Hands-On impression

The storyline of Far Cry 5 is quite in a harness of discussing everywhere when it comes to the bad guys here. We are all familiar with stories where the bad guys are either from the middle east, russians or germans, but now the bad guys are a extremist religious christian group!

Anyhow, the Far Cry series is known for it’s ridiculous fun action and humor when it comes to both gameplay and storytelling, maybe even psychotic. But is that the case here in Far Cry 5?

Ubisoft gave me the chance to skip the many hours line at the showfloor during Gamescom 2017, so I could get my hands on the game and play as the Montana deputy and head into the gameplay shown at E3 (video above)  

 

At first we got to choose between three different characters as our partner, either Boomer our four legged friend, Grace; female companion with sniper skills or we could use Ryse & Son with their airplane. I just had to try out Boomer, giving him orders to either distract or attack different enemies, and we played catch off course; but instead of throwing balls Boomer came back with weapons and sometimes he stole the enemies weapons and gave it to me.
Unfortunately my gameplay session lasted just around 20 minutes or so, but I did manage to liberate one town and fly one of the airplanes to take down some towers and enemy planes.
I do not worry, the graphics you saw at E3 is just the same here (If they don’t downgrading it before launch though) but then again the gameplay feels just the same way as the other Far Cry games. And as always, I simply can’t do anything in stealth. Explosions, chaos and a lot of bullets just keep heading my way. One issue I had was the flying mechanics, the controls was a little clumsy and the plane felt like flying a brick through the sky, so that is something I hope they fix before launch.

 

But so far the game is a small improvement with graphics than previous games, and if you love the series you might fell in love with this one as well. Even though the story looks more “realistic” and not as crazy as the others.

 

Screenshots

Space Junkies VR must be one of the few games during Gamescom 2017 that caught me by surprise in a good way. No information was given beforehand so I didn’t know what to expect, but what a experience it was.

What is Space Junkies you ask?

“A visceral, jetpack-fueled VR Arcade Shooter where you fly through deadly Orbital Arenas in HOSTILE SPACE, facing off in extreme battles!” – Ubisoft

To summarize it you got weapons and a fricking laser sword in space, PvP arena fighting with other players. That was not something I had expected at all, but wow what an experience it was. We started with a small introduction in game of course, where the developer showed us what to do and how to do it. We flew around with the jetpack  in space doing small tasks to learn the basics. It was so cool to have the developer pointing and showing us what and how to do it in game. That in itself was a new experience, and it only got better.  He was like “pick up the object from your hip” tada you now have a gun. “Shoot that floating barrel” then “take your arm over your shoulder” and that is where your laser sword is. Then we got sent through a portal and the game was on, us vs him.

And we had a blast, flying around picking up new weapons trying to kill him. I don’t know how to explain it all. It was something completely new of a experience to use the environment to shield myself from bullets. And to sneak up on actual people, not any AI to surprise attack them. This was a blast from start to finish. And the best part; I didn’t even have a slight of motion sickness, after flying around looking up and down in great speeds and shooting. This is because the developers have really worked on this game to be as comfortable as possible and researched what to do to prevent it. I’m excited to see what will become of this game when released.

At the moment it is playable with HTC Vive and Oculus Rift and is set to release spring 2018

Presentation + Hands On

I must admit I didn’t know much about Escape from Tarkov before I headed for the presentation and interview with the developers. But that didn’t matter as the developer gladly told me what he was making and what they intend to add to the game for improvements.

 

What is Escape from Tarkov?

If you are like me and do not know a lot of the game, well here is a small summary.
I would say Escape from Tarkov is an Tactical Survival First Person Shooter game for PC. Each player spawns on different locations on huge map. Your mission? Find the exit!. While you try to locate the exit of the map and escape you can do find different kinds of loot such as weapons, armor and so on. But be aware there are other players doing the exact same thing, and you never know who you can trust.
From what I could understand did Battlestate Game receive a lot of criticism when they released the Beta build. Low content and performance issues was the biggest topics.

But after what I could see at Gamescom 2017 they truly intend to improve that and wants the people’s feedback on how they can improve.

 

 

Hideout / Player base

The player base is coming and will be ready to receive expansions from you. Upgrade different sections, produce food, water, medicine etc. Even though this is available now, this was something they have planned for a while. But this is not everything new to the game.

 

Quests
A new quest system is underway, tasks will starts with simple challenges first such as gathering materials or sending out signals from medical boxes etc. But with higher levels you might get tasks such as traverse the entire map an encounter pretty interesting stories as well.

 

 

New weapons

A large selection of different weapons are planned for the game. But the developers are aiming to retain the title as a hardcore russian first person shooter game. But here you have a small list of new weapons that will be added;

– Glock 17
– MP5K
– AKM
– PP-19

 

One of the cool new feature is the improved shank of the AKS-74U. You can now fold it in and out using a hotkey. The other cool feature that will be added is Blind Fire. Being able to shoot randomly from cover could give the situation another tactical advantage, or given the option to panic, depends on the player. ( I panic..)

 

Gestures / Hand signals

Every wanted to flip the finger to other players or give them a thumbs up? Well you’ll get the chance of doing so pretty soon. You can off course give directional orders as well, but what’s the fun in that?

 

Escape from Tarkov is in closed beta for now, but an open beta is predicted to come before the end of this year. For now we do not have any concrete release date, but from what I could understand the developers aim to fully release the game in 2018.  

What can you expect in the open beta? A new location!
Even though the new location “Shoreline” isn’t quite finished yet, Battlestate insures a lot of work is being done to complete the map, and that means a new location!; Streets of Tarkov.

 

 

You shall not pass!

Warner Bros. Games showcased a new trailer and some new gameplay footage at Gamescom this year, including giving us a little time for ourself with the game hands-on as well.

And from what I could see during the presentation could bring out some freaking good memories from the Lord of the Rings movies or older LOTR games. An all new character was revealed, and it was not from the good side.

Balrog returns!, alongside with some other monsters as well. We actually have to fight off Balrog, and from the small combat sequence we got to see from this was epic. The design and visual gives you the feeling and effect of how large these monsters are compared with you, it’s huge.

Hands-on impression

Like I said, I got the chance to try the game a little bit at Gamescom. Even though I might be an hardcore PlayStation fan and used to those controllers from the previous Middle Earth game, but the Xbox controller had some familiar button layouts so it was easy for me to get the hang of the game again.

But boy has the game changed a bit, the nemesis system is way bigger, and the fact that the ability system and inventory/loot system has grown a bit as well gives a lot of things to look more into before actually heading into an battle.

I also got the chance to record my gameplay session (you can watch it below), but I warn you!
I’m not that good yet, so be prepared to see how the nemesis system works when you fail and die multiple times.

New screenshots

Hands-on impression

There was not any new Assassin’s Creed game last year, in fact the only thing that got the whole attention was the live action movie of the franchise. But did it help to have an extra year to develop a new game?

 

 

Hands-on

We got the chance to try out Origins in about one hour at Gamescom. Everything begins with us one raft, and I must say even though there is a lot of “sand” in this setting. It still manages to give you tons on different variable visuals and gorgeous designs.

With the time limited in hand, did I manage to play through one of the story mission and explore a tomb inside one of the huge pyramids in the desert. It might doesn’t sound much, but it should give you an idea on the size of this game as I was kind of rushing through the game to explore most of it.

 

We play as Bayek a member of the Egyptian military, and the mission I got to play ties Bayek into a political intrigue that has gripped Egypt. And to continue where I left off (from the raft) we were tasked with heading for Memphis to reunite with the newly unveiled Aya, our wife who serves Cleopatra. There is a small wedge between them, but that is something we have to wait for the full release to get the knowledge about. But then again meeting with our wife triggers a mission that gives us something to investigate a beleaguered bovine.

 

The Apis Bull, a beast every local worships seems to be poisoned. The local looks at it as a curse and starts questioning the leadership. Without spoiling too much, in this mission we got the chance of exploring Bayeks abilities to scan small areas for clues, we got to use our eagle to locate enemies and the most important thing, we got to try out the new combat system.

 

 

The new combat system might be familiar with gamers who plays games such as Dark Souls and Bloodborne. One button for light attack, heavy attack, blocking, dodging,  parry and bow & arrow. It took some time to forget about how I played the previous Assassin’s Creed games when it comes to the combat sequence, and started to learn how to play the game now. The combat system alone truly proves that the developers are thinking new and wants to give the franchise a fresh look.

I must admit that Assassin’s Creed: Origins feels new and fresh, even though I’m a little sceptic on the setting when it comes to the large world of exploring. But then again, it gives an amazing visual experience and I can’t wait to see more and learn more from this story.

 

Screenshots

Announcing; Awakening The Nightmare

Halo Wars 2 launched six months ago on the PC and Xbox One. But now the studio has announced a new expansion for Halo Wars 2 at Gamescom 2017.

Halo Wars 2: Awakening The Nightmare will release on 26th of September this year. Including in this expansion is an all new mode called Terminus Firefight. Here you play either solo or up to two players as any of the the available leaders against a never ending rush of enemy waves.

There will also be two new multiplayers maps, two new leaders, a new campaign and the return of the Flood!.

The return of the Flood will offer Halo Wars 2 a fun aspect of an strategy game. Add in a new spectator mode and Arena Tournaments, everything is of course in full 4K HDR support for everyone who plays on either the Xbox One X or PC.

Screenshots

 

South Park Phone Destroyer has been available for people who pre-registered on iOS or Android. You still got the chance to pre-register and get your hands on the game before a commercial release and be a part of the developing process by giving feedback.

 

 

Phone Destroyer is a free to play game where you can collect different kinds of cards set in the South Park universe. You can play a story mode or go online and play against other players (PvP) with the decks you create.
But if the game has been out for a little time, why showcasing now?
Well there is a few new features coming to Phone Destroyer that was announced at Gamescom.
Such as more customisation for the new kid (you), teams and events.

 

Teams
Create or join a team with friends. Be the ultimate PvP team!
At your team wall, you can request or donate cards with each other if you or others are missing some cards.

 

Events

Throughout the seasons while the TV Show is running, different events will occur in Phone Destroyer. The best part is that each event will be synced with the episodes. So gear up, upgrade your cards and get those rewards!
(You actually need a lot of anal probes to get the rewards)