Tharsis Review: Survival is a Dicey Affair

Posted on March 1, 2016 by Sam Sheldon

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Five weeks ago, my ship was struck by a micrometeoroid storm that killed two of the six crew and irreparably damaged the ship. Since then, two more crew members have died and been cannibalised (we ran out of food), and many of the ship’s systems have gone offline. The two remaining crew members are hungry, tired, very badly injured, and still five weeks from Mars. Relatively speaking, things are going pretty well.

Tharsis is a board game with teeth. Every decision you make will feel the best of a bad bunch, and even then you might roll snake eyes and be locked out of making that decision. Tharsis is really, really hard, and the fact that your ability to act is based on dice rolls means that even if you are a strategic genius, you can still end up with a dead crew seven weeks away from Mars.

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Daily Scoop: March 1, 2016 – Awesome t-shirt lineup!

Posted on March 1, 2016 by Nicole Kline

There are tons of amazing deals and shirts today, so let’s dive right in!

Over at Humble, there’s the Star Wars Humble Bundle II. Pay $1 or more to unlock Star Wars Rebellion, Star Wars: X-Wing Alliance, Star Wars: X-Wing vs TIE Fighter – Balance of Power Campaigns, and Star Wars Galactic Battlegrounds Saga, as well as a coupon for 10% off Humble Monthly. Beat the average to unlock Star Wars: X-Wing Special Edition, Star Wars: TIE Fighter Special Edition, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords, as well as a coupon for 75% off three Star Wars titles in the Humble Store. Pay $9.99 or more to unlock Star Wars: Empire at War: Gold Pack and Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga. Finally, pay $34.99 or more to unlock the awesome exclusive t-shirt.

The Midweek Madness at Steam is Mordheim: City of the Damned, which is on sale for $19.99. The Daily Deal is The Political Machine 2016, which is $4.99.

There are so many awesome t-shirts! Hit the jump to see them all.

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Mortal Kombat XL and Kombat Pack 2 are now available… so here’s a Launch Trailer

Posted on March 1, 2016 by John Scalzo

Beginning today, NetherRealm Studios will super-size 2015’s Mortal Kombat X with four new characters and the return of “The Pit.” The expanded re-release will be known as Mortal Kombat XL and it’ll include the original game, along with all the additional content available in the Kombat Pack and Kombat Pack 2. A brand new (and brutally violent) Launch Trailer for the game has been embedded above.

And in case you missed it, here’s everything you’ll get if you upgrade to Mortal Kombat XL (or purchase both Kombat Packs through the PlayStation Store or Xbox Games Store):

  • Pre-Order Character: Goro
  • Kombat Pack Characters: The Predator (from Predator), Jason Voorhees (from Friday the 13th), Tremor, and Tanya
  • Kombat Pack 2 Characters: Xenomorph (from Alien), Leatherface (from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre), Tri-Borg, and Bo Rai Cho
  • Never-Before-Released Costume Pack: Apocalypse Skin Pack
  • Previously Released Costume Packs: Klassic Pack #1, Klassic Pack #2, Predator/Prey Pack, Ultimate Horror Pack, Samurai Skin Pack, Brazil Skin Pack, Kold War Skin Pack, and Kold War Scorpion Skin

Finally, NetherRealm also pushed out a free update to Mortal Kombat X’s online multiplayer today, promising a smoother online experience. So even if you’re skipping Mortal Kombat XL (or Kombat Pack 2), you’ve got something to look forward to.

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The Behemoth’s Pit People will get a Closed Beta this Summer

Posted on March 1, 2016 by John Scalzo

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We still don’t when The Behemoth’s Pit People will be released, but the Xbox Wire has revealed that the turn-based strategy game will receive a Closed Beta sometime this Summer.

Microsoft held a special press event in San Francisco last week, where The Behemoth talked a bit more about the game’s many characters, including “a particularly memorable foe that fired a pair of Uzis while mounted atop a giraffe that floated onto the battlefield via a bouquet of helium balloons.” That’s a bit insane, but thankfully, players will be able to recruit more than 100 characters to do battle with these foes. Production Coordinator Ian Moreno added: “You can get robots… we have stuff like trolls, zombies and vampires. There’s also this weird spider lady that you can actually ride, and she will shoot webs and create walls.”

Somebody tell George Miller that the bar has been raised for the next Mad Max movie, and don’t forget that Pit People is in development for the PC and Xbox One.

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Gears of War: Ultimate Edition is now available to download on Windows 10 PCs

Posted on March 1, 2016 by John Scalzo

Like the Locust Horde bursting out of the ground on Emergence Day, Microsoft surprise-launched Gears of War: Ultimate Edition for Windows 10 PCs today. Microsoft is touting the Gears Ultimate Edition as more than just a simple remake, and according to a new post on the Xbox Wire, the team responsible for the remake at The Coalition rebuilt everything from the ground up:

Cam McRae, Technical Director at The Coalition – the studio who’s spearheading Gears of War: Ultimate Edition’s transition to PC which is available today – is insistent that his team didn’t mess with the fundamentals that defined the classic shooter’s identity. By this, he means the countless little things that make Gears feel like Gears: the way the characters move, the timing of their weapons, and the tactile feel that you get when they collide with objects in the game’s world. “One of our goals with the PC version was ‘don’t touch the art.’ But beyond that,” McRae said, “we changed everything.”

While Gears of War: Ultimate Edition will feel very similar to the 2006 original, Windows 10 players will get the best-looking version of the game to date. Almost every object in the game has been “uprezzed” with 10-30% more polygons and it’ll be playable at 4K resolution and 60 frames per second in single-player (and very close to that in multiplayer).

To get players ready for the Gears of War: Ultimate Edition, a new video focusing on the first ten minutes of the game has been embedded above.

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Superhot’s Launch Trailer is here and it’s super hot

Posted on February 29, 2016 by John Scalzo

The Superhot Team released their time-bending first person shooter, Superhot, for the PC last week. To celebrate the launch, the Polish has unveiled a brand new Launch Trailer for the game, which showcases a bit more of its “Time Only Moves When You Do” mechanic and its minimalist graphical style.

Superhot is now available for the PC (through Steam) and will be available for the Xbox One in March.

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Watch two developers from Media Molecule create three cities in Dreams for almost an hour

Posted on February 29, 2016 by John Scalzo

Media Molecule is well known among PlayStation fans for their whimsical approach to game development. But their next game, Dreams, is still a bit of a mystery. And even though I just watched an hour-long demonstration of the title, I’d say that statement still stands.

However, if you’re still intrigued by developer’s latest PS4 project, sit down with Coder Anton Mikhailov and Artist Kareem Ettouney as they build three cities using the game’s creation tools. And be sure to catch up on all of Media Molecule’s previously released Developer Diaries at their YouTube page.

A beta for Dreams will be available sometime this year, though the final release date is still unknown.

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The Combat Update (1.9) is now available for Minecraft on the PC

Posted on February 29, 2016 by John Scalzo

20823568_minecraft_11414_1280Mojang has announced that the long-awaited “Combat Update” (Version 1.9) for the PC version of Minecraft is now available to download.

As you might have guessed, the “Combat Update” makes a number of changes to Minecraft’s combat mechanics, including a cool-down mechanic for weapons. Players will also now be able to craft shields and hold two items at once (like a sword and a shield, for example). These new tricks will certainly come in handy, as Mojang has expanded The End and given Ender Dragons the ability to be resummoned.

A complete list of changes added to the “Combat Update” can be found at Mojang’s official website.

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