Hawken reviving Mech combat gameplay
Hawken is an upcoming multiplayer mech combat game. I wasn't aware of this game up until now and what got me interested is that this is the game that's trying to bring MechWarrior type of games back to the light. Hawken was revealed on March 9, 2011 and later announced the game being Free-To-Play. Today, they just released a trailer for Hawken's Web-Series that's planned to be aired next year. Take a look.
Hawken Web-Series Trailer
With this being a Web-Series and all, the mech visuals are pretty decent. Trailer shows that the story seems to revolve around this Hawken virus, plus we get an idea of the characters in the show. I can't wait for the series. Web-Series as a whole is starting to take flight over the net and just from what we saw in this trailer, budget has gone higher. We'll be seeing more and more series' like this and I can't wait for time when there's a huge lists of Web-Series to watch in the net. The internet is definitely killing TV slowly.
But enough of the series, let's take about the game itself. Why I'm most excited for Hawken is because of the game's fast pace. The game looks intense and usually mech gameplay is slow and sluggish. It will be purely a multiplayer game with the usual game modes like team deathmatch free for all deathmatch and a couple more modes. The game will have a total of eight maps on release and will include more in the future. The game's developer, Adhesive Games is an independent studio that's been working on this game for years.
Hawken Gameplay
Closed beta will start soon so if your interested, you can apply and hope to get in. Check the official site for more details here. Hawken will be out on December 12, 2012 for the PC.
[Updated - Ada Wong playable]Resident Evil 6's new MP mode let's you play as one of the monsters
A new multiplayer mode called Agent Hunt has just been announce for Resident Evil 6. This mode let's you place as one of the monsters in the game with a simple objective of trying to take out the main characters. Now with this now included in the game, there's no doubt in my mind that I'll be getting Resident Evil 6. Who doesn't want to invade and mess up another player's game?
When I read the report from Andriasang, I was all of a sudden excited buy this game. This was the push I needed to join the hype wagon for Capcom's upcoming Resident Evil. Agent Hunt Mode is pretty much Left4Dead's Versus mode mixed with Dark Souls' realm invading feature. To unlock Agent Hunt mode in Resident Evil 6, the player is required to finish the game at least once.
Multiple players can enter a player's game and team up to plan strategies to take them out. Players playing the main characters will be informed that another player has taken control of a monster, fun part is they don't know which one. So it brings the game's difficulty a bit unpredictable and gives the game a lot of replayability. Well, if they balance it properly that is.
If this is Resident Evil 6's multiplayer mode, I'm all for this. Resident Evil 5's online features were a waste of space on the disc so hopefully they scrapped all those competitive modes and just focus on fine tuning Agent Hunt Mode.
[UPDATE]
Gameplay footage of Agent Hunt Mode was just released.
Ada Wong was also announced to be playable having her own campaign. She won't have a partner, and will show yet another perspective in the game's story. Gameplay footage can be found below.
Resident Evil 6 is out on October 2 for Playstation 3, and Xbox 360. The PC version is planned for a release after the console versions.
Star Wars: The Old Republic implementing a Free-To-Play model
Everybody kept saying this would happen, and it did. Today EA has revealed that Star Wars: The Old Republic will be implementing a Free To Play option up to level 50 sometime in November. They are not scrapping the subscriber option completely though. Being one still gives you full access, but Just like any MMO going Free To Play, free players get limited access to certain content. interested in the game yet?
The transition to Free-To-Play was mentioned during EA's investor call that also mentioned that subscribers are now at the 500,000 range. The game started with1.7M subscribers. Earlier this year the numbers dropped to 1.3M, now at 500k? Ouch.
Also, in preparation of this change, Star Wars: The Old Republic will be going on sale for $15 around August with a one month free if you wish to get a head start before Free To Play kicks in.
If you're currently a SWTOR subscriber, you get something out of this change. EA explains that they will be implementing a new currency called Cartel Coins that can be used to buy special in-game items at the Cartel Market. Current and past subscribers will be earning Cartel Coins as a rewards for maintaining your subscription. You can find the list of rewards here.
You can also find a FAQ for the Free To Play model here.
I enjoyed my time with SWTOR, and going Free-To-Play has saved countless MMO's slowly losing their player base, so it might work out well for them. With Guild Wars 2 around the corner and World of Wacraft's Mist of Pandaria expansion rolling out on September 25, the changes sounds about right since player drop will keep happening in the coming months.
This is really not a surprise. Free To Play is really the way to go if you wish to stay above water. Regardless of game quality, it's harder now to make players commit to paying $15 every month to keep playing. It might have been a great idea years ago, but times have changed. I don't think Pay-To-Play is death though, I just don't think it's viable for starting MMO's anymore. leave the subscription-based model to the vets. With that said - I wonder if Secret World will hit Free To Play this year?
Playstation All-Stars Battle Royale info has been leaked?
It's really hard to keep things secret nowadays, especially when you release a beta version giving people the opportunity to dig for info. A series of files uncovered in early builds of the game revealed information of unannounced stages, items, and of course characters. Character files for characters such as Metal Gear's Raiden, Spike from Ape Escape, and Sackboy from Little Big Planet were found.
Thanks to NeoGAF, we get a glimpse of possible additions to this Smash Bros.-ish fighting game. here's the full list of the leaked information:
Characters:
- Dante (DMC)
- Evil Cole (Infamous)
- Good Cole (Infamous)
- Jak (Jak & Daxter)
- Nariko (Heavenly Sword)
- Parappa the Rapper (Parappa the Rapper)
- Ratchet (Ratchet and Clank)
- Sackboy (LittleBigPlanet)
- Sir Daniel Fortesque (Medievil)
- Spike (Ape Escape)
- Raiden (Metal Gear Solid)
Stages
- Aiden's Tower (Infamous)
- Black Rock Stadium (Twisted Metal)
- Columbia (Bioshock Infinite)
- Dojo (Parappa the Rapper)
- Dreamscape (LittleBigPlanet)
- Franzea (LocoRoco)
- Hades (God of War)
- Invasion (Killzone)
- Metropolis (Ratchet and Clank)
- Paris (Sly Cooper)
- Sandover (Jak & Daxter)
- San Francisco (Resistance)
- Stowaways (Uncharted)
- Time Station (Ape Escape)
Items
- Atomizer (Resistance 3)
- Baumusu Axe (The Mark of Kri)
- Boots of Hermes (God of War III)
- Freeze Missile (Twisted Metal)
- Golf Club (Hot Shots Golf)
- Gravity Shield (Wipeout)
- Hedgehog Grenade (Resistance)
- Dohvat Laser Designator (Killzone 3)
- Leech Beem (Wipeout)
- Murder of Crows (Bioshock Infinite)
- Railgun (Metal Gear Solid 4)
- Razor Claws (Ratchet and Clank)
- RPG (Uncharted)
- Scythe (Fat Princess)
- Spear (God of War)
- Sonic Rift (ModNation Racers)
- Sackbot (Little Big Planet)
Minions:
- Captain Qwark (Ratchet & Clank)
- Kai (Heavenly Sword)
- Kat (Devil May Cry)
- Kiya (MediEvil)
- Monkey (Ape Escape)
- Nix (InFamous 2)
- Pierre (Doko Demo Issho)
- Sackbot (LittleBigPlanet)
- Sam (Metal Gear Rising)
Do I see Columbia from Bioshock: Infinite? The game is also planned for a 2013 release. It's really weird to use an unreleased game as a stage. Especially with no info about a Rapture stage since Big Daddy has already been announced.
Here's another crazy one, Dante from DMC which again is coming out next year. And two Cole McGrath's? One good and one bad? Yes, this list is pretty hard to believe. I'm still campaigning for Sony to add Crash Bandicoot. The game won't make much sense without him. Even adding at least one Final Fantasy character, Lara Croft, or even Spyro would be perfect. What a long shots? Raziel from Legacy of Kain and Aya from Parasite Eve.
Since I'm already throwing out names, what character's do you want officially announced for Playstation All- Stars battle Royale?
Of course this is all rumors and speculation at this point so don't stamp this as actual fact. With info like a Bioshock: Infinite stage and DMC's Devil May Cry a possible choice for the final roster is really hard to swallow.
Dragon's Dogma sequel will happen, first details by creator
Capcom's newest title Dragon's Dogma was a success, success to the point that it earned enough to be granted a sequel. The open-world RPG set a first week sales record in Japan and shipped more than 1 million copies globally. For Capcom, that was enough to consider Dragon's Dogma a major franchise. Development for Dragon's Dogma 2 has started and the created spilled some details for the sequel.
Speaking to Japanese magazine Famitsu, the Dragon's Dogma creator Hideaki Itsuno says that the game world in Dragon's Dogma is only 2/3's of what he had planned for the game. Only 60% to 70% if his ideas were added to Dragon's Dogma. Meaning - there's a lot of extra content to use for the sequel. He was also planning a quest creator for players to make their own content.
Quest creation is always good, but I'm more excited on the how big the world will be for the sequel. Dragon's Dogma has proved it's worth to Capcom. Since the first was only 2/3's of what they were planning, I'm positive we'll be seeing a sequel that's double the size of the first.
If you're thinking that more than 1 million copies shipped globally was small, then your right. But it's that hard for brand new titles to even hit the 1 million mark, especially in just a few months. Hearing talks of a sequel this early shows the game's success.
What did you guys think of Dragon's Dogma? I think the game's great, and the pawn system is sheer genius. Working on the review now so I'll have my thoughts posted soon.
[Source: OPM UK]