Tag Archives: first person shooter

Call of Duty: Ghosts 2 Leaked by UK Gaming Magazine

Posted on by John Williamson
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Call of Duty is one of the most profitable franchises in the gaming industry and continues to set unbelievable sales records. There are many consumers out there who own a console, and play Call of Duty every year without looking into other gaming experiences. The same applies to sports games which seem to hold people’s attention despite each release being fairly iterative. Of course, users can spend their money as they choose, and the hundreds of hours invested into a Call of Duty’s multiplayer provides a great reason to buy each year’s release. Personally, it’s not for me, but I’m pleased to see different games which cater to unique audiences. Call of Duty: Ghosts received fairly disappointing reviews and sparked debate about the lack of innovation in the series.

It’s quite uncommon for a Call of Duty game to have widespread criticism from the press, as most websites usually opt for high scores. However, Call of Duty: Ghosts didn’t offer anything new, and ran extremely poorly on PC. To this day, the PC version is plagued by terrible optimization, a mundane single player and lacklustre gameplay. It’s really not worth bothering with and a waste of your time. Given the negative publicity surrounding Call of Duty: Ghosts, you might expect its sequel to undergo a re-branding exercise. Despite this, a scanned version of the February issue of GamesTM contains Call of Duty: Ghosts 2 in a segment entitled, “2016 Most Wanted Games”. The issue was scanned by Mari Fernett, and sent into the publication FragHero. Here we can see the front cover:

According to the magazine, Call of Duty: Ghosts 2 will launch in November 2016, and be produced by Infinity Ward.

A transcription of the game’s description reads:

“When creative strategist Robert Bowling exited Infinity Ward in 2012, he put the departure down to the studio doing “too much ‘pew pew’ not enough new new.” We got a look at what he meant with the release of Call of Duty: Ghosts – a solid, yet unspectacular next-gen debut for the franchise. Infinity Ward will have had three years to work on a follow up, and it needs to showcase the same creative spark that once put in on the map with Modern Warfare back in ’08 if it wants any chance of standing shoulder to shoulder with Sledgehammer and Treyyarch.”

Are you a fan of the Call of Duty franchise?

DOOM Will Not Have Microtransactions

Posted on by John Williamson
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DOOM is one of the most influential and iconic video games ever devised. ID Software’s classic first-person-shooter popularized the genre and showcased the potential of engrossing single player games on modern hardware. While Wolfenstein 3D set a fantastic framework, it didn’t have the same impact as DOOM or capture people’s imaginations. Despite DOOM’s age, it’s still holds up remarkably well and I could easily play through the entire game multiple times. Recently, I purchased the DOOM 3 BFG edition which includes all the content from the older titles, and is a great package. One strange change revolves around the medpacks now sporting a pill icon instead of the red cross. Perhaps, this is down to some copyright issued with the charity, British Red Cross.

After a long hiatus, DOOM is finally coming back, and I cannot wait to see if it honours the series’ roots. Honestly, I’m pretty hopeful because the recent Wolfenstein reboot adopted a fantastic old school feel and fast paced gameplay. It’s absolutely stunning and demonstrates that single-player focussed first-person-shooters can be released in the modern era. Sadly, modern games tend to be marred by microtransactions, season passes, DLC, and other measures designed to maximize profit. However, according to Peter Hines, vice president of marketing at Bethesda, the game will not feature any microtransactions:

This is wonderful news and reassures players that the multiplayer aspect will remain completely balanced. This is essential because various micropayments to acquire items can destroy a multiplayer community and make the progression system seem very unfair. Also, the single player aspect should have good pacing and not slowed down to encourage users to purchase items. Not so long ago, Bethesda unveiled a teaser trailer showing DOOM’s campaign. So far it looks stunning and it’s certainly going to be a day one purchase for myself!

Homefront: The Revolution Will Have Microtransactions

Posted on by John Williamson
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Homefront: The Revolution is an upcoming first-person-shooter and follows the story of Ethan Brady as he stages a resistance movement against a vicious Korean army in Philadelphia. The original Homefront contained a compelling, dark story, but at times it was difficult to take seriously. Furthermore, the single player aspect involved a very linear approach only lasted around 4 hours. Rather impressively, the sequel will feature a massive 30+ hour campaign and include a resistance mode at no additional cost. The majority of first-person-shooters in the modern era focus on the multiplayer component and rarely provide a enthralling experience for single-player gamers. However, Homefront: The Revolution looks set to change things, and offer a huge amount of content.

On a positive note, the developer has confirmed there will not be a season pass. All downloadable content will rather surprisingly, remain free and the game should be supported with additional content for at least one year after release. However, designer Fasahat Salim told GameSpot that the multiplayer aspect will include microtransactions on launch:

“Everything that’s available in the game is available for free, and even after release we’re going to continue to be delivering missions, drip-feeding them into the community for at least a year,”

“There’s always going to be new content delivered for free, players are going to have lots of stuff to dig their teeth into.

“It’s absolutely not a pay-to-win system because everything we’re providing in these resistance crates is available for free in the game through normal play. All we’re offering is, for those players that don’t necessarily have the time to invest in the game, to unlock those cool things. It’s basically just a time saver for them – a shortcut to unlocking these things.

“They pay a little bit of money but they’re not getting anything that’s exclusive to them.”

Honestly, I cannot understand the logic of purchasing a game and paying money reduce the time investment. Granted, if there’s a lot of grinding involved, then it might make sense, but that’s more of a problem with the game’s business model. Hopefully, this doesn’t impact on the multiplayer’s balance and is implemented in a fair way. I just wish the modern gaming industry didn’t push microtransactions so much in full priced releases. I do commend the studio for their free DLC programme, but I’m really not keen on the arrival of microtransactions.

Hard Reset Redux Edition Announced

Posted on by John Williamson
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Hard Reset is a very underrated first-person-shooter by Flying Wild Hog set in an atmospheric, cyberpunk world. Originally, the game was released in 2011 and received fairly mixed reviews from professional critics. However, the studio decided to include their expansion at no additional cost which deserves a huge amount of credit! Hard Reset adopts a very fast-paced “old school” approach, similar to Doom and Quake with health packs, ammunition and secrets throughout each level. Despite this classic feel, the game features a two weapon system which might at first appear overly restricting. Thankfully, each weapon can be modified to add-on rocket launchers, grenades, a plasma rifle and stasis modules.

Another interesting decision is the game’s tough difficulty. Even on the lower settings, it can be a challenge to defeat a large number of enemies. This had to the potential to infuriate certain players while offering an extreme challenge to seasoned first-person-shooter gamers. The publisher, Gambitious Digital Entertainment has just announced a Redux version of Hard Reset which features an upgraded visual engine and rebalanced gameplay, along with new enemies and weaponry (cyber-katana!). Furthermore, it’s been updated to suit modern audiences so I’m very interested to see how different the gameplay is.

To mark this occasion, the publisher decided to release a trailer to showcase the game’s intense action and unusual story. Honestly, the story is hard to follow and fairly forgettable after a few chapters. Although, you really play this kind of game for the gunplay. Hard Reset Redux should be coming to Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC very soon. The original PC version still looks fantastic so I’m not convinced this released is designed for PC players. On the other hand, it’s great to see a modernized version for the current console generation and should be fairly popular if the price point remains low.

Homefront: The Revolution Will Feature a 30+ Hour Campaign

Posted on by John Williamson
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The overwhelming majority of first-person-shooters prioritize the multiplayer component and overlook the single player experience. For example, the Call of Duty series’ success relies on the heated online battles between players, and some users disregard the campaign without even trying it! Unfortunately, the single player story usually lasts a mere 5-6 hours, and doesn’t offer compelling value. The Call of Duty campaigns tend to be passable due to the cinematic feel and intense action. On the other hand, DICE always struggles to create a captivating single player aspect and the end result is almost excruciating. Some time ago, the now defunct THQ produced a new IP entitled, Homefront. The game adopted a very dark, serious tone and showcased the horrors of war with children being slaughtered in the streets. Bizarrely, the campaign started off rather slowly, and followed a horribly linear path. Not only that, just as the story became interesting, the game suddenly ended a mere 4 hours in.

Despite this, I enjoyed the multiplayer and saw a great deal of potential for the series. Thankfully, Deep Silver acquired the rights and decided to make a sequel. Homefront: The Revolution from the initial screenshots looks interesting and according to the press release contains a mammoth 30+ hour single player campaign:

Homefront: The Revolution is this team’s most ambitious project yet. In addition to our epic 30-plus hour single-player campaign, we expect to launch Resistance Mode with 12 Missions, packed with re-playability, and hope to release another 20 Missions within the first year. To ensure our community can always play together, all Resistance Mode Missions will be free to download.

This is fantastic news for single player gamers and offers superb value-for-money. Homefront: The Revolution is scheduled for release on May 17 in North America and May 20 in other territories. Please note, this release date applies to all platforms including Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC.

COD Black Ops III Single Player Not Coming to PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360

Posted on by John Williamson
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Activision has announced in a community post, the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions of Call of Duty: Black Ops III will not include the single player campaign. This decision was made due to the last-generation consoles technical limitations. However, Activision didn’t delve into great deal what caused the setbacks and simply said:

“Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 is a truly next-generation experience designed from day one to harness the full potential of the PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC. Black Ops 3 pushes the boundaries of the franchise to new levels across all modes of play on next generation hardware.”

“As we announced back in June, we know that there are still fans waiting to make the switch to the newest console hardware and developers Beenox and Mercenary Technology have been working tirelessly to bring as much of the Black Ops 3 gameplay as possible to the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.”

“The Black Ops 3 PS3 and Xbox 360 versions will feature Multiplayer and Zombies gameplay only, not Campaign. The ambitious scope of the 1-4 player coop Campaign design of the PS4, Xbox One and PC versions could not be faithfully recreated on old generation hardware.”

One theory is, the Xbox 360 uses DVD-9 disks  which doesn’t contain adequate storage for large voice files and video cutscenes. Obviously, Activision could have used multiple disks and forced users to install the game. Clearly, Call of Duty players obsess on the multiplayer aspect and rarely play the single player campaign. Furthermore, the game will include the highly-popular zombies mode. Therefore, it does seem like the only mode being omitted is with large audio/video files. Honestly, I’m sure Activision could have found a solution but probably believes the time investment wasn’t worth it.

The news is a shame for those on last-generation consoles who enjoy the single player aspect. However, this is a very niche sector of the market.

Image courtesy of GeekSnack.

Is Wolfenstein The New Order Getting a Sequel?

Posted on by John Williamson
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Wolfenstein The New Order is a marvelous story-driven first-person-shooter which beautifully honored the franchise’s iconic roots. The title received widespread critical acclaim and it looks like a sequel is in production according to a TV interview transcribed by Eurogamer Poland. The channel spoke to Alicja Bachleda-Curuś who played Anya Oliwa in The New Order and claimed a sequel is underway:

“I’m working on a video game, first part of which I have already made. Now we’re making a second one, which will take two more years.

“I played this game as a child. I was very happy when I got to the point where I could shoot Hitler.”

While Bethesda is yet to confirm this, it seems quite plausible especially coming from one of the game’s leading voice talents. Wolfenstein The New Order had fairly disappointing previews but stunned everyone with its magical formula of fast-paced action and engrossing story on release. Over the years, I’ve played a whole host of first-person-shooters and Wolfenstein The New Order is definitely in my top 3. Early speculation suggests a sequel could release in 2017, but this is under very circumstantial evidence.

In the modern era of multiplayer focused games, it’s refreshing to see something set in a vibrant, engaging world which prioritizes single-player gameplay.

What is your favourite first-person-shooter of all time?

Thank you Eurogamer for providing us with this information.

Microsoft Attacks Halo Online Modders with DMCA Takedowns

Posted on by Ashley Allen
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It only took modders a matter of days to unlock the Russia-only beta of Halo Online, making the free-to-play first-person shooter available to the entire world, but the killjoys at Microsoft have, predictably, issued these region-bypassing modders with DMCA takedown notices, with which they reluctantly complied.

ElDorado, the custom launcher that allowed players to access Halo Online from outside Russia has been pulled from GitHub, though versions of it have reportedly been found on popular torrent sites.

Microsoft has given no indication that it is considering opening up Halo Online to other regions, so it appears likely that modders will continue to find ways unlocking the game for users outside of Russia.

Source: Dark Side of Gaming

New Battlefield Title Dubbed ‘Hardline’ to be Released This Year

Posted on by Gabriel Roşu
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Electronic Arts had some hiccups and major bugs to fix in its latest Battlefield 4 release. That does not meant it will stop them from releasing another Battlefield title it seems, confirming the claims that the company is attempting to set a yearly cycle to the Battlefield title.

Dubbed Battlefield Hardline, Electronic Arts and Visceral Games has shifted the main focus of the Battlefield feel from the war between two or more armies to a more common battle, which is the war on crime. This is quite an interesting change, not only from the game’s objective and scope, but also from the development point of view.

EA’s DICE took charge of all Battlefield titles up until now, but Electronic Arts however decided to give Dead Space developers, Visceral Games, the lead this time around. What we expect to see as an outcome from all of this can be seen in the video below:

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GnXW9cq7umc[/youtube]

It appears that more light on the change is given from Visceral’s VP and GM Steve Papoutsis with the following statement:

“Several years ago, I was at an internal EA meeting in Barcelona with creative leaders from across the company. It was there I met Karl Magnus Troedsson, the GM of DICE, for the first time, and we immediately began talking about games – I’ve always loved Battlefield and KM was a huge fan of Dead Space, which I was working on at the time”, he said. “ We started talking about different ways we could work together, different ways we could take Battlefield and action games in a new direction. It was then that this project that became Battlefield Hardline was born.”

Sources also indicate that Battlefield Hardline along with other ‘secret’ projects will be revealed at E3 on the 9th of June.

Thank you KitGuru for providing us with this information
Image courtesy of KitGuru and video courtesy of YouTube