GameOn Magazine.pdf

Issue 50 December 2013 1 GameOn Magazine

Battlefield 4 Review

Issue 68 June 2015 2 GameOn Magazine

Welcome


Welcome

Welcome to Issue #68 of the GameOn Magazine!

Weve finished off the first quarter of the year

with quite a few top titles, and this quarter

doesnt appear to be going any differently.

We only have a few articles this month, but given

the 24 reviews and 10 previews we think youll be

happy with the pagecount. We have Ben lamenting

the lack of modern cheats, Alex imagining

more than a game will give him and Andrew

complaining about Call of Duty, amongst others.

Our previews include next months F1 2015 by

Ryan, Matt on World of Warships, Ian killing on

Killing Floor 2 and Ben taking a look at Knights of

Pen & Paper 2. We have six more, so dont worry.

The review section has several big titles that

have come out just before we went to press!

Wolfenstein: The Old Blood by Calum, Last Word

by Ben and of course Project CARS from Steven.

Theres a lot more that are a couple of weeks old,

but in some cases youll have done well to hold off

on buying until you read our reviews! Matt had a

look at Borderlands: The Handsome Collection,

Ben played Westerado: Double Barreled and

the other Matt had a go with Dungeons II, along

with several others on many different titles.

Come in and take a look!

The Editor

Editor-in-Chief - Steve GreenfieldEditor - Andrew Duncan

Games Critic - Reece ArmstrongGames Critic - Alex Hamilton

Games Critic - Ryan DaviesGames Critic - Ian Kuan

Games Critic - Calum ParryGames Critic - Tanner Schelle

Games Critic - Andrew DuncanGames Critic - Christian Wootton

Games Critic - Steven DawsonGames Critic - VodKaVK

Games Critic - Dom DAngelilloGames Critic - Ben McCurryGames Critic - Matt Wilhelm

Games Critic - Matt GirdlerGames Critic - Jeremy Banks

Games Critic - Alexandru Tanase

Contributors


Contents

116 PROJECT CARS REVIEW

12 SKYLANDERS...SKYLANDERS EVERYWHERE!

60 KILLING FLOOR 2 PREVIEW

160 MORTAL COMBAT X REVIEW


Contents

Imagination & Videogames.....................................6So I Tried... Really Big Sky.......................................10Skylanders Skylanders Everywhere!..................12Why I Will Never Own a Call of Duty.....................16The Death of Cheats...............................................20Asteroids: Outpost Preview....................................24CO-OP: Decrypted Preview....................................28Shadowrun Chronicles: Boston Lockdown............... Preview....................................................................32World of Warships Preview....................................36F1 2015 Preview......................................................40Devouring Stars Preview........................................46Warlocks vs Shadows Preview...............................50Knights of Pen & Paper 2 Preview.........................54Shallow Space: Insurgency Preview......................58Killing Floor 2 Preview............................................60Westerado: Double Barreled Review....................64Wolfenstein: The Old Blood Review......................68White Night Review.................................................72Paperbound Review................................................78Sid Meiers Starships Review..................................82

Dont Shoot Yourself! Review.................................86Trapped Dead : Lockdown Review........................88Last Word Review....................................................92Pixel Heroes: Byte & Magic Review.......................98Borderlands: The Handsome Collection................... Review...................................................................102Nightbanes Review...............................................106Out There Review..................................................110Project CARS Review.............................................116Overture Review....................................................120Fire Review.............................................................122A Pixel Story Review..............................................128The Charnel House Review..................................132Dungeons II Review..............................................140Son of Nor Review.................................................144Kalimba Review.....................................................148War for the Overworld Review............................152Spirits of Xanadu Review......................................156Mortal Kombat X Review......................................160The Weaponographist Review.............................166

68 WOLFENSTEIN: THE OLD BLOOD REVIEW78 PAPERBOUND REVIEW


ArticlesImagination & Videogames

Its the summer of 1943 and the sun is beating down onto rolling countryside, its peaks and valleys creating a dance of shadows as clouds roll by above. Field Marshal Heinz Guderian soaks up the weather from his position atop an SdKfz 222 Panzerspahwagen armoured car. Dozing lightly, the field marshal has pulled his cap over his eyes to facilitate his slumber. It had been a lightning-quick few days for him; the advance had been nonstop and soldiers found time to rest when they could.

A sudden ominous rumble makes the previously-peaceful general sit up, catching his cap as it threatens to tumble from the car. He checks his watch, squinting against the suns glare. Its started earlier than planned, he muses. The first sonorous rumble, before it can peter out,

its joined by a second, third and then fourth. Even in the light of midday Guderian can see the distant lightning-like flashes of combat. With a sigh

at his interrupted nap, the field marshal swings his legs back into the cabin of the car, rapping on its side with his knuckles. The engine sputters into life, belching black smog from its

Alex feels that games are stifling imagination, and explains why.

By Alex Hamilton

Imagination & Videogames



exhaust vents. The final battle for London is about to begin.

Youd be forgiven for thinking that that was an excerpt from some awful and historically inaccurate fiction, but its a scenario that I found myself imagining while playing Hearts of Iron III. Im a daydreamer and always have been Ive been known to trail off during very important conversations to watch birds outside of windows and rearrange pens on my desk. As such I often find myself creating my own personal stories for characters in my games. Even those

that have nothing more than a portrait and name, as in many of Paradox Studios grand strategy games do, will have their backstories and idiosyncrasies mapped out in my mind.crusader kings 2 review 1Increasingly, however, Im finding that many games being released leave no room for imagination or creativity. With copy-paste settings, clichd characters and an ever-increasing reliance on graphics and fidelity, is catering to those who like to use their imagination becoming something of an after-thought?

Granted, there are game series out there whose setting create vast gaps which players can fill with their own stories and imagination. Mass Effect comes to mind, offering an entire galaxys worth of stories and the framework to think them up. BioShock Infinite does well (as has much of the series) in creating a world that the player cannot help but want to know more about. Equally there are games that allow the player to create their own stories which differ wildly from others. Shadow of Mordor excels at this, offering a flexible way for a narrative to unfold naturally one persons nemesis might be anothers easy pickings.

While playing Bulletstorm, a game that purported to break the mould of modern shooters and bring back fun and style, I encountered a typically frustrating example of game neglecting story. In an opening level your character stumbled upon a vista of deserted red-tiled villas surrounded by palm trees, waterfalls and fountains. Its only ever a background image, and its one I found myself looking at longingly as I wondered what had happened to this former paradise.



Perhaps imagination and creation to the depth that Im thinking of suit only one genre of videogames best real time strategy. Ive been a fan of the RTS all my life and perhaps its the focus on the little guys that helps create these scenarios in my head. I found myself getting attached to the one Brotherhood of Nod trooper who survived a tank attack in Command and Conquer or that Roman soldier left over from storming a breach in Rome: Total War.

These features can perhaps be found in RPG games, too. When character progression (and permadeath) factor into it, players will often see themselves become attached to their avatars. Even in spreadsheet-a-like Football Manager there is room for creativity and imagination: I still remember the name of my best players and used to give them fake testimonials and let them play out their last game before retiring in front of a cheering stadium.

Game series like Hearts of Iron III add an extra layer to this fabrication by simply not showing these people

at all. If you decide to view the map as a flat board, with rectangular unit markers taking the place of divisions and regiments, you never get to see the soldiers under your command. Its this lack of visual, however, that gets my imagination flowing and what allowed me to write a (currently unfinished) series on the game.

SovietSecondaryLinePerhaps it is a matter of show, dont tell (often a phrase used in writing) rather than tell the player exactly what is happening in a blow-by-blow, its better to give them a starting point and let their imagination take over. I cant think of many titles that have adhered to that rule

strictly, but, with the nature of videogames being a service-based industry, the satisfaction of playing a game to completion might override the need to discover more about its world.

As some games continue their journey towards becoming works of art as opposed to simple on-rails time-fillers, there could be more room for the imagination of gamers. With VR around the corner and graphical fidelity becoming ever more realistic, Ill wager that there will be plenty of people wanting to create their own stories in the future, too.Or perhaps my imagination is running wild again.


ArticlesSo I Tried... Really Big Sky

Each edition of So I Tried I will try a game that I have never tried before. Will I find something new to love? Will I find something new to despise? Ill take a full half hour, no matter how bad it gets or how badly I do, to see if this is the game for me. This time I went for the PC version of Really Big Sky.

What I thought it was

A bright bullet hell twin-stick shooter set in space. I think the last side-scrolling shooter I sat down and played was R-Type Delta on the PlayStation, which was a lot of fun. However, the faster paced bullet hell type of shooter never appealed to me.

Im not one for tough challenges when I could be playing a well written, and slow, story-based game. Dodging around the place isnt my kind of thing.

What it actually is

A brightly coloured twin-stick shooter, that isnt so much of a bullet hell as I was expecting. Theres a British narrator who

Did Andrew really big like Really Big Sky?

By Andrew Duncan

So I Tried... Really Big Sky


ArticlesSo I Tried... Really Big Sky

keeps telling you to go and twat them, so that was definitely unexpected. There are also planets in space, which Really Big Sky points out and makes you fly through. Why go around a planet when your ship can flip around and drill through the crust, mantle and core - then out the other side? There are plenty of enemies in between obstacles such as planets and asteroids, and the occasional nebula, which all vary in attack strategy and shield strengths. As you murder your way across the galaxy, you gain stars from your kills which are used to upgrade your spaceship with things such as a faster firing rate or a shield.

Will I keep playing

If I was interested in getting every achievement or unlocking every upgrade, Id play it for a few more hours. But Im not, so I wont. Really Big Sky hasnt made this a genre Im keen to remain in. Its fun for half an hour, but each playthrough only lasts as long as you can avoid enough bullets or random objects. With the upgrade system, it does have a one more go feel to it, but now Ive turned it off to write this I have no inclination to restart it.


ArticlesSkylanders Skylanders Everywhere!

Many know me as a well go with frugal gamer, who waits for sales and rarely buys a game upon release. Its a policy thats served me well over the years, missing out on many a wiped save game, unpatched monstrosity and poorly scoring trainwreck. So its with some annoyance that I now look at

the franchise that has been the only one Ive happily purchased within its opening week, ever since the PlayStation 2: LEGO.

Backing up - I have always looked at Skylanders with disgust. First you buy a game, then you have to keep buying toys which literally have no

purpose outside of standing on the little pad to send into the game. Its DLC made physical, and constantly replicated with new toys brought out with every new title.

When Disney Infinity was announced, I sighed and rolled my eyes. Disney have long been a merchandising

Andrew hates the amount of toys Skylanders and clones have created.

By Andrew Duncan

Skylanders Skylanders Everywhere!



giant, so when they bought Marvel they would inevitably bring those superheroes into the game, which they did with Disney Infinity 2.0. Yet more toys that do nothing.

Being a free game, I didnt really bat an eyelid when Angry Birds brought out the Telepods. They had already merchandised the hell out of the franchise before those even came up, and so I looked at it as an extension of that.

Fine, I thought, its not like Im being forced to buy the games or toys. Of course my kids wanted the games and sets

of toys, but Im the adult and didnt want to waste money on something I deemed utterly without merit. They rarely touch videogames that arent on the DS or mobile, anyway.

Nintendo decided to step into this obviously lucrative market with the amiibo line. I honestly still dont know what they do, because stocks are always so limited! I had to look it up on Nintendos FAQ! Why make a limited amount of an item you want people to use in conjunction with your game? It baffles me, to see limited editions and highly-priced amiibo on eBay. Are

you so eager to use a cheat that youre willing to pay three times the price? Because thats what theyre for making games easier and unlocking content like a cheat code.

Recently announced, LEGO Dimensions is the LEGO version of this phenomenon. This causes me several issues. Ive bought every LEGO game thats come out, some on multiple systems. But I hate Skylanders. But TT Games make amazing titles. But it requires extra purchases on top of an incredibly expensive Starter Pack. But the toys have uses outside of the game. But it has



the Wicked Witch of the West as one of those aforementioned extra purchases

The recommended retail price for the Starter Kit is 99.99 on PS4. From what I can tell, going by that and like-for-like Disney Infinity prices, it will be 49 for the game, 13 for the three minifigs and 13 for the Batmobile with 24.99 for the Toy Pad. Its 100 for the pleasure of spending hundreds more!

Thats insane to me. I have never paid more than 39.99 for a game, and that was a birthday present for my wife

which I bought begrudgingly (for the price, not the gift itself). Ive never bought a console that wasnt bundled with a load of stuff and over two years old I still dont have a PS4. I have four children, so filling the house with peripherals that are only used with a single game is also madness. I never bought Donkey Konga, Ive kept away from band and guitar games and I would kick someone if they tried to get me to buySingstar. I honestly want to punch PlayStation as a brand, for forcing that icon to remain on the XBMC of my PS3 But I digress.

Where will this phenomenon end? Can we expect Activision to announce that Call of Duty: Black Ops III will have little army blokes? Will you be able to send Altair from the Crusades in Jerusalem to Victorian England in Assassins Creed Victory? Is Mattel working on licensing a Hot Wheels game that requires you to buy toy cars bolted to stands, so they arent even useable as toy cars?

I get that its a money maker and thats why they make them... I guess Im just angry at you people who buy it all.


ArticlesWhy I Will Never Own a Call of Duty

I grew tired of war games long before the first Call of Duty came out. I wanted something more futuristic from my first-person shooters, as Medal of Honor had by that time shown me there were only so many ways to shoot a Nazi. Surely there are only so many games that could take place in World War II before youve killed the entire population of Germany.

Then the rise of the third-person shooters happened, and I kinda lost touch with first-person. There was the odd gem I simply had to grab Half-Life 2, Oblivion... But I never went back to war. Id been in WWII far too long already; even Allo Allo was tired of my antics in Nazi-occupied France. Oh, this one sets you against Goebbels himself? That

one lets you drive a Sherman through Paris? Meh. Dont care.

However, when Call of Duty left WWII, I decided I still didnt care. I was in a hipster-type of mood that hated it simply for being mainstream and selling

well (yes, Im aware I bought Half-Life 2). By the time CoD became something that might interest me, Id realised it was a mainly-multiplayer game. I pretty much stopped playing multiplayer back when Counter-Strike was still just a mod for Half-Life. Getting my

Activision keep putting them out, Andrew keeps not buying them.

By Andrew Duncan

Why I Will Never Own a Call of Duty



arse handed to me match after match was just a little irritating, and so to avoid that, I just dont do it. I have trouble enough with medium difficulty, let alone going up against people who spend 10 hours a day practicing. Im a light jogger, not a marathon runner.

So, if the developers were going to focus on an aspect I wasnt using, why give them any money? I dont like sports and so an entire EA sub-brand misses out on my cash. However, over the years Ive learnt to give games that I might not usually play a try . I even turned it into a series of articles with So I Tried... But for the foreseeable future, there will never be an edition based on a Call of Duty.

Activision has never allowed the franchise to drop below 7.49, despite the huge player bases each annual entry receives, and the many weeks spent at the #1 spot in multi-platform charts as well as premium price tag. The first title, which was released in October 2006, has a regular Steam price of 14.99 and is currently the lowest it has ever been, and Im writing this during Activisions



Big Deal or something. Steam and a couple of other sites are having deals on Activision titles, which of course piqued my interest in grabbing a CoD.

Why havent I done so? Because thats 7 for a decade-old game I might not enjoy for half an hour and certainly wont play the online features. I recently boughtThe Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind for about 5, and it came out in 2009. I gladly paid it, and had been

considering paying 12.99 for it, because I knew Id get my moneys worth. I already own it on disc, so I literally paid 5 for the convenience of having it on Steam.

I mention that to show I will purchase a deal, even for games I dont particularly want, as I know I will be able to write about them. I bought the full Humble Origin 2 Bundle, and am installing Medal of Honour: Frontline as I type. I wanted

nothing to do with war games, but Ill give it a whirl if only to write about the experience.

Recently, Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare came out. Future combat with a compelling story (when shown in trailer form). I wanted it. I still want it, even though the next entry has been announced. But Ill probably never get it. Its mainly multiplayer, and I refuse to pay full price when I wont get full enjoyment out of it.



However, if it was currently at 7.49, I would snatch it up. If there was a Humble Bundle with any CoD in, I would pay top tier for it, as Id be getting multiple games for ~12.

But over 5 is too much, given that the entire franchise is on sale. People still buy it at 15 Im just not going to be one of them. And honestly, I care so

little about trying the series out, that the first time I even realised I could have pirated them, was whilst I was writing this article. It must be a bad sign for my attention of a game series to care so little that I literally dont realise I could try it for free

After all, its not like piracy is hurting Activision, who as I mentioned last year made one

billion dollars for Call of Duty: Ghosts, and worked it out to them making an additional ~60,000,000 per multiplayer map in the Season Pass alone.

So until they put the price down or stick them in a Humble Bundle, I will never own Call of Duty.


ArticlesThe Death of Cheats

Goodbye, xyzzy. Goodbye, IDDQD. Goodbye, up up down down left right left right B A Start. You all served us well, but it appears in the brave new world of modern gaming, your services are just no longer required, and it seems were going to have to

take you out behind the barn and put you down for good.

What happened to the cheat code? Ten years ago, it seemed like every game had them, even if it was something as basic as an unlock all code.

Game shops were packed with cheat code books, and break time at school was (for me at least) cheat trading time. However, when our backs were turned, when the sixth generation bled into the seventh, something happened. We were all cooing at PS3 and

Why are there no more cheat codes? Ben quests to find out.

By Ben McCurry

The Death of Cheats



360 graphics, marvelling at online play, and gawking at the ease of digital distribution. When our eyes were off of them, the cheat code (mostly) vanished without a trace.springyardzoneWhether I used cheat codes to (finally) beat Contra, gad about Springfield in a rocket car, or to get into the Spring Yard Zone, they were an important part of my formative gaming years, as they always promised laughs for instance, my friends and I all consistently had fun with all three versions of NBA Jam (Midway, Acclaim, EA) due to that fact. Even though they were all of extreme varying quality, tinkering around with codes made for a much more satisfying experience. As such,

it saddens me to see them much less frequently. I loved them as they represented an access to more: more content, more options, more fun. Even mediocre, forgettable titles had new life breathed into them with cheats for instance, the 2002 Spider-Man game is in no way a great game (good might be a stretch), but with a little cheat code magic, one can play as the Green Goblin, which Im sure most people would agree makes the game at least 60% more appealing.

So why are they missing? Cheat codes let you get right to the action, and in our instant gratification society, how on earth could that be a bad thing? Our love of now

hasnt changed, but the games industry has. For one thing, downloadable content is omnipresent these days, and while it may be fun and cute to put extra content like new costumes behind a code, it just makes much more business sense to make consumers pay for it. Even the old unlock everything has been co-opted by DLC for a cost of around 2, usually euphemistically called a timesaver pack its a shame, but of course publishers are going to take any means necessary to make a little extra money.heavyrainscreen1Theres another probable reason for cheat codes being jettisoned, but this one isnt about greed, just practicality.



Today, games are more and more like film, and with the deep and emotional stories that some developers are trying to tell, the use of cheats would be far out of place there. Imagine using Big Head Mode in Heavy Rain, or infinite ammo in Condemned the game may become easy or hilarious, but the effect of it is like a needle in a souffl; all the tension of those games completely dissipates. Really, its just not completely feasible to implement any cheats without counteracting the difficult storytelling process.

Dont get me wrong here either I love that games are

slowly evolving into art, but I cannot help but feel sad, like gaming feels much lesser for it altogether. However, what this really means is up to you have we evolved by cutting out pointless aspects of games, creating more streamlined experiences, or did gaming lose a part of its soul when it cut the codes? Personally, Im on both sides its like were on a journey to a brave new world, but weve left our treasured stuffed animal toy from childhood on the plane. Im going to miss the teddy bear, but, inevitably, I suppose this is what it means to grow.

Of course, the grand tradition of cheats lives on in a few games, such as Grand Theft Auto and Saints Row, and Im glad for that the ability to spawn any vehicle you want and give yourself a six-star wanted rating instantly is nothing short of amazing; but times have truly changed. While I look forward to, say, finally playing The Last of Us or the new offering from David Cage, I still cant help myself from loading up Vice City, inputting FIGHTFIGHTFIGHT, enjoying the carnage and thinking of simpler times as I weep into my keyboard.


PreviewsAsteroids: Outpost

One of the things that people have always wanted to achieve is to explore the vastness of space. However, this might not be as appealing as it sounds, and the game Asteroids: Outpost surely manages to explore this idea. Simply put, this is a game created as an open world sandbox, where you want to colonise a planet located right near the asteroid belt. The main reason why people came here, according to the games story, is that mankind needs the resources available, specifically in the mines. However, while the asteroid belt has numerous minerals, there are also threats.

As a miner, in Asteroids: Outpost (based on the classic Asteroids videogame IP) you will need to create your own outpost, start mining, craft items and just explore the massive

location. You will have the opportunity to claim a piece of land right from the start, which is quite nice, but the main focus here is on exploration and the mining of rare minerals that can be found in the fallen asteroids.

The better the resources you scavenge, the better the technologies you can research, so the title does encourage exploration, something that I enjoyed quite a lot.

By Steve Rasher Greenfield

Publisher:Developer:Genre:Platform:

Release Dates

Salty Games

Atari

MMO

PC

Out Now (Steam Early Access)

Asteroids: Outpost Preview



However, this is a game with a multiplayer focus, so alongside creating your own production buildings and mining resources, you will also have to deal with other players. Since humanity are a competitive race, we will also try to kill each other in order to achieve domination, and thats exactly what you get here. Asteroids: Outpost requires you to constantly upgrade your base and tech, while also building defenses. The game comes with a surprisingly large

research tree, so I find it quite good in providing incentives to play more and more.

You will have a limited amount of air to explore the game space, so you do need to upgrade that and ensure that you come back to base

often. Its nice to see such elements, and these do

affect the gameplay quite a lot.

Asteroids: Outpost does show the hostility of the alien space, and this is something I enjoyed tremendously. I

also liked the vast range of terrain

types: its really cool to explore mines and

abandoned camps to find resources as you see fit.



Its important to note that you can craft turrets that can destroy asteroids whenever its necessary, something that, for me, was quite interesting and new. The asteroids are constantly raining down upon you and your base, so you have to decide between leaving your turrets to defend your base whilst you mine the remains of shot-down asteroids, or taking control of one yourself and blasting them to defend your base.

I found the gameplay to be quite demanding at first, but as you get accustomed to it and research technologies, you will see that exploring the planet via a vehicle and interacting with others becomes a vital

part of the game. In time, you will be able to cooperate and create colonies, but trust can be an issue. In one of my game sessions, I became an ally with a person just to find him plunder my location for resources later in the game. Even such a simple gameplay idea changes the experience a lot, and I have to say that I am very impressed when it comes to the uniqueness of the title.

The version played is Early Access, more specifically Pre-Alpha, so there are lots of elements missing in this title. What I did want to see was a story or some guidance, as the game gets a little hectic in the beginning as you try to figure out what to do.

Its very impressive from a visual standpoint however, because the graphics are very high quality, with numerous visual effects and a ton of unique elements that blend seamlessly to create an astounding atmosphere.

While the polish is there for the environment, the weapons in this version do



not look that amazing, but hopefully their design will be improved. Also, the planets are mostly barren right now, but its expected considering the fact that the game is in Early Access right now.

Is it worth your money? This is definitely something to debate upon. Many people might consider Asteroids: Outpost as being a tech demo instead of a game, and they are right, because while the core mechanics are there, there is still a lot of stuff to do in order to create a fully fledged game. It does look really cool, and exploring the planets is nice, so there is fun to be had here, but the constant crashes and bugs might hamper the experience. The price is a lot considering the current state of the game, but on the plus side the devs seem to be quite active in patching the game and expanding the gameplay experience. However, theres much to be improved here, and for the time being, unless you are an avid sci-fi fan and need a planet exploration fix, you can avoid it. Do keep an eye on it though, as the game does have a lot of promising features that you will enjoy!


PreviewsCO-OP: Decrypted

CO OP: Decrypteds premise is one that may sound a bit too familiar to players: two robots, with contrasting shape and colour, must cooperatively overcome a series of chambers, filled with physics-based puzzles. Its no surprise that some of the comments on its Steam page mention Portal in some snarky way or another. Even the facilitys design is very evocative to those corridors we once visited in Aperture Science, littered with hovering antagonistic AI heads (oh Wheatley *sigh*).

This game is indeed very Portal-inspired, but without portals. Instead, our two charismatic robots have complementary powers: the red robot gathers energy from localised sources and the blue robot releases it in form of a controlled explosion

By VodKaVK


Release Dates

Pixelz Games

Pixelz Games

Strategy

PC


CO-OP: Decrypted Preview



that messes up electronic systems and knocks down walls. And thats as deep as the puzzles mechanics get, unfortunately. The game is reduced to moving boxes from one place to another, pressing switches and collecting keycards, especially in the first chapter, making everything quite repetitive. Once you progress enough, all puzzles turn out to be variations of the same one. Some of them adventure in 2.5D shenanigans,

some involve exploding, some timing your jumps but at the end of the day, there is little personality or innovation among levels, at least in the ones available so far in development.

CO-OP: Decrypteds main flaw is precisely the lack of a set of mechanics flexible enough to allow for more complicated ones to take place, as a result of the combination of the basic ones. In Portals case, travelling between portals, preserving

momentum and doing so in a completely 3D space was the key to always provide a challenge and a new take on the use of the basic set. In CO-OP: Decrypted, long live monotony. The mechanics are not flexible enough to have you engaged for the entire duration of the levels, and the side-scrolling perspective constrains level design possibilities. Puzzle solutions are easy to find, but physically solving them is quite annoying. As you advance,



most tasks become a chore, as youve already done them a few times each, particularly given the often-required precision and the slow, clunky, sometimes unresponsive and not-so-precise movements the robots have. This is, however, likely to be improved as the game gets polished.

Nevertheless, I must admit that a great deal of my criticism stems from playing a game that includes the word co-op in its title mostly by my own. When in single-player, you still control both robots, alternating between them to interact with the level. Oh boy, is this confusing, especially since both robots interact and live constantly in different rooms. However, multiplayer did change things, as it does in many games. As of the writing of this article, there is no online cooperative multiplayer implemented, and the developers seem to have little intention to add it. Split-screen multiplayer, although being arguably more fun than loneliness, has its major flaws. The

aforementioned geographical separation between the two robots is one of the biggest.Admittedly, at some points, you can swap the robots and the room theyre in, but this

adds more to the intricacy of the puzzles, rather than to the cooperative effort to be put into the game. As the red robot, I always felt alienated from my blue significant other. We never shared the same roof, and every cooperation could be done discretely, reducing the actual communication to the instances my buddy and I agreed on swapping rooms. Elements in each room activate some in the other one, but this

generally barely needs any coordinated effort. Having said this, it is true that upping the pace of the game, by taking less time to solve the puzzles, makes the game much more enjoyable. Fast pace is not necessarily good in many games, but it certainly

helps whitewashing elements such as the

lack of engaging story or conveying visual design.

In CO-OP: Decrypted, weve already seen most of the features in

other games, and the new ones that it brings

to the table are not particularly well executed.

Pixelz Games are lately updating the game, and theyre fairly committed to solve any issue you may have via Steam or Twitter, so its definitely likely to be improved. You will have a fun time with a friend if you get hold of it, but I dont think you will, in five years, have a sit with him/her by the sea and reminisce about the adventures, and the ups and downs you experienced in CO-OP, with a good cold beer in your hand. You probably wont even talk about it in the pub either.


PreviewsShadowrun Chronicles: Boston Lockdown

Being mostly a 00s kid, Ive missed many things from the 90s, one of them being Shadowrun. Shadowrun videogames are the legacy of fantasy sci-fi pen-and-paper tabletop role-playing games that were popularised in the early 90s, which unlike the videogames, I sadly never got to experience. The premise in

the Shadowrun videogames is simple: you create your own character with a very specialised set of skills, all with retro cyber-punk aesthetics, and you undertake runs, or contracts. These are reduced to a series of turn-based battles against much more generic enemies, in an XCOM style, although with less environmental options

(such as climbing buildings) and more classes available. Skill trees unlock different abilities and boosts the performance with a particular weapon. This time, however, you do it online, or thats the theory.

So here I am, deciding on which abilities Im granting to my third character, Natasha

Romanoff, a red-haired human killing machine. As much as Im fascinated by the variety of classes in character creation, Im not doing it out of pleasure. Shadowrun Chronicles has been updating quite often, and pretty much with each update, theres been a full wipe of characters. This meant that I have already played that first five hours of the campaign twice, plus the one thats to come, and that my characters stats have always been quite

By VodKaVK


Release Dates

Cliffhanger Productions

Cliffhanger Productions

RPG

PC


Shadowrun Chronicles: Boston Lockdown Preview



mediocre as I havent been able to invest enough time to level them up much. My previous one, Odin Borson, a bearded smashing 8-foot troll with a voice deep enough to trigger earthquakes and seduce orks, could summon spirit bears that would tear apart enemies defences and handle blunt melee weapons like its nobodys business. To my surprise and disappointment, Natonly I can call her that, whos twice as badass and able to handle a katana and a pistol like a piece of cake, had the same beginning and story as the other two, even though she had a different origin. Thats right, in a similar way to

Dragon Age, each character can have a different background, which affects its initial stats.

I soon realised that I was playing with the same group of archetypes and thus the same strategy in every run. Individually, characters play very distinctly, but controlling them as a squad lacks variety. In my last run, I decided to scout out for other shadowrunners in the global chat and team up, and things took a different turn: what used to take me three attempts, it now takes one; what used to kill me now dies before me; and this time I have gained twice as much karma, the currency used to level up

skills. The game enforces a series of design devices that encourage players to continue seeking player interaction and cooperation. Most runs are four-player co-op missions, but you dont really need three other human players; you can rely on henchmen, predetermined characters that you can control yourself. However, these characters are usually not as competent as a player, the main reason being that instead of two weapons, they can only wield one. For example, the rigger henchman, expert in drones and vehicles, is rendered useless once the drone has been deployed; only being able to mark targets,



which is a circumstantially useful ability. The developers, however, mentioned via Steam that they will try to make henchmen a more reliable choice by the final release.

When playing cooperatively, a player must invite other players to join his or her campaign. Once in a mission, if a player finds loot, all players receive an

item of loot. In the same way, when the mission is completed, all players will receive equal karma; however, only the host of the game will see progress in the campaign. Ive played missions (come hell or high water) that were way too difficult for me, or too easy, as they were hosted by a player with a different amount of experience to mine. Fortunately,

Shadowrun Chronicles has a very friendly and helpful community, always trying to make the game more accessible to new players. This has created a system where newbies must rely on veterans advice and abilities to progress; perhaps a very old-school mentality, shifted into an online platform. Shadowrun is a very difficult and unforgiving game, and players are aware of this and thus understanding; however, if you want to play with the older kids, you better play as prudently as possible, theyre not going to like you messing up their run. Trying harder missions is quite a challenging way to test yourself, and dominating the battlefield in the easier ones is the best way to gain karma quickly. If only the game were properly optimised

In its current state, the game seems to be way too demanding of hardware for how little definition there is in its visuals; Im no expert, but my rig struggled keeping enough FPS when its able to run much more graphically dazzling games. Not only that; there seems to be major netcoding issues. Lag makes every run utterly tedious, going up to



thirty seconds in some cases, to the point that more often than not, you wont bear to do more than two missions in a row. As Ive said, the game is constantly being patched, which is appreciated, but these problems remain obnoxious.

I contacted the developers on Twitter asking about implementing PvP; they replied saying that theyre working on making it Shadowrun worthy for when they introduce it, which I certainly look forward to. The combat is deep and intricate, and skills are original and feel powerful and different from each other. At the time of writing, the personalizing content weapons, outfits, armour is rather scarce, so dont be surprised if you find some players avatar alarmingly resembling yours. However, dont be put off by all this, as its getting progressively better, and it will be worth it to push through the occasional frustration, because this game has much to offer.

Thanks to Hexagar, Crow, Teranox, XIII, Keyvlar Mayden, Hitman and Puppet Master for initiating me in Shadowrun Chronicles.


PreviewsWorld of Warships

World of Warships is an upcoming naval MMO from the brilliant creators of World of Tanks, Wargaming. The overall setup for World of Warships is very similar to Wargamings other successful games;

World of Tanks and World of Warplanes. The games ships are period specific which are divided by nationality and are then divided even further by tiers of power. Upon logging in, you are brought to your port in which you can see your

armada of awaiting ships. On top of that you are presented with a series of menus that allow you to purchase and upgrade ships and their various components. You then get to choose your ship and are put into a queue to await the vast open space that is the sea.

It will take some time for you to come across an enemy ship and while it may seem strange that the game does not throw you into combat immediately, the moment you do spot an enemy ship its all hands on deck because hell is about to break loose.Each ship plays a very different role and each is essential to help win the battle against the enemy. There are light skirmishers that take advantage of the slow speed of the cruisers who in turn are launching their hellish missiles from afar.

By Matt Wilhelm


Release Dates

Lesta Studio

Wargaming

Strategy

PC

TBA

World of Warships Preview



Each ship has its weakness and its strengths against each other so combat requires a certain amount of cooperation with your teammates.

The maps are large; very, very large, and trying to get an enormous carrier to traverse such a large amount of space may sound like a slow and dull affair, however that is not the case with World of Warships. Very unlike its brother games, the capabilities of the carriers and other large ships makes it

so that you can never be safe from the enemy. While this may sound like typical vehicle warfare, it is a world of strategy and outthinking your opponent more than using brute force.

The cruiser is a ship that is meant for skirmishing with group of other ships that has the power of a battleship but is far smaller and able to launch consistent volleys due to its fast reloading guns. You will need to pick and choose your fights carefully as this ship

can be easily destroyed by a battleship. This ship is by far the most complicated and difficult ship to master as it needs you to have a clear understanding of every ship in the game.

The behemoth of ships, the battleship, is a ship that is equipped with an arsenal of long range, insane firepower, and high armor makes this ship a monster to contend with. The ship does have a major vulnerability, a large body that it offers your enemy quite an



easy target. This ship is better suited for the outskirts of the map, reigning down massive fire from a distance, because if you put this ship in the middle of the map you will meet your end very quickly.

The carrier is the most intriguing ship by far from my experience in the game. The ship is able to launch planes from its deck that have various abilities. This ship is by no means meant to be used for directly attacking enemy ships, however it does

offer your team vision on the enemy ship so that they can use their long range weapons.

The destroyer is definitely a fun ship to play as it is one mean to dive into combat and right back out again. They are the fastest ship when driving in a straight line and one of the smaller ones, making it very hard to hit. They come equipped with torpedoes that can decimate even the largest of ships, and also have a smokescreen so that they can escape after attacking.

World of Warships may not yet have a release date, however I was deeply impressed with my experience so far. I found that the first few fights were a bit difficult to work through, but after that I found myself hooked. Much like World of Tanks I believe that Wargames has found a good way to put out a free-to-play game that is not pay-to-win. If you have had a craving for a strategic naval warfare game, World of Warships is the game for you!


PreviewsF1 2015

June 12th. Thats a crucial date for Codemasters Racing, and an unusual one too. The official F1 games, under the veteran development studio, have always been released late in the year, quite often when the F1 season has already come to a close. Normally, for both Codemasters and those who

follow the sport, thats not a remotely ideal time. This year, the series is in a much better position. Releasing mid-way through the year, with over half of the 19 grand prixs still left on the calendar, F1 2015 already finds itself in a good spot, thats even without considering this will be the series first entry

on new-gen. Its good timing, although after letting many fans down last year with a previous-gen only F1 2014, Codemasters has certainly got some lost ground to recover. Happily, the outlook so far is good.

Its something that a lot of our fans have been asking for, to try to get the game out earlier, said Codemasters Steven Embling, but its not an easy thing. We have to get the car models, but we cant get the car models and the car liveries until weve seen them driving round. So naturally youre looking at March before thats even going to be possible to start work on them. Then you cant really see how the drivers are doing and how the cars are performing until the races. So that makes the date a bit later, then youve got development time, so naturally that ends up pushing

By Ryan Davies


Release Dates

Codemasters Birmingham

Codemasters

Racing

PC, PS4, Xbox One

12th June 2015 (Worldwide)

F1 2015 Preview


PreviewsF1 2015

us back until September/October. Its an unusual situation, unlike any other sport-centered title on the market, but Codemasters has now gone to lengths to rectify the issue: This time round weve actively gone out of our way to do things as early as possible to make it very relevant to the season thats happening now.

That date could do a lot to push sales figures for Codemasters, but the studio is more than aware that a simple early release date and a fresh lick of paint probably wont be enough to sell the game to the legions of F1 aficionados (not to mention those, like myself, who

just love a great racing game). The new consoles, and the new Ego 3 engine that will make its debut with F1 2015, have made it much easier for Codies to make all-round redevelopments to the series: Steven notes that from 2011 onwards, weve been working with the same kind of technology, so weve been making what improvements we can from 11 to 12, to 13, then 14, but its always been building on what we had before. This time, we have the new generation of consoles, so we looked to build on that raw power that is available to us now, to build something brand new.

Weve got entirely new physics, entirely new tyre modelling, which is so much more detailed than anything we could have done on the previous generation, and that has put us in a really good position to build the handling from that. When most people think new engine their first thoughts are likely to go to visuals, but Steven is clearly more invested in the actual driving experience - an attitude likely reciprocated by many series fans (its also worth mentioning that Steven is in charge of the games handling model): Having that new technology there, and that new tyre model and physics model thats so much more detailed,


PreviewsF1 2015

it means force feedback, and effects like the rumble you get with a pad can be so much more detailed. It can help the player know when they are on the limit a lot more than what was previously possible.

Thats not to say the game is a slouch in the visual department, not by a long shot. Codies F1 games have always been good-looking experiences, but from what gameplay has been shown so far, 2015 is

the natural step up from the previous generation. The level I played was clearly chosen to be especially pretty, a night race at Singapore (with rain, just to give it all an extra shine), but the new level of detail was instantly visible. The Ego engine look is very much still in place; which generally means detailed cars on detailed tracks, but with less detailed scenery. I was playing on a PC build of the game though, so it will be interesting to see how

the game compares on PS4 and Xbox One. Regardless, the visuals are set to be something every player enjoys, even when moving at 200 mph.

There are plenty of other additions to the game alongside the return of, technically new, but familiar game modes, one particularly interesting development is an attempt to replicate the spectacle that is Formula 1. If previous Codemasters F1 titles have had


PreviewsF1 2015

one long running snag, its that they fail to really emulate the actual broadcasting style of the sport. While FIFA, NBA 2K and the like all strive to make the in-game product look like the TV spectacle, that style hasnt really been present since the SCE Studio Liverpool days of F1 videogames (and even then it was tetchy at best). F1 2015 is set to bring a bit of atmosphere, and occasion, to the series: Youve got these intro scenes, says Steven,

with (commentators) Anthony Davidson and David Croft. They have literally thousands of lines and they can talk about various different things that can happen over the course of a race weekend, to really set the scene.

(For example) they talk about the temperature of the track; going to Malaysia theyd say that this is somewhere warmer; or for some of the other climates, this could really put some

thermal degradation on the tires. It really sets the scene, you know what youre going to be expecting when you go into the race. Its difficult to describe, but all the build-up in something like the Sky Sports footage, you get to see that as an intro to the race. The guys working on that, doing the animation and camera angles, theyre phenomenal. Theres a clear sense of pride and intrigue from the Codemasters team on this regard, Id wager this is


PreviewsF1 2015

something theyve been aiming at for a while now. Whats more, intro sequences arent the only contextual improvements: something else which is quite key, and weve been asked for it many, many times, is podium sequences. Now, we get the full podium sequences; your driver, so lets say youre playing as Lewis Hamilton, hes spraying the champagne, thats a really nice thing to see after a hard fought victory.

There are other minor changes, like being able to directly communicate with your race engineer (which you can even do through voice commands now, although not a whole lot was said on the matter), but theres no doubt that these presentation changes will

go a long way to making the player feel as though they are an active part of a fictional F1 world. In many ways, that sexy sheen (a.k.a, money) is what makes Formula 1 stand out from the pack, so its great to see Codemasters finally properly address that. Which leads nicely to the elephant in the room, because its about time the company addressed something else. Why the awkward delay to F1 on new-gen platforms? This was one that took a really long time to make because we were building up from nothing, everything is brand new. Its taken some time, but we wanted to do it right. Having said that were also releasing it earlier in the 2015 season, so its earlier in that regard, but obviously weve had

the 14 season, and everyone remembers it quite recently, and can replay their favourite stories and favourite battles.

What Steven is talking about here is the inclusion of the 2014 F1 season on the F1 2015 disc (or, erm, download). He wouldnt answer me when I asked if the move was an apology for missing new-gen last year, but I think we can all make our own inferences. Regardless, its a cool feature: When you load up the game, you have a choice between playing in the 14 season or the 15 season, so think of it as two games. You have the entirety of 2014 and 2015 for every game mode. Which means more cars to drive, and theyve each got their own unique handling


PreviewsF1 2015

attributes, different straight line speeds, tyre management, things like that. So its good to have more stuff in there. The concept of playing an entire season modelled on 2014, then following it by playing the new season is rather exciting, so thats sure to be a secondary, but neat addition for many players.

This feels like a new start for Codemasters and its F1 series. My time with the game felt familiar, especially in relation

to the presentation and general style. Yet a nice selection of new features, and a reworked handling model that focuses on precision as well as controller/steering wheel parity (a key issue for some fans), could see F1 2015 turn a few heads. The earlier release date should help matters, although its worth noting that the June 12th date does mean there will be some slight differences between the in-game and real life vehicles. Nothing major, but Codemasters claims it will

patch these with an update shortly after release. The price of getting there early in a sport thats ever-changing. F1 2015, on the surface, feels like a bold new start for the series on new-gen, but its only when we get our hands on the final product that well be able to see if this is a true step up for the series rather than an incremental annual release with better graphics. At the moment, all signs are pointing to the former, so lets hope thats the case.


PreviewsDevouring Stars

When I first looked into Devouring Stars, the thing that caught my eye was Greek gods. Ive always liked Greek Mythology - though Im more of a greatest hits kind of guy. I can hum along to the tune and sing the chorus, but ask me my opinion on Zeus punk phase and I get nervous.

Chances are, I probably only know it if its appeared in an issue of Wonder Woman, Hercules or that brief spell where Ares was an Avenger.

Devouring Stars story focusses on the Titans - the gods that ruled before Zeus cast them into Tartarus, a realm below even

Hades. That pretty much sums up all of my knowledge on the Titans - none of which is helpful whilst playing Devouring Stars

So far, the dev teams work has focused on the gameplay and graphics more than anything, so the storyline isnt too important. You control Titans - which take

By Andrew Duncan


Release Dates

Nerial

BulkyPix, Plug In Digital

Strategy

PC


Devouring Stars Preview



the form of orbs that float around space. Using the mouse, you have to guide them over to various star fields where they begin gathering stars into their orbits. As you progress through the destiny grid - the pretty fancy looking level selector - you come across four factions which are trying to eradicate you and each other. The stars your Titans gather are used for battle - if you have 40 stars and they have 300 for instance, then youre going to lose and vice-versa. Denser nebulae give you more stars in a shorter time, meaning you have to strategise where to place each Titan under your control in each level. If you lose a Titan, you dont get them back until the next set of levels.

Most levels take the form of destroy all enemies and take over the portal, which gets



boring after too many levels, so some you can avoid the enemy and just take over the portal. The game is broken up with a few lines of story in between sets of levels. The destiny grid allows you to turn and rotate it; each view of the grid gives you a different set of levels by shifting where each dot (representing level sets) is. After each level, you select the next one - occasionally being given more than one path to select.

My favourite part of Devouring Stars has to be the soundtrack. Its purely piano music, played very well in various styles. The music for each level appears to be randomly selected and some of the tunes have very obvious

and jarring loop points the music fades to silence before starting from the beginning again. Apart from that, I do enjoy it very much it is quite soothing whilst youre chasing Titans through space.

Speaking of chasing Titans will only attack one another if they are within range. Once an AI Titan begins to run away, I found myself getting annoyed that mine would chase it. Because once it began to run, it wouldnt stop until mine stopped or turned around - if I was busy on another section of the map then I could waste minutes trying to get them close to the portal again. Movement isnt swift, though it really

shouldnt be. These beings are using stars as weapons and are moving (subjectively) very quickly as they do so. But as a videogame player, some levels can last a while.

Devouring Stars looks and sounds very nice, with enjoyable gameplay that wont tax you too hard. There could be a little more variety, but that may come during development, as hopefully will a fix to the run away mechanic. With the Steam Achievements, it will require multiple playthroughs to fully complete, but a single play through will last you about five hours. And at the current price of 6.99, thats not too shabby.


PreviewsWarlocks vs Shadows

These days, games take things at a slower pace. Were far removed from the 80s; back then, there were no Farming Simulators or Electroplanktons games, at home and in the arcade, were explosive, quick, and frenzied. Not to say this trend has died out you will certainly find

thrills and explosions in games, but youll usually get to them after 45 minutes of cutscenes and storytelling. Dont get me wrong here; its important for games to tell stories if they can, but sometimes, you just want to get right to the action. Developers Frozen District look to provide the

action right from the get-go with their Early Access release Warlocks vs Shadows.

Described as an action RPG by the developers, a more apt description for Warlocks vs Shadows might be mental. This is an arena brawler where the action (and projectiles)

By Ben McCurry


Release Dates

Frozen District

ONE MORE LEVEL

RPG

PC


Warlocks vs Shadows Preview



fly thick and fast, as you mow down an army of enemies with your powers; which, across the different characters, may take shape as a quick dash, projectile fire, or a PK Thunder-style move that rains down Hell on your enemies. The gameplay here is time-tested; theres nothing new to see in this game, and youre likely to be vaguely reminded of the Subspace Emissary mode from Super Smash Bros. Brawl, but its undeniable that while Warlocks vs Shadows doesnt reinvent the wheel, it sends it racing down the road at 80 miles an hour.

The RPG element that comes into play is not as sophisticated as in other titles; its the RPG-lite style of progression that has been bleeding into most games these days. Its simple; the more you play, the better your character gets earn enough EXP, and you can level up one of your moves and your HP. Simple stuff, but again; just because its been done before doesnt make the inclusion here bad. Adding this mechanic actually serves to make the single-player game more addictive; it encourages that oh, just one more level... mentality before long, levelling your characters

skills up to maximum will become an obsession.

The skeleton of the game is simple, but this serves to make it elegant, not trite. You battle against waves of monsters known as Shadows (think Heartless from Kingdom Hearts if they existed in the World of Goo universe) in a 2D arena with randomly shaped solid objects scattered about that you can jump onto, hide behind, or use to get onto higher

ground. You kill them using a range of four moves, which are activated with Z, X, C, and V but the moves will differ across the characters the pyromancer favours a straight shot, while the ice princess will use a spreader as their main attacks. Once you vanquish your enemies, theyll drop health and equippable stat boosters. Thats about it; this is a concise summation of this game. Everything described here might seem simple, but it just



works so well. It might sound light on content; however, its quite a fun game as it is now.

However, this only extends to single player. What begins as quite a fun game on your own becomes an absolute headache with a friend. I tried playing this game with a mate and the experience was rife with problems. 50% of the time, the online lobby screen locked up. The two-player game itself was also rife with glitches for instance, if the host dies, the second player can play on, but everything on screen just freezes; all enemies become easy pickings, and the challenge becomes completely non-existent. Also infuriating is how

the game can mistakenly report a game over state when at least one character is still alive. I know the games only in early access, but still, playing online co-op at this stage in the game is extremely disappointing.

The cast of characters featured in Warlocks vs Shadows, for a low-budget independent title, are fantastic. Sometimes, the characters in games like this tend to be afterthoughts. Here, they are well crafted, and, to my surprise, well-voiced. There are ten characters in total (five of which must be unlocked), all of whom are creative and intriguing enough to support the game and entice you to try everyone out. Of note is Jake

the pyromancer who is followed around by his pet phoenix; he is easily the most charming and endearing of the lot.

What might annoy some players is the difficulty. Many players truly appreciate a deep challenge, but even they might be put off by the swarm-style gameplay that is offered. In even the earliest levels of the game, enemies will come in high volume, and it is incredibly easy to be overwhelmed. You need to attack carefully, stay on the move, and make sure the shadows have no opportunity to gang up on you, otherwise its game over. Difficult it may be and believe me, some will not appreciate the



challenge you will never just breeze through this game.

Finally, while the art direction in this game is okay, it never truly feels special. Warlocks vs Shadows features more of the same faux-8-bit graphics that is common with inexpensive Steam releases, but it doesnt do anything colourful with this gimmick to make it stand out from the pack. The graphics and backgrounds seem to blend into one, and the music is terribly generic-sounding. The art direction, then, is fairly uninspiring, but oddly, this works in favour of the game youll be spending so much time blasting those damned

shadows and being wrapped up in the chaos that youll scarcely notice either of them.

While the online multiplayer definitely could use some love, Warlocks vs Shadows still has a lot of potential in its early release state: the single

player gameplay is frenetic, challenging, and arcade-like, the characters are likeable, and the RPG-lite elements make the game even more compelling. My advice to Frozen District? This is a solid foundation; build on it.


PreviewsKnights of Pen & Paper 2

Tabletop games are big business. In 2000, D&D creators Wizards of the Coast released the most comprehensive pen-and-paper game survey ever, finding that 2.5 million Americans regularly played at least one type of tabletop game. Massive numbers, and yet momentum for the genre hasnt been slowing down; $40 million

was made in 2013 off these games. So, why am I plying you with seemingly unrelated figures about another industry? Simple: its very profitable, and Paradox Games decided that they wanted a slice of the pie. They released the tabletop-inspired Knights of Pen & Paper in 2012 the expanded edition failed to cut much ice with us last month. However, now that

the game is back for a second outing made by Kyy Games, I ask; have the Knights of Pen & Paper become mightier than the sword, or did they run out of ink halfway through?

Knights of Pen & Paper 2 uses an interesting framing device to anchor the story and gameplay. The game begins with a man sitting at a table, engaging you

By Ben McCurry


Release Dates

Paradox Interactive

Paradox Interactive

RPG

PC


Knights of Pen & Paper 2 Preview



directly, ready to narrate your journey. Thats right: he is the dungeon master and you are quite literally playing through a tabletop RPG as one would in the real world. The dungeon master tells the story, and the fictional world fills up the room you sit in as if by magic. This may be the most realistic, grounded, and also interesting depiction of an RPG ever Knights, as a whole, feels all the more interesting for it.

Aside from being a tribute to tabletop, Knights of Pen & Paper 2 is partially based on some of the most entertaining parts of RPG video games. The game allows you to build your own characters from scratch with races like human and elf, classes like warrior, mage, thief and even personality types spanning jock to lab rat to hipster, there are many combinations here to make your characters (and the game) your own. Once you select what kind of characters you want, you can then take up quests and battles here, quests are nothing more than a series of battles strung together with a bit of travelling in between. While that may sound dull and uninspired in other games; in this instance,



this isnt the case. It keeps things simple to avoid getting bogged down in technical, over-written story nonsense, which ends up making for a much more mechanics-focused RPG experience.

Battling in this game is already quite well implemented, even if the game is still only in Early Access. Your party of up to 5 characters can take on pre-selected groups of enemies in the different locales of the world of Paperos, where your adventure is set. You take them out using a range of upgradable attacks, either magic or melee, all of which can be strengthened to your

liking one of my characters was a human warrior, and I favoured the strong lunge overall. In truth, theres nothing groundbreaking about the turn-based battle system on offer here, but this game absolutely gets the fundamentals of battling right, where the action is slick and fluid to the point

where even the easiest battles feel fun. Leveling up your party of five will soon become an obsession as the XP and the gold starts to roll in. Knights is not an innovative game by a long chalk, but the battling has been done so sharply that youll have too much fun to care about any derivation.



Of course, youll get your chance to explore dungeons, and these are perhaps the games greatest appeal, as they offer a marathon battling experience in which you decimate every enemy, and plunder every bit of loot. This is unadulterated RPG action at its finest bringing a dungeon to its knees will prove challenging for any seasoned gamer, but is immensely satisfying. I would wager that when this game finally sees the light of day, dungeon-crawling will be worth the price of admission alone.

Finally, as you may have noticed by looking at the pictures that punctuate this preview,

Knights of Pen & Paper 2 looks gorgeous the fun and carefree sense of adventure that the game offers is accentuated with the sumptuous cartoon-style aesthetic that makes Knights leap off the computer screen. Its a visual feast, and in playing this game, youll find yourself gorging on deep, bright colours and cute, endearing little sprites. However, if that didnt whet your appetite, then youll find yourself sated by the stellar soundtrack, which complements the game perfectly, conjuring up all the right emotions one would expect to feel while playing an RPG; fear, excitement, and joy. The artistic direction was

one of the reasons why I was always so happy to get back to playing this game Knights of Pen & Paper 2 is certainly very easy on the eyes and ears at this stage of development.

Knights of Pen & Paper 2 gets very few things wrong if you have even the slightest interest in RPG games, look into this fun and refreshing title when it comes out. Also, do not mistake the basic approach of this game as lacking content Knights keeps it simple in order to be a truly elegant and sophisticated game, and proof that you dont need a million and one gimmicks to make a great title.


PreviewsShallow Space: Insurgency

Its very early days for Shallow Space, so much so that its Indiegogo campaign is still running at time of writing. However, they offered us a chance to preview it and we

took it! The build we took a look at was only a single-level demo, but it shows promise.

Shallow Space is an RTS which sees you commanding a few

flotilla of space ships made up of a few wings each. You can command each flotilla or each wing separately, moving them in three dimensions across the map. If you want to do a Kirk

By Tanner Schelle


Release Dates

Mawhrin-Skel

Mawhrin-Skel

RTS

PC

2015

Shallow Space: Insurgency Preview


PreviewsShallow Space: Insurgency

vs Khan-type maneuver, you can! Kinda - its mainly long-range battles at this point, with your ships opening fire with lasers and rockets across vasti distances if you want them to.

The graphics are the strongest point of this game at the moment in all honesty. Theres too little substance to judge it properly, but even now the ship models are something special. The team at Special Circumstances have put a lot of work into the detail of the ships, which they tactfully show off in the tutorial videos, and can be seen with the level of zoom available in-game.

However, this does mean the gameplay is the weak point. As

it stands, the game is boring as it is so threadbare. It is still very early days and they assure us that more features are coming, but this is little more than a tech demo. There will be an option to speed things up, but in this build it is simply too monotonous. I kept letting myself get distracted while my flotilla were slowly making their way across the map to take on the enemy ships that were trying to destroy the station in the middle. Combat is similarly tedious, as it is all automatic. You can set the ships to defend themselves or attack, with some ships having longer-range attacks than others, but apart from that there isnt much strategy to it yet. Its easy to lose track of ships if watching from afar, especially

as there is largely no reason to control individual wings.

The music is repetitive but largely forgettable and easily muted - hopefully this will change too. Sounds from ships only occurs when youre zoomed close to the action, so if youre watching an overview of the battle you are left with basically silence.

Shallow Space: Insurgency has promise - especially since theyre so early in development and have made promises. Theres a lot of work that needs doing, but Ill reiterate - it currently looks really good. The free demo is available here so you can give it a try yourself.


PreviewsKilling Floor 2

Its the second black screen crash Ive had in the night. Im tired, Im frustrated, and I am sorely regretting recommending this title to my friends. I wanted a fun co-op experience. I wanted a fresh shooter. I wanted a goddamn game that wouldnt crash every ten minutes. Exhausted, I go to bed, wondering if there will ever be a time when this prototype will be good. That was some ten years ago, after I first played Killing Floor 1.0, an incredibly buggy and unpolished mess of a mod that had only a glimmer of potential.

Be it by coincidence or design, the Killing Floor series is the very embodiment of iteration. In every incarnation, the player must battle increasingly difficult waves of monstrous specimens and slowly upgrade their arsenal. Both the original mod

By Ian Kuan


Release Dates

Tripwire Interactive

Tripwire Interactive

Survival Horror

PC


Killing Floor 2 Preview



and retail game have mirrored its layered gameplay: Killing Floor has received countless updates that have consistently propelled it forward into newer and better directions, one patch at a time. It only makes sense then, that Killing Floor 2, the long awaited sequel, begins humbly and builds itself up through Early Access.

In its current state, Killing Floor 2 feels like a foundation. With only four perks, three maps, and a single game mode, it severely lacks raw content. However, everything that is present is

polished beyond anything I have seen in Early Access thus far. Menus and UIs are slick, the visuals are top notch, weapons handle exceptionally well, and the specimens are

terrifying. There are no place holders, missing textures, or any of the other hallmarks of a work in progress. Hell, there are barely any bugs, which is practically unheard of in most



multiplayer releases these days. In fact, what little Killing Floor 2 offers currently has a downright impressive amount of detail in its current state.

Perks, originally capped at level six, now have twenty five levels to them, with every five levels yielding a choice between two distinct bonuses, such as faster reloading or increased semi-automatic fire damage. Player characters have also been given a serious face lift, with distinct models housing a bevy of cosmetic options and a diverse roster of voices, from gruff security specialist to sarcastic death metal aficionado to dosh obsessed day trader.

Even the levels themselves brim with tiny details and an almost excessive amount of interactivity. And by interactivity, I mean anything that isnt nailed down can be smashed, knocked over, and otherwise abused in the course of a match.

Of course, a horde mode co-op game is only as good as the monsters it brings to the table, and this is where Killing Floor 2 shows quality that is enviable even in a finished game. The zombie-like zeds of Killing Floor return for the sequel with enhanced AI behaviors. Theyre not any more intelligent, but they now change their tactics as difficulty increases.

The pallid clot morphs from laughable distraction to ducking, weaving, sprinting monster once the difficulty is cranked up. I wont list all of the behavior changes for brevitys sake, but suffice it to say that they are as impressive as they are harrowing.

Though polished to a shine, Killing Floor 2 owes its focused and finely tuned gameplay to a very small release. Hardcore co-op shooter enthusiasts and Killing Floor diehards will have a safe investment in Tripwires latest effort, but many will find its limited content lacking.


ReviewsWesterado: Double Barreled

I admittedly didnt have a lot of faith in Westerado: Double Barreled when it was given to me for review. Made by newcomers Ostrich Banditos, their backlog includes the quirky Flash game High Vaultage, and nothing else. I thought, based on that, there was no chance of this game being anything more than a

glorified web game selling for full price. Oh, how wrong I was.

Westerado: Double Barreled begins with an unassuming scene: you play as a nameless cowboy on the family ranch, and, like many great games before it, the action starts in your bedroom. Your mother asks you to herd buffalo with

your brother, and you do its a classic calm before the storm introduction where youre shown the heros comfortable life before everything is ruined. Your life at home is quiet and easy; that is, until it gets burned to the ground by an unseen marauder, taking your family with it. This takes our hero on a whirlwind tour of revenge, as he

By Ben McCurry


Release Dates

Ostrich Banditos

Adult Swim Games

Adventure

PC

Out Now (Worldwide)

Westerado: Double Barreled Review



tries to piece together the clues of the arson attack, the identity of his mother and brothers killer, while also helping a few others along the way.

In keeping with the epic western-style story, Westerado is a wide-open sandbox game; you have the aforementioned main story to negotiate, but that isnt all: the game is bursting with side-quests, land to explore, and you can even play 5-card draw. For a little game on Steam released by a new company like Ostrich Banditos, this is absolutely staggering. Whats more is that not only does Westerado aim high; it hits the mark like

saliva in a Saloons spittoon. The main story is a blast to play through, and helping random civilians throughout the land is actually gratifying. In other games, the side quests prove to be a massive pain in the neck, but here, the little side characters are so charming such as mad old Rancher Cobb and Miss Tress that we are motivated to finish their missions just to see them get the closure they deserve.

Visually, Westerado is a complete revelation. The game is rendered in faux-8-bit style think NES, but much cleaner and sharper looking. This has obviously been done before by

many other games, but this is only half of the story. Where Westerado really comes into its own is with colour. This game evokes the Old West so sensuously with a blend of deep oranges, browns, pinks, and yellows; the game just explodes from the screen, and the setting comes alive more vibrantly than any other game of its type. The cutscenes also deserve a special mention, as theyre framed using a film reel effect, in homage to old spaghetti westerns. An open-world game set in the Wild West will inevitably draw some harsh comparisons to the Red Dead series, but, when it comes to art direction, Red



Dead Redemption wishes it looked as good as Westerado.

Like all cowboys, from Jesse James to Revolver Ocelot; you carry a six-shooter, and you can pull your gun on anyone. Seriously: from the town sheriffs to random civilians to your own uncle, you can whip out your gun as a means of intimidation, or you can shoot them dead and take their money, even going as far as doing a bank job. This is a neat addition to the game, but strictly pointless as theres really no reason to play the villain; especially since the game positions you as the

hero after the ranch fire. Of course, there isnt a right way to play the game, but if you play it villainously, you wont feel like youre getting all you can from your experience.

However, using the gun proves to be a little difficult in the early going, and takes a bit of time to get used to. In other games, the operation of a gun is drastically simplified all you have to do is aim and fire, and the computer automates reloading and cocking for you. Here in Westerado, you have to do it all yourself; pull out the gun (or holster it), cock it,

pull it, then reload manually. On one hand, the system is effective as it encourages players to not just spray bullets, instead to be economical; but on the other hand, this system can be quite stiff to use and difficult to pull off quickly, especially in the middle of heated gun battles where your reactions must be swift.

Ostrich Banditos perfectly evoked the atmosphere of the Old West with Westerados soundtrack. As youd expect, it leans heavily on fiddle and harmonica compositions, but, surprisingly, they havent done



it on the cheap the music has actual depth. For instance, the strains of the opening theme are genuinely memorable, as is the sad reprise of it used when you die, and its re-purposing as the overworld music, which makes exploring a much more peaceful and enjoyable affair. Also of note on the soundtrack are Riverside House and the Fort Motors theme; especially Fort Motors, which, like the majority of the soundtrack, stands on its own not just as a video game theme but as a piece of music Westerados soundtrack hits a certain audio sweet spot that will thoroughly enchant its players.

Its all the little touches that make Westerado so special.

You can carry a range of guns; not just a pistol, but a rifle, and a shotgun too; all useful for different missions or however youd prefer to play the game. Youre able to customise your cowboy with a range of different outfits and bandanas until he looks right for you. If youre tired of the main game, you can even go rogue and become an outlaw; draw your gun, kill everyone, rob a bank, and walk away into the sunset; its all possible. This is all wrapped together with the games wry

sense of humour; for instance, a major town is called Clintwood after the mayor, East, and, as previously mentioned, you can kill your uncle doing so leaves behind a bag of money, and...his ghost, who you can continue to talk with normally. If youre a complete sadist, you can shoot the ghost of your uncle, which leaves holes in his floating presence. Its always the little things which make a game brilliant, and Ostrich Banditos has achieved that in spades.

9.5/10Westerado: Double Barreled

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