Last week Final Fantasy XV Game Director Hajime Tabata told Peter Brown that we'll play his new game next year. Peter and Alexa join Danny to discuss how this is possible.
When Cabal 2 was first released in South Korea in 2012, it might have been something a little more original, and it certainly would have looked better to our eyes than it does now. But three years is a lifetime for a massively multiplayer role-playing game, and the time it’s taken to localize this game has not done it any favors.
If you follow the betas and launches of various MMORPGs coming out of South Korea in particular, there's a feeling here that you're probably very familiar with. You'll see bits and pieces of a game that looks more stunning than most MMORPGs you've seen, with the additional promise of a variety of intriguing mechanics. You may spend years pining after it, following every scrap of information you can as it slowly makes its way through the pipeline to the west. But by the time it's localized, whatever glimmer of charm it once held almost always fades with age. Cutting-edge graphics are now three-year-old graphics, and many of the fresh twists you were looking forward to have probably been disseminated among other games you've played in the interim.
It's a really severe problem...
Cabal 2 does a lot of little things that would have impressed me once. For example, the combo system is a clever way to add a more action-oriented element to otherwise-standard combat, while the astral weapons players get about mid-way through the game are undeniably cool looking and change up players’ routines. Finishing moves reward quick reflexes and give boss fights extra oomph, and character creation is robust, and loads of little usability features go a long way to make the game easy to play. Players who don't want to fuss with stats can have the game auto-distribute their points, for instance. Party-finding tools are easy to use, and corpses emit colored smoke corresponding to the value of the loot inside, which means players don't have to waste time and inventory space looting junk they don’t want. The game will also give a warning chime whenever a player or a party member aggros a nearby foe. These are all great features, but they're not unique to Cabal 2.
This lack of uniqueness is a recurring theme because at its heart, Cabal 2 looks, feels, and plays like an endless list of other games. All the little things it does differently simply get buried under the avalanche of everything else you know and expect, such as fetch quests and the need to endlessly grind. Playing this was one of the most boring things I've done in recent memory, to the point that I caught myself thinking wistfully about other MMOGs I'd dismissed as bland in the past. “Maybe I should give Scarlet Blade another chance,” I thought as I yet again made the run from “Area Full of Wolves” to “Area Full of People Asking Me One at a Time to Kill More Wolves.” When you spend an entire weekend jogging back and forth between the same three points on the map, it's easy to grow bored and tumble into a well of mental distractions.
Early dungeons require little strategy beyond a well-balanced party to complete.
Cabal 2 doesn't respect the player's time. You're sent back and forth, over and over, between the same areas and the same people killing the same targets for slightly different purposes. Sometimes those purposes are clear, and sometimes you’re killing animals for vengeance and picking herbs because you need them to time travel and look, do you want to level up or not? This is such a common trope, but many free MMOGs have been trying to move away from it for awhile. Cabal 2, on the other hand, leans into it and leans into it hard.
Progress grinds to a screeching halt after level 20, to the point that it takes days to attain a new level. A big part of the reason this is a problem is that Cabal 2 doesn’t provide an ample amount of story quests, so you’re left to make up the difference by taking on simple and uninteresting side quests. Even if you don't mind going through the same dungeons over and over again, you’re limited to a certain number of playthroughs of each side quest per day. Many quests are disabled once you reach a certain level, too, meaning that as time goes on, your options become even more limited. Reaching Cabal 2’s endgame requires an unreasonable amount of patience as its designed to extend your time with the game while offering almost nothing new in return.
While Cabal 2's localization is competent, it still veers toward the bizarre. It's a case study in the importance of editing, because while you can understand each individual word in a piece of quest dialogue, strung together, the end result often sounds broken and unnatural. It's just off enough that I found myself going over sections again to be sure I hadn't misread anything.
The charm of the world wears thin when you spend five hours running around the same little corner of it.
I can't say that I hated everything about Cabal 2. The way my wizard extended her hand back to form a spear of ice, then snapped it deftly forward as she prepared to throw it? Lovely. The way she flicks her sleeve back down once combat ends? Flawless. The cast of diverse NPCs scattered across the landscape? Honestly among the most interesting I've seen in any game. Is that enough? Absolutely not.
The thing is, I've played this game before, and if you're reading this review looking for the next free MMOG you can dip your toes into, chances are that you have too. We played Cabal 2 before we'd even heard of Cabal 2 because its is almost interchangeable with countless other free-to-play games we've had access to for years. Maybe that wouldn't have been the case three years ago, but it is today.
Destiny: The Taken King launches on September 15, and it'll feature a whole new story about Oryx, father of Crota, and his army of Taken. Developer Bungie recently released a trailer called "We Are Guardians," which shows off some of what players can expect from the new expansion. It has a lot of hints about the story, so we've made a gallery to analyze all of the secrets that appear in the video.
You'll Play on Phobos, a Moon of Mars
The trailer shows a player's ship flying toward Phobos, one of the moons of Mars. The first mission of The Taken King's story takes place on Phobos, and it introduces the Taken, an enemy that has massacred the Cabal and has come to war against Guardians and the Awoken.
The Expansion Will Take You to Saturn
Although Saturn's never been featured in the game before, it is in Destiny's Grimoire story compendium. Now, it seems that The Taken King will take you to the planet. The trailer shows a Guardian's ship flying toward the planet in the same way as in loading screens in the base game. Notably, Saturn's rings have a massive hole blasted in them, likely due to the war Oryx has brought to the solar system in his quest for vengeance following the defeat and death of his son, Crota, in The Dark Below.
Oryx, The Taken King, Is Quite the Enemy
Oryx has come from the depths of space to wage war against Guardians and the Cabal. He has brought a huge army of Taken, and in this image, he commands his fleet from his flagship, the Dreadnaught.
The Dreadnaught Has a Lot of Power
The flagship will play a pivotal role in The Taken King: It is the new explorable location. Players will be able to complete quests and patrol missions throughout the ship. In this screenshot, the Dreadnaught charges its main weapon to fight against the forces of the Awoken Queen, who has marshaled her fleet to meet the Taken army.
Oryx Decimates the Queen's Fleet in the Dreadnaught
The Dreadnaught obviously has massive power, as it's able to sweep aside the Queen's ships with its blast. Considering the ship's capabilities, it will be interesting to learn how Guardians got into the ship in order to explore it and take down Oryx.
Oryx's Has Force-Like Powers
The King of the Taken has magical abilities in addition to a massive space fleet. He is shown here using a magical force to incapacitate a Guardian.
A Captured Guardian Fights Back Against Oryx
Although Oryx has the ability to use invisible forces, somehow the incapacitated Guardians manages to pull out a pistol and fight back--though it's unclear exactly how (or if) a handgun can damage a being as powerful as Oryx.
It Looks Like There'll Be Platforming Missions at the Cosmodrome
The trailer shows a gameplay segment that takes place in the Cosmodrome, the first explorable location in the main game. The expansion looks like it takes players up into the towers at the Cosmodrome for platforming sequences.
There's a Cool New Helmet With Antlers on It
The Taken King comes with a lot of new gear, and one of the new head pieces will be this strange-looking helm with antlers on it. There's no word yet on what it's called or what it does, but it'll be a Warlock helmet.
The Devil's Lair Strike Is Being Revisited
This is the first look at one of the revised Strikes coming in The Taken King. The expansion will feature three old Strikes that have been reworked to include the Taken instead of the normal enemies. As shown in this screenshot, the Devil's Lair strike will be one of the missions getting a revision.
The Awoken Have Taken Over a Fallen Ketch Ship
A distinctive Fallen flagship is shown flying toward the space battle with Oryx, flanked by ships of the Awoken Queen's fleet. This suggests that, following the events of the House of Wolves expansion, the Queen has taken control of one of the Fallen's ships and is using it to fight.
There Are Multiple Dreadnaughts Fighting in the War
Although Oryx's Dreadnaught will be the focus of the expansion, the King of the Taken appears to have brought several other Dreadnaughts along with him to invade the solar system. This suggests that Oryx has several commanders and officers under him controlling parts of his fleet.
Going Inside a Ship, and a New Voice for the Ghost
The trailer also shows the interior of a Guardian's ship. The ships you get as a player are very seldom featured in the base game; they exist almost exclusively as cosmetic items. This shot also shows the Ghost, your companion in the game. The Ghost will be voiced by Nolan North after the expansion launches. Peter Dinklage, the original voice of the companion, is being completely replaced in the game.
Inside the Guardian's Ship
This is a shot of the Guardian pushing his ship's throttle forward. The appearance of the ship's interior hints that Guardian vessels could play more prominent roles in The Taken King.
There's an Absolutely Massive Space Battle Happening
The fight with Oryx looks like a war on a bigger scale than anything we've seen in Destiny before. It's huge, and from the scenes in the screenshot, it involves a lot of different fleets and armies. The space war could just be a cinematic set-piece moment, or it could play a recurring role throughout the events of the expansion.
Loss is a thing you cannot fix. Misplacing an object is inconvenient, troubling at best if the thing was of some sentimental value or important use to you. Leaving your iPhone on the train is terrible, money falling out of your pocket sucks, and unless other humans are as benevolent and selfless as we hope them to be, we'll never recover these things. But objects can be replaced. With people, it's harder.
Death removes people from the circles of the world. Death means you'll never see them again. But losing a friendship or breaking off a relationship means they will continue to exist without you. Everybody's Gone to the Rapture made me wonder which feeling is worse, which one is the bigger gut-punch of total, utter loss. At least with death comes the idea that maybe, depending on what you believe, there is something bigger than you waiting on the other side.
In developer The Chinese's Room's newest game, you move silently through the world, switching radios on and off, opening doors, and passing through ghostly environments like a ghost yourself. A heart-wrenching story and meaningful mechanics guide you through the experience, and the way you're tasked with not only consuming the mystery but also puzzling it all together is a recipe for heartache. Everybody's Gone to the Rapture left me cold and numb but with a sliver of wonder; the way the game weaves hope and hopelessness together is its greatest strength, and makes it one of the best narrative-driven games I have ever played.
The events of Everybody's Gone to the Rapture take place in the small town of Shropshire, England. The player character, or force, or whatever you are--there is no indication at any point as to whom or what the entity you are controlling is, you never see feet or hands--is alone. Everyone in the town has vanished. You are left to figure out why, driven only by your own morbid curiosity. There is no scripted quest or set path to follow, and you are left to wander at will to cobble clues together.
As you walk through the town, you'll find doors left ajar, cars parked askew on roadsides with doors and windows open, and streets strewn with dead birds and wads of bloody tissues. There are no bodies left, and maybe it's that hope of finding a human being--or at least some sort of human remains--that makes the desire to move forward so irresistible. Everybody's Gone to the Rapture plays like a horror movie stripped of its gore and fear, leaving you with only a simmering feeling of dread. It's that dread that drives you forward rather than terror, as there's nothing more to be afraid of. The damage is already done.
Empty roads are all you'll get.
It's difficult to describe the game's story, because to detail how you obtain information is a heavy spoiler. The fun in Rapture is poking into every corner of Shropshire, hoping to find a scrap of something that tells you what happened. Many times my own search turned up empty, leaving me standing in an empty house and listening to the sound of wind through empty hallways. Sometimes I stumbled upon a hidden something, something easy to miss if I hadn't noticed the odd distortions in the air around it, and learned to check out a hollow deep in the woods or a cabin on the far side of the lake. And sometimes these things stumbled upon me instead, leaving me breathless and sad. If there's one thread of continuity in Everybody's Gone to the Rapture, it's that no one left the world behind without baggage, heartbreak, and something lost.
Everybody's Gone to the Rapture is ultimately a story about people, and the organic way in which their stories unravel--not with exposition but the presentation of real memories, out of order and completely dependent on how you find them--gives you the room to piece things together yourself. The game doesn't want to tell you anything; it wants to show you.
There are very few things you can do in this game. You can operate radios and lights, open and close doors, and walk very, very slowly. There is no menu screen, no directional compass, and no inventory. And there is no way to check your progress, leaving the pace and thoroughness of the exploring up to you.
Rapture's main mechanics involves tuning points of light like you would a radio. Every so often, you'll stumble upon a room or area filled with glowing specks of golden light. Approach, and you'll find a denser ball of light at their center. To "unlock" these lights, players are prompted to tilt their controller to the left or right, using the gyroscope feature to find the right angle to make the light grow brighter the same way you would tune a radio to find the right station. Within them lies the important stuff, the most impactful clues and poignant moments you'll find in Shropshire.
Go into the light.
There are five main areas to the game, each with their own mini-story that connect in some way to every area's story thereafter. Discovering what happened to everyone in Shropshire requires you to explore every nook and cranny. The story--a beautiful tale of science and mysticism and love--is nonlinear, and areas can be "completed" in any order, and events drop just enough clues to tantalize you. The game never gives you enough to go on, and things always feel one hint out of reach. And just when you think you've solved the mystery, Rapture throws you another curve ball, making the things that were starting to make sense way more complicated and confusing. But then you stumble upon a nugget that suddenly, and painfully, makes it all clear. The way it all unravels is brilliantly designed, and coupling this trail of narrative breadcrumbs with its simmering sense of dread and loss makes Rapture a difficult journey to disengage from.
I had a lot of feelings while playing Everybody's Gone to the Rapture. The atmosphere was peaceful, I never felt frightened. But the deeper I walked into Shropshire, the more empty I felt. I've lost people in my lifetime, to death and to differences, and as I rifled through the remains of this tiny village I realized that no one in Shropshire got to leave in peace--and maybe didn't leave me in peace, either. Does anyone ever leave a world behind in peace?
Certain moments would make me sad, but not sad in the way you feel for someone after witnessing their misfortune. I felt sad in waysyou can only feel when you've caused that pain. I wasn't doing anything, but by digging up these moments, I felt like maybe I was the center of these problems all along. Rapture's narrative will do that to do; you sympathize, you identify, and then you accept despair.
Everywhere I turned I found a mess. Houses left wide open with dishes left in the sink, scraps of paper and tissues littering the floor. Cars with open doors and backseats filled with belongings. Overturned crates abandoned on the roadside, their contents strewn everywhere. I found ashtrays filled with cigarette butts that were still leaking smoke. With each unraveling story thread I felt like the litter I found, unpacked and strewn about, left for no one to find. No one would find it. No one would know anything about the sad truths behind these people's lives and disappearances other than me.
But then I would leave a house and round a corner, and I would find myself on an empty road under a canopy of trees. Splintered light hit my face as the sun began to set. The leaves would be so green and so brilliant I would be temporarily blinded. I felt like I was in paradise, like nothing was wrong, like nothing could touch me. Maybe there was hope. Maybe this wasn't a futile search after all.
Everybody's Gone to the Rapture's artfully done visual and audio cues help you navigate without a directional compass or a HUD. The same gold lights that you can "unlock' will appear and zigzag through the air, guiding you towards things you should check out. The sound of radio static or a beeping phone floating to you will guide you towards hidden secrets. These masterfully wrought cues keep you on track, to let you know when you're missing something. This is how Rapture gets and holds you in its iron grip, and I found myself sitting inches away from my television screen listening raptly, desperate to spot something that would solve the mystery.
Not your typical playground companion.
When you hear or see something, there's no way to play it back or view it again. This inability to go over information again will make you think harder. You, like Shropshire's doomed inhabitants, only have so much time to react. It adds a sense of urgency to things, making those "aha" moments when you decipher meanings all the more poignant and personal.
The speed at which you move through the game is frustrating. You walk very slowly, but this causes you to look at everything and pay attention to small details. But sometimes, especially when doubling back through areas following golden light or sound trails, the speed can get tedious. Sometimes those guiding golden lights move so fast you can't keep up, rounding corners and flickering out of sight only to leave you in their dust unsure where to go. But this movement speed isn't enough to deter you from exploring and revisiting areas you've seen before. The sense of wonder, the drive to solve the riddle of the rapture, is powerful enough to overcome this.
The road less traveled.
Furthermore, with no manual way to save and large swathes of time between checkpoints, Rapture discourages you from walking away with areas half-explored. You will get lost sometimes--but again, some wonderful audiovisual tidbits will pop up to guide you just when you begin to lose hope. Tiny lights will appear on the road in the direction you need to walk. Or the wind will pick up, carrying with it the sound of a beeping radio that holds your next cue. Getting lost happens, but it's never for long, and while I was admittedly frustrated in the beginning of my playtime, by the end the game had conditioned me to look and listen for the signs I needed to continue. And it didn't even have to tell me, it gave me the tools to learn on my own and really invest in the game's focus on exploration.
Rapture includes a soundtrack that perfectly augments the game's atmosphere of melancholy and futility. Rapture's ambience always sits you on the edge of sorrow, with the music never quite intruding in an obtrusive way, but pulling you in just close enough to dip your toes into the game world's melancholy. Its sounds make it hard for you to not feel like Shropshire itself: cold, alone, and utterly empty. A lonely, beautiful void.
But in the end, the game gives you no real closure. It's a bold, powerful move, and the feelings of hope and helplessness that filled me when the credits rolled are things I am still wrestling with as I try to unpack thoughts into a review. It's rare something can completely choke you up the way experiences like when moving, though the game's tutorial never explicitly states you have the option. By pressing and holding R2 for five seconds, the player entity will gradually ramp up to a higher speed. We tested this speed, and while it does cover more ground more quickly than the default walking option, it's not a huge improvement. The faster speed feels more like a power walk or a jog, and does not affect my feelings about the movement speed.
It's been a long time coming, but Ryan Reynolds is finally returning as the deranged superhero Deadpool. In case you aren't familiar, Reynolds will reprise his role as the elite assassin, whom he first played in X-Men Origins: Wolverine. (Photo: Marvel)
Wade Wilson Has Cancer
Before he becomes Deadpool, he's just a guy named Wade Wilson. Wilson's story takes a turn when he finds out he has cancer in his “liver, lungs, prostate and brain.” Instead of going full Walter White, Wilson fields an offer to cure him and then some... (Photo: Marvel)
But He Gets Recruited
There's always a catch, right? Wilson then gets recruited by this sinister looking man for Weapon X, the experimental procedure that gave Wolverine his powers. The recruiter promises to cure Wilson and turn him into a superhero. (Photo: Marvel)
And He Can Heal Like Wolverine
After undergoing the Weapon X procedure, Deadpool has similar healing qualities to Wolverine. In the trailer, Deadpool gets a hole blown in his arm, yet he miraculously recovers. (Photo: Marvel)
But Deadpool Knows He's a Fictional Character
In the comics, Deadpool breaks the fourth wall on a regular basis. As a superhero, he's generally aware he's not real. Toward the end of the raucous trailer, Deadpool looks into the camera and inhales the smoke from his guns. (Photo: Marvel)
And He's Got a Sense of Humor
Despite being told his sense of humor wouldn't survive Weapon X, Deadpool is clearly a witty and hilarious superhero. Before undergoing Weapon X, Wilson makes fun of Ryan Reynolds's first turn as a superhero with The Green Lantern. If all else fails, Wilson certainly has a future as a comic book illustrator with his lovely drawing skills. (Photo: Marvel)
Deadpool Gets Hit With the Ugly Stick
Deadpool looks much, much better with his suit on. The Weapon X procedure looks to have made the handsome Ryan Reynolds pretty hideous. (Photo: Marvel)
Colossus Gives a Beating
In another connection to the X-Men, the organic steel-clad Colossus makes an appearance in the trailer by easily tossing Deadpool into a car door. Does this mean we will see Deadpool in future X-Men movies? (Photo: Marvel)
Gina Carano is Angel Dust
MMA's other badass Gina Carano (the first is, of course, Ronda Rousey) will play the character Angel Dust, who is known for her superhuman strength. Shouldn't be much of a stretch for her. (Photo: Marvel)
There's a character named Negasonic Teenage Warhead
Seriously, that's her name and she's played by Brianna Hildebrand. In the comics, Negasonic Teenage Warhead is a mutant with telepathic powers. With luck, she can live up to her beautifully crazy moniker. (Photo: Marvel)
T.J. Miller Plays Weasel
T.J. Miller of Silicon Valley fame will play Deadpool's best friend and arms dealer, Weasel. Weasel pulls no punches on Wade Wilson's horrid appearance; he repeatedly describes how ugly Wilson has become. (Photo: Marvel)
Deadpool is going to be a bloody good time
If you checked out the red-band trailer, then you know how fun and bloody this movie will be. Get ready for a lot of action, witty one liners, slow-motion kills and gun sniffing. (Photo: Marvel)
Deadpool Bows In February 2016
Deadpool will be one of the first big action flicks in 2016, with a release of February 12th. Will you see Star Wars for the 8,000th time, or Deadpool? (Photo: Marvel)
Game rental stores are pretty much gone, but renting downloadable games might be their replacement: Sega will soon let you download some of its .
This new partnership isn't necessarily targeting American audiences. In the press release, Sega stated that GameSessions will let it expand into Mexico and Brazil and cater to PC audiences in those places.
Currently, GameFly is the other main game rental service, although that company focuses on physical and streaming games, rather than downloadable rentals. There are few services that rent games via full download--other services, like GameFly or PlayStation Now, provide players the option to stream games for certain amounts of time.
GameSpot is giving away a super special,limited edition Dota 2 themed SteelSeries Apex M800 keyboard. Forged by theDire, this keyboard has a limited edition TI5 golden color scheme, Low-profile mechanical switches, individual-key RGB lighting effects, unlimited customization, and to top it off, an exclusive in-game item.
We're also giving away prizes to two runners up! Our second place winner will receive a QCK+ Dota 2 edition mousepad, and a Rival Dota 2 Edition Gaming mouse. And finally, our third place winner will receive their very own QCK+ Dota 2 edition mousepad.
Once you've earned points by filling out our form, entering your email, then completing one of the following; follow us on Twitter, or Instagram, click "REWARDS" to be entered for a chance to win!
Have you already liked us on Twitter? Awesome! But more importantly that means that you're already one step closer to entering to win. Just click the Twitter follow button to verify that you are in fact one of our followers and you'll be good to go.
In the '90s, there was no Spotify. There was no Vevo. Traditional music-based channels were a cultural norm, with live shows and music-video rotations alike. But with the advent of the internet, all of that changed. Listeners can now subscribe to a library of countless songs, and music videos are only ever one search away. Our content is no longer curated by the provider, but by us, and the days of thinking “what song will I hear next” are slowly fading away.
At least, for the most part.
Guitar Hero TV is less of a singular game than an entire platform. In October, it will release as part of in an effort to continually tweak an already-released product. So while Freestyle can add songs to its roster throughout Guitar Hero TV's lifespan, it may also apply changes that weren't ready for its initial release.
Much like many other teams in modern years, Activision and Freestyle Games may not be considering this product just a game in the traditional sense, but as a platform that can continuously evolve, regardless of its initial status at release. It still feels like a quality game at the moment, and I think Freestyle has done enough to set it apart from the halcyon days of rhythm-based music games. But I'm interested to see just how Guitar Hero TV evolves over time, as this kind of content model becomes even more prevalent in the video game industry.
From what I've seen so far, Guitar Hero TV may very well be Activision's newest version of the platform model. The curated channels, weekly rotations and a plethora of content is a beast of its own, separate from Guitar Hero Live, and on the game’s Oct. 20 release, Freestyle can see whether they perfected the platform they’ve been working on.
Sony today announced the free games PlayStation Plus members will receive for free during August. There's the usual lineup of six games in all, although thanks to Cross-Buy support,
If you can't make it to the show itself, you'll be able to watch the panels and other events live on GameSpot. We'll have a full programming lineup for you as we get closer to the event.
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Last week Final Fantasy XV Game Director Hajime Tabata told Peter Brown that we'll play his new game next year. Peter and Alexa join Danny to discuss how this is possible.
Justin Chris and Mike talk about the pros and cons from the latest Guitar Hero and Rock Band games, and who they think is currently coming out on top.
