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About a week after dataminers found and revealed a bunch of details about what to expect from Overwatch’s winter event, Blizzard have officially revealed the date of when it’ll start – December the 13th had had previously been guessed.
Dataminers had already revealed a lot of detail about what was coming, although it was all pretty vague. For example we knew that a new gamemode would be coming, but not what it’d be; as well as which characters would get new skins but not what they’d look like. It did reveal some interesting details though, including that Torbjorn was the only character who would be getting a skin, a highlight animation and an emote through the special loot boxes – so was probably quite important for this update.
(For Digmbot’s initial impressions of Titanfall 2, head over to his article here ~Lone)
Along with many of you, I was a little apprehensive about picking up the new Titanfall sequel this past fall. As of recently, the game has been on sale and had a price drop for the holidays/Game Awards. The game did boast a single player campaign mode, which was entirely lacking from the first incarnation, and I was hopeful to see what the Respawn Entertainment writers had in store for us.
I’ve never been more impressed with a game that I had so little expectation of. Having completed the campaign, I can say that it was certainly a welcome surprise to play through such an accomplished story. Aside from being well written and developed, I found myself really feeling connected to BT-7274, a titan that we ‘fell’ into responsibility of piloting. With the game telling us right at the beginning that the connection between a pilot and a titan is paramount in being successful, I really felt that theme flowing through the whole story. I cared when he was in jeopardy, and I feel like he cared about me as well. I do think that the theme of connection was dealt with really well through the campaign with something I was also not expecting: speech options. Now, I’m not talking about branching Mass Effect/Witcher conversations, but as a player you are in regular contact with your titan. These conversations are usually limited to a few lines, and the player only has a few different speech options to choose from. As a result of the abbreviated exchange, and the fact that the game does not pause for these quips, there is no loss of immersion or speed at which you are playing. That is HUGE. Had they decided to have the conversations with the BT stop the gameplay, or even forced you to walk, they would have been incredibly annoying. Luckily, they thought of that already, so sit back and get ready to enjoy an adventure with your new Vanguard-Class titan buddy.
Aside from the writing and flow of the story, the level design was also extremely well executed. Each area looked independent of the last, but still flowed together. There is always somewhere for your pilot to explore in each level, which you may want to do because there are secrets in the form of fallen pilot helmets to collect in hidden areas all over the place. I found myself a fair few times jumping out of my titan to traverse the levels and leave my titan on auto to help me clear the areas. Why in the world would I jump out of my massive, destructive suit of amazing armor to clear anything? Because it’s fun! Which brings me to another note about the gameplay: It’s SMOOTHER. Insanely better executed than titanfall 1’s wall running. In fact, it may be better than any wall running/jump pack type game I’ve played to date. Strangely, that also brings me to the first negative I have about the game. Get ready to wall run, a lot. Even as early as the first level, the game will demand that you are able to execute complex chains of wall running, or you will not be able to progress. Luckily, if you sit in an area for too long, the game will generate a ‘ghost’ for you to follow through difficult areas. That being said, being able to chain jumps and wall running is a pretty integral part of the gameplay, so it is good that they create a steep learning curve for the mechanic early. Don’t worry, the game comes up with several other fun mechanics to play with during the campaign including: cranes to create pathways, a maintenance gun, and time travel. I will say, I’ve never seen a game that included a time travel mechanic where the story-line was note entirely based on time travel as a theme, so well played on that one Titanfall 2.
But of course, we all want to hear about the multiplayer. My statement before about the game feeling smoother applies here as well. As a pilot, you feel as if you can easily traverse the maps and as a result, the pace is very fast. There’s nothing like getting murdered in the first few rounds after coming back to a game because you’re out of practice, but I was quickly able to regain my stride. Some of the new pilot weapons brought onto the scene feel really well optimized, but I don’t have enough time in yet to say how balanced they are. I really appreciate the additional titan loadouts, and look forward to learning how they counter each other. Having such specific strengths in the new titan classes has added an additional aspect of strategy to the multiplayer, much more than just waves after waves of titans being summoned where only numbers on either side is all that matters. The game-modes are a mimic of the first game, with a few interesting things added that seem to be targeted towards either titan or pilot gameplay alone.
The game is definitely an improvement on the first Titanfall, and 100% worth picking up. If you were into playing Titanfall 1, and were always wondering what a backstory on the war was, this is your game. Get ready to be ‘tossed’ into a fantastic adventure with your new mechanical friend.
Overwatch gets special limited edition content released for big events or holidays, we know this now. First it was the Summer Games content for the Olympics, then we had Halloween’s Dr. Junkenstein’s Revenge. Christmas content is inevitable and some eager gamers have been sneaking a look through datamining.
What’s been found so far are references to new maps, something that could be the holiday’s potential special gamemode (ala Lucioball or Junkenstein’s Revenge), which characters are getting new festive skins and even the menu music.
On the subject of the maps and gamemode, the file references seem to suggest something like the Halloween gamemode with a specialised map for it. Some other maps might also get a little Christmas decoration too for the length of the seasonal event.
On the cosmetic side, every character will be getting a new spray, voice line and victory pose through the Christmas loot crates, but just as with Halloween only not all of them will be getting a skin, emote or highlight intro though the loot crates. Those characters getting at least ONE of the three will be Widowmaker, Reinhardt, Mercy, Symmetra, Reaper, Sombra, Roadhog, D.Va, Ana, Soldier: 76, and Lúcio. The ones getting TWO are Winston, McCree, Mei, Pharah, Zarya, Tracer, and Zenyatta; however Torbjorn will be getting all THREE from the loot. This hints that maybe his character will be put into an important role for the new gamemode possibly.
We should see when the event kicks off. December the 13th is the estimated date of release right now, which would take it through to January 3rd if it ran for the same three-week period of time as other events. However, keep your eyes on the official channels for more information as Blizzard release it.
It’s time for your weekly look into some of the interesting new campaigns that have appeared on Kickstarter in the Gaming section.
As always we start off with some updates on previously covered campaigns. We’ll start off with the bad news. Death Witch: Bloodlines, Cloud Runner, and Alone in the Woods have all completed their campaign times without meeting their goals. Death Witch and Cloud Runner have no updates available on their campaign pages, and while Alone in the Woods does have 2 updates, the last one was over a month ago. Whether we see any of these projects again is anyone’s guess. Also in the ‘bad news’ column are two campaign cancellations – PURRKINS and Space Wars: Interstellar Empires. Both were presumably cancelled due to having too little time to make up their goals, but Space Wars at least is going to continue on to its release date. They’re offering rewards in-game to those who did pledge certain amounts, as they made $32,000 of their $40,000 goal in the end. Not bad for a cancellation.
However, where there is a lot of bad news, there is a little good news to balance it out. The Station has made its target and still have 11 more days to go, which means this atmospheric game is going to be made. Even more surprising is that Drawing Dead, which last week I said would have to push hard to make its goal has finished having reached it. Well played that campaign runner! And grouped in with ‘good news’, Dragon Skies VR, which was crowdfunding only to get more funds for development and were offering a copy of the game to everyone who donated at least $1 has made $799 with just over 2 days to go. That’s a decently sized community for the game from the offset!
Let’s start off with the card game this week, and a game about… addictions in the shape of monkeys?
The game starts off with every players being dealt five cards. There are three types – the addiction monkeys which are what you want to avoid holding onto, action cards which let you pass the monkeys onto other players or into the deck and the figure cards which combine together into powerful combos. Each player has three lives and a life is lost each turn that is ended with a monkey still in your hand. Last one with lives wins. Simple.
Monkeys on Your Back has a €15,000 goal and has made €442 with 28 days to go.
Next up we have a first person shooter, with emphasis on choosing how you upgrade.
Overstep is a game that the developers want to be like the old-school fast-paced shooters, and its free-to-play as well. You dispatch opponents and then have the choice of how to proceed with your upgrades, even selling on tools or keeping them as your spoils of war. There will be built in capabilities for fast-paced stunts or just entering and blasting everything to pieces. It’s up to you how you play.
Overstep has 16 days to go, and it has made €10,247 of its€100,000goal
Next up, we have a game that’s planned for release onto consoles and PC.
Plague Road is a rogue-like game with some turn-based strategy elements thrown into it. You follow the tale of the plague doctor who once left his home and is now venturing back after a virilent disease, seeking survivors and possibly finding out the story of where this sickness came from in the first place. You will fight dangerous foes and have the chance to rescue survivors you find and return them to the safety of your farm home.
Plague Road has made $4,281 of its$30,000target. It has 29 more days to go.
Finally we have an interesting game based on the many worlds theory.
The game is at its base, a 2D pixel RPG set in a fantasy medieval world. However, going off the multiverse theory of each action creating a different split off universe of what happens when each solution is chosen, each action you take in this game creates an alternative universe – in other words each action will effect which way the story develops.
DämmerLicht has 22 days remaining to make its CA$450 goal, of which it has so far managed to earn CA$75.00 of.
After a surprise awakening two days ago, Hello Games have posted up the patch notes for the Foundation Update they’re adding the No Man’s Sky.
The patch notes are hosted over on their site, taking up an entire page with big sections devoted to each new ‘big’ addition coming in. For those who heard about the Update and thought it’d be a small, token thing… well, by the looks of it Hello Games really have been hard at work for the last few months. If you look at the patch notes that is. Certainly impressive.
So, to start we know that the Foundation Update is setting up the groundwork for a bigger and better base building mechanic. You should now be able to claim unoccupied bases you come across, and will be able to hire alien researchers to help you develop new technologies for your living arrangements. Or, if you later find a much nicer place to have a base, break it down and reclaim the materials to rebuild it there.
Farming is also going to come to the game, with some new crops being the result of the aforementioned research in that area at least. You will also be able to build automatic resource harvesters to cut out the need for you to constantly go searching for that last thing you need across many planet surfaces.
If you could have lived our lives over the last months, you’d know how meaningful this is.
Off the planet, you can now hire massive freighters to transport big loads of cargo for you. They can also be sent to certain systems to accumulate resources as well.
Other changes include UI tweaks, and the addition of both a Creative Mode for unrestrained building, and a Survival Mode for anyone who wants a challenge.
Hello Games say that this is “the first of many free updates.” So hopefully there might be a chance NMS will become the game it was supposed to be.
That is, if the gaming community can forgive past mistakes…
