This week, Toddler Taxonomist developer Clay Heaton joins us to talk about how such long Latin words found their way into his kid’s game and the unlikely name for his Rogue-like currently in development. We also talk about first-person tower defense game Santcum 2, god game Reus, and space exploration sandbox Kerbal Space Program. Plus a recap of Microsoft’s new console and dog announcement.
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You know the early stages of a new game, when you’re trundling along, hoping that it won’t do something wrong and reveal that it is, in fact, a bad game? You’re basically muttering to yourself, over and over, pleasedon’tstartsucking, pleasedon’tstartsucking, pleasedon’tstartsucking, pleasedon’tstartsucking. That’s where I am now with Van Helsing, an action RPG from a small studio with middling to big ideas, but since they’re still a small studio, the game only has one class instead of five. The class is a Van Helsing with his feisty ghost wench as a sidekick. Her idle animation is basically struggling to keep herself in her, uh, whatever you call the top part of one of those old timey dresses.
Fortunately, it hasn’t started sucking yet. I’ve already been through about three or four things that could have sucked. And I felt like I was in good hands early on.
After the jump, getting the first impression right Continue reading →
Fans of 2011’s Mortal Kombat will finally be able to play the fatal fighter on their Windows PCs in July! The Komplete Edition will come with all the previously released console DLC including Skarlet, Kenshi, Rain, and Freddy Krueger. All the “klassic” skins and fatalities will be added as well.
Mortal Kombat Komplete Edition for PC features dynamic gameplay including Tag Team, Challenge Tower and a full feature length story mode. Players choose from an extensive lineup of the game’s iconic warriors and challenge their friends in traditional 1 vs. 1 matches, or gamers can spectate battles and interact directly with Kombatants online during the King of the Hill mode. The game supports the Mortal Kombat Tournament Edition Fight Stick and delivers full controller capability. Players will also be able to access achievements and leaderboard stats.
The game was originally made by NetherRealm Studios, but the PC port is being developed by High Voltage Software who created The Conduit and Conduit 2.
Although I’m a sucker for the “just add zombies” approach to game design, I’m not sold on its viability for boardgaming. I know there are some co-op zombie games. But I’m over co-op boardgaming that doesn’t have some sort of traitor gimmick. There are probably even games that stick some poor sod with the role of zombiemaster. But I was convinced zombies aren’t a good subject for boardgaming.
And then I played Dawn of the Zeds and realized I was dead wrong. Victory Point Games has done a dead-on job of expressing zombie mythology, and they’ve furthermore done it in a solitaire game, so I don’t even have to press my friends into service.
After the jump, when there’s no more room in hell, the dead shall walk the tabletop Continue reading →
I show 13 hours on Steam’s “time played” entry for Metro Last Light. To some folks, this is short. To me, it’s exactly how long developer 4A needed to tell Artyom’s story. But to 4A, it’s not the whole story. Today, they announced four sets of DLC will be released over the summer, all available as part of a $15 season’s pass.
The Faction Pack and the Chronicles Pack will include new, original single player gameplay that expands on the Metro: Last Light universe and story. The Tower Pack will present a unique solo challenge to Metro veterans… The Developer Pack will give creative players some interesting tools with which to explore the world of Metro.
Artyom’s story may have been concluded in Metro: Last Light, but there are other characters with stories to tell, some familiar locations that fans of the Metro series wanted to revisit, and some new challenges that 4A wanted to explore.
Here’s hoping for a storyline featuring the Venice fisherman with the boat, the crazy hat, the cigarette, and the box of dynamite. I liked that guy. Plus, I owe him a blood debt.
Microsoft’s new Xbox One console will not differentiate between indie, arcade, or big-budget games. According to an Eurogamer interview with Phil Harrison, there will be no special channels for indie games on the new console.
Eurogamer: So no Xbox Live Arcade, no Xbox Live Indie Games – just games?
Phil Harrison: Just games, right. Search, recommendation, what your friends are playing, game DVR – these all go to helping you discover the games you want to play, so I think we solve fantastically some of the challenges that independent developers face, particularly around discovery and connecting their game to an audience, by some of the platform features we have in the machine itself.
Eurogamer: It does sound more elegant, but I think one of the functions of Xbox Live Arcade and the Indie Games channel was to give undue prominence to those things within the 360 ecosystem; for a game like Geometry Wars to be front and centre when actually, most of your install base would be more interested in Call of Duty day to day – isn’t that something you’re losing?
Phil Harrison: No, no, not at all. We don’t give that up – we don’t give up the ability to put a spotlight on the products that we think are going to be exciting to our user base, but in addition to that, what your friends are playing, what other people think is hot in your area, your country, your continent, will propagate up the most interesting and exciting games.
Additionally, ShackNews reports that self-published Arcade games will not be happening on the new console. In contrast, Sony’s PS4 will have a self-publishing program that will allow smaller developers to get their games on the system without going through a known publisher. The Nintendo Wii U already has a program running through their eShop.
The Xbox Live Indie Games and Arcade programs have been the targets of some well-deserved complaints amongst developers lately because of bureaucratic hoops, patch expenses, and discoverability issues in the Xbox menu. The issues have been egregious enough to make some studios swear off the service entirely opting for more friendly venues like Steam. The Xbox One appears to make the situation worse for smaller budget games.
