Category: Sandbox

GamerSushi Asks: The End of AAA?

Assassin's Creed 3

In my eyes, Assassin’s Creed is one of the more notable examples of why publishers shouldn’t be afraid to take great risks on a new franchise. It was an IP that nobody had ever experienced, and now it’s one of the powerhouse releases each year, right alongside Call of Duty and Halo. Anybody that has concerns about whether or not new franchises can enter the scene with the other AAA giants need look no further than Altair, Ezio and their ilk.

But is AAA going to be as big of a factor in the next generation as it has been for the current one? Assassin’s Creed 3 Creative Director Alex Hutchinson doesn’t think so. Because of free to play, the rising costs of AAA development and more, Alex joins the ranks of other people that feel that at some point, there will be a change. Only Alex thinks this is coming rather soon. A quote, from the latest issue of Edge.

We’re the last of the dinosaurs. We’re still the monster triple-A game with very large teams [and] multiple studios helping out on different bits. There are fewer and fewer of these games being made, especially as the middle has fallen out.

So, Alex thinks that AAA games are going the way of the buffalo so quickly that Assassin’s Creed 3 will be one of the last? While I agree that at some point the industry is going to have to change to get in line with the expectations of the consumer, I think this is reaching just a bit. If anything, AAA games are bigger now than ever, and only seem to be ramping up at the moment.

I think sometime in the next gen, we’ll see that fizzle out some, but definitely not on the timetable that Hutchison predicts. What do you guys think? Are we looking down the barrel at the end of AAA games? Do you think the industry will change at all? When? Go!

Source – CVG

Day Z Makes the Jump to Standalone Game

day z standalone

Day Z, the mod scene’s recent obsession, is now wearing the big boy pants: that’s right, Day Z will be a standalone game developed by Bohemia Interactive and headed up by Dean “Rocket” Hall.

The new Day Z will follow the Minecraft route where people can purchase an Alpha that will be continuously and quickly iterated upon. Day Z the mod will exist alongside the full title, and will continue to be improved upon as well. There isn’t much more information availible at this time, but the new Day Z has its own website, so check there for updates.

It’s kind of crazy to think that almost three months after our interview with Dean Hall, when his mod was just gaining steam, Day Z is fast on its way to becoming a fully-fledged game. Not that being a mod was a knock against it, but I think Bohemia is moving in the right direction by turning it into a Minecraft-style title with a community Alpha. This allows the game to retain the same feel while at the same time moving it out of the mod scene (and of course, generating new income).

As always though, we’d love to get your thoughts on this development. Is Day Z becoming a standalone game good news for the players? Should it have stayed a mod indefinitely? Could this be a move by Bohemia to get out ahead of the recently announced The War Z, or has this been in the cards for a while?

Source – Day Z Dev Blog, Day Z Game

Assassin’s Creed 3 Drops the Hammer with the AnvilNext Trailer

No fooling, guys, this game just needs to come out. While you shouldn’t take my word on anything Assassin’s Creed related, given that I am a one-man Assassin’s Creed hype machine, you can’t deny that Assassin’s Creed 3 looks like an awesome leap up from 2. And when you consider how much 2 improved over the original, I expect that my mind will be blown, a phrase I don’t toss around lightly.

Ubisoft just put out a trailer for the new engine powering Assassin’s Creed 3, AnvilNext, and it looks hot. Seriously, check it out.

I do like that the music swell early in the trailer is accompanied by shots of people doing menial tasks. Regardless, I’m still high on the hype for this game and I can’t wait to get my grubby mitts on it in October. What do you guys think? Does Assassin’s Creed 3 continue to impress? How do you think AnvilNext will translate on the PC version?

Mass Effect 3 Goes Deep with Leviathan Single-Player DLC

mass effect 3 leviathan dlc

We’ve gotten a hefty share of free (and excellent) multiplayer DLC for Mass Effect 3, but outside of the Extended Cut, the single-player add-ons have been a little lacking. There have been rumors floating around for a while about single-player DLC and at EA’s Summer Showcase, BioWare officially announced the Leviathan DLC for Mass Effect 3.

Taking place during the mid-game, Leviathan features Shepard and crew hunting for an ancient construct that is said to be a Reaper killer. Obviously Shepard and co. would like to have that in their back pocket, so you get to take the Normandy on a Lair of the Shadow Broker-sized adventure to recover Leviathan and use it in the war against the Reapers.

The DLC will add in new areas on the Citadel and a couple new weapons, the AT-12 Raider Shotgun and the M-55 Argus Assault Rifle (both of which were previously only available as pre-order bonuses). Leviathan has no firm release date other than “summer”, but when it drops it will be 10 dollars, or 800 Microsoft FunBux.

Despite the misgivings about Mass Effect 3’s endgame, the combat is engaging enough that I wouldn’t mind embarking on a new aventure with my bro Garrus. BioWare is said to be tuning Leviathan to address concerns that Mass Effect 3’s combat was too easy, so we’ll see whether or not I bring my Insanity Shepard into the fray. What about you guys? Are you going to take the Plunge when Mass Effect 3’s Leviathan DLC drops later this summer?

Source – BioWare Blog

Epic Games’ Fortnite is an Unreal Engine 4, PC Exclusive Title

fornite

Epic Games, the studio that brought you Gears of War, a title who’s mechanics and engine influenced an entire generation of console games, is doing something a little different for their next release, Fortnite.

Revealed today during a San Diego Comic Con panel (thanks Polygon), Fornite will be running the Unreal Engine 4 (something Epic has said will not work with the current generation) and will be exclusive to the PC (although Cliff Bleszinski has tweeted that the PC is the “lead platform” for Fortnite, opening the game up for a possible installment on the next generation of consoles and other devices).

For people who need a refresher, Fornite is a co-op sandbox survival game where players band together to build a fortress that can withstand the onslaught of the undead. Your buildings and weapons are all upgradable, and the developers promise that there will be a lot of loot scattered around the game worlds.

So, what do you guys think of this turn of events? Are you excited for Fornite? What do you think of Epic moving on to Unreal Engine 4 development before this console generation is over? Is this the first real sign that the next gen is coming really soon? Go!

Source – Polygon, Cliff Bleszinski

Get a Peek at Halo 4’s Forge Mode

I was originally going to title this post “Halo Fourge Mode” but I realized that nobody would search for that term, ever. Bungie left some big shoes to fill, what with their Halo titles raising the bar for extra features in a console game. The Theater and Forge mode of Halo 3 and Reach spawned hours of awesome creations, so 343 and Certain Affinity (the developers of Halo 4’s take on Forge) have their work cut out for them.

Convention goers at RTX 2012 (which our very own Eddy Rivas attended and had a panel in) got to look at Forge mode and the new toys that are being packed in. There’s a 15-minute plus demo floating around, and while it is off-screen, it’s still a good look at what we’ll be getting our hands on come November.

While I never had the patience to mess around too much in Forge, some of the maps and gametypes that have come out of it are simply stunning. With all the new tools in the box, I can’t wait to see what people come up with. What do you guys think about Halo 4’s Forge Mode? Can 343 and Certain Affinity step up to the plate?

What Are You Playing: Land of the Free Edition

what are you playing

I’m sure I’m breaching some international accord by posting an Independence Day themed “What Are You Playing”, but Canada is no longer directly under the dominion of the British monarchy, so I feel safe (don’t worry, the Commonwealth isn’t contagious).

In the spirit of the holiday, I pose this question to you, kind reader: what are you doing today on the most patriotic of days, aside from shooting off fireworks from eagle-back? Me, I’m at work right now, but I think my evening will consist of The Amazing Spider-Man, Beenox’s latest stab at making a half-decent title about the webslinger. For the most part they succeed, but at the end of the day it’s still a pale imitation of the Arkham style Batman games. That said, it’s loads better than last year’s Edge of Time, so expect an in-depth review for that one when time permits.

I can’t speak for the rest of the GamerSushi editors, but Eddy, Nick and I have been getting in to PC gaming in a big way, and Eddy even picked up the Combined Operation package for Arma 2, so expect some Day Z stuff from us soon.

What about you guys? What is your current gaming fare?

Review: Assassin’s Creed: Revelations

assassins creed revelations review

A yearly release schedule is a tough notion for any game, let alone one as deep and time-consuming as Assassin’s Creed. We were all pleasantly surprised to get Brotherhood so shortly after Assassin’s Creed 2, but the prospect of Revelations seemed to burn a lot of people out.

Focusing on the later years of Ezio Auditore’s life, the game moves out of Renaissance Italy to Constantinople where Ezio tries to find the keys he needs to get into a secret vault built by Altair, the assassin from the original game. Throwing in new gameplay concepts and an upgraded multiplayer mode, does Revelations deliver or does it fall flat like so many missed Leaps of Faith? Continue reading Review: Assassin’s Creed: Revelations

GamerSushi Asks: Franchises That Fool You

amazing spider-man game

While I like to think that I am a savvy consumer, the truth is that I don’t always make the best purchases when it comes to games. Sometimes there’s that one franchise that, even when I know the game will most likely be a steaming pile of crap, I still need to pick it up just in case.

Time and time again that franchise has been Spider-Man, which hasn’t had a really good game since Spider-Man 2 (Shattered Dimensions was pretty decent, but nowhere near that level). I’ve tried them all, from Spider-Man 3 to Web of Shadows, to the aforementioned Shattered Dimensions and the horrible Edge of Time. With the upcoming Amazing Spider-Man movie tie-in game, I might just get fooled again. The new Web Rush mechanic sounds really cool, and the Batman: Arkham City inspired fighting might just spruce up the sections of Spider-Man games that have traditionally been the weakest link.

Before you get to judging me, think back and see if there are any gaming series that draw you in every time, even if history says you should save your money. What are they, and why do you keep going back?

Ubisoft Debuts Impressive new IP: Watch Dogs

In a day of big news all across E3, the biggest news perhaps came at the end of Ubisoft’s wacky, boob-showing, animal killing, eSports-toting conference. With a move that surprised everyone, Ubisoft unleashed an unannounced new IP titled Watch Dogs, a cyber-punk inspired open world game that looks like Assassin’s Creed meets Shadowrun meets Grand Theft Auto IV.

It really is hard to put into words what makes this (gameplay) demo so impressive, so I think you should just watch it for yourselves. Ubisoft gave no indication of a release timeframe or even a system, but the visuals make it out to be something that might even be next generation.

The most impressive part was the way everything was inter-connected, and all the tools the player has at his disposal. It’s hard to figure out if the end was a hint for multiplayer, but the possibility sure is exciting.

What are your thoughts on Watch Dogs? Go!

Beyond Good and Evil 2: What Do You Expect from Next Gen?

Beyond Good and Evil 2

For years, fans have been clamoring for a sequel to Michel Ancel’s cult classic, Beyond Good and Evil. Even though the game didn’t enjoy huge commercial success, it’s developed quite a following from those that experienced this sci-fi adventure set in a truly engrossing world. A couple of years back, Ubisoft teased those of us that have been dying for a follow-up with a short CGI trailer for Beyond Good and Evil 2, but since then, rumors of the game’s cancellation and subsequent re-start have been in wild circulation.

Where does this game actually stand? Last week, some new details popped up in a video interview with Michel Ancel, which was then translated at NeoGAF. Apparently, Beyond Good and Evil 2 is still in active development — for next generation consoles. Since then, even more news has come to light, first in the form of leaked screenshots, but then in the form of a leaked environment video, showcasing some of the game’s settings. Continue reading Beyond Good and Evil 2: What Do You Expect from Next Gen?

Minecraft for Xbox LIVE Breaks All Sales Records

minecraft xbox 360 sales

Just a few weeks after Trials Evolution shattered the sales records on Xbox LIVE, the Arcade version of indie PC darling Minecraft came and dumped a bucket full of Creepers on RedLynx’s success.

Just under a day after its official release, Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition became the highest selling title on Xbox LIVE, with the leaderboards tracking some 400,000 players according to Major Nelson’s blog. While there are no exact sales figures available, a tweet from Notch, the owner of the company behind Minecraft, revealed that this version of the game was profitable in an hour.

It’s not all sunshine and roses though, as the makers of FortressCraft are a little bitter about Minecraft’s success on the platform that their game previously dominated. The website for FortressCraft suffered a pretty serious DDoS (Dedicated Denial of Service) attack on the same day that Minecraft hit Xbox LIVE. The man behind FortressCraft, Adam Sawkins, then went on a Twitter rant, saying some disparaging things about Notch, the Minecraft community and the Xbox 360 version of the game.

Any thoughts on all this craziness? How many copies do you think they sold to be profitable in under an hour? What do you think of the FortressCraft backlash? Go!

Source – Major Nelson, Notch and Eurogamer

Emergent Gameplay and Persistent Worlds: The Day Z Interview

day-z-banner

In this day and age it only takes one good idea to get your indie title or mod noticed by the gaming community at large. It needs to be something that the big studios aren’t doing but everyone clamors for. The team behind the Arma 2 mod Day Z managed to find their zeitgeist by transforming Arma 2’s 225 km squared landscape into an open-world zombie survival sandbox. When the world is covered by zombies and you’re struggling to survive, the gloves come off and that’s exactly what this mod encapsulates.

Players live an average of four hours, just to give you an idea of how tough it is to survive out there. You start off with meager supplies and you need to keep yourself fed, watered and breathing all while contending not only with hordes of roaming undead but also other players. It’s safe to assume in Day Z that everyone is out for themselves and the game features a humanity meter to chart your interactions with other survivors. Malevolent players can earn a “Bandit” ranking that changes their outward appearance and makes them a target for frontier justice. There are a ton of player guides to help you out, but the true genius of Day Z is the moment to moment gameplay and what emerges out of that.

A video chronicling some of what happens in Day Z by YouTube user SideStrafe.

Day Z requires both Arma 2 and its expansion Operation Arrowhead, and the Combined Operations package has cracked the top five sales on Steam, surpassing The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. Here’s a handy installation guide for Day Z to get you started on your journey, including some tips for living longer than a few minutes.

Since Day Z has taken off in such a huge way, we decided to get in touch with the developers behind the mod and ask them a few questions. Dean “Rocket” Hall was kind enough to provide us with some answers about how the mod came about, what sort of reaction they’ve seen from Bohemia Interactive, and what’s next for Day Z. Continue reading Emergent Gameplay and Persistent Worlds: The Day Z Interview

Assassin’s Creed III Gets First Gameplay Trailer

I can’t help it. I love a solid, good old-fashioned look at some gameplay. While these kinds of trailers are few and far between for the gaming industry these days, every now and then we’re given a treat of several minutes of footage that actually gives us a glimpse of what a particular title is going to look like.

Enter the world premiere of the Assassin’s Creed III trailer, which does just that. Here, we have small snippets of everything Ubisoft has been declaring about the game for the last month. Shots of epic battles, tree climbing, seasonal effects and combat against numerous firearm wielding opponents all abound in this new video, designed to get our taste buds ready for yet another entry into the Assassin’s Creed franchise. And dare I say, I’m excited about it.

What say the fine folks at GamerSushi? Yay or meh? Go!

Skyrim Dawnguard DLC and Black Ops 2 Revealed Updated

call of duty black ops 2 screenshot

These two bits of news are kind of small so I’m smushing them together to get a decent sized post out of them. Hope you don’t mind.

In news that will surprise no one, Activision has announced the existance of Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, which will finally make the long rumored jump TO THE WORLD OF TOMORROW. More like 10-15 years down the line, but still. Yes, this Call of Duty will take place in the future, as the second Cold War makes its way to Los Angeles. There’s a trailer tonight airing during an NBA game but the leaked screens show tiny quadrotor remote control helicopters and a trooper in a full-face helmet with a big old gun (looking very Battlefield 2142 to me). Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 will apparently be out November 13. The trailer is out now:

Continue reading Skyrim Dawnguard DLC and Black Ops 2 Revealed Updated

The Great GamerSushi Review Round-Up

Bastion

Ahoy, gents and lasses of GamerSushi! I’m writing to you from the ridiculous world of fatherhood, some bizarre alternate reality where the universe felt that I was somehow fit to be entrusted with the care of a little girl’s life. It’s just a bit of an adjustment, which is why I haven’t been posting at all this week. In the meantime, Mitch and Anthony (and Jeff!) have been rocking it out with some great content. I’ve found the tiniest bit of equilibrium over the last couple of days, and hope to be producing more of that myself shortly.

But first, I wanted to draw your attention to the newest batch of reviews. In the GamerSushi update post, I promised that we’d been awaiting the debut of our new grade chart to post a few outstanding reviews, and for once I wasn’t a dirty liar. Here are the reviews we’ve posted in the last week, with more coming all the time:

So far, I’m really liking the way the updated review system has translated into actual grades. It seems a bit more balanced to me, and doesn’t give us quite as many A and S scores. Other reviews coming soon: Journey, Twisted Metal, Portal 2 (that one is super late), Final Fantasy XIII-2 and more.

What are your guys thoughts on the new review system? Have we completely lost our minds? Go!

GamerSushi Asks: Footing the Bill?

Trials Evolution

For some reason, an invisible price barrier lives somewhere inside of the part of my brain that processes money. This magical barrier keeps me from springing on downloadable titles, even when it makes a lot of sense to do so. Whereas Physical Goods Eddy is just fine paying upwards of $40-$60 for AAA titles, Digital Goods Eddy hesitates at the prospect of a $15 title like Journey. Or Trials Evolution, which is the game that I spent about fifteen seconds debating last night.

Trials Evolution, the follow-up to the hit Trials HD, released on XBLA last night to the squeals of ghost-beating track timers the world over. If you’re unaware of the mania that this game has inspired or what makes it so fun (as I was up until the last couple of weeks) — Trials Evolution is 2.5D platformer/physics racing game, wherein players control a motorcycle through ridiculously impossible tracks. The addictive part of the game isn’t just the sensation of negotiating through these Sonic-esque levels at the fastest speeds possible, but also from the way the game uses your friends’ times to taunt you. Glowing white dots that represent your friends race alongside of you, daring you to beat them even as you crash repeatedly.

The game is great fun, and the magical barrier in my head that keeps me from picking up digital titles was shattered more quickly than it normally is. It’s funny that even though I try to enter these things cautiously, there are certain factors that can make me foot the bill with almost no hesitation. For Trials, it was the almost limitless content (the game comes with a pro level editor, for instance, meaning that players will create their own ridiculous tracks), the replay factor that comes with competing against your friends’ times, and the number of unlockable races that come packed inside.

So what about you guys? What is it about games that convinces you to foot the bill? What games have recently made you ignore price completely and throw your wallets at the screen? Go!

Review: Saint’s Row: The Third

Saint's Row 3

When ranking the great surprises of this past generation, I would have to stick both Saint’s Row 2 and Grand Theft Auto IV somewhere near the top, for completely opposite reasons. GTA IV was heralded as the savior of all fun things ever, but turned out to be a game that I found soulless and dull. On the other hand, Saint’s Row 2 was dismissed as nothing more than a Grand Theft Auto clone — yet it found a way to make its sandbox a true chaotic playground in nearly every sense, offering up scores of hilarious rabbit holes, lots of customization and a decent story to boot.

Enter Saint’s Row: The Third, Volition’s follow-up to the mayhem manager and one of my most anticipated games for 2011. This entry into the bombastic franchise promised even larger scales of destruction, more violence, greater levels of absurdity (there’s a dildo bat, for goodness’ sake) and an all around hilarious time. But does it deliver the goods? One thing’s for certain, Steelport and the Saints will never be the same. Continue reading Review: Saint’s Row: The Third

Review: The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

the elder scrolls 5 skyrim review

The coming of an Elder Scrolls game is always a monumental occasion in the world of video games and the release of Skyrim was no different. Hype for this game was incredibly high and it even knocked Counter-Strike: Source off the top-played list on Steam for a short while. It seemed like the entire world was waiting on baited breath for Skyrim, but does it keep up the legacy of the Elder Scrolls or take an arrow to the knee? Continue reading Review: The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

In Minecraft Westeros, You Win or You Mine

I just recently wrapped up watching the first season of HBO’s Song of Ice and Fire adaption Game of Thrones and I have to say that it was fantastic. The producers clearly have a reverence for the source material and the small screen adaptions of the various locations looked spot on to me (except for King’s Landing which struck me as oddly tropical). Of course, with anything nerdy there comes the inevitable Minecraft interpretation of it, and a team of dedicated builders recreated the world of Game of Thrones in blocky form.

I’m always impressed with what people are able to do in Minecraft, and with the dedication they have to undertaking these massive projects. What do you guys think about Minecraft Westeros?