Building a World: The Universim

The Universim continues it’s promising growth with an early access alpha showcasing some of the early game-play.  Moving beyond the previously released tech demo, this early build brings many of the promises of the developers, Crytivo Games, to life.

It’s a small world afterall.

Though this early release is quite limited, it’s full to the brim with potential.  After establishing your first early settlement, your people, or “nuggets” get set to work as assigned by you through the simple UI.  Whether they start gathering food, stone, or start building and expanding is up to you.  Each nugget can be assigned to these roles dynamically, and can be changed at any time depending on your current needs.

Your nuggets will go off to work, and require little attention from you.  Though you are to decide where and when to build certain advanced structures, your nuggets in Universim will decide where new houses are going to be built, and where they will go to gather resources.  This makes choosing your starting point very important so as to not have your nuggets wondering miles to collect wood or stone.

The dynamic planetary weather system is also key in your early decisions.  Each planet has it’s own unique environment and weather patterns.  A quick look at the available overlays will show you wind patterns, and temperature patterns to give you insight as to where to build.  Cloud and storm systems will travel across the landscape dropping rain, snow and occasional lightning across the land.  Placing your starting town in areas where storms are common, or where the temperatures drop greatly during the winter can be deadly early on.  Crytivo also promises random events will litter the surface with earthquakes, storms, volcanoes and the such throughout your game.

Them’s storm clouds a brewin’

Your nuggets are also dynamic, and each have their own thoughts and emotions.  In later game areas you’ll have to manage all of these aspects to keep a happy tribe together, and you can expect even more problematic issues coming up as you advance into the the modern age and expand across the planet surface.  People in The Universim will live thier lives, grow old and die.  As they age their stats will change to reflect this.  Young Nuggets are fast on their feet and able to carry more produce around, but as they age they slow down, and carry little to nothing.  Clicking on each one will show their stats and a quick biography of their family, and how many children they have.

Future depth to explore

A basic research tree is also available in this release, showcasing three trees of growth available to your society.  There is nothing really new here as most of the early technologies are fairly straightforward and lead to more abilities and buildings.  It will be interesting to see what direction The Universim goes with as you move into the modern and advanced ages.

Come, meet the family

This early build gives a great preview into the potential of The Universim.  The game runs smoothly with a limited amount of bugs, and the groundwork has been laid well for the basic functions of the game.  I’m really looking forward to the various additions forthcoming that will add more layers of challenge to the game.  We haven’t seen a really great ‘God” game in awhile and they have always been one of my favorite genres.  Crytivo games has their hands full with The Universim, but my early impression is that they are the right hands.

As always, thanks for reading, and be sure to share your comments below about The Universim.  Make sure to subscribe to me on YouTube for future updates!  Previous preview can be found here!

To get early access visit The Universim and opt in as an backer for immediate access to the Pre-Alpha build.

Follow @CrytivoGames, @TheUniversim

 

Pick-pocketing and shadows: Kingdom Come Update 0.5

Kingdom Come :Deliverance returns with it’s latest batch of updates.  Though not as exciting as 0.4’s combat update, update 0.5 layers in more details into the overall game experience.  The added items help build the immersion of the environment and start bringing the world to life.

Most of the additions this time around add to the environment and look of Kingdom Come.  New updates to CryEngine allowed Warhorse Studios to add even more dynamic lighting and shadows throughout.  As the sun moves through the sky, shadows shift and waver.  Jumping will let you see the silhouette of your character mimicked on the ground as he bounds into the air.

It’s so pretty!

The music is also more dynamic, and lends to the atmosphere as new events arise, or you enter into combat.  NPC’s now seem to react more to their surroundings as well as you move about the small hamlets currently available to explore.  The addition of an early crime system adds to these reactions, as you now have a chance to loot or pickpocket unsuspecting villagers as you pass.

Hey! Personal space dude!

The combat got some minor updates this time around.  Keyboard and mouse controls were slightly tightened for ease of use, and you can now fight more than one foe at a time.  With the realistic combat of Kingdom come however, it would be rare that you would want to fight more than one person at a time.

I wasn’t able to find any new quests as I explored the countryside, and I’m hoping to get a glimpse at some of the main story quests in the next update when it arrives.  If only to see what a longer, more multi-tiered quest would look like in Kingdom Come.

Now this is first person!

There is still a long way to go, and a long way to wait with Kingdom Come: Deliverance, but everythign so far is looking great.  The addition of more atmosphere is great for the feel of the game.  Adding multiple combatants to battle is the first step for the hopeful epic, larger scale battles to come in later versions.  We can only wait to see what’s in store in update 0.6.

As always thanks for reading and be sure to comment and like below.

Check out Kingdom Come’s backer page for your chance to gain access to the early alpha as well.

Subscribe to me on YouTube.

Check out Update 0.4 right here!

Preview: Overfall

Welcome to a gorgeous, stylistic adventure RPG for the explorer in you.  Brought to us by indie developers Pera Games, Overfall is staged to be an open world exploration RPG set on the high seas in a beautifully hand drawn environment.  They have recently completed their Kickstarter campaign and full development is under way.

I got a chance recently to play through the demo for Overfall.  You quickly set sale into the hand drawn environments with a couple of characters in tow.  A brave fighter is accompanied by a very useful cleric as the starting classes available in the demo.

The early beginnings of multiple classes and races?

Though the current available archetypes for each character are relatively straightforward, the fighter deals massive melee damage, and the cleric works on healing and buffs, there is still a lot of potential for unique characters within the fantasy setting.  The world is filled with interesting characters and creatures, from giant pig men, to goblins, to pirates and of course elves.  These characters are set aside from other games by the cartoonish, but extremely detailed artwork.

This artwork expands into the environment as the backgrounds are gorgeous, and filled with color and life.  The high seas are also filled with activity and dozens of islands to explore, though only a few were available in the demo.

So many places to explore, many on fire though…

The other thing that will grab you in this game is the witty dialogue.  It happened more than once through my play through that I would think something quite witty and funny to myself, just as my character on screen would almost read my mind and say something similar.  The developers obviously know how to make fun of both themselves and the general tropes of similar games and take advantage of that to instill a great deal of humor into the game.

Combat takes place in turned base format on a hexagonal map.  A unique twist added here is the use of various combat stages for each turn.  All characters can take multiple actions each turn this way, with a variety of different abilities available depending on what stage they are in.  Rather than using magic points or something similar, these skills are all on cool downs and can’t be used two turns in a row, meaning you will have to carefully plan how to use your skills each turn or be potentially stuck in a prickly position.

Combat! Comedic Characters! The letter “C”!

If they continue on this path, Pera Games should have a winner for themselves.   Though the Kickstarter is over with, you can certainly support the development by following the developers on Twitter where they have shown to be active and supportive of their community.

As always, thanks for reading and be sure to comment or like below.

Follow my social media madness on Twitter, or Facebook!

Ark: Survival Evolved: Early Access Preview #2

Welcome back to the next dive into Ark: Survival Evolved.  In this episode we will dive right into the core gameplay of Ark.  Though still only in early release, there is a lot of game here.

At it’s core, Ark is has the pretty familiar basics of any survival game.  Land on a seemingly deserted island and quickly find food and shelter to survive.  Early gameplay is fairly cookie cutter in it’s mannerisms, though Ark does add a few new ideas here.  Your first day however will still involve punching the heck out of a load of trees to collect wood and thatch.  You’ll also find other resources scattered around like stone and berries.  Stone acts like any other game’s stone, but berries add a somewhat unique add as many of them have special affects and become extremely useful in later gameplay.  Narco berries for instance can help keep fallen enemies asleep, or yourself if you accidentally eat them.

Pretty sure I can take him

You’ll have to juggle a variety of deadly statuses early on in the game.  The usual things like hunger, and dehydration are here, as well as managing the heat and cold temperatures.  All of these affects can lead to your untimely death, and that’s not to mention the very aggressive enemy A.I.  Death can come from any angle when you step across the path of both small and large carnivorous dinosaurs.  Though you can try to fight them, early on it’s always better to run.  Even the small Dilo’s can quickly take you down with their blinding poison attack.  Luckily the one way you can’t die is by getting stepped on by a Brontosaurus.  With the world’s full day  night cycle, and weather dynamics, death can be around any corner and you won’t see it coming.

To avoid early death it’s important to take advantage of the robust crafting system and also level up your character.  Experience is handled uniquely as it is dolled out in small amounts as you survive.  You can also gain experience by performing any actions in the world.  Gathering materials, crafting items, or of course defeating creatures all help you advance your level.

As your level advances it opens up points to be spent on both your personal stats as well as crafting engrams for which a new variety open up with every major advancement in level.  You can of course build shelters, equipment, clothing, as well as weapons and consumables to help you in your quest to survive.

Time to design some new duds!

Crafting opens up the next big phase of the game, capturing and taming your own dinosaurs and animals.  Every creature in the game can be tamed to be your personal conveyer of goods, extra combatant and most can be ridden if you have the right materials to build their saddle.  This is where the pace of the game stiffens right up though.  Capturing dinosaurs can be a massive endeavor, no pun intended.  Though the smaller animals and dinosaurs tame fairly quickly, larger beasts can take hours to tame.  After carefully knocking the creature out, you must keep them under with narcotics and the before mentioned narco berries, all the while managing their health and keeping them well fed.  Larger creatures like mammoths and stegosaurus can take days of in-game time to tame.  Though this makes each tame animal rewarding, the balance for more casual gamers is lost unless they can find a group that is willing to help in taming creatures for them.

Crafting also becomes tedious at higher levels.  Rather than adding more complex, or higher level materials to combine to create more powerful items, the game instead chooses to have you collect hundreds, upon hundreds of basic materials instead.  though this again adds accomplishment to each task, finding 240 hide to make a mammoth saddle felt very unrealistic, and entirely redundant.

After you are done collecting trophies.  You can also start collecting tributes, to summon creatures to be defeated for unique items at Ark locations throughout the island landscape.  So far this seems to be the available end game for you to build up for and start farming high end equipment and weapons.

Meet ‘Kitty’

With this game still in early access, I am impressed by the amount of content here.  Though the most fun parts of the game lack some balancing, if you can find a good team of players to play along this is lessened.  Low level players can still be useful by gathering mats and help building bases, regardless of whether they have the time to invest in taming high level creatures to their sides.   Hopefully as the game develops this balance will improve and offer more for each type of player to enjoy in game.  Till then I’m going to keep crafting hide pants.

Thanks for reading, and as always, make sure to comment and like below.  Let me know what you think of Ark: Survival Evolved.

Check out part #1 of this two part review here!

 

Kingdom Come: Update 0.4 Preview

It’s finally here!  Kingdom Come: Deliverance update 0.4 is here and with it comes our first taste of sword combat.  I have been really excited to see this update based off of all the talk about how much detail was planned for the sword combat system.  Let’s be honest, shooting a few arrows off at still targets was not nearly enough for me or any of you adventurers.

The new pretty map!

Let’s jump right into the nitty gritty.  This update allows you to partake in a one on one duel in a newly added mercenary camp.  A small wager gives you an opponent in 3 different skills levels to attempt to overcome.  You can also choose to go in your street clothes or gather some armour for more protection.  It also doesn’t hurt to put a small wager on the outcome for some additional funds.

Check out more video on Warhorse Studio’s YouTube page

Combat is controlled from the mouse and movement keys as expected.  You are given a target lock and are able to strafe around your opponent freely, moving in and out as needed.  You can control the angle of your attack with the mouse.  Rotating the mouse around will change your positioning as indicated by a star on your target.  Each time you do so, you get a sense of your balance shifting, and the weight of the sword in your hands.  Holding your sword drains your stamina, lifting and holding it above your head quickens this loss.  Each strike you take feels weighted and heavy.

Just give me the sword already!!!

Strikes can be parried by swinging your sword in the right direction in time with your opponent’s blows.  You can also use a blocking mechanic to avoid the hit altogether and try for a counter attack when your foe falls off balance.  Though it is difficult to master the timing, the movements and reactions feel very realistic. There is definitely a learning curve here over traditional games in the genre, which is exactly what Warhorse studios has been aiming for with Kingdom Come: Deliverance.  You’ll also notice the striking animations were are incredibly smooth and add even more realism to the combat.

Stay on target… Stay on target!

This update has also added more quests to try out, each with multiple ways to solve, and different outcomes.  We are also welcomed to a much larger space to explore and a new town with more people and dialogue to find as well.  Though in my opinion the towns still feel a bit empty besides all the chickens and sheep.  Warhorse has been able to add many more layers here, but the world still doesn’t feel quite as lively as it should.  Now that I have gotten a taste of combat however, I am dying to see more, especially in the form of larger scale battles, or potentially even sieges, though it is yet unclear if these will be included in a later version of the game.

As always, make sure to comment, like and let me know if you have tried the latest version of Kingdom Come!

Make sure to follow development on Twitter with the guys at WarHorse Studios

Make sure to check out my last preview for update 0.3 here.

The Cosmos is MINE!: Early Access Review

TransOrbital miner license?  Sense of adventure?   If you said yes to both of these questions you are perfect for The Cosmos is Mine!, a real time strategy game from Playcorp.  A small Australian developer focusing primarily on strategy games.  The Cosmos is MINE! is a real time strategy game focused on zone control and resource collection.

Dropping you onto a small 3D planet, The Cosmos is Mine! tasks you with competing against other players for the valuable resource of Animus.  The hexagon based maps though seemingly small, are full of detail and various biomes.  Mountains, lakes, forests, and frozen hills cover the landscapes to give each planet a unique look and feel.  The game takes advantage of the unique 3D environment to affect game play.  Line of sight and the various defence towers gain advantages based on their elevation.  Units slow down, or must find new routes to get into zones due to impassable mountains or other obstacles like the oceans.

The world is mine!

The current gameplay is simplified with 4 distinct units.  The engineer builds towers and mining facilities.  The prospector scouts ahead and can capture new zones and bases.  You can engage other players in combat with the assault class, or the artillery class.  Each class is upgradeable via some of the excess Animus you collect.  You must take advantage of each unit, along with the various defensive towers to control zones on each map, as well as guard your Animus collectors.  Every few minutes of a match you are required to reach a certain quota of Animus in order to keep your license and stay in the game.  This mechanic forces you to play a balanced game of attack and defend so as not to miss your quotas as they arrive.

Though you can play a solo campaign, it’s doubtful you will do so more than once to get your bearings.  The multiplayer is where the fun is here.  Currently only 1v1 and 2v2 game types are available.  The 1v1’s have you pushing to quickly get as many zones as possible, or cut off your opponent before he can do the same.  2v2’s on the other hand are hectic affairs as the maps feel small and you must quickly react and work together to avoid being double teamed and watch your quotas be missed.

So much to learn

Though the current build of The Cosmos is MINE! feels like it lacks a little bit of content, what’s here works well.  The environments are lively and interesting.  The learning curve is very low, and it doesn’t take long to get into the game.  There is a great deal of room here to add some more units with differing abilities, and possibly planetary effects that can impact gameplay.   The main concern here is how to add the type of content that will keep players coming back to play over and over again.

Overall: 6.5/10

The Cosmos is MINE! is currently available on Steam Early Access

IGN members can also get the game free this month with their membership.

For a similar game, check out my preview of The Universim

 

Little Briar Rose: Preview

The adventure begins

I recently came across this gem from Elf Games.  Little Briar Rose is a classic point and click adventure with an entirely unique look.  Set amongst the basic story of Sleeping Beauty.  Little Briar Rose takes us on a beautifully designed adventure.

The art of Little Briar Rose is what sets it apart from any other point and click adventure you may have enjoyed recently.  Each area you explore is artfully crafted to appear as living stained glass.  This unique approach adds an incredible vibrancy to each scene.  Every new area you enter is incredibly detailed and colorful.  Characters and interaction points pop to the foreground, even though the entire game is two dimensional.   The nature of this art makes it fun to explore each scene for hidden details that you can play with. Even game overs are handled with a unique crack of the glass, that quickly sends you back to your last save point.

Oops, I think I broke it.

Game play in this adventure is handled through these picturesque scenes.  Each area is filled with characters and items to interact with.  It’s up to you to figure out how to use each character or item to win wishes which will unlock new scenes to explore.  The puzzles in each scene are complex enough to have you fail from time to time, but never to frustration.   The more complicated puzzles have you moving back and forth between unlocked scenes and triggering events in the right order or finding the right set of items.

Though the current playable build of Little Briar Rose is a very early demo, you can see that the developer has really taken their time complete each scene.  Though the story is not a new one, it is still a lot of fun just to witness the various detailed stained glass environments.  The dialogue ranges from comical to downright not so good, but it doesn’t really put a hamper on proceedings.

I may have chosen poorly here.

I am really looking forward to seeing the full game develop.  The bright and colorful environments astound.  The quiet orchestral music flows nicely in the background.  And the overall optimistic nature of the characters and story is a nice change from the generally dark and gritty games we often play now.

For more on Little Briar Rose, visit their developer blog

Follow them on Twitter @BriarRoseGame

For another great preview check out this one for Son of Nor, and don’t forget to comment below!

Son of Nor: Early Release Preview

Son of Nor

I recently got the opportunity to spend some time with Son of Nor from Stillalive Studios. In this action adventure you take control of the elements and set out into the unknown. Tasked with protecting the last standing home for all humans, you quickly jump into the action.

Equipped with your power to control the elements, and it’s setting, I can’t help but be reminded of The Last Airbender when playing Son of Nor. The early tutorial section quickly gives you a glimpse at several basic powers. Taking advantage of the physics based engine, you control the earth, sand and wind around you. This allows you call rocks, broken branches, dropped weapons, even fallen enemies to your use. Throwing these objects at oncoming enemies, or at obstacles to clear them.

Call the elements, (and the leaves?), to your side

The early game play is quite simple, with your first quests having you aid the small starting town. Later you get to defend the town from it’s lizard like foes. Generally though the only danger comes from falling, or mishandling your powers and accidentally dropping a boulder on your head. The quick feel of power however is rewarding. There are several other powers and abilities to be gained as you explore the world. The power over fire and water for example. You can also combine these powers to make more powerful attacks. Flaming tornado anyone?

I’ve got a lot to learn

Visually Son of Nor isn’t the best looking game. There are many clipping issues, textures pop in and out, and the polygon levels are fairly low. This is early access however, so many of these issues are likely to be smoothed out in later updates. The overall vibrancy of the game is subdued as well, with mostly neutral colours in the pallet. Lots of browns, and beiges don’t add much life to your surroundings. The powers however work fairly well, and the control scheme is easy to adapt to.

All of the early scenes contain full voiceovers. This adds an element of polish to the game, however the voice over quality is a bit over the top and a little campy. The campiness goes along with the general storyline. There is a detailed story here, but it often feels like bits and pieces of other stories we have already played, or seen. What does come to the surface though is the developer’s sense of humour. There are a lot of silly, funny lines in the game, some characters often complaining about you terraforming the ground underneath their feet gave a few laughs for instance. I have only spent a short time with Son of Nor however, so I am hopeful that the story will improve as I dive deeper into the game.

Well, don’t mind if I do infact!

The overall sense of power early on makes Son of Nor a fun play. You get to smash a lot of stuff to your hearths content. As you earn new spells, this sense of fun continues throughout the game. The lighthearted comical nature of dialogue, though campy and sometimes overly silly often still adds to this fun. I hope that later parts of the game, are more colourful and vibrant than the early zones to encourage more exploration. I will definitely keep an eye on Son of Nor’s progress and check in when they next update.

While you are here, check out my preview of Kingdom Come: Deliverance Update 0.3

Kingdom Come: Deliverance Update 0.3

Still looks gorgeous!

Continuing it’s early alpha development, WarHorse Studios recently gave us some more to chew on in their upcoming Kingdom Come: Deliverance. Adding two new quests for us to try out in this version we get a look at alchemy and lock picking. Kingdom Come continues it’s quest here to give us close to realism in the gameplay.

Both the alchemy and lock picking require some skill, timing and patience. Lock picking for instance has you coordinate both hands to keep the lock pick steady inside the lock as you slowly turn the lock. Making good use of your coordination, this takes time and concentration to do correctly. We can also see how if given some pressure to complete this task under duress of someone finding you might be interesting as well. Alchemy has you tasked with first collecting the right herbs and ingredients. The mini game in this case tasks you with placing the ingredients in the right order, and leaving them in for the appropriate amount of time. Though in my practice the current game seems rather forgiving in both of these tasks, and I could rarely fail. The overall dynamic of alchemy however is very unique, and something refreshing from just watching a bar fill to get your potions.

I test my lock picking skills

This version also dives into some more detailed quests. In the minor quests we are given here, we have multiple choices on to how to resolve each problem that comes up. There are various routes to resolve each situation, either through manipulating people, impressing them with your charisma, or just being friendly. Though these early quests are quite simple, they still give a good inclination on how the bigger quests will favour multiple styles of gameplay.

Minor inclusions in this version contain some rudimentary voice overs, and various bug fixes adding to the overal polish of the game. The one big thing we are still waiting and hoping for at this point is the ability to dive into some combat and really test out this realistic world and what it offers. Here is hoping for the next update.

Check out my first preview for Kingdom Come: Deliverance here!

World Of Warships: Beta Preview

Time to engage!

World of Warships is an action packed tactical wargame. Emphasis on the action. Taking from their previous games, Wargames.net uses the same mold with World of Warships. The free to play model gives you instant access to one tier of small warships to start your campaign to collect them all. Like with Wargames.net previous entries, World of Warships has you earn experience points and cash that allow you to research and buy new ships and upgrades. From my early closed Beta test experience so far, they have done an adequate job of not making new equipment and ships seem inaccessible. You can generally find yourself able to afford a new ship after only a few battles, assuming you can hit the enemy on a fairly regular basis.

It’s a lot of fun watching enemies explode.

Early gameplay is pretty fast paced as early ships are small and maneuverable, and don’t carry much fire power, nor hit points. These first few battles are quick and allow you to get used to the basic controls, navigation and firing techniques. Though the actual combat is more action oriented, and not a true simulation, it still takes a fair amount of skill to judge distance and speed before firing your canons, or loosing torpedoes.

As you gain experience, higher ranked ships become available. These ships vary in class from cruisers, to destroyers, to massive battleships or aircraft carriers. World of Warships does a great job offering a varied amount of combat once these second and third tier options open up.

Cruisers, the first ship type you have access to, offer balance in performance and firepower. They are fairly maneuverable and the higher tiers carry both an assortment of guns, as well as torpedoes, and anti-aircraft flak guns. Destroyers are fast and highly maneuverable. They tend to favour those who enjoy the torpedo game and can move quickly into range to fire, and escape by dropping smoke screens to hide themselves and allies. Battleships are the heavy hitters, and tend to stay at range firing massive guns for similarly massive damage. The aircraft carriers offer the most unique play experience, as they mostly lack any direct fire weapons and must rely entirely on their loadout of planes. When choosing and aircraft carrier, you find yourself generally moving between an overhead tactical view of the entire battle, and to your various planes, either fighters, bombers, or torpedo bombers. This mix of styles is very welcome, and offers variety to each battle.

It’s almost as much fun watching yourself explode.

Visually, the details of each ship really stands out. You can zoom out and in, and see even tiny details like deck plates on each ship. Water effects are solid, and explosions are vibrant and effective. Throughout each battle you are given both visual and audio cues to let you know your status, and any potential threats. Incoming fire and torpedoes are clearly identified, and warnings flash on your screen if you are on a collision course with one of the many small islands.

The only current struggle so far in closed beta, is the sometimes clunky match making system. Wait times can be long, and sometimes teams are very unbalanced either in tiers or total players. Though many of these issues are derived from the current amount of players in the closed beta. Overall however, the game seems to run smoothly even at the highest graphic settings, with only occasional lag and hiccups.

In it’s early state, World of Warships is looking to match the addictive nature of it’s predecessors. It offers a solid variety of gameplay options, and many ships for you to unlock and collect. With the premium options limited to a small variety of ships, and faster xp and in-game cash accumulation this should turn out to be another success.