Terraria.

A name that was, until recently very unlikely to be on the mind of any console gamer. But much like Minecraft before it, this open world exploration and building game has made a very solid and successful jump to the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3. Although the game launched for the PC in May 2011, the simple design and idea of the game has allowed it to translate well to consoles.

The premise of Terraria is not a new one, although its execution may not be what you expect. Set in a two dimensional world and styled like an old-school 8bit RPG, Terraria has a unique charm that sits perfectly with the tone of the game. Moving through a brand new and randomly generated 2D world, your goal is to gather resources from the surrounding environment and use them to craft various items that you will use to survive while you traverse the different regions you find yourself in. Being able to save your worlds means that you can create multiple worlds that you can jump between, or you can do what I do. Build a world for mining and scavenging, whilst you keep another world for building a mighty tower. Because the world is fully destructible (literally) you can go anywhere you please, be it into the clouds or the pits of hell, or whatever the Terraria world has instead of hell. Either way it’s full of lava and fierce beasts for you to test your mettle against.

You can even do battle with the Eye of Cthulu and the mighty Skeletron!

For those of you who haven’t played the PC counterpart there is a new, short but informative tutorial that will give you a quick rundown of how to play the game and use the new UI. The new UI in the console port of Terraria can be a bit jarring at first. Not having the mouse and keyboard many players are familiar with you may feel that you don’t have as much control over your avatar as before. But this new means of navigation is intuitive, quick to master and very user friendly. A quick snap-to mechanic allows you to quickly mine and chop through the environment around in a 5 block radius, whereas clicking the thumbstick will switch the control scheme to a more user controlled reticule instead of the snap-to cursor. One drawback that I personally had with the new control scheme was the lack of Dpad support for the crafting menus. This lead to some annoying although not game ruining re-arranging time, fans of Resident Evil 4 will know what I mean. I also encountered a few minor sound skipping bugs and a little bit of screen tearing whilst mining but it wasn’t frequent enough to be a big problem, a very rare problem but noticeable when it happens.

When you drop into your newly spawned world you will always start with a basic hammer, axe and pickaxe. Your first order of business will most likely be survival, because as the gaming adage goes, “it’s dangerous to go alone”, but more on that later. A quick foray into the dangerous wilds will most likely yield a large supply of wood, or you could delve deep into the infested tunnels and mines beneath your feet and resurface with a vast array of metals and stone. Having played the tutorial you will know that in order to survive, you’re going to need a house. So after finding a good position atop a hill or against a mountain you begin the construction of walls and floors, buttresses and turrets. Quickly turning your humble little wooden shack into a towering edifice of black stone and shining gold.

While you quest around the world, fulfilling your own little adventure you’re going to encounter Zombies and Skeletons, Demon Eyes and World Eaters. You can even do battle with the Eye of Cthulu and the mighty Skeletron! Further exploration will lead you into the paths of many greater enemies than these, but to tell you hear would ruin the fun of finding them yourself.

Terraria is a great single player game, but it truly comes to life in Multiplayer. You and your friends all spawn into the world and make a mad dash to once again gather your resources, make power plays and quickly develop a region. You can then take on the various nasties that inhabit the lands with your friends to gather more loot faster, thus becoming a more accomplished little avatar. You can flip the format as well and fight with your friends in death matches to determine who has the better weapons and armour, or try and build the most creative traps and constructions.

Regardless of your thoughts on exploration and building games like Minecraft, Ace of Spades and Terraria, one this is for sure. You will always get some fun out of this game. It’s world, design and great soundtrack melds perfectly with the relaxed state you will find yourself in whilst playing. Terraria is a great title, and definitely deserves a place in your collection.

8.5/10

Square Enix has officially launched the Tomb Raider 1939 Multiplayer Map Pack piece of DLC. The Map Pack launched on Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and Windows PC. Further more, all the downloadable content that was initially only available as "launch" exclusive DLC is now available on the Playstation 3 and the Steam service. This includes the cunning Scavenger Scout and Hitman themed weaponry.

Fans of the Multiplayer portion of the game, the Shipwrecked map pack will be made available across all platforms from early this May. Offering a varying range of hazardous Multiplayer arenas, these maps will include :

1939 Multiplayer Map Pack
Featuring two new maps; out now for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Windows PC.
· Dogfight: Dating back to the World War II experiments conducted on the island, this bunker is a deadly maze of brick and mortar that could easily become a tomb.

· Forest Meadow: This forest meadow is a hunting ground, filled with open spaces that can be advantageous and dangerous at the same time. Who is the hunter and who is the hunted?

Shipwrecked Multiplayer Map Pack
Featuring two new maps: released early May for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Windows PC.
· Lost Fleet: A massive beached ship serves as a dangerous battleground filled with twists, turns, and traps.

· Himiko’s Cradle: Danger lurks around every corner in this mountain top shrine. The area is sacred to the scavengers and will be your final resting place if you are not careful.

Caves and Cliffs Multiplayer Map Pack
Featuring three new maps: out now on Xbox 360, released mid-April for PlayStation 3 and Windows PC.
· Scavenger Caverns: A massive network of caves used by the scavengers as a prison area.

· Cliff Shantytown: This settlement was built high in the island cliffs. Its many layers hide some of the deadliest traps on the island.

· The Burning Village: A fire has erupted in an abandoned Japanese village. The burning buildings offer multiple ways to escape your enemies, but enter them at your own peril.

Tomb Raider is available for purchase now.

Martin Toney.

Editor.

Earlier this week [April 3], Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and DC entertainment rolled out their free demo of the upcoming DC Comics fighting title "Injustice: Gods Among Us". The Demo is available for the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3, and will be respectively found on the Xbox Live Marketplace and the Playstation Network.

This specific demo of Injustice: Gods Among Us will feature Batman, Wonder Woman and Lex Luthor, these three playable characters have been taken from the games "Robust DC Comic roster". Being set in the Gotham City arena, players will get a taste of the characters individual powers and move-sets as well as their unique super powers as they destroy portions of the world while the fight it out in the multi tiered arena. 

 Injustice: Gods Among Us is scheduled for release on 19th April 2013 for the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, PlayStation 3 computer entertainment system and the Wii U system from Nintendo.

Martin Toney.

Editor.

Followers of the creed, listen closely and take heed.

It’s no secret that the Assassins Creed franchise is an evolutionary beast. The series thrives on its changing locations, characters and twisting narrative. Our most recent vacation into the genetic memory of Desmond Miles saw us controlling the fierce Native American warrior assassin, Connor Kenway as he cut a bloody swathe through the American frontier.

But no more.

In 1713, the Treaties of Utrecht were signed by the respective representatives of several European states which helped bring an end to the Spanish War of Succession. With an unstable peace in place, the fighting men of the navy found themselves without work and purpose. They soon established small towns and villages amongst the Caribbean isles where they had spent so long at war. Many of these ex-servicemen turned to piracy to turn a living. Enter Edward Kenway, the Grandfather of Connor Kenway and our new main protagonist.

Our new protagonist has all the traits of the popular and romanticized pirates that we have come to know and love, not to mention a few more sinister habits. But a pirates life is the one he leads and as such it’s very much the hedonistic lifestyle we've come to expect, being both massively charismatic and intriguingly secretive. But being a man well versed in the ways of pirates lifestyle he soon finds himself coincidently involved in a war amongst Assassins and Templars, wherein he finds that there is much more to life than he knows…and that he will have a role to play.

With the Assassins Creed titles leaning so heavily on history for a narrative to play with, it’s reassuring to hear creative director, Jean Guesdon say that this is “the true story of the golden age of piracy.” With much less ghostly apparitions a-la Pirates of the Caribbean, because “the truth is more bombastic than fiction”.

The second “protagonist” is your ship, The Jackdaw. As you make trails into the game and become a better established character with more ability and battle prowess, so too will The Jackdaw. You will be able to upgrade and customize your vessel in whatever way you see fit, all the while enhancing your sea fairing abilities.

With a cast ranging far and wide from the gentleman pirate, turned pirate hunter Ben Hornigold to the fiery Irish Pirate Anne Bonny. Among the names in the roster of characters to appear is the notorious Edward Teach, otherwise known as BlackBeard, captain of Queen Anne’s Revenge, the 40 gun frigate that made him so famous.

Just as important as cast, is location. And this paradise is certainly a location to behold. With 50 separate and wholly unique locations all in the one map. Focusing on Cuba and its surrounding islands the emphasis will definitely be on exploration, ranging from the Spanish influences of Havana to the rich English feeling of Kingston. Unlike his Grandson Connor, Edward is not especially adept at clambering through trees, for he is a seadog. But with a little training, perhaps he will become just as agile on land as he his whilst duelling on the deck of a ship that’s being thrashed by the broiling currents of the sea. But why explore on land when you can go in the opposite direction? For the very first time in the Assassins Creed series players can now take their adventures beneath the waves in search of sunken treasure or perhaps even hidden locations.

Ubisoft have gone to great lengths to ensure that we know the game aims to be a seamless transition between all aspects. Be it launching yourself from your ship onto the shores, along the walls of a fortress and right into the waiting arms of the enemy, it will all be on constant flow of action under your control. No cinematics here! When boarding the enemies’ vessel, the control of the battle is in your hands as you board and take the fight to the enemy on real-time.

How will you approach naval warfare then? Swim between the two ships under cover of cannon fire for a surprise attack, or will you order your crew to deploy grapple hooks and pull the two ships closer together while you take to the mast and cross to strike from above like the Assassins of old?

The developers are also calling Assassins Creed 4, “the first naval open world game”, which is a bold claim indeed. And when you add a confirmed multiplayer mode to that, one can’t help but get excited in the face of this title.

Assassins Creed 4 will be released October 29th for Xbox 360, PS4, PS3 Wii-U and Pc….Savvy?

Martin Toney

Editor - XBLG.

Earlier this month, XBLG attended the BAFTA awards. Whilst we were there we managed to get some time with the various crews behind the title, and much like the rest of the audience we were eager to hear what they had to say.

One of the main things that gamers have pondered while watching the gameplay that we’ve been shown thus far was, “why does everything look so scripted?” The answer in short was that nothing we’ve seen has been scripted. The enemies that Lara will encounter on her various escapades in the hellish scenario she’s found herself in will not act like the standard, run-of-the-mill rent a merc. Instead of ambling around just waiting to be taken down by an arrow through the throat they will have a feature that I will describe as being line of sight reaction. This active type of target acquisition enables the computer controlled opponents to draw a bead on Lara in different manners, be it looking around corners or peeking through fences. Assumptions being what they are, it would be safe to assume that this means some NPCs will be startled and perhaps fumble with their weapon, their more vigilant counterparts will react quickly and most likely, violently.

On top of this, the enemies will feature is a target area for localized damage, ie: shoot someone in the leg, and they aren’t going to be sprinting any time soon. Not a very new feature considering games like “Rage” had the same thing and it worked splendidly, but apparently Tomb Raider does it different. Different hits will change the enemies’ abilities. Although they didn’t elaborate on what this meant, it does allow the mind to wander. Maybe it means shooting some hands means your opponent is left defenceless, or a shot to the chest will leave a merc gasping for breath under the weight of a collapsed lung. Time will tell.

It was around this point that a member of the audience suggested that this game might be “Tomb Raider for idiots”. So naturally the words on everyone’s lips were, why dumb it down? It was at this point when the speakers banded together and fiercely defended the game. They went to great lengths to establish the fact that map functions, and their “on screen advice” key prompts will be optional and can be turned off at any time. Somewhat secretly they also mentioned that “there are things you can do” that we haven’t been told about, my mind jumped instantly to rolling boulders!

They also stated that the size and scope of the in game levels are massive, saying that you can “get lost and never be found.” If that’s the case this may turn out to be a rather special feature. Although on the flipside, an audience member also remarked to the speakers that the game strongly resembled Assassins Creed, adding that they should just rename Lara and make another game. Perhaps this consumer observation can give us a hint of what the gaming community as a whole will think of the game upon its final release.

On the subject of Multiplayer, it was included in the game of their own volition, simply stating that they were give free reign over the project and thought that the level design was well suited to multiplayer. Even going so far as to say that it might be a stepping stone for a “future game style”. They also wanted to hammer home the point that they have done multiplayer before with “Guardian of Light” and that the fans have nothing to worry about.   

There was some short mention of that all too familiar gimmick, the prequel comic, that time tested way of squeezing some extra money out of fans drew nothing but sceptical glances from the audience. They continued with a brief discussion outlining some non-linearity options in the game that don’t allow open world gameplay, but rather a few separate paths to choose from. After this they also mentioned that after the player incurs a set amount, or specific type of injury that some mission objective cannot be completed. Although much to the displeasure of the audience, the information given on this interesting game mechanic was blindingly vague.

The usual discussions revolving around games being cinematic ensued and the writers spoke for some time about script writing for these titles becoming more difficult thanks to the branching paths that players can take.
And finally things came to a close with a pre rendered animation of Lara jumping a gap while holding a young child on her back, there was no mention of whether this is footage from the game or just showing of some in game dynamics.
And that’s all there really is to know about Tomb Raiders trip to the BAFTA awards.

By: Martin Toney.
 

Capcom has confirmed that the highly popular Bloody Palace Mode will be making a welcome return in DmC Devil May Cry. Bloody Palace Mode will be available as a completely free of charge title update shortly after launch for all PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC users. As in previous instalments of the series, Bloody Palace Mode will be playable on completion of the main game and deliver over 100 levels of demons and enemies, including five brutal bosses. As ever stylish combat will be recognised with gamers having the opportunity to top the global leader boards as Bloody Palace’s number one demon slayer.

At thd moment, very little is known about the future of the massively popular franchise "Fallout". But recently the voice actor of ThreeDog (Erik Todd Dellums),The Capial Wastelands voice of the "good fight" tweeted about a possible return to our faveourite fictional airwaves. Follow Erick at @ETDellums on twitter and you might just get a surprise sometime soon!

Beginning today, Tuesday, December 18, Xbox 360 ® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft owners can exclusively experience three new exciting online multiplayer modes for Resident Evil® 6.

Predator
In a series of quick fire rounds, up to six players take their turn as the fearsome Ustanak with full access to its weapons, while the others must avoid capture or worse. Human players score points for successful attacks, but lose points for being caught or taken down. The match is over once all have played as the Ustanak, with the participant with the most points crowned as the winner.

Survivors
This is the Resident Evil 6 take on the classic solo and team based deatchmatch mode. Like Predator, you’ll compete for the highest score, but once a player is taken out, they respawn as one of the game’s enemy characters, and must then defeat another human character in order to return to the fray as their original player character. Survivors is available for two to six players.

Onslaught
Chaining combos is the key to success in this two player mode where each must clear waves of oncoming enemies. The twist comes when a player completes a combo chain as this will send enemies over to their opponent’s screen. Expect the balance of power to constantly shift in this intense addition to the Resident Evil 6 experience.

Each mode is individually priced at 320 Microsoft Points or all three can be purchased together as a bundle pack at the value price of 720 Microsoft Points on the Xbox LIVE® Marketplace for Xbox 360.   

Plenty of Resident Evil 6 news for you today kicking off with the PC version. It’s now been confirmed that the PC version of Resident Evil 6 will be available as a digital download in North America from Friday March 22, 2013, with European PC gamers able to purchase both the digital version and a disc based version from the same date.

Both the digital and retail versions of Resident Evil 6 PC will contain all the content found in the original console release plus receive any additions contained in any free title updates such as Ada Wong’s campaign being accessible from the outset and the challenging No Hope difficulty mode.

Furthermore the digital version will take full advantage of Steam functionality by supporting the following features:
· Cloud saving

· Steam Achievements

· Friends support

· Game overlay

· Leader boards

Spec-wise, this is what you’ll need:
Minimum specs
· OS: Windows Vista®/XP, Windows 7, Windows 8

· Processor: Intel® CoreTM2 Duo 2.4 Ghz or better, AMD AthlonTM X2 2.8 Ghz or better

· Memory: 2 GB RAM

· Hard Disk Space: 16 GB free hard drive space

· Video Card: NVIDIA® GeForce® 8800GTS or better

· DirectX®: 9.0c or greater

· Sound: Standard audio device

Recommended specs
· OS: Windows Vista®/XP, Windows 7, Windows 8

· Processor: Intel® CoreTM 2 Quad 2.7 Ghz or better, AMD PhenomTM II X4 3 Ghz or better

· Memory: 4 GB RAM

· Hard Disk Space: 16 GB free hard drive space

· Video Card: NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 560 or better

· DirectX®: 9.0c or greater

· Sound: Standard audio device

 Whilst speaking to VideoGamer.com, CEO of Crytek Cevat Yerli, has been quoted on saying that the rising price of components for the next iteration of the Xbox will make it "impossible" for the next generation of gaming consoles "to have the same kind of impact on the console business" when compared to the previous generations.

When further probed on the matter, Cevat continued to comment on the future of Microsoft, Sony and the Developers, "As a person who likes to drive technology-meets-game design as art, you can never have enough memory. Ever. Simple as that," Yerli told us. "Memory is the single most important thing that is always going to be underbalanced - I've never seen a console where the memory was the right balance.

"Xbox 360, underbalanced. PlayStation 3, underbalanced. Simply because memory is the most expensive part, hence I wish there would be cheaper ways of doing memory so that memory doesn't become an issue anymore.
"If they find ways to cheapen the cost to a degree they could triple or quadruple their memory. Just say, 'Hey we're going to have 32 gigs of memory'. That would be quite amazing because memory can do so many more techniques and tricks.”
He also made a comment about where he sees the future of the industry turning when it comes to what our games will feature. “The focus of next-gen is in a different area", he said this in regards to being questioned about whether or not graphical fidelity will impact the next generation. This may well be a wise statement, especially given that “The Walking Dead” took the game of the year award.

"The current generation consoles, when they launched, were far ahead compared to PC," Yerli continued. "But PC has caught up. With current generation consoles and what's on the horizon – new ones – due to the fact that the cost of CPU and memory are so much more expensive than they were in the past, it is simply impossible to have the same kind of impact on the console business; to be so far ahead of PC.” "That was our guess already two years ago. That's why we said back then that Crysis 3 is next-gen ready already. We did that without knowing the specs, but it's not going to be much more than what we have done so far. And it turns out we were pretty much right. But the focus of next-gen is in a different area.”

When asked about his next entry into the market he said that Cryteks next title will use every single piece of available power in the current generation of consoles, going so far as to say that "not even 1%" was left unused. Supposedly maxing out the system. Could this be comparable to the original PC trial by fire which spawned the famous saying, “can it run Crysis?”
Good things are coming this way if Crytek keep up with the current trend of genre defining titles.

[Source : VideoGamer.com]
 

Dishonored: Dunwall City Trials, the first add-on pack for the critically-acclaimed first-person action game developed by Arkane Studios, is available for Xbox 360 and PC for $4.99 (or 400 Microsoft Points). For PS3, the add-on pack will be available later today in North America and on December 19th in Europe.

Dunwall City Trials will include 10 challenge maps that will test and track your combat, stealth and mobility skills. Creatively combine your supernatural abilities, weapons and gadgets to eliminate as many targets as possible, fight off waves of tallboys, guards, weepers and thugs, or take out targets in a non-stop run of drop assassinations. Dunwall City Trials also features a new set of achievements and trophies as well as a global online leaderboard. For more information on Dishonored and the newest add-on pack you can visit www.Dishonored.com.

Capcom, has shared plans to release a new fan-made crossover title featuring two of the company’s most iconic franchises. Street Fighter X Mega Man will celebrate the closing ceremonies of the 25th Anniversary of Street Fighter and kick off the festivities taking place in 2013, when Mega Man takes centre stage as “The Blue Bomber” reflects on his own 25 years of gaming greatness. The Street Fighter X Mega Man game will be released as a PC download beginning on December 17, 2012 and will be offered to fans for FREE through Capcom’s official website, Capcom-Unity.com

“Our fans have been so supportive of the 25th Anniversary efforts on Street Fighter, that we wanted to provide one last surprise and token of our appreciation,” said Christian Svensson, SVP of Consumer Software at Capcom USA. “This game symbolizes the passion and dedication of our fans and with the 25th Anniversary of Mega Man coming up, we felt it was our duty to bring this wonderful experience to everyone who has shared the last 25 years with us and both of these celebrated franchises.”

Involving a true collaboration between a company and its fans, Street Fighter X Mega Man was created and developed by Singapore native Seow Zong Hui (aka “Sonic”), with direction and support provided by Capcom. The game stars Mega Man and features eight original Street Fighter-themed levels and bosses inspired by the legendary fighting game series. Each boss character will utilize their individual strategies and special moves against Mega Man, as players attempt to mega blast their way through each uniquely charming 8-bit world.
In addition to the retro look and feel that embodies Street Fighter X Mega Man, an original soundtrack created by Luke Esquivel (aka “A_Rival”) provides a classic backdrop to the action. Amazing mash-ups of memorable Street Fighter and Mega Man themes complete the crossover of the century!

More news on the matter as and when it happens, here on XBLG. 
 

Capcom has today announced the release of The Eye of Dante, a free app developed in collaboration with Augmented Reality experts Aurasma, to support the release of DmC Devil May Cry .The Eye of Dante will reward users with in-game currency that can be redeemed at the launch of DmC Devil May Cry in North America and Europe on January 15th 2013 within the menu of the console versions of the game.

By joining The Order (THEORDERBLOG.NET), the organisation within the world of DmC formed to fight the demons, users of the app are challenged to undertake different quests and achieve specific goals, to attain points towards their style ranking. Completion of missions will result in exclusive unlockable rewards, such as wallpapers and ringtones as well as points which can then be redeemed within DmC Devil May Cry for Red Orbs, the in-game currency used to upgrade and unlock Dante’s skills.

By simply using their smartphone camera, The Eye of Dante also allows users to discover hidden messages behind real-world items and objects, just as Dante has the ability to see through the demons’ lies and propaganda in the game.

In addition to the in-game awards, The Eye of Dante will also give users the opportunity to personalise photos that have been taken with their smartphone and upload these to Facebook or Twitter.

The Eye of Dante is available now on the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store free of charge.