The Dungeoning Review

The Dungeoning is an action platformer with rpg-like character progression. It's a fairly simply game, yet difficult at the same time. The game is meant to be played in a single sitting, and death is permanent. Thankfully everything changes itself up every time you die, as the dungeons are randomly generated. The objective of the game is to reach the end of the dungeon and find the artifact located there.

Prison Architect Preview

I picked up Prison Architect during it's recent sale on Steam, and gave it a whirl. It's an early access game, but it's still a lot of fun as it is already. To think that there will be much more to come only helps to build the excitement I have for this game!

As far as I can tell, the basics are all in place. You've got your prisoners, your prison staff, and the various buildings and areas you can construct. What is in place seems to mostly be working well, and quite enjoyable to play with as it is.

My Prison in Prison Architect

For my prison, I've built up a decent number of cells, a little cafeteria, some places for the inmates to do work, and a reasonable security force to keep everyone in line. There's a lot going on, and a lot to learn, so I was very thankful for the extremely helpful tutorial when I first loaded up the game.

It's fascinating watching my prisoners follow the regime to the letter, and seeing my guards do their work. I could watch them sniff out contraband, go on patrol, get tired, get injured, break up fights, stop escape attempts, and so much more. When I first started developing my prison into the little fortress it is now, I didn't have a perimeter wall. I couldn't afford it. And of course, as a result, prisoners got it into their head that escape was very easy because there wasn't much to stop them. No armed guards, no walls, easy access to freedom, and the result was that escape attempts were plentiful. When I finally got my act together, the escapees dropped dramatically. The prisoners had a brain in them! Ah, these little things just amaze me, and really help make playing Prison Architect a wonderful experience.

If this game seems like it could be interesting to you, check it out! I am thoroughly enjoying this game myself at the moment, so I hope you get a chance to play it yourself. You can learn more on their site at http://www.introversion.co.uk/prisonarchitect/

Van Helsing II Pre-Orders Now Available

The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing II Pre-Orders Now Available Pre-Order the game and start playing the Closed Beta Today, game launches April 17th, new trailer and screenshots available BUDAPEST, HUNGARY – March 10, 2014 – We are happy to announce that the adventure finally continues and the sequel to our steampunk action-RPG The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing II is now available for pre-order on PC. To pre-purchase the game, head toneocoregames.com/store and choose from the various supporter packages in various price ranges. The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing II is set to release on Windows® PC and Mac, April 17th for $14.99 on Steam. As a bonus for all pre-purchases of The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing II, early adopters will receive instant access to the closed Beta. Download the pre-order screenshots and watch some action-packed scenes from The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing II: www.youtube.com/watch?v=grXNiiSno70 Is the game worth playing if you have not played the first one? Definitely. Will it just do everything the first game did? It has so much more! Check out this comparative table: Fast Facts      Name: The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing II Developer: NeocoreGames Publisher: NeocoreGames Release date: April 17, 2014 Price: $14.99 Platform: Steam (Windows, Mac)  Pre-Order Screenshots       About the series The first game in the trilogy, The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing, currently available worldwide via Steam on Windows PC and Mac OS X, is an action-RPG that pits players in fierce battles against familiar supernatural foes and also enables players to partake in a tower-defense mini-game within Van Helsing’s upgradable Lair to ward off evil that attempt to overrun the base by way of force. Free Demo is available on Steam.  Facebook: /VanHelsingTheGame DevBlog: devblog.neocoregames.com  Twitch:/neocoregames  Twitter: @VanHelsingGame Forums: forum.neocoregames.com  YouTube: NeocoreGamesVideos

Space Hulk Review

Space Hulk is a game set in the Warhammer 40,000 universe, based on a board game of the same name. If Full Control's aim was to re-create the board game in video game format, they definitely achieved it. It has the feel of a board game, with the look of a video game.

Skulls of the Shogun Review

Skulls of the Shogun is an strategy indie game developed by 17-BIT. Originally a Windows 8 and XBLA exclusive, the game is now being made available to PCs all of kinds through Steam. Along with this comes a greatly expanded version of the game, extending the campaign by 4 levels and adding 6 new multiplayer arenas. This quirky and comedic game about the afterlife of samurai is simple and complex at the same time.

Shadowrun Returns Review

Shadowrun Returns is a new game in a series of games that has had a great cult following for many years, a series with games that keep being held in high regard with the passage of time. It's one of the few series where more people continue to become enthralled by the games, even as newer games come out and generations pass by. With this new entry in the series, we see a modern game with the same greatness of the earlier Shadowrun games.

Shadowrun Returns Launch Trailer

Shadowrun Returns is coming out in 7 days, on July 25th, 2013. That's really soon, and I know we're all excited for it! To help you get hyped up for the game, a launch trailer has been put out for everybody to enjoy. It gives a quick summary about the world of Shadowrun, and a little of what we can expect from Shadowrun Returns.

Shadowrun Returns Having An Art Exhibition

The guys behind the artwork of Shadowrun Returns in having a showcase over on Capitol Hill in Seattle. They will be doing a show tomorrow night, July 11, 2013 from 6pm to 9pm, at the Raygun Lounge. For those interested, go check it out at 501 E Pine Street - Seattle, WA 98122. If you can't make it, the art will be on display through to August 7th.

It seems like it would be something cool to see if you like Shadowrun Returns! I'd definitely check it out if I was over there. Unfortunately, I'm not, so I'll just have to stick with everything else on the internet. The art on display will be from the game, and will also include personal contributions from members of the team.

Next Gen Consoles

Alright, so we've got the XBox 1 and the PS4. Well, there's the Wii U but nobody really thinks about it too much. I'm really hoping to see a lot more stuff come onto the Wii U over the next year though.

So, right now I'm liking the PS4 better. I don't really care for any of the exclusives coming to the XBox 1, and the PS4 exclusives catch my eye more. I think the only XBox 1 exclusives I'll care about at any point could possibly be the Halo games, but even then I'm not too sure about that. The price tag does help a little bit right now as well, since I can't afford to be spending much. I may end up getting an XBox 1 at some point if the line-up starts to shape up, but for now I don't really have any reason to.

Now, about the rest of the games for next-gen consoles. Watch Dogs is something I'm really looking forward to! It's the kind of game I've been thinking about ever since I've started gaming, an open world modern game. The new Final Fantasy XV also looks pretty interesting, I'm looking forward to see how SE does with this new entry in the series. The two MMO games, Tom Clancy's The Division and Destiny, I'm thinking it will be good for a lot of fun with friends. These kinds of MMO games are what I've been hoping to see ever since I played my first MMORPG, Dark Age of Camelot. Ah, good old times.

I'm really quite excited for the games coming out next-gen, as these are the kinds of games I've been desiring to see come out of game companies! Now that we have the technology, the capability to create the games is here, and I'm definitely way too excited for this! I can't wait to play it all, and I'm looking forward to everything that will be created in the future!

BeatBuddy: Tale of the Guardians To Release WorldWide on August 6th

BEATBUDDY: TALE OF THE GUARDIANS TO RELEASE WORLDWIDE ON AUGUST 6

Award-Winning Action-Adventure Game Gets Official Launch Date and New Name

[This is an unedited press announcement, thanks to Reverb Publishing]

Twain Harte, CA – July 1, 2013 – Indie game development studio THREAKS, in conjunction with Reverb Publishing, announced today that its mystical underwater action-adventure, Beatbuddy, has been officially renamed to Beatbuddy: Tale of the Guardians and is scheduled for a worldwide release on August 6, 2013 for PC, Mac, and Linux.

Storm Review

Storm, an indie game developed by Eko Software, is a puzzle solving game utilizing the elements of nature. This relaxing game will have you enjoying yourself with various ways of using the elements to spread trees across many levels.

Storm is a game that will make you feel relaxed. The music really helps build the atmosphere and mood, and the artistic visuals make you feel at peace. The puzzles won't leave you frustrated for long, if you ever do get a little stumped. It's the kind of game to play when you want to relax for a bit, and it does a great job at doing that. Since Storm has short levels, it's easy to just play this game on-and-off.

Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing: Blue Blood DLC Now Available

[This is an unedited press release announcement by NeocoreGames] The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing: Blue Blood DLC Now Available on PC Budapest, Hungary – June 27, 2013 – Esteemed indie developer NeocoreGames today announced that The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing’s second DLC, Blue Blood, is now available worldwide for $1.99 on Windows® PC via Steam. The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing is a gothic-noir steampunk action-RPG that offers dynamic single-player and cooperative play. Download the new screenshots here. Find more assets at press.neocoregames.com. Blue Blood enables players to turn their female ghost companion Lady Katarina into a more efficient monster hunter by introducing a new accessory that opens up a new skill tree. Eight brand new skills are now available to Katarina including Wraith Frenzy that boosts her attack rate and Chillwave, which creates an aura that will decrease enemy movement, attack, and casting speeds. She also has new abilities such as summoning two ghost mirages of herself to fight alongside Van Helsing and the chance for Katarina to earn hit points for each Rage point spent. Please note that Blue Blood requires a Steam version of The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing. In the meantime, the development team rolled out new expansions to Scenario Mode as well, including a new system of rewards for killing monsters and two new scenarios within the Croakwood and The Rookery. The new reward system allows players to gain Glory points for killing monsters, which then can be spent on bonuses in several areas among all in-game characters a player has created. The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing, released May 22, pits players in fierce battles against familiar supernatural foes in a one-of-a-kind action-RPG. Following the journey of Van Helsing, son of the famed vampire hunter, players can partake in an immersive cooperative multiplayer or single player campaign to watch the engrossing dark storyline unfold. A tale wrought with wry humor and snappy dialogue, the dark adventure presents larger-than-life obstacles to overcome yet delivers a romantic charm of the fantastical 19th century Europe.

Surgeon Simulator 2013 Now Featuring Team Fortress 2!

[This is an unedited press release announcement by Bossa Studios]

WORLD EXCLUSIVE: SURGEON SIMULATOR 2013™ NOW FEATURES TEAM FORTRESS 2® CHARACTERS

Medic and Heavy to feature in Surgeon Simulator 2013: a rare use of Valve characters in a 3^rd party game

London, 21 June 2013 - Bossa Studios announced today that an update for Surgeon Simulator 2013 will bring much loved TF2 characters into the operating theatre for more darkly-humorous surgery mayhem.

Available on Steam from 10am PST/ 6pm BST (priced £6.99 in the UK and $9.99 in the US), the update will be free for existing owners of the game.

In a very rare agreement with Valve, the Bossa developers have integrated two characters from the seminal TF2: the Medic and the Heavy. Inspired by Valve’s “Meet The Medic” video, these characters will now take the roles of Nigel and Bob in the game that set the internet alight this year, with around 1 million Let’s Play videos now uploaded to YouTube, garnering well in excess of 70 million video views.

Developed initially in just 48 hours at the 2013 Global Game Jam in January, the full game released in April 2013 and has quickly become one of the sleeper hits of the year, achieving a top 10 chart position on week of release and hitting the number 2 spot over its first weekend.

The additional good news is that Surgeon Simulator 2013 will be playable at the Rezzed show, at the NEC in Birmingham on June 22 and 23 2013.

For more information or to download the game, please visit the following links:

Official game site:       www.surgeonsimulator2013.com

Twitter:                      @surgeonsim2013

Facebook:                 www.facebook.com/OfficialSurgeonSimulator2013

Steam:                       http://steamcommunity.com//app/233720

Assets:                       http://bit.ly/TF2_SS13