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E3 Thoughts; Star Wars Battlefront (Phils POV)

16/6/2015

Why this has Piqued our Interest
-Phil

First Gameplay and Survival Mode: First things first - This game looks FANTASTIC. DICE have taken the Frostbite 3 engine used in their Battlefield series and really pushed it to 11. Those visuals, combined with the spot on audio work and terrific use of the original score means that this title screams Star Wars - BIG grins all round whilst watching it. Whilst the demo does seem a bit scripted at times, I feel it does a good job at retaining an organic feel and reminds me of times playing the battlefield series - Whether that’s a good thing or not remains to be seen. Fingers crossed the game has enough differences to still feel fresh after years of playing those titles.

On the single player/cooperative front, Survival mode looks like a fairly simple take on the “defend against waves” game mode found in other titles but I’m hoping that the “Battle” and “Hero” modes mix things up a bit.

Also, TOW CABLES. Nuff said.

Star Wars™Battlefront™ will be released on November 20, 2015 In the UK (the 17th for North America and 19th for Europe)

Full press release below

GOG.com's Second wave of Star Wars titles are here. With more coming next week

22/1/2015

By Phil Cole

So, rather sooner than I expected given the “more in 2015” statement, GOG.com have announced another six titles coming to the digital distribution platform. Some for a re-release and two titles for their digital purchase premiere!

Following on from the releases the other day, we have the brilliant land and space RTS Star Wars: Empire at War – if I remember correctly, it had an awesome rock version of the Imperial March as its menu music. It also, uniquely, brought the fleet based antics of the Star Wars world to a slightly different format, as it was normally found in arcade-style space titles such as Star Wars: Rogue Squadron 3D which is also available today! What are the chances! I remember playing this classic over and over with my friends back in the day, and chasing those elusive gold medals became an obsession – I’d say a gamepad of some sort is almost a necessity though.

Alongside these two titles comes another game which I have vague memories of – Star Wars: Rebellion. This is a 4x game (eXplore, eXpand, eXploit and eXterminate) in which players can control either the Rebellion or the Imperial forces. Many of the films core characters make appearances as players battle for real-time dominance over the other side. Well worth a look if you fancy something a bit different to a traditional RTS game, like Empire at War.

Lapping hot on the heels of these releases, on the 27th of January we see three more titles, all a bit more action based.

Star Wars: Republic Commando, a well-received tactical FPS that allowed you to take command of an elite squad of Clone Troopers each with their own specialty is coming to the service to bring us one of the few great games of the prequel era. Speaking of the prequel era, we also have Star Wars: Starfighter – a sort of successor to the rogue squadron series that mixed things up a bit by locking you into a first person view. Unfortunately part of the fun, for me at least, is seeing these iconic ships duke it out and whilst I love the Rogue Squadron games (and books!) this title rather passed me by – If you really like your arcade style flight games then this could be for you however.

And last but not least is the game that I wished for at the end of the last flurry of games, the one, the only Star Wars Jedi Knight: Dark Forces 2! (or Star Wars Dark Forces 2 Jedi Knight depending on how you read the box…). This game was an absolute classic at the time of its release, a tour de force of FPS gaming that allowed us to run around with a lightsaber for, really the first time. Couple that excitement with some great levels, enemies, story – portrayed through the aforementioned live action cut scenes (and some element of choice in the story through whether you go for light or dark side powers!) and it was really was the total package. If you only buy one game out of this bunch then this has to be it IMHO.

BC Weekly Update 20/10/13 Games

20/10/2013

We have had three notable releases over the last few weeks, Telltale Game's The Wolf Among Us, Quantic Dream's Beyond; 2 Souls and Zen Studios Star Wars Pinball. We also welcomed a new writer to the site Dorian who opens up the reviews with a review of Beyond 2 Souls;

Beyond; 2 Souls

The vision of Quantic Dreams is quite a thing to behold. They try to create games in a unique style that can leave some flat and other drooling.
To see if their latest effort could hold its own take a trip to our review.

The Wolf Among Us

In terms of narrative The Walking Dead pushed Telltale up with the best developers in the world.
However the Walking Dead has left a burning question can the developer continue to produce experiences that can rival the best of was their adaptation of Robert Kirkman's world a fluke.
Now we have the chance to find out as they take on another comic tale this time drawing from Fables by Bill Wilingham in The Wolf Among Us.

Early Impression; STAR WARS® PINBALL: BALANCE OF THE FORCE

This is a very early view and we will be creating individual reviews for all of the Zen Pinball tables over the coming weeks and beyond. However today the Balance of the Force pack dropped and I have spent some time on each table.
Just for transparency all the scores are form my first full game on the table and I played on the Vita (My platform of choice for Pinball) with the view 4 option selected.

Early Impression; STAR WARS® PINBALL: BALANCE OF THE FORCE

16/10/2013

Episode VI

Score; 16,386,974

Of the original trilogy Return of the Jedi is usually the lowest ranked film and of the three tables its my least favourite.
Its very well presented with a tough opening trick shot but the table feels too wide for the Vita screen. Its a small thing but it really shows as the other tables all feel ideally suited. Otherwise the basic gameplay feels very safe with the specials creating all the buzz.
I can see it may grow on me but I will have to move from usual view

Darth Vader

The most striking thing about this table is the ambient lighting. The glowing red floor creates a menacing table and feels perfectly suited to the character it depicts. The table is pretty fast with a compact set of set in the center.
The specials are based around Vader specific scenes from the Trilogy and they play out with Zen's usual panache. I can see my score growing a lot bigger as it was just silly mistakes that cost.
The Highlight of the table has to be the multiball sections but I will not spoil why except to say Glow.

Score; 107,097,928

StarFighter Assault

Score; Rebellion, 41,993816
Score; Empire, 48,772,780

The two scores above are pretty much the reason I love this table. It defines balance with half the table being for the Empire and the Rebellion on the other. However if you think this is the only duality to the table you will be mistaken. At the start you get to decide which Starfighter you will control and this changes the look of the bumpers (they are in the shape of Canons) to the voices and even the Space Invader style mini game. This is my favourite of the three and I know my score will be climbing on bothsides

Overall for £7.99 I can highly recommend the Balance of the force pack, the three tables have the usual polish and will offer a great challenge. Look out for the full reviews coming soon

The Force Will Be Strong On Consoles On November 1st In An Angry Birds Way

3/10/2013

Angry Birds Star Wars will be hitting consoles and handhelds from the first of November.
The game will release on the PS3, Vita, Xbox360, 3DS, Wii and the WiiU.
Angry birds had been a phenomenal success in recent years and the implementation of the Star Wars universe allows players to use characters inspired by the film's the trailer below will show exactly what that means.
You can also go the official web page using this link.

Zen Studios are going to Endor for Episode VI

23/9/2013

Zen Pinball is bringing a new series of tables to the Star Wars Pinball set. Return of the Jedi is looking very interesting as the screens and trailer show.

Zen's use of 3D models around the screen make the periphery of the screen look slightly cluttered at times but every time you start a bonus level it all becomes worth it.

We will be bringing you reviews of as many of the tables as we can in the near future and Episode VI will hopefully be near the top of our favourite tables.

The Star Wars #1; Review of the first part of the authorized adaptation of George Lucas’s rough-draft screenplay

4/9/2013

George Lucas's first treatment for Star Wars now been given a visual presence in the form of a Graphic novel. The authorized series is published by Dark Horse and the first issue is releasing today releasing today (04/09/13).

We had our very own Star Wars enthusiast Jon take a look and tell us if this is a story that will make the masses "cry out as one" in agony or ecstasy

To find out please click here.

E3 Thoughts; Star Wars Battlefront (Phils POV)

Star Wars™Battlefront™ will be released on November 20, 2015 In the UK (the 17th for North America and 19th for Europe)

Full press release below

GOG.com's Second wave of Star Wars titles are here. With more coming next week

BC Weekly Update 20/10/13 Games

Beyond; 2 Souls

The Wolf Among Us

Early Impression; STAR WARS® PINBALL: BALANCE OF THE FORCE

Early Impression; STAR WARS® PINBALL: BALANCE OF THE FORCE

Episode VI

Score; 16,386,974

Darth Vader

Score; 107,097,928

StarFighter Assault

Score; Rebellion, 41,993816
Score; Empire, 48,772,780

The Force Will Be Strong On Consoles On November 1st In An Angry Birds Way

Zen Studios are going to Endor for Episode VI

The Star Wars #1; Review of the first part of the authorized adaptation of George Lucas’s rough-draft screenplay

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Star Wars™Battlefront™ will be released on November 20, 2015 In the UK (the 17th for North America and 19th for Europe)

Full press release below

Episode VI

Score; 16,386,974

Darth Vader

Score; 107,097,928

StarFighter Assault

Score; Rebellion, 41,993816Score; Empire, 48,772,780

Archives

Categories

About Us

Score; Rebellion, 41,993816
Score; Empire, 48,772,780