Gamescom 2014, Day 3 -- Hellraid, Dead Island 2 Has No Story, Shadow Realms Is Less Nerdy Than D&D And Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel Has A Badass Claptrap

Written By: Tyler

Hello again people, and I hope you're enjoying Gamescom. I was occupied with a bunch of stuff today so I didn't get to stream every demo shown on IGN like I did yesterday, but I have a little bit before bed so I wanted to take a moment to give my impressions on a few of the demos shown today. I only picked the ones I was interested in, or games I never heard of. Tomorrow I will have a more complete article.



Hellraid -- Hellraid is a first-person hack n' slash game. First-person melee combat has a habit of not being that fluid, so I hope Hellraid can get it right. It'll have light RPG elements and is "somewhere in between RPG and action." It was described as Dead Island meets Elder Scrolls and I think that seems like a decent comparison.

It has three gameplay modes; mission mode, story mode and arena. Story mode is obvious, and with mission mode you basically just do missions and get points. Arena mode is just basically survival. You can play all three modes in single-player or co-op.

I don't really think Hellraid will be much, but it'll probably be okay. Since there apparently isn't a lot of RPG in this and exploration is there but not on the scale of an Elder Scrolls game, it's pretty dependent on the combat and I don't think, from this demo (and yes I know it's early), that Hellraid will deliver an exciting experience.



Dead Island 2 -- Dead Island 2 takes place in California and promises 8 player co-op gameplay. I'm going to be honest: as long as it gives me a similar experience to the first Dead Island, minus the bugs and glitches, I'm in. I am all for playing an open-world zombie game with someone.

It doesn't appear to change the formula much, but it is evolving it a little bit. Now you can do things like light the grass on fire, Far Cry style, or dual wield weapons.

Oh wait, supposedly you can't really beat the game, because it keeps going and you keep getting missions. So... there isn't a story? I don't know about this. Even though Dead Island had a stupid story, it was still something driving the game forward and this worries me. I think Dying Light will shit all over this.



Shadow Realms -- I was a little confused about this RPG. It's a more modern Fantasy Bioware game but they seem to be doing something a little different this time around.

The core gameplay is 4 vs 1 where the other players where one player is basically a Dungeon Master (Shadowlord in this game) and can take control of everything while you and your friends team-up and try to beat the missions.

It has elements of Bioware with the conversations and whatnot, but they're putting a spin on their own formula. It could be good but I don't know. I have faith in Bioware, but I'll have to wait and see when it comes to this game.



Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel -- In this demo we got to see Claptrap. I love that little bastard, so I'm down.

It starts with them putting points into his skill tree. I enjoy that he has a highfive skill where if you return it  you'll get buffs but if you don't only he does.

Aside from that, this is Borderlands and I'm okay with that. I would have preferred Borderlands 3 on more powerful hardware rather than this spin-off on last-gen (and PC), but they are doing a few new things with it so I'm up for another Borderlands adventure. They're fun with a friend.

Gamescom 2014, Day 1: The EA Press Conference -- Yo, That Sim Died RIGHT IN FRONT Of The Other Two And Nobody Did Anything!

Written By: Tyler

 Watch the EA Press Conference Here

Today is the first official day of Gamescom 2014. There were some press conferences and some news, but the doors officially opened today. So what better way to kick that off than the company that everyone on the internet loves? Yeah, I'm talking EA. Electronic Arts. Evil Assholes.

Let's get on with this press conference, and sorry for the delay but again, I was at work and didn't get to see it live.



We start off with Andrew Wilson talking, claiming to have changed things up this year so we could be put in the heart of the action. Then we get to Dragon Age: Inquisition. No one expects Dragon Age: Inquisition!

There are 9 characters to lead. Extensive character customization system. 9 class specializations, 21 different combat trees, over 200 spells and abilities. 200 weapon upgrades, 150 types of armor, 80 different materials, so there will be a lot of stuff you can customize basically. Plus you get to name your items you create. There's a million words of dialogue so it's basically an Ayn Rand novel.

You lead and form the Inquisition. You start in a fortress called Skyhold, where you can strengthen the Inquisition, choose where to explore and choose missions.

It looks like a great time. I love the depth of the level progression and whatnot, and the tactical camera is cool. The action looks fluid and looks like a good RPG to sink your teeth into. I've never actually played a Dragon Age and this looks like a good place to start. The game releases November 18 in North America.

Next is TITANFALL (if you don't get why I capitalized it then you must be new to the blog but it's a running gag here because of how intense the game was supposed to be). The revealed the third and final map pack: IMC Rising. This fall you will be able to get three new maps.

NHL '15 is up next. It's going to be a more realistic, authentic experience and they're promising more control over everything, more leagues, better graphics, etc. Bigger and better like every year is supposed to be. It releases September 9 in North America and I believe a couple days later in Europe.

Peter Moore hits the stage and says words I don't understand. Then when he starts talking English he's talking about NHL '15. Then he talks about experiencing things with friends, which is a foreign concept to me, then starts talking about Sims 4. We get a live demo.

With the new Gallery you can share things online with people.

We start with Create-A-Sim. There's a lot of attention to detail when creating what your Sim looks like. Next is the personality: You pick a bunch of different traits, and things like walking style.

There's a build mode where you can easily build your house. You can pick up the entire house and move it, and easily expand your walls.

Using the gallery you can just pick an entire house from what people have made and make it your own.

Then we see the game in action. At first there's a maze and everybody is hungry. One of the Sims dies, and the Grim Reaper shows up. It's a pretty funny segment. The entire showcase of Sims was pretty comical and lighthearted. I enjoyed it. I haven't even played a Sims since the first one but even before this I planned on getting this one and seeing where the series has evolved.

The Sims 4 Create-A-Sim demo is available now. and you can put your sim in the full game when it launches in three weeks.

Before the new year, FIFA World will have a new game engine, complete dribbling and smarter AI. You will be able to keep your items and whatnot when they implement the new engine. I didn't even know that this game existed, if I'm being honest.

FIFA '15 is shown next. It's going to be a more realistic, authentic experience and they're promising more control over everything, more leagues, better graphics, etc. Bigger and better like every year is supposed to be.

That may seem like I made an error and accidentally pasted what I said about NHL '15. But I assure you... it was... no accident.

In Star Wars: The Old Republic, players will be able to get a new expansion next week called Galactic Strongholds Digital Expansion. In it you can build a house or conquer planets across the galaxy with your guild flagships.

Then there's Dawngate. It's a new MOBA, built on a foundation of player choice. You can choose any map and any character in the matches. You can sign-up to the beta at dawngate.com

Then there's a new online action-RPG IP from Bioware called Shadow Realms. The video is just a bunch of people fighting demons in a city and that makes it hard to really know how it plays. We do know that it takes place in a modern Fantasy world, is inspired by old pen-and-paper RPGs, and will have dynamic co-operative 3 vs 1 gameplay. The one player will get to control the bad guy: the Shadowlord.

It will have a continuously updated story, an ever changing world, and an episodic story arc.

The game will come out late next year. You can sign up for the alpha at shadowrealms.com.

The single-player in Battlefield Hardline apparently won't be as linear. It's going to play like a TV show which means it will be episodic, tense and have cliffhangers. You play as a young detective who is going cross country to track down someone from his past. Ooooh I do that sometimes.

They debut a short video of the single-player and it looks fun, but it's not really the reason I go to Battlefield these days anyway. You can flash your badge and make people freeze so you can handcuff them, since you are a coppa after all, see. The video ends with a fire fight, then it all of a sudden becomes Battlefield with things exploding.

More importantly they revealed two new multiplayer modes: Hotwire and Rescue. Hotwire is a high-speed chase, so it's fast and we shoot things from cars as far as I can tell. Rescue is an eSports-focused mode, where hostages have been taken by a team of five criminals. So naturally, five cops have to save them. Be careful though because you only have one life per round.



With that, the EA Press Conference ended and it was actually pretty solid. Got a new IP, some gameplay footage of other things and not just trailers with no gameplay (that's such a pet peeve of mine). Shadow Realms sounds interesting and I can't wait for Hardline.