Tag: Multiplayer

Hive Jump. Jumping to us soon

Posted on by X35 Earthwalker
Hive Jump

Hive Jump is the new action platformer developed by ‘Graphite Lab‘. It is coming out the 11th of January on the Xbox One and Nintendo Switch but already out on the PC. It seems like it’s about running around and blowing up aliens. Sounds fun. Let’s take a look. 

The story in the world of Hive Jump is a typical one. Basically it’s set in the 24 century. Humanity is in a serious battle against a hostile alien race called Ordovicians. As usual, the aliens are in big numbers. Matter of fact, humanity is outnumbered, a million to one. It’s clearly a one sided battle and the aliens don’t want to share the galaxy with humanity (We wonder why). The J.U.M.P corps is here to fight back against the aliens and bring victory.

Players control the, Jumpers, who’s mission is straightforward. Beat the aliens, hive by hive and planet by planet. Now straight up Hive Jump makes it clear that it’s all about multiplayer. That’s right, you can play local multiplayer with your friends in Hive Jump. It’s four players. We love to see games do this. We need games like this that gives you the option to just play with family or who else is around (More fun than angry online players).

Hive Jump

Since the emphasis of the Hive Jump is on multiplayer know that if you do play with friends, one of you is the team leader and therefore carry the Transponder backpack. This pack is very important. Basically that backpack allows your command ship to send “soldiers and supplies” to your location. We assume it means that as long as you have the packsack, your team can respawn. If the leader dies then the backpack is just sitting there and can be destroyed. Don’t let that happen (and tell your leader to stop being a noob).

Your standard Jumper comes armed and ready Hive Jump. As we already made clear, the leader has the Transponder backpack. All soldiers have a multi-gun which has it’s standard fire but can be modified and switched up to be a rocket launcher and even a flamethrower. It does get crazier though. The Jumper alien infiltration suit offers some good protection as attacks get deflected but only for a while. The suit can be repaired but the means to be able to do that can be found deep in the Hives. Also your suit has a limited blast jetpack to give you a boost in the air. Lastly there are grenades (who doesn’t want grenades against aliens?). These grenades deal big damage to enemies but also have a special function like the explosives in Aliens Trilogy. They can destroy weaker walls which have treasures, goodies and hidden areas. Keep your eyes open.

Hive Jump

There is a wide range of location for players to be fighting in. The Hives are different and look different but there are also different biomes too. You say biomes, we say Terraria. There is the volcanic wasteland which is where the aliens use the temperature to quickly hatch their eggs from the cold storage. The mushroom forests is basically the giant food store as the Ordovicians eat fungus. The crystal caverns is where the aliens produce and get their power source for their interstellar travels. The frozen underground acts as the cold storage room for the unhatched alien eggs. It’s clear that the aliens here in Hive Jump are quite organised.

The aliens themselves, the Ordovicians, are numerous as they are dangerous. Clearly hostile and will stop at nothing to stop you from completing your mission. They will hunt you and your transponder backpack throughout the hives and they can get to you no matter where you are. The aliens have four classes. They are: minor, mini, major and elite. These aliens get stronger and more powerful as you progress. So players need to keep getting better and more prepared.  

Hive Jump

Lastly the planetary campaign is not so straight forward and more strategic. In order to win you must manage carefully the amount of jumpers you have and alien goo. The alien goo is the resource you use to build fortifications, request jumper reinforcements, get new weapons and off course upgrades. When you look at the map, m you will see three things, alien hives which are orange, human bases which are cyan (light blue) and grey which is a free space for either a human or alien base. If you destroy a hive then you “jump” there and start a human base which brings in more resources and a random one time use bonus ability. These abilities are strong and must be used wisely. After a successful jump (destroying a hive), the aliens then have their turn and they could expand, buff up their defences or even come attack you!  

We checked out some gameplay and the action looks good. Each Jumper in, Hive Jump, can equip only one utility at a time. So expect a utility to grant shields another to allow quick teleportation while another boosts fire power or even your mobility. The Hives are procedurally generated (random). The A.I has been classed as intelligent and challenging (we will be the judge of that). You can also get your hands on experimental weapons and explosive. So getting those resources and research is very important. There is permadeath simply because if you lose your bases then it’s all over and also if your Transponder backpack gets destroyed then you definitely lose as you can’t call in any more soldiers.

Overall, Hive Jump looks like a real cool game. It looks like it’s a difficult game as the aliens are many, the deaths are high and there are also traps for players to match out for. The big boss enemies look like big battles and requires a learning of patterns probably. The developers ‘Graphite lab’ have done a good job with this game. We at X35 Earthwalker look forward to seeing what others will think of this. It does look fun. Now the Jumpers may have technology and a big mission but those things are tiny when compared to… there ‘Earth Walk!’

For more information check out the link below:

More information

Crash Team Racing Nitro-Feuled. Finally

Posted on by X35 Earthwalker
Crash Team Racing Nitro-Feuled

Crash Team Racing Nitro-Feuled is the new remake of Crash Team Racing, developed by ‘Beenox‘ and published by ‘Activision‘. It is coming out the 21st of June 2019 on the Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PS4 and PC. This is the game that many PlayStation 1 gamers loved back in the day. So you know that this remake has really high expectations. Let’s take a look.

Crash Team racing was according to X35 Earthwalker, the one true Earthwalker by the way, was the best racing game. We haven’t played a better racing game. It was fast, fun, colourful, great variety of tracks, useful and fair weapons and challenging. Be honest, most of you didn’t even beat Nitros Oxide in time trial on ever track but X35 Earthwalker did it. Crash Team Racing was game that even families played together. Players who were masters at the game would always be ahead of the other racers but less skilled players stood a chance thanks to the weapons. Nothing is worse than getting hit by three homing rockets in a row, bouncing for an eternity.

Crash Team Racing Nitro-Feuled

So remaking a game like this and claiming it will have the “authentic CTR experience” is a big order to fill. Fans like us remember everything about this game from the tracks and characters to how the power sliding felt. So we will be watching. So don’t mess up. Crash team racing wasn’t perfect though. We felt that the stats of car types didn’t matter. We could out speed high speed characters like Tiny Tiger with handling cars like Polar. We hope that Crash Team Racing Nitro-Feuled makes the stats matter. That faster cars actually feel faster but not too much faster to the point where everyone only picks the fast cars.

What we do know about Crash Team Racing Nitro-Feuled is that the developers claimed that it will have “the original game modes, characters, tracks, power-ups, weapons and controls.” This is good to hear. Let’s go through this one by one. Game modes: That means there will be a story mode filled with races, CTR challenges, boss races, time trials for relics and gem cups. Characters: So Polar, Crash (off course), Tiny and the others are here… but what about the unlockable characters like Papa Papu? We do know that you can play Ripper Too though so many it’s the same for the others. Tracks: Crash Team Racing had some memorable and awesome tracks. We especially liked the tracks in the Nitro cup, the more difficult ones.

Crash Team Racing Nitro-Feuled

Power ups: Well the only thing that really counts as a power up is getting 10 wumpa fruits which then increases your speed and upgrades the items you get. Weapons: They can save your life or ruin it. Players of different skill can all compete in this game thanks to these things. Potions and ant crates for those in the lead, while missiles and a lighting orb for those in the back. Don’t forget about Aku Aku and Uka Uka. We hope they still have their signature music. Controls: The controls had a specific feel. The power sliding was different depending on the kart type. You can feel a resistance as you try to pull around that corner. It’s something you have to feel. 

Now what’s different? We we do know that there will be more karts than before. There will also be more tracks than before too which is sort of exciting. There will be online racing too, so if you are good enough then you can literally trash (or crash) the competition. There will also be leaderboards too which off course doesn’t prove anything but adds to the competition. What’s also different is that characters aren’t stuck to one kart. Players can select a character and then select the kart that they want. This is a good change. Also it looks like players who are left bouncing from a weapon like a missile have an opportunity to get a boost as soon as they finish bouncing which is excellent and we hope the timing for such a boost is a small gap giving an advantage to players who practice it.

Crash Team Racing Nitro-Feuled

We checked out some gameplay and we can say that we are happy with what we saw. The levels look the same but off course remastered. Papu Papu pyramid looks wonderful and more greener greenery (yes, we said that). There is still some stuff we are wondering about but as we get closer to the release date, those things should get answered We are happy to see that split screen is back too as that was how we could play with out family to settle who was the best. This means gather your friends, bring out the cola, juice, water and let the fun begin. Trash talk is encouraged! 

Overall, Crash Team Racing Nitro-fueled looks real good so far. Graphics are very good and the sounds seem okay for now. The characters look good, more cartoony and Polar has gotten so much fluffier (probably used a hair dryer). The developers ‘Beenox’ have done a wonderfully good job so far. We at X35 Earthwalker are off course keeping an eye on this game. Now Crash Team Racing Nitro-fueled may have some hype but nothing is more hyped than… the ‘Earth Walk!’ 

For more information check out the link below:

More information

Ultimate Doom. Ultimate fun?

Posted on by X35 Earthwalker
Ultimate Doom

Ultimate Doom is one of those games that has it’s place in gaming history. Many gamers know about Ultimate Doom and what it’s about. If you don’t know then you are most likely one of the newer gamers. In Ultimate Doom you run around, kill demons, open doors, kill demons, find keys, kill demons, find new weapons, kill demons and get to the next level, while killing demons. Understand yet?

Players control a character called Doom Guy who later go on to learn that he’s called the Slayer (We wonder why). You start the game with a pistol which was typical of first person shooter games back then. Your first enemies where zombie men who were weak and never a problem. Ultimate Doom goes easy on you for the first level but does a good job at showing players what this whole game is about. You move fast, enemies tend to always be in groups, you must find items and ammo and there are secrets in the levels. Finding the secret location in the first level will reward you with a rocket launcher. Many players have accidentally killed themselves with the rocket launcher (admit it, don’t be ashamed).

Ultimate Doom

Eventually everything goes from “hey not too rough” to “hurt me plenty” real quick. Before you know it the levels feel like “Ultra-violence”. Why? Because there are so many enemies, traps that can result in your death, many secrets you missed and a whole abundance of projectiles coming straight at your face (can’t you sit still in your seat?). So how do you survive? It’s easy… keep moving and move fast! In Ultimate Doom, Doom Guy (you) have unlimited stamina and run really fast. You can even outrun your own rockets. Move around, aim well and take them all down before they get you, then find those medkits and stay topped up.

Many players including us enjoyed this. There were a variety of weapons. many levels, many different vicious enemies, surprises in each level and things got harder as you progressed. There was lots of colours, dead things everywhere and hazards. X35 Earthwalker, the legendary soldier himself played this game when he was very young. This game was fun. We remember getting the shotgun  for the first time and really started dropping those enemies easy. The imps didn’t phase us at all as they were easier to deal with in most situations. We had to dodge those fire balls they threw. Maybe… just maybe… we leaned to get out of the way… sometimes… maybe. It wasn’t long before we ran into the stronger pinky demons who forced you to back off as they just rushed you down but with diagonal movement until they were near you. The zombie men with shotguns was the biggest threat at that point as they had good accuracy and their shots did big damage as a shotgun should. It gets worse.

Doom 3 Resurrection of Evil

By the way we played Ultimate Doom through the game Doom 3 resurrection of evil as Ultimate Doom, DOOM 2 and the master levels were free features. Levels required you to search them completely to find keys, areas, switches and more to make your way through them. Some rooms had traps; for example, you enter a room and see the blue key you need. You grab it and then you hear many enemies. You then realised that a wall had opened up and enemies come out to say hello. Some times they were triggered by grabbing a certain weapon and some times they were triggered just for entering a room. Completing each level and seeing your completion percentage was cool but at times annoying as you always see the many secrets you missed. Today you can see whole gameplay guides showing where the secrets are. Ultimate Doom is Cleary not another shooter game.

This game was really fun. The best thing about Ultimate Doom was that you can play with others. X35 Earthwalker, the one true Earthwalker also played through Ultimate Doom with family. It was funny simply because at first we stuck together making our way through the levels but later on ended up confidently splitting up to tackle different parts of the levels by ourselves which could get chaotic. When one enemy was chasing one of us, one of the family would keep walking behind that enemy as the enemies didn’t change target until they were attacked. We even lead that enemy around the map while two of us was walking behind it. When the levels got real big and dangerous we would all be in danger and since we were far away we will always here our soldiers get hurt, die or us literally calling to another to help. The memories are definitely good ones. One time one of us fell into lava and we watched their split screen to see if they can find the exit out. Spolier, they survived.

Ultimate Doom

The enemies have to be the most memorable thing about Ultimate Doom. Especially the bigger ones like the pinky demon, hell knight, baron of hell, Cacodemon and Spiderdemon. When you see them for the first time you don’t actually panic or get scared simply because all the enemies pretty much ave the same pattern. They always come towards you, normally have projectiles attacks so you have to dodge, can take a lot of damage and give a lot more. 

The first time encountering the Cyber Demon solo was a problem as those rockets seriously hurt and multiple times had to run away to find rocket ammo. one thing about Ultimate Doom is that if the game presents and gives you loads of ammo, weapons etc, you know it’s about to go down. Those side steps to dodge rockets and that Cyber Demon took forever to die. First time facing this demon with a team was a different story. We were running around it at full speed all launching rockets like we didn’t care. It was basically a big bug being surrounded and attacked by three hornets firing their advanced explosive stingers at it repeatedly without mercy.

Ultimate Doom

Ultimate Doom did have some interesting features that can help out. For example you have a map of the level. We actually never knew we had a map for the longest time. The maps weren’t always clear as it’s 2D while we play in 3D (yes we know Doom was a 2D game they made 3D through smart coding). So when you enter a room you see some recognisable parts but mainly use the map when you are either lost or completed the level but was searching around. The map was a good feature though. Another feature which was much cooler was the fact that the demons can turn on each other and fight amongst themselves. This can be done when you make sure a demon of a different kind gets hit by an attack from another. If they are different types of demons, there is a high chance they will turn and fight them instead. We got to see who would win in a fight of one Cacodemon vs five Imps or two hell knights vs a mixed group of imps, pinky demons and zombie men. If you play your cards right, you can sit back watch the fight and place your bets (gambling is bad and we don’t encourage it). 

Overall Ultimate Doom was a super fun game. There is so much more we can say about this game. Ultimate Doom had unique features, variety in levels, weapons and enemies, there were secrets, multiple difficulty settings, boss monsters, useful power ups, surprises, monster betrayal and best of all multiplayer. We at X35 Earthwalker can safely say that Ultimate Doom was not ultimate fun but tons of fun. Now Ultimate Doom may have you fighting demons but even Doom Guy working with the demons is no match for… the ‘Earth Walk!’

For more information check out the link below:

Doom 4 gameplay?

Dauntless. Big hunting coming soon

Posted on by X35 Earthwalker
Dauntless

Dauntless is a new action role playing game (RPG) developed by ‘Phoenix Labs‘. It is said to be coming out in April 2019 on the Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and PS4; however you can download and play now on PC. There are said to be some monsters who need to be hunted down. Let’s take a look.

The story in Dauntless isn’t really clear from what new can see on their official website but basically the world has be broken up in to islands by a cataclysm. These islands are floating. Many of these islands haven’t even been explored yet and are dangerous. Also the islands themselves are in danger. What could endanger an island though? The answer are large creatures called Behemoths. They will consume the islands. It’s up to the players to prevent this from happening. 

Dauntless

In Dauntless the players control Slayers. Slayers as the name suggests do quite a bit of slaying but their targets this time are the Behemoths. Slayers are mankinds best defence against these creatures. The slayers won’t be easy to beat as they are armed with some serious weapons. Your slayer can wield Repeaters which is basically two and guns. It’s said to be difficult to use but you can hand out debuffs to enemies and fight at both close and long range. The sword is all about staying close and slicing everything up. Then with a full meter go crazy with pure speed. There’s more weapons.

Chain blade users have the highest speed of all relying on their mobility. Their weapons can off course extend for longer ranged combat and even pull yourself in to get close. Hammer wielding slayers can smash and deal heavy blows to enemies and also use blasts from the same hammer. Also you can use your blasts to dodge attacks. Slayers using the axe have immense damage potential. They can fill their meter to get a damage buff that can be stacked. The War pike is one of those that have great potential when used correctly. Keep attacking to fill your meter which is then used for your mortar attacks.  

Dauntless

There are a number of places to explore. There’s ramsgate which is the frontier settlement. There is also the Maelstrom which has a completely different climate going on over there. There are some continually changing islands. Some islands have a flourishing habitats as in their are lots of plants, wildlife and as everyone says, “flora and fauna”. Dauntless has many islands and they all just want to be explored but there’s a catch… 

The Behemoths in Dauntless are a real problem. Firstly they are endangering the floating islands because they just can’t get enough of the aether that they are consuming. This aether is what keeps the floating islands floating. Another thing that’s bad is that they are dangerous to face because well.. they are big. They are a serious threat. Some go about on all fours, others can roll like a ball, others can fly around, some look and move like dinosaurs while others are like angry bigger sloths. So taking these guys on alone is quite the problem. 

Dauntless

We checked out some Dauntless gameplay and it’s a bit less than what we expected. The graphics aren’t impressive at all even for the graphic style used. The characters remind us of the ones in Fortnite. This doesn’t mean it’s a bad game though. Dauntless is a multiplayer game and encourages working together with other players. You can play with three friends or get teamed up with people online. We like that you can use the parts you collect from defeated Behemoths and use them to make armaments like transom stones, dyes and even cells. So get creative.

Overall Dauntless looks like an alright game. We haven’t been impressed yet. We like the multiplayer options and the using the parts from defeated monsters. We definitely like the visuals and the environments but that’s it really. The developers ‘Phoenix Labs’ did an alright job with this one. We at X35 Earthwalker aren’t looking forward to this but there are gamers who are. Now Dauntless may have floating islands but even those aren’t as epic as… the ‘Earth Walk!’  

For more information check out the link below:

More information

Hell Warders. They are coming soon

Posted on by X35 Earthwalker
Hell Warders

Hell Warders is a new action strategy game with some RPG elements, developed by ‘Anti gravity game studios‘ and published by ‘PQubed‘. It is coming out the 17th of January 2019 on the Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PS4 and PC. There has already been early access on PC. We at X35 Earthwalker like action strategy games and have been playing some recently so let’s see if they do this right. Let’s take a look. 

In Hell Warders, players control… well… a Hell Warder. Hell Warders are a group of powerful heroes who have mighty powers and abilities and their job is to face and stop the hordes of demons. That’s pretty much it for the story from what we can see. So those demons are going forth as an army (conveniently in waves) and players are the only things standing in their way.

Hell Warders

Now if you like tower defence, with the whole taking some time to plan, readjust and set up well, then you should be happy here. If you like controlling a character and running towards the enemy to back hand them yourself then you should be happy here too. Honestly this game right now reminds us off ‘World of Van Helsing: Deathtrap‘ and ‘Dungeon Defenders‘. When it comes to tower defence + action + RPG elements, these two games are excellent examples.

In Hell Warders, there are more than one type. For example you can control Dead Eye who is a longer ranged fighter using cannons. Samson III who has been described as an explosive specialist. Ash who specialises in melee combat and slicing everything with his sword. There are more. That’s right, you guessed it. These different Hell Warders have different abilities and powers to offer in your goal to destroy all the demons.

Those defences that you build are not cannons, ballistas and walls but instead your soldiers. Players can set up soldiers who are melee based and will run to attack any nearby enemies. There are archers who fire arrows quite accurately from a respectable distance. Catapults which brings in that heavy impact damage. Let’s say some big enemies will have problems with this weapon. There’s also mages that bring those effects and some magic to give you the advantage.

Hell Warders

In terms of the enemies, we know that it’s demons. Demons come in all shapes and sizes. There’s the off course pawn small ties that just rush you, then there’s the bigger ones that require more special attention, then there are the massive towering enemies. There are some magic welding enemies like lychee. There is also Wurms who are very large and will anger some gamers.

We checked out some gameplay. It so far just looks alright. In terms of character animations it doesn’t seem on the same level as the other two games we mentioned earlier but this is all early access gameplay though, so expect everything to get better. We like that soldiers fight with you on the field but actual towers would be great to have as well and it’s something we prefer but it’s good to try something different. The variety of enemies so far looks interesting. We wonder what new abilities and powers the Hell warders will get as you play and progress.

Best of all about Hell Warders and if you been following us for even a short time you would know what that is. It is multiplayer. You can play with three more players to form a mighty team of four having explosives, melee, range and magic. You can just straight up invite and get your friends in the action but for those who want other options can use the match making to find more players. We need more multiplayer games with good options.

Overall Hell Warders looks okay right now. It’s early access but we are getting closer to the release date and we hope that Hell Warders becomes the next very good action strategy game. The developers ‘Anti gravity game studios’ have done good work right now. We at X35 Earthwalker will be looking forward to seeing this game game out. Now Hell warders may have heroes who face demons but these Hell Warders are a joke when compared to… the ‘Earth Walk!’

For more information check out the link below:

More information

Deathgarden. Getting opened soon

Posted on by X35 Earthwalker
Deathgarden

Deathgarden is a action first person shooter game developed by ‘Behaviour Digital‘. It is coming out in the first quarter of 2019 on the Xbox One, PS4 and PC. Sure there is early access for PC but we don’t really care about that. It’s the whole hunter vs hunted theme. We hope they do this one well. Let’s take a look.

Deathgarden is set in the so called near future. In the world of Deathgarden, the most popular sport in the world is actually a dangerous one where people can and do die. A powerful hunter must hunt down and kill a group of people called Runners. These people are willing participants in this. The Runners must hide, evade the hunter and escape the arena, the garden. Sounds fun right? We are sure normal (stupid) people would love to take part in this type of sport.   

Deathgarden

The rules are quite simple. The Runners must avoid and the Hunter and escape from the garden while the Hunter hunts them down and kills them. There are objectives for the runners to complete which will open an exit for the them to escape through. The hunter isn’t going to let that happen though. Does this sound familiar? Well it should. remember Dead by Daylight? Yeah, that’s right sucker.

There are three phases to every match so far. Phase one: the Runners are sent into the garden before the hunter. they can use this time to locate the objectives and mark them for the whole team to see and look for crates to upgrades their abilities. Then in some seconds, the Hunter comes in and things get real. Phase two is where the Runners must complete the objectives. There are two game modes: ‘Gather & Deliver’ and ‘Capture’. In Gather & Deliver the Runners must go to dispenser stations to gather keys which they must deliver to certain points in the garden. In Capture, Runners must stand in the designated areas for a period of time to capture it. All this is happening while the Hunter is chasing them down, shooting, shocking and trying to kill them. The last phase, if the Runners succeed in opening the exits by completing the objectives, is the blood mode. Now all runners are revealed and the Hunter can execute a downed Runner straight away. If the Hunter kills three runners, the runners lose. Sounds intense right? it is. 

Deathgarden

The Hunter is powerful and too much for the runners in straight up combat. He has powers, dangerous weapons, abilities and some perks too. The hunter plays in first person and cannot be killed. He must stop the runners from escaping the garden by straight up find and killing them.

Let’s go deeper though. The hunters have different weapons to choose from: shotguns, LMGs, sniper rifles and assault rifles. For example the “FR574 Devil’s breathe – Bolt action sniper” has a slow rate of fire but very long range and deals large amounts of damage. The Passam Hacksaw T24 LMG has 150 rounds per magazine and has an effective range of 30 meters. The two permanent abilities of a hunter costs stamina upon use. They are Super Charge which increase movement speed and jump distance and the other is Stun which (you guessed it) stuns and deals small amounts of damage within a short range. Hunters can do more.

There are four powers for Hunters to choose, only one, from. They are: I see you, Fade, Spawn Turret and Drop mine. I see you reveals all nearby runners for 11 seconds. Fade makes the Hunter invisible and he makes no sound, this also cure the hunter of all negative effects like slow for example. Spawn turret lets the hunter place up to two turrets which ca and will fire at any and all runners within the range of 40 meters. Drop mine allows the hunter to set up proximity mines, up to ten. The Deathgarden got a whole lot safer right. Finally the perks. Hunters can choose two always activated passive perks. For example you can have increased magazine size and have downed runners revealed to you for 6 seconds. There are more perks though.    

Deathgarden

The Runners are agile and off course fast. They can also climb any surface too which is a much needed skill. They cannot kill the hunter but have equipment and devices that can halt, distract and harass the hunter. They play in third person and rely heavily on communication and teamwork.

Let’s go deeper though. There are three runner classes: Torment are all about harassing the hunter, messing with him, debuffing and stopping him from messing with your team. Support who can heal and shield their allies from a safe distance. Control who are best at handling objectives and messing with the Hunters focus and actions. Each of their abilities have three tiers. For example the support has healing bolts that, at tier one, just heal allies, tier two has an increased radius, but at tier three can revive down allies. Another example is that the torment class has a blind ability which at tier 1 blinds the hunter, at tier two the radius is increased, at tier three the hunter’s weapon has maximum spread so basically blind and little accuracy.

Runners also have perks. More available perks than the hunter. Like with the Hunter Runners can pick two of them. For example you can have ‘revivalist’ which lets you revive with full health instead of the standard 1/3 and ‘Damage Dodger’ which reduces damage you take by 40% while evading. Or you can combine ‘Lucky Charm’ which gives a 25% chance to receive an additional weapon upgrade part from a crate and ‘Quick Rescue’ which increases rescuing speed by 50%.So get creative, communicate with your team and work out what will work smoothly together.

Deathgarden

The gardens themselves are never the same. Like with Spelunky, Deathgarden has procedurally generated arenas. So you can’t really plan ahead as much as you want. This garden can simulate a whole forest. Some matches can have fog, others have rain, others be daytime while other matches can be at night. Let’s not forget the bloodpost. Basically the hunter can send a Runner to a bloodpost if he has enough bloodpost charges. Each time the Hunter downs a Runner, he gets a charge. Charges can be stacked. Once you have three then a bloodpost can be used in order to execute a Runner. Runners can save other runners from a bloodpost but they are revealed to the Hunter while they are rescuing. If a Runner is rescued, then the bloodpost loses three charges. So the game has some mercy for Runners. 

We checked out some gameplay and it is looking good so far. The runners moved how we thought they could. They can jump, scale any surface and scatter like rats. The Hunter is real fast, powerful, jumps high, strong weapons and a real threat. You truly can’t kill the Hunter. The Runners need to look out for crates with provide ammo and also weapon upgrade parts. There are some discussions concerning the balance of the game. The Hunter does seem really strong right now.. we do like that Runners capturing an objective are revealed to the Hunter. It definitely looks better than Dead by Daylight right now. You can’t just run around that same block and the Hunter can never catch them. No! The Hunter will kill you if you try running around a big rock thinking you are safe. The Hunter is faster.

Overall, Deathgarden looks like a good game. We definitely preferred this over Dead by Daylight. We never liked that game. The executions are quite brutal. The graphics look good and the fog does give Runners an advantage most of the time. The sounds though, especially the sounds of the guns firing. The developers ‘Behaviour Digital’ did a very good job with this game. We at X35 Earthwalker look forward to seeing this game come on the consoles for some real gaming. Now Deathgarden may have a powerful Hunter who has powers but even the Hunter would get stomped against… the ‘Earth Walk!’ 

For more information check out the link below:

More information

Wargroove. Soon it’s turn to shine

Posted on by X35 Earthwalker
Wargroove

Wargroove is a new turn based strategy game developed by ‘Chucklefish‘. It is coming out in the first quarter of 2019 on the Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PS4 ad PC. Don’t be fooled. Wargroove may seem like another simple game but it’s said to be quite a deep one. Let’s take a look.

So far there isn’t much information at all concerning a story but we know there is a story. Players must battle through the campaign to learn about the different factions, what they are about and off course their motivations for such actions. This is like Supreme Commander 2 where the campaign allows you to learn all about the different factions in term and their fighting styles. Wargroove currently seems to be all about the action and matches.

Wargroove

In Wargroove players control entire armies and the commander. There are currently a minimum of 12 commanders and four factions. The current names are: Felheim Legion, Cherrystone kingdom, Floran tribes and Heavensong empire. Also like with Supreme Commander 2, the main focus is on the commanders. These commanders don’t sit behind a desk giving orders though, they are on the battlefield. Be careful as losing your commander means it’s all over. 

The commanders are very different from each other in terms of character and reasons for what they do and off course design. Each one is a powerful unit and players will be wise to keep an eye on what they are doing at all times. Each one also has their own groove. A groove is basically a special move. This can be used once their have a full meter. We have bee given two examples: Valder can create a new undead unit on the field while Mercia can heal adjacent units.

Wargroove

There is also an in-game editor which will allow gamers to create their own adventure. Players can create their own sub-quests, secrets, missions with story and even make adjustments to the games rules. Wargroove also allows players to create their own maps too and the events that should take place on it. Features like this are always a good idea as it allows players to use their creativity and provides more options. This reminds us of forge mode in Halowhere you can literally create entire game modes and maps.

We checked out some gameplay and we so far aren’t impressed but that doesn’t mean it’s not good. There are straight up soldiers, animals like dogs, wagons and other transportations that carry units, catapults for that good support, different terrains from sand to grass and ice, there is even rivers and trees. We like how your movement path and options are very clear. Everything is bright and looks friendly. Best of all Wargroove has multiplayer. Up to four players both local and online, co-op and competitive. That’s very good.

Overall, Wargroove does look like a good game. The unit’s animations are good. The pixel graphics are good. The sounds are good too. We even like how the weather can effect gameplay like wind in certain directions can grant increased movement. The developers ‘Checucklefish’ did a good job with this game. We at X35 Earthwalker will keep an eye out to see what Wargroove truly has for gamers. Now Wargroove might have factions and commanders but even when working together they would get destroyed by… the ‘Earth Walk!’

For more information check out the link below:

More information

Dead or Alive 6. Fighting starts soon

Posted on by X35 Earthwalker
Dead or Alive 6

Dead or Alive 6 is the latest action fighting game, in the Dead or Alive series, developed and published by ‘Koei Tecmo Games‘. Dead or Alive 6 is coming out the 15th of February 2019 on the Xbox One, PS4 and PC. What will the latest Dear or Alive game offer? Let’s take a look.

Dead or Alive has been a long running series. There has been lots of discussions and forums concerning Dead or Alive 6. What we at X35 Earthwalker hope is that the developers focus on making good mechanics, balancing everything as best as possible and throwing in some new things to make everything exciting. Developers have to know when to it’s time to listen to fans for feedback and when to go ahead with what they wanted for their game. 

Dead or Alive 6

Now when it comes to the story of Dead or Alive 6 that’s quite complicated and all over the place. Not to mean that it’s a bad story, but it’s like Tekken, where every character has their own story and something going on. For example Helena who is the president of the new DOATEC is threatened by a person who has special powers. Kasumi left her clan and is now a runaway ninja who’s secretly living in a mountain village. So you’ll have to play as the characters to learn and see what’s going on, which isn’t a bad idea.

Dead or Alive 6’s fighting mechanics is based on a triangle system. Throws, strikes and holds. Holds beat strikes, strikes beat throws and throws beat holds. If you successfully land a attack on the type it is strong against then you deal more damage and is counted as a hi counter. A completely new system is the break gauge system. The break guard is a new special attack meter that gets filled up when landing or taking hits and even blocking. Players can use the break gauge to execute moves like the break blow and break hold. The break hold is the strongest hold in the game and can return lower, middle and upper attacks. The break blow can parry an strike while delivering a powerful strike. There’s the fatal rush is basically four punches or kicks stringed together as a combo.  

Dead or Alive 6

In terms of the characters, there are three new ones shown on their official website while hinting there is more. They are Kokoro, La Mariposa and Nico. La Mariposa, the ‘Immortal Butterfly’ is a luchadora wrestler excels at Aerial attacks and having tricky movements. Nico, the ‘lightning Technomancer’ is naturally skilled at martial arts and has three EMF rings that boost her speed and attacks. Kokoro, the ‘Ba Ji Dancer’ specialises in Ba Ji Quan using mid range elbow and palm thrust attacks. Watch out as she also has number of throws that could mess you up. The variety amongst characters so far look good. 

In terms of the stages, in Dead or Alive 6, there are some and they look very good. There’s ‘The Muscle’ which is a large wrestling ring which as the words muscle spirit on the walls of the building. Didn’t Zangief talk about muscle spirit in Street Fighter V. There is ‘Lost Paradise’ is basically a cool jungle setting with some unfinished wooden structures around as well. There’s even a dinosaur in the area too. ‘Forbidden Fortune’ is a old pirate ship that has bones and a lot of history. These ruins are not safe and that’s a fact. The ‘DOA’ colosseum is new, ready looks great. The roaring fans cheering for their fighters and ring ropes that have some hot consequences for whoever touches them. ‘Zero’, research facility, ‘Miyabi’, an old street in a Japanese village and ‘Hidden garden’ a secluded and calming spot are all new and ready for fighters.

Dead or Alive 6

We checked out some Dead or Alive 6 gameplay and it’s definitely a step up from the last ones. There are even danger zones in some stages. These zones are bad news for any fighters who get knocked into them as some animation takes place dealing that fighter big damage. This reminds us of Injustice 2 and their stage animations. For example, remember that Lost Paradise place we mentioned well that stage has a danger zone and it’s a large dinosaur that attacks which cause an explosion that deals bit damage. Another stage has what seems like a kraken which uses it’s tentacles to attack fighters. These are definitely worth using against your enemies.

Overall Dead or Alive 6 seems like a good game so far. The graphics are very good and how the stages look very detailed. The sounds are good too. We like how the fighters have varied fighting styles with some real martial arts like Jeet Kune Do, T’ai Chi Ch’uan and Taekwondo. The developers ‘Koei Tecmo Games’ did a good job with this game. We at X35 Earthwalker look forward to seeing fully what Dead or Alive 6 has to offer this time. Now Dead or Alive 6 may have a fancy tournament but even that is completely lame when compared to… the ‘Earth Walk!’

For more information check out the link below:

More information

Sundown. Shooting in the dark

Posted on by X35 Earthwalker
SUNDOWN

Sundown is a new hide and seek shooter game developed by ‘Mild Beast Games‘ but published by ‘Versus Evil‘. It is coming out the Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PS4 and PC (currently available on Discord) but no given date. It just says 2018. This game has a very interesting concept and we hope it pulls it off well. 

Sundown is all about hide and seek, which means playing smart. Running around firing at everything may not work very well against a patient and accurate player. Basically everyone is covered in darkness. The whole map is dark. Players are only visible when you dash, shoot or slash. So do you make the first move thinking you know where your opponent is or do you play reactive and wait for your enemies to make the first move and then close in on them? There are many tactical approaches in concepts like this.

SUNDOWN

Now naturally this could make Sundown not only a tactical and strategic game but also an intense game where players might get on the edge of their seat. Think about it. You are against another skilled player who you know is moving around. If you attack and miss, they know where you are and will finish you off. We can imagine this in serious pro level matches where it sort of player like chess in a way.

Sundown is also for casual gamers who just want to have fun, and they can. This is because Sundown is also multiplayer. Both online and offline up to four players. Finally another developer with sense. Not everyone has a clan online or wants to be part of a clan or wants to play with others. The most fun X35 Earthwalker has had in gaming was playing with friends or family at home in the same room with trash talking and laughs. So gamers have some options in Sundown.

SUNDOWN

There is also a single player challenge mode which we hope does give a challenge with varying difficulty. Players can also take on offline bots to sharpen their skills or just to have a good time. Either way, the real challenge will be taking on other players online. There are currently six levels: Factory, Reactor, Mansion, Subway, Disco and Garden. Each level has a different level design layout concerning cover, obstacles etc. Each level does look like what their name says it is.

Very important are the weapons. Sundown has a variety of weapons but not a wide variety to keep things more simple and tactical. The Lobshot fires grenades that bounce around but the alt fire let’s you fire shots over walls. The Sniper is a powerful sniper rifle that can fire through walls and the alt fire drops a mine that’s remote detonated. Revolvers fire shots that bounce of walls and the alt fire shoots a flare that reveal other players. The Umbrella allows you to dash around very quickly and it’s alt fire allows you to block bullets. The Shotgun is powerful and has spread but alt fire empties the entire clip but gives that shot even more spread. There are more weapons and some are pretty cool. Good job Sundown.

We checked out some gameplay and what we mainly see is the fun casual side of the game. We see fast paced action and lots of people dying. This proves the two sides of Sundown, Casual and serious, fast paced and slow depending on who your opponents are. Melee weapons see to have a more clear advantage. We hope Sundown is carefully balanced. The graphics are alright for it’s style and the sounds are alright too.

Overall Sundown does seem like a good game. It’s concept is good and seems to have been done well. There are power ups like shields which is a good thing. There’s more we could say but we will leave it here. The developers ‘Mild Beast Games’ did a good job with this game. We at X35 Earthwalker look forward to seeing how gamers like Sundown. Now darkness might be your friend in this game but even the darkness can’t help you against… the ‘Earth Walk!’

For more information check out the link below:

More information

Ashen. Action RPG coming soon

Posted on by X35 Earthwalker
Ashen

Ashen is a new action RPG developed by ‘Aurora44‘ but published by ‘Annapurna Interactive‘. It is coming out on the Xbox One and PC. Ashen straight away has gotten our interest. There’s combat, danger, survival and a brutal world. Let’s take a look.

In the world of Ashen, nothing lasts forever. Players control a “wanderer”. This wanders is alone, travelling and surviving alone. That’s going to change. This is a strange world as for starters there isn’t a sun. So how does everything survive (ask the game)? There is natural light but that comes from eruptions. These eruptions is what covers the whole place in ash (ash + en = ashen). There are multiple survivors and it’s wise to work together to survive. The game is centred around this.

Ashen

When you find survivors in Ashen you must decide what to do concerning them. You can ignore them or lead them to your settlement. If convinced to stay they can be of some serious help to you, offering their skills and abilities. Some might be skilled blacksmiths and other crafting skills or even “foraging expertise”. The point is that surviving alone in Ashen is a bad idea.If you want to find a place to call home then you will need some members.

Ashen is a multiplayer game as well. In your very large world you will encounter other players. You can work with them to fight evil, off course send an invite to join your party or leave them alone. Don’t be a bully now. The whole of Ashen literally is about working together, meeting people (real and) computer so keep that in mind when exploring.

The world in Ashen is huge and there is lots to see indeed. Expect forests, fields, broken structures, fjords, palaces, bogs and more. Even more interesting is that, according to the developers, no two gameplay experiences are similar. Basically the game works in a way that your adventure changes depending on where you are “at any given moment”. This means if you went to the bog first then things will be different if you had instead gone to a palace first for example, not just what happens at that exact location but surrounding things and more in the world itself. Interesting right? We know.

Ashen

Off course let’s get to the interesting parts. The combat and the monsters. Combat first. The combat should make a number of Dark Souls fans happy as it’s a similar style. Being patient is needed for the combat in this game. You need to watch your enemy, see the attacks coming and know when to dash and dodge. Every fight you get into regardless of how far you progress could be your last so always be ready and prepared. 

In terms of the enemies, there’s more to say. You can expect some scary monsters, spiders, flying things which swoop down, giant flying whale creatures, actual giants and more. There are thinkings hostile enemies that don’t like you and then there are indigenous creatures. You see those nice looking plants and flowers over there? Pick some. Congratulations you are dead. Even the plants and vegetation can be dangerous enemies capable of killing you.

We checked out some Ashen gameplay and it looks good so far. The graphics are quite cartoonish but done well. Movement speed is good, you can roll, evasion is fast enough, enemy attacks are telegraphed nicely (well at least for smaller ones), game difficulty seems acceptable from the start, crafting is important so loot everything you find and kill. Also Ashen has a stamina based combat system. Your attacks and moves cost stamina. Players will need to know what fights to pick and decide their actions carefully. You can decide to never see other players or never have any A.I. We are given that choice. The A.I by the way work very ell. They dodge attacks, know when to heal and fight good.

Overall Ashen looks like a very good game indeed. The sounds are very good and the controls are very responsive. The world design and enviro meets have great variety and we like that. We do hope for more variety in enemies though but how frequent we see them, we don’t know. The developers ‘Aurora44’ have done a very good job with this game. We at X35 Earthwalker look forward to seeing Ashen come out. Now Ashen might have a massive world but what’s even more massive is… the ‘Earth Walk!’

For more information check out the link below:

More information