Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams was a Kickstarter platform game that John liked but didn’t love: the former because of the satisfaction of learning each Sister’s special skills, the latter because of issues like repetitiveness. If you’re of the same mindset and was gunning for an opportunity to do more with the game, developers Black Forest has just the thing for you: a competitive multiplayer mode.
Risk of Rain looks like a side-scrolling roguelite-shooter and in most regards that’s what it is. It’s also got a lot in common with ARPGs, in the way its characters’ skills function and in how a newly unlocked character can completely change the way you approach the game. The latest update, version 1.2, is significant because it i) switches the game to a new engine and ii) adds two entirely new classes.
All strategy games strive to reach a certain balance; the point at which the player feels responsible for their successes and failures, but where the simulation is so complex and alive that a perfect, static system can never be built. That’s apparently what motivates Prison Architect‘s 25th alpha, “one of the biggest updates” Introversion say they’ve ever done. The main new addition is prisoner reputations, a system of personality types that will make creating a perfectly functioning, forever peaceful prison practically impossible.
As ever, there’s a video talkthrough and some more detail of the changes below.
I don’t think it’s possible to have any misgivings over an update officially titled “Mechsgiving.” As for Portalmas, well, that one’s a bit more up for debate, seeing as it’s just a word I made up. But generosity’s officially in the air, and both Piranha and Valve are doling out fairly significant updates to their breadwinners, MechWarrior Online and Portal 2. Unfortunately, neither involves gigantic mechanized turkeys, but I suppose beggars in the midst of celebrating a decadent holiday of feasting and lethargy can’t be choosers. Still though, that’s far from a reason to mope. So let’s look under the ol’ turkey tree and see what we got.
I was thinking, seeing that World Of Tanks has unveiled its 8.1 update with accompanying video, that this isn’t a Halloweeny thing. What are they doing releasing it today? And then it occurred to me: tanks are actually scary. Ghosts and monsters may be the more traditional source of chills, but their overall efficacy at being frightening is somewhat limited by their not existing. Tanks exist. They blow people up. They could blow you up. Thanks are fucking terrifying. Everyone: dress up as a tank tonight.
The Secret World‘s second issue hasn’t exactly had the shortest journey to players’ virtual mailboxes, but – after one more brief delay – it should be arriving sometime today. Let’s be honest, though: seeing as it’s Guild Wars 2’s time now (Is that the point they were trying to make? I still don’t know), your TSW icon – cold and untouched by a mouse click’s caress – probably has the other kind of mouse living inside it at this point. You, I’m guessing, will require some convincing on this one. Funcom seems to think so too, so it’s put together a video overview of “Digging Deeper” – just for you, and you alone. And also hundreds of thousands of other people who are incredibly similar to you.
The Tribes: Ascend updates keep on rolling out, and so too does evidence of Hi-Rez’s continued commitment to filling this game with strange stuff. Sure, they’ve already added disco, but now there are costumes. And elaborate backdrops. And German. But anyway, as long as the game keeps being good, we should not question the nature of these updates. And there are some pretty intriguing new toys in this update, so here we are.
It’s not exactly a secret that Steam has a fair bit of clunk in its trunk, but Valve – to its credit – is slowly taking steps to make its digital giant a wee bit gentler. First up, the community. Once a cluttered mess of clicks and disorganized, disjointed pages, it’s now evolved into a promising fusion of Facebook, Reddit, and the color gray. And now, with a brief beta out of the way, you can come on in, take off your gaming coat, and have a look around.
Let me begin this by noting that, in actuality, EA’s at least been paying solid attention to Origin lately. Lending a helping hand to crowd-funded games taking their wobbly first steps was a smart idea, and putting out a big call for input from users is a much appreciated gesture – assuming, of course, that EA actually takes resulting criticisms to heart. That said, Origin 9.0 – a self-described “landmark update” – isn’t exactly encouraging. Once it rolls out, you’ll gain access to a free-floating friends list, re-sizable game icons, and, er, a clock.
I have ridden horses before. They’re swift, terrifying creatures, and while I attempted to maintain a dignified posture befitting of my stature as Someone Who’s Technically From Texas, it was pretty obvious that I was mostly hanging on for dear life. Apparently, though, in addition to the ability to fell dragons with the gentlest of whispers, the Dragonborn will soon be capable of fighting from the back of a horse. Like, without careening off its back in a blur of blood, bones, and white hot terror. That, I believe, is the mark of a true hero.
Craig may have found Gotham City Impostors to be a run-of-the-mill shooter with the F2P-esque currency equivalent of a hundred-headed hydra, but its zany take on Batman’s mythos, at least, kept him from completely giving it the old POW, THWACK, GARBAGE CAN SOUND. It remains to be seen, however, whether or not its recently released update is up that (hopefully not) orphan-spawning alley. At the very least, all of it’s free and will grant you access to a new map, the up-close-and-personal East End, and a new coin-collecting mode called Bounty Hunter. More importantly, though, you can now make your character say silly things in other languages. Would you like a trailer? Then put on your ill-fitting batsuit and grapple-flail past the break.
Ah, raiding and pillaging – two activities that, like adorable kittens and cuddling, go hand-in-hand. Tribes: Ascend’s Raider is, of course, extremely proficient in both of the former areas (and possibly kitten cuddling as well, though there’s a perplexing lack of discussion surrounding the topic), but he’s now cruising toward handing out even more bruisings. In tomorrow’s update, the Raider will gain the Plasma Gun, the heavy hitting NJ5-B SMG variant, and base-clearing Cluster Grenades. Also en route: a new “Griever” skin that makes him look like an incredibly disgruntled space biker. Sure, he’ll bust some generators and play a crucial role in a flag capture, but will it finally bring him peace?
I’ve been waiting for the Minecraft 1.8 update for a long time. I want all this adventure stuff in my Minecraft now, damn it. Especially those creepy Endermen. Well, lucky me because the update is out! Sort of. While it wasn’t due for an official release yet, a version was leaked by one of the testing groups. The pre-release version has now been officially sanctioned, provided it’s downloaded from this link here. Play the game, and find bugs and report them. It’s like a job that’s fun. Let us know what you discover and if it seems like it’s been worth the wait. And bear in mind, I won’t get to play this for at least another couple of days, so your tales of adventure could nourish me. Go forth!
How many of you are still playing Running With Rifles, the murky yet marvellous top-down tactical shooter Jim introduced you to a while back? Unless the answer is most of you, it’s not enough. Maybe you thought the game wouldn’t receive any significant updates for an age. I’m pleased to announce that you were very wrong indeed. So, stand corrected, chin up, and prepare to go forth and battle once more. This alpha 0.351 update doesn’t add tanks, planes or classes, it’s simply an evolution of the core concept, which is tiny armies of soldiers shooting each other. How do you make that more entertaining?
RPS Feature Better News From Indie Stone
The Indie Stone have announced that the first update for Project Zomboid is now available for download. And that’s not all! They’ve also answered some questions regarding Steam availability and the frequency and girth of future updates. If you’ve already pre-purchased the game and have access to the in development version, the update is available now. The free demo, however, will not be updated so if you want to see the changes in action, it’s time to hand over the clams. Fortunately, that just got easier because the game is now available through Desura. Not Steam though. Not yet.
You may remember that Alec was very taken with the Artemis Spaceship Bridge Simulator. Designed to recreate the experience of being in charge of a Star Trek-like ship, it’s installed on a group of networked PCs, and you nerd out flying through space as a team. Today they’ve revealed a big update for the project, which includes overhauling all the art, lowering the price, and most importantly, no long requires LAN.
Minecraft has received its 1.2 beta update. I saw a black sheep! The full list of additions is below, but I’ve spent the evening mining underground caverns and have seen very little. What have you spotted?
Coo, at last, the completely excellent Lara Croft & The Guardian Of Light has online co-op. Quite how it didn’t ship with this feature – something pretty essential to its core design – is a mystery. But it’s finally there now, and since you’ll have bought it via Steam it’ll automagically update the next time you load the grey gaming window. This’ll let you play the game with a chum, which I’d rather like to do now please. There’s also a few other tweaks, including graphical and audible improvements, refining of both mouse/keyboard and controller input, and general stability. So good!
Last night DogFighter fully relaunched itself, with some significant changes. In response to player feedback, the biggest difference is the addition of dedicated servers, along with proper joystick and gamepad support, a long list of bug fixes, and on top of all that, a demo. And to celebrate, the game’s 50% off all this week.
And now the latest TF2 update has begun. This time it’s Demoman and Soldier, with the usual routine in place – we’ll see three weapons for each of them, new maps, new oddities, achievements, and probably some bloody hats, revealed over the coming week. We’ll be determined to wait a few days and put all the updates in one post, and Valve will do something ludicrous each day that forces us to report it anyway, and we’ll curse them and their cleverness. Their first trick: there’s a secret seventh weapon, and only one of the two classes is going to get it. If more Demomen kill Soldiers over the coming week, then Demoman gets the weapon, and vice versa, monitored via the WAR hub page.
