Warlock: Master of the Arcane Review

War--what is it good for? In Warlock: Master of the Arcane, war is good for absolutely everything. Warlock focuses on the "exterminate" portion of the 4X (explore, expand, exploit, exterminate) strategy formula, with rudimentary diplomacy and research systems, leaving a fun and sometimes intense turn-based strategy game that's all about throwing armies of high-fantasy creatures into conflict. While the game's enemy great mages (aka the "AI") could use a better grasp of their own systems, Warlock provides a satisfying challenge, provided you play on its higher settings.

These hills give the archers a bonus. Too bad simply clicking on the space doesn't tell you this.

The turn-to-turn gameplay is similar to Civilization and other 4X games--you send out units across the map, build and expand cities, or fight (or all three, depending on the turn). Warlock is set in Ardania, the land of the Majesty series of fantasy sim games. Your goal is to become the strongest of the great mages and establish a mighty empire. The game has three factions: the humans, which feature units such as warriors, archers, and mages; the monsters, who have goblins, ratmen, trolls, and the donkey knights (yes, donkeys are one of Warlock's many resources); and the undead, who sport the usual assortment of skeletons, ghosts, and vampires that you'd expect--along with ghost ships like the Flying Galleus. Each turn, you decide where to explore, move units, attack, and, depending on where you are, research new spells or construct new buildings.

The game looks and plays a lot like Civilization V, with hexes, one unit per hex, similar-looking formations, and so on. But where it diverges from Civ is in management; all you need to worry about (besides the enemy and aggressive neutrals) are four resources: gold, food, mana, and research. You don't have to worry about pollution, about happiness, about diplomacy--just maintaining and providing for your army. And this makes Warlock refreshing. The game puts you into combat quickly, generally starting your first city near some sort of enemy, be it a neutral city (which can be any of the three factions) or a neutral monster generator that spews enemies on a regular basis (such as cockroaches, rats, and spiders--and even stronger creatures, like bears and ogres).

Warlock works because of balance--each faction has strengths and weaknesses. Take the undead. Their death magic makes them powerful, and their ghosts are immune to most forms of damage. But this is counterbalanced by the life magic of the human faction, which can shred through the undead. The monster faction has strong units that use spirit magic but are costly to maintain.

What's great about the faction is that while they're balanced well against one another, they each feel different. When you're playing as the monsters, your tanklike trolls feel different from the other factions' heavy melee units. The Flying Galleus of the undead is distinct from the galleon of the humans. One thing that helps make the units and factions distinct is voice-overs. A number of units speak when you click on them, and each line fits the faction. The lines of many of the monsters are funny (goblin archers sometimes screech "Best archers in the world!"), and most of this dialogue adds flavor, such as the ghostly captain voice of the Flying Galleus. It doesn't grow tiresome, even after dozens of hours of playtime.

Hmm…building a craftsmen district boosts gold production, but a group of minotaurs could help bash someone's brains in.

A group of neutral units may also complement your armies. You may recruit minotaurs and halberdiers--and even dragons--by building on spaces that spawn such creatures. Spells let you summon some low-level monsters and, later, elementals. When you take over a foe's city, you can't raze it. You instead make it yours, but you keep the other faction's buildings and units (which is how you may end up with mages of the human faction backing your ghosts). You may also set up your game with portals to other worlds. These planes are stocked with powerful monsters, but if you establish a foothold, you can recruit some of the most powerful units in the game. This variety is invigorating: you may play the same faction several times in a row but wind up relying on different unit makeups.

Your units also gain access to various upgrades and perks. Combat earns experience, and when a unit reaches a new level, it receives a new perk. These can boost offense, defense, range, sight, or the rate at which you regenerate life or acquire experience. Be savvy in how you use these perks--if you choose carefully, you can develop low-level units into threats. Upgrades come from special buildings you construct on resources, such as iron and magic nodes. It costs some gold to implement an upgrade, but it's worth it; like with perks, you can buff your units in a variety of ways.

Source : http://www.gamespot.com

Diablo 3 Review

Diablo 3 Review:

It’s hard to believe that it’s been 12 years since Diablo 2 came out and continued the loot-frenzy, mouse-clicking adventure RPG Diablo series from Blizzard Entertainment. Since the game announcement in 2008, the title has had multiple revisions – no more Mystic artisan, delayed PvP, the addition of a controversial auction house that has the option to use real money – and plenty of criticism, including the much-maligned color palette that fans said didn’t truly represent the franchise.

But it’s now been a week since the game launched, which unfortunately meant a crippling period of time where Blizzard’s servers didn’t cooperate with the vast majority of players, keeping thousands of players from accessing the game. Because Diablo 3’s DRM requires an internet connection to be signed into Battle.net, this left the majority of players unable to play the game they had purchased. Complaints littered the internet, but quickly vanished once the servers were able to handle the load.

Are You Playing This For The Story?

Blizzard has a rich history of providing complex stories for their games: see StarCraft, WarCraft and of course the previous Diablo titles as examples of this. But it’s easy to lose to the entire scope behind all of those mouse clicks. Diablo 3 has a rich story with some of the most gorgeous cutscenes ever to grace a video game. (Seriously, if there was a feature-length Diablo movie told in this animation, it would sell tons of tickets). But much of the lore and history is told in dialogue with NPCs that you don’t’ have to access, and we wonder how many people will skip it altogether in the search for yellow epic items.

For those of you who might be curious, Diablo 3 is set 20 years after Diablo 2, with demon lords Belial and Azmodan trying to gain control of the Black Soulstone and destiny itself, either by freeing Diablo, or taking the power for themselves. The events are touched off by a meteor that opens an enormous hole in a Cathedral near New Tristram, swallowing wise man Deckard Cain along with it. As a Nephalem, the direct offspring of angels and demons, you have access to great powers, and must use them to try and stop hell from spilling into Sanctuary.

In order to do that, you’ll team up with Cain’s niece Leah and trace the path of the Dark Wanderer from Diablo 2. Along the way you’ll also meet several followers you can hire to join your party: the Templar, the Scoundrel, and the Enchantress.

Who Do You Want To Be?

Diablo 3 features five characters classes: four brand-new ones, and the returning Barbarian from Diablo 2. What is impressive here is that Blizzard has managed to pack different types of gameplay options into each class, meaning you can have a Witch Doctor who fights up close and personal, or one who hangs back and deals DPS and uses minions do deal damage. Plus, each class has it’s own “fuel” that powers the special abilities. Choose carefully your first time around, because you’ll be stuck with that character through your entire campaign unless you want to start over.

Wizard: If you liked the Sorcerer or Sorceress from past games, the Wizard fills that slot and offers a slew of different spells from slowing down time, to blasting out beams of ice and energy. This class is fueled by Arcane Power, which regenerates quickly.

Monk: A strange (but very fun) new addition to Diablo despite the Monk class in the Hellfire expansion to the original Diablo game, the monk uses extreme speed and powerful combination moves to vanquish enemies. Powered by Spirit, the monk isn’t one you’ll want to use for ranged combat, but they offer a unique melee combat option.

Demon Hunter: This class uses two types of resources – hate and discipline – to deploy traps and rain ranged fire from dual crossbows down on their enemies. With a powerful hatred of all things demonic, there are a lot of fun options like bombs and gadgets in their arsenal.

Barbarian: The powerhouse of the group is the Barbarian, who you will definitely want to have in your lineup if you form a party with friends. Powered by Fury, the Barb leaps, whirlwinds, and pounds into foes. If you’re into tanking, look no further. Barbarians also tower over the other classes, and as a result their gear stands out more as you outfit them.

Witch Doctor: Arguably the most visually impressive of the new classes, the Witch Doctor is powered by Mana and can raise zombie dogs, corpse spiders, acid clouds, gargantuan voodoo-fueled companions, and more. Favorites include the Enormous Toad option that swallows enemies whole, and the Fetish that turns enemies into chickens. This was the class that I took all the way to the end of the game the first time around, and I’m in love with them.

Click Click Click Click

Diablo 3 doesn’t vary from its mouse-clicking heritage, but it does offer up some tweaks. You’ll use your mouse and the left and right mouse buttons to move and trigger attacks, while the number keys 1 through 4 trigger additional abilities. Q will instantly quaff whatever potion you’ve slotted in there, and … that’s it. You can hit various other keys for menus – I for inventory, S for Skills, and so on, but as far as gameplay goes, you’re going to rely on the first three fingers of your left hand, and your index finger on your right hand to play through this game.

As with other Diablo titles, things can get frenzied and hard to follow when you’re swarmed with multiple enemies. Combine that with followers and abilities, and there are plenty of times where you’re going, “Well, I know I need to click a ton right in the middle of this mess, but I’m not entirely sure what’s going on.” In those situations, you’ll play the “Watch The Health Meter” game and pray for globe drops and fast potion recharge times.

To streamline the process, Blizzard has introduced Health Globes that occasionally drop from enemies, and you can augment that through abilities and gear as well. For instance, higher-end gear will give you more health from globes, if imbued with that ability. You can also pick up gold now just by walking over it, but you’ll quickly find that the name of the game is loot juggling. You’ll have to click on each piece that you want to pick up, and once you get to hire levels and start finding the really good stuff, it’s hard to let it go.

Thankfully, you have a Stash in town once again that you can store stuff in to be used by any of your characters, but it’s both a blessing and a curse. It’s a blessing to have, but a curse that it’s so small. Still, if you find a great piece of epic gear meant for another class, it’s nice to have the option to hand it off to that class or even sell it. Right now, the real money auction house hasn’t been activated in Diablo 3 yet, although we’re already seeing some exorbitant prices in the ten million gold range for high-end items. Like the futures market, this bears keeping an eye on. We’ll be interested to see who actually turns a decent profit from loot whore-iteering.

One Time, At Diablo Camp…

While Merchants are a long-standing staple in Diablo, allowing you to buy and sell new items, Diablo 3 introduces a very robust artisan system that has a blacksmith and a jeweler following you from town to town and setting up camp. You can use them to craft new gear and gems using supplies: elements from breaking down rare and epic items for the blacksmith, and lower-quality gems for the jeweler (who is hilariously voiced by James Hong).

You can also level these artisans up by training them (at a cost in gold), and when you’re ready to boost them into higher levels after completing the game and moving into Nightmare mode, you’ll find additional supplies that can improve them even more. The smith can create rare and epic items with random magical properties and break down the same into their base elements, eliminating the faithful Horadric Cube. The jeweler will create new gems from lesser gems at a ratio of 3 to 1, and he can also remove jewels from sockets, which means no more permanently fused sockets.

Blizzard had announced a Mystic as an artisan who would accompany you as well, creating magical items for your character, but they aren’t currently in the game. With the blacksmith able to create magic items, it isn’t missed that much, but it would be nice to tinker more with the magic properties that are bestowed on things. But there are enough merchants in town that have enough variety on display to tide you over for now. Hopefully the Mystic will appear in an update or an expansion.

Besides buying/selling and artisaning, you’ll also come back into town via Waypoints or the Town Portal spell (which is now automatic and unlocked early on and not reliant on finding Town Portal scrolls) to hire or swap out Followers. These range from the melee/tankish Templar, to the ranged Scoundrel, to the DPS/effect Enchantress. You can only have one in your party at a time, and if someone joins your game via co-op, your Follower will head back to town.

These Followers will level up alongside you, allowing you to choose abilities for them along the way in a “Choose A or B” option, and you can outfit them as well, but only with rings, an amulet, a weapon, a shield, and a focus. A focus grant additional stats to your Follower, and take the form of things like a pair of dice for the Scoundrel, spear shards for the Templar, and a mirror for the Enchantress. You’ll find these randomly, although not as often as you’d like.

Unfortunately, you can’t change your Followers armor, which would have been helpful because you find so. much. of. the. stuff. Besides selling it, saving it, or breaking it down, it would be nice if you could dress up your buddies and improve their stats as well.

It’s A Dead Man’s Party

With PvP nonexistent (for now), the best way to blast through the game and pick up the good stuff is to party up. Battle.net makes it very easy to jump in and out of games with people on your friends list. Need help passing a boss? Belial was kicking my ass repeatedly, so I asked a cohort to help me out. He popped over, joined, and we were able to power through after a couple of tries. Then he hopped back into his own game.

It’s very easy to see who is what and where, and the banner system lets you instantly teleport to a party member’s location simply by clicking on their banner in town. You’ll get zapped to their proximity, without any need for a Town Portal. You can also join public games, where your mileage may vary. Meaning, you might end up with a team of duds, or something rivaling the Avengers. You never can tell until you join. Without any sort of a real match ranking system, it’s the best way to meet new players, for now.

Hopefully the PvP will expand horizons and make it easier to meet fellow players of equal skill levels and party up. Thankfully, when joining a public game, you can narrow it down to the portion of the act and the difficulty that you want to jump into. So if you’ve beaten the game, set your phasers on Nightmare and join a public party for maximum lootation. Within five minutes of beating the game, I was picking up new gear with a party of people I didn’t know. This should become the gold standard for adventure game co-opping.

So What’s Wrong?

Besides the occasionally confusing combat, which is also a staple of this series, the only real problem with the game seems to be the abrupt ending. We won’t spoil what your final battle is (but it doesn’t take Rain Man to figure it out), and when you’re done with that, there’s a “Hey, congrats!” message, and you’re done. You can continue the game and start in Nightmare mode, or switch off and go outside and read a book.

With such a strong emphasis on story, it’s strange and almost upsetting that there isn’t some sort of endgame cutscene or event. It almost feels like they got to that point and just had no idea what to do, or despite their “We ship when it’s ready” tenet… it just wasn’t ready.

Besides that, it’s more what isn’t in the game that’s a problem. Where is the promised PvP that was so hyped? With so many players loving that from Diablo 2, it’s a glaring omission. What about the character-specific side quests? I found out a lot about the Barbarian though some of Deckard Cain’s journals that I found, but what about background on my creepy/cool Witch Doctor? Perhaps there is more to be revealed on additional playthroughs, but I would hope I would learn about my own class while playing.

And What’s Right?

What’s more impressive, however, is what Blizzard got right. The game is truly impressive on nearly every level. From the graphics, to the fantastic soundtrack, to the towering scads of loot and extremely varied gameplay, there’s a lot to like here. It was very disheartening to hear that Blizzard was jettisoning the Rune system where you would find and socket your own Runes, but the unlockable system they use now that improves skills is a terrific solution to rune-juggling.

Additionally, the Followers have so much recorded dialogue that you will hear as they tag along with you, and they’ll even chatter back and forth with each other when you’re in town. You’ll learn all about their lives, loves, fears, and more as they ask you questions or banter back and forth. They even manage to crack a joke or two here and there.

Then, there’s the crack factor. The game is as addictive as ever, and you’ll find yourself saying “Okay, just five more minutes” for hours on end, often just hoping for a decent loot drop before you can finally turn in. The game keeps track of your playtime and progress with each class, providing a visual record of your addiction, and additionally the visual banner system lets you know how awesome both you and your friends.

The End Is Not Nigh

The bottom line is that Diablo 3 is a triumph for Blizzard, despite the painful server problems that plagued the launch. It’s only because Blizzard themselves pull back the curtain so often to show us the development process that we are lamenting the absence of things like PvP and the Mystic. What you get in this package is an addictive, satisfying game that feels very polished, offers a wide range of gameplay options, introduces an insatiable lust for loot, and does co-op right. This is what PC (and Mac!) gaming is all about.

Source : http://www.g4tv.com

Sorcery Review

It may be hard to believe, but Sorcery has finally arrived. Initially shown-off at E3 in 2010, Sorcery fell off the radar for nearly two years as fledgling studio The Workshop tinkered with it, refining the project over an unusually long development cycle. The result is one of the best PlayStation Move games available. However, it’s also a game that doesn’t quite live up to the hype borne out of the fact that we’ve been talking about it and anticipating it for so long.

Sorcery revolves around a teenage boy named Finn, a sorcerer’s apprentice with incredible untapped potential. When his teacher and mentor Dash leaves the mischievous Finn up to his own devices, he steals a magic wand and finds himself thrust into an unusual adventure with his feline friend Erline at his side. Clearly, Sorcery is designed to be accessible for children, but adults will still find the protagonist and his friends endearing. Finn and Erline are likeable, their banter is enjoyable and it’s hard not to care about their fate.

With a decidedly Celtic inspiration, Sorcery’s character and environmental designs can certainly be pretty, but admittedly run the gamut from high quality to utterly boring. Indeed, one of Sorcery’s greatest weaknesses is how bland many of the enemies and locations look. While I found myself impressed with Finn and Erline and while some of the game’s earlier locales look great, many of Sorcery’s enemies are outright uninspired, including the game’s antagonist herself. Vividly-colored environments can pop, but they’re also mostly devoid of personality.

But the real question revolves around how Sorcery plays. Because it requires PlayStation Move, it will no doubt turn many gamers off, even those who absolutely adore PlayStation 3. But ignoring Sorcery because of its motion controls is a mistake, because Sorcery is a lot of fun. Equipped with a Move controller in one hand and either a navigation controller or a standard DualShock controller in the other, players can move Finn around and cast all of the spells at his disposal.

Finn’s spellcasting rests at the heart of Sorcery, and the game does a great job of making you feel progressively stronger. With a simple flick of the wrist, players force Finn to cast his standard Arcane Bolt attack. Doing this in real space is surprisingly enjoyable, and for the most part, directing spells where you want them to go just plain works. Point towards the side of your screen, and the bolt will fly in that direction. Arc your wrist to the side as you hurl a spell and watch the attack curve on the screen, hitting enemies behind cover that appeared impervious to attack.

Combine all of those Arcane Bolt techniques with the elemental spells Finn will learn throughout his adventure, and you’ll find yourself fully equipped with powers that can be used both independently and in tandem with one another. Launching a tornado and then shooting fire into it will create a roving, flame-infested windstorm. Meanwhile, freezing agile enemies with simple ice attacks will stop them from moving, allowing you to briskly switch over to the Arcane Bolt, doing those frozen enemies in with a basic attack.

The permutations that can be created between spells makes combat dynamic, though some spells are admittedly far stronger and more useful than others. I didn’t use my earth-based attacks at all through the entire game, but by the time I learned Finn’s powerful lightning spell, I rarely used anything else. As fun as combat is and as fun as casting these spells can be, there’s an undeniable balance issue as well.

Something that children will likely find far more appealing than adults is the creation of potions. Throughout your adventure, you’ll encounter treasure chests filled with gold and special items. Some of these items can be sold for more gold, but eight item types in particular are used to concoct precious potions that, in turn, upgrade Finn’s many abilities. Whether you want more health, more mana or more powerful spells (and just about anything in between), there’s likely a potion to help you out as long as you have the pertinent supplies. Making these potions over and over again with motion controls becomes cumbersome, but the powerful results of drinking those potions is well worth the monotony.

The major problems with Sorcery, however, are how short it is and how there’s little reason to go back for more. I kicked the difficulty level up in Sorcery from the outset and the game only took me about six hours or so to beat. The game is mostly linear, though there are forks in the road worth exploring that often have treasure at the end of them. But even so, there aren’t alternate outcomes from doing different things, and unless you’re hunting Trophies, one playthrough of Sorcery will be enough for almost anyone.

Source : http://www.ign.com

Frankie Boyle Slates Iron Man at Kapow!

IGN's Kapow! Comic Con adventures continued with a light-hearted Q&A with Frankie Boyle, hosted by Jimmy Carr, in which they chatted all things Hulk, Iron Man and The Walking Dead.

Frankie Boyle is adding to the long line of Scottish comic book writers with his supervillain ('Earth's antibody') for CLiNT magazine, and he's a self-confessed comic book geek. With the help of his mate Jimmy Carr, Boyle talked us through his influences, what he loves about comic books and why he Iron Man.

"When I was about nine years old I got into this comic book called about this blonde kid who, like everyone in comics, had two roles - he was a footballer and he was a champion sheepdog trialist as a sideline," says Boyle. "The stories were all f*cking horrible - 'Hitler Lives' or 'Limp-Along Leslie'. There was also a comic I read called about a formula one driver who was also a stunt driver, and who wanted to die in each issue 'cause he was disfigured so he would sabotage the races."

Boyle went on to say that ‘80s British comics appealed to him because they were "still slightly outside the mainstream eye - stuff that you would never get now in the TV or movie versions."

Although Frankie didn't get into American comics until his 20s, he developed a passion for Vertigo titles such as , and (a particular favourite of his) from fellow Scotsman Grant Morrison, whom he clearly admires. "I always wanted to do comics, I f*cking love comics. You'd have to write a bad comic for me not to read it. In fact, even if it was sh*t I'd probably still read it."

When asked who his favourite comic book characters are Boyle launched into a story of his childhood in Glasgow: "I once dressed up as The Hulk as a kid, but I used water based paints to make myself green so kept applying layer on layer on layer - I ended up looking like a green scab." On the flipside, he was very passionate about the character he most dislikes in the comic book world: "Iron Man is basically a f*cking arms dealer, he blows people up...I'd fly Iron Man right into the f*cking sun!"

As for what he's currently into he tells us "I'm reading and .I read but it's so f*cking bleak I almost gave up." Clearly passionate about this subject Boyle said that he really believes that "there are so many great comics out there - this could be coming into the best time for comics...we're now at the point where everyone knows all the characters and archetypes, and can put their own twist on it." Let the golden age begin!

Source : http://www.ign.com

Storage 24 Inspired by Gremlins and Spider-Man

Saturday afternoon at Kapow! saw Noel Clarke and Johannes Roberts (director of the impressive and underrated ) on a panel to talk about their latest sci-fi horror flick, .

The film - in which Clarke takes lead actor, writer and producer credits - sees a military cargo plane crash and spew its highly classified contents all over London. With all electricity down, a group of friends are trapped in a storage unit and it soon becomes clear they are not alone, as a terrifying predator is hunting them down.

The panel treated us to exclusive stills of huge explosions and wounded characters scrambling through air vents, as well as an exclusive clip, which gave the first look at the mysterious other-wordly creature tormenting the group. In the clip, Clarke’s character comes face-to-face with the alien – a 7-foot tall, bony monstrosity with bulging yellow eyes and a claw-like drooling mouth. As the alien closes in on a trapped Clarke, a yapping toy dog distracts him and Clarke is able to narrowly escape. The dog, sadly, isn’t so lucky.

For the look of the alien, Clarke was inspired by the Spider-Man villains Venom and Carnage. Unlike other creature features that keep the big nasty mostly off screen, Clarke and Roberts made a point of giving the creature a big personality and wanted him to be fully present as a terrifying being on screen. Roberts revealed that, to the cast, the alien was actually female and called Gertrude – something the Design Department really ran with, as Noel explained: “They made the suit with a huge vagina, and I saw it and was like, ‘That bit has got to go. This film is a 15.”

Talking about the film’s overriding genre, Roberts noted: “It’s very sci-fi. The whole movie is really retro – it almost borrows from and other '80s movies.” Despite these allusions, the panel went on to discuss Clarke’s desire to create something new, something that no one else is currently doing in the British film industry. There are obvious comparisons to 2011’s big-budget British alien horror but although it’s a similar genre, Clarke feels he has done something different with because of the disparity in budget. Clarke is keen to prove he can make entertaining big-spectacle movies to rival even Hollywood’s output of sci fi/horror, and for a fraction of the cost. Or, as Roberts neatly summed it up, “ is a f**k-sight better than .”

Talking about his upcoming projects, Clarke revealed that there are plans for a sequel to , currently being called . Both he and Roberts feel that his character and the creature are too good not to be used again. He’s also about to start writing the 4. 3. 2. 1 sequel - entitled 5. 4. 3. 2. 1 - but is refusing to give away any plot details just yet. On top of this he currently has six scripts on the go. His pace of work is impressive - last year he wrote three scripts in 55 days, and was one of them.

So it looks like you’d be mad to miss out on seeing when it hits U.K. cinemas on June 29. We’ll leave you with the same advice that Clarke gave to us when talking about the scariness of the film’s final scene – take a spare pair of pants.

Source : http://www.ign.com