Somehow I'd missed that Vampire: The Masquerade - Swansong, unlike most of the other VTM games these days, is not interactive fiction. Nope, apparently a 3D walking-around sort of "narrative RPG", made by the studio behind 2018's curious The Council. Huh! I'm interested. A new trailer out E3 introduces us to one of the three protagonists we'll switch between, Leysha - a Malkavian. Her fashion is truly great.
I've been after a shooter that'll loosen my grip on Call Of Duty: Warzone and I think Battlefield 2042 might be it. Having watched the gameplay trailer at Microsoft and Bethesda's E3 showcase, it's large-scale shooty bang in areas exclusively ravaged by tornadoes and storms. Clear skies and an easy shot? Nah mate, not any longer. Have a tornado.
There was a moment over the weekend where Alice0 pointed out that a lot of people are remaking Left 4 Dead - apart from Valve. I have mentioned this before, but playing L4D2 accounted for about 60% of my time at university. I have a tattoo of the safe house symbol on my ribs (it is terrible).
The Left 4 Dead formula is simple on paper - small team of co-op players vs monster horde, getting from point A to point B with potential incidental side objectives on the way - but is tough to nail. You need to get the mix right. And this year's E3 has revealed a lot of people are rolling up their sleeves to have a go. Let's have a look.
I get a childlike sense of glee from playing games that let me run around as a miniature human in a world that's far too big for them. Add a dash of Pikmin to that, and you've really caught my interest. The newly announced puzzle platformer Tinykin seems to provide exactly that: it's about a very small astronaut exploring a giant house with the help from lots of little one-eyed alien pals.
"Get in a ship, explore the galaxy, do fun stuff": that's Bethesda's Starfield in a nutshell, according to executive producer Todd Howard. The first time I read that neat little triptych in yesterday's Washington Post interview, my brain skated over it. It's one of those broad, sweeping statements that promises something so big you end up disregarding it by default. But then I went back to it, and after forcing my mind's eye to hover over the words like a fat hawk, the words really sank in. The middle three, in particular.
Explore the galaxy.> That, right there, is a premise that space games have always tended to fall short on over the years, and I'd forgotten how badly I wanted it fulfilled. Speaking bluntly, science fiction is one of the biggest things in my life. Exploring the galaxy is a big deal to me, and yet, the experience space games have delivered in the past has never quite been the one I've been after. Now, I'm daring to ask myself how I'd feel if this time, it was>.
In 2022, Fallout 76 will let players explore beyond the reaches of Appalachia for the first time. Bethesda are adding Expeditions to their post-apocalyptic MMO, which will allow former vault-dwellers to adventure in other areas of the Fallout universe. The first one might be familiar to folks who played some of Fallout 3's DLC too, because it's sending us back to The Pitt (that is: radiation-ravaged Pittsburgh).
The studio behind Northgard and Evoland are jaunting into yet another genre, this time an open-world RPG with turn-based tactical combat. Shiro Games last night announced Wartales, a game about leading a band of mercenaries in the aftermath of an apocalyptic plague. It looked like an unfatastical medieval world in the trailer until I saw a colossal crest of black fur rolling through a forest and OOH what is this. See for yourself in the trailer below.
As revealed at the Xbox and Bethesda E3 showcase this weekend, Rare's multiplayer open world pirate 'em up Sea Of Thieves is about to have 100% more Jack Sparrow than it previously did. Sea Of Thieves: A Pirate's Life is a new Pirates Of The Caribbean-themed story campaign featuring five Tall Tales, and it's coming free to the game on June 22nd. Why, that's quite soon!
And look, I'm not saying that the Pirates Of The Caribbean films do not form a billion dollar franchise, but when you tell me that Sea Of Thieves is getting the "Why is the rum gone?" man, I know what sort of feels like the better get for whom.
Crucial's MX500 SSD is one of the best budget SATA drives around and today you can pick up a 500GB model for a new all-time low price of just £42 in the UK. The price drop comes courtesy of Amazon UK, who have clearly forgotten that their big annual Prime Day bash starts next week> on Monday June 21st, not today. Still, this is a great price for a 500GB drive, and one well worth snapping up before it disappears.
I've not yet watched the trailer for Wizard With A Gun, announced during last night's Devolver Digital stream at E3. But I bet you my entire house I can tell you what's in it. If I guess wrong, I'll email you my house. If I guess right, you have to read the rest of this post. Deal? Sorry, too slow. Reading the word "deal" counted as agreeing to the deal, I'm afraid, so let's play.
I'm guessing the trailer will feature a Wizard, who possesses a gun. Here's the trailer. Let's see if I am correct, or if I have ruined my family's life by promising to email their house to loads of strangers.