Golf talk, anime talk, and … well, we really kind of stay away from videogames for the most part this week. Check it out? Episode 85!

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Student projects rarely rise to anything more than textbook demonstrations which serve only to prove that the students behind them were awake through at least most of their classes. For one group of recent graduates, however, their project has become more than a letter grade. We recently sat down with a well-coiffed Ryan Casey and a much more laid-back Mike Frankfort to discuss their team’s current project, Pandora: Purge of Pride, and their newly formed studio High Class Kitsch.

Like any student looking to graduate from the Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Mike Frankfort, Ryan Casey, Jill Sauer and Alex Thorton-Clark needed to develop and complete a Major Qualifying Project. The project must demonstrate the student’s aptitude in their chosen fields, and together they decided that Pandora would be the game to do just that.

Ryan and Alex had collaborated on numerous projects throughout their student careers. They knew that they worked well together and that they could each play off the other’s strengths. Jill and Mike had a similar relationship, even traveling overseas together to collaborate on a separate graduation requirement. In the spring of 2012 the duos merged to form a single team. It was their reputation for being driven and dedicated students that had brought the quartet together.

With the team assembled, it was time to cultivate a project. While they had some ideas on what kind of game they’d like to make, Pandora: Purge of Pride was largely defined by the things they didn’t want it to be. Ninjas, pirates, and zombies . . . these were common themes they wished to avoid. And because many student projects tend to present themselves as run-and-gun shooters, they wanted to explore a different type of gameplay.

The team opted for a more cerebral approach. Exploring the rich history of Greek mythology, they chose to let the story of Pandora’s box guide their theme. Pandora’s seven deadly sins would provide an excellent framework for their narrative while also lending itself to the in-game mechanics. As for the game itself, they would seek to craft an experience accessible to a wider audience. The result was a puzzle platforming experience that would draw inspiration from the likes of Portal and Quantum Conundrum.

With their game beginning to take shape, the team got to work. Rather than locking themselves in a room to pound out lines of code elbow-to-elbow, the team took a more individualized approach. Each team member would work on his or her respective job in whichever environment best suited their particular tastes; coming together once or twice a week to compile their work and offer feedback and direction.

“Part of that collaborative effort,” Ryan explained, “Is knowing and trusting each other enough that we know we can each do our own parts well. We didn’t need to constantly be right next to each other to know it will get done.”

With periodic reviews from their two advisers further serving to bring the project together, Pandora took shape. By the first quarter of 2013, the game was nearing its final stages. Yet these final months would prove to be some of the most hectic, with events such as MassDigi, the Made in MA showcase, and PAX East hogging much of the calendar.

Prior to the start of the year, builds of Pandora had been mostly limited to audiences consisting of friends, fellow students, and professors. Suddenly, the team was required to show the game off to industry professionals, media, and the general public at some of the year’s biggest events.

It was a trial by fire that the team took in full stride. With features being added just days before showings were to take place, the team managed to produce solid builds of their game while avoiding the types of disasters that tend to plague hands-on demos. Ryan particularly thrived among the chaos, feeding off the crowds’ energy while weaving what his team described as nothing short of “PR Magic.”

These events served to gain publicity for Pandora, which took home numerous awards, but also became a critical source of feedback for a team that had now taken on the name High Class Kitsch.

“Play-testing is really important,” admitted Mike. For a team intimately familiar with their own project, it can be difficult to see the game through the player’s eyes. After the demonstrations, the team realized they lacked a tutorial. They also gutted part of the first level to make it an easier transition for the player, eliminated some interface ambiguity, and addressed countless bugs.

Perhaps the most important lesson they learned was the importance of clear player feedback, or what Ryan described as “crunchy” gameplay. When the player acts, there needs to be some kind of reaction to actions, both visually and audibly. It’s about clearly conveying a sense of action to the player.

Interacting with industry professionals also gave the team a better understanding of how to present their game to publishers and, perhaps more importantly, to the gamers themselves.

On May 11, 2013 — a sunny but breezy Saturday morning — Jill, Ryan, Alex, and Mike completed their journey as students when they participated in the Worcester Polytechnic Institute’s commencement ceremony.

Ryan and Mike look back on the past year with a clear sense of reverence.

“There’s nothing in the world like starting from and idea, developing that idea, making it into a game, and then getting it out there for people to actually play,” Ryan enthusiastically noted when asked about the experience.

Mike added, “They teach you tons of stuff in school, but until you apply it, it doesn’t reach its full fruition. We had advisers guiding us, but for the most part, it was us laying out the entire project.”

“It’s given us tons of knowledge, particularly towards developing future games.”

Ryan credits the project with helping the team tackle most of the legwork required to start an indie studio — They learned they can work together as a team, and that their individual talents mesh to form a well-rounded studio. Their work with advisers has taught them how to seek outside contacts and investors. And ultimately, they learned they can put together a complete game.

Pandora’s journey is not quite finished. Over the last few months, High Class Kitsch has been working with the considerable talent in and around Boston’s game development scene while gearing up for their game’s launch. They are also running a Kickstarter campaign that, at the time of writing, is over 50% funded with about two weeks left to go.

Pandora: Purge of Pride is aiming for release on PC through various channels this June.

The post An Indie Tale – The Pomp and Circumstance Behind the Birth of High Class Kitsch appeared first on nJoystic.

The game is said to boast around 1,200 cars and 33 tracks, along with a new game engine, new physics engine, new course maker, new user interface, multi device compatibility, and a community/club/race organizer.

A demo will released in July and more information is said to be forthcoming at E3 and Gamescom.

The post Gran Turismo 6 announced for PS3, coming holiday 2013. appeared first on nJoystic.

The water zone in Rayman: Origins was a showcase of the game’s excellent marriage of animation, gameplay, and sound. Today, Ubisoft has released a trailer feature the follow-up title Rayman Legends’ own watery world; a darker zone full of sub-aquatic labs and special forces goons. And, of course, a giant sea serpent. Check it out below:

Rayman Legends raised eyebrows earlier this year when the Wii U launch-window release was delayed to Fall, shedding it’s Nintendo-platform exclusivity in favor of a multi-system launch.

The post Dive Into Rayman Legends’ New Ocean World Trailer appeared first on nJoystic.

Although it took me a little too long to get around to picking it up, it should be said that Far Cry 3 turned out to be one of the best games I played from 2012. Whether it was hunting through the jungle, planning an attack on a pirate outpost (which would work until your bear friend turned on you), or finding any excuse to run toward the nearest mountain peak just to fly off it, there was something about the Far Cry 3 formula that was completely addictive for me.

So, even though Far Cry 3 had an initially promising story that decided to completely shit itself about halfway through (that’s truly the only way to describe the disappointment I felt), that addictive open-world gameplay really had me hoping we might see some DLC that would deliver some more of that playground.

When I learned that would come in the form of Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon, that wasn’t exactly what I was expecting. But I’ll be damned if it doesn’t scratch the itch.

Blood Dragon has absolutely no connection to Far Cry 3 beyond the gameplay. As you probably know by now, the island, characters, and story all come straight from the spirit of the cheesy, direct-to-video action flicks of the 80′s. In this futuristic interpretation of 2007, you play as Cyber Commando Sergeant Rex Power Colt, taken to an island to fight a cyborg army called Omega Force and discover what happened to the elite commando, Colonel Sloan.

I almost feel like I can stop the plot summary right there, as the core of Blood Dragon‘s plot is built with that “so dumb that it’s fun” mentality, and with mostly successful results. Whenever the game plays its material with a straight face, I found the story pretty amusing. It hits all the right cliches, and Michael Biehn’s performance as Rex really does hit the appropriate gruff American action-hero tone as far as the story goes. In a lot of ways, it’s nice to play a Far Cry 3 game where the story isn’t supposed to be taken so seriously. The original story of Far Cry 3 had loads of potential that it fell way short of, but Blood Dragon only seems worried about delivering a good, albeit stupid time.

Unfortunately, the game might make note of how dumb 80′s action was a little too much. When Blood Dragon shoves in the more self-referential humor, it can start to wear a bit thin. It almost comes across as if the game realizes you’re laughing at it rather than with it, and then desperately tries to prove that it’s in on the joke with you. Usually this comes in the form of ignorable menu stuff, but when you’re wandering around and Rex starts spouting one-liners and references like he’s auditioning for a Duke Nukem role, you can’t help but wish the game just played itself completely straight. Blood Dragon hits the cheesy futuristic tone so well with the abundance of glowing lights, unironically fantastic futuristic music, and spot-on cutscene dialogue, that the game doesn’t really need wink to let you know this is a parody, and yet it’ll keep doing so.

But when Blood Dragon‘s tone feels inconsistent, it doesn’t change the fact that the best part of Far Cry 3‘s gameplay is still perfectly intact. Of course, the story missions noticeably lack the big cinematic moments of the original game and usually amount to relatively basic FPS tasks (which I found were only at their most fun when taken with a more stealthy approach), but the new island is still an absolutely addictive setting to navigate.

Although, I would have liked to see the upgrade crafting system return (instead, Rex can carry four weapons from the get-go and weapon upgrades unlock through side-quests), exploring the new island, gathering collectibles, hunting cybernetic and mutated wildlife (including the lazer beam-blasting dinosaur-like Blood Dragons who add a welcome challenge to exploration), and taking out outposts (now called garrisons) is still some of the most satisfying gameplay I’ve experienced in a shooter. Doing it with lazer weapons that act and upgrade differently than those of Far Cry 3 also motivates you to explore different approaches with Blood Dragon.

For instance, the sniper rifle (my go-to weapon in FC3) ends up becoming an explosive weapon in Blood Dragon rather than a stealthy option. It becomes handy in a very different manner, but this also meant that I had to start learning how to use the bow. I absolutely sucked with the bow FC3, but by the time I finished Blood Dragon, it had become my default equipped weapon. Another weapon I didn’t use much in FC3 was the shotgun, and then Blood Dragon gave the damn thing a four-barrel upgrade. As it turns out, I find that adding barrels to a gun to be a very persuasive argument.

Those slight variation in gameplay really demonstrates what might be the best thing about Blood Dragon. The game encourages you to have fun within the Far Cry 3 playground and gives you more than enough reason to play with what that playground offers a bit more. It keeps the core of the original Far Cry 3 alive, but really attempts to make the most out of its unique opportunity by taking you to a drastically different location that is executed relatively soundly with a set of toys that are simultaneously old and new.

It was almost expected that Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon would sometimes stray on the wrong side of dumb a bit more than it should and it wasn’t likely to deliver quite the jaw-dropping cinematic experience of its predecessor, but it definitely carries the satisfying spirit of Far Cry 3 where it counts. If you’re like me and just needed more island to explore, or you’re really just itching for 80′s future action complete with training montage, Blood Dragon is definitely a great way to get your fill.

The post Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon Review: The 80′s were spot-on. appeared first on nJoystic.

Three years ago, if you told me that one of the best late-generation games to grace my aging Xbox would be a Tomb Raider title I would have called you crazy. Two months after Crystal Dynamic’s reboot hit shelves, I can honestly say that Tomb Raider is one of the most enjoyable single-player experiences I’ve had in years. It’s not perfect, but it kept a smile on my face from start to finish. That’s all I ask for in a game.

Unfortunately there’s more to the game than its stellar single-player adventure. It’s a bullet-pointed feature that forces me to reconsider my stance on an old argument, and one that’s been nagging me ever since the story’s credits rolled off my screen. Tomb Raider has a multiplayer mode.

The game’s multiplayer component has forced a theoretical conundrum upon my inner critic.

I’ve often argued that the mere existence of a multiplayer mode doesn’t inherently detract from the single-player experience. In this regard, Tomb Raider could serve as a banner for me to rally behind. Sure, the single-player campaign isn’t perfect – few if any games are – but the issues I had with it were born from the game’s overall design direction and not from a lack of polish.

Allocating multiplayer development resources to the single player experience likely would not have changed the decision to completely diverge from the the game’s wondrous sense of exploration by including enemy-wave based combat set pieces. It’s possible that one of the multiplayer designers would have looked at the game and said, “You know what? Maybe a series of quick-timed events and a stealth segment isn’t the best way to begin this epic tale,” but not likely. Regardless, it makes for a weak argument that the multiplayer development actually hurt the single-player experience.

Still, something about Tomb Raider’s multiplayer component has left a nagging question in my mind. If I had written a review for the game, wouldn’t I have had to detract points for the game’s unquestionably terrible multiplayer offering? Ignoring the debate on how we arrive at a numerical score and what those scores mean, somewhere in the article I would be expected to mention that the game’s additional component is an unimaginative, mediocre slog and a thing that should be actively avoided at all costs.

To put it another way, while I’m perfectly comfortable ignoring Tomb Raider’s multiplayer as a gamer, as a writer I’d be obligated to discuss the blight taking up space on the game’s main menu. In this regard, the multiplayer undeniably detracts from the experience.

Any time a traditionally single-player title gets a multiplayer component, a subset of fans will alleged that the decision was made purely thanks to bureaucratic stiffs trying to copy some magic formula for retail success. It’s there to be a bullet point on the back of the box and nothing more.

From the game’s launch on March 5 to the latest update on May 7, three additional content packs (DLC) have been released for the game. Along with additional downloadable “skin packs,” all of the current DLC offerings have been additions for the multiplayer mode.

The Pre-game Lobby: The excitement leading up to the match is palpable.

Even if three expansions in the first two months seems excessive — and it does — using DLC to prolong the retail life of a title is hardly unique to Tomb Raider. However, the quick turnaround and strong focus on an underwhelming multiplayer mode by offering least-possible content for an additional premium drives home the feeling that the mode exists solely to milk money from fans.

Completionists — a term that most definitely does not apply to me — have one final gripe: Nearly a quarter of the game’s achievements come from the multiplayer side of the gameplay. This includes an achievement for leveling up your profile to the highest rank, a feat that requires a much steeper investment than I am willing to put in.

Debate surrounding the addition of multiplayer to traditionally single-player titles has been a hot-button issue for a very long time.

Until now, my opinion has been firm that simply adding the mode is not inherently bad. Interestingly, it’s not an apparent drain on the single-player quality that has me questioning my stance on the topic. Rather, it’s the stark contrast between the Game of the Year contending campaign and the uninspired, functional-at-best, cookie-cutter multiplayer Tomb Raider has to offer.

While its mere existence has not kept me from recommending the title to anyone and everyone who loves great videogames, I cannot deny the bitter taste it leaves behind every time I see the “Multiplayer” text floating atop the game’s main menu. Does the multiplayer hurt the singleplayer experience? I’m not convinced. But does it hurt the game’s reputation or at least sap an otherwise glowing review? Yes, it does. And in an environment where developer bonuses and success are often measured in Metacritic scores, that matters.

What are your thoughts on multiplayer in “single-player” games? Does the same apply to single player campaigns in games obviously designed to sell around their multiplayer components? Did you actually enjoy Tomb Raider’s multiplayer mode, or have another reason to call me an idiot? Fell free to leave your thoughts in the comments section below.

The post Number One with a Bullet-point: Final Thoughts on Tomb Raider Reboot appeared first on nJoystic.

Check out episode 84 of the NJoycast below:

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Gamespot has the exclusive reveal coverage, including the announcement trailer. They will be unveiling further details of the game with a series of exclusive articles beginning tomorrow (Wednesday, May 8.)

The post Bethesda Softworks Announces ‘Wolfenstein: The New Order’ appeared first on nJoystic.

Check out episode 83 of the NJoycast:

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As developers continue to explore the mobile and digital space, spin-offs that barely resemble the franchises in their titles become increasingly common. At their best, these games offer a refreshing take on familiar game concepts while enriching an existing or upcoming game’s story. At their worst, they become cheap attempts to leech off fan’s wallets. On the surface, Deep Silver’s latest is a modern homage to old school arcade greats. When the charm fades, however, Sacred Citadel feels like the worst kind of cash-in.

Sacred Citadel is a brawler that superficially blends RPG mechanics with old-school arcade action. Brawlers aren’t typically known for their narratives, and Sacred Citadel is no exception. The generic fantasy plot sees a band of treasure-seeking mercenaries chasing down a group of bad guys bent on desctruction.

TO THE NAKED EYE, SACRED CITADEL LOOKS LIKE A BEAUTIFUL FLURRY OF ARCADE ACTION. UNFORTUNATELY, IT FAILS ON JUST ABOUT EVERY OTHER LEVEL.

The premise may be cliche, but it offers enough reason to grab a sword or two and start swinging. Unfortunately this is where the game suffers the most. Stiff, sluggish controls often get in the way of chaining together the game’s handful of available combos. Waves of forgettable enemies only require a modicum of strategy to overcome, which turns the combat into mindless repetition of one or two combos until progressing to the next group of enemies and doing the same.

The game’s four available protagonists offer a slight variety of play styles at best. Weapon and armor drops offer upgrades to statistics and introduce different elemental damage types, but the player ultimately needs to do little more than pick the item with the most damage or protection.

As enemies are defeated, gold can be collected from their splattered remains. This gold can be used to buy new equipment between stages, though there was never an occasion where the items for sale were better than the items I had already found on my own. The ability to go back and equip any weapon I’d previously wielded would have been a nice addition if there was ever a reason to do so, but there wasn’t.

Gaining enough experience with a character offers a chance to choose which of the four abilities to level up, but like so many of the game’s systems, none of it makes much difference.

Completing levels quickly allows players to earn a grade from bronze to gold. Placing bets with the town bookie also opens additional time, score, and health based challenges. These offer some replayability, though as I entered the game’s fourth and final chapter, the last thing I wanted was to extend the gameplay further. Taking advantage of the game’s local and online co-op helps keep the game fresh for a while, but ultimately the experience is still shallow and repetitive.

As a final slap in the face, a chunk of the game’s achievements and a full fifth chapter are only accessible through day-one DLC. Seriously, if you want to earn every achievement in this short, shallow game, you have to buy the final chapter separately. With that, Sacred Citadel’s intentions are clear.

Brawlers don’t have to be incredibly deep to be enjoyable, but Citadel‘s clunky control and lack of depth fail to overcome the inherent repetitiveness of the genre. What starts out as an enjoyable homage to quarter-gobbling beat’em’ups quickly becomes a bore with little reward for continued effort. Given the genre’s recent resurgence, players looking for a true arcade experience will have better luck looking elsewhere.

The post Sacred Citadel Review: Sacking the Hollow Hallowed Halls appeared first on nJoystic.