Xbox One Console Reviews
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The daughter of legendary fantasy writer Terry Pratchett, Rhianna Pratchett has already built an impressive career giving voice to strong female characters in both games and comics. Pratchett has previous worked on titles like the 2013 Tomb Raider reboot, Heavenly Sword, and Mirror's Edge. Now that she’s reuniting with Lara as a writer on Rise of the Tomb Raider, we took some time to chat with the prolific author about what happened to all of Lara’s wealth, why getting lost and frustrated should be part of a video gaming experience, and whether or not Lara is a little crazy.
What excites you about this game’s premise and the quest for immortality?
Whether it’s the Holy Grail, the Tree of Life, or eating five-a-day, living beyond our years is one of humanity’s eternal questions. Exploring what that really means, both the pros and cons, is certainly interesting to me as a writer. However, what particularly excited me about this project was helping guide Lara on the next stage of her journey. She’s done things that she didn’t think she was capable of – both good and bad – and that’s shaken her preconceptions about the person she thought she was. She’s also seen things she doesn’t quite believe and is looking for answers about what those mean for both her and for the wider world. She’s a woman with a lot on her plate.
Does the development process change the narrative much after your initial script?
Yes, all the time. Writing is rewriting and nowhere is that more the case than in games. You’re constantly tweaking and reshaping. We spent a long time working out the state of Lara’s mind at the start of the game and how the other characters play into that during the story. We also wanted to decrease the number of characters this time as we definitely felt that the cast was too large last time and we suffered through lack of space to fully realize them. I think it’s safe to say that the second step of Lara’s journey was much more challenging than the first.
Who’s funding Lara’s adventures? Is she still pretty wealthy?
The Yamatai exhibition was funded by Sam’s uncle, rather than Lara’s wealth. This latest expedition is largely funded through Lara’s savings (she has had several jobs, both mentioned in the game and the comics.) By and large she self-funds and considering the expeditions are not really particularly weapon- and gadget-based that makes a difference. However, Lara’s relationship with her family’s wealth is something she’s wrestled with ever since Yamatai. She still comes from a wealthy family, but her attitude towards that wealth is what’s changed.
Maybe I missed some journal entry in the first game, but what's the status on Lara Croft's mother?
That’s not something we’re discussing at the moment.
In the last Tomb Raider, Lara's narration was constantly reminding players what just happened and what she was after. Do you feel like games lack some of the storytelling subtlety of other mediums since they want to ensure players know where to go?
Lara does tend to talk to herself a fair bit, but that’s partly just a quirk of who she is. I think it’s rather an only child trait! However, certain elements of game narrative are somewhat unrealistic and, well, game-y. Like barks, for instance – the small lines of dialogue, which enemies often spout during fights. I mean, who in their right mind telegraphs their actions and intentions during a fight? However, I think we’ve become so used to it as gamers that we don’t really think about it too much. Likewise, I’ve noticed an industry-wide trend over the last five years or so where games seem very keen that players shouldn’t get lost or frustrated at any point. I’m of the school of thought that being lost and getting frustrated is all part of the fun.
The first trailer indicated that Lara's not in the healthiest place mentally, how dominant will her battle with PTSD be throughout the storyline?
It’s part and parcel of her journey, but not the central theme. I think she’s just trying to unravel the Gordian knot that her life has become. She’s trying to reconcile what she saw and what she did, with who she thought she was and who she might become. Lara’s someone who thought her path ahead was clear and instead she has been violently thrown off it. As a consequence she’s looking to her past for answers and guidance, and also seeing that in a completely new light as well.
Strong female leads are a rarity in the video game world. Do you think people are nervous to put females in a leading role? Crystal Dynamics almost had to fight to make Lara less of a sexed up caricature of femininity.
I personally don’t have an issue with female characters being sexy. However, in the past the industry has suffered from sexy merely being used as a solo personality trait. Likewise, the definition of what constitutes sexy has been very narrow and frequently meant overly sexualized, which was off-putting for some. We definitely need more diversity in this area and to create more characters who’re sexy because they’re smart, funny, thoughtful, loyal, textured and flawed people, on top of whatever they may look like. I still think Lara’s sexy. She’s beautiful, fierce, empathetic, determined and smart – which arguably she was before. But now she’s just not sexualized. I think that decision has definitely helped us reach new audiences.
Concept art is an unsung hero in the game development process. It's often the first thing created for a video game and serves to direct the tone and style of the entire project. Before pressing the A button ever makes a character jump, or pushing the control stick makes a character move, concept art is in place pointing a game in the direction it is meant to go.
Despite establishing a solid stylistic groundwork with the 2013 Tomb Raider, Crystal Dynamics still needed to develop an artistic base for the new Lara Croft's second journey. We spoke with game director Brian Horton about what went into Rise of the Tomb Raider's initial artwork and how it is influencing the direction of the game.
"The concept art pieces that we do, generally have to accomplish a couple different things. They have to provide a sense of composition. You look at it and you go, 'Oh, I know where I am supposed to be looking. That is really interesting. I can’t wait to get over there.' You create that interest through lighting, through complimentary color schemes, things you can say like I am in a very cold place or there is a warm light, or vice versa."
"There is this sort of ominous beauty we put into our games that has an oppressive quality. There is always that feeling of something not quite being in focus. You don’t know what’s back there, but it’s got atmosphere across it. It’s intriguing, and at the same time we want to engender a bit of mystery and potentially even fear – the fear of the unknown."
"I’ve often said that the environment is the second most important character in the game. It is the adversary that Lara ultimately has to overcome. The weather and the danger of the traversal all have to come through in those concept pieces. A good concept for Tomb Raider tends to have those things: interesting composition, mood and atmosphere, and a sense of mystery and intrigue. There’s something over there I have to get there. How do I do that?"
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Heads up: The Ultimate Game Sale starts next week - I'll let you know when it kicks off. <a href="http://t.co/I0MrFM7L05">pic.twitter.com/I0MrFM7L05</a></p>— Larry Hryb (@majornelson) <a href="https://twitter.com/majornelson/status/566647307966640128">February 14, 2015</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Heads up: The Ultimate Game Sale starts next week - I'll let you know when it kicks off. <a href="http://t.co/I0MrFM7L05">pic.twitter.com/I0MrFM7L05</a></p>— Larry Hryb (@majornelson) <a href="https://twitter.com/majornelson/status/566647307966640128">February 14, 2015</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Heads up: The Ultimate Game Sale starts next week - I'll let you know when it kicks off. <a href="http://t.co/I0MrFM7L05">pic.twitter.com/I0MrFM7L05</a></p>— Larry Hryb (@majornelson) <a href="https://twitter.com/majornelson/status/566647307966640128">February 14, 2015</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Heads up: The Ultimate Game Sale starts next week - I'll let you know when it kicks off. <a href="http://t.co/I0MrFM7L05">pic.twitter.com/I0MrFM7L05</a></p>— Larry Hryb (@majornelson) <a href="https://twitter.com/majornelson/status/566647307966640128">February 14, 2015</a></blockquote>
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I don't expect much from this. The library is still very limited imo. I still need the Walking Dead season 1 & 2. Maybe Rome depending on the price.
You will automatically get updated to the February version of the Xbox app, when it becomes available in the Store (Beta). Once you receive the update, your version number should be 2.2.1502.02017 or higher. You can verify the version number of the Xbox app under Settings. The following features have been updated this month:
• Top Navigation Bar. The smiley face can be used to send feedback about the app to the product team, get access to forums for the Xbox app, and you can now rate the Xbox app.
• Friends. The user experience for Friends has been updated so that you now see Suggested Friends under a Suggestions header at the top of the Friends list, with a See all button to browse the entire list of VIPs on Xbox and People you May Know. Additionally, you can now start typing in the Friends search box to instantly find specific friends.
• Settings. Small fit and finish items were added to the settings page.
Want to help test out Windows 10 (and the Xbox app) ? Sign up for the Windows Insider program
Last Summer, Microsoft demonstrated its work with Project Adam - a deep learning computational engine geared towards recognising data obtained from visual inputs.
Last week, Microsoft Research published a paper, showing that work on Project Adam continues and that the system now holds the world record for margin of error - not only beating Google's best engines by 26%, but in fact, beating human beings for the very first time.
"Based on our PReLU networks (PReLU-nets), we achieve 4.94% top-5 test error on the ImageNet 2012 classification dataset. This is a 26% relative improvement over the ILSVRC 2014 winner (GoogLeNet, 6.66%). To our knowledge, our result is the first to surpass human-level performance (5.1%, Russakovsky et al.) on this visual recognition challenge."
This is the video from last summer, showing Project Adam running through Cortana - a prototypical end user experience for the system. This could further revolutionise the way we interact with Cortana, and perhaps in the future Kinect, or any camera connected to the Microsoft cloud.
Microsoft outspends both Apple and Google when it comes to research and development, but all 3 companies are working on elements that combined, could lead to true artificial intelligence, SkyNet, and thus, the apocalypse - but hey, it's probably cooler than global warming or nuclear war.
I want ryse (rome) + watch dogs...I'll download watch dogs...it appears they have walking dead 1 + 2 on sale also
*edit*
always wanted to check out sniper elite 3...might have to dl it for $10...I heard this is a leaked list of aussie games...decent selection...hope they stay w/ this list over here
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are the types of missions similar?
thanks...I like what I've seen on twitch...skimmed thru the vid you dropped and still interested...what I've disliked about the GTA missions probably going back to vice city is the game is supposed to be about mayhem...so when I get in that frame of mind doing random missions is boring...the missions are pretty much just to see how bad ass you can be and stacking $$$...the lack of a true story imo makes the missions seem pointless to me...I also hate the endless waves of AI enemies which makes a lot of missions seem tedious...honestly the description of online play is what instantly sold me on GTA and it's been one of the best gaming experiences...as for the story/missions I lost interest after the 1st heist and once I got $$$ online the missions weren't even worth playing
I'm willing to take a risk on ryse but only for $10 and under...I'm not doing discs this gen that being said I don't mind paying $20 and under for some games esp. since they're digital...you hardly see current gen games going for under $10 unless it's an inexpensive game to begin w/ on sale or it's outdated...I have not seen ryse selling for $10 on ebay...I've just seen low bids that will probably get cancelled by the seller
ya a lot of reviews/gamers shitted on the 1st AC and I fucking loved that game...I had picked it up years after it dropped tho for like $10-20...so I def got a lot of good gaming for the value...I seen a couple sellers on ebay selling the digital copy of ryse for just under $20...I might just say fuck it and cop
And that's the lowest you can get them am I correct?
At the moment. Seems as though there's a $35 deal popping up every month. One actually just ended on buy.com last week. I try to stack a few when they roll around. I think XBL lets you redeem three years max.
G is usually quick to post em up here when they drop
While visiting Crystal Dynamics for our extensive March cover story on Rise of the Tomb Raider, the development team emphasized that they were planning on responding to criticism of the last game by increasing the amount of large tombs for players to explore this time around. We sat down with creative director Noah Hughes to talk about the renewed emphasis on tombs and puzzles and how the design compares to the earlier classic Tomb Raider games.
Watch the interview below to learn more about how Crystal Dynamics is constructing physics-based puzzles that take advantage of the ancient spaces within Rise of the Tomb Raider.
Video
http://www.gameinformer.com/b/featu...e-of-the-tomb-raider.aspx#.VOJPeDoeB7s.reddit
Developer Undead Labs and Microsoft have added new weapons, vehicles and characters for State of Decay: Year-One Survival Edition on PC and Xbox One.
Undead Labs also added a new mission type as well as improved the visuals, animations and user interface for this new version of the simulation-driven open-world zombie survival game.
We already knew Year-One Survival Edition includes the Breakdown and Lifeline modes that were added to the Xbox 360 version as downloadable content.
Breakdown is a rogue-like, never-ending survival mode that gets harder as time progresses. Lifeline is a narrative-driven storyline adventure set in the city of Danforth. Both are in Year-One Survival Edition.
Usefully, the military weapons and hardware added to the Xbox 360 game with the Lifeline DLC have been added to the other two modes for Year-One Survival Edition. Characters from Lifeline have been added to Breakdown, too, as well as certain abilities. For example, being able to create ammo in a workshop in your base was an ability created for Lifeline that is now added to the rest of the game.
There's also a new mission type. Here a mysterious organisation is airdropping supply crates onto the map at random locations. While these crates include some of the best weapons in the game, they're extremely difficult to open as they attract a huge number of zombies and freaks.
In keeping with Undead Labs' focus on the State of Decay community, those who played the original get 33 per cent off Year-One Survival Edition. That discount works going from PC to PC, and Xbox 360 to Xbox One. Those who upgrade also get an exclusive character, Gurubani Kaur, who packs a suppressed rifle - the only one in State of Decay. And, you can transfer your save game across from Xbox 360 to Xbox One in the same way Xbox 360 players of Minecraft were able to when moving to the new console.
As you'd expect, the visuals have been improved. Year-One Survival Edition uses the same engine, Crytek's CryEngine 3, as the Xbox 360 version, but with improved animations, bug fixes, texture bumps, a better draw distance and a 1080p resolution.
This, Microsoft says, has a tangible gameplay benefit, as you'll be able to spot zombies and freaks from farther away than you were able to on Xbox 360. You'll also be able to read the many signs placed in the world, some of which include nice backstory detail, such as a gas station that went bust before the zombie apocalypse. These signs were difficult to make out on Xbox 360.
The user interface has been a particular focus for Undead Labs. It's fair to say the Xbox 360 version suffered from a cumbersome interface that poorly managed its many systems.
So, the user interface has been tidied up in a bid to surface features that were previously buried.
"It's a pretty complicated game," Seb Grinke, game designer at Microsoft Studios, told Eurogamer. "There's a lot going on and you have a lot to do. We did a tonne of user research testing at the user research lab at Microsoft. The feedback we got was some people were struggling with the UI. Redoing that unlocks some of the elements of the game people didn't even know where there.
"Each character in the game has a number of traits from their former life before the apocalypse. So if you're playing a character who was into hunting before the apocalypse they're going to be awesome at the shooting skill.
"So there's a tonne of depth in terms of what items you have equipped and who you use for what task. A lot of that was buried in the original game. Now it's much clearer and easier to see what the skills are, how to level them up and how to min/max your characters."
While Undead Labs and Microsoft managed to get State of Decay running at 1080p resolution on Xbox One, it failed to bump up the visuals to 60 frames per second. Instead, it settled on 30fps.
"There's a lot going on," Grinke replied when asked about the game's frame-rate. "You've got this whole community you're managing. You've got all these player characters, NPCs, tonnes of zombies, cars, there's just so much going on in the world that 30 made sense."
Neither will Year-One Survival Edition have a co-op mode, which Zombie Studio did at one point try to make work. According to Grinke, it turned out Undead Labs would have had to rework the game engine to get co-op up and running, and even then not to a quality level it would have been happy with.
"They looked into it," Grinke said. "They discovered in order to do it, they would have to rewrite a large percentage of the code. I've experienced it before in other studios I've worked at where, you think, I'll do co-op, but then you get into it and you're like, holy s***, we'd have to re-architecture most of the engine to make this work.
"They decided, we can either do this co-op thing and it's going to be a band-aid on the existing game, or we can not do that and focus on just making a fantastic single-player game, where there is the opportunity to share your story on Twitch, with different ways of achieving that multiplayer with the community wiki, then look at doing multiplayer in the future."
The future for State of Decay looks bright indeed. The Xbox One and PC follow-up was an obvious move considering State of Decay is the fastest-selling new IP ever on Xbox Live Arcade. And then? Year-One Survival Edition, due out 28th April worldwide for Xbox One and PC (via Steam) for ₤19.99, is just the first next-gen step for State of Decay, as Microsoft has signed a multi-game deal with Undead Labs. Surely multiplayer will be included in the inevitable sequel.
dope shit
Crazy how soundtracks gas you for a game. The Halo orchestral music has the same effect.
Crazy how soundtracks gas you for a game. The Halo orchestral music has the same effect.
ultimate game sale has gone live for gold members...it's not advertised on the site yet but if you log into your account and look up the title you want you'll see the sale price...it's the exact same titles from the AU leak...in addition limbo is on sale for $4...will pick up limbo + watch dogs...took a chance on ryse off ebay...digital codes are going for $20 or you can cop a new disc for about $15
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