Category: GamerSushi News

God Helped Me, I Played the Battlefield: Hardline Beta and (Mostly) Had Fun

battlefield hardline beta impressions

Over the weekend I put a few hours into the Battlefield: Hardline beta on the PC and, despite all the misgivings I had going into it I actually had a good time. The game is still several months out from release (Battlefield: Hardline comes out October 21) so having a honest to goodness beta instead of marketing tool disguised as one scored EA/Visceral some points. The Battlefield: Hardline beta only features one map (High Tension) and two modes (Blood Money and Heist) and a small selection of guns and gadgets but the infantry-focused combat might have won me over. Continue reading God Helped Me, I Played the Battlefield: Hardline Beta and (Mostly) Had Fun

Modder Restores Watch Dogs to its E3 2012 Demo Glory

Between its debut at E3 2012 and its final release on May 27, Watch Dogs received a noticeable downgrade in the looks department. An intrepid modder over on Guru3D.com found some unused files in the games install folder that restores Watch Dogs to its former E3 2012 visual glory as well as fixing some of the console port-itis the PC version suffers from.

Sony E3 Press Conference Round Up

Playstation E3 2014

It’s time for the Sony E3 2014 Press Briefing and I am here on the couch ready to have my mind blown. Sony set the bar last year at E3 and after a solid showing from Microsoft earlier today, not to mention all the big changes the Big M has made in recent weeks, the pressure is on Sony to prove last year is not a fluke.

I am going to run this as it goes, so bear with me here. Continue reading Sony E3 Press Conference Round Up

The Dork Knight Rises in Watch Dogs

Aiden Pearce Dork

Aiden Pearce is a dork. He’s also “The Vigilante”, the hacker who takes matters into his own hands on the streets of Chicago in Watch Dogs, the new hit from Ubisoft. Watch Dogs is a fun, enjoyable take on the open-world genre, even if it lacks in genuine originality or innovation. But the more I’ve played, the more I’ve enjoyed my time in our newest digital sandbox.

Except where Aiden is concerned. The gameplay of Watch Dogs is pretty damn good, but the story and Aiden’s character are pretty horrendous. Slight spoilers for Watch Dogs ahead: Continue reading The Dork Knight Rises in Watch Dogs

Get Wild With This New Trailer For The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

Just because nobody seems to even care about waiting for E3 anymore, CD Projekt RED drop a metric ton of info about the Witcher 3: Wild Hunt earlier today, including this awesome trailer. It’s actual in-game footage (albeit with fancy cuts) as opposed to the CG-only trailer from last year. It has everything you’d expect from a Witcher game and it also looks super rad. I know CD Projekt RED said they’re drawing some inspiration from Skyrim this time around and I can definitely see that. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt will come out on February 25, 2015 and will be available on the PlayStation 4, PC and Xbox One.

Battlefield 4 Getting “Netcode” Patch on All Platforms

After weeks of testing in the CTE (Community Test Environment) the Battlefield 4 “netcode” improvements are being rolled out to every version of the game today in a patch according to a new post on Battlelog. The “netcode” patch improves (among other things) the server tick-rate, or how often you computer receives new information from the server. Battlefield 4 previously had a tick-rate of 10hz, or ten updates a second (industry standard for FPS games is 30-60).

Even the Odds With a Batman: Arkham Knight Gameplay Trailer

We you perhaps hoping for a little gameplay footage from the upcoming current-gen only Batman: Arkham Knight today? Well, you’re in luck because we have exactly that for you. “Evening the Odds” shows off a bit of everything from Knight, including the Batmobile, gliding, and transitioning from the Batmobile to gliding. It all looks pretty great, too. Have a watch:

Batman: Arkham Knight is a very pretty looking game, no doubt helped along by the fact that it isn’t cross-gen. What did you guys think of this short glimpse of Arkham Knight gameplay?

Halo 5: Guardians Announced, Hitting Fall 2015

halo 5 reveal

In what is probably the least exciting Halo game announcement of all time, Bonnie Ross, General Manager of 343 Industries, took over the Xbox Wire to reveal Halo 5: Guardians which will be coming to the Xbox One in the Fall of 2015.

Continuing the story of Master Chief from where we left him in Halo 4, Halo 5: Guardians is being built with a completely new engine and will deliver a 60 frame-per-second performance, a first for the series. A Halo TV series is also teased to be released in a similar time-frame to Halo 5: Guardians.

The Spartan on the top of the box art will apparently be a new character according to series Executive Producer Josh Holmes on Twitter.

Microsoft is certainly getting a lot out of the way for E3. Typically a Halo reveal is a big to-do and Bonnie Ross promises that more will be revealed at E3 this year, but I can’t help but feel a little deflated that a game series that once commanded attention is now relegated to blog post unveilings.

Source – Xbox Wire

Far Cry 4 Coming November 18 2014, Takes Place in the Himalayas

far cry 4 reveal

Do you know what the definition of insanity is? Not getting a sequel to 2012’s stellar hit Far Cry 3. In a surprise leak/announcement today, Ubisoft officially unveiled Far Cry 4 which will be coming to the (deep breath here) PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on November 18, 2014.

Not much is currently known about Far Cry 4, other than that it takes place in a fictional region of the Himalayas called Kyrat and you’ll be fighting the reign of a self-appointed king. You can feast your peepers on the box art for Far Cry 4 by clicking the previous words. Looks more like a Pink King than a Yellow King to me, but maybe we’ll go to Carcosa in Far Cry 5.

Far Cry 3 was one of my favorite games of the last generation and if Ubisoft can turn around some of the less appealing aspects of that game (nonsensical “white savior” story and a rather bland second half) then we’ve got a huge hit on our hands. If the logical progression from flamethrower dubstep is elephant-riding RPG madness, then consider me sold.

Who’s on board for a little more Far Cry when it hits every consoles except the poor Wii U this November?

Source – UbiBlog

Microsoft Shipping a $399 Xbox One Without Kinect in June

Xbox One 399 no Kinect

Phil Spencer, Microsoft’s new head of all things Xbox, posted an update on the Xbox Wire about changes coming to the Xbox One in June, including a new $399 price point without a Kinect in the box and access to popular video apps like Netflix without requiring an Xbox Live Gold subscription.

This is another case of Microsoft backtracking on the Xbox One, which started out with a mandatory Kinect, an always-online Internet connection and aggressive DRM. With this most recent update, just about a year after its announcement, the Xbox One no longer requires any of these things. It’s a win for consumers, certainly, but not for Microsoft’s previous vision for the console.

The most curious aspect of this for me is that this makes the Xbox One cheaper in Canada than the PlayStation 4, which saw a $50 price bump earlier this year. The $399 Xbox One without Kinect will be available on June 9.

What do you guys think about this news? Does this new $399 Xbox One without a Kinect make the console more appealing to you?

Source – Xbox Wire

Valiant Hearts Trailer Brings 2D Adventure to World War One

Built on the same UbiArt engine as the recently released Child of Light, Valiant Hearts is an upcoming 2D adventure game by Ubisoft Montpellier where you control four different characters and their faithful dog through several puzzles set during the first World War.

World War One is not a setting that gets explored a lot in video games, but Valiant Hearts looks like it will use that dark time in history to tell some pretty heart-breaking stories about love and sacrifice. Take a look at the trailer below:

How does this look to you guys? Are you on board? Did you try Child of Light? Valiant Heart releases on June 25 via the PlayStation Network, Xbox LIVE and various PC digital distribution platforms.

Nintendo’s Financial Slump and Pokemon Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire Announcement

pokemon omega ruby pokemon alpha sapphire

Today is a strange day to be a Nintendo stalwart and a Pokemon fan. Nintendo’s fiscal year ended on March 31, 2014 and the company is not looking good right now. Due to lower than expected sales numbers on both the Wii U and the 3DS, Nintendo has fallen below their projected income for the last fiscal year, and that’s even after taking into account the fact that they lowered their projections back in January of this year. With Nintendo once again skipping E3 and maintaining that they will not be showing off new hardware, one has to wonder what they plan on doing to right the ship.

Of course, if things are looking down a little Pokemon can always give you a nice bump. This morning, Nintendo announced Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, updated versions of the classic Game Boy Advanced titles that released in 2003. Promising an “epic new story” in a “dramatic new world”, both games will be hitting the 3DS/2DS this November. Long-time series fans will recall that the original Ruby and Sapphire games took place in Hoenn, but speculation about the potential Mega Legendaries on the game’s cover art has pointed to the fact that this game might be in a new location.

What do you guys think about this news? Sad for Nintendo? Excited for more Pokemon? Sound off!

Source – GoNintendo, Nintendo, Eurogamer, Pokemon.com

A Kotaku Reader Asks: Who is Samus Aran?

metroid samus aran

Of all of the characters in Nintendo’s stable of properties, there are none as intriguing as Samus Aran, the power-armor wearing space-faring bounty hunter from the Metroid series.

After 25 years it seems that not even the company that created her has a firm grasp on who they want Samus to be. She’s either a tough, no-nonsense ass-kicker or the person we saw in Other M. Kotaku reader InvadingDuck wrote up a decent sized essay on the history to the character and her portrayal from game to game and it’s definitely worth a read if you’re a fan of the series or the character of Samus.

Personally the Samus that always stuck with me was the one from Metroid Prime. As InvadingDuck mentions in his article, you can read Space Pirate data entries on Samus where she’s depicted as a nightmare-figure of sorts, a nearly mythological entity that can rip through their outposts almost unscathed. True, this version of Samus didn’t have much personality but it was certainly more palatable than the way Other M handled her.

So what do you guys think about InvadingDuck’s post? Who is Samus Aran to you?

Source – Kotaku

Bungie’s Destiny Will Cost Activision $500 Million

bungie destiny

According to a story published by Reuters, Bungie’s upcoming sci-fi shooter RPG thing Destiny could wind up costing Activision Blizzard $500 million in development and promotional costs when all is said and done.

The next game out Bungie in their post-Halo days is no doubt a big deal, but I don’t think anyone’s leaning on its potential success quite as hard as Activision. With Call of Duty: Ghosts’ weak showing last year, Activision is no doubt hungry for their next hit shooter. $500 million could wind up making Destiny the most expensive video game in history, which is a significant gamble for a company that often seems like it likes to play it safe.

$500 million is quite an insane number to be spending on development and marketing, but a lot of that is going towards the development of Destiny’s next-gen engine (which is in-house, a tradition for Bungie) and a lot of back end infrastructure costs. I don’t know about you guys, but with $500 million behind it, Destiny’s servers better not crap out on launch day.

What do you guys think? Is Destiny worth this price tag? Are you going to pick up the game on September 9, and for what platform?

Source – Reuters

The Hardcore Tactics of Insurgency

insurgency game

It just occured to me that I’ve been playing Insurgency for the past few months but never made a post about it, which is a shame because this is a damn fine shooter.

Insurgency is a “realistic” team-based first-person-shooter based on an old Half Life mod. You play as either Security or the Insurgents in several gameplay modes but the kicker here is that the game is pretty unforgiving if you’re used to kill feeds, regenerating health or hit markers because it doesn’t have any of that.

The UI in Insurgency is minimal to the point of being non-existent, but for some reason that wasn’t a real barrier for me and actually makes Insurgency one of the most thrilling mutliplayer shooters I’ve ever tried. Because enemies aren’t called out for you, you have to move carefully around the environment, using the lean ability to peek around corners because one or two good shots will end you. So far my favorite weapons are the single-shot designated marksmen rifles, but I’ve been just as effective with the assault rifles or even pistols. Continue reading The Hardcore Tactics of Insurgency

Get Your Mario Kart 8 Details From This Weird Nintendo Direct

I’m not going to lie, I really like Nintendo Directs, but I feel like this one for Mario Kart 8 is like one of those Internet videos that people find really funny for some reason but I just don’t understand the humor (this is how I feel about Mega 64, for example). This is one weird Nintendo Direct, but we’re getting some hot Mario Kart 8 info so I’m down with it. It’s almost 40 minutes long, so make sure you’re sitting comfortably.

I think the most appealing part about this is the free game that you get for registering Mario Kart 8 with Club Nintendo, although there’s plenty of great stuff coming in Mario Kart 8 as well. The game looks fantastic and I’m really glad Nintendo is moving towards fully orchestrated scores and away from the mostly-awful MIDI tracks that plagued Mario Kart Wii. How is Mario Kart 8 shaping up for you? Pre-order confirmed?

What Games Can We Expect to See at E3 2014?

games of e3 2014

E3 2014 is going to be a fairly exciting one as this is the first convention since all the next gen consoles have launched. Last year was focused on drumming up anticipation but now it’s up to Sony, Microsoft and the third parties to hawk their wares and get us all frothed up with excitement. Nintendo can come too, I guess.

If you’re wondering what games will be at E3 2014, IGN has a handy list which includes some obvious ones (Destiny, Dragon Age) a few unexpected ones (it’s too soon for a Battlefield 5 announcement, EA) and a couple obscure ones (although who isnt excited about Xblaze Code Embryo?).

Personally I’d like to see a bit more of The Division and Telltale’s Game of Thrones and Borderlands titles. I think it’s a bit too early still to see any of EA’s upcoming Star Wars efforts, but that would be a nice surprise. Which games are you excited to learn more about at E3?

Source – IGN

GamerSushi Asks: What Are You Playing Heart of the Cards Edition

hearthstone

It’s been a while since we’ve checked in with you, Sushians, to ask the age old question: what are you playing? We’re in-between bouts of big releases right now, so it’s a good time to take stock and see how your 2014 is shaping up.

Personally I’ve been playing plenty of Hearthstone: Heroes of WarCraft, Blizzard’s new online collectible card game (or CCG for the purpose of brevity). This is the first CCG I’ve gotten into in earnest and I’m starting to realize just how freaking bad I am at them. I’ve won one Ranked match in Hearthstone and other players regularly take me apart. I’m still learning the ropes though, so I’m confident I’ll at least get one other win soon.

Other than that I tried out a couple conversion mods for Sins of a Solar Empire. There’s the always classic Star Wars mod Sins of a Galactic Empire but I also tried out Dawn of the Reapers, a Mass Effect-themed one. Dawn of the Reapers is in very early alpha but the Reaper models are in there as well as most of the Council/Cerberus ships. I’m definitely looking forward to the end product on that one.

So what are you guys playing?