The Purge saga continues on with The Purge: Election Year, due out in theaters on the July 4, 2016 weekend. The film stars the awesome Frank Grillo, Elizabeth Mitchell, Mykelti Williamson, Betty Gabriel, Edwin Hodge, Kyle Secor, Joseph Julian Soria and Liza Colón-Zayas.
Archive - 2016
I became a big fan of World of Tanks back in its original PC beta days. Most players who play it these days wouldn’t recognize the game from back then since it has had a constant evolution rather than relying solely on player loyalty. One of the biggest game developments was its going from PC to console platforms – a move which not everyone has wanted to make (this is okay, as the PC version of the game still gets plenty of updates and has a huge player base). So let’s take a look at some of the most recent additions to World of Tanks gameplay on the newly-released PlayStation 4 version of the game.
The basic game controls on the PC platform haven’t changed since they were first implemented, same for the console versions. This means that players who are used to one particular platform like the PC will always be able to jump into a PC game and play. First it was individual sections of the tanks which by the time it hit consoles had become modules so that instead of just upgrading the barrel of the tank you might upgrade the barrel and the tracks. Crews were added along the way which initially just added to the performance of the tank, then added to specific sections of the tank such as “repairs” then specific skill sets in that section. These latest evolutions in crew usage takes them from being a useful but mostly forgotten aspect of the game where now the crew choices can really effect your gameplay.
Tanks are added too, starting with the most common that were on the battlefields then less common tanks followed by famous tanks such as Fury. My personal favorite might be obvious but if I could afford to own the Ripper on every account I would be one happy, happy tanker. Each system also starts with just a couple of the country’s tank trees and adds to them little by little. Usually the first you will see is the Americans and Germans since their tank clashes have definitely gone down in infamy.
Each tanks class (light, medium, heavy, tank destroyer and artillery) have had their gameplay tweaked slightly over the years to maintain fairness and though their are very popular premium tanks that can give you a bit of an edge, a well practiced tanker can still easily come out on top of a player trying to just buy a win. With the exception of the Ripper most of my favorite tanks are earned anyways rather than purchased. There are vanity additions you can make to your favorite tanks too, temporary ones cost in-game currency while permanent ones cost RL money. I tend to spend my RL money on garage slots because I like all my tanks lined up and ready to play with their daily exp bonuses waiting to be earned. That being said I have been known to buy the jack o’lantern emblem for my tanks, anyone who knows me will not be the least bit surprised.
There really isn’t a whole lot of difference between gameplay on the Xbox One and PS4 versions, so if you only have one of the two consoles don’t worry about it, you are still in great shape. The difference between the PC and the console versions is pretty massive, but both are designed to be intuitive for gameplay of their respective systems. If you have played games such as Battlefield 4 on the consoles the controls are pretty much the same, if you have played any game with tanks or mechs on the PC then you will naturally slip into World of Tanks. The real key is in PC play you get used to targeting a certain way especially when sniping seems far less accurate in the console version. The key is to use features designed into the console version to try to make targeting smoother. Get pointed toward your enemy, do a system lock-on then zoom. You’ll lose the system lock but you will be now approximately where you want to be zoomed into on the enemy. Now it is a matter of fine tuning your aim and firing. I found that once you get used to using this style of play it is actually faster than the PC version. If you are going from console to PC not having this trick work for you will throw you off at first but once you get used to the zoom and tighter targeting system you will fall in love with this system’s version too. Targeting has been THE major complaint of PC players trying to play the console versions and since they hate to listen to someone else’s advice they have allowed me to easily pwn them in the game which I can’t complain about too much…
The second most common complaint is that there aren’t as many tanks on the console versionm which is true – but, they will be added over time just like they were with the PC, with longer tech trees and more nations added. Eventually, I will be pawing again at the screen for my Ripper tank to be in my vehicle garage.
The crux of this review is that the game has been ever evolving in a positive way on all its platforms so, while the PS4 version is latest version, all other versions are being updated at about the same time so they will all be on an even playing field. Because of the fact that the Wargaming dev team knew exactly what the system specs will be the next-generation consoles, World of Tanks got a beautiful upgrade in graphics which is very noticeable in the sway of tall grass, butterflies fluttering between flowers, and the explosive and fiery wreckage of tanks. As a result, the PS4/Xbox One versions of the game have slightly surpassed the other versions with me, and it only takes a couple of moments of watching your environment while sniping or in ambush to truly appreciate the details put into the game.
Last Shot:
World of Tanks is an extremely fun and entertaining game, no matter which platform you play it on. Each system has its strength and play characteristics which makes it fun to have on all of them instead of just one. With the arrival of World of Tanks for the PS4 came some additional play aspects that feel like a natural evolution and truly enhance the gameplay even more. As time passes, more tanks will no doubt be added from more countries and hopefully the “Ripper” tank will make its appearance and I will have yet another system to pine over it on…
[easyreview title=”World of Tanks PS4 Edition Review Score” cat1title=”Overall Score (out of 5)” cat1detail=”” cat1rating=”5″ ]
Unlike that other fighting club, we are not breaking any rules by reviewing and discussing Lazy Bear Games’ newest creation, Punch Club. Punch Club is a life management role playing game, where you take control of every aspect of your fighter’s life, from what he eats to how much he trains. The only time you don’t control your fighter’s every action is when he actually has to fight. The fights are completely run by the game’s artificial intelligence, based on the tactics pre-selected by the player and the stats that your fighter possesses. Is Punch Club any good? Let’s take a closer look.
Story
Punch Club’s story line begins as many stories do, with the brutal murder of your father before your eyes. In order to discover your father’s killer, you must rise in the ranks of fighters, choosing different paths that are open to you along the way. Along the way, you will have to juggle all of life’s varied obstacles, including friendships, love life, training, work, and recreation. Finding that fine balance in Punch Club is what the game is all about.
Punch Club is full of 80’s and 90’s nostalgia bits, and the story line fits that feel perfectly. Punch Club feels like a martial arts movie from the late 80’s: murdered father, training montages, working your way up through the ranks of generic bad guys, finding love along the way and finally ending with a boss fight to gain vengeance. Lazy Bear Games went for a nostalgia piece, and it works just fine. While it’s not perfect in any sense of the word, with some of the humor just feeling forced or off a bit, Punch Club’s story line is great and fits the feeling that the developers were aiming for.
Game Play
I called Punch Club a “life management role playing game” in the intro, and that description fits the game perfectly. In Punch Club, you have to manage your fighter’s daily life and choose what to focus on during the time you have each day. In the beginning, that’s fairly simple. If you hungry, eat. If you don’t have any money, go to work. However, just like life, the game gets more complicated when you have more obligations to manage. Do you spend time with your friends or your love? You need money to go out, but you haven’t eaten in a while. To make these choices even more crucial, your states will deplete if you are not training enough, so you constantly have to maintain what you have worked on.
When you train, you will get to focus on one of three stats: strength, stamina, or agility. Some exercises will increase small amounts of two stats, but it isn’t very efficient when you factor in your time management. You pretty much need to focus on one stat as a primary then one as a secondary, leaving the third stat almost untouched. So you have to decide what type of fighter will you be? Punches rely on strength, defense rely on agility, and stamina keeps you up and moving longer.
You have total control of your fighter, that is until it is fight time. You get to select a few fight tactics that your fighter can use before the match begins, but once those are in place and you start the fight, then the a.i. takes over completely. Whether you win or lose will be dependent on your tactics and your stats that you have trained in. As you fail, and you will, then you have to decide what other stat or tactic would work better in that situation.
For the first few hours, I really enjoyed Punch Club’s game play. I thought the life management game play was fun, and it was satisfying to see my hard work pay off. The problem with Punch Club comes a little later, when you find yourself grinding for hours on end just to win one fight. This makes the game absolutely no fun to play anymore and can lead to feelings of frustration and bitterness as you loose time and time again. The shine and enjoyment that I felt in the beginning of Punch Club did not last throughout my time with the game.
Aesthetics
Because the developers were going for a retro style 80’s nostalgia piece, the game looks like it came out of that era as well, though much more defined graphically. Punch Club has pixelated graphics that reinforce the feeling of nostalgia, without actually looking like an 80’s game. I felt that the aesthetics of Punch Club fit the vibe of the game perfectly and did everything right, even down to the small little nods to popular culture you will find throughout the game.
Final Thoughts
Punch Club is a great game for the first few hours, then it turns into a complete grind fest that will try even the most die hard gamer. In the beginning, your fighter’s life is easy to manage, and the fights are easy to train for. As the game progresses, your life becomes a chaotic mess and the fights are brutal slug-fests that you are not prepared for. My life is complicated as it is, I don’t really need to play a game that replicates that complexity. I would still recommend the game for anyone who is looking for a game like Punch Club, because what is there is really well done. Just be prepared to grind through the middle of the game. Punch Club is available now through Steam for your PC.
[easyreview title=”Punch Club Review Score” cat1title=”Overall Score (out of 5)” cat1detail=”” cat1rating=”3″]
February 09, 2016 — Wargaming today announced the first massive content update for World of Tanks on PlayStation®4 has gone live worldwide! The game, which has already surpassed 1 million registered users shortly after its January 19 release, has augmented its in-game tank arsenal with the addition of the British Tech Tree along with new maps. The highly sought after Type-59 is also now available in the PlayStation®Store for a limited time.
In this content update, World of Tanks brings an impressive force of over 40 powerful British vehicles to the PlayStation®4 battlefield. A large collection of light, medium, and heavy tanks along with tank destroyers and artillery join the fight. Command some of the most legendary vehicles in British history like the Crusader, Cromwell, and Conqueror. Additionally, some of the most notable maps in World of Tanks have been added to PlayStation®4, including “Siegfried Line,” “Fisherman’s Bay”, “Ensk War!” and many others. Players can also get to grips with the well-known “Westfield” map, as well its variant with weather conditions: “Westfield Rain”.
World of Tanks on PlayStation®4 is free to all PlayStation® accounts and does not require a PlayStation®Plus membership to play.
To learn more about World of Tanks on PlayStation®4 and for a full list of added vehicles and maps, please visit:
Blizzard Entertainment celebrated its 25th Anniversary yesterday on February 8. Here is a special thank you video from CEO and Co-Founder Mike Morhaime and CDO and Co-Founder Frank Pearce.
February 9th, 2016 – Wroclaw, Poland/ Dying Light: The Following – Enhanced Edition has officially launched. The new and remastered version of Techland’s most successful zombie survival game adds features such as a brand-new difficulty level called Nightmare Mode, 250 special Legend Levels to unlock, all-new Bounty system, and a massive expansion pack titled Dying Light: The Following. On top of that, the Enhanced Edition includes all previously released DLCs, community-made maps and many more gameplay and performance upgrades.
Key Features:
- Enhanced Version of the Game – Dying Light is now bigger, better and scarier than ever before. Enjoy the ultimate zombie experience as you scavenge for supplies, craft weapons, and do anything you can to survive in a city ravaged by the zombie outbreak.
- Expanded with Dying Light: The Following – Investigate a mysterious and secretive society as you leave the quarantine zone and travel to a seemingly serene countryside – a region bigger than all areas of the original game combined!
- Drive to Survive – Dying Light: The Following introduces drivable dirt buggies that you can freely customize and upgrade with special weapons, attachments, and paint jobs to create your deadliest weapon yet.
- All DLCs and Updates – Get all the additional content ever released for Dying Light in one go, including the Be the Zombie multiplayer mode, The Bozak Horde game mode, #DrinkForDLC content rewards, and much more.
The full list of global release dates for Dying Light:The Following – Enhanced Edition can be viewed here.
STOCKHOLM – Feb. 9, 2016 — Paradox Interactive, a “raining champion” publisher of games, today revealed several details about “Snowfall,” the forthcoming expansion toCities: Skylines from Colossal Order. Snowfall, which will be released on February 18th, 2016 for Windows, Mac, and Linux PCs, will add several new gameplay features to the award-winning city-building game, including several new mechanics revolving around the expansion’s titular weather phenomenon. To show off these new features first-hand, Paradox will stream the game live on their Twitch channel on Wednesday, February 10th, at 1700 CET (8:00 a.m. Pacific Time). To view the live stream, watch Paradox’s Twitch channel at http://www.twitch.tv/
In addition, Paradox has also detailed the features that will be added to Cities: Skylinesfor all players in a free patch on February 18, whether the weather-oriented expansion is purchased or not. All players will see the following additions:
- Rain and fog-based cosmetic weather for existing maps outside the new “Winter” themed maps
- A new Theme Editor for map modding, allowing players to create new Map Themes ranging from different terrain styles to incredible alien worlds; here is one such incredible alien world
- Pretty cool, right?
- An expanded UI for public transportation management
- New Chirps from everyone’s favorite in-game social media avatar
- New Hats for everyone’s favorite in-game social media avatar
- Newfound respect for everyone’s favorite in-game social media avatar
For more information on Cities: Skylines, visit http://www.citiesskylines.com/
February 9, 2016 – Watch the all-new 101 trailer for a gameplay overview of Far Cry Primal in 5 minutes. Discover all you need to know about Far Cry Primal’s weapons, powerful Beast Master abilities, and vicious human foes while you prepare to take on the Stone Age when Far Cry Primal releases on February 23 on PlayStation®4 computer entertainment system and Xbox One. Far Cry Primal will be available on March 1 for Windows PC.
EL SEGUNDO, Calif. – Feb. 9, 2016 – Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc. has announced a new DLC campaign for METAL GEAR ONLINE, the dedicated, squad-based multiplayer component of the best-selling METAL GEAR SOLID V: THE PHANTOM PAIN. Entitled ‘Cloaked in Silence’, the new content will be released in March 2016 and adds new maps, a new character and additional content to the multi-player experience.
‘Cloaked in Silence’ is an ongoing part of KONAMI’s commitment to continually enhancing the METAL GEAR ONLINE element. The downloadable content adds three new maps to the multi-player game:
- Coral Complex: A dedicated Motherbase environment, allowing players to access tall towers, use storage containers and other internal areas as cover for tactical advantage. Coral Complex mixes open areas and a myriad of hiding opportunities.
- Rust Palace: Set within Afghanistan, the Rust Palace is a large multi-level building. The skeletal nature of the decrepit ruin means that cover is scarce, and the internal areas are rich in dusty rooms and high-up sniping positions.
- Azure Mountain: An outdoor plain under Africa’s baking sky. A small cluster of buildings offers scant cover, with only derelict walls and occasional scrubland surrounding the massive rock known locally as the Cradle of Spirits.
METAL GEAR ONLINE’s ‘Cloaked in Silence’ DLC also sees the debut of Quiet as a playable character. A buddy character familiar from METAL GEAR SOLID V: THE PHANTOM PAIN, Quiet is a legendary sniper who can take out distant targets with excellent accuracy. Quiet’s movement speed is extremely fast and allows for unique jumping abilities over high steps where a player would usually need a ladder. She can also temporarily cloak her visibility while sprinting to activate a boost in movement speed.
Additional DLC includes APPEAL ACTION features, which trigger a unique character pose known as APPEAL ACTION. Players can preset up to five different slots per character with additional APPEAL ACTION packs available for purchase in-store.
Released in tandem with the DLC, a free update to METAL GEAR ONLINE includes a brand new competitive mission, SABOTAGE. Attackers must destroy or fulton the enemy Missile before the round expires. To access the Missile, attackers must first hack into the Terminals to deactivate the Electromagnetic (EM) Barrier that is protecting it. Once the Terminals are hacked and the EM Barrier is deactivated, defenders can choose to reactivate the EM Barrier or protect the Missile.
METAL GEAR ONLINE
DLC Pricing
| DLC |
Price |
| Expansion Pack: ‘Cloaked in Silence’ (3 Maps + Quiet) |
$3.99 SRP |
| Basic Appeal Pack |
$1.99 SRP |
| Battle Appeal Pack |
$1.99 SRP |
| Dance Appeal Pack |
$1.99 SRP |
| Hero Appeal Pack |
$1.99 SRP |
(Available on PlayStation®4, PlayStation®
METAL GEAR SOLID V: THE PHANTOM PAIN, including METAL GEAR ONLINE, is currently available for the PlayStation®4 computer entertainment system, the Xbox One, the all-in-one games and entertainment system from Microsoft and Steam at an SRP of $59.99. It is also available on PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system and Xbox 360 at an SRP of $49.99.
February 8, 2016 – Battlestate Games, the creators of hardcore online shooter Escape from Tarkov, is on the brink of hitting its Alpha milestone. Today the team revealed the first in its ongoing series of developer diaries, this one providing insight into the procedural animation and character animation system including behind-the-scenes mo-cap views. The video features numerous elements of the weapon handling — shooting, misfiring, and several other components unique to the online game.
Did you miss Escape from Tarkov’s kickass announcement trailer? Watch it now: youtu.be/IPlnHe9l34E
Escape from Tarkov is a hardcore online game that combines FPS/TPS with RPG elements. The game events unfold in the sealed off Russian city of Tarkov, which has become a scene of a local conflict between two private military companies. As a hazardous environment combat simulator, the game uses multiple system modules for ultimately immersive gameplay and a complete feeling of reality. The closed beta-testing of Escape from Tarkov is planned for 2016. Interested in testing your mettle? Sign up now for the Beta on the official game Website at: www.escapefromtarkov.com.
To stay up to date on current development be sure to follow Battlestate Games on Twitter and “Like” the game on Facebook.