There's a moment in Kingdom Come: Deliverance where you break into someone's house to steal a ring as part of quest for a group of miller's that, it turns out, are secretly an organization of thieves. We're left thinking, "Wow, this really is a lot like an Elder Scrolls game." Not in a bad way either. While Bethesda's series of open world RPGs have been influential, no one's really tried to straight up make something so close to an Elder Scrolls game. To its credit, for all the parallels in design and visuals, Kingdom Come feels like a vastly different experience from an Elder Scrolls title.
In the video above, GameSpot's own Jean-Luc Seipke talks about how these two games can feel so different despite being so similar, and how Bethesda could actually learn a thing or two from Kingdom Come. While multiple Elder Scrolls games are referenced, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion is primarily used due to the visual similarities and also because it's Jean-Luc's personal favorite.
Being a game built with real world history in mind, Kingdom Come: Deliverance is immediately different from the fantasy-based world of Oblivion. Practically everything the game does is meant to simulate and re-imagine medieval Bohemia, which means worrying about things like needing to bathe regularly, managing injuries, and eating food before it spoils.
This makes buying food at a shop or drink at the tavern important because they serve a purpose and are essential for survival. Compare this to Oblivion where food does have small effects but isn't generally really useful on its own, and is better served as ingredients in a potion. You never need to stock up on carrots before making a long trek to the next town, which becomes second nature in Kingdom Come. In fact a lot of objects in Oblivion don't really have much of a gameplay benefit. As a result, taverns and markets end up being window dressing to flesh out the world. Meanwhile every shop in Kingdom Come feels important because they serve as a marketplace for the stuff you need to survive an average day, let alone an action-packed one. The same goes for sleeping; in Oblivion you only need to sleep in order to level up and any bed will do. You'll also recover all your health but the same thing can be accomplished by simply waiting an hour. The only way to regain health in Kingdom Come is to sleep it off or use consumable items.
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (left), Kingdom Come: Deliverance (right)
Beds also are arguably Kingdom Come's most contentious feature, as they also function as the save system. There are no autosaves outside of certain quest moments, and you can only manually save by sleeping in a bed you own or by purchasing expensive bottles of Savior Schnapps. It's a radically different approach to Oblivion's save-anywhere-anytime system, and results in two different experiences. In Kingdom Come, saving some poor villager being accosted on the road might not be worth the risk if you die and lose an hour of progress. You're forced to think about every choice you make and what you end up choosing feels more important because of this. This is rarely the case in Oblivion where you can quickly save and load at any time to retry unlocking a door as many times as you want. Don't take this as me saying that being able to save at anytime is bad or anything; after all Oblivion doesn't want you to get stuck or lose hours or progress, it wants you to go on an adventure. Right from the beginning of the game you're able to go wherever you want and find a fun quest to engage in with no worries about save limitations or not having enough food. Kingdom Come simply prefers a more rigorous approach.
And the advantage of Kingdom Come is that it forces you to live in its world and roleplay. When you're making a long trek you need to make sure you've packed enough food and are well rested. And when it's starting to get dark and you're low on energy, there is a sense of relief when you see that inn on the side of the road. In Oblivion, you'd stop at an Inn to fulfill the desire to roleplay or because there's probably a cool quest to get.
Neither approach is inherently right or wrong, but Kingdom Come is aiming to take familiar scenarios and make them more impactful. Take, for example, the Thieves Guild in Oblivion and Kingdom Come's equivalent. In Oblivion, you join the Thieves Guild not out of any real desire for money or financial reasons; you don't really need it. You join because it's a fun quest narrative where you go around stealing a bunch of stuff. The opening hours of Kingdom Come however leave you with little beyond the clothes on your back. Money is necessary to access food and other important items needed to stay alive, so when presented with the faster but more dangerous option of becoming a thief, you take it. The game's systems make a life of crime an appealing means of survival.
That isn't to say Kingdom Come is perfect. Its save system, most notably, can be really frustrating when things go bad. Developer Warhorse Studios seem to be backpedaling on it a bit in an upcoming patch by letting you save when you quit, which is a decent compromise. There's also the lockpicking and pickpocketing minigames that just don't seem to work consistently, which is also frustrating and exacerbated by the save system. But again, Warhorse said it'll address this.
And there are things that Oblivion does much better, such as the playable character. Your character is given the bare bones setup of being in jail but afterward, you're free to come up with the backstory and personality you desire. This works well since there aren't any voiced lines and the dialogue options are minimal, with very little personality, the idea being that you'll fill in that personality yourself. The ability to create your own person to be the avatar in your roleplay wonderfully meshes with the freedom-based design of Oblivion. Kingdom Come's approach is closer to The Witcher, with protagonist Henry having a predetermined personality, which ends up clashing with the rest of the game's do-anything style. Henry may talk about how much he respects honor and appalls thievery, but sometimes it's right after instantly killing a random NPC and ransacking their home. There's a constant dissonance between what what Henry says and what you want Henry to do, a problem Bethesda also faced with Fallout 4's protagonist.
So it's pretty clear that Kingdom Come's more hardcore roleplaying aspects have won me over. However, that's not to say the next Elder Scrolls needs to be a hardcore survival game. Oblivion and Skyrim are lighthearted, and the freedom to approach the world's conflicts and have a good adventure is just what we want sometimes. But with the inevitable (and totally unconfirmed) Elder Scrolls VI, Bethesda should take note on the ways in which Kingdom Come: Deliverance pushes the open-world RPG forward.
If Monster Hunter is getting a little too realistic, it might be time to look at an older title for your giant lizard hunting needs. Remasters of 1997's Turok: Dinosaur Hunter and 1998's Turok 2: Seeds of Evil are launching on Xbox One on March 2.
Turok: Dinosaur hunter was a Nintendo 64 and Windows title meant to be an adaptation of the comic book series published by Acclaim Comics. Players assume the role of traveling warrior Turok on a quest to find the pieces of the Chronoscepter. And of course, battle dinosaurs, poachers, and more along the way.
Its sequel, Turok 2: Seeds of Evil, was also an Nintendo 64 title, but also saw a port on Windows and Game Boy Color. Like its predecessor, it was also a dino-slaying FPS. There are six different levels with different missions connected to a hub area; this iteration also has multiplayer.
This isn't the first time a Turok remaster have been released either. Back in 2015, Nightdive remastered both titles for PC, featuring enhanced graphics. It's unclear what changes are being made for the Xbox One remasters of the two Turok games, or if they're any different from the previously release PC remasters.
Season 3 of Fortnite's Battle Royale mode is underway on PS4, Xbox One, and PC, which means players can now pick up a new Battle Pass. As before, the Season 3 Battle Pass can only be purchased for 950 V-Bucks and lets players unlock items the more they play the game, including a slew of new outfits, gliders, emotes, and more.
For this season, Epic has added 30 more tiers to the Battle Pass, bringing the total number of tiers to 100. Despite this sizable increase, the studio says that players will still be able to unlock everything in the same amount of time it took to complete the Season 2 Battle Pass--roughly 75-150 hours of playtime by Epic's estimates. Players can also purchase tiers using V-Bucks to unlock items faster, and those who own the Season 2 Battle Pass will unlock five free tiers as a bonus in Season 3.
The Season 3 Battle Pass includes 76 items to unlock in all. Among the new one that players can earn this season are Back Blings--customization items for your character's back. Epic has also introduced new loading screens, skydiving effects trails, pickaxes, and more. You can see all the Season 3 Battle Pass rewards in our gallery.
Those who purchase the Season 3 Battle Pass will automatically gain access to a batch of free items, including the Mission Specialist Outfit. Epic is also offering a Battle Bundle, which includes the Season 3 Battle Pass and 25 tiers' worth of items, for 2,800 V-Bucks. Individual tiers, meanwhile, can be purchased for 150 V-Bucks each. You can read more about the Season 3 Battle Pass on the official Fortnite website.
Fortnite: Battle Royale is free to download and play on PS4, Xbox One, and PC, while the Save the World mode is currently still in paid early access. If you've yet to give the game a try, Xbox Live Gold members can purchase Fornite's various Founders Packs at a discount on the Xbox Store as part of this week's Deals with Gold.
Epic Games has released the next big update for Fortnite. Players on PC, PS4, and Xbox One have a variety of new content and improvements to check out in both Battle Royale and Save the World. Maybe most notably, the 3.0.0 patch kicks off Season 3 for Battle Royale, which includes the release of a Battle Pass with a slate of new rewards (such as those inspired by Guardians of the Galaxy and John Wick).
Battle Royale now runs at 60 FPS on consoles, and not just for those with a PS4 Pro or Xbox One X--this is also true of the base PS4 and Xbox One versions. This takes the place of the existing uncapped framerate mode, although developer Epic has added a 30 FPS mode as an option if you'd prefer an improvement to visual quality at the expense of framerate.
Across consoles and PC in Battle Royale and Save the World, Fortnite's building has been improved in a variety of ways; there is now an option to continuously build by holding a button, and another to have the game auto-switch between materials when you run out. Additionally, you can build right through most objects now, which should make the building process even easier. (We've got Fortnite building tips if you still need help.)
Also new in Battle Royale is the Hand Cannon. This weapon uses Heavy ammo and features Epic and Legendary versions, and it can be found in treasure chests or supply drops or as floor loot. It's one of several changes on the weapon front, as grenades lose the ability to do critical hits, an exploit involving the pump shotgun and quickly switching weapons has been removed, and drop rates for various versions of the basic pistol have been changed. Additionally, the recently added crossbow has had its Valentine's Day-themed skin removed.
With this patch kicking off Season 3 of Battle Royale, the new Battle Pass has been introduced. This is purchasable only for 950 V-Bucks, rather than directly with money, and has even more rewards tiers than previous incarnations. Epic says it should still take a similar amount of time to unlock everything--you'll just get more rewards for doing so. Among the items available are the Back Bling cosmetics. You can see all the Season 3 Battle Pass rewards in our gallery.
Other small, Battle Royale-specific changes and additions include the ability to see the path of the Battle Bus on the map at the start of the round and 10 seconds of control being given to players after winning a match.
Improvements to building aren't the only things that affect both Battle Royale and Save the World. Epic has introduce a new orchestral score from Marco Beltrami (Logan) and Pinar Toprak (Krypton). This replaces the music in Save the World and plays while in the menus of Battle Royale. Additionally, optional colorblind support has been added, though Epic says it is a work-in-progress and is open to feedback from users. Other visual upgrades have also been made, including those to lighting and shadows.
On the Save the World side, the Hoverboard has been added as a new means of transport; it can be obtained through a tutorial and requires no energy to use, though it takes three seconds to summon and any damage suffered will knock you off. A new chapter of the Spring It On event is also now available, which includes new quests, activities, and the previously announced Dragon weapons.
With March drawing near, Microsoft has announced the lineup of games that Xbox Live Gold members will be able to download for free next month. There's the usual total of four new games being introduced across Xbox One and Xbox 360, with an especially good one up for grabs on the newer console.
On Xbox One, the month starts out with Trials of the Blood Dragon, a more action-oriented take on the Trials series that's somewhat in the vein of Far Cry 3's Blood Dragon spin-off. It will be available for free for the entire month. From March 16 through April 15, Superhot will be free. The excellent shooter sports a distinct visual style and an even more novel concept, as time (mostly) freezes when you stop moving, allowing you to set up some Matrix-style bullet-dodging sequences.
Xbox 360 owners also get two games to download in March. During the first half of the month, it's Brave: The Video Game, which is based on Disney's film of the same name and was just added to the Xbox One's backwards compatibility list. It's then followed in the second half by Quantum Conundrum, the puzzle-based first-person game from Airtight Games and Kim Swift, one of the key developers behind Portal and Left 4 Dead. As always, both Xbox 360 games are playable on Xbox One through backwards compatibility.
In the meantime, it's not too late to grab some of February's free Games With Gold titles. One of the Xbox One games, Assassin's Creed Chronicles: India, will also remain free for the first half of March. Claiming any of these games allows you to continue playing them for as long as you're an Xbox Live Gold subscriber.
Bungie has explained its approach to changing Destiny 2's Exotics, offering insight into its goals and what it hopes to achieve in a game update planned for March. In the latest Bungie Weekly Update senior designer Jon Weisnewski said the gameplay tuning pass on Exotic gear is focused on "adding and/or increasing player Power spikes," and although all items are being considered, special attention is being paid to low-usage items. The goal, he says, is to "lean into an item's established gameplay and push it harder" while avoiding "catch-all improvements that dilute item identity."
To show what this means Weisnewski used the Graviton Lance as an example, explaining that the feedback has been that it looks cool, but isn't viable for getting kills in player-versus-player scenarios. Bungie is remedying this by reducing the recoil of the first of the weapon's burst shots. On top of that, it's introducing some aim assist to control recoil and changing it from three shot burst to two shot.
"This still plays into the fantasy of a low-damage gravity-neutralizing round forming a projectile tunnel for the last bullet," he said. "It also allows us to ensure the damage per burst is at a competitive level for PVP engagements. In fact, it gives Graviton a slight mathematical edge against other pulse rifles."
Weisnewski also said that, as a result of feedback, the way an enemy's body now behaves after being hit with a Graviton Lance has changed. "We made it so that rather than violently flying backwards and likely out of range of a potential splash damage opportunity, the defeated opponent floats back and up," he explained. "Then we made the explosion bigger, increased the damage, and added some void field projectiles that seek out any remaining targets."
According to Weisnewski, "this is one of the more exaggerated examples to help describe how we're looking at our goals and applying them to the gear." He went on to name weapons that aren't getting an update: Merciless, Telesto, Wardcliff Coil, MIDA Multi Tool, Colony, Legend of Acrius, and Vigilance Wing. The team decided not to change these as some don't require it, while the others will benefit from other tuning changes included in update 1.1.4.
"We'll be touching a lot of powerful gear with this update and to truly understand the impact for players requires a lot of design iteration and test time," Weisnewski said. "It isn't enough to crank up the damage and run one strike or Crucible match with a gun and helmet and move on. Dialing in the right amount of power, testing in all activities with all types of load outs, finding the bugs, fixing the bugs, updating the perk description text to reflect new behaviour, and then handing that off to localization for translation--it's a ton of work, but we're up to it. We sincerely appreciate your patience. I believe it will be worth the wait."
As previously detailed in the Destiny 2 roadmap, the changes are expected to go into effect on March 27 when the Sandbox & Crucible update will be launched as part of patch 1.1.4.
Crimson Days is now live on all platforms, and it runs until the weekly reset on February 20. Even if you don't plan on playing much, you can get a free Crimson Engram just by logging in and speaking with Tess at The Tower.
Prolific video game performance actor Troy Baker has joined the cast of Hideo Kojima's Death Stranding, along with Emily O'Brien, another well known actor that has been featured in a number of big games.
O'Brien made the announcement on Instagram by posting a picture of herself with Baker and Norman Reedus, who has already been confirmed as one of the main characters in Death Stranding. "Honored to be working alongside these two fine lads on Hideo Kojima's new project Death Stranding," reads the caption. "I'm a lucky gal ;)"
As of yet there hasn't been a confirmed Death Stranding release date, but Kojima hinted that it might launch in 2018. It also stars Mads Mikkelson (Hannibal), director Guillermo Del Toro (Pan's Labyrinth, The Shape of Water) and Norman Reedus (The Walking Dead).
Bandai Namco has revealed Ivy and Zasalamel will be playable characters in SoulCalibur VI and released short gameplay trailers for them both. The two characters have been in previous entries, so their returns to the new PS4, Xbox One, and PC game will certainly be welcome news to long-time fans of the weapon-based fighting series.
Ivy Valentine makes her comeback wielding the tricksy Ivy Blade, which has the ability to switch between a solid sword or a barbed whip. She's still on a quest for revenge and hopes to destroy the evil sword at the centre of the game's story.
"Ivy's father was driven mad and finally died while researching the history of Soul Edge with her mother following not long after," Bandai Namco explains in a press release. "Since then, she thirsts for revenge and wants to destroy the cursed sword that took the lives of her parents, using her alchemy skills to craft a weapon tailored to her needs. She combines Western European sword with Eastern European whip techniques, making her attacks graceful and absolutely deadly at the same time."
The gameplay trailer for her (above) shows she's still got plenty of big combo opportunities and is handy at controlling space thanks to the two forms her weapon can take. She's also got a pretty cool ethereal bow and arrow.
Zasalamel, meanwhile, made his debut in SoulCalibur III and, based on the gameplay trailer, his Kafziel scythe looks like it's still just as devastating at mid-to-close range. As with Ivy, Bandai Namco has opted to provide a brief overview of his story as a whole, instead of his motivations in the new game.
"[Zasalamel] was born into a clan called Guardians of the Spirit Sword charged with protecting the legendary swords Soul Calibur and Soul Edge. While he was exiled from the clan for breaking their sacred laws, Zasalamel nonetheless managed to discover the secret of reincarnation, making him a mighty magician and dangerous foe."
The last SoulCalibur VI characters to be revealed were Kilik, Xianghua, and Nightmare--all series veterans--and Groh, a newcomer. You can read our hands-on with SoulCalibur 6's new characters to find out what we thought of them.
Nintendo has released a free update for Super Mario Odyssey, bringing a new mini-game called "Balloon World" to the critically acclaimed Nintendo Switch title. Along with the new mode, there's also two new filters to use when taking screenshots in the Snapshot Mode.
Balloon World becomes available once the main game is completed and, to get started, players need to find Luigi in each Kingdom and talk to him. Balloon World's "Hide It" mode lets you hide balloons within stages that other players race to find. Conversely, "Find It" mode let's you track down other balloons hidden by players from across the globe.
"Whether players are hiding balloons or finding them, their Rank will go up based on their score," Nintendo explains in a press release. "While playing Balloon World, the atmosphere will change for each kingdom: for example, players will see it rain in New Donk City during the day and watch the sunset in Tostarena."
Also in the update are "a range of new outfits", including The Sunshine, Musician, and Knight Armor outfits, all of which become available in the shop after the main story is finished. The two new Snapshot filters, meanwhile, are Coin and Neon.
As if one weren't good enough, Blizzard's given us another Overwatch tease this week, but it's not for a new character or map this time. Instead, it's turning its eyes to a lore database, beginning with a loving letter Torbjörn penned to his wife.
Earlier this week, the Overwatch Twitter revealed the after-action report of an operation called "White Dome." Things didn't go exactly as planned, and the team was ambushed, leading Reinhart to take the charge and rescue an injured Torbjörn.
The most recent update to this story details a letter Torbjörn wrote to his wife, Ingrid, from the hospital, promising her that all is well. From the letter, it appears this is the battle in which he lost his arm.
"I know that by now you have gotten news of my injuries in our latest mission. While the descriptions may sound terrible, the doctors are quite sure I'll make a full recovery. Even Angela came to visit me! On the matter of my arm, I promise to make it my first priority to construct a suitable prosthesis that will make everyone forget that it was ever gone. If only Angela's dreams of tissue regeneration were a reality! I told her she should be working harder!"
The letter also details a few other sweet details about Torbjörn and his family, so it's worth checking out. We recommend grabbing some tissues first; find the letter in its totality here.
The "Story Update" appears to be part of an ongoing Overwatch lore archive. This will give fans "secret clearance" to art, videos, stories and more about the title's characters and world, good or evil. As of right now, there is not an exclusive section on the Overwatch website to find the rest of this lore database's entries.
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