Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Amazon France Lists Bloodborne for PC

PS4-exclusive Bloodborne could be coming to PC at some stage, if a retail listing is to be believed.
The listing, live at the time of writing on Amazon France, lists the platform as "Windows 7/8" though it's "currently unavailable".
Amazon France has previous form in accurately leaking game details before publishers are ready to reveal them. To date, its list of scalps include Call of Duty: Black Ops II, the Killzone Trilogy, the European-only Assassin's Creed Anthology, Grand Theft Auto V on PC and a PS4 bundle for The Last of Us: Remastered. All of these turned out to be accurate.
Bloodborne is the latest title created by From Software. The developer's last two entries in the Souls series made their way to PC eventually, so this isn't beyond the realms of possibility. It's unlikely to happen any time soon, however.

Monday, March 23, 2015

Batman: Arkham Knight Gets New Release Date & Extended Gameplay Trailer

Warner Bros and Rocksteady have released a new gameplay trailer for Batman: Arkham Knight. In addition, the publisher has revealed a new release date for this highly anticipated Batman game. Batman: Arkham Knight is currently planned for a June 23rd release on current-gen consoles and PC.
Batman: Arkham Knight will bring the award-winning Batman: Arkham trilogy from Rocksteady Studios to its epic conclusion. Developed exclusively for the new generation of consoles and PCs, Batman: Arkham Knight introduces Rocksteady’s uniquely designed version of the Batmobile.
The highly anticipated addition of this legendary vehicle, combined with the acclaimed gameplay of the Batman: Arkham series, aims to offer gamers the ultimate and complete Batman experience as they tear through the streets and soar across the skyline of the entirety of Gotham City.
In this finale, Batman faces the ultimate threat against the city that he is sworn to protect, as Scarecrow returns to unite the super criminals of Gotham and destroy the Batman forever.

Sunday, March 22, 2015

Mass Effect 4: Combat & Biotics Are Looking Great, Release Date To Be Possibly Spring or Fall 2016

Chris Wynn, the Senior Development Director of Mass Effect, has taken to his personal Twitter feed recently to tease all of the L2’s, L3’s and L5’s amongst us (bonus points if you remember the first L2 you meet in Mass Effect). He said, “Combat is looking pretty great in the latest builds. Biotics plus weapons plus powerful hardware is amazing.” That has me excited.
Furthermore, trusted industry insider Shinobi602 has commented on Mass Effect 4’s possible release date, fairly reasoning that the game will drop in 2016 and not slip to 2017. According to the people the insider spoke to, EA haven’t decided a release date but are targeting Spring or Fall of 2016.
“From people I’ve talked to close to the thing, it’s still a 2016 release but haven’t yet nailed down deciding between Spring or Fall. EA usually has multiple high-profile releases every year, and with Battlefield 5 targeting Q4 2016, for now until I hear more, I’m assuming earlier than Fall is the target. They did however release NFS Rivals and BF4 at the same time, so it could still be the Fall.  Of course, delays are always possible with any game, but this thing’s been in development since 2012. It won’t skip next year,” the insider said on NeoGaf.
Spring normally takes place in March, April or May depending on how far north one lives. I personally believe that it’s going to launch either in March or November 2016. These are the usual months in which AAA games are launched. As usual, every information from an industry insider must be taken with a grain of salt but Shinobi602 has a solid track record so far.
On a related note, the producer of Mass Effect 4, Michael Gamble has revealed that they have completed a milestone delivery for the game which will further help them to make changes and fine tune gameplay mechanics. Mass Effect 4 will most likely launch on the PS4, Xbox One and PC, although this has not been confirmed by Bioware or EA yet.

Friday, March 20, 2015

Star Wars: Battlefront to be revealed in April

DICE and EA have just announced that Star Wars: Battlefront will be officially revealed at the Star Wars Celebration event that takes place next month. Although the company did not reveal much, we kind of expect to see the first gameplay video and screenshots from this upcoming Battlefront title.
As EA wrote on the game’s website:
“We’re thrilled to share that Star Wars Battlefront will be taking part in Star Wars Celebration next month in Anaheim, CA from April 16-19. We could not think of a better or more appropriate place to debut the game officially for the first time than the premier event that celebrates the Star Wars universe and the legions of fans who have fallen in love with it.”

Thursday, March 12, 2015

Homefront: The Revolution Is Alive, Planned for 2016 Release on PC & Current-Gen Consoles

Deep Silver unveiled that  Homefront: The Revolution is alive and is being developed by a new team. Deep Silver Dambuster Studios is the new studio that is currently responsible for developing the upcoming open-world FPS, Homefront: The Revolution. In addition, the publisher unveiled the packshot of the game that can be viewed below.
Dambuster Studios was founded in July 2014, in Nottingham, UK. Lead by Hasit Zala (also Game Director on Homefront: The Revolution) the studio currently numbers 126 staff, the vast majority of whom are veterans of Crytek UK (formerly Free Radical Design).
Development on Homefront: The Revolution continues at full speed, with the game now scheduled for release on PC and Linux, as well as current-gen consoles, in 2016.
Hasit Zala said:
“We are excited that Deep Silver’s acquisition of the Homefront IP and assets from Crytek has allowed development of Homefront: The Revolution to continue with minimum disruption. The team here believes we are working on something truly special.”
Dr. Klemens Kundratitz, CEO Deep Silver concluded:
“Dambuster Studios are an extraordinarily talented group. We are giving the team every opportunity to turn Homefront: The Revolution into a best-selling title, and have set a 2016 release date to provide them the time they need to achieve this. You can expect to hear more about the game later this year.”
In addition to Dambuster Studios, the publisher owns the renowned Deep Silver Volition based in Champaign, Illinois, and mobile developer Deep Silver Fishlabs in Hamburg, Germany.

Monday, March 9, 2015

6 Assassin's Creed Victory Settings that Could Have Been Better than London

Another year, another new Assassin's Creed game on the cards. While the previously released Assassin's Creed Unity was a little short of a total disaster, Ubisoft is currently aiming at improving everything in the newest edition of the age-old battle between the Assassin's and the Templers.
As of now, the newest upcoming Assassin's Creed game – Assassin's Creed Victory – is said to be set in London, keeping up the tradition of exploring different world timeframes in history via the eyes of the several different characters from the Assassins Templars era. The game is currently expected for a release this December.
After the release of Unity, there were a few reports across the web discussing about the next big location for the new AC title from Ubisoft. Needless to say, the end results were varying and full of possibilities. However, Ubisoft saw it fit to place this edition of the game in jolly ol' England.
While the decisions have already been taken and there's no going back from here, we still ponder about whether Ubisoft could have taken a bit of time out and thought over the setting for the game one more time. After all, the options are widespread. Here are our choices.
Cold War
Sure, we have seen some intriguing settings for the Assassin's Creed games of the past, but if it's deep history you are exploring, you must also consider a few of the defining moments in world history. Accordingly, a few AC fans we know kept talking about a game in the franchise that would be set in times of the Cold War. At a time when the United States and Communist USSR are going at each other's necks, the story of an Assassin in the midst of it all would have been quite the fascinating setting. And since all of the AC titles before have upheld different segments of history so well, creating a Cold War setting wouldn't have been that much work.
Ancient Japan
When he hear stories of the land of the rising sun from the olden days, we're often taken aback by accounts related to the feudal lords of the time and the ninjas and samurai that frequented the land so often. An Assassin's Creed game set in Japan is perhaps one of the most widely asked for setting in the entire franchise's history, but has fallen on deaf ears. Concepts of ninjas and samurais can never lose momentum among nerds and geeks, and we feel a Japan-centric Assassin's Creed could have further leveraged the game's street-cred.
Colonial India/East India Company
It isn't that Ubisoft hasn't pondered over an Assassin's Creed setting with ancient India in mind. In fact, proof for the same can easily be garnered via Assassin's Creed: Brahman, which tells the story of Jat Soora, the devoted fiancé of movie star Monima Das, gifted programer at software giant MysoreTech, and a deadly Assassin with a secret. But we would like if Ubisoft went a bit back into history and actually presented an Assassin in the times when India was only beginning to embrace the British rule, with the East India company already making its mark among the Mughals. We would love to see how Ubisoft would re-imagine colonial India in its own way.
Old Egypt
This one falls in the list of my personal preferences, in terms of settings, for the Assassin's Creed franchise. An assassin based in ancient Egypt is something many of us have wondered about, let alone the ability to climb the Sphinx or the pyramids. Since the dawn of time, we have always been intrigued about one of the oldest civilisations in the world and how they managed to lead such secretive lives. And a game showcasing the Egyptians, and how the Knights vs Templers gets dragged to the shores of the Nile (also finding a piece of Eden), is something many of us will be looking ahead to, going forward.
The 25th Century (Or, Sometime in the Future)
While all the Assassin's Creed games of the past have focused upon history and events of the past, how about jumping into that Animus and fast-forwarding to life in the distant future? Imagine the possibilities that would open up, considering the kind of dynamism each of the Assassin's Creed game portrays with each release. A futuristic assassin means he will have access to some of the notable weaponry of the time. Perhaps, you could even highlight a story around how all the pieces of Eden were finally found at the turn of the 22nd century, but its power was maliciously used by the Templers. Since it's the future, you could even throw in a few robots, although an assassin with an iPhone (version?) is highly unlikely.
World War II
If you are fascinated by the stories generating from the times of the Cold War, you surely must have a special liking toward anything that spells World War II. From personal experience, the biggest war in mankind's history has been host to several emotions, drama, loss and sense of victory, and an Assassin's Creed set in the timeframe may not be that bad an idea. History has shown how games revolving around the Second World War have always managed to tick gamers, and to have Ezio or Altair's bloodline affecting the biggest victories of the Allied forces against the Axis sounds like quite the tasty proposition.