Have You Played? is an endless stream of game retrospectives. One a day, every day of the year, perhaps for all time.
A thing an awful lot people are wrong about is the recent Frogwares Sherlock Holmes games. Some people, for some reason, think they’re not an actual dog poo. They are an actual dog poo. However, in 1991 there was a Sherlock Holmes game that wasn’t actual dog poo – Consulting Detective. … [visit site to read more]
A new trailer gives a teeny look at Rogue Trooper Redux [official site], the upcoming revamp of Rebellion’s perfectly good 7/10 action game from 2006. Unlike 2000 AD’s attempts to revamp the comic strip this game is based on, the Redux seems fairly modest. It’s like Rogue Trooper but prettier and hopefully slightly less clunky – but only slightly less so. I don’t even want a huge overhaul or modernisation; I’d be content with a mild prettying-up, support for modern resolutions, and a few fixes and tweaks. Don’t risk that 7/10ness. This trailer mostly explains backstory but does have a cheeky peek: … [visit site to read more]
Space Hulk: Deathwing [official site] has got the look but has it got the touch? Not quite, our Alec thought. But Streum On Studio’s first-person shooter does yet have the potential to be a fine adaptation of Games Workshop’s tabletop wargame and, bless ’em, they are still working on it. Following a patch improving the technical guts of Deathwing last month, Streum On today launched another adding a new mode with randomised mission objectives. Plans for future updates include a new multiplayer progression system, new enemies, and more. … [visit site to read more]
Usually when I hear developers talking about Steam’s refund system, it’s all Wilhelm screams and gnashing of teeth because it’s a) backlash for a game shipped in a rickety state b) the brutal bursting of an impossible hype bubble or c) calculating scrooges have worked out that they can blast through something short and still be eligible to get their cash back. Rare is the day when I hear a dev actively encouraging use of the system if a player’s not enjoying their game.
That’s the line taken by Prey [official site] lead dev (and nemesis of press sneaks the world over) Raphael Colantonio. Unlike the console versions of Bethesda and Arkane’s System Shock’em-up, there’s no demo available for PC. There’s no need, argues Colantonio, cos you can just holler at Steam’s refund elves instead. Hmm.
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Prey for the Gods [official site], the crowdfunded surive-o-action game heavily inspired by Shadow of the Colossus, is now named Praey for the Gods. It is a rubbish name but it is a trademarkable one. Developers No Matter Studios have made this change because Zenimax, the owners of Bethesda, thought Prey for the Gods was too close to their trademark for Prey. Rather than spend their limited funds on battling Zenimax’s lawyers, No Matter agreed to change the name. The Suits didn’t object to Praey for the Gods, a title close to one No Matter had originally considered anyway, so here we are. Here ends the threat of people mistakenly thinking Prey for the Gods is, I don’t know, an ultra-exclusive limited edition of Prey reserved for religious leaders. … [visit site to read more]
“Those who do not learn from from history, are doomed to make another World War II videogame.” A famous saying, and one we all know well. So when Activision hosted a live presentation for the reveal trailer of their latest shooter, Call of Duty: WWII [official site], I watched and felt nothing but a tired wave of low-burning resentment for everyone involved. During this presentation the word “visceral” was said a total of eight times and our own news editor Alice silently got up from her desk, walked solemnly out of her house, and never returned. If anyone has seen Alice, please call us. … [visit site to read more]
It wasn’t hard to find the VR doubters at EVE Fanfest. One high profile EVE Online player told me he had no interest in CCP’s VR games but would “rather they have new teams working on VR than moving people from EVE to something like World of Darkness, which was left in the corner like a rotten apple.”
Another said he was “glad that the VR side of the business will be there to support EVE Online financially.” For a while at least, I figure it’ll be the other way around. It might seem strange to see a free-to-play MMO as the financial foundation that a studio relies on, but then CCP are a strange company and to some people their dedication to VR might seem like their strangest move yet. I spoke to VR Brand Director Ryan Geddes and CEO Hilmar Veigar Pétursson to find out what the future might hold, and why they believe VR is an important part of that future.
