“Squee!” That’s a thing the kids say when they’re excited, right? If it is, then I’m squeeing for Pinball FX3, coming later this year for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Steam, and Windows 10 PC. Zen Studios says it will be a “true community experience” with competitive pinball features like multiplayer-matches, user-generated tournaments and league play. For novice players, Zen Studios is adding single-player challenges that act as tutorials for techniques that will help bridge the gap from casual flippers to pinball wizards.
The majority of Pinball FX2 tables will work with Pinball FX3, and owners will be able to import them into the new game for free.
One of the resources in Steep is helicopter tickets. I somehow ended up with six of them. I think you mostly get them by micropaying money to buy SteepBux, which you then spend on stuff like gorilla outfits, DILLIGAF T-shirts, and bright pink snowboards that you’re too impatient to unlock by actually playing the game. You can also buy “helicopter tickets”, which you use to teleport to places you haven’t unlocked. Steep is an entirely open world, but these places would be hard to reach normally because this is a game about gravity-based traversal. If you’re not going downward in Steep, you’re generally not going forward either.
But today’s $10 Extreme Pack adds a rocket pack, which uses the third law of thermodynamics to win any fight against gravity. This is also known as “cheating”. Because this isn’t just a jumppack with a limited charge or anything like that. It’s an honest-to-goodness, Billy Campbell saving Jennifer Connelly, George Clooney falling in love with a prepubescent robot girl jet pack. You can now freely defy gravity and go anywhere you want. So, anybody want to buy six helicopter tickets? No reasonable offer refused.
The pack also adds the option to wear your snowboard when you parasail (apparently called “speed riding”) and the option to freefall for a while before you open your parasail (called “base jumping”). There are also new events that I presume are like the new events in the Winterfest DLC from earlier this year. I’m guessing the Extreme events can’t possibly be more annoying than the Winterfest events, but Ubisoft is really good at surprising me.
Behold and despair! Look upon Assassin’s Creed Rebellion coming to mobile platforms soon. Collect and train a stable of chibi assassins from over 40 characters from the Assassin’s Creed series. Send them out on missions. Gather loot. Upgrade your Brotherhood Headquarters. Weep softly as the world around you melts into chaos.
Nintendo has announced the imminent release of Star Fox 2. Originally developed by Nintendo and Argonaut Software, Starfox 2 was supposed to launch in 1995, but was cancelled due to scheduling and technical issues with the release of the Nintendo 64 console. Despite being a direct story sequel to the original game, Star Fox 2 featured gameplay differences from the original. Instead of a linear campaign, the player uses a strategic system map to select missions and defend their home planet. Unfortunately, only a handful of people ever got to see the game, and hope of a second chance was largely squashed throughout the years. In 2015, programmer Dylan Cuthbert formerly with Argonaut said the chance of the game being offered as a digital eShop title was low due to legal disputes.
Now, thanks to its upcoming release, at least a couple dozen more people will be able to experience this game. Sadly, the game will be tied to the SNES Classic Edition console in a forced bundle with 20 other SNES games. The SNES Classic Edition will hit a couple of store shelves on September 29th.
Thanks to the E3 blowout of gameplay, we know that Bayek, the hero of Assassin’s Creed Origins, can climb just about anywhere thanks to the game’s new animation system, and that his combat maneuvers aren’t locked into rigid sequences because the producers have moved to a hitbox-based engagement system. Bayek’s unlimited inventory allows him to hoover up all the loot in Egypt, and his gear quality and level will determine how he fares against enemies. He has an eagle friend that helps him spot bad guys. There’s a giant snake. Bayek can drive chariots, ride camels and horses, as well as pilot boats.
Hold up a second. What’s that about a giant snake? As much as the Assassin’s Creed games have stretched credulity, the lore has always been grounded in a semblance of reality. Even when you were trading blows with a superpowered pope or listening to time-traveling ghosts from a progenitor race, there was a strict line between the science fiction elements and the historical tourism. This serpent monster would seem to cross that line. Ashraf Ismail, lead on Assassin’s Creed Origins, spoke to Eurogamer and pointedly did not explain the giant snake in the room.
What I will say about that is, because I know there are fans asking if we are going fantasy, is that we wanted to play with the mysticisms, the religion, the animal-headed gods… This was one credible, authentic way of imagining, from a mainstream perspective, what you might expect about Ancient Egypt.
Taking a cue from Ubisoft’s Far Cry games, it might be a dream sequence or a drug-induced vision. Perhaps it’s an illusory false god created by a power-mad priest? Whatever explanation accounts for the giant snake, we won’t know until October 27th when the game launches.
The Rise of the Necromancer pack is coming for Diablo III in just a few days. The $14.99 DLC adds the necromancer character class, two more character slots, and some cosmetic bits for players to fawn over. The necromancer is built around generating and directing mobs of undead minions. Also, they make corpses explode. The pack will arrive alongside the free 2.6.0 update which features Challenge Rifts, a weekly community throw-down based on selected character builds.
The Rise of the Necromancer will be available for PC, PlayStation 45, and Xbox One on June 27th. You must have either Diablo III: Reaper of Souls, or the Diablo III: Ultimate Evil Edition to add the necromancer pack to your game. Alternately, a Diablo III: Eternal Collection bundle with all Diablo III expansions and DLC will be available as well.
Have you lost a Joy-Con to the inky depths of the couch cushions? Left one in the bathroom, perched on the magazine stand? Maybe you just want to slip one into a friend’s backpack and remotely cause it to buzz like an errant sex toy? The latest system update for the Nintendo Switch has something to help you find misplaced controllers. Buried in the patch notes is this cool feature: “Find paired controllers within communication range by activating the vibration feature.” From the home menu, go to Controllers then select Find Controllers. As long as you have the Joy-Con’s vibrate setting on and it has sufficient battery power, the little guy will fire right up. Sounds like it’s time to start hiding Joy-Cons around the house!
The last time you walked around in a park to capture Pokemon on your phone was probably a long time ago. If you’re like most of the estimated 28 million people that started playing Pokemon Go at launch in July, you stopped playing sometime in November or December of last year. You got busy during the holiday season and the novelty factor of finger-swiping pokeballs at bouncing Pidgeys wore off at that point. Niantic has periodically held special themed events like the Easter “Eggstravaganza” that increased the drop rate for eggs, but the trickle of updates hasn’t really offered anything to entice anyone but hardcore current players.
Pokemon Go’s upcoming summer update is going to add true cooperative play. Raid Battles are time-limited boss battles that can pop up at gyms. When one appears, up to a dozen players can cooperatively attack the monster to take it down. If they succeed, everyone in the group gets a chance to capture that monster along with being rewarded with some high-level loot. Participating in these cooperative events will require Raid Passes, which everyone can get once per day from gyms. Players will even be allowed to generate private lobby codes so they can fight with their buddies instead of random folks. Niantic says the raids are designed to bring back that feeling of discovery and cooperation that everyone had in the first weeks of the game.
Although there’s no set date for the public release of the update, high-level community members are testing it already.
Neill Blomkamp’s new short film is Rakka. You can watch it on YouTube, or on Steam for free right now. On Steam, you may notice a curious offer for optional DLC from Oats Studio. The Volume 1 Assets pack includes a 5.1 audio sound mix, a script, 3D models, and concept art for the film. The studio plans to release dallies, sound files, and visual effects documentation to purchasers at a later date.
“I just wonder if there’s a different way to have a one-on-one relationship with the audience.”
Blomkamp, the director of District 9, Chappie, and Elysium, started Oats Studio to focus on short films for himself and other filmmakers that wouldn’t get financed through the studio system. He plans to pay for it through donations and Steam DLC. His scheme sounds a lot like early access for games, in fact. Release an initial “volume” of a movie, get feedback from customers, then possibly adjust and continue. Additionally, Blomkamp expects buyers of the assets to use them for their own projects tied into the film. A bit like allowing users to create workshop mods for games, although there’s no word on if those audience collaborators will get a cut of Oats Studio’s revenue.
Microsoft announced a revamped Xbox Avatar program yesterday at E3 2017. The new Xbox Avatars have been redesigned with diversity and inclusiveness in mind, so for example, avatar clothing and accessories are no longer locked into gender categories. Prosthetic limbs and wheelchairs are options as well as a pregnancy “baby bump” and various other physical traits. According to the producers, the redesign is being done in Unity.
Xbox Avatars were originally launched in 2008 on the Xbox 360, but the characters dropped in popularity when the Xbox One launched which (as of now) does not feature them in any prominence. The new Avatars will launch this autumn on Windows 10, then later on Xbox One consoles, presumably with a user interface update that will give them more visibility.
That’s the trailer for Insurgency: Sandstorm, the sequel to Insurgency from New World Interactive. This time around, the game will have a campaign story, playable in single or cooperative modes. According to the developers, it’s a “deeply personal” tale of an “an unexpected journey” across a “war-torn landscape.”
Their objectives have aligned, and their vision of the war blurred as it touches each of them in different but converging ways.
Insurgency: Sandstorm will also have vehicles, character customization, and unlockable cosmetic items. It is coming to PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.
Nintendo once again declined to participate in the live stage awkwardness of E3, and instead broadcast a Spotlight video. E3 live stage presentations are a production boondoggle that Nintendo has wisely opted out of for the past few years. Safe-for-all-ages Mario and Pikachu just don’t cut it in an auditorium full of bloodthirsty gamers intent on chainsaw-shotgunning their way through hordes of zombies.
Nintendo of America’s Reggie Fils-Aime and other luminaries stressed the competitive experiences on the Switch console. It will have ARMS, and Rocket League, and Splatoon 2, and Pokken Tournament DX! The Switch is portable, so take it anywhere and challenge other Switch gamers. It’s not like the Wii U, so please get out there and fight it out.
Yoshi and Kirby made appearances in their games coming to the Switch, battling it out for eponymous supremacy. Xenoblade Chronicles 2 and Fire Emblem Warriors competed for the “Most JRPG Dialogue” award. Ubisoft popped in to remind everyone that Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle features combat of sorts. The upcoming DLC for Zelda: Breath of the Wild features a harder mode and a champions-focused prequel story. Super Mario Odyssey looks to be a platforming return to form for the plucky plumber.
Finally, we got a tease for Metroid Prime 4. More accurately, Nintendo showed off a title. A title that elicited orgasmic cries of glee from gamers.
How do you perplex an audience of gamers? Sony began their E3 2017 show with a musical number performed by live sitar players and drummers. Then, for maximum confusion, just as the new trailer for Uncharted: the Lost Legacy started, Sony dropped their audio feed for most outlets. Is this a Lara Croft game? No! It’s a spin-off from Uncharted, now with girl power tomb raiding. Don’t fix the audio just yet, Sony! You’ve got The Frozen Wilds DLC for Horizon Zero Dawn to put on the big screen and make gamers strain to hear it.
Unfettered by the need to push any new hardware, Sony concentrated on PlayStation games. Here, a tease for the PlayStation 4 remaster of Shadow of the Colossus. There, an extended look at Detroit: Become Human‘s main character and android revolutionary, Marcus. Sandwiched in-between was another look at totally not Walking Dead Days Gone. If spandex heroes mashed up with videogame licensed characters are your thing, Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite has got you covered. We got a peek at Call of Duty: WW II‘s cinematic take on action warfare. Monster Hunter: World reminded all the Horizon fans what fighting dinosaurs used to be like. Destiny 2 rolled out their first big bad guy, Dominus Ghaul, who should absolutely not remind anyone of a Halo boss.
PlayStation VR got some time on the stage. Bethesda announced Skyrim VR for everyone that thought clumsy-looking VR waggling should be extended to dragon shouts and Nords. If that wasn’t your thing, you could guide a mouse through VR environments in Moss. Too cute? Try The Inpatient, a VR horror title that takes players through another ho-hum haunted sanitarium.
Sony wrapped their show with two headline games. There was an extended trailer for God of War, with Kratos teaching his son how to commune with nature and find his inner peace. Also, how to tear his enemies apart by hand. The show ended with a good chunk of Insomniac’s Spider-Man. In the clip, the fearless web-slinger hit a dozen quick-time events and aped Rocksteady’s Batman as hard as he could. The quips were solid though, so the game has that going for it.
This is how you get gamers to cheer. Start your E3 press show by marching Nintendo’s Shigeru Miyamoto on stage to play with goofy gun props and laugh with Yves Guillemot over Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle. Is there anything more infectious than Miyamoto’s smile? Sure, the game is a weird three-way between Ubisoft’s Rabbids, Nintendo’s characters, and XCOM’s tactical turn-based combat (complete with zoom-in views for dramatic shots) but with Miyamoto chuckling along it looks like a good time.
Without Aisha Tyler hosting, this year’s Ubisoft E3 show barreled through game announcements. The Crew 2 adds boats and speed planes to the open-world racing. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like we’ll be getting a mob revenge story in the campaign this time around. Assassin’s Creed: Origins continued to wow folks with its lush recreation of ancient Egypt. Remember how you wanted someone to make a full game out of the piratey goodness in Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag? Ubisoft Singapore took the ship-to-ship combat straight out of that game and made Skull and Bones out of it. It’s pirates and competitive multiplayer on the open seas. South Park: The Fractured But Whole made it’s 156th E3 showing. Elijah Wood and SpectreVision made their virtual reality debut with Transference. Full-motion video and VR? It’s like Lawnmower Man with Night Trap. We got a little snippet of gameplay in Far Cry 5. Hey, your best buddy in crazyland Montana will be a dog! Starlink: Battle for Atlas excited everyone until it turned out to be a toys-to-life game for the Nintendo Switch. Steep is going to going to the Olympics, and by that I mean the game is getting an official 2018 Winter Olympics expansion.
Finally, Ubisoft aired a cinematic trailer for a sequel to The Fifth Element, no wait, it was for Beyond Good and Evil 2. Gorgeous, evocative and exciting, right up until Ubisoft used these dreaded words: “Shared online playground.”
Firaxis has announced the War of the Chosen expansion for XCOM 2. The DLC will add enemy and allied hero units, as well as new environments, daily challenges, and story additions to the campaign. The new human factions will offer players their own unique abilities and heroes to combat the alien threat, which is good because the dastardly xenos have a trio of deadly warriors that are trying to recapture the Commander. Also, there are zombie hordes, because everything is better with zombie hordes.
XCOM 2: War of the Chosen launches on PC on August 29th.
