In the early 90s, Coktel Vision (which later became Sierra On-Line) released a quirky point and click adventure game titled Gobliiins which had players bouncing between three different Goblins to find a cure for good King Angoulafre.
Sometimes when you are browsing the internet for information on how to do something, you stumble upon ideas or projects or even games that people might be working on...
What a meow-gnificent evening it is to send your paw-rcels out to those family and friends! Are mew looking to pick up an item or send something out? Well at Cat Mail Co. we can send and receive all your deliveries!
Have you ever grown up feeling like you don't belong? For our Heroine, that's the feeling she lives with everyday in her small farming village. But it's not her only secret...
STARSEEKER: Astroneer Expeditions is just that! Massively co-operative and not an MMO! When you first run the game you are instantly into the tutorial...
Today we’re looking at what has rapidly become an absolute favorite in the open-world RPG genre for me. An interesting story, memorable NPCs, stunning visuals, and a setting absolutely dripping with flavor, Dread Delusion sets its tone immediately and sticks with it.
I enjoy simulation-type games, and I enjoyed the original release of House Flipper, but I never got around to getting the DLC. When the remastered version of the game was released, I figured it would be the best way to experience the DLC while checking out how the base game was upgraded.
GranBlue Fantasy: ReLink released in 2024 bringing the GranBlue universe to an action adventure JRPG format. With a party of up to four members, this band of skyfarers set out for new skies, adventures, and dangers. Two years later, Endless Ragnarok...
70s-Style Robot Anime Geppy-X is a mouthful of a title, but you know what? It’s quite the challenging game to describe as well. At its core, 70s-Style Robot Anime Geppy-X is a shooter...
Thursday 21st December, 2023: Deck13
Spotlight is pleased to announce their ongoing support, in the form of patches
and free content, with fans now getting the first expansion for Highrise City!
The Metro & Planes DLC is available now for 2.99$, an amazing price point
that allows players to create even more realistic cities and immerse
themselves in an experience not to be missed.
Highrise
City, the ambitious PC Steam ‘blockbuster’ city builder from FourExo
Entertainment and Deck13 Spotlight, has built up and captivated a dedicated
community constantly playing the unique mix between classic city builders
and complex economy simulation. This unique format blows away recent
competition for those who have experienced Highrise City’s complexity.
The new Metro & Planes DLC offers a new option for
players to design their cities and create even more realistic environments and
economy branches. The new airport adds a new way to trade resources and to
increase the wealth of your cities. Use the all new metro system to optimize
your public transport. The newly created metro uses a complex spline-based
rail system which allows you to easily create complex metroline systems, to
build even more realistic cities. Additionally, the new additions to the
public transport will further lower the costs to your citizens, enabling them
to travel even further distances to their designated workplace.
Sale
Time! It's a Bargain!!!!!!!
Over the festive season Highrise City
will be included as part of the Christmas Sale with 25% off and DLC will be
10% off during Launch Week on Steam (GOG follows at a later point). There will
also be a permanent bundle on Steam offering 10% off to complete the
bundle.
Deck13 Spotlight
"Deck13 Interactive is one of
Germany's leading developers. Employing more than 90 and with studios located
in Frankfurt, the team develops award-winning large scale productions for
Consoles and PC. With "Deck13 Spotlight" the team established a publishing
service to help independent developers bring their projects to wider
audiences."
About FourExo Entertainment
FourExo
is a small indie developer located in eastern Germany. Their debut title
stands perfectly well for the team's ambitions: Working like maniacs on a
vision - that's the mission.
The Surge 2 is a generous love letter to action RPG/Hack-and-slash titles like its prequel, The Surge, Dark Souls, Bloodbourne, and Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. Though flawed, The Surge 2 is a celebration of animation in a setting that feels far more alive, more interesting, than its predecessor. It is not all as glorious as it sounds though, as there are numerous shortcomings, from performance issues to abysmal lighting and contrast. To its credit, the animations, functions of the rigs, and the absolutely superb level design, The Surge 2 will most certainly fill you with hours upon hours of exploratory excitement in an industrial-grade grey landscape full of drug addicts and overly militant religious sects.
To start, The Surge 2’s opening level/tutorial space is about as bland as they come, though I did get a very hefty Resident Evil feel. Unfortunately though, that tense and foreboding feeling died the moment I exited the starting area and hit the open air of Jericho City. I have to admit that the open-air feeling was a refreshing spin on the more densely atmospheric action-RPG/Hack-and-Slash “Soulsbourne” genre, and as you discover more areas in Jericho City, you will come to realize the brilliance in level design.
Exploration seems to be a key second next to the limb-ripping goodness that carried over from The Surge and both of those elements are superb. I can only imagine that if you were to zoom completely out over the entirety of Jericho City, then overlay it with the actual paths available to you, you would likely find that the entire map looks not all that dissimilar from that old 3D Pipes screensaver. It is WONDERFUL.
What is not wonderful? Performance. Oh lawd its bad at times. On the Xbox One X, under the Quality mode, you will rarely maintain, or even get close to the 30 FPS lock on consoles (I cannot yet speak to PC performance, but it too is reportedly poor). On top of that? This is a regular occurrence on the Xbox One X :
I would most certainly call that “quality” … if we were talking original Xbox-era. Later areas tend to stutter and drop frames far more often as clutter is more common, enemies are more numerous, and various effects, like the very cool animations in the background vistas, however the framer drops and graphical pop-in is frustrating and immersion-breaking.
On the flipside of that though, this is launch and there will likely be an optimization patch so the hope is that there is one that focuses on performance. In truth, I eagerly await that because the game is quite pretty; some of the scenes are breathtaking, especially mid-game when there is a significant color shift away from steel and varying shades of grey. Tie that into some wonderful audio design (minus some of the … questionable voice acting) and there are some excellent moments that, after taking out a horde of bad guys by ripping up their limbs, are simply serene. A shame that the relatively bland story did not capture me with its bland twists and unenthusiastic story arcs…
What really sets The Surge 2 apart? Combat. Where Demons Souls and the first two Dark Souls games were about patience, parrying, and timing, Dark Souls III and Bloodbourne were about speed, and Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is a blend between timing and stealth, Surge 2 is all about getting in and just beating the hell out of the enemies while taking a beating yourself. “But T1ckles, those games are all about NOT getting hit” you say? Well … They are and Surge 2 sets itself apart not only with the utterly awesome limb-removal combat style, but in its use of rigs that have armor ratings. The better the armor, the longer you can stay in the fight, smashing and bashing and de-limbing all to your heart’s content. Not a fan of the tank-style combat? No worries; you can go full-on dexterity/agility with the different rigs and any of the huge pile of wickedly homemade weapons (Spears are my absolute jam).
The Surge 2 graphics are good at times, though they run into issues with performance; audio design is superb, and level-design is stellar; combat is awesome and what keeps one coming back. Is it a title worth its weight based on its price point? That is an absolute and resounding “yes.” Is the story as deep and intricate as the Dark Souls trilogy? No. Is it as passionate as Sekiro? No. Is it as dark and twisted as Bloodbourne? No. Is it different, interesting, and full of extreme potential? Abso-freaking-lutely.
With Surge 2 the franchise is finally hitting the upward swing that a non-From Software title deserves in the hardcore action-RPG/Hack-and-Slash genre. Here’s to more titles in the Surge universe …
Game Information
Platform:
Microsoft Xbox One Developer(s):
Deck 13 Publisher(s):
Focus Home Interactive Genre(s):
Action, Adventure, RPG, Soulsborne Mode(s):
Single Player, Coop Other Platform(s):
Sony PlayStation 4, PC
September 13, 2019 - The Surge 2: Experience the beginning of the end for Humanity in the new Story Trailer
In The Surge 2 on September 24, life on earth as we know it is coming to an end. Deck13’s latest hardcore action-RPG entry begins after the deFrag nanovirus strikes following the launch of a Utopia rocket. In Jericho City, one lone warrior - you - must fight through hell, high water, and amnesia to discover the truth about the virus, the city, and much more. Experience the start of this story in the new trailer, released today.
Here, we meet our hero, and many of the inhabitants of Jericho City. Nano-cultists run rampant through the streets, harvesting everything they can from the environment for their mysterious ends. The government forces of A.I.D attempt to maintain a stranglehold on the city with violent means. All the while, Athena, a girl with whom you have a special connection, leads you through the streets to a destination unknown.
This mystery accompanies gameplay that refines and enhances the Surge formula, bringing new weapons, new gadgets, enhanced ranged combat, additional implants, and much more. Dismemberment and limb-targeting still form the backbone of how you fight, loot, and choose your loadout, but with more options than ever before.
Pre-orders are now available on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC, and come with the URBN Gear Pack, which includes a new armor set, two new weapons, and other cosmetics and equipment. The Surge 2 releases September 24.
About the game
After the success of The Surge, the hardcore Action RPG released in May 2017 on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC, Focus Home Interactive and Deck 13 are happy to announce the renewal of their partnership and the development of The Surge 2, with a release date planned for September 24, 2019 on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC.
The Surge 2 keeps what fans and critics loved about the original – hardcore combat utilizing a unique, dynamic limb targeting system and deep character progression – while also expanding greatly upon the formula. The Surge 2 takes place in a brand new environment: a sprawling, devastated city with larger and more ambitious level design, made possible by Deck13’s upgraded and improved engine. Combat is more brutal and tactical than ever, with even more options thanks to an expanded limb targeting system. In addition, more abilities, weapons, implants, and drones give players a vast arsenal to build their character with, in their fight against the array of diverse new enemies and bosses.
The Surge 2 will release on September 24, 2019 on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC.
Key Features
New entry in the acclaimed Action-RPG franchise.
Hardcore, brutal, and unforgiving melee combat.
Spectacular fights against deadly foes and colossal bosses.
Improved loot, limb-targeting, and progression mechanics.
Hundreds of ways to customize your character and their exo-rig.
About Deck 13
Deck13 Interactive is one of Germany’s leading developers with more than 18 years of experience. With over 60 employees located in Frankfurt, Deck13 Interactive has developed upwards of 20 titles, including major releases such as The Surge and Lords of the Fallen. Currently the team is working on The Surge 2.
NVIDIA's (NASDAQ: NVDA) invention of the GPU in 1999 sparked the growth of the PC gaming market, redefined modern computer graphics and revolutionized parallel computing. More recently, GPU deep learning ignited modern AI -- the next era of computing -- with the GPU acting as the brain of computers, robots and self-driving cars that can perceive and understand the world. Today, NVIDIA is increasingly known as "the AI computing company."
Maximum Games ranks as a top 15 global video game publisher of interactive digital entertainment spanning all genres and supporting multi-platforms. The company's mission is to provide a proven and strong hands-on approach to publishing, marketing and distribution. Established in 2009, the company is led by female entrepreneur Christina Seelye, a seasoned executive of digital consumer products and channel marketing. Under Seelye's leadership, the company has been recognized with numerous awards such as “Fastest Growing Tech Company” by American Business Awards, and has made the Inc. 5000 list of Fastest Growing Private Companies for the past two years. Maximum Games has offices in both the US and UK, and continues to expand its scope of global publishing and distribution via direct reach and strategic partnerships.
Focus Home Interactive is a French publisher based in Paris, France. Known for the quality, diversity and originality of its catalogue, Focus has published and distributed original titles (A Plague Tale: Innocence, Vampyr, Farming Simulator, Call of Cthulhu, Insurgency: Sandstorm, MudRunner, GreedFall…) that have become benchmark titles worldwide, available both in store and for download across the world. Focus publishes games on all major platforms, consoles and PC. The publisher's catalogue will get even richer the coming months and years with eagerly awaited games such as The Surge 2, SnowRunner and many more.
A Walk in the Park is 2017's underrated sci-fi action RPG hit The Surge's DLC, adding an entire new amusement park area called CREO World. Unfortunately what is supposed to be a fun-filled amusement park, CREO World has fallen into a bit of disrepair. Not spared from the disaster, rescue teams were sent to recover any who were capable of being saved, but those very rescue teams have fallen to the dark side, have gone insane and now patrol the area looking to batter anything they find into dust. Enter CREO World at your own peril, and though it is juvenile in looks and spirit, it is brutally frustrating at times. At times welcome if immature challenge, at others an exercise in patience.
I cannot help but feel, in some ways, that Deck 13 might not have taken the premise for CREO World right out of my biggest video game regret of 2015; purchasing Fallout 4. Seriously, that game under-delivered for me and left me bitter, given the poor storyline, wax graphics, and annoying gimmicks (base building?) and no matter how hard I try to like it, it plain sucks ass. That said, Fallout 4's Nuka World was wonderfully creepy and I cannot help but feel that Deck 13 felt that the idea of an amusement park / theme park within the stark, beaten world of The Surge would fit. While CREO World aesthetically melds with the core game, if a bit greener at times (I love seeing green foliage that is full of vitality in these post-apocalyptic worlds). I do have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed the level design for A Walk in the Park (and in fact, the whole game).
Perhaps it is all the shrubbery, but I certainly felt that A Walk in the Park was far more ALIVE than the core game. Where in the base game I had the feeling of walking through industrial corridors not all that dissimilar to what Ripley had to crawl through in 1986's "Aliens," which is not a bad thing. Just claustrophobic at times. A common level design element that I found between both the core game and the DLC is that the open areas SEEM open, but they are actually not. A nice skybox or huge room will be absolutely packed with doodads / junk, severely restricting the room to move. This is a problem since nearly every enemy the DLC seems to have an incredibly destructive and extremely fast leaping attack. Fortunately there are enough new implants to help mitigate the massive amounts of damage. My personal favorite that I came across was an implant that healed you if you manage to land 5 consecutive rapid weapon strikes. Excellent for those like me that are used to traditional Agility builds; I love me some bo staff action.
I would like to mention that your most enjoyable experience playing A Walk in the Park would be via a New Game, not a New Game+. I found that with New Game+ the existing gear that you will have will far outshine, out-damage, and out-perform anything you will find in the DLC, and that is an incredible shame given the cool weapons you can find. The armor fares little better, though it is pretty neat looking and, well, if anyone here knows me then that is the best part of any game. I can, and do spend countless hours making my character look just right, only to get a new piece of gear that looks different or I am in a different mood or the wind changes.
The Surge: A Walk in the Park is a great addition to the core game, if strangely paced. Since it came out well after the game was released most people will get to it in New Game+ and the enemies and gear are simply not up to standard with end-game content is a huge detriment. This means that to get the most out of A Walk in the Park is to restart the game, meaning all of that great gear you spent hours getting will be lost. Adding better weapons. armor and stronger opponents then making it comparable to end-game content would give players the most out of the DLC. However, when you do start from scratch, the pacing, level design, and aesthetic are extremely on point and a worthwhile addition to The Surge.
Game Information
Platform:
Microsoft Xbox One Developer(s):
Deck 13 Publisher(s):
Focus Home Interactive Genre(s):
Hack & Slash Mode(s):
Single Player Other Platform(s):
Sony PlayStation 4
PC
It would be easy to look at Obliteracers and dismiss it as a Mario Kart clone, but you would be doing the game and yourself a disservice if you enjoy combat karting games. Obliteracers brings enough new to the table to stand on its own merits. Admittedly some aspects of the game work better than others, but the online modes are a riot and the game has an addictive quality that is impossible to ignore.
When I first saw Lords of the Fallen at E3 I was hooked; I had to have more. Here is this crazy, heavily armored and rough-looking man named Harkyn that has a giant hammer and a big shiny shield trudging his way through a frozen landscape with snow and wind whipping around him. As he continues to push on the ground rumbles and this massive thing emerges and all this armored gentleman does is hunker down, raise his shield, and begin a battle. As more content about Lords of the Fallen was released, the more interested I became; utilizing a loose "class" system, you can choose between three different primary styles of play.
You can choose the stout warrior, a fighter of great constitution that stands fast and takes punishment with his giant shield and his longsword. There is the rogue-like character, nimble, lightly armored and armed to the teeth with fast blades. Finally there is the cleric, a holy warrior whose faith, shield and massive mace are his weapons against the demonic hoard that is ravaging the planet. Which of these classes will you assume as you work to save the world? Does Lords of the Fallen stand toe-to-toe with perhaps the best Action RPG of all time, Dark Souls II? Read on to learn more.
Lords of the Fallen is a gorgeous game with stunning volumetric lighting, a healthy dose of particles such as dust and weather patterns, and goodness the models are top notch. Take Harkyn's starting Cleric gear, the flowing cloak shows some wear but not so much to be ratty and torn; his pauldrons have these tassels that swing and sway when you move or when the wind blows (which it is blowing a lot in some areas) and the steel of his armor looks like it has seen better days. The battered steel and fading cloak are held together by well-used leather straps and the cloth that shows under the breastplate and pauldrons looks suitably used; and that is just the armor.
