Page 62 – Green Man Gaming Blog

What We’d Like to See in Alien Isolation 2

Alien Isolation is an intense and terrifying game set in the Alien universe which put you in the shoes of Amanda Ripley, Ellen Ripley’s daughter as she explores Sevastopol Station.

It’s an absolutely blisteringly scary experience and it unfortunately seems unlikely that we’ll ever see a sequel from Creative Assembly, given that the team behind it have largely moved onto other things.

We’d absolutely love to get a sequel to Alien Isolation, and if we do ever get a sequel, here’s what we’d like to see in it.

Warning: There will be spoilers for Alien Isolation here.

Alien Isolation 2 Looking Great Too

The one thing that they don’t have to change one bit is the aesthetic. From using VCRs to recreate the videos, to the absolute sheer level of detail in Sevastopol Station, it’s a visual and auditory tour de force. If you love the Alien series, then Alien Isolation is just perfect with every sound and sight being taken right from the films.

The best thing about Alien Isolation’s look is the lighting. When you’re in a vent and there’s a turning fan spinning shadow at you through the misted air, you almost forget you’re huddled in a tiny bedroom in London, you’re on the Sevastopol Station and the alien is coming for you.

The sound design is brilliant too, every sound is taken from the films and mixed to be absolutely crisp on modern sound systems. From the siren shrieks of the alarm system to the scraping shoes of Amanda Ripley, every sound is perfection.

So if they keep that the same, even if they take the game to a new location, Alien fans are going to be happy with Alien Isolation 2.

Less Alien

I know this is an odd one for a game called Alien Isolation, but the one thing that I’d hope to see less of in a sequel would be the titular alien.

When you first see the Alien unfold from the ceiling it’s the cinematic moment you’ve been waiting for ever since video games featuring aliens first started being made. It’s a dread monster from your nightmares. It’s the unknowable made flesh. It’s a chitinous demon that exists only to kill. It gives you a scare and then it’s off, hunting its prey through the dimly lit corridors of Sevastopol.

Then the next time you meet it, there’s still some of the thrill there, what will the alien do? How will it find you? Will it find you?

Then the third time it’s less scary. The fourth time even less so, until you begin to be a little immune to it.

If there was just a little less alien in Alien Isolation 2, that’d be amazing because it could be a real event. Instead of following you around the game, popping up around every corner, the alien would descend on you like a furious angel from time to time, prolonging the fear effect it causes.

One of the best things the original Alien film did was hide the alien until near the very end. I know for an Alien Isolation game we’d want to not wait the whole game to see if there’s an alien in the game, but it’d still be great to have a little bit more mystery and terror associated with the alien.

More Threatening Androids

When you first play Alien Isolation, the scariest enemy is definitely the androids. They have blank faces, and they spout only kindness as they throttle the life from you. It’s a classic trope and Alien Isolation pulls it off with aplomb.

The only issue with the androids in Alien Isolation is that they’re a little slow, which means you can easily out-trot them. They don’t have to be sped up to be scarier, and they are scary already because they have that Terminator-that-never-stops attitude to life, but they just aren’t always a credible threat. You can just hop away and because the game’s set up as levels, they can’t chase you forever.

Maybe instead of an alien hunting you, the androids could? It’d turn them from annoyances, to hunters.

Make Humans Less Shooty

In Alien Isolation, the humans are able to shoot you when you’re hiding in the dark, across a room that could be a mile long with pinpoint accuracy.

Which is pretty impressive when they’re juggling homicidal androids and a hunting alien.

In the sequel, we’d like to see them be a little more easy to handle. They ramp up the tension when they’re about, but they do it more so than the alien. Nerf humans plox.

Let Amanda Ripley Be Her Own Person

We’ve seen Amanda Ripley follow in her mother’s footsteps in Alien Isolation, she met aliens like mum, she fought off killer androids like mum, and she crept through a whole heck load of vents.

We’d love to see Amanda Ripley forge her own path now, obviously it’d still be an Alien game so some touchstones would remain the same, but a new story and a new setting could breath life into not only a sequel, but also the whole beleaguered Aliens franchise.

More Freedom

Whilst Alien Isolation does well at giving you little areas to sneak around in and work to avoid detection by the alien/androids/humans and you can backtrack, it’s still at heart a linear corridor game. Some of the reasons for not being able to deviate from the path get a little silly at times, such as one branching path being blocked off with a couple of suitcases Amanda Ripley should be able to just hop over.

It’d be great to just actually go down there instead, Alien Isolation 2 could be a true open world sneak-em-up, you could explore an entire location and have it all be your playground for alien based horror.

It’d mean fewer suitcase roadblocks too.

Saving Point Boost

There’s a lot to be said for Alien Isolation’s attitude to saving, it gives you save points instead of allowing a quicksave, which helps keep the game tense because you don’t know how much you’ll lose if you die.

The only problem is that it’s always just a bit too long between save points. You can lose time spent doing nothing more than travelling down empty corridors only to be surprised at the end, only to have to do it all over again.

We’re not asking for quicksaves or anything, but just a little bit more frequency in the amount of save points would help ease frustration, whilst still keeping the game tense.

Lose Some of the Busywork

Alien Isolation doesn’t outstay its welcome, but there’s a few sections in the game that feel like busywork, where you’re running errands or performing more repairs than Isaac Clarke on a busy day.

Alien Isolation 2 could skip some of this and have a leaner, more focused storyline, if for example you didn’t have to spent ages getting medikits for a wounded comrade. There’s always direction in Alien Isolation – escape from the alien – but sometimes it gets buried underneath other tasks, which we could stand to lose if the game ever gets a sequel.

If this means the running time gets cut a little, then that is a sacrifice we can make.

Tighten Up the End (SPOILERS FOR THE END BELOW HERE)

The original game ends, in that the alien nest is defeated, but it ends on a definite cliffhanger. Ripley floats alone in space until her helmet is illuminated by the searchlights of a spaceship.

Who’s on that ship? How evil are they? Given that it’s the Alien universe, they’re probably extremely evil, but the ending serves to just set up a sequel, which we’re still crossing fingers for.

It’d be great, if Alien Isolation 2 ever gets made, an ending that finalises her story so Amanda Ripley can get some peace over her missing mother, and maybe move on with her life. So she can have the happy life that we glimpse momentarily in the director’s cut of Aliens.

What Do You Want To See?

Well that’s what we want to see from a potential Alien Isolation sequel. How about you? Anything you love from the first game that you’d like to see make it into a sequel, or anything you hate that you’d like to change up? Let us know in the comments below.

Why Tomb Raider Needs To Step Up

The sound of footsteps echoes around the damp cave as you approach a small opening. Rocks tumble from hidden ledges that you can’t quite reach and sharp edges of slippery paths jut out along the descent to the lush, overgrown ravine. The waterfall sinks into view, plastering the side of a craggy slope and it’s all quite peaceful. Until, you notice the tigers, sprawled along the side of the stream, their claws threatening your progression. It’ all very rigid, exposed, complete. You’re playing Tomb Raider and you love every moment.

Now, you’re sliding, you’re grabbing, smashing, pushing, wriggling in between gaps. Shooting the same enemies over and over. You’ve got a pickaxe in hand and it feels awkward and overpowered. You can upgrade it, you can upgrade everything. There are campsites everywhere and you can be anyone, with bulletproof vests and trousers that give you health, for whatever reason. It always seems to be snowing and the ice is relentless and slippery. You notice how much you’re slipping, falling between cliffs and shoving the axe right into a convenient spot. You don’t shimmy anymore, you glide, effortlessly. You’re playing Rise of the Tomb Raider, do you love every moment?

Locations

The Tomb Raider reboot had writer Rhianna Pratchett behind the script and it was a chance for Lara Croft fans to reprise the role in the epic third person action game that started on PS1. Do you remember the volume of locations you’d visit in just one game? The first Tomb Raider alone had you travelling to Peru, Greece and Egypt and different cities and towns. It became exciting in Tomb Raiders, where am I going next? The Tomb Raider reboot, you play as a young Lara and you’re thrust into the jaws of a terrifying island after your ship capsizes. It worked, stripping back Lara to her pre-tomb days when she was just a young woman out chasing dreams with friends.

The setting of just one island, filled with horrors and it reflects the naivety of young Lara well. It almost feels like a horror game, a discovery into who Lara will become with time. As you’re thrown into the deep end, struggling to survive and unearth the secrets of the island of Yamtatai, a lost and fictional place in the Dragon’s Triangle off the coast of Japan. Put an arrow through a deer to eat. Limp to the next campfire covered in blood from your enemies and a bit of your own. Go deep into the fiery caves and tread carefully over empty skulls – it’s pretty gritty and I love that.

However, the same tricks just didn’t work the second time around in Rise of the Tomb Raider and Lara became lost on me. Who is she now? A Tomb Raider, she’s not as polished, she’s still got a lot to learn, but her abilities and skills know no bounds. It felt a bit silly, launching myself around jumps I highly doubted I could make and thinking if she really landed like that on the pickaxe, her arm would rip from its socket. The locations don’t feel defined, set in Siberia, the graphics are undeniably amazing and the setting is beautiful, but it feels samey. I got a little frustrated with the way the game used the setting, with avalanches and breakable ice. It became predictable.

Story and enemies

The original Tomb Raiders were all about the puzzles, the intrigue and the weirdness that would seep through the game gradually, revealing a bizarre fantastical twist. The baddies were believable and they sauntered through the game unscathed, whilst Lara had to tiptoe around their every move. The original Tomb Raiders were actually about tomb raiding and the treasures would be at the heart of each story. They were all about discovery and mystery. You always felt slightly unsafe, unsure. Remember turning into gold on the giant hand?

When it came down to the creatures, it would range from grizzly bears to dinosaurs. Rise of the Tomb Raider gave us wolves and humans and then these weird beings called the Deathless Ones, who defend the city, which holds the Divine Source and grants immortality. It’s fine. The story isn’t about treasure or tomb raiding, but you find out what happened to Lara’s dad, which is also a prevalent force throughout Tomb Raider games and films. The story of how he died is sad and a little weak, we know it’s Trinity, but the story falls flat when it comes to main baddy, Ana. A woman who seduced Lara’s father to extract the information she needs. I thought he’d be better than that.

Puzzles

Tomb Raider is all about puzzles, but that doesn’t feel like that’s the case anymore. It’s been heavily replaced by action and I kind of miss trying to solve intricate puzzles and annoying areas to progress through the game. I love the caches in the reboots and they are a lot of fun to find and study to gain achievements. It doesn’t make it easy either and they are very hidden. Only climbing your skill tree and using your points that you achieve through the game on ‘survival’ options will let you find these easily.

Speaking of the skill tree, I’m actually a huge fan of the skill point system. Where you use skill points you earn throughout the game to advance your abilities. You can choose between Hunter, Brawler and Survivor. Hunter will allow you to strengthen your attack skills, Brawler will make you stealthier and more cunning and Survivor, as my favourite, will get you all the handy little perks that come with finding tucked away treasure and rewards.

Open world and optional missions

Recently, the Tomb Raider games transitioned to semi-open world. So there are areas you can explore freely to complete missions and quests. The side missions are surprisingly fun and normally involve gathering hides or finding a unique flower buried somewhere. What I didn’t enjoy were the tombs, which I suppose defeats the point, but the optional tomb missions were lengthy and unrewarding.

I wonder what Tomb Raider would be like if it went full open world, I don’t know how I feel about that. Could be quite fun.

Upgrades and campsites

Saves and checkpoints, like with any older generation game, are quite punishing and the campsites in the latest games, although they are quite frequent, are the only place you can upgrade weapons and spend your skill points. I do love this about the reboots and as discussed the skill tree is a great addition.

However, the clothing that Lara can kit herself out with is a bit naff and includes random enhancements that can help you throughout the game. It does take away the raw feeling of the game that the first in the reboot got so right. Weapon upgrades are scarce and that’s good and you have to choose which weapons you want to power up. I went for the crossbow and shotgun, a nice combo of short and long range weapons that are really fun to use.

Shadow of the Tomb Raider

With leaks surfacing on Shadow of the Tomb Raider, it’s sort of opened up old wounds. I’m really hoping that there won’t be a hint of snow and Lara will be back trying to find herself, in amongst the abundance of accessories and countless wolves. Give me a baddy that I’m scared of, a secret that I want to uncover and a plethora of locations to hurtle myself around (with proportionally sized leaps).

Why Is Crash Bandicoot N.Sane Trilogy So Successful?

On the surface the answer to the above question is simple. Everyone loves nostalgia and having their favourite games remade with shinier graphics, thank you for reading *drops mic and leaves*.

I was half tempted to leave the article there as that is basically it, everyone loves the warm embrace of nostalgia when it comes to video games, whether it’s an easter egg (check Uncharted 4: a thief’s end) or a full on remake of a classic game like the N.Sane Trilogy, but how is Crash’s latest outing able to become the UK’s best selling platform exclusive game (for boxed games at least) for 2017 in just two days? Here is what we think.

A lot of video games these days appeal to video gamers. You’re probably thinking that’s pretty obvious but it’s true, there are very few games out there that appeal to people outside of the gamer bubble, and it’s a pretty big bubble considering that the industry is doing some pretty reasonable numbers. (According to UKIE the games industry is estimated to grow from the $101.1 Billion dollars it got last year to $128.5 billion it is expected to get by the end of 2020.) So for a game to break out of that bubble and start appealing to the more casual/non gamers out there is a pretty big achievement.

Every gamer has been in the following situation before, you meet someone who says they are a gamer and the games they say they play are GTA, Call Of Duty and FIFA. For a lot of people that invokes a facepalm reaction and then possibly some sort of fan boy induced discussion on how they are not a gamer blah blah blah, but what those games are doing is appealing to a bigger mass market and it’s working. There is also the type of gamer that really loves casual games. The gamer that probably fell in love with the Wii and plays lots of LEGO games, these people may buy maybe about 3 times a year at an educated guess and there is quite a lot of them out there so we can throw them into the bracket of the mass market as well.

What Crash Bandicoot N.Sane Trilogy has managed to do, is to appeal to the mass market and give them the nostalgia trip that we as humans love. Back in 1995 when the PlayStation was first released everyone needed to get their hands on one. A year later Crash Bandicoot appears on the scene as the PlayStation’s number one mascot, much like Sonic The Hedgehog was for SEGA and Mario was, and still is, for Nintendo. Before you know it everyone is playing Crash Bandicoot and loving the crazy platforming antics of this apple munching spinning maniac marsupial. As the PlayStation gets older the more casual gamers either stick with the same games or just drop off completely as the industry is still in its early-ish stages.

Fast forward to 2017 and Activision have re-made Crash Bandicoot for the PlayStation 4. Suddenly all of the mass market gamers who got Crash back in ’95 start pricking their ears up, all the COD and GTA players start getting pretty excited that the game they grew up with back in the mid nineties is making a come back and the really casual gamers get excited as well as they probably played Crash at a friends house back in his hay-day. I have seen first hand experience of this as one of my good friends, bought the N.Sane Trilogy to play on her fiancé’s PS4. We should take into account that my friend was obsessed with Disney Infinity when it was being developed and also plays the LEGO games. Back in the day she only managed to play the odd level on Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back on the PS1 so to have her own trilogy of all three Crash games with re-vamped graphics was a sure fire winner for her. This is a prime example of how the N.Sane Trilogy is appealing to the mass market. Even browsing social media you can see that gamers of all walks of life are loving Crash and getting the opportunity to once again try and foil Dr Neo Cortex’s evil plans.

Activision have the perfect recipe for success here, a game that appeals to all gamers whether they are really casual, play FIFA daily or spend days on end absorbed in gaming worlds. Crash Bandicoot N.Sane Trilogy ticks all of the boxes and the proof is in it’s N.Sane sales. Let’s hope that other developers pick this up and we get some other remasters of some classic games. Fingers Crossed we get Spyro The Dragon sometime soon.

What Made Evil Genius So Good?

With the announcement of Evil Genius 2 we thought we would take a trip down memory lane as we look back at what made the first game, Evil Genius, so great. Here is what we loved.

Being An Evil Genius

One of the biggest selling points of Evil Genius is the fact you are a mastermind who is trying to take over the world. This game combines all of the 60’s super spy stereotypes and throws them into a game where you play the bad guy. Everything you can think of that you need for world domination is available to you, well except for sharks with friggin lasers on their heads. Hopefully they will be added to Evil Genius 2.

Whacky Sense Of Humour

As mentioned before, this game takes the 60’s spy aesthetic and runs away with it. It’s as if Austin Powers, The Incredibles and Despicable Me were thrown into a blender and shoved into a base building simulation games, and this was before Despicable Me was even a glint in Illumination Entertainment’s eye. The game is dripping with 60’s nostalgia, it also has its fair share of crazy inventions that would even give Dr Evil a run for his money.

Base Building

At it’s core, Evil Genius is a simulation game where players must build a evil base of operations in order to the take over the world. The game mechanics are solid and engrossing, letting players build their ultimate evil lair, you are also able to train evil minions (not the short stocky yellow kind) to do your bidding. There are also various objectives for players to complete, in order to put their ultimate evil plan into action.

Government super spies will also try to infiltrate your base, which brings us on to…

Traps

Possibly one of the most satisfying game mechanics in Evil Genius is laying traps for unsuspecting spies who try to sneak into your base. You are able to lay a variety of triggers for traps such as laser trip beams and motion detectors. Traps wise you are able to get Piranha tanks, pit fall traps, electro shock cannons, bee hives, explosive palm trees, the list goes on. The great thing here is you can be pretty inventive with these traps and mix and match elements in order to create the ultimate spy catching device.

Minions

Minions keep you base of operations ticking as well as carrying out raids and objectives on your behalf. There are four types of Minions, with each type having its own sub section of minion hierarchy. There are Martial Artist Minions, Scientist Minions, Training Minions, there is even a Playboy Minion who has an arsenal of killer social interactions. These guys are key to running your base, if they weren’t around you would be tracked down by the CIA and MI5 in seconds.

As you can see Evil Genius is a pretty great game, and we haven’t even scratched the surface of what this game involves. If you haven’t played the game already, grab a copy from the Green Man Gaming store now and get playing whilst you wait for Evil Genius 2.

If you have played Evil Genius, let us know in the comments section at the bottom of this page. Do you have a wish list for Evil Genius 2? Let us know.

Crash Bandicoot Got a Remaster, What’s Next?

Crash Bandicoot’s remaster in the Crash Bandicoot N.Sane Trilogy has once again shown that remastering not only pleases reviewers, they sell like cakes which have been warmed up slightly.

That got me thinking though, what would I like to see remastered next? What game from the past would I like to see spruced up, dusted off, and released so I can play it on modern systems with updated sound, visuals, and maybe some fixes thrown in.

The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind

The greatest Elder Scrolls not only because of it setting of Vvardenfell which is as strange and alien as any world we’ve seen in RPGs, but also because of its themes of racism, colonialism, slavery, and cultural relativism. It feels like Morrowind has got more thematically relevant as time’s gone by, its major theme of understanding other cultures is something we could all definitely use a dose of.

You can install a million mods for Morrowind, but they often change the timbre of the game and the tone’s of how it looks is often lost. You install some HD Texture Pack and what you get out the other end isn’t ‘Morrowind’. What I want to see is an updated version, change up the combat a bit because you damn kids don’t understand dice roll combat if it’s in first person, slap some nicer visuals in, and put a day/night cycle in for towns so shopkeepers aren’t open all night. Boom, done, sells a billion copies. You can thank me later Bethesda.

OK you can visit an updated-but-prequel-by-a-thousand-years version in The Elder Scrolls Online: Morrowind, but it’s not the same, even though it’s pretty good.

Rings of Power

Alright, chances are you haven’t played this ancient Megadrive RPG from cinematic-game-masters Naughty Dog, but if you have you’ll be chomping at the bit for a sequel or a remaster or ANYTHING that would show that Naughty Dog haven’t forgotten their RPG roots.

Set in the world of Ushka Bau, the not-at-all derivative story involves the Rod of Creation getting split up into the Rings of Power, and you must scour the world first for companions for your quest, then the rings as you go to take on the mastermind behind it all; Void.

It was amazing to have an open world RPG on the Megadrive, and I’d love to see that setting revamped a bit. It doesn’t even have to look that much better, maybe spruce up the sounds, better resolution options, better conversations and random battles that are a bit less random and I’d be happy (it had random battles that were so random you could meet the hardest enemies in your first move).

Go on Naughty Dog, forget that Drake man, get back to Rings of Power.

Shining Force

It’s had a re-release already on the Game Boy Advance, but lets not think about that as it added stuff that doesn’t really add to the game (like special cards).

Shining Force is a strategy RPG made by the Sonic Team and yes, for the Megadrive again. It’s not as polished as its sequel and after that frankly the other games in the Shining series go a bit wacky, but Shining Force will remain my favourite just because of its world, and its structure. You progress through levels that contain multiple tactical squad based battles, levelling up, fighting the evil armies of Runefaust. It’s a brilliant game, and it’d do well brought to modern systems! Probably. Well. At least I’d enjoy it.

Fallout 1+2

The Fallout games have become a juggernaut, and it’s a terrible shame that most Fallout fans haven’t been able to play the original two games. Despite them still being incredibly playable today (they’re just turn based RPGs, they don’t need to look amazing!) they have a few flaws that need fixing via mods, and they aren’t really updated for modern systems.

Basically I just want to see a new generation see the ending of Fallout for the first time, or see the huge amount of choices that are available to them in New Reno.

Give them a remaster Bethesda, and then listen to the wails as people encounter super mutants for the first time and realise they’re not the cuddly sorta-easy-to-kill chaps you meet in the later Fallouts.

Freespace 1+2

The Freespace games are the finest mission based space combat games there are. Yes, even better than X-Wing and TIE Fighter, simply because they have LASER BEAMS that work like laser beams. The first mission of Freespace 2 has a giant spaceship opening fire with a beam cannon on another giant spaceship, and the beam not only persists it pauses for a second before cutting through the other ship. It was mind blowing at the time, and it’s something I still haven’t seen in many games.

Now, that scene is seared into my brain but I can’t go back and replay that moment because it probably looks like brown poops floating in space firing ugly lines at each other and not the vicious space war that I see in my memory.

So if Volition could stop with all this silly Saints Rowing and get back to doing a remaster of Freespace 1 and 2, I’ll be a happy chappy.

Also they could re-release Freespace without the ‘Descent’ prefix, which had nothing to do with the game at all.

But speaking of Descent…

Descent

It’s been a long time since we’ve had a decent Descent, with its twisty robot shooting 360 degree spaceship tunnel action. The world is clearly ready for a remaster of the original, so we can get lost, struggle with the map, and then get lost all over again.

But in between getting lost you get to blast loads of mining robots in corridors, and with modern visuals it’d be beautiful and confusing and filled with laser scorch marks.

Hey maybe they could even do a Viscera Cleanup Detail map for it? You can have that idea for free.

Those are my ideas for what I’d like to see remastered, so if all these dev teams could get on with that, that’d be great. Thanks.

If you have other games you’d like to see remastered, let me know in the comments below.

Kickstarter Games You Should Look Out For

Kickstarter has it’s fair share of great titles, whether these games have been funded or not there has been some noteworthy games on the crowdfunding platform. Here are some of the key titles that have caught our eye over the past month or so.

Pathfinder: Kingmaker

Pathfinder, the legendary off shoot of Dungeons and Dragons is finally getting its own isometric RPG and it has sent the Kickstarter crowd mad with excitement. Due to end on the 12th July Pathfinder: Kingmaker currently stands at 124% funded with over 12,000 people backing it.

Here is a short description of the game from the Kickstarter Campaign page:

“Whether you’re new to the Pathfinder® universe or you’re a seasoned veteran, Pathfinder: Kingmaker® is the CRPG you’ve been waiting for.

Here at Owlcat Games, we love and are inspired by classic isometric computer RPGs like Baldur’s Gate, Fallout and Arcanum. Our dream is to rekindle the thrill of playing those games for the first time. Building your hero, exploring the unknown, getting to know your companions, experiencing the adrenaline rush of your first battle (and your last), delving into mysterious dungeons, and—most importantly—seeing your protagonist and your world change through your actions.

We’ve always been big fans of the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game® from Paizo, Inc®, so we thought: How cool would it be to do this in the beloved Pathfinder setting? Paizo agreed, and with your support, we hope to bring a brand-new fantasy saga to life.”

Two of its four Stretch Goals have have been achieved with an extra story chapter and inclusion of character archetype still to go.

Fight Knight

Still with 27 days to go, Fight Knight has already smashed through it’s target. This is a first person game with a difference. as a knight it is up to you to fight your way through a psychedelically coloured environment punching anything and everything that moves. The game is already 253% funded by over 1,000 backers with no sign of slowing down any time soon.

Here is what the developers have to say about Fight Knight on their Kickstarter page:

“FIGHT KNIGHT is a mix between a first person dungeon crawler and a high speed action game. Players spend their time ascending a massive Tower, learning the story of FIGHT KNIGHT and getting to know friend & foe alike. Along the way they’ll solve puzzles, collect artifacts and help FIGHT KNIGHT grow in power. Encounters take place in real time, through grid based melee combat. Wits and reflexes pave the way to victory. Will YOU master the Tower and those who wait within?”

Unlike most campaigns, Fight Knight is avoiding stretch goals as the developers want to focus on creating the product they have in mind.

Ancient Cities

Ancient Cities is described as a survival and strategy city builder which is based in ancient times. That sentence alone just shows you how ambitious Ancient Cities is and it looks amazing. The campaign has since ended and and has raised €125,365 from 2,963 backers, smashing its goal of €100,000.

Here is what you can expect from Ancient Cities according to its Kickstarter page.

“Starting in the Neolithic era, you will have to guide your people through generations, discovering and improving technologies, managing resources and population, facing threats from raiders and Mother Nature herself. And, ultimately, building the most fantastic city of antiquity through the ages in a fully simulated world and ecosystem.

When released, the game will be available for PC Windows, other platforms to be determined.”

Four of the five stretch goals were unlocked during the course of the campaign, meaning that the game will now get an ice age expansion, fluid dynamics, a Neolithic age and DRM free platform release.

Blasphemous

This dark non linear 2D platformer is sure to catch the attention of Metroidvania game fans and gamers in general. The art is dark and the theme of the Blasphemous makes Dark Souls look like a bursary rhyme. The Kickstarter campaign was looking for $50,000 worth of funding and it got $333,246 from 9,869 backers.

Here is the official description of the game from the Kickstarter campaign:

“Blasphemous is an action-platformer that combines the fast-paced, skilled combat of a hack-n-slash game with a deep and evocative narrative core, delivered through exploration of a huge universe comprised of non-linear levels.

Immerse yourself in a dark fantasy nightmare that has been constructed PIXEL BY PIXEL by our committed artists.”

17 of 18 stretch goals were unlocked for Blasphemous meaning that the game will benefit from extra game modes, graphics upgrades online features and new bosses.

Project Rap Rabbit

From the creators of PaRappa The Rapper and Gitaroo man comes a game that could have made a name for itself. Sadly though this rhythm game didn’t get the funding it needed and as a result was unable to go into production. Project Rap Rabbit only managed to get £161,557 of its £855,000 goal, and that was from 2,919 backers.

Here was what Project Rap Rabbit could have been:

“For the first time ever, two of the genre’s biggest icons collaborate on an innovative new musical adventure coming to PlayStation 4 and PC.

An explosive mix of Japanese folklore and traditional artwork, hip hop and humorous battle rap face-offs inspired by the Epic Rap Battles Of History YouTube series, Project Rap Rabbit (working title) is the next major game from the creators of PaRappa The Rapper, Vib-Ribbon, Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan, Elite Beat Agents and Gitaroo Man.”

There was only 2 stretch goals one at $1,100,000 to add six levels and the other at $1,500,000 for a Nintendo switch version of the game.

So those are the Kickstarter Campaigns that have caught out eye over the past month or so. Are there any that we haven’t mentioned? Let us know in the comments section at the bottom of this page.

Games Done Quick – A Brief History of Speedrunning

Games Done Quick is a bi-annual festival of speedrunning, it’s a gaming marathon that shows off speedrunning, speedrunners, and breaks open your favourite games to show you just how they can be completed in the fastest time possible. It’s all in aid of charity, this time for Doctors Without Borders (Médecins Sans Frontières) and you can get watching the live stream here!

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Games Done Quick runs twice a year, with the current Summer Games Done Quick running until the 9th of July. It shows off the best speedrunners who smash game after game, often telling you how they’re doing it, and showing you what they’re doing and talking you through the process. There’s entertainment, fun, singalongs, and all sorts on offer during the speedrunning celebration. If you’ve ever wanted to see Ecco the Dolphin done quick, or Dark Souls II smashed in record time, Games Done Quick is the place to go. And did we mention it’s in a good cause? The last Games Done Quick raised over two million dollars!

That’s Games Done Quick, but what about speedrunning? Speedrunning has a rich and long history and one that we cannot go into in great depth here, as it would take many pages and incredible research which we just don’t have the time for. So here’s our abridged and brief history of the noble art of speedrunning, get yourself a hot drink, settle down, because even though we’ve cut this down a lot it’s still a hefty read.

Chapter 1

People complete games really fast and that’s called speedrunning.

The End

Games Done Quick is currently streaming from the Minneapolis Marriott City Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota until the 9th of July, and you can check it out above and here. Get looking, get all up in the speedrunning, and get donating, it’s in a good cause!

A Mechtacular Look At Best Past, Present And Future Mech Games

With the PS4 release date for Gundam Versus announced, the exclusive PS4 game will be available 29^th September in North America. The arcade fighting game, where giant mechs fight it out with gargantuan swords and blasters, has been built upon from the original smash hit arcade game in Japan. If you’re a mech fan, this will come as welcome news, but as September is still a little way off, here are some games to chew through, some of our favourites and some to get excited about.

Zone of the Enders

Set in a futuristic world, players take control of an Orbital Frame, or SUPER ROBOT. Equipped with dashing, running, guarding, attacking and throwing. The old school mech game was great fun to zip through, and delve into a chaotic war between Earth and Mars.

Titanfall 2

A first person shooter, where you can play alongside your mech buddy, where you are controlling both the player and Titan. You’ll have an arsenal of abilities available, including cloaking, parkour, wall running and so on. There’s an abundance of cool weapons and a hectic multiplayer mode as well as cool single-player with puzzle elements and a play your own way style.

MechWarrior 2

The 1995 game is high up on any mech fans list, developed and released by Activision, MechWarrior 2 belonged to the BattleTech franchise. Choosing between two Clans, battles took place on planets in the BattleTech universe, with specific goals to reach, such as search and destroy or base strike. The onboard computer provides constant feedback during combat, so players can change strategy. The game is crammed with serious tech and plenty of action.

Armored Core 4

A reboot of the series, created for Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3, the game’s setting makes this one of my favourite mech games, set on a Dystopian Earth, that has been conquered by an evil corporation and the governing bodies have been overthrown. The mechs are chunky, the movements are fun and the missiles are powerful.

Hearthstone

It has a mech class, so it made the list. Hearthstone is a card strategy game where you can play as certain classes including hunter, paladin and rogue with specialised class cards and online ranked matches. The mechs in the game allow you to create a ‘mech hand’ where mech cards buff and compliment each other.

Terra Nova: Strike Force Centauri

The legendary tactical first person shooter set in a science-fictional 24^th century. The game focuses on combat and you get to wear a cool armoured suit. Compared to the popular MechWarrior 2 and from the developers of System Shock, the game’s gameplay works similarly, with the HUD containing three multi-function displays, for tactical information, such as squad commands and weapon stats. The game took you through missions, where you were briefed then deployed into action, with objectives to rescue or ambush.

War Tech Fighters

The upcoming mech fighting game described as the love child of Michael Bay and Evangelion by way of a nuclear powered food blender. Players will lead an assault on the Zartros empire with their battalion of War Techs, the deadliest weapons ever built. A War Tech is a precision made Mech which uses the latest in state of the art military technology. The game will be coming to Early Access and is available for pre-purchase now.

Strike Suit Zero

A space flight combat game, available on PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. Strike Suit Zero is one of the newest contenders to take the mech powerhouse trophy, with its classic gameplay style aimed to resurrect arcade-style shooters. It’s story-driven single player campaign mode is packed with large ships, heavy weapons and mission orientated gameplay with a tactical edge.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RyoBwysAWVo

BattleTech

The tactical mech combat game will be returning to PCs in 2017, from the original creator behind the popular series. Taking on BattleMechs and commanding a mercenary outfit or mechs and warriors, you’ll be fighting a brutal war, in this tactical, strategy game full of explosions, lasers and epic battles.

Shogo: Mobile Armor Division

A first person shooter from Monolith Productions, released in 1998. A bit of a hybrid between the first person shooter mechanics and the weighty mech combat. The game has a nice mix between on foot action and in mech blasting. Shogo has mech fan nostalgia pulsing through its veins and is one of the first FPS games to feature a branching storyline, which resulted in a different ending.

What’s your favourite mech game? Let us know!

Why We Are Excited For Ruiner

Devolver Digital have a habit of publishing some pretty brutal games such as Hotline Miami and Mother Russia Bleeds. So as you can imagine Ruiner is not going to be a fairytale by any stretch of the imagination but it does look amazing. Here is why we are looking forward to Ruiner.

Story

Set in the year 2091, Ruiner takes place in the city of Rengkok. A city where dreams come true and you can be who you want to be. This Cyberpunk influenced world is not what it seems however as a corporation named Heaven, who runs the city is not what it seems to be. Heaven is responsible for, as the developer puts it, “bringing people real sensations in virtual worlds”. You play as a masked hero who has to save his family and discover the truth behind Rengkok and the Heaven corporation. The story and setting both sound really cool, as it sounds like the developers may be taking some inspiration from the film Total Recall. (if you haven’t watched Total Recall we suggest the original with Arnie not the remakes with Colin Farrell).

Gameplay

Ruiner is an isometric shooter that is chock full of moves and abilities that add a good deal of variety to just pointing and shooting. Players will have a series of gadgets at their disposal which can be used both offensively and defensively. Here are some of the gadgets that have been confirmed so far.

Charge – Allows players to dash into enemies with their shield.
Dash – Similar to Charge but instead of running into opponents, Dash is used to avoid attacks.
Energy Shield – Lets players use their shield to deflect weapons, can be combined with dash.

Enemies

There are several types of enemies in the world of Ruiner, each of them more terrible than the last. There are many varieties of enemies out there on the streets of Rengkok, here are just some of the opponents you will face.

Creeps – Children who were brainwashed at an early age by local mobsters, now grown up, Creeps are feral human beings who will stop at nothing to destroy you.
Heaven Security – Semi Synthetic guards who have pin point accuracy, they do however have a weakness to electricity.
Triad Killers – These professional assassins will stop at noting to dispose of their target both quickly and silently.
Cyborg Minotaur – Modified by mobster bosses, Cyborg Minotaurs are strong, heavy and ruthless in battle.

Ruiner is looking like a pretty great game and not just a generic cyberpunk themed isometric shooter. It has style and a nice variety of moves for players to use. We can’t wait to play the game when it comes out later this year.

What do you think about Ruiner? Will you be getting the game on release? Let us know in the comments section at the bottom of this page.

What’s New In Shadow Of War: Gameplay, Story And Characters

PSN Credit – A Gift From Me To Me

Summer is shit. It makes gaming so much harder, and as much as I love sitting in a stifling hot room, made hotter by my PlayStation, I will not quit. Instead, I will give the gift of heat and make my friends suffer with me, in the intolerable realms of summer gaming.

If you didn’t know, Green Man Gaming now have PSN credit available on the store. With $10, $20 and $50 credit available, now at 5% off!

So if your friends or family members are out having FUN in the sun, put an end to that now and get them to join you on your favourite multiplayer. Or treat yaself. Need multiplayer inspiration? Here’s our sizzling summer list.

Little Big Planet 3

For if you like cute things and rainbows and stickers and adorable little characters. If you do not, then you need to ask yourself why, because Little Big Planet 3 is amazing. It’s a side scrolling platformer, where you play as a stitched up little sackboy, which you can customise to your hearts content. You travel through different worlds, on some sort of heroic quest, coming up against different elements including ice, fire, spikes, tunnels, revolving platforms, tubes, some underwater and really pretty much anything. Little Big Planet is kind of this endless weird dream that you never want to end, because anything could happen. And best of all it’s voiced to Stephen King and his soothing voice will guide through. It’s also competitive, there is a leaderboard for who has collected the most stickers, so the cute ends there, that’s when it gets ugly.

Borderlands 2

Venture into the bright, bold, vibrant colours of Pandora and become a Vault Hunter, with endless guns, absolutely endless and with a pretty small inventory, you have to be choosy. I think I spent most the game deciding on my guns and having to part way with favourites, because you just can’t be too sure. This is the best game to play online with friends, the world is huge and varied, the enemies are tonnes of fun and the missions are well thought out and never disappoint. Every side quest feels like a main story and the characters you meet along the way are hilarious and fit the world perfectly. Expect major bants as the dialogue is fantastic.

DiRT 4

Do you like racing? And cars and racing cars? Well DiRT 4 offers something a little different, going back to its rally days, so you can expect varied terrain and intense, muddy drive offs. DiRT 4 has great map customisation, so you’re able to adjust the track and share it with friends. The Your Stage custom map creator, has two sliders calle length and complexity, so you’re able to make it as challenging as you want. There’s also custom competitive multiplayer modes for PvP for lobbies up to eight.

Injustice 2

A video game about superheroes. It’s a fighter, with all your favourite characters such as Superman, Batman, Joker, Harley Quinn, Wonder Woman and Green Lantern. The online multiplayer is an intense fight out which offers multiple friend options including ‘guilds’ which lets you join groups with your mates and team up to fight exclusive events to win Mother Boxes. These boxes can contain all sorts of gear goodies, including outfits, weapons and armour for your characters. This is also a great way to increase your stats! Ranked matches are also great fun, if you’re in it for the numbers, you can play against friends or in the wide world of players. Timed exclusive events also occur online with unlock awesome rewards. But, if you always just feel like battling your mate one on one, then take em down in a private match.

WipEout Omega Collection

Complete with WipEout HD, WipEout HD Fury, WipEout Pure, WipEout Pulse, WipEout 2048 – that’s a lot of WipEout. The Omega Collection amalgamates all of these game into one MEGA GAME. So you can race online in matches of up to eight people in 5 super exciting modes including Single Race, Tournament, Speed Lap, Time Trial and Zone. You’re gunna have fun playing this and if you don’t, do you even know what fun is?

The Black Death – A Day in the Life of a Peasant

The Black Death is a medieval survival game, where you start out from nothing and try to make something of yourself. Maybe you’ll become a knight and rule your lands from your castle…or maybe you’ll fall off a hill to your death wearing nothing but rags!

We caught up with noted peasant Dirk Bigge as he arrived in the diseased and unforgiving lands of The Black Death, and he told us about his day.

Hour 1

I’ve woken on a beach, my back aches and my clothes are torn. Nothing new there then. Creaking slowly I rise to my feet and head along the shore, maybe someone’ll be able to explain what happened to me and how I got here.

Trees appear as I turn the corner of the cliffs that jut out onto the barren beach. I see the treeline and amongst them, a swinging body.

I fear this will be an unfriendly land.

Hour 2

I have naught in my possession other than a torch, the clothes on my back, and some awful parsnips I have managed to forage from the side of the road.

A clash of metal startles me as I rest for a moment. I hide behind the nearest tree and peer out as two knights, armoured in full plate, smash together in a cacophony of violence.

The blood that erupts from one as the sword enters him takes my breath away. I hold my hand over my mouth as I try not to whimper, to cry. I’m a child of the city, I’ve never seen death like this before.

I sneak away, my hands deep in the rich fecund mud.

This is definitely an unfriendly land.

Hour 5

I’ve regained my composure and climbed a large hill away from the steel clad monsters which lurk behind me. I’ve managed to gather a few pieces of cotton and I’ll try to make some clothing out of it.

I fail, and the cotton disappears from my hands in a puff of smoke.

What a strange land I have found myself in.

Hour 9

I have spent the last 2 hours crouched on top of a freezing hill while the wind whipped around me, causing my tattered rags to flutter like a flag of poverty. I’ve been watching a castle, a small wooden motte and bailey castle that broods in the nearby valley, like a spider lurking threateningly at the bottom of a gutter.

I have seen nobody move there, no life at all. Building my nerve, I believe I will approach. I can’t stay up here anymore, I need shelter. I need warmth.

Hour 10

I am shaken by what I’ve found in the castle.

Bodies lie on the floor of each building, there’s no life at all within its palisades. Only death lives here, flies fill the air as I approach and the stench of death lies heavy as a miasma upon the land.

I managed to hold my nose and my nerve long enough to approach a likely looking corpse and strip it of possessions, taking a simple knife from his side.

Sneaking away, I notice a rasp in my lungs. Odd.

Hour 12

My lungs burn.

I have made my way with shaking legs towards a grand bridge I can see hunched over a nearby river. Maybe there I can find people, find a cure for this burning that fills my body, that wracks me with coughs every time I draw air.

I scratch at my skin and feel it peel away, buboes are forming on my face and I can feel myself falling apart.

I fear the Black Death has found me.

Hour 14

I have reached the bridge, but no safety awaits me there.

The cough has now become all encompassing and I can barely move, my skin burns, my insides burn, pustules cover my body.

I found water in a puddle and in my haste and to quench my thirst I drank deeply of it, its bitter flavour and filth causing endless tides of nausea that filled me to overflowing.

I must carry on, I must reach someone who can help.

Hour ??

I am alone. Night is coming.

Cold and torpor fills me. I fall to the ground. I need to rest.

I dreamed of a future, I dreamed of finally owning a house, of starting a business.

Now I only dream that the pain will end.

No-one can help me now. I will just close my eyes for a second. To rest. To sleep.

As my eyes close…I hope I will dream again.

…

The Black Death is available in Early Access now.

If You Play These Games, You Should Play Fortnite

Here at the Green Man Gaming offices we have been doing some number crunching. With the upcoming release of Fortnite we have been looking through the stats of some similar games in order to gauge the perfect Fortnite player. So without further a-do here are some player stats for similar games.

NOTE: These stats cover the last 12 months year to date

Left 4 Dead 2

How Is It Similar To Fortnite: Much like Fortnite, Left 4 Dead 2 is a team based survival game where you have to defeat hordes of the undead whilst you keep your buddies alive. True, Left 4 Dead doesn’t have the base building element that Fortnite has, but it does have a plethora of different types of zombies for players to defeat, which Fortnite is also promising.

Unique Users Who Have Played The Game: 86,938
Number Of Achievements Unlocked: 1,022,805
Most Achieved Achievement: Acid Reflex – Unlocked by 56,364 players
Least Achieved Achievement: Meat Tenderizer – Unlocked by 18,205 players
Total Time Played In:
Minutes: 29,525,753,037
Hours: 492,095,884
Days: 20,503,995
Weeks: 2,929,142
Years: 56,330

Orcs Must Die! 2

How Is It Similar To Fortnite: Described as an action based tower defence game. The aim of Orcs Must Die is to protect your towers from the onslaught of Orcs who are coming to destroy them. This is also the aim in Fortnite, minus the crafting, open world and hordes of the undead.

Unique Users Who Have Played The Game: 9,865
Number Of Achievements Unlocked: 126,136
Most Achieved Achievement: Ten At Once – Unlocked By 18,606 Players
Least Achieved Achievement: Have Some More – Unlocked by 864 Players
Total Time Played In:
Minutes: 3,404,034,454
Hours: 56,733,908
Days: 945,565
Weeks: 15,759
Years: 303

Dungeon Defenders II

How Is It Similar To Fortnite: A multiplayer game that combines tower defence and RPG. Dungeon Defenders uses some of the same ideas that Fortnite will be using once it has released. Like Fortnite, the game builds upon the classic tower defence mechanic and puts a pretty cool spin on it. I mean who doesn’t love a game that adds RPG elements, who doesn’t love character building?

Unique Users Who Have Played The Game: 1,236
Number Of Achievements Unlocked: 22,964
Most Achieved Achievement: Steady Aim – Unlocked by 8,429 Players
Least Achieved Achievement: Clever Girl – Unlocked by 2,453 players
Total Time Played In
Minuets:215,949,099
Hours: 3,599,152
Days: 59,986
Weeks: 1,000
Years: 19

We believe the above games are the most like Fortnite, therefore the players of those games should be the perfect canditates for the tower defence crafting game. All the above games cover the fundamentals of survival, slaying unnatural beasts in a team and building fortresses (except maybe Left 4 Dead but we can let that slide).

Fortnite is the new game by the People Can Fly (BulletStorm) and Gearbox Software (Borderlands), is looking like an amazing game as up to 14 players will be tasked to build a fortress and take on the undead in order to survive. It has been described as “Minecraft meets Left 4 Dead” by Tim Sweeny the founder of Epic Games.

We truly believe that of the 98,039 total gamers above will give Fortnite a go, its like the perfect amalgamation of Dungeon Defenders, Orcs Must Die! and Left for Dead, with (as Tim suggested) a healthy sprinkling of Minecraft crafting as well. You can check out the latest gameplay trailer for Fortnite below.

Agents of Mayhem Characters Confirmed So Far

Agents of Mayhem is the upcoming Saints Row spinoff, from developer Volition. The game is an open world adventure set within the Saints Row universe. Playing as the goodies, MAYHEM are the organisation against that fight the baddies, LEGION. It’s a simple good vs bad story, stuffed full of all the silliness and crass you’d expect from a Saints Row game. The humour is spot on and the dialogue is as effortlessly funny as previous Saints Row games. So here are the agents who you’ll be able to get behind in Agents of Mayhem, landing August.

Daisy

A total babe, she’s bold and in your face. She takes no prisoners with her larger than life mini gun and screw it attitude. She’s the berserker of the group and will be able to charge in with her heavy minigun and ‘kick out the jams’ ability, which she can use to stun large groups of enemies. Her minigun isn’t just any old minigun, it’s got serious force, with an increased rate of fire and minimal heat. She’s a bit of a rogue and hasn’t always played ball, which makes her exciting and slightly risky.

Fortune

Equipped with a drone called Glory, Fortune is a feisty, cunning sky pirate. She has an honest, upfront to fights, using her dual energy pistols for short range fire. A quick tap of the guns will release a high amount of damage over large areas. Glory is also a blast to use, literally, it will blast nearby enemies when detonated.

Joule

Charming and deadly, Joule is fashion obsessed, but doesn’t let that get in the way of her brilliant engineering mind. She’s enemy focussed and builds excellent machinery and is able to summon a ‘Prima Touretta’ that gives off a large pulse, which stuns enemies. Her weapon of choice is a energy beam gun, keeping enemies at bay she is single enemy focused, but the wipeout is quick and probably quite painful.

Rama

Recently showcased as one of the ‘bombshells’ – the most volatile of the agents. Rama is sharp, quick witted and has a dark sense of humour. She uses a bow in combat, spraying streams of lasers at enemies. Her abilities also include ‘death trap’ and ‘patient zero’, which are more delectable ways to use her weapon.

Hardtack

The badass sailor, the gentle giant that has a particular aggression towards LEGION. Hardtack is the tank of the group, with his heavy shotgun and charging attacks which deal high amounts of damage. He can also throw a harpoon and stun enemies. Stunning enemies seems to be a theme for the agents, let’s hope it’s effective.

Red Card

Another ‘bombshell’ of the agents, Red Card is the wild card, a manic in your face assault characters. Just waiting for the ‘go’ to charge into situations and stir it up. With his assault rifle and shotgun combo and bloodthirsty approach, Red Card can release explosive damage near large groups of enemies and is the character to cause more disruption and distraction.

Braddock

A dutiful soldier, Braddock is a young, highly trained and diligent former corp. She’s experienced in battle and her actions are precise, dealing extreme amounts of damage with specialised ammo that cuts through armor and the character you’d want bossing.

Hollywood

Posing, constantly. Hollywood is a former star and celebrity, turned soldier for MAYHEM. He is a showboater and he does everything with a certain style and class, never a hair out of place. He is an up close and personal shooter, with fire bouncing grenades for attention and a special ability called ‘action hero’ – cue music.

Yeti

Subject to experiments in Russia, Yeti is the gentle giant of the group. He is the powerhouse of the group and combined with his elemental powers, is an unstoppable force. He has a cold gun, which he can use to slow and freeze enemies – again, what’s with the whole stun thing aye?

Gat

The Saints Row legend himself Gat has been confirmed to return as an agent and we’re super excited for his incredible spectacle. Gat is a performer, playing as him is guaranteed Mayhem, but the guns will be tasty and the fight will be awesome.

Looking forward to Agents of Mayhem? Who do you want to play as? Let us know in the comment section at the bottom of this page.

You can also grab 15% off of Agents Of Mayhem right now! Use the code MAYHEM15, add the code to your basket before you check out.

What We Are Looking Forward To In Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy

Friday sees the release of Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy and a fair few of us here at the Green Man Gaming offices can’t wait. So we thought we would take trip down memory lane and list some of the things we are looking forward to.

Running Away From Boulders

Whether you did this back in the days of the PlayStation 1, or you did it recently in Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End (such a great Easter egg) The boulder level from the first Crash was the ultimate test of dexterity and reactions. Also great fun too.

Buddying up with Aku Aku

Anyone who has played Crash Bandicoot has more than likely shouted “Oooga Booga” at the TV when they have picked up the Aku Aku Mask. The Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy is going to give us the chance once again to shout “Oooga Booga” once again.

Riding Various Animals

The hog wild level in Crash Bandicoot and the Polar Bear Chase in Crash Bandicoot 2 were some of my favourite levels. So it will be great to relive these levels in glorious HD graphics. Also equally get frustrated at the game after iI have dies the 457th time in a row.

Spinning Enemies Into Hazards

Nothing is quite as satisfying as throwing an unsuspecting enemy into a pit. Need I say any more?

Repeatedly Failing

Every Crash Bandicoot experience should come with a large helping of epic game fails. Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy will no doubt come with a fair few of these through your play through, sure it’s frustrating, but pretty hilarious at the same time.

What were your favourite moments in Crash Bandicoot? Let us know in the comments section at the bottom of this page.

What Does Star Fox 2 Mean For The SNES Classic?

The SNES Classic was officially announced by Nintendo yesterday and with it was the list of games that would be pre installed on the console. It seems that Japan’s version of the console (which is called the Famicom Classic) will be getting a different line up compared to the West. If you don’t know the line up for each console you can check out the lists below.

The SNES Classic

Contra III: The Alien Wars
Donkey Kong Country
EarthBound
Final Fantasy III
F-ZERO
Kirby Super Star
Kirby’s Dream Course
The Legend of Zelda™: A Link to the Past
Mega Man X
Secret of Mana
Star Fox
Star Fox 2
Street Fighter 2 Turbo: Hyper Fighting
Super Castlevania 4
Super Ghouls ‘n Ghosts
Super Mario Kart
Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars
Super Mario World
Super Metroid
Super Punch-Out!!
Yoshi’s Island

The Super Famicom Classic

Contra III: The Alien Wars
Donkey Kong Country
Final Fantasy III (Final Fantasy VI in Japan)
F-ZERO
Fire Emblem: Mystery of the Emblem
Kirby Super Star
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
Mega Man X (Rockman X in Japan)
Panel de Pon (Tetris Attack in the West)
Secret of Mana
Star Fox
Star Fox 2
Super Street Fighter II: The New Challengers
Super Formation Soccer
Super Ghouls ‘n Ghosts
Super Mario Kart
Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars
Super Mario World
Super Metroid
The Legend of the Mystical Ninja
Yoshi’s Island

So, on the Japan side, the console will be getting games such as Fire Emblem: Mystery of the Emblem, Panel de Pon, Super Street Fighter II: The New Challengers, Super Formation Soccer and The Legend of the Mystical Ninja. Whilst the West will get EarthBound, Kirby’s Dream Course, Street Fighter II Turbo: Hyper Fighting, Super Castlevania IV and Super Punch-Out!!

Star Fox 2

All of which is very cool, but the standout game for both consoles is Star Fox 2. 22 years ago Star Fox 2 was one of the most highly anticipated sequels to come out for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. Sadly the game was cancelled before it could ever be released, this was primarily due to the N64 being so close to release, so Nintendo had to focus their efforts on their new console. What’s more Sony had just released the PlayStation and Nintendo were too afraid that a new SNES game would just blend into the background and wouldn’t get sales. Speaking to NintendoLife Star Fox 2 Programmer Dylan Cuthbert stated that “I think that caught Nintendo off-guard. The decision was made because they didn’t want the old-gen 3D going up against the much better 3D of the next generation, side-by-side.” So the game was cancelled and would never see the light of day.

Skip ahead to 2017 and Star Fox 2 is finally getting released. According to Cuthbert when the game was first cancelled, it was 95% complete, so the developers finished the game anyway. They even went to the extent of having the game “fully QA’d through Mario Club.” As the game was so close to completion a ROM of Star Fox 2 was anonymously leaked a few years later by a Nintendo employee. The fans then jumped on this game to iron out the bugs, remove the debug code from it and even go to the extent of giving the game a full english translation.

Through these leaks, a lot of gamers out there do have a very good idea about how Star Fox 2 plays, however with these ROMs on the internet this still doesn’t give fans the authentic Star Fox experience that the developers wanted to give gamers all those years ago. But now, thanks to the SNES Classic, we can finally get our hands on Star Fox 2, just as the developers wanted.

Rejected Diablo III Classes

Diablo III‘s Necromancer is out today and it’s the latest (possibly last?) class to be added to the action RPG from Blizzard. There’s lots of classes in the game already, but did you know there were several that were rejected in the planning stage? Here’s the classes that Blizzard was going to include in Diablo III, but didn’t!

Diablo

Originally the bad guy in Diablo and then…the bad guy in Diablo II and then also a bad guy in Diablo III, did you know that Diablo was at one point going to be a playable character? The twist inclusion of Diablo into Diablo III was a late addition, as he was originally going to be turned good by the Soul Stone of Goodness and then become an unlockable protagonist for the game!

The Grim Reaper

The Reaper of Souls was based off the The Grim Reaper class, a class which combined wicked scythe play and also TALKED LIKE THIS. Accompanied by his non-combat pet Alfred, he was cut from the game for being too powerful as who can kill Death? Only the Auditors, and they weren’t going to be included until the sequel, Diablo IV: Death’s Wild Ride, starring Binky the White Steed.

A Deer

The original vision for the Diablo series was born when Blizzard CEO Mike Morhaime saw the original Bambi film, and since then he has always wanted to show deers getting their own back on humans. The protagonist of Diablo was always meant to be an angry deer, and the series was going to be called Deer-ablo. Despite this being changed at the last minute, plans to include a playable deer were going to be included in Diablo III as a nod to the original vision. Alas this was dropped in favour of the Monk class.

Rabbids

Mario + Rabbids isn’t the first crossover for the loveable rabbids, they were at one time planned to be included in the Diablo universe! After the Worldstone was destroyed at the end of Diablo II, other universes were going to be sucked into Sanctuary, with the Rabbids universe being one of them. Forget dressing up as Princess Peach, we could’ve been treated to the sight of a Rabbid Diablo, or a Rabbid Tyrael! Alas this wasn’t to be, the Rabbids universe getting mushed up with the Mushroom Kingdom instead.

Thrall

It’s Blizzard, of course Thrall was going to be a class in Diablo III.

There you have it! The Diablo III classes we never got to see, all cut from the game. Still, the game has blossomed into the pinnacle of action-RPG-dom without them, so it’s not all bad! Remember, you can pick up the game here, and the Necromancer class is out today!

The 10 Stages Of Playing Final Fantasy XV

With Final Fantasy XV’s latest DLC, Episode Prompto releasing today and the brief teaser we got of Episode Ignis, we thought we would pay homage to Final Fantasy XV’s main story. As we all know Final Fantasy XV is an emotional rollercoaster, so here are the emotions we experienced when playing Final Fantasy XV’s Main Story.

1. Excitement – YOU ARE PLAYING A NEW FINAL FANTASY GAME!

2. Nostalgia – The Feeling you get when you realise all the classic Final Fantasy tropes are included, like Gil, Pheonix Downs and Chocobos, speaking of which…

3. …Happiness – The feeling you get when you realise you can ride Chocobos and hug them and feed them and pet them.

4. Confusion – That moment where you ask yourself… ‘Is Prompto annoying or awesome?’

5. Surprise – When you come up against some of those awesome boss battles

6. Slight Displeasure – When the game takes a more liner path and you just want the open world back

7. Frustration – Chapter 13

8. Sadness – When everything starts to take a turn for the worse

9. Chronic Sadness – That ending…..

10. Admiration – when it is all finally over all you can do is applaud.

The History Of Micro Machines Games

Micro Machines has been around for over 2o years (26 to be exact) and the latest game, Micro Machines World Series, is coming out on the 3oth June. So whilst you wait the couple of days before the game is released we thought we would give you a history of Micro Machines games. Do you think World series is going to compare to these classics?

Micro Machines

Released all the way back in 1991 on the Nintendo Entertainment System (or the NES if you prefer) and then in 1993 on other consoles. This was the first game to lay down the Micro Machines foundations of racing miniature cars in unconventionally themed race tracks.

Micro Machines 2: Turbo Tournament

Micro Machines 2 added some brand new features to the series, such as different handling techniques for each car and other vehicles such as helicopters and hovercrafts. The game also featured different game modes such as head to head which awarded players for driving a full screen away from their opponents, which has become a micro machines staple. The PC version of the game also came with a track editor.

Micro Machines Turbo Tournament ’96

This title was only released on the Sega Mega Drive (or Genesis in the US). This was an up to date version of Micro Machines 2: Turbo Tournament. It featured new tracks and updated tracks from the original game. It also came with it’s own track construction kit that only came out for the PC version of the original game.

Micro Machines Military

This game was only released in Europe and Australia for the Sega Mega Drive, this game featured brand new tracks and as you would expect, military vehicles. These vehicles were given weapons which allowed players to attack their opponents.

Micro Machines V3

The first Micro Machines game to feature proper 3D graphics was released in March 1997 for the PlayStation. It’s tracks were themed on different areas of the household and featured multiple weapons for players to use. This was the first Micro Machines game to feature the controller share multiplayer option which became popular in the later games.

Micro Machines 64 Turbo

A port of Micro Machines V3 for the N64, Micro Machines 64 Turbo was the same game with some added extras. The game introduced 8 player local multiplayer with the gamepad share. This allowed 2 players to share a pad. The vehicles had automatic acceleration in order to compensate for the lack up buttons in this mode.

Micro Maniacs

Instead of cars, Micro Maniacs used running people instead. Occasionally these character would use vehicles on specific tracks, such as jet skis and skateboards. It had 12 characters to choose from and multiplayer games for up to 8 players.

Micro Machines (2002)

This version of Micro Machines came with advanced graphics and characters sporting unique vehicles. This version of Micro Machines however isn’t highly regarded as the best in the franchise and has since has faded into the background somewhat.

Micro Machines V4

What is considered at the true sequel to Micro Machines V3, V4 had over 25 tracks and 750 vehicles for players to choose from. Tracks also included locations such as the supermarket and ta swimming pool

Micro Machines World Series

The latest title in the franchise brings all of your favourite features from previous games and gives them a fresh lick of paint. With HD graphics and Brain Blessed announcing, this is set to be the best game in the series yet.

Thats if for our Micro Machines timeline, what was your favourite Micro Machines games? Will you be picking up Micro Machines World Series when it comes out on the 30th June?