Next-Gen Essentials: Joystiq's E3 2013 Gear

This just in: E3 2013 starts tomorrow. Well, technically, tomorrow is what we affectionately call "Day Zero" - due to the slew of major media briefings we'll be attending.

It's been nearly a decade since Microsoft and Sony brought new gear to E3, and nearly a decade since Joystiq started making the trek to the industry's most important North American event. How do we do it? (Apart from all the coffee and nanotechnological augmentations, that is.)

Here's how the Joystiq crew is rolling in this year, including Jordan's tactical kit above and Mike Schramm's gear with the most up-to-date and hard-hitting (all in good fun) questions after the break.

Gallery: Joystiq @ E3 2013: The Gear

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Next-Gen Essentials: Joystiq's E3 2013 Gear originally appeared on Joystiq on Sun, 09 Jun 2013 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Company of Heroes 2 review: Cold front

It hasn't been easy to wait for with Company of Heroes 2. First, it's been seven years since the original was released and achieved instant-classic status. It was a sharp change from almost everything else in real-time strategy, and cemented developer Relic's reputation as one of the best strategy studios in PC gaming. An Eastern Front expansion or sequel seemed like a no-brainer, but Relic never got around to it, and Company of Heroes was set aside as Relic became a Warhammer 40K studio. With Relic finally returning to Company of Heroes in a sequel set against the bloody grandeur and brutality of the Eastern Front, greatness seemed preordained.

Which is probably why simple goodness feels slightly disappointing. Company of Heroes 2 just feels like More Company of Heroes. It's still a great design, but most of its sequel's innovations are fairly conservative, and along the way it's also borrowing some dubious features from modern mainstream shooters, like a grindy progression system filled with perks and unlocks. Even the Eastern Front never quite comes alive. RTS games are partly powered by how well they communicate their theme, how well they connect the game you're playing to the story it's telling, and Company of Heroes 2 sometimes seems a little more like an Eastern Front skin than a fresh take on an old design.

Gallery: Company of Heroes 2 (6/28/13)

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Company of Heroes 2 review: Cold front originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 28 Jun 2013 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Total War: Rome 2 is a 'completely reworked vision' from The Creative Assembly

Rome: Total War is one of those games that a certain, very dedicated audience loves, while the rest of the gaming world is left outside admiring the craft but not quite understanding the dedication. The first Rome: Total War was critically acclaimed and spawned a line of expansions and updates, and now strategy giants The Creative Assembly are returning to the game with a full sequel, not to mention switching around the title to Total War: Rome 2.

What's different? "Just about everything, really," says lead battle designer Jamie Ferguson during an interview at E3 2013. "In the ten years since we did Rome 1, we've completely overhauled the game. The game engine isn't even the same."

TCA has released a number of Total War sequels and spinoffs throughout periods of history, and updated the original title with new features and systems already. But even despite those improvements, Ferguson says the new game has even more updates and improvements. "When we call it Rome 2, it might be a bit of a misnomer in a way," he says. "We might call it Rome Redux, I guess. It's a completely reworked vision of the game."

Gallery: Total War: Rome 2 (E3 2013)

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Total War: Rome 2 is a 'completely reworked vision' from The Creative Assembly originally appeared on Joystiq on Sun, 16 Jun 2013 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Borderlands 2 'Tiny Tina's Assault on Dragon Keep' DLC review: Roll for initiative, suckas

Borderlands 2's Tiny Tina has got some bizarre quirks and qualities a vocal few openly denounce, but she's memorable in a way so few women in games are. All that, and she's still a little girl. The frenetic little firecracker is a bundle of energy, so it makes perfect sense that she should host a game of Bunkers & Badasses, an obvious parody of Dungeons & Dragons. In "Tiny Tina's Assault on Dragon Keep," your go-to Vault Hunter rolls for initiative with Lilith, Brick, and Mordecai as part of the very first play session ever sanctioned. The final piece of Borderlands 2 DLC serves up a hilarious send-up of nerd culture sprinkled with nods to D&D, marinated in Tiny Tina's peculiar blend of humor.

Fast-traveling to the Unassuming Docks of Little Importance, we find our heroes embarking on their first role-playing adventure while a certain "Hyperion informant" is roughed up downstairs. After a brief interlude, the stage is set (by Bunker Master Tina of course) at Flamerock Refuse - a "nice place until the Handsome Sorcerer messed it up." The rainbow etched across the sky in this land of make-believe you're suddenly transported to doesn't exactly reflect an air of desolation, so Tina rectifies her mistake by instantly changing the scenery to something more eerie and hopeless, music included.

It's immediately obvious this scenario is a meta look at playing dungeon master and the way a D&D narrative can be altered so hastily. From then on, you're exploring the entire imaginary landscape on Tina's terms, which results in some giggle-worthy location names and terrain altering, as well as a bundle of surprises.

Gallery: Borderlands 2 - Tiny Tina's Assault on Dragon's Keep

Continue reading Borderlands 2 'Tiny Tina's Assault on Dragon Keep' DLC review: Roll for initiative, suckas

Borderlands 2 'Tiny Tina's Assault on Dragon Keep' DLC review: Roll for initiative, suckas originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 25 Jun 2013 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Metareview: Deadpool

So you want a stupid action game? Good, you're in luck.

• EGM (80/100): "If you're a fan of Deadpool, you'll certainly appreciate the experience, but if you're really unfamiliar with the character (even though I don't know how that's possible at this point), you might be a bit wary of having this game be your first experience"
• Game Informer (60/100): "When I finished this game, I walked away unfulfilled. After a weekend away from it, I found myself chuckling over the crazy things Deadpool said and did. His obsession with Wolverine is particularly funny. The memories I took away from the game were worth the time I put in, even if playing it was a chore."
• Eurogamer (60/100): "Even with this crudely skewed difficulty curve, it's not hard to romp through the game's six stages without too much trouble, and once it's done there's not much else to do, beyond replaying it all again to max out those upgrade trees or dipping into a selection of one-note challenge stages based on locations you've already grown tired of."
• IGN (60/100): "On the other hand, much of the Deadpool gameplay experience is formulaic and safe...so safe you might think developer High Moon Studios is playing some sort of self-referential "hey, isn't it ironic how normal this is?" meta-gag on you. But it's not."
• VideoGamer (50/100): "Deadpool is a great character wrapped in a standard (and short) action experience."

  Gallery: Deadpool (6/25/13)

  

Metareview: Deadpool originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 25 Jun 2013 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Gran Turismo 6 pre-order extras, GameStop-exclusive 15th Anniversary Edition detailed

As part of what it calls "the most extensive and robust pre-order offer" the Gran Turismo series has ever seen, SCEA has announced pre-orders for Gran Turismo 6 in North America will add four new vehicles to the game's roster: BMW Z4 GT3 '11, Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 '13, Tesla Model S Signature Performance '13 and Chevrolet Corvette Stingray (C7) '14.

GameStop pre-order customers will be updated to the retailer's exclusive "15th Anniversary" edition of Gran Turismo 6 at no additional cost, featuring a total of 20 new rides (including those mentioned above), PlayStation Blog US reports. The 15th Anniversary Edition also features customized paint chips, a race suit, helmet, PSN avatar and Beyond the Apex 2 - the next evolution of the Blu-ray exclusive GT5 Prologue Beyond the Apex experience.

Amazon pre-orders will net $1 million in in-game credit, plus the aforementioned four-car pack. In Europe, the Anniversary Edition will be offered through select retailers - full details are over on PlayStation Blog Europe.

Gran Turismo 6 is slated to launch this holiday season and Sony has said it is confident there will be no delay.

Gallery: Gran Turismo 6 (E3 2013)

Continue reading Gran Turismo 6 pre-order extras, GameStop-exclusive 15th Anniversary Edition detailed

Gran Turismo 6 pre-order extras, GameStop-exclusive 15th Anniversary Edition detailed originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 24 Jun 2013 21:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nomura: Final Fantasy 15 on PS3 may have 'caused us to look inferior'

Square Enix game director Tetsuya Nomura has elaborated on the choice to bring Final Fantasy 15 - previously known as Final Fantasy Versus 13 - to next-generation consoles instead of PS3, the original platform when the game was first announced in 2006.

In an interview with Famitsu (via Polygon), Nomura said Square Enix moved the game to Xbox One and PS4 because "the lifespan of the current generation of consoles was starting to pose a problem" to Square Enix. "We had originally thought about making this announcement last year, but due to assorted reasons that got delayed. This meant that the lifespan of the current generation of consoles was starting to pose a problem to us. If we were a year later, other companies will have more time to research the next generation, and releasing the game against their products on the older generation could have caused us to look inferior when people inevitably compared us."

Keeping Final Fantasy 15 on the current generation posed too many concerns to Square Enix - concerns that the final game wouldn't match what the company set out to do. "With current-gen systems, we couldn't fully express what we wanted to do in this project," he said. "There were more and more things that we would've had to change the form of. However, the assumption was that we'd go ahead with a current-gen release, so went through a trial-and-error process to do as much as we could. So we built an alpha version about a year ago, and the company response was 'If you remained bound to the current generation, will it will be the product you envisioned?' They suggested shifting fully to next-gen, and that was the spark that led to the move."

As for a PC port, Nomura says it largely "depends on the demand" - if enough people want it, then Square Enix may pursue it. The full interview can be read through the source link below.

Nomura: Final Fantasy 15 on PS3 may have 'caused us to look inferior' originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 19 Jun 2013 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Saints Row 4 elects for even more chaos

When Saints Row: The Third was still in development, we talked about it as "a dinner of doughnuts." The first mission in the game was just as stimulating and over-the-top as the last mission of your average Grand Theft Auto game. But if Saints Row 3 starts on the last mission of other sandbox games, then Saints Row 4 picks up even later than that: in the end credits.

When Saints Row 4 begins, you are no less than the leader of the free world, and your first walk through the White House (complete with scantily dressed staffers and chained-up pet tigers) is like a congratulations for a job well done. You get to choose between making healthcare free or ending the deficit, you get re-introduced to a bunch of familiar faces from the series (who now all have cabinet-level positions in your administration), and the biggest prize of all is that you're on a first-name basis with your Vice President, Keith David (yes, the Keith David, brilliantly playing himself). Starting Saints Row 4 feels like you've just finished a long journey, and you've won the day once and for all.

And that's when the aliens show up to kidnap your friends. You order the turrets raised from underneath the South Lawn, you get in a fistfight with the alien overlord, and - oh - you get superpowers.

Gallery: Saints Row 4 (E3 2013)

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Saints Row 4 elects for even more chaos originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 12 Jun 2013 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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