‘The Division’s Year Two Content Is Coming… For Free!

by Derek KraneveldtMarch 8, 2017

Briefly: While I’ve only put a few hours into The Division at this point (after paying a cool $11 Canadian for it, which is like $0.50 in Freedom Dollars), I’ve been a big fan of what I experienced so far.

Shane’s also a huge fan of the game, and while we unfortunately play it on different consoles, I know that he’s going to be a YUGE fan of the news that Ubisoft has just revealed.

This week marks The Division‘s one year anniversary, and Ubisoft has revealed some interesting facts about the game’s first year, like just how surprised they were “to see how attached people were to The Division, citing an average playtime of multiple hours per day,” while also detailing some cool bonuses that players are in for this week.

You can get the gist of this week’s bonuses from the image below, but head just below that for the coolest reveal of all.

Creative Director at Massive Entertainment Julian Gerighty, went on to note that “The one-year anniversary is a celebration of everything we’ve done in the first year of the game’s release. But we also want to turn ahead and look at Year 2 and how we’re going to support the game for everyone, for free.”

Yep. New content over a year after the game’s release… for free.

Here are the content details that have been revealed thus far:

That free content for Year 2 is coming in the form of two separate expansions planned for release this year. The first unnamed expansion will be based on an event system that drives players to activities that feature modifiers, leaderboards, and unique vanity items that will only be available through these activities. In addition, Gerighty says the team has plans to include a loadout feature that will let players switch efficiently and quickly between their favorite gear combinations, as well as a system to mark a player’s feats. “[It] will reward players for different activities – long-term activities, short-term activities, and medium-term activities within the game,” Gerighty adds. “Basically, our Division achievements, if you will.”

The second expansion is still far enough away that the team doesn’t want to comment on it, and while Gerighty stresses that it will be “more content-focused”, new story missions won’t necessarily be a part of the package. “Story missions are tricky, but that doesn’t mean we won’t have narrative content,” he says. “We can’t really deliver story missions that will fit into the RPG aspects of the game in a simple way. So we’re not going to be doing the classic main mission type of thing, but narrative content is something that we are definitely looking at.”

I guess I need to get through the game’s vanilla content and year one expansions pretty quickly here. That’s going to be tough with the new Switch currently sitting on my shelf.

You can take a look at Ubisoft’s entire blog post here, but be sure to share your favourite The Division moment below!

Are you still playing the game? Will this bring you back for another run?

Preview: Ghost in the Shell First Assault

by NecroscourgeAugust 13, 2016

When you’re booting up a new free to play shooting game; you need to be prepared with the knowledge that if you have ever played a different free shooter, you have played the one you are about to boot up. This is simply because of archaic notion of film genres has been applied to video games as if they were the same thing, and most gamers get quite verbally violent if you try to dissuade them from this cover-based assumption.

Take the RPG genre for example. In the early 90’s, an RPG placed the player in a fictional world, made them figure out puzzles, explore, etc while they built up their character. Nowadays if you have progressing stats and an inventory; you are an RPG no questions asked. This focus on what players see is why the requirements of video games on our computers goes up every year, but the relative complexity of the game isn’t that much more intense than their older counterparts.

And then you have shooting games, the easiest to craft video game genre of the age. This is because all you have to literally do is take the stock Unity engine assets, lay down some walls and floors, and you have your prototype in an hour or two. Most commercial engines were designed primarily for a first person shooting game, so it should not come to much surprise that most companies churn them out yearly. And it does not help that the videogames industry acts a lot like a war; whatever works best ends up getting adopted by everybody else as the new standard.

I’m venting about this because I end up picking up new free to play shooters pretending like I am going to experience something amazingly new that will make me happy to call myself a hardcore gamer keeping up on his trends. Instead…. I got Ghost in the Shell First Assault; a by the numbers online shooter with skins and art based on the Ghost in the Shell anime franchise.

GITS1 — You’d all be dead by now if this happened ingame

The main characters of Ghost in the Shell are cyborg ex-military special detectives belonging to Section 9, a counter-terrorist strike unit that doubles as government detectives. The show deals mostly with sociological philosophy. The first GITS movie asks us what is a man, the TV series Stand Alone Complex (Both seasons) is disturbingly relevant to today’s politics. In addition to it’s (mostly) full body cyborg team, they have access to miniaturized AI battle tanks for high threat situations. The game First Assault is what happens when you get hired to make a video game, ignore all the story, and focus on the “Tanks and Cyborgs” part in development.

You pick a character with a shooter game inspired ability (With the exception of the Major, whose camouflage ability made it in game), and compete in team deathmatch, control point, and bombing run missions like common infantry. Your team always appears like the characters they are playing, while the enemy appears as generic bad guys in red. Now, I would normally consider this to be clever but considering how besides their abilities every character behaves the same, it just makes you feel like there’s not much point in picking a character at all.

GITS4 — Get used to this guy; all your enemies look like him.

The guns are standard modern military stuff like AK47’s and such, but can be outfitted with several customizations to minorly affect the weapons handling. Anything recognizable from the show besides handguns simply aren’t present. The other thing that bugs me is the absence of ammunition types when they are so crucial to the setting. Then again, that would require the dev’s to have heard of a strange alien concept called “armor”.

The main character “Major” Kusanagi is a full body cyborg with a titanium chassis; which the game seems to be assuming absolutely everybody is (No blood here, people just break into robot parts). Entire episodes of the TV show are based around the fact that small arms fire is extremely ineffective against full bodied cyborgs, with the exception of “High Velocity” armor piercing rounds. Nobody short of the military has routine access to anti-cyborg weaponry; and Section 9 usually has to call in favors to borrow such toys. In First Assault, you die in three shots or one headshot; and most quizzically you can die by getting shot in the body.

GITS2 — Where did he get that seeker drone from? Probably another game.

So we’ve got a game that mimics the standard match types, borrows the appeal of GITS while doing little to replicate it, and seems to be perfectly fine with that. The attitude of the dev’s is pretty obvious from their development posts; one of which where they lament the artist produced a Think-Tank design with a gun on it’s tail, and this would grant them a third weapon so it’s out of the question…. Despite such a design starring in one of the first episodes of the show.

But what must bother me most is how this get’s a free pass from it’s audience where other games like the infamous Shadowrun PC/Xbox game that reduces the license to a match based shooter modeled after counter-strike; yet I don’t see anywhere near the kind of flak that Shadowrun got despite doing the same thing yet worse. I ended up having fun at first because I got kills, then comes the realization that either camping or superior reflexes is the sole factor. This ended up losing it’s fun factor quite quickly, making me just want to watch the anime rather than this game.

There is a slight chance this game can clean up it’s act given time. If you are trying to come into this game expecting a Ghost in the Shell experience then you have been baited and switched like I was. First Assault is just another match based shooter glorifying sniper rifles as a weapon used in close quarters engagements. You might have some fun at first, but you can get that same thrill in any other free shooter. The whole draw of this game is that it’s like every other game, and that bothers me.

Try it if you dare

Massively Multicomplainer: Player Rage and Team Size

by NecroscourgeFebruary 7, 2016

You boot up your game, and see “Oh, I just need to play a few more matches” for one reason or another. You start playing, and you see that some of your teammates are not doing well (but it’s ok). Then the end of the game comes and you get called out; called one thing or another, or your game statistics aren’t nice enough to look at.

I was surprised that this behavior has been around in Heroes of the Storm ever since K/D/A was introduced, but it dawned on me that I rarely get hassled for my kill numbers, but actually for the “Hero Damage” statistics that have always existed in the game. Those who play other games will recognize most of their community behaves this way, and always has. I quickly stopped playing League of Legends and its re-skins for the same reason. Where the Kills/Deaths/Assists hurts is when you factor in characters like Lt. Morales that is supposed to be healing and not focusing on kills. Kills in general are not worth focusing on in a game with a clear objective like a MOBA.

Gamers very rarely see themselves as the problem, which is obvious in the way they word their insults. Terms like “Toxic” and “Troll” imply that the person using the name is some kind of gamer elite capable of passing damning judgement on others. For instance say your team decides to just leave you alone and ignore you the whole game; suddenly you are a noob/troll/whatever for going around alone when it’s their fault for not supporting you. I personally blame the double football-field sized arena that these games occur in with only a part of the team size such a sport typically has. There is always some strange claim that “it just enables mobbing” when that’s the basic strategy to win in MOBAs; just gather in a big wave and strike them down.

The thought occurs to simply remove all statistics one could use to statshame people, but the underlying assholiness (it’s a word) will still be there. Seeking help on the forums just leaves you prey to the forumites that will swear up and down you are wrong, black is white, and water is grey just to get some personal gratification. In my experience suggesting anything on the forum just leads to somebody telling you in longhand that trying to make changes is wrong, and if you do things a specific way you can do it “right”. I wholeheartedly disagree with that premise.

When I am given a choice in the game, each choice should be worth looking at. Sadly there tends to be an obvious choice when in comes to many of the special abilities I find in recent multiplayer games. Plus the tendency for them to get copied over from other games makes it increasingly difficult to figure out what everybody telepathically demands you choose.

Would cranking up the amount of team-mates help? By itself no, because then the tendency is to crank up the map size to the extent where players are still prone to isolating themselves now with the added problems of players that do understand teamwork. There needs to be a dedicated effort to rewarding team play behavior, or there is simply no reason if solo hunting works so well. I have been doing testing work for some mysterious beta games, and have noticed that even 10v10 leads to rampant lone wolfing. There is simply no mechanical benefit besides winning fights to teamwork; in fact there is potential to lose points with team killing.

I honestly think the main issue is the long list of unwritten rules every forumite will cram down your throat of traits games that they like must have or they are not hardcore enough. I frequently bring up that new multiplayer games are trying their best to only have player characters in play, with no AI present at all. Not only is this easier to code, but the devs save thousands of hours of coding and balancing by only building “half a game”, that is to say only using player input and minimal environmental effects such as instant death pits. The common rebuttal is that killing AI is no fun. (Let’s put it this way, if you derive any fun whatsoever from playing any single player game, you know that’s BS) Blindly turning away the tactical and strategic possibilities.

Planetside 2 is “half a game” in that it only utilizes player soldiers and player operated vehicles with almost no automated systems. There are no legions of AI infantry running from base to base. Since ALL soldiers are players, the standard player methods are used to organize them: Clans and Squads. It should come to no surprise then that the forumites will tell you the only way to play with teamwork all the time is to join a clan and offer no alternative for those that want a real war experience. Never-mind that any “real” intergalactic army would likely have better ways to organize their troops, or care at all about spreading their armies logically.

Playing Planetside 2 usually results in the same process of leaving a base, getting sniped, leaving base, getting strafed, leaving base, getting shot because our 2 inch thick armor is made out of goddamn paper, logging off. The instant action button just puts you in a place that is being contended. Snipers are most viable when there are few important targets, which is what happens when there are only 10-20 enemies to kill. If there are a hundred soldiers swarming the base, the sniper may have a lot of targets but he can’t kill them all. This issue is going to sound familiar if you play a lot of shooters, since the new trend is for a small 5 versus 5 team size on maps as big as an air carrier.

There is a slight reason to this. The more players you have involved makes the server demand greater and the lag harder to deal with. What players unfortunately don’t understand is that AI don’t have this problem because the information that drives them is client based. Everybody’s game plays them out, and then all ask the server if this is correct changing accordingly; where if the games and server don’t agree then severe lag can occur such as “rubber banding”. It’s only when we have to track thousands of separate open AI questions does this start to tax players. This is why many shooter guns “hitscan” rather than act as a fully scripted bullet with speed and trajectory; It’s easier for the server to just be asked “Do I hit?” than track hundreds of bullets flying around.

There was one MOBA I tested that started out initially as Victory Command, then shifted names a few hundred times until it re-re-re-re-released on Steam as Battle Battalions while changing NOTHING. It’s a 5v5 elimination match where each player has a squad of units that do not respawn. Because the game size is so small most of the game is spent just going from point to point avoiding conflict unless you have allies nearby to fight with you. Such is the fate of essentially every MOBA strategy game I have come across. The designers are so focused on making everything die so easily that having a lot of something makes no real difference if everything has splash damage.

My overall point is that the time of small “competitive” multiplayer games is going to fall out of style sooner rather than later if there is no innovation within it. Heroes of the Storm is fantastic in that there are unique and interesting characters; but failed in balancing these characters to be worth using over the traditional, boring heavy hitter splash damage characters. I remember in All Points Bulletin the AK47 weapon used to be very good, until of course it was nerfed beyond belief so that sniper rifles were better on average. There is a clear design bias against novel, interesting methods that instead favors the same four or five combat roles Gygax invented in the 70’s.

We’re going to see a new wave of larger and more team friendly games with a bigger emphasis on team functionality than kill boards. As fun as it is to eliminate enemies there needs to be a little more to the game than that.

Massively Multicomplainer: ‘NationStates’

by NecroscourgeAugust 27, 2015

There are times when you just don’t have time for a whole match in a MOBA, you want something more nebulous than Minesweeper, and something that is just far more interesting than work. Enter a game you play maybe once or twice a day for literally minutes, NationStates. I don’t mean in the “Burn your actions come back tomorrow” way, I mean in the “you have nothing to do until the game says you do” sense. How can such a game be interesting you ask? By being loaded with pure political satire in the best way.

NationStates has a long history; it was created in 2002 under the inspiration of a Max Barry novel called Jennifer Government in which all citizens have the last name of who they work for. This inspired the game in the sense that national politics are weird. In 2008 a NationStates 2 was created but it’s since died out with the far cheaper to operate first game still online with 136,000+ active nations. The lead regions have thousands of nations in them! Yet for its age and comedic content there are almost no memes tied to it, searches failed me. Many players, however, thought it would be funny to name their nation with the word “meme” in it.

The player creates an country with its own name, flag, political beliefs, and essentially identity. Your nation is put in a starter region, which is essentially the community of nations you interact with. You will also be barraged by a stream of region invitations that will vary from offensively bad to intriguing. There’s no real penalty for floating from region to region either, your nation is what grows in strength over time. Your nation page is full of faux statistics that are changed and altered over time, so many variables are at play, there’s really a lot of variety.

A new issue is brought up at minimum twice a day, legislation that you have final say over. These typically are based around a controversial issue and two to four wacky reasons to take two to four wacky approaches. These are what really changes how your nation is described and future issues. There were originally 30 issues, but accounts with enough citizens can submit their own. By now there have to be thousands of different issues, very few nations end up reading the same. Not many people agree with each other after all, and every issue is something you usually will have some kind of stand on. Over time these change how your nation is classified and how it’s people behave.

I decided to create the Matriarchy of Korezziastan, a psycho-feminist liberal paradise. In the few days it has existed I moved to a pretty decent region, banned cars while having the 52nd best automotive industry in the region, and enjoy fantastic civil rights in what is effectively a middle eastern warzone. There’s a lot that can be done by not giving spiritual funding a dime! One of the first issues was on drugs, made em all legal. I originally thought about using a Polish flag, but I ended up using an obscure African flag and crudely photo-shopped it; it still gives me a chuckle whenever I load up my page. I committed an act of political satire in making my account for this politically satirical game. You’ll find this game really embraces the ludicrousness of politics.

As your nation grows more political options become available. You can join the World Assembly in order to submit and vote on measures. Measure in the WA apply to all member nations and is a vast series of laws that is very entertaining to read. This may sound a bit like the United Nations; that would because up until 2008 it was called that. The real UN decided on April 1st to send a cease and desist to change the name. Which was in its own bizarre, but it was real. To think, the fake UN had achieved so much more like banning slavery and setting radical minimum wage doctrines!

That’s the “game”, creating a nation that you develop as a character. Regions typically have their own private forum board for players to roleplay, hold elections, and use for political scandals. There are no deep mechanics in NationStates. War is a very broad trolling invasion on the enemy regions communications networks, scaring nations out until only theirs remain. It’s a game about politics with players constructing a web of politics over it. Any extra time beyond picking issue answer is roleplay, you can journal about your country, post in roleplay boards, etc; but the actual gameplay mechanic is issues. Strangely enough the issues are not coded in an advanced enough fashion to edit out anything the WA, it’s more of a political minigame. Your country is politically graded on an complex “morality system” a bit like Dungeons and Dragons alignments, but between radical conservatism and liberalism.

NS1 — This looks far more important than it actually is

NationStates draw is that it facilitates a roughly anonymous community, or one where you know who everybody is. You very well could have all of your friends form your own region and never interact that much with random people! It’s all about getting what you want out of the games system. What this game is not is an adventure game, there is no narrative, no points, no “RPG mechanics” besides the idea that as your account gets older more people live in it.

This is a game you check every now and then, settle business, and get back to work. Or it can be one you obsess over as a lighter alternative to other games. NationStates may not be the most advanced of games but it certainly reminds me of a political sort of Tamagotchi. It’s a game you can play any way, causally, intensively, to devoting years of your life fabricating a web of history in your fictional country.

It’s a game I think more people should play to develop a sense of humor about politics, as well as slight understanding of them.

E3 2014: Sneak Peak at Nosgoth Gameplay

by S.J. BorgerJune 19, 2014

A dark, tactical combat multiplayer game set in the dark fantasy world of the Legacy of Kain series, Nosgoth was available at E3 for gameplay and we were lucky enough to try it out.

Nosgoth is set in period of time previously unexplored in the Legacy of Kain mythos, allowing the game to exist within and draw upon the lore and conflict at the heart of the canon while still being able to flesh out and build their own world.

Hunter and Scout battle in the upcoming free-to-play multiplayer arena battle game Nosgoth

The game is a deceptively simple four on four multiplayer; four humans vs four vampires battle over a complex, vertical map with plenty of hidey-holes and escape routes. What sets Nosgoth apart, however, is the asymmetrical gameplay that is the heart of the game: humans, restricted to range only classes, must rely on their teammates in order to survive; while vampires–all melee classes, with powerful sprints, the ability to walk up walls and deadly ambush skills–are meant for solo ganking at an almost OP level.

Players an load out in any class and change classes mid match (the new load-out goes into effect after the next death). Combat is fast, mostly intuitive, and relies on players knowing both their class and their teammates’ classes strengths and weaknesses.

At the end of each arena battle, players switch–humans to vampires, vampires to humans–requiring players to be able to fluidly change between range to melee, as well as between the distinct classes available.

A Reaver goes in for the kill in the upcoming multiplayer arena game Nosgoth.

Even with only one arena to play in, Nosgoth was a lot of fun. With the basic combat ideas relatively straight forward and easy to grasp for newcomers, but a (promised but not yet seen) deep customization to allow for long-term tactics and strategies, Nosgoth offers a intriguingly easy introduction for the new player while hinting at a complexity to keep long-term and experienced players interested.

Square Enix is working alongside developer Psyonix on Nosgoth. Psyonix has worked on Gears of War, Unreal Tournament 3, XCOM: Enemy Unknown, Homefront (multiplayer), Bulletstorm and Mass Effect 3.

Nosgoth is free-to-play and available for PC on Steam. Players can register for the closed Beta or become a Founder here.

Check out the trailer below, and let us know if you’re excited about Nosgoth, already burnt out on the glut of 4v4 MOBAs or somewhere in between!

‘The Elder Scrolls Online’ Console Version Delayed

by Derek KraneveldtMay 9, 2014

Briefly: The Elder Scrolls Online launched in early April to thousands and thousands of eager fans, and Bethesda ensured us at the time that the console version would soon follow.

Not as soon as we’d hoped, apparently, as both the PS4 and Xbox One versions of the game have seen a lengthy delay. Here’s the word, straight from Bethesda:

We’ve been grateful to our fans for the wonderful response to our recent launch of The Elder Scrolls Online for PC/Mac, but we know many of you are eagerly waiting to play the game on the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.

We continue to work on the console versions of ESO, and game development has been progressing steadily, but we are still working to solve a series of unique problems specific to those platforms. Integrating our systems with each console manufacturer’s networks — which are both different from the PC/Mac system as well as different from each other-has been a challenging process. It has become clear that our planned June release of the console versions isn’t going to be possible. Though we have made great progress, we have concluded that we’ll need about six months to ensure we deliver the experience our fans expect and deserve.

We know that the news of an ESO console delay is as disappointing to many of you as it is to us. We want to do what we can to make it up to our fans who want to start playing now, so we have worked out the following arrangement with Sony and Microsoft:

Via a special offer, anyone who purchases and plays the PC/Mac version of The Elder Scrolls Online by the end of June will have the opportunity to transfer their character(s) to either console version when they are released. The offer will allow you to begin playing immediately on the PC/Mac, and then add the PS4 or Xbox One version and transfer the character(s) you have created and developed. And, you don’t have to pay full price for the game twice. For $20, eligible PC and Mac players will have the option to add a full, digital version of ESO on either the PS4 or the Xbox One with your character transfer(s), and another 30 days of included game time.

Whether you decide to take advantage of this offer or not, we promise to do everything we can to get the game released on both consoles as quickly as we can. We will keep everyone updated with additional details regarding character transfers, specific offer dates, when you can expect console beta to start, and of course, when ESO on consoles will launch.

Thank you for your patience and loyal support.

LEGO Minifigures Online For Kids of All Ages

by S.J. BorgerMarch 28, 2014

Funcom–known for action adventure MMOs like Age of Conan and Anarchy Online–has a new addition to the world of PC gaming: LEGO Minifigures Online. Aimed at children aged 7 to 11, LEGO Minifigures has enough appeal to easily entice gamers of all ages.

Bright, simple–without being mind-numbingly dull–and with a refreshing take on the traditional MMO party system, that is easy to grasp but has hidden layers of complexity for the older player, Funcom has created a fun, engaging, and very LEGO world for adults and kids to play in.

The LEGO Minifigures from Funcom's new kid-focused MMO. — The LEGO Minifigures from Funcom’s new kid-focused MMO.

Funcom was at GDC last week with gameplay of the brand-new Pirate level, and we had a chance to play through the Pirate World dungeons with the lead developers of the game. Designed with children in mind, the game does away with some of the more traditional MMO/RPG elements–there’s no skill tree, or quest givers, or set roles of tank, healer, damage. Rather, players have access to a variety of minifigures–most familiar to any self-respecting LEGO fan–with various stats and two (that’s right, two) attacks, activated with the mouse. Each player gets three minifigures at a time to explore the world with, and can switch between the three with a click of a key (with no cooldown).

Each minifigure has its own health bar, and players can choose which minifigures to make up their group of three (players start with a base set of minifigures, and can collect more through in-game play). The minifigures themselves exemplify the sense of fun and humor that the game seems to have copious amounts of. Some examples: Chicken Suit Guy (he throws eggs that slow enemies and runs around in circles, flapping his wings, making his party immune to projectiles), Bumblebee Girl (aoe damage with bees, and a honey pot that, when thrown, slows enemies down), and the DJ (throws records which bounce of walls, and can do a ‘bass drop’ that plops a giant speaker down, slowing enemies). You can scroll through some of the minifigures–complete with bios–here.

The CandyLand World from Funcom's newest MMO, LEGO Minifigures. — The CandyLand World from Funcom’s newest MMO, LEGO Minifigures.

Funcom made a deliberate decision to do away with quest givers and the typical quest-and-reward system in most RPGs (mostly because they discovered children under the age of 10 just ran right by NPC’s with exclamation points), so what you have are open worlds, where players can run from one area to the next, smashing things, fighting bad guys, and collecting gold stars, hearts and other bright baubles that spill out of chests, barrels and even bad guys.

The most recently announced world (previewed at GDC last week) is the Pirate World (you can watch our GDC exclusive video here); other worlds include: Candyland, the Underworld, Space, Medieval and more. In addition to the expected dungeons and in-world enemies, there will also be ‘trials’ and, of course, PvP.

Also gone are servers–all players play on one server–and game play is set to easily switch between PC and tablet.

The Space World in Funcom's new MMO, LEGO Minifigures. — The Space World in Funcom’s new MMO, LEGO Minifigures.

The game is currently in closed Beta (children, parents and kids-of-all-ages can sign up for Beta access here), and is expected to release in Summer 2014, coinciding with the Series 12 toy line release–buying the toy minifigures will give players in-game unlock codes for virtual ones.

What do you guys think? Are you heading over right now to sign up for the Beta? Or are you over LEGO already? Let us know in the comments!

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

by S.J. BorgerMarch 28, 2014

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!

Warlords of Draenor Pre-Order Now Available

by S.J. BorgerMarch 11, 2014

Blizzard announced yesterday that Warlords of Draenor, its newest expansion to the behemoth MMO, World of Warcraft, can now be pre-ordered at the Blizzard website (digital versions only).

Players who pre-purchase the digital version will be able to immediately boost one character on their account to level 90–and if you want to boost more than one toon, you have the option to purchase additional level 90 upgrades (at $60/toon). Players that upgrade their pre-order to the deluxe version will unlock other in-game goodies, including a dread raven mount and dread hatchling pet.

warlords-of-draenor-1920x1200 — Warlords of Draenor art.
Courtesy of Blizzard Entertainment.

The retail-exclusive Collectors Edition is expected to be available for pre-order soon. The Collector’s Edition will feature all of the items included in the digital deluxe, as well as a hardcover art book, a behind the scenes two-disc blu-ray/DVD set, a CD soundtrack and a mouse pad.

Warlords of Draenor is expected to launch this Fall. The expansion sends players back in time (and back to Draenor) to battle Hellscream and his Iron Horde. WoD will feature new character models for all of the races, a Garrison building feature, and a raised level cap of 100.

The standard digital edition is $49.99; the digital deluxe is $69.99 and the Collectors Edition comes in at a not-as-bad-as-expected $89.99.

Take a look at the new WoD cinematic featuring the level 90 boost below and let us know what you think in the comments! Are you excited? What do you think?

‘Transformers Universe’ Is A Free-To-Play MMO, Watch The First Trailer!

by Derek KraneveldtFebruary 6, 2014

Briefly: Runescape developers Jagex have a new free-to-play title in the works, and it’s set in the Transformers universe… also, it’s called Transformers Universe.

IGN today debuted the first trailer for the game, which doesn’t look to feature any actual gameplay from the title, but does set the stage for a world that looks pretty damn cool. I’ve never played Runescape myself, but as far as I’m aware the game has had a great reputation for most of its existence.

On the official website for Transformers Universe, Jagex CEO Mark Gerhard had a few words to say about today’s trailer and the development of the game. Here’s the text in full, and head below to check out the game’s debut trailer:

First off some introductions. My name is Mark Gerhard and I’m the CEO & CTO of Jagex.

We’re probably better known as the developers of the world’s largest free browser game RuneScape but now, following the past 3 years of development, Transformers Universe!

Many of you joined us on our journey for the first time when we shared a sneak peek into our aspiration for the game back in 12/12/12. Since then we’ve refined our vision, gameplay, tech and team to bring you what we believe will be the start of an entertaining, social and competitive game for all of you to enjoy over the next decade and beyond!

2013 was a critical year in the evolution of Transformers Universe. It was essential that we just knuckled down and got on with the core gameplay, and that unfortunately meant there was not much news to share for anyone outside of Jagex.

However from today onwards you can expect regular updates, and soon all start participating first-hand as the game moves from core development, through each stage of community participation, balancing, polish and iteration.

So here’s the big news. We are 100% set to launch Transformers Universe this Summer, and will be progressively inviting an ever-widening portion of the BETA community to enjoy the game before opening it to the rest of the world this summer!
With that in mind, let’s talk a bit more about the game itself.

We’ve built a massively online, tactical action game, or MOTA as I like to call it! Transformers Universe offers fast-paced, battle centric, tactical action with a selection of game modes for core gamers, casual gamers and Transformers enthusiasts alike.

As the Commander of a new squad, you will recruit, maintain and battle others with a unique collection of Transformers warriors created in collaboration with our friends at Hasbro.

Autobots versus Decepticons, you’ll team up to play with and against other Commanders around the world in tactical and strategic online battles, competing for supremacy in the global faction war. Legendary Transformers characters will make special appearances – but more on that another time!

Your squad of Bots are a faction-specific collection with their own play styles, weaponry, augment options and specialties. There are countless fighting strategies when battling them and we really believe they will crystallise, embody and capture both what Transformers is all about and your imaginations.

So what’s next? Well, very soon we’re going to be releasing our first in-engine trailer, which will give you a first look at some of the playable Bots in the game.

We’ll be posting up exclusive in-game screenshots soon, so you can see the game coming together. You will be the first people to see them, and naturally deserve nothing less.

What else should you expect from Transformers Universe in 2014? After the trailer we’ll also be launching numerous other initiatives; kicking-off our BETA program first, revealing and detailing the games major features and modes, spotlighting the new characters that you’ll be able to own in-game and a whole lot more.

The best place to get all relevant information will be right here on this website. You’re a central part of what will make the Transformers Universe community special, so please do sign up to our channels on YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, and the official forums.

2014 is the launch year for Transformers Universe and the start of an epic journey as you #testyourmetal. Soon you’ll be able to experience this for yourself as we roll out to BETA.

I look forward to seeing you on the frontlines.
Have fun and speak soon,
Thanks,
Mark

Sounds pretty cool, huh? Here’s the trailer:

‘The Elder Scrolls Online’ Gets A Release Date

by Derek KraneveldtDecember 11, 2013

Briefly: Bethesda has finally announced the long-awaited release date for The Elder Scrolls Online.

The new MMO will launch on April 4th for Windows and OS X (yep, that’s a day one OS X release), while PS4 and Xbox One editions will follow close behind on a yet-to-be-determined date in June.

The game’s director, Matt Firor, offered the following update on the anticipated title:

Greetings everyone. As we are approaching the end of 2013 and heading into our launch year, I thought I’d take a moment to thank you, our community, for your continued support. I’d also like to give you an update on the game’s development and our launch plans for 2014.

First, thanks to everyone involved in the ESO community: those we met at trade shows, those of you on social media, and those that have had a chance to play the game and provided invaluable feedback through beta testing. I personally am humbled by the intense feelings of excitement expressed to us by the community at large. At shows like PAX East, PAX Prime, Gamescom, Eurogamer Expo, Paris Games Week, etc. – we always had three to four hour lines to play ESO. We know those wait times weren’t easy, and the great patience and enthusiastic reception you showed was remarkable. Everyone here at ZeniMax Online appreciates each and every one of you and your fantastic support of the game.

Game development is coming along very well. We completed major systems development, and are focusing on making this the Elder Scrolls game you expect: polishing the hundreds and hundreds of hours of content, making combat even more fun and responsive, fixing quest issues, and much, much more. In fact, we plan on spending the next few months before launch reacting to the latest feedback from internal and external testers and gameplay data we have collected.

As some of you know, we’ve been in beta testing for about a year now, leading up to our most recent test in late November where we had over 300,000 people in the game over a 48 hour period. We’ve had approximately 4 million people sign up for beta and that number continues to grow. We hope that just about every one of you who have signed up for beta will get an invitation to play sometime between now and the weeks before launch. These tests are very important, not only for gameplay feedback, but also to test our infrastructure. Beta tests can sometimes be a little rough when we are testing some systems for the first time with large numbers of players. So thank you to all who have participated for your understanding and support. It is very much appreciated.

Worldwide demand for The Elder Scrolls Online is extraordinarily high. This means we need to do a staggered rollout of the different versions of the game to spread out the initial service load and ensure an enjoyable, smooth gameplay experience. It is not only a game we are launching – it is a large online service as well, and our number one priority is to ensure a trouble-free, stable rollout for everyone.

We long ago promised that as soon as a version of the game is ready, we will launch it. So we’re happy to announce that the game will launch worldwide for PC and Mac players on Friday, April 4, 2014, while PlayStation 4 and Xbox One fans will see the game arriving on consoles in June 2014.

Again, thank you for your continued support and enthusiasm over the past year. We are very proud of this game and excited to share it with you. We can’t wait to see you in the game in 2014! —Matt

To celebrate the launch announcement, Bethesda has also launched an excellent new trailer for the title, showcasing the war in Cyrodiil.

With so many MMO’s launching in the next year (or launching in the past year), which are you playing? Which are you looking forward to? Sound out below!

New ‘The Elder Scrolls Online’ Trailer Shows Off Robust Character Creator!

by Derek KraneveldtOctober 18, 2013

Briefly: Bethesda has released a new trailer for their upcoming title, The Elder Scrolls Online, showing off the game’s expansive character creation system.

The video features and interview with art director Jared Carr, who takes us through many of the different modification options (there are a lot), and explains just how important it is to give players all of the options possible.

The game didn’t look overly impressive back when over 20 minutes of (now removed) beta footage was leaked online. It’s nice to see that the graphics have improved substantially since then, and hopefully the gameplay remains solid as well. I know that many people were upset when Bethesda revealed that The Elder Scrolls Online would require a monthly subscription fee, but take a look at the new trailer below, and let us know if you’ll still be checking out the game.

The Elder Scrolls Online launches in 2014 for Windows, OS X, Xbox One, and Playstation 4.

Geekscape Games Reviews: ‘War Thunder’

by Cameron ShooshtariSeptember 6, 2013

It’s April 9, 1940 and the German invasion of Norway is fully underway as the sun glares at me through my iced up windshield. My aircraft, a British Spitfire Mk.II, roars through the air while being rocked around as the deafening airblasts from the anti-aircraft flak cannons explode around my ship and curiously sync up to the brass blasts from the John Williams score titled ‘TIE Fighter Attack”*. The flak is coming from the naval destroyers that I am dangerously edging close to, so I quickly veer away from the oncoming fire towards a teammate who needs assistance. Suddenly, an enemy fighter is cornering me on my six as he closes the distance for his guns to be effective. Before he can line me up in his sights I roll hard to my right and drop my speed so I can circle around him. He anticipates this and also matches my speed. I point my nose down and plummet to the frozen trees while kicking in my afterburners and reach a tremendous amount of speed before sharply pulling up and looping over my pursuer. In his confusion he tries to also perform a loop but doesn’t have the right amount of thrust so I catch him before he can complete the maneuver and with one blast I take out his rudder. The damage is done and he spins out of control into the rock and ice. Welcome to War Thunder, a free-to-play online World War 2-era combat flight simulator that has taken over my free-time and that of thousands everywhere.
*You know the scene, when Han and Luke have to jump in the Falcon’s turrets and fend off the TIEs after escaping the Death Star. There is no Star Wars soundtrack used in the game, but listening to the score while playing is one of the best combinations I have discovered. After all, George Lucas heavily borrowed from WW2 aerial battle stock footage for his films. It’s only fitting to be played with this game during multiplayer.

My first complaint about the game is that I didn’t hear about it early enough, when it’s open beta was launched back in November 2012. I have no idea how this game eluded my radar for so long which is why I wanted to share it with any others who might have missed this gem. I’m also fascinated with WW2-era history, especially when it comes to the engineering marvels that were developed by the various powers that were fighting throughout the world at the time. I don’t believe this game would be as successful were it set in any other time and I think Gaijin Entertainment has perfectly captured the essence of what makes WW2 still one of the most infamous and captivating wars in human history.

The first thing I suggest is to complete the tutorial missions that will guide you and teach you everything you need to know. This is an extremely easy game to jump into and learn in a short time. There is no steep-learning curve but mastering the skies against other players is another thing. However, the challenge of going up against another player and making it out alive in a dog-fight is extremely enjoyable and addictively fun.

The controls are excellently well mapped and mouse users don’t have to worry about the need for a joystick. The controls feel much more realistic and responsive than say, the jets from Battlefield 3. If you prefer to use a joystick then that’s not a problem either. I haven’t tried it with a joystick yet but will update this article later on when I do so. The developers made the game in mind for many different controller types so it’s only a matter of choosing what you’re most comfortable with.

War Thunder is a visual treat. Rays of sunlight will cascade through your cockpit and fog will actually obscure your vision of a mountain that may, or may, not be in front of you. Enemy gunfire will punch holes in your aircraft’s hull or rip it to shreds. Even the aircraft, which number over a hundred, have all been painstakingly recreated from their actual real-life counterparts. The gunners that sit in the turrets and pill boxes don’t look like they were molded in clay by a five-year-old. Detail is everywhere. However, some textures on the ground noticeably stand out. Some buildings on the base are painted “flat” on the surface of the map. Mountain edges sometimes produce a strange pixelated “shimmering” effect. These are small problems in a game that is for the majority a feast for the eyes. I can’t wait to experience this game via Oculus Rift when those become available soon.

A lot of love has also gone into the sound design. Everything sounds like it was recorded from real WW2 battles. From the idle hum of each and every plane to the explosive crack of a torpedo hitting the broadside of a battleship, War Thunder brings the noise when it comes to sound effects. Now, as you can already tell, I don’t think their music choices were great selections. I like music to engage what I may be doing in the game. Bringing on a composer to write some epic dog-fighting battle music to keep me on my toes is well needed for War Thunder.

When you start you have five countries to choose from: U.S., England, Germany, Russia and Japan. Each has over forty ships to choose from with even more on the way. By participating in various missions, either single-player or online, you will accrue experience points and silver lions (game currency) for the various duties you perform in each mission. Whether you choose to solely dog-fight other players or take out the enemies ground forces you will gain experience for both your personal flight career and that of your specific country. For example, I picked England for my country so the more I use British aircraft the more options I will gain access to (purchased with silver lions) while I keep leveling. Each country’s aircraft has different weaknesses and strengths that you will need to keep an eye out for. You can take your time leveling up each country so don’t worry about what you select at the beginning. Players are also able to upgrade their planes with silver lions for better parts that become available with more use. You can also spend points on how accurate your gunners will be or how long it takes before your guns can be reloaded.

In addition to unlocking the many various aircraft, players can also unlock medals and achievements for specific tasks performed in their aircraft or for their military career. Dozens of skins and decals, of which only 4*, can be placed on your aircraft including the usual eyes and shark teeth can be placed and customized in size and angle.
*Decals are for Premium Accounts

Physics play a big role in this game. Just as if I were in a real aircraft, G-Forces brought upon by the sudden turning at such fast speeds can possibly cause your pilot, and even your crew, to black out and lose control of the aircraft. If your crew blacks out then you won’t have a gunner to defend your ass. Specifically firing on certain parts of an enemy fighter might just punch some holes in the fuel tank, meaning they will have to land to enact repairs if they can survive your encounter. Remain too low while you drop your bombs and you too might get caught in the surrounding blast. This realism is a masterful combination with the already rich, life-like graphics.

Multiplayer

Players can team up with 3 other friends in a squad to assist each other in multiplayer or co-op games. Servers can support up to 32 players (16 on each side.)

There are 3 separate modes that players can choose from to change how their match will play.

Arcade Mode: A much more simplified flight control scheme. The location and the aircraft selection are not tied to historical events. Players on either side can choose aircraft from any country.

Historical: Players must only choose aircraft of the corresponding side they are on. If you’re playing The Battle of Britain and are on the British side then you can only select British aircraft. Also, aircraft behave realistically, ex: If you’re flying too fast you risk your wings being ripped off.

Full Real Battles: You must begin the Full Real Battles Tutorial before playing this mode. Missions are very long, no 3rd person, aircraft begin on ground with engines off, flight dynamics are also more extreme and there are no markers or mouse aim. You must use a joystick.

Once you select the mode you can then select the mission type of which there are 3.

Operations: Defeat all ground forces. Can be played in Historical Mode only.

Domination: Capture and hold all airfields.

Ground Strike: Simplified version of Operations for Arcade Mode only.

There are currently 17 maps, including: Attack on Pearl Harbor, Battle of the Bulge, Battle of Peleliu, and the developers intend to include even more locations in future patches. They are well-detailed, sprawling maps that appear to accurately portray the landscape for each corresponding location. The maps will also make you think about what kind of armament you might want to put on your aircraft. Some maps are based on naval battles so you will want to outfit your aircraft to be able to carry torpedoes (if available.)

War Thunder is best played with buddies over a voice chat program. Coordinating with your squad will definitely give you a much needed edge in battle against opposing forces. Having two players fly as bombers while two other players fly in fighters to intercept enemies who go after the bombers is a useful tactic. Experienced teams can decimate opposing enemy bases in a short amount of time. Every multiplayer match feels unique and never feels repetitive.
Gaijin Entertainment is going all in with War Thunder and even has plans to introduce player controlled land and naval units in future releases. War Thunder is available on PC through Steam and will also be released for the Playstation 4 later this year.

We know you’re interested. Head to War Thunder‘s official website, and download the game now! War Thunder scores a worthy 4/5.

— Cameron Shooshtari

Six Things You Need To Know Before Playing ‘Marvel Heroes’

by MoreLikeAndyJune 11, 2013

I’ve been playing Marvel Heroes since release, and I’m having an absolute blast so far. Action RPG, loot, and the Marvel universe pulled me in from the very start (and don’t forget about that awesome opening cinematic). After a little more than a week spent running around doing what heroes do, I decided to put together a quick list of things you might want to know before putting on those tights. Here are six things (in no particular order) that I think everyone should know before playing Marvel Heroes.

1. Your Starting 5

Since Gazillion Entertainment designed Marvel Heroes to be a free-to-play game, the choice of heroes is limited if you decide not to spend any money. Hawkeye, Scarlet Witch, Storm, The Thing, and Daredevil round out your starting five characters. Each hero fits into a certain class, for example, The Thing’s description ends up putting Ben Grimm into the ‘tank’ class. Soaking up damage, while at the same time dishing it out ends up being a no-brainer for The Thing. The easiest way I can help you decide which character to pick from the free five is like this: do you like ranged attacks, or being up close and personal? Once you figure that out, your choice should be made a little easier for you.

2. No ‘Try Before You Buy’

If you end up wanting to play as your favorite Marvel hero from the beginning, thus parting with up to $20 to do so, be warned. There is currently no way to play around with the characters that unlock with money to see if their play style is something you want to march through the full game with. Your best bet is to look up videos of the character you want to purchase to see if your favorite hero plays like anything you would enjoy using. Hopefully this changes sooner rather than later, as to me, it seems like a huge oversight.

3. Plain Jane

Part of the fun with games that have a loot system is having said loot change your character’s appearance. None of that will be found in Marvel Heroes. The case could be made that since Marvel Heroes is a free-to-play game, it’s only natural that the only way to change your appearance will be in the form of purchasing costumes with real money. This doesn’t make it any easier to swallow, especially since the costumes end up being insanely high priced for some of the more popular heroes (I’m looking at you, Iron Man).

4. Drop It Like It’s Hot

If you truly want to pay absolutely nothing for Marvel Heroes, but still want to get access to the paid content, you still have an option: grind. Although I don’t have all the info in front of me as of writing this, most of the characters and costumes in the store will drop randomly during one of your play sessions in Marvel Heroes. The percentage rate of how often this happens is still up in the air. As soon as you finish the prologue mission, you are given a random drop of one of the four other starting characters that you didn’t pick. In the many hours I have put into Marvel Heroes so far, I’ve yet to see any paid content drop since. Hopefully soon we’ll have more info from Gazillion Entertainment to clear up some very important questions in this matter.

5. Sharing Is Caring

Inventory and your storage bank in Marvel Heroes is shared for every character. This is probably the one thing you should spend money on if you love hoarding all the loot. You can hit the limit in your storage bank (48 items) pretty fast if you’re not too careful. The proposition, however, of parting with 550G ($5.50) for each extra page (up to 3 max) is a little more than most will be comfortable with.

6. What’s Mine, Is Mine

Switching between characters you’ve unlocked is pretty seamless in Marvel Heroes. Being able to instantly switch to someone like Daredevil when I get tired of shooting arrows with Hawkeye gives players variety when it suits them. Experience doesn’t carry over from character to character, so if you have a level 20 hero, switching to a level 1 hero you just unlocked late in the game will get you killed fast. You do have the ability to head back to previous areas and grind for experience on mobs, which you’re likely to need to do often. It’s probably wise to start your first play through of Marvel Heroes with one character, then replay chapters with the additional characters you either purchased or got from a drop.

Marvel Heroes is a lot of fun, and hopefully these tips prevent any disappointing surprises from taking away from your game experience. If you’re already playing the game, make sure to let us know what you think!

Explore ‘A Realm Reborn’ In A New ‘Final Fantasy XIV’ Trailer!

by Derek KraneveldtFebruary 24, 2013

It looks like the folks at Square Enix are nearly ready to rerelease Final Fantasy XIV. The game initially launched in September 2010 in an apparently unfinished state; the title was full of balancing issues, glitches, and gamebreaking bugs.

Square Enix saw something in that mess of a game however, and decided to keep working on it (after apologizing to everyone that paid for it of course). The game is inching closer and closer to its wide release, and the company has released a new trailer showcasing the exploration elements of the title. Check it out below, and let us know what you think!

Want to give it a try? PC and PS3 betas are both taking applications on the game’s official website.

What do you think? Did you play the initial release of Final Fantasy XIV? Are you willing to give A Realm Reborn a shot?

‘The Guild’ Season 6 Gets A Trailer!

by Derek KraneveldtSeptember 26, 2012

Don’t know what The Guild is? Netflix it, YouTube it, iTunes it, go to WatchTheGuild. Just do whatever you need to do to see the available five seasons.

The Guild is insanely hilarious, and if you’re reading Geekscape, you likely fit right into the shows intended audience. The show revolves around a ragtag group of MMO gamers, and the trials and tribulations of their lives.

Seen them? Great, now watch this trailer for the upcoming Season 6, which premieres on October 2 (just six more days).

What do you think? Looking forward to the new season?

‘The War Z’ Gets A Gameplay Video!

by Derek KraneveldtSeptember 1, 2012

It looks The War Z, the highly anticipated MMO is finally coming together!

Developer Hammerpoint Interactive showed off some alpha gameplay at PAX today, and even at this stage the game looks pretty neat (if not familiar).

The game takes a similar approach to the popular ARMA II mod Day Z, in that it’s a survival MMO set in the midst of a zombie outbreak. Huge maps and tons of people, and even more zombies should mean that there are always scares to be had, and people to meet up with.

The War Z seems to have borrowed more from Left 4 Dead than Day Z however, as it takes more of a traditional shooter approach than the latter does. Even many of the interface elements appear pretty familiar.

I’ve only put a few hours into Day Z myself, but so far The War Z looks to be a much smoother experience with an easier to understand interface. Day Z in my opinion has way too much going on control wise, and I find myself having to constantly look into the menu for the correct button to press.

Check out the video below! More info on the game can be found here.