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    • Star Wars: Battlefront, It’s back, looking more powerful than you could possibly imagine...

      0 / 28 May 2015

      Star Wars has returned. Spirits dampened by the prequels have been re-ignited by the new hope of a JJ Abrams-helmed, George Lucas-free trilogy, and Jar Jar Binks will soon be nothing more than a fading memory. What better way to celebrate than with a shiny reboot of classic multiplayer shooter series Battlefront? Created by Battlefield developer DICE, the game will allow you step into the shoes of either the freedom fighters of the Republic or the Stormtroopers of the Empire and fight it out in online scraps of up to 40 players. The focus is on the planets, vehicles, characters and spaceships of the original trilogy, and the team have entered into a partnership with LucasFilm to make sure things are as faithful to the movies as possible. Access to the hallowed LucasFilm vaults has allowed them to digitally scan the original props for the film into the game, and they’ve made trips to the locations where the iconic battles of Hoth, Endor and Tatooine were filmed. They’ve even had a rummage in the archives at Skywalker Sound and dug out every classic peeeeowww and vwwoooosh noise they could find. “Our vision is to deliver what we consider the most authentic and realistic Star Wars universe ever created for a videogame,” enthuses design director Niklas Fegraeus. ‘Realistic’ might be a bit of a stretch when you’ve got space wizards running around with laser swords, but we appreciate the attempt. The latest footage certainly seems to back up DICE’s claims. It’s in-engine rather than truly in-game, so we would suggest taking it with enough pinches of salt to fill a Rancor pit, but it really does look like the original films. Blaster fire hits with a shower of pyrotechnic sparks, explosions send up startlingly spot-on plumes of smoke, and the spindly scout walker has the perfect herky-jerky, stop motion-style walk. It all ties nicely into Abrams’ new back-to-basics approach to the franchise DICE is trying to get as close as it can get to recreating the various practical effects and other old-school movie magic in-game. You’ll be able to pilot that walker yourself, too, along with speeder bikes, snow speeders, and loads of other iconic Star Wars vehicles. There’s no space combat, but players will still be able to hop into an X-Wing or a TIE Fighter for in-atmosphere dogfights, and the developers have even confirmed a pilotable Millennium Falcon. The towering AT-AT walkers are, unfortunately, AI-controlled, as are the Y-Wing bombers, which can be called in for a handy explosive air strike. In Vader Gamers will even be able to get into the cockpit of… err… Darth Vader’s head. After meeting certain yet-to-be-revealed criteria in a match, one lucky player will be able to temporarily become one of the heroes or villains of the franchise, including everyone’s favourite bounty hunter Boba Fett, and Mr Tall, Dark & Wheezy himself. When one of these characters hits the field, the focus of the battle shifts with their super-powerful abilities (Vader, for example, can deflect blaster fire with ease, and use his favourite employee-management tool, the force choke) they’re effectively boss encounters, and the enemy team will have to pull together to defeat them. “Players Will be able to hop into an X-Wing or a tie fighter for in-atmosphere dogfights” At least if you do find yourself face-to-face with the dark lord of the Sith you’ll have a buddy to back you up. The game’s partner system allows you to designate a friend as your online other half, meaning you can respawn at each other’s locations. Partners also share XP and unlocks, so you’re always on equal footing, even if one of you clocks in more game time than the other. According to the developer, this will, for example, make it easier for parents to play the game with their kids. It’s a nice idea, but we’re not sure if we’re ready to introduce our mums to online voice chat just yet. Fett pack Those unlocks will be the key to customising your character, as this entry ditches the classes of the original games. Instead you’ll be able to pick the weapons and gadgets you want in your loadout, effectively building your own class and tailoring it to exactly how you want to play. There’ll be plenty of toys to choose from, including a jetpack, and a portable force field generator for keeping your squad-mates safe. Your character’s gender and overall style will be up to you too, and you’ll even be able to play alien races including Sullustans and Ishi Tibs (don’t recognise those off the top of your head? And you call yourself a fan?!). With the ability to switch between first- and third-person perspective at any time in-game, you’ll be able to admire your look even in the heat of battle though your team mates will probably prefer you concentrate on firing your blaster. And yes, it’s official, for the first time ever there will be female Stormtroopers, though whether we’ll be able to tell under those helmets is anyone’s guess. The game unfortunately won’t feature a single-player campaign, with its only solo content being a series of custom missions set on the multiplayer maps. These will also be playable in co-op, split-screen, or online. It’s understandable that the developer wouldn’t see any new stories to tell in this well-worn era of the franchise, but it seems a strange omission given that Battlefield’s single-player offerings have only grown in recent years. They’ll need to make sure there’s plenty of content in the multiplayer to make up for it. Colour us tentatively excited. DICE has the right attitude, but the studio’s got a lot to prove after the near-disaster that was Battlefield 4’s array of technical problems. We’re certainly ready for a great new Star Wars game to go with Abrams’ film. How likely is it to look as good as that amazing trailer? Hey, never tell us the odds… Galactic battlegrounds The four planets you’ll be fighting over Tatooine Thankfully there’s not a pod race or precocious child prodigy to be seen. We did spot a Jawa Sandcrawler in the distance those scavenging scamps have probably turned up to loot the bodies. Sullust This lava planet is where the Empire makes its weapons and vehicles, including the AT-ATs. It was mentioned in the films, but never seen, and DICE has been given permission to flesh it out to its own liking. Endor The Ewoks’ villages could provide good verticality to the maps; important with jetpacks on offer. You can even see some of the furry killers running around in the background in the announcement trailer. Hoth Here in the office we’re keen on the idea of riding a noble Tauntaun into battle. On chilly maps like these you may need one - in a pinch, those lovely, steaming guts are warmer than any winter coat.

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Friday, November 14, 2014
Home > RPG Games > Final Fantasy XV: To be or Noct to be?

Final Fantasy XV: To be or Noct to be?

Ever since VII tore down the walls between Japanese development and the mainstream Western audience, the series has been torn between its roots and its future.

The series has always strived to deliver fresh mechanics to the RPG usually revolving around innovative levelling systems or ambitious battle mechanics but alas, there’s no pleasing everybody. Square Enix has received criticism for taking Final Fantasy down a more casual route as the franchise has aged, but XV promises to hit directly upon that almost mythical barrier between hardcore and casual director Hajime Tabata wants the title to retain the depth of mechanic the series is known for whilst providing an easy point of access to casual players. It sounds like Square Enix is trying to appeal to everyone a dangerous tactic: if it fails, it could easily appeal to exactly no-one. Here are five things we hope will make sure the game hits both prospective audiences:


 IT’S THEMATICALLY TIED TO FINAL FANTASY XIII…
WE KNOW that Square Enix used Lightning and her convoluted story so much that her mythos and universe became mundane, but the Fabula Nova Crystallis mythology has so much more depth to it than the odd iterations of Lightning’s world makes out. Final Fantasy XV will somehow be related to Light in regards to its world; we assume that connection will lie in the gods that orchestrate inter-world events, since XV and the XIII trilogy have completely different domestic realms to play their stories out in. The upcoming Final Fantasy Type-0 HD is also connected by the Fabula Nova Crystallis moniker. We really want the chance to explore this universe some more.

IT PLAYS LIKE DMC MEETS KINGDOM HEARTS WITH SOME FFXII THROWN IN…
THE BATTLE systeme volves the Gambit system used in Final Fantasy XII where you can assign abilities to your team which they automatically use in battles. Add to that realistic reactive animations (get hurt and your team-mates will help you up) and you got yourself one of the most realistic battle engines Final Fantasy has ever seen. Tabata has stated his intentions to make it a ‘one-button’ system, but don’t let that deter your interest: that means switching weapons on the fly and chaining combos together with protagonist Noctis’ ‘blink’-like ability. It’s all very quick, and very involving.
“  Tabata and the entire development team are working, wholeheartedly, towards completing the production of Final Fantasy XV and ensuring the delivery of the highest quality Final Fantasy title to date”
IT BRINGS BACK SUMMONS…
THE BATTLE system only gets deeper the more time you spend exploring its intricacies; if you set up a combo, you can galvanise the damage it does by jumping into mechs or tanks around the map or even by calling Summons. No Final Fantasy is complete without Shiva, Ifrit, Bahamut et al, so their presence in XVis reassuring (and we’re also looking forward to seeing beautiful new animations for them): the fact they’re also arranged by class and then subdivided into ranks promises a whole slew of them we just hope that Square Enix brings back Giant Cactuar. Failing that, we’d be happy with just having to run around the world collecting them.

IT'S A FANTASY BASED IN REALITY
THOUGH THE game will retain Final Fantasy’s penchant for sprawling, apocalyptic, god centric stories, original director and writer of the game Tetsuya Nomura wanted to make the central cast of characters far more realistic more human and refined and bring in elements of the real world to galvanise the fantastical element within. Noctis’ home kingdom of Lucis, for example, has an incredibly Japanese flavour based heavily on the developer’s local Shinjuku district in Tokyo. Even the police cars look identical this is a game firmly rooted in a realistic world overa purely fantastic one, akin to Final Fantasy VII.

IT TAKES ADVANTAGE OF ALL FINAL FANTASY TEAMS
FINAL FANTASY XV has been in development since 2006, when it was still known as Versus XIII, and as such has the benefit of seeing a variety of Square Enix’s teams apply their specific knowledge to the project. The talented animation squad behind fan service feature film Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children are taking care of the sure to be beautiful cutscenes (presented in cinematic 21:9 aspect ratio) whilst the Kingdom Hearts II development team take care of the action. We hope it continues to be a productive relationship, rather than a ‘too many Quinas spoil the broth’ scenario…

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    Item Reviewed: Final Fantasy XV: To be or Noct to be? Description: Rating: 5 Reviewed By: Unknown
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