Given that Tekken 7 was the first instalment to hit PC, many expected it to launch in a less-than-perfect state. But it turned out the PC version was actually very good, helped along by the fact, no doubt, that it was developed on PC using Unreal Engine 4. There were a few lingering issues though, which a new patch will hopefully iron out.
Released today, the new patch doesn't address anything game-breaking – because by all reports, there are no game-breaking bugs – but they'll come welcome to some. Players can now view past the 97th rank on leaderboards, for example, while minimizing the game's window will no longer prevent it from being re-maximised.
Elsewhere, hackers will now be matched with other hackers, thus sheltering those who wish to play the game properly. Here are the full patch notes:
Fixes an issue where the leaderboard only shows until the 97th rank and players can't jump to their own ranking.
Fixes an issue where players can't resume the game after minimizing the app's Window.
Updates the matching version to ensure hackers will not be matched with legit users anymore.
Fixes Nina's Ivory Cutter, Eddy's rage arts and Miguel's power crash move.
Fixes an issue where sometimes both controls are assigned to 1P in VERSUS battle.
Fixes an issue where the keyboard becomes unresponsive after reconnecting USB devices.
Fixes issues where customized Kazuya's 3D model partially disappears.
The full post can be perused over the Steam Community page. If you've yet to play the game, maybe our review will help you make the leap.
Ubisoft said when it announced the high-seas swashbuckling sim Skull and Bones that the game will support both solo and co-op play—"Raid the Hunting Grounds alone or group with other players to hunt larger prey," to be precise—but the focus was clearly on the multiplayer side of things. For those of you who don't like to share the booty, or get ganked by tricked-out frigates, there will be a proper single-player campaign included as well.
"[Skull and Bones] will offer a narrative campaign which will be integrated into the game and will not be something aside of the multiplayer experience. In this campaign, players will encounter iconic characters and memorable rival pirates. More details will be shared at a later date," a rep said.
As for the E3 demo, "We only showed Loot Hunt, one of our PvP modes in Disputed Waters," the rep continued. "We like to say that this is just the tip of the iceberg of what we have to show for Skull & Bones."
Skull and Bones sounds like it could be a lot of fun: Tim described that demo as "charging around the sea, swinging your ship about to deliver spectacular volleys of cannon fire, and using your ram like an enraged narwhal" in his E3 preview, and that absolutely sounds like my kind of nautical videogame. But gamers cannot live on multiplayer alone, and since Sid Meier doesn't seem likely to return to this particular sub-genre anytime soon, I'm glad that Ubisoft is picking up the slack. Skull and Bones is due to set sail in the fall of 2018.
Nex Machina describes itself as a twin stick shooter, though it works very nicely with WASD and a mouse. You play a little guy in a motorcycle helmet who emits a relentless hose of laser fire. You jet between platforms slightly larger than your monitor, running through humans to rescue them and blasting robots to clear each area.
I've played a few hours since Nex came out yesterday and it fills a Geometry Wars shaped hole very nicely. With layers of sub-objectives and hidden levels, there is a lot more going on here, but both Nex and Geometry Wars induce a similar sense of panic. Swarms constantly span and rush to encircle you. Larger bots chase you down and charge you. Turrets barf torrents of fire in sweeping patterns across the map. Your only navigational tools are a blaster, a dash move, and the ability to run the heck away.
There's real skill to creating the perfect degree challenge in a twin-stick. It would be so easy for Nex to overwhelm you in seconds, but every pattern of spawns presents you with avenues of escape, and enemy attack patterns are designed to be manipulated. Your basic enemies can't outpace you, but they will relentlessly chase in the hope that you run into a corner. You can exploit this behaviour to line them up and wipe them out. Often they spawn in a circle around you, which gives you the chance to pull of the classic shmup escape—blast a hole, slip out of the circle and then run around the circumference firing inwards until everything is chunked.
And boy do things chunk in this game. Enemies explode in a shower of voxels that bounce around the combat space for a few moments and then dissolve. In scenes like the one above, when you're navigating enemy lasers and while lining up your own, the game throws these voxels at you in showers. It's rewarding, but also overloads the senses, and pushes you closer to that shmup sweet spot when you're just in control, but you know the situation could get away from you with one wrong move.
The laser effects add to the chaos. You die like a mirrorball going nova, bursting in an explosion of candy-pink light that bounces off walls. Death is so glorious in this game that it feels like a reward by itself. It's a neat trick in a game that kills you repeatedly after short, stressful bursts of play.
Your death is the only time Nex breaks its laser logic—yes, there is such a thing. Normally your beams are blue, enemy beams are pink. The shape and speed of pink damage tells you how it's going to behave. Fat fuzzy lines tend to wobble about. Pink skulls spawn in a ring and then move slowly outwards. They're always the brightest elements on the screen.
These simple rules make fights instinctively readable, which helps Nex to achieve the mind altering quality that you get in great shmups. In the thick of a hectic battle you're reading threats from all over your peripheral vision. You're simultaneously aware of your character, enemy trajectories, and a mesh of interlacing laser fire. Under it all a throbbing soundtrack measures out each stretching moment.
It's no wonder then that Nex gives you a moment to catch your breath between each room. It celebrates every clearance with a dazzling blue explosion of course. Whether things are going right or wrong, something is always exploding beautifully in Nex Machina.
In his 2014 review of This War of Mine, Tamoor Hussain described 11 bit studios' sombre survival game as "a stark statement about war delivered through deftly designed stealth survival and resource management." Tamoor goes on to say he feels it's "important, but unrelentingly cruel." I couldn't agree more with this last part. This War of Mine is a fantastic videogame, but it's also one whose subject matter requires determination and resilience in spades.
With Sims-like resource management, every decision matters should you wish to survive the game's war-torn, industrially-scarred landscapes. Day and night cycles pose different threats to you and your family's well being as you scuttle between abandoned warehouses, churches and schools. Empty hospitals have long since been ransacked and if you're lucky enough to happen upon supplies, expect to find hostile civilians hot on your heels.
"This War of Mine explores the harrowing realities of living amid war. Its resource management, life-sim and exploration mechanics are simple but elegantly drive home a message: in modern war you will die like a dog for no good reason. Each day plays out in two phases. In the light snipers confine characters to a musty multi-storey building, displayed through a side-on cross-section and rendered with a hand-drawn crosshatch visual style.
"This War of Mine is one the most thematically interesting games of the year, but it's also a very difficult to play. Its world always has its boot to your throat, slowly increasing the pressure until the inevitable moment where the life is drained from you. There is no happy ending, and that's the point."
If you're up for the challenge, and I'd seriously recommend testing your mettle, This War of Mine is subject to an 80 percent discount from now through Thursday 10am PST/6pm BST on Steam.
Now, CA has unveiled a new 'Campaign First Look' trailer that covers new continents Ulthuan and Lustria via the game's campaign map. Here, you'll find both the Lizardmen and the High Elves in situ while learning a wee bit about their intentions at war, and the game's mechanics too.
"The journey begins in the High Elves’ homeland of Ulthuan, where The Great Vortex crackles with magical energy on the Isle of the Dead; its dangerously unstable presence a magnificent but ominous sight that dominates the immediate landscape," says publisher Sega. "The High Elves who reside there are led by Prince Tyrion and, as the video swoops down towards the White Tower of Hoeth and past the Fortress Gates of Ulthuan, you begin to get an understanding of the proud, highly developed people who live there."
We're then taken over the oceans to Lustria, where a number of Old World races reside, before being swept away to Turtle Isle where you'll spot the High Elf Arch-Mage Teclis pursuing the Lizardmen's homeland.
Sega continues: "Finally, we are introduced to two Lizardmen Legendary Lords: the Slann Mage-Priest Mazdamundi, who has adopted the Astromancy stance to gain greater insight into his lush surroundings, and the famed Saurus Old-Blood Kroq-Gar, as he prepares to lead a Lizardmen force into battle against the High Elves at The Fallen Gates."
The quote featured above may sound poetic, but it seems War of the Chosen's Assassin has the skills to back up her words. Announced at our E3 PC Gaming Show last week, the new XCOM 2 expansion will come with three distinct alien adversaries—the first of which Firaxis has chosen to showcase is the sword-wielding cyborg Assassin.
As you'll see in the Inside Look trailer below, she's pretty cocksure. Which is the last thing your squad needs when staring down the blade of a razor-sharp katana.
A stealth based melee unit, The Assassin has the ability to vanish before your eyes which helps her sneak up on her foes. That's you, unfortunately, which means you'll want to be extra careful in sidestepping her preferred close combat approach. That said, The Assassin poses a threat from distance too: her 'Harbor Wave' ability strikes a wide-reaching beam of brutal psionic force.
And as if that wasn't bad enough, The Assassin can also kidnap your soldiers.
Time passes quickly in a packed esports season. It’s already been nearly two months since the Kiev Major, and if you blinked, you likely missed several important tournaments on the road to The International 2017. Now, the TI7 invites have been announced, with six teams grabbing the the honors: OG, Virtus.Pro, Evil Geniuses, Team Liquid, Newbee and Invictus Gaming.
Here’s a recap of what’s taken place so far—and what’s to come before the final fight for the Aegis this summer.
A follow-up to the wildly successful 2016 event ESL One Manila, the esports event giant teamed up with local production company Mineski Production Team to bring Dota 2 back to the capital of the Philippines again. Held once again at the Mall Of Asia’s arena, the tournament boasted a $250 thousand prize pool, with $125 thousand going to the top team.
Teams present were decidedly some of the top in the world, with OG, Newbee, and EG among the ranks. North American team NP had a surprisingly strong presence as well, taking a respectable third. Ultimately, though, EG and Newbee took the respective first and second place spots at the tournament before going their own ways to new, separate events.
The Taiwanese tournament felt small in scale and presence compared to other events, but make no mistake: the event had a $100k prize pool and strong teams including Newbee and NP. Still, at first glance, the absence of major tier one teams due to the upcoming Epicenter in Moscow can make it feel much less grand in the larger scheme of things. If it counts for anything, NP took a one-year ban from Dreamleague in order to be present.
The aforementioned teams faced off in the finals, and Newbee went home with the prize. The fact that NP came so close, though, could mean that North American competition may get heated as the season goes on. Teams such as the also-present Digital Chaos will have a lot to work towards this season.
Epicenter
Dates: June 4-11Prize Pool: $500,000 USDTop Prize: Team Liquid ($250,000 USD)
The Russian tournament was well-received after their debut in 2016, and now they’ve returned for another year. This time, though, they’ve ditched the double-elimination format for a riskier one: ten teams invited, four eliminated in group stages, and six proceed to single-elimination brackets with seeding based on group stage performance. If it sounds confusing, you’re certainly not alone, but it likely plays more fairly and meaningfully than Valve’s current all-in single-elimination format.
Teams present were some of the top performers in Kiev, including OG, EG, Team Secret and iG. Basically, the competition shaped up to be tough. As one of the last premier tournaments before the TI7 invites, each team fought tooth-and-nail for not just the prize, but Valve’s attention as well.
At the end, Team Liquid took a somewhat-surprising but well-deserved win, given their inconsistently strong performance the rest of the season. As the other finalist, Evil Geniuses certainly performed well, though, holding onto their reputation as the top North American team.
Photo credit: Valve
The Summit 7
Dates: June 14-19Prize Pool: $100,000 USDTop Prize: Virtus.Pro ($42,500 USD)
The darling biannual tournament of Dota 2, hosted by grassroots studio Beyond The Summit, returns for its seventh iteration. It’s held in the house owned by BTS and features quirks such as “couch casting” (which is exactly what it sounds like), goofy features and a family vibe. It sounds odd, but the tournament itself is extremely serious, as it shows off the top teams in the world. With a $100k prize pool, teams have reason to take it seriously.
More importantly, it’s one of the two tournaments, along with Galaxy Battles, that sits safely before the estimated dates of the TI7 invites. Virtus.Pro had the opportunity to reaffirm their worth as the premier CIS team, as Team Secret had to for western Europe. In the end, VP took the crown with a massive range of unique heroes: 81 out of 85 picks were unique, and they got the invite.
Also having taken place this weekend was the first iteration of Galaxy Battles, a Chinese tournament given a blessing by the National Electronic Sports Open, a major Chinese circuit. While it’s not as renown as The Summit, it still has a respectable mix of teams that can make for an engaging event.
It’s worth more in prize pool than The Summit, with $150k total, and again, like The Summit, it’s one of the last tournaments before invites may go out. This time, Newbee proved they were the top Chinese team in Dota, and they got the invite.
Photo credit: Valve
The International 7 Qualifiers
Dates: June 22-June 29th
Here, then, is the checkpoint and a turning point in the midst of all the chaos. Already, the dates for the qualifiers themselves have been announced. Now, teams that aren’t directly invited to the major event will have to face off in order to cinch the last of the spots, whether through the open qualifiers or an invite to the regional qualifiers.
From these qualifiers, though, it doesn’t end before the Seattle main event. A few more events between now and then can signal to fans who will perform well at The International, if the teams choose to play instead of train.
If your team wants to give a shot at the Aegis, open qualifier signups are open as of the time of writing until the start of the bracket check-in on June 22.
Mars Dota 2 League
Dates: July 5-9
Held by the Chinese media company, the Mars Dota 2 League already has some of the top talent lined up, including OG, EG and the two arguably strongest Chinese teams right now, Newbee and iG. Originally to be held late April, the sudden announcement of the Kiev Major meant the event had to be rescheduled to its new time. That means, though, that fans can enjoy another event before TI7 kicks off.
This event will likely set the stage for the “east versus west” narrative that takes place each TI. With the flip between China and European/American countries taking the Aegis, fans are eager to see if China can break the streak.
Photo credit: Valve
The Final Match
Dates: July 7-9Prize Pool: $50,000 USDTop Prize: $21,250 USD
One of the biggest South American tournaments in recent years (if ever), The Final Match brings together the top local talent, including Kiev Major underdogs SG E-sports, plus international invites, the European team Alliance and Korea’s MVP HOT6ix. The region is usually pretty ignored for its perceived poor play, though after SG’s run in Kiev, many speculate it’s due to the high lag that team experience in cross-continental American gameplay. A LAN of this size should be entertaining and a great preview of what’s to come from the South American qualified team.
DreamLeague Season 7 LAN Finals
Dates: July 21-22Prize Pool: $175,000 USDTop Prize: $80,000 USD
DreamLeague is one of the longest-standing esports leagues out there, with Dota 2 held as a staple. This time, though, instead of its usual European setting, the event has been brought to America. While there are typically visa issues when it comes to American events, the event has offered TI7 training space for any well-known team planning to attend, meaning teams have a reason to obtain their visas early.
The Atlanta event already has some pretty big names lined up, including Team Secret and Epicenter winners Team Liquid. Rounding out the event are Vega Squadron and Planet Odd, each of whom won through the event’s online circuit.
Housemarque is one of the most respected developers of arcade style shooters in the industry, though most of their titles tend to be PlayStation exclusives. Stuff like Resogun, Dead Nation and Alienation has yet to – or probably won't – hit PC, but the studio's newest game Nex Machina in available right now.
As the trailer embedded below will sufficiently demonstrate, it's a pedal-to-the-medal twin-stick shooter with explosive voxel art stylings. If their previous titles are anything to go by, anyone with a fondness for twitchy, high skill arcade shooters will not want to miss this.
The game features over 100 levels across five different worlds, as well as local cooperative play and online leaderboards. It also has a "deep scoring system, rich metagame and replayability", according to the Steam description. To celebrate launch, it's currently going for 20 percent less than usual.
Everyone I've ever spoken to about The Witcher 3 wishes it had never ended, so it's nice that this new Polish film project aims to create a new story in the universe. Dubbed Alzur's Legacy, it takes its inspiration from Andzej Sapkowski's novels rather than the game specifically, but the trailer embedded below suggests they've nailed the atmosphere of the games quite well.
The non-profit short film stars familiar characters such as Triss Merigold and Lambert, though Geralt himself will not appear, whether in a bathtub or otherwise.
Here's a bit of the synopsis: "Nearly half a century after the Rivian Pogrom, Kaer Morhen, old mountain keep of monster slayers called 'the witchers', is attacked.
"Shortly after a young renegade sorceress suspected of obtaining legendary Alzur’s Almanach flees from the Aretuza, a newly rebuilt magical school. Triss Merigold, a veteran sorceress, pursues her and during her stay at the inn she encounters famous bard Dandelion and the witcher Lambert."
The film is close to completion, though the team is preparing for the final stages of shooting which will commence next month. To help, a fairly modest sum of $15,000 is being raised, with several backer tiers and rewards to tempt funders. Check out the Indie Gogo page here.
Late last year, Crowbar Collective released the first screenshot of the Xen area of its Half-Life remake Black Mesa, which was not included with its original release. The team said that it was focused on "crafting a fun and cohesive experience from start to finish," and that it wanted to "push the boundaries and explore this unique and varied setting." The plan at the time was to have Xen out this summer; unfortunately, getting it right is taking longer than expected.
"As some of you may have already predicted, we are going to need to push back our planned release of Xen to later this year, in December. We know that this is not what anyone would want to hear, but after taking a long and hard look at what we want to achieve, we have decided that this is for the best. We do not want to compromise on Xen’s quality in any way," the studio wrote on Steam. "That said, we consider December to be a do-or-die deadline."
To soften the blow, Crowbar posted the first two public images of a Xen exterior, and also provided more information about what exactly it's doing with the level. A new dynamic lighting system for use in situations "where we want the lights to be particularly gorgeous" has been implemented, a "color correction pass" on the entire game is underway, and enemy soldiers will now hold their weapons properly, without their hands clipping through their guns.
Crowbar didn't get into the specifics of the delay, but if I had to (or just wanted to) hazard a guess, I'd say it's probably at least in part because the original Xen level was awful: A dull, utterly un-fun area that was completely out of sync with the rest of the game. A fresh coat of paint is enough for most of Half Life, but making Xen itself "fun and cohesive" is a whole different ballgame.
