I am really fighting hard trying not to buy new games, but it’s a losing battle! I should just give in already. I’m trying! I really am. But with things like today’s Humble Star Wars Bundle III, it’s really tough!
Pay what you want for Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic, Star Wars: X-Wing Alliance, Star Wars: X-Wing vs TIE Fighter – Balance of Power Campaigns, and Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds Saga. Beat the average to unlock Star Wars: Battlefront II, Star Wars: Jedi Knight II – Jedi Outcast, Star Wars: Starfighter, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II – The Sith Lords, and Star Wars: Rebel Assault I + II. Pay $14 to unlock Star Wars: The Force Unleased – Ultimate Sith Edition, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II, Star Wars: Rogue Squadron 3D, Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire (debut!), and Star Wars: Empire at War – Gold Pack. Finally, if you pay $35 or more, you get an awesome X-Wing vs TIE Fighter t-shirt!
The Midweek Madness over at Steam is Starbound. Get the game for $10.04, or a four pack for $30.14. The Daily Deal is Mordheim: City of the Damned for $11.99.
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.
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.
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.
Over the last few days, I’ve had the pleasure of playing around with a demo for Freedom Planet 2, which is in development at GalaxyTrail. The demo itself isn’t that long (one stage with a boss battle), however, the game is just that damn fun that I kept coming back to it, trying to beat my time and experimenting with the four characters in an effort to determine whose move set best fit my play style.
Before playing the Freedom Planet 2 demo, I had never heard of GalaxyTrail or the original Freedom Planet game. Though fascinated by indie developers and the masterpieces that they create, I often shy away from playing them, instead opting for AAA titles. Freedom Planet 2 makes me regret that decision.
It’s hard to gather much from a demo that can be finished in a little over two minutes, however, I have drawn the conclusion that Freedom Planet 2 is definitely not your parent’s platformer. What do I mean by that? Despite its obvious similarities to Sonic the Hedgehog, Freedom Planet 2 sets itself apart from traditional platforming games while still holding on to the charming components that define the genre.
I actually did get so much work done this weekend that I had a chance to game! I started the Dishonored DLC, The Knife of Dunwall, and finally managed to get in some more time with Pokemon Moon. It felt glorious!
And of course, today I’m ready to buy some new games, because when am I not? First up is the Hacking Sale at the Humble Store. Else Heart.Break() is $12.49, Clandestine is $9.99, and both Uplink and Hacknet are $4.99, among others.
There are 618 new Weeklong Deals at Steam! Get Alien: Isolation is $9.99, Guacamelee! Super Turbo Championship Edition is $2.99, and one of my personal favorites, Risk of Rain, is $2.49.
There are some gorgeous t-shirts today! Hit the jump to see them all.
Mobile developer Zach Gage burst onto the scene in 2011 with SpellTower, a puzzle game that combined concepts from Tetris and Boggle into a new experience. After multiple updates, and an unlikely appearance in Stephen King’s End of Watch, SpellTower is still going strong on the iOS App Store and Google Play Store.
Even though it was released almost six years, Gage announced last week that SpellTower will receive another major update on February 9. SpellTower’s upcoming update will add an improved dictionary powered by Merriam-Webster, along with Zen Mode (a mode “without those pesky length requirements”), online multiplayer, an update visual design, and a Super Tower mode exclusive to the iPad Pro 12″.
In addition to improving SpellTower, Gage also revealed (via Twitter) that his partnership with Merriam-Webster will include a brand new word game. The developer wasn’t willing to share any additional details on this mystery project, but hopefully we’ll learn more about it soon.
I guess we missed this one a few weeks ago, but Vertex Pop has announced that Graceful Explosion Machine, their colorful side-scrolling shooter that earned a spot on our Best of PAX East 2016 list, is also in development for the Nintendo Switch.
Promising four unique weapons and a bevy of bad guys to blast, Graceful Explosion Machine will also be available for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One in Spring 2017. A brand new trailer has been embedded above.
I am really fighting hard trying not to buy new games, but it’s a losing battle! I should just give in already. I’m trying! I really am. But with things like today’s Humble Star Wars Bundle III, it’s really tough!
