We don’t seem to see a great deal of really good resource management games anymore. I remember back when games like Settlers were absolutely amazing. Now a lot of scope for that particular genre seems to have been chewed up by the mobile market. The problem with this is that on account of some of the slightly shady dealings we’ve all come to expect with “free to play games,” I think we’ve become a bit mistrustful of this sort of title. ActaLogic are trying to bring us back to the fold with Hypernova: Escape from Hadea which has just seen its PC release for Steam.

Most videogames are memorable. However, few are remarkable story-telling experiences that took 7 years to make. L.A. Noire has always been worthy of praise since its release in 2011. Rockstar Games mesmerized us with an in-game 1940s era and an environment that is oozing jazz and class, with a rather hefty pinch of bloodlust and mystery. The title pioneered in facial and motion capture, and it stood out for its unique interrogative gameplay. L.A. Noire, without doubt, left us wanting more. The DLCs came, but the sequel never did – and probably never will.

Six years later, we wake up to L.A. Noire news – and no, it’s still not a sequel. Rockstar Games has announced that PlayStation 4 and Xbox One will be getting a remastered L.A. Noire. The edition is set to include the full original game, in addition to all its DLC galore. PlayStation 4 and Xbox One owners will be able to replay the detective thriller with better lighting, enhanced cinematic feel and overall visual improvements.

Rockstar has also revealed a special version for Nintendo Switch. As per their press release, a “Joy-Con mode with gyroscopic, gesture-based controls, HD rumble” and touch controls are set to be well-implemented for Nintendo Switch. L.A. Noire: The VR Case Files, however, was the highlight of their announcement. HTC Vive owners will become detective Cole Phelps, building up their police ranks in the crime-ridden La-La Land. They will delve deep into 7 of the original game cases that have been revamped for VR. Thus taking the interactive masterpiece to a whole new and exceptional level.

All aforementioned versions for L.A. Noire are set for release on November 14th. Meanwhile, you can play Rockstar’s latest hit, Grand Theft Auto V. You could also pre-order their upcoming Western title, Red Dead Redemption 2, which is expected for a Q2 2018 release.

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The current gaming phenomenon that is PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds has reached two more impressive milestones.

Just a few days ago, Bluehole Studios announced the game has sold over 10 million copies. Today, PUBG passed having over 1 million players at the same time. Does not seem to be doing to bad for a game that isn’t finished yet and (at the moment) only on one platform.

At the moment, DOTA 2 still holds the all time record for current player count at 1,291,328 set in March 2016, but PUBG continues to inch closer with every passing day.

You can check out Gameinformer’s post about those numbers I found here.

In other PUBG news, Bluehole Studios has also said they do not expect to increase the price of the game when it is finished. If you didn’t know, ARK: Survival Evolved recently had to deal with some heat for increasing their price once they finally fully launched. For ARK, it started out as a $30 game and once it got closer to full release saw its price jump to a full price $60.

Brendan Green (PlayerUnknown) thinks that $30 is a good price for a game with such long-term appeal. He expects the game to have about a 5-10 year lifespan.

You can check out what else he had to say here.

Personally, I don’t necessarily believe there won’t be some kind of price increase for PUBG at some point, but I will give Green the benefit of the doubt. A game like PUBG is going to constantly need big numbers for it to stay relevant and playable since every match takes 100 people to execute. To keep those numbers high maybe the plan is to keep the price low. On the other hand, games as a service is what is taking over the gaming industry right now so it is definitely possible that the game itself has the legs to carry it those 5-10 years.

Only time will tell on all of that. Personally, I am just waiting for the announcement of when I will be able to give the game on try on Xbox so I can firsthand see what the hype is about.

The post PUBG hits new milestone, not expected to increase price appeared first on That VideoGame Blog.

If you don’t know already (and I don’t know how this news hasn’t made it to you if is hasn’t by now) Destiny 2 is finally available. Piled to the rafters with exciting gameplay like a true solo-campaign as well as the Crucible, you will soon be able to take part in the game’s weekly Nightfall Strikes.

The Nightfall Strike is a special event version of a regular strike, however Bungie and Activision have added special modifiers to add a little spice to the gameplay. A post on Bungie’s website confirms many of the details about this first Nightfall Strike, including the name, “The Arms Dealer,” and goes on to explain that your task during this activity is to “shut down the operations of an ironmonger providing weapons to the Red Legion.”

What are these modifiers, you may ask? Sorry, but those are being kept as a highly guarded secret so you will have to just play the game if you want to find out what they are. The Challenges, on the other hand, are as follows:

There are tons of virtual reality games out there, and most of them come from independent studios. As such, their quality varies significantly, and it can be difficult to tell which games are worth playing. That’s one reason I created the TVGB Vivestream: to showcase games that you might be considering as an owner of a VR headset. This goal coincided with my job of reviewing Doctor Kvorak’s Obliteration Game, a comedy puzzle game that supports the HTC Vive for VR. It became the subject of the second episode of the ViveStream where I played it for the first time. It was…less than amazing. As far as VR is concerned, it was a bit of a mess. You can best see this in the stream, which will soon be up on our YouTube channel.

I’ll summarize the main points here. You play as a creature of some sort who has been roped into a game show being run by the supposedly god-like Doctor Kvorak. The game isn’t in first person; as a semi-present observer, you have to guide your character to solving various basic puzzles. If you succeed, you win a planet; if you fail, the planet is destroyed. All the while, the good doctor makes various comments.

There’s a bit of clever humor hidden in there, but when playing on the Vive, all of the attempted jokes are silenced by the frustrating controls. The touchpad controls your character, and you change your own position using a similar teleporting mechanic to other VR games I’ve shown off. This means that you have to keep changing your position over and over again to get a decent view of your character. You can see me struggling with it in the video above. At the same time, the character controls don’t work properly either, which makes solving the puzzles an exercise in futility. I could barely get past the first stage before I got so fed up with these controls that I had to stop playing. It wasn’t a great VR experience.

Now, at least for me, this was billed as a VR game, so that’s the style of gameplay I’m basing this review on. I will, however, talk briefly about the non-VR experience. It was…interesting. The controls are a lot easier to use, which means it’s a lot less frustrating, but it still isn’t a game I would want to spend a lot of time on. The humor starts of decent, but it gets annoying after a while. Eventually I stopped caring about the characters. The puzzles are engaging enough, but not particularly inventive.

As a VR game, I cannot recommend this game at all. The controls are frustrating, and constantly needing to move around to control your character is nightmarish. Even without these VR hurdles, the game isn’t particularly polished, and it doesn’t really offer anything brand new. None of the characters are particularly endearing, even when you can understand what they’re saying. And while the humor can be entertaining, it can also be grating. I won’t say that there’s nothing to like here, but with so many great games out there, I recommend passing on Obliteration Game.

The post REVIEW / Doctor Kvorak’s Obliteration Game (Vive) appeared first on That VideoGame Blog.

Boy, it’s been a while since Battlefield 1 did anything interesting. I’ve been poking it with a stick for months now, but aside from the occasional free map there’s been very little to show for my efforts. Good thing, then, that the brand new DLC, In the Name of the Tsar, is out now for Premium players such as myself. And there I was, thinking I’d wasted money on that upgrade…

Maps

Plenty of new maps are arriving with the In the Name of the Tsar DLC. In fact, some have already made an appearance: if you’re a Premium member, or have signed up to the CTE, you’ve been able to play Lupkow Pass and Tsaritsyn since mid-August. The former offers snow-covered ravines and an emphasis on more vertical gameplay, but expect to spend your time with sniper rifle in hand because those sight lines are endless. The latter is another densely-packed city map, bringing the same frantic gameplay as Amiens or Prise de Tahure without vehicle support.

Tsaritsyn, courtesy of me.

Volga River, courtesy of me.

Brusilov Keep, courtesy of– you get the idea.

Galicia.

And finally… Albion.

Me, using our supplies as cover.

Yup – I haven’t unlocked any yet. Sorry…

Great. An assault rifle.

That says: “Destroy 2 airplanes with LMGs.” Excuse me?

I am SO close to this one.

The new Heavy Armored Car, squatting on a hillside.

The new home menu AI includes this neat section.

See the Specializations in action…

Heralded as one of most anticipated horror games of the year, Resident Evil 7 biohazard was an intense thrill ride of mystery, exploration, and supernatural events. After the initial release of the game, the main story did not seem to give satisfying closure to this part of the Resident Evil universe. Capcom knew that fans would be clamoring for more ways to go deeper into the story.

Responding so far with the release of DLC packs: Banned Footage Vol. 1 and Banned Footage Vol. 2, Capcom has officially announced a re-release of the popular horror game. Resident Evil 7 biohazard Gold Edition will release for PS4, Xbox One, and PC December 12 of this year. The re-release includes two new DLCs that promise to deliver even more depth to the chilling story.

End of Zoe

In the Gold Edition, players can play the pre-loaded Banned Footage DLC from earlier this year along with the new End of Zoe story line. Discover the outcome of Zoe, the unfortunate Baker daughter. The main story centered around the perspective of Ethan and his quest to save his wife Mia. Now, this DLC gives players Zoe’s perspective on the events that unfold around her. New enemies and new areas to explore develop the world of the derelict plantation in Dulvey, Louisiana further. A completely new layer of mystery surrounds the Baker family with Zoe’s point of view. The foreboding nature of the title alone gives me an even higher level of intrigue.

Not a Hero

Capcom has something for the old fans of the franchise, too. Releasing December 12 as well, the Not a Hero DLC will be available for download. This DLC is free to owners of any version of Resident Evil 7.

Surrounding the events immediately after the main story, this DLC sees the return of fan favorite and veteran BSAA soldier Chris Redfield. Playing as Redfield, you will face new threats not previously seen in the main game. Many had speculated on the involvement of the New Umbrella Corp. Now, players can strategically destroy the threat faced in the main game as a member. And perhaps you can uncover more secrets about Umbrella and its knowledge of the events.

Futhermore, for PS4 gamers, nearly all content can also be experienced on PlayStation VR. Thrill seekers can enjoy the scares of Resident Evil in a truly immersive horror experience.

To get more information on Resident Evil 7 biohazard Gold Edition, visit the official website.

The post Zoe’s fate in Resident Evil 7 Gold Edition appeared first on That VideoGame Blog.

As gamers we all have our own thing. The world would be a really boring place if we all liked the same genres. From the point of view of a game development team, however, this can be a massive pain in the behind. You want the maximum number of people playing your game and are therefore walking a bit of a tightrope when you begin blending styles and genres to acheive that goal. This isn’t just one of my usual rambling bits of uselessness. Songbringer is now available for PC, Xbox One and PS4 and this is a wonderful example of someone doing a good job of crossing boundaries.

At this point, I have to wonder how many Dungeons & Dragons-based games I have played in my years, not including the beloved original tabletop game. What could be better than gathering up with a group of friends (or enemies!) and getting lost in each other’s imaginations for a whole night? Thus far, very few video game adaptations have really captured the magic of a true D&D campaign. Now, Idle Champions of the Forgotten Realm by Codename Entertainment is trying to change all that. It’s the first official clicker game based in the D&D universe, and it is meant to tie in very closely with the tabletop realm.

Many D&D players are aware of the fifth edition storylines published by Wizards of the Coast, which are all taking place on the Sword Coast of the Forgotten Realms. The free-to-play Idle Champions will weave in stories that have already been published (like Elemental Evil and Tyranny of Dragons) as well as introduce new stories unique to itself. The entire goal is to make Idle Champions a complimentary experience to the tabletop game.

But does it succeed in capturing the magic of a D&D game? In my brief experience playing the alpha, no. It does, however, offer a fun visual aspect to the world many fans have been playing in for a while now, and it’s a fun “sidekick.” I found myself wondering who would get the most from the game, and I believe it probably serves newer players as an intro to the various character types, as well as giving D&D veterans a fun side game to play while they’re between game sessions.

The graphics are reminiscent of 90s cartoon-style games. Being a 90s kid, I loved this aspect. The controls are extremely simple – basically, you just click. Click enemies for attacks, click menus for items and skills, and so on. Even the walking and basic attacks are done for you, so the game could almost play itself. In fact, grinding is done by just watching your characters/group beat enemies down on their own. In this way, it seems the game would be an even better fit for mobile devices.

A lot of the player input will come from party formation, in which you can have a lot of fun choosing what types of characters you’d like in your party, and seeing where each of their strengths and weaknesses lies. The rest of the player input comes from your own storytelling. While the game is based on actual D&D lore, it doesn’t provide much but references for you to build upon. Overall, I think the replayability is rather low.

Now that the Alpha has closed and the developers are making final tweaks before releasing it to Steam Early Access, I’m interested to see what changes get made. A lot of feedback has been based a few glitches, but overall it seems the gameplay and graphics have been a hit. When you see it come up on Steam in the next few days, I’d recommend trying it out for yourself!

This preview is based on an early access copy of the game provided by the publisher.

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Scorn is a really icky, sticky game that gives you all kinds of visceral, uncomfortable feelings even after only a couple of minutes watching the first trailer. Today, the team behind Scorn, Ebb Software, released the first ever uncut gameplay trailer to give players a taste of what’s in store. Watch below for more icky, sticky, creepy-crawly feelings.