I’ll be honest, knowing Rockfish Studios previously focused on mobile gaming didn’t give me a lot of hope for Everspace. We don’t have to look too far back to find a science-fiction release from a previously mobile-focused studio that went down the shitter. Not that No Man’s Sky and Everspace have a lot in common, but I’m a glass half-empty kinda guy. If it wasn’t for the quality of screenshots and media surrounding the game, it’s likely it would have missed my radar completely. I’m so glad that wasn’t the case.

Getting straight to the point, Everspace looks absolutely fantastic. Everything from the lighting to the texture quality and particle effects has the feel of a AAA title that has been in development for years – quite the feat considering work began on Everspace in January of 2015 and the development team consists of just 10 members. Whether I was smashing my face into an asteroid, dodging enemy fire, or just admiring the various ship models in the game, I was in awe of the graphics every step of the way. Technically flawless, I might add – not once did I encounter any frame rate drops or other graphical glitches.

Take a look at some of the screenshots I managed to grab while playing – using the in-game “Action Freeze” feature that removes the UI, freezes combat, and allows you to rotate and zoom to grab that perfect moment.

Note: Had to reduce the images in size to reduce page loading

If you’ve been keeping up with the release of trailers and screenshots, it’s everything it looks to be.

Great graphics do not make a game, however, but Rockfish Studios haven’t spent the last 18 months making pretty textures – the gameplay is there to back it up.

In typical rogue-like fashion, you move through various stages before jumping to a new sector with your primary goal has you reaching the highest possible sector you can. You’ll die, and you’ll die a lot – but that’s all part of the fun, right? Each time you begin the journey anew before you changes, making each run fresh and challenging regardless of your experience level.

The first few hours could definitely do with a bit of tweaking. When you die, you can carry your credits with you to upgrade various parts of your ship and blueprints you grab on each run are permanently saved so every run is increasing your ability to survive and progress. This does, however, make for a frustrating introduction to the game as there’s little chance of you making it past the first couple of sectors until you have a few upgrades under your belt.

Although this is typical of the rogue-like genre, it felt more prevalent in Everspace, and the first couple of sectors don’t generally include the really interesting elements of the game. Moving from area to area your tactics and strategy in combat will be tested constantly with various enemy types, new environments, and environmental hazards. Pro tip: If you want to admire a lightning storm in space, do it from afar.

As I got further and further into the game my excitement continued to grow. The new technology discovered each run combined with the progression-on-death mechanic makes even the most frustrating element of a typical game feel rewarding, so even death was never that much of a setback.

And I died a lot. I’ve highlighted some of my most memorable scenarios of death below.

For a rogue-like game to make death both rewarding and entertaining is no easy feat, and it’s something that will really give the game longevity when it leaves Early Access.

The only other guarantee outside of death is combat, and there’s plenty of that too. Make no mistake, this is not a game of pure exploration – you will have to fight every step of the way. The control scheme is one of the games most impressive elements. It is incredibly easy and accessible, allowing players of all skill levels and experience to dive right in and pull off moves that would usually take weeks mastering controls. I can typically last 90 seconds flying a plane in Battlefield, but in Everspace I was squeezing through gaps you’d struggle to fit a car through on my first run. Something I’d like to add, hitting crap in space will kill you. You won’t simply bounce off asteroids or other ships, you hit them hard enough you’re going down. For this feature alone I’d like to pass on a personal thank you to Rockfish Studios, even if it is the cause of 90% of my deaths.

I’m getting on in my years and don’t have the reactions I once did but I am really excited to see what some of the more skilled players can pull off with such a versatile flying system.

Furthermore, there’s a basic crafting system and resource gathering – although the latter can get a little mundane after several runs but there are ship upgrades to make the process less time consuming. You can upgrade a variety of elements from resource gathering speed to carrying additional weapons and increasing chances of finding rare loot, you’re only restricted by the cash you carried from your previous mission.

When I was originally planning on publishing, the game didn’t feature much of a story. There was no narrative, very little information available in game, and no real information on the website other than it was a confirmed feature. Since then however the team updated the game with various elements of story narrated through voiced content – several hours of play since and I’ve yet to hear any recycled one-liners or introductions.

Everspace is still in its earliest form of Early Access on Steam, and while it may lack content in some areas and not feature much of a story, Rockfish Studios have put the foundations in place for something really exciting.

Everspace officially launches under Steam Early Access September 14th, for more information check out the official Steam Store Page.

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This past weekend I was lucky enough to receive a Heroes of the Storm (HotS) beta invite from Blizzard. Since I installed the game, every last minute of my gaming time this week has been spent on Heroes of the Storm. While it’s still in beta and probably will be for a fair amount of time, Heroes of the Storm is going to be the MOBA (Multiplayer Online Battle Arena) that changes your opinion on the entire genre.

In case you didn’t know, Heroes of the Storm is Blizzard’s take on a MOBA. It uses characters from all Blizzard universes, meaning you can make Arthas the Lich King fight Diablo, something that Blizzard fans have been dreaming of. If you’re a fan of the Blizzard universe, the characters and lore will definitely peak your interest, and even if you’re not, the characters are still interesting enough to offer a diverse range of choices.

Personally, I’ve always been a fan of MOBAs. I’ve put close to 150 hours into DOTA 2 and loved every minute of it. While this is nowhere near as much as a lot of “hardcore” players, 150 hours is still a significant amount of time. On top of this, there’s never been a Blizzard game that I didn’t enjoy, so HotS seemed to be the perfect mix.

One of the biggest things that gives current MOBAs a bad name is the match length. Blizzard set out to fix this by making gameplay much faster and more team oriented. I’ve played almost 50 games of HotS and the longest games I’ve had have been roughly 30 minutes, with the average being closer to 20 minutes. If you’ve played other MOBAs you know that these numbers are extremely quick, seeing as I usually plan around 45 minutes for a game of DOTA 2. Heroes of the Storm is extremely fast paced and full of action because it gets rid of some of the more boring phases other MOBAs still have.

The next big change that sets Heroes of the Storm apart is the focus on team play rather than individual strength. Levels are gained as a team, making every role feel equally important. On top of this, each of the six maps has a unique, game-changing objective that is nearly impossible to solo. These objectives are fun but more importantly they’re significant enough to make it beneficial to focus on the objective at every opportunity possible.

After the first few minutes of the game, the game changes from running down lanes and towers like most MOBAs to focusing on fast-paced team battles. This makes the game exciting because a good team fight in the late game push can be the deciding factor. Every hero fits a roll in a team fight, and a bad healer can easily be the deciding factor.

Of course, the game is still in beta. There are issues with matchmaking and there’s still some kinks that need to be worked out. Heroes aren’t perfect, but any mistake I’ve made in game has been my fault and can’t really be blamed on bugs or an unfair advantage that I wasn’t offered. HotS punishes your mistakes, but in the fairest way possible.

Blizzard has really done its research though, and is creating a MOBA that’ll be a good addition to the genre. With Blizzard being such an established developer there’s a very bright future for HotS. They can afford to dedicate the resources necessary to make the game great and host tournaments and other live events. On release, don’t be shocked if Heroes of the Storm gains a large competitive following.

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Like many others, I was fortunate enough to get into the Destiny beta test last week. I have been hyped on Destiny for a very long time and have followed all of the development but after the public beta however, I was extremely disappointed. Destiny was not the “game of the future” like the hype would have suggested. In this case, hype got players hopes way too high. There are a few fundamental issues with Destiny that are too big to fix this late in the development process. Issues so big, they could definitely be a turn off. Here’s why I didn’t enjoy Destiny.

First things first, we need to declare that Destiny is, and forever will be, an MMO. Although Bungie wants to avoid that term when it comes to Destiny due to the seemingly negative connotation for the casual gamer, the game had every characteristic of an MMO. I mean come on – it was Massive, Multiplayer and Online. It’s important to make this distinction so that we know exactly what to compare it to. Wildstar, World of Warcraft and Guild Wars 2 all did “MMO” better than Destiny. An MMO needs to be fundamentally spectacular to succeed for the masses and Destiny failed to do that.

My first and probably my largest complaint with Destiny was the boss fight mechanics. I was so excited to engage the giant spider for the first time, but quickly learned there was absolutely nothing to it. It was essentially a bunch of people sitting around for 30 minutes shooting at a giant metal spider, occasionally dodging attacks. Even worse, the next boss (a giant floating orb) was exactly the same mechanic – aim, shoot, dodge, repeat. So many things could make these fights more exciting. Utilizing the environment more, having the boss change as the fight goes on, doing something to stop the repetitive action of shooting for 30 minutes straight. Boss fights are essential in MMOs, they’re what keep people playing the game.

Aside from the boss fights, there are a few other mechanics that were poorly utilized. The classes played almost exactly the same way, except for their special abilities (and the hunter flaming gun ability was lame). There was absolutely no incentive to play another class when I felt I had already played it. To be clear, the beta was only the first 8 levels and I can see the classes changing as you progress further in the game, but the beginning of the game needs some serious work. As a final note, the story was hectic and nowhere near compelling and the PvP felt exactly like Halo, which is a 10 year old game.

So was Destiny “good?” Sure, but it definitely wasn’t and won’t be a game changer. Take a trip down memory lane with me – in elementary school, when teachers would assign a project there would be a certain amount of points allowed for something called a “wow factor”. Destiny would get absolutely nothing as it’s “wow factor”. Borderlands 2 did looting and story better, World of Warcraft and Wildstar have much better boss fights and so many games have more interesting PvP. Anyone who has played an MMO know that the first levels are never all that fun, but Destiny was far behind some of the worst. I’d rather play through the first 10 levels of Aion. Bungie needs to sell almost 8.5 million copies of Destiny just to break even on the $500 million budget and I just don’t think that’s feasable with such a mediocre game. Don’t get me wrong, I was extremely hyped for Destiny but chances are I won’t be buying it in September.

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The trend of Season Passes in the world of gaming is only becoming more standard. If you don’t know what a season pass is, generally, they guarantee access to DLC (Downloadable Content) for whichever game the pass was purchased for. For example, Ubisoft recently released a Watch Dogs DLC that adds 3 missions and a few guns and player customization options. Now, this DLC is selling standalone for $6.99 without the season pass, or players who purchased the season pass for $19.99 get access to the DLC a week early and also get it “free”. Free meaning they don’t have to pay the additional $6.99 because they bought the season pass for $20. The trend of “Season Passes” is definitely something I wouldn’t mind seeing an end to. Here’s why I’m against the concept of a season pass and why you may want to think before you buy.

First of all, the idea of offering a season pass is a relatively new idea. Remember the days when we would buy Halo map packs with Microsoft points? Those were the days. Anyways, back to my point – season passes are bad. Games these days (with the exclusion of indie games) are usually $60. Now, if the season pass for a $60 game sells for $20, that makes the game $80 if you buy both. Don’t get me wrong, $80 is expensive, but it’s not only about the price point. The additional $20 for the season pass is like paying for something before you know what it is with the hope that it will be good. It’s like preordering a game – something I’m not particularly against because it guarantees you a copy and lets you get excited, but it’s still paying for something you know little to nothing about.

Imagine the following situation – you’re an avid gamer who has been excited for Watch Dogs for a long time. Finally, the day comes when you’re able to pick up your copy. You notice that a season pass is available for $20 that will allow you to get all the DLC a whole week early! “What an amazing deal,” you think, “I better pick it up ASAP!” So now, you’re $80 in the hole without actually playing the game yet. When you finally load Watch Dogs up for the first time you hate it. You’re a PC gamer who can’t get over the resolution or FPS or the fact that you have to use UPlay (don’t worry, I have a PC myself). Or you’re a console gamer who just didn’t like the game. Either way, you’ve just spent a lot of money on something you didn’t enjoy.

Despite the fact that you didn’t like Watch Dogs, your $20 could have been used to buy something else enjoyable, like a couple indie games. Your $20 could have bought you something else (like some of the best games of all time such as Fez or Braid), but the hasty decision to buy Watch Dogs DLC prevented that. That’s a major issue with Season Passes – you don’t really know what you’re getting into.

Now don’t get me wrong, Watch Dogs is just one example (to be clear, I absolutely loved Watch Dogs). Many other developers have been including the option to buy a season pass. There are certain types of gamers who can benefit from a season pass too. For instance, if you know the only game you’re going to be playing for the next few months will be Call of Duty, a season pass may be worth looking into. If you’re a gamer who enjoys a lot of different games though, chances are by the time new DLC comes out you’ll have moved on to whatever the next big thing is and you may not be interested in going back to play an old (relatively) game. So before you go and buy a season pass, think about if you’ll even want the DLC later down the road.

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H1Z1 will have a heavy focus on survival and crafting, allowing players to form groups and construct safe houses to protect themselves and allies against the endless onslaught of the undead and groups of bandit players. Current gameplay footage also shows working vehicles in the game although Smedley has stated that players will need to collect a variety of different items in order to make vehicles roadworthy, after-all it’s 15 years after the apocalypse.

So far much of the information revealed could be tied to a number of other zombie related online titles such as Rust and DayZ. However, many of today’s most popular survival titles all share very similar flaws and it’s these flaws that SOE need to counter if they hope to make H1Z1 the game changer they claim it to be.

GameTalk Live had an early exclusive with John Smedley and H1Z1 and they have just released a new YouTube video showcasing some gameplay and many of the elements I’ll discuss in this article. You can check out the video in full below:

Attack VS Defense

Balancing the ability to protect what’s yours while also maintaining the apocalyptic feeling of a world gone mad is no easy task. Players have to be able to defend their valuables but it’s just as important that other players can take them away. If you were able to stockpile medical supplies, weapons, food and other valuables, the fear of survival would be non-existent – thus making the entire survival genre a bit vacant.

However, the polar opposite can be just as damaging to the player experience. If it’s too easy to destroy the hard work of others, people just won’t bother. The realistic scenario of groups holding up and finding defensive locations would be replaced with roaming groups of bandits shooting anything with a pulse – or without in some cases. It’s not that the latter is entirely unrealistic in a survival scenario but it’s a balance of both that’s required for the experience to be unique among the other zombie survival games.

The solution is not an obvious one and I’m not certain SOE will even see it as a problem. However, if their claims of a bringing the genre to the next level are true, H1Z1 will really need something special to counter the many issues presented when the ability to dig in is available.

Player Progression

The very foundations of the MMO genre itself are the total opposite of that approach. As players invest more time into the game, they expect more in return. Whether that be new abilities, new enemies to encounter or new gear, all it comes hand in hand with the definition of the genre itself.

It’s an element that’s lacking in most of the recently released zombie survival games but them most aren’t really MMO’s either. H1Z1 will support thousands of players on a single server, over 10x that of what similar games support today.

The lack of player progression doesn’t necessarily mean MMO players won’t enjoy the experience, but it’s a time tested recipe and it works. Whether or not they’ll be willing to embrace a new approach is yet to be seen but I for one cannot see myself enjoying a game with such a heavy element of risk vs reward but without the progression.

Death Mechanics

This is another challenge that SOE will have to overcome if they want to appeal to the larger audience. I won’t argue that there’s a hardcore corner of the market that crave these types of death penalties, but it’s not for the everyday gamer. You get in from work, dust yourself off and explore the online world of H1Z1 for the first time. You gather some loot, meet some players and survive the undead – only to get killed minutes before logging off and finding yourself starting in the exact same state the next day.

This presents another problem that is, in my opinion, the greatest flaw in any type of competitive gaming. The casuals never progress. Hardcore or players with more time to dedicate to the game become top of the food chain but due to gear, not individual skill. Anyone with less time to spare is just cannon fodder – presenting a walking meat sack of supplies to anyone with the arsenal to take it. There’s nothing wrong with rewarding your more dedicated players but when it comes to the survival genre, the typical MMO-esque incentives don’t work.

Rust has what I personally consider to be the best death mechanic of the zombie survival genre. Upon death a player loses all the items and gear they were carrying, but the skills and recipes they’ve learned remain. This offers an exciting combination that drives the adrenaline fueled response of loss on death while also maintaining some level of progression so the player is constantly moving forward – at least in one aspect.

The lack of player progression severely hinders the potential death mechanics SOE could use. Although we know very little about the feature itself, it’s safe to say from Smed’s comment that it’s a full loot PvP system. Check the end of the video for the full lowdown.

Supporting The Lone Wolf

Repeating a task in any of the aforementioned titles will eventually become tedious. Whether you’re dumping hookers in the river or slaying dragons on the mountainside, eventually you return to the games natural progressive nature. The MMO format provides a different approach. Sure survival in itself doesn’t sound all that appealing but when you consider the myriad of micro-elements and features within that specific goal, it’s a lot more diverse.

But herein lies the problem. The Lone Wolves of the MMO world are constantly pushed aside for their more social comrades. Players are forced to group for dungeons, defeat difficult bosses to progress through the story, and join raid groups to enjoy the end-game content – very few MMO’s actually allow players to progress without at some point being forced to group with others.

This issue is even more prevalent in the survival genre. Think Call of Duty on a massive scale in a 5v1 match. It doesn’t matter how good you are, come the end of the day you’re going to lose the battle. This causes solo players to alienate themselves from the game completely, feeling as if their journey means very little when it meets such an abrupt end every time.

It could well be that SOE have no intention of catering to the lone player experience, but not everyone has lines of friends waiting to log in and the survival genre itself appeals to a far broader range of player.

If you’re reading this it’s likely that you’ve enjoyed the experience on offer in the likes of DayZ, Rust and 7 Days to Die. How many times have you found yourself totally at the mercy of a large group of players? It can sometimes be a memorable experience but for the most part, it ends up with your corpse getting tea bagged and your well earned loot getting robbed. I’m not denying the competitive nature of multiplayer gaming but the survival genre never makes it beneficial to actually take a moment to think.

Without some kind of system or feature in place to support communication, outside of trade, I fear H1Z1 will become little more than a PvP on a large-scale – in other words, DayZ.

Looting System

Many games have tried to implement innovative solutions to this problem but for the most part, they’ve yet to succeed. You can spend hours exploring today’s zombie titles and return with just a few hats and useless medical supplies, often leaving players with a sour taste after spending much of their day playing the game, yet having very little to show for it.

Then there’s the games that have taken the total opposite approach to looting – including too many items. DayZ is the perfect example of this. You can find dozens of items that by themselves are totally useless. Requiring other items in order to become effective. This is present across the board, from medical supplies to weapons and customization features. So instead of leaving players disappointed with the lack of loot they instead feel overwhelmed with too many items, not enough space, and the frustration of needing to find almost as many items just to make the original set useful.

I have been covering Sony Online Entertainment’s MMO games for many years. From EverQuest to PlanetSide 2 and EverQuest Next, and if there’s one thing I’ve learned in that time it’s this. They rise to the challenge each and every time. The reinvented the MMOFPS genre with the PlanetSide franchise and EverQuest Next is shaping up to do the same for the MMORPG world. If there’s one developer that can force the evolution of the zombie survival genre, it’s SOE.

What are your thoughts? Do you think the current mechanics and features spread throughout the zombie survival genre are fit to continue or do we need a fresh approach? Leave your thoughts in the comments section below.

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Bungie and Halo

There is no doubt in my mind that Bungie has given gamers some of the most memorable experiences in gaming, especially when it comes to their most popular series Halo. If you haven’t heard of Halo, I’d like to meet you because I wasn’t aware that was possible. There’s also no doubt that Bungie knows how to make a solid, immersive experience while telling epic tales that make you fall in love with with characters you meet and play as. I’m mainly talking about Halo if you haven’t gathered that already. One of the biggest reasons I’m cautious of Destiny though is just that, Halo. Halo is one of the most successful series of all time, and definitely Bungie’s staple. Destiny is one of the most ambitious projects for NextGen gaming and definitely one of Bungie’s most ambitious projects yet, but I’m worried Halo will get in the way. I’ve heard many people describe Destiny as a hybrid between Halo and Borderlands, which scares me to death. If Destiny feels too similar to Halo when fans are finally behind the controller, will it be a hit? With Halo 5 right over the horizon fans don’t need another Halo style game clogging up their already expensive list of games. Of course Destiny will offer a completely different experience when it comes to gameplay, story, random events and even basic functionality. I’m simply worried about how it will feel. Halo has a very unique feel to it, especially compared to games like Call of Duty or the Battlefield series. I’m hoping that Destiny is different enough to give it the stand alone power that it needs. This is something that we won’t know until the beta this summer, but it’s something I worry about.

Balance

I come from a background of MMO’s so one thing I always tend to focus on is class and weapon balance. This, for me, is a make it or break it in a game. I’ve never thought a game was fun if there’s something that looks really fun to play or suits my play style, but can’t stand against the simple raw power of other classes. When I play, I don’t want to be punished for playing how I want to play. Although there’s no way to tell if Destiny will find the right balance, it’s definitely something to mention. I am confident in Bungie’s abilities to develop, test, tweak, retest and so on, but this could pose a major problem for the game if they don’t nail it at launch. If the first month of launch is dominated by DPS builds destroying everything by themselves and getting all the epic loot, and other classes failing to solo the simplest of things, there will be an issue with players who chose “the wrong class”. It’s never fun to hear how your friends are racking up money, kills, gear and weapons because they’re simply playing something that does it’s job better. Balance is key, especially in a game like Destiny. Let’s hope that when the public gets their hands on the beta, Bungie will make the necessary changes (if any) to keep it as fair as possible, and offer a fun experience no matter what decisions you make. It’s never fun being underpowered.

Replay Value

When it comes to a game like Destiny, there are a lot of different angles to take when playing the game. Maybe you want to play to the end as all the classes, maybe you want to build the same class a few different ways, maybe the story is so engaging that you just want to play it again. All these examples are something that I believe give a game “Replay Value”. One of the things that makes a game fun, in my opinion, is the ability to play it again and again, wether this be online or single player. For example, standard online modes such as the classic Team Deathmatch (or slayer, depending on your fanboy preference) add an almost unlimited replay value. Will Destiny be diverse enough that you’re able to play it from a different class, or just play it again and still enjoy it? This is one of my main worries. I want to love Destiny so much that I play it again and again, max every class and find epic weapons that make the game all worth playing, but I’m not going to assume this is how it will be. It’s important to note that not every great game needs a replay value, for example, Bioshock Infinite. I only played the game once and it is still one of the best games I’ve ever played. Destiny though, leans more towards the MMO or RPG genre, which is defined by replay value. One major thing that adds to the replay value is end game content.

End Game Content

Because Destiny has you invest in your character through leveling up, finding weapons and customizing the play style to your liking (much like an MMO), end game content is going to be a big factor. While a game can survive on leveling content alone, some of the greatest games are defined because of their end game content. I don’t want to put 60+ hours into my Destiny guardian only to be bored when I finally get towards max level or beat the game. Will the random evens be epic enough so that higher level players will go searching for something giant to kill? For example, I don’t want to get to level 80 and have nothing to do, not that I’m pointing any fingers (Guild Wars 2). I want all the time that I put into my character to feel worth it in the end. The reason that games like World of Warcraft are so popular is because they offer epic rewards for the amount of time you put in. Yes, I’m comparing Destiny to World of Warcraft. If Destiny can’t deliver in the end, what’s going to keep people playing?

Multiplayer/Story Combination

Finally, my last worry is the combination of multiplayer and story in Destiny. The last big game that we saw do this (Titanfall) didn’t exactly deliver a memorable experience. While I have full faith in the story telling ability of the team at Bungie, I just hope that they can get the combination down. I want the experience to be just as epic for people that play it alone as it is people that play it with friends. I don’t want Bungie to focus only on the MMO aspect and in turn butcher the story that they’re known to deliver. This could be a major issue in the success of Destiny. If it’s not fun to just pick up and play without friends, it’ll be hard to enjoy it as a whole. While of course, online is a major aspect in games these days and you want to share the experience with your friends, people don’t always have online but might still want to enjoy Destiny. Again, we don’t know how well this will work because we haven’t gotten our hands on the game yet. Just something to be cautious of.

Overall

Don’t get me wrong, I have faith in Bungie. I want to be excited for Destiny, but I want this game done right. These are a few of the main things to be cautious of before getting totally invested in Destiny without having actually played it. No matter how good the game looks, these are some things that could easily be done wrong and nobody would know until playing the game. Of course there are some other worrying factors, such as the PS4 version seemingly being favored (exclusive content, early beta access) but maybe I’m just skeptical. There’s no doubt that Destiny looks like a phenomenal game, but I wouldn’t fully trust everything that you’ve seen from Bungie until we get to play it.

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Gameplay

Evolve multiplayer looks like an extension of Left 4 Dead multiplayer, but arguably at a lot faster pace. Players take one of two sides – the hunters or the hunted. The hunters are a group of 4 individual classes with one common goal – kill the beast and prevent it from destroying the objective. While it isn’t quite known what exactly “the objective” will be, it is likely that it will simply be something that the monster will have to destroy before being killed by the hunters, specific to each map. On the other end of the spectrum, a player can play as a giant monster, with the ability to evolve into larger, stronger versions of its past self by eating animal AI scattered around the planet. One of the monsters that players will get to wreak havoc with is a large fire-breathing beast called “Goliath”. There will be more monsters that a player can choose to dominate with, but those will come later. This is confirmed due to the pre-oder bonus being a new monster character.

One interesting thing that Turtle Rock Studios is doing with Evolve is the way that weather changes the gameplay. Adding weather to a game isn’t all that revolutionary, but Turtle Rock actually makes the weather affect the gameplay. One of the prime examples used is rain. Players will need to find the monster and kill it before the monster destroys the objective, so one of the tracking methods is the use of footprints. If it is raining in the environment, however, the monster’s footsteps will wash away making him harder to track. Not only that, but sounds will also be drowned out again making the beast a bit harder to find.

There is potential for more game modes in the future, but this is just what has been revealed. It is also said that there will be a single player mode, but the developer isn’t quite ready to talk about it yet.

Classes

Aside from the giant monster destroying everything in its path, players will get to choose from 4 initial classes – Assault, Medic, Trapper and Support.

Assault

The assault class seems to be a standard across many games, and in Evolve its purpose is simple – do as much damage to the monster as possible. Markov, a member of the assault class, will utilize both a standard assault rifle, and a powerful lightening gun that will deal massive electric blows at a short range. The assault class will cater to players who like to be right up in the action. With the combination of a large health pool and the ability to take a hit, players using the assault class will never want to be anywhere but up close and personal. Aiding the brute force of the assault class is a personal shield that will allow relief from damage, at least for a short amount of time.

Medic

One thing that we know from playing online games is that a lot of players hate being the healer. Usually, this involves staring at health bars, rather than feeling like you’ve actually contributed. Turtle Rock tries to break this stereotype with the Medic in Evolve. Val, member of the medic class, carries a medgun that functions much like the healing in Team Fortress 2 – a beam of healing that slowly and continuously heals whoever it is focused on. That’s not the only way the medic can contribute though. Val also carries an anti-material rifle that allows her to pinpoint weak spots on the monster, and highlight them for her teammates. With the anti-material rifle, if you hit a limb a bullseye will show up and other players who aim for this will do extra damage to the monster. This will aid to the teamwork aspect of Evolve. On top of that, Val also has a tranquilizer rifle that will slow the monster down for a period of time, also aiding to the usefulness of the medic class.

Trapper

The trapper class in Evolve will be a crucial member on every team. Not only does the trapper have the ability to hunt down the monster, it can also prove to be a real nuisance to the monster. Griffin, a member of the trapper class, uses a harpoon gun to help contain the monster. If hit with this harpoon, the monster will have a much harder time getting away, and will have to shift its offensive focus to Griffin to get rid of this hold. On top of that, the Trapper also aids in attacking the monster with an Gauss SMG. Lastly, and quite frankly one of the most useful things we’ve yet seen, the trapper has the ability to use something called a “mobile arena”. Essentially, this creates a dome shaped force filed for a short period of time that prevents friends and enemies from leaving the area. This can be a game changer if the monster is trying to escape, but will definitely make the trapper a focus for damage.

Support

Last but certainly not least is the support class. The support class in Evolve is used to increase the survivability of the team, and increase the damage done to the monster. Hank, a member of the support class, uses a shield gun to provide a short burst of invulnerability to teammates, making him a crucial part of the team. He can shield the medic from an oncoming attack which in turn could help the medic save someones life. On top of this, Hank has a laser cutter designed specifically for cutting into monster flesh. This will do large amounts of damage to the monster, but will also blatantly give away Hank’s position, making him a focus for attack. Hank also has another powerful offensive attack called “orbital barrage”. This attack is an airstrike that causes massive amounts of damage to anyone caught in the radius. Lastly, Hank has a cloaking device that will make him and nearby allies invisible for a short amount of time. This cloaking device should offer some variability in gameplay, with the chance for surprise attacks or quick escapes.

What Turtle Rock Needs to Watch Out For

While many of these concepts sound new and exciting, Turtle Rock studios could easily ruin this game through one minor concept – balancing. If this game is not balanced perfectly, players are not going to want to play. If the monster can’t possibly benefit from something like a rainy environment, and it is almost an automatic loss, then nobody is going to want to play as the monster. Even further, if they can’t find a good balance between classes and make every class fun, then there will be a surplus of the favored classes, and not many who like to play the least favorite. In a game on this scale, with this many variables, balancing is key.

All in all, we’ll see how Evolve comes along in the next few months as we grow closer to release. Hopefully, it won’t be too much of a clone of Left 4 Dead and will offer a fun, balanced experience. Players who pre-order the game will get an exclusive Goliath skin that actually looks really neat, and a new monster character free.

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With the hype building, Ubisoft then made the first big blow to the game’s hype train – a delayed release. On October 15th, 2013 Ubisoft announced that Watch Dogs needed more time to be polished, and that they were going to delay the game. This is a huge blow to any game, although with Watch Dogs having been a launch title for NextGen consoles, the damage was even worse than usual. I do want to make it clear that I’m not doubting the decision to delay a game because it needs more time. Most of the time, this is for the better. Or in the curious case of Battlefield 4, it could have been for the better (I’m looking at you, EA). That being said, announcing a revolutionary game as a NextGen launch title should come with a level of responsibility. Many people buy these new consoles for the launch titles, so when Ubisoft announced the delay, people were rightfully upset and retailers had to figure out how to fix this for people who had already preordered the Watch Dogs + Console bundle.

Over the last few months, Watch Dogs fell off the radar for many people. It was especially drowned out by the release of Dark Souls II and Titanfall. Recently though, accompanying the announcement of the new release date (May 27th, 2014), a trailer was released that was intended to give people some insight about the story. Hopefully, it would also restore some of the lost hype. Unfortunately, this trailer had the opposite effect. It was pointed out that some of the scenes in the new trailer actually had worse graphics than the E3 trailer, likely to accommodate the release on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Many fans even went as far as calling the game “hideous”. Ubisoft soon released another trailer, showing off the graphics engine, restoring some hope in the game. It isn’t yet confirmed if the graphics were downgraded. My only question is why Ubisoft would show a trailer with the Xbox 360/PS3 version as opposed to showcasing the power of their NextGen graphics at any opportunity possible?

Don’t get me wrong, Watch Dogs looks like a phenomenal game and I really hope that it delivers. I think with the release approaching quicker than ever, some of the lost hype will naturally start to pick up again. It was sad, though, to have so much excitement for something only forget about it for months on end. Hopefully, Ubsioft will make fans proud in the next month and a half, and not derail the hype train any further.

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PvP Soul level meta has been a rather hot topic amongst several forums in the Dark Souls 2 community. For those who are new to the series I will offer a quick history lesson: Whenever you wanted to PvP in the previous souls games you needed to find opponents around your own soul level, thus a SL meta was established to increase these matchmaking odds. Besides increasing the quantity of multi player encounters, it also made PvP more balanced as everyone had an equal amount of points invested in their stats.The community back then decided on a SL around 120 as that would facilitate most popular builds, without giving the players too many tools to become “overpowered”.

In Dark Souls 2 a new soul level meta is being formed as well and the winning number seems to be around 150. Before I start expressing my thoughts on this number I would like to say that matchmaking in Dark Souls 2 is not completely figured out yet, especially in NG+. This might make a community decided PvP Soul Level less important, than in the previous games. It is also important  to note that nobody is trying to decide what YOU should do with YOUR CHARACTER, the community is simply trying to create a fun and competitive Dark Souls II PvP environment, similar to how a tournament organizer is simply constructing rules for its contenders to ensure fairness and, in this case, attendance.

 The factors that come into play when coming up with a number

• Organic: this is simply the level most people play the game at without actually trying to aim for a certain level.
• Realistic: does attaining this level and then reaching the pvp hotspot location require too much work? If so then it is unrealistic.
• Builds: At what level do the most popular builds function well
• Softcaps: around what level do you hit certain softcaps? This is to try keeping your ROI (return on Investment) on your points high

Organic and realistic soullevels when going into NG+ are anywhere between 110-200, depending on where you spent your souls, how many souls you lost, etc. So any level between 110-200 will pass for that criteria. The game is still too new to figure out what builds are going to be cookie-cutter, so I will not touch on that right now. That leaves us with the softcaps and ROI.

Hitting all the softcaps in Dark Souls 2 will get you around SL115, if you invest only in one damage stat (Dexterity in this case). Do we really need 35 points to further “pimp” our character? If you believe that you need more health, than why not sacrifice some adaptibility. The keyword here is sacrifice, people are making insanely powerful builds that do not have to compromise on anything, which puts purists (people who play as either a pure physical, sluggish, ironclad warrior; a cloth covered, glasscannon, magic user; or a fast rolling, high dexterity, high damage assasin) at a huge disadvantage. If you compare this Greatsword warrior build with this one. You will find that the second Greatsword warrior did not have to compromise on speed, eliminating his main weakness, but he is encouraged to spend those points in adaptibility as his main stats are already at their softcaps.

So what is wrong with having completely maxed out characers?

First and foremost it hurts the purists. To go back to the Greatsword builds, what if I enjoy being a super tanky, sluggish, warmachine, I will have to keep investing points passed their soft cap, thus hurting my ROI and putting me behind against other Greatsword builds that will min-max and get speed. Similar the glasscannon mage will be hard pressed to invest more points in doing damage over defense because the ROI becomes so low after maxing intellect. Lastly, the assassin will find himself either looking to increase its health and equipload or becoming a hybrid caster. Does this mean purists builds are completely nonviable? No, this is Dark Souls if you git gud any build is viable; however, as a DS1 veteran, creating new themed-builds was a big part of the PvP appeal to me, and being punished for trying to create a more traditional build will take away from that. I remember having to fat roll with my Iron Tarkus Cosplay, but still being pretty successful, and most importantly a lot of fun. This would have not been as much fun if I were fast rolling and using enchants on my weapon.

Secondly, the lack of a weakness in a build will hurt the strategy aspect in Dark Souls 2 pvp. Every build requires a different playstyle; the squishy mage that has to stay back has now become a mage wielding a Moonlight Greatsword in full Havel’s that can’t wait until you get passed his barrage of spells to smash your face in. The once so delicate assassin and sturdy tank will now make your hits feel unrewarding when you finally catch them between rolls.Some might argue that eliminating weaknesses will better demonstrate skill, but won’t level 1 fist fights do the exact same thing? Saying all builds need to be similar or capable of doing it all, is the same as saying people should only play one character in competitive fighting games. A big part of the fun in souls PvP is creating an unique but effective build, and a soul level meta of 150 will not facilitate that as well in comparison to a soul level meta between 100-135. However, in the end Dark Souls is about enjoyment, if more people enjoy PvP’ing at 150 than that is where most people will be, I am simply sharing my own views to hopefully spark discussion or at least urge you to think about where you want the meta to be.

Lastly, I found a great video that further illustrates these points.

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But when a game is being priced for such a large sum of money for just a multiplayer mode, is it justifed? I’ve seen gameplay of Titanfall and played it myself, so don’t get me wrong, it is a very fun game, but after a few online matches it does start to loose the initial wow factor and starts to feel like any other multiplayer FPS, with the addition of giant robots. I really do enjoy Titanfall as a game, but I think that they are charging way too much for way too little. If Titanfall had been priced at say 20-30 dollars, I would have no problem buying it, but the fact that they are charging the same price as games with full campaigns and multiplayer modes combined for a game with just a multiplayer mode it does feel like they are asking too much.

In today’s gaming world it’s starting to feel like game companies are trying too hard to take advantage of their customers. They release a game and then a week or so later release DLC, which was clearly made along with the game, meaning they could have easily included it in the game, but would rather charge their customers an extra few bucks for a new costume or a new look for the character’s weapons. A lot of companies are using this tactic to try and squeeze more money out of their audience. Which really makes me question how much they respect the consumer.

If Titanfall had been reasonably priced or included a single player campaign I would have given some real thought into buying it, but with EA’s blatant money grabbing attitude towards it’s customers I won’t be buying this game any time soon. The only time I would get Titanfall is with the Bundle where it comes free with the console and even then I’d probably abandon it after I get bored with it, as is what happens with most FPS games. Don’t get me wrong by the way, I love FPS games, but only if they are actually interesting and give me something back. A game with a nice single player mode that both challenges and rewards the player, along with an expansive multiplayer mode to show your skills is what I’d pay 60 dollars for. The fact that they are selling this as the reason we should buy next gen, telling us to “believe the hype” is a bare faced lie.

Titanfall has a “multiplayer campaign” but it’s just like any other multiplayer mode within the game, with the exception of a short intro, which we are being told is why we don’t need a single player campaign. The main problem with this campaign is regardless if you are winning, your team can still lose, because it’s part of the “story”. While I’ll admit that the fact that you have to haul ass out of there when you lose is a good idea, it does start to get old fairly quick.

While Titanfall isn’t taking the costume or weapons DLC route (yet), they do have a season pass that they have the audacity to charge an extra 25 dollars for, as if you haven’t paid enough for this so called “revolutionary” game. But this is just my personal opinion on Titanfall, leave a comment and tell me what your opinion is, I’d love to see what you good people of the internet think.

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