It looks like a new Plants vs. Zombies shooter is being developed. EA recently sent out invites to numerous different people asking them to participate in a closed alpha. This closed alpha will reportedly be for Xbox and PlayStation users only, with no sign of PC. This doesn’t rule out a PC release though, as it could only be ready for the two platforms.
The image is slightly low res, but the email reads as follows:
“Hey Plants vs. Zombies fans.
You are invited to participate in the new PvZ shooter (codename Picnic) playtest on Xbox One or PS4. Made by the team that created PvZ Garden Warfare, the Picnic Closed Alpha will give players a first glimpse into the new game, you don’t want to miss out”
What will codename Picnic be you might ask? Outside of being a shooter, we aren’t entirely sure. The email doesn’t give much information, and the playtest will entirely be under NDA. You can likely expect it will be similar to Garden Warfare though, possibly fixing some of the issues of that series. As well, you can likely expect it to be filled with microtransactions knowing EA.
If you’re looking for a PvZ fix before this game comes out, you likely won’t have to wait long. EA recently announced that a third main Plants vs. Zombies game is in development.
The game is in pre-alpha, and is looking for players to help test on the Google Play Store.
ROCKMAN X DiVE announced has been announced this morning for iOS and Android. You can learn more about ROCKMAN X DiVE below, as well check out the trailer. The official website is here. The game is “Coming Soon”.
“Deep Log” The digital world where “MEGAMEN X Series Game” was stored. Also the memory of “You” as a player….
“Deep Log” appears abnormal for unknown reasons All stages, Maverics ,all the characters from “MEGAMEN X Series” are all mixed up because of game errors.
Come! Players Get into the Deep Log Beat the Maverics and get the game data repaired.
ROCKMAN X DiVE is a free game coming soon to iOS and Android.
What are your thoughts on this announcement? Let us know in the comments and join the conversation on Twitter!
I wasn’t too sure what I was going to get myself into when first loading up Stranger Things 3 The Game. Gaming in my opinion has not had a great rep in the past with video games releasing alongside a blockbuster movie or popular series. To my surprise, I found myself having an enjoyable time.
If you have not yet seen the new season of Stranger Things on Netflix, then you might want to brace yourself for some spoilers as the game follows closely with the series chapter after chapter.
Just like the show, there are a total of eight chapters with each one doing notable quests from the series along with some side quests that I assume are optional, unless you’re like me and want those achievements.
The game does a great job guiding you through events from the show in a cute overhead 16bit format. The hack n slash type combat by a simple push of a button is satisfying, but not as satisfying as your power move, which varies from each character. For example, Hopper just lays into enemies with his fists, but with enough energy built up in your meter (from drinking Coke), you’ll see Hopper go at a full on charge against a horde of Russians or diseased rats for multiple hit points. When you’re running low on med kits or some Coke, you can head to a vending machine and max out your inventory anytime you need to if you’re not as lucky finding these items in the open areas.
Each character you unlock has unique abilities to help you through areas you may not be able to get to as other characters. For instance, you might come across a gate that’s chained up with a padlock, but Lucas can’t get through it, so you would select Joyce to help you on your way through the gate with her handy bolt cutters. Switching characters is simple, and as you progress further into the game, the more characters the better. Especially if you’re in the hunt for all 50 gnomes to get them extra achievements or trophies.
After a few hours of playing the game, I felt myself enjoying the music. The music was for the better part, relaxing. Relaxing music when hunting certain items for Ivan the Smuggler or pizza ingredients for a couple of side quests was a bonus for me, as I am sucker for great video game music.
When I came upon Chapter 8, the final chapter, I found myself with having collected 39 of the 50 gnomes, so I decided to take a break and go collect them all. Gnome hunting is fun, but there are some you may not be able to get to unless you have certain characters unlocked or how far you have progressed in the game. I had to wait until I could get underground above Weathertop to collect my final ones. Every ten gnomes you collect, let’s you unlock a chest in a ‘nondescript’ house where a person is behind a locked door telling you they can’t come out due to their crazy allergies, but encourages you to deliver their gnomes back down the hall, ten at a time. For every ten gnomes you bring back to the house, you get to unlock a chest that can contain certain trinkets or extra items to add to your inventory.
Finding items or money isn’t that hard. In fact, I think I had over 40 dollars on me at all times throughout the game. Doing a few jobs for Mrs. Wheeler or other fine people around Hawkins can net you money on top of what you can collect from just destroying property or defeating enemies.
Just like the show, team work is key. You will often switch from multiple characters that will help you the most through the game whether you need to crawl through a vent in a wall or blow up a boulder that may be blocking your path. Most chapters have some pretty easy puzzles. You might have to find a clue on a computer and try to figure out a riddle to find out the right direction each Golden Bear has to face in order to gain access to the the next room. Some other puzzles you will encounter might have you turn on and off switches in a certain order to unlock doors or turning power off and on to get past security lights. There’s also some puzzles that require team work where you have to stand on one platform while switching to the other character to travel further into the level.
A lot of key moments from the show make their way into the game. You play out the battle with the Mind Flayer inside Hoppers cabin, you get to see Eleven tell Mike “I dump your ass” and sadly, we get to relive the devasting moment when we lose our dear Russian friend Alexei…or as we like to call him…Smirnoff in all its 16bit glory.
After completing Stranger Things 3 The Game, I am given the option for a new game plus. At the time of this review, I have not tried that out, but I do plan on it since it is a missing achievement and I am some what of a completionist or achievement hunter.
Stranger Things 3 The Game is just that. It’s a dubbed down version of the whole season in video game form, but an enjoyable one at that. I had a hard time putting it down once I got further into the story and reliving key moments that I saw in the show prior. I really thought BonusXP did a great job with the game, and I plan on revisiting its new game plus mode later on in the future. At $19.99, I don’t think it’s that bad of a price especially if you’re just looking to experience Season 3 of Stranger Things in a video game.
The vast majority, including myself, seems to have joined the ranks of the chaos army because the Splatfest has been won on an almost humiliating 3 – 0 on the three-day-long event, which is surprising considering the internet’s love for Marina. It was either to pay respect to recently deceased YouTuber and streamer Etika, who claimed to be Team Chaos when the Splatfest was initially revealed or simply the idea of chaos being…cooler than order, either way, congratulations!
It is also wholesome to note that Pearl, despite the way she was previously portrayed seems to be pretty fair play about it.
Even trying to comfort Marina while suggesting that the duo should reach new musical genres, the outcome doesn’t seem so bad!
For better or for worse, Splatoon 3‘s direction seems to be set and we personally can’t wait to see how the community changed the franchise.
If you fought in the final Splatfest, be sure to collect your Super Sea Snail prizes in the square area!
For info, the Splatfest was the last Splatoon 2 event before end of support from the dev team, it opposed both Team Chaos and Team Order, both also represented by Pearl and Marina, Splatoon 2 is a third-person ink-shooter available exclusively on the Nintendo Switch.
Kojima Productions have revealed the box art and SteelBook for Death Stranding at San Diego Comic-Con 2019. Kojima stated he designed the SteelBook himself at the panel. You can check it out below, as well as see more about Death Stranding. Death Stranding launches exclusively for PS4 on November 8th, 2019.
After the collapse of civilization, Sam Bridges must journey across a ravaged landscape crawling with otherworldly threats to save mankind from the brink of extinction. From legendary game creator Hideo Kojima comes an all-new, genre-defying experience for the PlayStation® 4 system.
In the near future, mysterious explosions have rocked the planet, setting off a series of supernatural events known as the Death Stranding. With spectral creatures plaguing the landscape, and the planet on the verge of a mass extinction, it’s up to Sam Bridges to journey across the ravaged wasteland and save mankind from impending annihilation.
Will you be picking up Death Stranding? Let us know in the comments below!
QF: Well, I have to go back… I started doing impressions around the age of 8… I was fascinated by impressionists on TV and comics, as well as reading comic books and watching cartoons and movies, tv, musicals, and got caught up in all of it. Even Rock and Roll. My mom didn’t play us kids music. She played us what was happening at the time. And so these impressionists made such a mark on me that I started doing impressions of Impressionists doing impressions. In University, I graduated with honors and was a radio host… and when my brother wanted to move out to the Sunset Strip to be in a hair metal thing, I had my demo tape and went with him. I tried going to every agency in town and 3/4 of them turned me down immediately. But somehow one agency didn’t. I was in an elevator with a lady who was going to the same floor as me and went down the same hall as me into the same office as me. She turned out to be the president of the agency. A few weeks later, I got a call from the agency saying that they wanted me on and I said yes and that’s where it all started.
Question: Was there a role that you were considered for and regret not accepting?
QF: That’s a good question… lemme think about that. I don’t think so unless there was a conflict… unless I was working on something else, I don’t ever turn down a role… Which is pretty good for how long I’ve been doing this, y’know?
Question: Have you ever played any of the games you were actually in?
QF: Only once. I wasn’t a big gamer as a kid. I played sports, did theater, but never played video games unless I was at a friend’s house. So my then girlfriend’s brother had MGS2 and I said Jeez, I wanna see this. He started playing and he said, “Hey, you try!”, and I said alright and I was like a horse trying to get out of a stable. Just couldn’t do it, man. It was too technical for me. So I gave him back the controls and said, “You be the gamer and I’ll be the actor.”
Final Question: What was it like being Axel/Lea?
QF: I loved it, man. It was so much fun and the character work was so good. When I finished doing the final voice session for 3, I said, “That’s it? I want more.” And knowing that I was a part of one of the best selling games of 2019, it’s humbling, to say the least. I love the Kingdom Hearts series, it has so much to offer for everyone and I hope to come back soon for more.
Today, the Gears 5 Tech Test has been released for Xbox Game Pass subscribers on Xbox One and PC. After playing a handful of matches in the Arcade Mode, I left pretty impressed.
The Tech Test when first loading up sends you to the all new Bootcamp where you’ll learn all the basic moves and mechanics all over again. I think it took me roughly 10-15 minutes to complete, but I was taking my time checking out the bright colors and playing around with the movements while getting through Bootcamp.
After finishing Bootcamp, I was ready to head into multiplayer and die every time I would spawn just like old times. Gears of War multiplayer and I never have got along, but I was anxious to try out the new Arcade Mode to see what it was all about.
Joining matches varied for me. I was either waiting just a few minutes or up to about five plus minutes to get into a match. While waiting for other players to join up, you can browse the unlocks for your character from weapon skins to emotes and banners.
First of all, upon first few minutes of play, the graphics and gameplay were fantastic. I don’t think I experienced any bad frame rate issues or any resolution drops.
Dropping in and out of cover was smooth, shooting mechanics were solid, and the executions were just as gory as ever. Throughout the new mode, you collect ‘skulls’ and after you get a set number of skulls, just click the Y button and you are given some options on some upgraded throwables and weapons. Depending on the character, the upgrades will differ anywhere from the Gnasher to the Longshot and even incendiary grenades.
After diving into Arcade Mode for the first time and having some time with it, I am left pretty impressed. The action was intense, and the shooting was satisfying to say the least. I think this new game mode will become pretty popular, especially with the newbies who haven’t really experienced previous Gears of War games online.
Next time, I’ll be diving into some Ranked Modes to give my thoughts about the different modes depending on if the wait times are still long.
Just a reminder to Xbox Game Pass console and PC subscribers that the Gears 5 Tech Test is available for free right now until Sunday July 21st.
It appears that Blizzard has lost yet another veteran, as Frank Pearce has now stepped down from the company. Pearce took to a letter on the official Blizzard news page to announce his departure. The letter itself details how Pearce is “passing the torch” of his position to the new generation. He recounted his time at the company, along with discussed how he came to help found it. Pearce had the following to say to the community:
“My request and hope for all of you is that you continue living the Blizzard values and that you be kind and respectful to one another as you experience what Blizzard creates in the future. Blizzard is a special place and a special community, and everyone with whom you interact is important to the Blizzard journey as it continues forward. Thanks to everyone for the wonderful past I have enjoyed, and thank you in advance for the great future I expect we will share.”
At the time of leaving, Frank Pearce served as the Chief Development Officer of Activision-Blizzard. Some of his most notable works were in the first two Warcraft games, along with heading development of Warcraft III. In addition, he was the Executive Producer in several of World of Warcraft’s expansions such as Mists of Pandaria.
Today is no doubt a sad day over at the company. If you’d like to read the full letter along with the response letter by J. Allen Brack, you can do so here.
Bandai Namco has announced that Tekken 7 has reached over 4 million units sold worldwide! This is another new milestone set for Tekken 7 as it hit 3 million units sold just last year.
Tekken 7 first launched worldwide for PS4, XB1 and PC in June 2017. The game has garnered a lot of interest since launch with multiple world tournaments and post-release content. Various seasons of the game have added guest characters like Geese Howard from SNK, Noctis from Final Fantasy XV and even Negan from The Walking Dead.
With EVO 2019 approaching on August 2nd, this milestone by Tekken 7 shows that it still has momentum and interest. You can find more information about the game at the official website. Let us know what you think about Tekken 7 in the comments and on Twitter!
Recently, Google decided to hold an ask me anything on Reddit. Andrey Doronichev, the Director of Product for Stadia answered various questions that needed clarification, or questions that had never been asked before. Here is a bullet point of all the notable information that was shared during this AMA.
Stadia Pro is not a Netflix of games, roughly one free game per month
Achievements confirmed for Google Stadia, although they won’t be there at launch
There will be no free to play games available on Stadia Base
Stadia Pro is a growing pool of free games as long as you’re subscribed
If you stop subscribing to Stadia Pro, and then decide to subscribe again, you will regain access to the free games that are offered to Stadia Pro subscribers
Stadia will support takeout, which will let you download your games metadata, including saves
At Stadia launch, you will be able to manage your friends list, create parties, and use platform level voice chat
Family sharing will be available early next year
Google is aiming to have Stadia on every mobile device, including Android and iOS devices
No mod support at launch
The next Google Stadia Connect is “sooner than you think”
The image is slightly low res, but the email reads as follows:
