Q3-4 gaming release update. Now with pre-order details!

Since the news of the delay in release of Evolve, announcement of the development of the "old gen." exclusive, Assassin's Creed Rogue, and details emerging regarding various special editions of gaming releases I was already following, here's an updated list of gaming releases I'm looking forward to;

1. Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor (30 September) - pre-order exclusive: Dark Ranger skin
2. Alien: Isolation (07 October 2014) - Nostromo, and Ripley Editions
3. Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel (14/ 17 October 2014) - pre-order exclusive: Shock Drop Slaughter Pit challenge map
4. The Evil Within (21 October 2014) - pre-order exclusive: The Fighting Chance Pack
5. Assassin's Creed: Rogue (11 November 2014) - pre-order exclusives: The Ultimate Hunter Pack, and The Siege of Fortde Sable mission, as well as a Collector's Edition
6. Far Cry 4 (18 November 2014) - Limited, Kyrat, and Ultimate Kyrat Editions

I'm already starting to whittle down the list of titles I intend to purchase on, or near the release date. For now these are Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel and Far Cry 4: Kyrat Edition.* I'm still interested in the other titles, but the pre-order exclusives, or contents of the special editions, at present do not interest me. Now if either the Nostromo or Ripley Editions of Alien Isolation came with a replica Nostromo or Ripley, then I'd be interested. 

The Assassin's Creed: Rogue 'Ultimate Hunter Pack' content does look cool, but will the exclusive black Templar sails really change my gaming experience? I think not, although the additional mission may add an additional few hours of gameplay, so that could make pre-ordering Rogue at least a little more worthwhile than picking it up later. I'll continue to keep an eye on which content the various local retailers will be offering, as I have also seen a 'Commander Pack,' and 'Templar Pack' advertised locally, both of which share items with The Ultimate Hunter Pack. Sadly the Collector's Edition of Rogue does not include a figure of Shay Patrick Cormac, nor does it appear to include any of the item packs, but it does include physical copies of the official soundtrack, an art book, some lithographs, and a fancy box to keep it all in. Oh, and an additional single player mission entitled 'The Armor of Sir Gunn Quest.' I'm not sure these are enough to warrant an additional R300 for the Collector's Edition.

Guess my wallet isn't going to take quite as hard a knock, come October, as I had initially anticipated. Of the four games listed above with October release dates, I'm only actually interested in pre-ordering Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel. The others can wait until they receive a price drop, or a 'Game of the Year' edition is announced. This will also mean others will have had time to review these games, allowing me to re-assess if whether I really need them in my collection. This pertains to Alien: Isolation particularly, as even though the information released looks very promising, there is still the abomination that was Aliens: Colonial Marine lurking in the back of many people's memories. 

This leaves only the Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag remake, and Far Cry 4, which I'm not even sure will offer the same experience on older consoles. Perhaps I'll wait until after I've gotten my hands on Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel to decide whether to purchase them, as by then  there should be more than enough fresh information available to help me decide the pros and cons of these releases. 

The physical content of the Kyrat Edition does look pretty sweet though,* and I did have a lot of fun playing Black Flag, so the decision between the two titles will definitely require some thought. Maybe I can use the money I save in October to buy both.

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* I'm a sucker for collector's editions that include replicas of props from within the game, hence these purchases.

Assassisn's Creed: Rogue - Polar bears, gangs & air rifles

A few days ago, two Assassins's Creed: Rogue gameplay walk through/ demos videos were released by Ubisoft. The first starts with a naval battle, and showcases the Morrigan's more nimble manoeuvring abilities compared to the Jackdaw from Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag, as well as a few new weapons. 

After defeating a few of the adversaries ships, we get to see new Assassin, turned Templar character, Shay Patrick Cormac, taking to land in order to liberate the gang (Assassin) controlled headquarters. This sequence looks very similar to the fort capturing side missions of Black Flag, but with a few added objectives, such as destroying the barrels of poison in this case.

The second video starts off in much the same way, even demonstrating the new arsenal of ship weaponry again.

After defeating the enemy ships, instead of heading towards a gang headquarters, we get to see the ice-breaking capabilities of the Morrigan, as well as the updated sea battle mechanics. Now when an enemy ship rams you, opposing crew are able to board your ship, starting a fight sequence on the deck of the Morrigan.

Profile of the Morrigan (Source)

At the moment Rogue is looking a lot like the previous Assassin's Creed title, Black Flag, with a few minor tweaks, and the addition of a some new weapons, a gas mask, and an 'Eagle sense.' In the above videos the HUD is the same, as are a lot of the finishing move animations, and even the sound effects while scrolling through the inventory, etc. I'm not sure whether this is the case due to this representing an early build of Rogue, or because a majority of the game is in fact just a 'copy and paste' of Black Flag, with a new skin for the lead character, and a new setting with snow and ice. That said, the story of an Assassin, turned Templar, hunting down Assassins is still a plot that sounds fairly interesting and exciting.

A perceived hole in the game's plot, is why an Irishman would be helping the British cause? During the period of the Seven Years' War (1754-1763) the Kingdom of Ireland, while still a separate entity to the Kingdom of Great Britain, fell under the rule of King George II, and later King George III. So at the time the Kingdom of Ireland was a British ally. It wasn't until a few decades later, during the Irish Rebellion of 1798, that the parties in opposition to the British rule of Ireland received military support from the French Revolutionary Government. 

I guess this is how the story arc of Assassin's Creed: Rogue will tie-in with the events of Assassin's Creed: Unity, which is set during the French Revolution. One can now assume that the Templars were supporting the British war effort, while the Assassins sided with the French. This further blurs the lines as to whether the Assassins, or the Templars are the good guys.

In the second video while Cormac is exploring the frozen shipwreck, at around the 06:50 mark, a flock of black and white birds can seen on the ice. At first I thought these were penguins, which would have been a mistake by the developers, given that penguins don't occur in the Arctic naturally. After confirming that the great auk was not extinct yet during this period, and judging by the large size of the birds, this seems a far more likely identification.

So while Far Cry 4 will have elephants, rhinoceroses, and honey badgers, Assassisn's Creed: Rogue will have polar bears, narwhals, and great auks.

Slipknot - .5:The Gray Chapter

A few weeks after releasing The negative one, which was not the official first single, but rather a "gift for the fans" according to vocalist Corey Taylor, Slipknot have now released the official first single, as well as the title of their upcoming fifth studio release.

The audio for the single, The devil in I was released earlier this morning (listen below), while details concerning the the new album were only released a few hours ago.

The album will be titled .5: The Gray Chapter, an obvious homage to late bassist, Paul Gray. As well as the standard 14 track release, .5: The Gray Chapter will also be released in a deluxe edition containing two additional tracks. Here's the list of tracks released via Facebook;

1. XIX
2. Sarcastrophe
3. AOV
4. The devil in I
5. Killpop
6. Skeptic
7. Lech
8. Goodbye
9. Nomadic
10. The one that kills least
11. Custer
12. Be prepared for hell
13. The negative one
14. If rain is what you want
15. Override (bonus track)
16. The burden (bonus track)

In addition to all this news pertaining to the album, Slipknot also announced the North American Hell Tour, with special guests Korn, and King 810. .5: The Gray Chapter will be released on 21 October, with pre-orders available here. Still no word regarding identity of the drummer on the new album though.

About paying more for peace of mind

I forgot to place a pre-order for Diablo III: Reaper of Souls - Ultimate Evil Edition before it's 19 August release date. My biggest concern was that I'd missed out on the 'pre-order exclusive' items, particularly the Infernal Pauldrons. 

After realising I'd missed the pre-order date I emailed Kalahari's support centre, as they were my preferred online retailer. I enquired as to whether the day one copies of the game also included the codes for the Infernal Pauldrons, etc. I received an automated response saying, "We are working extra hard  to respond within 24 ~ 48 hours."

By Friday afternoon I still hadn't received a reply to my question. So today I went to my favourite 'brick & mortar' shop for all my gaming needs, BT Games. The game was more expensive in-store than it was on either BT Games' and Kalahari's online stores, but regardless, I picked up a copy and asked the store clerk if they still had copies of the day one release that included the DLC codes. He said he wasn't sure. So I asked if I could open a copy to check its contents. I was told that I could, but then I'd have to buy the game, whether the DLC codes were included or not. It was a risk I was willing to take.

Initially the clerk tried to open the packaging in such a manner that if the codes weren't inside, he'd be able to reseal the packaging. Unfortunately this wasn't working out, so the clerk resorted to ripping the shrink wrap. The clerk told me that he could feel the disc was loose inside, so it was a good idea to open the packaging and check for scratches anyway. My heart sunk a little when the cover opened, and there was no DLC insert immediately noticeable. Instead I all I could see was the generic PS3 insert for the default controls. The insert looked pretty thin too, so I didn't get the impression of there being more than one. Fortunately I was mistaken, as upon leafing through the insert I discovered that there was indeed more than one,* and that one of these was the redemption code for the Infernal Pauldrons DLC. I thanked the clerk for his assistance, and happily paid for the game. 

At the end of the day I paid an extra R80 more (~18-20%) for the game than had I ordered it online, but at least I knew right there that it included the content I wanted. Ordering online may at times be more convenient, and cheaper, but in instances like this, it's great to have a local games shop like BT, where one can interact with staff who are genuinely passionate about the hobby, and eager to help customers. As the release dates of Alien: Isolation, Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel, and Far Cry 4 draw closer, I'll definitely consider ordering from BT Games again, over their competitors.

Despite it not even being 21:30 yet, I'm just too knackered to switch on my PS3 in order to redeem the DLC codes, link gaming accounts, and then create a new character to check the 'exclusive' items stats, etc. So guess what I'll be up to first thing tomorrow morning while my wife is making me Belgium waffles for breakfast. Maybe I'll even post some pictures.

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* As an added bonus, there was a third insert advertising an additional Legendary Ring being available through a creating, or linking a Battle.net to a valid PSN account.

'Sonic Highways' full trailer

Every time more details are released regarding the Sonic Highways album/ T.V. series I get even more excited about the project. From the trailer, the series looks as though it is going to be the best thing on T.V. since Game of Thrones finished a few months back. The audio sounds very promising too. 

It would be great if Sonic Highways were to be performed in it's entirety during the Foo Fighters' South African tour. This could tricky though, given the number of additional contributors featured in the video, and on the album.

Venomous vs poisonous II

Just in case you're still confused about the difference between venomous and poisonous, here's a neat comic from Snake Buddies. Check out the link below if you're interested in a more detailed description of the differences.

Source: SnakeBuddies.net

Foo Fighters forever!

Foo Fighters have confirmed that their upcoming, eighth studio album will be called Sonic Highways. The album shares its title with the HBO documentary, directed by Dave Grohl which will detail the recording process of the album, as well as explore histories behind each of the eight studios visited during the creation of the album.

The cover for Sonic Highways (left) features landmarks from each of the eight cities the Foo Fighters recorded the album in, condensed into a single, inter-connected metropolis. The numeral '8' figures prominently in the centre of the artwork, as well as being hidden a further eight* times throughout the piece.

From the video below, it's evident that '8' not only signifies the eighth album, but is also used to represent infinity, or forever. 

I haven't been this excited for a new album since the announcement of Queens of the Stone Age's '...Like Clockwork' last year. I'm already counting down the days until 10 November 2014!

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* There could quite possibly be more hidden '8s,' but I stopped searching at eight.