Archive - 2011

Black Prophecy Gets New Patch and Missions

2011/05/03

Reakktor Media and gamigo AG have announced a new patch for their online space combat game, Black Prophecy. In addition to a multitude of enhancements and bug-fixes, the patch also adds a number of new missions for players to undertake. Black Prophecy is free-to-play and available now on the Windows PC platform. For more information on the game, please visit the official website.

Official Patch Notes

MISSIONS
Following new missions were implemented:

* “Cash for clunkers”, Comadrome, Level 7, Tyi
* “Valuable freight”, Caldeena Tyi Hub, Level 34, Tyi
* “Boosting morale”, Caldeena Tyi Hub, Level 35, Tyi
* “The prototype”, Col Esera, Level 14, Genide
* “Lost in the Badlands”, Elysion, Level 18, Tyi + Genide
* “No response from Station FG-31”, Elysion, Level 18, Tyi + Genide
* “Escort”, Gyoda, Level 30, Tyi
* “Security loopholes”, Gyoda, Level 30, Genide
* “There’s always something waiting…”, Geneera, Level 27, Tyi
* “Crafting Session”, Apo Kata, Level 4, Sapiens

GENERAL

* General performance improvements in all sectors.
* Removed exploit possibility that allowed players to collect unlimited colors in “Paint Job”.
* Fixed issues with performance and missing NPCs in Bara Kaitos sectors.
* Fixed ship health display inconsistencies.
* Damage distribution changed slightly: Damage is distributed evenly among active ship items, proportional to the items’ durability percentage in relation to the entire ship. The item that is directly hit (unless it’s the cockpit) receives slightly more percental damage than the other items.
* Repair kit durability is distributed evenly among all active ship items, proportional to the items’ durability percentage in relation to the entire ship.
* Increased the amounts repaired by the higher level repair kits.
* Fixed heavy alien fighter item values. It can turn at decent speeds now.
* Implemented better spawn point variation for weapon transporters in the Nimbus, to prevent spawn point camping.
* Fixed a bug in the mission “Energy Reserves”.
* Fixed an AI bug that caused NPCs to have steering problems when switching to sniper weapons.
* Fixed an AI bug that caused NPCs to not move when they should try to hide.
* Fixed an AI bug that caused NPCs to have steering problems when breaking off from a formation.
* Fixed an AI bug that caused NPCs to ignore new threats when purposefully attacking enemies.
* Fixed an AI bug that caused NPCs to ignore turrets on capital ships.
* Fixed an AI bug that caused NPCs to randomly experience steering problems during fights.

HUD

* Quickplay/instance button and sector/station name info no longer disappear when docked to a station and activating mouse mode.
* Premium items can no longer be moved to the ship inventory while a trade with a player or NPC is already active.
* Fixed kill-assist game messages if the player is killed by an NPC, but was damaged by other players before.
* Quickplay is now correctly being disabled when the client disconnects.
* More detailed information is now displayed when a player wants to request a clan sector.
* Removed warning message when players cancel their pending mission.
* Fixed a case where players could receive an error message “mission already starting” even after logging out and logging back in.
* Reserved names filter has been updated to allow some popular, previously blocked character names.

GFX

* Fixed colony ship texture flickering.
* Fixed engine exhaust effects for Tyi fighters.
* Fixed weapon attachment alignment for Tyi fighter wing module.
* Enhanced areas influenced by player color for Tyi fighter modules.
* Correct interior scene is now shown in the Gyoda Nebula for Tyi players.

The Easter content will be deactivated. Already looted eggs and blueprints will remain in the game.

New BRINK Trailer Gives HUD Rundown

2011/05/03

boothby

News

Bethesda Softworks has released a new trailer for their upcoming online shooter, BRINK, showing off the game’s HUD system, which is interesting for its ability to dynamically update the player on objectives, class information, and a lot more. BRINK is due out on May 10th for the Xbox 360, Windows PC, and PlayStation 3 platforms.

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Three More Fallout: New Vegas DLC Packs Announced

2011/05/03

boothby

News

First Screenshot from the Honest Hearts DLC Pack

Bethesda Softworks has announced that they are working on three additional DLC pack for their popular post-apocalytpic action-RPG, Fallout: New Vegas. The three packs will be released simultaneously on the Xbox 360, Windows PC, and PlayStation 3 platforms beginning on May 17th with the first expansion, Honest Hearts.

Details of Each DLC Pack

Available on May 17, Honest Hearts takes you on an expedition to the unspoiled wilderness of Utah’s Zion National Park. Things go horribly wrong when your caravan is ambushed by a tribal raiding band. As you try to find a way back to the Mojave, you become embroiled in a war between tribes and a conflict between a New Canaanite missionary and the mysterious Burned Man. The decisions you make will determine the fate of Zion.

In Old World Blues, releasing in June, you will discover how some of the Mojave’s mutated monsters came to be when you unwittingly become a lab rat in a science experiment gone awry. You’ll need to scour the Pre-War research centers of the Big Empty in search of technology to turn the tables on your kidnappers or join forces with them against an even greater threat.

Lonesome Road, available in July, brings the courier’s story full circle when you are contacted by the original Courier Six, a man by the name of Ulysses who refused to deliver the Platinum Chip at the start of New Vegas. In his transmission, Ulysses promises the answer as to why, but only if you take one last job –a job that leads you into the depths of the hurricane-swept canyons of the Divide, a landscape torn apart by earthquakes and violent storms. The road to the Divide is a long and treacherous one, and of the few to ever walk the road, none have ever returned.

PlayStation Network Security Update

2011/05/02

boothby

News

After hearing that 2 million PSN user’s credit card information could be going up for auction around hacking groups, Sony has responded on the Official PlayStation Blog to the revelation that credit information was compromised by detailing a bit more about how credit card numbers are stored. Apparently, Sony stores credit card numbers after they have been altered by a cryptographic hash function.

From the Official Post

One other point to clarify is from this weekend’s press conference. While the passwords that were stored were not “encrypted,” they were transformed using a cryptographic hash function. There is a difference between these two types of security measures which is why we said the passwords had not been encrypted. But I want to be very clear that the passwords were not stored in our database in cleartext form. For a description of the difference between encryption and hashing, follow this link.

To reiterate a few other security measures for your information: Sony will not contact you in any way, including by email, asking for your credit card number, social security number or other personally identifiable information. If you are asked for this information, you can be confident Sony is not the entity asking. When the PlayStation Network and Qriocity services are fully restored, we strongly recommend that you log on and change your password. Additionally, if you use your PlayStation Network or Qriocity user name or password for other unrelated services or accounts, we strongly recommend that you change them, as well. To protect against possible identity theft or other financial loss, we encourage you to remain vigilant, to review your account statements and to monitor your credit reports.

Red Faction: History of a Franchise Trailer

2011/05/02

boothby

News

THQ has released a new trailer for their upcoming third-person action/shooter, Red Faction: Armageddon, talking about the history of the Red Faction franchise since its beginning with 2001’s Red Faction. The newest game, Armageddon, is scheduled for release on June 7th and pits the Martian colonists against some very ruthless alien beings.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYDeCsJcjss[stream provider=youtube flv=http%3A//www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DTYDeCsJcjss img=x:/img.youtube.com/vi/TYDeCsJcjss/0.jpg embed=false share=false width=640 height=360 dock=true controlbar=over bandwidth=high autostart=false /]

First Rise of Immortals Video Podcast

2011/05/02

boothby

News

Petroglyph has posted up its first video podcast on their upcoming Rise of Immortals. Rise of Immortals is an upcoming action-strategy title featuring a heavy focus on PvP combat with PvE training missions. The game is due out later this year on Windows PCs, is currently in closed-beta, and will feature a free-to-play price model.

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First Screenshots from D&D Daggerdale

2011/05/02

boothby

News

Atari has released the first screenshots for the upcoming first game to use the Dungeons and Dragons Fourth Edition ruleset. Dungeons and Dragons Daggerdale is due out in the second quarter of this year on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 platforms. It will be the first in a trilogy of titles.

About the Game

Dungeons & Dragons Daggerdale offers high intensity “hack n’ slash” gameplay, bringing an accessible version of Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition to life. The story revolves around Rezlus, an evil Zhentarim Cleric bent on bringing the power of the Black Lord Bane onto Daggerdale and the rest of Daggerfalls. The players are summoned by a mysterious mage and given the duty of defending their homeland. The journey begins in the remote Desertsmouth Mountains as players are charged with the task of restoring order to Nentir Vale by unlocking the secrets of the sulfuric catacombs of the mines of Tethyamar, defeating the evil within the treacherous Tower of the Void, leading to the final confrontation with Rezlus himself.

NASCAR The Game 2011

2011/05/02

News, Reviews

I do not take racing games lightly. I have beaten up more than a few of them over the years. However, when I come across a truly exciting game that gets my blood pumping and really turns me on, I have no problem letting you know. I have been a race an all my life. My father used to take me to NASCAR races here in Southern California before I could even walk. When I started playing video games, I was able to live out my racing fantasies in real time. I grew up on staples like Pole Position and Off Road in the Arcades. The Papyrus Racing Sims in the nineties were simply amazing, then Gran Turismo changed my life. During those latter years, EA was the go-to spot for my NASCAR racing game fix. Unfortunately, their titles never could get it right. From poor graphics to lousy physics, bad control schemes to often-times punishing AI, their line of NASCAR games have been a muddled mess that have never been able to successfully capture the nuance and passion of NASCAR. From the moment we got a hold of the first trailer for NASCAR The Game 2011 here at gamingshogun.com; I had a feeling in my gut that this was going to be the game to make me smile. This would be the title to take all the aspects of NASCAR and put them together in an amazing package. While I admit I had faint wisps of doubt floating in my head, those were wiped away from the moment I put the disc in my XBOX 360.

You are able to select a car / driver and get right into it. You can’t help but be impressed by the visuals. From the details on the car’s decals to the track surface, it is evident that the programmers took their time making sure to get everything just right., after all, this game is a simulation, not a simple arcade-like outing with the NASCAR brand slapped on it. Continuing along those lines, each track that you visit over the course of a season are magnificently modeled in extreme detail. For the sake of the review, I fired up a recorded race and compared the in-car camera view of the actual race to the same camera angle from the game, and I assure you, there is no more faithful recreation that is on the market, save possibly iRacing (an uber-realistic, online, subscription, PC racing league). The game is a graphic Tour de Force.

While the game design is a simulation at heart, the developers realize that NASCAR is a fairly tricky sport to fully comprehend and there is a barrier to entry for more casual gamers. For those people, they have provided a whole host of driving assists designed to help newcomers to the sport get accustomed to the game without getting too frustrated. On the same hand, for those people who get it, they can go beyond simply driving the car, and try their hand at being Crew Chief and fully stetting up the car. Every adjustment that can be made on a real Sprint Cup automobile can be made in the game. Those setups can be named and saved, allowing for gear-heads and tinkerers to get in there and create custom set-ups for every track. If tinkering isn’t really your thing, the game has suggested presets for all the tracks. Do you get a kick out of painting your cars? Fortunate for you, NASCAR the Game 2011 contains a fleshed-out design studio which allows you to completely design the look of your car. For those of you who like to customize your driving controls, you will not be disappointed. In the event you are dissatisfied with one of the included controller presets, the controller options allow you to map every button for a completely custom controller interface. There have been many driving games that I have a difficult time playing based on the default/limited control schemes provided by the developer. While it is nice to be able to do all this with the regular XBOX controller, the game truly comes to life if you have access to a steering wheel and pedals set up. I played the game with both the normal controller and the Microsoft XBOX 360 Steering Wheel peripheral. While my time with the wheel made the game more difficult, it was completely more satisfying.

Once you are actually racing, the game offers a number of different ways to play. There is a straight-forward career mode which focuses on a complete NASCAR season, including the Chase for the Cup, along with several challenges, which break out of the mold. There is an elimination mode, where a timer counts down and eliminates the last place driver on the track. There is also a “Tag” type game where you have to draft behind certain cars on the track for an allotted time in a specific number of laps. These challenge modes unlock extra car designs and “stickers” and “badges” you can use to show off in multiplayer. These allow for other players to see at a glance different accomplishments you have achieved in the game. Speaking of which, multiplayer races are super customizable and fun. There were some races that I played that were a little glitchy, with everyone being credited for a win, however that was not the norm, but the exception.

It should go without saying that I truly love this game. I do have to say though that there are a couple things that could make me love it that much more. It would be terrific if there was a patch that added in some kind of storefront where people could “sell” their designs and setups. Forza was able to implement this to great success, fostering the community for that game in a way that has yet to be matched by any other racing game that I have ever played. The in-race “spotter” – the person who gives you intel on what the other drivers are doing and where they are on the track becomes very repetitive in longer races (I went through a full season racing 10% length races). I could go my entire life without hearing how the Hendrick boys wanna get a pizza later…

If you are a casual racing fan who is curious about NASCAR, or a die hard NASCAR fan like I am, NASCAR the Game 2011 has something in it for you. From designing the look of the cars, to driving fast, to finding the draft, to fine tuning your car to get the most out of it, NASCAR the Game 2011 is an amazing title that has you covered like a racing helmet.

Yar’s Revenge Review (PC)

2011/05/01

Ripper71

News, Reviews

So way back in the ancient days of a little box known as the Atari 2600 (you may have seen one in a museum or Antiques Roadshow), Atari put out an insanely addictive game called Yar’s Revenge. In 1981 if you were a gamer you either had the game or had a friend who had the game and you played it a lot. The game was revised and revisited several times over the following years on different platforms before finally getting completely re-envisioned 30 years after it first came out. The question is, should you re-envision a classic or just leave nostalgia alone?

Graphics/Atmosphere/Sound:

Smartly dumping any semblance of the original game look the creators went for a cross between comic book and concept art style making it feel almost more like an interactive comic rather than a standard video game. The graphics remind me slightly of Borderlands in the sense of heavily outlining characters and shading style and everything is crisp and sharply finished with rich colors. Atmosphere wise it creates a claustrophobic train-out-of-control sense since it is a rail shooter and the blasts coming out you are really large and though you can fly around the screen and even do flip dodges you have no control over where you go. Audio consists mainly of calm music tracks and intense ones to fit the action and a few weapon sound effects. This might be one of the biggest lacking points in the game since while you are fighting things like crazy the storyline continues in a little dialogue box in the corner. Voice acting would have made a huge improvement on the game and made the storyline far more engaging. For the most part you get part of the storyline from cutscenes between levels (which have subtitles and no voice acting) and the tidbits you manage to catch by glancing in the corner while flying through battle.

Game Play:

Game play is pretty straight forward though there are obvious signs that it is a port that really should have been changed. Primarily you move around the screen using WASD to dodge incoming enemy fire while using the mouse to move your target sights around and fire your two standard weapons. Extra timed weapons can be collected throughout the level and they and the shields are assigned buttons 1-5. On your screen however it says these special weapons are located A, B, X, and Y with the symbols and letters displayed on the screen in their corresponding Xbox controller locations. You just have to memorize which button does which or hit them randomly to see what works. This is easy enough to get past but this plus references to joystick on the mouse menu and a vibration option when the game isn’t game pad enabled make it seem like they rushed to port it. Along these same lines I had multiple mouse targeting issues even after trying more than one mouse, downloading the game twice and re-installing it three times. The game play is fast and furious and fun, but the targeting issues did diminish it a bit to the point is felt more like playing Tempest than Yar’s Revenge sometimes.

The enemies are fun to fight and different weapons work better in different circumstances so a bit of strategy and timing are key to racking up the scores to really high numbers and sometimes the number of enemies gets daunting. The boss fights are fun and challenging and all seem to have their own style and defense you have to overcome. The enemies throughout the levels probably could have used a bit more variety other than just color changes but it is still fun to just blast the heck out of everything you see on the screen.

Feeling A Little Left Out:

Let’s face it a lot of games replayability depends on the extras such as in this case achievements and leader boards. Plenty of gamers want to be the top of the board and will replay over and over until they get all the achievements. On XBLA you can earn 200 points between all the achievements making those who strive for a high gamer score play hours upon hours. On the PC however the leader boards and achievements are disabled leaving you to look them up on the web to even know what you are missing. Even if you didn’t earn points by playing it on the computer the option to achieve those achievements and therefore get lots of replay would be really nice.

Time/Cost

Yar’s Revenge runs about 3 hours with a total of six levels. The levels are very long and the fighting is fun but it still feels short. And on the PC you can replay it if you want, maybe to see what aspects of the storyline you missed or just to blast away with different weapon choices but really for the computer it is a one time play. The price is the same for the PC version as it is for the Xbox and is really affordable at $10 but you aren’t getting as much game as you get on the console.

Last Call:

Yar’s Revenge is a fun game with nice looking graphics and lots and lots of fun shooting. At $10 it definitely affordable too. I have to say though that I wouldn’t highly recommend it for the PC, if you have an Xbox pick it up on there, you will get much more play for your money and it would make a decent party game with co-op drop in and out available.

Activision Sends Us Call of the Dead Poster

2011/04/29

Jerry Paxton

News

2 Comments

The good folks at Activision have sent out some pretty cool items to promote the upcoming Call of the Dead gameplay mode in the upcoming Call of Duty: Black Ops Escalation content pack – a full-size poster! Call of the Dead features four-player coop against the zombie masses but, instead of no-name humans, you get to play as genre stars Danny Trejo, Robert Englund, Sarah Michelle Gellar, and Michael Rooker! Additionally, the baddest zombie of them all is none other than a zombified George A. Romero himself!

The content pack is due out on May 3rd, 2011.