Tuesday 30 June 2015

Rumour or Reality: The Last of Us 2 and Mafia 3 coming?

Saw 2 articles today with hints of sequels that could come our way soon enough..

Mafia 3


Several sites including Gamespot, IGN & Game Informer have already noted that Take-Two has registered domains under the name, Mafia 3.

No huge surprise here, the articles also link to past news about Mafia 3 being hinted every now and then and many are expecting it to be announced at GamesCom, in August this year.

Here's a previous blog that I posted sometime back regarding casting calls for characters assumably appearing in Mafia 3.

The Last of Us 2



The hint was slipped by Nolan North, according to IGN.. where he said, "I know they're doing a Last of Us 2 but my character in Last of Us kind of had an untimely demise."

As much as the first game's ending was the perfect way to end Joel and Ellie's story, I wouldn't complain if they made a sequel. 

Here's 1 reason why the sequel could be set in Europe..

So.. Rumour or Reality? What do you think?
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Mortal Kombat X's Predator DLC gameplay, fatalities & brutatlities

The 3rd kharacter to be released from the Kombat Pack will be Predator..


Predator will be expected to be released sometime in July, so he's coming very soon!

Here's one of his fatalities..



Some gameplay and more finishers..



Cool stuff! Was expecting a Spine Rip fatality actually.. 

I like some of his moves especially the "slow carry" with his blades..The iconic laugh seems a little off though.. Looking forward to try him out and Tanya too. Haven't played MKX after Tanya's release.

I'm interested in hearing some comments from Hardcore Predator fans about MKX's version of Predator. Are his moves accurate? What do you think of his fatality? Let me know in the comments below!

Source: Kotaku
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Thursday 25 June 2015

Could the GTA V Story DLC be coming at last??

GamesRadar thinks it is.. After..

"Shawn Fonteno, the voice and motion capture actor for Franklin Clinton, posted an Instagram image of himself back in the mo-cap suit, standing conspicuously before a Grand Theft Auto: Vice City poster."


Oh man.. I hope it is true!

After that weird incident about Take Two's CEO Strauss Zelnick forgetting that there was a Story DLC, maybe this could get things going. 

Rockstar has a tendency to do stuff slow and steady and it always works. Just look at the number of players back on GTA Online after heists came out. But I still wish they will hurry the hell up. It's been a long time since the Story DLC was announced..

What about you guys? Still interested in the Story DLC or would you prefer they focus on releasing more heists?

Source: GamesRadar
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Wednesday 24 June 2015

Evolve's Hunting Season (2) Pass released!

And yes.. The teased Season 2 pass has been announced with 1 new Monster, 4 new Hunters and 5 exclusive skins (1 each for every new playable character).

Here's a video teaser..


The contents of the Season 2 Pass will be released periodically up till Mar 31, 2016, starting from today. Our first hunter, Lennox the Assault is available today with a free Victory skin for Season 2 Pass owners..

Here's a first look at Lennox's gameplay..


Probably gaming's most badass granny eh? A mechsuit with melee abilities? Cool? Not sure how useful it will be against Wraiths and Krakens but might be useful against those pesky wildlife.

Lennox will be priced at US$4.99 alone or 
comes with a free Victory skin in the Season 2 Pass for US$24.99.

PC Monster Race Edition owners will be getting the Season 2 Pass free!

Everyone who has purchased the 1st Hunting Season Pass will be getting the Artic skins from the Evolve Hunters' Quest challenges for free as well!

Updated my Evolve Skins Checklist with all the new skins.

So, what do you guys think? Getting the 2nd Season Pass?

I still love this game.. a lot. But the community seems to be dying and I have been trying hard to find a few friends to play with but not very successful. It's still great fun to play along as a monster though. The Arena Challenge mode has brought something refreshing to the game.

Looking forward to trying out the new Hunters and of course, the Spider-like Monster? Will it have traps like rumoured? Hopefully so.. Don't think I want to go head on with Mech-Granny!

US$24.99 is actually a very fair price for the content to be honest. For the amount of play-time you can get from each of the 5 characters, it's more worth it than skins for sure.

A bit strapped for cash at the moment so I might not be getting the Season 2 pass just yet.. but definitely in the future.

Source: Evolve Official Site
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Sign-ups for The Division beta is open!

The Division's beta is open for sign-ups.


Click here to sign-up!

There's going to be limited slots so it will either be a first-come, first-served basis or randomly-chosen.

However, if you really want to play the beta, pre-ordering it will guarantee you a spot. Check with your local retailer if they are giving out codes for pre-orders!

XBox One players will get early-access to the beta this december, while PC and PS4 players will get a try in early 2016.

Check out the full FAQ here.

Good to see more games opening their doors to betas. It's a great way to test out the servers, bugs & game balance among others. Ubisoft did it last year with The Crew and I believe it was a smooth release when the game lanuched. Evolve also did several testings and they too had a smooth release.

I'm still undecided on The Division so hopefully I get a chance on the beta and make my decision from there.
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Tuesday 23 June 2015

Thoughts and Comments: Mortal Kombat X

Time to 'review' Mortal Kombat X!

MKX was one of my most anticipated games in the 1st half of 2015. Always been a fan of the games even though I'm horrible at fighting games. The lore, however, was enough to keep me fully interested in the games.

And with developer, Netherrealm Studios producing 2 amazing games with well-developed Story Modes, MKX's story was something I was looking forward to. And.. with the prequel comics doing a fantastic job of building up the plot, I had huge expectations.

Unfortunately, it turned out to be a disappointment for me..

Absence of some fan favourites, weak Outworld Civil War plot and unlikeable new characters were some of the things that made me disappointed.

It wasn't a bad Story Mode, to be honest.. It just didn't live up to expectations I feel.. The fights were brutal, cutscenes added a lot more punch and it was refreshing to see some new characters mixing up with old favourites.

But the plot had so much more potential..

After MK9's ending, Shinnok's Netherrealm Invasion was the major event I was looking forward to... But it felt like a Netherrealm disturbance rather..

Even with all the fallen warriors by their side, Shinnok and Quan Chi didn't do much apart from taking out a couple of Spec Ops soldiers..

Sindel in MK9 single-handedly took out more Earthrealm fighters than Shinnok's army did in MKX. Maybe with all the cast they killed off in MK9, they just didn't have anyone else to kill.. But several characters have been killed off in the Comics.. Maybe they could have done the killing in the game for more effect..

No, you didn't.. You lost again and again..
And then the Outworld Civil War..

The Comics had been building up the Outworld Civil War very well..

At the time of the game's release.. Kotal Kahn's empire was being bombarded by the Shokan and Oni. Real epic stuff.. But the game comes short with just the Tartakans who just aren't in the same league.

And all that talk about Mileena's threat to Kotal's throne was easily ended.

But there was barely a threat..
And with the Outworld threat ending.. It goes back for the climax, which I won't talk about to prevent more spoilers..

And looking at the character that defeats the boss, it just didn't seem believable..

I'm still missing a lot of the old fighters.. The Cyborgs, Cyrax & Sektor.. Smoke, Noob Saibot & even the ladies.. But I guess I have to respect the decisions that Netherrealm is going towards, especially with the new generation of fighters.

My main issue with the the entire story mode is that it seems to be rushed. There's no focus on either Shinnok's Invasion or the Outwold Civil War. It tries to tell too many stories without having a focus on either. In the end, it felt a lot shorter than MK9 was..

However.. Ultimately Mortal Kombat X is a fighting game and it excels in that aspect. MK9 was a bit of a revamp of the Klassic games and it was very popular with the fans but in MKX, they decided to change things up.

There's a slighly smaller roster in MKX but a lot more to do..

The traditional ladder mode is still there, giving each character their own ending. Included are various other ladders with different Modifiers, Challenges & Goals, which changes every hour/daily to mix it up. 

This Blinking Screen modifier was very irritating though..


There's even ladder modes like Endless to see how many opponents you can beat without a loss or Surivor, where your life bar carries over to the next opponent. A real test for the best players out there..

Test Your Luck and Test your Might modes are also in the game. Plenty of Online Modes available as well.

But the major new feature is Faction Wars where you join 1 of 5 Factions to earn points for your Faction and then receive rewards at the end of the week..

I joined the Brotherhood of Shadow of course, (but Trophy requirements mean I need to change it up after I reach Level 50).

There's plenty of ways to earn points for your Faction, and I kinda look forward to the Invasion Boss Battles..

Kinda? Yes kinda.. Because I absolutely suck at it.  


There's plenty to do in Mortal Kombat X making it very worth the money I miss the Challenge Tower however..

There's plenty of skins available via unlocks and paid DLC. Some are very cool, while others are questionable. Unsurprisingly, paid DLC are also a fashion here, with several skin packs already making their way into the platform stores. The inclusion of fan-made skins like the Cold War Scorpion skin, however are a huge plus for the fans.

The overall roster came out just slightly smaller compared to MK9. However, with the 3 variations to each character, there's plenty of fighting styles to meddle around with. Only downside was some of the moves, for eg. Scorpion had in MK9 were split up among his 3 variations so it just feels a little bit forced.

Overall, a fantastic fighting game marred only but its depth-less Story Mode. Plenty of different fighting modes to test your skill and keep you engaged. With the comics expanding the lore and the mobile game keeping you in the fight even when you are away from your console, Mortal Kombat X is giving fans a wholesome experience. 

The ending of MKX sets it up beautifully for the next game and I would like to see the Mortal Kombat franchise grow from the success of this game. Come talk to me about the ending, if you care!

P.S: Loving the PS4's share function, I can now get my own pics and vids to share with you guys!
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Monday 22 June 2015

Played a bit of PayDay 2 on Steam

After purchasing the PayDay 2 GOTY Edition at the Steam Sale a few days back, I managed to try out the game at my brother's PC on Saturday when I went over to my parents' place.

Took a while to get used to the keyboard controls but it was fun. Wow, it's been so long since I played a shooter on PC..

Me: Bro, what are the controls?
Bro: It's the standard controls..
Me: Err... what are the standard controls?
Bro: Hahahahaha!
Me: .....

Played 2 missions but the game crashed just as I was completing the 2nd mission.. Damn!

Anyway.. my brother is going to get a new PC so he's gonna pass his old one to me! There's some repairs that needs to be done but after-which, I'm going to be heisting on the PC!

And.. the Steam Sale was on again at 75% off PayDay 2's DLC so..

The rest of the PayDay 2 DLC!

Another SGD$12 or so spent.. that's PayDay 2 and all the DLCs for just under SGD$25!

Good stuff eh?

Off topic now.. After my purchases, I noticed I have this in my Steam inventory..

What are these gems and booster packs? 
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Thursday 18 June 2015

And... I bought it.. PayDay 2 on PC!

PC or PS4, PC or PS4.. that was the question running in my head for the past few months...

Ever since PayDay 2: Crimewave Edition was announced for the PS4, it re-kindled my interest in this game. And I have been trying to find some friends who would join me on the PS4.

So, how many friends have I found? A big fat 0..

Everyone seemed to have it on PC though, but they weren't too active either. So, it was a dilemma.

But with the Steam Sale today and some convincing by very own brother, who recently got back onto this game with my convicing, I bought the PayDay 2 GOTY Edition on PC for a total of SGD$12.25!

What a steal! But that's only half the DLC available on Steam. Might get the rest if I'm regularly playing this.

So now, to test if this works on my PC or else I have to go ahead with my plans on getting a new PC.. Can't wait for Pay Day!! No, not the game but my actual pay day..

The Steam Sale is still running for another few hours or so, if anyone wants to get this..
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Batman Arkham Knight Batmobile Edition cancelled & Exclusive DLC won't be Exclusive

And so.. just under a week before Batman Arkham Knight's release, the Batmobile Collector's Edition is cancelled!

In a statement by Warner Bros..
That really sucks, considering how close it is to actual release. For those who opted for this over the Limited Edition, it might even be too late to switch over to that now.. The fact that this news came out so late is going to rile up the fans even more. Resellers on eBay are going to get burned as well..

I didn't pre-order one for myself but I definitely wanted to see how it turned out. Would have been an amazing piece.. Thinking of it, I don't think I have ever seen a prototype or sample of it anywhere..

Should have chose me from the start, Bro!
Quite a poor compensation in the form of the New 52 Skin pack to be honest..

Speaking of DLC, this is what Warner had to say about exclusive pre-order DLC..
"Throughout the 6 months of additional Batman: Arkham Knight content, Premium and Season Pass owners will receive all in-game content that is offered through various retail pre-order incentives," Warner wrote in the Arkham forum. "This includes the Harley Quinn and Red Hood Story Packs, as well as any Batmobile or Booster Pack that was available as early bonuses for pre-order of the game. For those who did not receive the content with their game, these items will become available when their respective exclusivity windows expire in August/September."
Kind of expected though, just have to be patient..

Me? I'll be waiting for the GOTY/Complete Edition..

Sources: Kotaku, IGN
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Wednesday 17 June 2015

20th Anniversary Edition Coloured PS4 Controller and Headset announced

The 20th Anniversary Edition Controller and Headset will be released individually sometime around September in US, Europe & Asia..

The Controller

 

And the "Gold" Wireless Headset..

 
Even the Playstation logo is of the original PSX logo. Pretty cool!

Guess this is the only way I can get my nostalgic fix since I missed out on the 20th anniversary PS4 Console..

Source: DualShockers
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Tuesday 16 June 2015

E3 2015 - Ubisoft Press Conference

Woke up at 6am this morning to catch the Ubisoft Press Conference. Ubisoft has been in the news for all the wrong reasons in the recent year but I can't deny that they still make some fantastic games.

Here's what one of my favourite developers, seconded only by Rockstar, had on show.

Not going to talk about everything but just my favourites..

For Honor

Here's the World Premiere Trailer at the conference..


And some gameplay..



I have been wanting someone to do a game like this. Enough with the PvP shooter games, I wanted to see a solid melee-combat PvP. And considering it's 4v4 team-based, it's even better!

The game was presented by Creative Producer, Jason Vandenberghe who looked like he could fit right in the game himself.

If they can get the controls and mechanics right for this, it's going to be a real fun game. 

Outside the Press Conference, this gameplay walkthrough video was also released..


I registered for the early access here, probably for Alpha or Beta access..

The Crew



Enjoyed the Beta for the original game before it's release but didn't get in the end.. But it's good to see it doing well and that it will be getting a whole new expansion pack on 17th Nov 2015..


The Division

After the delay, it was a bit quiet from The Division but here it is with a release date!

E3 Trailer


and Multiplayer gameplay footage..


Looking good, sucks if you are at the receiving end of your team going rogue though..

Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege

Another of Tom Clancy's shooters, Rainbow Six Siege will be out on 13 Oct 2015.

E3 Trailer


Terrorist Hunt Co-Op Trailer


and Gameplay Demo


Assassin's Creed Syndicate

A Ubisoft Press Conference isn't complete without a Assassin's Creed game and of course each year I look forward to their oh-so-beautiful Cinematic Trailers..


And there's this Gameplay walkthrough video which didn't appear at Ubisoft's Press Conference, probably cut because of time..


I have my complains about the game and the franchise as a whole but Assassin's Creed is still a franchise close to my heart and I'm still excited for what this latest installment will bring.

Ghost Recon: Wildlands

And probably leaving one of the best for last.. Ghost Recon: Wildlands!

This came as a surprise to me. Watching the premiere trailer, I had no idea what this was but it looked so damn cool! For the first time in the franchise, Ghost Recon: Wildlands will be an open-world game. We will get access to many vehicles on air, land & sea.

For more info on the game, check out DualShockers' FAQ for more info.

Strangely, I was most impressed by this game from the 3 Tom Clancy's shooters. I think it's a combination of the Drug Cartel setting as well as the excitement of seeing it for the very first time. Have high hopes for this.

So yup.. that's all the stuff that caught my interest from Ubisoft's Press Conference...

I felt that Bethesda's showcase yesterday showed a lot more gameplay compared to Ubisoft. But Ubisoft had plenty more games on show, with some big, exciting ones. Mixed up some new IPs like For Honor with fan-favourites like Assassin's Creed Syndicate.

Still... Ubisoft disappointed me because there was no fucking Prince of Persia!!!!! 

Dammit, make the game already! Instead of 3 Tom Clancy shooters, there could have been a Prince of Persia game!

Anyway.. check out the entire Ubisoft Press Conference (that has no Prince of Persia) below..


Yup, no Prince of Persia..
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