PC Game Releases - November 2013

Hive - Genres: Casual, Early Access, Indie, Strategy / Release Date: Nov 2013

Lilly Looking Through - Genres: Adventure Games / Release Date: Nov 1, 2013

Journey of a Roach - Genres: Adventure Indie / Release Date: Nov 4, 2013

Call of Duty: Ghosts - Themes : Terrorism, Modern Warfare / Genres: First-Person Shooters / Release Date: Nov 5, 2013

Final Exam - Genres: Side-Scrolling Platform / Flags: Downloadable Release / Release Date: Nov 5, 2013

Poof vs. The Cursed Kitty - Genres: Action / Release Date: Nov 8, 2013

PixelJunk Shooter - Genres: Side-Scrolling Shooter / Release Date: Nov 11, 2013

World of Warplanes - Genres: Flight Combat Sim / Flags: Online Only, Downloadable Release / Release Date: Nov 12, 2013

XCOM: Enemy Within - Genres: 3D Turn-Based Strategy / Flags:Expansion Pack / Release Date: Nov 12, 2013

SimCity: Cities of Tomorrow Expansion Pack - Genres: Other Strategy Games / Release Date: Nov 12, 2013

Injustice: Gods Among Us - Ultimate Edition - Genres: 2D Fighting / Release Date: Nov 12, 2013

Blood Knights - Genres: Action Adventure / Release Date: Nov 13, 2013

X Rebirth - Genres: Futuristic Combat Sims / Release Date: Nov 15, 2013

Deadfall Adventures - Genres: First-Person Shooter / Flags: Downloadable Release / Release Date: Nov 15, 2013

Contrast - Genres: Side-Scrolling Platform / Flags: Downloadable Release / Release Date: Nov 15, 2013

Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag - Genres: Third-Person 3D Action / Release Date: Nov 19, 2013

Adventure Time: Explore the Dungeon Because I don't Know! - Genres: Action Adventure / Release Date: Nov 19, 2013

Need for Speed Rivals - Genres: Sports Car Racing / Release Date: Nov 19, 2013

EVE Online: Rubicon - Genres: Massively Multiplayer / Release Date: Nov 19, 2013

Tiny Brains - Genres: Adventure Puzzle / Flags: Downloadable Release / Release Date: Nov 19, 2013

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All Battlefield 4 Levolution Events Detailed

After two or arguably more years in the making, Battlefield 4 is at last on physical and digital store shelves for the PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, but what will separate this particular title from other shooters in its class this year? Is it the gorgeous visuals powered by the new Frostbite 3 engine, the large player counts spread across expansive battlefields, or the epic vehicular wars waged across land, sea and air? Perhaps the most prominent innovation we could point our fingers to is a feature developers DICE are touting as “Levolution.”

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Batman: Arkham Origins Review and System Requirements

Batman Arkham Origins is a good (not excellent) addition to the series. I played the whole campaign in about 14 hours, including looking around for items (not all items in this time frame). If there was any concern with the game going to a new developer, there's really no need to worry about that. The gameplay and setting are almost exactly like Ark. City. There are a few new villains to battle, and new aspects of challenges, etc. The map is larger than the previous games. So there's a cool new fast travel aspect, but it's not easy to unlock every area unless you have the Brady game guide.

Cons: It would have been great to have a new main villain as an arch nemesis, but the Joker is back again. There are others in the game, but the Joker is still the main man. He definitely has worn out his welcome in my view. I know they had to have him to lead to the first game, but he could have just showed up in the end.

Although the game is called "Origins", there's very little real back-story revealed about anyone that we don't already know. It would have been great to see the decision point for Bruce Wayne to become Batman, but that doesn't happen. Yes, all of the characters are younger & there are a few cool bits. But there's not enough to make this a real prequel.

I also found it more difficult to grapple around the map. The grapple connections are not automatically the highest points as they were in AC. It's not awful, but another weakness anyway.
The setting is winter again- it would have been nice to have a sweltering summer or something different.

In the end, I'd say the game is worth playing if you've liked the others. There are definitely enough new things to hold my interest. I tended to rush through the first time, so maybe taking more time will be more rewarding. I also haven't searched for every collectible yet, and I have not tried the multiplayer.

I'm finding that by the third version, most games are found wanting or feel repetitive. I guess the good thing is that this game sticks to what it is instead of jumping the shark like AC3/4, etc.

Verdict: 60/100    

System Requirements

Minimum:

• OS:32-bit: Vista, Win 7, Win 8
  
• Processor:Intel Core 2 Duo, 2.4 GHz / AMD Athlon X2, 2.8 GHz
  
• Memory:2 GB RAM
  
• Graphics:NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTS / AMD Radeon HD 3850 or better with 512 MB of VRAM
  
• DirectX®:9.0c
  
• Hard Drive Space:20 GB
  
• Other Requirements:Broadband Internet connection
  
• Additional Notes:Windows XP and DirectX® 9.0b and below not supported 

Recommended:

• OS:64-bit: Vista, Win 7, Win 8
  
• Processor:Intel Core i5-750, 2.67 GHz / AMD Phenom II X4 965, 3.4 GHz
  
• Memory:4 GB RAM
  
• Graphics:NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 / AMD Radeon HD 6950 or better with 768 MB+ of VRAM (DirectX 11 Compatible)
  
• DirectX®:11
  
• Hard Drive Space:20 GB
  
• Other Requirements:Broadband Internet connection
  
• Additional Notes:Windows XP and DirectX® 9.0b and below not supported 

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WRC 4 now available in stores and on-demand for the Xbox 360, PS3, PS Vita and PC

WRC 4 is now available in stores and on-demand for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita and Windows PC, Bigben Interactive and Milestone have announced. WRC 4 once again lets you experience the 2013 FIA World Rally Championship season thanks to the official content. The game features a total of 65 drivers, 55 teams, 16 different makes of car, and 78 stages. WRC 4 also brings you some of the most extreme roads around the world, with the 13 official rallies on sand and mud, gravel, tarmac or snow and ice.

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Ubisoft Announces that Rocksmith 2014 Edition Released

Ubisoft announces that Rocksmith 2014 Edition, the fastest way to learn guitar, is now available at retail throughout North America. Rocksmith 2014 Edition is the sequel to 2011’s immensely popular Rocksmith, which taught over 1.5 million players how to play the guitar by enabling players to plug any real guitar or bass with a standard ¼” jack directly into their Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, the Sony PlayStation 3 computer entertainment system, PC or Mac. Rocksmith 2014 Edition includes new features, new modes, optimized tracking and responsiveness, a completely redesigned interface, new techniques and tunings, and much more. Aspiring guitarists can now learn to play guitar in just 60 days with Rocksmith 2014 Edition.

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The Stanley Parable Review and System Requirements

The Stanley Parable is an adventure game, and the premise is that you play as Stanley, a man who is content at his job where he pushes the buttons he's told to all day, every day. When Stanley discovers that his office is mysteriously empty, he decides to investigate. He comes to a room with two doors, and according to the narrator, Stanley chooses the door on his left, but you're controlling Stanley, not the narrator.

There are many, many choices in this game, and they all have interesting consequences. I'm not going to spoil any choices (beyond the first), because the magic of The Stanley Parable is figuring it out yourself. It also helps that the humor in this game is great.

This game's demo is free, and you should play it. Seriously. Even if you plan to get this game, play the demo first, because the content is entirely different from the main game, and there's at least one joke from the demo that is referenced in the game. If you want more, check out the original Stanley Parable, which is also free. This game is a remake of that game with much more content.

This isn't much of a "game", but as a piece of interactive storytelling, it's wonderful. If you're curious, try the demo, and if you liked that, you'll love the main game. For me, it was definitely worth $15 and I would definitely recommend it.

Verdict: 80/100

System Requirements

Minimum:

• OS: Windows XP/Vista/7/8
• Processor: 3.0 GHz P4, Dual Core 2.0 (or higher) or AMD64X2 (or higher)
• Memory: 2 GB RAM
• Graphics: Video card must be 128 MB or more and should be a DirectX 9-compatible with support for Pixel Shader 2.0b (ATI Radeon X800 or higher / NVIDIA GeForce 7600 or higher / Intel HD Graphics 2000 or higher).
• Hard Drive: 3 GB available space
• Sound Card: DirectX 9.0c compatible 

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Need for Speed Rivals Producer: Racing Genre "Needs Innovation"

Need for Speed: Rivals executive producer and Ghost Games studio head Marcus Nilsson is a long-time EA veteran. He's worked on titles like Battlefield 2142, Battlefield 3, and the Need for Speed spin-off, Shift 2 Unleashed. Now he and his studio have the chance to define what Need for Speed is for a new generation of consoles. That's a big change from a year ago, when Burnout developer Criterion released its second Need for Speed game and looked to be taking over the franchise.

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