2016 and all that jazz – IDL NEWS

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Hello, once again, internet.

Rocket League’s Xbox Release
Rocket League will finally make its debut on the Xbox on Wednesday, February 17th. Bundled with the game will be the three previously-released content packs: Supersonic Fury, Revenge of the Battle-Cars, and Chaos Run. The Xbox One will also include two unique vehicles inspired by Halo’s Warthog ad Gears of War’s Armadillo.

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Rocket League Hype Everywhere

Star Wars Battlefront Double XP Weekend
Star Wars Battlefront will host a double XP weekend February 12-14 after the SWB community successfully completed the recent Community Challenge.

I’ve found the game to be quite fun, and will try to log sometime this weekend to help rank up.

Tom Clancy’s The Division Umpteenth Beta
Ubisoft has announced another Division Beta, this most recent one running Feb 19-21st. I played the closed Alpha, and enjoyed what it had to offer, but NDA prevents me from discussing it further. And unfortunately I slept through the most recent closed beta, but I heard that it included the same missions and Dark Zone. I will try to take part during this new window to see where the game has improved, this close to release, and then share my opinions.

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Titanfall Sequel Will Have Single Player Campaign/Multiplatform
The sequel to 2014’s Titanfall, expected to release late 2016/early 2017 is confirmed to have a single-player campaign and will no longer be exclusive to the Xbox One.

“One of the shortcomings of the first game was we just did not have the mechanism to tell everyone ‘here’s who you are, here’s where you are, and who’s around you,'” Stern said. “We knew all the answers; we just could not deliver it.”

I loved Titanfall, and still play it from time to time. I felt that its lack of solid single-player was its only lacking element. That being said, I wouldn’t have played the online component as much as I did, if it had.

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New Releases – Feb 9

Assassins Creed Chronicles – Russia (Xbox One, PS4)
Wrapping up the trilogy, Russia has come out, just a few weeks after part two, India, came out. I played ACC China, and thought it was a unique 2.5D game, beautiful art and fun runner sequences. As I progressed through the game, it did become quite difficult in parts with a couple insta-fails parts. From what I’ve read India and Russia is very similar, but Russia has some unique sniper gameplay mechanics and a 2nd character, so I am looking forward to giving both of them a try. Here were my initial thoughts on China: ACC CHINA

Unravel (Xbox One, PS4, PC)
Unravel caught a lot of eyes at E32014 as this little indie darling being revealed by a very nervous dev showing off his baby for the first time, and not really know what to expect. The game has garnered quite the emotional response over the year that followed with fans sending in photos of their own little Yarny dolls. The game is finally out and I got to try the first two levels last week and found that the game was very pretty with some unique puzzle ideas. Excited to play through the full release.

Firewatch (PS4, PC)
Locked away as a PC and PS$ exclusive right now, Firewatch looks like a unique story driven game with brilliant voice acting. Not my typical genre but I’ll keep my ears peaked to news of any Xbox ports. One of the unique features of the PC version is you can order physical prints of the photos you take in-game.

Dying Light: The Following Enhanced Edition (PS4, Xbox One, PC)
Dying Light’s big expansion is here – The Following – and alongside it, comes the full Enhanced Edition package. Myself and Illestrader will be picking this up as we’re in need of another lengthy co-op game.

Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime (PS4)
Lovers makes its PS4 debut. Here’s my impression, for the Xbox: Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime

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In somewhat of a gaming rut, trudging through some and hesitant to start others, I recently sat down and played through the Beyond Good and Evil HD re-release. This was in-part because I wanted something fresh, but also because I wanted to give the Xbox One Backwards Compatibility a try, as I hadn’t to date. I’m going to put up a review for it later this week.

I’m also still working on the website re-alignment to include art and other projects. It’s been slow as other priorities have shuffled my website obligations some.

-iRogan

 

WHAT i’M PLAYING – ARK: SURVIVAL EVOLVED

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I picked up ARK this week during its Game Preview window. Right from the start it’s noticeable that this game is still incomplete. But I’ll get to that in a second.

I first jumped into the single player mode, not quite ready to tackle the PvP or PvE modes, regardless of the fact that these didn’t have any available slots.

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Toiling with the rudimentary survivor creator, I quickly designed a guy that looks somewhat like me, generic, white; the options were minimal. I then proceeded to enter the game, landing on the beach of this alien world. I got the game not really knowing what it was, or what to expect. I was led to believe that it was a Minecraft clone, with dinosaurs. This is somewhat true.

The gameplay is a lot like Minecraft. You must forage for resources like stones or wood as these allow you to craft anything from tools to clothing to shelter. This portion started off pretty straightforward in my opinion. Punch a tree until it falls down to get the wood and thatch. Scavenge the nearby bushed for berries and fibre. Pick up some stones. Now make a pick axe or hatchet. The pick axe and hatched will yield different resources from trees, each of which are required to craft walls for a shelter.

On the combat side, you can build spears, and later on more advanced weapons. This is where the game started getting frustrating.

With ARK, there is a leveling component. Everything you do garners experience, even just surviving. And surviving is no easy feat, what with food and water being a strict constant requirement, and around every new stretch of beach another new type of dinosaur making sure it gets fed too. And your survivor is mighty tasty, I learned this early, and often.

The water requirement is easy enough, just jump into the water and watch out for piranhas and megladons, but food is another matter. Berries do not suffice, so hunting is mandatory. There’s more than enough pickings of the veggie eaters, but more often than naught, the big ones will turn around and fight back, and then there’s the meat-eaters always on the prowl.

Experience unlocks new crafting items to learn, and the game really opens up around level 10 when you can start crafting advanced weapons, and saddles for the dinos, and plots for planting crops. The survival aspect, found in the title, is apparent around every turn: fire requires fuel, any consumables expire in your inventory, and everything wants to eat you.

I almost felt comfortable after making a tiny shelter, setting up a fire pit and a few torches and watching the sun go down over the water, sitting on my little beach. I’d be content just living out the game not advancing beyond my safe little island. But then I look up and see this huge monstrous alien anomaly, curious as to what it is and why it’s there, watching. This is the story of the game, and what drives the player to explore beyond his comfort zone.

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Graphically, the game is pretty enough; it is Unreal 4 after all. It takes a little while for the textures to pop upon initial loading, but the lighting is pretty. It still is a little buggy, and the object, foliage, and dinosaur draw distance is laughable. When playing in a private server, there is a minimum distance you must keep with the host, lest you be dragged against your will, but this might be a Game Preview restriction only. We found that when another player joins the game, if you spend more than a few seconds in the survivor creator, the game will boot you out and no new invites will yield results. The menu is clunky as well, and not nearly as refined as Minecraft.

Like I said, still a work in progress, but next year’s official release may prove to have many new features or advancements, and like Minecraft, will continue to have new features. That’s what I look forward to the most.

_iRogan

 

Hideo Kojima, Games With Gold – IDL NEWS

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Kojima’s New New Studio – KOJIMA PRODUCTIONS

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So it’s officially official. As been reported on for quite some time, lots of rumours, lots of different parties telling different stories, a lot kept secret. Hideo Kojima has officially split and a new company has been formed: Kojima Productions, partnered with Sony.

Kojima and Co. will be starting up a new studio in Tokyo with some new staff, and lead producer and lead artist in tow. They’ll be working on a new IP with Sony, an edgier project, now that Kojima has more freedom.

This split has been a long time coming. Things started sliding down hill after the Silent Hills cancellation, and then reports showed him leaving after the Metal Gear Solid V: Phantom Pain release. Konami and Kojima had noted that Kojima would be leaving after the release. But then he was just on vacation, but Kojima Productions had been shuttered.

Konami came out the worst through all of this, at the peak when during the 2015 Video Game Awards when it had been announced that Kojima had been barred from attending, and preventing any acceptance of awards.

But now all is well. He’s signed with the family he knows, in Sony, and he’s making new games. I’m excited to see what his next project holds.

Games With Gold

December 2015 has The Adventures of Van Helsing and Thief 3, free on the Xbox One.

Originally Van Helsing was released in 2013, and has now come to the Xbox One. By Neocore Games. I haven’t had the chance to play it yet, but I hope to over the holidays.

Thief 3, seems they’ve had a hard time selling this game, but now, after the Xbox 360 free Games with Gold version, is finally on the Xbox One. To date I haven’t tried it, but I will. Reviews were middling initially, as it doesn’t have the same impact as prior Thief games. We’ll see.

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I have wrapped Metal Gear Solid V and will be working on the review soon. Among my many other reviews. Currently I’ve been playing Star Wars Battlefront, and GTA V Online. Tomorrow I’ll be playing ARK, and will be discussing that over the weekend.

Smaller games I’m still working on Tales From The Borderlands and Valiant Hearts: The Great War. And big game is in Rise of the Tomb Raider.

Next in the queue though: Arkham Knight. Finally. And its 30+ DLC items. Assassin’s Creed Unity and Call of Duty Advanced Warfare eagerly hang out too, hoping to get noticed.

I have a busy December, and hope to wrap some of these up.

On that note, time to go outside.

_iRogan

Tomb Raider, Rainbow Six, and Unravel- IDL NEWS

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Back to what I do, news, games, games, and news. Obviously before I jump back into reviews, a little warming up is warranted. Write the rust off. Flex the hands.

I have a lot to talk about in the near future, reviews needing writing, news needing telling, impressed needing sharing. The holidays are nearing and free time is becoming a hot commodity.

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Rise of the Tomb Raider’s PC Date
S20150601131216Rise_of_the_Tomb_Raiderquare Enix had previously announced that Rise of the Tomb Raider would be released on the PC in “early 2016” and it appears we have the real date, outed by Amazon. RotTR’s Xbox One timed exclusivity ends January 29, 2016 and will come bundled with the Baba Yaga DLC.

Rainbow Six Siege’s Changes
Rainbow-Six-SiegeMid-to-late December, Ubisoft will be syncing up the HUD for both casual and ranked playlists, making the experience more consistent. This will encourage casual players to try their hands at the ranked areas without feeling overwhelmed, and competitive teams to test and experiment new plays in the casual arena without risking rank droppage. Ubisoft also announced hardcore playlists for next year – including minimal HUD, and mag count instead of bullet count.

Unravel Price and Date
unravelEA and Coldwood have announced that Unravel will release February 29th, 2016 for $19.99 on Xbox One, PS4, and PC.

 

EA describes Unravel as “a heartfelt story about love and longing, and the ties that bind, with Yarny as the red thread that runs through it all.”

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Looking forward through the looking glass, I have a lot of things to post and talk about, and I’m excited to be back. It’s been a nice break for sure, and I played a lot of games, and drew a lot.

I have quite the queue of reviews to get through over the next few weeks: Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor, Metal Gear Solid V: Phantom Pain, Need For Speed, Star Wars Battlefront, Assassins Creed Chronicles: China, Tales From The Borderlands, Wolf Among Us, Mushroom 11, Valiant Hearts: Total War, Gears of War: Ultimate Edition, Battlefield Hardline, and Pneuma: Breath of Life, to name a few.

I also plan to do a top 2015 Games I Played List.

ARK Early Access on the Xbox One releases tomorrow, so I’ll be talking about that. I still have Assassins Creed Unity and Batman Arkham Knight queued before Mad Max.

And some website optimization, re-org of categories and menus for the New Year. I honestly don’t know where I’ll find the time. Wish me luck.

_iRogan

Where I’m From, Where I’m Going

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#Drawtober is over and Extra Life is now in the rear-view. What to do? Well, we need to look forward. What’s changing in 2016, what’s staying the same. Where was I even going with this…?

Throughout the month of October, I took part in an annual event called Drawtober, the goal is to try and draw every day. Some call in Inktober. I’ve never been able to complete the full 31 day campaign, but I do try and draw as much as possible. You can see some of the work in the Extra Life page. Needless to say, I didn’t do any blogging, writing, or playing of them video games, as I was a little preoccupied. I did however draw all game-related icons, a little self-imposed rule. I’m still working on a final Borderlands piece involving 12 characters – the ink is done, but it’s not coloured.

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Hitman Agent 47 – Scratchboard

Each update involved me posting a final rendering, as well as a time-lapse video of the work, from start to finish.

Following that campaign, I took part in a North America-wide 24 hour video game marathon called Extra Life. The goal is to play games, and raise money for your local children’s hospital network. this is my 2nd annual event as a participant. I was able to raise $715 this year (last year was $450). To kick off the event I played Prince of Persia on the PS2. When people started showing up, we switched to Halo, then #IDARB. To close off the evening/morning I switched to some GTA V, and then Tales From the Borderlands.

Now that those two events are over and done with, I must look forward to December, and closing out the year, and beyond.

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Jade – Ink

I want to continue the blog, but change it up a bit. Up to this point it’s been primarily video game (Xbox) discussions, news, reviews, achievements, etc. I still enjoy writing about games, and this will continue, but maybe in a more specialized scope.

Currently my weekly routine has included: News, New Games, What I’m Playing, Reviews, and Achievements. Occasionally other features, short stories, conventions, etc, to fill the gaps. It’s a busy schedule to keep on top of. Appearing more of a job, less of a passion hobby.  Maybe I started to encroach my personal limits.

It’s hard to miss a website that doesn’t talk about news, and I like to as well – it helps me stay current, but no one is coming here to read the news, when you can get it sooner, in more detail, anywhere else.

Going forward, I’m going to be putting less stress on myself to get something posted daily, but post better updates. I’ll be combining a weekly news rundown and new games into one article on Tuesday. I’ll be combining What I’m Playing and Reviews into one articles on Thursday. This will be dedicated to Reviews, or Reviews in Progress/ Opinions pieces. And I’ll leave the Achievements alone on Sundays. It’s my favourite thing to discuss.

To add a personal touch, I’ll also be padding this space, livening it up, turning it into an artistic space. Writing coupled with drawing.

Drawtober really sparked my motivation, and now I have new projects to look forward to. I’ll be working with a friend on a small graphic novel, and I’ll be scripting and illustrating my short stories. I’ve decided to make my art a higher priority in my life again, and this will be my platform to share the updates – when there are updates to share.

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Link and Epona – Acrylic on Canvas

So expect some restructuring of the menus going forward, as I align the categories, and expect some more art, I guess ;). I’ll be posting the time-lapse videos, as well as streaming my work on Twitch, as they’ve recently included an artistic portion to their platform.

All that said, over my 2 month break I played Telltale’s Tales From the Borderlands, Metal Gear Solid V, Battlefield Hardline, Telltale’s Wolf Among Us, and Shadow of Mordor, so expect some reviews throughout December.

Currently I’m playing Gears of War Ultimate Edition in co-op, Rise of the Tomb Raider, Halo 5, and Star Wars Battlefront, so expect some impressions throughout December. And I still have Assassin’s Creed Unity and Call of Duty Advanced Warfare to open, not to mention some of the big games I haven’t picked up yet, like Mad Max,. and of course, the big games coming out over the next few months.

I do like to keep myself busy.

-iRogan