Posts tagged “preview”

According to the Iliad, the sacking of Troy only happened after a very specific set of things occurred in the right order. So, I asked Todor Nikolov, lead game designer at Creative Assembly Sofia, would players have to set up the same set of circumstances? "You're probably talking about the Trojan Horse?" he replied. HahaHAHAHha yes of course, that's what I was talking about, it…

Tagged with Creative Assembly, Creative Assembly Sofia, feature, Gamescom 2019, preview, A Total War Saga: Thrones of Britannia, A Total War Saga: Troy.

In Romero Games' Empire Of Sin, you play a prohibition era crime lord in Chicago, organising your rackets and engaging in turn-based combat with rivals. It's an era developer Brenda Romero has always been fascinated by. She grew up in a town in New York state called Ogdensburg, which hadn't, historically, had a lot going for it until US prohibition started in 1920, triggering 13…

Tagged with Brenda Romero, feature, Gamescom 2019, Paradox Interactive, preview, Romero Games, Empire of Sin.

Back in 2015, we posted about a prototype called The Endless Cylinder, from ACE Team, in which a small long-nosed animal wanders around a surreal planet. This prototype has now reemerged as The Eternal Cylinder, and is a proper game and everything. Although it's all more polished, not a whole lot has changed from that original proof of concept (showing that it was probably a…

Tagged with ACE Team, big dick energy, Gamescom 2019, Good Shepherd Entertainment, preview, The Eternal Cylinder.

If you hold the shift key to slide down the RPS treehouse’s rickety ropeladder, you’ll get ropeburn, but you’ll also get to the bottom of the tree. There, you’ll find a trap door that requires a pulley and a rubber chicken to open, and at the bottom of the gaping chasm, you’ll find me, a ball and chain fastened to my ankle and purple and…

Tagged with Hardsuit Labs, Paradox Interactive, preview, video, Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2.

Stukas in ill-fitting Roc costumes, Sturmtigers with “I am a Stone Giant” painted on their sides, Wirbelwinds in long blonde wigs, talking pidgin Elvish... there was a slight danger Fantasy General II was going to end up inheriting more DNA from its publisher's back catalogue than the 1996 classic I eulogised in May. Having roamed Aer aggressively and quizzically for the past two days, I'm…

Tagged with Fantasy General 2, preview, The Flare Path.

To the untrained eye (eyes that haven't spent many an hour trained on an exquisitely detailed topographical map, checking on all corners of your immense empire), Humankind probably looks like any other 4X game where you shuffle units around and micromanage different settlements. But according to the hands-off demonstration shown at Gamescom this year, it ain't. 4X stands for explore, expand, exploit and exterminate, the…

Tagged with Amplitude Studios, An Interview, feature, Gamescom 2019, preview, Sega, Humankind.

I have been telling people I played this game called Atomicrops, and they go “Huh, haven’t heard of that one, what is it?” And then I go “It’s sort of… twin-stick Stardew Valley?” because so far that is the best shorthand I can come up with. Although it describes itself as an action roguelite farming simulator, which may be more helpful for you. The framing…

Tagged with Bird Bath Games, feature, Gamescom 2019, preview, Raw Fury, Atomicrops.

Marthe Jonkers is a senior concept artist at CD Projeckt Red working on Cyberpunk 2077. Jonkers actually designed the location in the first very first teaser trailer for the game back in 2013, featuring the cyberbabe with mantis arms, and was resigned to the fact that nobody was really looking at the building behind her. Jonkers' team work on locations and interiors, and even the…

Tagged with CD Projekt Red, feature, Gamescom 2019, interview, preview, Cyberpunk 2077.

It's amazing how quickly you get back into a routine, even when you've been out of it a while. I got to play a bit of the Proving Grounds, one of Borderlands 3's endgame challenges where you run a timed gauntlet and try to survive waves of high-level enemies and/or kill them efficiently. It was like putting on a big explodey coat. Which is not…

Tagged with 2K, feature, Gamescom 2019, Gearbox Software, interview, Paul Sage, preview, Borderlands 3.

Reader, I often tire quickly of the bangs. The shooties. The click click booms. I think it's because damn near every action game has guns, but not many developers make shooters really bloody good. And indeed, I agree with Matt that, at least from what we've seen so far, the guns in Cyberpunk 2077 look mostly like floaty number generators. And yet, as was pointed…

Tagged with CD Projekt Red, feature, Gamescom 2019, preview, Cyberpunk 2077.

As was observed by some guy who used to work here (RPS in peace), it's really weird when bits of the UK turn up in games in an authentic way. Which is to say, in a way that isn't over-the-top Victoriana Steampunk. I say I say. Tea and crumpets. (Not that I don't like crumpets, or drink an amount of tea that means I get…

Tagged with feature, Gamescom 2019, Hard Mode Paris, Leggy Dustman, preview, Ubisoft, Ubisoft Toronto, Watch Dogs Legion.

You hear the phrase "Blair Witch video game" and your first thought as an inexplicably loyal fan is: "Oh Gods, please don't balls it up." Well, I'm happy to say despite that initial concern, I found a hands-on preview of the upcoming addition to the found footage terror universe to be inspiring of some confidence. If you want to know more, especially about the protagonist's…

Tagged with Bloober Team, preview, video, Blair Witch.

For a while there, when I asked the filing system of my brain for The Outer Worlds it would throw up a card for that just said "The space one that isn't Outer Wilds". I only have so much processing power, and I will still call each of those games by the other's name at least once per time I bring either of them up.…

Tagged with feature, Obsidian Entertainment, preview, Private Division, The Outer Worlds.

ScourgeBringer is a game that exists in your fingers. It's an action roguelite fidgetspinner about bish-bash-boshing across single screen levels of enemies. The protagonist Kyhra has a sword for slashing, a drone that can fire a blast of bullets, and a set of movements that feel sublime to control. I've been playing an early alpha ahead of an early access release planned for later this…

Tagged with Dear Villagers, feature, Flying Oak Games, hands on, preview, ScourgeBringer.

"We all die, everything dies, every living thing dies." Nicolas Guérin is reassuring me. He's the creative director at Thunder Lotus Games and they're working on Spiritfarer, announced at E3 2019 as a "cosy management game about dying." I need reassuring because I've played a 15-minute demo of Spiritfarer and I'm worried that a game that treats death lightly will make light of the suffering…

Tagged with E3 2019, feature, hands on, preview, Thunder Lotus Games, Spiritfarer.

Hitchhiker has left me in a small pickle. Alec already reviewed it over a year ago, when the first drive came out as a Humble Original. That drive is the bit I’ve played too. But I did really enjoy playing it, and got a small glimpse of where the game is going, and I’ve found I want to remind everyone it exists as a result.…

Tagged with feature, GDC 2019, Mad About Pandas, preview, Hitchhiker.

This is Maximilian. As you can see, he is a very insecure criminal mastermind. Not content with having a scar on his left eye, he wears a monocle on his right. He is trying very hard to be the stereotype of evil. When you need this many sinister affectations to intimidate your staff, you are probably broadcasting your own neuroses straight to the camera. But…

Tagged with E3 2019, feature, preview, rebellion, Evil Genius 2.

Intricate 4X strategy games don’t benefit much from short demos, especially during the annual videogames vomitorium of E3. But a short demo is what I got with Age Of Wonders: Planetfall. I would need far more time to get an understanding for the Civ-like encroachment of its world map. And I can't give you a solid impression of the battles based on the single brief…

Tagged with E3 2019, feature, Paradox Interactive, preview, Triumph Studios, Age of Wonders: Planetfall.

You probably remember the reveal of Sea Of Solitude at E3 in 2018 because of CEO Cornelia Geppert’s excitement and sincerity when presenting the game. Geppert is self-effacing about it, and told me it was surprising to her that people responded that way. “The actual developers of course are always passionate about their project!” she said. “I think it's normal when you do your project…

Tagged with Cornelia Geppert, Electronic Arts, feature, interview, Jo-Mei Games, preview, Sea of Solitude.

Ronnie O’Neill is a scumbag. But that’s okay. In about 20 minutes he’ll be dead, slumped on the tarmac next to a black truck. That’s what happens when you mess with Al Capone, you filthy mutt. At least, this is one way things can go in upcoming mob strategy game Empire Of Sin. It’s part mobster management, part turn-based tactics, with a splash of the…

Tagged with E3 2019, feature, Paradox Interactive, preview, Romero Games, Empire of Sin.