Top Story
Voice of Batman teases new Arkham
It has been four years since Batman: Arkham Knight, and it seems like creator Rocksteady has moved on to bigger and better things – at least we hope so, we still have no idea what they’re working on! That makes it safe to assume that Arkham Origins developer WB Montreal is working on a new Batman.
Voice actor Roger Craig Smith, who voiced Batman in Arkham Origins, has done some winking and nudging about something that he can’t talk about that’s definitely not a videogame, so maybe there’s a new Batman announcement around the corner?
Can I be trusted?
Straight from the horse’s mouth: ”Super bummed to not be working on anything that I can’t tweet about right now because I can’t violate an NDA for something that I assure you does not exist. And isn’t a video game.”
While that’s not exactly conclusive evidence, WB Montreal developers have been saying their next game will be revealed soon and will feature the Batman villains Court of Owls – using the same style of coy denial-speak and consistently calling the project [REDACTED].
Why the hullabaloo, then? Well, we can be pretty sure he’s not voicing Sonic the Hedgehog or Ezio Auditore, since Warner Bros PR Manager Gary Miereanu replies to the tweet saying “your publicist thanks you, and promises we’ll let the cat out of the bag reasonably soon.”
In short, there are no details available, but it’s looking pretty likely that the creators of Arkham Origins will announce a new Batman game soon – maybe the Game Awards in December, since other Batman games have been announced at the show in the past.
Time For A Quick Daily Quiz?
What unusual product sponsored Remedy’s Alan Wake?
- Energizer batteries
- Maglite flashlights
- General Motors cars
- Sony TVs
The answer will be revealed at the end of this issue!
News Bits
Star Wars Battlefront 2’s new co-op Mode will be out September 25th
It’s been nearly two years since Star Wars Battlefront 2 was released, and is showing no signs of losing momentum. A new content roadmap shows a steady stream of new content all the way up to December, when Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker finally hit cinemas.
The biggest news is the team-based PvE co-op mode launching on September 25th, allowing you create your very own – albeit pint-sized – rebel alliance. It’ll be like old times, Luke. They’ll never stop us!
Daily Fact
Borderlands used to be very serious business, and wasn’t even cel-shaded
The eagerly-anticipated Borderlands 3 is out tomorrow, featuring the series’ signature co-op looting and shooting, corny humour and eye-popping cel-shaded comic-style visuals. While all of these features makes Borderlands stand out and helps explain the series’ huge appeal, the game used to be dramatically different and much more po-faced.
Development on Borderlands started in 2005, four years before the game eventually launched in 2009. When it was originally revealed in 2007, it looked completely different to the game that eventually launched two years later.
It was a much more typical post-apocalyptic affair along the lines of Fallout 3 and Rage, and … well, it looked quite drab. Fortunately, Gearbox had noticed as well, and put a small team to work reworking the visuals in a cel-shaded art style reminiscent of Jet Set Radio. Both Gearbox and publisher 2K loved their work, and decided to go whole-hog and apply the new style to the whole game.
A good decision if we ever saw one. It’s hard to imagine anyone would be excited about Borderlands 3 – or that there would even be a third game – if it looked anything like the screenshot above.
Game Spotlight - Greedfall
The 17th Century as you’ve never seen it before
(Spiders, Focus Home Interactive – PS4, PC, Xbox One)
Release: Out Now!
Action RPG GreedFall is out now, introducing players to a different version of the 17th century with a fantasy twist. Playing as De Sardet, you’ll be tasked with travelling to find a cure for a horrible disease that is quickly spreading through the continent. With a few companions by your side and a truckload of skills and talents up your sleeve, you’ll explore, fight and maybe even sweet talk your way out of a few tricky situations.
There are three different classes that you can choose between: Magic, Warrior and Technical – but this doesn’t mean that you have to stick with all the attributes of this one class for the entirety of your play through.
It’s clear that developer Spiders wants players to have the most enjoyable experience with GreedFall, as a result of their decision to allow players to cherry pick skills from different classes. For example, if you choose a Magic build you’ll have a Divine Magic Ring that grants you a number of shadow powers, but you can also spend acquired points on abilities such as wielding two handed blades and creating a bomb from the Warrior and Technical classes.
Points can also be redistributed at any time, so if you’re unhappy with your build for whatever reason, you can change it without having to start a new play through. While following the game’s story, you’ll unlock a number of quests that can be achieved in different ways. If you’re one for putting a lot of points in Charisma, you’ll be able to diplomatically solve a number of problems.
These dialogue options are displayed with a predicted success rate next to them so that you can weigh up when it’s worth trying to charm your way out of a predicament. Similarly, investing more points in Science will let you discover different routes through a building by giving you the option to blast through a wall. As you’d expect, the further you move along a skill tree, more valuable upgrades will become available.
A heavily customisable experience
Alternatively, you may want to have some coins on hand to buy your way out of a sticky spot. For those who prefer a more aggressive approach, combat is sometimes an option, yet it’s worth mentioning that it surfaces quite erratically at first. Some mobs are already hostile when you pass them and will suddenly trigger your combat state, launching you into a fight.
As a Magic build, we found that the base abilities were sufficient for dealing with enemies, particularly if you have a trusty companion by your side. You’ll meet a number of viable companions over the course of your time with GreedFall, but you can only have two in your party at a time. Each companion is also fashioned with their own abilities and archetype, so be sure to choose wisely and pick characters that can complement your build.
Fighting humans is satisfying enough, but how do you fancy taking on some strange creatures too? Early on, you’re introduced to a large unknown creature that you’ll have to fight alone. This gives you a good indication of what’s to come later on, when you reach the Island of Teer Fradee, a region steeped in beautiful stretches of forest and magic.
One of the earliest powers that you’ll have (utilising the Magic class) is Stasis, a spell that can stop an enemy in its tracks for up to eight seconds. This buys you some time to perform a charged attack, heal, or move to a better position to continue the fray. GreedFall also enables players from all classes to call a tactical pause mid-fight. Before heading into combat, we recommend setting up your shortcuts to ensure that you have your best spells and necessary potions set to convenient slots for use during these pauses.
Though the PlayStation 4 Pro version of GreedFall ran well enough at a locked 30FPS at 4K with HDR support, we have to imagine the PC port should improve on this dramatically. The last game Spiders released on PC was The Technomancer back in 2016, which featured 4K support and could be played at high refresh rates. Judging by our last battle against the creature in the boat, the improved performance of the PC port would really help during the combat sequences to make things more responsive.
With so many different ways to approach GreedFall, we’re interested to see how people progress through the game, using their selected skills and talents. Lasting between 30-45 hours and offering multiple endings, GreedFall will release on September 10th on PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.
