While one of our intrepid reporters attended Jagex’s Transformers MMO party last week at E3, the company today has released some official art assets for the upcoming game, which is due out next year. The company also announced that it would be partnering with Hasbro for the game and also that the game’s story would fall in the “Prime” timeline along with the book Exodus, the War for Cybertron games and the Prime cartoon.
Hacker group LulzSec has announced it has attacked EVE Online’s Tranquility server, Minecraft’s multiplayer services, Riot Game’s League of Legends servers, and the Escapist Magazine’s website. The four distributed denial-of-service attacks appear to have been successful, as EVE Online is still down. You can read CCP Games’ official statement on the attack after the break!
Perhaps they are upset that DUST 514 is a PlayStation 3 exclusive?
Via: Joystiq
Activision has released its official launch trailer for Transformers: Dark of the Moon, which is out now on the Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo DS, PlayStation 3, Wii, and Xbox 360 platforms.
The US Army has released version 3.1 of their tactical, online shooter, America’s Army. The new update brings with it two additional maps as well as a number of game enhancements such as Steam leaderboards as well as the ES2 upgrade (check the official notes below). The game is free to play and download from the official America’s Army website and on Steam.
Every Soldier a Sensor Gameplay
“Every Soldier a Sensor” or ES2 teaches that with all the advanced technology used by the U.S. Army, every Soldier is the best possible sensor on the battlefield. By observation, Soldiers are able to detect suspicious or important changes in their surroundings, however small. When this information is reported back to leaders, it allows them to construct a clearer picture of the battlefield making it safer for fellow Soldiers and civilians alike.
The ES2 gameplay in AA3 brings awareness of the importance of every Soldier being observant on every mission. During AA3 gameplay, players will be rewarded for observing and reporting back things that they may come across during the mission that are suspicious or out-of-place. The player must determine what the object is, and report it if necessary. Many objects are false alarms and provide no benefit. Others are possible Intel such as NME documents or equipment and will grant the player a round bonus. Some gear or inventory items provide an immediate benefit such as ammo, explosives or IFAKS. To learn more about ES2, players will experience ES2 training as part of the MOUT training exercise.
New Maps
Shantytown is a rainy, close-quarters battle map which includes mission types for VIP and Activated objectives (where players interact with items to fulfill the mission). In this map, refugees fleeing oppression from the Czervenian government have established a makeshift slum settlement in the RDO city of Mozeizli. The refugees have lately moved into better living quarters established by U.S. and coalition forces and the “Shantytown” has since been abandoned. But, NME operatives are believed to have infiltrated and set up links to enemy espionage networks in the deserted area. In Shantytown, players will need to take advantage of the in-game communication and work together as a team relying heavily on concealment and speed as they navigate this maze of plywood shacks, containers and corrugated sheet metal.
Stronghold is a large map that takes place on the cobblestone streets of the occupied RDO city of Ranaliv where numerous alleys, terraces, balconies, and lofty spires provide a multitude of challenges and opportunities for teams to work together to accomplish the mission. Most of the population of this old city has fled, leaving the town and historical sites open to fortification by enemy forces. An imposing 14th century stone fortress, clock tower and fortress turrets will be favorite overwatch positions so players must be prepared to defend against NME marksmen. Players will also make good use of cover inside structures in the commercial and residential districts, advancing as a team from building to building as they race to complete the mission objectives.
Additional Features
About America’s Army
America’s Army is the only action game that delivers an authentic and entertaining Army experience by reflecting the training, technology, skills, and career advancement of a United States Army Soldier. The game has become an online phenomenon, ranking among the most popular PC action games played online. America’s Army games are rated T for Teen and can be downloaded free from Steam (www.americasarmy.com/steam) and from partners listed on the website (www.americasarmy.com). The Army launched America’s Army in July of 2002 and the most recent version, AA3 launched in June 2009. In keeping with the dynamic nature of Soldiering, the America’s Army game will continue to expand and allow players to explore the Army of today, tomorrow and the future. America’s Army is produced by the Army Game Studio, part of the AMRDEC Software Engineering Directorate at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville Alabama. Managed by Program Director Frank Blackwell, the Army Game Studio houses the development and management staff for the America’s Army online PC game as well as numerous Military and Government applications.
Trion Worlds has released a new screenshot gallery from their MMORPG, Rift, in honor of last week’s Electronic Entertainment Expo – enjoy!
SEGA has released a new live action trailer for their upcoming horror title, Rise of Nightmares, for the Xbox 360 with Kinect.
BioWare and Electronic Arts have released the “Fall of Earth” trailer for their upcoming action-RPG, Mass Effect 3.
Develop reports that THQ has begun closing down Kaos Studios, developer of the ill-received Homefront. Apparently, THQ is putting THQ Montreal in charge of the Homefront franchise for future titles. As of yet, it is unclear just how many people are losing their jobs and how many will be folded into the Montreal studio.
Update 1: THQ has confirmed to Develop it has made a “strategic realignment within its internal studio structure and is in the process of closing two locations: the company’s UK studio and Kaos studio in New York.”
While at this year’s Electronic Entertainment Expo, I was invited to come over to Paramount Digital Entertainment’s meeting room for a sneak peek at two upcoming titles. These sneak peeks were both under NDA and, actually, I still cannot speak of the second title just yet. The first title, however, is now free to preview and you will know it as the upcoming Star Trek.
The game is focused on being a co-operative experience, and players will undoubtedly get two very different games by running through it as Kirk then Spock, or vice versa. Spock tends to be a bit more stealthy and agile whereas Kirk’s tactics focus on offensive actions. In terms of its storyline, the game will serve as a bridge of sorts between the 2009 Star Trek film from J.J. Abrams and his upcoming 2012 Trek film. It is being penned by BAFTA winning author, Marianne Krawczyk as well as the writers/producers of the 2009 Star Trek film: Robert Orci and Alex Kurtzman.
The demo we saw began with Kirk and Spock hurtling towards the besieged Enterprise by way of portable thruster packs, all while avoiding mines encircling the ship. The sequence was very exciting and the Enterprise looked VERY good. Apparently, this is because the digital ship model used in the game is the same used by the film’s CGI folk! After crashing landing, the two began moving through the ship looking for survivors and and some kind of answer as to what has transpired while they were on an away mission.
As it turns out, the ship has been attacked and occupied by hostile, unknown aliens who can infect humans with a deadly toxin. The third-person combat and cover system looked really solid, with the two character’s play styles very apparent. In terms of character advancement, this is done primarily through the use of equipment and weapon upgrades. Kirk’s “Captain’s Phaser”, for example, can learn a vaporize heavy attack which can 1-shot many enemies into atoms.
At one point, Kirk became infected by the toxin and Spock had to carry him to sick bay to destroy the pathogens in Kirk’s bloodstream. This was a minigame of sorts, with Spock handling the carry and disease-killing duties while Kirk fired at incoming enemy troops. According to the developers, this kind of mini-game is dynamic and (for the most part) NOT a scripted event.
The overall feel of the game, characters, and dialogue definitely felt like it was pulled right from the Trek universe created by J.J. Abrams. It should be a very fun multiplayer/co-operative experience when it launches next year (hopefully) alongside the next film.
After checking out the upcoming Star Trek game which is meant to tie together the first J.J. Abrams Trek film and his next, we got a chance to checkout the upcoming War of the Worlds title from Paramount Digital Entertainment and Other Ocean. The game is due out for Fall of this year on the Xbox LIVE Arcade and PlayStation Network.
After shuffling into a small, behind-closed-doors room at the Paramount meeting room, we got to checkout two of the game’s levels in play. The game takes its gameplay from the classic PC side-scrollers of the past like Prince of Persia. In the game, you play a man just trying to survive the Martian invasion. On the design-level, the game is best described as a hybrid of the novel and the 1950’s sci-fi movie. As you roam the decimated landscape, tripods marauding in the background, you will get narrations read to you by the likes of none other than Patrick Stewart. These narrations set the stage of what’s to come in the level and, well, it is just damn fun to hear Stewart narrate anything – he is so good at it!
The visual style is taken from games like LIMBO – aside from the human characters and up-close Martians, everything is set as a sort of silhouette. This dark style sets the tone of the game, and makes the green heat rays of the tripods that much more eerie as the stream past – undoubtedly wreaking even more havoc on the failing human military.
Throughout the level, the player duck and weaved between craters and under up-ended armored vehicles in order to escape the Martians. The game features a TON of rotoscoping. I forget exactly how many layers the developer said they had on the screen at once, but I am fairly certain it was over 50! The visual design really needs to be experienced first-hand, in-motion, to be truly appreciated. Unlike LIMBO’s fairly flat style, War of the Worlds has a LOT of depth to it.
War of the Worlds looks like it is shaping up very well and should prove to be a great play-through this fall (hopefully in time for Halloween season!).
