Friday, June 19, 2015

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In the 06/20/2015 edition:

The Last Guardian Director Says He Wasn't Sure if People Would Remember the Game

By Eddie Makuch on Jun 19, 2015 11:59 pm

At E3 2015 this week, Sony re-revealed its long-in-development PlayStation adventure game The Last Guardian. Before Monday evening, the last time we saw anything new from the game was back in 2009. Now, creative director Fumito Ueda has admitted that he wasn't sure that people would even remember the game--thankfully, they did. But it was a concern, he says in an interview with the PlayStation Blog.

"Yes, it's been a few years since our last announcement," Ueda said. "From my point of view, it was very unpredictable how the audience would react. I wasn't sure if people would remember the title. Admittedly, I was a bit nervous."

But this anxiety was short-lived, as fans responded positively to the game's announcement.

"After the announce I saw the reaction, and the cheering--and that proved to me that people had really been waiting and were excited to see us reveal The Last Guardian for PS4," Ueda said. "Afterwards, I was more relaxed and happy!"

Also in the interview, Ueda said there were "a number of reasons" why The Last Guardian has seen such an extended development schedule. One of the most significant reasons was the technical challenge of transitioning the game from PlayStation 3 to PlayStation 4.

"If I had to call out one of them, it was more of a technical hurdle that we had to overcome," Ueda said about why the game was delayed. "But eventually we have overcome it, and we have finally--proudly-- announced the game for PS4 during the E3 press conference."

Given the extended development of The Last Guardian, some might be wondering if the game has changed at all since we last saw it. The core components have not, Ueda said, though the game should look quite bit nicer now that it's running on a better platform.

"The game content itself--the storyline etc.--that stuff has not changed," he explained. "Obviously, the migration to PS4 has enabled us to push the envelope on the technology side. The overall aesthetic that the team is going for isn't necessarily 'edgy' but we have a very specific art style we are aiming for and the PS4 hardware has helped us achieve our goals."

Be sure to read the full interview for lots more. You can also check out GameSpot's own interview to hear directly from Ueda about The Last Guardian.

The Last Guardian launches in 2016 exclusively for PS4.


Batman: Arkham Knight 3.5GB Day One Patch Revealed--Here's What It Does

By Eddie Makuch on Jun 19, 2015 09:42 pm

With just a few more days to go before Batman: Arkham Knight's release next week, developer Rocksteady Studios is pushing out a day-one patch that includes various improvements and fixes for the action game.

According to online reports, the patch weighs in at 3.5GB. And per a PlayStation Lifestyle report, the patch will offer the following changes to Arkham Knight:

  • Improved Performance
  • Stability Fixes
  • New feature: Rival Points
  • New feature: Original Batsuit skin available to select
  • Support for "A Matter Of Family" additional content (this is the preorder-exclusive prequel DLC)
  • General gameplay, graphical, audio, UI, and localization fixes

Although Arkham Knight does not arrive June 23, reviews for the game started coming online today. GameSpot scored the game a 7/10. Critic Kevin VanOrd wrote:

"Rather than escape the pull of the games that spawned it, The Bat's newest adventure refines the fundamentals; it is a safe but satisfying return to the world's most tormented megalopolis."


The Division's Companion App Canceled

By Eddie Makuch on Jun 19, 2015 09:13 pm

The companion app for Ubisoft's upcoming shooter The Division, which developer Massive Entertainment previously referred to as "really meaningful," has been canceled.

A Massive Entertainment representative confirmed the news with IGN, saying the app was scrapped because it "created an imbalance" that negatively affected gameplay.

The Division's companion app was going to allow for simultaneous and asymmetric gameplay between a mobile device and the console/PC game.

More specifically, it would have allowed players to "seamlessly" join a game as a drone, seeing the scene from a bird's eye view, able to provide tactical support to teammates.

The Division launches in March for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC. A beta for the game will launch first on Xbox One in December, before coming to other platforms later.


Xbox One and PC-Exclusive The Solus Project Pits the Player Against the Planet

By Zorine Te on Jun 19, 2015 08:30 pm

The year is 2183 and the planet Earth is a write-off. You are sent into space with the purpose of discovering a new hope for humanity. It's a high-stakes mission, but the trip takes a turn for the worst when your ship crash lands on an uncharted planet and you must embark on a fight against the elements. The objective shifts to survival. This is where The Solus Project begins.

I played an early build of The Solus Project at E3 2015, where I explored mysterious and dank caves, was caught in a meteor shower, and found myself at one point face-to-face with a tornado. The game puts great emphasis on survival, with the protagonist's hunger level, thirst, body temperature, and surrounding humidity and wind just some of the factors that are monitored in-game. This is displayed on the main character's PDA device, which is held at all times and can be viewed in its entirety by looking down.

Exploration is paramount to survival in The Solus Project, and I the first thing I did was set to stalking around my ship's crash site to scavenge supplies. My first instinct was to pick up every single object I laid eyes on, but I soon found myself with a full inventory and unable to gather any more. I needed to prioritize what to take with me. While I walked around contemplating this, a meteor shower started up and rained hazardous flaming rocks down around me. The environment is the most dangerous enemy in The Solus Project, which will feature a dynamic weather system and day/night cycle. Even the status of the moon will control the flow of the ocean tide, and plants will grow and rot away.

The Solus Project will feature a crafting system that allows players to apply items together to create new ones. For example, I gathered two rocks and dropped one on the floor. I then equipped the second rock and used it to apply to the first, which was on the floor, to create a sharpened rock. Using my newly acquired sharpened rock, I cut away some vines growing on a nearby cave wall. These vines I applied to a pipe I had picked up earlier and fashioned into a makeshift torch. I am interested to see how deep the crafting system will run in the full game, with so many materials potentially available in the environment.

But the planet I was stranded on had clearly been inhabited by civilization at one point. Elaborate tombs hidden in caves were waiting to be unlocked and explored. The entrance was locked, but conveniently within walking distance of the key which I needed to use to open it. Which was just as well, because a flash storm suddenly spawned and threw a whirling tornado perilously close by. The demo concluded as I entered the hidden tomb, curious and ready to learn more about the mysterious civilization which once inhabited the planet.

While the demo made use of waypoints to provide guidance, I was informed that the final version of the game will place more emphasis on allowing players to explore and figure out solutions to problems independently. The Solus Project is scheduled for release on Xbox One and PC in the first quarter of next year. I'm curious to see how my survival skills shape up on the full version of the game when it's out.


Red Dead Redemption Leads Xbox One Backward Compatibility Vote

By Eddie Makuch on Jun 19, 2015 07:55 pm

Following Microsoft's announcement this week at E3 2015 that the Xbox One is getting backward compatibility, the company opened a special voting page, asking people what games they would like to see added to the list of backward-compatible Xbox 360 games.

The fans have now spoken. With more than 39,000 votes, Rockstar's acclaimed 2010 western Red Dead Redemption is the most-requested game of all at the Xbox Feedback voting site. Rounding out the top five are Call of Duty: Black Ops II, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Halo: Reach, and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3.

Check out the top ten games below, or head to the website to see them all. Of course, there are no guarantees that any of these games will become backward-compatible.

  1. Red Dead Redemption
  2. Call of Duty: Black Ops II
  3. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
  4. Halo: Reach
  5. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
  6. Gears of War 3
  7. Call of Duty: Black Ops
  8. Fallout 3
  9. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
  10. Mass Effect 3

As a refresher, the list of 21 Xbox 360 titles that currently work on Xbox One for people in the preview program is printed below. There will be "hundreds" of supported titles available later this year when backward compatibility rolls out for all Xbox One owners.

Xbox One Backward Compatible Titles (As of June 15):


Buy an Xbox One, Get Free Game Starting Sunday

By Eddie Makuch on Jun 19, 2015 07:04 pm

Microsoft on Friday announced a limited-time promotion where consumers will be able to get a free Xbox One game with the purchase of a new console. The promotion starts this Sunday, June 21, and runs through June 27. It is valid in the United States only at participating retailers.

During the promotional period, everyone who buys an Xbox One--all 500GB and 1TB models--will get to choose any free Xbox One game. You can actually get an extra "free" game if you buy one of the various Xbox One bundles that comes with Halo: The Master Chief Collection, including the new 1TB model.

The only notable limitation for the offer is that it's not good on preorder games. It'a also worth noting that your free game will be for a disc-based title, not a digital one. As always, you should speak with your local retailer for further specifics about the promo.

Last year, Microsoft offered a very similar offer.

At E3 2015 this week, Xbox executive Aaron Greenberg predicted that a string of exclusive games and new features like backward compatibility will lead to a "massive" surge in Xbox One sales this holiday.


Just Cause 3, and the Limits of a Physicalized World

By Kevin VanOrd on Jun 19, 2015 08:52 am

It was the most explosive choose-your-own adventure game I've ever played. At E3 2015, I joined my fellow CBS employees from Giant Bomb in chatting with representatives from Avalanche Studios about the upcoming Just Cause 3. Rather than play the game for us, producer Omar Shakir and crew led us through a series of videos in which we got to choose from several options on how protagonist Rico should destroy the object at hand. And unsurprisingly, the Mediterranean-esque island of Medici has a lot of things needing to be destroyed.

You can destroy them using the dual tether, Rico's most enduring tool, using moves Avalanche gives such names to as "Farmer's Revenge," "Stop Hitting Yourself," and "Cartapult." These moves come courtesy of the tether's many improvements: it no longer auto-retracts, and you have multiple tethers you can deploy at once. Fewer mechanical limits means fewer limits on how you blow stuff up, which is your primary goal (and primary joy) in Just Cause 3. Try tethering multiple objects to fuel pumps at a petrol station, then retract your tethers and watch the fireworks begin. The resulting explosions are so enormous, they create miniature mushroom clouds, and might make you fear for your safety the next time you pull over to fill up your gas tank.

You can destroy them using vehicles, which Shakir says control a lot tighter and allow you to drift and e-brake around tight corners. As you drive through sunflower fields, all the vegetation bends or breaks, and you can level a forest should you set off a series of explosions in the right place. Vehicles aren't limited to sports cars and buggies, however. Why not hijack an oceanic destroyer and annihilate a tanker, a seaside installation, or even an entire bridge with its cannons? Watching that bridge collapse into rubble and splash into the inlet below is a primal treat.

You can destroy them by performing improbable stunts--say, by hijacking an aircraft, freely walking around on its surface as it soars through the air, parachuting away, and firing rocket-propelled grenades at a tower as the aircraft plunges into the base surrounding that tower. Then there's always just straightforward overkill with a tank: drive into the base, aim your cannons, and start the mayhem. Or maybe you'd prefer to drive a motorcycle up a ramp, activate your parachute, tether a soldier to an explosive canister, and then watch the canister lift off, taking the hapless soldier with it. There are limits to the destruction, as there must, or Rico would run out of objects to grapple to, but Just Cause 3 looks to join the Red Faction games as the most destructible action adventures to have yet been built.

Getting from one destructible place to another is vital, and thus we have Rico's wingsuit, which, when combined with the grappling hook, allows you to slingshot yourself along the ground like a low-flying aircraft. I'm delighted by how fast you move in this manner: Shakir says that like the rest of Just Cause 3, the wingsuit is grounded in physical reality while still remaining fun to use. I think, however, that this is a "physical reality" that belongs between quote marks. Just what are the lines that Avalanche draws between "this crazy thing is reasonable" and "this other crazy thing is not?" At what point would Just Cause be officially jumping the shark?

"We have a very good shark hunter," says Shakir, referring to Christofer Sundberg, Avalache's chief creative officer. "When you bring a wing suit, a grappling hook, and a wingsuit into a game, and you want to physicalize them, if you start having lasers and dinosaurs, then what's the point of physicalizing them? There's a balancing act when you're going for the Tropic Thunder/Expendables vibe. You need a strong DNA and a strong backbone, and Christofer's the person who helps drive, 'that doesn't really fit, it's a little too much'."

"It's quite simple," adds Sundberg. "We don't go sci-fi, we don't do aliens." Two rocket launchers at once? That's a fantasy he can get behind. "Explosions can always get bigger, you can always drive faster, that's where there's no limits." Besides, Avalanche always has a dinosaur game, called The Hunter: Primal. Just Cause has no need for them. What you do need are air drops, anytime and anywhere; you can even summon a giant jet, if you manage to unlock it, but again, this is a physicalized world (Avalanche loves the word "physicalized"), so that thing could go tumbling if you aren't careful. If you drop a vehicle in the wrong (or right!) place, something's gonna explode.

Story played a role in Just Cause 2--an annoying role, filled with broad accents and some frustrating missions, such as an escort mission that still stands out for me as one of the worst of its type in any game. The Avalanche team acknowledges that said mission was not their best moment--and also acknowledges that telling a story is tricky in an open-world game that gives the player so much freedom and power. Story allows Avalanche to funnel players through key set pieces and fully designed spaces. But, as Shakir says, a story also provides a punch line. "If you remove it completely, then it's just some guy running aimlessly around shooting in all directions. You need the backbone and you need context. And I think with Just Cause 3 in particular, digging a little deeper on who Rico is as a person, perhaps not via Rico specifically, since he's an action movie hero kind of person, but maybe with people from his past, can give you an idea about who he is. Blowing up things can be a little more interesting when you have that background."

That's not to say that Just Cause 3 is going all serious; that kind of storytelling wouldn't be consistent with the silliness inherent to the gameplay. There is lots of camp and comic relief, though Avalanche is granting a certain kind of logic to Rico's behavior. In Just Cause 2, Rico was practically a bad guy himself, destroying Panau with no thought to how that might affect its residents. (He fought for their freedom, but freedom on an island wasted by explosions and annihilated villages doesn't sound very appealing.) Avalanche actually put some thought into this aspect of Just Cause 3. You're not hurting civilians by destroying their villages: You're hurting the island's dictator and his evil forces by destroying their bases and supply lines.

December 1st: It's an easy date to remember, so there's no reason to forget Just Cause 3's release date. When the holidays approach, you can spend them getting to know every nook and cranny of the island of Medici, a very nice place to blow stuff up.


Microsoft Is Expecting Huge Xbox One Sales This Holiday--Here's Why

By Eddie Makuch on Jun 19, 2015 07:01 am

The Xbox One may be trailing behind the PlayStation 4 in the current-generation sales race, but Microsoft has high hopes for its console this holiday. Speaking with GameSpot this week at E3 2015, Microsoft executive Aaron Greenberg said a string of blockbuster exclusive games and new backward compatibility functionality will lead to a "massive migration" of Xbox 360 owners moving to Xbox One.

"A lot of people have been waiting for the next Halo; a lot of people have been waiting for Gears; a lot of people have been waiting for backwards compatibility," Greenberg said.

Halo 5: Guardians, Gears of War Ultimate Edition, and backward compatibility will all be available on Xbox One before the end of the year.

"And so we think having all of that coming this holiday; we expect we're going to see a massive migration," he added. "We expect millions of Xbox 360 owners to migrate and move to Xbox One. We see that the majority of people who buy an Xbox One today own an Xbox 360. So our fanbase has stayed very loyal. And frankly, they're waiting for those new releases to come this year."

Greenberg stressed that you should not underestimate how pivotal backwards compatibility will be in encouraging people to upgrade from an Xbox 360 to an Xbox One.

You can watch our full interview with Greenberg below.


Destiny: The Taken King's Story Soars to New Heights

By Alex Newhouse on Jun 19, 2015 07:01 am

When developer Bungie announced Destiny's next expansion, The Taken King, I was skeptical of its story. I was not particularly impressed with the narrative in the base game. But I was able to go hands-on with the first mission in The Taken King, and I came away believing that Bungie is pushing hard to make this expansion's story special.

When the mission started, I dropped onto Mars' moon, Phobos, a new location in Destiny. The sky was full with ships and in the distance and the red planet hung in the sky. I started running along a cliff toward a structure. A massive Cabal ship rose up over the cliff, only a few feet from me, but it quickly flew away. As I rounded the corner and came into view of a Cabal war base, sounds of fighting and destruction rose in my ears. I spotted forms of Cabal and my mind prepared for combat. These Cabal, however, were dying. One crawled for a few seconds and then fell prostrate at my feet. Another was just a heap by the building. Something ominous was happening and murdering all of the Cabal. Something had shifted in Destiny's world; I was not fighting the normal enemies any longer.

This is just the opening of the next chapter in Destiny's story, and the sinister atmosphere weighed heavily across the entire thing. Later in the level, I encountered the new enemy type, the Taken, for the first time. The black-and-white enemies shudder and shift, as if they're caught in between worlds. They take on forms that you've seen before, but they behave in very different ways. Salvos of rockets join the familiar guns and melee attacks, and some of the foes split into two.

All of this contributes to a level that seems so original compared to the rest of Destiny. From what I saw, The Taken King isn't shying away from going in a different direction and expanding out the Destiny experience. Using the Hunter's new Shadowshot super move, I tied together a bunch of the fallen and picked them off with a great new pulse rifle. Phobos looks like no other Destiny environment, with Cabal architecture blending with dark Hive caverns. The story seems more in-your-face and more immediate.

In fact, it feels like some of the epic Halo campaign levels that Bungie is famous for. The Taken King channels those memorable moments in Halo when you see the Flood coming in and battling with a huge Covenant fleet. This mission had that same feeling of surprise and unease when I saw the Cabal brought to their knees by an unseen force.

It seemed so new to the world of Destiny. The scale of this mission far exceeds the majority of the original Destiny campaign. Its reveal is impactful, and I genuinely experienced fear when I saw the Cabal brutally and mysteriously killed. I loved my time in the demo, exploring a world that I had never seen before and discovering secrets of Destiny lore. The Taken King is shaping up to be a great time to start playing Destiny again, and it's sure to appeal to Halo fans who have been wanting Bungie to return to its roots.

As the level drew to a close, I recognized Bungie's efforts to improve the story and the world. The demo I played made me very optimistic for the future of Destiny's narrative.


Kinect Is Not Dead, Microsoft Says

By Eddie Makuch on Jun 19, 2015 06:47 am

Microsoft did not talk about its motion-sensing Xbox peripheral Kinect during the company's E3 briefing this week or at all during the show itself. Some fans might be wondering how committed Microsoft is to the technology considering it didn't take any time to talk about it at the year's biggest gaming show.

But now, Xbox executive Aaron Greenberg has spoken out to assure fans that Kinect is here to stay.

"We are absolutely continuing to support Kinect," Greenberg told GameSpot this week at E3.

He went on to say that Microsoft is "innovating with Kinect in a different way," pointing out that there are features included with the new Xbox One user interface that will leverage Kinect. One of these is Cortana, Microsoft's Siri-like digital assistant, that will be available on Xbox One sometime in the future.

"So we're continuing to support Kinect where it makes sense," Greenberg added.

When the Xbox One launched in November 2013, all Xbox One bundles came with Kinect. But this changed a year later, when Microsoft released a Kinect-free bundle and offered the camera as an optional add-on. Greenberg stressed that consumers having a choice is an important part of the overall Xbox One strategy.

"We really want Kinect to be a choice for customers. For me, I love it; I turn my Xbox One with Kinect; I use it for entertainment; I use it to do screenshots and all that," he said. "I like to be able to have my hands on the controller and use voice commands. But, frankly, a lot of people also want a better value and don't want to have to pay for it. So we're not going to force people to do that. We give people the choice."

You can watch our full interview with Greenberg below.


E3 2015 Thursday Recap: the End of the Show

By Justin Haywald on Jun 19, 2015 06:47 am

It feels like it just started, but we're here at the final day of E3. Before we say goodbye to the Los Angeles convention center, we have one final roundup of the best content from our expansive show coverage.

Catch-up on our previous daily recaps right here:

Biggest News/Previews

Stage Show Highlights

The Kinda Funny Stage

Top Videos


Get Ryo's Shenmue Jacket by Pledging $3,000 to Shenmue 3

By Chris Pereira on Jun 19, 2015 06:36 am

Among the initial backer rewards for Shenmue III's Kickstarter was Ryo's original jacket, which was worn at a press event 14 years ago. It's a one-of-a-kind item, and you had to be the first backer willing to put up $10,000 to get it. That's now gone, but if you have $3,000 and are okay with not having the original, you, too, can dress up like Ryo Hazuki.

Ys Net has introduced a new reward tier for the game's Kickstarter. For a $3,000 pledge, you can get a replica of Ryo's jacket, as well as previous reward tiers. Lest you look down on it for being a replica, Ys Net says it's "not just any replica of Ryo's trademark leather jacket. This is a Yu Suzuki-approved replica of Ryo's trademark leather jacket. Yeah, you want it."

The jacket, like other physical rewards for the Kickstarter, is being created by Fangamer.

Since launching on Monday night, the Shenmue III Kickstarter has already raised more than $3.25 million. That far exceeds the crowdfunding campaign's goal of $2 million (which was met in less than 12 hours), and with almost a full month still to go, it's likely to go even higher.


The Best Trailers of E3 2015

By Matt Espineli on Jun 19, 2015 06:23 am

This year's E3 gave us a lot of new and exciting game trailers. Whether they were cut using full CG or in-game graphics, there's no denying the quality behind each one. Regardless, here's some our top trailer picks from E3 2015.

For a full list of our selection of the best games of E3 2015, feel free to check out this gallery.

Rise of the Tomb Raider:

Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain:

Fallout 4:

Horizon: Zero Dawn

Uncharted 4: A Thief's End

Mirror's Edge: Catalyst

Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Wildlands

The Last Guardian

Super Mario Maker

Halo 5: Guardians

Just Cause 3

Star Wars: Battlefront

Dishonored 2

Destiny: The Taken Kind

South Park: Fractured But Whole

Hitman

Earthbound Beginnings

Final Fantasy VII Remake

Call of Duty: Black Ops 3

Kingdom Hearts 3

Mass Effect: Andromeda


Fallout 4 Interview: "We're Probably Doing Too Much"

By Rob Crossley on Jun 19, 2015 05:57 am

Todd Howard, the creative director at Fallout studio Bethesda, knows he is pushing his team to its limits. Fallout 4 attempts to expand on its predecessor in almost every conceivable way, whilst throwing in weapon mods, an in-game level editor, a smartphone Pip-Boy, and a canine companion.

With just months away from the game's release date of November 10, GameSpot sits down with Howard to discuss how he's trying to hold together the biggest project of his career so far.

Since 2008 when Fallout 3 shipped, so much has changed in the RPG genre, and even in the games industry as a whole. What have you learned along the way?

Well, Skyrim was so popular, and when you're reaching that many people, you get to experience what people think about what's important and what's not important.

You can look at this game and see it as a sequel to Fallout 3, but for us it's our next game after Skyrim. So the feedback we're getting from Skyrim is helping inform Fallout 4, in terms of what worked and what didn't work.

Such as?

Well, things like the flow of the open world; the plusses and minuses of that. How do you tell a story? How do you add all these other things to make it open? Given that it's open-world, what kind of stories could you tell best?

That's the thought-space on it. So we looked into things like how you start the game, and decided that you start in the past, and you see it all destroyed, and you have that sense of personal loss.

So just when you step into that new world, you have already seen it differently.

I'm glad you mentioned that, because I was going to say that with Fallout 4 you're trying to tell a more personal story. You give players a wife, a child, a pet companion, and you make them know what they have lost.

Absolutely, and we want the player to be in sync with the character. You're new to this world, and you would rather things be the way they were.

Not wanting to stray too far into spoiler territory, but I'm guessing that your relationship with your wife will be a significant theme throughout the game.

I'm not going to say a word [laughs].

Okay, moving on, Fallout 4 attempts so many different things at once--it has a building editor, a mobile app, games for you Pip-Boy, a gun customisation tool, as well as the game itself--how on earth do you keep focus on all that?

That is the hardest part. We're lucky, in that nowadays we're not a very big studio--we're just over 100 people. We have about eight more people than we did when making Skyrim. Relative to what we're making, it's a tiny studio.

But it's also the same team; this is the group that did Fallout 3. This is the group that did Skyrim. We're able to work with people that know our systems and design processes so well. We can complete each other's sentences. So that's how we get so much content, but absolutely, the hardest part is gluing it all together.

But I imagine that you, personally, are trying to make sure that everything is all fitting together.

Yeah, we're probably doing too much. [Laughs] If the game sucks, the answer may have been we tried to do too much.

But you have had four years.

We have had a lot of time. And obviously we wouldn't have been ready to show the game unless we were confident about it.

It's just, when you actually want to do a good job with everything, that's when it becomes a problem, because it's just a massive hassle.

Yeah, I mean, take the mobile game. That's an idea we had a long time ago, and we felt like, let's just try it. There were definitely points in development when we were thinking that maybe it wasn't a good use of our time. We had to ask, how much of a distraction is it?

But once an idea gets in your head, it's like, you just need to do it.

To see it now, as the number one app in the world, it's like what?! Well that worked out. I mean, I don't wanna drop stats, but even though we didn't want to monetise it, it's grossing more than Candy Crush right now.

That kind of talk will make your bosses turn heads and think, 'Why are we bothering with all that console shit?'

[Laughs] Never.

I wanted to touch on games not made at Bethesda in recent years. Have any been an influence or inspiration?

Well, we play everything, so the inspirations are all over the place. Certainly, with the mobile game, influences were things like XCOM and FTL.

XCOM is so good.

It's so good.

In terms of the main Fallout 4 game, what inspirations do you have?

Well, in our games, we want to give you complete freedom. So, I think of the last few years, I think GTA V had succeeded the most at the same type of thing we try to do. I look at that game and think, "Wow, I just don't know how they did this."

That's what we try to create, that sense of going anywhere and doing anything. GTA V does it so well. It puts you in its world and it makes you its director. It says yes to the player a lot, and that's what we try to do. It's just a phenomenal game.

I wanted to talk about the VATS system in Fallout 3. People loved it, but they also needed to rely on it, because the baseline first-person shooting was...

It was mehh...

It was a little... I'm being diplomatic here.

It was a little... I think we're on the same page.

Have you made changes to it?

We started out with Fallout 4 knowing that, look, we can't apologise for being a role-playing game. We have to build a first-person shooter, and it needs to be a really, really good one. We spent a lot of time on that.

So it seems like, you can use the VATS system, but if you prefer you can play Fallout 4 as though it was an FPS.

Yes, absolutely, although we want players to have the edge if they use the VATS system. If you're building your character for VATS, it's really powerful.

Just a point of clarification on the level editor, does that work in-game? Or is it a separate mode.

Yeah, it works in-game.

That sounds ridiculously hard to implement.

Um, yes, it is.

One final question then: Of all the aspects of Fallout 4 that you're working on, which is the one you're most proud of?

The world itself is always the most important thing to us. The big question: Is this fun to explore? Does it reward my curiosity? That is absolutely crucial.


Lara Croft Go Iterates on Hitman Go for a True Tomb Raider Adventure

By Alexa Ray Corriea on Jun 19, 2015 05:07 am

A little over a year ago, Square Enix Montreal released Hitman Go, a strategy-puzzle game in which you guide a tiny figurine Agent 47 along spaces on a game board. Each board was a small self-contained puzzle in which you had to take out enemies--also represented as tiny figures--collect briefcases of cash, and make your way to a finish marker.

At the company's E3 press conference, Square Enix announced Lara Croft Go, a new take on the mobile puzzle game featuring Tomb Raider's iconic heroine. But while Lara's puzzle journey borrows key elements from Agent 47's, the experience is vastly different thanks to new obstacles, tools, and enemies.

For one thing, Lara Croft Go's art style doesn't follow the same boardgame aesthetic as Hitman Go. It looks like a cartoon, with little Lara (of the original series, not the reboot) running from space to space, climbing up walls, and sometimes even backflipping between points. You view Lara's journey as though you're peeking at her through a canopy of trees, with the silhouettes of bugs and rustling leaves moving around in the foreground. In the distance, beyond Lara's current puzzle, you'll sometimes see something move--something large and sinister, a creature Lara may encounter in later levels.

Lara Croft Go also ditches Hitman Go's flat horizontal plane for a varied series of cliff faces, steps, and other vertical change-ups. Sometimes puzzles require Lara to move to a space and pull a lever that will alternate the terrain; walls shift up or down and platforms move into place to give Lara a clear path out. Some puzzles have spaces peppered with cracks; Lara can only walk over these cracked spaces once, as a second step will shatter the stone and send Lara falling to her demise. This adds another strategy element to an already cleverly-designed puzzle set, as it prevents you from backtracking in some areas and requires you to really think your moves carefully.

Other neat obstacles include deadly creatures. In the hands-on demo I saw, the spaces were filled with snakes. Like in Hitman Go, you can only dispatch enemies by approaching them from the side or the back. Facing a snake head on means certain death for Lara. Later puzzles introduced enemies that chase you if you move two spaces near them. Sometimes you can take these enemies out by luring them over cracked spaces and trapping them in holes, or throwing a spear at them. Spears are a one-use item that can be collected on the board, then thrown at an enemy two spaces away. Other puzzles include multiple enemies facing Lara at the beginning, so you have to choose carefully which one to use your precious spear on.

Navigating Lara through these puzzles doesn't feel like a simple puzzle game at all; I feel like I'm playing a true Tomb Raider game. A narrative connects each puzzle Lara faces, and without spoiling it I can say that it involves what she does best: treasure hunting. Players won't just be solving environmental challenges and moving pieces around, they'll be actively guiding Lara on an adventure in a new, innovative way. There's something special happening in Lara Croft Go, and it's hard to explain without getting your hands on it. It's the same Hitman Go magic, but with a twist that is unmistakably Tomb Raider-y in nature.

Lara Croft Go innovates on Hitman Go in some very entertaining ways, and I'm eager to get my hands on more. There is currently no date for the mobile game's release, but it's already looking like another high point in Square Montreal's string of creative mobile games.


The Banner Saga 2 Expands on Its Solid, Gorgeous Foundation

By Chris Pereira on Jun 19, 2015 04:53 am

The Banner Saga 2 has some of the most gorgeous artwork in any game I've ever played. That will come as no surprise to anyone who's ever played or simply seen the first game, and yet I was still floored by the visuals. This is despite the fact that I'm unsure of how much developer Stoic Studio has changed, and yet they still manage to impress. And while The Banner Saga 2 does bring back a number of elements, it enhances them in ways that make this a more dynamic experience.

Combat remains the central component of The Banner Saga 2. This is a turn-based strategy game where teams each have one specific unit move and attack per turn. Units each have strength and armor numbers. Strength functions as both your health and attack power, while armor is subtracted from an attacker's strength to determine how much damage is done. These basics carry over from the first game, only there are now more variables to mix up combat, which is something that Stoic is doing in response to fan complaints that The Banner Saga combat could become a bit rote over time.

There are new enemy types, including support units and four-legged creatures with new abilities. One that I saw in action could camouflage itself, effectively rendering itself invisible. As the Banner Saga games have no fog of war, suddenly not knowing where every enemy on the battlefield is located is a significant change. Once invisible, these enemies will attempt to surround your units, potentially taking down a character you thought was safe. (There's still no permadeath in these situations, so this kind of thing only makes the battle harder; it doesn't rob you of a character long-term.)

Another new thing to be aware of in combat is the potential for enemies to show up from off-screen, shifting the balance of the battlefield.

While those elements can make defeating every enemy more of a challenge, you now have more ways to emerge victorious than just doing that. New win conditions include one I was able to take advantage of where defeating a particular enemy (in this case, one who showed up partway through the battle) caused the others to flee. This is useful for getting out of a tight spot, but it does come at the expense of being able to kill the remainder of the enemies, which would earn you more renown.

Renown is still used for leveling up your various characters, only they're now able to earn an additional ability at certain points. Stoic told me they haven't talked about this much as they're still working out exactly how it will work, but I was able to upgrade Rook, the returning protagonist from the first game, to have a new ability centered around Pillage. This is the state where the enemy team is no longer guaranteed a turn after each of yours when it only has one unit left. With Rook's new Call to Arms ability, you're able to trigger Pillage when two enemies remain.

Not all of The Banner Saga 2's changes are found in combat. When you're presented with the opportunity to jump into certain combat sequences, which risks the lives of the non-playable characters in your caravan, you can opt for alternatives. One example I saw of this involved spotting an enemy on the coast, allowing me to either get my caravan back on our boats, kill it, back away, or track it. I opted to track it, which led me to another choice between picking up a spooky statue and simply leaving. Picking it up in this case was a good decision, as it led to me acquiring a high-level item, and my caravan approved, earning me renown.

Managing the caravan has also changed. Your people are divided into several categories, including clansmen. In the first game, players discovered it was best to let them starve, rather than allow them to use up your limited supplies. Now, clansmen have more of a purpose, as they'll do things like spread positive word about you and hunt to alleviate the number of supplies they consume. They can also be trained into fighters, but this has its drawbacks, like supplies diminishing more rapidly.

Playing the original Banner Saga isn't necessary for playing the sequel, and the game will work on its own. But as part of a planned trilogy, the best way to play is to have gone through the original. You're able to carry over your save, which brings over characters' levels or, if they died, removes them completely. Stoic told me that these generally won't be replaced; if someone is dead, you won't see what they would have been involved with, and the story will adjust to compensate for their absence in the world.

Accompanied by the wonderful soundtrack by Austin Wintory, composer of the original Banner Saga and Journey, The Banner Saga 2 looks to be shaping up to be a worthy sequel to a fine game.


Battlefield, Star Wars Dev DICE Has a Third Mystery Game in Development

By Eddie Makuch on Jun 19, 2015 04:41 am

Swedish developer DICE has two announced projects: Star Wars: Battlefront and Mirror's Edge Catalyst. But, according to DICE general manager Patrick Bach, the studio has one more game in the pipeline.

"We have three projects in the works right now," Bach said in an interview with Polygon. Pressed on that number, Bach chuckled and said, "Did I say that?"

Stockholm, home of DICE

What could the third project be?

Another Battlefield game is one likely possibility. After all, DICE owner Electronic Arts has already confirmed that Battlefield 5 (or whatever the next Battlefield game will be called) is due to launch at the end of 2016. For what it's worth, DICE has 48 open positions posted to its website.

The most recent Battlefield game, Hardline, was developed by Visceral Games and launched in March.

What are you hoping DICE's next game is? Let us know in the comments below.


Hitman Is Low-Calorie Stealth No Longer

By Tamoor Hussain on Jun 19, 2015 04:28 am

Although 2012's Hitman: Absolution was an excellent action title, it diminished much of what made the series unique. As a fan of the earlier games, it pained me to see IO Interactive's sandbox assassination series begin to lose its complexity in favour of a focus on action and bombast.

At its finest hour (Blood Money), Hitman felt like peering into the guts of a grandfather clock, examining all the interconnected pieces, admiring the beautiful harmony in which they worked together, and then detaching the one piece that kept it all ticking.

I've come to accept that simplifying this formula may have been a commercial necessity. The Hitman series was always a beast too complex for consoles to contain, in part due to its roots as a PC series. But now, if the Hitman reboot shown at E3 2015 is any indication, IO Interactive appears to be done with low-calorie stealth.

Although we weren't given an opportunity to get hands-on with the new Hitman, IO Interactive creative director Christian Elverdam took us on an in-depth tour of one of the assassination contracts from the game, highlighting the numerous ways the new Hitman returns to its roots.

The area demonstrated to us is the same as the one featured in the gameplay trailer, above. In the video, Agent 47 emerges from a limousine and walks along the red carpet towards a VIP fashion show, his invitation held high as an array of blinding camera flashes break out.

For long-term fans of the series, the invitation is an important detail. Agent 47's relationship with the International Contract Agency had become strained in the more recent editions of the series. In Absolution, his former employer was in fact hunting him, but for the new game Agent 47 is back in the ICA's good books. This means he begins missions with the full backing of the agency, so you arrive as a guest.

The ICA's support of Agent 47 also informs the feel and pace of the game. You're no longer the dog backed into the corner by its master, as was the case in Absolution, so this new title is less about desperation and survival. Instead, you are again the fully-resourced apex predator, with the time and freedom to stalk your prey and come up with a perfect assassination plan.

As Elverdam takes control of Agent 47, two targets are designated for assassination, but for the purpose of this demo, and in the interest of not spoiling too much, we're told the focus will be around Victor Novikov. Although his public-facing persona is a powerful oligarch, he's also a member of a spy-ring known as IAGO, which deals in secrets capable of toppling governments and compromise covert operatives.

"Even this early, it seems the studio has confidently struck a balance between the approachability of Absolution, and Blood Money's depth and freedom."

Elverdam guided us through the area by popping into a freecam mode, and moving between points of interest to highlight key areas of the game. First up, a top-down perspective over the sprawling location, which is fully accessible to Agent 47, provided he meets the right conditions to access them.

"The entire palace, from the cellar to the attic, and the grounds outside are all your playground," he said. "There's life everywhere. There are guards patrolling, there are things happening, there are different security zones to bypass throughout the whole level. It's very much what you expect from a Hitman game, just on a much larger scale than you've had before."

Hitman's freedom of approach was best showcased at the very start of our demo. At the end of the red carpet, standing in front of a lavish water fountain, was a TV reporter and her camera-operator. As Agent 47 walked through the shot, she stopped, watched him for a few moments, and then resumed her recording. In most games, players wouldn't think twice about a random NPC. However, in Hitman every character could provide an opportunity. On this occasion, if players listen to her report for long enough, she reveals she will be interviewing Victor Novikov later in the night. Obviously, a perfect opportunity to take him out. In front of the world, no less.

We then move onto a quick overview of how to tamper various objects in the environment, and also how to lay traps; a pillar of the Hitman series. The area was filled with dozens of objects and environmental features that Agent 47 could put to use.

There's a gas canister, which, if you have a screwdriver, can be punctured. There are chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. There is a bar fully staffed by waiters serving the rich and famous--including Novikov.

Within the sandbox, there's so much opportunity for expression. Let's take the bar as an example. Should you decide you want to take the subtle approach and take out your target by poisoning him, you've got the option to use a lethal poison that kills him instantly, give him a drawn-out death with a concoction that makes him violently ill before he gives up the ghost, or simply knock him unconscious. Importantly, every choice you make in the lead-up to taking out Novikov, has the potential create a domino effect that changes the parameters of your mission.

Taking Novikov out lethally, for example, may put security on a higher state of alert, which means taking out secondary targets, or even reaching the extraction point, becomes significantly more difficult than if you sneak in, knock him out, hide his body, and vanish.

Later in the demo, an explosive is planted on the floor near some guards. Agent 47 then throws his trusty coin near the explosive to direct security's attention towards it. Instead of going straight into an alert mode, the guard approaches it, diffuses it and then walks inside the building. According to Elverdam, players can choose to follow him he will take them to a weapons armoury beneath the mansion.

The puppeteering element of Hitman also returns. Novikov won't just stand around waiting for you to appear. He's a man with things to do, at any given moment he can be behind the stage getting grief from a fashion designer who feels she's been forced to sell out, trying to hit on a model, or walking around the grounds outside the mansion. Luring Novikov, and any of the other NPCs, into where you need them, requires some forward-thinking and finesse.

In our demo, Elverdam pointed out a series of barges floating on the river surrounding the mansion. At the end of the fashion show, these launch fireworks to illuminate the night sky and dazzle guests. However, with a little effort, Agent 47 can also set these off early to lure guests out of the mansion, spread a little confusion among the guards, and slip through the cracks in the security unseen.

There have also been a number of other smart tweaks in other areas. The Instinct mode, for example, is less about telling the player exactly what to do and what's around them, and instead now represents Agent 47's innate assassin's intuition. It shows enemies in his immediate surroundings that he could conceivable hear or see, and points of interaction that he'd naturally gravitate to.

Of course, since it is based on Contract modes, that means other players around the world can create new scenarios and designate the dozens of other NPCs in the area as a new target for Agent 47. Which means the sheer variety of strategies available to players is almost overwhelming.

What we've seen so far is highly promising. Using Absolution's Contracts mode as a foundation on which to rebuild the classic Hitman experience has obviously worked for IO Interactive. Even this early, it seems the studio has confidently struck a balance between the approachability of Absolution, and Blood Money's depth and freedom.


Streets of Rage Meets Hotline Miami in New Mother Russia Bleeds Trailer

By Tamoor Hussain on Jun 19, 2015 04:19 am

Devolver Digital has released a new trailer for Mother Russia Bleeds, a side-scrolling beat-em-up in the same vein as Streets of Rage, but with an aesthetic style reminiscent of Hotline Miami.

The game was shown at Sony's E3 press conference, and has been described as an "ultra-violent co-op brawler."

Mother Russia Bleeds is set in an alternate U.S.S.R. where a group of imprisoned street fighters rally against an oppressive criminal authority and crippling drug addictions. Naturally, they do these through the medium of punching, kicking, and inflicting an alarming amount of violence on others.

Check out the trailer below.

Devolver has released a fact sheet describing the game's features.

  • Merciless Struggle: Pull yourself up from the cold, hard ground to punch, claw, and stab your way through the mostperverse elements of society from a wretched human testing laboratory to decadent S&M club.
  • Powerful Narcotics: Embrace your crippling addiction with a quick injection to crush skulls, snap necks, and tear fleshfrom bone in a drug-fueled maniacal rage. Find your next fix flowing through the veins of your fallen foes and jam yourneedle into their convulsing bodies to fill your beloved syringe.
  • Savage Game Modes: Bust skulls and break some jaws in a slew of intense gameplay modes including the classicarcade campaign, the brutal survival mode, and the soul-crushing boss rush mode.
  • Online Co-Op: Crack your knuckles and select a combatant to go it alone or rumble alongside friends in an ultraviolentco-op ruckus with up to four players online or locally.

E3 2015 Attendance Rises, as Plans for 2016's Show Announced

By Eddie Makuch on Jun 19, 2015 04:08 am

As E3 2015 draws to a close, The Entertainment Software Association (ESA), which organizes the event, announced on Thursday that the show drew more than 52,200 total attendees. This includes developers, analysts, journalists, and enthusiasts from 109 countries around the world. Even Kanye West showed up.

This is up from 48,900 people from 100 countries last year. This year, there were more than 1,600 products from 300 exhibitors on display.

The ESA also announced today that next year's event, E3 2016, will return to the Los Angeles Convention Center, June 14-16.

"More than any other E3, this year was about the gamer," ESA president Michael Gallagher said in a statement. "E3 demonstrated both the remarkable transformation of entertainment taking place on all video game platforms--virtual reality, augmented reality, hardware, mobile, and handheld--and awesome games."

The ESA also said E3 2015 broke social media records with more than 6.3 million posts on Twitter and 7.5 million "likes" for E3-related posts on Instagram so far in June. On Twitch, more than 500,000 people watched E3 press conferences concurrently, while more than 1 million E3-related videos were published to YouTube, the ESA said.

Also this week at E3, the game RumbleTV was named winner of the 2015 E3 College Game Competition.

What was your highlight of E3 this year? Let us know in the comments below.


Black Ops 3's Familiarity is Its Greatest Asset

By Alex Newhouse on Jun 19, 2015 03:44 am

Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 isn't innovative like Advanced Warfare. It doesn't dramatically change any fundamental parts of the gameplay. It scales back Sledgehammer's exaggerated Exo Suit enabled movement mechanics and strips away the sci-fi to return a sense of realism to guns. Its changes are very iterative, and earlier this week another GameSpot editor came away disappointed with the lack of substantial revisions to the game.

When I played Black Ops 3's multiplayer, however, I thought that the game was better because of its small iterations. The great thing about Black Ops 3 is that it feels like a Call of Duty game at its core. It's like reuniting with an old friend: You haven't seen them for a while, but you immediately recognize them and remember why you liked them so much. Black Ops 3 is familiar, comfortable, and just simply fun.

You don't have to worry about an enemy suddenly jetting out of your sights with an Exo-powered jump. You're not going to get blasted by a laser. You are going to get shot with a gun shooting bullets, or stabbed with a knife. Kill streaks even seem toned back, with games primarily featuring UAVs and remote-controlled cars rather than over-the-top weapons of mass destruction.

From the three rounds I played, Black Ops 3's multiplayer is some good, clean, Call of Duty action. And that's what I want from the next entry in the series. I want to feel like I'm playing Black Ops or Modern Warfare 2 again.

You're going to shoot other players. You're going to customize your guns to your liking. You'll probably face off against some people who are way too good at sniping, or are running around with just a knife. But when you spawn, and you look down the sights of your gun, you'll know that your assault rifle, submachine gun, or shotgun will respond the way it has for the majority of the series.

I thought that last year would be the last time I purchased a Call of Duty game. But then I sat down and tried Black Ops 3 multiplayer, and something clicked again. I didn't have to dedicate my mind to constantly thinking about mechanics, movement, or weapons. I could just play, I could rely on Modern Warfare muscle memory.

The changes extend naturally into the core of the gameplay; the new, slow jetpack jump is ancillary to the movement rather than front and center, the new character skills enhance but don't dominate games, and the handful of new grenades are simply slight tweaks on old ideas. It's a better game than past Call of Duty titles, but it's not radically different.

Playing Black Ops 3 made me realize that maybe the key to revitalizing Call of Duty isn't to dramatically change it, but rather to jettison some of the accumulated elements that weigh it down. That's what Black Ops 3 does. There aren't an overwhelming amount of different perks or attachments, but rather the exact ones that you want and expect to be there. All of the weapons fit into the Call of Duty mold.

When my demo ended, I said, "Call of Duty is back." And that's what it feels like. Black Ops 3 seems to channel the experience of old Call of Duty games. It's the first time I've ever thought that incremental changes have made a game significantly better. Its small refinements are what make Black Ops 3 so fun.


Diving into Bedlam's Mad Max-like Apocalyptic Wasteland

By Alex Newhouse on Jun 19, 2015 03:21 am

When you start up Bedlam, you're greeted with a loading screen. Tool-tips give you useful advice for survival in the game's world. Every few seconds, the message changes. It's common in games; most games have loading screens, and most of those have messages on those.

But Bedlam's are notable: they aren't necessary. It doesn't need the lengthy load time to boot the game. The team at Skyshine Games put them in simply because it wanted to force players to read the messages. As I watched, the tool-tips started to devolve into an increasingly self-aware monologue. It culminated in an existential questioning of the nature of time.

That set the tone for the entire demo.

Bedlam is a roguelike set in a post-apocalyptic world dominated by mutant beings all seeking resources and especially gasoline. You take control of a caravan that sets up shop in a giant vehicle called a Dozer, which carries you and your group from one end of the map to the other. You must bring your whole entourage all the way to the southern tip of the map to survive.

It's very reminiscent of 2012's popular game FTL: Faster Than Light, and the developer does not shy away from the comparisons. Bedlam brings you into places that threaten to destroy your entire caravan. It forces you to make decisions necessary for survival, but that might end in ruin. The game lives on the player's drive to explore just a little bit further, even if that additional push might spell disaster. In the short demo that I was able to play, within ten minutes I was forced to search further, sacrifice more crew members, and risk more in order to have enough gasoline to continue to move.

And when you do get into combat, its turn-based system immediately forces you to make strategies and think through your actions. This is where Bedlam breaks with FTL and makes its own mark: Its combat is difficult from the beginning of the game, and it feels most like chess in its execution. Your characters have no set order and you can move twice a turn. I was most impressed with the style of the combat, however: your characters finish enemies off with flourishing, brutal animations. My favorite was when my mutant character spat green slime on an enemy, dissolving it to bones. Unfortunately, the simple act of selecting and moving your characters can be frustrating; I often clicked wrongly and wasted moves, or accidentally attacked an enemy that I wanted to inspect.

Problematic controls aside, Bedlam's combat shows great promise. Every encounter is a chess match, requiring all of your wits to line up shots properly and protect your characters. It's way more strategic than FTL, and it actually makes battles interesting and suspenseful rather than chores that you want to avoid.

Bedlam shines most in its exploration, however. I continually wanted to drive my Dozer deeper into the Mad Max-inspired wasteland and to see what was in the next sector. The little stories told at every junction fleshed out the world and added humor to my bumbling, ill-fated expedition. The developer has added small, amusing additions to the framework of the game, making something as simple as selecting your crew or jumping into a battle funny and interesting.

Bedlam channels FTL and Mad Max to great effect, but it also differentiates itself and brings an original take to the roguelike formula. I found myself drawn into the world and immersed in the tactics of combat, and I felt genuinely motivated to play again and push it further when I ran out of gas and died. If the developer tightens up the controls, Bedlam could inspire the passion in players to keep coming back and to forge their own stories in the game.


Diablo Meets Dark Souls in Isometric Action-RPG Eitr

By Chris Pereira on Jun 19, 2015 03:05 am

Among the indie games Sony showcased during its E3 press conference this week, Eitr was what most stood out to me. Take a quick look at it and it's easy to assume this is essentially a Dark Souls-style game with an isometric camera. In fact, it's a better version of that, mixing in elements of Diablo and featuring some wonderful pixel-art graphics and subtle music.

The Dark Souls comparison might seem lazy in light of how frequently it gets thrown around for any game that has some semblance of difficulty, but it's fully appropriate here. And it's not one the game's two-person studio, Eneme Entertainment, shies away from; it brings up Dark Souls when discussing what it set out to make while also citing Diablo and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.

In the section of Eitr that I played, I fought my way through a forest area before making my way into a dungeon of sorts. Combat should immediately feel familiar to anyone who's played a Souls game or Bloodborne; you carefully pick spots to swing away at enemies, ensuring not to exhaust all of your stamina so that you're able to avoid being attacked yourself. You can do this by blocking (provided you have a shield equipped), dodging, or parrying, the latter of which requires precise timing but leaves enemies vulnerable.

You're also able to sprint, which is useful as both an offensive and defensive maneuver. It can be used to run away from enemies, and in some cases it's more useful than dodging, which causes you to slow down for a moment. That can prove to be disastrous in spots, particularly against a boss at the end of my demo who had a large area-of-effect attack that could seemingly only be avoided by running away. Sprinting is also useful for closing the gap between you and an enemy, but doing so drains stamina, so there's a risk to sprinting into your attacks because doing so can leave you unable to avoid your enemies'.

There are other clear parallels to Dark Souls. You carry a limited number of potions that are used to restore your health, and these can be refilled at campfires you'll find from time to time, for instance.

But there's also plenty here aside from the camera angle to distinguish it from Dark Souls. Health potions can be refilled without a campfire by killing enemies. You can only attack left and right, even when using a bow, Golden Axe-style. Skills can be used to infuse your attacks with additional damage (and possibly other things). Upon death, a roulette spins to determines various effects that are cast on you; this might do something negative, like cause you to lose your item, or if you've died a number of times in a row, you might receive a buff.

Rather than accumulating experience points, you earn favor, which can be used to increase your level. Alternatively, you can choose to hold on to it for a more powerful boost than a standard level increase. This is particularly intriguing because players can make themselves extremely powerful if they're willing to risk the possibility of dying and having to grind for more favor.

The most interesting differentiating element is the game's Diablo-style loot. Enemies will drop weapons, armor, boots, rings, and so on that you're able to equip. The weapons come in a number of varieties, and you're able to choose the style that best suits you, be it a two-handed sword, a sword and shield, a sword-and-axe combo, or something else. While item drops were much less common during my session than in Diablo, it was satisfying to be rewarded with these kinds of tools for taking down enemies.

Eitr also impressed me with both its graphics and sound. This is a visually striking game, with a very dark, gorgeous pixel-art aesthetic that feels perfectly suited to this sort of experience. Combat moves are also wonderfully animated in a way that really stands out by being paired with the retro visuals.

In terms of music, there typically isn't a lot--it's very subtle most of the time, offering a creepy ambiance as you make your way through an area. When facing a boss, it really kicks in; the one I faced was accompanied by some intense music that inadvertently caused me to become too aggressive.

I walked away from my brief time with Eitr impressed. I do hope that the full game offers enough opportunities for exploration so that it doesn't feel like you're traveling down a linear path. Even without that, there are enough elements at work here--including those I didn't get to see in-depth, like a skill tree and gems with different effects that can be equipped--that make Eitr look promising.


Bethesda Built "Really Good" FPS for Fallout 4

By Tamoor Hussain on Jun 19, 2015 03:02 am

Bethesda has discussed its approach to revamping the first-person shooting gameplay of Fallout 3 for its upcoming sequel.

Speaking in an interview with GameSpot, Bethesda creative director Todd Howard admitted that the shooting in Fallout 3 was "mehhn."

He went on to say that the studio had to come to terms with the fact that Fallout 4 was, above all else, a role-playing game, but also that shooting needed to be better.

"We started out with Fallout 4 knowing that, look, we can't apologise for being a role-playing game," he said. "We have to build a first-person shooter, and it needs to be a really, really good one.

"We spent a lot of time on that," Howard added.

In Fallout 4, players will also be able to use VATS, the game's strategic combat mechanic where action slows to a crawl, allowing players to target specific body parts. And they'll have a slight edge when doing so.

"We want players to have the edge if they use the VATS system," he said. "If you're building your character for VATS, it's really powerful."

Check back for the full Fallout 4 interview with Howard later today.

Bethesda has confirmed the Fallout 4 release date as November 10 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.

Check out our roundup of all Fallout news from the Bethesda press conference, and keep an eye on GameSpot for news and impressions about the game during E3 this week.

For a closer look at Fallout 4, check out the image gallery below.


Fallout 4 May Not Have the Best Graphics, But Here's Why That's OK

By Eddie Makuch on Jun 19, 2015 02:56 am

The Fallout series is not known for having the best graphics, and Fallout 4 will be no different. But that is not necessarily a bad thing, Bethesda marketing executive Pete Hines said today at E3 2015.

Speaking during a panel presentation attended by GameSpot, Hines said it's not the graphics that set Fallout apart from other role-playing games, but rather its deep level of interactivity.

He said no other RPG today allow players to interact with objects in the world in the way that Fallout does.

The system that allows for this kind of interactivity, along with a new building system for Fallout 4, meant that Bethesda needed to dial things back in the graphics department.

"Everything that we do is a balance," Hines said. "We could make the best looking game possible, but we dial some of that back in order to allow for all of these other things."

Earlier this week, Fallout 4 game director Todd Howard discussed the game's graphics, saying they "matter" as part of the game's ability to suspend your disbelief.

Hines went on to say that player choice and freedom is a critical component to the Fallout series, and players can expect to be able to do whatever they want in Fallout 4.

"If you want to pick flowers and make potions all day, then that's what you're role-playing," he said. "If you want to go shoot everybody in the head with a laser-musket, then that's what you're role-playing."

Bethesda has confirmed the Fallout 4 release date as November 10 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.

For more on Fallout 4, check out some stories and the image gallery below.


Killzone Dev's New PS4 IP Horizon Is 1080p/30fps

By Eddie Makuch on Jun 19, 2015 02:26 am

Horizon: Zero Dawn, the upcoming PlayStation 4 role-playing game from Killzone developer Guerrilla Games, will run at 1080p/30fps, the studio announced today at E3 2015. Art director Jan-Bart van Beek confirmed the resolution and frame rate details in an interview with Videogamer.

The developer went on to explain that Horizon runs on the same engine as PS4 Killzone: Shadow Fall, but a much improved one.

"It is actually still the same engine but then [there is] an enormous leap from Shadow Fall to this," he said. "The Shadow Fall engine isn't an open-world streaming world engine so for the last two years a lot of technological effort has gone into actually being able to make it work like this."

Horizon, which combines nature and machines, launches in 2016 exclusively for PS4. The game's protagonist is a woman, a decision that Sony was somewhat anxious about.

For a closer look at Horizon, check out some images in the gallery below.


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