Far Cry 4 Coming November 18 2014, Takes Place in the Himalayas

far cry 4 reveal

Do you know what the definition of insanity is? Not getting a sequel to 2012’s stellar hit Far Cry 3. In a surprise leak/announcement today, Ubisoft officially unveiled Far Cry 4 which will be coming to the (deep breath here) PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on November 18, 2014.

Not much is currently known about Far Cry 4, other than that it takes place in a fictional region of the Himalayas called Kyrat and you’ll be fighting the reign of a self-appointed king. You can feast your peepers on the box art for Far Cry 4 by clicking the previous words. Looks more like a Pink King than a Yellow King to me, but maybe we’ll go to Carcosa in Far Cry 5.

Far Cry 3 was one of my favorite games of the last generation and if Ubisoft can turn around some of the less appealing aspects of that game (nonsensical “white savior” story and a rather bland second half) then we’ve got a huge hit on our hands. If the logical progression from flamethrower dubstep is elephant-riding RPG madness, then consider me sold.

Who’s on board for a little more Far Cry when it hits every consoles except the poor Wii U this November?

Source – UbiBlog

Bungie’s Destiny Will Cost Activision $500 Million

bungie destiny

According to a story published by Reuters, Bungie’s upcoming sci-fi shooter RPG thing Destiny could wind up costing Activision Blizzard $500 million in development and promotional costs when all is said and done.

The next game out Bungie in their post-Halo days is no doubt a big deal, but I don’t think anyone’s leaning on its potential success quite as hard as Activision. With Call of Duty: Ghosts’ weak showing last year, Activision is no doubt hungry for their next hit shooter. $500 million could wind up making Destiny the most expensive video game in history, which is a significant gamble for a company that often seems like it likes to play it safe.

$500 million is quite an insane number to be spending on development and marketing, but a lot of that is going towards the development of Destiny’s next-gen engine (which is in-house, a tradition for Bungie) and a lot of back end infrastructure costs. I don’t know about you guys, but with $500 million behind it, Destiny’s servers better not crap out on launch day.

What do you guys think? Is Destiny worth this price tag? Are you going to pick up the game on September 9, and for what platform?

Source – Reuters

Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare Trailer Will Topple Your Expectations like a House of Cards

Originally the plan was for the newest Call of Duty game, made by Modern Warfare 3 collaborator Sledgehammer Games, to be revealed this coming Sunday, but you know how the Internet works. The official trailer for Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare is out now and it features Kevin Spacey (who is a Southern accent away from portraying Frank Underwood), drones, exoskeletons, hover bikes and much much more. If you thought Black Ops 2 was futuristic, wait until you get a load of this:

Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare certainly looks nice, but there are also a lot of signs that point to it being on an upgraded version of the same old engine (I swear, I’ve watched the same running animation for the soldiers in slow-mo since 2007). What do you guys think of this reveal? Back on the Call of Duty hype-train? Can Advanced Warfare pick up after the post-Ghosts slump? According to the trailer, the release date for Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare is November 4, 2014. No consoles were specifically listed, except for the Xbox One version which provided the footage for the trailer.

Watch Dogs Walkthrough Video Shows off Competitive Multiplayer

Watch Dogs will be upon us very soon, and as such Ubisoft is rolling out walkthorugh videos detailing what you’ll be doing in the game come May 27. The most recent video showcases the multiplayer modes, which range from asymmetrical mobile app versus in-game combat (which I saw at last year’s PAX Prime) to a four-on-four objective-oriented mode. Check out the multiplayer offerings of Watch Dogs below:

Is it just me or does Competitive Decryption Combat look like a ton of fun? What do you guys think about this glimpse at Watch Dogs’ multiplayer modes?

Review: Titanfall

titanfall review

The tumultuous fracturing of Call of Duty creators Infinity Ward in 2010 represented a significant shift in the first person shooter landscape. Free from Activision, IW founders Jason West and Vincent Zampella and a team of former employees founded Respawn Entertainment and joined forces with EA to create a new franchise.

The result of that union is Titanfall, a multiplayer-only FPS where players can control either the agile Pilots or utilize one of three giant robot suits, called Titans, to duke it out. With a massive groundswell of anticipation surging it to the forefront of the collective gamer consciousness, is Titanfall the new king of first person shooters? Continue reading Review: Titanfall

Here’s a Megalodon in Battlefield 4 for Your Friday Afternoon

A couple months ago the Battlefield 4 community went crazy over the netcode the possibility of a megalodon existing on the Paracel Storm map. Well, four days after the release of the newest expansion Naval Strike on the PC, YouTuber and professional Battlefield 4 Easter Egg hunter JackFrags has found the giant shark and it is beautiful. Check out his video below:

What’s your favorite Easter Egg? This ranks pretty high up for me.

The GamerSushi Show, Ep 84: A Nose for Bros

gamersushi show 84

Prepare for podcast fall. We’re coming at you with a new episode of The GamerSushi Show.

This week, the prodigal Canadian returns as Mitch, Eddy, Jeff and Nick talk about Titanfall, the Flappy Bird saga and the Evolve information that dropped last week. Additionally, Eddy shares what goes on in his dreams. It’s very…interesting.

So, you know how this goes. Listen, rate and prosper.

0:00 – 11:29 Intro
11:30 – 30:53 Titanfall (mostly)
30:54 – 49:12 Flappy Bird
49:13 – 58:04 Evolve
58:05 – 59:40 Outro

Watch Six Minutes of Evolve Gameplay Because Why Not

Evolve, the up-coming asymmetrical multiplayer shooter from Turtle RockStudios, of Left 4 Dead fame, made a big splash during its Game Informer cover reveal last month. Recently a passel of gaming journalists, such as Kotaku’s Kirk Hamilton, got to check out the game, which is due to launch on the PS4, Xbox One and the PC later this year. Mr. Hamilton compiled six minutes of Evolve footage, so give it a watch.

Evolve looks like a lot of fun, and this video (I prefer text explanations to narration, at least in this case) shed a lot of light on some mechanics of Evolve that I was previously fuzzy on. The only thing I don’t dig about Evolve are the human characters, but that’s a small gripe. So, how is Evolve shaping up for you?

The GamerSushi Show, Ep 83: The Year of Birdo

the gamersushi show ep 83

The GamerSushi Show is back for another week, but this time the intrepid boys from the States are hosting a different Canadian: Patrick, friend of the show, joined us this week to try and defend Nintendo against our usual merciless onslaught.

Since Patrick is a long-time friend of Eddy, Jeff and Nick, he fits right in. In fact, you might not even notice that a certain other Canadian is missing. *sniff*

So, if you enjoyed the cast, why not let Patrick know by rating it? Thanks for listening, and see you next time!

0:00 – 9:51 Intro
9:52 – 23:23 Titanfall and EA
23:24 – 29:21 Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes
29:22 – 32:40 Square Enix
32:41 – 40:03 Bravely Default
40:04 – 59:50 Nintendo
59:51 – 1:16:25 GTA 5 and games as cultural events
1:16:26 – 1:18:30 Outro

Can DICE/EA Make Up For Months of Problems With Battlefield 4’s “Player Appreciation Month”?

battlefield 4 player appreciation month

Look guys, I’m sorry I keep writing about Battlefield 4, I really am. This game had a ton of promise leading up to launch and then it promptly fell flat on its face and has been struggling to right itself even since.

A week or so ago I wrote about DICE and EA’s handling of the whole situation (which you can read here if you’re so inclined) and in summation I felt that all that was necessary was admitting that they did wrong by the consumers and apologize. Instead, we’re getting the “Player Appreciation Month” for Battlefield 4, where EA and DICE neatly side-step responsibility for the game’s problems by offering up free Battlepacks, double XP events and shortcut kits.

Take a read through and see what they’re offering. Even if you haven’t played Battlefield 4, I’m sure you’re at least somewhat aware of the game’s issues. Tell me, is the Player Appreciation Month enough to make up for the bungled launch?

Is Battlefield 4's "Player Appreciation Month" an Appropriate Amount of Compensation?

View Results

Loading ... Loading ...

Killzone Shadow Fall and the First Rage Quit of 2014

killzone shadow fall free fall section

I was enjoying Killzone Shadow Fall in spurts. Sometimes, I would tolerate its mundane tasks and other times, I would actually lose myself in the gameplay for a bit. I wasn’t having a bad time, per se, but I wasn’t exactly overjoyed every time I booted the game up. But with only 9 missions, I figured I could manage my way through. The graphics were really quite nice, actually, with blue as the new brown, a refreshing change from last-gen.

So I trudged my way through, having already lost the narrative, something about a Cold War and experiments and weapons and using my drone companion to hack a lot of consoles. But then the free fall sequence slammed into me, halting my progress entirely. So I tried it again, thinking that it was my unfamiliarity with the controls that were hindering me. After all, it was a free fall through a city of collapsing skyscrapers and buildings, so this was clearly a big set-piece in the game, one that the developers wanted gamers to see. So I tried again. Continue reading Killzone Shadow Fall and the First Rage Quit of 2014

The Troubling Future of Battlefield

battlefield 4

As much as I think gamers and the gaming press in general are prone to histrionics, the ongoing saga of Battlefield 4 is cause for legitimate concern. While I have faith that DICE will eventually get the game working in almost tip-top shape, the whole process of Battlefield 4, from the demo Beta in early October to the mangled launch and the current state of the game has been quite the snafu.

The rumor out there is that EA rushed DICE to have Battlefield 4 drop on PC and previous generation consoles (the Xbox 360 and the PS3) on October 29, two weeks before the release of Call of Duty: Ghosts, sacrificing time needed to finish the actual game for a few extra sales. While the actual validity of this fact is up for debate, EA/DICE have a long history of taking potshots at Call of Duty and doing whatever they can to one-up Activision’s FPS juggernaut.

With lawsuits pending, future projects and DLC being delayed and more bugs than you can shake a stick at, has the rocky launch of Battlefield 4 shaken our faith in EA/DICE and cast aspersions on the future of the series? Continue reading The Troubling Future of Battlefield

Respawn Confirms 6v6 Matches for Titanfall, Internet Freaks Out

titanfall 12 player count matches

As the old saying goes, “bigger is better” although in the case of multiplayer shooter games this isn’t always true. While Titanfall may go big in terms of the giant mechs it features, the player count for Respawn and EA’s upcoming sci-fi shooter is a little on the smaller side.

While we’ve know for a while that Titanfall would contain a smaller number of players in matches (the E3 demo had 7 on 7), Respawn founder Vince Zampella confirmed on Twitter that Titanfall matches would max out at 12 humans, so 6 versus 6. The backlash to this news has been kind of over the top, as is the way with the Internet, but is 6v6 really that bad?

Many of the best competitive shooters out there, from Counter-Strike to Halo, have always had smaller matches because with more people things just get a little too hectic. Battlefield is one of the only games to pull this off because that’s their gimmick, but sometimes a full 64 player match can get kinda of crazy. Respawn additionally confirmed that the Titans, while capable of being directly controlled by a player, can also be automated to defend a specific area or follow a person around, so the matches are essentially 12 v 12 with some AI enemies padding things out.

I played Titanfall at PAX Prime 2013 and I honestly didn’t notice that it was a smaller game. With all of the AI enemies constantly dropping in, the action felt fast and frenetic and captured the feeling of being a small part of a larger battle. I’ll wait to actually play the game proper before making my judgement, but given how Titanfall felt at PAX, I imagine 6 v 6 will be just fine.

What do you guys think about this? Did the Internet overreact? Are more players essential, or do you prefer things to be a bit more…intimate?

Source – Vince Zampella Twitter

Evolve is the New Co-op Shooter from Left 4 Dead Creators Turtle Rock

evolve game

Not content to just be the creative force behind one of the most successful cooperative gaming series on the market, the makers of Left 4 Dead, Turtle Rock Studios, is at it again with Evolve, their next-gen only asymmetrical co-op shooter.

In Evolve, four human alien-hunter characters will battle against a single player-controlled creature. While that may sound hilariously lopsided at first, the hook of Evolve is that the monster grows larger and more powerful with each match that goes by. Judging by the short snippet from the Game Informer February cover reveal, each human will have their own bag of tricks, but they alien they’re hunting will be more than able to hold its own. It’s a pretty cool competitive twist on the co-op scene, and the fact that its next-gen/PC only means that Turtle Rock will be able to cram in plenty of bells and whistles.

February’s Game Informer will have a bunch more information about Evolve, but for now consider me intrigued. While I never exactly got into Left 4 Dead’s competitive side, Evolve sounds like enough of a different beast that I’d be willing to give it to go. Having an ever-expanding array of powers and abilities as the alien sounds like it might make for some hilarious screaming matches if you’re on the human side of things.

What do you guys think about Evolve? Is your interest piqued?

Source – Game Informer

The GamerSushi Show, Ep 79: The Top 10 of 2013

the gamersushi show ep 79

We are back from a month long break to drop a cast on you before we talk another month long break. Hey, it’s the holidays, can you blame us?

In this three-man yuletide cast, Eddy, Anthony and Jeff talk about the PS4 and the Xbox One, the VGX and then do a live formulation of our top ten games of the year. Nick and I weren’t able to make it but I’d say that our views are fairly represented (except about The Last of Us, but that’s a battle I gave up on long ago).

We’ve never done a live top-10 discussion, but it worked out rather well, especially after our Top 20 Games of the Generation article kind of listed us out.

Hope you enjoy the last cast of 2013 and remember to rate and enjoy the Holidays! See you in early 2014, Sushians!

The GamerSushi Top Ten Games of 2013

1. Grand Theft Auto V
2. Bioshock Infinite
3. Tomb Raider
4. The Last of Us
5. Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag
6. Resogun
7. Pokemon X/Y
8. The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds
9. The Wolf Among Us
10. Fire Emblem: Awakening

Honorable Mentions: Super Mario 3D Worlds, Saints Row IV

0:00 – 5:03 Intro
5:04 – 18:46 Next Gen Consoles
18:47 – 41:06 VGX
41:07 – 1:11:09 The Top Ten Games of 2013
1:11:10 – 1:12:59 Outro

The Rough Launch of Battlefield 4

battlefield 4 launch issues

Battlefield 4 launched last Tuesday on current generation consoles and the PC and it’s been kind of a bumpy ride. There are things I really love about the game that will still persist after all of the instability has been patched, so let’s cover the bad stuff first.

When Battlefield 4 came out last week, it was virtually unplayable, and that didn’t change until the evening of November 3. To start there were severe rubberbanding on every server and more often than not the servers or the game itself would crash. This is frustrating considering that Battlefield 4 has a very deep unlock/ranking system, even compared to the previous games in the series. When you lose essential unlocks like the defibrillator and have to unlock it five more times before the game actually lets you complete a round and save your stats, it gets pretty annoying.

Fortunately, that has pretty much been ironed out. The netcode is still wonky, what with enemy players killing you while you’re behind cover or even before they round a corner and the rubberbanding still persists when flying air vehicles. In short, DICE and EA are continuing their sterling legacy of making every Battlefield game virtually unplayable for about a week. Even though they’re working hard on it (there have been about six server-side patches in the last week with more to come) having to wait a week to play a game is always a demoralizing experience. Continue reading The Rough Launch of Battlefield 4

GamerSushi Power Rankings: October 2013

Gta 5 banner

A new challenger arrives!

Several new challengers, actually. Now that the fall is rolling out like AutoBots, it’s safe to say that our Power Rankings chart is going to undergo quite a few transformations of its own, month-to-month. See what I did there? References!

This month sees several new contenders making a debut on the rankings, from mobile games to indie titles and to arguably the biggest blockbuster of the entire year in Grand Theft Auto V. Yes, this venture into Los Santos and San Andreas has stolen our hearts, making us forget all of the abuse that Rockstar dished out in Grand Theft Auto IV. We’re fickle beasts.

So, without further ado, here are the top 10 games we’ve been playing over the last month. What do you guys think of this list? What are you playing? Go! Continue reading GamerSushi Power Rankings: October 2013

The Highs and Lows of the Battlefield 4 Beta

battlefield 4 beta

Last week the Battlefield 4 beta launched, featuring the map Siege of Shanghai with the modes Conquest and Domination. Being the outspoken Battlefield advocate that I am, I selflessly took it upon myself to dive headfirst into the beta and bring you a report from the dust-choked battleground of Shanghai.

I’m playing the beta on PC, and thankfully I haven’t been impeded by the weird technical errors that seems to have stymied some users. Battlefield 4 looks absolutely gorgeous on a decent rig as DICE has done away with most of their weird aesthetic choices from Battlefield 3 (like the super-nova sun and the blue tint). The war torn streets of Shanghai have a lot of interactive features as well, like the ability to close store shutters to keep enemies out or raise bollards to stop a tank from rolling across a bridge (at one point I was able to use a blinking metal detector to locate an enemy that had rounded the corner and escaped my line of sight).

Continue reading The Highs and Lows of the Battlefield 4 Beta

The GamerSushi Show, Ep 75: Millions of Beeches

gamersushi show ep 75 gta 5

We’re back after a week break, but can you blame us? We needed time to digest Rockstar’s latest magnum opus, GTA 5. As you can imagine, a large portion of the cast is taken up by this game, but we only talk up to the first heist, so there’s not a huge risk of spoilers.

Other than that we talk Valve’s Steam announcements (outside of the Steam controller that hadn’t been revealed yet), I heap some love on Nintendo for the Wii U and Windwaker HD and the fact that Apple payed EA to give them the exclusive launch of Plants vs Zombies 2, and apparently that’s a big deal?

Anyways, you know the drill by now, listen, rate and come back next week (hopefully) for another installment of the GamerSushi Show!

0:00 – 6:27 Intro
6:28 – 21:40 SteamOS, Steam Machines
21:42 – 26:58 Next Gen Transfers
26:59 – 31:09 Wii U and Wind Waker HD
31:10 – 37:25 EA and Apple “Non-troversy”
37:26 – 1:01:07 GTA 5
1:01:08 – 1:03:48 Outro

Payday 2 and the Perils of Over-Patching

payday 2

The original Payday had a solid idea at its core – co-op heists with bad-ass masks – but the execution was kind of lacking. It felt a lot like Left 4 Dead with its waves of cops, but instead of progressing through a level, you were left standing in one spot waiting for a drill to open a safe, or something.

Payday 2 actually took some steps to improve this, but unfortunately the developers shot themselves in the foot with Update 11. While the game has since been patched to fix some of the things that went wrong with Update 11, the game took a step back that will be difficult to recover from. Continue reading Payday 2 and the Perils of Over-Patching