Daylight - Randomly Generated Scares!

Daylight starts promisingly with a haunting soundtrack which leaves you feeling unsure what lies ahead, though the suspense is destroyed a little bit by the fact it takes a very long time to load. This is no doubt because of the randomly generated maps

You play as a character called Sarah who awakens in a darkened room, unsure of where you are with a voice telling you that ‘you must succeed’. You have a mobile phone which acts as your map and is primary light source. It appears as though you are in some kind of abandoned building.

Quickly into the game you stumble across some glow sticks which do offer some light and also highlight objects you can interact with. These sticks also show where you have walked so that you can retrace your steps if you need to double back because you have got lost in the labyrinthine corridors. Unfortunately, the glow sticks are entirely pants at lighting the surroundings and offer none of the security of Outlast’s night-vision mode. Even with glow stick in hand, you are stumbling around aimlessly in the dark. Clearly Sarah isn’t the most physical person in the world as she can only carry 4 glow sticks at any one time before her inventory is full. Surely, if you are stuck in an abandoned asylum you would be shoving as many glow sticks as you could into your pockets.

The objective of the game is very similar to that of Slender, in which you have to find 6 fragments of memories hidden around the stage before you can make your way to the exit. All the while, trying to not be killed by sinister supernatural witches. These will kill you if you look at them too long, not entirely unlike the Slender Man. Your ways of combating these are either running for your life, or igniting a flare which for some reason destroys the paranormal threat. Unfortunately, like the glow sticks you can only carry a limited number of these.

The levels are randomly generated each time you play which keeps the game fresh on multiple play-throughs. However, this does make the layout of the stages a bit chaotic and without all the charms of Outlast’s lovingly crafted asylum. Another downside to random levels is that the game can get a bit laggy as it is generating the environments at the start of each stage. That is not to say the game isn’t scary, the music and sound design is very well done and there are still jumps a-plenty. It is just lacking that little ‘je ne sais quoi’ that other horror games on the market have. On a second play through we encountered an entire area much different to that of our first play through. This gave the game a distinctly different feel and kept up the tension as we couldn’t head through on auto-pilot. This is one element where the game does beat Outlast, but only if that level generates.

Interestingly, this is the first game to be released using the brand spanking new Unreal 4 engine. Disappointingly, it is hard to tell the difference between this and a last gen game and it certainly doesn’t use the console to its full potential.

As you are walking though the deserted environment the atmosphere becomes more tense when you hear the distant sound of running feet and the glimpse of a paranormal terror. Strange sounds and unsettling string do make this a creepy game, with strange moans and phones which ring as you pass. It is just a shame that the rest of the game isn’t as polished as the sound design.

The game would be better for the user if you were given a little more illumination. I understand why they wanted the game to be difficult to navigate, however, I do think just a touch more light would allow you to see more of the creepy set pieces. The fact that it has been released so close in time to Outlast means that it can’t avoid any inevitable comparisons to Red Barrel’s fright-fest.

“What the Hell is this?’ asks Sarah as she walks into a room filled with crazy markings on the walls. She experiences some kind of freaky flash back and is transported to a room with un-nerving photos on the wall. Not to forget the battered teddy which she is clutching in her left hand. No explanation is given, just that this is a key artifact in escaping the terror she is living through. Unfortunately, when holding said bear, you are unable to use glow sticks or flares. This does increase the terror as you are left with minimum vision.

At points in the game you feel like you are wandering aimlessly as you encounter dead end after dead end with nothing occurring in between.

If you are a fan of horror it’s definitely worth a play. Especially as there is currently a discount for PlayStation plus subscribers, however, in all honesty, your money is better spent on the truly terrifying Outlast and it’s recent expansion, Whistleblower.

Daylight is available on PlayStation 4 for £10.25 (£8.20 for PS+ members)

It is also available for PC on Steam for £11.99

Tom + Mat Attack 051 – We Were Made For Podcasting…

On this week’s TMA, there’s hijinx galore! Tom has been playing Rayman Origins, Kim Possible and longing for Kiss Psycho Circus for the Dreamcast, while Mat jet-setted off to Vienna to visit SuboTron, the great retro store / museum… Which has brought on another Mat Project, a full Gameboy PAL collection… Oh Dear. There’s also talk of Super Paper Mario Sticker Star, the monotony of cutscenes & the frustrations of ‘wasted time’ gameplay.

Listen here.

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Welcome to the Blast Process YouTube page! We're a dedicated Video Game channel, posting all kinds of gaming goodness, such as News, Reviews, Previews and more...Not original enough for you? We also dedicate time to some real classics you may have forgotten about and un-earth some hidden gems you may have never heard of.

What does Blast Processing do? Videogames Old and New!

Outlast: Whistleblower – “It’s as scary as HELL!!”

After the spine tingling chills I was left with after completing Outlast, I couldn’t wait to experience the next episode of TERROR from Red Barrels. Out today on PS4 and PC, Whistleblower continues the story begun in Outlast by showing us the events that happened in the lead up to the original game.

The game is set in the same Mount Massive Asylum. You play as a software engineer, Waylon Park, who is out to expose the sinister goings on of the Murkoff Corporation. The game begins with an email being composed to send to the journalist you play in the original game. However, things quickly spiral out of control and the player is once again left fighting for their life in a mission to escape in one piece!

All the controls are the same so that made it easy to play and navigate my way round the game. It doesn't hold you by the hand like the first game did. This game assumes you know what you are doing. If you've not played Outlast for a while then maybe it would be an idea to re-familiarise yourself with these before you jump into the expansion. The atmosphere is still so tense you could cut it with a discarded rusty scalpel. With a sinister sound track and nerve-wracking sound effects, the sections of the game where there is pure silence are even more un-nerving.

I survived for 14 minutes before my first death after meeting a stark-bollock naked man carrying what can only be described as a rotary buzz-saw. It's more of the same as Outlast, however, that is not necessarily a bad thing (possibly what the deranged psychiatric doctor ordered)! As I reloaded for take two it went straight to the scene with the aforementioned naked saw man saying "Feed me". I didn't last long. The inmates are much cleverer than last time. When they see you they don't give up. Hiding in the lockers will work, but you have to make sure they don’t see you hide. Many a panicked moment will be spent trembling in a locker unsure of what is happening outside the safety of a closed door.

As in the original game you have no weapons whatsoever and you are only armed with the trusty night-vision camcorder. This allows you to see in the pitch black environment, however, it guzzles batteries quicker than a Sega GameGear! You will spend most of your time frantically scrambling around the decrepit asylum searching obsessively for batteries. As the battery light flickers to alert you to its impending death, you are left wondering whether it safer see where you are moving to in the pitch black environment, or save those precious few seconds of illumination for when you might really need them.

There are areas of relative brightness in the game which do break up the oppressive darkness and give you a moment to gather yourself before you next venture into the unknown. Like the first game there are puzzle elements, such as finding the keys to open a set of handcuffs. These must be completed in order to continue further and usually involve a face off with a particularly nasty enemy. These quests are not too challenging but ensure you fully appreciate the game to its potential. These sections are mixed up with some frantic time-based antics too. Don’t want to give anything away, however, these will get your pulse racing!

As in the original game there are some epic set pieces which have you literally jumping off the chair and screaming like a girl! There are moments in the game which are clearly up there with the legendary dog scene from Resident Evil. Whilst not pushing the PS4 to the level of games such as Infamous, the game still looks great. There are some awesome lighting effects and great atmospheric environments. The night vision in particular really draws you into the game. I can only imagine how terrifying this thing would look on Oculus Rift or Project Morpheus! Hopefully, this is the kind of game that will end up on them when they are finally released.

If you want to see a taste of the original game, don’t forget you can still check out Mike and I scaring the crap out of ourselves in out Let’s Play Outlast Video Series!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lMVDPdxn0c

Whistleblower is available now on the PS4 Store at £7.69. It is also available for PC on Steam at £5.99, with the original game being on offer at £5.09.

App Monday - Catchphrase

"It's good... but it's not right!" This week the Blast Process team try their hand at Catchphrase - though I don't think they're the greatest at the classic TV show...

"What's Mr Chips doing? Say what you see!"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUAtrcuK0GE

Tom + Mat Attack 050 – Killer Moustache

With a title that makes as much sense as the ramblings of the intro, this is sure to be a fun episode! Tom has been home, Mat’s been to Prague, and as such the two brave hosts of our podcast have barely seen anything of each other for the last two weeks. So naturally, it’s time to sit down and talk games! Tom’s been mostly into his music titles, talking some Rockband, Guitar Hero & Rocksmith. Mat on the other hand has been hands on with the PS4, playing Trials Fusion, Towerfall Ascension and buying some retro classics!

The boy’s also reveal the kick ass One Year contest! Listen to the end of the podcast for details!

Listen here.

Hearthstone Review

Grab a keg of ale, pull up a chair and prepare yourself for a tavern filling amount of card based fun! Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft is a two player card battling game created by the World of Warcraft creators Blizzard Entertainment. The game, while completely different from the massive MMO is still based on the Warcraft lore, from the cards to the boards you play on, even the characters you play as.  The goal during a match on Hearthstone is to defeat your opponent by damaging them (each ‘player’ starts with 30 health points). Minions can be summoned to defend you and to attack your opponent. You spend mana crystals to use abilities/summon minions etc which steadily increase as the turns clock over (turn one you’ll have 1 crystal, turn two 2 crystals, and so on).

Regardless of your current level of experience when it comes to card-based battle games, such as the popular Magic The Gathering games (the original physical card game and the online offerings) you’ll soon get into the swing of how the gameplay works thanks to a comprehensive tutorial system. During the course of the tutorial you’ll play as Jaina Proudmoore, the Mage (one of a range of available ‘classes’ which I’ll discuss later). You’ll have to battle six different A.I controlled opponents which have all been programmed in specific ways to demonstrate key gameplay elements. For example the first of the six is Hogger, which will introduce you to the core basics of summoning minions and dealing damage to your opponent. By the end of the tutorial you’ll feel confident enough to delve into a competitive game and see how you fare.

In Hearthstone you have 9 different classes, each represented by a key player in the Warcraft lore, for example the previously mention Jaina along with Thrall, Ulther and others. The key thing about each class is their individual ability. Costing two Mana crystals they can vary between dealing damage (the Hunter can fire an Arcane Shot, which deals damage directly to the enemy player), summon additional minions (a Paladin can summon a 1/1 Recruit) or even heal yourself/one of your minions (Priest can heal 2 points of damage). As well as this key ability each class can level up by playing games against online opponents which unlocks class-specific cards. As mentioned you’ll start with the Mage unlocked so if you wish to unlock more classes you’ll have to beat the A.I in Practice mode, or play online and defeat a human player using a class you haven’t unlocked yet.

That leads me nicely onto the different modes available. ‘Practice’ mode is currently the only mode where you battle against A.I opponents. The ‘Play’ mode is where you’ll find yourself being pitted against human opponents in either a Casual game or a Ranked game. Finally you have the ‘Arena’ which is locked to begin with until you have unlocked all the different classes. By entering the Arena (which costs Gold) you’ll be given the choice of 3 classes at random, and then will have to create a deck again at random (the game which show you three cards, of which you choose one. This process repeats until you have a full deck of 30 cards). You rack up Gold as winnings based on consecutive victories in the Arena.

So what is this about earning gold then I hear you cry? This is of course a card based game, so as you battle away with your decks you're going to want to add new cards into the mix. This can be done by either spending in-game winnings (winning in the Arena, completing Daily Quests, and winnings 3 games online playing casually or ranked earns you gold) or buy using your own real cash to purchase packs of cards. Card packs contain 5 cards, which 1 will always be a rare card. If you’re lucky you may get a couple of rares...maybe even an epic...or perhaps even a legendary card! The price of the cards is very reasonable when you consider the game is free, with two packs of cards costing £1.99. Thanks to daily quests and earning while you're winning you may even find yourself easily earning enough gold to never finding yourself having to spend any money to buy packs.

As you unlock cards via packs and via leveling up your class you’ll want to start really tinkering with your deck of cards. The card building menu (entitled ‘My Collection’) is easy to use, showing you at glance the balance in cost of each of your cards (for example, you may have lots of expensive cards which you won’t be able to use until you have enough crystals during a game compared to not having enough low-cost cards which you could use early on in the match).

You cannot trade cards with friends, which is an interesting note. This was obviously something Blizzard thought about and decided against to encourage in-game purchases. You can however disenchant cards you get in packs that you don’t want, giving you dust which you can spend on creating new cards.

The more you play of Hearthstone, the more you’ll understand the different combinations of cards that the game offers you. While some cards are great on their own, combined with another card it could become an absolute monster. With a wide variety of special moves on offer, with cards that includes buffs, heals and death rattles (an ability that triggers when that card is destroyed) you’ll soon start hanging back certain cards until the right moment. I played a game the other day against a Druid, which thanks to a copy of quick spells and a minion almost cost me all my life points in two turns. Two! Obviously, it does depend on how the cards are dealt, but there is a great deal of strategy on offer here.

Progressing up the Rank matches is fun. Depending on your skill level you’ll probably find the difficulty level starts to really spike at around rank 20/21. Up and around 15/16 you’ll soon start seeing lots of decks with multiple legendary cards, which aren’t unbeatable but are still very challenging. You can still progress up the ranks without paying to purchase cards with your own earned money, but you will find the process slightly quicker than having to earn in-game gold.

I started playing Hearthstone on my PC via Battle.net. As you’d expect from Blizzard, this title is polished up to the eyeballs and it runs brilliantly. With it being a card game it of course doesn’t need Crysis style graphics or a massive amount of RAM, however the game still looks gorgeous and vibrant. The matches are played out on a number of random Warcraft-inspired boards, which are interactable (you can turn the lights out in the church on the Stormwind board for example, or load a light a fire on the Stranglethorn one). I particularly like the little comments when you view your cards in your collection, for example the spell Holy Light when you select it to look at it in closer detail has written to the side of it “If you are often bathed in Holy Light you should consider sunscreen”. Little touches of polish that add to the overall high standards of presentation.

While I’ve wanted one for quite some time, it did encourage me to pick up an iPad. I decided to go with an iPad Mini (based on my needs) and it works great on the little tablet. It does on occasional have the odd bit of slowdown mid-match, and navigating round the menus is a slightly slower process, but we aren’t talking about a massive amount of time difference plus you’d expect such a thing when comparing a gaming PC to a tablet. It still looks great and none of the features are missing from the PC counterpart. It is of course cross compatible too, so it doesn’t matter what device you play it on. Since getting it on iPad I do warn, it is incredibly difficult to put down, so download it on your iPad at your own peril! Blizzard are planning an iPhone version for the second half of this year, while they are looking to release an Android version at some stage in the future.

Multiplayer matches against your friends are easy to set up thanks to Battle.net’s friend system, with both versions of the game having in-game access to a little menu where you can select from your friends to commence battle with, and of course add new ones too. There is also a function to battle nearby players who are signed in on Battle.net on the same network as you, encouraging people to take part and host local multiplayer Hearthstone meets (or as Blizzard call them, Fireside Gatherings).

If you like the idea of a free card battling game on your PC or iPad, then you really can’t go wrong. If you have any kind of interest in the Warcraft series then this is probably up there as a must download title. While card games aren’t always everyone's cup of tea, I’d highly recommend giving this one a go. It’ll cost you nothing and the tutorial is very user-friendly, even if you haven’t touched a card game before in your life. Veterans of Magic The Gathering and so on will be right at home with the gameplay mechanics on offer here.

In my opinion, a great PC game in its own right, whilst the portable nature of the iPad makes it a must download app if you have one.

Mario Kart Offer

Own a Wii U? If the answer is yes my guess is you'll be planning on picking up the latest Mario Kart when it hits the Wii U on May 30th. You maybe tempted to pick it up sooner rather than later, thanks to a Nintendo Direct broadcast which hit the internet today. Purchase and register a copy of Mario Kart 8 on the Club Nintendo website between May 30th and July 31st and you'll get a free downloadable Wii U game. What are the games up for grabs I hear you cry? Check this little list out!

Zelda: Wind Waker

Super Mario Bros U

Game and Wario

Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate

Sonic Lost Worlds

Pikmin 3

Nintendo Land

Wii Party U

Wonderful 101

Mario and Sonic: Sochi 2014 Winter Olympic Games

Now that is a tasty selection of some of the biggest hits on the Wii U thus far, and I for one will be torn between which game to choose. I'll likely go for The Wonderful 101 by Platinum Games, a title I've been tempted by since its release but have yet to purchase.

You can check out a new trailer featuring the rest of the new Mario Kart news below. The character list is now up to 30 playable stars, with Baby Rosalina and Pink Gold Peach joining in the karting fun. 2 new weapons will be available to, including a Super Horn, which will be perfect for dealing with those pesky blue shells!

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWQK60V9KTg&w=560&h=315]

Are you planning on picking up Mario Kart? Perhaps you're even thinking of buying a Wii U for it? Ether way, which of those free games would you go for? Let us know by commenting!

It's App Monday - Fun with Apps

We had so much fun with last weeks Mighty Mower App, you can see this below, we forgot to film this weeks video! Filming will commence today and ready  for Tuesday at 8PM GMT.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fy1Q8samFqU&w=560&h=315]

The E.T. Mystery: Solved

The world of videogames includes a number of unsolved mysteries, however one particular mystery seemed nothing more than a Chinese whisper. A rumour. A hoax. For years people have talked about how hundreds of copies of the Atari title 'E.T. The Extra Terrestrial' game (which massively flopped at retail) could have been buried in a landfill site. The Angry Video Game Nerd has even featured this tale as the main storyline for his upcoming film.

Turns out, it's true! Microsoft are busy recording a documentary on the subject and managed to negotiate an excavation of the landfill out in New Mexico. Low and behold, they found a fair number of copies of the infamous title, mixed in with a number of other Atari titles of the time including Centipede and Space Invaders.

You can find out more information about the documentary and the discovery of the lost cartridges at this link.

Images courtesy of Major Nelson's Twitter feed.

Tom + Mat Attack 049 – KnapNok Games

With Tom in the UK, Mat is living the high life and jets off to Copenhagen! There he interviews Dajana Dimovska, who talks all things KnapNok, as well as her involvement in the Copenhagen Game Collective! There’s discussion of Spin the bottle: Bumpie’s Party, Dark Room Sex Game as well as Knapnok’s new title, Affordable Space Adventure! Go show your thanks to a great studio by showing them some love!

Listen here.

Tom + Mat Attack 048 – Happy Birthday to Us!

It’s been 365 Days of Podcasting bliss! A whole year I say, since the boy’s first picked up mics and did speak about video games. Instead of doing the usual TV show ‘best of’, the boys decide to keep things current and well, just do a regular podcast! Tom talks Super Crate Box, the Devil May Cry HD Collection & Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z, while Mat experiences the pain of Dark Souls 2 & the joys of Titan Fall. There’s also the usual news, release info and banter you’d expect… Oh and confusion as to which episode this is! Standard fair! Role on Season 2!

Listen here.

Kerbal Space Program: Career Mode

Are you ready to boldly go where no processor has gone before? Join Chris as he continues his Kerbal Space Program videos. In a new series he is attempting to tackle the game's career mode, giving himself two goals.

The first is to place an object on every moon and planet in the system, which is by no means easy in its own right. His second goal is to gather a number of asteroids and create an Asteroid base (in the words of Chris himself, 'to make any super villain jealous').

You can check out how his quest begins by watching the video below:

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BdHnkWIygxU&w=560&h=315]

Before embarking on his mission Chris decided to do a mini test run by recreating the Apollo 11 moon landing. You can see how he got on below:

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5aJCAos4HX4&w=560&h=315]

And finally, if you'd like to see all Chris's previous exploits in space you can view them all over on his playlist on YouTube, which is embedded...yep you guessed it...below!

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=videoseries?list=PLrWFCXFx8tw1Q4Zt7AtJgvMacLFbFHHhu&w=560&h=315]

GSL 2014: TerraTech Preview

First and foremost, an apology. During the course of the video interview with the guys behind the next title I’m about to talk about, and during conversations on Twitter I’ve gone and called this wonderful little indie game Terra Tanks. It isn’t called Terra Tanks, it’s TerraTech. My bad! Right, on we go...

I’m going to throw a little equation that’ll hopefully give you an incline of what to expect from the folks at West London Games.

(LEGO + Robot Wars) + Space Exploration = TerraTech

The concept of the game is quite simple. Gather the planets natural resources to improve your base and fleet. Conquer your enemies and you can even pinch their parts to further develop your base, and more importantly, your tank! And in updating your tank lies the key component to why I enjoyed this game so much.

As you battle other tanks they’ll start to fall to pieces. These pieces can then be used by you to add to your tank. Everytime you play you start off with a little block sized vehicle with a basic gun, but within moments once you’ve defeated other small tanks you’ll have enough ‘bits’ to start making some very oddly designed beasts. Its very easy to do, with no extra building menus or anything like that, you simply use your mouse to click and drag components on and off your tank. Want to see a couple of examples? Below you’ll see a video posted by the TerraTech creators with some of their favourite creations by various people who visited the stand during the course of The Gadget Show Live. Processor Mat’s tank can be spotted at the 1 min 33 second mark, or here. Neil also has a short video of his creation thanks to the devs Vine page too.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2zNE60mv_g&w=560&h=315]

While the version on display didn’t really feature the planned base development gameplay, based on what I’ve played thus far I can only imagine the base building to be just as fun. With large generated worlds and a vast selection of components and such to customize your tank, this is one little game that is firmly planted on my radar. Look for a review in the future!

Kris Skellorn is one of the game’s designers and he kindly allowed us to interview him at the stand. The video is up to watch below. Make sure you follow TerraTech via Twitter and Facebook, not forgetting to bookmark the game’s official site, terratechgame.com.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXRb_9jFA_I&w=560&h=315]

Zombicide - Bloodthirsty Kicks

Zombicide Fast paced, action packed board game with a lust for blood will keep you on the edge of your seat from start to finish. Crazed zombies, vicious weapons and chance all lead to a blood splatteringly good time, whether you achieve all objects or just die all guns blazing.

The Characters: Each character has different strengths and perks to help you through the game. Traits such as slippery (can exit a square which has zombies easily) and lock pick (can open doors silently without a weapon) can help you progress through the game easily. Traits can also be earned and chosen as you gain experience by killing zombies and picking up objective markers. Each character has different traits so pick according to your playing style. Do you want to go in all guns blazing? Then pick + 1 to weapon range. Do you want to attack with a chainsaw? + 1 dice roll to melee weapons. It's all about tactics, and everyone plays differently.

The Zombies: There are two expansion packs for this game, however I will be focusing on the original kickstarter to keep it simple for this review. There are three main types of zombie - the walkers, the runners and the fattys. The walkers: only move one space at a time and only need 1 damage to kill. The runners: move two spaces each turn but need 1 damage to kill. The fattys: only move one space each time but need 2damage to kill. Then there is the abomination. It may only move one space each time but it takes 3 damage to kill and for that there is only 1 weapon -The Molotov Cocktail. After each player takes their turn it is the zombies turn, for each spawn point you turn over one zombie card (yellow) to see what types of zombie and how many you will get. They will always move towards noise and visuals if they can see you.

The Weapons: There are a variety of weapons. Some awful (cue frying pan) and some fantastic (chainsaw!) but each are found by chance. Every character is given a weapon at random to start to game (normally rubbish ones) and others can be found by searching in empty rooms. You have 3 actions to complete each round (until you unlock more) and one of these can be a search. You must be either inside a building or car and there must be no zombies. You simply turn over a card (red) to see what you have found. The more dice it instructs you to use the better your chances, and the lower you need to score shows how easy it is to use. One dice and only 6+ (frying pan) is more difficult than 3 dice with 4+ (sub machine gun).

The rules may be complex and make take time to understand, but once understood they are quick to implement and is great fun to play. Though I would recommend a full afternoon or evening to play...it often lasts for hours -especially if you play with the Blast Process gang who love to talk tactics! All in all a fantastic game for a Sunday afternoon! (Or any other day of the week!)

Figures painted by James Brewerton

Mel

 

Commander Sampson Returns!

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-8kBY0_bSc&w=560&h=315]

Salvaged ramps up production - support at kickstarter

Salvaged launches on Kickstarter! You can see Dave's article right here surrounding our thoughts on the game, along with our video interview that was filmed at this years Gadget Show Live.

Opposable Games ramps up production on dual-screen IP Salvaged following positive showing at GDC and EGX Rezzed

Monday 7th April 2014, Bristol, UK. Experienced indie development studio Opposable Games today announces that it is stepping up production of its dual-screen original IP Salvaged, following a highly successful showing at GDC and EGX Rezzed in March. The real-time tactical action game for PC is set in a deadly sci-fi universe and features unique dual-screen play, powered by Opposable's proprietary OneTouchConnect technology. Preview builds are now being made available for the first time.

Described by GameZone as “one of the smartest tactical action games we've seen since X-COM” and by Eurogamer as “a cool, multi-screen take on the tactical action genre”, Salvaged is now slated for an Early Access release in June 2014 and a full release in Q4 2014. The game lets players take command of a Remote Interstellar Salvage Crew (RISC) as they explore and fight their way through abandoned space hulks in a procedurally generated, infinite universe. As the RISC Commander, the player directs the action using their tablet or smart phone while experiencing the impact of their orders through the eyes of their squad on the main screen. This unique dual-screen control system is the core of the game experience, combining the flexibility and intuitiveness of a touch screen with the intensity and immediacy of a modern PC title.

The game idea was originally conceived in 2012 following the release of Opposable's award-winning dual-screen racing game Clockwork Racers. Driven by the belief that multi-screen gaming can be a powerful and engaging experience, the studio has taken a disciplined and focused approach over the subsequent two years to build a team with the size and experience to tackle development on Salvaged. Running in parallel, it has also used its successful work-for-hire portfolio to fund creation of its cross-platform device connection technology OneTouchConnect.

Late in 2013, Salvaged won out against stiff competition in the IC Tomorrow second screen contest run by the Technology Strategy Board and backed by Sony. This initial injection of funding and support is enabling comprehensive user testing and the integration of face tracking technology to hone the gameplay, ensuring that both screens play an integral role in the player's experience.

Committed to sharing their learning through development and encouraging others to embrace multi-screen games, Opposable have worked closely with a number of developers and have also made OneTouchConnect available via the Unity Asset Store.

Recent feedback from the press and public has shown a strong interest in both the game concept and the technology, as MD Ben Trewhella explains: “The response we received to the game at GDC and Rezzed was overwhelming so we're confident that the time is right to ramp up production. We've believed in the potential of multi-screen gaming for many years but it was really rewarding to see so many of the public so enthusiastic about both the technology and Salvaged itself. We're looking forward to sharing the finished game with our fast-growing fan-base.”

Committed to sharing their learning through development and encouraging others to embrace multi-screen games, Opposable have worked closely with a number of developers and have also made OneTouchConnect available via the Unity Asset Store.

Recent feedback from the press and public has shown a strong interest in both the game concept and the technology, as MD Ben Trewhella explains: “The response we received to the game at GDC and Rezzed was overwhelming so we're confident that the time is right to ramp up production. We've believed in the potential of multi-screen gaming for many years but it was really rewarding to see so many of the public so enthusiastic about both the technology and Salvaged itself. We're looking forward to sharing the finished game with our fast-growing fan-base.”

To support its new development schedule and to enable more of the team to move their focus away from work-for-hire, Opposable are also announcing today that they're launching a crowd-funding campaign for the game on Kickstarter which will go live on Monday 14th April.

For more information on Salvaged, please visit www.SalvagedGame.com, or follow the game via social media at: Twitter: @SalvagedGame, Facebook: www.facebook.com/SalvagedGame For more information on Opposable Games, please visit www.OpposableGames.com To support the Salvaged Kickstarter campaign, please visit the official campaign page here: salvagedgame.com/pledge

Titanfall Xbox 360 Review

When anyone utters the words ‘makers of Call of Duty’ and ‘giant robots’ in the same sentence, it’s only understandable that people get a little bit excited. Say what you will about Activision’s first person shooter franchise, but with a total of over 120 million units sold, Call of Duty’s reach and influence in the sphere of gaming is hard to deny. So large an influence perhaps, that Respawn Entertainment, the EA funded studio founded by Jason West & Vince Zampella, previously of Infinity Ward, must have felt the pressure of the colossal franchise they helped create, weighing down on them from the get go. The hypothetical question must have one day arisen – How do you take on a colossus? The answer seemed to be to simply bring a Titan. If anyone could do it, then who better than Respawn?

It was under the weight of this expectation that Titanfall, Respawn’s new futuristic FPS title hit the markets. The game’s packaging boasts of the title’s 60+ awards at E3, merely a feather in the cap of a game riding high on the shoulders of an aggressive marketing campaign and promised a next generation experience like no other. But after Titanfall’s March 11^th release for the Xbox One & PC, reviews were mixed to say the least. Critics expected the second coming of the modern first person shooter, but instead received a competent game that could never live up to, the carefully orchestrated symphony of hysteria-inducing hype that told of it’s coming.

But a month after the games initial release, when the dust has settled and Titanfall finds itself on Microsoft’s Xbox 360, what then? When those expecting the next generation of gaming, have seen the emperor naked of new clothes, can Titanfall be judged solely on its merits as a console first person shooter?

For starters, let us look at Titanfall’s campaign. After promising a single player-like experience in a multiplayer setting, Respawn hit their first hurdle. By making the game online only, Titanfall polarized potential players from the very beginning. While only 18% of players completed Call of Duty Black Ops’ campaign, it is still a very daunting thought not to have a campaign in a full retail title.

To some, the idea of paying full price for a multiplayer game, in a constantly shifting multiplayer environment and especially with a new IP, is a scary thought. What if months down the line, nobody is playing Titanfall online? Then the game has a sell by date, a prospect that alarms most gamers who primarily vote with their wallets.

These grievances aside, what Titanfall offers in terms of a campaign is an ambitious idea, but on the whole will leave gamers wanting. For all its promises of user’s creating their own story, Titanfall’s campaign is simply Halo 4’s Spartan Ops. Small episodic chunks of story, which consist of nothing more than an in-engine cut scene and audio logs played over combat.

As for length, while the campaign is split into two opposing factions, the surprisingly well armed Frontier Militia, and the seeming evil Interstellar Manufacturing Corporation, both of which offer the perspective of each army and their struggles, not a lot changes. Win or lose, the story plods along to its slow and unsatisfactory conclusion. Though the story the game tells isn’t the most fascinating, its absence in the game’s regular multiplayer modes in noticeable, and even though the writing isn't the best, the contextualization of why these armies is fighting, feels strangely gratifying.

While only two of the game’s six multiplayer modes are playable here (Attrition, the game’s Team Deathmatch & Hardpoint, i.e. three point King of the Hill), experiencing them as part of the campaign is arguably more fun than without it.

In the campaign, the player takes the roll of a pilot, the game’s customisable soldier. Here a player experiences the game’s custom load outs and perks, as you would expect from any modern day shooter. However what Titanfall gets right is that like Halo, the weapon’s the player starts with are perfectly capable tools to play the game. The player is not penalized for their newness like in Call of Duty, or their lack of Premium Membership like in Battlefield 4. Even when fighting the game’s titular Titans, players start off with the right gun’s to make scrap metal of the metal mechs with ease, if they have enough skill to use them.

Where Titanfall’s game play differs from most modern FPS games is that in campaign and multiplayer, the player meets not only enemy players but AI with varying levels of skill, all of which gives XP. These AI make the seemingly limited 6 vs 6 experience feel on par with Battlefield 4’s 64 player Multiplayer. But more than simply filling up the numbers, these bots speed up the generation of the game’s selling point but also its biggest missed opportunity: The Titans.

Titans are mobile suits that offer the player further levels of customization of play, more powerful weapons and a personal robot killing machine to boot. Player’s can either pilot these Titans, or simply allow them to roam around the map, AI controlled killing enemy players for you. While Titan’s can be used strategically, using them guard a base in Hardpoint, or roam around covering your back in Attrition, I often found myself letting my Titan simply roam around scoring kills for me, as in an otherwise fast paced, no-nonsense FPS, Titan’s really slow things down. It’s both a blessing and a curse – the Titan’s speed restrictions stop them from being Battlefield’s Tanks and Choppers and dominating infantry, however it also derails what should be the selling point of the game, Titan vs. Titan action. Why would you ride a slow moving, large target into battle, when you can dispatch a Titan more efficiently with basic Anti-Titan weaponry? Especially when wall-running and the traversing of the environment is encouraged as a pilot?

The game’s Multiplayer options outside of campaign are also a mixed bag. While the game touts six modes, as well as Attrition & Hardpoint, there’s Last Titan Standing (a Titan vs. Titan mode which suffers from the pre-mentioned problems), Capture the Flag & Pilot Hunter (Team Deathmatch without AI kills counting).

The sixth mode is called ‘Variety Pack’ and is essentially a mixture of all other game modes. When you consider that Pilot hunter is simply a variant of Attrition, meaning the game only launched with four game types, Titanfall’s cracks start to show.

While there are certainly fun reasons to play Titanfall, and the game’s introduction of mechanics such as burn cards, cards that can be used for one spawn to deal extra damage or gain more XP, are fun, but they aren't essential to the experience. Despite supposedly being in development since 2010, Titanfall almost feels like a Beta game. With limited unlocks, the prospect that game modes that would have otherwise been on disk being included in downloadable content, as well as a seemingly limited lifespan. While there is the possibility of unlocking Generations, the game’s equivalent of prestige, this offers little but bragging rights, and makes Titanfall a great game that feels half cooked.

All promises aside, all hype deflated, Titanfall is the start of what proves to be a great first person shooter franchise. Despite its short comings, it is a strong basis for Respawn to build off of. The mechanics are there, they just need tweaking. The things it’s borrowed from other games, be it Mirrors Edge’s parkour or Left for Dead’s fighting for survival until extraction, are perhaps the right ones. That when combined with solid shooting and balanced weapons, feel new and exciting. While Titanfall doesn't deliver on its promise of a next gen experience like no other, but it’s certainly a fun, highly playable shooter that shows glimmers of greatness.

inFAMOUS Second Son Review

inFAMOUS Second Son is Sony’s first console exclusive game since launch. It is a game that has been raised high on the hulking shoulders of the Playstation 4. It promises a ‘next gen’ experience that will make the naysayers of this new generation of consoles, part with their hard earned pennies and shell out for Team Sony. But is this game truly the second coming of video gaming? Or like a second child, forced to play with the previous generations hand me down mechanics?

inFAMOUS Second Son follows Delsin Rowe, the titular Second Son, a graffiti artist delinquent, who like most super heroes, has greatness thrust upon him after discovering that he is a Conduit. Conduit is the term given to those in the inFAMOUS universe with powers, though the easiest comparison would be ‘mutant’ from the Marvel universe. Much like Marvel’s X-men series, ‘Conduits’ are treated like outsiders by society, who have labelled them ‘Bio-Terroists’ and assembled a department to track down & capture Conduits called the Department of Unified Protection (or D.U.P).

Despite how clichéd this story may sound, it brings about what is perhaps the most impressive thing about Second Son: the game’s interesting dialogue that actually matches the motion capture beat for beat. Even when characters say lines that sound somewhat forced, the facial expressions exhibited by the character anchors meaning to them, making them not only forgivable, but even believable. 

But even these flourishes of next generation narrative aren’t without their thorns. The game’s characters are interesting, but are painted with such broad strokes of cliché, that their flashback stories sometimes undermine the believability that the actors performances strive so hard to achieve. If the game exhibited a little more show than tell on character motives and histories, Second Son’s story could have raised the bar for storytelling in Triple A titles. 

Instead like a weight lifter with one arm weaker than the other, the game’s storytelling displays a muscular imbalance. Where the stronger arm of the game’s storytelling and facial recognition is ready to push things forward, the weaker arm of convention and its need to impart information on the player quickly holds it back. 

The game’s karma system leaves a lot to be desired however. While it was a key selling point of the original games, it falls into the Fable trap of not having so much impact on the game, other than visual aesthetics and slight changes in dialogue. There is no moral grey in the stories key choices; it’s always a polar opposite ultimatum of good or evil. The game even colour codes these choices, for those who couldn’t tell that ‘turning yourself in’ was the ‘good’ thing to do, over ‘sacrificing your tribe’ making you seem a little bit bastardly. Though perhaps if you’re in need of colour coded assurance of what you’re doing is right or wrong, there are bigger issues for you to tackle.

In terms of game play, short of an impressive representation of Seattle that is close to fully formed, inFAMOUS never really feels more like very well made, late  Playstation 3 title, rather than the next gen opus some had hoped for. 

This isn’t necessarily a bad thing however, as the game is fun to play for the most part. Combat is fluid and balanced. Even as the game progresses, you neither feel overpowered or nor completely outgunned, as the game’s Conduit powers offer a way to turn the tide. While these powers are upgradable, apart from the elements their composed of and some small changes to the amount of damage dealt & animation, each new power is based around the idea of a melee & ranged attack, a dash, a powerful attack and a special that can be triggered by using the game’s karma abilities, offering little varieties or reason to switch between powers. 

However, the game requires you learn each of these new powers in turn, forcing you into sticking with each of the individual powers for an extended period, rather than allowing the player to simply revert to an older power until later in the game. By the third power unlock, the ritualistic regaining of each attack after receiving a new power takes a lot of momentum out of the game. The game’s final boss encounter is even bogged down in the tedium, forcing you to play the game how Sucker Punch would like you to, rather than how you feel you should, shattering the illusion of player free will in service of the narrative’s natural conclusion, souring the games conclusion slightly and making it feel a little rushed.

The game also suffers from other minor irritations. NPCs will cheer at you one moment, and then the use of a power will make them freak out and run away. The game also punishes you for careless mistakes in combats very heavy handily. While trying to clear out the city of D.U.P agents to gain fast travel, the player can encounter large parking areas full of enemies. If you’re unfortunate enough to clear the whole building, a good 10 to 15 minutes of work, but get killed by the last, more powerful enemy, you’re sent back to the last checkpoint, sometimes at the other side of the city. It could be argued that this is the game attempting to balance risk vs. reward, but can leave Second Son prey to biggest cardinal sin of gaming: making the player feel like they’re wasting time.

Exploring the city is also a blessing and a curse. Traversing a large city that is fully at your disposal feels as next gen as console gaming has got. Running up walls and bouncing up walls is thrilling, but when mixed with poor climbing mechanics & the inability to swim, Delsin feels a lot less super than he should. 

But it must be noted - standing on top of a tall building and seeing a city move all around you is really a sight to behold. For a second, you could be forgiven in thinking that Second Son’s Seattle wasn’t the real thing.

It’s not until you get down on the street that this is abolished. There’s not the feeling of life a next gen city should have. While cars drive & NPC’s shout random lines of dialogue based on your character’s moral choices, there are no background noise, no fleeting whispers of conversation, and the distinct hum of traffic isn’t there but an occasional car horn, making the game’s Seattle a city without soul. The city is also for the most part, also indestructible. You can’t bring down buildings or destroy walls, other than DUP structures that are removable from the environment once districts are freed, adding to the feeling the city is no more but a sandbox. 

While there is little replay offered rather than freeing the districts, the gimmicky graffiti mini-game or taking part in the 6 part, weekly mission cum transmedia campaign in inFAMOUS Paper Trail, there’s not a lot to keep you coming back on Delsin’s story is done.

While Paper Trail is a fun experiment into using an external device & your own detective skills, to solve a murder both at the console & away from it, these extra missions won’t be everyone’s cup of tea. The post-story city is also more for those aiming for trophies than a rewarding end game experience. You could always replay the game from the opposite karmic stance, but this offers less variety than you would expect.

So is inFAMOUS worth playing at all? Absolutely. While this review is perhaps rather scathing of Sucker Punches’ efforts, Second Son is a glimpse at the future. It’s a solid game by the standards set in the last generation that gives Playstation 4 owners a look at things to come. It’s vast open world, fast and enjoyable combat, combined with a competent story & incredible character performances makes Second Son perhaps the truest experience of this console generation so far. It’s problems lie in the expectations of what it means to be a game on a new console, instead of defining them, it only theories at what an Xbox One or Playstation 4 game should be, rather than what one is. 

inFAMOUS is one of the first games of the generation to hint at what’s to come. If you own a PS4 and are curious about Second Son, by all means pick it up. While the game perhaps shouldn’t be the reason for shifting consoles that it undoubtedly will be, it’s undoubtedly Sony’s best offering. But be warned - like the game’s karma system, you need to take the good with the bad. It’s not a flawless experience, but it’s story, cool powers & artificial sense of freedom make inFAMOUS Second Son a game that, at least in this point of the console generation, a worthy addition to your games library.

GSL 2014: Ether One Preview

Moving on from Salvaged, the next game I got to get my paws on was Ether One, a first person adventure game from the small studio White Paper Games.

Ether One, from the off, is all about discovery. Continuing the recently popular theme of slow paced discovery titles started by games such as Myst all those years ago (we’ve had titles like Gone Home and such more recently) you find yourself walking around the small town of Pinwheel piecing together the game’s story.

The stories in this genre of games are somewhat more important than in over the top feasts like Battlefield and such, however from what I’ve heard and played thus far Ether One seems to be more than up for the task. The game centres around a dementia patient and the plot revolves around the fragile nature of the human mind. I’d love to go into further details however it would be very unfair for me to do so.

You can play though the game without touching a single puzzle if the story is all you're interested in. However, for those seeking a little more of a challenge you can instead try to work out the many complex puzzles dotted about the game, all of which play a part in piecing together the many events of the main character’s history. The studio are fond of the old traditional pen and paper required note-taking puzzles of old, so ensure you have them on standby for the harder to complete puzzles later in the game.

Visually the game looks great, as the lighting reflects the calm nature of Pinwheel (at least, on the section of which I was playing). From what I’ve heard so far of the soundtrack it matches the genre of this game perfectly.

Ether One supports the Oculus Rift, which I managed to bag some time with. The VR headset works perfectly, allowing you to look around at your own pleasure. After speaking to NJ (see the video towards the bottom of this article) it is clear the team enjoyed working with the headset and also found it relatively straight forward to include as an option in Ether One. Personally, and also bearing in mind it was my first time using the Rift I sadly found myself getting a headache after only a few minutes worth of play. I struggle to see the 3D aspects in 3D films, so perhaps that played a part in me having to remove the headset after a short amount of time. The other members of the team (specifically Mat and Mike) enjoyed using the headset more than me. I’ll be speaking more about the Oculus Rift in an upcoming preview of Fortresscraft Evolved in a few days time.

It is hard to talk in detail regarding games based in a genre that is powered by the sense of discovery, and while it isn’t a game for all tastes I’ll be personally looking forward to playing this one in my own time.

As mentioned earlier, below you can find a video interview with NJ, the audio lead for Ether One. He talks about the game and of course the Oculus Rift. Further below is the latest trailer for the game. You can purchase Ether One now directly from the developers, GoG or The Humble Store. Links and more information can be found at the game’s official website, ether-game.com. You can also follow them on Twitter, @WhitePaperGames.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXh-2cSQSts&w=560&h=315]

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Us4la1ghbRg&w=560&h=315]