New Releases
Issue # 22
2019 is the year
of sequels
Naughty Dog
The unstoppable game developer
Star Wars Battlefront II LOOTBOX controversy
Psychonauts 2 A Kickstarter Success! Mass Effect 3 as Shepard´s last stand. Andromeda disappoints critics and players alike
A Way Out
A game beyond expectations!
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Gamer World
Buy it NOW for sale on Holiday season
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Index Carta del Editor .......................................5 Future Releases Psyvhonauts 2 ......................................... 6 Main Article A Way Out ...............................................10 Past Releases Star Wars Battlefront II ............................17 Mass Effect ..............................................19 Naughty Dog ........................................................20
Gamer World
Play or die
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Carta del Editor
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like videogames with characters and stories that challenge the assumptions of the previous generation of games, that don’t challenge to the agony and happiness of the average 22 year old gilr with a knack for headshots. I expect violence to have a purpose. I appreciate games that value my money and my time. Those are a few components of my tastes. Where the average person chooses games based on taste, and perhaps a passing consideration of reviews, I pick games — “pick” isn’t the right word; let’s say “assigned games” — because they appear on the IMDb Calendar crowded with upcoming releases. A few games every year are truly excellent. Many are good. Most are fine. Some are bad. Others, forgettable. I try to approach every game without prejudice. Today, on my main article, I will talk about a game that really stands out and deserves my proper review. ¨A Way Out¨ merges narrative games with couch co-op, and the result is a smart and emotional experience so good that it had to be reviewed. We’ve never played a cooperative experience like it. The game cannot be played alone. It takes two players to play as eaxh character, two players two escape the prison, and it takes two playes to cry. The game has an amazing story, the narrative and approach is like no other, almost like watching a movie. The ending will shatter hearts and souls.
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Promotional artwork for Psychonauts 2, showing the characters of Sasha (far-left), Lili (left), Raz (right), and Milla (farright)
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sychonauts 2 is the upcoming platform video game being developed by Double Fine Productions. The game was announced at The Game Awards 2015 ceremony, and is planned for release sometime in 2019. Tim Schafer, director of the Psychonauts series, said that some of the ideas introduced
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in Psychonauts, such as Raz’s family, their history, and the curse that continues to affect them, would be further explored in the sequel. Double Fine’s first title as a studio was Psychonauts, released in 2005. The title was highly praised by critics for its characters and writing, but was considered a commercial failure.
New Releases
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sychonauts has since gained a cult following; fans have urged Tim Schafer, CEO of Double Fine and principle creative lead on the game, to develop a sequel to the title, and it is often considered by game journalists on lists of games that need sequels. At the 2015 Game Awards, Schafer announced Double
Fine’s plans to work on Psychonauts 2 using a crowdfunding campaign through Fig. The company sought $3.3 million in funding for the game, which represented approximately one-third of the planned development costs, and would augment money being put in by Double Fine and a third-party investor. Schafer noted that while the amount was the same that they had raised for their Broken Age Kickstarter, which by the time of its release had significantly overran its budget, he felt the studio was in a better position to manage the costs and processes necessary to deliver Psychonauts 2 on schedule.
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The characters of Sasha Nein, MIlla Vodello, Razputin Equato, etc will return in the sequel.
Will Sasha and Milla finally hook up?
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he game will pick up after the conclusion of Psychonauts in the Rhombus of Ruin, with Raz having assisted Sasha Nein and Milla Vodello in rescuing head Psychonaut Truman Zanotto — a mission begun at the end of Psychonauts. Following Zanotto’s rescue, the team returns to Psychonaut Headquarters, where Raz discovers that the organization is not all that it seemed. In Zanotto’s absence, the Psychonauts organization had been changed by its second-in-command, and psychic research was directed away from peacekeeping efforts towards more unorthodox studies including necromancy. Psychonauts 2 will be a third-person platform game similar in gameplay to its predecessor. The player will control Raz, a newly graduated Psychonaut with powerful psychic abilities, as he delves into the minds
Future Releases of others. The player will use “Psi-Powers�, such as telekinesis, pyrokinesis, and levitation, in combination with more common platform game elements, to explore the mental worlds of several non-player characters. Mere days after the announcement of the Psychonauts 2 campaign, Double Fine also announced the development of Psychonauts in the Rhombus of Ruin, a publisher-funded virtual reality game for the PlayStation VR. The game is a smaller standalone chapter that serves as a bridge between the original game and its sequel, featuring Raz and the other psychonauts rescuing Truman Zanotto, tying into the conclusion of Psychonauts. In February 2017, it was announced that Starbreeze Studios had invested $8 million to help digitally publish the game across all platforms. They will recoup the investment by gaining 85% of the profit on sales,
Rasputin will save the world again after the Fig investors are accounted for, until it is recovered, and then take 60% beyond that. The investment only affects the distribution, as Double Fine retains all control on the IP and the development process. Double Fine had originally planned on a 2018 release for the title, but announced in December 2017 that with the game now in full development and their planned roadmap towards release completed, they do not expect to release the game until at least 2019.
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Game of
From the creators o of Two Sons come exclusively co-op ad two prisoners, Leo a their daring esca
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the year
of Brothers – A Tale es A Way Out, an dventure that follows and Vincent, making ape from prison.
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TOGETHER THEY’LL FIND A WAY OUT E scaping prison with a complete stranger isn’t ideal circumstances, but Leo and Vincent have too much riding on it to second-guess themselves now. As freedom gets closer and closer, they’ll have to learn to trust each other if they want to make it to the other side. Use teamwork to solve puzzles and overcome obstacles. Studio: Hazelight Genre: Action/Adventure Platform: Origin, PS4, Xbox One Release Date: Spring 2018 Despite the game’s heavy focus on multiplayer, the game was described as an “emotional adventure”.As a result, cutscenes will play out even during online play to ensure that players can understand the story of the other character. The game features a wide variety of gameplay sequences from stealth to driving to ensure that players are often presented with different gameplay situations and generally make the game and its characters more interesting. To make the two protagonists more realistic, the team ensured that Leo and Vincent have distinct personalities and that they have different opinions and responses while interacting with the game’s world. Fares Fares, a Swedish-Lebanese actor and Josef Fares’ older brother, plays Leo.
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VINCENT
Even though he’s fresh off the prison bus, Vincent is determined to break out. With quick wits and nothing left to lose, he’ll prove that he’s not to be underestimated by anyone, inside prison or out.
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he title will be part of publisher Electronic Arts’ EA Originals program, dedicated to funding small independent games. The partnership came to fruition when Patrick Söderlund, the Executive Vice President of Electronic Arts, approached Fares personally for collaboration after being impressed by Brothers.EA offered $3.7 million for the development of the game and gave Fares and his team complete creative control over the game’s development. According to Fares, all revenue from sales of the game will go back to Hazelight. The formation of Hazelight Studios and the partnership
LEO
A hardened inmate with escape in his sights, Leo isn’t the type to make friends. No matter the obstacle, Leo is willing to get his hands dirty and do whatever it takes to get the job done.
between Hazelight and EA was officially unveiled at The Game Awards 2014. The game’s title and gameplay was revealed at Electronic Entertainment Expo 2017 during EA’s press conference. The game was released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on March 23, 2018. A Way Out is a true achievement in game design. Not only does it manage to take players on a true journey of emotion, it does so in a way that is only possible through the medium of video games. It manages to do something truly special by making two players to cooperate for an extended amount of time, and the discussions that happen on the couch or over voice chat can be just as revealing as the game itself. Josef Fares and Hazelight have undoubtedly raised the bar for co-op gaming.
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s a full game owner, you can also invite your friends to play A Way Out for free. All you need to do is send your friend a game invite, and then they will need to download the friends pass free trial from the digital store. That’s it! After this is done, you’re all set to experience the entire game online with your friend playing for free. Choosing YOUR character, Leo or Vincent? There are two characters to play as in A Way Out. Leo is brash, cocky, and quick to use force. He has been in prison for a while and has made enemies, who he tends to confront head on. Vincent, on the other hand, is calm, cool, and in control. He is the new fish on the cell block and gets reluctantly thrown into the heat of action. You and your friend each select one character to control. You will then get to know your character and unfold their story. And, of course, enjoy the A Way Out adventure together!
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Way Out is a cinematic co-op only game, designed to be experienced in split-screen mode. Play the game with a friend, either online or from your couch. The idea for A Way Out came to life when writer/ director Josef Fares was looking for a co-op game – one that wasn’t simply drop-in, drop-out. A co-op narrative, that you had to play with your friend. The vision for A Way Out has always had split-screen as part of the core concept. With that idea, the game utilizes the visual strengths that split-screen provide in many new ways, framing both cinematic moments and exciting gameplay in a manner sure
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n A Way Out, you’ll work together to survive, reconnect with loved ones, and get away in high stakes moments. Through it all, you’ll experience everything from trying to escape the prison, to riding motorcycles, to robbing a gas station, and much more! So, let’s say you and your buddy are planning to play A Way Out. You’ll then have the possibility to choose if you want to play couch co-op, or if you want to stay in the comfort of your own houses and play online together. No matter what you choose, this split-screen game will make you feel like you are sitting in the same room.
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Gamer World
The single-player story mode campaign in Star Wars Battlefront II takes place in the Star Wars galaxy, beginning around the time of Return of the Jedi, but largely between it and Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Emperor Palpatine plots to lure an unsuspecting Rebel Alliance fleet into a trap using himself and the second Death Star, being constructed above the Forest Moon of Endor, as bait, seeking to crush the Rebellion against his Galactic Empire once and for all. The Imperial Special Forces commando unit Inferno Squad, led by Commander Iden Versio, daughter of Admiral Garrick Versio, and made up of Agents Gideon Hask and Del Meeko, is crucial to the success of this planned Battle of Endor, but the Empire underestimates the strength of the Rebellion as its fleet gathers at Sullust.
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Past Releases
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tar Wars Battlefront II is an action shooter video game based on the Star Wars film franchise. It is the fourth major installment of the Star Wars: Battlefront series and seventh overall, and a sequel to the 2015 reboot of the series. It was developed by EA DICE, in collaboration with Criterion Games and Motive Studios, and published by Electronic Arts. The game was released worldwide on November 17, 2017 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Microsoft Windows. Upon release, Battlefront II received mixed reviews from critics. The game was also subject to widespread criticism regarding the status of loot boxes, which could give players substantial gameplay advantages if purchased with real money. A response from EA’s community team on Reddit on the topic became the single most downvoted comment in the site’s history– and in response, EA decided to temporarily remove microtransactions from the game until a later date. In January 2018, EA announced that the microtransactions would return “in the next
few months”. These returning microtransactions are purely cosmetic, will not affect gameplay, and are also available for purchase through in-game currency. The game features a full campaign story mode unlike 2015’s Battlefront. The game’s single player protagonist, Iden Versio, leader of an Imperial Special Forces group known as Inferno Squad, participates in multiple events in the 30 years leading up to The Force Awakens. There are segments in the campaign where the player is able to control other characters such as Luke Skywalker and Kylo Ren. Players can also play in arcade mode – an offline single player or local co-op where players can choose which side to play on and which battle to play in. Battles vary from team battles to onslaughts. Alternatively, players can choose to do a custom match, where they can change some of the settings and location.
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Gamer World Collector’s Edition DIECAST MODEL Remote Control
NOMAD ND
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ass Effect 3 is an action role-playing third person shooter video game developed by BioWare and published by Electronic Arts for Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Wii U. Officially announced on December 11, 2010, the game was released March 6, 2012 and marks the final chapter in the original Mass Effect trilogy of video games, completing the story of Commander Shepard. A Wii U version was announced during Nintendo’s conference at E3 2012. The Wii U port was developed by Australian developer Straight Right, and was released as a Wii U launch game under the title Mass Effect 3: Special Edition.
Players who have completed the game’s predecessors, Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2, will have their choices reflected in cutscenes throughout the story.
Like its predecessors, Mass Effect 3 was released to commercial success and critical acclaim. Praise was given to the emotional story, art direction, improved combat, characters, soundtrack, and voice acting. The game’s ending, however, was the main focus of criticism, prompting the release of a free extended cut downloadable content (DLC) which elaborated on the consequences of the ending chosen and the choices made by the player throughout the series, as well as clearing up elements of the The combat system in Mass Effect 3 was story. It was nominated for five awards at changed and refined from previous titles. In the 2012 Spike Video Game Awards and it particular, the cover system was improved, won Best RPG of 2012. additional options for traversing the A new installment in the series, Mass Effect: battlefield and scoring instant melee kills Andromeda, was released on March 21, were added, more conventional grenades 2017. are available, and improved artificial intelligence was introduced. A four player multiplayer co-op mode is also available.
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aughty Dog, LLC formerly JAM Software, Inc. is an American firstparty video game developer based in Santa Monica, California. Founded by Andy Gavin and Jason Rubin in 1984 as an independent developer, the studio was acquired by Sony Computer Entertainment in 2001. Longtime American game designer and producer Mark Cerny convinced Naughty Dog to focus its new resources on creating a character-based platform game that would fully exploit the 3D capabilities of the new systems. Ultimately, this led to the release of Crash Bandicoot for the PlayStation in 1996. Naughty Dog developed three Crash Bandicoot games over the next several years.
Crash would be a playable character in Activision’s upcoming game Skylanders: Imaginators, released on October 16, 2016. It was announced at Gamescom 2016 that Dr. Neo Cortex would also be playable in Skylanders: Imaginators, and that Vicarious Visions had developed a Crash-themed level for the game, “Thumpin’ Wumpa Islands”. A remaster of the first, second, and third titles developed by Vicarious Visions, titled Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy, was released on the PlayStation 4 on June 30, 2017 in partnership with Activision. During the interview with Metro Game Central, Vicarious Visions producer, Kara Massie refused to rule out the possibility of a remaster of Crash Team Racing for the PlayStation 4. Massie has also acknowledged that she was repeatedly asked about Crash Team Racing by fans. Massie has not confirmed if the game will be in the works after the release of N. Sane Trilogy. tVicarious Visions has also expressed interest in making a new Crash Bandicoot game. On March 8, 2018, it was announced that N. Sane Trilogy will be coming to Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, and Microsoft Windows for release on June 29, 2018.
U At E3 2016, after years of rumours and speculation, Crash Bandicoot made his official return when it was announced that
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ncharted is an action-adventure third-person shooter platform video game series developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment for PlayStation consoles.
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he series follows protagonist Nathan “Nate” Drake (portrayed by Nolan North through voice and motion capture) a charismatic yet obsessive treasure hunter who journeys across the world to uncover various historical mysteries. The main series began with Uncharted: Drake’s
and improvised weapons, and can use stealth to defend against hostile humans and cannibalistic creatures infected by a mutated strain of the Cordyceps fungus. In the game’s online multiplayer mode, up to eight players engage in cooperative and competitive gameplay. Upon release, it received universal acclaim, with praise directed at its narrative, gameplay, visual and sound design, characterization, and depiction of female characters. The Last of Us became one of the best-selling games on the PlayStation 3, selling over 1.3 million units in its first week and over eight million units within fourteen months. It won year-end accolades, including multiple Game of the Year awards from several gaming publications, critics, and game award ceremonies, making it one of the most awarded games in history, and is considered to be one of the greatest video games of all time.
Fortune released on the PlayStation 3 in 2007, followed by its sequels with the final installment Uncharted 4: A Thief ’s End released on the PlayStation 4 in 2016. A standalone expansion to the series, Uncharted: The Lost Legacy, was released in 2017, with Chloe Frazer as the game’s playable protagonist. The Last of Us is an action-adventure survival horror video game developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was released for the PlayStation 3 worldwide on June t14, 2013. Players control Joel, a smuggler tasked with escorting a teenage girl named Ellie across a post-apocalyptic United States. The Last of Us is played from a thirdperson perspective; players use firearms
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