Kickstarter Report: Shadow of the Eternals

Starting up a new series of blogs that I want to do that I might transfer into video form some day. It's a series of reports about interesting Kickstarter/Indiegogo projects that I find and want to share with you all why I believe they're a worthy or not worthy to donate to.

To start off this new series of blogs, I'm here to talk about one that was "re-launched" recently after having a rough start. Yes, I'm talking about Precursor Games first big project...

 Shadow of the Eternals

Made as to be a spiritual successor to the psychological horror Gamecube gem Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem by Silicon Knights with some members of the original team working on the successor including the infamous Denis Dyack. Shadow of the Eternals is being developed for PC and the Wii U with CryEngine 3. While not only it was bringing back a lot of the elements from Eternal Darkness, it was also asking people who pledge the game to have their input within a special part of the forums called "The Order of the Unseen" where they can share and discuss ideas on how the gameplay should be handled, what insanity effects should be placed, etc.

While it had a rough start with it's first attempt back in May with the goal for $1.35 million dollars for a game that was going to be episodic but how they handled it was rather strange with the funding of the first crowd-fundraiser to only produce the first episode of the game, it also didn't help that they had this on their website and due to a high amount of demands, they made a separate Kickstarter page in order for their pledges to be more secure...but it only got rather worse from there.

Dennis Dyack who was known for the CEO of Silicon Knights hasn't been having a good track record as of late. While some of their earlier games like Cyber Empires (or Steel Empire as it's known in other countries), Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain, Eternal Darkness and the Gamecube remake of Metal Gear Solid have been praise-worthy titles for good reasons. The last two games put out by Silicon Knights haven't been up to par, such as the nearly-decade long developed Too Human on the Xbox 360 which received mixed reviews and poor sales within the public despite some good aspects added into it but by far the most flawed was when SK was given the task to develop a game based on the popular Marvel comic book franchise which was titled X-Men Destiny and was way below par in terms of reviews and sales due to it's lackluster quality.

Adding insult to injury is that Dyack has been known for spouting things out that he shouldn't have said like the effects on forum culture within gaming but the worst is when him and the rest of SK filed a lawsuit against Gears of War developers Epic Games since the engine that they provided for Too Human didn't seem to work for them. After their lawsuit failed, Epic Games counter-sued and won the case which resulted in Silicon Knights having to pay over $4 million in damages which soon caused their company to go into debt, which resulted in recalling all titles using the engine and selling off equipment to the new studio Precursor Games which Dyack left to persue but stepped down as CEO to CCO for the new developer.

So with all that left behind, Dyack is still accused of being accused of being an enemy, especially to a Kotaku article that accuses him of embezzling the budget that was given to SK for X-Men Destiny by Activision as well as other shady dealings (when there hasn't been any proof from what I know), which he did post a video explaining that it isn't true a few months afterwards. Unfortunately, the video is now set to private by the time of this blog is posted so instead, Kotaku posted another article with the details (as well as the video itself).

  After that, there was still confusion over the handling of the two fundraisers and Precursor Games decide to cancel both the Kickstarter and in-site donations to reconfigure their strategy to fund their big game. 2 months later, Shadow of the Eternals return to Kickstarter with a new goal of $750k, a complete 8-10 game instead of being episodic, an eventual stretch goal to develop for Sony's new-gen system the Playstation 4 and they have David Hayter (Solid Snake from Metal Gear Solid) voicing the main character.


So with all of this said and some of the burdens that Precursor Games has received with plentiful amount of mistakes and other bad omens, why I am supporting this? As you might ask.

My answer is rather tricky. While it is true that the previous efforts that Dyack has been involved has been less than stellar and the bad press haunts him to this day. He has made quality games in the past that while may not say much to him as a person but as a developer, he has given a good reputation when compared to the games that he did with Silicon Knights before the release of Too Human.

I also want to see this game become a reality because while I don't have much experience with Eternal Darkness considering that I didn't like the Gamecube back in the day (despite having a really good level of stellar games on the platform), I can see why it was considering an excellent game with it's storytelling, presentation and creative features like the Sanity meter. Something about those aspects added into this spiritual successor really speaks to me with a lot of intrigue that I can't help but be fascinated by.

The early demo that they showed which the game utilizes the CRYEngine3 (the same graphic engine used in the more recent Crysis games) looks superb with solid environment detail, character design and superb use of lighting. The sound design within the music is nicely done although the voice acting could use a little bit of work, it's not awful but not really stellar.

Also with the addition of those who pledge get to have their input in the game really shows that they're trying to make the best game for gamers as much as possible by allowing them on how the game is going to be made via a special forum called The Order of the Unseen. Such as creating ideas for how the game works, what insanity effects, what kind of enemies, etc. It's a very cool incentive, no matter how much you pledge for what incentive, you get access to the forum to partake in helping the developers creating the game.

All of this really impresses me on how ambitious they are as well as how willing to allow community input in their games, combined with an impressive demo and high promises, I feel inclined to check it out once it's complete.

However, there are two problems standing in the way. The first one is not detailing how the funds are going to be spend and considering the bad press that Dyack got in the Kotaku article, it's something that should have been addressed from the start like every other good Kickstarter campaign and the second one is more recent as Nintendo has re-registered their claim for Eternal Darkness which could lead to a follow up to the Gamecube gem on the Wii U with a different developer in mind (or it could be them buying out SOTE but that might be too much of a stretch).

But even with that said, I have a level of hope that it gets funded but it could be a slow build and depending on the time they have left, it's either a do or die moment for the project to reach their goal. I'm also wondering on what they're gonna do if the game doesn't get funded (like Project Awakened which has now been accepted into Steam Greenlight).

But if you're as confident as I am, check out the game's Kickstarter page here as well as vote on Steam Greenlight. It's only your choice, you can say yes or no to whatever you desire.

Thanks for reading.

PAX Australia: A long time coming (Part Two: Games and Hardware)

Welcome to part two of my PAX Australia: A Long Time Coming blog, if you haven't seen part one, click here to read it to see my experience of the main event itself. This post will be focusing on the games and hardware I checked out.

First off with the hardware as I'd like to talk about them very briefly before I get onto the games. On Saturday, I went in line (which was REALLY big by the way) to see Microsoft Presenting the Xbox One which they also had on display in the Expo Hall but was behind a glass case for certain times during the day. Trust me when I say I have a little rant planned for that later.

Anyway, one of the reps of Microsoft came up and discussed about what the Xbox One has in store that most of us probably knew like switching to TV on the fly and back again, optimal hardware, cloud saving and 1080P Skype calls then they showcased the Kinect 2.0 which to my surprise really showed off a lot of neat things on how it tracks your body as well as work in low lighting and has in place an "Active IR" sensor which on how they displayed seemed really impressive but since it's the Kinect, I don't think gamers like me will be wasting time or using it at all.

They also discussed about the controller on how it's seems similar but revamped to make it more comfy and engaging with the use of rumble in the triggers which actually seems very cool but it's more of something that you need to feel for yourself to know how you feel about it.

They then showed off the games they had for demos which were only 3 games that we already knew about. Two exclusives and one multiplatform title. Let's talk about them shall we?

Ryse: Son of Rome - A very grounded in reality, Roman-set, hack-n-slash game by Crytek originally as a Kinect title but now not so much. From what I've saw of it, I had worries it was going to be a QTE action game that people said but it's not the case here, they're only there for executions which they claim to have a hundred of (yeah right, I'll believe it when I see it) and visually looks great, the player had a bit of trouble but not so much at the end.

Battlefield 4 - A rep from EA discussed about how they want to make it as an engrossing story for players to experience and using motion capture with actors to make the drama feel more realistic but we all know most players will be focusing on the multiplayer of that game. They did mention vehicular combat and other aspects from MP into the main campaign but still. The game looks fantastic running at 60fps but really, I don't think I'll be getting it as it looks way too similar to BF 3 that I just don't care but they also mentioned a map pack to come out first on the Xbox One but really I don't give a shit.

Killer Instinct - This is the one game I've been really excited about. I never played the older KI games so I can't really say on how this one is going but despite some of the usual decisions to promote the game, I think it looks impressive even if I'm still weary about the developer behind it. It runs at 60fps like Street Fighter IV and Mortal Kombat and the game itself looks like a lot of fun but lack of an ultra combo at the end was a minor disappointment. Even the rep himself said that.

After that, they also explained the best feature of the Xbox One having a built-in gaming DVR which you can record gameplay and share it with others as well as Twitch integration for livestreaming. While I do want to know if I can add recorded videos to my computer and still hasn't answered that, it's still an awesome feature regardless. So that was pretty much it besides stating the release is in November and they showcased the reveal trailer of Halo 5 that we already know about and I honestly don't care as I was leaving the main theater.

So the presentation was okay but that leads to my rant about Micosoft's appearance at PAX this year. So skip over if you don't want to read but if you want to see, get ready.

Microsoft's appearance other than to promote and showcase the Xbox One is nothing more than meaningless because they still didn't address the concerns about the Kinect being required, does Xbox Live Gold still needed to play online or any other matter that affects the system due to the poor PR they showed at the reveal earlier this year. But the worst of all is that they didn't have any demos for people to play at the Expo Hall. All you had was the system on display for a very limited amount of time and no one can get a feel of the controller with it's rumble triggers or try out the new games that they showcased at E3. Instead of playing them at PAX, you have to play them at the EB Games Expo in October which is happening in Queensland which really hurts those who don't have the effort or money to fly over there like myself. I would love to go there some day but I don't have the money, time or effort to do that this year.

So this was somewhat of a missed opportunity for Microsoft to regain the lost buyers even with the DRM removed and while it may be sold out at pre-orders (in America at least), it's still annoying whatever the case may be.

Okay, that's the end of the rant, let's talk about something more interesting with...

The MOGA Mobile Controller. This has been hyped for some time now and now we get a chance to feel it at PAX. A lot of big developers for Android gaming apps are working with it and it's great to see a controller being made for a more core gamer who prefer not to use the touch screens for certain games like Dead Trigger, Dungeon Hunter 4 or even Sonic The Hedgehog. While the normal version they had felt pretty good but the analog pads felt rather off when compared to the analog pad on the Nintendo 3DS as it had a more concave feel to keep my thumbs in place rather than slipping off. Luckily, they also had a Pro version that I got to feel which was bigger but way more comfortable and featured a D-pad which the basic version lacks. They had original versions on sale for pre-release for $59 as it will come out to EB Games and Target later this year with the Pro version coming down later.

I never been into mobile gaming and I sadly own an iPad for all of my gaming app needs but if I ever do get a better phone or an Android tablet, I might consider picking the pro version of the MOGA Mobile Controller up! It was a pleasant feeling.

Now for the biggest accessory I got to try out which was the Oculus Rift, after waiting an hour in line to speak to the VP of Product manager Nate for a few interesting questions. I got the chance to check out their updated version of the 3D VR goggles (which was a development kit by the way) which goes up to 1080P and was displaying the Unreal Engine 4 at 60fps. I tried a pair of the original 720P developer's kit and while the motion tracking was neat, it was very fuzzy and had a lot of issues with the resolution. The new version was more crisp, detailed and in your face but still had to try and get used to it as it's hard to see properly with all of the 3D imagery in the way but it does showcase how cool it is with a lot of particle effects and details that the Unreal Engine 4 can do and it pulls it off amazingly at a smooth motion. Like you're actually in the game.

They don't have a set date but hoping it'll sell around the $300 price tag, if it gets lower and if I see a game on the PC that I could see working with it for a more immersive experience, I may actually pick one up.

Now to the moment you've all been waiting for...

THE GAMES!!!

I'm gonna start off with some of the big releases then work me way to the indie side as there was quite a lot of games they've showcased. So let's start off with.


Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z - What do you do when you take a beloved yet challenging franchise and collaborate with Mega Man/Dead Rising creator Keiji Inafune? You add zombies to the mix! This spin-off plays very similar to Ninja Gaiden in every aspect which is excellent and the addition of using zombies as weapons makes the gameplay more fun than it already is but my only problems are on how the fans will take this considering the new look, character and style and you press the jump button to dash rather than hold the block button than press a direction.

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 - A sequel to a sleeper hit reboot of a classic franchise. It's practically the same game but with a lot of refinements like camera control, enhanced detail in the visuals and plays the same as the original but with a lot of refinements to the combat making it more diverse using different abilities and weapons and the sound design is fantastic.

Super Mario 3D World - Similar to Super Mario 3D Land on the 3DS but with 4-player co-op and introduces the Cat-suit that can help you climb walls and attack enemies easier. It's pretty fun but won't be seeing myself getting it straight away.

Sonic Lost World - The Wii U version didn't make an appearance but the 3DS version did and it's a lot better than the 3DS port of Sonic Generations but it's rather slower than most Sonic games because I feel they wanted to make it more of a basic platformer than just always speed as you now have a run button but what's cool is the level design, new tricks like the parkour system and other neat little things to make it a rather interesting entry in the Sonic franchise.

Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds - A sequel to one of the fan favourites of the lengendary series, A Link to the Past. It features the same gameplay with the top-down view and features an ability to traveling along the walls. It's very easy to pick up and play and to have fun exploring. Not a fan of Zelda but this is something I'd like to try out.

Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker HD - The Gamecube gem which had a bit of a mixed reception with the fans comes back for a second chance with an enhanced coat of paint and a few tweaks added into it. Just as fun as any other 3D Zelda game and cannot wait to check it out.

Rayman Legends - The follow-up to the awesome Rayman Origins which was a Wii U exclusive but now on all platforms (except PC which will come soon they say). If you loved Origins, you'll be wanting this game. 'Nuff said.

Flashback - A HD remake of the cult classic cinematic platformer from the 90s with a lot of tweaks and enhancements to make the game more accessible for a newer audience and already, I'm keen on checking it out when it's released.

The Epic Quest for Mighty Loot - A free-to-play title which you can infiltrate another players castle to steal their loot if you can avoid the traps and enemies placed in your way but be careful they can do the same to your castle, so be well guarded! An action-RPG with tower defense aspects sounds crazy but it's really cool. Might give it a go.

I did sit down to check out a presentation of Watch_Dogs at the Ubisoft booth but the problem with that was the presentation only showed an introduction from the Creative Director and footage of the game we've seen back at E3, nothing new. At least, I got a free poster while I was there.

Now with the big games out of the way, let's move to the indie titles as there as a lot and some of them very interesting.

Freedom Fall - You play as a prince who gets duped by an evil Princess and have to go down a big castle from the top to the bottom while avoiding devious traps. Reminds me a lot of Super Meat Boy but a bit more slower paced and it's pretty fun with it's 2D artstyle and silly humor. Out on iOS, Android and Ouya, hoping to come to PC via Steam Greenlight when gotten enough votes.

Zombitsu - An endless runner with action-RPG elements and a level of open-ended platforming. Pretty fun but it's more of a time waster which is a perfect fit for Android phones. Also coming to the Ouya.

MacGuffin's Curse - Now available on Steam, a comedy werewolf puzzle game from Brawsome, the developers behind Jolly Rover. A pretty straight-forward but interesting puzzle game.

Burden - A tower defense game where you place turrets on a giant titan as it tries to deviler cargo from one place to another while being attacked by enemies. It has an organic atmosphere in the game that is well suited with a really good soundtrack. The gameplay isn't my thing but I can see it working with a lot of people who are fans.

Framed - You control what happens to the fate of a framed man on the run from the law as you swap comic panels to progress through the story. Reminds me a lot of Ghost Trick with the concept of changing fate of the main character within the setting of a Noir comic-book. I liked it and it's coming out on iOS and PC soon.

So that's pretty much it, there were others but didn't get a chance to play them or just wasn't interested.

So this concludes my blog about my experience at PAX Australia. Finally glad a new gaming convention has come to Melbourne after a long time and for some photos, be sure to check out my Facebook or Deviantart page for some of the shots I took and I'll probably link my video on PAX itself once it's done.

But with all that said, thank you for reading!

PAX Australia: A long time coming (Part One: The Event)

No Aussie Gamer has had a proper gaming convention since the eGames & Eletronics Expo died out about 5 years ago, especially those who live around Melbourne (like me). Sure, there was the EB Games Expo in Queensland but I don't live anywhere near there and could cost me a lot to fly back and forth for an entire weekend.

But no one saw this coming when one of the biggest gaming cons in America, spawned off from a very popular web-comic would be coming here.

Yes, this happened to everyone's surprise...including me. PAX Australia happened over the weekend and I started off with one Saturday pass but kicked myself when some of the best stuff happened on Friday and Saturday, also the possibilities of so many games appearing, both from big league and indie developers so more than one day was needed.

After being at the Melbourne Showgrounds for two days, I can say that it's one of the best cons I've been to a long time and being video game related really resonates with me. It's not without it's problems but it's definitely not much of a problem for me to destroy the experience for me.

Starting off with the positives...

PAX was REALLY well organized with events being on time, plenty of enforcers around and the queues are very well placed that it doesn't block people's way when walking around the Expo hall. What makes it even better is that the walkways for the Expo Hall, the Main theatres and the Big Top, they had tents placed up to keep people under cover when it was raining and boy, it was raining on Saturday a lot which makes it really helpful.

Also, as with most cons, they have a cloak room which asks for a gold coin donation which goes to a charity fund called Child's Play which they raise money to give video game related gifts to kids in hospital. I commend them strongly for that.

They had a good array of different panels to check out within the video game industry or anything geek related. Special guests like Ron Gilbert of Secret of Monkey Island fame, Mick Gordon who is the composer behind the new Killer Instinct and even the development team behind Borderlands 2 came along as well!

The Expo Hall and the Big Top were very spacious, even when there was so many people at PAX. There was also a great amount of games and stalls to check out (including a laser skirmish battlefield) and they not only focus solely on video games, they also allow card games, board games, table top games, etc. but that's where I lead to some of the biggest problems I have with PAX this year which I hope they improve in 2014.

While there was plenty of developers showcasing their video games, there was only 3 big league developers showing off their games. Nintendo, Ubisoft and Mindscape (the aussie publisher for Konami and Tecmo/Koei's games) and that's about it where as the rest were mostly indie developers and the bigger stands were for World of Tanks and the ever popular MOBA game League of Legends. While the variety of games was awesome, I still feel they needed more big league developers to even out with the indies. Not there's anything wrong with having a lot of indie developers showcasing their material but still, needs more showcasing for big titles coming out.

Another problem is that there wasn't enough merchandise stalls, while it's cool to buy PC parts, accessories, T-shirts and Jewellery (not counting in PAX's main merchandise) but not enough variety for those who want different things, not even video games! Which is baffling to me. The last problem I had with PAX which is only a minor one, there wasn't enough cosplayers at the event. A lot of my friends came in costume but most people who came was in plain clothes. Not a big deal considering that I knew a lot of gamers aren't cosplayers but still.

The disappointments I had was (as I mentioned) missing a few interesting presentations and panels on Friday, one featuring Bioware, another featuring Mick Gordon on the music behind the new Killer Instinct and Nintendo Presents but those are more of a personal issue than anything else.

So overall it was fantastic and I hope they improve the next time I come and will be getting a 3 Day Pass so I won't miss anything. But what about what I played and checked out? Well, that's gonna have to come next in about two parts, so stay tuned!

My thoughts on the new Grand Theft Auto V trailer

Before I start, I want to apologize as it's been a while since my last blog but I've been really busy lately and I'm not going to rest as I have a few conventions to go to in the next few weeks and I have personal matters to worry about. For more information, check out my latest video to get the low-down but with that out of the way, let's get onto this blog.

If there was one hyped game that I'm not particularly excited about this year, it'd be Grand Theft Auto V. Why you may ask? It's rather simple.

As much as I loved the PS2-era games (most especially Vice City), I felt Grand Theft Auto IV was a bit of a letdown. Still a good game but not nearly as good as it's predecessors as I hated the driving controls, some of the fun and diverse aspects from the previous games have been dropped out as well as some newer features that were a bit sparse during the main campaign and the story in the main campaign had a few odd plot holes that didn't make sense until the two story-based expansion DLC came out (less said about the inconvenient phone calls the better). Also, the graphical engine wasn't that fantastic when compared to the Table Tennis game that Rockstar had on the Xbox 360.

So with that said, I'm not particularly excited for this one but that's not to say I'm ruling it out though as it does have a lot of potential to redeem themselves as the addition of 3 main characters seem rather unique and not as cut-out as GTA IV was. A former bank robber turned family-man, a hustler and a crazy southern. It all seems like a bizarre trio that can make the story interesting and entertaining on how they direct it, especially if they can make the characters likable, deep or at the very least, interesting.

With the new trailer released, it details the features, the world and what the main characters are like. It all seems like a huge step-up from the previous GTA game and previous games that Rockstar has done in the past like the amazing L.A. Noire (not developed by Rockstar but still counts), the well-stylized Red Dead Redemption to the unnecessary Max Payne 3 (might discuss that game in a future blog).

The ability to swap different main characters on the fly with their own scenarios to deal with that can link to each other like the one mission where you can swap to Frankie using a sniper rifle, the tons of character and car customization, mini games like golf, tennis, mountain biking and even scuba diving.

Also the addition of a weapon wheel that was featured in Max Payne 3 with more guns to carry is a nice addition because it makes swapping different weapons a lot more accessible than the previous GTA games and lastly, the landscape of the city you're placed in is expansive with a variety of different areas from cities to suburbs and the countryside.

I won't bother to talk about GTA Online because I don't really have much of an interest in that mode but they didn't talk much about it either so it really doesn't matter. All I focus on is the story mode and what is featured in the recent trailer.

Back on topic, from what I've seen from this trailer is very promising and I believe Rockstar can succeed with these new additions and features but what worries me is how will it play? Will it play more well-rounded and fine tuned unlike GTA IV because the controls while responsive, didn't have the same flow that the previous games have in order to incorporate realism which also included the driving. I don't mind realistic visuals (for the most part) but realistic controls is something that I can't stomach, especially driving because it's not as fun as arcade-style driving imo.

Also the story has to be well rounded and while there is also DLC incoming, I'm hoping it's not a cut out job like some games that have been released that should have been in the game without any extra payment.

Lastly, there's also the worry of the game not coming to PC and Wii U at this point or even the new-gen systems like the PS4 and Xbox One. They haven't commented about the PS4 and Xbox One but they have stated the Wii U and PC haven't been ruled out but nothing announced at this moment. (I'd be disappointed and not surprised if they didn't make it for the Wii U since Chinatown Wars was a poor seller on the DS and was later ported to the PSP and iPhone.)

So overall, I am looking forward to checking this game out since I've been a loyal fan (for the most part, I wasn't into the PSP games that much) and these new features and additions seem enticing...But I'm still weary of it because of GTA IV with all of the issues that I've talked about.

Not sure if I'll be getting it day one and if I do, I won't be purchasing the Collector's Edition and will settle on the Special Edition if I can.

That's all for now, I'll be away for a couple of weeks but hope to be back to blog more soon, thanks for reading.