Survival sandbox H1Z1: Just Survive [official site] today receives a big update but also loses its name. The update will bring a new level, a new base-building system, a revamp of weapons and melee combat, and more. At the same time, H1Z1: Just Survive is now named simply Just Survive. Developers Daybreak Game Company don’t state a sensible reason for the rebranding but I’d guess they’re trying to avoid people confusing it with H1Z1: King of the Kill, the massively popular Battle Royale ’em up spin-off designed by the creator of Playerunknown’s Battlegrounds. (more…)

Have You Played? is an endless stream of game retrospectives. One a day, every day, perhaps for all time.>

If you’ve ever played XCOM and wished you could spend more time building your antfarm base and less time watching your operatives die, Project Highrise [official site] might be the game for you.

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Football Manager 2018 [official site] is a game which exists and will launch on November 10th, publishers Sega announced today. Football Manager Touch 2018 also exists and will also launch on November 10th. That is about all Sega say. What’s new with this year’s instalment? They won’t tell us until September. As Sega won’t offer details, we’ve turned to our trusted secret sources [it’s Ian Video Games wearing an assortment of fake moustaches and a Darth Vader Voice Changer Helmet -ed.]>. (more…)

FADE IN:

INT. BLIZZARD’S BOARDROOM LUNCH, SEPTEMBER 2016People in suits are playing with executive desk toys. One is batting a Newton’s Cradle with her paw while another bobs her head in time with the motions of a drinking bird. Suddenly CRADLE EXEC sits up.

CRADLE EXEC:We could…… rebrand…. something?

All activity ceases and there is a moment of silence before excited whispering sets in. (more…)

Today brings new events, tasks, and items to Tom Clancy’s The Division [official site] in a big update, arriving ahead of a weekend trial which will let all Divisioneers play the shooter MMO’s Survival expansion for free. When our Brendan was playing last year, he declared that Survival “feels like the best part of the Division right now.” You might want to give that a go if you’ve Divided but not bought into the expansion. (more…)

Agents Of Mayhem [official site] should not be judged for not being a Saints Row game. Volition are under no obligation to keep making that series, even after they struck on such extraordinary gold with SR III and IV. Agents Of Mayhem loosely shares the same universe, albeit mostly via the presence of the colour purple and fleurs-de-lis. There are also a few half-familiar character names, and a DLC that lets you add Johnny Gat into the mix, but beyond this AoM and SR are separate games. Different types of games. You can’t measure Agents Of Mayhem against Saints Row in a sensible way. Still, it doesn’t stop them> trying, and, well, you know, it’s nowhere near as good as the recent Saints Row games. Here’s wot I think. (more…)

Ah, Dragon s Dogma [official site], gem of Capcom s slightly weird early 201X lineup. The familiar alliteration in the title wasn t coincidence; Dragon s Dogma was Capcom s take on classic D&D, circa 1990. A fully player-designed party, a threadbare plot, a semi-open world full of dungeons, loot, levelling and a few dragons, too, and all tied together with a physics y, tactile action combat engine fresh out of the Capcom forges, allowing for the kind of dramatic combat that would drive a DM to despair as they consult the arcane rules behind grappling.

In 2015 Dragon s Dogma Online took the series online in a sequel of sorts, but as the third season of that game approaches, there’s still no sign of an English language release. Fear not though because with a little bit of tinkering, you can jump in right now, and there’s a fan translation in progress that you can enjoy the early parts of already. Here’s how to play and why you should.

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We’ve trapped in two main cycles of revamps, revivals, remakes, and rethings. One is giving us revivals and remakes of games from 20 years ago, while the other goes revamping games released during the previous generation of consoles. StarCraft: Remastered [official site] is from the former camp, a remake of Blizzard’s wonderful sci-fi real-time strategy game from 1998, now fancied up with new art and better support for modern systems and all that. And it’s out today.

If you had expected it to be out by now, hold on. Blizzard say that “our deployment is taking longer than initially expected” so the launch is due around 9pm (1pm PDT). (more…)

The coloured lights flaring across the night sky in the frozen Canadian wilderness were one of the most anticipated elements of Hinterland’s survival game, The Long Dark [official site]. Since the Kickstarter we’ve known they would do more than brighten the night, playing a key part in the game’s episodic story mode, but now they’re in the game I find myself braving the uptick in danger they bring or setting aside a necessary survival task to stand outside and stare up at the skies in delight. So how did the design of the aurora develop. how did the team balance beauty and hostility and DID YOU KNOW that the Aurora Borealis makes a noise in real life that Hinterland incorporated into the game?? Here’s creative director Raphael van Lierop to explain more in our latest State of the Art feature! (more…)

The turn-based tactical BattleTech [official site] “is the mech game I’ve always wanted”, our Adam declared after playing a bit. “It’s likely to be one of my favourite games of 2017,” he said. Well then. Let’s blame him for flipping well jinxing it, as BattleTech is now delayed. It was due later this year but is instead now pushed into some time in “early 2018”. Why the delay? The people making BattleTech — Shadowrun Returns devs Harebrained Schemes — say it’s to make the game good, yeah? (more…)