Tag: GDC

Warner Bros. Interactive Presents Gauntlet: Re-made for the 21st Century

by S.J. Borger

Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, together with developer Arrowhead Games, is bringing back Gauntlet, a classic dear to of-a-certain-age gamers’ hearts. Gauntlet was unveiled at GDC last week (with all the bells and whistles, including renting out a bar near GDC and offering free turkey legs) and we had a chance to do a ten-minute dungeon crawl with some of the developers.

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A dungeon in Gauntlet.
Courtesy of Warner Bros. Interactive

Gauntlet saw its first iteration in 1985, as a  fantasy themed hack and slash arcade game that allowed up to four players at a time (emphasis added for those of you who don’t remember how freaking cool that was) and was ported out to the NES in ’87 as Gauntlet II; it was re-booted in 1989 as Gauntlet Legends across multiple platforms. In all of the versions, there were four main characters: the Warrior, the Wizard, the Archer and the Valkyrie, who had set attributes and abilities and ran through a world killing things and getting loot (perhaps most fondly remembered is the narration in the original games; “Red Warrior needs food” was voted one of the top video game lines ever–which says something about video game dialogue we don’t have time to go into here).

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Screenshot of one of the bosses in Warner Bros. Interactive and Arrowhead Game Studios version of Gauntlet.
Courtesy of Warner Bros. Interactive.

In the 2014 Gauntlet, those classic characters remain, and can be played single player or co-op. It also retains that hack-and-slash arcade feel, with a top-down camera view and dungeon crawls complete with waves of undead and other monsters.

It’s a solid, well-done game. The monsters are sufficiently threatening, the dungeons have the expected spawn/loot/spawn/loot rhythm (with an added layer of difficulty regarding the collection of keys to open doors, behind which a player could see loot, or live-saving food), and the four classes have been upgrade with abilities and skills, but maintain that Gauntlet-feel.

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A top down view of game play in Gauntlet–note the locked rooms. Players can only enter after collecting keys found in the dungeon.
Courtesy of Warner Bros. Interactive

However, while entertaining to play, (and to be fair we only got ten minutes on one class, warrior, which isn’t our preferred class to begin with), it didn’t feel much different than other dungeon procedurals out there. But if your looking to spend some time killing bad guys and clearing out dungeons, it’s definitely a solid bet.

Gauntlet is expected to be released this summer on Steam, for both PC and the upcoming Steam Machines. There is no price point as of yet.

What do you guys think? Do you remember the original? Sick of arcade hack-and-slash? Let us know in the comments!

You can check out the game play in the trailer below:

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

Geekscape at GDC: EXCLUSIVE GDC Footage from the new LEGO MMO

by S.J. Borger

Funcom announced a new world for their up-and-coming LEGO Minifigures MMO last week at GDC.  The video of this brand-new Pirate World has finally been released, and we have it, just for you:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3335XJlmAE

What do you guys think? Excited? Think it looks to silly? Too fun? Let us know in the comments, and head over to our preview of the game to get more details!

Geekscape at GDC: Endless Universe Expands

by S.J. Borger

Amplitude Studios is expanding their Endless universe with Endless Legend, a turn-based fantasy 4X strategy game that has players striving to save the once-beautiful planet of Auriga. With eight factions to choose from, eight possible win scenarios, and lush 3D visuals,  we can hardly wait for Endless Legends to come out this summer.

We had a chance to see a demo of Endless Legends at GDC and were impressed with the fun and highly detailed graphics, the intriguing world ready for exploration and the fast-paced combat. Diplomacy options are varied, and the goals and objectives shift and adjust based upon your faction’s decisions.

A town in Endless Legends.
A town in Endless Legends.

Auriga is a planet which has been wracked with cataclysmic events and close to death, home to eight major factions and numerous smaller tribes. Players can choose a variety of approaches–conquest, trade or culture–to build their civilization and gain control of the world entire, either choosing to save the world or flee. Long, harsh seasons and random world events create new,  unpredictable scenarios that players will need to overcome to thrive. Eight potential win scenarios are possible, depending upon the choices the player makes.

Battle deployment in Amplitude's Endless Legends.
Battle deployment in Amplitude’s Endless Legends.

The randomly generated worlds are made of hexagonal terrain which have varying altitudes–which allow for tactical choices in battle, using high ground as an advantage. The type of hexagon also affects the player’s faction’s economy as each one presents different resources available to the faction.

Endless Legends does away with skill trees with branching paths–players can advance to the next age at any time once they have accumulated enough experience points, regardless if they have followed a certain linear path.

Quest screen for the Wild Walker faction in Endless Legends.
Quest screen for the Wild Walker faction in Endless Legends.

Endless Legends is expected to hit Steam this Summer. For more info, you can check out their Facebook.

Amplitude’s Endless Dungeons is also available to play on Steam in its early Alpha. The top-down, 8-bit dungeon crawl game has an excellent retro feel, creepy monsters, and, as promised, endless dungeons.

Geekscape at GDC: Stay Tuned

by S.J. Borger

So we’re here at the Game Developers Conference, and things are gearing up for a jam-packed week of gaming seminars, symposiums and showcases. And here at Geekscape we’ll do our best to keep you up-to-date with all the going-ons and announcements with live-from-the-floor reporting (we’ve always wanted to say that!).

A few highlights we’re looking forward to:

Microsoft has a Lobby Bar in the South Wing, where those of us of legal age can buy a beer and play Xbox One. Clearly this is the most exciting thing going on.

Rant Apocalypse: The 10th Anniversary Mega Session

The Occulus VR booth.

The Google Dev Day

The GDC Play area

Videogame History Museum

The rumor that Sony has a HUGE announcement…

We’ll also be interviewing game developers from major studios (FunCom, anyone?) to small indie start-ups (maybe we’ll find the next Flappy Bird?) so stay tuned and check back often for reviews, previews and you know, news.

What are you most excited about? Let us know in the comments, and follow SJB on twitter (@sjbwrite) for live tweets from GDC!

First Gameplay Footage From ‘Rain’ Revealed At GDC!

by Derek Kraneveldt

GDC 2013 kicked off yesterday, and surprisingly… we haven’t heard too much coming out of it yet! Don’t fret, there are still three and a half more days of the conference, and we’ll update you on anything interesting that is announced.

Now, this is very interesting. Today Sony Computer Entertainment Japan revealed the first gameplay footage from their upcoming adventure, Rain. The player character featured in the game is an invisible boy that you can only see when it’s raining outside. The idea is original, intriguing, and the game looks beautiful!

Watch the trailer below, and let us know what you think! Rain is set to release on PS3 later this year.

rain was developed by the creative minds from PlayStation C.A.M.P!, the team behind unique titles like TOKYO JUNGLE and echochrome. Rain evolved from a truly unique concept where an imaginative world comes to life once is starts raining.

The story of rain is the enchanting tale about a boy who chases after a girl with an invisible silhouette. After discovering that the girl is being hunted by ghostly creatures, he embarks on his own journey into the mysterious world of rain to save her and discovers he has also become invisible. Players will play as the boy, whose silhouette can only be seen in the rain. Using the unique ability to appear and disappear under cover players must learn to navigate through the unknown to advance. Just like in the real world, what can be seen isn’t everything and using imagination is the only way to reveal the truth.

Throughout the game you will be challenged to think ahead and plan your movements to advance. For example, when you direct the boy underneath cover, he will disappear from enemy view, or to draw enemies away from your path you may need step into the rain to become visible or can pick up items to taunt them. More details will be shared on these mechanics and puzzles at a later date. However, we are pleased to share with you — for the first time — our first gameplay video from the beginning of the game, “The Children and the Night”. Watch the video at the top of this post, and make sure to turn your speakers up for the full experience!

The world of rain is full of “uncertainty” and as you play through the boy will experience both a sense of fear and excitement as he explores the unknown world. Told through an artistic approach to narration, rain’s expressive sounds, those of rainfall and splashing water, combined with this otherworldly tale is designed to awaken the sense of uncertainty and solitude inherent in every player as well.

Virtua Fighter’s Akira Invades Dead or Alive… And Why it Sucks

by Josh Jackson

Crossovers are all the rage lately, especially with fighting games. So it’s no surprise that Team Ninja wants to get in on the action. At GDC, the newest trailer for Dead or Alive 5 showed footage of a gi wearing, headband donning karate man taking on flagship character Kasumi. No, not Ryu… that OTHER guy who looks just like him. Virtua Fighter 5’s Akira will make a special appearance in the upcoming fighter.

And they couldn’t have chosen a worse character.

Don’t get me wrong. I love DOA and I’m also a fan of Virtua Fighter. And because of that, I have no idea how Akira will fit in with fans of either series. First, you have the DOA fans who expect fast pace, simplistic fighting with counters keeping button mashers in check. Virtua Fighter on the other hand, is notoriously technical, forcing players to work for their combos with elaborate inputs and set ups.

In a game full of characters that are difficult to master, Akira is probably the most complicated of all. So how will he faithfully transfer into the world of Dead or Alive? Either he’ll handle completely differently, (which is highly unlikely,) or he’ll be altered severely to fit this game’s mechanics, (bingo, that’s where my money is.) So either you’ll frustrate DOA fans with a much harder character to use or you’ll annoy VF fans who hate to see Akira stripped down so much, (which is rare that you don’t want a character stripped down in DOA.)

Or… fighting gamers won’t care either way and will just have fun with this new character. While I don’t think the two franchises meld together well, as long as he’s fun to play, I don’t care. Check out his review trailer and let us know what you think!