By Anonymous on May 06, 2017 11:30 pm In American Gods, the New Gods have risen to power. Chastity breaks down the New Gods' backgrounds, abilities, and motives!
Pokemon Sun and Moon players will soon be able to add a special Midnight Form Lycanroc to their teams. GameStop is distributing the Rock-type Pokemon via a serial code at select stores across the US. The distribution runs from May 15 to June 5.
What sets this Lycanroc apart from the ones you can capture within the games is its Hidden Ability, No Guard, which ensures that every move executed in battle (by both you and your opponent) hits its target. Lycanroc also comes equipped with a Life Orb, which boosts its damage output at the expense of a little health every turn, and knows the following moves:
Stone Edge
Fire Fang
Sucker Punch
Swords Dance
To download the Pokemon, select the Mystery Gift option from the menu screen and choose to receive your gift via a code. After inputting the code, you can collect your new Lycanroc from the deliveryman within any of the games' Pokemon Centers.
The distribution coincides with the release of the second Sun and Moon expansion for Pokemon TCG, Guardians Rising, which is available in stores now. The expansion adds 169 new cards to the game, including 12 new Pokemon-GX cards.
2017 is already a big year for Marvel. This weekend, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 opened in theaters. On the TV side, teasers for the Inhumans show started to come out. And of course, on games, we have had Telltale's Guardians of the Galaxy, Marvel Heroes Omega's beta, and a full slate of mobile titles.
With so much happening in the wide-reaching world of Marvel, we sat down with Jay Ong, the senior vice president of games and innovation at Marvel, to discuss the studio's role in game creation, the future of VR, and the secretive world of game codenames.
GameSpot: From your position at Marvel Games, how much insight do you have into the broader Marvel world? Like, how closely do the different teams work together? Marvel creates these expansive story universes, and you don't want to spoil anything by letting details leak too early, but you also have to share content across different groups.
Jay Ong: We have great relationships with all the different business units that create that new IP. On the film side, TV, animation, comics--there's quite a bit of coordination and communication. We don't want to spoil things for the other businesses--that's off limits--but in terms of drawing inspiration from and helping contribute to one another, it's actually designed to feed both ways. So, some of what we're creating feeds into the other parts of the business, including on the comic side and things like that.
We have to be careful in terms of avoiding spoilers, like you said, but there's still a lot of coordination.
Jay Ong
Do you see Marvel Games as more of a support unit, or does it also stand alone in the creation of the Marvel canon?
We're absolutely stand alone. When I started at Marvel, there was this chance to reboot the business; to start from scratch. One of the key pillars we strived for was to use our games as a driver of the brand, certainly, and as a creator of original IP. So we strive very hard to make sure our games have really cool storylines that are wholly original.
Our executive creative director, he's from the comic book side of the business, and he's an incredible storyteller. He understands how the sauce is made, so to speak, and he collaborates with our partners to make sure that the stories are interesting, original, authentically Marvel, and unique to our games. That's on the story side.
You know, Spider-man's costume in the [2017 Spider-Man] game, for instance, is original, right? It's neither the theatrical costume nor is it from the comic books. The white spider design is totally original. We've come a long way. I think we used to be a support unit; now we're big, not as big as theatrical or TV, but we're growing.
Of course, not announcing anything, but with TV as an example: They're able to take a lot of liberties and create their own characters, create their own stories. Do you think games can get to the point where you get to tell your own wholly original stories?
Yes. And really, we're already doing that to some degree. For brand new characters, we've worked with some of our partners, and we've already done that, and you can see that in our work with Kabam. And all of our games have original stories. Now if we're talking about brand new universe and something that's never been seen before from the ground up, that day'll come...possibly. It's hard to say [laughs].
Marvel works with a wide variety of developers like Kabam, Square Enix. How do you decide who those partners are going to be? Do they come to you or do you reach out to studios you love?
It works both ways. We're not fixated on any particular methodology, but as far as picking who to work with, it's actually pretty straightforward. We look for a few things; first and foremost we look for talent. We have incredible ambition about what kind of games we want to do, and the equation's very simple. You need a super-talented team to create these unforgettable games.
Spider-man's new video game costume.
The second thing we look for is: "Do they have passion for our IP?" Talent without passion is just going to go through the motions. So they need passion for our IP. Then after that we look for an investment, in terms of how much time, talent, and assets they're going to devote to creating this thing. Do they share our ambition for doing something truly grand? Lastly is the timing; does the timing work? Sometimes the teams are busy on something else. The stars, to some extent, have to align properly.
As far as how the process works, we do reach out to certain teams that we want to work with, because we think that the talent level would be an incredibe fit for some of the things we want do. And we also get developers asking us. Sometimes it's as simple as meeting each other at DICE or GDC and just saying, "Hi. How're you doing?" And then it goes from there.
Thinking about Marvel games historically, for a long time we've gotten a lot of very action-focused titles. It's kind of like early comic books. The medium has matured, and now we see stuff like Guardians of the Galaxy going into the adventure game realm. But do you think there's a place for all the different kinds of Marvel comics to live in a video game? Or are there some that might only really work for theatrical or for TV, or some that can only be comics?
There are so many different types of games, right? We're looking at not just console and mobile, but VR, as well. The possibilities are practically without limits, so I don't see any limitations. I would say, in some ways, games are more flexible than film or TV in terms of being able to tell amazingly different stories. Some games might be more story driven, such as Telltale, others more action driven like you mentioned earlier. There's an opportunity there to do some pretty crazy things.
I would say, in some ways, games are more flexible than film or TV in terms of being able to tell amazingly different stories.
Of course, none of your titles are announced as specifically for virtual reality, but thinking about that tech from a Marvel Games perspectives, do you think VR has potential?
Absolutely. In fact, we did a deep dive in looking at the space towards the end of last year, and it offers some pretty incredible opportunities, in terms of delivering really cool experiences. We can't say anything yet, but believe me, we're not shying away from it.
When do you think we're going to hear more about these things? Will it be around E3, or later?
[Long pause]. Soon. [laughs] There are absolutely things in the works, but we're just not quite ready to announce them yet.
What is the Marvel Games ethos? It's an interesting system that you guys have, and it's similar to Disney itself. They used to create games through in-house studios, and they've also shifted toward a partner-focused structure.
The way we've constructed our business is around partnerships and licensing, to use the technical terms, but we see ourselves as creative collaborators. With each of our partners we work in creative collaboration, on one side, in terms of helping them maximize use of our IP. On the other side, on a macro level, we're curators of a portfolio. It's our job to think about what our fans want. What would delight them? What would make them think about and be able to experience this the way we talked about it? And how can we deliver this portfolio of games to them, making sure each game is different enough from the others, and that they all provide very satisfying experiences without too much overlap?
Those are the main two chunks of our job. One is curation of this portfolio and assembling this package together over time. And these things take a long time; we announced some of our current projects two years ago, and there are many announcements to come. But that's part of our job: putting the portfolio together. And obviously all the deals and all the partnerships.
Once the deals are done, then the creative process begins, and it's very collaborative. [Insomniac Games CEO] Ted Price is amazing. His team's amazing. They happen to be 10 minutes away from us, believe it or not, just by pure happenstance. So we're over in their offices all the time. They ask us to come because we collaborate on things like storylines, and character selection, and art style, and all sorts of things that it takes to put together amazing games.
And the definition of what defines a game continues to change and grow. Mobile gamers don't always consider themselves gamers, even if they spend hours everyday playing. And a lot of Disney theme park attractions are games. go to like Disneyland, and those are games. But that's a completely different team, right? The Imagineers that create those attractions and rides at Disney, even though they're not necessarily "game designers" in the exact same way, do you work with them to craft those Marvel-themed experiences?
There's actually a separate team at Marvel whose job it is to do exactly that. They're the rides and attractions team, and they're right down the hallway from me. They work with an Imagineering team on things like the new Guardians of the Galaxy ride that opened up at Disneyland. The teams worked very closely together on it in terms of, "Here's our IP and here's how to maximize it."
I could give you a hint. All of our games' code names are named after food items.
It's somewhat similar to what we do, but on the theme park and rides side. They do lots of different types of attractions. Once in a while they'll ask us for assistance, if it's something that's very gaming-focused, and we're happy to help, but it's something that that other team drives.
Are you ever afraid of accidentally slipping something out that you're not supposed to, like when talking with friends or maybe after having too too many drinks?
It's always a danger, right, and that's why I have PR sitting around for interviews. She'll probably throw her phone at me if I start to say something I shouldn't. [laughs]
But a lot of times, internally, we use code names. So if something accidentally does slip out, it wouldn't make sense to anyone anyway. And for all the TV shows, all the movies, we use code names. Even our games, within our team, we use code names.
Can you tell us any of the code names for stuff that's already come out?
No.
Aww.
I could give you a hint. All of our games' code names are named after food items. Different snack food items. It's just funny that they're this common theme. I used to work at Blizzard and the code names there were named after mythological creatures, but we were like, "You know, we don't want something too grandiose. We want to keep it simple." We all like to eat, and so literally every single game I saw on the screen has a code name that's related to food in some way.
We know a lot about the movie plans for the next few years, but what else can we look forward to on the games side?
It's going to be exciting here. Absolutely expect some announcements in VR, that's something we're really excited about. I think our fans are going to go crazy. The things we're doing there are absolutely amazing.
We see VR in the same way we see the other platforms in terms of if you want to do something, you need to do something truly amazing. One of the things about our team, and we talked about our team ethos earlier, is that we have almost irrational ambition. It's true. When I first started at Marvel, going back to 2014, the things we were dreaming about back then were almost crazy. We wanted to do these amazing console games, we wanted to do these amazing chart topping mobile games; it was irrational and crazy, but we dreamed and it actually worked because the IP is really strong. And we got lucky with a few things happening the right way at the right time.
In VR, we have that same ambition. We think if we do something there, it shouldn't be just for the novelty of it. It should be something that defines the platform, that defines the experience. Certainly we're looking to build when Spider-man comes out, it'll be one of the best games on the platform, and when Avengers comes out, it'll be one of the best games on those platforms. We think our efforts in VR will be the same thing.
By Anonymous on May 06, 2017 09:30 pm Mario Kart 8 may seem like a family friendly game of fun, but its actually a rage inducing destroyer of relationships and we want to help you end up on top.
Super Rude Bear Resurrection is one of the hardest games I've ever played--but only at times. Certain games, Resident Evil 4 being a famous example, use a dynamic difficulty system, invisibly adjusting to keep the action challenging but not frustrating. Super Rude Bear Resurrection does something similar, only in a much more obvious, tangible way.
It's a hardcore platformer in the mold of Super Meat Boy, but with a novel twist that gives meaning to the countless deaths you'll suffer throughout. Corpses persist after death and can be used to create a safer path through levels (where one false step will send you back to the last checkpoint). In essence, almost every death serves to make the game slightly easier--though you can also clear levels without ever dying. It's a delightful concept that further enhances a game that's already strong thanks to its wealth of ideas and fantastic soundtrack.
At its most basic, Super Rude Bear Resurrection is a fairly straightforward platformer, tasking you with navigating stages filled with all manner of deadly spikes, arrows, swinging axes, more spikes, and creatures that toss snowballs at you harmlessly--until those snowballs just nudge you to your doom. You'll maneuver through levels using simple jumps and wall jumps. You have no offensive capabilities, and the game doesn't offer any special abilities to unlock or power-ups to find. You could, in theory, complete any level right from the get-go, although it'll likely take dozens--or, more likely, hundreds--of deaths before you're able to consistently overcome the trickiest obstacles.
The level design shows a tremendous amount of care on the part of developer Alex Rose Games. Stages are meticulously crafted to maximize difficulty without feeling unfair, but they're also created in a way that allows for corpses to ease your path. A carcass might block incoming arrows or give you a safe spot in a row of spikes to jump on, and it can destroy certain traps when it comes into contact with them.
It's easy for the corpses to pile up, particularly due to the way Super Rude Bear Resurrection's levels toy with you. The game plays with your expectations and sets up hazards to punish you for relying on anticipation, rather than your reactions. Many deaths stem from hazards located immediately after checkpoints--these are seemingly placed for the explicit purpose of punishing your eagerness to immediately get back into the action after respawning. You can practically hear Alex Rose chuckling to himself every time you rush into an easily avoidable death. That might explain the mocking remarks of your floating companion, who also delivers the story (and jokes), allows you to destroy corpses in your path, and lets you scout out the areas ahead.
Super Rude Bear Resurrection isn't an especially long game, although seeking out no-death runs, better leaderboard rankings, secret worlds, and dialogue (easy to miss the first time around) provides ample incentive for multiple playthroughs. The primary upside to not being long is also what's most impressive about Super Rude Bear: it never runs out of steam. It feels fresh from beginning to end thanks to the way it consistently sprinkles in new types of challenges over the course of the entire game. Falling spikes, NPCs with hammers, arrow launchers, homing missiles, spinning lasers--you won't play for long without encountering a new idea.
Some of these new ideas introduce interesting ways of interacting with corpses. Deaths caused by missiles and lasers freeze your body into an ice block. In the case of the missiles, ice blocks can provide stepping stones over a gap or block further missiles from being fired, while lasers pull the ice in, thereby preventing the lasers from reaching you on your next life.
"On the strength of its pacing and basic mechanics alone, Super Rude Bear Resurrection would make for an extremely engaging platformer. The addition of its corpse mechanic elevates it to something greater."
Further adding to the variety are the boss fights littered throughout, each with its own unique gimmick that doesn't feel at odds with the platforming framework of the game. One tasks you with avoiding spikes and the attacks of a breakdancing robot while standing on a rising platform. Another requires you to ride a moving platform through an otherwise standard level while avoiding a flying enemy that attempts to knock you off or crush you. The latter was particularly memorable, as being knocked down doesn't guarantee death; provided you're skilled enough, you can jump off of the boss itself and potentially recover. Whereas the bosses in Super Meat Boy have always felt to me more like obstacles that stand in the way of returning to the regular action, Super Rude Bear's boss stages were among my favorites in the game.
Later levels ask a lot, requiring an almost-superhuman level of precision to complete without a death--an accomplishment I couldn't even begin to sniff over the last quarter of the game. Yet, because of instant respawns and an excuse to continue listening to the stellar soundtrack, I never found myself frustrated, even when a particular section would cause me to die dozens of times. In fact, it was often hard not to laugh as I amassed an abundance of corpses (every one of which is dumped into a pile from the top of the screen at the conclusion of a level, just as a reminder). These attempts where I clearly wasn't going to set a new time on the leaderboards often became fun experiments to see just how much I could screw with the design of the level.
In certain cases, the game actually becomes far too easy with even just a few deaths. Thankfully, if you find that to be the case, higher difficulty settings restrict the ability to destroy traps, leave behind corpses, and even use checkpoints. These options give you the flexibility to make the game as difficult as you want, which is great, since it's most satisfying when played at the highest difficulty you can tolerate. The thrill of making it through a tough level with little help is matched by few other platformers I've ever played.
Not everything is quite so well executed, however. Visually, the game isn't always clear about where you can safely stand or whether a corpse will protect you--spikes or blades sometimes extend beyond a body but won't hurt you. The lack of an overworld is disappointing, if inessential, but the inability to access leaderboards anytime other than at the end of a level feels like an unfortunate oversight. A glitch when changing difficulties would cause the sound to drop out until I paused and unpaused the action. And certain level elements, such as falling icicles, are occasionally triggered before they should be after a respawn, which requires a quick death to reset. Because this only happened after a death, it never cost me a flawless run, but it was nonetheless a small source of frustration.
For all of these minor gripes, none of them stand in the way of enjoying nearly every second of playtime. On the strength of its pacing and basic mechanics alone, Super Rude Bear Resurrection would make for an extremely engaging platformer. The addition of its corpse mechanic elevates it to something greater, allowing it to simultaneously serve as an extreme challenge for the most diehard platforming fans as well as a game that can be enjoyed by the novice crowd. Super Rude Bear Resurrection demands a lot from you, but the satisfaction of success is immense in the end.
The fabled prototype for the Nintendo PlayStation, what was to be a joint console between Nintendo and Sony, is now fully up and running, courtesy of console modder Ben Heckendorn.
The existence of the Nintendo PlayStation has been the subject of video game lore, as the partnership and subsequent falling out between Nintendo and Sony were what ultimately spurred the latter's entrance into the home console market, but any existing units were thought to have been lost to time. That all changed in July 2015, when a prototype was discovered by a Reddit user known as "Dnldbld," who shared images of the console on the online forum.
Initially, the "Nintendo Play Station" was to be a CD-ROM-enhanced version of the SNES. The system was even publicly unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show in 1991, but Nintendo backed out of the arrangement and, at that very same event, announced it would be entering into a partnership with Philips, which would result in the infamous Philips CD-i (and its notorious Zelda titles). The 200 existing prototypes for the Nintendo PlayStation were destroyed and Sony would go on to release its own version of the console under the same moniker in 1994, but at least one prototype seems to have survived and is in working condition, though the unit's CD-ROM drive was inoperative until now.
In the latest episode of the "Ben Heck Show," which you can watch above, Heckendorn reveals how he was able to repair the aged prototype's hardware and get the disc drive finally running. As no official titles for the unit are thought to exist, Heckerdown uses a number of homebrew games, which were created for emulators based on the system after it was unearthed, to test the newly operative console.
By Anonymous on May 06, 2017 08:30 pm Lucy, Dave, and Tamoor discuss five hot upcoming movies that have been totally overshadowed by the slew of summer blockbusters, and Dave makes his Britain's Got Talent debut.
Since Persona 5's launch, Atlus has steadily released costume packs that allow you to dress your pack of Phantom Thieves in outfits themed after previous Shin Megami Tensei and Atlus-made games, like Persona 4 and Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. The Soulless Army. We've compiled them all here for your convenience.
Be sure to check back often as we update this feature with more Persona 5 DLC costumes. You can check out the full Persona 5 DLC schedule here.
Persona 5 is out now for PS4 and PS3. Read out review to get our full thoughts about the game.
Click ahead for a closer look at the different Persona 5 costume sets.
The Windows 10 Creators Update now has additional support. The Nvidia Titan Xp graphics card also received optimizations.
The following is a list of a few fixes and changes with the new driver:
No Man's Sky with The Foundation Update 1.10 patch: With SLI enabled, there is texture corruption in the game.
GeForce GTX 670 with World of Tanks: In SLI mode, blue-screen crash occurs when pressing Alt+Tab during the game.
GeForce GTX 1080 Ti with Gears of War 4: After the bootup movies, blue-screen crash occurs pointing to nvlddmkm.sys.
In a multi-display configuration, the extended displays are unable to enter sleep mode.
As with any driver update, there are issues that still exist. Here are a few of the known issues:
DirectX 11 games: On some titles, in-game V-Sync does not work if Fast Sync is selected from the Nvidia Control Panel. Consequently, the game frame rate is not locked to the maximum refresh rate, resulting in possible tearing.
SteamVR titles: SteamVR may crash when launched. To workaround, uninstall GeForce Experience or reinstall the Nvidia driver.
GeForce GTX 1070: Games (The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, For Honor) do not recognize the custom refresh rates set using the Nvidia Control Panel.
GeForce GTX 1080 with Battlefield 1 XP1: With SLI enabled, corruption appears in the game when switching between full-screen and windowed mode.
GeForce GTX 1080 Ti with Mass Effect: Andromeda: Random memory errors may occur when playing the game.
GeForce GTX 1080 Ti with Sid Meier's Civilization VI and G-Sync/SLI/DirectX 12: Black corruption appears while entering the in-game menu after skipping the cutscene.
GeForce GTX Titan X with Ansel in Ghost Recon Wildlands: With FXAA enabled from the Nvidia Control Panel, the application crashes when enabling the in-game Ansel UI.
Notebook GeForce GTX 970M with Tom Clancy's The Division Survival DLC: Game crashes, pointing to ntdll.dll when changed to full-screen and to windowed fullscreen.
Notebook GeForce GTX 970M with ShadowPlay: For Honor may silently crash if the intro video is skipped while instant replay is on.
Notebook SLI GeForce GTX 970M with Gears of War 4: Level loading may hang.
If you want more details on the 382.05 driver update, check out Nvidia's release notes. For more on Nvidia hardware performance, check out our reviews of the GTX 1080 Ti, GTX 1080, and GTX 1070 graphics cards.
Arkane Studios' immersive first-person sim, Prey, is out, and it has a lot of secrets you might not know about. Like Dishonored and Deus Ex, there are multiple ways to complete your objectives and interact with the environment. Some are obvious while others require a bit more digging. Here are nine things we wish we knew before starting Prey.
You are being watched
As unassuming as objects like mugs or chairs may look, they can easily kill you. One of the primary enemies you will confront are Mimics. These inky, slimy, face-hugging little bastards can disguise themselves as everyday objects and jump out at you when you're least expecting it. Sure, you can bash every single object in a room to check to see if a mimic is hiding--what we call the scientific wrench-to-matter test. But there are more efficient ways to see if one of these little monsters is hiding in plain sight. A better approach is to use your ears and listen for wet-sounding clicking noises. Once you've pinpointed the imposter, take out that wrench, charge up a swing, and send that little guy to the moon.
GLOO rounds are your friends
The wrench can feel a bit imprecise and unwieldy, so you might want to prioritize any firearms you pick up. The GLOO gun, for example, can freeze enemies in place. When they're frozen, you can switch to your wrench and get in a few swings or fire a few well-placed rounds into it. Whatever you do, act fast, because enemies will break free eventually.
Freezing enemies isn't the only thing the GLOO gun is good for. Aim it at surfaces and you can create steps and platforms to help you reach new areas. Large rooms often have balconies and mezzanines, many of which are best accessible with a couple GLOO rounds. The GLOO gun can also be used to stop electric junctions and gas leaks.
Every weapon has its uses
Apart from the GLOO gun, you will find standard guns like a shotgun and silenced pistol. And don't underestimate the usefulness of the toy dart gun. You can use the toy gun to activate computer monitors and switches from a distance if you lack the means to get close to those terminals yourself. You can also use the gun to distract enemies, but be ready to equip a damage-dealing weapon if these foes get close.
Look beyond the glass
While you're exploring the station, you will come across looking-glass videos. Looking glass allows you to inspect a video or recording from different angles. In most cases, we've found secrets within these videos, so make sure to look at them from every angle and watch them to the very end so you don't miss a keycode or a secret compartment. When you're done, smash that sucker because there are frequently secret passages behind them for some reason.
Know your item management options
It doesn't take long to fill up your inventory after Prey's first hour. You can expand your inventory within the engineer neuromod skill tree or you can just throw all your stuff on the ground and pick it up later when you have space, which we only recommend doing in Morgan's office. If you need some room on the fly and have a Recycle Charger, you can toss all your junk on the floor, drop the Charger next to it, and fire your dart gun at the Charger. All your junk will magically transform into its basic elements. You can then use these resources to create weapons, ammo, and other useful items at a fabricator.
Recycle and fabricate
The more practical method of recycling is to use the recycler, the first of which you find in Morgan's office. Take advantage of the Transfer Junk option to dump useless items en masse and save time. And while duplicate weapons aren't classified as junk, you should pick them up and bring them to the recycler, as they'll yield useful materials for the fabricator.
More often than not, if you find a recycler, there's fabricator nearby. These are immensely useful for crafting items you might be short on, like medkits and pistol ammo, provided you first find the schematics to make them.
Loot the crew
You can use the Crew List at Security Stations to obtain a waypoint to any member of the crew, living or dead. You'll need to reach them for certain quests, but sometimes you can find useful items on them.
With great alien powers come greater threats
As you make your way through Talos 1, you will undoubtedly indulge in some of those sweet, sweet alien powers. After you get the Psychoscope in Psychotronics, you can invest in powers like Kinetic Blast, Mimic Matter, and Mind Jack. Be careful, though: if you invest heavily into these skills, the turrets will turn on you and a frightening beast called the Nightmare will aggressively stalk you. If the turrets haven't turned on you yet, you can pick them up and deploy them in different spots to help you out in a pinch.
Get creative with explosive canisters
Your default throwing strength isn't great, which is why we don't recommend throwing explosive canisters at enemies until you've upgraded the Leverage ability. These cylinders are still very useful, though. Aliens love hunting you down if you get their attention, which makes it easy to spring traps on them. Simply lay an explosive canister between you and an enemy, get the alien to notice you, and then hide while you wait for the Typhon to get close to the canister. With the right timing, a single pistol round fired at the cylinder can kill a Phantom instantly.
By Anonymous on May 06, 2017 07:00 am Here are Tamoor's impressions of Prey so far! He is working his way through the game get a full review ready as soon as possible!
Due to Bethesda's pre-release review policy, we're unable to provide a full Prey review in time for its launch. We recently acquired the game and, since it is quite lengthy, it may be some time until we can deliver our final verdict. However, having played it for close to 10 hours, we are able to offer some early impressions in the meantime.
And those impressions, at this stage, are mixed. If you've played the Opening Hour demo available on Xbox One and PlayStation 4, you'll know that Prey starts strong. It leans on a big narrative twist that pulls the rug from underneath you, and it's very effective in sparking curiosity. We won't spoil the nature of this revelation, but suffice it to say that it plants a seed of doubt, forcing you to question everything and everyone around you.
Thus far that aspect of the narrative hasn't developed into anything of note, however. The lingering supposition of dishonesty has been the main driving force behind a story that has otherwise been quite uneventful. That's not to say it won't develop into something more interesting, and shades of nuance are indeed slowly revealing themselves over time.
In its early hours, Prey wants you to immerse yourself in Talos I, the space station where the game is set, and soak in the story its environments have to tell. Talos I is a wreck, with upturned furniture strewn around its rooms, corrupted companion robots marauding about its hallways, and raging fires enveloping its corridors. The station has been overrun by a sentient alien life form called the Typhon, and while it's clear they're the cause of all this, the exact circumstances of the outbreak are still shrouded in some mystery. Furthermore, there's also the question of who's to blame for it.
Similarly, Prey's gameplay feels like it is yet to develop into something unique, mostly because the more interesting abilities are deeper into the various skill trees than I've been able to reach. Up front, Prey is surprisingly generous with the Neuromod items that unlock skills, but so far I have only been able to develop a rudimentary playstyle. I've spent the majority of my points improving my health pool, allowing myself to repair broken turrets, and expanding my inventory space.
This, in turn, translates to a vanilla combat experience. I'm using the GLOO Cannon to immobilize enemies, and then bludgeoning them with a wrench or emptying shotgun shells into them. In other situations--usually when I'm low on health or ammo--I have opted to sneak around enemies to avoid combat, using lures to manipulate enemy movements or methodically crouch-walking in between furnishings.
Developer Arkane Austin has promised players they will be able to take on challenges in a variety of ways, and while that seems to be true so far, the options I've been given have felt uninteresting. I've made note of numerous blocked pathways that will no doubt become available as my skillset improves, but as of yet, my path through the game has been fairly directed. Dishonored 2--developed by Arkane's Lyon, France-based sister studio--encouraged players to achieve their objectives through creative use of powers. My hope is that when more powers are available to me, alternative opportunities will open up and combat will allow me to be experimental.
A major sticking point for me so far is the behaviour of the Mimic enemies. As their name suggests, they have the ability to shapeshift into any object that is in their immediate surroundings. This means that you can walk into an ordinary, empty room and not know that you're actually seconds away from having a Mimic pounce on you. The idea behind this is sound--it creates a constant sense of tension--but in practice it has very quickly become annoying. Not just because a Mimic can attack when your back is turned and you're focused on something else, but also because the appearance of a Mimic is signalled by a sharp, shrill sound effect that--thanks to its overuse--soon grates. It is designed to create a jump scare moment, but since I was frequently looking in another direction and away from the Mimic, it often felt mistimed.
There are other reservations I have with enemy behaviour and combat right now, but I'm hoping that, given some time, they'll click into place.
At around 10 hours, I've been acquainted with the fundamentals of the Prey experience. It all feels quite familiar at the moment, but I'm aware that these are also building blocks. I have just unlocked the ability to use alien powers, which introduces an interesting dynamic when you consider Talos I is littered with sentry turrets that attack lifeforms with alien DNA in them. I'm also moving into a brand-new area of Talos I and accruing side-quests as the world opens up, and with any luck it will start to coalesce into something worthwhile.
Stay tuned for our full review in the near future.
By Anonymous on May 06, 2017 05:30 am The father-son duo of Steph & Dell Curry team up to play a pick up game against DeAndre Jordan & Ty Lawson on NBA Playgrounds' Tokyo court.
Recent Articles:
You are receiving this email because you opted in at our website.
In American Gods, the New Gods have risen to power. Chastity breaks down the New Gods' backgrounds, abilities, and motives!
Mario Kart 8 may seem like a family friendly game of fun, but its actually a rage inducing destroyer of relationships and we want to help you end up on top.
Lucy, Dave, and Tamoor discuss five hot upcoming movies that have been totally overshadowed by the slew of summer blockbusters, and Dave makes his Britain's Got Talent debut.
This video showcases Prey's maximum PC settings on the games highest difficulty, Nightmare.
Here are Tamoor's impressions of Prey so far! He is working his way through the game get a full review ready as soon as possible!
Check out this gameplay for two levels in Super Rude Bear Resurrection.
The father-son duo of Steph & Dell Curry team up to play a pick up game against DeAndre Jordan & Ty Lawson on NBA Playgrounds' Tokyo court.
No comments:
Post a Comment