2020 was pretty universally regarded as a bad year. With everything going on in the world, many people had plenty of free time to play games they had never tried. Branching out to try different genres can provide a refreshing change of pace, although MOBAs tend to be harder to get into than most games. Hi-Rez Studios’ take on the genre, Smite, stood out because of its familiar third-person perspective and crossplay capability....
Competitive Pokémon is not the easiest to learn for a beginner trainer. It is for those who want to battle more seriously than just the regular story gameplay of the franchise. When starting in competitive Pokémon, it may seem a bit confusing at first, but it is easy to get into it after a bit of practice and memorization. While it may not be for everyone, it most definitely is something to try if someone wants a bit more out of the Pokémon games....
An 11-year-old boy from Mebane, NC. has been called courageous and brave after using a machete to defend himself from a would-be video game thief. The suspect was left with a head wound and had to seek treatment at a hospital in the area. Local North Carolina news says that an 11-year-old boy was at home by himself when a suspect, Jataveon Dashawn Hall, 19, broke into the home through the window....
Wonder what it’s going to be like in the cockpit in Ace Combat: Assault Horizon? The folks over at Namco-Bandai have sought to release the gameplay tutorial for all to see - and get an idea of what aerial combat will be like in the game. It looks pretty gosh darn awesome. The video, of the tutorial level presumably, does a good job of introducing the ins and outs of dogfighting in very expensive planes....
There are few games easier to follow than Aliens: Colonial Marines , so the developers of Alien: Isolation don’t have to deliver a flawless experience to give the brand a boost. But to make sure there are no suspicions that Creative Assembly looking to pull a fast one on fans yet again, the studio is going out of their way to show, not tell, that they are looking to honor the original film in the series....
Yesterday, Ubisoft announced the latest addition in the Assassin’s Creed series. Assassin’s Creed Syndicate will take players to London in the middle of the Industrial Revolution, where the rich continued to get richer as many poor and working class people were flung into poverty. Our two playable protagonists, Jacob and Evie Frye, are twins who aim to put a stop to this and help the working class. They’ll do this by liberating the seven boroughs of London, with each borough being run by a Templar gang that must be defeated....
One of the many perks that comes with playing games on the PC is the ability to run it at the best settings possible. This means seeing the game perform at its best with top tier visuals and solid frame rates. The trick, however, is having the right hardware to make playing on Ultra settings a reality. Some are capable of doing so, while others have to settle for the recommended, which usually isn’t a bad thing....
Twitch, as the most popular video game streaming website, has its own set of celebrities both famous and infamous. Though it has rules about what can and can’t be shown on its streams—rules that were formed in response to complaints from viewers—some of its most infamous streamers are known for showing a little skin to get more viewers or incite arguments. Some other streamers take umbrage with that. According to them, these scantily-clad girl gamers are stealing their viewers and making the community look bad, encouraging the people who watch the streams to demand the same of other female streamers and pulling in viewers that might otherwise be watching other streams....
Whenever a new piece of content releases for Destiny, there’s a mad dash for players to claim bragging rights as they clear it under various self-imposed sets of rules. Going for a record time is a popular field of competition, but there’s also a bevy of Guardians who test themselves by soloing the game’s most challenging trials. Whether they’re taking on a Strike on their lonesome, or attempting a Raid with no backup, these players demonstrate that it’s possible to ignore the social element of Destiny — so long as you’ve got the skills, and the gear....
It’s the dimension of BioWare RPGs that the most diehard fans can’t get enough of, the casual fan finds scintillating, and the marketing seems to overlook entirely in favor of action and epic storytelling: romance. Both the Dragon Age and Mass Effect franchises have made the studio synonymous with in-game romantic relationships, and have found themselves at the center of controversy more than once as a result. But despite the naysayers or online boycotters, the ability to romance characters - should the game design allow for it - remains....
One of the best games that ever released on the original Xbox was Lionhead Studios’ Fable. Throwing players into the wondrous world of Albion for the first time proved to be a successful venture for Microsoft, and fans absolutely fell in love with the game’s story and feel. Gamers have been longing to return to the original title in HD, and it looks as if they’ll finally be getting that opportunity in Fable Anniversary....
[HTML1] As time crawls on, games become more and more reliant on the Internet. That’s not always a good thing. For every positive innovation, like online multiplayer and Twitch streaming, there’s a darker side. Without an online connection, developers would have a much harder time implementing microtransactions or DLC. In the old days, titles were finished before they were released. Now, gamers get products like Assassin’s Creed Unity and Battlefield 4 and if the games don’t work at launch it’s no problem because they’ll just get patched later – after everyone’s already handed over their hard-earned cash....
Although it probably shouldn’t, negative behavior in multiplayer games has practically become par for the course. And while numerous games have implemented new features to keep overly abusive in the periphery, there’s still no perfect answer to fighting negative behavior. League of Legends is trying its best to curb negative behavior with a new system that puts players into a Player Behavior program before reintroducing them to ranked games. The Player Behavior program has been secretly testing behind the scenes in League of Legends, and just this week it began live testing in North America and Europe....
The Mass Effect 3 “ending controversy” has been dominating industry news headlines for over two weeks - ranging in topics that include initial frustrations, early responses from game director Casey Hudson, a charity drive, comments from BioWare officials, as well as reassurances from studio co-founder Dr. Ray Muzyka. However, as more and more gamers complete the Mass Effect 3 campaign, the tone of the blowback continues to heat-up (just look at this especially emotional response) and, despite promises from BioWare that some fan-frustrations will be addressed in future DLC, it’s hard to imagine that the anger and disappointment will die-down anytime soon....
3DS owners are all anxiously anticipating the release of Resident Evil: Revelations, and understandably so. Not only does the game reintroduce players to the more horror-filled atmosphere found in the older games, but it’s a new freaking Resident Evil game that’s exclusive to the Nintendo 3DS. The only problem fans really had with that game was that it was going to cost them $49.99 ($10 more than a standard 3DS game)....
Given the shift of several major franchises to a larger emphasis on action over slow pacing, it seems the pressure is on for Resident Evil 6 to either show the world how it’s done, or show that the times, indeed, are changing. Instead of letting speculation run wild, Capcom has released just under twenty minutes of the game’s campaign showing an experience strongly reminiscent of the series’ earlier titles. It would be a bit unfair to say that the developers of Resident Evil 6 has some convincing to do, but the portion of the game shown at E3 was less than spectacular....
[Update: Some readers requested a video without commentary, and since I am a man of the people here’s a link for the 40 minute gameplay video without commentary.] They say that first impressions are everything, and if that’s true than Saints Row 4 makes one of the best first impressions in recent memory. We’ve seen some truly great game openings this year — from BioShock Infinite to The Last of Us — but where those games go for a serious, somber tone, Saints Row 4 takes things in the opposite direction....
Planned for a theatrical release this summer, Marvel Studios’ Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings will introduce the first Asian superhero to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Fans have been waiting for the official trailer drop, or even a sneak peek into what the latest Marvel hero will look like. While nothing official has been released yet, a picture of a new Marvel LEGO set has leaked and gone viral on social media as it offers fans a first glimpse at Shang-Chi in costume....
It may not come as happy news to Star Wars fans, but the fact that the developers of Star Wars 1313 are committed to a specific vision has to be a good sign. At this week’s Star Wars Celebration VI event, the developers of the upcoming bounty hunter adventure provided a few new details on what features fans can, and can’t, expect to be in the game whenever it releases....
When Disney purchased Lucasfilm in 2009 - and with it, the Star Wars franchise - there was no question that the sale would have a profound impact on the pop-culture landscape. And sure enough, there are sweeping changes on the way, with most of Star Wars’ “Expanded Universe” swept away, clearing the deck for a new, more cohesive Star Wars canon. There are new movies coming in the form of this year’s The Force Awakens and next year’s Rogue One....
