Action/Strategy

All new clan functionality, reworked Prokhorovka map and HD tank models bring more to the battle in Update 9.2

Wargaming today announced that Update 9.2 for World of Tanks is now available in North America. Players from Europe, Asia and Korea will be able to try out new content and features, including the introduction of the Strongholds game mode and a new map, Fire Arc, on July 31. By adding improvements on eight different maps and four reworked HD vehicle models in game, Update 9.2 continues Wargaming’s commitment to consistently refine the gaming experience throughout 2014.

Strongholds is an all new game mode designed specifically for members of Clan Wars. Clan Commanders are now able to create virtual bases for their clans, participate in Skirmishes alongside their fellow players, earn Industrial Resources, develop their Stronghold up to Level 4 and be awarded with special bonuses called Orders. Tankers can use Orders to activate a variety of temporary in-game bonuses for all clan members in all combat modes. As the level of the Stronghold increases, so does the frequency and quality of bonuses received.

“We are very excited to introduce the first iteration of Strongholds to World of Tanks,” said Anton Pankov, Executive Publishing Producer at Wargaming. “It is an extremely engaging game mode that combines tactics, strategy and action elements, bringing more depth to the World of Tanks metagame. Strongholds will evolve over time based on feedback from the World of Tanks community.”

In addition to Strongholds, Update 9.2 also introduces Fire Arc, the new version of Prokhorovka battle arena with stunning visual effects, as well as four new HD models including the Soviet IS and SU-100, the German StuG III and the British Churchill I, and improvements to eight in-game maps that have been reworked based on player requests.

For more information about World of Tanks and to download the award-winning, free-to-play action MMO, visit the games official website.

Source: Blue’s News

This video demonstrates even Ubisoft’s “chief parkour officer” cannot navigate walls as shown in Assassin’s Creed games, though it does show the way the acrobatics in Assassin’s Creed Unity will be modeled on real-life action. Word is:

“Meet Michael ‘Frosti’ Zernow, Ubisoft’s first Chief Parkour Officer. Starting with Assassin’s Creed Unity, Zernow will serve as an adviser to the franchise, helping the developers ensure the parkour mechanics are as authentic and accurate as possible. In addition to assisting with game accuracy, Zernow and his team of coaches at Tempest Freerunning have helped us design a special parkour course for San Diego Comic Con. Meet Zernow and get your first look at the Assassin’s Creed Experience in the video below.”

Who is really leading the French Revolution?

Source: CVG

A critical moment in the French Revolution sets the scene for Assassin’s Creed Unity in this new trailer from Ubisoft.

“Paris, 1789. Commoners starved in the streets while aristocrats squandered the wealth of the nation,” reads the video description.

“Desperate and angry, they united and revolted against the power at hand and started the Revolution… But did the people truly lead the fight? Or did obscur forces use this time of chaos to spread their power?”

Assassin’s Creed Unity is set in 18th century Paris, during the French revolution, with players cast as French-Austrian assassin Arno Victor Dorian.

Ubisoft has said the game features its “biggest playground ever”, which has been “filled with hundreds of quests, activities and rewards”.

This is the second AC Unity trailer released today – an earlier video discussed the oppression of the people at the hands of “an arrogant and decadent aristocracy”.

The Assassin’s Creed Unity release date is set for October 28 on PC, PS4, and Xbox One.

As obvious as it seems to say, the French Revolution was a particularly violent passage of time.

By Nick Cowen @ CVG

Crack open a history book and you’ll see that the streets of Paris ran red from about 1789 for the next ten years. Heads rolled, blood sprayed and the noggins of popinjays were pinned up on spikes.

(My mum is something of an authority on this. In the few instances I’ve been in Paris with her she’s imparted the bodycount stats outside nearly every landmark in the city of love. True story.)

The Assassin’s Creed franchise has never shied away from bloodletting – hey, the clue is in the title – but Revolutionary France is a particularly bold step even for this series. Not only does it put the action firmly on Ubisoft’s home turf, it explores wounds in a piece of French history that still resonate to this day.

Read on…

Wargaming today unveiled details of its presence at the annual Tankfest, taking place at The Tank Museum in Bovington, England, on June 28 and 29. The company is raising funds to support vehicle restorations at the museum and will reveal its brand new mobile gaming unit, a WWII MGT-20 truck, at the event.

Wargaming organized an in-game special ahead of the military festival, inviting World of Tanks players to purchase a series of premium shop packages from June 21–22, from which the proceeds will go towards restoration projects at Bovington, including repairs of the British Comet tank, the Allied M4 Sherman tank, and the mighty German Jagd Kanonon tank destroyer.

“Wargaming has a long history of collaboration with The Tank Museum in Bovington. We both believe that legendary military warfare has great historic value and should be preserved for future generations,” said Wargaming CEO Victor Kislyi. “This year we’ve offered our players a chance to contribute to the restoration of the museum’s collections, and have been overwhelmingly impressed with their enthusiasm. Seeing our community so eager to participate in such projects allows us to plan for future efforts in supporting events like these.”

Along with announcing its donation, Wargaming will officially open the Company’s MGT-20 event truck. The vehicle will be equipped with gaming stations and Xbox 360 consoles ready and waiting for players to come and test out World of Tanks and World of Tanks: Xbox 360 Edition. Other community events at Tankfest will include raffles, trivia games, Q&A sessions with developers, and giveaways for players.

For more information about Tankfest 2014, please visit www.tankmuseum.org.

Get more game info at the official World of Tanks Website.

Purely Offensive Character Type Added to Title Alongside New Maps and Game Mode

Paradox Interactive today revealed and added a new character class to War of the Vikings, the Viking Age close-quarter combat game from Fatshark. The Berserker, a dual-wielding class focused entirely on offensive capabilities and intimidating appearances, joins War of the Vikings today as part of a free update to the game. This update also includes three new in-game maps to allow the Berserker a variety of terrain to charge across, as well as a new game mode, “Domination,” to provide veteran Vikings with a novel challenge.

The Berserker sacrifices armor, ranged weaponry, and weapon pick-ups in exchange for pure adrenaline-powered attacks, possessing the ability to dual-wield weapons. Players taking the role of Berserker will no longer charge up their swings, instead focusing on special attacks and a new combo system to keep their blades flying. Combos can be created with queued attacks, dodges, and different move sets depending on whether a warrior wields two swords, two axes, or one of each. In addition, the Berserker will be visually distinct on the battlefield, clad in bear pelts, fierce tattoos, and the blood of their enemies.

What’s more, a Berserker will not die easily: when struck by a fatal blow, the character is granted 10 seconds of ‘blood rage,’ which will allow them to continue the fight if they can claim a kill before that adrenaline runs out!

Berserkers will make their debut alongside three new maps and a new fast-paced game mode called Domination. In Domination, the Vikings and Saxons must compete for control of only a few flags – and holding the majority will cause the enemy to start losing respawn tickets, as will slaughtering their warriors. The last team with tickets remaining is the victor!

Developed by Fatshark, War of The Vikings brings the next generation of close-quarter combat games to Viking Age England, allowing players to conquest across the British shores as fierce Vikings – or defend them as stalwart Saxons. With skill-based combat, authentic historical weaponry and environments, and a variety of game modes, War of the Vikings will test players’ mettle and determine who is worthy of entry to Valhalla.

See the Berserker’s Fury in a new spotlight video. (Hosted by YouTube – 01:37)

More info can be found on the official War of the Vikings Website.

Wargaming today announced the addition of a new game mode in World of Tanks. The new World Football Championship game mode will be available from June 12 through July 13, offering players a custom sport tank, special achievements and all new team-based, football themed gameplay.

The World Football Championship mode features 7-minute 3 vs 3 team battles on a reworked version of Himmelsdorf which has been transformed into a football field. The objective is to score a goal using vehicles and shells and to defend their own goal from enemy players. The only tank available in the new mode is the custom created Tier 1 T-62A Sport that will be given to all registered players for free.

Tankers will also get the “Football Player 2014” medal, awarded for exceptional performance in the new mode and will be able to earn Experience points by completing special missions.

WATCH VIDEO IN HD (Hosted by YouTube – 01:16)

Get more game info at the official World of Tanks website.

Fight for Power and Glory in BattleCry Studios’ 32-Player Online Team Action Game

Bethesda Softworks®, a ZeniMax® Media company, today announced BATTLECRY™, an all-new multiplayer action combat game featuring fast-paced and frenetic 32-player battles under development at BattleCry Studios.

BattleCry is the first project for the studio since it was formed in 2012 with one goal: to create fun, high-quality online experiences for a connected world. Led by long-time industry veteran Rich Vogel, the team at BattleCry Studios is comprised of seasoned developers with decades of experience working on critically-acclaimed action and competitive multiplayer franchises. Together they have created BattleCry – a fun and accessible free-to-play game that amplifies team-based combat by combining visceral brutality, striking art direction and competitive multiplayer action to create a refreshingly new gameplay experience.

Step into a bold, expressive world envisioned by Viktor Antonov (Half-Life 2, Dishonored) where gun powder has been banned following a cataclysmic world war at the dawn of the 20th century. Traditional warfare is now a relic of the past and all conflicts are settled head-on by elite teams of chosen warriors in sanctioned WarZones. Trained and bred for battle they face off for the glory of their nations.

Choose your faction and progress your warrior through the ranks. Each rank unlocks new abilities and effects allowing deep strategic builds for your warrior on every level. Risk life and limb as the powerful Royal Marines or the fearless Cossacks in imaginative WarZones each designed to combine positioning, spacing and verticality to redefine your core combat experience. Fight with transformative melee and ranged weapons that harness iron and energy and eviscerate your opponents with swords that transform into shields, bows that can punch an arrow straight through an armored skull or electrocute your foes with high powered blades crackling with electro-static energy.

“The BattleCry team is happy to unveil the game that bears our studio’s name,” said Rich Vogel, president and executive producer at BattleCry Studios. “We have been hard at work to create a fresh experience for gamers that brings together multiplayer action with visually stunning combat and are excited to share details about the game and have people play BATTLECRY in Bethesda’s booth at E3.”

The official announcement trailer can be seen today on the official BattleCry Website.

Source: Blue’s News

The Haggard Games website now offers downloads of a free playable demo for Death to Spies III, their Smershy espionage sequel. Here is the description of the full game:

Death to Spies 3 is our new title for PC and XBOX360. The action of the game this time is taking place during the Cold War. Colonel Strogov and his new team are participating in a conflict between the two superpowers. Along with new characters, Victor Kovalev and Olga Godunova-Lopes, Strogov is going to have to complete a series of missions in Europe, US and Cuba.

The game is a third-person stealth action, where player will be able to control all three characters any time. Each of them have there own unique abilities, gadgets and weaknesses.

Wargaming today released the first installment from a series of developer diaries for World of Warships, taking an extensive look at the unique features of naval warfare, the huge fleet of combat vessels and their classes.

In the first episode, the World of Warships development team dives into the complex research that goes into creating and maintaining the game’s historical authenticity, as well as the tactical approaches for conquering the high seas with the different types of combat vehicles that players will have at their command, including the aircraft carriers, massive battleships, heavy cruisers, and the light and agile destroyers.

The series will continue to center on the upcoming naval action MMO game and the team behind it, focusing on each aspect of the project throughout its development.

WATCH VIDEO IN HD (Hosted by YouTube – 5:35)

For more information about the game please visit the official World of Warships Website.