The first-person shooter genre was forged in the grey, stone halls of Castle Wolfenstein. This medieval monument turned Nazi fortress carries all manner of connotations for the series which bears its name. But what is it about these connotations that compels us to return to Wolfenstein's corridors? Why, after 23 years, is it still exciting to find secret walls and gun down Nazis in this cold and oppressive castle?
For me, Castle Wolfenstein has an almost mythological quality about it--as much as a mythology can form around a video game locale. It is where first-person shooters as we know them were born, and it was the first testing ground of the genre's required skillset. With that skillset, Castle Wolfenstein presented a straightforward but difficult challenge: "Escape me."
Everything you need to know about Wolfenstein is in this one screenshot.
Wolfenstein 3D
The look and feel of Castle Wolfenstein was established in 1992 with the release of - our third trip through the eponymous Nazi stronghold. The Old Blood extends the narrative surrounding Castle Wolfenstein even further by showing your initial disguised infiltration and giving you time to wander the fortress unimpeded. But you are inevitably caught, and the familiar narrative begins again. The castle's history is also divulged in written notes, detailing a medieval king and his explorations of the occult. Much of this history is hidden behind this version of the castle's secret walls, so your reward for exploration is not points or Nazi treasure, but narrative context.
The castle's history is also divulged in written notes, detailing a medieval king and his explorations of the occult.
But those secret walls are rare in this version of Castle Wolfenstein, because The Old Blood presents this location as one that's being torn away from the inside by the Nazis in their occult explorations. Those iconic grey stone walls have literally been demolished and dug through, revealing crypts and catacombs that hide centuries-old secrets. These makeshift tunnels twist and turn in on themselves in ways not possible 23 years ago. While this helps to develop the overall plot of The Old Blood, the story of your escape from Castle Wolfenstein itself now plays out at a slower, more sedate pace, as the game's new stealth mechanics recontextualise the prison break as a stealth mission, not a multi-level gunfight.
Everything Old is New Again
The more things change...
Castle Wolfenstein has been many things: a prison, a fortress, a dungeon, an occult laboratory. But its role in the Wolfenstein series has always remained the same. It is the first challenge you must surmount. It is hostile territory, and you must make it out alive. It is an architectural representation of the enemy force conquering space and recontextualising its purpose. It is what will happen to the rest of Europe if you don't escape its bowels.
But it is also the origin story for an entire video game genre, bringing with it a kind of purity and simplicity which makes shooters appealing at a base level. When you return to Castle Wolfenstein, you're not just revisiting a fictional location--you're visiting a museum. That is where Castle Wolfenstein's mythological quality comes from, and that is why, no matter how the context may change, we keep returning to its grey stone walls.
Two new classes have been revealed for upcoming action game, via Steam on May 22. In addition to a single-player mode with six character classes, the game will offer a four-player online co-op mode and an eight-player PvP mode. The game takes place in Borgovia after the civil war has concluded. Titular protagonist Van Helsing in his quest to hunt down a "former ally turned into fearful archvillain" and unearth "the darkest secret about the birth of the modern Borgovia." The past of Lady Katarina shall also be addressed. Like its predecessor, Van Helsing III will include tower-defense mini-game sequences.
Today, May 15, is the last day for. Reviewer Kevin VanOrd wrote, "Mafia II's exciting action and uncompromising mob story make for an impressive and violent adventure."
We examine what makes a killer video game explosion and rundown our five favorites. Plus, we really just wanted a video where we could composite in explosions around our staff. Mission accomplished?
Nintendo's, a match-three style puzzle game in the vein of Bejeweled or Candy Crush.
Stretchmo Level Packs:
Mallo's Playtime Plaza ($4.99): 100 progressively challenging levels that introduce the basics of the game.
Poppy's Sculpture Square ($2.99): 50 puzzle levels shaped like animals and objects.
Corin's Fortress of Fun ($2.99): 50 levels featuring new gizmo obstacles and enemies.
Papa Blox's NES Expo ($2.99): A treat for retro fans that features 50 levels based on classic NES characters.
Stretchmo Bundles:
Bundle featuring all four attractions ($9.99).
Bundle containing “Poppy's Sculpture Square," “Corin's Fortress of Fun," and “Papa Blox's NES Expo" after “Mallo's Playtime Plaza" has already been purchased ($6.99).
Bundle of the remaining three attractions after purchasing either “Poppy's Sculpture Square," “Corin's Fortress of Fun," or “Papa Blox's NES Expo" ($8.99).
Following --and more endings have been introduced.
"We went a little too overboard with it; we called it an Enhanced Edition, but I really think that we made it much more than enhanced," Vincke said.
In terms of visuals, Vincke tells GameSpot that the Xbox One and PS4 editions are aiming to run at full 1080p.
Divinity's new console edition also adds "hours" of new content by way of new quests, giving players new locations to explore and challenges to take on. New endings have also been added, Vincke says.
In addition, the Enhanced Edition will come with changes to the crafting system, variations to enemy encounters that should make the game more difficult overall, and storyline tweaks to make the game feel fresh for people who already played it.
"We were a little bit unhappy with some of the compromises we made on the narrative side of things, so we're just going to take the opportunity to change everything," Vincke says. "The ending wasn't that rewarding, so we added a lot to it. On the endings side, we really added a lot."
The Enhanced Edition's online co-op mode, which Vincke says you really have to play to understand, supports online play. However, there won't be matchmaking support, at least not right away. "We haven't cracked that particular piece of the code yet," Vincke said.
In addition, Larian has announced that the Enhanced Edition is also coming to PC, Mac, and SteamOS as a free upgrade for existing players. Vincke points out that gamers will need a 64-bit rig (compared to 32-bit for the original) with DirectX 11 to run the Enhanced Edition. Full system requirements will be announced later.
The Enhanced Edition is due out later this year for all platforms, but Larian has not announced a firm release date.
Finally, Vincke told GameSpot that the massive success of Original Sin--which was originally funded on Kickstarter--was a "huge turning point" for Larian overall. Looking to the future, he confirmed that Larian has multiple projects in the works, the first of which might be announced this year.
"It allowed us to do a lot of things we couldn't have done before. And we're doing those now," he explained. "We're experimenting a lot. We have two RPGs in production, which we're not just ready to announce yet, but hopefully we'll talk about at least one later this year."
Vincke also said he sees the turn-based RPG genre making a comeback, with plenty of room for further growth. "It's a genre that has a lot of potential where you can still do a lot of things that haven't been done before," he said.
Bandai Namco has released a new trailer revealing android fighter Jack as the newest member of the character roster.
Various iterations of Jack have been playable in Tekken over the years, each sporting a different look. His latest incarnation features a pink mohawk and neon lights in the seams of his body panelling.
As always, Jack looks like he packs a big punch. In the trailer he can be seen making up for his relatively slow movements with sweeping punches and crushing kicks that deal big damage to Alisa.
It's difficult to wrap your head around how large the universe is. It's one thing to say that the distance from the here to the moon is ten times the circumference of the Earth, but that figure is incomprehensible. It's hard enough to wrap our tiny minds around the notion that our planet, our home, is finite, much less the preposterous distances between the stars. Galactic Civilizations III understands and fluently wields those disparate perspectives--the mundane and human as well as the astronomical--to craft a game that manages to bring the tiniest shuttlecraft, the mightiest quasar, and all the distant mysteries that lie between into a single coherent vision.
As you might suspect from the name, Galactic Civilizations is a game that, while inspired by Sid Meier's seminal masterpiece, games are expected to have a lot of bugs because they are so open, Galactic Civilizations has a lot of rough edges. I played a final build of the game, and there were still some missing textures, odd graphical glitches, poorly edited music, and one missing technology description. They were all cosmetic, but they were common enough to be distracting.
Galactic Civilizations has always had a comedic bent, but III takes dry humor in games to a new level.
The bigger problems come from how unrefined some of the ancillary features are. One of the biggest additions is the ideology system. As you make choices about how the shape of your civilization progresses, you'll build up points in Benevolence, Pragmatism, or Malevolence. This is intended to be a morality system, but in practice, its effects are loose and intangible. Picking a new step on one of the three trees will usually grant you a one-time bonus, but they aren't substantial, and they don't represent play style. In my second game, I was ruthless and declared war on everyone, but I was able to maintain a façade of altruism by picking certain dialogue options. As a method of embodying the kind of civilization you want to be, the Ideology system doesn't work.
Taken as a whole, Galactic Civilization's failings are minor. For most games, a few major pieces that don’t quite fit together would be a death knell. Galactic Civilizations keeps its focus right where it needs to--on excellent fundamentals. Progressive pacing makes the enormity of space amenable and paradoxically personal, while the sheer number and variety of tools and options at your disposal allow you to succeed and win if you can out-think everyone else.
We examine what makes a killer video game explosion and rundown our five favorites. Plus, we really just wanted a video where we could composite in explosions around our staff. Mission accomplished?
Horror? Lovecraftian monsters? Procedural generation? You got it. Zorine and Jess check out the latest in Early Access Indie Horror games, Phantasmal!
Konami say mobile is the future of gaming, Sony fully back No Man’s Sky, and Deadly Premonition dev Swery’s next game is deemed “too perverted.”
