So this week sees the new Call of Duty game released. Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare stars Kevin Spacey of all people, and is set in the relatively distant future of 2054. This should give the developer, Sledgehammer Games, a chance to flex its creative muscles. However, with many people growing tired of the repetitive nature of the annual gaming franchise, it remains to be seen whether reviews will be favourable or not. Next week will feature the remastered Halo collection on XBOX One so it is quite possible the two could fight to the death for sales. Anyhow, read on for some news and such like. Game on.
Weekly news:
Star Citizen FPS demo
The crowd funded space trading and combat sim revealed its next gameplay module at PAX Australia last weekend. The FPS gameplay is meant to allow ship boarding actions, and possibly ground based combat later on in development, allowing players to capture ships and stations or cause interior damage. The demo included standard FPS combat element, as well as some devices that will be available to players such as deployable shields and holograms. The ability to disable gravity was also demonstrated, allowing players and objects to float freely around the environment.
Evolve Alpha has issues
The playable Alpha-build for the much anticipated 2015 title Evolve was released with some serious errors this weekend. The Alpha was designed to be playable for PC, PS4 and Xbox One users who had pre-ordered the game or had otherwise obtained an Alpha code. However, developer 2K had difficulties running the Alpha on PS4 systems due to issues with Sony’s network; PSN. Due to the inherent nature of the game being a Left For Dead style co-operative experience, a good online service is paramount, but 2K were left struggling with PSN’s firmware updates conflicting with the Alpha’s servers. The network has had problems in the past, having been hacked multiple times and having gone down even more. It seems that PS4 users will have to wait a little longer to get their hands on the Evolve Alpha, while the PC and Xbox One service is now closed. Evolve is due out Feb 10th 2015.
Prey 2 cancelled
Publisher Bethesda announced on Friday that their long-term project, Prey 2, had been cancelled after a history of delays and development issues. Prey was a first-person shooter originally developed by Human Head Studios and published by 2K Games in 2008. When Bethesda bought the rights to the series a sequel was announced and footage was shown at E3 in 2011. However, since then the game’s development has been rocky with the job being passed around to a number of developers before being put into limbo. Bethesda since then have confirmed that the direction for the game has since become too confused and quality issues were abound, and as such, the project has been shelved.
Driveclub PS+ edition postponed
PS4 exclusive Driveclub has been out on the console for over three weeks now. Following the initial problems faced regarding players being kicked from online play due to server problems, the president of Sony’s entertainment division, Shuhei Yoshida this week tweeted that the much publicised free PS+ edition/extended demo has been delayed indefinitely until the problems are all ironed out. This is the latest in a series of problems that has plagued the development of the game. Driveclub was initially supposed to be released alongside the PS4 at launch, with the PS+ edition also available. However shortly before launch it was postponed until early 2014. This was followed by a further delay until October 2014 where it appears problems were still not fixed. Stay tuned for further updates, but don’t hold your breath for a release any time soon.
Last Week’s Releases (27/10/14):
Lords of the Fallen: 31/10/14
Lords of the Fallen is another game around this busy period that has somewhat slipped under the radar. This is not to say it will not be a good game, however. A fantasy game with RPG elements, this will appeal to fans of the Dark Souls series and is likely to occupy a huge amount of your time in your quest to progress through the ranks. This game is only available on PS4 and XBOX One.
Sunset Overdrive: 31/10/14
I recently got the chance to play a demo of this game at a special event at GAME and it was such good fun. It is a potential system seller, only being available on XBOX One. With amazingly cool graphics and a cartoon art style, Sunset Overdrive is an open-world shooter set in a fictional Sunset City. With advertisements for it seemingly playing back to back on television at the moment, Microsoft clearly want to hype this game up. It remains to be seen how successful this new IP will be, but my prediction is that it will be one of the best this year. A must-have if you own an XBOX One.
Also out last week: NBA LIVE 15 (31/10/14), WWE 2K15 (31/10/14)
Games released this week:
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare: 3/11/14
It’s Call of Duty time of the year again. Advanced Warfare will be set far in the future making for some much more exotic weapons and systems than we’ve seen in previous titles including laser rifles, exoskeleton battlesuits, jump packs, and drop pods. The game is being made by a new developer, Sledgehammer Games, who previously worked with Infinity Ward on Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, because of this we might see a new style on gameplay come to the series. The addition of Sledgehammer Games also means that further games will be on a three-year development cycle rather than two.
Football Manager 2015: 07/11/14
Much like the Fifa series, Football Manager now sees a annually release cycle, with updates to gameplay, kits, players and other tweaks. Very popular amongst armchair football managers, it is unlikely that this football management simulator will be going away anytime soon.
