Trafficblast – Page 9895

The Best Classic Games That Still Hold Up Today – Steam Punks

In the latest episode of GameSpot’s weekly PC show Steam Punks, Jess and Ed talk about some of their favourite old PC games and discuss why they still hold up today.

Watch the video above to see Jess and Ed talk about games like the adventure game/RPG hybrid Quest for Glory series, the original RollerCoaster Tycoon, Jordan Mechner’s The Last Express from 1996, and 1999’s excellent strategy game Heroes of Might & Magic III. Ed also talks about why he believes the original Fallout game is the best in the franchise.

Despite their dated graphics and systems, these games are still worth your time in 2018 (though whether or not you have time to play them with all the big new releases coming up is another matter). All of them are available on GOG.com, where you can get them without any DRM. Classic games are also available on stores like Steam and other digital storefronts.

Jess and Ed also answer your questions about last week’s Steam Punks where they talked about about the always controversial loot boxes and microtransactions.

Steam Punks airs every Monday on GameSpot. What are some of your favourite old PC games? Let us know in the comments below!

Amazing Spider-Man Takes a Fun Detour

Having just wrapped up his first major Amazing Spider-Man storyline, writer Nick Spencer opts for a palate cleanser with this second, shorter arc. Issue #6 kicks off a goofy storyline that emphasizes the odd dynamic between Peter Parer and new roomie Fred Myers (aka – The Boomerang). The result is every bit the goofy interlude fans of Spencer’s Superior Foes of Spider-Man would expect, even if the art serves as a step down from the previous arc.

Unfortunately, despite what the cover indicates, there isn’t a great deal of emphasis on the Peter/Mary Jane romance in this issue. The focus is more on the growing friction between Peter and Fred and the former’s struggle to expose the latter without outing himself as Spider-Man. It’s a ore low-key conflict, but one that serves as a fun change of pace given the wacky spectacle of recent issues. The plot also takes some amusing turns along the way, resulting in Peter finding himself in the most unlikely place imaginable.

The Bard’s Tale 4: Barrows Deep Review

If you entice me with deep, turn-based RPG combat, clever puzzles, and jaunty, Gaelic folk ballads, you can pretty easily have me eating out of the palm of your hand. The Bard’s Tale IV certainly did for the majority of the 50-ish hours I spent delving its dungeons and enjoying its quirky lore and charming voice acting. The fact that so much of it is so great made it all the more disappointing that it’s hobbled by technical problems too frequently to disregard them.

Set in a picturesque, storybook land that resembles a romanticized medieval Scotland – but with elves and goblins running around – the straightforward but rousing main quest tells a decent tale of ancient sorcerers, kingly bloodlines, and wicked gods. It can get a little hard to follow at times as it seems preoccupied with calling back to as many characters and events as possible of the first three Bard’s Tales, which came out in the ‘80s. But the small lore snippets discovered in books, notes, and NPC conversations help the setting come alive even if you have no idea who Tarjan the Mad God is.

What This Year’s Elseworlds Crossover Tells Us About the Future of the Arrowverse

Today brought even more reason to look forward to this year’s Arrowverse crossover. We now know that the crossover will be titled “Elseworlds,” and that it’ll be introducing the Monitor (played by LaMonica Garrett).

Both reveals offer a much better idea of what this year’s big DC crossover will be about. But even more intriguingly, it hints at the larger direction the Arrowverse could be heading in the years to come. Here’s why the Monitor news is significant and why we think the Arrowverse is building towards a full-fledged adaptation of DC’s Crisis on Infinite Earths.

Who Is the Monitor?

The Monitor is a character first introduced in DC’s comics in 1982. Essentially, he’s DC’s answer to Marvel’s The Watcher – an omniscient being who observes the universe from afar. The Monitor’s duties extend to the whole of the DC multiverse, however. The Monitor became a central figure in 1985’s Crisis on Infinite Earths. There he rallied a group of heroes against his dark opposite, the Anti-Monitor. This villain sought to devour all life and destroy the multiverse entirely, a goal it nearly succeeded in.

American Horror Story: “Forbidden Fruit” Review

Warning: Full spoilers for the episode follow…

Hah. There’s the tie-in we’ve been waiting for!

No more allusions to connective Coven tissue or whiffs of Murder House collusion, but actual Coven witches arriving on the scene. Just as Sarah Paulson’s Apocalypse character fell, her Coven role, “Supreme” Cordelia, showed up to – hopefully – answer a question or twelve.

So, yes, business picked up at the end of “Forbidden Fruit.” Things got interesting. Ah, but does interesting mean good? Not necessarily. See, one of the greatest tricks American Horror Story has pulled over the years is becoming a show so utterly overflowing with massive “WTF?” moments that it gaslights us into thinking good things are happening. Well, things are happening, surely. But that’s all. It’s just plot movement. For every one question answered, three more get raised. Miriam Mead actually being a robot is so bizarre and arbitrary that it feels like a small weird part of a fridge magnet poem where someone keeps switching the words around.

DC’s Doomsday Clock Picks Up the Pace

While Doomsday Clock has so far proven itself to be an engrossing read and a worthy follow-up to Watchmen, it hasn’t been delivering *everything* readers have been wanting out of this story. For a conflict that hinges so heavily on the confrontation between Superman and Doctor Manhattan, we’ve seen surprisingly little of either character in the first six issues. But as the series passes the halfway mark, that’s finally beginning to change. Doctor Manhattan finally becomes a central player in the narrative in issue #7, offering new and compelling insight into how this godlike being reshaped the course of an entire universe.

One of Doomsday Clock’s strengths is the way in which this series so effortlessly replicates the look and tone of Watchmen despite not involving any of that book’s creative team. Part of that boils down to the fact that Gary Frank and Dave Gibbons have such complementary art styles. They’re both precise draftsmen who bring plenty of detail and nuance to every page. But it’s also due to the way Frank and writer Geoff Johns emulate so many of Watchmen’s storytelling devices. There’s the ironic juxtaposition of narration and image, something that only works when writer and artist are working closely in sync.

Video Games Was A Category On Jeopardy Tonight, And The Contestants Didn’t Do So Well

Tonight’s episode of the long-running TV game show Jeopardy featured a “Video Games” category, and the contestants struggled. In the hard-to-watch clip below, the contestants get almost every single question wrong or don’t answer at all, as they do their best at coming up with answers about video games.

Before watching the clip, test yourself and see how you would do. Here are the questions:

“This company’s ‘Infinity’ allowed you to play characters from The Incredibles and Cars, to name a few.” (For 200)
“Morrowind and Skyrim are iterations of this ‘venerable’ set of games.” (For 400)
“A big gaming story of 2018 is Fortnite: This genre of game where the winner is last shooter or last team standing.” (For 600)
“In the classic video game Joust, contestants were placed upon these birds.” (For 800)
“Make your future fighting Ghaul, leader of the Red Legion in the second iteration of this Bungie game.” (For 1,000)

Host Alex Trebek jokes about the contestants not doing so well, which draws laughter from the audience. The fact that the Video Games category was chosen last probably says something about the contestants’ confidence in their video game knowledge.

The cringe-worthy clip can be seen below.

South Park: Season 22 Premiere Review

Warning: Full spoilers for the episode below.

South Park is unique among animated sitcoms in that its lightning-quick production process allows the show to spoof current events at a speed that just isn’t possible anywhere else. The downside to that approach is that the show is only on the air ten weeks out of the year, meaning there’s a lot of great comedic fodder that simply gets passed over. Just look at how much dumber the world has gotten in the ten months since Season 21 wrapped.

The tragedy with South Park’s Season 22 premiere is that it tackles one of those subjects that’s never not topical. Mass shootings are essentially a daily occurrence in the US nowadays, making this episode just as relevant if it debuted in January or April or any other time of year. Well, at least we have proof the show won’t suddenly start pulling its punches this year.

Assassin’s Creed Odyssey Dev Wants Future Games To Feature Male And Female Protagonists

This year’s Assassin’s Creed Odyssey allows players, for the first time in franchise history, to choose to play as a man, Alexios, or a woman, Kassandra. Game director Scott Phillips said in a new interview that he hopes future games developed by Ubisoft Quebec, the lead developer on Odyssey, will also offer players the ability this kind of choice.

“I think it would be a mistake to limit our players, limit our fanbase from as many people as possible,” Phillips told GI.biz. “I don’t know why we would go back. We should continue pushing in this direction, bring in more players, more fans to enjoy this experience and make it their own experience.”

Ubisoft Quebec’s last Assassin’s Creed game, Syndicate, also featured male and female protagonists, but not on the level of Odyssey. That older game featured brother and sister assassins Evie and Jacob Frye with a character-swapping setup throughout. In Odyssey, you get to choose right at the start if you want to play as Alexios or Kassandra.

Playing as either Alexios or Kassandra does affect the story or gameplay. However, both characters have different voice actors and character models, similar to how the male and female Commander Shepards were treated in Mass Effect.

The spinoff Assassin’s Creed III: Liberation features a female protagonist, Aveline.

At E3 2014, Ubisoft made headlines for stating that none of the playable characters in Assassin’s Creed Unity are women because it would have doubled the workload.

The quote from Scott Phillips, the director of Odyssey, seems to suggest that he’s talking about future games from Ubisoft Quebec and not necessarily Ubisoft overall. Development on Assassin’s Creed games is headed up by one studio with Ubisoft’s other teams globally acting as support teams. For example, Ubisoft Montreal led development on last year’s Assassin’s Creed: Origins.

Odyssey launches on October 5 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. The game is also coming to Nintendo Switch, but only as a streaming title in Japan.

PC MMO WildStar Closing For Good In November, Refunds Available

WildStar developer Carbine Studios is shutting down, and as part of this, the game is also coming to an end. Today, Carbine announced exactly when the shutdown will occur.

WildStar will end on November 28, 2018, Carbine announced in a blog post. “It’s never easy to say goodbye to something, especially something that has meant so much for so many,” the studio said. “It has been our great privilege to share those adventures with all of you over the last four years.”

The studio added that its ambition for WildStar was to make “something special that presented a different kind of MMORPG experience.” Carbine said it was happy with the game it launched back in 2014, but unfortunately it failed to find a big enough audience.

Carbine has disabled the ability to spend real money in WildStar, while refunds for real-money purchases made since July 1, 2018 are available. You can read more about the refund process here on WildStar’s website.

To help the remaining WildStar players have the best time possible between now and the shutdown, Carbine updated the game today to make it more enjoyable and accessible. The update gives all players Signature status, while gear drops have their base level increased. Additionally, all seasonal store items are now available to purchase with in-game credit. Additionally, WildStar will offer a number of in-game events faster than normal, starting today with an event that offers double XP and more.

Be sure to read the full “Signing Off” blog post to get all the important details on WildStar’s forthcoming shutdown.

“We are truly grateful for the vibrant community that grew around WildStar, and for all of your support throughout the life of this game,” Carbine said. “Our hope is that in these last couple months we can all celebrate the great adventures you’ve had on Planet Nexus–and have some fun along the way.”

“Again, a most heartfelt thank you goes out from all of us to you for sharing this wild, intergalactic ride with us, and to helping make WildStar an experience that truly could not have been possible without you. Thank you.”

50 people are losing their jobs as part of Carbine’s closure.

WildStar launched with a subscription-based business model before switching to free-to-play as part of a major update in 2015. The studio was working on and hiring for “a number of exciting new projects,” but that’s all over now.