BioWare and Ubisoft clean up at the 2nd Annual Canadian Videogame Awards

Among the night's top winners were BioWare Edmonton's Mass Effect 2, which took home trophies in the Game of the Year, Best Console Game, Best Game Design and Best Writing categories. Ubisoft Montreal's Assassin's Creed Brotherhood fared second-best with awards for Best Visual Arts and Best Audio. Other stand-out award recipients include Hothead Games's Deathspank, for Best Downloadable Game; United

Five Nights at Freddy's World has been removed from Steam

After a rough launch that led to an apology for the incomplete state of the game , Five Nights at Freddy's World has been removed from Steam.

Fnaf

, Five Nights at Freddy's World has been removed from Steam. FNAF creator Scott Cawthon said in a messagethat in spite of the relatively positive overall reception the game had received, he “was not satisfied with the reviews and ratings it was getting.”

“For that reason, I've decided to remove the game from Steam,” Cawthon wrote. “I've also asked Valve to make it so that the game can be refunded regardless of the amount of the time it has been owned, meaning that anyone can get a refund at any time. It may take them a while to set that up, but it will be in place soon.”

He repeated his pledge to continue working on the game, and said that once he's ready to release an update, he'll replace the demo on Gamejolt (which also appears to have been removed) with the full game. Once it's re-released, he added, it will be free.

“I appreciate your support, and I encourage you all to refund your Steam game (even if you enjoyed the game), and download the new version when it becomes available on GameJolt,” Cawthon wrote. He didn't indicate whether FNAF World will be re-released on Steam as well.

Five Nights at Freddy's World, a cute and colorful adventure-RPG spinoff of the cult-hit horror series Five Nights at Freddy's, was originally scheduled for release in February but went live on Steam last week. It had a “very positive” rating based on aggregated Steam user reviews, but its rough and incomplete state led to a wave of complaints from players, and ultimately an acknowledgment from Cawthon that he had released the game prematurely.

Distant Star: Revenant Fleet Needs Some Space

Space!

Space! So much space. We’re in space.

Distant Star: Revenant Fleet is the new RTS game from developer Blazing Griffin. In Revenant Fleet , you are in control of a damaged A’kari fleet — the A’kari being descendants of the first space-faring humans — and you must defeat the rival Orthani faction. As an A’kari, you and yours consider yourselves the last “proper” humans. Whether or not you actually are, the Orthani are planning something even worse than “The Sacking of Mars,” a terrible event wherein the A’kari home world of Mars was razed.

Revenant Fleet is an RTS game that, naturally, takes place in space, and so you must command fleets of ships against the Orthani. To keep your combat situations interesting, each galaxy/playthrough is randomly generated, and you have a variety of decisions to make over the course of the narrative. The game features permadeath, meaning you’ll have to be very careful as you maneuver your fleet through each encounter. To help you in your fight against the Orthani and death, you will be able to acquire permanent upgrades to your ships and your damage output, as well as train some ships into higher level, deadlier units.

Distant Star: Revenant Fleet enters its early Alpha today (November 12th, if you’re reading this in the future ) for Windows PCs. You can pick it up on their itch.iopage for at least £4.99 GBP (though you also have the option to pay more if you want to support the developer). There is currently no release date, though Blazing Griffin plans to put Revenant Fleet up on Steam Greenlight some time soon.

Assassin's Creed's best side-quest is long overdue for a comeback

Peer hard enough at the obscured walls and hidden alcoves of AC2, and with enough luck you'll find the 'glyphs' scattered around AC2's digital vision of Renaissance Italy, esoteric puzzles that slowly reveal the 'true' history of the world, one ridiculous conspiracy theory after another. As ludicrous as the whole "ancient telekinetics made mind-control balls that are responsible for human history"

Five Nights at Freddy's World is releasing next month

Five Nights at Freddy's World is not a scary game.

Screen Shot 2016 01 14 at 11 26 35 am

Five Nights at Freddy's World is not a scary game. Instead, it's a game about cute (cute is important) animatronics battling it out with less-cute (but still pretty cute) animatronics. At least, that's what the teaser trailer below suggests. FNaF creator Scott Cawthon claimsit's a "roleplaying game where you create a party using the huge selection of characters from the FNaF games".

After a little bit of radio silence on Cawthon's part, he's announcedthe game will release on February 19 for PC, and a little later for mobile devices. Cawthon's partner recently gave birth to a baby son, hence the radio silence. Sincere congratulations to you all, Cawthon family.

Only time will tell whether the FNaF series can successfully translate into a more whimsical setting. I don't know about you, but it still looks pretty bloody frightening to me. Check out the trailer below to see what I mean.

Rig of the Month: Fallout 4

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What a post-apocalyptic PC looks like
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We're back! Did you miss us? The feeling is mutual, and to prove it, we're celebrating the triumphant return of Maximum PC's Rig of the Month with a professional mod themed around Fallout 4 , one of the most anticipated games of 2015!

Fallout 4 is set in post-apocalyptic Boston and will feature an open-world setting. We don't know if you'll encounter any PCs among the debris, but if so, we imagine it will look a lot like the one BS Modsassembled.

This build came about by way of an invite from Corsair to enter its mod contest. The rules were simple -- it had to feature Corsair brand products (naturally) and be game related

Bob Stewart and Rod Rosenberg, two expert modders who've worked on several previous projects, accepted the challenge and invited Brian "Boddaker" Carter to jump in as well. They collectively decided to theme their mod on Fallout 4 , a topical choice in gaming that gave them a lot of design elements to draw from.

They modded their system around a Corsair Graphite Series 780T full-tower case. If you look at the base, you'll notice a pair of steel beams in place of the plastic feet. Those beams are actual railroad irons plucked from a scrap yard. No cutting was necessary, as luck would have it, the small rails look like they were designed specifically for this mod!

The right-side panel looks like it's been modded with a display, but it's actually a piece of transparent vinyl with a quarter-inch light box behind it. When powered on, the side panel lights up and gives off a soft glow.

Flip through the gallery to see some more shots of the Fallout 4 PC and learn additional details.
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Have a case mod of your own that you would like to submit to our monthly feature? Make sure to read the rules/tips hereand email us at mpcrigofthemonth@gmail.comwith your submissions.

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The vault door swings open to give a glimpse (and perhaps quick access) to the internal components. It was built from scratch using acrylic, though there's plenty of steel in the build. The result is a finished product that weighs 79 pounds.

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Visible in the shot above is a GeForce GTX 980 Ti graphics card connected to a Corsair HX850i power supply. Other components include an Asus Gryphon Z97 micro ATX motherboard, Intel Core i5-4690K processor cooled by a Corsair Hydro Series H100i GTX all-in-one cooler, an 8GB (2x4GB) kit of Corsair Vengeance Pro DDR4-2133 RAM, and a Corsair Force LX 128GB solid-state drive.

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Many of the parts were "rusted" to match the distressed aesthetic that only a combination of time, weather, and nuclear fallout can achieve. To give it an authentic look, Bob salvaged some pieces of metal from the bed of his dad's truck that happened to be sitting in the shop. Those pieces were cut up (presumably with his permission) and added to various parts of the rig.

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The number "111" appears on the vault door and lights up when the PC is on. This is in reference to Vault 111, one of the fallout shelters developed by Vault-Tec. It only appears in Fallout 4 , making it an entirely appropriate choice for this mod.

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The "111" designation also appears on a custom-made key ring. Instead of a power button, there's a key to turn on the Fallout 4 PC. Various parts light up when it's turned on, including the center of the vault's side panel, the right-side panel, and the lightning bolt logo on the front of the case.

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More truck parts belonging to Bob's dad can be seen on the rear of the Fallout 4 rig. This shot also gives a better look at the railroad rails that found new life as heavy duty feet. Anyone else feel the need for a tetanus shot at this point?

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It took the BS Mods team about "three weekends of solid work and a little here and there in between" to complete the themed build. The most challenging part was trying to balance keeping it simple while maintaining a "wow factor."

"There are so many different directions you can go with a mod, and especially using a game like Fallout . We didn't want it to look like we just barfed Fallout at it, so we chose a couple of basic elements and rolled with that," Rod explained to Maximum PC.

Mission accomplished, don't you think?

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All Aboard the Intrigue Boat – The Ship: Murder Party Gets HD Successor

Released in 2006, The Ship: Murder Party took an unusual shot at first-person multiplayer games.

took an unusual shot at first-person multiplayer games. Instead of killing each other barbarically in an arena, it brought players to a 1920s voyage under the patronage of diabolical Mr. X, who desires nothing but mayhem from his guests. There’s an HD makeover version coming titled The Ship: HD .

With a threat to kill family members and the participants themselves should they not comply, the guests are forced to hunt one quarry each on board the ship. Forced to play in the hunt, the players have to use stealth, guile, and any weapons necessary in order to carry out their kill. Tommy guns, baseball bats, umbrellas, it’s all fair game. The craftier and stealthier, the better. But there’s one catch: The game simulates basic human needs for food, drink, and cleanliness, so players can’t forget about those while playing cat and mouse with other attendees.

Screens from The Ship: Murder Party

Blazing Griffin, an indie game studio, acquired the rights to The Ship: Murder Party in 2012. Blazing Griffin brought Jason Kocemba on board, now technical director, who used to be lead programmer on the original game. To learn more about the original title, check out the Steam page, where it’s currently discounted by 75% (down to $2.49).

The real news, however, is that development on The Ship: HD has begun and is slated for release in 2016. Details are scarce, but those interested can check out the announcement pagefrom Blazing Griffin for a message from the creators.

Luminesca is now Available for Pre-Order

Luminesca is an underwater exploration game by Matt Glanville that already looks remarkable and is available for 50% off ($4.99) during it’s alpha/pre-order stage.

After preordering from the Luminesca website, you will get access to Work-in-Progress and Alpha Builds. After playing through a bit of the alpha build and first chapter, I would describe Luminesca as a charming exploration and puzzle game. It’s visuals remind me a little bit of Limbo meets Aquaria (two great indie games) and the soundtrack is charming. The big thing the game needs right now is a game map so that what you’ve explored and it would also be helpful to have some objectives or a nav point listed on such a map. The game is very playable in its current form and it will be interesting to see how the game evolves before it’s final release.

Five Nights At Freddy's is getting its own novel

Five Nights at Freddy's has a huge fan fiction community, so it makes sense that the next item on the FNaF checklist is an official novelization.

Five Nights At Freddy s 4

has a huge fan fiction community, so it makes sense that the next item on the FNaF checklist is an official novelization. It's not been directly announced, however: users have been forced, once again, to piece together evidence on the official Scott Games website.

It wasn't hard though. This image, which kinda looks like a book cover, has the filename FnaF_TheNovel.jpg. Tricky! Meanwhile, if you look at the Scott Games website's source code, there's a message about an imminent release on Amazon Kindle. That's likely to happen on December 22, judging by the packshot on the website.

It's no surprise that Five Nights at Freddy's is getting a novel. In fact, I'm surprised it hasn't happened sooner. The series is already getting a film adaptationafter all, and with a new, non-horror RPG instalmentdue next year, Scott Games is happy to keep producing fiction around its creepy animatronic-infested universe.

Dig up some dirt on the Templars with this Assassin's Creed Unity art book

Nothing says fun like employee handbooks and file folders full of paperwork. Yes, I can feel the adrenaline creeping up this very moment as I hold a bound stack of letters, sticky notes and paper clips waiting to be sifted through. So many paper clips. It could take days to get through all this data, which would usually be annoying. However, since the paperwork I'm holding is Case File 44412: Arno

The next Five Nights At Freddy's game is an RPG

When Five Nights at Freddy's 4 launched earlier this year, creator Scott Cawthon insisted it would be the last.

Five Nights at Freddy s 4 Foxy

launched earlier this year, creator Scott Cawthon insisted it would be the last. He's keeping his word, but he's also not done with the Five Nights at Freddy's universe yet: the next instalment, Five Nights at Freddy's World, will be a non-horror RPG game.

In an announcement on Steam, Cawthon said the early-in-development title will release for PC, Android and iOS, and serves as an opportunity to use the series' characters "in a new and fun way".

"It will not be a horror game," Cawthon wrote, "but a roleplaying game where you create a party using the huge selection of characters from the FNaF games, including the classic, withered, toy, phantom, and nightmare versions. I've been working steadily on characters and hope to start on enemy models next week."

FNAF World may not release as quickly as Cawthon's previous games, though. "The bad news is that it's unlikely that a demo will be ready for Halloween like I had hoped, since this game's scope is significantly larger than previous games in the series.

"However, I will release a free demo, as promised, as soon as it's ready!"

In case you've been living under a rock (or hiding in a closet), Five Nights at Freddy's has become an enormous success. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Warner Bros. Pictures is working on a film adaptation.

Fishing, Friendship and Adventure Come Together in Nusakana

Nusakana is the name of Studio Namaapa’s upcoming RPG that revolves around fishing, friendship, adventure, and a very dark secret.

is the name of Studio Namaapa’s upcoming RPG that revolves around fishing, friendship, adventure, and a very dark secret. The game takes place on a tropical island which is not only a hotspot for tourists, researchers, and suspicious characters, but a rich source of mana, a natural substance with special magical properties. Players assume the role of a fisherman who has three years to figure out the island’s secret, but with so much free time on hand, players can choose from a range of activities including selling and trading items with merchants, crafting equipment, or forming relationships with other islanders.

Nusakana’s simple yet deep turn based battle system will allow players to prepare their strategy well in advance, which will come in handy for those who choose to trek across the island to defy the dangerous local wildlife. The main inspiration behind the game comes from theseries by Japanese developers Gust Co.Ltd, and gameplay will also draw more extensively on the JRPG style of open-world play, something that Namaapa believes emphasizes player freedom.

Nusakana is currently in development and needs your vote to get the green light on Steam.For those who are interested, there is a demo version available from the game’s development blog here, but it will require you to download RPG Maker VX Ace RTin order for the game to run. The expected release date for Nusakana is during the second quarter of 2015 on PC. In the meantime, you can follow the game on Twitterfor the latest updates, and make sure to also check out Nusakana’s official Facebook page.

RadioRadar podcast 115: Life's A Glitch

A huge week for new releases, but that doesn't stop us from also finding time to talk about lawless cities, glitchy games, and your answers to last week's question of the week... Hosts: Henry Gilbert, Lorenzo Verloia, Ashley Reed, Maxwell McGee, Anthony Snyder Question of the week: What's the most memorable glitch you've ever encountered? Let us know in the comments and you might win something next week! Intro song by Danny Baranowsky

Five Nights at Freddy's 4 gets an official trailer

The first half of this Five Nights at Freddy's 4 trailer is the worst.

Click . Something is going to happen. Click . Something has to happen. Click . It just keeps getting worse. Click . I can't take any more!

I don't think there's any question that the best horror games are the ones that use restraint. Monster closets are fine for what they do, but the fear of what might be out there, hiding in the dark? As anyone who's crept through the Shalebridge Cradlecan tell you, that's a whole 'nother kind of scary.

It came to light yesterday that the release of Five Nights at Freddy's 4 has been moved up, from its originally planned launch on Halloween to August 8. Five Nights creator Scott Cawthon hasn't confirmed the change, but given the timing of the trailer, I think it's fair to say that the nearer release date is looking pretty solid.

Steam 'Item Stores' roll out with new update, debut in Rust

Head over to the Rust store page on Steam and you'll notice a new option offering "Items available for this game," including clothing and firearms, that can be purchased for real money.

Rust Item Store

and you'll notice a new option offering "Items available for this game," including clothing and firearms, that can be purchased for real money. It's the first (and, as far as I know, only) implementation of "Item Stores," a function introduced in the latest update to Steam that enables developers and community creators to sell in-game items directly to players.

The Rust Item Store exists, and will continue to exist, alongside the Community Market, and pricing will often be different. The Red Shine Pistol on the Rust Item Store, for instance, goes for around $3, but costs just under $5 on the Community Market; the Forest Camo T-shirt, on the other hand, costs the same $3 on the Item Store but can be had on the Market for 5 cents . That might sound a bit sketchy, but product descriptions on the Item Store very visibly include the Community Market pricing as well.

"Part of the reason for having the market prices next to the listings is to make it clear to people if the price is lower somewhere else. Items will come and go from the item store, but they'll be available on the market as long as people are selling them," Facepunch Studios mastermind Garry Newman explained. And while the Rust Item Store currently features studio-made items "as a test for the system," it's mainly in place for community-created items.

Newman acknowledged that the Item Store bears some surface similarities to the paid mods fiasco that caused so much upsetearlier this year, but noted that the products it sells are strictly cosmetic, and they're also given to players through random, timed drops in the game, meaning that nobody will be excluded.

"I think the [paid mods] launch on Skyrimgave a really negative vision of what the future looked like. Instead of showing how it would lead to better, more supported mods, it showed how you were going to be asked to pay for the shit you were getting for free yesterday," he said. "Pretty much all the modders I've spoken to would at least like the choice to sell their mods. Personally I think they deserve to be able to make that choice themselves. It's not a choice that should be made by us, or Valve or by the neckbeards on Reddit."

He expanded upon that thought in a post on his personal blog, in which he said that Valve's approach is good for everyone, including people who can't, or don't want to, spend money on this stuff. "They hate traditional microtransactions because it’s a paywall. But on Steam they play the game and get random drop items, and can then sell and trade those items on the marketplace," he wrote. "It’s not unfeasible that a player will make more money selling items than the game itself cost."

Newman said the backend for Item Stores has actually existed for some time now, and that as far as he knows it's available to any developer who wants to use it. "Steam doesn't really partition features off for certain people, everything they add is there to be used by all developers," he said. "We're just agile enough to have gotten there first."

I imagine it won't be the last.

SpaceHex Is A Fun Little Game About Building A Space Station

I spent some time this morning going through some of the games submitted during last weekend’s Ludum Dare 34 event, and while I still have about a million more games to go through, one game that stood out to me so far was Compo entry SpaceHex by Sheepolution (who you may remember won LD28 with One Take ).

SpaceHex

In SpaceHex players are tasked with building a space station for little green aliens. By utilizing a hexagonal layout, players can grid the various pods of the space station together to gather resources or to improve the station’s defensive and offensive capabilities.

There are a few moments of free time at the start of the game which allow players to quickly place down the beginnings of their station, and then the enemy ships start appearing. Because their weapons can easily wipe out the space station, plenty of shield and rocket pods should be placed throughout the station to protect it and eliminate any threats that arise. Players can also place salvage pods in their space station that can go out and pick up the scraps of destroyed enemy ships for additional resources.

It might not be as complex as a game like FTL , but SpaceHex still delivers an exciting, strategic experience that I quite enjoyed playing through. For SpaceHex instructions and download links, head to the game’s itch.io profile.

Assassin's Creed Unity Murder Mystery Guide

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Five Nights at Freddy's 4 launch moves a whole lot closer

Five Nights at Freddy's 4 was originally slated to come out on Halloween , an appropriate date given its creeptastic subject matter.

, an appropriate date given its creeptastic subject matter. But now it appears that the timing has changed, and that it will actually be invading your head space and hard drives a lot sooner than expected.

The move forward was revealed by Five Nights creator Scott Cawthon to YouTuber Dawko in an emailsaying, "I'm going to release Five Nights at Freddy's 4 on August 8th for the 1-year anniversary of Fight Nights at Freddy's." Lending credence to the change is a new Five Nights at Freddy's image posted on IndieDB(via Siliconera) entitled "8815"—08/08/2015—which is also now sitting at the front of the Scott Games website.

We've reached out to Cawthon to confirm the change, but at this point it looks pretty solid. Halloween won't be completely ignored, however. Scott added in his email that he's going to "keep it special" with a free update he'll put out on October 31.

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Download of the Week: Super Metroid-esque Shadow Complex is half-price on XBLA

Game | Shadow Complex | Platform: 360 | Publisher: Microsoft | Developer: Chair Entertainment | Price: 600 MS Points All our downloads are piped in with the lightning-quick Virgin Media 50Mb Broadband... This Super Metroid-inspired side-scroller had Cliff Bleszinski as a design consultant. It's damn fine by any measure, but doubly so when you slash 50% off its regular asking price. So to see it at

Dungeon Defenders II Gets A Holiday-Themed Update

Today, Trendy Entertainment announced the arrival of their latest update to hit Dungeon Defenders II , “The Harbinger Awakens”.

Dungeon Defenders II

, “The Harbinger Awakens”. Contrary to the ominous name, the update features some holiday-themed content that players can pick up and wear to show their holiday spirit.

With the update, new winter lock boxes include cosmetic items like reindeer antlers and Santa hats. The maps are also snowy for the time being, and holiday-themed costumes are available to players.

The update’s title, “The Harbinger Awakens” refers to a new boss fight involving a boss that Dungeon Defenders I veteran’s will remember. Furthermore, the leveling process up to level 50 is now faster and while loot drops less frequently it will be of higher quality and relevant to the player looting it. Players will also be able to experience endgame content at level 40, as opposed to level 50, to allow players faster access to the endgame experience.

Dungeon Defenders II is an action tower-defense game from Trendy Entertainment that is currently available and free-to-play on Steam Early Access.

Five Nights at Freddy's 4 is coming

Five Nights at Freddy's 4 is definitely happening, if the above image taken from Scott Cawthon's website is not a big old lie.

Fnaf4

is not a big old lie. It's a bit hard to see, but in the bottom left of that image there's a date reading 31.10.15, accompanied by the text 'The Final Chapter'.

It's sensible to deduce that this is the release date for the fourth and final instalment of Five Nights at Freddy's. Given how quickly Cawthon has released the previous three instalments, it's tempting to assume that this one is going to be a bit bigger, in light of the longer lead time.

But maybe not. We've only got a teaser image to go on after all, but that's enough to drive the game's sizable fanbase up the wall with anticipation and speculation. In the meantime, we can ponder the weirdness of Warner Bros. Pictures' forthcoming film adaptationof the series, and know that in an increasingly volatile world, strange and beautiful things can still happen.

Xbox Live: Get Shadow Complex and Perfect Dark for 50% off this week

Xbox Live Gold subscribers can score two decidedly retro-style offerings for cheap this week, with the Metroidvania-style Shadow Complex and N64 remake Perfect Dark available for 600 MSP ($7.50) and 400 MSP ($5.00) respectively . They're very different titles, but have at least one thing in common: both games present old-school gaming challenges with a coat of modern polish. Shadow Complex is a contemporary

Astray is the Horror ‘Night at the Museum’ Could Have Been

There’s never a shortage of intense horror experiences, and the two-person team at Aegon Games is aiming at the core gamer audience with their second production, Astray .

Developed in Unreal Engine 4 (which shows), Astray puts you in a first-person perspective on a mission to uncover secrets at a mysterious museum. You play as the nephew of Rupert Walker, a professor known in your family for peculiar behavior and a penchant for supernatural occurrences. The year is 1909, and the museum is set for its grand opening relatively soon, but it’s been a while since anyone has heard from Walker. To make matters worse, you arrive at the museum to find it’s in a sorry state.

The game features a variety of environments, ranging from museum outdoors and a forest enshrouded in darkness to dark corridors, museum rooms, creepy cells, and mysterious underground caverns. Forget the typical abandoned hospital or haunted house: There are exhibits that simulate Ancient Egypt and something like a futuristic Atlantis. Along the way there are objects and puzzles to solve. Armed with a flashlight that offers limited battery life, the player must pick up and examine objects along the way.

The gameplay seems to revolve more around a dark atmosphere and puzzle-solving rather than danger or action, though it seems a few creatures may stand in the player’s way. The developers have also stated they intend to use longer, tension-building set pieces over frequent jumpscares. Similarly to Amnesia: The Dark Descent , there is no way to combat foes. Evasion and the shadows are the player’s best friends.

Astray launches today on Steamwith a price tag of $9.99 for PC and Mac. Aegon Games also wants to look into porting the game to consoles, and making it compatible with Linux.

Undertale update seems to include some sort of secret new content

Undertale creator Toby Fox said back in November that it was unlikely that any forthcoming patch “will contain anything other than bugfixes.” And that appeared to be the case with the update that was released on Steam yesterday , which promises to “fix bugs and increase compatibility,” but nothing more.

Undertale

, which promises to “fix bugs and increase compatibility,” but nothing more. Nonetheless, the sharp-eyed members of the Undertale subreddit have determined that there may be more going on than meets the eye.

“Determined” might be putting it a little strongly, but they certainly seem to have a plausible theory. To make sense of it, if you're not an Undertale veteran, you'll probably want to have a look at Kotaku's summary, which contains some big but necessary spoilers. Essentially—and this will be a spoiler too, so consider yourself warned and look away now if you don't want it blow the surprise, because this is your last chance! —the new content, which includes new dialog and a changed audio file, appears to add the pseudo-mythical character known as Gaster to the game—sort of, anyway.

Prior to this, according to the Undertale Wiki, Gaster's existence was only hinted at by certain in-game characters, and direct references could only be accessed by editing game files. Even now, the odds of actually encountering him are apparently extremely slim—but if the redditors are correct, it can be done.

It sounds like a fairly small thing as additional content goes, but Undertale is an outstanding game—we don't give those Editor's Choice awards to just anyone, you know—in large part because there's a lot more to it than is initially apparent. In that light, this kind of meta-mystery is the perfect way to add even more twists and turns to the game.

Interestingly, Fox seemed to hint at something being hidden away in the update (even as he denied the existence of new content) through a series of tweetshe posted yesterday, in which he subtly encouraged players to poke around under the hood. "BTW, just want to clarify, the lack of new content is in no way due to people datamining the game. No hard feelings towards those people," he wrote. "The only reason I tried to get people not to datamine is so fans could experience things before they were found in the code... Anyway, I have no problem with that kind of stuff now. After all, game hacking leads to things like fan translations, which are great."

The patch also fixes bugs of various sorts, as mentioned, but it does not address the problems caused by the latest update to the Steam client beta. If Undertale stops launching after the update, Fox recommended reverting to the standard Steam client.

Best ever gaming remakes

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6180 The Moon Is Now On Xbox One

When our solar system’s sun vanishes, Earth’s moon sets off an an adventure to figure out where our sun went.

6180 The Moon is a puzzle-platformer game about that journey.

Players take control of the moon, and bounce it through the game’s levels, avoiding obstacles and dangers along the way. One danger that players will not need to worry about is falling off the map. As in traditional platformers (like Mario games) falling off of a platform results in death. In 6180 The Moon, if players drops the moon off of a platform and below the screen, it will fall right down from the top of the screen. This mechanic is a main component in solving the game’s puzzles.

Originally launching for PC in 2013, 6180 The Moon later released on Steamin September of last year. Now, 6180 The Moon is available on Xbox Onefor $3.99

Undertale's Steam review section is pretty funny

Undertale is a very popular video game.

Undertale

is a very popular video game. Richard Cobbett rated it highlyand he wasn't alone: it was one of the most critically acclaimed games of 2015, rivalling the likes of The Phantom Pain and The Witcher 3. There's a vocal minority who hate it of course, but that's to be expected when a whimsical retro-styled RPG gains so much popularity. Especially one where you don't have to kill anything.

At this stage, Undertale doesn't really need much more promotion: it's become a phenomenon. Creator Toby Fox must be aware of this, because the 'reviews' section on the Undertale Steam pageis among the driest I've ever seen.

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Some of those quotes (particularly the Destructoid one) are taken a bit out of context, but sometimes that's okay in the interests of a laugh. Nothing is perfect, not even Undertale.

35MM is a quiet tour of rural Russia after a deadly outbreak

I spent most of the opening hour of 35MM walking through vast expanses of Russian wilderness, following rudimentary dirt roads, and only stopping to check the occasional jalopy husk or abandoned farmhouse.

walking through vast expanses of Russian wilderness, following rudimentary dirt roads, and only stopping to check the occasional jalopy husk or abandoned farmhouse. There wasn’t much to see. Empty beds, rusty cans, rotten wood—as it turns out, the post-apocalypse is pretty mundane.

35MM is a first-person adventure game in which you and an initially unnamed NPC partner traverse the Russian wilderness in order to fulfill a promise. I’m not exactly sure what that promise is yet (I’m about two hours in), but I’m not sure I care. The narrative is incredibly vague and comes across as secondary to the peaceful devastation that makes 35MM so entrancing despite its obvious flaws. Whenever it quits making weak stabs at storytelling or forcing me through its buggy action scenes, it lets me take pictures of an abandoned tractor or soak in the silence of a nice countryside walk. Those moments invigorated my spirit in surprising ways.


From Russia with uhh

The setting evokes a peaceful isolation: a ramshackle village in thin fog, the distant silhouette of a church. Traces of old fire pits dot the yards of every house, showing me how cold it is. It’s all wrapped up by a dense Russian forest in the subdued pastels of an impending winter—grey, yellow, and olive green. The emptiness is unnerving, but the silence is a relief from the regular hustle and bustle I expect from the town. I’m free to wander as I please, even if some of the doors won’t open until my partner—a walking, talking, event trigger—stands close enough.

First, he gets a fire going. I press ‘E’ and my character’s bum sticks to a small stool. I’m captive to a one man show, my partner’s poorly translated monologue of man’s downfall after the ‘outbreak’. I can barely make sense of the subtitles. When 35MM overtly tries to tell a story, it’s a mess.

The scene finishes, and I deduce I’m supposed to find some water in the village well. We’re going to boil it and fill our empty stomachs to stave off hunger. It’s past dark and the only items I can use are a camera and a short knife. If video games have taught me anything, things are about to get dangerously spooky.

Most of the homes are empty except for hollow food tins and lonely chairs. I keep expecting a monster to stumble out of the shadows. Up the road, I enter the abandoned church, and with a newfound lighter, I test the wick of an old candle next to a podium. It catches right away and gives off a faint glow, illuminating a few religious portraits on the wall. I’m not a believer, but this sure is a cozy light. I pull out my camera and take a few pictures. I want to remember this, in and out of character.

After soaking in the radiance, I scrounge up a bucket and find the well. Surely, while my back is turned and locked into rotating the crank that lowers the bucket, a monster will spawn behind me. I pull the water up and turn around. The moon hangs full and high in the sky. A few crows pass beneath it. I watch them fly away and then return to the warehouse. Night passes without incident.


Bored to breath

Anytime 35MM isn’t forcing me to listen to its stilted dialogue or endure its quicktime events, it’s very good at being quiet and pretty and sad. I like the combination of those things.

Moving the plot forward is only doable via awkward triggers—interactive objects just barely light up when the cursor passes over them—and it can be easy to lose your partner while running about an entire village. The ambient music is far too loud in the mix and washes out nearly everything else. And, technically, the 35MM super limited—no resolutions above 1920x1080 are supported. It’s got a lot of issues.

Indeed, we do.

But lighting those candles in the church, watching the horizon take shape on the back of a makeshift rail car, or scanning the treetops for the source of a particularly pretty bird call–they’re all brief glimpses of energy and light in an otherwise cold and quiet world. As a window into the indifferent psyche of these characters and the bleak regularity of post-apocalypse rural Russia, it works. 35MM is best digested as a series of these interconnected vignettes rather than a cohesive, pristine whole—a reminder that pushing through a game’s imperfections is a healthy study of the many pieces required to pull off a grand illusion, and that at the heart of most games, messy or not, is the earnest intent of its creators. I can’t outright recommend 35MM, but its subdued vistas and long walks were enough to get me thinking about their counterparts in my life —foggy days, car horns, daily train rides, the light beneath a billboard—and what kind of comfort I can find in my own brand of mundanity.

Destroy Cities As A 30-foot Tall Naked Man in Attack of Giant Jumping Man

Joystiq Junkyard recently revealed their first game, Attack of Giant Jumping Man .

Attack of Giant Jumping Man

Influenced by Super Mario and Rampage, Attack of Giant Jumping Man has players stomping cars and body-slamming skyscrapers as a 30-foot-tall naked man named Ron. Oh, and Ron’s junk is magnetic, because why not.

Players must destroy as much of the city as they can before they are taken down by military units. Combat involved stomping, body slamming, and by using their magnetic ability, players can pick up chunks of debris and turn them into projectiles. Oh and sometimes Ron can set himself on fire and grow to be twice as big. Again, because why not.

“We wanted to create an homage to the arcade and console games we grew up playing in the 80s,” said Joystiq Junkyard programmer James Closs, in the press release announcing Attack of Giant Jumping Man . “Then combine that with a love of cheesy b-movies, pop-culture and a fairly deranged sense of humor.”

Currently Attack of Giant Jumping Man is in Alpha testing, but Joystiq Junkyard anticipates a near-future release on PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and on mobile devices.

Undertale's Steam review section is pretty funny

Undertale is a very popular video game.

Undertale

is a very popular video game. Richard Cobbett rated it highlyand he wasn't alone: it was one of the most critically acclaimed games of 2015, rivalling the likes of The Phantom Pain and The Witcher 3. There's a vocal minority who hate it of course, but that's to be expected when a whimsical retro-styled RPG gains so much popularity. Especially one where you don't have to kill anything.

At this stage, Undertale doesn't really need much more promotion: it's become a phenomenon. Creator Toby Fox must be aware of this, because the 'reviews' section on the Undertale Steam pageis among the driest I've ever seen.

Screen Shot 2016 01 21 at 1 56 29 pm

Some of those quotes (particularly the Destructoid one) are taken a bit out of context, but sometimes that's okay in the interests of a laugh. Nothing is perfect, not even Undertale.

Watch a new Hellblade trailer performed live in Unreal Engine

Ninja Theory showed off a new trailer for Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice during Unreal's keynote at GDC, but it wasn't any ordinary press conference reveal.

Ninja Theory showed off a new trailer for Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice during Unreal's keynote at GDC, but it wasn't any ordinary press conference reveal. Stage left, curtains parted to reveal an actress decked out in face-rigging attire, effectively transmitting her live performance into the trailer in real time. This is how Ninja Theory is capturing every performance in the game. Yeah, it was pretty weird, but makes complete sense for this project in particular, and looking ahead, the medium at large.

Tameem Antoniades, Chief Designer, first reinforced the importance of emotional nuance in character animation in Hellblade, which tackles heavy themes, including mental illnesses. Senua is on a vision quest into the viking heartland. She regularly hallucinates and hears voices, but Antoniades wanted to avoid casting her legitimate health issues in a cliched light. To drive it home, they consulted a professor of health science and psychology, and people who have or still suffer from similar illnesses themselves.

Development diary talking about the creation of the live motion capture

The live performance wasn't exactly 1:1–no doubt, there's plenty of room for this kind of technology to grow, but it's hard to understate how bizarre it was to see the actress' twitchy eye movement, blinks, and general expressions show up on Senua with no apparent delay. It got even weirder when she started bobbing around and singing a squeaky-voiced rendition of a certain snowman song from Frozen.

It's especially useful for a small team like Ninja Theory developing a game that requires as much fidelity as Hellblade, the kind of sheen typically reserved for teams of dozens developing blockbusters on blockbusters. Live face-rigging and capture eliminates a huge amount of the work load and iteration required of a single performance, and the ability to see it live in Unreal with all the set dressings means a given scene can be poked and prodded on a whim.

Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice is due sometime this year.

Indie Intros: ‘Joan Mad Run’

Twists are an undeniably important aspect in almost any form of entertainment; whether they’re simply an unexpected turn of events during the course of the story, or a familiar old element that’s looked at from a new perspective, twists are what keep things interesting after years and years of similar movies and video games.

Joan Mad Run is a new iOS runner game by HappyMagenta that steps away from the traditional runner game forumla.

As you might expect, Joan Mad Run puts you in the role of the titular Joan. Awakening to find herself trapped in a jail cell without any memories of her past, let alone any belongings, Joan has no choice but to run. Her escape will not be an easy one, however; as the road to restoring her memories is fraught with danger.

Fortunately, you won’t stay unarmed for long. There are plenty of weapons you can get your hands from, ranging from katanas and pistols all the way up to lasers and freeze guns. Guns aren’t the only weapons of mass NPC murder at your disposal, either, as power-ups such as Bloodlust can drastically increase your killing potential.

Although Joan Mad Run isn’t out just yet, you can keep up to date with all of the latest developments simply by following the HappyMagenta blog, or keeping an eye on their Facebook page.

Go inside the indie dev scene with the Gameloading documentary

Kickstarted documentary Gameloading: Rise of the Indies has launched digitally through Steam, Humble, and other outlets this week.

Gameloading

has launched digitally through Steam, Humble, and other outlets this week. Focusing on the surge of the indie game development scene, the documentary features interviews with indie developers, footage from game jams and conventions, and covers a number of topics that highlight the challenges of making games outside of the big budget corporate system.

I watched the film yesterday. Being already familiar with the indie scene, I didn't find it terribly illuminating, though it has some interesting moments and worthwhile interviews. I suspect newcomers to indie gaming, or viewers who are just now becoming interested in game development, might find some useful information and inspiration, however.

Gameloading begins in the typical talking-head documentary fashion. Have you heard about video games? Would you like to know why games are fun, popular, or important? Figures like John Romero, Ben Kuchera, Mike Bithell, and others are excited to tell you. Thankfully, this portion is brief: most gaming documentaries seem to feel the need to walk you through twenty minutes of archival Pong footage. There's also a recap of the rise of indie games: after consoles initially stifled indie game makers, digital download services like Steam and the Apple store, game engines like Unity, and creation tools like GameMaker brought the indie scene surging back, though the opening of those floodgates also led to fierce competition and a crowded marketplace.

Speaking of which, there's some attention paid to one of the most important and difficult aspects of indie development: marketing. With tiny development teams, often just one or two people, there's simply no one to handle marketing but the devs themselves, and the challenges of getting the word out at events like PAX and GDC, amidst the clamor of hundreds of other developers, are highlighted.

Some time is given to indie devs speaking about their inspiration for getting into game development. For some, motivation came from seeing big companies putting out the same types of games over and over, typically racing, fighting, and shooting games, and wondering if there were other avenues to explore. The Stanley Parable's Davey Wrenden, the biggest focus of the documentary, talks about becoming less interested in doing what games told him to and more interested in games that confronted and challenged him. He also wrestles with doubts about himself as a fledgling developer. "I'm terrified every single day of my life that people think I have any idea what I'm doing," he says.

Gameloading

For other developers, inspiration came from a far more personal place. Ryan Green speaks about creating That Dragon Cancer while struggling with his young son's terminal cancer diagnosis. Zoe Quinn speaks about her creation of Depression Quest as a way to demonstrate to others what it's like to live and cope with depression, and also talks about the abuse and threats she's received. Christine Love talks about her fascination and disgust with Korea's disturbingly misogynist Joseon Dynasty, which she used as the setting of her visual novel Analogue: A Hate Story.

Alternately, Rami Ismail of Vlambeer spoke about his interest being piqued as a six year old, having first played Gorillas, a Qbasic game, and then discovered he could change the code and see those changes reflected in the game. I wish a bit more time was spent on Ismail's amicably contentious relationship with his partner, Jan Willem Nijman, who claims he and Ismail once had a three day long argument over the shape of clouds in Vlambeer's arcade shooter Luftrausers.

Gameloading

In some ways Gameloading feels a bit too general: there are a lot of interesting topics touched on, but typically only briefly, and I suspect those already following the indie gaming scene will wish there was a bit more in-depth information on topics they haven't already read about on blogs, gaming sites, and the twitter accounts of those who participated in the documentary.

For those with a more casual or recent interest in indie development, I could see this being informative, and perhaps motivational. Seeing so many developers speaking passionately and thoughtfully about game making, participating in game jams, visiting conventions, and discussing not just the highs but the lows of game development could definitely inspire some viewers to begin making their own indie games.

You can find the various ways to purchase and view Gameloading here. Making an indie game or just want to share one you love? You can tell us about it at tips@pcgamer.com.

Adr1ft sold me on VR and ruined my space dreams

Star Wars showed me the gravitas of massive space battles, picking out constellations in StarLab during my elementary years romanticized the celestial bodies, Carl Sagan taught me about unexplored vastness of space and human potential—I spent my entire life accumulating wonder for space, whether for its unexplored scientific mystery or as a setting for outlandish adventure and play.

Adr1ft Preview Update

Star Wars showed me the gravitas of massive space battles, picking out constellations in StarLab during my elementary years romanticized the celestial bodies, Carl Sagan taught me about unexplored vastness of space and human potential—I spent my entire life accumulating wonder for space, whether for its unexplored scientific mystery or as a setting for outlandish adventure and play. VR might change that: Adr1ft showed me that the fantasy of free floating above earth isn’t as fun as I’d hoped. It kicked 12-year-old James in the teeth and said, ‘No. Space is cold, empty, and unforgiving. Go away.’ That’s why I’m excited to play the rest.


Slapstick in space

Space sickness

It’s worth noting that I got a bit sick during 15 or so minutes of play, but the Oculus Rift wasn’t quite calibrated correctly. My vision was offcentered by five degrees, and no amount of mashing the Y button (which recalibrates the Rift) could fix it.

Adr1ft is a first-person exploration game set in a recently devastated space station orbiting earth. You wake up on the station after the explosive accident with no recollection of what happened. With no crew in sight and no idea what’s going on, you set off to find oxygen for a quickly depleting space suit and, hopefully, a means of escape.

And so I was off, but not without a brief introduction to the controls. Adr1ft is a game about spatial awareness and locomotion. Bump your space helmet head too many times, and it’ll crack, quickening the pace of oxygen depletion. It’s also important to know how to maneuver towards oxygen tanks because control isn’t like traditional first-person shooters (I didn’t get to try mouse and keyboard controls). Instead, you move vertically with the triggers, rotate with the bumpers, and use pivot and thrust with the sticks. Even so, movement is inherently imprecise. The soupy delay of zero-gravity means every movement is a pull in that direction. Rotate left while moving up but don’t let up on the throttle, and you’ll start spinning out of control. Head bumps for everyone.

Adr1ft Preview Update 02

Most jarring was the moment I tried to pick up my first oxygen tank. A button prompt pops up when you’re near a floating canister, but when you press the button, the oxygen doesn’t do the typical video game trope of disappearing and showing up in your inventory instantly. Instead, your arm reaches out, and you’re required to fine tune your movement until your character’s open palm actually grabs the canister. Mess up and you might send that canister flying across the room. My biggest foible was consistently throwing the empty canisters into unused ones across the room. It would look pretty funny if I wasn’t always on the brink of death.


Room to breathe

I knew when I was close to dying because my oxygen meter would flash red and I’d start to hear my character’s pulse in my temples, but some of that might have been me. Current oxygen and other UI elements are nested in the corners of the helmet’s visor, and I had to move around to see them. At first, it’s super difficult to control a first person body in zero-gravity while managing vital information dotted all over the hud, but that’s part of the challenge. VR turns an otherwise routine video game exploration into a dizzying, suffocating experience. Even after 15 minutes, my nerves were shot. And while I admire design so committed to discomfort, I worry about the insistent long term pacing of the oxygen race.

The constant depletion of oxygen distracted me from paying attention to the environment.

In Adr1ft, the space station tells the story. Every room had a purpose before the explosion. Details on who worked there and what they were like are scattered in the finer details—probably. I wanted to spend a few minutes observing every desk and its contents, but my oxygen would always run low before I could soak in much at all. In a game that seems intent on telling an intricate story through environmental clues and text logs, the constant depletion of oxygen distracted me from paying attention to the environment. It’s a game I’d love to ogle, especially when the station splits open into dead space vistas, so I worry that too much of a focus on finding oxygen will mean I miss the most intriguing parts of Adr1ft. ( Update: PR for Adr1ft reached out to clarify that oxygen will not be a constant threat.)

Even so, when the goggles came off, the team asked me what I thought. And truthfully, it wasn’t exactly fun. Again, that’s a good thing. Adr1ft in VR is exciting because I felt genuine panic, because I felt my stomach lurch as I floated over a split in the wreckage peering down at Earth, because I felt so starved and panicked for oxygen, because I felt subject to the unpredictable will of zero gravity. Adr1ft is curated discomfort, and a testament to the unexplored potential of VR for emotional experiences. It’s a safe place to feel something terrible, and while the space dream isn’t quite as appealing to me anymore, I’m antsy to get the goggles back on so I can find more nails for the coffin.

Adr1ft will be available March 28th in or out of VR.

Rampage Knights Storms Out of Early Access

Early Access on Steam can be a tumultuous period in a game’s development.

Early Access on Steam can be a tumultuous period in a game’s development. After five months of patching and gathering community feedback, developer Rake In Grass has, at last, fully released Rampage Knights .

A cooperative beat-’em-up with rogue-like elements, Rampage Knights has up to two players teaming up to fight evil. A spell traps the heroes in a forest, forcing them to take on whatever lurks in the nearby castle and its dungeons. Fans of Binding of Isaac and Golden Axe will notice the inspiration in the deep combat and random level structure. There is a good variety of melee techniques, from kicks to uppercuts to powerful, charged strikes. As the hero progresses through the levels, he or she gains some gear and fulfills challenges.

There’s a bit more nuance to Rampage Knights than just breaking skeleton and orc skulls (although that’s certainly an attraction). The player has a multitude of ways to customize characters. While all classes have the same melee abilities, players can opt to be Barbarians with more combat prowess, an Assassin who can dispatch downed enemies quickly, or a Warlock who summons more and more demonic pets. The rich loot drops also change up the characters a lot, often in humorous ways: among useful items like armor and weapons, players can expect banana peels, and, well, butts.

IGM covered as a Forum Findgame last year, and we also wrote a preview in our July magazineissue.

Check out the Steam store pagefor more details on Rampage Knights , or to purchase the game at $11.99 USD. There’s an option to buy a two-pack (the game features local and online co-op) for $17.99 USD. Follow the game on Twitterfor updates as they come.

Fallout 4 has a season pass, but Bethesda doesn't know what's in it yet

Fallout 4 will have a season pass, but Bethesda isn't quite sure what will actually be in it. Whatever its downloadable contents include, the studio briefly laid out how it plans to support Fallout 4 after release in a post on Bethesda.net . The season pass will cost $30 and grant access to "all of the Fallout 4 DLC" Bethesda ever does. Bethesda says you can expect the whole bundle to be worth at least

Free To Play: first impressions of Valve's Dota 2 documentary

I visited Valve early last month, and while I was there I was treated to a world-first, last-minute screening of the first part of 'Free To Play', the Dota 2 documentary that the devs have been working on since prior to the first International tournament.

The version I saw was so raw it was being shown directly from the editing software, and there were a lot of first-pass effects that undoubtedly be finished by the time the film comes out. That said, I'm in a position to provide a sense of where Valve are going with it, as well as a few of my concerns over things it might be missing. I'm going to run through my first impressions below, but bear in mind that I will talk about a few specifics of what the movie covers - if you'd like to go in completely spoiler-free, consider this your warning.

They're using lots of inventive ways to explain Dota 2, but could take this further

The film opens with a montage of people explaining Dota: its history, its popularity, and what you actually do in the game. It's compared to basketball and chess, and at one point a speaker describing the game as branching network of decisions is accompanied by a diagram illustrating the kinds of choices players make over time. Interviewees range from pro players, community members like TobiWan, developers, and fans outside the games industry.

To illustrate the game, they're using a mix of in-game footage, new Source Filmmaker animation work, off-screen footage from the International and other tournaments, and even parts of the Gamescom trailerfrom 2011. At the time I told Valve that I thought this approach was a little scattershot: if the film was your first introduction to the genre, it might be difficult to tell exactly which footage was from Dota 2 and which wasn't. That said, it's exciting and emphasises Dota's legitimacy as a sport, which is important.

Their access to players and their families is really impressive

The bulk of what I saw was concerned with establishing the stakes leading up to the first International. In part this is handled as you'd expect: the history of competitive DotA is covered in order to set up the reveal of the tournament's astonishing $1m prize pool, and there's even a montage of shocked YouTube comments from the day the figure was announced.

The heart of the film, however, are Valve's interviews with players and the people around them. They didn't just sit down players in front of a greenscreen and get a few soundbites: they followed players as far apart as North America, the Ukraine and Singapore, seemingly for weeks if not months. To give one example, the film covers not only Dendi's homelife but his childhood and relationship with his parents and siblings. There's also close attention paid to the attitude of different players' families to their chosen sport and what success means to each of them. It's affecting and, crucially, it's very human - exactly what e-sport coverage needs to achieve to find a wider audience.

There's also footage of Dendi dancing around during a school play. So you've got that to look forward to. The guy, unsurprisingly, can dance.

They could do more to explain what makes each player talented as an individual

My only reservation about the documentary's depiction of pro players is that it tells the viewer that they're very talented without really showing why that's the case. I understand that not everybody is going to be able to look at a bit of Dota footage and figure out what makes someone skilled, but this is where a slower, more explanatory approach could be useful.

One of the things that makes the Daigo Third Strike comebackso legendary in the Street Fighter community is that even if you know nothing about SF it's possible to watch that video and get that not only is this guy skilled, but that he's skilled because he's calm, accurate, and has masterful timing. Hopefully this is something that Valve will also factor in for Free To Play: don't just describe Dendi as talented, describe him as creative.

It's kind of heartbreaking when you know how it ends

There's something strange about watching a sports movie when the tournament itself happened almost two years ago: particularly when you're watching players talking about how important winning is to them when you know they're going to lose. This isn't a criticism of the documentary, and it won't be relevant for every viewer, but Dota die-hards should expect a degree of cognitive dissonance.

Valve are taking this seriously

Valve do very little by halves, and their filmmaking crew treat Free To Play as their full-time job. They've got a dedicated editing suite set up, and I would be surprised if Valve don't continue to produce movies after this. It's definitely in-keeping with Valve's general shift from developer to wide-ranging media company.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, the film treats Dota 2 - and games in general - as if they're worthy of coverage by default. No “it's only a game, but...” or “look at this novelty sport.” The only doubt about gaming's legitimacy on the competitive stage is expressed by parents, and it's heavily contextualised. This is great for e-sports in general: it doesn't ignore the fact that they're still a relatively niche pursuit, but it never questions Dota's right to be taken seriously or the enthusiasm of its fans. For that reason alone, I'm really excited to see how Valve's first foray into filmmaking turns out.

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Jump to Section: Best Price Comments Pros New zone and class offer plenty to do This is the most player-friendly WOW ever Pet battles are surprisingly addictive Cons Playable Pandaren are a little underwhelming Some game mechanics are starting to show their age Novel lore may be hit or miss Hardcore raiders have already hit level 90, and World of Warcraft virgins aren’t likely to start now. But for

Real-Time Strategy STARBOURNE: Sovereign Space Announced

Solid Cloud just announced their new, MMO, real-time strategy title, STARBORNE: Sovereign Space .

Gameplay in STARBORNE revolves around long-term matches, a card system, and open-world exploration with real-time mechanics.

STARBORNE: Sovereign Space’s lore revolves around the terrifying thought of androids becoming supreme beings and overthrowing humans. The Lunar Colony is the home front of newly-formed companies such as “Gelecek” an evil cyborg corporation ruled by CEO Emerald Lotus who seeks out ancient Symbiont relics she plans to use to further advance his corporation’s technology. Jade Lotus, the rival sibling of Emerald Lotus, seeks to find refuge elsewhere rather than align with her sister’s dark deeds.

STARBORNE: Sovereign Space is a game where there are multiple paths towards success which can be achieved through either treacherous spying or through use of weaponry and technology. The whole intergalactic battle system takes place in “real-time” meaning some matches can last for months. A cards system has also been integrated as  a minor role in STARBORNE: Sovereign Space by assisting in shaping the empire of player’s starship fleets. The player is able to utilize traits and leadership cards to affect their gameplay experience.

STARBORNE: Sovereign Space is still in early Alpha for PC. To keep up with the development of the game keep an eye on it’s Twitterand Facebookpages.

New Minecraft documentary trailer sneak peek—watch Notch code exploding arrows

http://youtu.be/YxH_gmh6euE
Submitted for your delight, an exclusive clip of 2 Player Productions' documentary Minecraft: The Story of Mojang.

Submitted for your delight, an exclusive clip of 2 Player Productions' documentary Minecraft: The Story of Mojang. We're thrilled to share this with you as a part of our special Minecraft episode of PC Gamer Digital, which hit Steam moments ago.

It's really something to see Notch pick Minecraft apart in realtime. It's like seeing the game face-up on a surgeon's table, code exposed through a gaping chest cavity, as the kindest Swede in the world sifts its guts and tries to find a place to fit an organ that spews exploding arrows.

Look forward to the full film in Summer 2012. Follow its progress at 2playerproductions.comor by following the talented team on Twitter.

Gobelinz Studios Takes You Exploring With Dungeon Rushers

First, there is the solo campaign side of the game, where the player assembles a team of fighters, carefully balancing strengths and weaknesses to build the ideal exploration squad.

French developer Gobelinz Studios is excited to unveil the forthcoming Dungeon Rushers , a game which promises just a little bit of everything for the RPG lover.

First, there is the solo campaign side of the game, where the player assembles a team of fighters, carefully balancing strengths and weaknesses to build the ideal exploration squad. Together you’ll face dungeons – the darker the dungeon, the better the loot – and either battle enemies in turn-based fighting, or use evasion skills to avoid combat altogether. You can craft items with resources you acquire, and equip them to your party members, or sell them for much-needed gold to buy the things you need; opening treasure chests also adds to your growing loot pile. Disable traps, heal injuries, and immerse yourself in a lushly-animated environment.

Okay, this is all well and good, but nothing groundbreaking… or so you might be tempted to think. But there’s more.

The flip side of Dungeon Rushers is the online aspect. You can bring your team to the Arena, where they’ll fight against teams assembled by other players to win a coveted place on the leaderboards. That’s cool enough, but the really intriguing part is the design of your own custom dungeon. Trick it out with all sorts of things to confuse explorers. You’ll have fifteen kinds of rooms from which to choose, plus dozens of traps, monsters, and decorative items to make the dungeon truly your own. Be it ever so humble, there’s no lair like home.

All done? Then it’s time to head online. You can choose to explore another player’s dungeon in an unscored mode, or challenge a friend in versus mode. While you explore their custom dungeon, they explore yours, and the winner is the one who succeeds in finding the gold – or, if both succeed, the one who finds it fastest. There’s even going to be an epic Tournament version, where up to sixteen players compete to be the first one to complete another participant’s custom dungeon, with the winner taking all!

Gobelinz Studios has placed the game on Indiegogoin an effort to raise the needed funds to let you build and explore the dungeon of your dreams. They’ve even offered some unique decorating items to encourage donors to contribute at different tiers, such as an animated sleeping dragon at the lowest reward level. Higher-level donations will earn such treasures as a one-of-a-kind item designed just for your dungeon.

If you’re so inclined, throw your support behind Dungeon Rushers ‘ Indiegogo campaign with hopes of a release later this year, and keep an eye on the Gobelinz Studios Twitter feed

Dota 2 documentary is almost finished, private screenings starting soon

Kotaku received a forwarded email that says Valve will privately screen its documentary to a select few throughout the month of June.

Valve's next Dota 2documentary titled “Free to Play” is just about ready for public consumption, but the developer wants to hear some additional opinions before hitting start.

received a forwarded email that says Valve will privately screen its documentary to a select few throughout the month of June. The film shines a spotlight on the personal tensions professional Dota 2 players face and how they deal with them—all this might sound a little familiar, considering that Valve did a documentary on the annual Dota 2 tournament, The International, last November. However, Valve Marketing Director Doug Lombardi told Kotaku that this year's film will focus more on the players than the tournament itself.

As someone who has been fascinated with the eSports scene, I'm looking forward to getting an inside look at how professional gamers live when they aren't playing in a glass prison on stage. How difficult is it to have a social life when you're consumed with making minor tweaks to your strategy only a few others could possibly understand? I guess we'll know the answer in the near future.

Insomniac tells a submarine fairy tale in Song of the Deep

Insomniac Games (Spyro the Dragon, Ratchet and Clank) is on its way to the PC proper with the announcement of a new game, Song of the Deep (unless their Oculus game arrives first).

arrives first). It’s an underwater metroidvania—you explore an open, maze-like 2D environment in a shoddy submarine while shooting underwater monsters, upgrading abilities, and discovering secrets. I was able to play some of it at Insomniac last week, and while I don’t think Song of the Deep introduces any new puzzles or flourishes—nothing the genre hasn’t seen before—the (potentially) dynamic combat system, involved narrative, and detailed artistic direction are intriguing enough for me to pay attention in the long term.

You play as Merryn, a 12 year old girl who spends her days on the sea fishing with her father. One day, he doesn’t come home and Merryn sets out to find him. The setup is storybook simple, and that’s wholly intentional. The narrative plays out in short storyboard sequences, ripped straight from the pages of a picture book. And, in a strange twist, GameStop (yes, the US retailer) is publishing. In conjunction with the release of Song of the Deep, which will have a physical edition in its stores, Insomniac is putting out a book that ties into the game’s story. They’re intentional companion pieces, aimed for a younger audience that might identify more with Merryn’s struggle to find her father and overcome the ocean’s obstacles. I haven’t had eyes on the book, but the idea is pretty novel (ha ha) at least. My primary concern is that they’ll depend too heavily on one another, that the game’s narrative will expect the book to fill in the blanks. The small segment I played had a few gameplay voiceover sequences, but those were mostly about what Merryn was seeing in a given moment.


Axiom Submerge

Merryn sets of in search of her father in a homemade submarine that, through some story events, gets imbued with magical energy called Tyne. Since Song of the Deep takes place underwater and no traditional platforming is required, the free-floating locomotion lends itself to a looser brand of puzzles than you might find in a gravity-bound metroidvania. Think Aquaria, instead. In one puzzle, I had to use my submarine’s claw to pull a lever which opened a gate across the screen. Beyond the gate was a headless statue. Before the gate descended, I had to throw the statue’s head onto the statue in order to complete a magic circuit. It was a relatively simple puzzle that tested my timing, accuracy, and a tiny fraction of logic. If the ideas stack without becoming convoluted, Song of the Deep has potential to be a great, albeit familiar puzzle game. Maybe too familiar.

SOTD BoneVault

In the latter half of the demo, I was given the ability to leave my sub and scuba dive as Merryn. Doing so made me more vulnerable, but also let me slip into smaller underwater tunnels to dig up secrets, most of which were an in-game currency that fed into ship and weapon upgrades. But the scuba diving segments quickly devolved into a series of well worn laser and mirror puzzles. In order to progress, I had to rotate mirrors, redirecting a series of colored lasers through and into one another. There might be a purple laser receptacle, but a blue and red laser shooting off in wild directions from the ceiling and floor. Rotate a few mirrors, combine the streams, and redirect them into the receptacle. Sure, these puzzles required some thought and tinkering, but I can no longer count all the mirrors I’ve rotated, the lasers I’ve redirected.

It’s a shame the puzzles are so tame, because the art is beautiful. Layers and layers of parallax ocean and Gaelic imagery tell their own story about a civilization long lost and nature’s slow reclamation. I really enjoyed puttering around the detailed environments like a fat trout in my little submarine, dancing around dangerous jellyfish, or shooting torpedoes at mutated sea urchins. The combat is where I hold most of my faith in Insomniac. Their games are characterized by bizarre, creative weaponry, and Song of the Deep seems to tap into that playbook so far. I could shoot a torpedo and then immediately catch it with my sub’s hook. The torpedo continued its thrust while grappled and circled around the sub indefinitely. It served as an impromptu forcefield, something to take a hit if a cloud of jellyfish or urchin spikes flew my way. How far that kind of creativity extends remains to be seen.

And it’s creativity that has me most worried about Song of the Deep. Insomniac, known for its character and independence, seems to be playing it safe with this one. The combat could be great (maybe), the story has potential to grow and resonate with a younger audience, and the art evokes a submerged Miyazaki from time to time. I’m just not sure it’s enough to save Song of the Deep from drowning in the familiarity of its tired progression and puzzle design. But until I see how it all evolves over the course of play, I’ll hold out hope.

Song of the Deep is due out later this year.

SOTD MerrowRuins Statues

SOTD SeaGarden

SOTD MerrowRuins Action

SOTD BoneVault Torpedo

Gobelinz Studios Takes You Exploring With Dungeon Rushers

First, there is the solo campaign side of the game, where the player assembles a team of fighters, carefully balancing strengths and weaknesses to build the ideal exploration squad.

French developer Gobelinz Studios is excited to unveil the forthcoming Dungeon Rushers , a game which promises just a little bit of everything for the RPG lover.

First, there is the solo campaign side of the game, where the player assembles a team of fighters, carefully balancing strengths and weaknesses to build the ideal exploration squad. Together you’ll face dungeons – the darker the dungeon, the better the loot – and either battle enemies in turn-based fighting, or use evasion skills to avoid combat altogether. You can craft items with resources you acquire, and equip them to your party members, or sell them for much-needed gold to buy the things you need; opening treasure chests also adds to your growing loot pile. Disable traps, heal injuries, and immerse yourself in a lushly-animated environment.

Okay, this is all well and good, but nothing groundbreaking… or so you might be tempted to think. But there’s more.

The flip side of Dungeon Rushers is the online aspect. You can bring your team to the Arena, where they’ll fight against teams assembled by other players to win a coveted place on the leaderboards. That’s cool enough, but the really intriguing part is the design of your own custom dungeon. Trick it out with all sorts of things to confuse explorers. You’ll have fifteen kinds of rooms from which to choose, plus dozens of traps, monsters, and decorative items to make the dungeon truly your own. Be it ever so humble, there’s no lair like home.

All done? Then it’s time to head online. You can choose to explore another player’s dungeon in an unscored mode, or challenge a friend in versus mode. While you explore their custom dungeon, they explore yours, and the winner is the one who succeeds in finding the gold – or, if both succeed, the one who finds it fastest. There’s even going to be an epic Tournament version, where up to sixteen players compete to be the first one to complete another participant’s custom dungeon, with the winner taking all!

Gobelinz Studios has placed the game on Indiegogoin an effort to raise the needed funds to let you build and explore the dungeon of your dreams. They’ve even offered some unique decorating items to encourage donors to contribute at different tiers, such as an animated sleeping dragon at the lowest reward level. Higher-level donations will earn such treasures as a one-of-a-kind item designed just for your dungeon.

If you’re so inclined, throw your support behind Dungeon Rushers ‘ Indiegogo campaign with hopes of a release later this year, and keep an eye on the Gobelinz Studios Twitter feed

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