Best Rockstar Games (That Aren’t GTA)

Rockstar made one or two videogames that you might have heard of. Something about Grand Theft Auto? Ringing any bells?

OK so Rockstar make a series called Grand Theft Auto, it sells quite well. But what are the best Rockstar games that aren’t GTA related?

Max Payne 3

Basically ‘Man on Fire’ the game, this differs considerably from the noir setting of the first two games and takes you on a roaring rampage of revenge through Brazil instead. Max Payne is washed up by this point, an alcoholic pill addict, he’s got nothing to live for other than bullet-time and shooting hordes of baddies that is. It takes itself both less and more seriously than the original ones, and despite being sneered at by some die hard fans of the series, it’s more than worth checking out.

Oh and Health’s soundtrack for it is absolutely immense. When you get to the airport…I shall say no more. But you’ll know the moment when you get there.

Oni

Remember when Bungie and Rockstar released a third person action shoot ’em up with hand to hand combat? No? Well they did, it was called Oni, and it was absolutely amazing. Heavily inspired by Mamoru Oshii’s Ghost in the Shell film, it takes place in a dystopian future under an Orwellian government, as protagonist Konoko goes on a quest to simply do her job. Well, it starts off like that, by the end some larger themes have crept into the narrative, like I dunno, the fate of the cities on Earth?

Yeah. It’s a good one.

Red Dead Redemption

I almost feel like I don’t have to write anything for this one. You know it, I know it. It’s the one with horses and John Marsden, and that bit when you go to Mexico.

If you haven’t played it by now, what on earth are you waiting for? You can get a console for cheap and a copy of the game, get on it already. I’ll wait.

(I won’t wait.)

L.A. Noire

A.K.A. ‘So that’s what the Mad Men cast have been up to in between seasons’, L.A. Noire takes you, as Detective Phelps, on a tour of his life through a few years  of being a cop in LA in the late 40s and 50s. Featuring facial fidelity and a feel for the time period that’s unmatched, this game makes you feel like you’re living Phelps’ life as he solves crimes and investigates the seedy underbelly of 50s LA.

Also it features a black and white mode, which is absolutely stunning.

Bully (Canis Canem Edit)

Bully, or Hogwarts for Horrible Humans, features the most awful school known to humanity, the dreaded Bullworth Academy. Play as Jimmy as you avoid bullies, go to classes, avoid detention, and get up to scrapes as you explore your school and frankly just try to survive Bullworth. Eventually you’ll take over it and rise to be the top dog around Bullworth, but for today go and beat up some horrible kids and go skateboarding around town. Why not? You won’t be a kid forever.

Manhunt

OK let’s talk about Manhunt. You’re probably looking at this entry with trepidation, given the bad press it’s had. But Manhunt is a brilliant experience, it’s not ‘good’ or ‘fun’, but it’s brilliant in the same way that watching the TV series Hannibal is, or reading Dostoyevsky’s Crime and Punishment. You put a toe into a world that’s somewhat sicker than our own, and you do it all the time lulled by the velvet-over-rocks tones of Brian Cox (no, not the physicist).

If you want to play it, I implore you to try to fish up the original version which separates out Brian Cox’s director into your headset, as that really makes the experience complete.

It’s not perfect and it can be a bit grim, but if you can handle it, Manhunt is worth dipping into.

So there you go, the best games from Rockstar that aren’t in the GTA series. Did we miss your favourite off? Let us know in the comments below, or on social media.

 

Shadow of War Hands On

To say that Middle-earth: Shadow of War is a considerable upgrade compared to its predecessor, Shadow of Mordor, would be an understatement. Shadow of War has built upon the game mechanics from Shadow of Mordor to bring an even more thrilling gameplay experience. These upgrades don’t just cover the Nemesis system, they cover every aspect of the game from the open world, to Talion and Celebrimbor’s combat.

During my hands on time with the game, I was tasked with the straightforward mission of taking over a Nemesis fortress. Nemesis Fortresses are just one of the many upgrades to the Nemesis system. In Shadow of Mordor you were tasked with overthrowing procedurally generated Warchiefs in order to take back Middle-earth from Sauron’s clutches. Shadow of War takes this a step further as you have to take back Middle-earth by usurping Nemesis Fortresses.

Fortresses are strongholds full of Warchiefs, Uruks, beasts and heavy artillery. Attacking a fortress is done by taking over key areas within it and then coming face to face with the Overlord in an attempt to usurp them from their throne. Thanks to the Nemesis system the Overlord and their respective Warchiefs are procedurally generated with their own stats and attributes. Each Warchief also brings their own fortress defence, just to make things a little bit more challenging. For example one of my Warchiefs, Norsko The Pickler, had installed fire spouts for defence. Where as other Warchiefs had brought with them things like poison siege beasts and a whole army of berzerkers. The Overlord, Garl Caragor Slayer, had also built up the defences with stonewalls, making the fortress fireproof. This wasn’t going to be easy.

The Nemesis system doesn’t just affect your enemies in Shadow of War, it also affects your army. In Shadow of War you are able to recruit Uruks to fight your cause by using Celebrimbor’s wraith powers to bend their will in battle. For my run I had a couple of my own Warchiefs to back me up. I had Ur-Hakon Man-Stalker, Krosh Corpse Eater and my personal bodyguard Thrack Archer Trainer. What made Thrack especially useful was the fact that he was a commander, this means he was able to summon troops as back up if needed.

Much like the enemy had built up their own fortress defences, I was also able to add attributes to my army to build up my offence. I chose cursed siege beasts, War Graugs which could knock down stone walls, mounted cavalry and savages, who are effectively Uruk bezerkers. Once my army was how I liked it, it was time to infiltrate and take over the fortress.

How you breach the main gate of the fortress is entirely up you. My tactic was to take out one of the opposing poison throwing siege beasts guarding the wall, then use Celebrimbor’s abilities to posses the beast and have it turn on its own army. This plan went off without a hitch, however things started to turn against me when a couple of wild Drake’s turned up and started to burn everyone and anyone in sight.

You can easily get overwhelmed in Shadow of War, so tactics are vital to overthrowing these fortresses. Careful planning and knowing your enemy will soon become second nature to players who have been playing the game for a while, for me however I found myself trying to mainly stay alive. Luckily I was able to tame one of the Drakes and set fire to a fair few things giving my army the upper hand. During the battle I also got used to a few more of Celebrimbor’s abilities which have had a huge upgrade. As Talion and Celebrimbor are more of a partnership this time around, there have been several wraith abilities which have been added to Talion’s move set, all of which can be levelled up. There is a ground pound attack which can be combined with the element of your choice, in my case fire, as well as Celebrimbor’s hammer which can be used as a sort of wraith boomerang. Celebrimbor has also been given a new weapon in the form of a spear/halberd which is able to take out a load of Uruks in a timely manner. These are just some of the new moves I was able to use in the demo, with a lot more which can be unlocked as the game progresses.

Finally, after taking down half an army, three siege beats, two drakes and a handful of Warchiefs I was able to take on the Overlord. Garl Caragor Slayer was a beast of an Uruck who rode a Caragor. His stats stated that he was enraged by Caragors and cowards, he was arrow proof and was extra strong against Caragors and other beasts. To say this boss fight was a challenge would have been the understatement of the year.

Garl had decked out the main hall of the fortress in with his own tribal flare, much like Gaston from Beauty and the Beast, his decoration featured a lot of antlers. Each Overlord will uniquely theme their own throne room, and also equip it with various traps and hazards. As Garl was primarily a beast rider, there wasn’t much in the way of traps this time around.

As you can imagine Garl was not easy to defeat. Put simply, I died. I was overwhelmed by his cronies and was tossed around like a rag doll several times. As taking him one on one wasn’t going to work I decided to recruit the help of my buddy Urad, Thrack Archer Trainer. I summoned Thrack, who was also able to summon in some back up due to his Commander status. After a heated battle, Thrack managed to save the day and landed the final blow on Garl, killing him once and for all.

After Talion gave a victory speech and presented Garl’s head as a trophy, the time had come to select a new Overlord for my recently acquired fortress. It will come to no one’s surprise that Thrack got promoted to Overlord which gave him a nice level boost and he was able to make the fortress his own. Taking over fortresses unlocks a region of Mordor which is free for Talion to explore.

Middle-earth: Shadow of War is a huge upgrade from its predecessor. Even though we only got a chance to experience one of the many things you can do in Middle-earth, we can safely say that Middle-earth: Shadow of War will be a hard title to beat this year.

The Tanks of Steel Division: Normandy 44

One of the most important types of units you’ll have in Steel Division are tanks. These mechanical beasts are capable of providing awesome firepower, armour and pushing power onto the battlefield. With divisions such as the German Panzer division, tanks will be more or less essential to every battlefield. Here’s a list of just some of the more famous tanks that you’ll get to control, and their history in real life.

Stug III

The Stug III was one of the most produced German tanks in WW2. Using the chassis of the also successful Panzer III, the Stug was fitted with an artillery 7.5cm turret, and was tasked with taking out enemy fortifications with explosive rounds. This turned out to be quite effective against enemy armour as well, as the enemy tanks at the time were fast but lightly armoured. Thanks to its low profile and strong gun, it started the German’s reputation for solid tank destroyers.

M4A3

More commonly known as the Sherman by the British Forces, the M4A3 was the most produced Allied tank in WW2. It came in multiple iterations, equipping different guns (right up to the British 17 pounder, creating the Sherman Firefly), as well as being used for tank recovery, mine clearance, and even amphibious landings. It was fast, agile and could pack a punch at short-range. The US sold these to multiple Allied nations, they even created a heavy version, the M4A3E2, the ‘Jumbo’.

Cromwell

The Cromwell debuted during the invasion of Normandy in 1944, continuing the British tank doctrine of having fast cruiser tanks for lightning strikes, and slow, armoured tanks for infantry support. The Cromwell was one of the fastest tanks in the war, lacking much in the way of armour, but having immense horsepower, and a quick-firing gun that could fire on the move. Thanks to their speed and reliability, they excelled as reconnaissance vehicles, command vehicles and flanking tanks, at last turning the famous ‘blitzkrieg’ tactics back on their creators.

Churchill

The Churchill was named after the British Prime Minister as he was a champion of the tank during WW1. It was the heaviest Allied tank, with a low, long body that excelled at traversing difficult terrain and was mostly designed for landscapes criss-crossed with trenches. The Churchill VII was the second major iteration, boasting heavy armour than the Tiger 1. Its chassis was used to mount other tank variations, including the Crocodile that was equipped with a flamethrower, and the ARK, that could build bridges.

Panzer IV

The Panzer IV was the most widely produced German tank in the war, seeing action in every theatre, and being produced continuously throughout. It served as the base for many iterations, much like other popular tanks, but it was also the backbone of the german panzer divisions on its own. It dominated early Allied tanks in North Africa, and continued to rival newer threats, including the Russian T-34. Indeed the Russian tank crews were issued Panzer IV instruction manuals translated into Russian, so that, given the chance, they could use the Panzer IVs instead of their T-34s.

Koenigstiger

The Koenigstiger, or Tiger II, was the first tank on this list that saw its debut in Normandy in 1944. It matched the sloped armour of the Panther with the thick armour of the Tiger 1, and had the absolutely deadly 8.8cm gun, capable of taking out Allied tanks at extreme ranges, with high accuracy. Allied tanks such as the M4A3 and Cromwell could hardly penetrate its armour, and only Sherman Fireflys with their 17 pounder guns had a chance, at their side or rear, and at much closer ranges. The only way the Allies could defeat the Tiger II presence was through relentless air strikes, hitting them in transit on roads.

Challenger

The Cruiser Challenger (not to be confused with the modern Challenger main battle tanks) was extremely ambitious bit of tank design. Strapping the 17 pounder gun onto the chassis of a Cromwell, you had a tank that could reach 60KPH but had the stopping power of a Sherman Firefly and the British army’s strongest anti-tank guns. Unfortunately the Sherman Firefly was easier to produce, and more armoured and survivable all round, but 200 Challengers were deployed, and were faster, lower and had better gun depression.

Panther

The Panther has the bitter tale of being a great tank objectively, but came in at the wrong time of the war, where the resources were not there to make the best out of it, and get it optimised completely. It had the same frontal armour, firepower, engine as the fearsome Tiger I, but it came with better speed, maneuverability and off-road ability. What it lacked was reliability, and this in the fields of Normandy, was bad. The allies may have had more worse tanks with their Shermans and Cromwells, but at least they reached the frontline, and in high numbers.

Let us know your favourite tank, and are you finding them any use in Steel Division: Normandy 44?

PC Exclusives You May Not Know About

There are so many PC exclusive games out there these day it is that the list is positively endless. So we have listed some of the PC exclusives that you may not know about. Here they are.

Spiderweb Software Games – Alex M

Jeff Vogel has been making games for a long time. A veteran of the games industry, he started Spiderweb Software in 1994 and their first game, Exile, came out soon after. Many of Spiderweb’s games were shareware, so as such appeared on many cover discs of magazines throughout the 90s, and as such lots of young budding RPG gamers got some of their first RPG experiences from their games. Currently the Avadon and Avernum series are their focus, and while they have differences in their storyline and approach both series are absolutely massive RPGs, with each entry spanning hours and with hundreds of quests to see and do and get lost in.

The Avernum series is a particular favourite of mine, as it’s a reworking and HD update to the original Exile series, which takes me back to those days in the mid 90s when I was first taking my steps into RPGery.

If you love RPGs like Planescape: Torment, Baldur’s Gate, Torment: Tides of Numenera, Pillars of Eternity and you haven’t checked out what Spiderweb Software are doing, then you are in for a treat when you break open an Avernum or an Avadon game for the first time.

War For The Overworld – Olly

If you ask people for their top 10 PC games of all time, no doubt that Dungeon Keeper will fit into it somewhere, if not in their top 5 or 3. Along with other Bullfrog games, fans have always wanted to see a return. After seeing one of two games that borrowed some of the mechanics like Overlord and Impire, and after seeing EA release a mobile game with the Dungeon Keeper name, fans were ready to give up. Then War for the Overworld came out.

War for the Overworld takes all of the original mechanics of Dungeon Keeper, and makes them into a modern version of the classic title. You are the baddie. You run a dungeon underground, and must mine out rooms and gold veins, create lairs and training rooms for your minions, and defeat the overworld dwellers. Not only does it portray you and your advisor as incredibly clever and devious, but the ‘good guys’ are all arrogant, fat knights who you will trick and overwhelm in various campaign missions.

War for the Overworld also adds more side objectives, rewarding players for exploring different places of the map, and has new missions designed to be different to one another, and teaches you the effectiveness of various traps, monsters and spells. Did I mention you could possess your own creatures and play it like an FPS? What about that you can use your floating hand to slap minions to make them work harder?

This is the first spiritual successor that has both the dark humour of the original, and the blessing of the creator Peter Molyneux. And if its good enough for him, its definitely good enough for everyone else.

Quake Champions – Id software (Kenny)

If you were to name a franchise that has been the most dedicated to the PC scene over the last twenty years, Quake would probably be at the top of most people’s lists. The games have essentially been the catalyst of the e-sports scene we currently have today and, after a long break since Quake Live, Id software is almost ready to bring out their new addition to the franchise – Quake Champions.

Champions is not quite the old school shooter that some of our readers’ more tech-savvy parents may be familiar with and instead merges its fast-paced, rocket-jumping gameplay with the more recent trend of class-based shooters. The Quake Live purists may be scoffing at this fact, however, time (and statistics) have shown that that vocal minority is, indeed, just that – a very small and nostalgic minority of gamers.

The developers have been very clear that they intend Champions to be a PC title first-and-foremost, as they are solely focused on delivering unlocked frame rate and 120hz gameplay (Note: that is server tick rate, not to be confused with monitor refresh rate. For comparison, Counter Strike: Global Offensive, the most popular competitive shooter in the PC scene at the time of writing, only supports 64hz servers during ranked play).

Creative Director of Id Software, Tim Willits, told Gamespot, that “It’s going to come out after a really, really long closed beta”, as such, the game has yet to receive a release date, although the beta is already in full swing.

The Stanley Parable – Matt P

At first glance The Stanley Parable does not look like the most engaging game with it having no combat, no real puzzle element and even lacking the Dialogue and moral choice decisions, that come with other interactive narrative games, this coupled with the plot being nothing more than the protagonist meandering around a typical office with no other signs of human life, you would be mistaken into thinking this would be one very dull game and yet nothing could be further from the truth.

You start the day as Stanley stood at cubicle 432 and end the day… well honestly without wanting to give spoilers there are certainly some unique and fun places you can end up, the only constant is the game’s narrator directing you through the ever changing landscape in the most laugh out loud and 4th wall breaking experiences since the Monkey Island and Discworld games.

The game is pure genius as it picks apart both gaming tropes and the mundane world of office life. The game offers a full gambit of emotions from the game’s narration ranging from comforting and life affirming to antagonising the player when they refuse to cooperate. This game really is perfect for anyone who loves narrative games or just pines for the days of Point and click humour.

Witcher: The TV Series – What We Want To See

The Witcher TV series has been announced for Netflix, and although no information about the plot has been released, it’s probably safe to assume it’ll be about Geralt and his adventures slaying monsters and being made to dress up in silly outfits for court. There are definitely some things we’d want to see in the upcoming show, to make sure that it retains the feel of The Witcher, but to also kick the arse of Game of Thrones. Here we go.

Monster Hunting

The Witcher is about a character who’s job it is is to find and slay monsters for money. The secret is though is his order has ways in which to remove monsters from areas, and to make them stop killing or hurting humans, and not necessarily through slaying them, but rather through understanding them. It would be great to see a lot of monster hunting, but also to show the decision Geralt has to make between slaying a creature just following its instincts, or getting paid. The villagers aren’t going to care why the graveyard is haunted by a wight, they just want rid of the vengeful spirit. The best Witcher quests are when a simple job turns complicated, and sometimes it’s the humans who are the real monsters.

Spectacular Combat

In the Witcher 3, the animations for Geralt’s attacks numbered near 600. He has a very fluid combat style, utilizing his 2 blades, his magic signs, his potions, traps and gadgets. We want to see Geralt using everything at his disposal. The introductory cinematics for the games do this well, as we will see him drinking a potion to see in the dark, setting traps before a fight and equipping his silver weaponry. On top of that, we need some properly fast and lethal combat. Geralt can out-duel any man thanks to his augmented reflexes and abilities, but even so overcoming a group of soldiers with armour and shields is a very different fight to hunting a Griffin.

Real-life Issues

Fantasy TV shows don’t do a great job of portraying issues that modern people can relate to, but in The Witcher, there are characters and interactions that will surprise, and will certainly do a better job than Game of Thrones. Geralt himself is regularly shunned for being a freak, a constant outcast. The sorceresses are the most powerful beings in the land, but are relegated to being advisors to kings who grow fat and mad and wage wars. As anyone who remembers The Bloody Baron quest line in The Witcher 3 (and who doesn’t), even life in a fantasy land filled with ghouls and gretchins can be populated by people who are struggling with issues that people are today.

Witcher Schools Lore

One of the coolest parts of The Witcher is of course the witchers themselves. They’re split into different schools across the land, and from doing the Witcher Gear quests, you can find out a bit about your brothers from other schools. The games take place in a time when the Witcher population is at an all-time low, your own school (School of the Wolf), has not seen a new initiate in many years, the castle is falling apart, and there aren’t enough of you to keep all the lore up to date. You find out that there are schools of the Bear, Cat, Manticore, Griffin and Viper, each with their own lore, lands and awesome outfits. Hopefully the TV show will spill some more light on these different types of witchers, and maybe even have a series set in the heyday of the witchers, when you couldn’t throw a rock without hitting a grumbly, yellow-eyed monster slayer.

A More Grey Geralt

Geralt is great, but in the game you can choose how he is. You can be cruel, or innocent. You can be sullen, or jokey. The TV show will probably nail the most generic Geralt, the one we all imagine, but we’d like to see him with more grey morality. He’s an anti-hero, for sure, but in the same way Han Solo is. We know he’s a good guy, really. We want to see Geralt struggle with his eternal, internal tug-of-war between his altruistic desire stop wars and conflicts and protect the weak, and his determination to just be a simple Witcher, travelling on the road and doing a day’s work for a day’s pay. We’d also like to see him have some sort of weakness of character. He can’t be realistically charming all the time given his profession and lifestyle! Let’s not have a Geralt that everyone in the show loves, let’s give him some real grey areas where we actually dislike him and his actions.
What do you want to see in The Witcher series? Do you know a game series that would make a better series?

 

Little Nightmares: Thoughts From Beginning To End

WARNING SPOILERS

I played Little Nightmares and it was so endearing, creepy and wonderfully addictive that I have voiced my inner monologue whilst playing through the game. For all those gamers out there that do the same, this is for you!

This is a commentary from beginning to the end of the game, so to avoid any spoilers and being completely confused, this blog isn’t for you. This blog about five reasons why you should just play the game, might be though.

Oh okay, no tutorials, pfft who needs them

Yes, I do need to keep hold of the grip otherwise I will fall to my death

Oh hey sluggy, you’re cute

AGHHHHHHH

This game is so creepy and beautiful

What the hell am I doing?

Yesssssssss a lamp

Run from the naughty burny eye

Just keep climbing climbing climbing

What is that?

WHAT IS THAT?

Har har, you can’t reach me peasant

1 HOUR LATER…

I’m great at puzzles

What am I supposed to do?

*Pushing a slab of meat* – is this human?

Six is the only thing I care about, ever

Hey, what time is it, I feel tired, I do have work tomorrow…

But, I do need to make sure Six is safe and escape The Maw

3 HOURS LATER…

Has he seen me? Is he following me?

Where is the fucking key for fuck sake

I will hide here till the end of eternity

Who knew this would turn into the bath scene in Spirited Away?

Everyone is hungry.

I am hungry, what time is it?

Run little girl

INAUDIBLE WORDS OF CRYING SCREAMS

That was the best scene in any video game ever

I need a moment after that, ooooo a collectible

I’m doing great video gaming

Hmmm, there’s a severe lack of mirrors

Yup, cool, mannequins everywhere, fucking everywhere, I see what they’re doing

Where did she go!! She was there before

I hate being stalked in video games, this is why I couldn’t play Resident Evil 7

I’m basically amazing at horror games now

4 HOURS LATER…

I don’t think I’ve blinked in over 30 minutes

These puzzles are quite straightforward, but would I be moaning if they weren’t?

Boss fight, bring it.

So, am I controlling this?

That was so good, I must tell everyone how good it was

I think Im ready for Resi 7 now, *goes to Green Man Gaming to check prices* – woah, that’s cheap!

Oh shit, is that the time, better get ready for work.

Your Favourite ‘shock Games

System Shock burst onto the scene all the way back in 1994, a date so far back in time that most of you reading this probably only know of it through legend. Developed by legendary developers Looking Glass and published by legendary publishers Origin, it wrote the manual for the immersive sim, with a legacy of games that use its feel and systems led approach to telling stories in a digital space that stretches out until the present day.

What Looking Glass started spiraled out to create some of the biggest games of the last couple of decades, and the ‘shock suffix has become something every gamer recognises.

We wanted to know though, what’s your favourite shock-like? Twitter only has space for 4 options so we had to prune down which games we’d put in the poll, so let’s cover the contenders:

Bioshock

Taking the name into the deep ocean, Bioshock introduced us to the twin pillars of the Bioshock series: a beautiful city in an improbable location, and politics. An Objectivist nightmare deep under the sea, Bioshock let us explore the rapidly declining city of Rapture and make hard decisions under the waves. Combine the beautiful world with a first person shooter that lets you customise the way you approach situations, and the ‘-shock legacy became firmly cemented in the gaming world. Playing it now, it feels very much in between the older ‘-shock games and the newer ones, the combat isn’t always amazing but it makes up for it with world building and just the feel of the place. And the twist is rightly considered a brilliant moment in gaming.

Bioshock Infinite

Take to the skies! Bioshock Infinite takes you up to the floating city of Columbia. Confront the dark side of American Exceptionalism in the golden religious city amongst the clouds. Bioshock Infinite takes the Bioshock series in a new direction and refines everything that made the games great. With a greater focus on combat with simultaneously more time for exploration, Bioshock Infinite whilst not always a fan favourite, expands and defines the Bioshock and ‘-shock formula for the 2010s.

Prey

The newest game in the list but also the one that feels more ‘-shock like than almost any other, Prey takes you back to space and to a space station which is infested by…something. Featuring many of the ‘-shock series standards like pulling the rug out from under the character, being able to define how you play, and a whole semi-open world for you to explore. With this last one in particular, it feels much closer to the original System Shock and System Shock 2, because both of those gave you much more free reign to how you could explore than the later Bioshocks did as even though they might have some exploration you were still largely following a set path through a series of levels.

System Shock 2

Firstly, sorry we didn’t include the first game. Just System Shock 2 is so damn good! Set on board the Von Braun and the Rickenbacker as they hurtle through space, you awake from cryo sleep and…well let’s just say that something isn’t right. It has surprises, different paths for you to follow in terms of your character customisation, and a reveal that if you don’t know what it is, I just won’t spoil for you because GOOD GRIEF it’s some reveal. It’s much more of a horror game than the others in this list apart from possibly Prey, and it features some of the most tense sound design in video game history.

That’s the contestants we put to the vote, what did you say?

A shocking surge ahead for Bioshock. The original Bioshock wins, leaving everything else in its wake.

I’ll be honest, I was surprised at this because I thought System Shock 2 was so beloved that it’d wipe the floor with the competition, but Rapture wins. You must all love being underwater just that much. That said, all these games are fantastic, so go check them out right now.

Join us on Twitter for more polls and votes in the future, thanks for voting everybody.

 

The Lowdown – Steel Division: Normandy 44

Steel Division: Normandy 44 is a new Real-Time-Strategy game from Paradox Studios, releasing on 23rd May. It uses the Eugen engine which is known for powering games such as Wargame, R.U.S.E. and Act of War. This games specialise in huge, tactical battles that allow you to zoom right into the action as you command your armies around a map. If you’re interested then read on, as I give you the lowdown.

It’s World War II

Following in the footsteps of many other successful strategy games, Steel Division brings the large-scale, intense and tactical battles of the Western Europe campaign to your screen. Set during the invasion of Normandy by Allied forces in 1944, you must command up to six different armies to win battles across the bocage-strewn lands of Western and Northern France. The armies include: U.S. 101st Airborne, the German 21st Panzer and SS divisions, 3rd Canadian division, and British Para regiment. Steel Division features up to 400 individual units, all replicated from real-world models of WWII vehicles, weapons and uniforms.

The Battles

The battle mechanics in Steel Division are similar to Wargame, in that you have a map with borders, deployment zones and the ability to spawn reinforcements throughout the game using Deployment Points. The map is separated by a visual frontline that moves as your units take over the area. Buildings can be garrisoned, guns and mortars can be set up, and planes can be called in for strafing runs and air cover. Every 10 minutes of the game, the game moves into the next Escalation Phase. There are 3 labelled A, B, and C. Different units can be spawned in different phases, meaning every escalation will bring more danger and amp up the game’s tension.

Unit Types

There are 8 different types of units that categorise the 400 different units in Steel Division. These are: Recon, Infantry, Tanks, Support, Anti-Air, Anti-Tank, Artillery, Air. There are many different types of each for each army, meaning Battlegroups (see below) will be drastically different. Units have different jobs on the battlefield. Recon, for example, specialise in scouting out the enemy forces in the fog of war beyond the front lines, Support units supply your army with more ammo and move them from place to place, and Air units will come in for bombing runs or dog-fight with the enemy Air units.

Battlegroups

The Battlegroup mechanic allows players to choose the configuration of their own division, by picking different packs of units, and putting them into their army. It’s essentially deck-building in a card game. You have a limit per type of unit, as well as a Deployment Cost for each. As mentioned before each unit belongs to a Deployment Phase (A, B or C), and as such you must strike a balance between filling your Battlegroup with too many weaker units that will be less effective in game, or likewise too many stronger units that you will not have access to for the first 20 minutes of the battle.

If this has got you interesting in playing Steel Division: Normandy 44, then you can pre-purchase the game from the Green Man Gaming store.

Reservoir Dogs Is A Bloody Good Time

Reservoir Dogs: Bloody Days is the new strategic shooter from Big Star Games that released today. It’s a clever little game that takes some of the gory inspiration from the cult classic film by Quentin Tarantino.

If you’re a lover of the film, you can’t expect the same gritty and hazy monochrome-like shady setting, instead the scarlet red splatters, bold waxy animations and vibrancy that lines the design, makes the game feel standalone. The game does however, take the same characters from the film and give us an insight into the heists that the Dogs carry out, before the films grisly aftermath.

Characters

Due to the fact that Steve Buscemi’s face does not appear in the game (because of legal reasons) the change up in character appearances was a little skewed. Although the slick, suited approach was very on point, it didn’t give way to the original characters rough edges and slightly cheeky bravado.

They do however; have specific attributes in game, such as Mr Pink having the ability to collect more money after each heist or Mr White controlling a crowd of civilians.

Heists

Each of the heists faced, require two characters chosen for you by the game, with a third chosen by you. There are 18 heists, varying in difficulty, but each leading up to the fateful diamond heist, making the game a potential prequel to the 90s film. The gore on each heist is intense, as you have to scramble for bats, pistols and shotguns and if all else fails, use your fists to battle down mobsters and cops.

Each heist is timed, ultimately making it a score attack game, with the aim to collect as much money as you can stash at the end in the allotted time.

Time-travel

The top down gameplay is similar to that of Hotline Miami, a progressive, and extremely violent shooter. However, Bloody Days has a unique and fun time-travel feature, which adds a puzzler dimension to the game. As you progress through a mission, you’ll have a certain time in order to complete heists and your band of Dogs will probably take a bullet or two. The time-travel element from the game allows you to travel back in time and adjust and strategise before moving forward in the game.

You’ll travel through the characters one by one, rewinding time to cover your fellow Dogs mistakes (your mistakes). It’s a clever system, which is easy to get carried away with on the first couple of missions. Pressing space will switch you between characters and this is how you will control the game. This is where the puzzle element comes in, by completing mission’s swiftly and without casualties. The more you play, the easier this feature will become and soon you’ll be dodging bullets and performing stealth manoeuvres at an accelerated pace.

Reservoir Dogs: Bloody Days is out now on PC, so suit up and pave the way to successful heists!

Injustice 2 – Launch Event and Impressions

Injustice 2 is launching and to celebrate WB Games held a launch event in sunny South London.

The main event involved a tournament organised by ESL and a games journalist tournament, but I wasn’t there for them. I was there to play Injustice 2.

The event itself was held behind these arches, in a dimly lit cavern deep in South London’s seedy underbelly (OK, maybe more like a fancy venue next to Blackfriars Bridge, but let me be poetic). Filled with cosplayers and PS4s, I went in with eyes only for the game.

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Fueled by a cupcake with the Green Lantern logo on it, I set to playing the game. I went in for single player, as I was on my own and also I hadn’t played Injustice before, or indeed any fighting games, and figured that a sound drubbing from a foe would turn me off playing any more.

Injustice 2 has a fine tutorial, that takes you through not only the basics of the control scheme but also going in deep to the intricacies of game systems. The only issue I have here was…and this is very shameful…it was too hard for me! There was one set of moves I couldn’t pull off, so I missed the end of the tutorial.

Armed with this knowledge, I decided to play on the easiest setting possible. Now I know many of you reading this will huff and sigh and think less of me, but that’s fine, I am rubbish at fighting games, and at least this way I get to play it!

And let me tell you, very easy is so easy I was able to make progress! Starting off as Batman I beat the heck out of people, before moving on to play as Harley Quinn to beat the heck out of some people.

A lot of noise has been made about the quality of the faces in the cutscenes and it’s utterly true, they’re so real looking it’s uncanny valley time. I kept on having to check that it wasn’t real humans. All the while being looked at by the green ice Batman who lurked near the entrance.

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I made slow but steady progress through the first few missions and I won’t spoil what happens because it’s pretty dense on the old story, but having not played the original Injustice I have to say I was a little lost with some of the plot details I managed to pick up during the opening hour, but I did get a good overall view of what had happened in the first game.

What I did play of the game was crisp and easy to pick up and dive into, even for an absolute noob like me. For the more experienced fighter, I imagine there’s loads of depth for you to get into, stuff the tutorial hinted at with all sorts of moves that I learned about but then in the heat of the moment couldn’t pull off with any degree of confidence.

I left the event much more impressed with Injustice 2 than I thought I would be, and more interested in fighting games overall as a result. For someone who’s just not info fighting games, I’m intrigued by Injustice 2, and I might have to have a go at it when I can get my hands on it.

Just one question, why does Superman look like Michael Bluth?

8 PlayStation Titles You Need To Play

Let’s not forget these PlayStation gems that have been released on PS4 over the last few years and if you own the console, bump these to the top of your ‘need to play’ list.

Heavy Rain

The story driven game from Quantic Dream is a third person experience where you take on multiple characters in order to piece together the mystery of the Origami Killer. The impending sense of dread and satisfying story reveal adds a desperate weight to this game. The actions and choices are simple and the story plays through everyday dialogue and scenes, building up to the agonising and harrowing ending. Decisions and control skills, will see if the characters survive till the end. It was like playing out a season of a pulpy detective crime thriller, edging closer to a raw and brutal conclusion.

Little Big Planet 3

Take a break from the first person shooters, the horrors, the side quests and the survival games for Little Big Planet 3. This wonderfully innocent and adorable platformer can be played with up to four players, although it will get a little messy.

The planets are varied, vibrant and fun, with quirky side characters and art design like no other. The game offers tonnes of customisation as you take your own sackboy through the tantalising world of Little Big Planet 3. You’ll be able to dress your character up, add stickers, a headset, a fancy skirt or bold patterned skin. All set along to the soothing voice of Stephen Fry. So put on the hot chocolate and marshmallows and settle down for an evening of pure enjoyment.

The Last of Us Remastered

One of the games in the long list of ‘zombie’ titles, fresh when the zombie media outbreak spread across our screens. Yet, The Last of Us offers so much more and the game swiftly swerved around the undead and branded their infected as ‘The Infected’ and they were simply humans infected by a fungus that fed on their higher brain function. You come up against different forms of The Infected from a freshly infected runner to a highly infected bloater, that’s a bit harder to take down.

The Last of Us follows the lives of Joel and Ellie. You play as Joel who has been tasked with delivering Ellie safely to the Fireflies, an anti-government movement. It’s a linear, survival story, centered around two strong character leads, balancing between dark rooted moments and softer exchanges that bring this game to life.

Uncharted 4 (The Nathan Drake Collection)

Uncharted 4 is the third person action adventure game, where you play as thrill-seeking explorer Nathan Drake. If you’re new to the Uncharted series, The Nathan Drake Collection incorporates the previous three games and they’re a great lead-up to Nathan’s fourth game and story.

The Uncharted games are normally set in rich, golden, island settings where you’ll explore forgotten caves, hidden treasures and sandy expanses. Nathan Drake and the other characters that appear throughout the franchise are core to the game’s exciting and pacy gameplay, and if you’re a fan of the Tomb Raider games then you’ll love the Uncharted series. Uncharted is a light combat game, with gripping puzzles, mesmerising stories and characters that continue to surprise.

Journey

The unique, sweet and stunning game that is Journey, soared to the top score for reviews when it was released in 2015. The game has since won a showcase of awards and continues to be a talking point for games that adventure lovers should play.

The delicate features, haunting music and magical gameplay, make this a must for PlayStation gamers.

horizon zero dawn

Horizon Zero Dawn

Players take on the role of Aloy as she explores a lush and vibrant land dominated by machines. Set approximately 1000 years in the future, where robotic creatures roam free, a new threat rears it’s ugly head and it is up to Aloy to vanquish it and save the world.

Horizon Zero Dawn is a fantastic action RPG which isn’t afraid to challenge players. With it’s unique approach to combat and fantastic visuals. Horizon Zero Dawn is a must play for anyone who loves a great in-depth story and gameplay that makes you think tactically.

Bloodborne

A twisted nightmare of a game, Bloodborne is the gothic fantasy RPG that takes the Dark Souls formula and perfects it. The follow up game after Dark Souls for From Software mastermind Hidetaka Miyazaki, it’s a faster and more brutal game than Dark Souls, with you being cast in the role of a hunter. It takes you on the offensive through Yharnum and its environs, hunting the healing church and the truth behind the mysterious rumours of blood. It was expanded with a The Old Hunters, which took you on a journey to a different time and saw the hunt go across new areas against disgusting but beautiful new foes. The online aspects of the game are still bustling today, two years after release, so there’s always a good time to start Bloodborne for the first time.
And may the good blood guide your way.

Nioh

A vast rampaging RPG that packs intense fighting and large-scale menacing enemies. Nioh is extravagant and brilliant, lighting up the screen with blows of fierce combat as you hit the ground running in a land stricken by civil war. This game is fast-paced and satisfying, but it requires patience as you learn about each individual enemy and their weak spots before attacking.

The game is a good mix between fantasy and action, with a surprising light hearted feel.

All these games are available on the Green Man Gaming Store for US customers only.

Fallout Games Ranked From Worst To Best

The Fallout series has had some highs and lows. More highs than lows, but there’s still some.

Obviously games are a subjective thing, you like what you like and it doesn’t matter what anyone else says about a thing. If *you* love it, then that’s good enough and lists are basically pointless things just made to drive arguments.

That said, here’s the OBJECTIVE list of Fallout games, from worst to best.

Honourable Mention: Van Buren – RIP

Van Buren

Lets start it off with a sad but honourable mention, Van Buren was the Fallout 3 that was in the works by Black Isle. It never saw the light of day unfortunately, as Interplay shuttered the studio and sold the rights off, meaning we’ll never see the Prisoner’s adventure, nor will we see the war between the New California Republic and the Brotherhood of Steel. But not all is lost, plot details and screenshots made it out into the world, and some of the story elements did get incorporated into Fallout: New Vegas.

It’s last here just because we never got to play it.

Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel – 2004

Brotherhood of Steel

Right, now we’re onto games that were released. Brotherhood of Steel is an action RPG similar to Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance. The first Fallout game to make it to console, it didn’t have a great reception at the time, and it has since been rendered as non-canon entry in the series. Taking a different approach to the other, turn based games of the time, it was a more linear experience taking you through 50 areas as you smashed and combatted your way through the story.

Fans didn’t like it so much though to the point where now if you mention it, you’ll get blank stares.

Fallout Shelter – 2015

Shelter

To be honest I only put this in here so that I wouldn’t get comments like ‘I can’t believe you forgot Fallout Shelter’.

It’s fun, but it’s throwaway. Moving on,

Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel – 2001

Tactics

Fallout Tactics, at least in the way the game is presented and how combat works, is very very similar to Fallout and Fallout 2. It’s turn based and uses similar skills to those entries. So it should be higher up on this list yeah?

NO. It’s non-canon again so that means that it’s out of the running, sorry Tactics! The combat is good and fleshed out like the other turn based entries, which is just as well because it’s Fallout Tactics not Fallout Chat With People. Taking a mission approach, you join the Brotherhood of Steel and work your way up the ranks, eventually dealing with a threat that has been building in power; the mysterious Calculator.

Alas again, it’s the forgotten child of the Fallout universe.

Fallout 3 – 2008

Fallout 3 was Bethesda’s first foray into the Fallout world, and changed almost EVERYTHING.

Fallout 3 switched the location from the West coast to the East coast, made the character nothing to do with the Vault Dweller or Chosen One, and biggest of all changes, made it first person.

Derided by fans as ‘Oblivion with guns’ before release and lauded as ‘the best game ever’ after launch, the truth of course is somewhere in between. It had some wonderful moments and areas to explore, but it also took a bit of a backseat in regards to roleplaying and story. Also the combat suffered a little from the change to first person, leaving in between being a shooter, and an RPG, but excelling at neither.

It’s a good game, but it’s not the best Fallout game.

Fallout 4 – 2015

Fallout 4 took everything that Fallout 3 did, and made it better. The world is more cohesive, the story more interesting, the size of the world made it feel like a real place and less like a theme park. It also brings back some of that nice inter-faction play, with a whole load of competing factions wanting your time.

Also it’s got Piper, the best worst journalist on the planet.

Altogether, Fallout 4 is Fallout 3+. If the move away from isometric turn based RPG-ness doesn’t float your boat, then you still won’t be happy with Fallout 4, but it’s a pretty great game y’know? Loads to do, fun people to shoot, other less fun people to shoot, and you can build a HOME for your friends.

brb gotta finish building Sanctuary.

Fallout – 1997

This is it, the one that started it all (sit down, Wasteland). Described by one PC gaming magazine as ‘Doncaster on a night out’, Fallout laid down THE formula for post-apocalyptic role playing games, and we haven’t looked back as a species since. It’s sterner in tone to any of the later entries, but it does find time for some fun. It introduces much of what became staples of the Fallout series, the Vaults, Dogmeat, The Brotherhood of Steel, Mutants, Deathclaws.

It’s got a sense of sadness to it, when you visit locations like The Glow or see The Boneyard, you get the real sense that this was a world, and it’s no longer anywhere worth living.

Featuring the creepiest antagonist in anything, ever, and the most bittersweet ending known to videogames, Fallout’s ace, and you should play it.

Fallout: New Vegas – 2010

New Vegas

The dream team is back together! Made by Obsidian who are made up of a large proportion of ex-Black Isle devs, New Vegas takes the Fallout 3 formula and transplants it into somewhere a bit more cohesive as a world, the Mojave desert.

OK it’s a big empty world, but at least it feels like it’s inhabited, and it makes a kind of sense. Featuring some of the stuff meant to be in Van Buren and a whole heck load of Jingle Jangle Jingle, this’d be the best game in the series if it weren’t for the fact that it was probably a bit rushed out of the door, there’s a fair few bugs that made it into the release version, and they’re still there.

That said, it’s an amazing place to be in and the Mojave desert feels a lot like home now. It’s got factions competing with each other, multiple endings, it feels like a return to the Fallout formula in a way that Fallout 3 didn’t at the time.

Maybe that makes it a bit of a backwards step in some ways, but the Fallout formula is so good, why step anywhere else?

Fallout 2 – 1998

2

New. Reno.

That’s why this is the best of the Fallout series. Don’t get me wrong, the rest of the game is also amazing, a town of ghouls, an underground town of humans, a quest to explode a toilet to retrieve a watch, the ‘aliens’ hiding in a mine. It’s a brilliant and fun world to be in and unlike the previous game in the series, it lifts the time limit and lets you really explore the world. That sense of sadness has eased somewhat too, as people are beginning to put their lives together again, and it’s a wonderful place to be in and to explore and have adventures in.

But then you get to New Reno and the game goes from ‘great’ to ‘stratospheric’.

Join the mob, become a boxer, become a porn star, get your car stolen, retrieve your car, push a person down a hole and throw a bomb after them, find out where Jet is being made, stop Jet from being made, storm a military base, get a divorce, sleep with the Don’s daughter, sleep with the Don’s wife, rob the Don.

ALL THIS AND MORE.

New Reno is the playfulness and the darkness and the grim humour turned up all the way, and after you’ve been there, simply no other Fallout will compare.

 

So there you go! The DEFINITIVE Fallout list telling you finally, once and for all, that Fallout 2 is the best.

Disagree? Let us know in the comments below, or on social media!

Birthdays The Beginning From The Creator Behind Harvest Moon

Birthdays The Beginning is the latest game from Yasuhiro Wada, the creator of Harvest Moon. The new sandbox game that released last week, allows players to shape and experiment in the creation of their own unique world using cubes.

The worlds you can create are limitless; building from scratch a wonderful diverse place that can include sweeping mountain landscapes and intricate forests. The vibrant and colourful aesthetic is a reminder of childhood, educational games such as Zoombinis and Zoo Tycoon, whilst the boundless gameplay creates a surprising and satisfying experience. The game is a celebration of life and the creation is a wonderful glimpse into the complexity of an eco-system.

CREATE

With no two planets alike, creating your world is the first step in this glorious and innocent sim game. You’ll have the choice to fill up troughs of water and build tall mountains, whilst keeping track of your playtime and the age of your world. By constantly rejigging and moving certain aspects of your world, you’ll form plant life, which will give birth to animals, dinosaurs and more, that gradually evolve.

NURTURE

When you successfully create plants and animals, you’ll be able to ‘capture’ more details on them to learn and adjust your world. This will allow you to access an encyclopaedia of information on the animals and plants you’ve discovered. With a handy evolution tree to adapt your planet by adjusting the temperature, moisture and land height to encourage the planet to grow, learning and nurturing the life that springs there.

CELEBRATE

As you level up, you’ll have access to more information, which means different types of builds are available to you and your planet will continue to evolve, with helpful pointers guiding you along the way. With an evolution tree and the possibility of a human civilization, you’ll be able to understand and flourish your planet to give birth to a number of possibilities, including a tyrannosaurus!

Birthdays The Beginning is hours of nostalgic fun for adults and a genius wonder for children to learn about evolution and control and manage an entire eco-system.

Rising Storm 2: Vietnam FAQ

Rising Storm 2: Vietnam is the next game from Red Orchestra and Killing Floor creators Tripwire Interactive and is being developed by Antimatter Games.

Want to know about it? We’ve put together a little FAQ about the game!

What actually *is* Rising Storm 2: Vietnam?

Following on from the hit multiplayer ‘expandalone’ Rising Storm and the ultra-realistic Red Orchestra series, Rising Storm 2: Vietnam relocates the action to the middle of the Vietnam war, with players taking on both sides of the controversial conflict.

The Red Orchestra series has become a byword for accuracy, letting you play an FPS in the World War II European theatre in incredible detail. Rising Storm took that basis and took the series to the Pacific Theatre, and it’s now with the advent of Rising Storm 2: Vietnam that we see the series move into uncharted areas by jumping forward in time to a war unlike any they’ve shown before.

tl:dr, it’s a multiplayer FPS with a focus on accurately depicting the conflict it’s set in.

Vietnam

How many players does it support?

Rising Storm 2: Vietnam lets you take up to 64 players into battle, with players making up the teams from US forces and North Vietnamese forces.

How’s the accuracy, is it like Red Orchestra?

Yep! They’re going the extra mile again with their crusade for fidelity. They’re modelling accurate weapons, gear, uniforms, everything to try and make sure that when you play Rising Storm 2: Vietnam, you feel like you’re there.

But the US and the Vietnamese weren’t on a level footing

That isn’t a question, but nope they weren’t so there’ll be accommodation made to portray the asymmetrical nature of this conflict. Each side will get certain special abilities, like ambushes, traps, napalm attacks, and airstrikes.

There’ll also be systems unique to each side, like traps, tunnelling, and improvised weapons.

OK, what guns are there?

Here you go!

United States Weapons

  • M16 Rifle
  • M14 Battle Rifle
  • M60GP Light Machine Gun
  • M79 Grenade Launcher
  • M3 Grease Gun

North Vietnam Weapons

  • Type 56 Assault Rifle
  • RPD Light Machine Gun
  • RPG-7 Rocket Launcher
  • MAT-49 SMG
  • SKS Carbine

And that’s just for STARTERS.

Vietnam

Are there vehicles?

There are indeed, you get some sweet helicopters to buzz around in. There’s three confirmed helicopters so far for the US forces, AH-1 Cobra, OH-6 Loach and the UH-1 Huey.

Can I customise my character?

There’s a whole levelling up system in place, that’ll let you customise how your character looks. Tattoos, glasses, clothing, and more will become available to you for you to put together your player the way you want them.

How about teaming up with friends?

Again, not really a question. You can make squads with your friends, setting up easy ways to play together and find each other in the heat of battle. Unique identifiers will mean you won’t lose your pals when the air’s full of bullets, and squad-based VOIP will mean they can hear your cries when you’re suppressed in a foxhole!

Will I get a parade?

We can promise you a parade, but whether or not you’ll actually get one…that’s a different matter.

So that’s Rising Storm 2: Vietnam. Want to grab it and dive right into the middle of this conflict? Grab it here on Green Man Gaming!

The Surge: What You Need To Know

The Surge is coming to our store today, and we’ve compiled a list of all the things you need to know about it. In short, its a Sci-Fi Dark Souls with some interesting new mechanics and combat, and more of a focus on difficult mob enemies and loot than bosses. Now you’ve had the short of it, here’s the long:

Who Made It

The Surge is made by Deck 13 and published by Focus Home Interactive. You’ll know Deck 13 for their game Lords of the Fallen, an interesting Dark Souls-like that have had fans eagerly awaiting their next title in the genre. Focus Home Interactive are a publisher who have released quite a few games that we really like, such as Battlefleet Gothic: Armada, Styx, and the upcoming Vampyr.

Setting

Set in a world ravaged by war and global warming, The Surge is what many are referring to as a Dark Souls but in a sci-fi setting. You play as an employee of CREO, a mega-corporation that is promising to save the world. Having woken up strapped into a heavy-grade exoskeleton in a destroyed part of a CREO complex, you must defeat haywire robots and AI, fellow exoskeleton-wearing co-workers who have gone mad, and find out what’s really going on.

Exo Suit

The Exo Suit is the source of all your abilities, including your superhuman strength, cybernetic implants and weaponry. There are myriad weapon and armour combinations, with differing attack and finisher animations. Do you take the heaviest armour in The Surge, and have a massive two-handed blade? Or lighter armour and a chainsaw blade that allows you to dash and move about more freely? As you use weapons, you will gain proficiency in them, so your character will become more specialised. You will also need to manage your suit’s power supply, as it can only power so many things at once. You will want to not only find out what your favourite combo of weapon and armour is, but the most power efficient.

Dynamic Targeting System

The combat in The Surge utilises what Deck 13 calls the Dynamic Targeting System. When locked onto an enemy, you can choose where your attacks will land: Legs, arms, body, head etc. This means you can target an enemy’s  weak point, or their unarmoured limbs. Alternatively, you can target the part of their body and suit where their fancy weapon is, and hack it off for your own use! Find and loot equipment from other heavy-lifting or security suits, or even secret, highly advanced suits from CREO themselves.

The Surge comes out today on our store, with a hefty discount! Are you going to pick it up? Are you a fan of Dark Souls looking for something a bit different?

4 Top Tips For First Time Hitman Players

Even though the first season of Hitman has been out a while, there are still going to be some first time players out there. So we thought we would put together some handy beginner tips, follow this guide and you should be assassinating your targets in no time.

Distraction Is Key

Diverting your enemy’s attention is a much needed skill you need to master if you want to progress in Hitman. When used properly, distraction techniques can easily clear a room of guards in no time.

Coins are your main distraction tool as they are great for distracting single enemies. Coins can be used to lure guards into traps, or to just simply move them out of the way. If you run out of coins then most objects can also be thrown as a distraction.

Guns can be a great distraction too. If you aim your silenced pistol near enough to an enemy the sounds of the bullet impact works to distract them. That said, there is a chance that they can figure out where the shot is coming from. In the event that this happens, put the gun down and sneak away as fast as you can. The guard will find the gun and deposit it in the nearest security room. This tactic is a good way to disrupt guard patrol paths.

Get Used To Suspicion

Suspicion and Alert mechanics are some of the most basic tools Agent 47’s arsenal. learn how these mechanics work and you will be sneaking past people in no time.

When wearing any disguise there will still be some characters that can recognise you. For example, if you dress as a guard, some guards will just assume it’s your first day whilst others will probably get suspicious of you if you get too close, so be sure to keep a reasonable distance.

People who will recognise something is up will have a white dot above their head, make sure you move quickly and try not to arouse too much suspicion as they will be onto your case within seconds.

Throwing Blunt Objects Can Be More Effective

It can be argued that Hitman is developed in a way that discourages gun use. So a great way to take down enemies is to throw things at them, this is a great opportunity to get creative. Agent 47 can throw anything from bricks to soda cans. If you get close enough you will be able to lock onto the enemy and throw the object with great precision.

A thrown item will incapacitate an enemy on impact. Just make sure you don’t throw an item through a guard’s eye-line as you will get spotted.

Leave No Trace

Make sure you don’t leave a path of destruction (or indeed distraction) in your wake. Make sure you hide bodies anywhere you can, cupboards, containers even out of windows. Guards tend to discover bodies if they are lying in the middle of the floor and the last thing you want to do is arouse suspicion.

CCTV will also record anything that you do, so make sure you take out cameras or avoid them at all costs. If you come across a security outpost, you can erase the CCTV footage all together.

That’s it for our four fundamental tips for first time Hitman players. If you have any more advanced tips you would like to share, then let us know in the comments section.

Overwatch Year 2: 5 Things We Want To See

Overwatch will be one year old on May 24th, so we can expect some sort of celebration or event, and who knows what else in terms of goodies. It will also be a great opportunity to make any major changes to the game, as the developer team no doubt looks back at the success and failures of the first year. We’ve got our list of things we’d like to see, so read on!

Story Mode

Its a little known fact that Overwatch started off in life as an MMO simply referred to as Project Titan. The game was aborted, but the PvP part of the game lived on in Overwatch. Because of this history, Overwatch has a intriguing world with many characters that have deep backstories that we are only experiencing in bite-sized chunks and special event modes like Uprising. We’d like to see more single player and cooperative story missions, preferably even a full-sized single player campaign, using the leftover quests of Project Titan. After all, more story-based content has been hinted at by Blizzard.

Character Banning

There’s always one Hero that we hate, or think is overpowered, or who is overpowered, or the enemy team is spamming. Why not introduce some tactical banning into one of the game modes? This serves two purposes. One, it stops people rage-quitting and getting upset when they keep running into the same very strong Hero, and two, it encourages players to not stick to just the Hero they think they’re best at. As the Hero amount goes up, this becomes more viable as Heroes have more cross-over in their roles.

New Game Modes

Some FPS game modes are mysteriously lacking from Overwatch. We’ve got Escort, Control, Assault and Hybrid, as well as 1v1, 3v3, and the Brawls. But where is Capture the Flag, and Deathmatch? Granted there are some issues because of the types of Heroes there are: Tracer would make flag capturing a doddle and Offensive Heroes would dominate a Deathmatch mode, but I’m sure there would be some great ways of changing the mode to fit Overwatch. What about a Heroes of the Storm style objective where its a race to destroy AI opponents?

More CGI films

Overwatch’s trailers and CGI films are well-known for their quality and depth. The Last Bastion won 2017’s Best Writing in the Film and Video category at the Webby awards, despite the fact that there is no dialogue. And when your trailers for your game are being compared to Pixar films, you know you’re doing a good job. It gives each Hero more depth and allows players to connect to them more. I can’t wait to see some backstories for Heroes I don’t really care about right now, because I know they’re sitting on a goldmine of storytelling.

More Themed Skins

What’s better than playing with your friends, beating the opposite team and seeing yourselves victorious? Doing it whilst looking awesome! Some skins have a common theme, such as the Origins skins, Year of the Rooster, Christmas and others. If you’re team is lucky or buys them, you can get all the matching skins for your Heroes, and really make the enemy team jealous with your giant candy canes and snow globes or whatever. We want to see more themes and crossovers with characters from Marvel, or other Blizzard games, or sci-fi skins.

Those are our wishes for the second year of Overwatch. What do you want to see?

Dawn of War III: Death to the False-Emperor!

“In the grim dark future there is only war.”

It has been ten thousand years since Horus led his dark crusade across the galaxy, burning his brothers and setting the Imperium ablaze.

Ten thousand years since the eye of Horus met the golden crown of his father, the Emperor. Ten thousand years since the Imperium of Man fell into darkness, a darkness that has yet to lift.

The remembrancers will tell you that the so-called traitor legions turned against their father, their god, and led the galaxy into pain and suffering and a nightmare that lingers over us all. The Legiones Astartes will tell you that their former brothers are twisted by the warp, the Space Wolves will tell you it is Maleficarum that brought the heresy. The Inquisition will tell you that it is daemons, xenos, unsanctioned psykers, heretics, and mutants that caused the rift in the Imperium, a rift that can only be sealed with blood.

The Emperor though, the Emperor will tell you nothing. He is a withered corpse atop a throne of gold, barely alive, barely cognizant.

It is not enough.

Dawn of War III

The heresy, the ten millennia of torture, the pain humanity and the galaxy has suffered all lies at the feet of the Emperor. He deserve to suffer, and he deserves to know his creation, the Imperium of Man, will fall.

Look back through time, look back to ten thousand years ago, to the time of the nascent Imperium spreading its wings across an entire galaxy. Look at the Emperor as he strode across planets, a golden titan, bringing world after world under the flag of his imperial eagle. Look at the godhood he claimed in all but name. He led us all with the promise of a shining future and a home for us all.

He lied.

A million worlds lent their support, their lives to the dream of the Emperor, and he lied to us all. Was he a god? Was he light made flesh? He denied us worship, he told us he wasn’t a god, but then acted with a god’s powers and a god’s arrogance. How could we not worship him? How could the entire Imperium not bow down in praise for this holy being?

Then we found them. The pantheon, the real gods. Beings so far beyond our experiences that the only word we could apply to them is ‘gods’, but even that does nothing to encompass their enormity. They exist beyond reality, beyond time itself. Four gods stand there, real gods, gods that grant powers and can reach into the hearts of men and see the truth that lies within.

This is why the False-Emperor must fall, and why our war of ten thousand years cannot abate. He sits still, a testament to the lies he told through his actions of his own divinity, his entire existence a blasphemy against the true pantheon of the ruinous powers.

The entire Imperium of Man rests on a foundation of lies, that there is no divinity and that the warp is evil and twists man into unnatural forms.

The pantheon has shown us the truth. Divinity is real, and it reaches out to touch us. We are behoven to serve it, and every day we spend not worshipping the divine powers of Chaos Undivided are a blasphemous waste. Look at the beauty of our marines, they are blessed by divine powers. Flesh no longer bound by the petty mind of a half-dead Emperor, they burst out in beautiful ways, their armour mere shapes now as their holy forms spill out into the universe. How can you doubt the power and beauty of Chaos when looking upon our new forms? We are the holy right hand of our gods, and the Imperium will fall before us.

Dawn of War III

Even our Primarchs surpass those weak fools who stayed at the Emperor’s side. Whilst theirs are missing or dead, ours walk amongst us, living demigods whose forms and purpose are blessed by our holy pantheon.

Fulgrim is a divine serpent, devoted solely to pleasure and Slaanesh. Perturabo led his Iron Warriors into the depths of the Eye of Terror to fortify our worlds against incursion. Lorgar, holy Lorgar, devotes his time to worship and contemplation of the divine. Furious Angron rides a tide of anger, slaughtering all in the name of Khorne. Mortarion is the child of disease, his plagues bringing change and ruin to the galaxy. Magnus scries from his eternal tower, a burning eye that blazes through time itself to gaze at truth.

Where are the true sons of the Emperor? Dead or worse, apart from the patrician child Guilliman, they are are nothing compared to the beauty and stark terror of the Primarchs who opened their eyes to the holy truth.

You see, chaos is eternal. Chaos is entropy. Chaos is change. Without chaos, there is only stagnation. You can try to stave off chaos, but we were here before the universe and will be here long after.

Chaos is the beginning and end state of all things. This is a lesson we Astartes known as Chaos Space Marines have learned. This is a lesson the Imperium will learn, by fire and blood, if necessary.

– Dark Apostle Marduk, in a speech transmitted throughout Gothic sector, M41

(Dawn of War III is available from our store right now).