Crytek CES Cevat Yerli has been rather busy with comments as of late, largely due to promoting the upcoming release of Crysis 2 for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Windows PC. His latest quote arrived just one day after the exclusive multiplayer demo launched on the Xbox 360 console, revealing a tidbit of information about the third Crysis game.
"We definitely want to make Crysis 3," he admitted when asked about mapping out Crysis as a trilogy. "I'm not making a formal announcement. We'd like to make Crysis 3 but the second game needs to be successful first. I will mention that there is a plan for how the fiction of Crysis should roll out, but again, it depends on the success of Crysis 2."
He added that if Crysis 2 doesn't meet its goals "for whatever reason" and doesn't even break even, then there may not be a Crysis 3. "But if it sells anywhere near what [Call of Duty] Black Ops has, there may be more from Crysis," he added. Given that he previously said that 3D would be a native trait in the next four Crysis games in the franchise, the current wait-and-see approach seems a bit more reasonable.
Outside the Crysis franchise, Yerli said that the company is looking to expand beyond the FPS genre. "We have a bigger ability now to expand with more games," he said. "As a company we can't just make shooters, we need to breed genuinely new forms of entertainment and interactive experiences... The genre may not even exist yet for that matter, so what we're keen on is games that offer new experiences for every moment the gamer plays."
Yerli added that he expects the next generation of consoles to hit the market in 2013. In the meantime, Crysis 2 is still slated to arrive on the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Windows PC on March 22.
King Arthur is a real-time strategy and role-playing video game developed and published by Neocore Games. It seeks to blend elements of the real-time strategy, role-playing, and grand strategy genres into one. A sequel has been confirmed to be in development.[2]
Gameplay:
Game play in King Arthur is an mix of real-time strategy, role-playing, and grand strategy elements. The grand strategy portion of the game is played on a large campaign map of Britannia. When a battle is fought, the action changes to a real-time strategy mode. The position of the battle on the large-scale map has minimal impact on the environment of the battlefield,[clarification needed]
Warfare:
During the real-time battles, the RPG-style abilities of the heroes come into play. Heroes wield magical and non-magical abilities, such as the power to call down lightning, or the ability to change the conditions of the battlefield. Heroes are devastating in melee combat, able to take on dozens of troops. Heroes also inspire nearby troops and keep up the morale of the army as a whole. If the leader of the army is captured, however, the blow to army morale can be devastating.
The battlefield itself also has an impact on gameplay and the outcome of the battle. Most battles begin in sunlight. Units have access to various formations, which increase or decrease their effectiveness against certain types of enemies. The terrain affects the effectiveness of certain units; woodland, for example, hampers cavalry while open fields helps their momentum.
Morale plays a large role in the real-time mode; a varying number of victory locations, similar to "control points" in many first-person shooters, are located on each map. If one side holds more victory locations than the other the morale of the side holding fewer victory locations will decrease steadily. The rate of morale decrease is proportional the difference in number of victory locations controlled. In addition, taking control of a victory locations confers an immediate magical power to the owner. Victory locations tend to be strategically located, such as on hills or nearby buildings (which provide cover); capturing and retaining these points is crucial to victory - the complete loss of morale results in defeat.
Units gain experience during combat, and can be leveled up the following winter season. The AI has been noted[by whom?] to be effective and aggressive in capturing these victory locations, and in using hero abilities to maximum effect.
Campaign:
The campaign map displays an overview of Roman Britain in a fantasy-oriented style. Laws, research, and production all play a role in building the player's kingdom. Economy is streamlined and fairly automatic; there are only two resources: food and gold, both collected from the player's provinces. Certain hero abilities can increase the output of a province. This large-scale strategy mode also integrates the four seasons into the campaign. Each turn represents a season. During winter, all army movement ceases and taxes roll in to the coffers. Units also level up during the winter months. Quests or events, such as rebellions or volunteers for the player's armies, appear on the map. Similar to the campaign map layout in Empire: Total War, each province has several towns, castles, or other places of conquest. To control the province completely, the player must conquer every one of these. Every one of the player's major actions has an effect upon the morality of the player's faction, measured in two ways: by religion and type of ruler. There are only two forms of religion in King Arthur, Christianity, and the "Old Faith". There are several advantages and disadvantages to both, and both unlock advanced and powerful units. The player can also either be a tyrant, or "rightful king",[clarification needed] which in concert with the player's choice of religion allows the player to unlock specific units.
The game is driven forward largely through quests that appear on the campaign map. Only knights can undertake quests. Once a knight has chosen to undertake a quest, a game resembling text adventure begins. The player has a series of options and, depending on the attributes of his knight, can intimidate or talk his way through.
Role-playing:
When units level up, the player can boost several attributes, for example, attack, defense, or decreasing upkeep costs. When heroes level up, they may gain access to new spells and effects, as well as an increase in their martial skills. Heroes, called "Knights of the Round-table", have 20 levels maximum. Both active and passive abilities can be acquired. For example, many passive abilities increase crop and taxes production in the province that the hero is currently in. An active ability is one triggered during combat, such as lightning.
Final Fantasy XIII(ファイナルファンタジーXIIIFainaru Fantajī Sātīn?) is a consolerole-playing video game developed and published by Square Enix for the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360. Released in 2009 in Japan and 2010 in North America and PAL regions, it is the thirteenth installment in the Final Fantasy series. The game includes fast-paced combat,
a new system for the series for determining which abilities are
developed for the characters called "Crystarium", and a customizable
"Paradigm" system to control which abilities are used by the characters.
Final Fantasy XIII includes elements from the previous games in the series, such as summoned monsters, chocobos, and airships.
The game takes place in the fictional floating world of Cocoon, whose
government, the Sanctum, is ordering a purge of civilians who have
supposedly come into contact with Pulse, the much-feared world below.
The former soldier Lightning begins her fight against the government in
order to save her sister who has been branded as an unwilling servant to
a god-like being from Pulse, making her an enemy of Cocoon. Lightning
is soon joined by a band of allies, and together the group also become
marked by the same Pulse creature. They rally against the Sanctum while
trying to discover their assigned task and whether they can avoid being
turned into monsters or crystals at the completion.
Development began in 2004 and the game was first announced at Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) 2006. Final Fantasy XIII is the flagship title of the Fabula Nova Crystallis collection of Final Fantasy games and is the first game to use Square Enix's Crystal Tools engine. Final Fantasy XIII received mostly positive reviews from video game publications,
which praised the game's graphics, presentation, and battle system.
Reviewers were more mixed in their opinion about the game's story and linearity compared to previous games in the series. Selling 1.7 million copies in Japan in 2009, Final Fantasy XIII
became the fastest-selling title in the history of the series. As of
May 2010, the game had sold 6.2 million copies worldwide. On January 18,
2011, Square Enix announced a sequel titled Final Fantasy XIII-2, to be released later that year.
Gameplay
he player directly controls the on-screen character through a
third-person perspective to interact with people, objects, and enemies
throughout the game. The player can also turn the camera around the
characters, which allows for a 360° view of the surroundings.[2] The world of Final Fantasy XIII
is rendered to scale relative to the characters in it; instead of a
caricature of the character roaming around miniature terrain, as found
in the earlier Final Fantasy games, every area is represented proportionally. The player navigates the world by foot or by Chocobo.[3]
Players may save their game to a hard disk drive using save stations,
where the player can also purchase items from retail networks or upgrade
their weapons.[4] An in-game datalog provides a bestiary and incidental information about the world of Final Fantasy XIII.[5] The Final Fantasy XIII Ultimate Hits International version of the game, released in Japan, also contains an "Easy" mode option.[6]
Characters
The six main playable characters of Final Fantasy XIII are Lightning, the main protagonist of the game, a former soldier and older sister to Serah;[26][27]Snow Villiers, Serah's fiancee and leader of NORA, a paramilitary group;[28]Oerba Dia Vanille, the game's narrator and an exile who is later revealed to be a l'Cie from Pulse;[29]Sazh Katzroy, a civilian pilot and father to a young boy, Dajh;[30]Hope Estheim, a young boy who is struggling within the relationships he shares with his parents;[31] and Oerba Yun Fang, a l'Cie from Pulse who is working with the Sanctum's Cavalry branch.[32] Other characters include Galenth Dysley, the ruler of the Sanctum;[33] Cid Raines, a Sanctum Brigadier General in the Cavalry who does not trust the government;[11] and Serah Farron, Lightning's younger sister and Snow's fiancee.[27]
Story
Final Fantasy XIII begins in Cocoon as the citizens of the
town of Bodhum are being evicted, or Purged, from Cocoon after coming in
contact with something from Pulse.[34]
Over the course of the game, the player is shown flashbacks of the
events of the previous 13 days, which began when a fal'Cie from Pulse
was discovered near Bodhum. Lightning's sister Serah had found the
fal'Cie from Pulse and been changed into a l'Cie by it. Lightning and
Sazh derail a Purge train bound for Pulse in an attempt to save Serah.
In the subsequent battle, Snow leads his resistance group, NORA, to
rescue the Purge exiles. Several of them, including Hope's mother, are
killed. As Snow heads to the fal'Cie Anima to save Serah, he is joined
by two of the exiles: Hope and Vanille. The two groups meet at the
fal'Cie, and find Serah just as she turns to crystal. Anima then brands
them all as l'Cie and they are cast out into a different part of Cocoon.
During this transformation, the newly crested l'Cie all have the same
vision: a monster called Ragnarok.[35]
The group, arguing over the ambiguous nature of the dreamed Focus, find
Serah in her crystallized form; Snow remains with her as the others
leave.
Snow meets Cid and Fang after being captured and detained aboard the airshipLindblum.
Meanwhile, the others escape from PSICOM, but are separated during an
air strike; Hope and Lightning travel to Palumpolum, while Sazh and
Vanille travel to Nautilus. In Lightning's scenario, she unintentionally
supports Hope's goal of killing Snow as revenge for his mother's death.[36]
In Vanille's scenario, Sazh discusses how his son Dajh was turned into a
l'Cie by a Cocoon fal'Cie and was taken by PSICOM to discover his
Focus.[30]
At Palumpolum, Lightning tries to persuade Hope not to go through with
his revenge and meets Snow and Fang. Fang reveals that she and Vanille
were l'Cie from Pulse who were turned into crystals; they were turned
back into humans 13 days prior to the start of the game, sparking the
Purge.[37] Hope attempts to murder Snow, but after Snow saves him from an airstrike, he decides not to go through with it.[38]
The party then escapes the city with Cid's aid. At Nautilus, Vanille
reveals herself to Sazh as a l'Cie from Pulse, and indirectly the reason
that Dajh was turned into a l'Cie.[29] PSICOM then captures Sazh and Vanille and detains them on board the airship Palamecia.
The other members of the party stage a rescue mission and reunite
with Vanille and Sazh before they confront Galenth Dysley, the Sanctum's
Primarch. Dysley reveals himself as the Cocoon fal'Cie ruler
Barthandelus.[39]
He tells them that their Focus is to transform into the beast Ragnarok
and slay the sleeping fal'Cie Orphan, who keeps Cocoon afloat above
Pulse. Slaying the fal'Cie Orphan will result in the destruction of
Cocoon. The party escapes and learns from Cid that the fal'Cie believe
that Cocoon's destruction will summon the Maker, the creator of the
worlds. The fal'Cie cannot harm Orphan themselves.[40]
Vanille and Fang reveal to the party that they were involved in the War
of Transgression centuries prior, and that their Focus then had been
the same: to transform into Ragnarok and attempt to destroy Orphan.[41]
The party flies away to Pulse and travels to Oerba, Vanille and Fang's
hometown, where they hope to learn how to remove their l'Cie marks. They
are unsuccessful, and Dysley confronts the group again. He tells them
that he is forcing Cid, now the head of the Sanctum, to create chaos in
Cocoon to force the Cavalry to attack Cid and Orphan in a coup d'état.[42]
The party infiltrates Cocoon with the goal of preventing its
destruction. They head towards Orphan only to find that the Cavalry have
been turned into Cie'th. The party encounters Dysley and overpowers
him, but Orphan awakens and merges with Dysley, then compels Fang to
finish her Focus as Ragnarok while the others are seemingly transformed
into Cie'th. The group reappears in human form, preventing Fang from
transforming. The party engage and defeat Orphan[43]
and escape Cocoon, which is now falling towards Pulse. As the rest of
the party turns to crystal for completing their Focus, Vanille and Fang
remain on Cocoon and transform into Ragnarok together. They prevent a
collision between Cocoon and Pulse by turning themselves into a crystal
pillar between the two worlds. The rest of the party awaken from their
crystallization on Pulse and find their l'Cie brands gone. The game ends
with Lightning and Snow reuniting with Serah and Sazh reuniting with
Dajh.
Counter-Strike is a first-person shooter in which players join
either the terrorist team, the counter-terrorist team, or become a
spectator. Each team attempts to complete their mission objective and/or
eliminate the opposing team. Each round starts with the two teams spawning simultaneously.
A player can choose to play as one of four different default character models (four for each side, although Counter-Strike: Condition Zero
added two extra models, bringing the total to ten). Players are
generally given a few seconds before the round begins (known as "freeze
time") to prepare and buy equipment, during which they cannot attack or
walk/move (a player can still take damage, having the player drop from a
certain height during freeze time was the only way a map designer could
control the players starting "HP").
They can return to the buy area within a set amount of time to buy more
equipment (some custom maps included neutral "buy zones" that could be
used by both teams). Once the round has ended, surviving players retain
their equipment for use in the next round; players who were killed begin
the next round with the basic default starting equipment.
Standard monetary bonuses are awarded for winning a round, losing a
round, killing an enemy, being the first to instruct a hostage to
follow, rescuing a hostage or planting (Terrorist)/defusing (Counter
terrorist) the bomb.
The scoreboard displays team scores in addition to statistics for each player: name, kills, deaths, and ping
(in milliseconds). The scoreboard also indicates whether a player is
dead, carrying the bomb (on bomb maps), or is the VIP (on assassination
maps), although information on players on the opposing team is hidden
from a player until his/her death, as this information can be important.
Killed players become "spectators" for the duration of the round;
they cannot change their names until they spawn (come alive) again, text
chat cannot be sent to or received from live players; and voice chat
can only be received from live players and not sent to them (unless the cvarsv_alltalk
is set to 1). Spectators are generally able to watch the rest of the
round from multiple selectable views, although some servers disable some
of these views to prevent dead players from relaying information about
living players to their teammates through alternative media (most
notably voice in the case of Internet cafes and Voice over IP programs such as TeamSpeak or Ventrilo). This form of cheating is known as "ghosting".
Gears of War 3 is a third-person shootervideo game developed by Epic Games and published by Microsoft Studios exclusively for the Xbox 360. Originally due for release in April 2011, the game was delayed and eventually released on September 20, 2011.[2] Gears of War 3 made over one million pre-orders making it one of the most anticipated games of 2011.[3] It is the third installment of the Gears of War series, and the final game in the current story arc.[4]
The story was written by science fiction author Karen Traviss, who has authored four Gears novels and is working on the next one.[5]
Gameplay
Gears of War 3, like its predecessors, is a third-person shooter
that emphasizes the use of cover and squad tactics in combat
situations. The player's character can carry four weapons: one pistol,
one set of grenades, and two other weapons, all which can be swapped
with other weapons dropped by fallen foes or at stockpiles throughout
the game. Most weapons feature a secondary fire mode; the game's
signature rifle, the Lancer, includes a chainsaw bayonet that can be
used at close range to slice through enemies. When the player reloads a
weapons ammunition, they have an opportunity for an "active reload",
shown by a small cursor moving over a line with a marked section on the
player's heads-up display
(HUD). If the player hits a control button when the cursor is in the
marked section, they will reload faster with the resulting reload being
slightly more powerful than normal bullets. If they press the button
outside this section, this temporarily jams the weapon, leaving the
player vulnerable. Alternatively, the player can opt to not try to for
the active reload, reloading the weapon at normal speed. At times, the
player can carry a heavier weapon, such as a mortar or gatling gun,
which slows their pace while it is carried.
When in combat, the player can take some damage from enemy fire,
filling a blood-colored "crimson omen" on the HUD as a measure of the
player's health. By staying out of the line of fire, this will
dissipate, but by taking too much damage, the player will become downed,
and must be brought to their feet by an ally within a short "bleed-out"
period, or else the player will die. The player can also be killed
during the bleed-out by the use of an execution move by the enemy. Some
types of damage, such as explosives or head shots, can kill the player
immediately without the bleed-out period. Similarly, the player can also
cause enemies to fall into bleed-out in the same manner. The player and
their allies and enemies can use nearly any structure as cover, firing
blind from behind it or leaning out to take aimed shots. Players can
quickly switch between nearby covering walls or jump over lower cover to
rush forward. Within Gears of War 3, some cover can be destroyed
after taking some amount of damage, which can be used to a tactical
advantage to draw out enemies from cover.
New to Gears of War 3 is the ability to tag enemy opponents;
computer-controller allies will then concentrate fire on these marked
enemies, while human allies will be alerted to their location on their
HUD. Players can now also swap weapons and ammunition with other allies
in the course of battle.
The player maintains an experience level
that persists across all game modes. The player earns experience
through kills, performing special types of kills, reviving and aiding
teammates, and through general process of the campaign or competitive
modes. Earning levels unlocks the use of special character skins and
weapons within the game's multiplayer mode.
World of Warcraft (WoW) is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) by Blizzard Entertainment. It is the fourth released game set in the fantasy Warcraft universe, which was first introduced by Warcraft: Orcs & Humans in 1994.[5]World of Warcraft takes place within the Warcraft world of Azeroth, approximately four years after the events at the conclusion of Blizzard's previous Warcraft release, Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne.[6] Blizzard Entertainment announced World of Warcraft on September 2, 2001.[7] The game was released on November 23, 2004, on the 10th anniversary of the Warcraftfranchise.
The first expansion set of the game, The Burning Crusade, was released on January 16, 2007.[8] The second expansion set, Wrath of the Lich King, was released on November 13, 2008.[9] The third expansion set, Cataclysm, was released on December 7, 2010. At BlizzCon
in October 2010, lead producer J. Allen Brack announced that there
would be a fourth expansion set for the game, though the developers did
not yet know what it would be about.[10] On October 21, 2011, the fourth expansion set of the game, Mists of Pandaria, was announced at Blizzcon 2011 by Chris Metzen.[11]
With 10.3 million subscribers as of November 2011,[12]World of Warcraft is currently the world's most-subscribed MMORPG,[9][13][14] and holds the Guinness World Record for the most popular MMORPG by subscribers.[15][16][17][18]
Gameplay
Starting a character or play session
As with other MMORPGs, players control a character avatar (also referred to as a "toon") within a game world in third- or first-person view, exploring the landscape, fighting various monsters, completing quests, and interacting with non-player characters (NPCs) or other players. Also similar to other MMORPGs, World of Warcraft requires the player to pay for a subscription, either by buying prepaid game cards for a selected amount of playing time, or by using a credit or debit card to pay on a regular basis.[19]
To enter the game, the player must select a realm—sometimes referred to as a server. Each realm acts as an individual copy of the game world, and falls into one of four categories. Realms are either player versus player (PvP), where open combat among players is more common, or player versus environment (PvE), where the gameplay is more focused on defeating monsters and completing quests. Roleplay
(RP) and roleplay-PvP (RP-PVP) variants of both primary realm types are
also available. Realms are also categorized by language, with in-game
support in the language available.[20]
Players can make new characters on all realms, and it is also possible
to move already established characters between realms for a fee.[21]
To create a new character, in keeping with the storyline of previous Warcraft series
games, players must choose between the opposing factions of Alliance or
Horde. Characters from the opposing factions can perform rudimentary
communication, but only members of the same faction can speak, mail,
group, and share guilds. The player selects the new character's race, such as Orcs or Trolls for the Horde or Humans or Dwarves for the Alliance.[22] Players must also select the class for the character, with choices such as mages, warriors, and priests available.[23] Most classes, except for special "Hero classes," are limited to particular races.
Ongoing gameplay
As characters become more developed, they gain various talents and
skills, requiring the player to further define the abilities of that
character.[24]
Professions such as tailoring, blacksmithing, and mining can be
learned. The three secondary skills, cooking, fishing, and first-aid,
can also be learned by characters.[25] On December 7, 2010, Archeology was added as a fourth skill characters could learn.[26] Characters may also form and join guilds,
allowing characters within the guild access to the guild's chat
channel, the guild name and optionally allowing other features,
including a guild tabard, guild bank, and dues.[27]
Much of World of Warcraft play involves "questing". These quests, also called "tasks" or "missions", are usually available from NPCs.[28]
Quests usually reward the player with some combination of experience
points, items, and in-game money. Quests also allow characters to gain
access to new skills and abilities, and explore new areas.[29]
It is also through quests that much of the game's story is told, both
through the quest's text and through scripted NPC actions.[30] Quests are linked by a common theme, with each consecutive quest triggered by the completion of the previous, forming a quest chain.
Quests commonly involve killing a number of creatures, gathering a
certain number of resources, finding a difficult to locate object,
speaking to various NPCs, visiting specific locations, interacting with
objects in the world, or delivering an item from one place to another.
While a character can be played on its own(solo), players can also
group with others to tackle more challenging content. Most end-game
challenges are designed in a way that they can only be overcome while in
a group. In this way, character classes are used in specific roles
within a group.[28][31]World of Warcraft
uses a "rested bonus" system, increasing the rate that a character can
gain experience points after the player has spent time away from the
game.[24] When a character dies, it becomes a ghost—or wisp for Night Elf characters—at a nearby graveyard.[29]
Characters can be resurrected by other characters that have the
ability, or can self-resurrect by moving from the graveyard to the place
where they died. If a character is past level ten and they resurrect at
a graveyard, the items equipped by the character degrade, requiring
in-game money and a specialist NPC to repair them. Items that have
degraded heavily become unusable until they are repaired. If the
location of the character's body is unreachable, they can use a special
"spirit healer" NPC to resurrect at the graveyard. When the spirit
healer revives a character, items equipped by the character at that time
are further degraded, and the character is significantly weakened by
what is in-game called "resurrection sickness" for up to ten minutes,
depending on the character's level. This "resurrection sickness" does
not occur and item degradation is less severe if the character revives
by locating its body, or is resurrected by another player through
special items or spells.[32][33] World of Warcraft contains a variety of mechanisms for PvP play. Players on PvE servers can opt to "flag" themselves, making themselves attackable to players of the opposite faction.[34] Depending on the mode of the realm, PvP
combat between members of opposing factions is possible at almost any
time or location in the game world—the only exception being the starting
zones, where the PvP "flag" must be enabled by the player wishing to fight against players of the opposite faction. PvE
(called normal or RP) servers, by contrast, allow a player to choose
whether or not to engage in combat against other players. On both server
types, there are special areas of the world where free-for-all combat
is permitted. Battlegrounds, for example, are similar to dungeons: only a
set number of characters can enter a single battleground, but
additional copies of the battleground can be made to accommodate
additional players.[35]
Each battleground has a set objective, such as capturing a flag or
defeating an opposing general, that must be completed in order to win
the battleground. Competing in battlegrounds rewards the character with
tokens and honor points that can be used to buy armor, weapons, and
other general items that can aid a player in many areas of the game.
Winners get more honor and tokens than losers. However, players also
earn honor when they or nearby teammates kill players in a battleground.[34]
Setting
World of Warcraft shares the Warcraft title with the Warcraft series of real-time strategy games, is set in that series' world of Azeroth, and has similar art direction.[19]World of Warcraft contains traditional fantasy elements, such as gryphons, dragons, and elves; steam-powered automata and extreme engineering typical of steampunk; zombies, vampires, and other undead typical of horror; as well as time travel, spaceships, and alien worlds typical of science fiction.[citation needed] World of Warcraft takes place in a 3D representation of the Warcraft
universe that players can interact with through their characters. The
game world initially consisted of the two continents in Azeroth: Kalimdor and the Eastern Kingdoms. Two separate expansions later added to the game's playable area the realm of Outland and the continent of Northrend.
As a player explores new locations, different routes and means of
transportion become available. Players can access "flight masters" in
newly discovered locations to fly to previously discovered locations in
other parts of the world.[36]
Players can also use boats, zeppelins, or portals to move from one
continent to another. Although the game world remains relatively similar
from day to day, seasonal events reflecting real world events—such as
Halloween,[37] Christmas, Children's Week,[34]
Easter, and Midsummer—have been represented in the game world.
Locations also have variable weather including, among other things,
rain, snow, and dust storms.[36]
A number of facilities are available for characters while in towns
and cities. In each major city, characters can access a bank in order to
deposit items, such as treasure or crafted items. Each character has
access to personal bank storage with the option to purchase additional
storage space using in-game gold.[38] Additionally, guild banks are available for use by members of a guild with restrictions being set by the guild leader.[39]
Auction houses are also available for players to buy and sell items to
others in a similar way to online auction sites such as eBay.[40]
Players can also use mailboxes, which can be found in almost every
town. Mailboxes are used to collect items won at auction, and to send
messages, items, and in-game money to other characters.[24]
Some of the challenges in World of Warcraft require players to
group together to complete them. These usually take place in
dungeons—also known as "instances"—that a group of characters can enter
together. The term "instance" comes from each group or party having a
separate copy, or instance, of the dungeon, complete with their own
enemies to defeat and their own treasure or rewards.[41]
This allows a group to explore areas and complete quests without others
interfering. Dungeons are spread over the game world and are designed
for characters of varying progression. A typical dungeon will allow up
to five characters to enter as part of a group. Some dungeons require
more players to group together and form a "raid" of up to forty players
to face some of the most difficult challenges.[42]
As well as dungeon-based raid challenges, several creatures exist in
the normal game environment that are designed for raids to attack.[37][43]
Assassin's Creed: Revelations is a video game in the Assassin's Creed franchise developed and published by Ubisoft Montreal. The game was released for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on November 15, 2011. For Microsoft Windows, the game is delayed until December 2, 2011.[3]
Throughout the course of the game, the three protagonists from the previous games are featured: Ezio, Altair, and Desmond. It has been announced that it is the last game to feature Ezio Auditore da Firenze and the final game to be set in the Renaissance era.[4][5]
GAMEPLAY:
The game follows the series' standard open-world gameplay. New gameplay additions include an item called the hookblade, which can be used to zipline across the city or grab enemies to yank them in for a combo attack. The hookblade reportedly speeds up navigation by around 30 percent. Along with the hookblade, Ezio also has 300 different bomb variations at his disposal, which are to be crafted.[6] The game features "Dali-esque" first-person platforming missions in a radical departure for the series.[7]
Also added and expanded are siezing districts of the city from the Templars. While capturing a district is very similar to Brotherhood, the Templars will attempt to recapture districts, which Ezio must defend using a "tower defense" minigame, where he controls a group of assassins from rooftops against several waves of Templar soldiers and siege equipment. Similar to Brotherhood, initiates can be sent on missions to other regions, eventually wresting control from the Templars, and then using the city to produce a stream of income and new Assassin recruits.
The game is playable in full 3D across all three platforms: PC, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360, with the console versions supporting both stereoscopic 3D mode for 3D HDTVs and for 2D HDTVs. All Revelations gameplay and cinematics have S3D support.[8]
MULTIPLAYER:
Multiplayer gameplay is also makes a return in Revelations. The mode expands the basics of online modes from Brotherhood with new characters and locations. Players are able to customize their characters' appearance and weapons, as well as start a guild and create its unique coat of arms. Matchmaking and game interface are also improved. Ubisoft says that while the component is returning, they’re putting greater focus towards the narrative, as it’s the heart of the franchise.[9] As players level up in the multiplayer game, they move up in their Abstergo Templar rank and gain access to more information about the company.
New multiplayer modes are added to the already existing modes, including "story-oriented quests", as well as a much requested Capture the Flag mode. Some multiplayer maps are based in the island of Rhodes.[10] Among the new additions is a new multiplayer mode - Deathmatch - which differs from the previous multiplayer gameplay in that there is no compass pointing toward your assigned target, rather, there is a box in the top right of the screen where your current target is displayed. It glows blue when you enter the line of sight of your target.
Dragon Age III will be set in Thedas, the fantasy world in which the two previous games are set. The game will cover more geographic territory than its predecessors, with one map being described as four to five times the size of Ferelden, the setting of the first game in the series.[3]
The plot will involve a war between mages and templars, the foundations of which form the main plot of Dragon Age II.[3]
As in Dragon Age I and II, Dragon Age III is planned to showcase a new protagonist hero.[3]
Mortal Kombat, also known as Mortal Kombat (2011), is a 2Dfighting game with 3D graphics (2.5D) and the ninth installment in the Mortal Kombat series. It was developed by NetherRealm Studios (formerly known as Midway Games) and published exclusively under the Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment label. The game was released for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 systems on April 19, 2011 in North America, and on April 21 in Europe. Mortal Kombat was officially announced on June 10, 2010, accompanied with a debut trailer which showcases the new presentation and gameplay features. Although set directly after Mortal Kombat: Armageddon, the game focuses on the earliest period in the Mortal Kombat series (the trilogy Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat II, and Mortal Kombat 3). The storyline involves the thunder godRaiden attempting to change the present by contacting his former self.
Upon release, Mortal Kombat received positive reviews (achieving an aggregated score of 85 out of 100 at Metacritic). The game is currently banned in Australia due to "extreme violence". Mortal Kombat was officially announced on June 10, 2010, accompanied with a debut trailer which showcases the new presentation and gameplay features. Although set directly after Mortal Kombat: Armageddon, the game focuses on the earliest period in the Mortal Kombat series (the trilogy Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat II, and Mortal Kombat 3). The storyline involves the thunder godRaiden attempting to change the present by contacting his former self.
Upon release, Mortal Kombat received positive reviews (achieving an aggregated score of 85 out of 100 at Metacritic). The game is currently banned in Australia due to "extreme violence".
Gameplay
Mortal Kombat co-creator and creative director Ed Boon stated developers intended for Mortal Kombat to be accessible to the casual player[4] and more "engaging",[5] with experts on the fighting genre consulted[6] and new features were created to create a deeper fighting experience.[7]
Principal gameplay involves one-on-one fighting in a single 2D fighting plane, (at sixty frames per second)[8][9] although characters are rendered in three-dimension fashion,[10] the intent being to give depth and range to portrayals of various projectiles.[5]
Unlike previous Mortal Kombat games, four buttons on the game controller represent an attack and are linked to a corresponding limb. A "super meter" was also added which can be charged by various actions during battle such as performing a combo or getting hit by the opponent.[5] The super meter can be charged to three levels, with three special actions available. A single level can be used to deliver an enhanced version of one of the character's special attacks; two levels can be used to interrupt a combination attack, and the full three levels allow for the delivery of a special combination attack called an "X-ray move". During this attack, the camera provides an internal view of a defending character and shows bones and organs being broken or ruptured.[5][11] Extra features include the ability to play as multiple characters during the course of the story,[12] a Fatality training mode (allowing players to practice executing finishing moves),[13] the Challenge Tower, Tag team fighting and online mode.
The Challenge Tower mode is a single-player option Boon described as "similar to an arcade ladder". It includes 300 specific challenges of various difficulties providing currency rewards upon completion, with players having the option of using in-game currency to by-pass other difficult challenges.[5][13] Amongst the various challenges are "Test Your Might" (requires rapidly pressing buttons and specific timing to destroy blocks of varying difficulty), "Test Your Sight" (following an object hidden under a cup or skull and revealing the object after a shuffle), "Test Your Strike" (destroying a specific block in a stack) and "Test Your Luck" (battles with certain conditions, such as no jumping[13]) respectively. The four player tag-team feature is an original feature, allowing two players to play together.[14] Characters can suddenly appear on-screen and perform "assist attacks" or "special entry attacks" while the second character disappears.[5]
Developers stated that online gameplay for Mortal Kombat would be a main priority.[15] which GamePro editors called a "smart move",[16] The development team stated interest in capabilities to link the player's progression feed to their accounts held on social networking websites such as Facebook and Twitter, and recreate the feel of socializing with players in an arcade. The online mode includes a "King of the Hill" option, where up to eight players can act as spectators and play the winner of a fight. Spectators may also rate the fights and use the "forum" to determine how to perform various combos or moves observed during a fight.[5][12] A single-use online pass is also included with the game which is mandatory to access the online components. Online passes are also available from the PS Store and Xbox Live Marketplace.[17]
Characters
Boon stated in an interview with IGN that there was a focus on including characters from the first three games (Mortal Kombat, MKII, and MK3), claiming "If you have a favorite character from those games, you're probably going to see him or her in the game."[9] The game's roster offers twenty-seven characters (Baraka, Cyrax, Ermac, Jade, Jax, Johnny Cage, Kabal, Kano, Kitana, Kung Lao, Liu Kang, Mileena, Nightwolf, Noob Saibot, Quan Chi, Raiden, Reptile, Scorpion, Sektor, Shang Tsung, Sheeva, Sindel, Smoke, Sonya, Stryker, Sub-Zero and Cyber Sub-Zero - alternate character form) with the PlayStation 3 version featuring Kratos from the God of War series as a platform-exclusive character.
Game developers stated that the characters have been designed with the intent to make each character unique - each having their own individual stances, victory poses and Fatalities with no shared animations.[19] Lead designer John Edwards stated that characters are differentiated by features such as power and speed.[5] Producer Shaun Himmerick stated that the internal and external character design required "two months or ten weeks".[20] Boon stated that there is no exclusive character for the Xbox 360 version, claiming "Unfortunately, the circumstances didn't allow us to make a 360 exclusive."[21]
