EA to the rescue Part 2

By. UnderBreex's

  Welcome back, and thank you for loving Lord Whaley! I’m back to present you with the second and most important part of “EA to the Rescue.” Why should I continue? Easy—by the end of this article your wallet is going to be yearning for these games from EA.

  In all my years of experience in the gaming industry, I’ve never been as excited for a first-person adventure platform and a first-person shooter game as I am now. But enough stalling, I’m here to talk about the games not myself: Mirror's Edge 2 (the sequel to an already amazing and innovative title) and Battlefield: Hardline (a franchise that’s known for its camo-suits has taken a new direction with sleek cops-n-robbers gameplay).

  Originality is Mirror’s Edge’s canvas. Its brightly colored setting differs from most first-person shooters and its parkour fighting style allows a wide array of movements not seen in other video games. In previous trailers and gameplay demos of the sequel we’ve seen the focus shift to combat mechanics, unlike its predecessor. The developer promises more varied gameplay and a greater degree of experimentation. Mirror’s Edge 2 will create more routes and options for the player, while maintaining the same sense of agility. It has been hinted that the franchise is being treated as a trilogy, rumored to be in the works since mid-2009.

  However, Mirror’s Edge 2 has been confirmed as a prequel. Players will be able to dig into Faith’s origins in an open-world action adventure game. The original writer, Rhianna Pratchett, and most of the original staff will not be involved in this title. The game is scheduled to be release around April 2016.

  Visceral Games Battlefield: Hardline will feature new gameplay that breaks away from the traditional military setting to the “war on crime”. Players will play a police offer in the Special Response Unit or the criminals. Nevertheless, players are granted access to military-grade arsenals and vehicles, as well as being equipped with regular mandatory tools like handcuffs and tasers. Among these changes, new modes are added as well:

  -Heist: Criminals must steal packets of money from armored trucks

  -Blood Money: Both factions must retrieve money from an open crate in the center of the map, then  move it back to their respective armored truck

  -Hotwire Mode: High-speed chases across an expansive environment.

  -Rescue: Police officers or S.W.A.T. must try to save hostages from the criminals. 

 Battlefield: Hardline will feature a single player campaign that promises to be amazing while running on the Frostbite 3 engine. This game is scheduled to be released on March 2015, instead of October 2014, its prior date, due to beta testers’ requests. Both games will be available for previous and next generation consoles.

 

 That’s it for today! I hope you guys enjoyed this preview of EA’s line up. They finally made the right decisions and evolved into this video game cycle. Hail the Whale!

Microsoft Recap

By UnderBreex

Once again, it's that time of the year, when wake up really early, rush to the living room, and take a look at our favorite things while celebrating with our closest family and friends. No, it's not Christmas! It’s the Electronic Entertainment Expo 2014! Once again, bringing exciting new video game titles and updates from our favorite companies in the industry. Let's recap!

Starting with Microsoft, the company needed to deliver something genuine for both hardcore and casual gamers, and exciting too, for the love of Lord Whaley! They needed to deliver convincing titles with mind-blowing content, not another cable box. Thankfully, Microsoft learned from their mistakes (asides not hiring a host like Ubisoft), and presented amazing possibilities that had me questioning the safety of my bank savings.

Some of the new announcements included exclusive and third party games, gameplay demos, and new trailers for games such as:

* - Multi-Consoles   ** - Exclusives

-Forza Horizon 2**

-Evolve*

-Crackdown 3**

-Dragon Age: Inquisition*

-Sunset Overdrive**

-Project Spark**

-Ori and the Blind Forest**

-Halo 5: Guardians**

-Scalebound**

-New character for Killer Instinct: Season 2**

-Phantom Dust reboot**

-Dance Central Spotlight**

-The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt*

-Halo: The Master Chief Collection**

These strong titles may be the key for the Xbox One to dethrone the PlayStation 4 in sales, and finally prove its potential, or at least it will by next year.

Starting with Forza Horizon 2, this title gives you the competitive driving thrill of your life. Not only does it have beautiful graphics, it also has a new driving mechanism which no other driving game dominates until now. The Halo: The Master Chief Collection is a big deal, including Halo 1, 2, 3 and 4 remastered for the Xbox One for only $60. It's well-suited for new Xbox owners looking to have one of the best gaming titles in the history. We also got some footage from Halo 5: Guardians, and it was amazing. We expect nothing less from a classic title going into the next generation. One of the biggest surprises was Crackdown 3. Even though extensive gameplay was previewed, they didn’t reveal many details. Finally, Sunset Overdrive has had me craving an Xbox One since last year and it’s not because it reminds me of InFamous a little bit. Sunset Overdrive looks insane as a Creepachu (look it up, thank me later), it's colorful, versatile, and overall very entertaining. More importantly, it’s also a much needed new franchise for this console. Who would’ve guessed that we could launch a teddy bear strapped with a stick of dynamite to destroy enemies?

Microsoft is playing it safe for now by finally showing up some promising titles and engaging what we all love, while also lowering the console’s price tag a $100 by removing the Kinect. The Xbox One is finally heading down a brighter path.

EA to the Rescue Part 1

By UnderBreex

Good day, Lord Whaley lovers! In this journey, we are going to tear into some notorious game developers and their respective companies. Why? Asides the fact that they showed only a few games intended to make a huge comeback,, these higher ups need our satisfaction in order for them to make a profit. Also, I'm a huge fan of these amazing companies and have sold my soul to them on countless occasions. Lately, though, they've had a lack of new content and titles, and I’m finally  hyped.

Let's begin with Electronic Arts. Yes, the devil that charges us for breathing, thanks to micro transactions, and yet still manages to give us amazing and addicting games. They have a solid list of games that are heavy contenders for the coming months and years. Their games are by far the most convincing and for sure best sellers.

First, they’ve teamed up with British studio Criterion to innovate racing games with Burnout. Not only can you drive cars but also ATVs, helicopters, planes, jet-skis and more. It also allows players to explore an open world, instead of just formal racing like we’re used to. They also claim to have been inspired by professional drivers who shared their experiences via YouTube to create a new head-cam view mode.

The much anticipated Star Wars: Battlefront has made an appearance, showing locations based on the first trilogy of films and speeder bikes, though no precious lightsabers or At-Ats. It seems crazy, but it’s still early and there’s always hope. Hopefully, its collaboration from DICE Stockholm and LucasFilm will spearhead the franchise and company back into the glorious empire they once had. 

Deep in the bowels of the EA and BioWare teams, there’s a bit of mystery surrounding Mass Effect 4 and a new sci-fi blockbuster title. It’s too soon to knowthe games’ progress, but it’s a necessary move to make up for bad decisions. For their new mystery title, they showed some vivid hills and fields, and as for Mass Effect 4, they teased something that will include new places and characters that will be to die for.

One of my favorite titles of all times is The Sims. I could give up gaming for life, but if you ever put a Sims title or expansion in front of me, I’d be a very happy hermit. The Sims 4 is better than ever, giving you emotions, traits and customizations to personalize your Sims into the ultimate YOU!The new house building mechanisms are easier, providing pre-created and furnished rooms. Sounds too good to be true, but for now, this new game sadly won't have pools or toddlers available at release.

Next time, I’ll give you the next two games that made a huge impact of gaming goodness and made our wallets cry from the ultimate contender: Ubisoft. Until then, Hail the Whale!

The Rise of MOBA’s and the Growth of Competitive PC Gaming

By. BZork

 Every few years, a video game genre takes over the scene and inspires many similar titles to come around and dominate, producing lookalike after lookalike; we saw it with World of Warcraft, and the rise of MMO’s, and as of the 2010s, it seems like MOBAs (Multiplayer-Online-Battle-Arena) have fit the bill as the flavor genre of PC gaming, much to the pleasure of some, and annoyance of others.

With spiritual roots linked to Blizzard RTS Warcraft III's custom game modes, such as Defense of the Ancients (DotA) and Aeon of Strife (AoS), the concept behind the MOBA is a quick-paced, highly competitive team-based strategy game. You assume the role of one of several heroes/champions, and team up with other champions/heroes controlled by four other players. The goal is simple, or appears to be: breach the enemy team’s towers across three lanes, and destroy their Nexus/Ancient/Throne. What makes the genre so enthralling and fun, is the sheer amount of combinations one can make, according to hero choice, form of leveling, items to be purchased and out-of-game options, such as League of Legends’ runes and masteries system. The possibilities run into the thousands when it comes to all possible combinations, and when you add up how certain characters play, you have a recipe for a game that is constantly changing and evolving.

Due to the rise of MOBAs, in particular the genre’s biggest two titles: DoTA 2, produced by Valve, and League of Legends produced by Riot Games, the competitive PC gaming scene has grown significantly in the past three years. What was often thought to be the pointless dream for gaming’s many enthusiasts has become a reality, culminating in the possibility for gamers around the world to live off of earnings from tournaments and often-times live streaming their games for viewers on Twitch.tv, earning six-figures or more. Last year, Valve’s “The International 3” for DoTA 2 became the tournament with the largest prize pool ever, topping off at around $2.8 million dollars, of which it gave $1.4 million to the 1^st place winners, Alliance, a Swedish team of pro-gamers. Whereas the League of Legends Championship sold out the Staples Center in LA.

This is not to say that MOBAs are the solution to gaming’s gripes, seeing as many enthusiasts have several reactions of the genre, ranging from sheer hatred to obsessive fans that literally live-stream for the majority of their day in hopes of making enough money to get by. However, no one can ignore that they have brought a lot of interest, sponsors and a breath of fresh air into the competitive gaming scene, even more still driven by the fact that one need not spend any money at all to get into MOBA’s. Most are free-to-play, with usually low-hardware requirements for computers to run them, as seen in League of Legends’ case. Whether you love ‘em, or hate ‘em, they’ll probably be around for a while (Seeing as World of Warcraft is still going strong after 10 years in the MMO genre. . .), so give them a shot! Puerto Rico has vibrant communities for both of the genre’s mainstays, so it’s worth looking into. Who knows... You might find yourself enthralled by the genre’s charm, or turned away entirely by the skill-curve and the community, there’s only one way to find out!

Infamous Second Son Review

By. UnderBreex

  So a couple of weeks have passed since the “inFamous: Second Son” was released and this review is coming out now, simply because this game is so amazing and controversial. 

   Since the beginning, the inFamous series made a name for themselves for their solid game play and beautiful comic book style in storytelling. There's no denying that Cole's adventures where the best among huge PlayStation 3 exclusive titles ever known to gamers. So now, with the arrival of Second Son, everything changes. The story, graphics, and game play take us to a new perspective of what the next generation of games is preparing to deliver. I won't be spoiling any juicy details. I’m hoping that you’ll enjoy this and take a chance on the game.

   In this new story, seven years after the events of inFamous 2, we meet our new hero or villain, Delsin Rowe. It rounds up with Delsin discovering about his cool, new powers and his decision of what to make of them. He travels into the Seattle area, where the Department of Unified Protection are using excessive force toward society and using bigoted terms like "bio-terrorist" to infer to other conduits. Since Delsin is trying to make something out of his newly discovered powers, good or bad, he stands up to liberate the streets. Like Cole, Delsin is chained to his own power: Smoke. However, he also haves the ability to gain another conduit's power (like Rogue or conduit sponge). This ability makes you able to control up to three more elements. For example, you gain Fetch's Neon powers and literally fry a D.U.P. officer. Sadly, you can only use one element at a time. 

    The game still carries the Hero and inFamous path mechanism based on your in-game decisions. It is somewhat disappointing that you can pass the game in between 8 to 12 hours. Nevertheless, the Day One patch and Cole's Legacy DLC, adds up to 5 to 7 hours of game play. However, if you play as "the bad guy" it decreases the hours, as you play by not caring about harming the pedestrians or any consequences that may be presented. Delsin's smoke powers enable him to throw smoke bombs, shoot exhaust fumes, and swim through air vents. We cannot forget the classic park-our abilities, which in this case are more natural and enjoyable for your "urban spelunking" throughout Seattle. You can also unlock and upgrade different given abilities like in previous games. 

    Did I mention how beautiful the scenery takes full advantage of the high definition graphics? This exclusive game for the PlayStation 4 takes full advantage on the console's hardware and delivers amazing visuals that are far from its disappointing, repetitive game play. You can also spot many artistic (graffiti) Easter eggs to reference one: Sly Cooper.

     In the end, it’s for sure that you’ll fall in love as Sucker Punch manages to capture the atmosphere of the real city and connect it with a remarkable story.