I would normally start the introduction to a review of a game like this by writing about how I don’t normally get along with turn-based RPGs. This time though, I will say that Blackguards is from an RPG system we’ve had issues with in the past. You see, Blackguards comes from the same lineage as Drakensang which Steve Peacock played in 2009. Both are based on The Dark Eye, a German challenger to the Dungeons and Dragons series.
This past week has seen GDC come and go with heaps of information that I have probably missed entirely. Well there was that Ubisoft media field day which revealed the new Assassin’s Creed title. The French Revolution could be quite tasty, lets hope that Ubisoft haven’t been resting on their laurels after Black Flag. Elsewhere, there is word that Nintendo have 50 titles coming to the Wii U thanks to the Unity engine. In a more moder-gen focus, Sony revealed their VR effort of which Eurogamer has a nice tech analysis.
Once you’ve had your fill of GDC, hit the break for Our Week in Games.
Steph is a bit busy this week, so I have bravely stepped into her shoes to bring you this weeks edition of Gaming Crowdfunding Weekly. I might not actually be stepping in Steph’s shoes if I am honest, this week I’m going to highlight a few games which aren’t actually coming through the Crowdfunding channels. I bet Steph won’t be best pleased when she sees what I’ve done with her column! Hit the break to see some media and hastily written words about Cloud Chamber, Men of War and Concursion.
The past couple of days has seen a massive media splurge from Ubisoft with new newness for Watch Dogs and a sneak peak look at the new Assassin’s Creed title which will be known as Unity set during the French Revolution. Hit the break to check out the videos.
This past Friday saw the release of Titanfall and Dark Souls II in the UK. I will be taking on Titanfall and delivering a Verdict over the coming weeks, while it seems like we are all waiting for the PC release of Dark Souls II. There seems to have been a fairly even split between those I follow on Twitter between chatter on these two titles, as spring beckons the big guns are landing. Furthermore, GDC takes place this week in San Francisco, I’m expecting fireworks.
While we wait for big news from across the pond, why not check out the latest Our Week in Games.
I first talked about Wargame: Red Dragon at the tail end of February where I bemoaned the fact that the Red Dragon of the title has nothing to do with the Welsh dragon. It still gripes me, but I am somewhat appeased by news that you can pre-order the game now on Steam which will grant you exclusive access to the multiplayer beta which will kick off in the coming days. It might face some competition from Titanfall and Dark Souls II, but sometimes people need an RTS to keep them company.
It is strange to think that is was way back in June 2012 that I reviewed Diablo III, strange as it just goes to show how time flies. It also means that I hadn’t touched the game since the summer of 2012, at least until this past weekend when I started to gear myself up for the upcoming expansion, Reaper of Souls. What brought me back ahead of the expansion? The promise of a limited time only 50% XP boost did the trick.
The follow up to Frozen Synapse has today hit Steam Early Access along with receiving a massive update. Mode 7 Games have had a busy day as they have also released a new trailer for the “simultaneous-turn-based tactical game set around a brutal futuristic sport played by robots” game known as Frozen Endzone.
Disaster stuck this week as my Nexus 7 tablet encountered a problem where I can’t even turn it out without the loading screen looping for ever and eternity. It is only a small problem in the grand scheme of things, but it makes me realise that we haven’t had any major Red Ring of Death scenarios with the new consoles just yet. They’ve been out for a few months now, but they seem to have avoided any mass plague of hardware issues. I think that is something for the games industry to be proud of.
While you ponder the horrors of the Red Ring of Death, why not hit the break and check out the latest Our Week in Games…
I was never meant to be playing Strider, that was a job that had initially be given to Steph, our resident retro-gaming expert. However, it turns out that Strider is one of an increasing number of games that requires a DirectX 11 capable graphics card, and sadly Steph was unable to get the game working. Unaware of what I was getting myself into, I stepped up to fill the breach as any good Editor would.