Clutch the Awakened Automaton wants to kill all the humans in this Quake Champions trailer

Posted on April 12, 2017 by John Scalzo

HAL… The Terminator… Bender… Hollywood loves robots that are also remorseless killing machines. So let’s all welcome Clutch to the fray, as the the “Awakened Automaton” is the subject of the latest trailer for Quake Champions. Bethesda and id Software have also provided the public with a rundown of its rather aggressive abilities:

Clutch (Awakened Automaton)
It was just a mining automaton with limited AI and a force-shield to protect organics and drills. But it was the first to return from the cavern filled with floating ruins and strange markings. Its custodians transferred the data it had gathered to their master neural network. But, after analysis, the network… malfunctioned? Suddenly, Clutch was returning to the cavern as automata began killing organics. Clutch killed them, too, if they were in its path. Once at the cavern, Clutch followed the network’s instructions. A dark mass of writhing tendrils materialized. Clutch stepped into it.

Active Ability – Barrier: Whether you’re in team games and want to protect allies, or just need a quick save in Deathmatch, throw down Clutch’s Barrier Active Ability to block incoming attacks for a limited time. This large force-shield once protected organics and drills in the mines, but in the Arena, it serves as a solid defense against enemy Champions.

Passive Ability – Still Defense: Got some aggressive, rocket-happy bunny-hopper coming at you head-on? With Clutch’s Still Defense Passive Ability, stand strong and gain 20% damage reduction against incoming attacks while walking or standing still. In addition, running forward without changing direction will increase your speed. Handy in the mines, devastating in the Arenas.

Quake Champions’s Closed Beta will reopen this Thursday, April 13, and if you haven’t received an invitation yet, be sure to sign up for a chance to enter the Arena at Quake.com.

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“Single-Stick Shooter” Deathstate is coming to the PS4 on April 25

Posted on April 12, 2017 by John Scalzo

Last year, indie developer Workinman Games told us that their PC-exclusive “single-stick shooter,” Deathstate, would eventually make the jump to consoles. Now known as Bread Machine Games, the developer revealed this morning that it’ll be out for the PS4 on April 25.

So how does a “single-stick shooter” work? I’ll let Bread Machine’s Keith McCullough explain:

Creating a bullet hell/roguelike was tricky. The bullet hell genre is more about dodging and positioning than shooting and aiming, so we knew right away players would need strong directional dodges. We love Binding of Isaac and wanted to follow its model, but we quickly discovered that the extreme volume of bullets, constant dodging, cooldown management, and twin-stick aiming added up to an overwhelming combination.

Our solution: lose the second stick!

In Deathstate, you are always shooting (as long as something is close enough to be shot). This shifted the player’s attention squarely onto movement and avoidance, and allowed us to get crazy with projectiles. Really crazy. On our highest difficulty, Insanity Mode, the bosses absolutely unload.

Featuring a retro-style aesthetic and a “Carpenter-esque” synth soundtrack, players will venture into an alternate plane of existence known as the “Deathstate” to discover the truth about what happened to their missing professor. But once you’re inside this weird realm of “Lovecraftian non-euclidean sunken temples [and] Hellraiser-esque labyrinthine black light hellscapes,” you’ll need to fight back against the pulsating denizens of hell by harvesting their organs to use as weapons. Eww…

You can learn more about Deathstate by visiting McCullogh’s full write-up at the PlayStation Blog.

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Yooka-Laylee, Cosmic Star Heroine, Kero Blaster, more added to PS Store

Posted on April 12, 2017 by John Scalzo

Retro-inspired games once again rule the roost in this week’s PlayStation Store update.

In Yooka-Laylee, the king of the jungle isn’t a great ape or a ferocious bear, but rather, a chameleon named Yooka and a bat that goes by Laylee. Both characters will head out on an N64-style platforming adventure this week to find collectibles and stop the nefarious Capital B and Dr. Quack. Developed by Playtonic, Yooka-Laylee is now available to download for the PS4.

Also available this week is the latest addition to Sony’s Play Collective promotion… Cosmic Star Heroine. The PS4 RPG was developed by Zeboyd Games, and it features a gameplay style inspired by 16-bit RPGs like Chrono Trigger. Players will guide Alyssa L’Salle, an intergalactic superspy, across the galaxy as she’s forced to turn against her superiors at at the Agency of Peace and Intelligence to uncover the evildoers behind a horrible conspiracy.

Finally this week, the creator of Cave Story, Studio Pixel, is back with Kero Blaster, a new side-scrolling platformer for the PS4.

You can learn more about all of these titles (and the rest of this week’s additions to the PlayStation Store) after the break.

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Kickstart This! Cowgirls Vs Cthonimon

Posted on April 11, 2017 by Andrew Rainnie

Nostalgia is brilliant for selling video games. It’s pretty much half of Nintendo’s marketing strategy. But before the age of consoles, early players were loading games via cassette on legendary machines like the Commodore 64 and ZX Spectrum. Dundee-based developers Darrell Flood and Jack Oatley are looking back on those early days of gamingwith their new Kickstarter project, Cowgirls Vs Cthonimon.

Handbags at dawn…

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Posted in Features, PC, Top Story |

Here’s your first look at the new multiplayer maps from Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare’s Continuum DLC Pack

Posted on April 11, 2017 by John Scalzo

After previously teasing fans with “Shaolin Shuffle,” a 70s-set new chapter in Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare‘s Zombies Mode, Activision and Infinity Ward have returned with a look at the Continuum DLC Pack‘s multiplayer maps.

All four new maps are on display in the new trailer, which also encourages players to tackle them using a variety of different tactics (including “Run and Gun,” “Sniper,” “Stealth,” and “Heavy”):

Multiplayer Maps in Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare’s Continuum DLC Pack

  • Turista – A plush spa and resort, “Turista” is nestled in the middle of a giant skeleton of an ancient creature. With sniper spots scattered across a majestic, central waterfall, Turista also boasts tight interiors for fans of close-quartered combat and a three-lane design that caters to a variety of play styles.
  • Scrap – Set in an abandoned junkyard on the Moon, “Scrap” features a combination of extended sightlines and tactical pathways that reward players who engage in both long and short range combat.
  • Archive – Fast, frenetic engagements set the pace in “Archive,” a post-futurist art gallery where tight engagements contrast with open exterior battlegrounds in this wide three-lane style map.
  • Excess – Perched atop a gilded penthouse in a sprawling future metropolis, “Excess” is a small, circular map re-imagined from the classic Modern Warfare 2 map, “Rust,” that retains the intense, fast-paced combat from the original.

Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare’s Continuum DLC Pack will be available to download for PS4 players on April 18. But PC and Xbox One owners will have to wait until sometime in May for a chance to purchase the expansion.

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Overwatch goes back to the past and revisits Tracer’s first mission in the new Uprising event

Posted on April 11, 2017 by John Scalzo

Blizzard is taking the world of Overwatch back to the past with the new “Uprising” event, which begins today and will be available until May 1st. Players will travel back to the heyday of the Overwatch, and relive Tracer’s first mission in a special cooperative brawl mode.

As you might have guessed, the “Uprising” event will also feature more than 100 themed Loot Boxes containing new Skins, Highlights, Emotes, and Sprays:

Relive Tracer’s First Mission
Journey seven years into the past and join a group of Overwatch agents fighting through the streets of King’s Row to quell an uprising led by Null Sector, a rogue group of omnics. Team up with your friends and play as Tracer, Torbjorn, Reinhardt, or Mercy to defeat the robots and liberate the city. There are no reinforcements. Failure is not an option. The future depends on you.

Experience a pivotal moment in history from before the fall of Overwatch. Join a strike team of Overwatch agents — including the newest recruit, Tracer — as they undertake a vital mission to stop an omnic uprising in King’s Row. Drop into the action and play as one of the four charged with completing this critical objective.

More information about the “Uprising” event can be found at PlayOverwatch.com. And two additional videos, a new “Origin Story” trailer and another “Developer Update” with Director Jeff Kaplan, can also be found after the break.

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

Bayonetta is now available for the PC through Steam

Posted on April 11, 2017 by Brittney Williams

Well, it looks like the joke’s on us, as what was once an April Fool’s prank has become reality… Bayonetta has arrived on the PC today.

Bayonetta finally makes its way to the PC as a Steam exclusive, complete with support for Steam Trading Cards, Big Picture Mode, Steam Achievements, and Steam Cloud Saves. The game will also feature leaderboards, full controller support, and keyboard/mouse controls. Additionally, Bayonetta on PC will run at 60 FPS during gameplay, and 30 FPS during cutscenes. This version of the game is also capable of running at an unlocked 4K resolution, as well as other graphical options such as scalable textures and shadow quality.

For a limited time, customer will be able to upgrade to the Digital Deluxe Edition at no extra cost. The Digital Deluxe Edition includes an enhanced artbook (previously included in the Bayonetta: Climax Edition), a five-song soundtrack sampler, wallpapers, and avatars. However, this deal ends on Tuesday, April 25.

“We are dedicated to bringing high-quality, best practice PC conversions of our back catalog games to our fans, and Bayonetta was a great fit.” Said John Clark, the Senior Vice President of Commercial Publishing for Sega Europe. “Bayonetta is one of the most often requested PC conversions of our games, so finally being able to launch it on Steam is fantastic. There’s more to come!”

Is he talking about Bayonetta 2? No one knows at this point, but Director Hideki Kamiya recorded a new Developer Diary that offers insights into Bayonetta’s development and it’s available after the break.

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Uncharted: The Lost Legacy (and Jak and Daxter) will be released for PS4 on August 22

Posted on April 11, 2017 by John Scalzo

Naughty Dog has announced (via the PlayStation Blog) that Uncharted: The Lost Legacy will be available as a standalone digital download and as a retail disc release on August 22.

Like with The Last of Us: Left Behind, Naughty Dog is putting a considerable amount of developmental muscle into Uncharted: The Lost Legacy, and Creative Director Shaun Escayg discussed this new direction while also unveiling an early scene from the game:

In December we said that we’re approaching this project as a true Uncharted game — complete with its own deep narrative with complex character development, all-new destinations, refined gameplay, and blockbuster cinematic moments. We’re especially excited to have Chloe as our new protagonist and explore more of her story as she and Nadine venture across India in search of the fabled Tusk of Ganesh. To that end, we wanted to share a new scene from early on in the game as Chloe and Nadine try to unravel the clues leading to the Tusk’s location.

Because of Uncharted: The Lost Legacy’s expanded scope, the game will be priced at $39.99 ($49.99 CAD). However, players who purchased the Digital Deluxe Edition, Explorer’s Pack, or Triple Pack of Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End will receive a free copy of the downloadable version. And for fans jumping into the Uncharted series for the first time, anyone who pre-orders The Lost Legacy will receive a download code for the PS2-On-PS4 re-release of Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy.

Oh, and by the way, it looks like Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy will be available to download for the PS4 on August 22 as well.

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