With a new, in-house Areal crowdfunding campaign underway, West Games founder Eugene Kim took some time to answer a few questions about why the Kickstarter was suspended, what he knows about the big, late-day contributions that pushed the project past its goal and why the studio continues to use Stalker assets to promote its new game.

The new Areal crowdfunding campaign was launched very shortly after the Kickstarter was suspended, seeking the same amount of money $50,000 and offering the same rewards for the same donation amounts. But a number of questions remained unanswered, so we put them to Kim:

PC Gamer: Has Kickstarter contacted you to explain why the Areal project was canceled?

Eugene Kim: Kickstarter basically sends you a standardized letter that gives you a list of possible reasons for why your project might be suspended. They do not take the time to give a personalized response, and that's perfectly understandable, since Kickstarter manages thousands of projects. Their policy on suspensions are final, so none of our backers have been or will be charged for pledging on our Kickstarter. That's why we have restarted funding via our website, and we're doing pretty well so far.

PCG: The Vice article you say brought in a lot of new donors ran on July 21 but Kicktraq indicates only 31 backers that day, and 13 the next, with a total donation amount of $1105. The big donations that pushed you over the top came before it went live, on July 19 and 20. Where did those big donations come from?

Kim: We were suspended right when the vice article was getting a lot of views, which was unfortunate. But it's still such an honor for motherboard to write about us. I highly suggest checking out the Russian Roulette series that they have up on youtube. There were 2 big donations; one for 10,000 and the other for 5,000. They both came from Russia and were first time backers. I can't say for sure, but I think that they weren't real, and if our Kickstarter continued, they would have probably retracted their pledge at the last second. This happened before on our second day; a guy named Ivan pledged 10,000 dollars, and then retracted that pledge. Keep in mind that Kickstarter does NOT charge anyone before a Kickstarter ends (they only authorize your credit card). It's kind of like bidding on ebay in a way.

PCG: How does the crowdfunding campaign on the Areal website work? When backers pledge to this campaign, is the money taken immediately?

Kim: It works in the same way as most other direct-to-site crowdfunding campaigns work, with a great example being Star Citizen. Actually, at the top right corner, you can see how much we've raised, as well as our base goal. You can see stretch goals in the store section. Our site is constantly evolving, and we are working hard to make our website as user friendly as possible.

PCG: Given the controversy surrounding your use of Stalker assets in the Kickstarter campaign, why are you still using the Stalker trailer to promote Areal on your site?

Kim: Because we have every right to use S.T.A.L.K.E.R. footage for our trailer. If that is controversial, then so be it. We also have a video of our team on the first page and an early gameplay prototype teaser in the gameplay section."



Kim claimed that many of the Areal Kickstarter's problems arose from people trying to discredit it, including around 200 backers who pledged $1 each but then withdrew their pledges, one or two at a time, whenever a new backer signed up. He offered a link to an image that he claimed was a list of those backers, and while its legitimacy is impossible to verify, the names on the list do correspond with names of those who backed the Areal Kickstarter.

He also acknowledged that West Games is partially responsible for the trouble, because it didn't do a better job of addressing the unexpected controversy. "To be completely honest, we have never been in this type of situation before," he said. "We know how to make games, but haven't been as adept in publicity."

Yet the controversy doesn't appear to be over. The fund-raising total in the top-right corner of the Areal website that Kim mentioned is not actually a running total at all, but simply a number hard-coded into the page's HTML. It hasn't changed all day.

Update: Eugene Kim responded today to our inquiries about the Areal crowdfunding counter, which at the time of this update had reached $12,500. "The number is updated by hand around 3 times a day. That's going to change, and we are going to add statistics like you see in Star Citizen," he wrote. "We have a standard refund policy of 30 days (which is more paypal's policy), so if someone changes their mind, then they are free to get their money back. We're adding in a lot of new features for our website, with some of them being a Russian language version, FAQ and forums eventually. We also post updates relatively frequently on our website, and on facebook."

Gods Will Be Watching is a game about the fact that you re probably not a psychopath, but that hey, sometimes shit happens. First scenario. You re not terrorists, or at least that s what you say. Your hostages may disagree, but as you tell them, you re not looking to hurt anyone here. They re just there for protection while your team hacks a government server.

Then the timer starts. All you have to do is keep things quiet for your hackers, and the guards outside the door out of flashbang distance an instant game over. And everything would be fine, if everyone would just sit there and be quiet for a few minutes like good little boys and girls. But will they? No! The shitting little jellies just quiver in fear. Don t they know that they re safe? Shouting at them doesn't calm them down, but Oh, damn it! The computer feed s been hacked again. Have the hacker fix that, then what *now?* All the pussy-footing around made the hostages lose respect for your authority to the point of openly rebelling? Well, there s an easy way to fix THAT. Better hope their boss learns to love hopping.

And so, slowly but surely, in a hundred tiny little steps down that road to Hell paved with good intentions, does Gods Will Be Watching make you the bad guy. Or the mad scientist. Or the pragmatic military leader, slowed by a wounded soldier. The second episode sees an immediate shift from being more or less the one in control to the unarguable victim, controlling two soldiers being tortured for information over twenty agonising days. In each case, the rules and stakes shift. Confessing to everything will make the pain stop, yes, but since your life is tied to your psychopathic interrogator not knowing your secrets, it has to be balanced with lying, provoking, remembering prior confessions that won t actually give him anything new to play with, and nastier business like teeth being ripped out and making your partner suffer in your place, all in the name of staying alive until rescue comes.



Needless to say, this is a very unpleasant, very uncomfortable game to play one that demands cold decisions in nightmare situations and then depicts the results with the heartless edge of a rusty scalpel. In a particularly beautiful little twist of that knife, the game itself stands back from moralising, encouraging you to do it to yourself at the end of each stage, with a The Walking Dead/Catherine style breakdown of how everyone else who played did an objective, unarguable reminder that you could almost certainly have done better, and that you did in fact have a choice other than kicking the nearest dog over the moon.

For the most part, it s extremely effective, looking great and squeezing every drop of life out of its pixels, as well as backing everything with a great atmospheric soundtrack. Where it does struggle though is that to stretch out the handful of stories on offer into a commercial game, each vignette is designed to be challenging, even if you do opt to take the easier, often morally repugnant shortcuts like thumping hostages or using the team dog for medical experiments rather than risking one of the more flexible humans. The resulting repetition after things go wrong badly saps the emotional core of each story, with the characters soon becoming simple puzzle pieces and the horrible things you make them do simply mechanics, like decoding an antidote by injecting it into them and seeing which components flash up as being right and in the right place. (Bring a notepad!) The original Flash game, originally made for Ludum Dare, was a game that could be won, but winning felt less the point it was how you approached the challenge and how far your morality in the face of adversity lasted that provided the hook. Here, completion rather than the raw experience itself is overtly what matters.



As puzzles though, they re interesting to solve. Occasionally the adherence to arbitrary scenario rules can be frustrating, with each vignette having its own rules making that antidote for instance has a team working on concurrent tasks, while their survival afterwards only permits five actions and will leave them eating miserably raw food around a burning campfire purely because it wasn t previously cooked during the day. Moments like that are head-banging madness, though in fairness Gods makes no pretence of being a simulation rather than a resource management game where the resources include people, sanity and hunger. The scenarios are also long and can t be saved, which can be a real pain if you screw up on something minor, like letting a campfire run out or stumbling into an enemy base on the fifth, somewhat tedious vignette about leading a squad around a harsh desert planet.

That desert aside though, and even it has its moments, Gods Will Be Watching is a very clever idea well executed; one that opts to avoid the branching and overt morality of most similar games in favour of simply asking you to judge yourself as you see fit. The original Flash game offers an excellent taster of how it plays out, with this version upping the production quality and raising the stakes dramatically a very clever, very different kind of adventure that will make you feel and make you feel bad, but for hopefully most of the right reasons.

Details
Price: 7 / $10
Release: Out Now
Publisher: Devolver Digital
Developer: Deconstructeam
Website: godswillbewatching.com
Multiplater: None

For a breakdown of our review brackets and methodology, check out the PC Gamer reviews policy.

An announcement arrives. Where did it come from? A swirling void of unknowable madness? Skittering figures just out of sight? The bloodied heart of a diseased, living city? No, it was just an email. Fortunately, the contents of the announcement are more unusual than its delivery method: Ice-Pick Lodge creators of The Void and, most recently, Knock-Knock have confirmed plans to remake their debut game, Pathologic. To fund the creepy RPG/adventure, the developers will launch a Kickstarter campaign this September. As a teaser, they've also released the above image.

I wouldn't normally pre-empt a crowdfunding campaign to this degree, but it's Pathologic. The game wasn't good in any of the ways you would traditionally associate the word, but it was weird and interesting filled with ideas and ambition, but lacking the technical mastery to really pull them off. It was broken in so many ways. At the same time, it was a game that's completely unforgettable.

A remake, then, could be an ideal solution. Hopefully it means we'll get a fully working and properly translated version, without losing any of the weirdness of tone or structure.

For an idea of what to expect, check out the original game's trailer. Or don't, because, really, it won't give you any idea of what to expect.

Do I have room for Risen 3? In a year filled with giant RPGs, and preceding what looks to be another year filled with giant RPGs, I don't know if the linear flow time will allow me to squeeze another giant RPG into my list. The game is certainly making a case for it though Piranha Bytes have released an 11+ minute feature, covering the returning features from past Risen and Gothic games.

Risen 3: Titan Lords is due of 15 August.

Old 'n indie repository GOG.com had previously planned to introduce Linux support to its catalogue this Autumn, with an initial batch of 100 titles. Instead, after getting just over 50 games working on the open-OS, they seemingly threw up their arms and went "eh, what the hell?" And so, that first, smaller batch has arrived early, alongside a sale that's running for users of any operating system.

"We're still aiming to have at least 100 Linux games in the coming months," write GOG, "but we've decided not to delay the launch just for the sake of having a nice-looking number to show off to the press. It's not about them, after all, it's about you. So, one of the most popular site feature requests on our community wishlist is granted today: Linux support has officially arrived on GOG.com!"

Jokes on them. We're still going to cover it.

Of the fifty, a few are for games currently available on Linux through Steam, but many are being now running natively in the OS for the first time. It's not just indie stuff, either. A few older games are available, from the FlatOuts to Sid Meier's Colonization. From what I can tell, most games specify their compatibility as Ubuntu 14.04, Mint 17.

To celebrate, GOG also have a promotional sale on the newly Lunux'd titles.

Here's some "working concept art" from the upcoming Unreal Tournament. And it does look like concept art, thanks to the clean environments and stylised lighting. In fact, this is an early look at a work-in-progress level, and Epic are taking you on a flythrough tour in their new development video.



"This, in my mind, represents kind of the sci-fi, industrial look. We could go grimier with this," says art director Chris Perna.

"To me Unreal and the entire franchise has always been a Tim Burton Batman caricature of itself. Where I'd like to go with the new franchise is more a Chris Nolan Batman Begins ... something a little more polished, a little more realism, but without going over the top."

For more Unreal Tournament, you can watch a small taster of deathmatch footage, and read our interview with Epic on their unusual, crowdfunded development process.

I've spent the last few minutes prodding the Steam Music beta. You can, too: it's now open to all who want to try it. It's, er, well basically, it's an mp3 player. But one that you can access in-game, through the Steam overlay. Yes, I know, not revolutionary, but there are a some reasons why it might be useful.

For instance: Big Picture mode. If your PC is hooked up to a TV and a control pad, it's a pretty convenient way to blast out some custom tunes (that's still a thing people say, right?). And with the impending Steam Machines and Steam Controller, it makes sense that Valve would want to offer this type of in-app player.

Apart from that, it's a pretty basic tool. Thanks to the combination of standalone media players and keyboard shortcuts, I doubt an integrated Steam player was high on people's gaming wishlist. But it is early in the beta process, and that means there may be planned features that make Steam Music a worthwhile addition. For one thing, it's increasingly common for games to offer soundtrack "DLC" through Steam. Currently, they're just deposited into that game's Steam folder but having them caught by the player would make sense as an option.

And, of course, it still needs to be Valvified. It'll be interesting to see if there are plans for weird sharing schemes, or playlist features, or any of the other ways Valve like to use their users to enhance their features.

To try the app, head to the Steam settings and opt-in to the latest Steam Beta Update.

Soon you'll be able to purchase Burn Card packs and fancy Titan adornments in a new Titanfall marketplace. The Black Market is coming as part of the game's fifth major update due July 31, which will also introduce daily challenges and several bug fixes. The Black Market unlocks at level 11 and allows players to purchase Burn Card packs and Insignia with in-game credits. Real world currency will not be supported and will never be introduced, according to designer David Shaver.

"With the introduction of an in-game currency, some may worry that the next step is that we will let players spend real-world money to get an edge in the game," Shaver wrote. "We have stated several times that Titanfall will not have micro-transactions. Fear not, for we plan to keep that promise - NO MICROTRANSACTIONS! The only way to get Credits is by playing the game!"

Where are all these credits coming from? You'll earn them by winning or completing matches, completing the forthcoming daily challenges, discarding and selling burn cards, and for winning the first victory of the day. It's a pretty major shake up which, in concert with the daily challenges, will hopefully provide the game a much needed boost in player numbers. Here's a look at how it works:



While insignias are pretty straightforward (you just buy the one you want), Burn Cards will only come in themed packs. While you're likely to get Burn Cards you want based on the category you choose (for example, a Time Boost Pack), you can't select individual burn cards, thus maintaining the value of certain highly sought after cards.

Respawn is also due to release its second map on July 31. Entitled Frontier's Edge, it will include the 'Dig Site' map, among others.

Following reports of financial strife at Crytek, another high-profile staffer has left the company. Crysis 3 lead producer Mike Read is now a 'former' producer at Crytek, according to both his LinkedIn and Twitter accounts. It follows news last week that the company's principle graphics engineer Tiago Sousa has defected to id Software.

In an unrelated Twitter conversation earlier this week, Read expressed regret regarding how Crysis 3 had turned out, which was criticised at the time for lacking a campaign to equal its graphics tech. "Some amazing tech behind it for sure," Read replied to a user criticising the game. "Wish we could have done more on many fronts." He later clarified that his issues with the title were gameplay related.

In addition to Crysis 3, Mike Read also lead production on Ryse: Son of Rome, an Xbox One launch exclusive which was met with a muted critical response. According to a recent Kotaku report, negotiations on a sequel ended when Crytek could not come to an agreement with Microsoft over rights. This lead to some employees allegedly only receiving a small portion of their wage. Crytek has yet to respond to these rumours.

It's been a tough month for Crytek: reports of staff being underpaid continue to circulate, along with claims that upwards of 30 staff have voluntarily left the company's UK offices since 2011. Though the company has yet to confirm or deny the rumours, it has moved to assure that its announced projects are still in development.

"We continue to focus on the development and publishing of our upcoming titles Homefront: The Revolution, Hunt: Horrors of the Gilded Age, Arena of Fate, and Warface, as well as providing ongoing support for our CryEngine and its licensees," a spokesperson wrote.

Alpha and Early Access reviews offer our preliminary verdicts on in-development games. We may follow up this unscored review with a final, scored review in the future. Read our full review policy for details.

Beasts of Prey is for builders and I m hard at work. I ve already scavenged enough stone and wood to piece together a crafting bench and a furnace. With a good supply of lumber and a selection of metal ores smelting away, I m making progress towards a home of my own. But I ve also got self-defense in mind. I ve been active on the game s official PvP server for a couple hours already this session, and I have yet to see another player. Feeling secure in my solitude, despite the countless buildings that dot the hills, beaches and forests, I set out to stock up on resources.

I spot a giant grey boulder through the foliage. Unlike the ubiquitous palm and jungle trees, raw stone is a bit trickier to find and usually requires some scouting. After scanning my immediate surroundings, I still don t see any sign of movement. I sprint to the outcrop of boulders and use my ax to hack away a few chunks of raw stone. On my way back to camp, I stop to gather more wood. I ve just looked down to pick up one final log when I hear the all-too familiar and deadly sound of a silenced gun. I look up just in time to see a man walking towards me. His second volley finds its target and I collapse. Game over.

Was it something I said?

Just like in the genre-defining DayZ, the real beasts in Octagon Interactive s online, first-person survival game are the other players. For sure, there are also dinosaurs in the alpha build of BoP s jungle sandbox, but they re slow and easy to hear coming and going. They also have a tendency to wander through solid walls and hillsides. Even with the occasional run-in with a triceratops, it s the game s human element that creates all the interesting tension and surprising situations. While there are region-specific community servers to play on, as well as a separate, PvE only environment, the official PvP server appears to have seen the most activity since the game entered Steam Early Access on June 5.

BoP drops players into what looks, at first glance, like a tropical paradise. With craggy mountains to climb, forests to scrounge lumber in, and beaches on which I can build a compound fit for an Bond villain, the potential is immediately apparent. Players initially spawn with nothing but the clothes on their backs and a hunting knife. With the knife, they can harvest wood and chip off some pieces of raw stone, two materials that form the basis for a much-sturdier ax. Everything is easier to harvest with the ax, and as I outlined above, until you build some sort of shelter, you are vulnerable to ambushes and raids that could mean a lot of wasted work. And because it could play a role in your ability to survive a run-in with a dinosaur or bandit, it s important to note there s no option to invert mouse look in BoP at the moment.

Dinosaurs appear to go where they please, even through walls.

After a few hours of wandering or foraging for crafting resources, however, it all starts to blend together. A day and night cycle as well as quality sound design help to break up the monotony of seeing the same trees, rocks, and building materials everywhere. But I can t help feeling the visual dimension of the game s sandbox is a bit shallow at the moment. Alternate character models, a wider color palette for buildings, and a more diverse tropical environment would help make the world a more interesting place to hang out in during the quiet times.

Each server, whether official or community-run, saves its own profile of your character, so it s possible to vary your playstyle from server to server. By planting a flag and building defenses around it, you can claim a plot of land for a personal palace or a home base for player-run clans known as tribes. Other players and tribes can raid these claims, destroy your flag and claim the land for themselves. Buildings on land claims in each server persist, even though you lose your personal item inventory with every death.

In contrast to its repetitive environmental design, the game s clear and functional crafting system hints at some incredible possibilities for the careful engineer. These include oil refinement for fuel, advanced firearms, and laser-guided, proximity-activated gun turrets. And even when the world feels desolate and empty, with little or no activity, the evidence of a whole lot of hard work is visible everywhere I look.

A lakeside retreat fit for a super villain.

Players not content with the game s small, pre-fab homes can build much bigger structures by crafting a series of modular pieces. These include concrete slabs, wood and concrete walls, as well as gates and doors that only the builder or tribe member can open. Because of this modular flexibility, the only limit to building appears to be land claims, resource control and player ingenuity. On the PvP server, strange, castle-like structures jut out from the sides of mountains, while other players have constructed elaborate, maze-like defense systems, complete with radar antennae and oil derricks. But even with all that obvious effort on display, more often than not, it feels like nobody s home.

BoP, which the developer plans to move to beta in October, pairs a robust and interesting crafting mechanic with a bland game world as a backdrop. Like so many online, open-world games, the potential for weird and wonderful encounters depends mostly on who s playing. BoP s community will likely determine its present and future.
Verdict
With its accessible crafting system, good sound design and base-building potential, Beasts of Prey is a game for the patient survival engineer. But even with its active Steam forum community, BoP s official servers often feel empty. And if you demand detailed and varied environments as a substitute for PvP, it d be worth waiting to see how the game develops.
Outlook
Unclear. Even with more polish and variety applied to the game s environment, the fate of BoP likely rests in the hands of its players. This is a case where the developer s earnest call for player feedback could be highly influential. Octagon is active in BoP s Steam forum, and says the addition of a PvE server came in response to the game s community.

Details
Version reviewed: Alpha build 1135
Reviewed on: Windows 7 64-bit, i5-2500k 3.6 GHz, 8 GB RAM, GTX 560 ti 2 GB graphics card
Recommended: Windows XP or later (Vista/7/8), i7 CPU, 4096 MB RAM, NVidia GeForce 560GTX or higher
Price: $19/ 14
Publisher/Developer: Octagon Interactive
Multiplayer: MMO PvP, PvE, and private servers
Link: Steam store page