Most Recent: PC

South Park: The Fractured But Whole will be released sometime between April 1, 2017 and March 31, 2018

Posted on February 9, 2017 by John Scalzo

Ubisoft has quietly delayed South Park: The Fractured But Whole for a second time.

Originally scheduled to launch on December 6, 2016, the game was later pushed back to Early 2017 before being delayed again as part of their quarterly financial report. The publisher confirmed the comedic RPG will now launch on some to be determined date during their next fiscal year (April 1, 2017 – March 31, 2018).

According to a short post on the UbiBlog, the delay is designed to give the development team more time “to deliver the best experience possible”:

The teams at South Park and Ubisoft San Francisco are committed to pushing the envelope during development to deliver the best experience possible, and this additional time will allow them to do so.

Presumably, a final release date for South Park: The Fractured But Whole will be announced soon.

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

Metrico+ Review: This Visually Unique Puzzle Platformer Charts Its Own Course

Posted on February 8, 2017 by John Scalzo

Graphic designers who spend their days translating statistical findings into a series of colorful bars and charts are working in the interesting new field of infographics. And if you’ve opened an Internet browser at all in the last five years, you’ve more than likely seen dozens of them.

Companies love infographics because they’re able to distill complex statistical studies down into an image that is easily shareable across Facebook and Twitter. Audiences love them because they provide easily digestible primers on subjects as frivolous as the many on-screen deaths of Sean Bean to serious societal problems like income inequality.

Dutch development studio Digital Dreams used this same philosophy to create Metrico, a puzzle platformer that was released for the Vita in 2014. The team expanded on their original concept, and launched Metrico+, a remake/sequel, for the Xbox One last month. (more…)

Posted in PC, PS4, Reviews, Top Story, Xbox One | Tagged

Microids will release Syberia 3 on April 25 for PC, PS4, Xbox One, and Mac

Posted on February 8, 2017 by Brittney Williams

Spring is looking rather chilly and it has nothing to do with global warming! Today, Microids dropped a few juicy details, and a new trailer, about the latest entry in the Syberia series, Syberia 3.

First and foremost, fans of the series will be ecstatic to know that Syberia 3 has an official release date of April 20 in Europe, and April 25 in North America. Even better, Syberia 3 will be available on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC, and even Mac… which is notorious for not having enough games. Syberia 3 will be fully dubbed in five languages; French, English, German, Polish, and Russian. It will also support subtitles for the aforementioned languages plus Spanish, Italian, Korean, Dutch, Czech, simplified Chinese, and traditional Chinese. Talk about accessible.

So what is Syberia 3 about? I’m glad that you asked. According to Microids…

The story begins when Kate is found left for dead on a shore by the Youkol tribe, a nomadic people caring for their snow ostriches during migration. Trapped, prisoners in the city of Valsembor, they will have to find together a way to continue their journey in a chase against their enemies and unexpected challenges. While at the same time, Kate’s past is catching up with her…

To go along with its interesting premise, Microids also found a composer for Syberia 3 that’s likely to produce an amazing soundtrack. Inon Zur, credited for composing the amazing soundtracks for Fallout 4, Dragon Age: Origins, Prince of Persia, and Syberia 2, has also composed the soundtrack for Syberia 3.

Fans have been waiting for Syberia 3 since Microids first announced it all the way back in 2009, so this is great news. However, if you were hoping to learn when Syberia 3 would make its Switch debut, you’ll have to keep waiting. A release date for the game on Nintendo’s upcoming console has yet to be announced.

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

Rockstar has shipped more than 75 million copies of GTA5 (and sold most of them)

Posted on February 8, 2017 by John Scalzo

Even though its been available for more than three years, Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto V is still selling like… [insert your own joke about prostitutes here].

Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick delivered the good news during the company’s quarterly financial report yesterday, where he shared that the publisher has shipped more than 75 million copies of the game. It’s unknown exactly how many copies have been sold through to consumers, but it seems likely that fans have scooped up most of them, especially since The NPD Group certified that Grand Theft Auto V was the sixth-best-selling game of 2016.

In other Grand Theft Auto V news, Zelnick confirmed that Rockstar will continue to support the game’s “Grand Theft Auto Online” mode with additional content in 2017.

Posted in News, PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One | Tagged

Amnesia Collection Review: Are You Afraid of the Dark?

Posted on February 7, 2017 by Mike Ryan

As a primarily console-centric gamer, I rarely use my PC to play games. But don’t get me wrong… I know it’s a great platform to play games on. I did download Undertale, and I do intend to play it, but quite frankly, my rig isn’t powerful enough to handle some of the best titles that PC gaming has to offer. This is a bit of a bummer for me, as I know I am missing out on a lot of quality games that are exclusive to the platform, one of which is Amnesia: The Dark Descent.

My interest was piqued in the horror game when I first heard about how terrifying it is, and I started looking into it. Coincidentally, that’s right around the time that “Let’s Play” videos on YouTube began to rise in popularity. There was nothing more fun than seeing someone play a horror game and watching their reactions to the jump-scare moments. And as a fan of all things horror, I was immediately hooked. But unfortunately, I was never able to play Amnesia… that is, until now. (more…)

Posted in PC, PS4, Reviews, Top Story | Tagged

Double Fine releases new behind-the-scenes video for Psychonauts 2 as Starbreeze signs on as the publisher

Posted on February 7, 2017 by John Scalzo

Double Fine Productions has announced they’ll be teaming up with Starbreeze Studios to publish Psychonauts 2. In their role as publisher, Starbreeze Studios will provide additional financial support for Psychonauts 2, alongside the the funds already contributed by backers and investors on Fig, and Double Fine themselves.

To go along with this announcement, Tim Schafer and Project Lead Zak McClendon gave fans a look at an art test for “The Quarry,” an outdoorsy area that’ll serve as the headquarters for the Psychonauts in the game. Because Psychonauts 2 is still in pre-production, the exact layout and construction of “The Quarry” that you see in the video won’t be included in the final game. But this behind-the-scenes video should provide fans with a general idea of the direction the developer wants to take.

An even more in-depth progress report on Psychonauts 2 is currently available in the latest Fig update:

As we went through early discussions about what was important to Psychonauts, we kept coming back to the idea of open exploration and the cycle of curiosity and discovery that people loved in Whispering Rock — the childlike feeling of going off the beaten path and discovering hidden places for the first time. We knew that we wouldn’t be able to fully capture this with just the Psychonauts Headquarters, so we decided to expand our main hub to include a lot of surrounding wilderness full of mysterious new locations and, well, you’ll see later.

The Psychonauts HQ is now going to be nestled in a secret location meant to evoke the lush, damp forests of the Pacific Northwest. In addition to the high-tech spy HQ, you’ll be able to freely explore areas outside the base as well.

Psychonauts 2 is in development for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One, and is expected to be released in Summer 2018.

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

Gears of War 4 February Update introduces new maps and much more

Posted on February 7, 2017 by Brittney Williams

Valentine’s Day is right around the corner, and as a result, Gears of War 4 players will be treated to a slew of updates including new maps, Valentine’s Day-themed events, and general game improvements.

The Gears of War 4 Valentine’s Day event officially begins this Friday, February 10, and will last for over a week. The event will include Torque Bow Tag “with a cupid-style twist,” a new collectible Craftable Character, new Gear Packs, and daily bounties with a Valentine’s Day theme.

Also included in the February update are two new maps that veteran Gears of War fans are sure to appreciate! The first new map on the list is “Impact Dark,” an intense new spin on the original “Impact” map. “Impact Dark” takes close combat to thrilling new levels, putting heavy emphasis on visual impairment by implementing a permanently smoke-covered battlefield! Snipers, Torque/EMBAR, and Incendiaries are gone, now replaced with Boltoks, Dropshot, and Overkill respectively, forcing players to stay alert and take risks in order to stay in the game.

The second map provided in the update is “War Machine,” which veteran Gears of War players may remember for its desolate and decrepit atmosphere. The new take on the “War Machine” map brings players to a gorgeous and lively COG settlement in the once abandoned train station. However, aside from the new aesthetic, everything else about the map remains the same. Season Pass holders will be glad to know that they can play both maps today in the Developer Playlist.

The Coalition highlighted a few additional gameplay improvements from the February Update on the game’s official website:

  • Added a small delay before being able to fire when Wall Cancelling (now balanced with Wall Bounce firing delay)
  • New Guardian Spawn System: Players will now spawn closer to the Leader
  • Added IFF Lights onto Dizzy to bring visual readability of his model in-line with all other characters
  • Torque Bow now rotates with Sniper every round on Blood Drive
  • Resolved an issue that could cause the Kestral to be stuck out of sight on Blood Drive
  • Resolved minor geometry on Blood Drive that could block bullets
  • Improved messaging for Core/Competitive rejoin when trying to rejoin after rejoin window ends
  • Incendiary grenades now kill Down But Not Out players with Execution Rules On
  • Previous map high score will now display on end of round scoreboards in Horde
  • The Trick Shot ribbon is now correctly awarded in Horde
  • The Sniper Strike Horde Skill card no longer counts towards Headshot Bounties

Gears of War 4 is available to purchase now for the PC and Xbox One, and you can get a closer look at both new maps after the break. (more…)

Posted in News, PC, Xbox One | Tagged

The Halo Wars 2 Launch Trailer is like every alien invasion movie rolled into one

Posted on February 7, 2017 by John Scalzo

Developers at 343 Industries love to refer to the Halo franchise as a Star Wars saga for a new generation. I’m not sure if the Master Chief and Cortana will ever be as well known as Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader, the development certainly knows how to put together a thrilling sci-fi action sequence. Case in point… the new Halo Wars 2 launch trailer.

If you’re not a scholar of Halo lore, don’t worry, Microsoft’s Larry “Major Nelson” Hyrb offered up a few more details about the trailer, and the real time strategy game’s many feature, on his eponymous blog:

After experiencing a pyrrhic victory following the events of the first Halo Wars, Captain Cutter and the brave crew of the UNSC Spirit of Fire wake up after 28 years of cryosleep to discover themselves orbiting a familiar Forerunner construct; Halo 3 fans, you know what it is. After receiving a distress signal and sending down some Spartans to investigate, the crew meets Atriox – an incredibly dangerous Brute who is as intelligent as he is strong. He poses a grave threat to humanity, and it’s up to you to stop him and his Banished.

In addition to the robust campaign, Halo Wars 2 is packed with a full suite of multiplayer modes that are suited to players of all skill levels and familiarity with real time strategy (RTS). Build your base, assemble your army and battle for control of the map in Domination, test your strategies solo or with a friend against AI in Skirmish, fight to hold more bases than your opponent in a timed Strongholds match, duke it out until you’re the last one standing in Deathmatch, or jump straight into the action with the all-new deck building multiplayer experience, Blitz.

Halo Wars 2 will be available for the PC and Xbox One on February 21. As an Xbox Play Anywhere title, players who opt for the digital edition of the game will receive access to it on both platforms for no extra charge.

Posted in News, PC, Xbox One | Tagged