Author: Michael

I poured my heart and soul into a tiny bar in Aurora, Colorado for five years. I went from a spry 23-year-old to a haggard old bar owner in that short amount of time. It taught me a lot about the industry, about people, and about my own limitations and dreams. A piece of my soul is forever tied to that place, those people, and that five years. Even though it is no longer mine, I can't leave hospitality. I NEED to be a part of that community. It's simply in my blood. So now, I write about the industry. I'm working on traveling the country to meet and talk with everyone I can about their jobs, their places, their customers, the ownership, their managers, everything. I want to share those experiences with you. Thank you for reading my blog, and thank you for reading this Bio. Your support means the world to me. I hope that I'm giving you something worthwhile.

Spider-Man Content Delayed In Yet Another Blow to Marvel’s Avengers

The news came courtesy of some hawk-eyed fans who noticed that Spider-Man was not part of the roadmap for Marvel’s Avengers that was released yesterday. IGN got on the story and asked Crystal Dynamics studio head, Scot Amos, why Spider-Man was missing from the roadmap.

“I can tell you that, formally, officially, people are working on him right now,” Amos replied. “So it is still on our roadmap for the future.” Spider-Man’s addition to the game was first announced in August of last year, to much ire, as a PlayStation exclusive. According to IGN, Amos made it clear that Spider-Man would not be added to the game before Black Panther—meaning Spider-Man likely won’t be seen in the game until sometime this fall. However, it sounds as though Spider-Man will still be a PlayStation exclusive. “…We still fully expect Spider-Man to come to PlayStation,” Amos said.

Marvel’s Avengers has not been a successful release by most metrics. There were multiple bugs in the game, making it unplayable for some people. Additionally, it was reported that the game resulted in a 63 million dollar loss for publisher Square Enix. Since its release, developer Crystal Dynamics has been working to patch bugs and provide more content. In a blog post explaining the new road map, Crystal Dynamics had this to say, “Our focus moving forward is to deliver new content that is compelling to play and replay again while offering better rewards. We are expanding upon what the Avengers Initiative currently has to offer to provide more choices for players when they hop in-game and have completed all the Operations.”

The studio made it clear, however, that the roadmap itself could change at any time. “We do want to mention that this roadmap could potentially change depending on the ever-changing world of game development, but we also feel confident about what we have presented here and hope it also excites you.”

As far as imminent content, the Tachyon Anomaly will allow you to, for the first time, use heroes more than once—meaning that everyone in the party could play as the Hulk if they wanted to. The company promises to continue updating the player base over the coming months—as there isn’t much in the way of detailed information for events such as the Cosmic Cube at this point.

Sources: Crystal Dynamics | CBR | IGN

 

Cyberpunk 1.2 Patch Details Released

In a recent blog post, CD Projekt Red detailed what the 1.2 patch for Cyberpunk will do to improve the game. The post follows an in-game newscast format and details improvements to police generation, vehicle handling, and dodge mechanics.

Since the game’s release in December of last year, the focus of CDPR has been on fixing Cyberpunk’s issues on last-gen consoles. The company estimated that two patches would be needed to make the game functional? Playable? Better? Whatever word you chose for it, the 1.2 patch is meant to bring the game up to standard for the PS4 and Xbox One.

The first of the four updates details the addition of a small police drone that will now appear to scope out the situation and alert police if you do something illegal—rather than police spawning in behind you. The change is intended to give you time to escape or prepare for a fight, depending on your preference and making the world more logical.

The patch details for 1.2 are punctuated with tongue-in-cheek news blurbs that sum up Night City’s changes. For example, in the announcement that police will no longer simply “teleport” right behind you if you do something illegal, like kill a pedestrian, you’ll see this:

“My choom, Jake, was in a shoot-out with Tyger Claws the other day, when he missed a shot and hit a pedestrian on the other side of the street. In an instant, the NCPD swarmed up on him and put him down. It’s like they appeared out of thin air right behind his back! It’s too brutal of a response for a regular accidental murder if you ask me!” — Mike from Kabuki, 28.

So be sure to check it out for yourself.

Another of the big improvements detailed in the post has been vehicle handling. CDPR released a side-by-side comparison of the improved vehicle handling, and it appears that cars will no longer overreact—like a boat on the water—when you’re driving around. “Analyzing feedback on our driving model suggested a lot of players were having issues with the speed of the steering,” CDPR said in a statement. “We have added a Steering Sensitivity slider to the Options menu. This allows the steering speed for all vehicles and all input devices to be slowed down, without affecting the maximum turn radius.”

CDPR also added the ability to rock your vehicle if you find yourself stuck on a barrier or in a pile of trash, unable to move. “There are cases where our vehicles can get beached or high centered on stuff in Night City. We have now added an Unstuck feature that kicks in when you are accelerating and not moving,” the company said. To engage the system, hold down the accelerator button and move in any direction. Your vehicle will automatically rock or tilt in the direction that you’re pointing.

Finally, there were changes to the dodge mechanic. You can now remap your dodge button to be separate from your movement key or button—helping to ensure that you don’t accidentally throw yourself off a building.

According to the roadmap of improvements for Cyberpunk 2077, this will be the last major patch for the game. After this patch is released, CDPR is meant to begin work on standard quality of life improvements, along with free DLC.

A linear graph showing the timeline of improvements to Cyberpunk 2077, beginning in 2020 and ending January 1 2022. Patch 1.2 is the final major patch before CDPR will move on to other updates and free DLC for the game.

Source: CDPR

Gotham Knights Delayed For A Year – Releasing 2022

According to the game’s official Twitter account, Gotham Knights is being delayed to ensure quality upon release. The game was announced last year and was set to come out sometime in 2021. No particular reason was given for the delay, other than the studio would like to ensure that the game performs to their expectation.

“We are giving the game more time to deliver the best possible experience for players. Thank you to our amazing fans for your tremendous support of Gotham Knights. We look forward to showcasing more of the game in the coming months,” reads the tweet.

Gotham Knights is an original story set in Gotham city. Meaning that it is not related to the Arkham series. In this version of Gotham, Batman is dead, and it is up to the “side-kicks” to save the city from some of Gotham’s most iconic villains. The game is best played in multiplayer mode with two or three other players. However, you can still play the game in single-player mode if you would prefer.

Opinion

There is little doubt that the unprecedented backlash and fallout of Cyberpunk 2077’s premature release has influenced developers across the industry. Delays have always been with us, but it seems that more and more studios are willing to delay games, regardless of how big they are. Marvel’s Avengers’ initial failure also probably factored into the studio’s decision to delay the game to ensure that it is received more warmly than Avengers was.

While Gotham Knights is not DC comics’ answer to Marvel’s Avengers, it is important to keep the long and storied rivalry in mind here. If there is an edge to be gained in a given situation, the comic book giants will take advantage of it.

We might expect to see additional functionality or world-building with anywhere from eight to 16 extra months of work on the game. Regardless, WB games have promised to continue to showcase the game—be it at E3 or another showcase event—so that it stays in your mind all the way up to launch.

Sources: GamesRadar | Twitter

Square Enix Details Upcoming Title Outriders

Outriders is a new game from developers People Can Fly—the studio behind Gears of War: Judgement and Bulletstorm: Full Clip. If you didn’t get a chance to play the demo last month, you’re going to want to know a little bit about what you are getting yourself into when you play Outriders.

A video released during Square Enix’s showcase event today gave us some background into the Outriders universe—and it’s not pretty. You will play as an “outrider,” a sort of scout tasked with scoping out the terrain and reporting back what you see. You’re surveying the planet Enoch—a paradise planet turned hellscape. However, you and your group get caught in a storm that will give you unnatural powers and abilities. Abilities that you’ll need if you’re going to figure out why Enoch is hellbent on killing everyone on the planet.

You’ll be able to play as one of four different classes of Outrider. Trickster, Technomancer, Devastator, or Pyromancer. To put it in more basic terms, the Trickster is a quick and light build—deadly up close but lightly armored. The Technomancer is your sniper class with a twist. You’ll be able to use your abilities to summon turrets and set traps. The Devastator is your tank class, able to take punches and deal a ton of damage. The Pyromancer is the mid-range class, capable of doing almost all of it.

Outriders boasts skill-trees that will suit your playstyle. Be careful, though, you’re going to have to make some tough choices about how you want to play. That’s going to be important because there is also a crafting system in the game that will help you to fine-tune your playstyle. Speaking of, if you’re using the character’s class correctly, you’ll be rewarded with health in the thick of battle.

Outriders is set to be released on April 1, 2021, and will be available on day one on Xbox Game Pass—once again proving that Xbox is taking over gaming.

Source: Square Enix

Square Enix Reveals Life Is Strange: True Colors

Square Enix has revealed that the latest game in the Life is Strange series will be titled True Colors and will be released on September 10, 2021. The announcement came during the company’s showcase live stream “Square Enix Presents” as part of a series of newly announced games.

Life is Strange: True Colors is somewhat of a departure from the other two games in the series, as True Colors will not be episodic but will release as a single game. The main protagonist, Alex Chen, will have the power to sense the emotions of those around her—as opposed to having the ability to control time.

Once again, Life is Strange takes us on a journey to solve a mystery and discover things about ourselves and others that we wouldn’t have otherwise known. Alex’s brother has died in a so-called accident, but there is something off about the circumstances. You’ll need to use your empathic abilities to understand the characters around you, their motivations and potentially influence their actions.

Watch out, though; if the emotions are too strong, Alex can get sucked into them herself and lose control.

The game will release in three different editions. Standard, Deluxe, and Ultimate. The Deluxe edition will get you True Colors, a bonus story and a hero outfit inspired by previous Life is Strange protagonists.

On the other hand, the Ultimate edition will get you all of the series’ games, with the previous two being fully remastered for current-gen tech, plus the hero outfits and the bonus story.

True Colors carries an “M” rating, so you can expect that, like the other two, there will be some very adult themes explored in the game. Life is Strange has never shied away from some of the darker elements of the human experience—and there is no reason to expect that True Colors will be any different in that regard.

True Colors was developed by Deck Nine games of Colorado, which might explain True Colors’ setting. Deck Nine was also the development company behind the second game in the series, Before the Storm. Choices will be a major factor in how the game handles, including potential romances with some of the townsfolk.

As with the other two games, you’re probably going to want to play through it two or three times to see what other options you might have gained if you had made different choices.

Life is Strange: True Colors releases September 10, 2021.

Source: Square Enix

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