Warp Zoned Presents
Author: Dan Hobbs
Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag Review: Any Good? Arrr!
The Assassin’s Creed franchise stumbled a bit with Assassin’s Creed III and Revelations. Thankfully, Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag is a return to form for the series. It is a swashbuckling, rum-drinking, sword-slashing good time that works on many levels. However, it’s also very scatterbrained in that half of the game works while the other half doesn’t. The water combat is great, while the undersea portions aren’t. Some story missions are really awesome, while some are tedium defined. And the plot itself is compelling, except when it isn’t. Yet, somehow, Ubisoft has managed to pull it all together to make a really enjoyable title. (more…)
Ignorance Is Strength: Gaming’s Permanent War With Nazis, Terrorists, and PMCs
In the novel Nineteen Eighty-Four, George Orwell introduced us to a profusion of concepts that are especially relavant in today’s culture. Terms like Big Brother, thoughtcrime, doublethink, and Room 101 have all spread through modern society, but there is one line that resonates strongly in the world of video games: “War is peace, freedom is slavery, ignorance is strength.”
In the novel, it’s a prime example of doublethink, where people can simultaneously agree with two contradicting points of view. While doublethink is all over video game punditry in a thousand different forms, it’s this last part that I feel needs to be focused on. “Ignorance is strength” is the idea that the masses can live in blissful and perpetual incomprehension of the truth, and somehow gain a sense of power from this. (more…)
Watch Dogs Review: A Bit Ruff
Watch Dogs was unveiled in 2012 at Ubisoft’s E3 Press Conference to the adoration of the entire industry. Over the past year, the Internet hype machine went into full effect, fueled by Ubisoft themselves and the fervor of online commenting communities. After that initial reveal, conjecture naturally sprung up around the web. Would the game look that good? Would the open world really be that open? With Ubisoft sending out trailer after trailer, Watch Dogs was labelled as a coming-of-age party for the next generation in terms of graphics and gameplay.
But the hype train is a bad one to catch, and it has not helped Watch Dogs, making it feel far less than it should be after the initial reveal. After experiencing much of the game’s content, what you end up with is a title that is actually still quite fun to play, but oddly uncompelling. (more…)
7 Games You Missed At E3 2014
One of the major problems with the Electronic Entertainment Expo is the fact that it’s too big. So big, in fact, that it hurts, even though the show seems to get more and more exciting every year. However, at the same time, publishers are showing fewer games. I’ve also heard anecdotal evidence that the show floor is so quiet that you can get cell signal. And after the rush of pre-E3 announcements this year, it could be said that the expo itself is all bark and no bite.
Correct or not, there is still a lot of bark during the second week of June every year, so much, in fact, that dozens and dozens of games get lost in all the noise. Here are seven of them. (more…)
Ubisoft @ E3 14: Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Siege announced
Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot popped up at the end of the publisher’s E3 Press Conference with a big ending. Guillemot blew the roof off the building with the unveiling of Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Siege. In a heavily-scripted gameplay video pulled from a multiplayer game, we see one team storm a house to rescue a hostage, while another team tries to take out their attackers.
“If you look at long-range battle, you will find Battlefield. If you’re looking for short-to-medium-range battle, you will find Call of Duty,” said Creative Director Xavier Marquis. “In the short range, no one exists but us.”
While the attackers appear to have more advanced tech to track their opponents, the defending team can barricade themselves into rooms by blocking windows and setting boobytraps. The game also appears to have totally destructible environments.
Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Siege currently has no release date, but will likely be available for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One. This means that Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Patriots is most likely no more.
Ubisoft @ E3 14: Shape Up wants to pump you up on the Xbox One this year
Ubisoft have decided to take the Rocksmith approach to fitness with Shape Up. In Rocksmith, players engage in silly minigames to learn how to play the guitar. In the newly announced Shape Up, players engage in silly minigames – using Kinect – in order to work out.
In one shown minigame, “Piano Step,” players play the piano with their feet in time with the music. Like Guitar Hero for your feet. Even cooler than that, the Kinect sensor can record a replay of your game session so players can play against past versions of themselves and then send those ghosts to their friends.
Shape Up is coming this year to Xbox One.
Ubisoft @ E3 14: SURPRISE! Just Dance 2015 and Just Dance Now announced
Just in case you were unsure that Ubisoft’s mega-selling dancing franchise would not have another iteration, Just Dance 2015 was announced at Ubisoft’s E3 Press Conference. It will include Pharrell Williams’ “Happy” and it’ll be available this October.
Ubisoft has also revealed Just Dance Now. In a big change to the series, Just Dance Now uses your smartphone and any Internet-connected device to display the game. Then you use the phone’s accelerometer to dance. Honestly, that’s some pretty cool tech.
Posted in Mobile, News
Tagged E3 2014, Just Dance 2015
FIFA 15 lets you “feel” the game on September 23
So, in case you didn’t know, I’m British. Therefore, I must love football soccer – right? Well, no. However, I do love actor, and totally cool dude, Idris Elba. It’s this fact which makes the FIFA 15 E3 trailer exciting to me.
If you don’t love Luther, FIFA 15 will apparently boast player emotions, allowing soccerballers to react to bad tackles, missed penalties, and fantastic goals – just like in real life. Of course, there will also be plenty of tweaks to the presentation including new bench reactions, sideline character animations, 10-man goal celebrations, and more. This is alongside prettier graphics, better AI, and some smaller added details, all of which will probably make for the best FIFA yet.
But, then again, EA says that every year. FIFA 15 will be available for the PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, and “other platforms” on September 23 (September 25 in Europe).