As we get deeper and deeper into October, the gaming releases just keep coming and will only increase in number as we speed towards the end of the year. The coming week will see the release of Borderlands: The Pre Sequel as well as survival horror, The Evil Within. The Edge also has you covered for a small selection of some of the week’s gaming news that our writers are most passionate about.
Weekly news:
Gamergate scandal continues
For anyone following the recent reports of harassment within the gaming industry, and more specifically, the rise of the Gamergate movement, Friday proved to be another significant backlash. Mobile game developer Brianna Wu was forced to flee her home, after a series of violent death threats were aimed at her on Twitter. The abuse culminated in the user revealing where Wu lived, claiming that they were coming after her and her family. The abuse was in response to a number of articles written by Wu about the harassment faced by women in the games industry, as well as criticism leveled at the Gamergate movement. Gamergate refers to those who believe that their culture is being threatened by ‘anti-gamers’, with the term sometimes being used to directly target those speaking out against misogyny in both the gaming industry and community. The aforementioned scandal rose up after developer Zoe Quinn was accused of sleeping with journalists in order to receive positive reviews for her games. Since then, these rumors have been debunked, and yet Quinn, like Wu, was similarly forced to leave her home after death threats were shot her way. Over the weekend, Wu has received much sympathy and support by followers, while those members of the Gamergate movement deny any responsibility for the attack.
Driveclub launch issues
The launch of Playstation 4 exclusive Driveclub was met with numerous server issues. Many players were unable to gain access to the game’s online modes and those that did often had connection problems, leading to the delay of the long-awaited Playstation Plus edition. Sony and Evolution Studios stated that they wanted to ensure that people who own the full game were having a smooth online experience before they release the free version that is sure to be extremely popular. There is no news on when the Playstation Plus version will be available but the game’s developer insist they are working around the clock to fix the issues.
The Crew is delayed
Ubisoft have delayed the release of open world racer The Crew. The game was scheduled to release on 14th November in the UK but it will now be available on 2nd December. The time will be used to deliver a “revolutionary experience in the driving genre” and there will be another beta on Playstation 4 and Xbox One sometime in November. After the initial delay in October 2013, it is frustrating that fans have to wait even longer to play The Crew.
Ubisoft release Assassin’s Creed Unity Story trailer
The story trailer for the upcoming next-gen Assassin’s Creed game was released earlier this week which can be seen below. The game has also suffered from controversy this week over claims of a downgrade in quality for the PS4 version of the game, as it was announced that the game would ship with 900p resolution rather than 1080p in order to establish parity between the Xbox One and PS4. Developer Ubisoft has strenuously denied this but there are still rumblings of discontent amongst owners of Sony’s next-gen consoles.
Last Week’s Releases (06/10/14):
Alien Isolation: 07/10/14
Gamers who are also fans of the Alien film series will likely be aware of the debacle surrounding 2013’s Alien: Colonial Marines. However, Alien Isolation is from a different developer and certainly looks very promising. Much of the hype in the lead up to the game has focused on how faithful it is to the atmosphere of the films and it certainly looks terrifying. One of the month’s must have games.
Drive Club: 10/10/14
Initially supposed to release alongside the PS4 back in November last year, this has been touted as the first socially connected racing simulator. Its next-gen graphics look mightily impressive and is a Playstation exclusive. It remains to be seen how unique the game’s systems are, but for PS4 owners with a Playstation Plus membership, there will be a cut-down version of the game available to download for free (although currently delayed; see above). Why not try it out?
Games released this week:
The Evil Within: 14/10/14
With October set to be a suitably horror-filled month of gaming, and with Alien Isolation already out, The Evil Within arrives this week from the developers of Fallout 3. A survival horror, the game will feature supplies scavenging which ensures that players will never be in their comfort zone. Those who are easily scared might want to avoid this game which will have gruesome enemies galore.
Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel: 17/10/14
Announced earlier this year strangely only for last-gen systems as well as PC and Mac, this game is set to develop upon the already great gameplay of the extremely popular Borderlands 2. Set between the events of the first and second game, this is sure to be enjoyed by existing fans of the series and may even attract new fans due to it merging elements of role playing games and first person shooters, as seen in previous instalments and more recently in Destiny.
