2016 and all that jazz – IDL NEWS

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 / NEWS – Far Cry and The Handsome Collection and News

Far Cry 4

As I had mentioned in the past couple posts, I’ve been playing Far Cry 4 a lot. The game is a lot of fun and so random at times. It also caters to the creative types who want to have fun. Lately I’ve been playing in Co-op, but upon switching roles, I’ve noticed there are some limitations.

Co-Op Glory

Co-Op Glory

For starters, it runs off the hosts’s game, therefore the host will retain any of the map progress that the pair unlock: Bell Towers, Forts, Outposts. The joining partner only retains the XP, loot, and and unlocked perks. Loading up their own game will see the Map progress returned to their previous single-player campaign progress. This is kind of unfortunate. It still fun though as there are a lot of activities the two can take part in.

The game also prevents the two of you from getting too far apart from one another. At a certain point, the other player will be forced to spawn closer.

Keep an eye out for Screenshots once the Xbox Upload app gets updated, and a proper review around the corner.

Forza Horizons 2 Presents Fast and Furious

I recently wrote a quite review of this game, and wrapped it up today. Easy 1000G achievements, and maybe 2hrs of gameplay. It really is just a glorified demo as it only has 11 driveable cars, and 1/4 of the Forza Horizons 2 map. At the end it encourages you to buy the real game. Which you should. Forza Horizons 2 review here.

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The Handsome Collection

I picked this up today, and I’m excited to start in the Pre-Sequel. When the Pre-Sequel was announced and released for the Xbox 360 last year, I really hoped that a current-gen version would be released. I didn’t even need it to be re-mastered. Luckily I got more than I wanted. Borderlands 2 (including DLC) and the Pre-Sequel (including DLC), all remastered and combined into one package.

The only issue I’ve seen so far is the games are separated. Nothing transfers over, and they actually install as two different games. So if you want to switch, you need to quit one and launch the other. Just lazy complaints.

So Handsome

So Handsome

Keep an eye out for Tales From the Borderlands Episode 1 – Sum Zero review tomorrow. All borderlands all the time it seems.


Sunset Overdrive Price Drop

Insomniac’s Sunset Overdrive has received a price drop, down to $40. This isn’t a deal, but a permanent drop. i’ll pick this up when it goes on sale, though. I tried it during the 24hr free period, and it was fun. But it’s a playground game, where I typically prefer more of a narrative to drive me. 😉

Kojima’s Role in Silent Hills

Kojima’s role in Silent Hills is, at this point, still a mystery. His name, and Kojima Productions is continuing to be removed from all Konami products and websites as Konami focuses their company into a concise direction. Unknown, is if Kojima will still have a role in Silent Hills, or if it will be made by Kojima Productions. I guess we’ll have to continue to wait and see. 😦

Assassin Creed Chronicles

Ubisoft has announced the 2.5D trilogy in Assassin’s Creed Chronicle.

I watched a bit of footage from the first iteration in China and it looks pretty cool, with an interesting art style. Gameplay very much like Rayman Legends, Deadlight or early Prince of Persia games. Its a linear 2.5D platformer where you spend a lot of time running from left to right, up ladders and down buildings, slicing and dicing the whole way. Seems neat but I’m not sure where the story ties into.

We’ll see as more info gets released.


Excited for a games filled Easter Long Weekend. Stick around, but don’t forget to go outside.

-iRogan