Growing the Galaxy: Boundless to Launch this 11th September on PC and PS4 - News

Coming to us from Wonderstruck and the Square Enix Collective is Boundless, a new MMO in an open-world-sandbox that will let you choose your own path. The best part? It now has a release date and a new trailer!

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Growing the Galaxy: Boundless to Launch this 11th September on  PC and PS4

Create, Explore, Influence: one universe, all the players.

London, UK (24th  July, 2018) – Square Enix Collective® is proud to announce that the forthcoming epic sandbox MMO Boundless from UK studio Wonderstruck will launch on 11 September, for PC and PlayStation 4®.

Offering gamers a single universe of connected worlds in which every element - the politics, the economy, the crafting and the communities - is entirely created and run by the players, Boundless ensures everyone is exploring, building, crafting, trading and collaborating within one single ecosystem.

"Throughout its Early Access run, we've watched players flourish within Boundless' evolving universe," says James Austin, Director of Wonderstruck. "Now, with our full launch in September, we're excited to see where they take the full game - especially given that PC and PS4 gamers will all be operating within the same space, crafting and creating with each other within the same worlds."

One of the big draws of Boundless is the ability to open portals to travel seamlessly between diverse planets as you expand your adventure across the universe; or watch the sun rise on a volcanic world before joining friends to prospect for precious resources on a desert planet.

Starting with your first humble campfire, will you live a nomadic life in the wild, or found a new settlement with your allies from which to grow your empire? You can rally citizens to expand your city, competing to become the capital of your world and claiming the title of Viceroy.

Will you build a citadel, drive the economy, or craft masterpieces of technology? Join the hunt for exotic creatures, develop your homestead, or seek new horizons? Everything in the game is created by players - so if you want something, you'll either need to craft it yourself, or trade with others.
As announced back in June, Square Enix Collective has signed on to publish the PC version of Boundless, with developer Wonderstruck in tandem handling the game's release on PS4.

"For a game like Boundless, which relies on the community to create a constantly evolving universe, allowing every player, in every region, on every platform, to play together was always vital," says Phil Elliott, Director of Indie Publishing at Square Enix West. "Because one of the really important, unique aspects of Boundless is that - whichever path you choose within the game, and whichever role you play - you do it in a single, unsharded universe in full view of the entire player-base. Which means that your actions have real meaning."

Boundless can be broken down into six main areas at launch - exploration, building, crafting, hunting, trading, and settlement-building - with players able to choose their place in a massive, open-universe sandbox. With the expanse of worlds around them constantly shifting and changing, players are encouraged to shape their role and play their part in a universe where anything is possible.

Playing Boundless you can:

• Colonise planets by yourself or join a settlement with others and grow your Beacon into the capital of the world with the Prestige system
• Craft hundreds of items including building blocks, tools, weapons, food and much more
• Spend your hard earned skill points in the Skill Tree and tailor your character to how you want to play the game
• Complete objectives, feats and events to earn rewards and Experience Points to level up your character
• Build and maintain a Portal between worlds for you and others to use
• Trade items with others or set up a shop to sell and buy items while you're off adventuring
• Seamlessly travel to new worlds and discover different creatures, resources, block colours and user generated creations in an ever-changing universe - each world automatically regenerates areas that are not protected by a Beacon and returns it to its original layout, creating new and much needed resources for you to collect

For all the latest information and assets for Boundless, please visit:

• Video - www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wakmpCrJt4
• Website: playboundless.com
• Twitter®: twitter.com/PlayBoundless
• Facebook®: facebook.com/playboundless/

Article by Pierre-Yves

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Into the Infinite: Wonderstruck signs up Square Enix Collective to publish PC version of space epic Boundless - News

So we have something a little interesting for you today, the Square Enix Collective is publishing the PC version of an MMO that has been in development for some time and me, who doesn't generally do MMOs, is interested!

Boundless is an open-world sandbox that could be that something great that we had hoped for with EverQuest Next. We've got the trailer for you below and the press release below that!

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Into the Infinite: Wonderstruck signs up Square Enix Collective to publish PC version of space epic Boundless

Create, explore, influence. One universe, all the players

London, UK (27th June, 2018) – Square Enix Collective® is excited to announce it has signed up to publish forthcoming MMO Boundless from UK studio Wonderstruck ahead of its release later this year.

Currently in Early Access, Boundless is a single universe of connected worlds in which everything - including politics, the economy, crafting and building communities - is entirely created and run by the players, all without stepping into the realm of the kind of starbound battles or spaceship travel other games have made their signature. Instead, in Boundless, you can simply step from one world directly into another.

There's no set path to follow within the game, so players can choose how they want to fit into the diverse expanse of pursuits on offer. Whether it's mastering martial prowess, economic superiority, crafting finesse, unparalleled building creativity, or bringing people together to create a new settlement, Boundless is open to all: all paths, and all possibilities.

The game, which has been in development since 2014, is due to hit both PC via Steam and PlayStation 4 later this year. As part of the deal, Square Enix Collective today announces it will publish and support the PC version of Boundless, with developer Wonderstruck in tandem handling the game's release on Sony's console.

"Boundless has been on our radar for some time, and it's genuinely thrilling to be able to come together with the team at Wonderstruck to help bring the game to Steam," offers Phil Elliott, Director of Indie Publishing at Square Enix West. "It's a game which, to me, feels like nothing else I've played. The universe is constantly evolving, and that's because everything in the game is made by the players - everything you do, you do in the full view of everybody else that plays the game. This gives the choices you make, and actions you take, so much more meaning."

Ahead of its release, players involved in the Early Access version have already collaborated to create varied and sprawling cities on multiple different worlds across the game's universe, building a fluid and vibrant environment that bodes well for Boundless' full debut.  

"Partnering with Square Enix Collective on the PC version of Boundless is a big step forward for us here at Wonderstruck," says James Austin, Director of Wonderstruck. "They get what we're trying to do and I think they're going to do an amazing job of conveying everything the game has to offer to what we hope will be an excited and growing group of gamers."

Article by Pierre-Yves

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The New Front: Old-School WW2 Shooter 'Battalion 1944' Unveils Huge Update Ahead of Open $50,000 Tournament - News

While Battalion 1944 may still be in Early Access that's no reason to not have a tournament! All the details you need are below and our first Preview can be found here,

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The New Front: Old-School WW2 Shooter

'Battalion 1944' Unveils Huge Update Ahead of

Open $50,000 Tournament

Bulkhead Interactive's flagship is heading to Amsterdam this September

London, UK - 24 MAY 2018: Having made a big splash entering Early Access on Steam® earlier this year, Square Enix Collective® and Bulkhead Interactive™ are excited to announce that Battalion 1944™ players will be treated to a huge, comprehensive update ahead of a four day long $50,000 tournament later this year - all as part of the ongoing commitment to support and update the game throughout its Early Access period.

The update is set to roll out on June 12, 2018, which includes a complete overhaul of the game's main competitive mode (better known as Wartide 2.0), a new map, Savoia, set on the streets of Italy, and a new 'BattleRank Season' where gaining XP unlocks new skins - much like 'battlepass' systems in other games but, in this case, completely free.

All this comes alongside significant matchmaking improvements, new character models, a new sound system, a reworking and rebalancing of some of the game's guns, and an extensive visual overhaul and performance upgrade, amongst various other updates and new additions.

With Battalion 1944 fully tooled up with a brand new arsenal of toys and tricks, regular players will be able to spend the following few months mastering the fresh gameplay ahead of the first official Battalion 1944 Blitzkrieg Major Tournament, heading for the Esports Game Area between September 27-30, 2018. The event will feature both open qualifiers and invited team, with a total prize pool of $50,000.

"If launching Battalion 1944 has taught us anything, it's that a game where anticipation is high offers a steep and very public learning curve - both for the studio as a whole, and myself personally," says Joe Brammer - Studio Lead at Bulkhead Interactive. "Listening to the community has been our most powerful tool and a lot of what's in this update is based on suggestions - from improving the graphics to making certain weapons more powerful. We've listened, and considered everything to try and push play forward in the way players want."

It's as a result of a lot of this feedback, Brammer claims, that Bulkhead decided to both modify and add to Battalion 1944's existing roadmap for the future, building on the studio's bold plans.

"Fans of the studio know I don't tend to hold back, so I'd like to offer a genuine thanks to players who have helped to improve Battalion 1944 these last few months. We've been listening, and we've been working hard."

The huge update this June will include: -

• New competitive game mode, Wartide 2.0, including a complete overhaul of the game's main competitive mode;
• Matchmaking improvements that get players in-game and firing hot-lead faster than ever;
• A brand new 'BattleRank Season' to unlock new skins by gaining XP, similar to Battlepass systems in other games, but free;
• New character models;
• New map, Savoia, set on the streets of Italy;
• Complete design and visual overhaul of existing maps (added ladders!);
• New weapons - Grease Gun and the MP28;
• Movement rework and huge gun balance gameplay changes  - including sniper and jumping nerfs;
• New sound system (gunshot sounds react to distance away from player and if walls are blocking sounds);
• Over 60 new unlockable skins through BattleRank and the new 'Aces High' War Chest; and
• Visual overhaul & performance upgrades.

Bulkhead Interactive previously worked on The Turing Test™ back in 2016, a celebrated puzzler also published by Square Enix Collective®.

Battalion 1944 is currently available on Steam® on Early Access for $14.99/€14.99/£11.39.

Article by Pierre-Yves

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Forgotton Anne - PS4 Review

Remember that time you thought you lost that teddy bear that your grandma gave you, but really it just rolled off your bed one night while you were asleep, and you woke up the next morning and accidentally kick it under your bed, where you were to lazy to look for it... Yeah, you just sent him to the big men downstairs...

Welcome to the Forgotten Lands, where all forgotten things are given life and turned into beings as 'Forgotlings'. As they descend into this new realm they are given a purpose and a job: to either work in the tower, or the plant, so that one day all Forgotlings can return to the human world.

This cinematic adventure game will throw you in a world you never thought existed. You play as the strong willed protagonist Anne, who has lived in these lands her whole life. As the Enforcer, that regulated the laws of the land, she is suddenly thrown into chaos when a bunch of rebels attack the tower to the Ether World (human world). She set out to catch these pesky traitors and discovers there are some hidden secrets to this world that she was never supposed to know. With the help of her new ally, Figs, they work together to uncover the truth.

This game plays as a side scrolling platformer that will require you to be precise and open minded in order to get past all obstacles and puzzles that are found throughout the realm. Anne also carries with her a special device called the Arca, that gives her the power of Ether, the lifeblood of the land, to move objects, dematerialize Forgotlings and even make herself fly. Though this power is limited, she a force to be reckoned with.


The music of the game has a full orchestra that brings out each moment in breath taking pieces, that  alongside a powerful storyline, will reel you in as you continue to venture with Anne. I found myself captivated by this unique story and characters which is definitely a concept I have never come across before in gaming. Adding to it all, the game will also intrigue you with its hand drawn animated cutscenes that while short, are pleasant enough to remember.

The only flaws I found in the game, like most platformers, would be the edges. I came across ledges that were non-gripable at times and would only cooperate if you were directly under it... Yet not? It come and goes. And at one point the game glitched on me twice. Having to reopen my last checkpoint in order to reset the camera or certain items and enemies.

To conclude, I found this game to be a breath of fresh air. It's intricate storyline, puzzle solving and dynamic environment kept me interested from start to finish. I give this game a 9 for it was almost a masterpiece, but hopefully in future updates they can fix those small bugs.

Game Information

Platform:
Sony PlayStation 4
Developer(s):

ThroughLine Games

Publisher(s):
Square Enix
Genre(s):
Platformer
Mode(s):
Single Player
Other Platform(s):
Microsoft Xbox One
PC

Source:
Provided by Publisher

Article by Natasha

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Old-School WW2 Shooter ‘Battalion 1944’ Hits Early Access - News

Back in March... of last year, takes time to get used to the year changes, the Square Enix Collective signed up Battalion 1944. Just about a year later, here's more info as it heads into Early Access at the beginning of next month!

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London, UK - 10 January 2018: Having set out on a mission to reignite the spirit of the old-school shooter, Bulkhead Interactive and Square Enix Collective are both proud and excited to announce Battalion 1944 is heading for Early Access on Thursday 1^st February.

Derby-based studio Bulkhead Interactive, which previously developed The Turing Test, has created an experience designed to both capture and build upon the close combat mastered by FPS games in the early 90s. With the genre having since shifted direction, Bulkhead took to Kickstarter to bring together a community of gamers eager to jump back into the old-school multiplayer arena.

Now Battalion 1944 is ready to entertain its loyal following, with the studio coupling this announcement with the launch of a brand new worldwide reveal trailer, both setting the scene for the WW2 inspired action ahead and featuring actual gameplay from the latest build.

"It feels good to get Battalion 1944 into the hands of gamers after working on it so hard," says Joe Brammer - Studio Lead at Bulkhead Interactive. "We've been testing the game behind closed doors with our Kickstarter backers. It's now time for us to extend our testing to Early Access to help what I believe can one of the best competitive FPS games ever."

Ahead of this, Bulkhead Interactive will also be running an exclusive beta of Battalion 1944. Kicking off from Friday January 19th through to Sunday January 21st. For a chance to take part, head on over to beta.battaliongame.com. Any Kickstarter or Humble Bundle backers will automatically gain access to the beta, with streaming and content creation using the beta allowed.

"We're going to be using the beta to run domination on the Manorhouse V1 map, as well as showing off our new competitive mode 'Wartide' on the map Liberation," continues Brammer. "It's one last chance for us to test out our wares with FPS players before we make the leap to Early Access."

What players won't fail to notice during the beta is the combination of tightly crafted multiplayer maps and perfectly honed weapons designed for well-balanced encounters with an aesthetic that taps into an authentic WW2 feel.

"Getting to grips with the intense nature of the Second World War is something that's been key to our process," offers Howard Philpott - Creative Producer at Bulkhead Interactive. "That's something I also think comes across in this new reveal trailer - the action in a Battalion 1944 encounter is as feverish as it is credible. We've looked to bed the play down in maps that are both competitive and authentic, for which our trips to Normandy proved immensely useful".

The Early Access version of Battalion 1944 will come with six modes, to be announced later down the line.

Last month Bulkhead Interactive and Square Enix Collective revealed Battalion 1944 will retail for £11.99/€14.99/$14.99. As previously noted, that's actually less than the bottom tier during the game's Kickstarter campaign. As a result, those who backed Battalion 1944 when it was being crowdfunded will gain access to unique backers only skins, multiple cosmetic and vanity focused loot crates.

Battalion 1944 will hit Early Access on Thursday 1st February. You can watch the worldwide reveal trailer here.

Article by Pierre-Yves

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Oh My Godheads - PC Review

A while ago I had the distinct pleasure of being able to write a preview for Oh My Godheads, and now I have the chance to write a full review. For those who haven’t read through the preview, or have forgotten, OMGodheads is a very interesting mash-up of capture the flag and dodgeball, sporting “the world’s first capture the head action…for 1-4 players”.

OMGodheads has two basic styles of play with two types each, and an extra “challenges” type section. The first gameplay type is the advertised gameplay, where you have a giant deity head that you need to pick up and just generally deal with. Capture the head is basically capture the flag, but with a deity head. You pick up the head, and have to get it into your colour coded zone in order to score a point, all while avoiding other players attacking you, or whatever special ability the head is throwing at you.

King of the head is similar, except it’s a “hold the head for the longest time” to win. Headhunters and last man standing are all about the “PvP style” combat, where you and your friends beat each other up for points, or fight AI controlled enemies for superiority. The last mode available is Trials, which are one off challenges that will get you used to some of the aspects of the game, as well as giving you a sort of improvised tutorial. The challenges can be really easy or really hard, but they’re all a lot of fun.

The game can be easily played with up to four humans, and can be assigned as either controllers or two different sets on the keyboard. I am happy to say that both control schemes work great. There are a bunch of different heads to spice up gameplay, such as one that freezes people in an area around it, or one that sends out homing crows to attack players nearby. There are a bunch of different items you can throw at opponents as well, including exploding pies, as well as items that mimic some of the godheads’ abilities.

With a sizable selection of both heads and playable stages to choose from, there’s definitely a lot of fun to be had. The AI is adjustable, and for the most part is extremely competent in doing whatever difficulty they happen to be set to, and very rarely will do something exceptionally stupid. There’s a lot of adjustability, and the ease of simply jumping in to a game, with some great couch co-op, is definitely an added plus. With all sorts of deflectable exploding pies and various deities, there’s also a lot of variety, even if you play on the same stage or with the same head, the combinations can get quite entertaining.

There’s definitely a lot to like about Oh My Godheads, but little needs to be said. It’s an awesome party game that’ll suck you right in, it’s easy to get used to and easier to play. While simple to learn, there can be a lot of strategy involved, especially since different stages have different aspects to them, such as moving goals or platforms that sink into lava.

A few things I noticed changed from the preview that I was particularly happy to see was that some of the more arbitrarily difficult trials were balanced, and unlockable stages and godheads tell you the unlock conditions when selecting them on the field/head select screen. Each round can last as little as a minute or two, or upwards of ten, given the right (or wrong) combination of heads and fields. Oh My Godheads is a great party game, or a good game to just sit down to for a few minutes at a time. Like me, you’ll probably find yourself playing for a lot longer than you realize.

There isn’t really a whole lot to say about Oh My Godheads, it’s simple and easy to get into, but that’s one of the major draws. It’s fun, addicting, and has a solid soundtrack. If nothing else, one thing is for certain: this isn’t a game where you can just quit while you’re ahead.

Platform:
PC
Developer(s):
Titutitech
Publisher(s):
Square Enix
Genre(s):
Action
Versus
Mode(s):
Single Player
Local Multiplayer
Other Platform(s):
Microsoft Xbox One

Source:
Provided by Publisher

Article by Richard

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Deadbeat Heroes - XB1 Review

Deadbeat Heroes is not only the Brawler that I've been wanting but a Brawler that takes its genre a step further like Haemimont Games did with Victor Vran (PC / PS4). With your fashion sense clocked into ten, get ready to take out a bunch of would be criminals from the streets that you are now in charge of!

Brawlers have been around for a while and while they focus mainly on how many enemies they can throw at you between the start and the end of the stage, it’s “how” they throw enemies at you that can either make or break the experience. Zheros unfortunately didn’t make the cut in that regard because of its pacing and missed opportunities and I’m happy to say that this isn’t the case with Deadbeat Heroes. Focusing on smaller bite sized stages you’ll generally be at the boss in no time as long as you make the grade.

A big issue when it comes to fighting tons and tons of enemies is the lull time in between moving from one area to the next. Having designed the environments in bite sized pieces, while there are empty rooms they don’t count as lull time as much as a few seconds for your fingers to reset themselves for another fast paced action segment.

The action really is pretty fast paced and with how many enemies can spawn at times, things get hectic but that’s where you get to be creative. Deadbeat Heroes in a way sports a simplified combat system with heroes being able to punch or use a set ability once the gauge is full. Having not gone overboard creates the building blocks for the rest with the hero's’ ability to run across the ground, up or across walls and throw flying punches or kicks into the face of their enemies. As enemies get tougher you’ll need to use these abilities more and more to get both out of the line of fire as well as jump behind their guard.

Keeping on the idea of bite sized pieces, each chapter contains three stages and a boss. In order to get to the boss not only do you need to beat the three prior stages but also score high enough in points to unlock the boss stage. This means that until you get it right, you can’t move forward. As the chapters progress this becomes more of the norm depending on your skill and you’ll just have to do it again and again until you get it right. With the system in place however it shouldn’t take long as you now know what to expect but if you do kick the bucket while trying? Well you’ll simply have more work to do.

As the chapters move forward you get access to more than one character to use (for single player) and they each count as “lives”. Each chapter essentially has to be cleared on these set of lives otherwise if all your characters are defeated you’ll lose the clearing grade that you’ve already obtained on a completed stage and have to do it again. This really forces you to master the system and get better as there’s no other alternative to move forward.

Between all of these stages however is classic bond-esque cheesy dialog between the Deadbeat Heroes themselves and the Criminal Organization hiding amongst their own shadows. This gives both points of views as the heroes better themselves and bolster their ranks while the criminal leaders finally resolve themselves to taking to the stage themselves once things have gone far enough. These segments are also short and sweet keeping with the entire bite sized portions that just has everything rolling smoothly.

In conclusion, Deadbeat Heroes is everything that I've wished for in a brawler for a long time. Smooth combat supported by smoother mechanics and cheesy dialog to top it all off. It really doesn't get much better than this!

Game Information

Platform:
Microsoft Xbox One
Developer(s):
Deadbeat Productions
Publisher(s):
Square Enix
Genre(s):
Brawler
Beat 'Em Up
Mode(s):
Single Player
Coop
Other Platform(s):
PC

Source:
Provided by Publisher

Article by Pierre-Yves

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Tokyo Dark - PC Review

Tokyo Dark is an interesting blend of point-and-click gameplay and mystery novel. A sort of choose your own adventure, set in a bleak and dark setting, where your sanity may be the only thing holding you together. Reminiscent of old DOS games with a fresh anime inspired graphic style, some animated cutscenes, and chilling music, Tokyo Dark is a mini masterpiece in its own right, whether from a story telling or thematic perspective.

There isn’t really a whole lot to say about Tokyo Dark: you play as Detective Ito, a Japanese detective who’s partner has gone missing after an incident that Ito was a part of before the beginning of the story. Ito must discover what happened to her partner and solve the mystery of the darkness that is teeming beneath the city streets.

Gameplay is incredibly simple: you click towards the left or right side of the 2D map to move, and you interact with little "boxes" that indicate an item you can do something with. Pretty standard fare for point-and-click, as well as most mystery type games with a focus on storytelling, Tokyo Dark takes it that one step further than most games in this genre claim to be. The graphics are perfectly suited to the theme, which seems to be detective Ito’s slowly (or rapidly depending on your choices) decaying sanity.

Most areas of the game are dark, dreary, and a little more than creepy, especially compounded by the music, or sound effects, that accompany the locales you visit. I have to honestly say that I found the music and sound selection to be perfect for the setting, occasionally unsettling me to the point that I didn’t want to explore an area. Anyone who knows me knows I have to explore everything in a game or else I get upset with being unable to get everything.

On that note, a fancy(ish) implemented function is the "SPIN" system, which stands for "Sanity, Professionalism, Investigation, and Neurosis". As you make choices, you will either get or loose points in these attributes, which you may check at almost any time by hitting ‘esc’. You start at ‘0’ and can go to plus or minus ‘100’. Now I get to state my only complaint about the game in its entirety right here: it took me longer than I would have liked to figure out whether a positive or negative neurosis was a good thing. Turns out lower is better. Yes, that’s my only complaint.

Now, why is Tokyo Dark the game that takes itself that one step further than most games of this genre tend to? Because your choices actually do make a difference. More often than not, a game will taut itself as having your choices affect the game deeply, but you just end up with a final ending of "red, blue, or green" cough cough. Either way, not only do your choices actually directly impact both your attributes and endings available to you, other interactions with people will make reference to your previous decisions.

For instance, I threatened a guy near the beginning of the game, and towards the end, someone asked me why I threatened him, and unlike scripted scenes and dialogue that normally occurs in these "choose your own adventure" style stories, for once I actually had an answer as to why, and it was an available option. In fact, a lot of the choices I find myself given in any game I’ve played tend to be so far removed from what I would normally do that I just can’t be bothered to care by the end. Tokyo Dark managed to include enough options with the perfect level of variation in available options that I never felt I had to choose an option solely because the game told me to.

Tokyo Dark doesn’t mess around with choices either. Every action you take the game will autosave. Yes, that means that pretty much everything you do or decide on is permanently written to your save file: no going back because you don’t like the outcome. I absolutely loved this. The fact that you are actually "held accountable for your actions", for lack of a better term, really had me invested in both the characters ad the storyline itself. Thankfully, there is a new game plus feature that gives you access to save slots, so you have an easier time going for the many different endings on subsequent playthroughs.

Overall, I have to say that Cherrymochi did an absolutely stellar job with Tokyo Dark: the graphics and music are great, the animated cutscenes are a wonderful touch, and the amazing level of detail that went into the choice and SPIN attribute system is great. Whoever said that "the beauty is in the finer details" is absolutely correct. Despite playing as detective Ito, strictly speaking, your choices and attitude describes who she is, even though she is also given her own personality at the beginning of the game. Tokyo Dark is a game that gets you hooked and keeps you there, all throughout the game, and maybe even past the end.

Game Information

Platform:
PC
Developer(s):
Cherrymochi
Publisher(s):
Square Enix
Genre(s):
Point and Click
Visual Novel
Mode(s):
Single Player
Other Platform(s):
NA

Source:
Provided by Publisher

Article by Richard

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Week in Review - July 24th to August 11th

Welcome back to our not quite Week in Review! Being out of town last weekend I figured I would just pack two weeks into one.

Week of July 24^th to the 28^th

Last week started off on a good note with Yonder: The Cloud Catcher Chronicles. I don't think that I've ever played an adventure title with no combat and it made for quite a refreshing experience.

"Yonder is an important title because it proves that you don't need conflict, violence or combat in order to bring about a good adventuring experience."

- Pierre-Yves

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The week then continued onto an experience that a few of us had been waiting for. Read up on Nick's experiences diving back into the classic of Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age.

"There are a ton of improvements to a really good game that helps to make this one of the better remakes I have had the pleasure of playing. If you missed Final Fantasy XII the first time around, it is at least worth taking a peek at since the quality of life improvements make it more accessible than it original was."

- Nick

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Next up is one of my favorite tactical versus experiences in quite a while with Antihero.

"Antihero is great and well thought out. With multiple modes and a ton of replayability both online and off with a hotseat feature to try your mettle against a friend, there's no way that it'll be going quietly into the night any time soon."

- Pierre-Yves

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Beating everyone on the team to the punch is Richard with the PS4 version of Fallen Legion: Sins of an Empire. His time with the Vita version is coming up!

"While Fallen Legion may not appeal to everyone, especially those who can't get timing down to save their lives (which it will in this game), there's a great nostalgia kick for older gamers, while introducing some novel systems, or at least novel takes on systems, that are sure to drawn in the younger crowd."

- Richard

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Finishing off the week is Nick's time diving back into the Story Mode of Minecraft with Season 2.

"It is clear that Minecraft: Story Mode Season Two - Episode 1: Hero in Residence has potential, especially if you are a fan of the original season."

- Nick

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Week of July 31^st to August 4^th

This week started off with something that I've personally been waiting a long time for and honestly? Children of Zodiarcs is the next Final Fantasy Tactics entry that I've been waiting for.

"Children of Zodiarcs is a turned based strategy that I've been waiting for. While some elements will be familiar to fans of the style it was the elements that weren't that made this experience a masterpiece. Rolling the dice and splitting the deck became more than simple battle mechanics but were instead much more as they alone were half the battle."

- Pierre-Yves

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Tuesday Nick shared his time with Gigantic which is a free to play MOBA.

"Gigantic is a really slick overall combination of shooter and MOBA, and it is far easier to learn and get into than other similar titles."

- Nick

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And the middle of the week once again showed me that I need a VR Headset in my life. Preta: Vendetta Rising looks quite interesting so far.

"With more content and more options and a little additional polish around the controls, Preta: Vendetta Rising could be one of the most compelling VR titles yet."

- Nick

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Thursday we took a look at the latest gaming entry of SAO with Accel World vs Sword Art Online: Millennium Twilight. It's a good one, great story, great gameplay, but the Vita is starting to show its age when titles release simultaneously with the PS4.

"Accel World vs Sword Art Online: Millennium Twilight is a great title though the smaller platform suffers from the lack of power that the larger one benefits from. Is it worth diving into? Definitely."

- Pierre-Yves

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Topping the week off are Nick's impressions of Witchblood for the PC through the use of VR. I'm personally glad to see that VR isn't all about first person but that other styles can be used and still create a sense of wonder.

"VR is about immersion, and there are plenty of games out there that can immerse you regardless of visual perspective or genre. Witchblood is an action platforming game that feels right at home on the Oculus."

- Nick

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Article by Pierre-Yves

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Week in Review - July 10th to the 14th

The week started off with our Review of Black the Fall from Sand Sailor Studios. It's worth every minute.

"Between the tones of the color palette and the visual presentations of a world that is all but broken, the journey of one man in order to escape it all is enough to make your heart ache."

- Pierre-Yves

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Tuesday brought about an odd one. Open world sandboxes are nothing new but when you've gone and added giants inspired from Shadows of the Collosus? That's new! Our preview of Voodoo by Brain in the Box.

"So all in all Voodoo has some ways in order to go but if they fix the servers and the lag at the very least things will already be in much better shape."

- Pierre-Yves

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The middle of the week saw Nick's review of Oceanhorn by Cornfox & Bros. that just released upon the Switch. It was definitely interesting for me to read as Breath of the Wild was not out when I sailed the seas making it a tribute to Zelda and not the idea of what Zelda used to be. Read it!

"It is almost impossible to play Oceanhorn: Monster of Uncharted Seas and not think back to older Zelda titles, and by and large this game hits most of the necessary notes along the way. "

- Nick

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Every now and then an established idea mixes in a variety of new ideas and comes out with something brand new that can easily stand on its own. Death Squared by SMG Studio is one of these.

"Death Squared is one of those unique titles that is able to wear a few different hats, as it is a uniquely challenging single player experience that also works as a party game. Usually titles like this only excel at one and tend to be lacking in the other, so kudos to SMG Studio for striking a great balance between the two. "

- Nick

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Finally the end of the week landed with Chris' review of The Golf Club 2 by Maximum Games. It's impressive how far sports titles can push the graphical boundries sometimes. This is definitely not Hot Shots!

"Golf enthusiasts should enjoy The Golf Club 2 quite a bit. The physics are realistic, the course variety is potentially limitless and it looks and sounds the part."

- Chris H.

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Article by Pierre-Yves

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Oh My Godheads - PC Preview

As advertised, Oh My Godheads is "the world's first capture the head action game for 1-4 players", and I can't think of any way to refute that statement. Oh My Godheads has you and up to three other AI or human controlled players battling it out in a sort of "capture the flag" style match, except instead of flags (mostly), you have to cart around giant deity heads, that are still alive and very angry.

There are five modes currently available: capture the head, king of the head, headhunters, last man standing, and trials. Most of these are fairly self-explanatory; capture the head has you grab the head and bring it back to your base, king of the head is "hold the head for X number of seconds", headhunters is more like pvp combat without the heads, last man standing is headhunters except you only have one chance, and trials are various challenges that range from easy to "godsdamnit, no".

Controls are basic and the game is easy to get into, which is good because there isn't really much of an explanation on anything. You literally just have to jump in and try stuff out. For anyone who's curious, you have a melee attack, a dash attack, "exploding pies" that you can throw, as well as a jump and a dodge. I'd suggest checking out the "controls" menu to figure out what buttons/keys do what.

Since most of the modes are similar to what you'd expect I'll use the featured mode of Capture the Head as the defining play style. Once you've found some friends, or decided on AI companions, you can select a location, a Godhead and then set off to attempt to bring the head back to your base. Once you get started watch out as not only your opponents but also the stages and the heads themselves can act against you! Generally the head starts in the middle of the stage and once you pick it up you usually move slower and you can't attack. You can throw the head if you need to however in which you might need to do when it either explodes or freezes your pants off.

Default game settings at the moment are three points to within one round for victory, although you can set it as high as nine points to win in a five round match. Current stages are incredibly diverse, and include: simple head-to-head, navigating terrain, moving bases, a volcano with sinking platforms, and even a stage where you only have one shared base, but need to hit a switch to flip it between team colors. Which was probably my least favourite, personally.

Current Godheads include: Skadi, Gaia, Zeus, Tezcatlipoca, Bastet, Namazu, Agyo, and an unlockable "flag" that doesn't have an effect. Each of these heads does something different, and may either help or hinder you. For example, Skadi freezes everything in a surprisingly large radius, including you, and Agyo has a short range explosion, that will not only kill you if you're carrying his head, but sends the head back to its starting point. Zeus, on the other hand, rains lightning down around you, but not on you.

So that's how Capture the Head works, so let's talk a bit about the "Trials". The Trials are basically one-off little challenges such as "kill all the enemies as fast as you can", or "only kill enemies with pies". Depending on your performance, you can get a gold, silver, or bronze medal, and as far as I can tell you can unlock stuff, such as the flag I mentioned earlier, depending on how many gold medals you've earned. Thankfully, most of the gold medals are either very realistic to earn or incredibly easy, especially if you start abusing the respawns delay before the enemy AI takes action but after they've spawned in. Except for, like, two.

A series of challenges has you make use of certain heads' special traits. The worst are for Gaia and Tezcatlipoca (hereafter referred to as Tezca). The Gaia challenge has you hold the head for 40 seconds for the gold medal, with a 60 second time limit. This wouldn't be too bad, except it's 2v2 and your partner is one of the dumbest AI roulettes I have ever seen, and that's saying something. The enemy AI is fairly decent, and generally both enemies go after you. Which means you either have to be extremely effective managing your time between attacking and holding the head, or have your AI pick up and hold the head.

Here's the issue: your AI has the dumbest tendency to not only walk TOWARDS the enemies, but will occasionally throw the head for no good reason and then ignore it. If there's another way to win this, I haven't found it yet. Extremely frustrating when you get 39 out of 40 seconds and your partner chucks the head, with not enough time for you to pick it up before the trial ends. If you had 70 to 80 seconds, it really wouldn't be so bad. The other one, Tezca, produces a black smoke which makes it impossible to see in an area surrounding the carrier. Your goal is to kill an enemy while they carry the head. Except the AI loves to chuck the head a split second before you hit them, meaning you don't get the point for the kill. I may have cried.

Apart from the trials examples, the AI in actual matches is actually really good. They function at the very least reasonably, and occasionally are really smart about their plays, but never to the point you feel like they're reading your button inputs. The controller support is really good, and there was no difficulty using the keyboard set-up either. Pro-tip, you can reflect pies if you smack them in the air, which I found out rather unfortunately when I threw one only to eat it myself shortly afterwards, not that there is anything stating you can do so before you either see it happen or try the trials.

I had a lot of funny with Oh My Godheads, I sat down with a buddy, and thought we had played for 20 minutes, turned out to be two hours. A couple of things I would like to see for the final release: a tutorial or practice mode that explains how to play, a few more stages to fight on, and a much wider assortment of heads to choose from. And maybe re-balancing the trials AI a little bit. It would be interesting to have a field with maybe water running through it that would slow you against the flow or speed you up with it, or a whirlpool in the center that will switch between "on" or "off", and will pull you in.

A couple more heads would be good to, because after trying them all out we kind of felt like "welp, that's that". Perhaps something like Loki, who would create illusions of players or the head, or perhaps Hel (or a similar God/Goddess) that would summon skeletons or skeletal arms to take back their head. A God/Goddess of light that occasionally releases blinding flashes of light, or perhaps Quetzacoatl, that summons winds to blow the players around.

Even though the game is early access, it really doesn't feel unfinished, and I'm really looking forward to seeing where this game ends up, and I'm sure I'll be bringing it out for party games really often.

Game Information

Platform:
PC
Developer(s):
Titutitech
Publisher(s):
Square Enix
Genre(s):
Action
Versus
Mode(s):
Single Player
Multiplayer
Other Platform(s):
N/A

Source:
Provided by Publisher

Article by Richard

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News - Brawling Crime Caper ‘Deadbeat Heroes’ Will be Published by Square Enix Collective

I personally love a good Brawler though they seem to be few and far between of late. Enter, Deadbeat Heroes which is the latest to be picked up by the Square Enix Collective. Aiming for both the PC and the Xbox One, it looks like I and the rest of the brawling fans on those platforms will have something to look forward to!

Here's the Press Release:

Brawling Crime Caper 'Deadbeat Heroes' Will be Published by Square Enix Collective

Leap, dash, wall-run, climb & backflip onto PC & Xbox One

London, UK - March 14 2017: Deadbeat Heroes™, a fast-paced, brawling crime-caper set in a comic book-inspired world will be published by Square Enix Collective™. Under a deal signed with UK-based developer Deadbeat Productions™, Square Enix Collective - the platform that brings diverse and quality indie titles to market - will release Deadbeat Heroes on PC and Xbox One.

Deadbeat Heroes is a 3D, movement-based brawler about dodging bullets, stealing super powers and cracking wise. Action in the game is all about celebrating movement, with the 'Deadbeat Heroes' playable characters being some of the most agile in videogame history; seamlessly able to leap, dash, wall-run, climb, backflip as well as attack in any direction and perform a wide variety of super-moves. They'll need this agility as there is no block - these 'glass cannon' protagonists are able to dish out damage, but not take it!

Started by former Lionhead & Rockstar developers Adam Langridge and Imkan Hayati, Deadbeat Productions cut their teeth developing key combat mechanics and magic spells in huge AAA franchises before embarking on their own project. After laying the foundations of the game, Adam and Imkan recruited the expert pen of BAFTA-winning writer James Leach to add a large dose of hilarity to the game's script. Heavily influenced by a youth spent playing arcade beat-em-ups and reading 60s/70s comics, Deadbeat Heroes is a game about characters who aren't born with superpowers, but have decided to become heroes regardless. As the tagline for the game says: "Powers to the People".

"Deadbeat Productions' debut title Deadbeat Heroes is a fantastic demonstration of this team's talent", said Phil Elliott, Director of Community & Indie Development at Square Enix London. "Their AAA development pedigree and first-class writing result in a 'proper' 3D fighter that's immensely colourful and often hilarious. Square Enix Collective is very happy to be working with Deadbeat Productions to release Deadbeat Heroes".

"Deadbeat Heroes is a game that we've always dreamed of making", said Adam Langridge, Director at Deadbeat Productions. "We are delighted that the Square Enix Collective team, with their experience, vision and passion believe in the gameplay, style and...  well... daftness of Deadbeat as much as we do".

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Article by Pierre-Yves

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