ZooCube

BAFTA Games Awards 2019 Special

ISSUE 17 — 7 April 2019

by Shahan Ahmed and Dale Hurst

Special Feature: BAFTA GAMES AWARDS 2019

The 15th British Academy Games Awards was held this week at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London. The event was hosted by comedian Dara Ó Briain. This year, a new category was introduced: the EE Mobile Game of the Year award. It may be similar to the Mobile Game award, but unlike it and the other categories, this one is voted for by the public instead of the BAFTA committee and the trophy is a solid yellow rather than the standard golden mask.

God of War took home the most awards (with a total of five) including the coveted Best Game award. The list below shows the winner of each category. Check this page for all of the nominees that came close to winning an award.

Award

Winner
Artistic Achievement Return of the Obra Dinn
Audio Achievement God of War
Best Game God of War
British Game Forza Horizon 4
Debut Game Yoku’s Island Express
Evolving Game Fortnite
Family Nintendo Labo
Game Beyond Entertainment My Child Lebensborn
Game Design Return of the Obra Dinn
Game Innovation Nintendo Labo
Mobile Game  Florence
Multiplayer A Way Out
Music God of War
Narrative God of War
Original Property Into the Breach
Performer Jeremy Davis
EE Mobile Game of the Year (voted for by the public) Old School Runescape

Shahan’s Opinion: It has reminded me to try and get around to certain games (God of War and A Way Out) as well as putting some on my radar (Return of the Obra Dinn and Florence).

Dale’s Opinion: Working for or at least being involved with BAFTA is something of a dream job for me so it has been good to look at the Games section of their awards. I’ll be keeping a close eye in future…

New Character Spotlight: KOLLECTOR (Mortal Kombat 11)

The newest fighter to join the day one roster of Mortal Kombat 11 has been shown. Kollector will make his debut in MK11, which releases on the 23rd of this month. He is said to value his own wealth and status.

Kollector works for Shao Kahn and collects tributes for him like a form of tax. Similar to Goro and Kintaro, he has four arms. Two are out in front while the other two are in his backpack ready to bring out what he has collected to fight his opponent with. Not afraid to get close while also having ranged attacks plus the ability to teleport? Kollector will no doubt be a strong fighter to contend with.

Right before Kollector, another character was shown this week. Namely, Cetrion – an Elder Goddess with control over the elements. Her power to use ice, fire and earth comes from her bond to the Earth. Check her out on this GameInformer video.

Shahan’s Opinion: Kollector is one of the more unique characters in the MK11’s roster and Cetrion’s fatality is out of this world!

Dale’s Opinion: He is definitely a character I can see me playing a lot. That is, if I get the game when it comes out…

BORDERLANDS 3 IS AN EPIC STORE EXCLUSIVE

After the positive reactions to Borderlands 3’s unveiling, some bad news has arisen. Epic Games continues to upset PC gamers as they acquire exclusivity rights to Borderlands 3’s launch. Steam users will still be able to obtain the game, but they’ll have to wait six months after BL3’s release date of 19th September 2019. To be clear, console gamers are unaffected.

Shortly the review bombing was underway on Borderlands 2’s Steam page. However, for the first time, Valve is now actually taking action against it. They have introduced a system to mark ‘off-topic review activity’ that excludes reviews that are deemed to be review bombs. Users are able to disable this feature in their settings. Valve has promised to manually check detected review bombs for any reviews that shouldn’t be hidden.

Going back to some good news for Borderlands. After the trailer for Borderlands 3 dropped, the player count on all Borderlands games on Steam increased by over quadruple. Also BL3’s box art and its different editions have been revealed and ready for pre-orders.

Shahan’s Opinion: Even though I’ll be getting this on console for the split-screen co-op, the Epic Store exclusivity is a bummer. This is likely going to be a continuing trend for PC releases in the near-future. Will Valve do anything to entice publishers and developers and prevent delayed releases to Steam…? Time will tell.

BIOWARE’S ISSUES WITH ANTHEM AND THE PRESS

Kotaku has done an impressive article covering Bioware’s woes regarding Anthem. Stemming from the project initially being named Beyond; a name with meaning that was relevant to the premise. Changing it to Anthem caused confusion amongst those who worked on the game. The article goes on to discuss more last-minute changes like this, as well as the game’s being panned by fans and critics alike, plus many more issues. From understaffed departments to tension between two studio locations, difficulties with EA’s Frostbite engine and much more. Staff went on stress leave and some never came back; they were termed as ‘stress casualties’. It was also quoted that:

“Depression and anxiety are an epidemic within Bioware…”

Read the story for more — it’s a long but fascinating read.

In response to the article, the studio’s management did not discuss the topic with members of staff. Rather, the company sent out emails saying, “Don’t talk to the press.” Following this revelation, Bioware’s Casey Hudson sent out an email to all in the studio that an all-hands meeting will take place discussing all of the raised issues.

Bioware has written a response to the article that you can read here. But it has been speculated that the time they had posted their response means that they must not have read the lengthy piece. Polygon have also weighed in on the issue.

Shahan’s Opinion: Revealing such damaging work environments is important otherwise nothing will be done for the well-being of those who work in the gaming industry.

ENTER THE GUNGEON: A FAREWELL TO ARMS LAUNCHES

Dodge Roll’s bullet hell dungeon crawler got its final update: Enter the Gungeon: A Farewell to Arms. The update is free and available on all platforms you can play the game on (PC, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One). New features include:

  • Two new characters: The Paradox and The Gunslinger.
  • New guns, items and synergies.
  • Rainbow Mode – community inspired mode where each floor offers a rainbow chest but only one gun/item can be picked.
  • New secret floor w/ unique enemies and boss.
  • Starting weapons have new alternate art to unlock.
  • New Beholster shrine.
  • Pet the dog!

Various changes and improvements have been made to the gameplay as well.

Shahan’s Opinion: I don’t have the precision or reflexes for bullet hell games like Enter the Gungeon. Nevertheless, it is awesome to see games getting additional content without the devs charging for every new character or weapon. Excited to see what their next project will be.

GLOSSING OVER…

Netflix Announces “Playing Hard”

A documentary will be released on Netflix later this year entitled Playing Hard. It will be an in-depth look into the four-year production process of the game For Honor.

Yet Another UK Game Setting

Not only will the setting for the upcoming Pokémon games be loosely based on the UK; Ubisoft’s Watch Dogs 3 has also been announced to be set in London.

Microsoft to Investigate Historic Sexual Harassment Claims

A recent employee uproar and human resources nightmare has gone on at Microsoft recently. Relating to historic and otherwise-overlooked sexual harassment complaints. In response, Microsoft has begun investigations into these claims.

PLAYING THIS WEEK…

Dale has been playing…

PIKMIN (2001) (GAMECUBE)

On a real GameCube nostalgia trip these days. When I found and played ZooCube a couple of weeks ago, I also found the disc for Pikmin in there, which to my amazement worked just fine. It had been aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaages since I played it last so it was virtually all new to me again. And then I remembered it is so addictive, so fun and so infuriating all at the same time.

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice Launches

ISSUE 15 — 24 March 2019

by Shahan Ahmed and Dale Hurst

Top Story: SEKIRO: SHADOWS DIE TWICE HAS LAUNCHED

 

 

 

FromSoftware, the infamous developer behind the challenging Souls series, has released their latest game. Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice has launched to universal acclaim. Critics are raving about it and Souls fans are delighted to see that it seems to be more difficult than any of the preceding games.

Sekiro’s setting is a fantastical reimagining of Japan’s Sengoku period, replete with samurai and shinobi, as well as incredible beasts like great serpents and giant apes. The protagonist was a nameless orphan found by the wanderer Owl, who adopted him and gave him the name Seju. He grew up to become a proficient shinobi and the personal bodyguard of the young lord Kuro, who he serves with utmost loyalty. However he fails in his duty. Genichiro Ashina slices off his left arm and Seju falls. Thus Kuro is kidnapped. Seju awakens in an abandoned temple. A former shinobi known as The Sculptor resides here, carving Buddha statues. He has provided Seju with a unique prosthetic arm and dubs him Sekiro (meaning Lone Wolf). Our protagonist then sets off to rescue his lord.

Shahan’s Opinion: If you’re looking for great atmosphere, FromSoftware always delivers. I started with Eternal Ring on the PS2 and have played every ‘Soulsborne’ game since. Check out Dunkey’s video on the game. If the end of the video doesn’t sell you on it, nothing will.

GOOGLE REVEALS THE STADIA

Streaming continues to be the future of not just the music, film and TV industries, but gaming too. Google is banking on this after revealing Google Stadia at the Game Developers Conference 2019. Stadia continues on from last year’s Project Stream that invited testers to try running Assassin’s Creed Odyssey in the Google Chrome browser.

Is Google the first to provide a game streaming service? Not at all. OnLive is considered to be the first, but it failed to meet its full potential and Sony ended up buying its patents. Speaking of Sony, they’ve had their own streaming service since 2014. PlayStation Now holds a library of over 600 games to stream or download.

Jeff Gerstmann, gaming journalist, has shared his views on the Stadia. It may be exciting, but he states that:

“There’s something scary about handing Google, or any one company, the keys. The minute you’re streaming, they can shut it off whenever they want and wherever they want for a variety of reasons. It checks so many boxes for a dark future…”

Also, BBC News has an interesting article that speculates on what the Stadia may bring in the future.

Shahan’s Opinion: I doubt my terrible Wi-Fi connection will be able to support the service! It will probably be a subscription service. And that controller? A Google Assistant button? Ugh. I’m very sceptical but it is Google… One of the Big Four…

VAMPIRE: THE MASQUERADE – BLOODLINES 2 ANNOUNCED

What came as a surprise to fans of the first game, Paradox Interactive announced Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2. The release date will be during the first quarter of 2020. Some would say this is their Half Life 3 and they thought it would never see the light of day, much like the denizens in the games themselves. As the devs have confirmed it will always be night time just like in the first game.

For those of us who are unaware, let’s have a quick look at the setting of the first game. It takes place in 21st century Los Angeles in the World of Darkness where supernatural creatures like vampires and werewolves pave the path of human history. There is the Camarilla, the vampire government, and seven unique vampire clans each with their own unique traits or abilities. The protagonist is a freshly-turned vampire getting used to his/her new way of life while making allies and enemies along the way.

Shahan’s Opinion: Prior to this announcement I’ve not even heard of these games. Vampire action RPGs set in the modern day? I got to check the first one out ASAP!

FULL TRAILER OF FFXIV: SHADOWBRINGERS RELEASED

Square Enix has dropped the full trailer of Shadowbringers, the upcoming expansion of their popular MMO Final Fantasy XIV. It boasts impressive visuals for a cinematic that is befitting the series (Agni’s Philosophy from seven years ago, for example). It gives you a glimpse of what’s to come and there’s even a reference to Magus’ famous line from Chrono Trigger! Here’s a brief look at most of what Shadowbringers will include:

  • New gender locked races: Viera (♀) from FF Tactics Advance and FFXII and Hrothgar (♂) who are based on the Ronso from FFX.
  • New cities and areas.
  • New jobs: Gunbreakers and Dancers.
  • New 8-player raids and alliance raids.
  • New dungeons and trials.
  • New Game+
  • Level cap increased from 70 to 80.

There has been an outcry by the FFXIV community, primarily over two things. Namely, the two new races being gender-locked, and dancers not being a new healer class.

The devs cite the lore that explains Male Viera do exist; they don’t appear in public. To make up for it, they announced the male-only Hrothgar to a Japanese audience at the Tokyo Fanfest. Some would say they did this because a Western crowd would not be afraid to boo them off-stage (see: the Diablo Immortal débâcle).

Regarding dancers being ranged DPS, this means that another expansion arrives with no new healer class. The latest one was the Astrologians in the Heavensward expansion back in 2015. The next expansion after Shadowbringers is speculated to be in 2021, so it will be six years without a new healer class. On the other hand, some fans are relieved that dancers are not healers. Probably because they don’t want to be responsible for keeping their team alive.

Shahan’s Opinion: I love a good cinematic and this trailer is an absolute spectacle. I need that soundtrack as that trailer music is incredible, especially when it resembles FF3’s Legend of the Eternal Wind. Wait! There’ll be a class that wields gunblades??? I’m subscribing again.

HALO AMA REVEALS NEW DETAILS

 

 

Ske7ch, 343 Industries’ community director, conducted an AMA (Ask Me Anything) on Reddit’s Gaming subreddit for the Master Chief Collection, Halo Reach and the Halo Insider program. He was joined by lead producer Michael Fahrny and they answered redditor’s questions for approximately two hours.

A comprehensive summary of all the details that have been revealed over the AMA can be found here. Some highlights of the info include Halo Reach will still have its mix and match armour customization and their goal is to support uncapped FPS on all titles and 144Hz+ for all of the MCC games.

Gabe Newell, President of Valve, was emailed by a fan about the Master Chief Collection and the efforts it took to bring it to Steam. He replies:

“The credit for this goes to Phil Spencer and his team at MS. They made it happen, so, yes, it was simple for us.”

Shahan’s Opinion: It is always good to see positive communication between developers and gamers. Transparency is always welcome.

GLOSSING OVER…

Twitch Streamer Completes the Soulsborne Lot!

The_Happy_Hob, a Twitch streamer, has completed back-to-back playthroughs of all the Soulsborne games. WITHOUT taking a SINGLE hit from enemies! Not even hits that would heal damage!

Epic Store Unpopularity Increases

This comes with the news that The Outer Worlds, among other games, are to be released on Epic Store only. Steam do not get a look-in.

More Details on COD: MW4 Multiplayer

It was confirmed last week that the multiplayer mode of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 will neither feature a Battle Royale mode, nor any specialist characters. This is apparently an attempt to bring the COD franchise back to its roots.

PLAYING THIS WEEK…

Dale has been playing…

ZOOCUBE (2002) (GAMECUBE)

Okay, I know this may seem a little bizarre but there’s an element of nostalgia to the story. Animal-based puzzler ZooCube was the first game I ever owned on Gamecube, alongside Luigi’s Mansion. I was sorting through my cupboards and came across it — to my amazement, it still works perfectly fine despite being nearly 17 years old! And is still a lot of addictive fun.

For those not familiar, it’s a basic match-two game featuring shapes based on different animals, which get attracted to the eponymous ZooCube. You have to match as many as possible to clear the levels and proceed – no airs and graces about it at all. I like it – there’s a charm about it that I can’t quite resist…