The first person rogue-lite adventure game – City of Brass – combines the exhilarating nature of becoming a swift thief with the action of first-hand combat involving whips and swords.
You make your way through the turbulent ruins filled with valuable riches and treasures in the next release out of Uppercut Games. Backing up the release date announcement, the developers have also released a slick new trailer for us:
Takeaways – City of Brass
A few takeaways from what we know about the whip-lashing, treasure thieving rogue-lite are:
City of Brass is a first-person adventure game giving players the unique combination of handling a bullwhip and a blade to strike down, disarm or trip-up enemies, as well as using the whip to swing to safety or grab out of reach items.
The fast-paced hack and slash gameplay will have players fighting their way through damned souls of the ancient ruined city in hopes of discovering the hidden treasure all packed into an Arabian Nights-style setting.
The rogue-lite style of gameplay allows every playthrough to play differently from the last with shifting streets and the ability to use knowledge from previous playthroughs to push further into the city.
Unique Blessings and Burdens system allows players of all skill levels to adjust various optional modifiers in the game to tailor the experience to the players liking.
Players may also use Microsoft’s streaming service, Mixer, to see themselves involved in live-streamer’s gameplay by either spawning additional enemies or helping out by giving gold or other useful items.
City of Brass has officially been announced for release on May 4th, not long, and it’s coming to the PS4, Xbox One and PC.
The ex-Bioshock developers at Uppercut Games have City of Brass in an Early Access stage for anyone eager for a jumpstart in the quick-thieving action.
Big news out of Passtech Games – creator of the favourable tower defence title, Space Run – as they have officially announced a release date for their upcoming strategy/adventure game – Masters of Anima.
Masters of Anima – What’s It About?
You raise armies of golem smashing guardians in this new adventure across the magical, and dangerous, world of Spark. Check out the announcement trailer below:
Taking on the role of the Anima apprentice Otto, you’ll embark on an adventure to save your fiancée from the dreadful grasp of the dark lord Zahr and his army of golems. A few takeaways from the official announcement are:
You can control up to 100 Guardian soldiers – each type with their own unique combat style, talents and abilities.
You can conjure up the sacred power of Anima – the life source of everything in the vast world of Spark.
You can learn new skills and abilities with every victory against massive armies and powerful bosses that stand in your way along the journey.
We can expect to see the latest release from Passtech Games – Masters of Anima – hit adventure seekers on April 10th, 2018 on the PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and PC systems.
The indie developers at The Behemoth have created a delightfully hilarious RPG strategy game with an addictive, simplistic outlook on the often confusing genre. The shrunken hand-drawn visuals, compelling backing score and hysterical dialogue offer a brilliant experience while combining some of the finer elements from the turn-based category. Build your army to prepare to fend off against absolute absurdity in brutally tactical combat.
The game itself looks like a direct sequel to The Behemoth’s mega-successful 2008’s comical brawler, Castle Crashers, with unique hand-drawn visuals and off-the-wall humour. The characters that make up your party are as unforgiving as ever, squaring off against foes that only add to the off-beat charm and often greasy humour. Travelling across the sundry map in search of quests and ridiculous enemies sets players into a wagon ride filled with chaotic bouts, side-splitting narratives and combat that ceases to let up.
Within Pit People, you won’t find a team of highly skilled characters looking to overpower their way to victory, but rather a group of unlikely candidates with a rather grim take on life. Combat doesn’t take any unnecessary risks by adding complicating tactics, manoeuvres or abilities, but allows players to meticulously place their characters in strategic positions for the best outcomes. While players won’t have the standard options of defensive or offensive skills per every turn, the turn-based fighting style still manages to give off a fresh sense of tactical gameplay.
A Simple Twist On Strategic Combat
While in combat players simply select which position on the grid each character will move to in sequence. Each turn consists of the player choosing where each player moves to, as well as sitting back as your characters take damage. Your party members think for themselves as they will attack whichever enemy is closest to their position – as well as defend any incoming blows – on the combat grid. Moving around to appropriate positions, pairing your mates up against the weakest enemies and watching your crew take damage is all part of the dance when battling it out in Pit People, adding a broad sense of simplicity to the combat mechanics.
Pit People offers an easy understanding of the strategy inducing turn-based combat.
As your characters and battle companions begin their romp on the fantasy land of Pit People, each successful blow earns a bit of experience. Levelling up is a common occurrence, but never actually leads to any enticing unlockable skills, perks or abilities, but rather stronger and more advanced auto-attacks and a likely much-needed health refill. While the character development in any enduring RPG title will claim it’s a major asset found in the formula of keeping players successfully engaged throughout hours of gameplay, Pit People simply isn’t competing with that. That lack of any real character development is a bit disappointing – especially when live-action combat has been tossed out the window as well – but nonetheless offers yet another unique quirk from the veteran game developer.
The provocative nature of Pit People is borderline raunchy and filled with seemingly crude jokes around every corner. The narrator is an absolute cynic constantly pushing at the integrity of your group of “rough around the edges” heroes. One line after another leads to witty remarks that help keep the overall charm at play throughout the entirety of the campaign. The absurd monsters one will fight may come off a bit misleading at first, but once engaged the battles never seem overly impossible. Futuristic robots, dual wielding uzi sharpshooters or the vibrant unicorn foe barely show much of a difference when it comes to challenge of combat diversity, but does act as a solid form of exciting entertainment.
Nothing absurd about this…
Building your party in Pit People is a major factor in success, as players are able to capture a variety of monsters and enemies throughout their rambunctious journey. Leaving specific candidates left alive last will allow players to trap these beasts – with a simple net of all things – in turn providing players with an opportunity to add them to their squad. There are tons of different enemies and foes to capture throughout your adventure, all with their own unique assets in having them aid you in combat.
Enter The Pit
While the campaign is brimming with hysterical dialogue and methods of unlocking more carnage-inducing characters, The Pit mode offers more of a challenge. Taking on unfair waves of enemies or online versus matches provide the same amount of excitement that comes in the campaign, earning gold and levelling up your crew. The Pit offers the same style of combat found in the campaign, so there’s not much in the way of diversity, but facing off against online competition and unique waves of AI foes does offer a good amount of practice for winning those tougher battles down the line.
Entering the Pit allows players to face off against a variety of AI and multiplayer squads while levelling their own party and collecting valuable rewards.
Pit People is a vigorous turn-based title from a veteran indie team – and one in which they strayed from their usual path yet again. Taking on a new title in a genre that hasn’t been seen in their arsenal as of now proves The Behemoth isn’t afraid of taking risks to keep their library fresh and thoroughly enjoyable. The concept, gameplay, simple mechanics and, of course, off-colour humour shine delightfully all along the gruesome path left by your Pit People army.
In a new interview with GamesRadar, [originally from Xbox: The Official Magazine] Microsoft has spoken about the increase in power the Xbox One X provides, and what that means for developers and gamers alike.
Xbox One X: “Feel True Power”
Dave McCarthy, Xbox’s general manager, had this to say on the new console:
So if you’re an existing Xbox One user, I think whenever you’re ready to make the jump, developers are going to take advantage of the high-end capabilities of it. We think it’s a compelling combination of power, performance, compatibility, and also design.
There is a big difference with 40% more processing power, in terms of ensuring that consistent frame rate, including that frame buffer that’s going to get you all those 4K textures, ensuring the spatial audio is going to be at a premium for you.
Asked what effect the Xbox One X would have on the wider gaming landscape, McCarthy replied:
I think there’s a round of storytelling that it’s really going to unlock for a lot of developers. You saw Patrick Söderlund talk a little bit about that, both in the EA Play conference and when he was introducing Anthem from BioWare [at Microsoft’s conference]. There’s an immersion factor to true 4K. Like, you feel the heat come off those cars in Forza. The weather effects are stunningly real, and you find yourself sort of immersed in these experiences.
The Xbox One X isn’t far away now and launches on the 7th November worldwide for a princely £449.99/$499.99. Will you be diving into the extra immersion reader? Let us know in the comments below.
Cuphead takes a classic tale of moral propaganda and turns it into a romp through 1930s era animation that will both delight and challenge in equal turns. The tale follows the titular Cuphead and his unfortunate brother, Mugman, who are enjoying a good time at the Devil’s Casino until one misguided roll of the dice ends with a contract on their souls. But, the Devil tells the now damned duo they might be able to get out of their contracts if they can collect on other souls before their time is up. You can choose to play alone as Cuphead, or bring along a friend to aid you as Mugman during your treacherous journey.
A World Brimming with Bosses
The layout of worlds in Cuphead is fairly simple. You can select from a few run-and-gun levels, or pick form a plethora of battles with devious baddies whose soul contracts you now need to collect. Defeating bosses opens up new sections of each world and eventually allows you to move on to the next. Sounds simple enough, but this dance with the Devil is anything but slow and steady.
On a difficulty scale from Mega Man to Dark Souls, Cuphead hits much closer to the former. To succeed, practice and determination are key because death is practically guaranteed, but difficulty lands a little south of rage quitting. That isn’t to say boss battles don’t offer a very real challenge, but I rarely felt that I wasn’t able to make some progress with each run. It was this keen balance of punishment and progress that kept me aching to try again even after multiple failures. If you fail to complete a fight or stage, the game presents you with a meter showing how close you were to your goal. Depending on how you are doing, this can be both an encouragement or an indicator that it might be time to take a short break before another attempt.
Each boss has multiple attack stages, with an additional stage added if the game is played on Regular difficulty. However, the battles in Cuphead are dynamic enough that players cannot win simply through rote memorization. For example, in some cases, a boss can have varied versions of one attack stage. A particular battle involved a stage where the boss transformed into a zodiac character. I died before completing that stage and the next time around she transformed into a different member of the zodiac, catching me off guard with new attacks. Often, though, bosses follow a set of transformations that can be memorized, though getting through them is anything but simple even with some foreknowledge. Attack patterns can change within stages, and you often find yourself needing to battle against numerous peripheral attacks while at the same time avoiding main attacks from the baddie itself.
Boss battles are truly a sight to behold and a challenge even for a seasoned platform/run-and-gun aficionado. This is partly due to the intensity of the fights. During one encounter, I had to avoid a train while also dodging glowing horseshoe attacks from a clown riding on a donkey held up by a string. Sounds crazy, but aside from the spot-on 1930s visual aesthetic, Cuphead also solidly replicates the sheer bizarreness of the cartoons of that bygone era. I fought frogs that turned into a slot machine pitching coins at me, and a woman who became an airplane that became a terrifying version of the moon. And that is only a small, incomplete sampling. Somehow, it works. I never questioned the wacky and often unpredictable directions boss battles would go. The whole world is bright and bouncing, sometimes sharp and sinister, life and movement that I can only describe as what Jazz music must look like if animated.
An Arsenal of Abilities & Upgrades
During the course of your battles you will earn coins that allow you to purchase different types of shots that can be equipped during battle. You can even equip two different shots and toggle between them. Each comes with both a plus as well as a minor downside. For example, one shot gives a wider bullet spread and allows you to aim backward, but offers only average damage unless used while aiming behind you. Another allows greater damage but requires more precision. You can also purchase charms that can be equipped as add-on effects or life extenders. For example, early on I purchased a heart that gave me an additional hit point. It, however, also slightly lowered my attack power. The extra hit point saved me more than once, so the slightly lowered attack was worth the price.
The most important move in Cuphead’s arsenal, though, is the Parry. This allows you to jump off of pink-colored objects that appear throughout a level or boss fight. During battle, this allows for more dynamic movement, but it also charges up your Super Meter which, when full, allows you to discharge a number of powerful attacks.
Racing simulation titles take an eager-to-win mindset and meticulously combines the precision and patience of careful maneuvering with high-speeds set on expertly crafted courses. In Slightly Mad’s sequel to their top-notch racing franchise, Project Cars 2 takes these very features and increases the magnitude of competition. Not by adding an increased difficulty on driving and control, but the excellent use of dynamic weather elements and various changes in the course throughout the duration of the race, leaving an attention to detail left out of almost every simulation racer to date.
Up-to-date Racing Mechanics
Firing on all cylinders, Project Cars 2 brings a true racing experience on the current gen systems. The default settings take away any type of racing assists, traction and stability control – leaving a swift, challenging and gorgeously designed racer. With a clear point of official racing rules, regulations and professionalism, cautious navigation plays an important role in the leading to a podium finish.
Every racing event, including the novice go-kart races, provide difficult elements and challenges all across the board.
With a variety of different race modes to explore, you’re offered many different solutions to scratch that racing itch. In the solo mode, you’re able to customize your race in virtually any manner possible. Creating your ideal race, set on the course you desire, blazing through one of the many licensed machines found in the impressive roster of Project Cars 2. Common changes like lap numbers, race limit and number of racers are obvious inclusions, but the weather dynamics is where things really get interesting.
Dynamic Weather & LiveTrack 3.0
Changing the weather throughout the course of a race provides a heart-stopping thrill outside of the heated competition and challenging tracks. Adding severe rainfall, dense fog or heavy snow accumulation demands more attention to your racing. As rain puddles develop, fog blinds the next hairpin turn, or piling snow no longer makes your previous racing line accessible, thinking on the dime and adjusting your strategy to conquer the ever-changing weather becomes the only viable option to staying ahead of the herd.
The dynamic weather and excellent use of the LiveTrack 3.0 system keeps racers from feeling too comfortable during long race sessions.
Racing around sharp corners and switch-back driving behind the wheel of a Formula One style racer, or gliding around S-curves in the off-road rally events show off outstanding physics in this modern-day racer. The lighting from sun-up to sun-down colors the lively courses and decorated racecars superbly. Dirt or snow pulled onto the track from cars sliding off-road throughout a lengthy race. Aggressive drivers smashing the throttle to the floor-board waiting eagerly for the smallest chance to take your position. As tires wear, fuel depletes and the mental awareness begins to drain, every turn on the horizon becomes a an exhausting, yet thrilling ritual. As more enduring races take hold, these increasing instances create exhilarating races.
180+ Racing Machines to Conquer
Of course, the difference in dominating the demanding weather and detailed courses could very well rest in one of the 180+ racing machines available. All with intricate details in aesthetics, handling and proper motor sounds; the roster of high-quality vehicles found in Project Cars 2 is next to a perfect list of proper machines. Though you may notice a few left out of the mix (180 is nowhere close to the total amount of excellent racing machines available throughout the generations of racing), the selection that is available brings many different styles of Motorsports to the table.
A wide selection of powerful racing machines are available right from the beginning, ranging from dirt wrestling rally cars to street gripping Indy cars.
Across the board of the Career mode, you’ll find yourself entering tons of championships and invitationals. From novice style go-karts to full throttle Indy cars – and everything in between – Project Cars 2 takes the player through the difficulties of modern Motorsports. The races are there to bring a true sense of competition by providing strategic cornering and acceleration, with a fleet of aggressive professional racers. Not only specified for hard-core racers, there’s a variety of sliders and options to help increase the odds for even the most amateur racers.
Customize to Your Liking
Decreasing lap numbers, giving yourself a boost with stability and traction control turned on, braking and steering assists, as well as the useful feature to decrease the AI difficulty and aggression; while you may not receive the full “racing sim” experience by tweaking these options, it does help ease the frustrations of the professional racing environment. Though designed as a simulated racer, players can easily use a casual approach to Project Cars 2 with the healthy dose of difficulty settings found in the Options menu.
Much like the custom race settings, in the multiplayer modes, you are able to host a number of events with anywhere up to 32 players in a race. A vast amount of customization is available, changing the class of vehicles, the weather and weather patterns, the track and how many laps, on to of tons of other settings. Championships, tournaments and other eSports focused events litter the lobbies creating a true sense of competition available to those outside of the AI challenges.
Players are free to customize many different race options to give a truly unique racing experience not found in most other racers.
Conclusion
Project Cars 2 adopts the formula that brought Slightly Mad into the arms of car lovers everywhere. By pushing the focus on a broader selection of Motorsports, powerful cars and ambitious courses effected by a wide range of weather patterns and settings, the new generation of racing just became deeper than ever. While the car list doesn’t stretch beyond the limits of previous racing simulators who have featured close to a thousand different racing machines – Project Cars 2 does offer a broad selection, nonetheless, respectfully dipping into the wide array of each motor sport featured throughout the Career Mode.
With tons of customizing options, difficulty settings, a moderate selection of racing modes and online competition, and the aforementioned vehicle selection, Slightly Mad’s enhanced sequel is exactly that. An impressively polished adaption to the franchise, adding exciting events like Rallycross, Indy Racing and high-speed oval courses, with a mix of randomized weather occurrences properly keeps the series right on track for continued success.
We knew that Far Cry 5 was coming out and we knew it was going to be set in Montana. Now, after the release of the reveal trailer, we can confirm some more details.
Judging by the glimpses of character and thanks to the voice-over we can expect the game’s story to focus on a fanatical religious cult taking over a part of rural America. The Seed Family, as they’re known, seem happy to brand people sinners and don’t shy away from delivering their own unique form of justice and retribution, which is shown by the number of bodies glimpsed within the trailer.
Whilst I’m excited by the new location and theme, it’s fair to say that previous Far Cry games had these too. Amazing locations and some great main villains – only for the game itself to not take advantage of this and it just descended something that was more ‘fun’ than ‘meaningful’.
Other bits of info we can gather from the trailer include the return of violent animals. If you enjoyed being clawed at by honey badgers in previous Far Cry games, it now looks like you’ll need to be cautious of more familiar animals like cows. To be fair, there is a shot of a bear chasing down a petrified man, so it looks like Far Cry 5 will still have you fighting the elements just as much previous entries.
You’re not on your own, however, as Far Cry 5 has previously made hints at the more friendly faces you’ll encounter too. With an ally system, Far Cry 5 will give you AI assistants throughout the game and also offers a co-op mode too. There was also some mention of the map-maker feature returning but I can honestly say I’ve never made a Far Cry map in my life. So for what it’s worth, I have no interest in that.
Ubisoft sums it all up by saying;
“Freely explore Hope County’s rivers, lands, and skies with the largest customizable weapon and vehicle roster ever in a Far Cry game. You are the hero of the story in a thrilling world that hits back with every punch, and where the places you discover and the locals you ally with will shape your story in ways you’ll never see coming.”
Sold? If you are you’ll have to wait until February 2018 when the game launches for PC, Xbox One, and PS4.
I thought I would let the dust settle somewhat before tackling Project Scorpio head-on because, let’s be honest, it’s caused quite a stir. The inferno that is the console war does not need any more fuel adding to it, but Microsoft seemed intent to deliver their next blow in the battle of attrition between them and Sony. But is it really a blow aimed at Sony? From what I can tell, Microsoft is putting an end to all the bravado and aiming to deliver the best experience possible for their fans.
It came as no real surprise when Scorpio was announced as a mid-generation upgrade rather than a successor to the Xbox One. Much like the PS4 Pro was for PlayStation fans, Project Scorpio will give One owners an opportunity to upgrade to a 4K capable machine. And, in my eyes, that’s what Scorpio is; an opportunity to be part of the next step in console evolution.
As technology evolves and becomes more affordable, our demands inevitably increase and create a natural cycle. Old technology becomes redundant with new and better technology replacing it within an undetermined time scale. Take the advent of HD as an example, this was the big pull and selling point for the last generation of consoles and gave us a real reason to upgrade to a newer console. Is that not what Scorpio is now trying to achieve much like the 360 did with HD but with 4K?
I’ve seen many an article and video blasting Scorpio saying it’s nothing more than a weak gaming PC in disguise and a gimmick, almost unnecessary. But I don’t see this as a problem as that’s what consoles are at the end of the day; lower spec PC’s offering a convenient gaming package to those that don’t want to fork out for a £1000+ gaming machine. Why build something yourself, when you can play the same games (albeit at a lower quality) in a pre-built unit that fits perfectly with the rest of your home entertainment collection?
Granted, it comes at a somewhat earlier stage in the current generation’s cycle than most were expecting, but Scorpio is the aforementioned convenience. We can now have native 4K gaming in a home console with no self assembly required. 4K was always inevitable, but imagine the outcry if we had to wait until the next generation of consoles before we could experience native 4K gaming. Yet when that opportunity is offered, it’s not good enough.
Before I penned this article, I conducted a poll on Twitter to see what the general consensus of my followers was regarding Scorpio. I expected the worst and only a small amount voted, but the results surprised me. Out of 90 votes, 70% of people said that they liked Scorpio and would buy it with 10% saying they wouldn’t buy it and 20% saying they liked it but wouldn’t buy it. Most people stated that the main reason for their excitement was being able to play games in 4K without the need to build a PC, justifying the above point.
Now it would be silly not raise questions over the cost of Scorpio as this will be a potential sticking point for most, myself included. Microsoft have already said that Scorpio will be a “Premium console” but the price will not be astronomical. Now this doesn’t really settle those pricing doubts, but let’s say worst case scenario it costs circa £450, that will be significantly less than a comparable PC. Of course this won’t be upgradeable, but for the foreseeable future this will surely future proof your console experience.
Personally, I’m really excited for Scorpio. I can see why some people may raise concerns over the quality of games suffering for the sake of running at 4K but I cannot see that happening. Now more than ever, gamers are more savvy with their purchases so developers can ill afford to deliver a game that runs at 4K, yet fails to deliver a meaningful experience. Nor can Microsoft afford to have another questionable launch on their hands.
If I were a gambling man, I’d back Scorpio to be big. I think Microsoft are confident that they are onto something and I think this year’s E3 will be very interesting indeed…
Highly anticipated, reworked and reimagined, Prey hits stores at the end of this week, but not before the combined forces of Arkane Studios and Bethesda Softworks has a chance to lay an hour or so’s worth of gameplay on you first.
The sci-fi/horror game has you in the grips of an alien species known as the Typhon while trapped aboard the US space station and former Typhon prison, Talos I. Creating your own path to play the game by finding new solutions to various encounters, Prey pops you with a few interesting elements and a lot of violent, sudden alien attacks coordinating with a vigorous soundtrack.
Your apartment room in the not too distant future. You awake from your bed to a phone call from a man by the name of Alex Yu, eager to get you started working and thanking you for taking the job. Free to explore the confines of your studio, there’s a few articles and clippings to read for extra story before putting on your work outfit and heading up to the rooftop where your helicopter ride awaits. Flying over the gorgeous city and near-by bay, Arkane Studios shows off its impressive graphics and scenery.
Arriving at a testing facility atop a towering skyscraper, you’re required to complete several simple tasks in various rooms while doctor’s observe you, followed by a short questionnaire, all of which determine your style of play through your campaign. Doctor’s clambering about unknowing issues, you, not entirely sure what’s going on, witness a sudden alien attack, abruptly ending your visual examination. Left unconscious, you awake back in what seems to be your apartment, on the same day as before.
Starting with a wrench, you mercilessly smash quick-moving four-legged, spider-like Typhon’s now roaming the abandoned testing facility, which in a strange turn of events turns out to be where your apartment is located. Smashing through windows making your way to hopefully some answers, eventually you stumble upon a goo gun. Helping to freeze the agile aliens in place, you then pull out the trusty wrench and smash away.
Along with standard weapons such as pistols and shotguns and unique weapons like the goo gun, there’s also the Neuromods. Re-wiring your brain to give you enhanced abilities and new medical upgrades, Neuromods are found throughout the game in random scavenging and often as rewards for various quests. Working as the game’s skill tree, Neuromods gives you a good list of abilities to improve skills later in the game.
All through the demo, you’ll find yourself up against plenty of crawling Typhons and a short glimpse of a much more threatening enemy. Unlocking the secrets of this dreaded space station and the story that unfolds before you is sure to be filled with tense moments and thrilling encounters.
The hour-long experience leaves you empty-handed with a lot of questions unanswered but with the full release right around the corner, Prey is gearing up to reveal everything you’ve been anxious to learn about the 2006 reboot.
