31st July 2018, UK – Team17, a global games label, creative partner and developer of independent, premium video games and Denmark based independent developer Adrian Lazar of Planet Alpha ApS game studio have today announced that their mysterious, beautiful platform adventure game PLANET ALPHA, will be launching on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch™ and PC on the 4th September.
To celebrate the game’s forthcoming launch, a new trailer has been released today which showcases some of the threats and danger you’ll come across as you explore the strange alien world you find yourself upon. You’ll have to combine fast platforming action with stealth and creative puzzle solving to survive and uncover the truth.
PLANET ALPHA is an atmospheric side-scrolling platform adventure game. Combining fast platforming, creative puzzles, stealth mechanics and a unique art style to create an unforgettable experience.
PLANET ALPHA is heading to Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch™ and PC on the 4th September 2018.
To keep up to date with all the information on PLANET ALPHA please like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter and join us on Discord.
When Warhammer: Vermintide came along I could not get enough of it. It was challenging and the fun in all the right ways for a game that is essentially designed for multiplayer survival. If you kept running too far ahead or too far behind your group you died, because those were the ambush positions the enemy would hit you at. As long as someone is alive and able to get to another then you kept going, raising your fallen comrades and sharing potions of health. The graphics were really nice and people learned that if they griefed their groups they would find themselves in a party of one with lots of rat faces around them, it seemed like one of the few games where they figured out how to balance attitudes with consequences. With beautiful graphics and a gameplay balance the question is how would Warhammer: Vermintide 2 improve on that?
In the prologue you and your colleagues, each of whom has their own set of skills to bring to the party, escape from the enemy’s dungeon where you overhear their plan for domination and the things that aren’t quite going as they would like which suits you and your brotherhood just fine. After escaping you get a reward consisting of a chest full of starter gear so you can leave some of the painfully low adornments behind. You find out afterwards that things aren’t going too great for your side either, you are all hidden in a mountain side fortress where all exits except bridge (portal system) are blocked so that you won’t get overrun by dirty rats. This really brings home the fact that it is you and your party against the Vermin who often attack in waves like a tide, completely living up to the game’s name.
There are five hero classes to choose from and each one suits a player’s style. Markus Kruber is a tough fella, starting off first as a Mercenary, then a Huntsman, followed by a Foot Soldier. He tends to be the guardian of the group. Bardin Goreksson is a Ranger Veteran who becomes an Iron Breaker and a Slayer. He helps break the attacks and keeps himself alive when everyone else drops in an attempt to still save the group. Kerillian is a Waystalker who becomes a Handmaiden then a Shade. She is a mix of unstoppable healing and distance damage, the farther back the better for her but she can move up for a revive. Victor Saltzpyre is a Witch Hunter Captain then a Bounty Hunter and a Zealot. He’s the gunslinger of the group, all about the damage and destroying. Sierra Fugonasus is the fiery member of the group who deals fire damage both close and afar. She definitely heats things up. Each member has a very distinct play style and it’s important to try each out to see which one suits you most but also think of how which one will best suit how you help the group. It will also take quite a bit of patient grinding to get to higher levels, especially if your party keeps dying.
There are repeat maps from the previous game but the developers came out with some new ones as well, so if you start playing and it looks a little too familiar don’t worry there will be new content coming it. Not that you will probably mind the old maps, they looks stunning from the crumbling ruins to the hordes of rats. The gore factor is also high and beautiful, if you find a rodent losing it’s head and blood spurting out the stump or one sliced clean in half and falling in two different directions as possibly being things of beauty. They definitely can be even if it is a bit morbid. You are a rat hunter and killer afterall and they number hundreds to each one of you. Beautiful, ugly ass rats!
The sounds are great and ample too, plenty of fine music scores to go with the nasty business of extermination on both sides. The difficulty is a good deal like the first game, pretty hard AI that come in droves. It punishes the players even when they are working as a group well together and it annihilates the glory seeker as they find themselves on their knees waiting to see if someone can reach and raise them, if not they might drop the whole group defeated. And if you really want a challenge it has multiple levels of difficulty as well. Some might say the game is too hard even on the easier settings, it is definitely designed to be a challenge no matter what.
The next thing to consider, what setup to use to play the game, is an unusually hard call to make. Normally the keyboard or the controller have a very obvious advantage over the other one but it really didn’t feel like it did this time. It really comes down to which way you prefer to play FPS in, nothing more. The keyboard is setup like a traditional first person system you would expect intuitively, you may want to just double check them on the control section but otherwise it is jump in and play. Doing the prologue gives you not just your first treasure chest it also lets you go through the control settings, whichever one you decide on. If you are always playing FPS on the controller it is all setup for that too, just do a quick check of the setup but you will find that matches most of the FPS you would find on a console.
Warhammer: Vermintide 2 is great fun and just about the perfect concept for an online FPS, the safety of the group always comes first, if a player forgets that the whole group suffers, maybe even gets defeated. It is a beautiful, hard game that is fur flying fun no matter which hero you choose to lead into the fray.
My wife and I were in bed, I was reading a book on my phone and she was on Facebook and Twitter, catching up on the day’s news while we wound down. It was October 1st and we are Halloween enthusiasts that generally had us traveling since September so a quiet night at home was welcome until she let out a quiet stream of expletives and simply said “they are shooting at that concert outside the Mandalay Bay.” Without another word we went and sat at our respective computers and started going through media sources trying to weed out the bad information and get people out of there as safe as possible, we were good at it. I talked a guy out of grabbing his gun and heading back to the concert to try and get the shooters, my wife passed word on to media as to where to send triage patients, where to donate blood, where to meet up with loved ones outside the event. We weren’t there physically but mentally we were trying to help in any ways we could, trying to help both friends and strangers to get to safe places, locking themselves in hotel rooms if that was where they were and stay away from windows no matter how exciting it seemed to the morbidly curious. We did all this until the sun was up and our bodies were racked with mental and physical exhaustion, we had spent the night trying to help while not getting in the way and things had finally gotten to the point we couldn’t do much more so we slept a deep sleep and had first nightmares about the events.
Move ahead until the next year when it was time for the Amazing Las Vegas Comic Con and we were covering it for GamingShogun.com getting all the pics of costumes and fun that a good con can bring. On a few tables I noticed a book that looked like a really thick graphic novel that had a logo playing off the “Welcome to Las Vegas” sign that almost always got play on special edition covers in town. When I got closer though I realized it wasn’t a super hero book, at least not in the sense I had thought at first. It shows a suburban looking two story house with the strip in the background and the header “Where We Live: A Benefit for the Survivors in Las Vegas.” My first thought was good, someone has written a graphic novel about the night so those who weren’t there would have more understanding but man was it heavy. When I mentioned this the seller looked at me and told me over 150, yes one hundred and fifty, writers and artists from street portrait vendors to Neil Gaiman had provided their skills and more importantly their feelings into the over 325 page book. The cost is $20, very reasonable with 100% of the proceeds going to the Route91Strong.Org charity. I bought two.
Then there was a panel on Sunday and about 25 of the writers and artists from the book told their stories of what had happened to them and why they had contributed to the book. It was mostly hosted by J.H. Williams III and his wife Wendy who had worked together on curating the book. J.H. is a really nice guy, last year I brought a comic to him to be signed and we realized he had already signed it so he wrote on the cover “Yes, I really signed it there! (arrow points to his signature), J.H. Williams III. We had laughed long and heartedly at the joke but now it was a panel of mostly people who had been there or had someone who was injured or killed at the event. J.H. is very well known for some art in a Sandman series he had done with Neil Gaiman which I figured was how he reached out and got Neil to send a poem. The book is full of poems though and comics and essays and generally only a few pages each since there are just so many stories it tells.
I am comfortable saying I cried while reading this, I did so without being self conscious at the time because the emotions in the book are still raw, for some time hasn’t past beyond that night, particularly for the dead and the grieving. Some tell of their violent childhoods, others of political issues, and still others just try to give a voice to the dead trying to guess their last thoughts and the heroic actions of others. I won’t go into any real detail of the content here, just that pretty much every section is a collaboration between artists, writers, letters and anything else that had to happen to flesh out the feelings.
All I want to say is Where We Live: A Benefit For The Survivors In Las Vegas is a must-own regardless of whether you were there or knew someone who was. It is packed full of importance and helps not just the readers but the survivors of the whole ordeal. You can get the book cheaper at places like Amazon but this is one of the few times I will say please don’t save a couple bucks because that is a few less dollars going to Route91Strong.Org charity.
July 28, 2018 – Knott’s Scary Farm, the first and largest Halloween event in Southern California has revealed exclusive and frightening new details for the return of its 46th season during a special appearance at the fan-favorite event Midsummer Scream in Long Beach. The Knott’s entertainment team held an exclusive panel for fans featuring a few of the Scary Farm masterminds including maze and set designers, producers along with costuming and makeup to share insight on what’s lurking in the fog for 2018. The team shared an in-depth look at the collaboration it takes to transform the entire theme park into the eerie world of Knott’s Scary Farm complete with interactive haunted elements and original scares. Here’s what’s coming to Knott’s Scary Farm for this season:
· The 46th season Knott’s Scary Farm will return with 14 mazes and haunted attractions and over 1,000 monsters lurking in the fog for 25 terrifying nights
· This year, a new and unearthly scare zone is making its sinister arrival to the park, for the first time the lake underneath Silver Bullet reveals the horrors and creatures it’s kept hidden, until now. Forsaken Lake will unleash gothic creatures, which have been ravaged by the dark and murky waters, as they wander their crypts preying on unsuspecting visitors, looking for victims to drag back to their watery graves.
· At Knott’s Scary Farm, the park is the attraction and this year it will feature several new upgrades like, freshly new themed landscaping, enhanced ride lighting – HangTime will debut it’s never-before-seen Halloween inspired lighting scheme – plus, there will be a select rollercoasters in the dark and newly enhanced park décor.
· Ghost Town Streets, Carnevil and The Hollow scare zones will return to terrorize guests every night of Knott’s Scary Farm. The monsters that live within these streets will cover every inch of the park midways, leaving nowhere to hide.
· There will be a new dance party at Fiesta Village which will feature rhythmic music, performances by a live DJ throughout the night, dancing and sugar skull go-go dancers with Awaken the Dead.
· The full 2018 Knott’s Scary Farm lineup will be revealed on August 30th at the Knott’s Scary Farm Announcement event, this event is open to Knott’s Berry Farm and Knott’s Scary Farm Season Pass holders.
July 27, 2018 – Star Wars: Episode IX will begin filming at London’s Pinewood Studios on August 1, 2018. J.J. Abrams returns to direct the final installment of the Skywalker saga. Abrams co-wrote the screenplay with Chris Terrio.
Returning cast members include Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Lupita Nyong’o, Domhnall Gleeson, Kelly Marie Tran, Joonas Suotamo, and Billie Lourd. Joining the cast of Episode IX are Naomi Ackie and Richard E. Grant, who will be joined by veteran Star Wars actors Mark Hamill, Anthony Daniels, and Billy Dee Williams, who will reprise his role as Lando Calrissian.
The role of Leia Organa will once again be played by Carrie Fisher, using previously unreleased footage shot for Star Wars: The Force Awakens. “We desperately loved Carrie Fisher,” says Abrams. “Finding a truly satisfying conclusion to the Skywalker saga without her eluded us. We were never going to recast, or use a CG character. With the support and blessing from her daughter, Billie, we have found a way to honor Carrie’s legacy and role as Leia in Episode IX by using unseen footage we shot together in Episode VII.”
Composer John Williams, who has scored every chapter in the Star Wars saga since 1977’s A New Hope, will return to a galaxy far, far away with Episode IX.
Star Wars: Episode IX will be produced by Kathleen Kennedy, J.J. Abrams, and Michelle Rejwan, and executive produced by Callum Greene and Jason McGatlin. The crew includes Dan Mindel (Director of Photography), Rick Carter and Kevin Jenkins (Co-Production Designers), Michael Kaplan (Costume Designer), Neal Scanlan (Creature and Droid FX), Maryann Brandon and Stefan Grube (Editors), Roger Guyett (VFX Supervisor), Tommy Gormley (1st AD), and Victoria Mahoney (2nd Unit Director).
July 27, 2018 – World of Warships, the massively multiplayer naval battle game from developer and publisher Wargaming, today launched a new in-game event we think your readers would be interested in. The new event, dubbed Sharks vs. Eagles, coincides with Update 0.7.7.
In Sharks vs. Eagles, players choose to fight for either competing team, earning points by winning battles and completing missions. At the end of each day, the points earned will be converted to containers that are delivered to each team. These containers hold extra supplies, cosmetics, coal (in-game currency) and more!
Sharks vs. Eagles also adds a new Loyalty feature to World of Warships, where players can be bribed by the other team to abandon their comrades and fight alongside their foes. By switching sides, players will earn bonuses, but, by staying loyal to their team, players can also earn special event tokens, which they can exchange for team flags, patches, containers and unique camouflage paint jobs for their warships.
Along with the new event, which is part of Update 0.7.7, there are several changes and additions being made to World of Warships.The biggest changes come in operations Narai and Raptor Rescue, both reworked from their original launch to offer more gameplay options and graphical updates. Operation Narai has players battling to secure a coastal landing zone for troops making an amphibious landing, while Operation Raptor Rescue has players taking control of support ships that must escort the Raptor, a massive aircraft carrier, as it attempts to break out of a blockaded Naval base.
Head over to worldofwarships.com now to sign up for World of Warships and choose whether you’ll play for the Sharks or Eagles in the new event!
Seattle – July 27, 2018 – The world of Moss will soon extend beyond the virtual reality headset with the release of the Moss Soundtrack, dropping across major digital retailers August 3, 2018. As a special thank you to fans, Polyarc is gifting the full digital soundtrack to everyone who has purchased or will purchase Moss through PlayStation®Store, Steam, Oculus, Viveport, GameStop or one of the many physical retail locations by August 17, 2018. For all other music enthusiasts, the Moss Soundtrack is now available for pre-order at digital retailers such as Bandcamp, iTunes, Google Play, and Amazon.
Composed by two-time BAFTA award-winning composer Jason Graves, the soundtrack brings to life the melodic and playful adventure in Moss from the hero Quill’s perspective. Graves accomplishes this by employing small and intimate-sounding instruments — flute, oboe, Celtic harp, English hammered dulcimer, acoustic guitar, and classical violin — all composed, arranged, and produced in a pastoral soundscape with enchanting Waltz-esque flair. The soundtrack consists of 11 in-game tracks for more than 57 minutes of music, including the bonus track “Home To Me,” featuring Malukah. Three tracks (“The Clearing,” “Cinder Skies,” and “Home To Me”) can be sampled via Bandcamp.
For soundtrack collectors and fans of physical versions, Polyarc also opened pre-orders for a limited run of premium CD and vinyl albums. The album covers feature a Moss storybook design highlighted with gold foil. Inside the CD digipak, gamers are treated to art from the in-game collectable tapestry and environment. For the vinyl album, which features eight of the tracks, the black record label features a full color tapestry. Both the CD and vinyl albums can be pre-ordered at Materia Collective and Bandcamp.
In addition to the soundtrack, Polyarc is offering a Moss game + Moss Soundtrack bundle on PlayStation®Store for $29.99 starting August 3, 2018. The bundle promotion is available to everyone in North America and PlayStation®Plus subscribers in Europe for two weeks only. Following that, all players can purchase the game + soundtrack bundle for $34.99. The new bundle will also be available on Steam starting August 17, 2018 for $34.99.
Here’s how players who purchase Moss through August 17, 2018 can download the soundtrack for free:
Steam: Gamers will find the soundtrack in the DLC section of Moss as part of the game update hitting August 3, 2018. Players have until August 17, 2018 to download the MP3 files before the soundtrack is removed from the DLC section of the single game purchase.
PlayStation®VR: Gamers can go to the Moss Soundtrack page in the PlayStation®Store and are eligible to purchase the soundtrack free of charge through August 17, 2018.
HTC Vive: HTC will send gamers an email with a code allowing them to redeem and download the soundtrack from Bandcamp after August 17, 2018.
Oculus Rift, Amazon, GameStop and Physical Edition: Polyarc will send gamers a code allowing them to redeem and download the soundtrack from Bandcamp after August 17, 2018. Gamers need to send soundtrack@polyarcgames.com proof of purchase by August 18, 2018 to be eligible.
Revered as one of the best VR titles to date because of its intuitive gameplay, creative design, and high degree of artistic polish, Moss brings a unique experience to gamers around the world. In Moss, players guide a young mouse hero named Quill on an epic journey while also manipulating the field of play as their own character and key ally to Quill. Moss brings together classic components of a great game — characters, combat, and exploration — with the exciting, interactive opportunities of virtual reality.
Moss is rated E10+ by the ESRB. For more information, visit www.polyarcgames.com and follow the official Polyarc channels Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram.
July 27, 2018 – Vampyr, DONTNOD Entertainment’s narrative-driven action-RPG set in 1918 London, announces a content update coming later this summer on PS4, Xbox One, and PC. This will include two new game modes which add further replayability for existing players and more options for those who haven’t yet sunk their teeth into this dark adventure. To celebrate the update, we are happy to introduce a 25% discount on PlayStation 4 (EMEA) and PC, which is currently live!
As well as bringing a host of optimization tweaks, the upcoming update will introduce a ‘Story’ mode that de-emphasizes combat and a cranked-up, more challenging Hard mode. The Story mode places a greater focus on narrative, allowing players to experience Dr. Reid’s journey with less challenging combat. On the other end of the scale, Hard mode makes combat much more difficult. Players will receive less experience from killing enemies too, forcing them to rely even more on embracing citizens to grow in power.
In advance of the update, Vampyr receives a 25% discount for the PlayStation Store Summer Sale (EMEA), as well as on Steam! These discounts are currently available.
Vampyr is out now on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC. To order the game and for more details, visit http://vampyr-game.com/
LOS ANGELES, July 26, 2018—Do you have an original idea for a movie? And do you plan on attending Wizard World Comic Con Chicago? This could be your day.
Wizard World, Inc. and Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc., an affiliate of Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc., today began accepting content ideas online, with potential pitch sessions to be scheduled during Wizard World Comic Con Chicago at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center (event held August 23-26, 2018). This marks the fourth activation of the collaboration between the pop culture convention producer and leading studio, announced earlier this year.
Whether a paid attendee, artist or exhibitor, anyone who plans on attending Wizard World Comic Con Chicago and can be available during the convention, may submit an idea now through August 15th5pm CSTvia Wizard World’s dedicated Website at https://wizardworld.com/2018-chicago-pitchfest. Any submissions which are selected in Columbia Pictures’ sole discretion will participate in a pitch session to take place at designated dates/times during the event.
One idea submission is permitted per person; In order to be considered, submissions must be a fully-owned original idea and must not infringe on any copyrighted material. Anyone participating in the pitch must be a registered Wizard World Comic Con Chicago attendee, artist or exhibitor, and must be 18 years of age or older and a legal U.S. resident.
“After such positive feedback in our sessions at Wizard World Comic Con Portland, Philadelphia and Columbus, we are excited to team up with Columbia Pictures on identifying outstanding original ideas from our creative attendees, artists and exhibitors at our largest and longest-running show in Chicago,” said John D. Maatta, CEO of Wizard World. “We look forward to seeing a variety of submissions and see this as an important step in a broad-based relationship with Columbia Pictures as Wizard World furthers its lead role in the pop culture industry.”
Full information, including Wizard World’s and Sony Pictures’ respective Privacy Policies, submission guidelines and terms and conditions are available on the submission form at https://wizardworld.com/2018-chicago-pitchfest.
Wizard World Comic Con events bring together thousands of fans of all ages to celebrate the best in pop culture: movies, television, gaming, live entertainment, comics, sci-fi, graphic novels, toys, original art, collectibles, contests and more. The 10th event scheduled on the 2018 Wizard World calendar, Chicago show hours are Thursday, August 23, 4-9 p.m.; Friday, August 24, noon-7 p.m.; Saturday, August 25, 10 a.m.-7 p.m.; Sunday, August 26, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Kids 10 and under are admitted free with paid adult.
Wizard World Comic Con Chicago is also the place for cosplay, with fans young and old showing off their best costumes throughout the event. Fans dressed as every imaginable character – and some never before dreamed – will roam the convention floor and participate in the famed Wizard World Costume Contest on Saturday evening.
Plymouth, MI. July 26, 2018 – Today, Stardock released the beta 3 of Fleet Battles for the highly anticipated science-fiction adventure game, Star Control®: Origins™. The beta is available to anyone who pre-orders Star Control: Origins and includes the ability for online and local play with others.
In Star Control: Origins, you explore the galaxy, investigate new worlds, contact new civilizations, and battle hostile aliens in Star Control: Origins. You are the captain of Earth’s brand new, state-of-the-art ship, The Vindicator. Your mission is to gather together allies to fight an ancient alien menace that threatens to annihilate the human race.
Fleet Battles is a mode within the main game that allows players to assemble different ships in a fleet and engage in battle with fleets controlled by either the computer, humans via the Internet, or even friends sitting at the same PC. Players are also able to use the integrated ship crafting system in Fleet Battles to create vessels of their own and share them online via Steam Workshop.
Beta 3 sees several new additions to Fleet Battles, including two new ships: the Arilou Observer and the Kzanti Intimidator. Each ship comes with its own loadout of new weapons, like a cloaking device that provides temporarily invisibility, an octomator that fires in eight directions at once, a repulsor that damages enemy ships and propels them away, or proximity mines, which blow up when an enemy ventures too close.
A feature called “scavenging” has also been added in this update. At the start of every battle, wreckage from destroyed ships will be scattered across the arena. Scavenge the wrecks by flying over them and gaining acceleration, health, energy regeneration, and speed bonuses. These bonuses not only apply to the ship currently in battle, but also to every other ship in the fleet waiting to get in on the action.
Each match starts with a random number of wreckages. Every time a ship is destroyed during the match, it leaves behind another wreck for the next match. New end match screens detailing fleet conditions and battle readouts have also been added.
Several other additions accompany the Beta 3 release, including two new maps and improved multiplayer performance. Players can also now press the ‘tab’ key to highlight their ships on screen so that they’re easier to locate when a match begins. An AI v.s. AI mode and updated fonts and UI polish have also been included.
Stardock has also released alien content packs as part of Star Control: Origins. The first of these are available early for anyone who pre-purchases the base game. In addition to concept art and lore, each content pack features new music by Mason Fisher and Riku Nuottajärvi, an original composer for Star Control II. Many packs will also feature the original alien tracks by Star Control II composer Dan Nicholson.
The first sets released include the Arilou™, the Chenjesu™, and the Mowlings™. These are available for download today from the Stardock store and via Steam.
The final version of Star Control: Origins will release on September 20, 2018. Users can pre-order the game now at a discounted price and receive instant access to the Fleet Battles beta.
Star Control: Origins is available for pre-order from Stardock, GOG, or Steam for $34.99.
