Dark Future: Blood Red States is an adaptation of one of Games Workshop's non-Warhammer games, a post-apocalyptic game of Mad Max-style car combat. Auroch Digital's videogame version is due out on May 16 as they've announced with the trailer above.
As the video shows, a 'command mode' will let you slow down time to give orders to your car covered in missile launchers and mine-layers. It's set in the year 2023, because the original tabletop game was made in the 1980s, but you can insert your own jokes about its potential accuracy here.
Dark Future: Blood Red States will be available on Steam.
Clementine feels like family. Over the course of The Walking Dead games we've played her substitute father Lee, her substitute uncle Javi, and we've played her while she acted as a substitute mother for AJ, bringing it full circle. After getting to know Clementine so well it's been hard to say goodbye to her and the rest of the cast in The Walking Dead: The Final Season, made even harder by the fact we were saying goodbye to Telltale Games at the same time.
Czech cosplayers Mary and Feinobi have been with these characters for the long haul as well. One of Mary's first cosplays was Lilly—the survivor who loses her father and turns on the group in the first season—back in 2012. "Telltale games even shared it on their Facebook profile," she recalls. "It was the first time somebody noticed me and I remember how happy I was."
With her partner Feinobi she's been doing more ambitious cel-shaded costumes for the last five years or so, the latest of which sees them cosplaying as Clementine and a walker from the Final Season. Feinobi describes the difficulty of getting that comic-book art style onto skin and clothes as involving "a lot of trial and error".
They use fabric paint on the clothes and a combination of bodypaint and makeup on the skin, trying to match them for a uniform look that makes them resemble screenshots from the games. For Feinobi's zombie face they had to get particularly creative. "It’s actually sculpted mask made out of latex and foam, with a movable jaw and two small holes next to fake eyes for me to see."
"Both costumes took about two months to make," says Mary. "The biggest challenge was making the wounds on the walker. Feinobi made them to look like deep wounds by sculpting and painting, which created a better illusion of decay. There wasn’t really a challenge on Clementine, just a lot of painting."
The most fun part, she adds, was making the Disco Broccoli toy Clementine carries to keep AJ amused.
Mary and Feinobi were joined by Mary's mother, who cosplayed as Lilly when they went to PragoFFest earlier this year. "She has started to cosplay with us and really wanted to try competing," Mary says. "The audience enjoyed our skit and we even won a special prize from one of the judges for costume accuracy."
Though it's sad for them to say goodbye to these characters, this videogame family has drawn a real family closer. Mary and Feinobi initially met through cosplay and have been together for six years. "It’s our hobby," Mary says, "we help each other out and enjoy cosplaying together. We even plan a Legacy of Kain-themed wedding."
Apocalipsis creeps me the hell out. It's a point-and-click adventure game filled with giant fish, musical instruments made of human bones and a young boy with eerily long fingers—and it's just come to GOG sporting a 40% discount.
GOG's DRM-free version is the Wormwood Edition, which bundles the game with its story DLC One Night in the Woods and an artbook. It also comes with the soundtrack, which was made by Polish metal band Behemoth, and lead singer Nergal narrates the game.
The $6 price tag, which includes the time-limited discount, is the lowest the Wormwood Edition has sold for. The base game, which came to Steam last year, has gone as low as $3.50 on Steam (it's currently $7 by itself)
Apocalipsis is definitely not for everybody: it has some terrible action sequences, the puzzles aren't particularly clever and the environments—although packed with detail—can feel plain because of the muted color palate. But if you're into surrealism and Dark Age imagery, it's definitely worth a look. Check out the trailer here before you make up your mind.
Narrative-driven exploration game Gone Home, which is still one of the best indie games on PC, is free on the Humble Bundle right now.
Gone Home is one of the 60+ titles in the Humble Monthly Trove, a bank of games that are available to all Humble Monthly subscribers. Occasionally, one of these games gets given away free for a limited time, and Gone Home's number has been called—you can download it here until May 5.
You'll need to login to your Humble Bundle account first, but after that you'll get a DRM-free copy of the game, meaning you'll be able to launch it directly from your desktop rather than going through a launcher.
In Gone Home, you explore a detailed house to learn about the lives of the people that lived there. It's more than five years old, but it's still worth playing because of its touching story: you can read our review from the time here.
Whispers of a Machine chases big ideas, one of which is teased in an early-game conversation between a teacher and her young students. Artificial intelligence is strictly forbidden, she warns, and the police will come for anyone who tries to make something that can think for itself. But what about my parents, one quick-thinking student asks. They made me, and I can think for myself. Are they going to jail?
It doesn't quite arrive at the philosophical weight it aspires to. Whispers of a Machine is a good adventure game, clever at times, but the heavy concepts it flirts with at the outset quickly give way to a conventional murder mystery in an unconventional setting: A vaguely post-apocalyptic world scarred by the long-ago, for-reasons-unknown collapse of the AI-driven computers and machines that humanity had grown to rely on.
As a result of that breakdown, the world is kind of shitty, although not necessarily any shittier than it's going to be in 20 years anyway. Work is communal, living quarters are cramped and spartan, and there's an air of oppression that hangs over everything. If nothing else, it's believable.
Vera Englund is one of this world’s most elite operatives, a special agent of the Central Bureau who's been sent to the remote town of Nordsund to investigate a grisly murder. But when she arrives, she discovers that one murder has become two, and then three—the situation is obviously more complicated than she expected.
Fortunately for all involved (except the bad guy), Englund comes equipped with a number of special abilities as a result of "taking the Blue," a slang term for being injected with a nebulous nanofluid that confers abilities like enhanced strength and a "forensic scanner" that can detect and analyze clues.
Later in the game she’ll also develop personalized abilities, which is where things start to get interesting. In the game's fiction, the Blue adapts to suit each user's needs. In practical terms, the choices you make in action and conversation will pull Vera's personality in one of three directions—empathetic, analytical, or assertive—which will in turn determine which enhancements she ends up with. You might be able to take on the appearance of someone else, or vanish from sight entirely; some agents can inflict short-term amnesia on NPCs, while others can bend them to their will with the mind-control whammy.
Building character
Upping the stakes even further, Whispers of a Machine does not allow manual saves.
The RPG-esque character development is the most interesting thing about Whispers of a Machine, and the irony is that unless you're really paying attention you're quite likely to miss it. There's no indication that you developed this ability instead of that one—the abilities simply unlock, and you get on with your day. It’s a stealthy system that belies the game’s complexity, but I like it because it confers a more distinct sense that Vera is you: Instead of metagaming or mix-maxing or savescumming or whatever it is you do to reach an optimal outcome (and yes, I do it too), you get what you get. You are who you are.
Upping the stakes even further, Whispers of a Machine does not allow manual saves, so unless you want to horse around with manually copying and overwriting your save files, you own every decision you make, good or bad. Do you regret being a jerk to the weird robotics guy? Wish you hadn't chopped that dude’s finger off? (Yup, that's on the menu.) Feel like you should've been a little more forceful with the local constabulary? Too bad—if you want to do it differently, replay the game.
The flipside of that coin is that while Whispers of a Machine is short enough that a replay isn't a great chore, there's really not enough to it to justify a full second run-through. The central story is interesting but the game world is small and feels empty—there are virtually no characters in the game except those you need to interact with, who only appear when you need to interact with them—and there are no side quests or collectibles or optional extras.
What you’re left with is different ways of solving the same, relatively few problems: Depending on your augmentations, you might camouflage yourself as an NPC to get past a guard, or engage an invisibility cloak instead. And hey, maybe that's exactly what you're looking for in multiple runthroughs—you do you! For me, though, it's a little too thin for a do-over.
One thing I really appreciated about Whispers of a Machine is its snappy pacing. It unfolds over four days, each a segment of the mystery that ends with a recap of the day's events. Those end-of-day reports to my superior gave me a real sense of progress because they broke the game down into discrete chunks: I did this and this, and tomorrow I need to do that and that.
An automatic notebook made tracking the course of the investigation reasonably simple, and when you enter a location with puzzles that need to be solved, you’re not able to leave until they’re done. My initial reaction to that was irritation (I'm stuck! Let me out!) but I quickly grew to like it. As someone who’s spent a lot of hours in other adventures running back and forth across 27 different rooms trying to figure out what the hell I’m supposed to do next, I have no doubt that being kept in place to solve a specific problem saved me a lot of frustration.
Small ideas
Which isn't to say that there are no instances of Adventure Game Bullshit—there are, and they're fortunately rare but still frustrating. (No spoilers, but you definitely want to pay attention to the Codex.) There's also one way over-the-top moment of deus ex machina nonsense courtesy of Vera's nigh-magical nanofluid: She suffers an injury that by all rights should leave her dead three times over, but instead she walks away with a bit of expositional hand-waving about the Blue working overtime to keep her alive. Yeah, but you're not even limping, Vera.
The incident is ridiculous enough that it really stands out in a story that's otherwise nicely focused and engaging.
My biggest complaint overall is that I wanted more coherency from Whispers of a Machine. The world, littered with robotic detritus and reliant on alternative energy sources, promises an unusual and interesting take on a civilization that didn't end so much as grind itself into a hole that humanity may still be digging. But it's all sizzle and no steak. Sometimes that can work—the outstanding Primordia leaps to mind as an example of a setting built entirely on questions that still manages to feel complete—but when major elements stand out as seriously odd, I feel like there should be at least some token nod toward justifying them.
Most of my complaints arise from what I see as unfulfilled potential.
Why, for instance, is Nordsund built atop a massive pedestal that elevates the whole damn town hundreds of feet into the air? The surface of the Earth beneath it is perfectly nice, the atmosphere is safe, there are no Morlocks running around; it just is, and that's not really satisfying.
Neither is the multipart ending. It's fun to be able to determine your own end-game fate, but the binary choice that wraps up Whispers of a Machine falls flat because you either do the obvious thing that you've been working toward throughout the game (and, presumably, your entire career as an Agent), or the completely out-of-character, out-of-nowhere opposite, with only the most threadbare rationalization for doing so. It feels forced and out of place—an RPG-style ending tacked on to a game that's not an RPG, for no clear reason.
Most of my complaints arise from what I see as unfulfilled potential. A little more depth and detail would go a long way toward making the world feel not just believable but real and lived-in. But taken for what it is—a brief, entertaining point-and-click investigative adventure—I liked Whispers of a Machine quite a lot. Even though it stumbles as a 'big idea' game, it comes off well as a self-contained detective story with a sci-fi twist.
Whispers of a Machine is a bit like a good Law & Order two-parter from season four: not too long (five or six hours) and not too deep, but comfortable, fun, and easy to digest. Keep your expectations squarely in the middle and you'll have a good time.
League of Legends just revealed its new champion—a bubbly, magical kitty named Yuumi—and I'm feeling very self-conscious about how much I already love this damn cat. Normally I'm more of a dog person, but Yuumi has a disarming personality and a unique support playstyle that I can't wait to try out when she arrives on May 14.
It's worth watching the trailer above to get a sense for how Yuumi plays and what she's all about. But the gist is she's a support champ who rides around on a magical book and can attach herself to allies, which makes her untargetable (except by towers) while also augmenting her spells. While attached, Yuumi moves wherever her ally goes. There's no other champion in LoL who plays this way and, and she should make for a great starter champion. New players will be able to worry less about positioning and staying alive and instead focus more on what's actually happening in a lane and keeping their ally alive.
Her stats are still being tuned, but here's a breakdown of Yuumi's abilities:
Passive - Bop ‘n’ Block
Every X seconds, Yuumi’s next attack against a champion restores X mana and grants her a shield that blocks X damage. This shield follows Yuumi until broken, and will apply to Yuumi’s attached ally if she has one.
Q - Prowling Projectile
Yuumi summons a missile that deals X magic damage to the first enemy hit. If the missile exists for X seconds before impacting, it deals X magic damage instead and slows champions for X% decaying over x seconds.
If cast while attached, Yuumi can control the missile using her mouse cursor.
W - You and Me!
Passive: Yuumi and the ally she’s attached to gain X% of each other’s AD or AP, converted to Adaptive Force.
Change of Plans: Yuumi dashes to an ally champion and attaches to them. While Yuumi is attached, she follows her partner’s movement and is untargetable except from towers.
Change of Plans has a X second cooldown, but Yuumi can cast it anytime she is already attached to switch between partners or unattach.
E - Zoomies
Yuumi heals herself for X to X, increasing based on missing health, and gains X% movement speed decaying over X seconds. If Yuumi is attached, this spell affects that ally instead.
This spell has two charges. Yuumi gains a charge every X seconds.
Maximum healing at X% health.
R - Final Chapter
Yuumi channels for X seconds, launching seven waves dealing X magic damage (extra missiles deal X% damage). Champions hit by three or more waves are rooted for X seconds.
Yuumi can move and cast Change of Plans and Zoomies while channeling.
Can deal a maximum of X magic damage to any single enemy.
Yuumi will be available April 30 on the beta servers and May 14 in the full game.
It's been at least five minutes since a new Warhammer game was announced, but thankfully Warhammer Underworlds: Online is here to plug the gap with its spin on the fantasy tabletop game. Take a look at the teaser above.
Like its tabletop namesake, Warhammer Underworlds: Online gives you a warband of stranded fighters to control, determining their fate with dice rolls and cards as you fling them at opposing warbands in the eerie city of Shadespire, as well as beneath it.
It's turn-based, but expect it to be be quicker than Age of Sigmar, where you've got a whole army to command. Developer Steel Sky Productions says the focus on deckbuilding means that there's plenty of high-level strategy even though the matches are brisk. Before you begin a match, you'll be tweaking your deck, planning contingencies and figuring out how you want to support your squad.
As well as your power deck, which lets you cast spells, perform special actions and get upgrades, there's a 12-card objective deck. Objective cards determine your goals for the mission and give you another way to win beyond just murdering everyone. Like your other cards, you'll select the objectives you want and put them in your deck, drawing them in the match.
I'm always ready for more card-based tactics games, and I confess I'm probably never going to get sick of the Warhammer cavalcade. The teaser doesn't do much to ignite my interest, but it still seems promising, and it's at least build on the strong foundations of its excellent tabletop inspiration.
Warhammer Underworlds: Online is launching on Steam Early Access this year with two warbands, and two more will be released later during development. You can see Underworlds' core warband, Steelheart's Champions, sauntering across the bottom of the screen in the trailer, which suggests the other core warband might be the other starter set faction, good old Chaos marauders. Steel Sky thinks Early Access will last for a few months, but there's no strict timeline.
The terrible cacophony produced by the rats in the A Plague Tale: Innocence footage above is enough to put me off animals and videogames forever. They make an unearthly, ear-piercing racket, presumably screaming for their dinner. They're so hungry they'll happily devour a human in seconds.
It's eight minutes of uncut footage from a new level, showing off a wee bit of everything. As a pair of siblings on the run—only one featured here—you're at a bit of a disadvantage when dealing with the heavily armed Inquisition chasing you, at least head-on. So expect to do a lot of sneaking around, sticking to the shadows and creating distractions so you can slip past nosy guards.
While the rats are an obstacle, it looks like they'll sometimes come in handy. They don't care if dinner is a guard or a kid, so you can set them on your enemies. Manipulating them is as straightforward as shining some light on them. For some reason these rats are terrified of it, so you can chase them away from some areas, or you can invite them into others, maybe where there's a guard hanging around.
The atmosphere seems appropriately gloomy and harrowing, the rats are terrifying and the stealth seems fine, but it gets a bit weird when, while sneaking around, Amicia comes across a crafting bench and starts making some ammunition. We can't escape crafting even on a family trip through medieval France.
A Plague Tale: Innocence is due out on May 14, and a story trailer also went up a wee while ago, so give it a watch below.
Tourism continues to be one of Skyrim's biggest industries, with people visiting the chilly province to enjoy its many towering mountains, primeval forests and dragons that look like wrestlers. The one downside of being a tourist is all that walking. Skyrim's big and you wouldn't want to miss anything by teleporting everywhere. PhysicsFish's SkyTrek mod has the solution.
SkyTrek is a new autopilot mod that lets you set a destination and automatically walk, ride or fly there. Just hop on your dragon or horse and you can enjoy the view while your mount does all the work. You can also open doors, so you won't get stuck when faced with a gate, and you can get into fights, so don't worry about getting murdered by the first wolf that crosses your path.
Your speed is customisable, within limits, so you can take a leisurely stroll to Whiterun or get your cardio done for the day by jogging up a mountain. It's possible to target NPCs and follow them, too, in case you're looking for company. You'll be able to follow them indoors, as well, so there's no escape.
If you want, you can even become an NPC yourself. The Life mode will make you behave like an NPC with its own schedule, letting you plonk yourself down in a tavern or somewhere else and take a break from the hardships of the road. You deserve it.
SkyTrek is thankfully compatible with several other mount mods, including Immersive Horses, Convenient Horses, Gypsy Eyes Caravan, Dragonkiller Cart and Audiobooks of Skyrim. The latter is to give you something to listen to while you're travelling to your destination.
It sounds perfect for roleplaying and making videos, or maybe you just fancy a wander. Despite Skyrim being nearly eight years old, I still find myself popping back into muck around with mods and do some sightseeing, even if it's somewhere I've visited a dozen times before.
If you're using Skyrim Special Edition, you can download SkyTrek here, while Oldrim users should grab this one. And you can hunt down more mods in our best Skyrim mods list.
Risk of Rain 2 is getting bigger in June. And then later this summer. And again in the fall, the winter, and spring 2020, when developers Hopoo Games say it will launch out of Early Access. After a hell of a successful first month, the team posted an update this Friday covering what's coming next and laid out an Early Access roadmap leading up to version 1.0. Expect new items and equipment in every single update, along with three new characters before next spring, more stages, and "Skills 2.0" and "Artifact 2.0" features.
"We are sharing this forecast so players know what to look forward to and what the team is working towards in making Risk of Rain 2 the best game of its kind," Hopoo's Paul Morse said in a press release about the Early Access roadmap.
The June update promises a new character, stage, and boss, while summer promises the first major addition, Skills 2.0, with no breakdown of what that means. Artifacts, meanwhile, aka modifiers that change the difficulty and how the game plays, won't be coming until the winter update.
I'm most curious about Fall's "Hidden Realms" update, which sounds like it'll include some secret levels outside the standard stages. What will they do? How will we reach them? (The likely answer: Play a lot of Risk of Rain 2).
And I'm excited to see which of the characters are wholly new creations, if any, or if they're all returning survivors from the first Risk of Rain. I played a lot of the Enforcer in the first game, a shotgun-and-riot-shield-wielding SWAT dude, and would be happy to see him make a comeback.
Localization is currently in progress for French, German, Italian, Japanese, Simplified Chinese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, and Turkish. Aside from their content updates, the devs have a few major points on their minds, including stamping out a save corruption bug and rooting out a stuttering problem when picking up items for the first time.
