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My face lit up when I heard the news come directly from the Star Trek Online Facebook page. A brand new episode (mission) was coming to Star Trek Online to kick off the 8th anniversary festivities! For me, the big gap between episodes now is just downright depressing, but Perfect World will be Perfect World!
The mission begins in the Alpha Quadrant, as soon as you transition to this new map after accepting the mission, Admiral Quinn suddenly appears on-screen and tells you a Tzenkethi fleet isn’t too far from your location, and you’re to intercept at maximum warp. There is even a cool animation of your ship jumping to warp IN SECTOR SPACE! *Insert a fanboy face because who doesn’t love new animations?!* Sounds pretty simple right?
So I arrive in the system named NGC-9835 System (Creative right?) and when my camera pans round, I see the massive fleet of enemy ships in front of me, and my immediate reaction? Was a simple “Oh f…” but by some wonderful mercy, the bulk of the ships jump to warp, leaving you with only 3 or 4 ships to take care of. But wait, the lead ship is firing those darn Protomatter Torpedos at the planet!! Great! So the task is to take down these ships, as well as the protomatter torpedoes heading straight for the planet. This happens three times, on system two and system three, the LSS Reskava, captained by Kuumaarke, a very lovely Lukari female who is still in awe of space travel, assists in taking out the torpedoes launched while I deal with the ships. Heck no, I want ALL that glory, I’m taking down ALL of the ships & ALL of the torpedoes launched. There’s even an accolade for doing this. Pretty cool right?!
Suddenly I get a hail stating that the Tzenkethi are heading for Bajor (DS9 fans this mission is for you!) and that all ships must report there. Upon arrival, I even see Deep Space Nine itself has been moved into Bajor orbit, impressive work! She’s a big station after all! And now I have fighting along my side, Martok, Geordi LaForge, and General Rodek. Come at us now! Well, to my surprise here they came, the Tzenkethi on a full blown attempt to launch their weapons of genocide at Bajor, not on my watch Dinoboy!! The battle against the Tzenkethi fleet is pretty straight forward until DS9 contact me. They need repair teams! Oh my! So I send them over and I pan my camera around as I hear more ships arrive. Oh no, not only ships. Godzilla over there brought a freaking SPACE STATION OF HIS OWN!!! Ship after ship falls but not only that, you need to disable that freaking station too! Then guess which mug has to beam over and take down the station from the inside….you guessed it…me. Sometimes I wonder why I even joined up for this.
Once I board, it becomes obvious that they ain’t gonna let go without a hell of a fight. That’s when we come across the weapons control room. Perfect, disarm them now! Only, one big old P’O’ed Tzenkethi turns up ready for a sparring match with Martok. He falls, and the weapons consoles have been disabl…oh what’s that? It’s been rerouted to the bridge? Didn’t see that coming! That’s when it’s to the command deck itself. Before we arrive there, we find that a Captain Tzenkethi has defected to our side, and that just annoys Godzilla further. After a monologue, of what’s right and wrong, it’s time to subdue Admiral Tzen-Terrak (Godzilla) and his men and shut this station down for good. But before we can celebrate after he yields, he tells us that there is a greater evil at large….surely he’s bluffing? Suddenly, that’s when things begin to hit the fan. Some weird looking ships begin breaking free from the planets the Tzenkethi were attacking. Suddenly the fear in Martok’s voice tells the entire story. An old enemy of the Klingons has resurfaced. The only ones to almost conquer the Klingon Empire almost 1000 years ago. It’s the Hur’Q! BATTLESTATIONS!!!
Upon returning to the ship, the swarm arrives, and all hell breaks loose. Hur’Q attack anyone and everyone, and you must defend the Tzenkethi battlestation for 1:30 while evacuations take place. Suddenly DS9 takes a massive hit and an arm is completely blown apart (Oh sh..) and DS9 is now vulnerable. It doesn’t end there, as more and more of the Hur’Q swarm ships arrive. But they aren’t the only ones to arrive, as the newly refitted USS Enterprise F joins the battle defending DS9. Sadly however, for the Tzenkethi their battlestation is destroyed. But wait. Again someone else is coming….ships drop from warp….THE DOMINION ARE BACK, but they fire upon the Hur’Q and not my ship? What is this madness? Finally, after a grueling fight, the Hur’Q retreat and a hail comes in. Loriss 4 appears, and if you recall back to the old DS9 Story Arc, there was a Loriss that caused the Federation a bit of trouble by occupying DS9, but that’s another story! Anyway, she claims someone has come to deliver a message, and when asked who, an all familiar voice comes over the speaker. “We have to talk.”
FREAKING ODO ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?! My jaw hit the floor on that one!! The mission concludes on a cliffhanger, and is clearly an opener for the upcoming summer expansion this year. ODO!!! HOLY MOTHER OF MY SOCKS!! The rewards are pretty decent though, a Bajoran Shield, Impulse Engines, and Deflector Dish, followed by the Mek’Leth of Martok himself! Overall from me, this mission gets a solid 5/5 for combat and shock factors. I look forward to seeing where the new content will take us.
Remember, Star Trek Online is Free To Play and is playable via ARC or Steam game clients, XBox 1 and PS4.
Register for an account now at http://www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online and join in the fun Boldly Going Where Some Men Have Gone Before!!
While Apple Inc may be gaining plaudits for the audio quality of its new HomePod speakers, some users with wooden furniture are finding themselves less than thrilled with their new purchase, due to a surprising issue that has cropped up.
Numerous reports have surfaced online from disgruntled Apple customers that the HomePod's silicone base is leaving pale rings when placed on wooden surfaces. Though tests by Bloomberg News failed to replicate the issue, nor does it seem to be replicable with other materials such as glass, several other websites have backed up the wood discolouration claims.
Although Apple did not originally respond to requests for comment on the issue, it later informed Wirecutter that the company believes the issue is temporary and removing the speaker from the surface should restore the wood colour "within several days". In the event the marks remain, Apple suggested customers “try cleaning the surface with the manufacturer’s suggested oiling method.”
At a top secret research facility in the 1960s, a lonely janitor forms a unique relationship with an amphibious creature that is being held in captivity.
What do you get when you take a fantasy adventure and set it in a real historical war, combining childlike fairytale with the horrors of man? Well you get Guillermo del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth, but if you swap the fantasy adventure with fantasy romance and replace the brutality of the Spanish Civil war with the more behind closed doors but still brutal Russian/American cold war and you have Guillermo’s latest film The Shape of Water.
The basic plot of the film follows Elisa (Sally Hawkins), a mute lady who works as a cleaner in a secret American facility where they conduct various experiments one of which happens to be research on an aquatic humanoid creature that the Americans captured from the Amazon, the chief security officer Mr. Strickland (Michael Shannon) believes the creature to be not more than a dumb animal but our heroine establishes a bond with the creature and finds comfort in its company.
As prolific as he is, Guillermo Del Toro once again proves that is an able director and a creative story writer with a solid understanding of the visual language of film, the sets are believable but lively, the camera shots fluid and varied which brings a certain amount of life to the picture that the standard shot, reverse shot used in a lot of other films.
Guillermo also shows that he knows the right people to work with the cast being lead by Sally Hawkins playing the mute lead in an incredibly expressive performance, along with antagonist Mr. Strickland brought to life in a menacing portrayal by Michael Shannon and then rounded out with acclaimed actress Octavia Spencer as one of the leads best friends, Richard Jenkins playing the other and Michael Stuhlbarg as a scientist with a conscience and a secret, special attention must be made to Doug Jones, former contortionist, current hit with Star Trek fans (as the Kelpien, Saru on Star Trek: Discovery) and Del Toro mainstay as the actor who brings the aquatic creature to life (with some of the creatures sounds actually supplied by Del Toro himself), but beyond actors Del Toro also works with an amazing crew with everything from the costumes and the sets to the sound design being handled flawlessly.
WIth the film combining such disparate elements there was always a risk that it would feel disjointed flitting back and forth between fairytale romance, monster movie and cold war espionage however the film handles all of these elements seamlessly alongside an equally versatile score by Alexandre Desplat.
In short this film is another fantastic entry into the works of Del Toro and well worth seeing, however do be warned that the film is no intended for children due to the adult elements including nudity, curse words and a few violent/gross scenes not for the faint of heart.
The Shape of Water keeps Del Toro’s worth watching list growing with a solid 8.5/10
Check out the trailer below if you haven’t seen it already!
First released on STEAM in June 2016, but recently released on Nintendo Switch, takes a look at a great game, out on a new platform ~Lone
Command a steam-driven pirate crew in a series of epic tactical shootouts. Inspired by classics like XCOM and Worms, SteamWorld Heist is turn-based strategy with a twist: You manually aim the guns of your robots, allowing for insane skill shots and bullet-bouncing action!
Steamworld Heist is the third game in the Steamworld franchise created by Swedish indie developers Image & Form, set in what appears to be the same universe still populated with a cast of colorful steam powered robots but this time with a new set of characters and a new style of game play, Heist being a blend of turn based strategy and skill based 2D shooting.
The story of Steamworld Heist follows Captain Piper Faraday, a smuggler and occasional pirate who is rebuilding her crew in order to collect as much swag (gallons of water) as possible and maybe make the universe a safer place, as long as it doesn’t interfere with her livelihood of course. Faraday begins her journey on an enemy ship where something went terribly wrong and she ended up alone, but you soon meet up with another crew member, the surly Seabrass, during the tutorial.
Upon completion of the tutorial you are introduced to the main ship which acts as a sort of hub between levels where you can relax, chat with the crew you have found/enlisted so far, and check your items/crew/skills at your leisure, then it’s off to the map to select a level or store to visit.
Levels in Steamworld Heist are largely procedurally generated so the ship layout will change each time, but the objective remains the same, whether that is collect x amount of swag, defeat x amount of scavengers etc., normally procedural generation in a game is a bit of a gripe of mine because although the programming can create a seemingly endless amount of level designs there are certain limitations in that some parts will always need to connect or things come out looking unnatural or boring, but during my time with Steamworld Heist I did not experience this and I played through levels a few times trying to get the maximum reputation stars (generally 3 a level) and level up some new crew members and I believe the reason why the procedural generation didn’t get to me is because the core gameplay is so well thought out and the implementation is near perfect.
Gameplay consists of a simple squad turn based movement and attack/skill or item round followed by enemies (if there are any) turn and then repeat until one side is destroyed and if you are skillful enough to make sure the other team is the one destroyed you can then explore the ship and collect the swag however you will be restricted to the same movement limitation regardless of enemy robots left, meaning that if your character has 6 movement points (as most of the starting ones do) you can move 6 spaces and attack or you can move a few extra spaces (referred in game as “sprinting”) and give up your chance to attack to cover more ground which can be handy if you want to move your character into cover or if you’re making a mad dash for the exit (killing enemies doesn’t give you anything extra so unless it is the objective it’s generally optional), now the attacking is where things get really interesting.
Attacks in the game are largely ranged and the exact type will be determined on the character class (unchangeable) and the weapon they have equipped (a little more versatile but linked to the classes as well), the characters at least during my playtime all used guns as their primary weapon (swapping to a melee attack when enemies are one space away) and these guns range from a scoped pistol to a shotgun all the way to a grenade launcher, each one handles differently and is useful in certain situations but by far my prefered weapons were the scoped ones, the scopes in the game come paired with laser sights so you can see the trajectory your bullet will take before you fire allowing you to set up some very satisfying ricochet trickshots, the ricochets work with the other weapons as well but without the laser sight they require a keen eye and some patience to pull off the same kind of shots.
The game is refreshing in that it really is set up to reward skill over luck, every situation I was able to overcome with a well placed shot or a tactical retreat, sometimes losing an ally along the way but their scrap is returned to your ship so they can be rebuilt to fight another day, the only penalty being that the destroyed robot doesn’t take their share of experience but you can always take them back to the level or even to an easier one to harvest some experience, get a few level ups and come back with a more powerful and tactical team and as you are the one that aims the gun and the set up is turn based you really do have the time to plan your attack and pull off some spectacular shots, maybe aiming for the head for a (by default) 50% chance of a critical hit or taking out their legs to stop them from being able to move, or even if you are so inclined firing a shot at their hat to knock it off their head and (assuming you don’t already have it) picking it up and taking it for your own.
In summation I had a wonderful time with Steamworld Heist, the characters are cartoony, cliched and simplistic which fits right alongside the strong undercurrent of humour throughout the game, the graphics are polished and wonderful to look at, the music (by steampunk band Steam Powered Giraffe) is fitting and great to listen to and there is something so satisfying of bouncing a bullet off two walls and getting a headshot destroying a robot who was hiding behind cover, the levels are short but action packed and I feel like I will be spending quite a while enjoying my time there, if you like well paced turn based tactical games and/or impressive snooker trick shots then you could do much worse than checking out Steamworld Heist for yourself.
Steamworld heist gets a steampunk 9/10 from us!
SteamWorld Heist: Ultimate Edition, including all previously released DLC, is out now on Nintendo Switch for $19.99 / €19.99 or the equivalent.
Developer Relic Entertainment has pulled resources from Dawn of War 3, in order to dedicate them to other projects.
The move effectively freezes the Warhammer 40,000-universe RTS/MOBA hybrid as it is now. In a statement to Eurogamer, Relic Entertainment said: “While Dawn of War 3 has a dedicated player base, it didn’t hit the targets we were expecting at launch, and it hasn’t performed the way we had hoped since. When a game underperforms, plans need to change. With Dawn of War 3, we simply don’t have the foundation we need to produce major content. We’re working in close partnership with Sega and Games Workshop to determine the best course of action, while shifting focus to other projects within our portfolio.”
While that statement stops far short of saying that Relic is abandoning Dawn of War 3, it’s clear that will not be any further races, or indeed content of any sort added to the game. Dawn of War 3 may have been the victim of falling between two stools, with existing Dawn of War fans put off by its MOBA elements, and those MOBA elements failing to appeal to new players.
But the move at least allows Relic Entertainment to dedicate further resources to the new Age of Empires game it is developing for Microsoft.
It is a real shame though, I personally really enjoyed Dawn of War 3 and you can check out my gameplay at release last year below
