Dungeon Defenders II is a tower defence/action-RPG hybrid, with a very heavy focus on co-op multiplayer, in which your fantasy archetype lays traps and wades into the fray themselves in the hope of defeating waves of marching monsters. Its ‘pre-alpha’ has been out on Steam Early Access for a short while now, and is proving rather popular. I gave it a very quick look to try and find out why. … [visit site to read more]

Inevitably, the quotes from critics that punctuate the first trailer for Life is Strange contain references to Gone Home. Telltale comparisons might seem more valid given that Life is Strange is an episodic adventure about drama and decision-making rather than puzzling, pointing and clicking, and the floating quotes dutifully invoke The Walking Dead. But there’s some teen angst on display as well in this tale of a photography student returning to her hometown. It’s a hometown packed with melancholy and mystery, naturally, and the plot suggests there might be a touch of Veronica Mars to throw in with other apparent influences. Oh – and the main character can rewind time, obviously.

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Silly puns. Got to love them, really. Even more so when they come dressed up in detailed and lovely isometric graphics straight from the revered tradition of Cadaver, When Time Stood Still and the recent Shadowrun Returns. Yes, Cat-Ana really does look this good.

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Transformers Universe will shut down at the end of January, having never properly launched. First announced as a MMO in 2011, it shifted into a free-to-play Dota-y sort of a thing (MOTA was the horrible word developers Jagex used), and launched into paid beta this year followed by an open beta in July. And soon it’ll shut down. Jagex didn’t give a real reason, but I suspect the fact that you can’t move without bumping into a car that transforms into a MOBA might be something to do with out. It arrived too late, and didn’t offer enough reasons to shift away from larger, more established F2P Dote ‘em ups.

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One of the year’s Bestest Best Games is currently discounted by 50% on Steam. The game is Endless Legend, Amplitude’s superb 4X fantasy game, and it’s currently 13.49, but only until 6pm GMT. The discounts extend to all three of the studio’s releases, so you can also grab debut title Endless Space and this year’s brilliantly inventive roguelike door defense thing> Dungeon of the Endless for 4.99 each. There’s also a bundle with all three plus DLC for 30.49. If you need to know more, our reviews of Dungeon and Legend are here to help, and Jim and I wrote about Endless Legend as part of our December festivities.

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I can think of a dozen easy ways to describe Metrocide – Teleglitch in a city, Grand Theft Auto 1 but cyberpunk, Hotline Miami but with an open world and stealth. If I’m skipping analogies, it’s a top-down game with permadeath about completing a series of dynamic contract killings in a futuristic city under heavy surveillance by bystanders and floating police droids. It sounds pretty cool, and it’s out now after a short Early Access period with a launch trailer below.

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Part of a miscellany of serious thoughts, animal gifs, and anecdotage from the realm of MOBAs/hero brawlers/lane-pushers/ARTS/tactical wizard-em-ups. One day Pip might even tell you the story of how she bumped into Na Vi s Dendi at a dessert buffet cart.>

Having spoken so much about Dota in this column (as you would expect) and having made it the subject of a Have You Played ? it occurs to me that I’ve never really done a post aimed at newcomers thinking of trying out the game. Until now!

There are plenty of beginners’ guides out there but Dota 2 itself now contains a bunch of tutorial missions and quests. With that in mind I’ve spent the last Dote Night of 2014 having a good old poke about in the tutorial missions and seeing how well I think they explain the game.

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I like Secret Habitat. I like it an awful lot. I’ve been playing this latest from Strangethink Software for a fortnight and I keep returning to see more but it’s taken me this long to post because I want to do right by it. Oh, this’ll have to do! Secret Habitat is wonderful and special, okay?

It’s a free walking simulator on a procedural island covered in procedural art galleries with procedural layouts and procedural wallpaper and procedural collections of procedural artwork with procedural names by procedural artists, accompanied by procedural sound exhibits.

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A game about Alien rather than a game about Aliens. A game about fleeing and hiding rather than running and gunning. A game that uses a license as effectively as any in the history of the medium. Alien: Isolation is a worthy successor to Ridley Scott’s sci-fi horror classic.>

Adam: We’re not using the X word.

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Few games would boast of allowing that, perhaps only cracking a nervous joke in patch notes addressing the bug’s removal, but it’s a proper listed-in-the-trailer feature of Crusader Kings II‘s latest mini-expansion. Way of Life launched yesterday, injecting a little more personality into your pawns. WoL lets you give characters a “focus”, a passion in life that they’ll follow and pursue. Some folks like gossip, some are happiest when hunting, and some, well, some really want to marry their cousin. CK2 is basically a weirder, stabbier, and more difficult version of The Sims anyway, right?

… [visit site to read more]