Commander Fury

FromSoftware has brought the Armored Core series back out after over a decade to give us what is shaping up to be one of the series’ best entries yet. The upcoming Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon takes cues from the studio’s most recent titles but retains everything fans of the mech action series have come to love. What we get is a title that doesn’t forget its complex mech simulator identity while still finding fresh ways to advance its formula for a new generation. During a recent hands-on event, Bandai Namco allowed us to enter the armory, craft a mech of our choice, and visit planet Rubicon to work as a freelance mercenary and get a substantial taste of Armored Core VI’s first chapter. Read on for all the details we could squeeze out from five hours of playtime. Continuous customization is key As soon as you jump into Armored Core VI, you’ll find out that the Armory–where you can build and edit your Armored Core (AC for short)–will be where you’ll spend a significant chunk of your time. Maintaining and customizing your AC is a necessity to meet the arduous demands of being a freelance mercenary. Unlike its sibling “Souls” titles, Armored Core VI’s gameplay loop consists of completing various missions, which can involve defeating a mysterious organization of invisible cloaked ACs, taking on an entire army, or even dueling against a colossal mech. Due to the ever-shifting nature of the game’s mission objectives, it’s essential to take advantage of all your personalized AC options so that you may defy expectations and live another day. Options to make a dream (or nightmare) mech In Armored Core VI, you’re able to fully customize and swap out the body parts, core, weapons, boosters, defensive mechanisms, and weight class of your AC. Continually customizing your AC can be essential to survival. For example, at times, you might need access to faster mobility, meaning Schnieder legs and their high-jumping and speed capabilities are a must. Other times you may need the Caterpillar tank legs to support a massive load of heavy weaponry and armor to keep you in the fray against a sea of enemies. Armored Core VI gives you the freedom to take on missions with whichever parts combinations you need to get the job done (while also looking aesthetically pleasing doing so). Style makes the mech Speaking of aesthetics, you not only have the ability to edit the capabilities of your AC, but the visuals, too. While the series has always allowed players to change the parts and colors of AC units, you can now change its condition and texture as well. This means you can make your mech look fresh off the production line, or like a rusted antique discovered in a long-abandoned facility (as we did with our rustic Nine Ball knockoff). OS Upgrades This customizable option is new to the series and offers additional adjustments to your AC that change the feel of piloting your mech. For example, some upgrades allow for faster turning, the ability to use swappable handheld weapons instead of equipping larger shoulder add-ons, or give added armor for the new Assault Boost maneuver. Each of these OS Upgrades can completely change the playing field, especially when fighting against tough opponents, such as the case of being able to swap from a machine gun to a heavy-hitting bazooka on the fly to more readily devastate a staggered enemy. For veteran fans: An OS upgrade that might pique your attention is manual targeting, which restores the classic style of aiming without the help of auto-targeting from earlier entries. Be sure to equip it if you want a particularly old-school challenge. Weapons on weapons The vast wealth of customization options available also extends to weapons. There are so many combinations to try out, each with the potential to completely change the way you play the game. Given the unique feel of each weapon, you’re encouraged to experiment not only to see what works best for you but also to better overcome the various threats in missions. For instance, when you need more tailored firepower to get around enemy shields, you might want to equip plasma missiles that fire upward and into an arc to hit foes from behind. Or you could even equip an energy blade that can knock the shield out of their hands with a single strike. There are many viable weapon loadouts for a variety of situations, so how you equip your AC in a mission is entirely up to you. Armory stations let you customize mid-mission Armored Core VI emphasizes constantly changing your loadout to suit the situation, but sometimes the demands change in the middle of a mission. Thankfully, there are Armory stations available in certain areas, allowing you to customize your AC on the fly before tackling specific sections ahead. For example, the beginning of a mission might require you to stay on your toes fighting multiple speedy enemies, while the boss at the end may necessitate more firepower. During key moments, Armored Core VI isn’t against letting you hit the dressing room for a style change to show up prepared. A vast heavy metal adventure Aside from the customization, Armored Core VI showcases its ambition in plenty of other areas as well. From its movement options to the mission maps, the game has tons of content to sink your teeth into. Movement made to master Armored Core sets itself apart from Dark Souls and Elden Ring by emphasizing vertical and horizontal gameplay and movement. While the Souls games take place entirely on the ground, Armored Core requires you to adapt to the situation by taking to the skies and using all the space offered to you to complete your mission. Staying on the ground as you would in the Lands Between will result in a swift defeat. Hours of missions to complete FromSoftware has packed Armored Core VI with tons of varied missions to take on, each different from the last. Some missions will send you into an arena to take on another AC pilot one-on-one; others will pit you against an entire army as you attempt to destroy their power plant. Regardless of the task at hand, you’ll need to constantly adapt to your enemies and their surroundings to succeed. Giant and varied battlegrounds Each mission also features a vastly different map to explore and conquer. The unique setpieces present a memorable experience and allow for different play styles each time. You can go in guns blazing, sneak around like a metal assassin, or even blitz through without attacking enemies at all. A story-filled adventure Armored Core VI is suffused with FromSoftware’s brand of subtle storytelling. Each mission begins with a briefing from your commander and, at times, an introduction to a new force or player in the war for planet Rubicon. Once a mission is underway, the game expands on these small and intertwined plotlines by introducing characters and other little pieces of lore that build up this larger picture of the world around you. You’ll also impact these plotlines through the choices you make. One mission we played presented us with the choice of either being a ruthless mercenary and killing an enemy rebel, or ignoring them and sticking to the job of destroying their power supply. Whatever choice you make, you’ll experience a game full of personality. Modes and replayability galore Armored Core VI also features a variety of different modes, such as the Arena, where you’ll face off against another AC pilot in a battle to the death with the goal of ranking up. Along with the main missions, these modes offer tons of replayability, letting you take on things in a new style, follow a different story path, or simply rack up more money so you can buy that new set of legs you wanted from the shop. The PlayStation 5 experience Playing on the PS5 adds an extra layer of immersion thanks to fast loading times, keeping you in the gameplay and away from loading screens. The PS5 version also features 3D audio, which makes it genuinely feel like you’re in the middle of an intense mech firefight. You can witness all of this and more when Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon releases on PlayStation 5 on August 25. View the full article

Name: XBox - Starfield: The Settled Systems - Supra Et Ultra Category: Gaming Industry Videos Date Added: 07/25/2023 Submitter: Commander Fury Starfield: The Settled Systems - Supra Et Ultra XBox - Starfield: The Settled Systems - Supra Et Ultra

Name: XBox - Starfield: The Settled Systems - Where Hope Is Built Category: Gaming Industry Videos Date Added: 07/25/2023 Submitter: Commander Fury Starfield: The Settled Systems - Where Hope Is Built XBox - Starfield: The Settled Systems - Where Hope Is Built

Name: XBox - Starfield: The Settled Systems - The Hand That Feeds Category: Gaming Industry Videos Date Added: 07/25/2023 Submitter: Commander Fury Starfield: The Settled Systems - The Hand That Feeds XBox - Starfield: The Settled Systems - The Hand That Feeds

Sabotage was founded with a clear goal: presenting our own definitive editions of the game genres we grew up playing. By combining retro aesthetics and modern design, we shoot for experiences that capture what we love about games of old while leaving behind the elements we feel might hold them back today. We knew from the beginning that out-of-combat controls would be an important aspect to tackle for our modernized take on classic turn-based RPGs, and one of the pillars of Sea of Stars. Sea of Stars will be available as a PlayStation Plus Game Catalog title on launch day We’re extremely excited to confirm that Sea of Stars will be joining the PlayStation Plus Game Catalog catalog (available for all Extra and Premium members) on launch day, August 29. It’s incredible for us to imagine how many more players worldwide will experience Sea of Stars and join the conversation around our project. After working on this game that is so dear to us for five years, we’re now only a few weeks away from release, and we’re happy to share this moment with the PlayStation community. Try it for yourself: PlayStation demo now available You can get a taste of the Sea of Stars’ traversal system in the demo now available on both PS4 and PS5. The demo features areas that will be part of the final game, but we made sure to pick a slice that did not reveal any major spoilers from the main story. It is designed to give a hint of context but mostly showcases some gameplay systems and mechanics around dungeon crawling and combat. It aims to provide a sense of the tone and vibe without giving away major points of the journey. It’s not exactly the final product, but we feel this playable slice represents what we are shooting for. We hope you will enjoy it! Why is traversal so important to the vision? Too often, we have fought epic monsters only to have then go out of our way to reach the next objective because a fallen tree was blocking the way. With Sea of Stars, we set out to move as far away from tile-based movement as possible to create something that would feel lighter and more seamless, while allowing for a more varied moveset, and in turn, offer more opportunities for players to interact with the environment during their adventures. We wanted exploration to be as fully fleshed out as combat. The broad strokes of traversal were approached with the intention of sustaining a sense of tactileness to the surrounding environments, inviting players to touch everything they see and for the game to acknowledge their actions. The vision took the form of a promise we wanted players to hear while playing: “If it looks like you can grab on and hoist up, it’s because you can. And if the ledge is clear, feel free to jump off and see if there is a treasure down there–you can always climb back up afterward. Set aside any gameplay rules you have come to expect, look around and act on what seems to make sense physically, and the game will catch you.” Now that’s certainly easier said than done, and we might as well simply demand catchy music, engaging combat, and a compelling story while we’re at it, but we still gave it our best shot. A big part of keeping level layouts engaging is ensuring they contain a lot of micro-loops and interactions that allow us to play with the pacing, whether it is with movement speed, varied animations, or little modules that players have to decide how to traverse, often with more than one possibility, all linked seamlessly into the wide open areas that support the story we are telling. Starting from the classic camera perspective, our characters move in eight different angles with movesets that include swimming, climbing, jumping off and hoisting up ledges, tightrope walking, and perhaps a future upgrade or two, which we won’t get into here for spoiler reasons. The MVP here is definitely hoisting since it allows for a lot more verticality in the gameplay than is usually seen in games of the genre. In short, fleshing out the player’s moveset beyond walking in four angles and climbing in one angle gave us what we needed to break free from the classic bound-to-the-grid movement we wanted to modernize. Traversal design: a concrete example As mentioned earlier, the use of traversal can support different intentions. In the following example, it’s used as a way to teach the players to swim, or rather, that it is part of the actions available to them in Sea of Stars. For our levels to rely on swimming moving forward, we must first ensure that the players have learned the action, and that they will know to look for bodies of water in the future. Here’s how the player’s volition is leveraged in the game’s early stages to make sure they teach themselves swimming in an empowering way instead of reading a pop-up card. First, let’s look at an early design sketch that leads to the final version of the swimming tutorial section found in the final game. Pictured below is the moment where the level’s design organically presents the swimming feature. After a short fight, the main path leads to a single way forward, leaving the player with only one option to progress: walk the plank. To support players who are unaware that swimming is even a thing yet, a clear path is emphasized by the level’s art, pointing to an inviting call to adventure of jumping off a ledge into a pool of turquoise water which compels players to try a jump action and discover what happens. All environments have been designed to be tactile and reinforce the players’ habit of reflexively experimenting with them to discover new things by themselves without the need for intrusive tutorials or UI indicators that would break the immersion. This is just one example, of course. Traversal gameplay has been designed inch by inch to be presented as sequences that support progression and flow throughout the game. Simply put, when players are not fighting or reading dialogue, they are exploring, or rather, traversing. Even though players are free to explore at their own pace, deliberate pockets like these are present everywhere, each serving different intentions, whether it is helping to assimilate narrative information, cooling down after intense combat, offering an optional moment of contemplation, or learning a new skill through an invisible tutorial. Sea of Stars will be available on PS4 and PS5 on August 29. Stay tuned. View the full article

Name: PlayStation - Farming Simulator 22 - Horsch AgroVation Pack Launch Trailer | PS5 & PS4 Games Category: Gaming Industry Videos Date Added: 07/25/2023 Submitter: Commander Fury Farming Simulator 22 - Horsch AgroVation Pack Launch Trailer | PS5 & PS4 Games PlayStation - Farming Simulator 22 - Horsch AgroVation Pack Launch Trailer | PS5 & PS4 Games

Name: PlayStation - Shotgun King: The Final Checkmate - Release Date Trailer | PS5 & PS4 Games Category: Gaming Industry Videos Date Added: 07/25/2023 Submitter: Commander Fury Shotgun King: The Final Checkmate - Release Date Trailer | PS5 & PS4 Games PlayStation - Shotgun King: The Final Checkmate - Release Date Trailer | PS5 & PS4 Games

Name: PlayStation - Deceive Inc. - Neon Nights Update Trailer | PS5 Games Category: Gaming Industry Videos Date Added: 07/25/2023 Submitter: Commander Fury Deceive Inc. - Neon Nights Update Trailer | PS5 Games PlayStation - Deceive Inc. - Neon Nights Update Trailer | PS5 Games

Name: PlayStation - Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 - San Diego Comic-Con Panel Cutdown | PS5 Games Category: Gaming Industry Videos Date Added: 07/24/2023 Submitter: Commander Fury Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 - San Diego Comic-Con Panel Cutdown | PS5 Games PlayStation - Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 - San Diego Comic-Con Panel Cutdown | PS5 Games

Name: PlayStation - Human Anatomy VR - Launch Trailer | PS VR2 Games Category: Gaming Industry Videos Date Added: 07/24/2023 Submitter: Commander Fury Human Anatomy VR - Launch Trailer | PS VR2 Games PlayStation - Human Anatomy VR - Launch Trailer | PS VR2 Games

Name: PlayStation - High on Life - Launch Trailer | PS5 & PS4 Games Category: Gaming Industry Videos Date Added: 07/24/2023 Submitter: Commander Fury High on Life - Launch Trailer | PS5 & PS4 Games PlayStation - High on Life - Launch Trailer | PS5 & PS4 Games

Name: PlayStation - World of Warships: Legends - The Symphony of the Battle | PS5 & PS4 Games Category: Gaming Industry Videos Date Added: 07/24/2023 Submitter: Commander Fury World of Warships: Legends - The Symphony of the Battle | PS5 & PS4 Games PlayStation - World of Warships: Legends - The Symphony of the Battle | PS5 & PS4 Games

Name: PlayStation - One Piece Pirate Warriors 4 - Character Pass 2 "Reveal" Trailer | PS4 Games Category: Gaming Industry Videos Date Added: 07/24/2023 Submitter: Commander Fury One Piece Pirate Warriors 4 - Character Pass 2 "Reveal" Trailer | PS4 Games PlayStation - One Piece Pirate Warriors 4 - Character Pass 2 "Reveal" Trailer | PS4 Games

Name: XBox - What's your list? #Xbox Category: Gaming Industry Videos Date Added: 07/24/2023 Submitter: Commander Fury What's your list? #Xbox XBox - What's your list? #Xbox

Name: PlayStation - Endless Dungeon - Comrade Hero Reveal | PS5 Games Category: Gaming Industry Videos Date Added: 07/24/2023 Submitter: Commander Fury Endless Dungeon - Comrade Hero Reveal | PS5 Games PlayStation - Endless Dungeon - Comrade Hero Reveal | PS5 Games

Name: PlayStation - RIN: The Last Child - Announcement Trailer | PS5 & PS4 Games Category: Gaming Industry Videos Date Added: 07/24/2023 Submitter: Commander Fury RIN: The Last Child - Announcement Trailer | PS5 & PS4 Games PlayStation - RIN: The Last Child - Announcement Trailer | PS5 & PS4 Games

Name: PlayStation - Trine 5: A Clockwork Conspiracy - Hero Spotlight: Pontius the Knight | PS5 & PS4 Games Category: Gaming Industry Videos Date Added: 07/24/2023 Submitter: Commander Fury Trine 5: A Clockwork Conspiracy - Hero Spotlight: Pontius the Knight | PS5 & PS4 Games PlayStation - Trine 5: A Clockwork Conspiracy - Hero Spotlight: Pontius the Knight | PS5 & PS4 Games

Name: XBox - The Smurfs 2: The Prisoner of the Green Stone – Gameplay Preview Category: Gaming Industry Videos Date Added: 07/24/2023 Submitter: Commander Fury The Smurfs 2: The Prisoner of the Green Stone – Gameplay Preview XBox - The Smurfs 2: The Prisoner of the Green Stone – Gameplay Preview

Name: PlayStation - The Smurfs 2: The Prisoner of the Green Stone - Gameplay Preview | PS5 & PS4 Games Category: Gaming Industry Videos Date Added: 07/24/2023 Submitter: Commander Fury The Smurfs 2: The Prisoner of the Green Stone - Gameplay Preview | PS5 & PS4 Games PlayStation - The Smurfs 2: The Prisoner of the Green Stone - Gameplay Preview | PS5 & PS4 Games

Name: PlayStation - Have you seen these PS VR2 prototypes? 👀 Read more on PlayStation Blog. #PS5 #PlayStation #PSVR2 Category: Gaming Industry Videos Date Added: 07/23/2023 Submitter: Commander Fury Have you seen these PS VR2 prototypes? 👀 Read more on PlayStation Blog. #PS5 #PlayStation #PSVR2 PlayStation - Have you seen these PS VR2 prototypes? 👀 Read more on PlayStation Blog. #PS5 #PlayStation #PSVR2

Name: XBox - Immortals of Aveum™ | Comic-Con Cinematic Category: Gaming Industry Videos Date Added: 07/23/2023 Submitter: Commander Fury Immortals of Aveum™ | Comic-Con Cinematic XBox - Immortals of Aveum™ | Comic-Con Cinematic

Name: PlayStation - Immortals of Aveum - Comic-Con Cinematic Trailer | PS5 Games Category: Gaming Industry Videos Date Added: 07/23/2023 Submitter: Commander Fury Immortals of Aveum - Comic-Con Cinematic Trailer | PS5 Games PlayStation - Immortals of Aveum - Comic-Con Cinematic Trailer | PS5 Games

Name: PlayStation - Apex Legends - Neon Network Collection Event Trailer | PS5 & PS4 Games Category: Gaming Industry Videos Date Added: 07/22/2023 Submitter: Commander Fury Apex Legends - Neon Network Collection Event Trailer | PS5 & PS4 Games PlayStation - Apex Legends - Neon Network Collection Event Trailer | PS5 & PS4 Games

Name: Texas Battle Bowl COD Promo Category: Urgent Fury Date Added: 07/22/2023 Submitter: Commander Fury Texas Battle Bowl COD Promo Texas Battle Bowl COD Promo

Name: PlayStation - Mortal Kombat 1 - Umgadi Trailer | PS5 Games Category: Gaming Industry Videos Date Added: 07/21/2023 Submitter: Commander Fury Mortal Kombat 1 - Umgadi Trailer | PS5 Games PlayStation - Mortal Kombat 1 - Umgadi Trailer | PS5 Games