Author: John Scalzo

John Scalzo is Warp Zoned's Editor-In-Chief and resident retro gaming expert. You can email him at john AT warpzoned DOT com.

New Retail Releases: Tetris Effect, World of Final Fantasy Maxima, Carnival Games, More

Posted on November 5, 2018 by John Scalzo

It’s not often that we can talk about a new Tetris game as the biggest release of the week, but that’s exactly what’s happening this week.

The Tetris Company has teamed up with Tetsuya Mizuguchi’s Enhance to transform the classic puzzle game into Tetris Effect, a wild extravaganza of sight and sound. Set to launch exclusively for the PS4 this Friday, November 9, Tetris Effect will also feature support for the PlayStation VR headset.

A pair of re-releases will also make their way onto store shelves this week as Square Enix will bring World of Final Fantasy Maxima, their chibi-styled crossover RPG, to the Xbox One for the first time. It’ll be joined by 2K’s Carnival Games, which brings its midway minigames to the PS4, Switch, and Xbox One.

Finally this week, WB Games is prepping a release of the Hitman 2: Gold Edition ahead of the action shooter’s Standard Edition launch next week. And stores will begin stocking the Xbox One S 1TB + Battlefield V Bundle, even though the included download code for Battlefield V won’t go live until next Thursday, November 15.

You can find the rest of this week’s new retail releases after the break. (more…)

Posted in News, PS4, Switch, Xbox One | Tagged , , ,

Blizzard co-founder reiterates that multiple Diablo projects are currently in the works

Posted on November 4, 2018 by John Scalzo

Diablo fans hoping to get a glimpse of Diablo IV at this year’s BlizzCon did not react well after the developer unveiled the mobile-exclusive Diablo Immortal on Friday. Angry fans pushed into BlizzCon’s Q&A sessions to vent directly to the development team, while others flooded the company’s social media channels with comments in an attempt to be heard.

Needless to say, no one from the company expected such a vitriolic response, though Blizzard co-founder Allen Adham told Kotaku that the backlash wasn’t a complete surprise:

“We know our audience here is passionately PC- and console-focused,” he said. “We’ve also seen this before. We saw a similar response when we announced that we were bringing Diablo to console, and we saw a similar response to the announcement of Hearthstone.”

[…]

“That being said, we knew our audience here desperately wants to see and hear about one thing in particular.”

Later in the interview, Adham calmly reiterated that Blizzard has multiple Diablo projects currently in development, which is something we’ve all known for a long time:

“At Blizzard, we don’t announce things until we’re ready. It’s all about game quality, less about timing, all about delivering an overwhelming experience to our players,” he said. “We tried to get ahead of that a little bit with the blog post to let that group know that we are working on multiple things and continue to work on multiple things.”

[…]

“There are actually two distinct teams,” Adham said. “That’s something we tried to communicate. I know our community here, there’s a concern that we are focused on this instead of that. The truth is that we have multiple Diablo teams working on multiple unannounced Diablo projects even after announcing [Immortal].”

So there you have it. Diablo Immortal is in development for mobile devices and Diablo IV is unofficially (though definitely) in development as well. We’ll continue to learn more about both games in the future, as soon as Blizzard is ready to talk about them.

Posted in Mobile, News, PC | Tagged ,

Blizzard announces Diablo Immortal for mobile devices at BlizzCon

Posted on November 2, 2018 by John Scalzo

It’s BlizzCon time, and Blizzard has used their annual convention to announce a rather unexpected new entry in the Diablo franchise. We all know that Diablo IV is in the works (the developer more or less confirmed the existence of a new numbered sequel back in August), but Blizzard threw us a curveball today with the announcement of Diablo Immortal for mobile devices.

In development at NetEase, Diablo Immortal is described as a “Mobile Massively Multiplayer Online Action Role-Playing Game” (or MMMOARPG for short), and players will be able to join the fight against evil as a Barbarian, Crusader, Demon Hunter, Monk, Necromancer, or Wizard. Don’t worry if your favorite isn’t listed, more playable classes will be added to the game in a future update.

Diablo Immortal takes place between the events of Diablo II: Lord of Destruction and Diablo III. The “Herald of Terror,” Skarn, is massing an army to resurrect Diablo, and players must band together to stop him. To do this, they’ll need to master the game’s new touchscreen controls:

The transition from mouse-and-keyboard or controller to mobile touchscreen device was designed to feel completely natural, intuitive, and fun in Diablo Immortal. Directional controls make it easy to move heroes around the world, and activating a skill is as easy as holding a thumb down on a skill to aim, then releasing it to unleash hell on your foes. And reinforcements are always only a tap away thanks to the native Blizzard Battle.net UI designed specifically for Diablo Immortal, which allows you to chat and form groups with ease in the middle of the most frantic battle.

Diablo Immortal is currently in development for iOS and Android devices, and prospective players can sign up for updates about special rewards and a Beta Test for the game at DiabloImmortal.com. After its release, Blizzard and NetEase plan to support the game with “new storylines, new playable character classes, new loot, and all-new challenges” on a regular basis.

Finally, you can sneak a peek at a Cinematic Trailer and a Gameplay Trailer for Diablo Immortal, both of which are available after the break. (more…)

Posted in Mobile, News | Tagged

Warcraft III: Reforged is a remake of one of the greatest RTS games of all time and it’s coming in 2019

Posted on November 2, 2018 by John Scalzo

It’s BlizzCon time, and Blizzard has used their annual convention to announce that a remake of the well-loved Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos is currently in the works.

Set to be released for the PC sometime in 2019, Warcraft III: Reforged will include The Frozen Throne expansion, as well as “a stunning visual update, over four hours of updated in-game cutscenes, full Battle.net implementation,” and “an upgraded World Editor”:

The founding of Orgrimmar. The fall of Lordaeron. The reign of the Burning Legion. The rise of the Lich King. Veterans and newcomers alike will experience these pivotal events in Azeroth’s history like never before in Warcraft III: Reforged, from the points of view of four distinct factions: the mighty Orcs, the noble Humans, the ancient Night Elves, and the insidious Undead Scourge.

For Warcraft III: Reforged, every character, structure, and environment has been recreated to emphasize the depth, dimension, and personality of this rough-hewn world. The Warcraft III saga, which spans more than 60 campaign missions, enjoys an epic retelling in Reforged, with over four hours of updated in-game cutscenes and rerecorded voice-overs that breathe new life into the earliest renditions of key characters like Sylvanas Windrunner and Arthas Menethil.

“Warcraft III is monumentally important to us here at Blizzard, and its influence is evident in everything we’ve done since,” said J. Allen Brack, the President of Blizzard Entertainment. “A project like Warcraft III: Reforged isn’t something we undertake lightly, partly because of this legacy, but more importantly, because we know what it means to our players.”

Warcraft III: Reforged will be available in two distinct editions when it launches next year. A Standard Edition will be available for $29.99, but fans looking for extra goodies will want the Spoils of War Edition, which is priced at $39.99. The Spoils of War Edition will include “unique skins for four of the game’s hero units, as well as a host of in-game bonuses for a number of other Blizzard games, such as a gruesome Meat Wagon mount for World of Warcraft, the Third War cardback for Hearthstone, and more.”

Blizzard released a trio of trailers for Warcraft III: Reforged today (a Cinematic Trailer, a Gameplay Trailer, and a closer look at the changes coming to “The Culling” mission), and you can find all of them after the break. (more…)

Posted in News, PC |

Ashe is an outlaw gunslinger… and the next Hero to be added to Overwatch

Posted on November 2, 2018 by John Scalzo

It’s BlizzCon time, and Blizzard has used their annual convention to announce the next addition to Overwatch. The shooter’s 29th Hero will be Elizabeth Caledonia “Calamity” Ashe (or Ashe for short), an outlaw gunslinger who rides with the Deadlock Gang.

According to her biography on Overwatch’s official website, Ashe has a hair trigger, a love of dynamite, and a robotic sidekick named B.O.B. You can expect to see all three when facing off against her in any of the game’s arenas:

Overview (Role: Damage)
Ashe quickly fires her rifle from the hip or uses her weapon’s aim-down sights to line up a high damage shot. She blasts enemies by throwing dynamite, and her coach gun packs enough punch to put some distance between her and her foes. And Ashe is not alone, as she can call on her omnic ally B.O.B., to join the fray when the need arises.

Ability: The Viper
Ashe’s semi-automatic rifle fires quick shots, or she can use her aim-down sights for a more damaging, precise shot.

Ability: Dynamite
Ashe throws an explosive that detonates after a short delay or immediately when shot. The explosion from Dynamite also lights enemies on fire, dealing damage over time.

Ability: Coach Gun
Ashe blasts enemies in front of her, knocking them away and propelling herself backward for added mobility.

Ability: B.O.B.
Ashe summons her trusted omnic sidekick, B.O.B., who charges forward and knocks enemies into the air, then lays down suppressing fire with his arm cannons.

Blizzard didn’t say when Ashe would be available to download, but you can find an introductory gameplay trailer and an animated “Origin Story” for the outlaw after the break. (more…)

Posted in News, PC, PS4, Xbox One | Tagged

Diablo III, World of Final Fantasy, Transistor, more coming to Nintendo eShop this week

Posted on November 1, 2018 by John Scalzo

“Beloved Game Comes to the Switch” has been a tried-and-true throughout the entire year and eight months of the console’s existence. It’s time to dust it off once again this week as a handful of well-loved games will finally make their way to the Switch in the latest Nintendo eShop update.

Blizzard’s Diablo III: Eternal Collection leads the way this week, and it’ll be available to download through the eShop beginning tomorrow, November 2. The Switch version of Diablo III will include the original Action RPG, as well as the Reaper of Souls expansion, the Rise of the Necromancer Pack, and an exclusive Ganondorf Armor Set.

Square Enix’s World of Final Fantasy Maxima will launch later this week (on Tuesday, November 6), and it’s an enhanced and updated rendition of the crossover RPG. Players will be able to recruit a wide variety of Champions from Final Fantasy lore and do battle with “Mirages” of a multitude of monsters from the franchise.

Yet another RPG will make its Switch debut this week as Supergiant Games brought Transistor to Nintendo’s console beginning today. Transistor blends Supergiant’s trademark audio wizardry into a game that blends together “thoughtful strategic planning” with action-packed sword swinging. Also available to download today is a pair of acclaimed indies from Cellar Door Games, including Rogue Legacy, a “hereditary” roguelite, and Full Metal Furies, a new take on the multiplayer brawler.

If you’re all RPGed out at the moment, Bandai Namco’s Taiko No Tatsujin: Drum N Fun! will roll onto the Switch beginning Friday, November 2.

Finally this week, Double Fine surprise-launched Grim Fandango Remastered for the Switch just in time for the adventure game’s 20th anniversary and the remaining developers from Telltale Games will bring Minecraft: Story Mode Season 2 to the Switch on November 6.

You can learn more about the rest of this week’s additions to the Nintendo eShop (including Moonlighter, Brawlhalla, Carnival Games, and more) after the break. (more…)

Posted in News, Switch | Tagged , , , , , ,

Final Smash Bros. Ultimate Direct reveals new characters, Spirits customization, Fighters Pass DLC, World of Light campaign, and a lot more

Posted on November 1, 2018 by John Scalzo

Nintendo uploaded the final Nintendo Direct video for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate this morning, and Director Masahiro Sakurai smashed expectations with a 40-minute presentation that touched on nearly every aspect of the game.

First, Sakurai revealed that Street Fighter’s Ken and Pokemon’s Incineroar will join Smash Bros. Ultimate as playable characters. Players who purchase the game by January 31, 2019 will also receive Piranha Plant as a free download in February 2019.

Five more fighters will be added to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate throughout 2019 and into 2020 as part of the game’s Fighters Pass. The Fighters Pass will be priced at $24.99, though each fighter will also be available individually for $5.99 apiece.

The mysterious Spirits mode was also detailed by Sakurai, who explained that players will be able to customize their favorite fighters by unlocking characters connected to the Smash Bros. universe (including Chibi-Robo, Dr. Wily, Tails, and Revolver Ocelot) as Spirits. These Spirits are hiding in the game’s Spirit Battles mode, and once they’re unlocked, players will be able to use them to add power-ups to their fighters.

As a final bonus, Sakurai teased Super Smash Bros. Ultimate’s campaign mode, World of Light. The short cinematic shows Kirby going head-to-head with brainwashed Smash Bros. fighters. Can the pink puffball rescue his friends? And what caused the light to be stolen from the world? We just don’t know yet, because the Director said he wants to keep parts of this new adventure mode secret until the game launches.

Sakurai had a lot more to say about Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, and you can find a complete rundown of today’s Nintendo Direct presentation after the break.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate will be released exclusively for the Nintendo Switch on December 7. (more…)

Posted in News, Switch | Tagged

Call of Cthulhu, Lego Harry Potter Collection, more coming to Xbox Store this week

Posted on October 31, 2018 by John Scalzo

“If I say that my somewhat extravagant imagination yielded simultaneous pictures of an octopus, a dragon, and a human caricature, I shall not be unfaithful to the spirit of the thing. A pulpy, tentacled head surmounted a grotesque and scaly body with rudimentary wings; but it was the general outline of the whole which made it most shockingly frightful.”

Xbox One owners will be able to answer the Call of Cthulhu this week, as Cyanide Studio will bring an adaptation of Chaosism’s tabletop RPG to Microsoft’s console. Players will be subjected to “creeping madness and cosmic horror” as they attempt to solve an “otherworldly mystery” on a mysterious island.

Thankfully, the whimsical Lego Harry Potter Collection is also now available to download for the Xbox One. The new package includes enhanced re-releases of both Lego Harry Potter: Years 1-4 and Lego Harry Potter: Years 5-7

You can learn more about the rest of this week’s additions to the Xbox Games Store after the break. (more…)

Posted in News, Xbox One | Tagged , ,