The folks at game crowdfunding site Fig have released a nifty infographic showing off the top crowdfunded games of 2016. You can read their full blog post for additional details! Check out the infographic below and click it to make it bigger.
Archive - 2017
January 10, 2017 – 2K and Firaxis Games today revealed new details about the upcoming mod for XCOM 2, called Long War 2.
Pavonis Interactive, creators of the upcoming Long War 2 mod for XCOM 2 on PC, have created a new suite of weapons for your soldiers, they’re calling these new armaments “Coilguns.”
For more information, please see 2K’s official XCOM blog: https://xcom.com/news/xcom-2-
Be sure to follow XCOM on Twitter and Like XCOM on Facebook to keep up to date with the latest information on XCOM 2.
Berlin, Jan. 10, 2017 — Fans of turn-based strategy games can mark early 2017 on their calendars as Shock Tactics, developed by Berlin-based Point Blank Games will be released for Windows PC in spring 2017. Shock Tactics combines fast tactical combat, exploration, squad management, and base-building with a mysterious story set on the planet Hephæst.
Players lead a team of mercenaries as trailblazers for the first wave of Free Space Pioneers exploring a newly discovered alien planet. While searching the hostile world for alien technology you lead your team into tactical combat against pirates, alien creatures, and the troops of the Imperial Consortium. Set up outposts and dig sites to exploit the secrets that this new world holds in order to stand against the incoming invasion. Resources are available for the taking but everything will come at a price.
“Shock Tactics is our own vision of modern-age strategy games. The very aggressive turn-based gameplay forces players to get rid of familiar habits and defensive tactics and deal with new, more active ways of fighting enemies,“ says Leonard Kausch, Game Director at Point Blank Games. “We can’t wait until the players finally can see the results of our development.“
Features:
- Aggressive Tactics: Always drop right into the action and bring the fight to the enemy before he can reinforce his positions. Play fast tactical assaults on time sensitive objectives and stay in full control.
- Challenging squad tactics combat: Lead your strike team against smart enemies that employ a large array of tactics. Know your enemy, build a strategy, rule the battlefield.
- Strike team progression: Harness the power of the alien artifacts to upgrade your base, built new weapons and armor and train your soldiers with different abilities to fit your playstyle.
- Full Control: Action Points allow you to move your soldiers with full control and the interrupt system enables long sprints that are stopped when new enemies are spotted, so you can assess the situation and spend your remaining Action Points accordingly.
- Hostile Planet: The procedurally generated world map leads to different strategic situations in each game session. Fight in three different environments of Hephæst to claim the alien artifacts.
- Fate of Hephæst: Experience a story revealing the secrets of the planet while the great factions steer towards a final battle deciding their fate in the galaxy.
Shock Tactics will be released in Q1 2017 for Windows-PC as digital download via Steam and retail distributed by EuroVideo. Further information at http://www.shock-tactics-
SANDPOINT, Idaho, January 10, 2017 – Inteliscope today announced it will demo new products at the 2017 SHOT Show January 17-20 at the Sands Expo Center in Las Vegas, booth N335 in the NEXT Pavilion and in the new products display area.
“Check out Inteliscope at SHOT Show and see how we use smartphone technology on the rifle or on a bow, to enhance both the day and night shooting experience.” said Jason Giddings, Inteliscope’s CEO.
Inteliscope LLC develops and manufactures smartphone accessories for the rifle and bow. Product lines include the Inteliscope PRO+ Mount that allows shooters to attach any smartphone to a rifle for use as a riflescope and gun camera. Additionally, Inteliscope products include Apple and Android apps as well as a SEEK Thermal camera to provide a full thermal nightscope for under $500. Inteliscope can also be used with hundreds of other apps such as bullet drop calculators or mapping apps. Inteliscope manufactures the only thermal scope system in the world that can be mounted on a bow.
LOS ANGELES (Jan. 9, 2017) – SQUARE ENIX® announced that the shipment and digital sales for FINAL FANTASY® XV have exceeded six million units.
Having received critical acclaim across the world for its beautiful world design and graphical quality, along with the open-world freedom and exciting new battle system, the game continues its strong sales after recording five million units on day one.
FINAL FANTASY XV provides additional content and associated products to expand and enhance players’ experiences, starting with the free game update, Holiday Pack (Free Version) and premium Holiday Pack+ DLC which are now available for download. Those who download the Holiday Pack (Free Version) or Holiday Pack+ will also gain access to the “Moogle Chocobo Carnival,” a special in-game event that brings an exciting festival to the whole city of Altissia, starting on Tuesday, January 24thfor a limited time.
To allow players a deeper enjoyment of FINAL FANTASY XV, regular updates enhancing the main game will be coming soon, such as premium DLC content that will provide players additional gameplay experiences.
January 9, 2017 – The universe’s greatest protector will rise again! In celebration of the fan-favorite sequel DreamWorks Voltron Legendary Defender Season 2 coming to Netflix on Friday, January 20th, DreamWorks Animation Television and Netflix have released a brand new clip!
JANUARY 9, 2017 – Leading action figure and collectibles maker NECA announced today that it has acquired the license to BLADE RUNNER 2049, the hotly anticipated sequel to the legendary sci-fi movie. The company plans to release a full range of figures, die cast vehicles, replicas, games and more in 2017. Additional details will be revealed at New York’s International Toy Fair in February.
ABOUT BLADE RUNNER 2049
Thirty years after the events of the first film, a new blade runner, LAPD Officer K (Ryan Gosling), unearths a long-buried secret that has the potential to plunge what’s left of society into chaos. K’s discovery leads him on a quest to find Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford), a former LAPD blade runner who has been missing for 30 years.
The science fiction thriller is directed by Denis Villeneuve (ARRIVAL) and features a star-studded cast that includes Ryan Gosling, Harrison Ford, Ana de Armas, Sylvia Hoeks, Robin Wright, Mackenzie Davis, Carla Juri, Lennie James, with Dave Bautista and Jared Leto.
Original BLADE RUNNER director Ridley Scott executive produces the dystopian tale based on characters from the novel DO ANDROIDS DREAM OF ELECTRIC SHEEP? by Philip K. Dick. Produced by Andrew A. Kosove, Broderick Johnson and Cynthia Yorkin.
BLADE RUNNER 2049 opens in theaters on October 6, 2017. Visit official website bladerunnermovie.com for more details.
Allied Games have released a new style of real time strategy game that is designed to be fun, regardless of your skill level or game style. Shadow Heroes: Vengeance in Flames began life on Kickstarter, where the campaign was canceled then moved over to Steam Greenlight. Designed to be a fast paced, episodic rts game, Shadow Heroes: Vengeance in Flames reduces the need for micromanagement of forces and puts the focus more on combat that is fun and engaging. Was Allied Games successful in their goals or does Shadow Heroes: Vengeance in Flames fall short?
Story
Shadow Heroes: Vengeance in Flames is set in the fantasy land of Hendrika. You play as the new lord of the land, after a costly battle against a faction of magic users. You begin the game being attacked in your fortress by this faction, who are trying to create an uprising against your regime. The campaign follows a series of tasks, quests, or objectives that pretty much boil down to you trying to prevent the enemy from gaining any ground and taking power back from you.
Ok, so honesty time here. I played Shadows Heroes: Vengeance in Flames last about a week or so ago, and the above paragraph was all I could remember of the story. I couldn’t tell you the character’s name that you play as if you held a gun to my head. What could have been a great story line that could have dipped into the new oppressive regime that was now banning all magic in the kingdom and hunting anyone that showed any signs of magic ability, forcing the player to make some serious ethically questionable decisions and wonder if he or she is on the right side, pretty much boiled down to “you are in charge now, screw the other guys”.
The story is presented in static shots of characters as they talk to each other before missions, or as voice overs during missions. There is also an opening cinematic that tries to set the story up, but I couldn’t remember a single detail of it. The names all sound silly, like some sort of fan fiction gone horribly wrong. It is better then having no story at all, but not by much. Shadows Heroes: Vengeance in Flames pretty much will live or die by it’s game play alone, as the story and the aesthetics just are not enough to save it.
Game Play
Shadow Heroes: Vengeance in Flames is an rts game without much strategy. The game plays more like a real time tactics game, then your traditional rts style game. You begin the game with a set amount of leadership points to buy troops. Troops will then spawn from these beginning zones and attack your enemies, while also generating more leadership points. With more points, you can buy more troops or upgrade your troops by purchasing items. Troops are categorized into 3 main groups: Core, Air, and Assault. These 3 groups are further broken down into 3 sub groups: Light, Heavy and Support. What this really means is you have 12 different troops to choose from, all with their own strengths, weaknesses, and abilities.
Abilities and items come in two flavors as well, being passive or active. Abilities are attached to the particular troop you have purchased, while items can be purchased at any time. I was surprised at the amount of items that were available to purchase for my troops, but found it difficult to really understand what each item did. Part of that is not knowing the system at first, but also due to the action continuing in the background as I was shopping. You do not have time to peruse your items if your troops are being attacked.
Shadow Heroes: Vengeance in Flames offers quite a few options for game play, which is quite nice. The campaign will be episodic, and more will be released as time goes on. The first episode can be finished in about an hour or so, but there are other options to play with while you wait for the next episode to be released. Assault is the standard rts type game where you set out to destroy the enemy base, Onslaught tests to see how long you can survive your opponent who has superior numbers, and Commander targets the enemies commanders instead of their base. You can also play these mode in either single or multi player settings.
Allied Games tried to come up with a stream lined version of a real time strategy game. Shadow Heroes: Vengeance in Flames is just that, but whether it works or not is based on what you want out of a game. I am a horrible rts player, always have been and pretty much always will be, so Shadow Heroes: Vengeance in Flames should have been right up my ally. It isn’t and here’s why. Shadow Heroes: Vengeance in Flames just feels unfinished to me. It feels like half a game anytime I play it. Sure, I have less to stress about and I don’t have to worry about resource management and all that, but in the end all of that is part of what makes an rts game an rts. I’m not saying that Shadow Heroes: Vengeance in Flames isn’t fun, but it doesn’t not feel like a full experience when compared to other games on the market.
Aesthetics
The visuals of Shadow Heroes: Vengeance in Flames is completely influenced by Japanese anime, so everyone has a very anime feeling to them. It is a decent aesthetic to work with, but in the same vein that some games feel too generically fantasy like, this one feels like a generic anime style game. There really isn’t anything here that pops up and feel unique in terms of design or art. Everything pretty much feels like I’ve seen it somewhere before.
Shadow Heroes: Vengeance in Flames is fully voiced, which is a positive, but the actors sound so bored that it really took me out of the experience. Bad acting is sometimes even better then bored acting, at least you can enjoy just how bad it is. The actors here, at times, just sound like they are just reading their lines without emotion nor context. The soundtrack is completely forgettable, which is a shame.
Final Thoughts
Shadow Heroes: Vengeance in Flames is a bargain at the $2.99 price tag it is set at on Steam, it really is. However, the old adage “you get what you pay for” is absolutely true in this case. You can a great amount of content for the price, but you will not get the polish nor the excitement of game play that you would from a AAA rts game. Shadow Heroes: Vengeance in Flames does feel like part of a rts game that is missing an significant chunk of what makes rts games fun to play. To compare Shadow Heroes: Vengeance in Flames to something like Starcraft II would be unfair, and to be honest, criminal. Shadow Heroes: Vengeance in Flames has an audience out there, and that audience just isn’t me. I think if the aesthetic and story had been far more polished, Shadow Heroes: Vengeance in Flames would be a much easier game for me to recommend. As it stands now, Shadow Heroes: Vengeance in Flames is an interesting diversion, especially for $2.99. Shadow Heroes: Vengeance in Flames is available now on Steam.
Shadow Heroes: Vengeance in Flames Review Score:
[mks_icon icon=”fa-star” color=”#dd1111″ type=”fa”][mks_icon icon=”fa-star” color=”#dd1111″ type=”fa”][mks_icon icon=”fa-star” color=”#dd1111″ type=”fa”][mks_icon icon=”fa-star-o” color=”#dd1111″ type=”fa”][mks_icon icon=”fa-star-o” color=”#dd1111″ type=”fa”] (3 out of 5 Stars)
POOLER, GA., Jan. 9, 2017 – Blue Force Gear®, the designer and manufacturer of the world’s finest weapon slings and tactical equipment, will demo six new game-changing products at this year’s SHOT Show, scheduled for Jan. 17–20 in Las Vegas.
Blue Force Gear is best known for the patented Vickers Sling™, which was adopted as the standard issue sling for the U.S.M.C in 2011 and is now used by over 250,000 service members worldwide. Blue Force Gear is also revolutionizing tactical load carriage equipment to make it lighter and stronger through proprietary design technology MOLLEminus™ and ULTRAcomp® high performance laminate. Their product line and experts can be found at booth number 31209 at this year’s SHOT Show.
New product demos and seminars are scheduled in the booth for the entire week. Larry Vickers, inspiration for the Vickers Sling, and retired U.S. Army 1st SFOD–Delta combat veteran, will be in the booth daily from noon to 1 p.m. Post retirement, he’s hosted tactical firearms television shows and has developed a variety of small arms accessories. Blue Force Gear manufactures the signature Vickers Sling.
Attendees can also hear Travis Hall, 18 Delta Special Forces Medic, discuss preparation for today’s world and adding trauma care as part of your everyday carry essentials. He’ll be in the booth for 30 minutes every day of the show at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.
“SHOT Show annually hosts more than 1,600 exhibitors and 64,000 industry professionals, so naturally it’s where we want to introduce our great new product lineup,” said Ashley Burnsed, CEO of Blue Force Gear. “We have a packed schedule with demos, Q&A’s and more, and we’re looking forward to showing everyone our next generation of gear.”
SHOT Show is owned by the National Shooting Sports Foundation, and is restricted to the shooting, hunting and outdoor trade professionals and commercial buyers and sellers of military, law enforcement and tactical products and services. The SHOT Show is not open to the general consuming public, and proof of professional affiliation is required.
Find Blue Force Gear’s new products and current lineup in booth 31209 at SHOT Show. Personal interviews with company leaders will be available to media.
Oslo, Norway – January 6th, 2017 – This month, award-winning development studio Funcom will open the floodgates to an entirely new virtual Conan world. On January 31st, 2017, the open-world survival game ‘Conan Exiles’ will be entering Early Access on the PC, with Xbox One Game Preview to follow later this spring. Here players will have to survive, build, and dominate alone or in multiplayer on public and private servers. In a brand new video released today, developers give a unique glimpse into the building, the crafting, and the many different ways players can destroy their enemies’ settlements in ‘Conan Exiles’.
“They say that home is where your heart is, but in ‘Conan Exiles’ home is where you keep the hearts of your enemies,” says Joel Bylos, Creative Director at Funcom. “Building is a big part of ‘Conan Exiles’ and you will need to build smart and build strong in order to defend yourself from the environment, cannibals, monsters, and of course enemy players. We are working hard to make sure players have powerful tools to build and defend their kingdoms.”
In the new video released today, Joel Bylos and Lead Designer Oscar Lopez Lacalle talk about how players can build on mountainsides using a very flexible building system, and how you and your enemies will be able to summon giant avatars of the gods that can wreak havoc and destruction on anything made by players. They highlight the fact that ‘Conan Exiles’ is anything but an empty sandbox: here players will discover remnants of ancient civilizations, and they must build on top of and in between the dilapidated ruins of vast, forgotten cities.
Funcom is also excited to announce that Joel Bylos and Community Manager Jens Erik Vaaler will host another live gameplay stream on Twitch.tv/Funcom today. At 19:00 CET/1pm EST on Friday January 6th, the duo will once again turn on the camera and this time they will be showing advanced building and crafting gameplay.
Conan Exiles is an open-world survival game set in the brutal lands of Conan the Barbarian, the world’s greatest fantasy hero. The game can be played on private and public servers, either in multiplayer or local single-player. In the world of Conan Exiles, survival is more than tracking down food and water. Journey through a vast, seamless world filled with the ruins of ancient civilizations, uncovering its dark history and buried secrets as you seek to conquer and dominate the exiled lands. Conan Exiles will be released into Early Access on the PC on 31 January 2017and will hit the Xbox One Game Preview Program in Spring 2017.
You can learn more about Conan Exiles on www.conanexiles.com. You can also visit blog.conanexiles.com for the latest news and developer updates. For more information about Funcom, please visitwww.funcom.com.