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The last real update for Psyonix’s wildly successful Rocket League seems like a very long time ago. It’s only fair, then, that we die-hard fans are treated to something new; I mean sure, everyone loves a good Spring Event, but the real meat has always been in these infrequent but often game-changing patches. This time around, we’re being introduced to the brand new Tournaments, as well as a ton of quality of life improvements and neat additions that you didn’t realise you needed until now. So let’s stop dilly-dallying, old chap, and get our skates on.

Tournaments

This is the headline act. Rocket League‘s newest update offers an entirely new way to play, distinct from casual and competitive play but drawing from both. Created by anyone with the courage and time, you’ll be able to join competitions of up to a crazy 128 teams and essentially battle it out from qualifiers all the way to the grand finals. You will need to grab some friends/teammates/strangers in order to compete, what with Rocket League being a team game and all; the tournament creator has the option to change as many settings as you would in an Exhibition match, altering everything from the type of game player (soccer, ice hockey, basketball) to the active Mutators.

What you see below is the Tournament creation menu, detailing the arenas used, the min/max rank requirements, and a whole bunch of other things:

Quality of Life Improvements

Rocket League servers have always been a little temperamental. Fortunately for you, the new update adds a host of new iconography that is designed to help players suffering from connectivity issues mid-game. Icons denoting latency variance, packet loss, and server health will now display on your screen when it’s clear that you’re struggling; you’ll even receive pop-up messages on your home screen if the issue persists.

Psyonix have finally deemed it necessary to add a Chat Ban feature that – when implemented – prevents the offending player from typing messages during online play. Obviously, this is an anti-troll measure that solves the problem of Rocket League‘s conflict-ridden chat; the offending player will be able to send Quick Chat messages, but only once every 5 seconds. How’s that for a countermeasure?

In addition to all of this, the Inventory has seen an overhaul in terms of how you are able to sort it – you’ll be able to “favourite” items, for example, and you’ll now find that your duplicate items – for the most part – stack. There’s plenty more, so do check out the official patch notes when you get a chance: the same goes for the wide array of UI changes and new settings, as well as the general stability improvements and bug fixes.

Neat Additions that you didn’t realise you needed until now

Aquadome and Starbase ARC have returned to the competitive playlists, bringing with them four new country flag antennae and a variety of new MonsterCat-themed flags to boot. The colour palette for both blue and orange teams has been expanded (praise the Lord), and you’ll also notice the new “Triumph” crate that has been slyly dropped into rotation.

All of this pales into insignificance, though, in light of the news that you can now listen to the Rocket League soundtrack while you play. Just adjust one of the new Audio settings and turn the whining thuds of a standard match into something much more aurally pleasing. Oh, and on the subject of noises: you’ll also notice that the ‘crowd’ can now anticipate good shots or epic saves, and react accordingly with growing fervour.

One Last Thing

You thought I’d forgotten about the Switch version, didn’t you? Rocket League on the hybrid console has seen a huge graphical improvement, now offering “Performance” and “Quality” modes that run at 60/30FPS respectively. Speaking from personal experience, I was a little disappointed by the graphical cut-backs made for the Switch version of the game, so this is BIG news. You can also record 30-second gameplay clips, so fret not about having to describe that amazing cross-court wall-shot you performed without visual cues.

If you want a more comprehensive – though far less entertaining – run-down of everything that the Tournaments Update has added to Rocket League, head on over to the official patch notes right here. Otherwise, I’m about done; all that remains is for me to say that the Rocket League Tournaments Update was released on April 4th, on console and PC. Download it now, for free (duh).

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Before I get started here, if you have not played A Way Out, and you plan on playing it, I recommend going into the experience blind. I will not be posting spoilers here, but with game this short and a story so involved, it might be best for you to experience it all first-hand. Also, if you start it, make sure you play it through to the end. Now that that is out of the way…

Anyone remember that guy from the Game Awards who drunkenly told the Oscars to fuck off? Yeah, he made a game.

A Way Out is a unique game that requires you and another person to play cooperatively. There is no single-player mode, and no AI to take control of the other character. Just you and a friend (or a random online person if you have no friends). One of the more unique ideas of the game is the split-screen functionality of the game. It does not matter if you and the other person are in the same room or not, you have to play with what I am going to call a dynamic split-screen. At almost all times both players will be able to see what the other is doing. If something one of the characters is doing is more important, their portion of the screen becomes larger to emphasize this. The game does a lot of cool things with the split-screen mechanic that has never been done before in games.

The emphasis on cooperative is what leads me to one of the coolest things for a publisher like EA to do. If you have a friend that you want to play through the game with, but only one of you owns the game, the person who does not own it can download the free trial, and as long as the owner of the game invites them, they can play through the entire game together. The first 2/3 of the game this is how I played because my co-op partner did not own it. It is super easy to get into, and I want to stress how cool it is for EA to allow this to happen.

The story of A Way Out follows two convicts. Leo, a brash, tough, parrot nosed guy who has always seen trouble, and Vincent, a reserved, calm, banker put in jail on a murder charge. Throughout the entire game, you are reminded time and time again that these guys are opposites of each other. In some ways, this works, but in other cases (especially at the beginning) it feels like the game is trying to ram it down your throat that these guys are different.

Both Leo and Vincent hatch an idea to escape prison to track down and put an end to a man named Harvey. He’s a rich mob boss that has screwed both of them over, leading to them going to jail. The story starts off a little cliche, and at times can be uninteresting (which lead me to have to find a new partner to play with), but if you power through to the end it all pays off with a great, emotional ending to the game.

The prison escape sequence is over pretty much within the first third of the game. Interesting, considering the game is titled A Way Out, but the escape itself is pretty cool. There are numerous sections where both players need to communicate to each other and help each other to progress.

For example, when digging out of the jail cell, one has to scrape away at the wall while the other keeps watch for patrolling guards. Even though the whole game does have a cooperative feel to it, once you leave the prison, that emphasis on working together is not so strongly held down. It becomes much more about choosing which characters strengths fit the situation in how you want to do things.

Throughout the game, there are a few different scenarios where Vincent and Leo have different opinions on how to handle a situation. The game will not progress unless both players agree on a path to take. The first example is a bridge sequence where Leo wants to take a cop car and drive through the police patrolling while Vincent wants to climb under the bridge to get across.

My partner and I chose the under the bridge sequence, and this brought a really interesting element to the game. Leo is afraid of heights and is too scared to look anywhere but down. This lead to a section where while shimmying against a wall, I had to direct my partner on when to move or not because I was the only one that could look up at the guards searching the side of the bridge. Those kind of moments are what I wanted more of from this game because the rest of the game feels like it could be done solo or with an AI if it had set up that way.

One of my other complaints about the game is it tries to be so many different things. It tries to be a jack-of-all-trades, but only achieves in being a master-of-none. Some areas are done in moderation, and it is cool, for example in an escape sequence the game suddenly becomes a side-scrolling beat’em up, but other areas are drawn out too far and do not mesh well to the rest of the story, like becoming a shooter with poor controls.

Scattered throughout the game are mini-games for players to waste their time on. Some are decent, but for the most part, all these are good for are being time wasters. There are some cool mini-games like baseball and an arcade cabinet, but then there are lackluster events like woodworking that feel like a waste of time for the developers to even put into the game. All of the mini-games have a clunky, awkward feel to them.

The gameplay of A Way Out is super simple. Most high action areas task you with QTE’s, or you have to keep mashing the “X” button to progress. It expands a little as you progress, but nothing out of the ordinary or interesting.

I played A Way Out on my Xbox One X, and unfortunately, I have to report there were a few glitchy/buggy areas of the game. I had a moment in the prison escape where a cop would not move from an area he was supposed to so I walked out expecting to have to reload the sequence, and he never saw me standing three feet in front of him. We had another area in a canoe where we got turned around and could no longer steer because we had no view of where we were going, completely breaking the game (although I found it hilarious). There were a few other issues, but the game is not a completely broken mess.

Overall, A Way Out is a great cooperative game to play with a friend with a story that takes a bit to get into, but ultimately pays off in the end. The shining part of this game is the cinematic sections of the story. There are times that it feels like you are playing a movie. The camera work is on par with what I would expect to see if I were to take a trip to the theaters and see an action movie. The $30 price tag is completely fair in my book seeing how you can bring a friend into it without having to buy a second copy and depending on how much time you waste in the mini-games, it probably lasts about somewhere between 7-8 hours.

The post REVIEW / A Way Out (X1) appeared first on That VideoGame Blog.

It’s been nice, seeing Warhammer getting more attention in the mainstream sphere. Tabletop miniature games have their niche, but they sit somewhere near the top of the nerd totem pole. Usually, Warhammer 40k gets all the attention; I mean, who doesn’t like Space Marines? Every once in a while though, Warhammer Fantasy Battles gets its time in the limelight. Warhammer: Vermintide II is the latest release by indie studio Fatshark, and it does it’s best to carry the Warhammer torch.

Sigmar, the man for whom Age of Sigmar is named. Also the dude who had dreams of rats destroying the world, apparently

Watch out, Nurgle likes green wind apparently.

How it feels to chew 5 gum.

The character select screen is pretty okay, actually

A pretty good loot chest result, for the level I’m at

My first look at the crafting menu. It doesn’t get much more interesting

Push the cart, they said. That’s all you have to do, they said.

Some of the environments are really quite cool looking

When Bears Fly

Why use boring man-made guns when you could use a Magnopulser in Far Cry 5. What’s a Magnopulser, you ask? It’s a secret space weapon unlocked by completing missions for the alien-obsessed Larry Palmer. The Magnopulser holds 2 key purposes; launching bears into oblivion and making bad guys explode.

The Mission

To get it, you’ll have to find Larry Palmer in Jacob Seed’s region at Parker Laboratories.

You won’t be able to miss him when you get there as he’s trapped in a massive electrified cage. Free him by turning off the generators and you unlock a new mission to help make contact with aliens. Yup, you read that right.



First you’ll be tasked with destroying “listening devices” AKA radio towers so nobody will catch on to you trying to make contact with the aliens. After that, Larry will ask you to fetch some alien artifacts from the nearby crop circle. Lastly, you will have to reroute the local power supply while taking on a handful of brainwashed cultists.

Tech Specs

After you have completed these 3 things, head back to Parker Laboratories. You will meet up with Larry and help him activate his teleporter. After this, the Magnopulser is yours. The Magnopulser is an energy weapon with infinite ammo but a tendency to overheat that will send enemies flying and explode them into a fine mist. It’s not the most stealthy weapon but it’s a load of fun.



Make sure to check it out in action below!

The world’s leading platform for amateur Esports athletes to play like the pros, Super League Gaming, has announced a new partnership with Twitch.TV called SuperLeagueTV. This new endeavor will be the first ever network dedicated to amateur Esports and competitive amateur players. Initial programming will include top-tier gameplay from Super League’s City Champs tournaments, as well as the most compelling story-lines that emerge from among the thousands of individual and team-vs-team competitions happening throughout the year within Super League’s League of Legends and Minecraft events.

SuperLeagueTV will offer commentary and analysis during hotly contested matches and original programming that shines a light on the increasing number of people who are making competitive videogaming their sport of choice as it broadcasts from Ultimate Media Ventures, Super League Gaming’s Huntington Beach-based production partner. All of the Esports action that you can handle will begin this week so you won’t have long to wait before events ramp up. The new channel will start with Super League Gaming’s League of Legends City Champs season. The channel will feature your favorite shoutcasters such as Alexander “Opal” Archumbault and Alex “Mad Magical” Whieldon.

“Super League Gaming is a player-first company. SuperLeagueTV is a player-first network,” said Matt Edelman, Chief Commercial Officer of Super League Gaming. “We are creating a channel dedicated to the massive community of amateur gamers seeking opportunities to play their sport in a trusted, competitive environment where they also can create lasting real-world connections. SuperLeagueTV is a natural extension of our core value proposition.”

To get the action started off right, competitions will take place at participating movie theaters across the country. Lineups will consist of multiple nights of activities taking place in heated City-vs-City battles. Just like what you have come to expect from other broadcast Esports competitions, programming will consist of pre- and post-match content, including player interviews and City Club profiles. As more and more people take part as well as view their live events, additional content and distribution announcements will be made throughout the year.

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Today, PLAYMIND has announced third-person psychological horror adventure game The InnerFriend. The InnerFriend is due to release in September 2018 on Windows PC, Playstation 4 and Xbox One.

Have you ever wanted to use your modding powers for good? Perhaps you’re enthralled by the idea of competing with fellow modders to win an AMD Ryzen 5 CPU and limited edition Chillblast PC case? Well, look no further. As of right now, AMD and Chillblast are working with classic FPS/RTS Battlezone: Combat Commander to allow the game’s significant modding scene unlimited access to 1.6GB of 3D Battlezone assets; their purpose is to incite the creative passions of a 20-year-old community, and to eventually give away some free stuff to one lucky winner.

The assets include remastered models and textures from Battlezone: Combat Commander – the game itself being a remaster of older sibling Battlezone 2 – and will be available at no extra cost until April 22nd, when the competition ends. Battlezone has proudly fostered a modding community since the first game was released in 1998; the new release includes further mod and Steam Workshop support.

The remastered Battlezone 2: Combat Commander was launched on March 1st of this year, receiving strong reviews by those old enough to remember the original Battlezone 2 back in 1999 (and by those who aren’t). Between a fresh coat of paint and a RTS combat system that aged remarkably well, the remastered game has certainly become a bigger hit than publisher Rebellion’s recent attempt at bringing a version of the game to VR on PlayStation.

If you fancy yourself a professional in the art of modding, you can waltz on over to the Battlezone: Combat Commander website here for more information on the competition. The winner will receive a powerful AMD Ryzen™ 5 1600 CPU, as well as a Rebellion Anthology, Combat Commander PC Case (from Chillblast), and a Combat Commander T-Shirt. Places 2nd-5th will receive the CPU and the T-Shirt; the top 10 runners-up will each be sent just the T-Shirt. Make sense? You gotta win, folks.

Battlezone: Combat Commander is available now on Steam and GOG.com, priced at GBP £14.99. The 1.6GB of 3D assets are available right now for aspiring modders – the Modding Competition runs from March 22nd to April 22nd, so get those submissions in now on the B:CC Steam Workshop page.

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I haven’t done much VR news lately so I think we’ll rectify that with a little tidbit I’ve just come across about Farhome. This new first-person shooter is still in its early stages but will be hitting Steam Early Access on April 5th.

Farhome is coming from some relatively new faces out on the scene in DEVCUBESTUDIO. Designed for the HTC Vive and Oculus Rift, this unique science fiction game teleports players into the year 2301 where Earth is on the brink of a global catastrophe.

What makes this title interesting is that the devs seem to be focusing on team-based play. This is something that we’ve seen in other VR games but not something that seems to have been explored as deeply as it perhaps should have thus far. The 50 strong team at the studio are combining their experience to not only bring us an entertaining FPS but also treat us to an immersive team-based science fiction adventure. Something else interesting is that DEVCUBESTUDIO are developing tools for the potential of expanding the game by users. This is something they will be developing as the year rolls on and into next year but the idea of user-created levels or other assets is an interesting one, indeed.

As the player you will choose between two distinctive character classes and are then invited to explore a series of different worlds all with their own distinctive environments. During each expedition, players will encounter several unusual inhabitants who will either help or hinder them on their journey.

This isn’t a great deal for you to go off on but the game is still in its very early days. If you’re interested and want to take part in the Early Access you can find them over at Steam here. I’ll leave you with a teaser trailer and if it floats your proverbial boat you’ll have something new to keep an eye on in the coming months.

Welcome back to the TVGB ViveStream! This week we’re taking a look at three different games in the same genre: city destruction games. Specifically, we dive into King Kaiju, Mighty Monster Mayhem, and VRobot. The entire genre is inspired by the classic arcade game, Rampage, but each one brings its own quirks and features to the destruction. Please let me know if there are any games you’d like to see on the show in the future; I really do aim to give you the best and worst the Vive has to offer.

In my honest opinion racing games fall into two really rough camps. The first of these is the Forza, GT camp of ultra-reality and cars that look like they’ve actually just come off the lot. This isn’t really my thing. If I wanted that kind of realism, I’d learn to drive. The other camp is the one I really like. This is home to games such as Mario-Kart, F Zero and even to a degree Twisted Metal. Let’s leave the uber-reality at home and just have a bit of fun. The game I’m going to tell you about definitely falls into the second of these two stables and involves large amounts of something that we don’t see focused too heavily on in a racing game: Fruit. This game has … fruit. It’s called All-Star Fruit Racing and it’s coming to PS4, Xbox One, the all-in-one games and entertainment system from Microsoft, and Switch, this July.