It’s not uncommon for the mechanics of a card or board game to make their way into a video game intact. But not many of those video games are as action-focused as Hand Of Fate, which Defiant Development are making for PCs, PlayStation 4, and, as they recently announced, Xbox One. But in talking to the game’s creative director, Morgan Jaffit, it seems there’s more to this game than what they’ve laid out on the table.
During a recent press tour, Team Ninja’s creative director Tom Lee answered questions about Dead Or Alive 5 Last Round, the latest and last iteration of this fighting game, which will be released on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and digitally on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.
In 1999, when Sega built their South Park pinball table, it ended up being the last pinball table they would ever make. Let’s just hope that’s also not the fate of Zen Studios, who are bringing South Park Pinball — a two-fer with the tables South Park’s Super-Sweet Pinball and South Park: Butter’s Very Own Pinball Game — to Pinball FX2 for the Xbox One, Xbox 360, and PCs via Steam; Zen Pinball 2 for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita, WiiU, and Mac; and Zen Pinball for iOS, Android, and Amazon Fire.
In 1999, the co-writer of Alien, the late Dan O’Bannon, told me that once you’ve seen the movie, you should never watch it again. “It simply cannot be as effective,” he said. “We are afraid of the unknown. When it is known, it’s not as scary.”
But O’Bannon might’ve changed his mind if he’d gotten to play Alien Isolation, a very scary first-person stealth action survival horror from Creative Assembly that Sega are bringing to the Xbox One, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PC.
In 2011, when Turn 10 Studios added optional braking and steering assists to Forza Motorsport 4, they changed their serious racing sim into, well, a still serious racing sim that could also be played as a less realistic racer. But while this was much appreciated, for fans of the latter (like me), it didn’t quite go far enough. Now Playground Games, under the supervision of Turn 10, have improved things further with the Xbox One version of Forza Horizon 2 (the Xbox 360 version of which was made by Sumo Digital, and not provided to me for review). Which is why, despite having some rather irritating issues and a structural problem, Forza Horizon 2 leads the pack as this generation’s best racing game.
With The Pinball Arcade, FarSight Studios have brought classic pinball tables from Williams, Bally, and Stern to the PlayStation 4, 3, and Vita, iOS and Android devices, PCs, and the even the Kindle Fire and Ouya. But how exactly do they recreate those classic pinball machines so exactly, and what does the future hold for this series (and does that include bringing this series to the Xbox One)? I spoke to art director Jason Juneau (who’s been at the company for six year, starting as an animator) and Lead Designer Bobby King (another six year vet who’s also the VP of Product Development), to find out.
With combat that requires you to be tactical, strategic, and careful, the upcoming third-person fantasy action game Lords Of The Fallen — which Namco Bandai will release October 28th on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC — might seem like yet another Dark Souls wannabe. But in talking to executive producer Tomasz Gop from CI Games while trying my best to play it, it became clear that Lords Of The Fallen is trying to do something different…but not a lot different.
Having all but defined the sci-fi first-person shooter genre with Halo, Bungie are now trying to redefine it with Destiny, which they call a “shared world shooter.” But while the game — which Activision has released on the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360 — is far from perfect, especially if you’re not big on sharing, it does have some interesting new ideas, and is as engaging and fun as Bungie’s previous gun games.
The Walking Dead adventure game by Telltale is arguably one of the most engaging adventure games of the last few years. But what would’ve made that emotionally gripping game even better is if there had been a metal ball flying around the whole time, knocking into things.