Grave Gamer News & Views — pc

Everybody Wants to Rule the World in Assassin’s Creed Unity

Four player co-op. Improved mobility. Reworked engine. Eagles.

Creed’s first full next-gen affair seems to have it all. Even a magnificently atmospheric Tears for Fears cover overlaid this stunning (though pre-rendered) trailer.

The masses are quick to lambaste a franchise that rushes out to the Holiday season every year, but I cut Assassin’s Creed some slack because Ubisoft has always experimented with its formula in each major release. The results aren’t always terrific (remember willfully skipping that tower defense mini-game in Revelations?), yet their tenacity has lent to growing and shaping AC into a tightly wound ball of playability and clever ideas.

They had my rapt attention when fellow online players joined lead Arno in hunting down their unknowing prey in yesterday’s gameplay reveal. If you know me, you know competitive multiplayer isn’t always my bag – I’m especially averse to it in third-person games – so a co-op offering is a cup o’ tea I cannot pass up.

Be a buddy and help your friends incite a revolution when Assassin’s Creed Unity releases October 28th, 2014.

What’s Next for Titanfall?

Respawn Entertainment’s community manager, Abbie Heppe, dropped some subtle hints to IGN about what players can come to expect, and not expect, from their mech-centric online shooter’s still brewing DLC.

For starters, if you were hoping to clamor aboard any titan models besides the three available on-disc, Abbie’s about to crush your dreams like a mech flattening a pilot. It seems appeasing you mecha fetishists out there – Wikipedia says I should call you technosexuals but that makes you sound like you get off to Moby – could possibly endanger the game’s stability.

“In order to [add a Titan] it takes so much balancing to make all the Titan abilities work with each other, and then against pilots. It’s a huge undertaking,” Heppe divulged. “Originally we just had the Atlas titans and then the team refused to add in the rest of the Titans until we were all sure that that one fitted perfectly with everything else in the game, so… I’m not announcing any new Titans right now!”

Spot-on balancing has been the cornerstone area of praise in almost every positive review Titanfall garnered since dropping from the stratosphere and into stores Tuesday. Not impossible to add new titan units, but not a task the dev team is anxious to jump at this soon after launch.

What we may see instead in future DLC are more of the exotic aliens indigenous to the battlefield IMC and Militia soldiers wage war upon. “We’re trying to give players as much of a varied look at things as we can so that is definitely a possibility,” said Heppe.

Once Titanfall is successfully released in its projected territories, the Respawn team will shift focus to free updates that’ll pad the game with additional features and modes. Downloadable content, the marquee of which is brand new maps, will follow.

Afterwards, what of sequels? Will Sony consoles see the first-person grace of Titanfall? IGN asked and Heppe “answered.”

“Vince, our CEO, has come out and said that while we’re exclusive for this game, it doesn’t limit us regarding console exclusivity for any of the future things we do.”

What a very exciting future that could be indeed. In the meanwhile, excuse me while throttle my PS4 until it learns to read X1 discs.

Rocksteady Ends Their Batman Trilogy in the Next-Gen Arkham Knight

All good things come to an end, and Rocksteady’s expert tenure on the Batman: Arkham franchise, going back to 2009, has been more than good. It’s been brilliant. If it wasn’t enough that their portrayal of The Dark Knight and his gothic kingdom is one of the best outside of the comics he was forged from – even rivaling the character’s film appearances – Rocksteady went ahead and set the bar for the entire superhero game genre higher than Everest.

Batman: Arkham Knight, being developed specifically for PC, PS4, and Xbox One, serves as the final act in Rocksteady’s Arkham trilogy (2013’s Arkham Origins was handled by another studio, but you knew that, you keen reader you). “This is the natural end for the story,” said the game’s director, Sefton Hill. “We really want to go out in style.”

Revealed in this month’s Game Informer, you’ll notice a greater emphasis on the Caped Crusader’s favorite means of ground transportation, the Batmobile, seen only in cutscenes in previous titles. Now you’re finally licensed to drive the beast yourself. Gotham’s open world is being greatly expanded to accommodate this unarguably kickass new feature.

What’s a hero without his villains? One full year has passed since the arm-breaking spree Bats went on in Arkham City. Batman once goes on the hunt for a rogue’s gallery featuring Harley Quinn, Two-Face, Penguin, and the Scarecrow. If this is the final chapter, one has to wonder which of these madmen might be taking a last bow.

Batman: Arkham Knight releases October 14th, 2014.

Watch the debut trailer right hereabouts!

New Titanfall Gameplay Makes the Last Seven Years of FPS’s Look Tame

If your address places you snugly beneath a rock, I can understand your confusion as to why the term ’Titanfall’ has the gaming populace shitting mech proportioned bricks. Watching all ten minutes of this video will bring you right up to speed and have you shitting bricks with the best of ‘em.

This footage makes the countless...

The Red Herb’s Machinarium Giveaway!

It’s that rare time again, folks. It’s time for me to uncharacteristically give away free stuff without the expectation of goods and favors in return! It’s just like Christmas. A really cynical Christmas.

Here’s what’s up for grabs:

• An App Store download code for Amanita Design’s rusty robot point n’ click adventure MACHINARIUM. I’ve got ten codes, so ten entrants have a chance to win (that math checks out, I think).

You can redeem the code for PC, Mac, or most of your iDevices. All youse guys have to do is reblog this post for a chance to earn one of ten codes. I appreciate your likes, I do, but only reblogs count for contest entry. U.S. applicants only (apologies to my six fans in Alberta, Canada).

Winners will be messaged their codes this Sunday at 10 P.M. EST.