Shovel Knight: King of Cards is a new action adventure platformer game developed by ‘Yacht Club Games‘. It is coming out the 9th of April 2019 on the Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PS4, PS Vita, 3DS and PC. This is the final campaign in the Shovel Knight: treasure trove saga. Let’s take a look.
Some gamers should know what Shovel Knight is about by now. You run around, collect treasure and attack with shovels but there is some changes here. In Shovel Knight: King of Cards Players control King knight. Now king knight has a different fighting style so he isn’t a clone or skin character. Basically king knight is on a journey to take on and best the current three kings who rule over the land. This isn’t a simple walk up the road as king knight will need to make his way through 4 new worlds. There are more than 30 courses too. Players better be prepared.
King knight has a signature bash attack for destroying his enemies and a spinning strike. King knight is definitely a physical fighter. Shovel Knight: King of Cards has lots of in-game stuff. There are lots of abilities, weapons, followers and armours for players to find, collect and use to your advantage and become a powerful ruler. What else is new? Shovel Knight: King of Cards has card battles (big surprise) which are not physical battles but more mental ones. Players have to be strategic and clever to defeat their opponents and come our victorious. There are challenge stages, only for those who want to push themselves. There are challenges that let you take on the bosses again in a rematch. There are also platforming challenges too.
Shovel Knight: King of Cards is taking the retro approach. As you can see, the graphics are 8-bit style which we are sure older fans would definitely appreciate. Gamers aren’t done yet as there is a new game+ mode. This will give the players new challenges and there are more secrets in the world. So those who like to complete and get 100% will need to beat Shovel Knight: King of Cards twice. There isn’t really much we can say about Shovel Knight: King of Cards. It’s a shovel knights game, you are either a fan or not.
We checked out some Shovel Knight: King of Cards gameplay and it does look retro but definitely advanced. The music is very good and fits what’s happening on the screen. The graphics are definitely 8 bit styled and looks good. Controls seem simple and the action is simple too. Jump on enemies to destroy them. Spin and jump to destroy projectiles, bash through blocks, take on other knights and explore these worlds. There are hidden areas, hidden behind breakable walls. Some areas can only be reached by timing your jumps on projectiles to reach the higher area.
Overall Shovel Knight: King of Cards looks like a good game filled with action. There is some replay value and things look good. The developers ‘Yacht Club Games’ did a good job with this game. We at X35 Earthwalker are not looking forward to Shovel Knight: King of Cards simply because like the previous Shovel Knight games, it has shown or got anything that makes us want to play it. Just seems like another good action platformer but nothing special. This one is a good game though. Now Shovel Knight: King of Cards may have the king knight but that king is a peasant when compared too… the ‘Earthwalk!’
Terraria is a very good action adventure sandbox game. When you play the game you see how different and bigger it is compared to Minecraft. Terraria certainly stands out when it comes to the bosses. Many struggled and didn’t even know how to beat them. It took planning, resources and exploration in order to be ready to face them. So you’ve beaten everyone and feel like the ruler of Terraria. So you are finally finished right? Wrong! There is expert mode. Here’s where things get interesting.
To make things simple, expert mode is basically just like the normal mode. You find resources and things the same way and even craft the same way. The only real difference is the enemies. All the enemies are stronger as in they have increased health and deal more damage than ever before. This isn’t a joke. Pretty much every player was caught off guard with how much stronger they were. From when you start the game, a slime is very capable of killing you by itself. A slime! We aren’t joking. Oh and you better make sure you have some shelter before the night comes otherwise you will die guaranteed. The zombies cannot be held back for long with your short copper sword. The knock back isn’t enough and they will get through. Scary? Probably.
The main attraction is the bosses. You thought you handled them in normal mode. You thought you owned them and told them they were trash. How silly of you players. Did you really think you can beat them and be done with them? They are back and expert mode for most of them has not just given them increased health and damage (big increase) but also given them new attacks or abilities. This meant a number of players had to switch up their strategies.
For example King slime is considered the easiest boss in the game but not always the first boss you meet. King slime still hops around in expert difficulty but not comes with an army of slimes to fight alongside it. So expect purple, green, blue and even pinky slimes to keep raining down and getting in your way. King slime will summon blue slimes thats have spikes who are more dangerous than regular ones. King slime can also teleport in expert difficulty! So trapping it behind some walls and leaving a gap for easy arrow shots won’t work. It will appear on top of you dealing heavier damage. No where is safe. Eye of Cthulhu is perfectly the same except that it’s second form has taken some steroid because it now launches at lighting speed trying to ram the players. You will need speed to stay away. Just run in a straight line and it misses all the time. Just keep calm and don’t panic.
The brain of Cthulhu is a mean one, simply because it’s second form as it chases you it creates three other mirror images of the brain which become more visible as it loses health. Also expect more negative status effects. If you focus you can tell which brain is the real one and use long ranged weapons. High knock back weapons do help. The Eater of worlds is the same in expert difficulty except for the fact that it periodically shoots vile spit from it’s body. Those vile spits can give you the weak debuff. We suggest fighting this boss on it’s home turf as they are more narrow so chance of getting hit with a vile spit is so low. Use weapons that pierce through enemies. The Queen Bee, the real one, not some singer is much more different in expert difficulty than others. The Queen Bee’s fires stingers quite rapidly with near perfect aim, can summon bigger than normal bees to attack you and as she loses health, she performs all her attacks much faster. The ram attacks are deadly at this point. Use the honey at the bottom to regenerate health faster and remember that she can be poisoned.
The wall of flesh is basically the same, still moving towards you and allowing no escape. On expert difficulty the Hungry that you fight and shoot will respawn as long as the wall of flesh is alive and the leeches that it releases are more annoying and have a lower chance of dropping hearts. Be ware in expert mode the wall when below 500 hp can move at 50mph! This faster than the Hermes and lightning boots. So make sure you are far enough before getting it too low. Some say use a mine cart but we did it and others have without a mine cart. Piercing weapons work very well. The hell wing bow with jester arrows helped us out quite a lot. Also aim for the eye instead of the mouthing you can as the eye has less defence, so you’ll deal more damage.
Now for the dreadful part. The three mechanical bosses: The Destroyer, The Twins and Skeletron prime. These three rule the night and strike fear in the hearts of even the seasoned Terraria players. Like with the other bosses, they have increased health and really increased damage. Aim for the destroyer first. Functions the same way in expert difficulty. The only difference we noticed is that it’s head deals insane amounts of damage. If not prepared it can deal over 200 hp worth of damage in a single blow. Use your mini map to see where and when it’s coming for you to dodge. Have a camp fire, heart lantern and even a small pool of honey for maximum health regeneration (use a regeneration potion too). We beat the Destroyer in expert difficulty by fighting in a box that’s above the ground. The walls protected us from probe attacks until they come within our melee range.
The Twins are a problem indeed. Yes we know their names are: Spazmatism (fire one) and Retinazer (laser one). We will call them fire and laser. In expert difficulty both fire and laser got a tune up. Fire charges much faster and further than before. Seriously it will surprise you. Also the cursed inferno debuff lasts twice as long on players. Laser fires faster and also charges further. Aim and take out Fire first. It’s capable of the most damage. Stay at mid range minimum and never get close because it’s flame thrower attack can easily end the fight thanks to it’s crazy damage. Laser isn’t really a problem. We even ended up taking very little damage from it when you have good armour like hallowed or frost. We used our Sky minerail to have the speed advantage and keep the distance but don’t travel to fast as it may despawn. Ranged weapons are a must and use the golden shower of ichor flasks to inflict the ichor debuff which lowers their defence by 20. Matter of fact, the Twins are susceptible to all the debuts except confuse. So stack up the burning, cursed flames, shadow flames, frost burns and whatever you like.
Skeletron prime felt exactly the same. Off course in expert difficulty it gets increased health and damage but other from that, it felt the same. Fight on platforms as the bombs it launches explode on solid surfaces. With some practice and good observations you can jump and avoid the attacking limbs with medium difficulty. The laser is something we like to aim for and destroy first as thats the annoying limb. If you destroy the laser and the two melee limbs then the rest of the fight is a joke. Skeletron Prime is susceptible to frost burn so using the frost armour can really help. We again used our Sky minerail against this boss, hopping in our carts to dodge the melee limbs if possible. Yoyos are very good for sawing away at Skeletron prime’s head while spinning as it moves slowly making it a easy target. Make sure to apply the ichor debuff at all times.
Off course this isn’t all the bosses. We know all about the golem, plantera, duke fisheron and more. Plantera definitely got a new engine in expert difficulty but we will save those guys for another time. We’ve seen many struggle and get destroyed by these bosses so don’t listen to those foolish people who say everything is easy and that you need to get good. They are hard but definitely beatable. First focus on your battle ground and set it up to give you as many advantages as possible. Regenerative things, space to move around if serious evasion is needed and off course equip the right items and increase your defence as much as possible. Always have your potions ready. For expert difficulty have the iron skin, endurance, regeneration and thorn potions as they are a must. open some time fishing to get the ingredients to build more powerful potions like life force which increases your maximum health, summon which increases the amount of minions you can have fight with you, wrath and rage which respectively increases your damage and critical hit chance by 10%.
Expert mode is no joke but we are confident you can beat the bosses. If you want to see some epic Terraria gaming action then make sure to follow our YouTube channel and Livestream channel on Mixer. So to all the Terraria players, do your best and keep trying. Now Terraria may have large and powerful bosses that got even stronger in expert difficulty but even if all of them worked together, they are no match for… the ‘Earth Walk!’
Dark Devotion is a new Action adventure RPG developed by ‘Hibernian Workshop‘ and published by ‘The Arcade Crew’ and ‘Maple Whispering’. It is coming out the first quarter of 2019 on the Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PS4 and PC. Dark Devotion is suppose to have some serious fights. Let’s take a look.
It’s not fully explained bu the story in Dark Devotion is that a templar sets out on a religious calling. The story must be pieced together by the players. Every item you find and every chest opened contains another piece of the story. You can find clues, a letter and even weapons. All will help piece the story together. This should tell gamers that exploration is required.
The action takes place in a fallen temple. This temple should have been boarded up and sealed by the way. There are four worlds. Your character must prove himself and dedication to his god. This won’t be easy as this temple is full of danger, answers to your questions and off course secrets. Rumour has it that this temple sort of has a mind of it’s own in a way. So learn it’s ways or have a really hard time.
Now off course this isn’t going to be your Indiana Jones adventure movie. This temple is real bad. Everything in it wants you dead. Players have to make the right decisions. Knowing when to handle curses, knowing when to retreat, knowing when to heal and when to thrust your blade through the monsters face. Every world in Dark Devotion has multiple paths. Each path is its own but you can’t turn back once you go down it.
The developers have left lots of rumours and secrets in this game that makes exploring a must. What you find can either be real good or real bad. You might find a monster that kicks your butt in 5 different countries or you may find an altar where you can save the game. Or maybe you find Doctor Who (not really). Either way, players need the items and secrets so you have to take the risk.
Dark Devotion doesn’t leave you at a complete disadvantage as there are a good dozen of weapons, armors, and relics which will give your character the boost she needs. These relics, weapons and armours can be customized with mystical runes. Each of these different items and equipment off course has their own stats and attributes. A game having attributes means that strengths and weaknesses amongst enemies is a mechanic here.
Now off course let’s get to the main dish. The enemies. There are a bunch of them. There’s simple zombie acting ones that approach you and takes a swing at you. All you got to do is time it and dodge. Then there are some big enemies who are chained to a spot, but that doesn’t mean it won’t strike with a mighty slam of their weapon. There are bosses who will make you sweat (probably). Some can teleport and then strike from the other side, some use magic and mystical powers. Powerful swordsmen with flaming swords and more. Each fight can go so badly if you aren’t careful so don’t get to cocky now.
We checked out some gameplay and it’s sort of what we expected. It’s 2D off course, the level design is very nice, everything looks responsive. You can either block or dodge. A variety of enemies who are definitely dangerous, like the pirate looking one who can dash attack. Multiple little areas to explore and items to find for sure. Dark Devotion definitely looks like it’s going to be a difficult game. We so far like what we see.
Overall Dark Devotion looks like a very good game. The graphics are handmade pixel art. The sounds are done well. The temple has traps like swinging pendulums, spike pits and more. One boss enemy looked unreasonable but it’s good to have at least one ridiculous boss. The developers ‘Hibernian Workshop’ did a very good job with this game so far. We at X35 Earthwalker look forward to seeing this game come out. Now the templar in Dark Devotion may be very devoted to what they believe but there is way more devotion in… the ‘Earth Walk!’
The Forbidden Arts is a new action adventure platformer game developed by ‘Stingbot Games‘. It is coming out in the first quarter of 2019 on the Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PS4 and PC. There was early access on PC in 2018 though. We’ve never heard about this game before but let’s take a look.
The Forbidden Arts has a story. Players control Phoenix, who’s protagonist (obviously). He was getting visions and didn’t understand them, so he sets out to find a druid and get answers concerning the visions. This druid ended up awakening the pyromancer abilities that were within him. This journey that Phoenix will take will be all about him mastering his new hot powers while becoming something much more important and powerful.
Now since The Forbidden Arts is an adventure game with platforming elements, expect to do some exploring. There are areas to discover and collectibles not far away. One of the collectibles by the way is gold which literally looks like a solid cube block of gold (that’s your rent money right there). So be patient as the worlds in The Forbidden Arts are very large. The different locations look and feel different. From swamps, to fields to deserts to dungeons and more.
There are secret locations and items that will unlock abilities for Phoenix so make sure to find them. By the way, this won’t be easy as there are lots of ancient magic and arts out there. We know for a fact that the necromancer Voltair is evil and he believes in a world that’s all about death. He is bound to show up eventually. Especially since he got kicked out by the council of magic. Bad guys never stay down.
Don’t forget, that The Forbidden Arts is a platformer. All action on the world map is 3D but all action in the dungeons are 2D. So expect lots of running, jumping, pits, wall calling, vine climbing, many obstacles, pits, spikes and more. Lots of opportunities to save your game, as in you can save almost anywhere at any time, which is both a good and bad thing. Good because then less chance of gamers losing progress but bad because some gamers are cheap who save every two seconds to undo all mistakes.
There are 5 different worlds, 5 big boss fights and many different enemies. You have enemies with shields, enemies that charge like a bull, flying enemies, melee enemies and enemies that only use projectile and some others can even teleport basically. We do like the variety though. Wolves, goblins, tortoises, bird looking enemies all around. Once you know it’s an action adventure performer you pretty much have an idea of what to expect.
We checked out some gameplay and it looks good. Remember, The Forbidden Arts is in the alpha development rage still so it will get better. You can use your pyromancer powers in a variety of ways. Use fire defensively to protect from harm, hurl fire balls at enemies, charge up your flames and even manipulate the environment. The Forbidden Arts doesn’t look like a hard game though. Timing is required though when it comes to certain enemies. The game better get difficult.
Overall, The Forbidden Arts look like a good game. The graphics for it’s alpha development stage looks good. The music is very good. The environments and even designs so far look very good too. The enemy variety and story are interesting. The developers ‘Stingbot Games’ are doing a good job so far. We at X35 Earthwalker look forward to seeing what else The Forbidden Arts has for gamers. Now the Forbidden Arts may have magic and different arts but even when working together they are no match for… the ‘Earth Walk!’
The Sinking City is a new action adventure game developed by ‘Frogwares‘ and published by ‘Bigben Interactive‘. The Sinking City is coming out the 21st of March on the Xbox One, PS4 and PC. This game has something deep going on and it will come to the surface soon (se what we did there?). Let’s take a look.
The Sinking City is set in the United States in 1920s. Quite a suspicious time if you ask us. Players control an investigator named Charles W Reed. Eventually you arrive in Oakmont, Massachusetts. Before you know it, you are practically called to investigate the city. Not just any city but one that is suffering from mysterious floods. These floods will get rid of the city. It’s up to the player and Charles W Reed to figure out what’s going on.
Now there has been rumours about a sort of darkness that has not only kept the city under it’s control but also effected the minds of the people who live in this city. It might just corrupt your mind as well. So be careful. By the way, The Sinking City is also an open world that was inspired by the universe of H.P. Lovecraft. So fans will have an advantage of whats going on including the lore.
So what can you expect in The Sinking City? This whole world is pretty much fully explorable. So go down the streets and in buildings on foot, travel from port to port and explore the waters with a boat, or even go under water and see what’s happening with a diving suit. Your characters mental health is a factor in the game, so possibly like Visage, some events or activities could possibly effect what you see or your performance.
Now it’s been made clear that there are monsters in this world. The Sinking City isn’t the safest place on earth (in case you haven’t realised yet). There are dangerous monsters that will destroy you if you aren’t prepared for them. Some look like spiders that move pretty fast, while others are more like medium sized kraken monsters while others are massive king king sized krakens with tentacles and everything. It’s most likely called a cthulhu as they were introduced in the H.P. Lovecraft books, specifically the ‘call of cthulhu‘. Also there are weapons. Lots of weapons and thank goodness as they are needed. The weapons are from the 1920s so don’t be expecting a M16A2 assault rifle. Expect the Thompson and it’s automatic fire.
We checked out some gameplay and it’s a bit more than we expected actually. The whole world in this game is quite creative. The setting is good too. A number of people have an issue with water, throw in a mystery and water based monsters and you have something quite good. Also each case you faced can be solved in different ways and there are a number of endings too so players who enjoy the game can replay The Sinking City. So as we said, this game is quite deep. Your character can also do strange things like see and hear things from the past, which is like the ultimate ability for a detective or investigator. There are more abilities too.
Overall The Sinking City looks like a good game. The graphics adequate good, the sounds are better. The environment and world look sort of bland but we know improvements are coming. Looking forward to more information concerning the weapons in this game. The developers ‘Frogwares’ did a good job with this game. We at X35 Earthwalker are not looking forward to this game. It looks good but we will wait until we see something real interesting. Now The Sinking City may have water and monsters but even those combined are nothing compared too… the ‘Earth Walk!’
Beyond Blue is a new adventure simulation game developed by ‘E-Line Media‘. It s coming out in the first quarter of 2019 on the Xbox One, PS4 and PC. This is another one of those games where you explore, get relaxed and enjoy what you see. Let’s take a look.
Beyond Blue was inspired by Blue Planet 2 nature documentary. There is suppose to be some educational value too. So not only will you have an adventure but will hopefully learn something to. Beyond Blue is et in the near future and underwater creatures are in danger because of all large number of fishings, climate change and plastic waste. Players will lead a research team, as Mirai, who just needs to gather information on what these changes are doing to the ocean life.
Players will have to manage resources, improve their technology, track down certain animals, get some information and learn what you can. Off course players are given limited time to do all this so think about what you want to do and how to do it. You can use drones to go collect stuff for you and other tasks, or go out yourself and swim around.
So yes, Beyond Blue isn’t just simply another relaxing exploration game but there is an objective and other objectives too. Off course thanks to the visuals, location and sounds, players can get relaxed because when you stop and see a large whale just going past and minding it’s own business, you will feel calm. Unless you are afraid of the water and whales. Come on, don’t be a wimp. It’s just a whale.
In terms of the types of creatures (obviously sea creatures) you will encounter we have seen fish and schools of fish. There are dolphins, hanging out in groups and having fun. Expect some whales and different types of whales like blue whales even. You can encounter an octopus too. They will swim away from you though so keep that in mind. What ocean sea creature game doesn’t have sharks? Not this one. There are sharks as well. There are large sea turtles which just mind their own business. There are deep sea creatures too like the angler fish which does make the game more interesting.
We checked out some Beyond Blue gameplay and it’s what we thought. It doesn’t have a huge story, there isn’t any enemies… really. If that angler fish spots you in the water, would it eat you? So probably there is enemies but they are more like natural creatures just doing their thing. Again, if you enjoyed Abzu (which we wrote about) then you should enjoy Beyond Blue. Beyond blue is just more serious.
Overall Beyond Blue seems like just another exploration relaxing game due to how calm it is and the environment. The lighting in this game is done very well. The graphics are very good The game has multiple educational factors too like video clips from the Blue Planet 2 documentary, facts and information to collect on sea creatures and more. The developers ‘E-Line Media’ did a good job with this game. We at X35 Earthwalker are not looking forward to this game. There isn’t anything for us in this game. There is an audience for this type of game, we just aren’t a part of that group. Now Beyond Blue may have a whole ocean but even that’s too small when compared to… the ‘Earth Walk!’
The Wild Eight is a new survival adventure game developed by ‘HypeTrain Digital‘. It is already out, early access, on pc but when on console isn’t clear. so all we can say is keep an eye on The Wild Eight if you want to know. It will however be on Xbox One and PS4. This game emphasises on how intense the survival is. Let’s take a look.
In the world of The Wild Eight players control a group of survivors who were on plane that crashed in the Alaskan wilderness. So lots of snow, very cold and dangerous indeed. The Wild Eight makes it very clear that every second that passes you and the survivors come closer to death. But wait… there’s more… Some are wondering if the plane crash was an accident or all planned. This is because the area they crashed has military bunkers and abandoned government labs which would suggest some government secret experiments may have gone on here and off course, like every other government experiment plan, went wrong. What’s really going on? Or maybe we are getting paranoid.
So if you couldn’t tell by now that starving and the below zero temperature isn’t the worst things you’ll face here. Those military bunkers and government labs we mentioned earlier have dangers of their own. it has been said that inside are fatal surprises. The mechanics of this game in some ways reminds us of Metal gear Survive, which we enjoyed, in that the main things you’ll be doing is exploring, hunting and crafting. Exploring, because there are many places and to discover and things to see. Hunt, because everyone needs food and things to eat. Craft, because tools, equipment and weapons are all needed to survive. Did we say weapons?
Off course Alaska wouldn’t be Alaska without some animals around right? In The Wild Eight players may unfortunately come across some wolves who always hunt in packs. Wolves are vicious and if players under equipped or not careful can wipe you all out. Not scary enough for you? Well players can could be even more unfortunate to come across a bear! Bears are way worse than wolves and they will chase you down. If you see one, do not provoke it. We also have reason to believe there are worse things in the Alaskan wilderness. Monsters and supernatural beasts like werewolves. Check their website for yourself and see.
There are eight characters to choose from and each has their own strengths. For example William has 10% more defence and 5% more protection from the cold. Jeffrey has 50% more durability for all items he crafts. Vivian has a 5% increased chance for critical damage on enemies but 10% if she strikes from behind, she also gathers 20% more wood and stone. Robin has 5% increased attack speed, 5% increased range damage and 10% increased stamina recovery speed. Off course this is only four of the eight characters, so discover and learn the rest for yourself.
We checked out some The Wild Eight gameplay and it’s not exactly what we thought it would be but still interesting. There are crafting recipes, multiple animals like warthogs too, axes are needed for chopping trees, a day and night cycle, torches and light sources which light up the area nicely, basically quite a lot going on. There is signs of progression as well as in at one point you must run from bears and then later on you can face them and kill them. The movement animations could have been better though. We also like that they took temperature into consideration as in without warmth your character will die.
Overall The Wild Eight seems like a good game. Definitely very deep. The story is good, the crafting is good, the graphics are good for it’s style, the effects like torch light glow are good. They should have explained the difficulty regarding playing with friends and solo. We hope the military bunkers and government labs are exciting. The developers ‘HypeTrain Digital’ did a very good job with this game. We at X35 Earthwalker are keeping an ear out for The Wild Eight. The Wild Eight may have government secrets but even thats weak when compared to… the ‘Earth Walk!’
Lost Ember is a new adventure exploration game developed by ‘Mooneye Studios‘. It is coming out in spring 2019 on the Xbox One, PS4 and PC (and Windows 10). Lost Ember has gotten lots of attention. It has even gotten lots of nominee and won some awards already. Let’s check this out.
In Lost Ember, players get to explore a world that has been taken back from mankind by nature. So don’t expect any people around here. Players control a wolf but not just any wool. This wolf has the ability to inhabit other animals and control them. This is where the different perspectives come from. First of all how comes this wolf has the power to control other animals? Did this wolf use to be a person? A nature mage or something? Hopefully the game explains this.
Off course, since this is a exploration game and man is gone, there will be ancient cultures, ruins, forgotten civilizations and more for players to check out and learn what happened, secrets of this world and what’s going on. So being a wolf has the obvious advantages of being fast. So you can cross areas quickly and get from point A to point B. You will come across areas where the wolf cannot go, like high ledges for example. Taking over a bird solves this problem as you can then fly up to see what’s up there.
Control small animals to go through tight spaces, control a fish so that you can explore the waters because wolves can’t go that deep with dying. Even control moles who then can dig underground. Who knows, you may find a cavern or a diamond pick axe (get it?). Either way the main concept of the game is clear and simple. Run around and explore but if there is somewhere the wolf can’t go then control the right animal for the job. Simple. Explore and learn about this mighty civilisation that has fallen and learn about certain characters from the past.
Now let’s talk some details because games like this, we are sure you know the formula by now, so there isn’t much to really say about it. It’s an exploration game with some mystery. Lost ember is built using Unreal Engine and they did a good job because the looks and art style is one of the main things that got so many people’s attention. Many have said it’s a beautiful game and others have made some really big claims about it’s beauty (calm down now).
Lost Ember will also be compatible with VR (Virtual reality). People have asked and they delivered. The game has been tested with HTC Vive and Oculus Rift and according to the developers “it’s awesome”. They are also looking into being compatible with PlayStation VR. Lastly gamers can pre-orderfrom two options: the regular where you get a digital copy of the game and two karma points which you can spend to unlock free rewards. The digital plus bundle gives you a digital copy of the game with the digital soundtrack and art book along with 4 karma points. Take note that pre-orders for windows is only available right now.
We checked out some gameplay and it’s what we expected. We expected a colourful world, lights, animals and fictional stuff like creating structures a light companion etc. It looks very nice. Not as impressed as those critics were though. This game reminds us of the other exploration games we have already written about. We haven’t seen anything that makes us want to play Lost Ember though. Fans of exploration will probably love this and rightfully so. Once again it’s down to the gamers and their taste.
Overall lost Ember looks like a good game. Designed well, people waiting for it, supported and will have VR. Definitely got some stuff going for it. It isn’t our thing though and we believe it needs more going on in the world for it to be exciting. Exploration doesn’t mean that’s all the game should have. It needs to stand out from the others. The developers ‘Mooneye Studios’ clearly did a good job with this game. We at X35 Earthwalker are not looking forward to Lost Ember but we know for a fact there are some who are. Now lost Ember has a wolf that can control other animals and that’s cool but it’s lame when compared to… the ‘Earth Walk!’
Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden is a new tactical adventure game developed by ‘The Bearded Ladies’ (we are not making this up) but published by ‘Funcom‘. It is coming out the 4th of December on the Xbox One, PS4 and PC. This game will capture the interest of gamers just from sight alone. Let’s take a look.
Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden is a strange game set pretty much in a strange world. Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden has been described as a tactical adventure, turn based with real time stealth. Straight away you sort of get how this game will play like. Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden does remind us of XCOM 2 in a way. Basically the story is that the world has ended (strange since the world is still there). There has been global economic issues, old and new superpowers are against each other, off course extreme climate change and nuclear weapons which form mushroom clouds and other issues.
Now nature has taken over… Well nature and some mutants (where did they come through). There are n humans left, they are all gone and the only things in the zone now are the mutants, animals and deformed humanoid. Players control a group who must venture of the zone in order to survive. Your destination is the Eden which suppose to be a haven and where the truth is according to legend. This sounds like quite the adventure.
Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden is suppose to be a deep tactical strategy game. They have said it has been inspired by XCOM which means it should be good. Players can explore ruined destroyed looking areas like damaged highways, clearly abandoned cities. Off course each mission needs a plan and supplies which is why you will return frequently to a place called the Ark where you can get body armour like police vests, powerful rifles and even something like a top hat for style.
The members of your team are strange. There is a four foot duck (Dux) who has an attitude problem, a boar (Borwin) who clearly has anger issues and Selma who seems like a deformed humanoid and leader. There are multiple other characters in this world and they have their own distinct personalities and behaviour also.
Even though Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden is definitely a lot of combat and fire fights, stealth has been emphasised and encouraged. You have shadows to use to your advantage, floodlights will expose you, line of sight is a mechanic here too, fully destructible environment like walls to get the drop on enemies and much more. This is real time stealth so players have full control on their approach and how you want to do it.
There are upgrades and new abilities called mutations. For example that duck (Dix) can learn an ability to sneak into a base full of enemies completely undetected and unnoticed even though he is a walking duck who is armed with weapons. Don’t ask questions, just go with it. The boar (Borwin) can learn to charge enemies which makes sense. Selma can learn a mutation called stone skin which literally makes her skin stone, we guess that means she takes reduced damage or maybe temporary immunity to damage. Off course there are more mutations to unlock.
There isn’t a lot of information on the kind of enemies you will face. We do know there are monsters called ghouls and that enemies will have levels, like a level 7 ghoul for example. We also know they will be other mutants like weird creatures with swollen mushroom bumpy heads. Hopefully more information will be given as the enemies do add or take away from a game.
We checked out some gameplay and we like the full control stealthy parts of the game where you can decide where to go to and how you plan to do something. The duck can get a mutation that allows him to fly granting elevation advantage and more mobility. There are ladders to climb, hit percentage, critical hits, weaknesses, advantages and even sniping capabilities. Just make sure to scavenge and find all sorts of useful supplies, parts and things that can really help out.
Overall Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden looks like it’s going to be a serious game. It’s unique, got some good mechanics, inspired by an excellent game, graphics look good and the levels look very good. There is some mystery like the elder who knows a lot and his story will be unfolded. we just hope that the enemies are awesome and off a side variety since it’s suppose to be mutants which means anything can be formed. We expect creativity from this. The developers ‘The Bearded Ladies’ (we hate this name) did a very good job with this game. We at X35 Earthwalker are looking forward to seeing what Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden has for gamers. Now Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden may be a ruined world but one thing that’s not ruined is… the ‘Earth Walk!’
Darksiders III is the new action, adventure, hack and slash game developed by ‘Gunfire Games‘ but published by ‘THQ Nordic‘. Darksiders III is off course the latest Darksider game and is coming out the 27th of November on the Xbox One, PS4 and PC. The Fury is coming soon. Let’s take a look.
Darksiders III is now all about Fury the only female of the four apocalypse horsemen. By the way isn’t it interesting that so many popular games, anime and books got inspiration from the Bible (Think about that). Basically the story is that the earth has been taken over by the seven deadly sins who off course have their own minions and evil creatures serving and assisting them. The charred council won’t let this slide so they send Fury to solve the problem… by fighting, slashing and destroying all enemies and things that stand in her way. It says, “from the heights of heaven dow through the depths of hell”. sounds like a big battle if you ask us. Fury must restore balance to the situation and also aims to prove that she’s the most powerful of the horsemen. Isn’t death automatically suppose to be the strongest of the four horsemen?… whatever.
Now in Darksiders III the protagonist, Fury, fights differently from the others. Fury relies on both her physical abilities with her whip and magic. Now this magic also allows her to use her other forms well hollows to be exact. The Force hallow basically gets her very physical. She wields Scorn as quite a big hammer for powerful defense shattering, heavy damage attacks. This hammer while not as powerful as Thor’s mjolnir can also act as a focal point for magnetic attraction. This means she can pull in rocks, enemies and even energy and then make it all go boom. She can even travel along certain walls and ceilings if she maintains that magnetic force ability as a sphere.
Another Hallow is the one we all know called Fury, where she wields the whip and magic at the same time acting as more of the all rounder and default form, handling pretty much any situation. Another Hallow is Flame. Now her Scorn takes the form of two flails that are on fire. So this means a whole new menu of attacks and the blazing fire means explosive area of effect attacks too. While in this Hallow she can go through lava and fire without any damage and even perform a very high fiery jump. This all means she can reach areas she couldn’t before with this hallow. Rumour has it that there are more hallows for players to discover and use to their play style and advantage. Do you prefer evasion, quick attacks and high mobility or would you rather smash things in your way? You decide.
The world in Darksiders III works and reminds us off Metroid Prime in the fact that it’s a open ended big world with multiple areas that players will have to revisit at times to access new locations, discover new things, fight a boss that you couldn’t before, etc etc. It works very similar. For example there was. apart in Metroid Prime where you needed the plasma beam to get through a iced of area or certain doors in a place you already been too. In Darksiders III you will need the flame hallow to get through some lava to reach that other area. So get use to your locations as you advance the story along.
The main real enemies in Darksiders III are off the course the seven deadly sins. They are powerful and dangerous and one is apparently very lazy…. you might even say it’s slothful… fine we’ll stop. Their personalities are off course determined by what sin they represent. each one fights differently and has a different style. Wrath carries two large sword like melee weapons which he uses to crush and destroy, Sloth when he decides to finally fight is not as slow and lazy and as you would expect in battle, Envy’s appearance is very misleading so don’t underestimate the terrible fashion statement that is it’s robes. We are sure you can guess the rest of the names.
We checked out some gameplay and the first thing that came to our minds was Dante’s inferno which was a fun game by the way. Fighting monsters, demon looking things, combat in Hell, a weapon that extends like Dante’s scythe combined with the use of magic like Dante’s cross. Smashing open objects to collect energies or souls that pull towards you, executions etc. This is a good thing though as the way Dante played was great for it’s time. Darksiders III brings a smoother and more superior graphics game. The evasion is very good as Fury looks like she just about dodges some sweeping attacks and confirms that timing is important for those dodges.
Overall Darksiders III looks like a very good game so far but we are more concerned with the story and how it delivers. Will it be a simple here’s a checklist of bosses, kill them, game over? The graphics and sounds are very good. The combat is smooth. The whip weapon needs to look more exciting though. The developers ‘Gunfire Games’ did a good job with this game. We at X35 Earthwalker are not exciting or looking forward to this games as there isn’t anything that gets us excited or makes us want to play it, that doesn’t mean it isn’t good though and there are fans waiting for this game. Now Darksiders III may be have a strong female horseman but even she is nothing when against… the ‘Earth Walk!’
