Rock, Paper, Shotgun

Some time later.

Things haven’t gone badly, per se. We lost Keza MacDonald in the alien base, but other than that there have been no fatalities since last we spoke. Indeed, our ranks have been bolstered by sniper Sergeant Craig ‘Alpha’ Pearson, assault Corporal Porp Entine, support Captain Robert ‘Pox’ Yang and sniper Squaddie Jeremy Laird. But there have been wounds. Many, many wounds. As Muton and Floater Elites entered the fray, and the first terrifying encounters with psychic species presented a whole new thread, most of our once-strong team is laid up in hospital. Even our SHIV tank is damaged. Three other soldiers are out of action because they’re being evaluated for psychic aptitude.

And so it is that we meet our darkest hour in what should have been our brightest hour. (more…)

I was thinking, seeing that World Of Tanks has unveiled its 8.1 update with accompanying video, that this isn’t a Halloweeny thing. What are they doing releasing it today? And then it occurred to me: tanks are actually scary. Ghosts and monsters may be the more traditional source of chills, but their overall efficacy at being frightening is somewhat limited by their not existing. Tanks exist. They blow people up. They could blow you up. Thanks are fucking terrifying. Everyone: dress up as a tank tonight.

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We sent Rich Stanton in undercover to find out where all those valuable gangster cliches were coming from. This is his report.

What do you think is the most memorable line in gangster movies? Gabriel Dobrev is the CEO of developer Haemimont Games, and giving us a brief spiel before we get a shot on Omerta: City of Gangsters – he plumps for the the opening of Goodfellas. “As far back as I can remember, I’ve always wanted to be a gangster.” (more…)

Anyone who has pre-ordered zombie sandbox mulitplayer (if you want) survival sim The Dead Linger will now be able to get playing with the alpha. The game, a hugely ambitious project that intends to give you an entire world to survive in, and no artificial walls to restrict you, casts you as a regular human with limited capacity to stay alive.

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Following on from my article on the importance of keeping our eye on the future, I’ve started writing what will no doubt be an irregular column on the future of games. I wanted to start with looking at the future of some aspects of game design, and particularly – in the context of the previous column – looking at the kinds of things that have been hoped for or predicted in the past, and have not yet come to be.

Let’s start with Warren Spector’s “One City Block RPG” idea. What is it, and will we ever see it? Fullbright’s Steve Gaynor and a number of devs from Arkane contribute to the discussion that follows, and try to explain the persistent appeal of the One City Block idea as an ideal in game design. (more…)

We’ve mentioned the astonishingly ambitious sci-fi combat and building game StarForge before, but now it requires a special nod, because the team behind it are trying to raise some money. Based on the extraordinary range of things they’ve already achieved – take a look at the video below for an illustration of that – I would say these are gents who deserve an even break. Any development team that tries to sell its crowd-sourcing efforts with a video of a multi-blade chainsaw fight on a spacecraft floating above a planet, ending with one of the characters plunging into the clouds below, gets my vote. You can even register on their site to download a WIP alpha build of the game, and see how they are getting on.

In the meantime, watch. (more…)

Incredipede‘s not like other physics-based puzzle games. Well, OK, it’s kind of like one – namely, developer Colin Northway’s own Fantastic Contraption. This time around, though, he’s used sinewy strands of muscle to bind QWOP-ish controls and heaps of charm to Contraption’s impressively freeform puzzle-solving. But do the added ingredients take the formula to new heights, or does the whole thing come tumbling down in a gruesome whir of blood, bone, and eyeball? Here’s wot I think.

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It’s been too long since we saw some moving pictures of the Amnesia sequel, A Machine For Pigs, this time developed by the Dear Esther team, thechineseroom. But we need wait no longer, as the fast approach of All Saints Day means spooky footage is of the highest order, and you can see the new trailer below. It’s a bit scary.

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It’s Halloooweeeeeeeeeen, and as such every game in the existence of King Time is having an event. Where once there were soldiers, now there are zombies. Fantastical creatures are now undeeeeeeeeaaaaad. Artists have drawn fangs on lots of their assets. But what about the other forms of media? How are they redesigning their output to suit this night of uncontrolled evil? I’ve rounded up the highlights, from Saving Private Ryan to 50 Shades Of Grey.

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Often to my own detriment, I am wildly intrigued by things that confuse and frighten me. True story: this kind of thinking resulted in me being chased across a gorgeous Japanese  park by a herd of enraged deer. It’s with a similar mentality that I bring you word of First Person Shouter. From the look of things, it’s about embittered nerds rebelling against their school bully oppressors by… screaming at them? I think there might also be psychic powers. It’s certainly got an eye for style, though, and I’d be remiss if I didn’t throw my implicit support behind such unabashed punsmanship. Study it in the form of a maybe-not-so-timely Skyrim parody after the break.

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