Life is Strange’s prequel (we all knew was coming) has been confirmed today at Microsoft’s E3 2017 conference.
It’s called Life Is Strange: Before The Storm and is a three-part episodic adventure developed by Deck Nine. Players will take control of Chloe in events that take place before the beloved first game.
Episode 1 will be released this August 31st on Xbox One, and we assume everything else too. Check out the trailer below!
I present to you 5 reasons why a Doctor Who game can’t work. (Believe me, I would really want it to).
THE CHARACTERS: Any fan of Who will be able to safely say that one of the show’s most impressive traits that has secured its place in television history for forty-eight years now is its character drama.
When the programme returned in 2005, it placed a central focus on the life of Rose Tyler, a teenage shop worker who found herself caught up in the life of a time-travelling alien. We followed Rose and the Doctor over the course of thirteen episodes, witnessing the tragic destruction of the planet Earth, the invasion of London by the Slitheen, the horrifying effects of the return of a lone Dalek on the Time Lord and ultimately his startling regeneration prompted by love and loyalty from his most devoted companion. More than ever before in the ‘classic era’, Russell T Davies placed a distinct focus on the companion and each of the emotional ramifications of these ground-breaking events on her, something which made for brilliant television seven years back and still rings true with Steven Moffat’s interpretation today.
Now, unless game developers have plentiful cut scenes to the point of Metal Gear Solid, Doctor Who video games are going to have to tone down the focus on the emotions and actions of the protagonists to the point that much of the heart of the show may be removed in the process, thus possibly leaving us with a dull imitation of the programme rather than a realistic depiction.
THE VISUALS: A simple one to explain, really: until BBC Worldwide actually invests some proper time and cash into making the graphics of a Doctor Who video game look as if they were intended for a current-generation console release rather than for the PlayStation 2 or GameCube in 2004, we’re never going to be able to be totally satisfied with the results of the final product. We had the atrocious 2010 frankenstein creature that was Return To Earth for the Nintendo Wii, and the hideously retro style of the Layton-alike DS effort Evacuation Earth. We need a modern game with modern graphics.
THE MYSTERY: Ever since An Unearthly Child kicked off the show’s extraterresterial and time-shifting exploits with its romp to the age of cavemen in 1963, fans have been constantly amazed at what the BBC can achieve in terms of Who’s special effects budget and rendering of alien worlds and past/future timelines. As soon as you move into the video games industry, then, you’re given an obligation to try and match that sense of wonder and mystery that comes every time the Doctor and his companion step outside the TARDIS doors, an obligation which BBC Worldwide ignored as they brought us spaceship corridors, junkyards which are hugely reminiscent of Earth’s and other lifeless environments.
Eternity Clock at least used multiple time periods and incarnations of London (as well as Storm Cage, an alien prison), a more daring set of locations than any past endeavour by developers, yet that was still fairly lacking in ambition on SuperMassive’s part. Nothing will surprise me quite as much as the show can when I walk out of those blue police box doors, and that that will always be the case in Doctor Who video games.
THE SCRIPT: Once again, this comes down to the format of the episodes in their modern day context, but to an extent it relates back to the ’63-’89 era too. If you go back and look at any single story of Who, I guarantee that you’ll be able to find some great one-liners that come back to haunt the characters later (“It is returning…it is returning through the dark…and then, oh but then…he will knock four times…”), romantic or family-based heart-warming dialogue to bring the audience together in joy or laughter (“I’ll suffer if I have to kill you.” “More than the entire universe?” “Yes.”
The grand extent of the humour in Return To Earth was the Cyber-Men demanding an AI be converted, only for her to keep retaliating with “But I do not want to be converted”. Really?
THE PLOT RESOLUTIONS: How can you ever top the huge cliffhangers the show has in video game? It’s in moments like these where Doctor Who shines totally as a television show, and which convince me that there is no way of accurately portraying the drama in a gameplay-focused product without losing a whole heap of what makes it great along the way.
What are your thoughts reader, can there ever be a good Doctor Who game?
Out of nowhere we have a new trailer for the highly anticipated Kingdom Hearts 3. You can find it below (I’ll just go and lie down now!).
Fortune favours the brave, but can that adage extend to a spin-off from Microsoft and Lionhead Studios’ Fable series which boldly takes inspiration from The Witcher 3‘s Gwent card game?
Either way, there’s officially not long now until we know for sure, since developers Flaming Fowl Studios and Mediatronic have confirmed that Fable Fortune will launch – albeit in an early access build of the full product – this July 11th.
Set for release on Xbox One and PC, Fortune tasks franchise veterans and newcomers alike with gathering the cards to wage tactical, turn-based warfare either in single-player or PvP modes.
On top of that, the standalone offshoot’s main gameplay trailer (below) teases the chance to relive “old memories” from Fable‘s fantastical past or “create new ones”, with characters both iconic and original seemingly appearing along the way.
The idea of pitting such a nostalgia trip against other Collectible Card Games (CCGs) in a crowded market featuring Gwent, Magic: The Gathering and more would already seem daunting in and of itself, but a far greater challenge lies in Fortune‘s path.
In the wake of original dev Lionshead’s closure last year, Flaming Fowl took the project on and – after an ineffective Kickstarter campaign – had to scrap together funding itself, meaning they’ll doubtless want its sales to justify such costly toil on their part.
Indeed, given the underwhelming sales of Kinect spin-off Fable: The Journey in 2012 and the lack of further franchise announcements from Microsoft, Fortune could feasibly serve as the long-running saga’s swansong. No pressure, then.
With any luck, though, by launching in its quasi-alpha form next month rather than during the kill-or-be-killed autumn season of blockbuster AAA titles, this potential series finale may well reap plenty of much-needed recognition ahead of its full-scale release.
Come July 11th, expect to see Fable Fortune‘s early access build hit Xbox Live for £9.99 / $14.99 / €12.99 sporting a 20 pack of cards including rare Flaming Fowl and Giant Egg designs, with a free-to-play version following at a date TBA in late 2017.
Expect our review of Fortune around that time as well (not to mention our coverage of Microsoft’s other major 2017 titles as they’re revealed at E3 this week), but until then, here’s the full gameplay trailer in all its top-down glory…
Axiom Verge: Multiverse Edition is now coming to the Switch (awesome!), alongside the Wii U, PS4 and Vita versions.
The Axiom Verge: Multiverse Edition will include the following:
Developer Thomas Happ had this to say:
People often asked me about the early days of Axiom Verge – about how I was able to make a game completely on my own over the course of 5 years of evenings and weekends while holding down a full-time job. The long form documentary format really made it possible for me to take the time and explain that process as well as go into some detail about the difficulties of balancing work and family responsibilities.
You can watch the trailer below – which console will you be buying the game for? For me it has to be the Switch. Let us know in the comments below!
Tarsier Studios are keeping us on our toes by publishing more information on their new DLC “Secrets of The Maw”!
On June 7th they published a mini-interview with the producer Stephen Halett to give some much-needed answers to questions asked by fans.
According to Halett, there were things left unanswered at the end of the game (a statement on which I totally agree), and they are now taking the opportunity to answer some of those questions – revealing more story about the The Maw and its inhabitants. They consist of three chapters working as self-contained stories, and will be released in an Expansion Pass format.
We get to experience more of The Maw as an underwater prison, and what happens to children that are brought there – through the adventures of the new protagonist, The Runaway Kid. We can also then assume that the speculations about the protagonist’s name being Seven has been debunked – unless they at some point change their minds.
Each chapter is set in a new environment with new gameplay features and challenges, such as more difficult puzzles and implementing water mechanics:
When asked about why they wanted to involve a new character, Halett says they wanted a different perspective when shedding light “on the darkest secrets of The Maw”. He continues to say that The Kid’s and Six’s stories will cross paths several times over the coming chapters – learning more about her story while playing another.
The three chapters are ready to be pre-ordered on Steam and the PlayStation Store, and will respectively be released in July, November and January.
This should be interesting… I feel dread and excitement at the same time… I mean… *cough* LET’S DO THIS.
The new trailer for Middle-earth: Shadow of War shows off some epic story scenes to come, and quite frankly, it looks awesome.
It shows Talion and Celebrimbor as they use the power of the New Ring to forge an army and confront the deadliest of enemies, including Sauron himself!
The video also features a host of new allies, villains and creatures that ‘The Bright Lord’ will encounter. Excited? Watch the trailer below.
Cubit The Hardcore Platformer Robot HD (that’s the full title folks!) is coming to the Wii U eShop tomorrow – for both the US and Europe.
The basic idea of the musical platformer? Game developer CoderChild (a former Ubisoft programmer who decided to go it alone) explains with some enthusiasm:
With only one button to jump, you must help Cubit to go from platform to platform, while you avoid obstacles and enemies through the different scenes of the game.
Perhaps you think this makes this game not difficult, right? Well, you are right; this game is not difficult… this game is Hardcore! Choose the path you want to do in each game and reach each of the 3 endings available!!
Some of the key features of the game include:
Our thoughts
Cubit The Hardcore Platformer Robot HD certainly looks like a lot of fun, especially if you’re into rhythm-platforming games. There seems to be some meat to the bones here as well, with quite a lot of content in the package.
Check out the trailer below to get a taste of what it’s all about. Will you be trying this one out? Or is your Wii U covered in dust and hidden away? Let us know!
UK Game developer Idea Cabin has announced that Drive By Hero, a zombie shooter on wheels, (yes, that’s right!) is coming to PC next week. When is more zombies a bad thing?
Here’s what they had to say about the game:
In Drive By Hero, you play as a soldier who has to accomplish a mission of paramount importance: saving America by defeating rampaging zombies that you encounter during your adventure. With just your weapons and your vehicle at your disposal, try to survive in this apocalyptic shooter.
This writer hopes the vehicle doesn’t run out of fuel! Drive By Hero is available next week on Steam Early Access. Will you be giving it a look readers? Let the trailer below help you decide.
Here’s a summary of everything that was announced at the Pokémon Direct today:
Did these announcements excite you, or were you expecting a brand new title? Let us know in the comments below!
Releasing previous titles seems to be something that is less common these days, but there is still a case to be made for bringing old titles back to life using new technology. When it comes to this, there are two routes to go down; re-master the old game or remake it entirely from the ground up. Both of which have their pros and cons, but which truly represents the series and brings the heritage of it back to life?
Generally speaking re-mastered titles have been given a bad rap when they have launched, predominantly in the last generation of consoles when PS2/Xbox games were brought to PS3 and Xbox 360. Take for example when the Splinter Cell titles were re-released on PS3; not much effort was put into these to make use of the new hardware or do the series much justice. Of course, there are exceptions where an old title can bring countless more hours worth of entertainment to new consoles, much like the Kingdom Hearts re-releases where bugs were ironed out and the graphics were given a new lease of life.
But there’s potentially an argument there in itself when it comes to a re-master; how far should they go to re-master the game and how much of the original should they keep in? Nostalgia is a funny thing and playing a poorly produced re-release, or one that doesn’t stay true to the original, can ruin the memories and attachment to a series for some gamers. We can all remember one bug or another from a previous game (before mandatory/automatic updates were a thing) which will forever stick in our brains, so if we remove these are we ruining the originality of the game?
It’s a tricky decision to make as this will probably split gamers right down the middle in terms of what they do and don’t want from re-mastered games. Personally I’d like the game to retain some of its originality, not completely overhauling the graphics, but to at least eradicate the bugs so it runs perfectly when it may not have done first time around.
With that in mind though, would they not be best simply recreating the game from the ground up and using the old game as inspiration to update the game to current standards? One key example of this is the upcoming, and still quite secretive, remake of Final Fantasy 7. Not much is known about this game yet, but we do know that it will be overhauled and updated to modernise/bring it in more in-line with more recent Final Fantasy games. One of the main updates would be that the battles will now be more dynamic and open, rather than the traditional turn-based system used in the original.
If you asked me, I’d be more than happy to see this given a new lease of life using modern technology but keeping the fundamentals of the original. I’d want the turn-based combat to remain, yet more cinematics and the characters brought to life with voice acting, which they didn’t have previously. If you remake the game, you’re taking the game away from its roots in my eyes, and I would rather leave it as it was than potentially play this remake and it ruin my memories and feelings towards the original.
Yet there will be people who will welcome this with open arms and will love to see the game re-imagined and worked on by a new team with some fresh ideas that can make the game feel like it is brand new. So the question is: who do you please? Do you please the people who would like the roots of the game to be kept? Or do you aim the game at those who would like the game to be re-made from the ground up?
Somewhere along the line it will all boil down to costings and which developers can be trusted to work on a beloved series or franchise as not to tarnish its reputation. It would also depend on its success, as the developers would not want to spend huge amounts of money on something that may flop, so should they spend money on re-masters or remakes at all?
When we are on the eve of having the most powerful home console delivered to us in Project Scorpio, and PS4 Pro already pushing 4K gaming, should we be focusing on bringing new content to the forefront? This time and money could be used better elsewhere in bringing us new IP’s, new experiences and ensuring the future of console gaming is secure. When all is said and done, don’t we have enough to play without bringing games back from the past?
That itself is a debate in itself for a different day, but I for one would like to think that we are moving on from the remake/re-master trend and begin to focus our attention on the future. Let’s celebrate what we have to come, not what we had, and embrace the new experiences that are yet to come.
In an interview with Time Magazine, Sony’s Shawn Layden was asked what he thought about the Nintendo Switch. He had this to say about the hybrid machine:
It’s a great success for Nintendo. It’s definitely what that fanbase has been waiting for.
Asked whether he thought the Switch would detract from Sony’s ongoing success, Layden said he believes that the two consoles in fact compliment each other quite nicely:
When you look at our numbers, I think it shows that a lot of gamers are a two-console family. And quite often those two consoles are PlayStation and Nintendo sitting side-by-side.
Well there you go. The days of console manufacturers bashing one another senseless seem to be coming to a swift end. Is the games industry finally maturing? It would appear so.
On that topic, what consoles do you own? Are you a PlayStation-Nintendo gamer? Maybe you buy all of them? Let us know in the comments below!
