Focus Home Interactive has released the official console launch trailer for their popular Farming Simulator 15. Farming Simulator 15 is now available on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, Xbox One and the Xbox 360 platforms.
Archive - 2015
BURLINGAME, Calif. – May 18, 2015 – KOEI TECMO America is proud to announce the inaugural release of famed strategy/historical simulation IP, Nobunaga’s Ambition: Sphere of Influence. The game will be available on the PlayStation®4 computer entertainment system across North America on September 1, 2015. It will also be simultaneously available digitally on the PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system and on PC via Steam®.
Having recently celebrated its 30th year anniversary, Nobunaga’s Ambition is one of the longest running franchises for KOEI TECMO Games in Japan, and during its lifetime it has received high praise by an ever-growing fan base across an array of platforms. Now, its latest chapter, Sphere of Influence, marks the series’ return to North America after 6 years of absence.
Ogasawara-san, the long-serving producer of the series, notes: “It is my distinct pleasure to be able to present the newest installment of Nobunaga’s Ambition to our western audience. I hope gamers will enjoy this one-of-a-kind strategy game that has been refined through 30 years of experience. Don’t miss it!”
Hailed as one of the best installments in the franchise’s history, this extremely intricate, deep, and meticulous strategy game is set against a backdrop of a fragmented nation. Players take the mantle of a Daimyo, a feudal lord of the Sengoku era (15th-16thcentury Japan), and fight for the great ideal of uniting the war-ridden country under one rule, thus becoming the first Shogun.
This title, centering around creating a realistic, dynamic, and dramatic playing experience, requires a high level of concentration and skill as players will need to master three key verticals in order to become a well-rounded ruler and successfully beat the game: Creation, Diplomacy and War.
In ‘Creation’, players must strengthen their clan’s standing, and deal with everyday issues like building farms & roads, growing the economy, entering trade agreements with neighbouring fiefs, etc.
‘Diplomacy’ is a playground for cultivating diplomatic relationships, employing spies, creating alliances, gaining the loyalty of subordinate officers, and growing in strength via marriage, oaths of fealty and treaties.
Finally, to succeed in ‘War’, players must train troops, level up officers according to the clan’s needs, fortify defenses, strategically position armies, and attack (or defend) to further their goals and grow their dominion.
Choosing to play either as a historical personality or a uniquely edited character, Nobunaga’s Ambition: Sphere of Influenceis both a full scale historical simulation and a bona fide strategy title, and offers an extremely wide pallet of choices for the player to shape the world as they please.
For more Nobunaga’s Ambition: Sphere of Influence news, please visit www.facebook.com/koeitecmous and follow us on twitter @KoeiTecmoUS, or visit www.koeitecmoamerica.com.
Screenshots
Episodic games are all the rage right now, with Telltale Games leading the charge. Capcom, not wanting to be left behind, has released an episodic Resident Evil game called Resident Evil: Revelations 2. While it doesn’t change come anywhere near changing the paradigm of survival horror as we know it, Resident Evil: Revelations 2 does serve up some great Resident Evil experiences in episodic format.
Story
The story for Resident Evil: Revelations 2 bounces between two pairs of individuals: Claire Redfield with Moira Burton and Barry Burton with newcomer Natalia. The story begins with Claire and Moira, who both work for a new bio hazard containment company named Terra Save. The pair begin the game at a reception in the Terra Save offices that become under attack by masked assailants. These assailants capture Claire and Moira and take them to a strange facility, where the pair awaken in prison cells. The pair travel through the facility, discovering various experiments that are being run by a being named the Overseer. Eventually, the two reach the radio tower and transmit a plea for help to the outside world.
Here’s where the story gets interesting, and is truly my favorite part of the whole story line. Claire and Moira’s plea for help is heard and answered by Barry Burton, six months after it was originally transmitted. Barry arrives at the island to look for Claire and Moira, but finds Natalia instead. Natalia leads Barry to the radio tower that Claire and Moira transmitted their distress call, just to learn that he is extremely late in the rescue process and must deal with the Overseer himself.
I really loved this story line, especially as a Resident Evil game. I loved how the game shifted between the two story lines, and this shift help create a mystery that needed to be solved. You answers to the questions that the game asks are revealed through playing the other side of the game. Moira and Claire may run into a mystery on their story, just to have that mystery solved six months later in the Barry and Natalia story line. Like Telltale Games, Capcom did a great job in making the story compelling enough to look forward to the next episode. Good thing for me I received all the episodes at once so I didn’t have to wait to start the next one.
Game Play
Game play for Resident Evil: Revelations 2 is typical Resident Evil, with a few tweaks. Movement and gun play is more old-school Resident Evil and seem to work best with a game pad. Inventory space is limited, but you can easily combine items and swap these items between characters. The big game play tweak is in how the two characters interact with their worlds.
Claire and Moira interact with the game in two completely different ways, so does Barry and Natalia. Claire is your combatant, she will arm herself with weapons and battle off the hordes of mutated creatures while Moira wields a crowbar and a flashlight. The flashlight will blind enemies and will also find hidden items throughout the game, so you will have to switch between the two in order to find supplies and progress through the game. Episode 3 really puts you in the hot seat with this switch game play mechanic in a section where Claire and Moira are trying to escape a building full of enemies.
Resident Evil: Revelations 2 also has its share of puzzles. I mean, what Resident Evil game doesn’t, right? Unfortunately, the first two episodes are fairly straight forward in their puzzles and never truly feels like a Resident Evil game, that is until Episode 3. Episode 3 brings us the Resident Evil puzzles we have been used to for the entire series, where doors are locked with ridiculous items that you need to find as you explore.
Resident Evil: Revelations 2 offers local co-op now for the PC, which it didn’t come with when released. The co-op feature is officially “in beta”, so you might want to expect a few bugs. You also get a few extra missions that you can play once the main campaign is over, and a raid mission that challenges you to clear out a huge number of shooting galleries under the time limit and without healing. This raid mini game will unlock new characters to use, depending on your medal count.
Aesthetics
Unfortunately, here is where the game kinda falls apart. The environments that you get to explore are dark, dank, dirty, and depressing. They are also fairly generic and not exciting to say the least. The facility that you explore looks like every other old, abandoned series of labs and prison cells that you have seen in countless other game releases. There are many cases in which only having Claire Redfield on the screen really tells you that you are playing Resident Evil: Revelations 2 and not Outlast or The Evil Within or some other survival horror game.
The enemies themselves are interesting the first time you run into them, but the developers then use the same skins over and over and over again. You only really fight a small handful of unique monsters through all four episodes of Resident Evil: Revelations 2. The boss battles are the exception to the rule and prove quite interesting and even scary to fight against – the rank and file creatures are just generic at this point and no longer bring about nightmares to the player.
Voice acting is solid and the actors play their roles just fine. The script is good as well, and you can definitely see how the franchise has progressed from the original Resident Evil in terms of dialogue writing.
Final Thoughts
Capcom has got something here, something that is worth looking into. While not exactly brilliant by any means, Resident Evil: Revelations 2 is a fun game to play and can be turned into something great if Capcom aims a little higher next time. I love the story line and how the two sides have a six month time gap that helps create mystery. The game play is solid and fun. The aesthetics serve their purpose, but with more time and funds could have been fantastic and engaging instead of just all right. Capcom was also able to release each episode a week after the last. So, like your favorite television show, you just had to wait until the following week to find out what happens next. Sure, this turn around time may have contributed to the lack of polish on the environments and enemies, but it was nice not to have to wait months for the next episode. Resident Evil: Revelations 2 is out now on Steam and is worth your time to pick up.
[easyreview title=”Resident Evil: Revelations 2 Review Score” cat1title=”Overall Score (out of 5)” cat1detail=”” cat1rating=”3″ ]
[button target=”_blank” style=”” class=”btn_blue” link=”http://gamingshogun.com/gamingshogun-rating-system/”]Learn About Our Rating System[/button]
Shenzhen, China, May 18, 2015 — Dlodlo http://www.dlodlo.com/, the Virtual Reality innovators, announced today Dlodlo VR Glasses, the world’s lightest portable immersive Virtual Reality glasses. Fashionably designed, wireless, and ultra-lightweight at just 4 ounces (120g) – four times lighter than VR headsets, Dlodlo VR Glasses are portable and comfortable with the look and fit of sunglasses — unlike competitors’ clunky and heavy head-mounted displays. Dlodlo VR Glasses also provide the highest Full HD resolution of 2K with a 16:9 aspect ratio and the fastest 120Hz refresh rate for a display without dizziness, lag, distortion, or screen door effect. Dlodlo supports 2D/3D switch video, 4K video displays and provides the largest 110° Field of View (FOV) for a no-border fully immersive VR experience. Dlodlo makes you feel like you are a star in the movie or battling in the video game for the most exciting Virtual Reality experience ever.
Works with All Bluetooth Devices — Not Proprietary, No PC Needed
Dlodlo does not require a PC or specific type of smartphone to use. It employs Android 4.4 OS with built-in Bluetooth to work with any Bluetooth device, including gaming devices, smartphones, tablets, speakers, headsets, stereo headphones, laptops, and more. The DlodloVR Glasses have the best user interface, interaction, and an open API for a real VR ecosystem. It has a physical biomimetic optical imaging design for a wider FOV and more comfortable display. Easy to carry, wear, and use, Dlodlo also adjusts from 58mm to 70mm to help with vision problems, so you don’t have to wear corrective glasses under the device.
As Light to Wear as Sunglasses with Skin-Friendly Material
“At Dlodlo, we’ve adopted an optical imaging system with perfectly combined optical technology and physical hardware using safe, skin-friendly material that’s as light to wear as sunglasses,” said Li Gang, CEO, Dlodlo. “Our VR glasses provide a distortion-free top quality 2K Full HD resolution display with biomimetic eye contrast ratio and definition design, so the user has a wonderful visual feast when using the Dlodlo VR Glasses.”
For Gaming, Video Entertainment, Apps, Education, Sports, Medical, Real Estate & More
The Dlodlo VR Glasses are used in a variety of ways: for gaming, movies, apps, and adult entertainment; in addition to use in schools, government, and corporations for education and training; in hospitals and medical offices during operations, research, and patient consultations; with the disabled, and much more. Dlodlo has an interactive mode with touch and move-enabled controls, so the applications are endless.
Dlodlo VR Glasses Features:
- The thinnest, lightest VR glasses, weighing only 4 ounces (120g).
- The only independent OS VR glasses; uses Android 4.4 OS with no need to rely on a PC.
- The highest HD resolution VR glasses at 2K+ Full HD clear screen resolution, with a distortion-free 16:9 aspect ratio.
- Built-in Bluetooth 4.0 can be paired with any Bluetooth device, including gaming devices, speakers, headsets, laptops, tablets, smartphones, etc.
- No dizziness, lag, distortion or screen door effect.
- Fastest refresh rate at 120Hz.
- First fully portable VR glasses, most portable, easy to carry and use.
- As light to wear as sunglasses — 4 times lighter than other VR displays.
- Uses safe, skin-friendly material.
- Uses bionic optical design based on an imaging principle that adapts physical biomimetic optics for a wider FOV and more comfortable display.
- 110° FOV fully immerses users into Virtual Reality.
- Natural color effects: uses military-grade high-definition display modules for colors closer to nature for 97% more natural color spectrum.
- 3D Display supports 2D/3D switch and all video formats.
- Supports external stereo headphones audio-wide.
- Interactive mode with touch and move-enabled controls.
- Colors: Black, Ivory, Champion Gold.
- Dimensions: 163.3×54.4×30.3mm (not including glasses’ arms).
- Connector: Micro USB 2.0, OTG and stereo headphone.
- Battery: 2000mAh rechargeable.
- Microphone built-in.
- Multi-language support.
VR Device Comparison Chart (Click to Make Big)
May 18, 2015 — Garnering over 200 prestigious awards before launch, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is CD PROJEKT RED’s most ambitious endeavour up to date. Set within a truly open world, the game puts you in the role of a wandering bounty hunter and monster slayer, Geralt of Rivia. In The Witcher, you take on the greatest contract of your life — tracking down the Child of Prophecy, a living weapon that can alter the shape of the world.
The game is scheduled to launch May 19th, 2015, on Xbox One, the all-in-one games and entertainment system from Microsoft, Windows PC, and PlayStation®4. Visit www.thewitcher.com for more information.
Trailer
Bethesda Softworks and id Software have released a brief teaser video meant to prepare us for the first gameplay footage from the next DOOM game- titled, DOOM. The full reveal of the game will take play at Bethesda’s E3 showcase on June 14, 2015.
Teaser
Hollywood, CA: Sonnet Realm Films is proud to announce the development of their new Alien tribute film titled, ALIEN IDENTITY, a Science-Fiction Thriller starring Elle Viane Sonnet as Rebecca “Newt” Jorden, and directed by her husband Adam Sonnet.
ALIEN IDENTITY takes place 14 years after the events of Jim Cameron’s 1986 blockbuster, Aliens. It continues the story of Newt, the little girl we all loved, but despised to see perish in vain. They decided to bring back Newt, played by Elle Viane Sonnet as a young woman with an undeniably haunting past and an uncertain future.
“I love the character Newt. Bringing her back has been something I’ve thought about for years, which is why this film takes place after Aliens, and considers the events of Alien 3and Resurrection to be cryo-sleep nightmares,” says Writer and Director Adam Sonnet.
Amongst the many extraordinary people coming on board the project, some of the talents include: Emmy Award-Winning Make-up Artist and Creature Designer, Brian Sipe,Terminator Genisys, X-Men Days of Future Past, and Star Trek: Into Darkness; Celebrity Creature Concept Artist & Consultant, Neville Page, Prometheus, Avatar, Star Trek, Oblivion, and Falling Skies; Saturn Award-Winning Writer/Director Marc Zicree as a writing consultant, Space Command: Redemption, Star Trek New Voyages: Phase II, Star Trek DS9, Sliders, and Babylon 5; and many more exciting names soon to be announced.
More information regarding the progress of the film can be found on their website www.ALIENIDENTITY.com and on their Facebook Page www.Facebook.com/AlienIdentity
Sonnet Realm Films
Twitter: @SonnetFilms
Newport Beach, CA – May 18, 2015 – inXile Entertainment is proud to return to Kickstarter for their next big cRPG project, The Bard’s Tale IV, launching Monday June 2nd at 6 AM PST/13:00 UTC. Return to Skara Brae for a true dungeon-crawling sequel to the original The Bard’s Tale trilogy that helped define the cRPG genre!
On the 30th anniversary of the original Bard’s Tale, what better time than now to go on an adventure worthy of song? The Bard’s Tale IV will feature challenging maze-like dungeons with devious puzzles and riddles to explore in the first-person dungeon crawler style of the original trilogy. inXile has the full rights to use everything from the original trilogy, so the game will be rich with callbacks and old favorites such as teleporter zones and magic mouths.
Utilizing the Unreal 4 engine, The Bard’s Tale IV will also represent a graphical leap forward in the genre, immersing you in a highly detailed and lush world you’ll want to map to is farthest reaches. inXile plans to use photogrammetry to create in-game 3D objects from photos of architecture, taken right in Scotland.
With the Bard leading the way, the game has a strong focus on music and sound design. Inspired by and involving Gaelic musicians, the soundtrack and lyrics of The Bard’s Tale IV take cues from Scottish culture, which will be used to enrich the existing setting from the original games.
Of courses, you’ll need to contend with all matter of hostile beasts, monsters and brigands as you explore the world. The Bard’s Tale IV will feature a dynamic phase based combat system, utilizing the complex decision making opportunities of traditional phase based combat, but with a constantly evolving enemy strategy and a pacing that keeps you on your toes.
Check The Bard’s Tale IV website to follow along as we count down to the Kickstarter launch, or sign up to receive news and info directly from inXile!
The Bard’s Tale IV Website: http://bardstale.inxile-
The Bard’s Tale IV Sneak Peek: https://cdn.inxile-
New York, NY – May 18, 2015 – 2K and Firaxis Games today announced Sid Meier’s Civilization®: Beyond Earth™ – Rising Tide, the expansion pack for 2014’s turn-based strategy title, Civilization: Beyond Earth, is currently in development for Windows-based PC. Created by Firaxis Games, Rising Tide will enhance the Beyond Earth experience by adding a variety of new gameplay capabilities and providing near limitless ways for players to create a new future for humanity on an alien planet. The expansion pack is currently scheduled for release in fall 2015.
Rising Tide will expand Beyond Earth to new frontiers on the planet’s surface and across its seas, adding more choices and diplomatic options as players build “one more turn” toward a new vision for humanity’s future. New aquatic gameplay will explore the oceans for colonization by dramatically extending the play space, while an overhauled diplomacy system will provide players with additional layers of dynamic choices and options to shape the diplomatic landscape while engaging with the AI and one another.
“Firaxis Games has an impressive track record of delivering robust and innovative expansions that radically change player experience while adding extensive replay value,” said Sarah Anderson, SVP of Marketing at 2K. “Rising Tide is no exception, offering new features and overhauled gameplay systems that will challenge players embarking on a quest for planetary domination.”
“Rising Tide builds upon the lore of Beyond Earth, breaking away the historical boundaries of the original franchise and furthering mankind’s search for a new home in outer space,” said Sid Meier, director of creative development at Firaxis Games. “Whether colonizing the planet’s oceans, acquiring new Affinities or meeting exotic new leaders, aliens and units for the first time, Rising Tide offers more ways for players to write their own stories on a new world.”
Key features of Rising Tide include:
- Building floating settlements and accessing natural resources hidden beneath the seas of the alien planet, while alien beasts with unique abilities inhabit the water and challenge players in distinctive ways;
- Shaping the diplomatic landscape by upgrading traits, changing diplomatic relationships, and leveraging the benefits of your allies, all with political capital;
- Unlocking a dynamic set of Diplomatic Traits while activating different combinations in response to the changing world;
- Playing as one of four new factions, including the Al Falah, a group of nomad explorers descended from wealthy and resilient Middle Eastern states;
- Investing in multiple Affinities to unlock hybrid Affinity units and upgrades for the first time;
- Collecting and combining alien relics via a new Artifact System that unlocks powerful benefits;
- Exploring one of two new biomes, Primordial world, an untamed biome rife with volcanic activity and indicative of a chaotic landscape still forming in the new world.
Sid Meier’s Civilization: Beyond Earth – Rising Tide is not yet rated by the ESRB and will be available for Windows PC in fall 2015 for $29.99. For more information on Rising Tide, please visit www.civilization.com, become a fan on Facebook, follow Civilization on Twitter and subscribe to Civilization on YouTube.
Screenshots
CHATHAM, Kent – May 15, 2015 – Dovetail Games, the multi award-winning developer and publisher of a range of simulation games, today announced that it will launch a new edition of the market-leading train simulation, Train Simulator 2015: Epic Journeys Edition, featuring a brand-new route: the legendary Soldier Summit route based in the USA.
Train Simulator 2015: Epic Journeys Edition captures the excitement of some of the world’s most breathtaking rail journeys in incredible detail. The game opens in the Train Simulator Academy, the perfect training ground to learn about a variety of trains, locations and scenarios, in preparation for your adventure. Featuring three real-life routes from the USA, Germany and the UK, the game will guide players through some of the most spectacular scenery around the world. For those with their own vision of the perfect rail journey, a suite of powerful and easy-to-use creator tools will give players the opportunity to build customized routes, which can also be shared with other players.
Train Simulator 2015: Epic Journeys Edition features:
- Three stunning real-world routes:
- US: Soldier Summit: Provo to Helper, including the D&RGW SD40T-2, Amtrak F40PH and D&RGW GP9
- Germany: The Rhine Railway: Mannheim to Karlsruhe, including DB BR 406 ICE 3M, DB BR 189, DB BR 425 and DB BR 294
- UK: London-Faversham high speed, including Southeastern Class 395 and Class 375
- Nine exquisitely accurate locomotives with realistic sounds, controls and physics, including DB BR 406 ICE 3M, D&RGW SD40T-2 and Southeastern Class 395
- Quick Drive menu system: drive what you like, where you like
- Multiple controller options – use the Xbox 360 controller, keyboard or mouse
- Powerful in-game editing tools to create your own routes
- In-game access direct to the Engine Driver community site
Train Simulator 2015: Epic Journeys Edition will be available to purchase on Steam by the end of May 2015.
To read a series of articles about the brand-new Soldier Summit route, please visit:
Soldier Summit Legendary Route
Soldier Summit Rules of the Rockies
Soldier Summit The Tunnel Motors
For further information, please visit www.engine-driver.com/ or follow us at Dovetail Games Twitter and Dovetail Games Facebook.