escapades carrying no noteworthy links to the space-faring voyages of Rey and Finn in Episodes VII-IX.
  • With that being said, whereas the ‘Star Wars Story’ tales aim to depart from the territory which the main Episodes have already tread, Creative Assembly’s game director Jack Lusted warned not to expect new time-periods in these: “Sagas won’t be revolutionary new titles or introduce brand new areas,” he says, “They’ll follow on from previous Total War games and inhabit the same time-period, or at the very least relate to it.”
  • Expect details on the first of these spin-off entries in the not too distant future, with a “spiritual follow-up to Total War: Rome 2, like Total War: Atilla” alluded to by Lusted in his initial comments on the project. He’s staying coy beyond that information, though what with the Total War franchise’s lack of console appearances to date, it’s probably also a safe bet that the Saga vignettes won’t follow the lead of other recent Creative Assembly projects like Alien: Isolation or Halo Wars 2 onto Sony or Microsoft hardware.

The biggest question going forward is, as always, whether even a franchise of such esteemed critical calibre as Total War can sustain its appeal when potentially spread thinly across such a hefty loaf of bread, what with so many individual instalments in the works at the moment.

If this renewed multi-tier approach resembles the Disney-led Star Wars franchise not only in structure but quality, however, then the chance remains that Creative Assembly can bring its 14-year-old brand a new lease of life for the first time since its inception with 2000’s Shogun: Total War.

Whatever happens next, stay tuned to D-pad Joy in the weeks and months and eras ahead for all of the latest news and views on the Total War franchise in all its myriad forms.