World War Z. There’s too many

Posted on February 27, 2019 by X35 Earthwalker

World War Z is a new zombie third person shooter action game developed by ‘Saber Interactive‘ and published by ‘Focus Home Interactive‘. World War Z will be coming out the 16th of April 2019 on the Xbox One, PS4 and PC. Zombies have always been a problem but in here… there’s too many. Let’s take a look.

In World War Z players will be playing through the stories of others around the world. So no, it isn’t just America this time. Jerusalem, New York and Moscow have been named. So this means, different environments, different characters and different objectives. Humanity once again is near extinction. The zombie swarms are in the millions and it’s up to a group of people who are working together to survive and hopefully beat the zombie hordes. Do players have what it takes?

First of all let’s say this as we are all thinking it. How comes four regular people just get some guns and are able to survive and beat the zombies successfully but the whole Israel, Russian and American army get defeated. The army are filled with professional soldiers who practice in firing ranges and should know how to aim for the head. They have tanks, artillery, helicopters, ships, bombs, nukes and more but yet they all lose while a lone cop like Leon Kennedy, or some high school cheerleader or a pub owner who finds a shotgun or a pistol can survive and defeat many. Zombie movies and games have yet to explain this consistently. We aren’t letting World War Z off from this point.

World War Z

World War Z off course is following the World War Z movie so expect the same kind of zombies. These aren’t the traditional slow moving zombies. Oh no! These zombies, run, sprint (for some reason), jump, reach and chase you down. They will let nothing stop them. If you jump across a gap, they will jump too. If you go through a door, they will try to break it down. So let’s go to the top of a elevated area. That won’t work. Why? Well these zombies keep rushing at your location that they will pile up on each other. The pile will eventually reach up to where you are as they are climbing up each other. So you aren’t really safe anywhere. They will do their best to find you.

The Zombies in World War Z also are off course fearless. Having big guns, a wall, vehicles or even numbers doesn’t bother them in the slightest. They will rush you regardless so players can’t sit around and wait. Also the zombies cannot be reasoned with, so don’t expect any second chances or mercy from these guys. The zombies here are going to require gamers who can think fast, plan well and work well together.

World War Z

That’s right, World War Z is co-op. You will not face the zombie horde alone. You will team up with three others. There are six characters classes: Fixer, Hellraiser, Exterminator, Slasher, Gunslinger and Medic. Off course each one has a clear role, for example medics are all about healing and keep everyone in top shape, Fixer will be in charge of fortifications and equipment, Slasher is going to get up close and do some melee damage, we assume Gunslinger will have advantages and buffs concerning guns. Exterminator, and Hellraiser aren’t so clear but we assume that turrets and even explosives will relate to them. Players will need to find out what they are best at and start training.

In terms of weapons there isn’t that much to say because it’s what you would expect. No weapon, when against a zombie horde should be off limits. We would even use our car keys if we have too. World War Z will have barricades like barb wires. Traps, guns, sentries. Those aren’t enough to stop a horde though. Good thing, there is more. Machine guns, grenade launchers, rocket launchers and turrets. Now that’s more like it.

We checked out some gameplay and it was what we thought it would be. More like defend the area and tower defence in some ways. You rely heavily on your set up, where you place the barricades, where you decide to fight from. World War Z also has procedural enemy and items spawns which the developers claim is based on the players performance. There are claymore mines, frag grenades a crossbow, a double barrel shotgun and even C4. We do wonder about the difficulty and how much damage zombie swipes do. Also can zombies grab you to temporarily stun you? Guess you must play to find out.

Overall World War Z looks like a good game. There are hundreds of zombies on the screen at once thanks to the Swarm Engine by Saber Interactive. You can truly blow zombies to pieces. The graphics are good, the sounds are good and the locations are nice. The developers ‘Saber Interactive’ have done a good job with this game from what we can see so far. We at X35 Earthwalker aren’t looking forward to this game but we will keep an eye on it. We like how this zombie game is shaping up and how it adapts for player skill. We still have questions though. Now World War Z may have hordes of zombies but those zombies aren’t even a threat when against… the ‘Earth Walk!’

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Warhammer: Chaosbane. Coming soon

Posted on February 25, 2019 by X35 Earthwalker

Warhammer: Chaosbane is a new action RPG, Hack and slash game developed by ‘Eko Software‘ and published by ‘Bigben Interactive‘. Warhammer: Chaosbane is coming out the 4th of June 2019 on Xbox, PS4 and PC. This game has been related a lot to Diablo and others. Let’s take a look.

Players are in the Warhammer universe. You, know the same place where the space marines are. Warhammer: Chaosbane is a world that’s dominated by magic and war. The enemy is the horde. A chaos horde. The story is simple and the action is what you’d expect.

There are four character classes in Warhammer: Chaosbane. Wielding some very powerful artefacts. There’s a high elf who’s all about ranged attacks with magic, an empire soldier who’s basically the tank of the group, a wood elf who uses lethal traps and has a bow (there’s always a bow), a dwarf who just loves melee combat. So it’s the typical tank, ranged, magic and traps. Pick your type.

Warhammer Chaosbane

Now notice that there is four types of characters and it’s a hack and slash with that high up camera and there’s loads of enemies. You just know Warhammer: Chaosbane has multiplayer. We are right. It’s four player co-op. Both online and local. We always appreciate it when developers allow local multiplayer. We respect that.

There’s more to this typical hack and slash than you think. Warhammer: Chaosbane has some replay value as there’s a boss rush mode which is all about facing the bosses (obviously), they claim to have regular updates and countless dungeons.

Warhammer Chaosbane

There’s over 70 different enemies. These enemies aren’t alone as they will also work alongside powerful bosses and even chaos gods. There are more than 180 different skills for players to learn and use to destroy the enemies and keep that advantage. Don’t forget to use your bloodlust ability. Just saying.

We checked out some gameplay and it’s what we thought it would be. Run around, see enemies, they rush you, you use your abilities and whatever to survive. A hack and slash for sure. If you’ve played games like this before, then you would understand. Games like this stick to this style. Quite a bit of work went into this game. Warhammer fans will recognise some famous locations like Nuln or Praag in this game.

Overall Warhammer: Chaosbane just looks like another RPG hack and slash. The graphics are alright, the attention to detail is good and the sounds are good. There isn’t really all that much to say about this. The developers ‘Eko Software’ did an alright job with this game. We at X35 Earthwalker aren’t looking forward to Warhammer: Chaosbane. It’s not our type nor does it have anything that interests us. Now Warhammer: Chaosbane may have over 180 abilities but not one of those can do anything against.. the ‘Earth Walk!’

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Celeste is a serious game

Posted on February 22, 2019 by X35 Earthwalker

Celeste looks cute simple and quite quick but actually that changes quite quickly. Let’s explain. When you start Celeste you see the work put into the music and the details. You start the first area, the prologue and get use to running, jumping and climbing. Once you learn about the dash, experienced gamers just know it’s about to get more complicated.

The first actual level is not even easy. You must learn to control yourself while in the air, time your dashes and interactive with some mechanics that’s exclusive to this level. You learn that Celeste definitely requires precision and timing. Spikes in abundance to punish all mistakes and even a spring trap that launches you into death. You learn the hard way that there’s no mercy in Celeste. Each level has their own mechanic which players have to master. Trust us when we say, learn them now.

In every level players can initially aim for certain things. Off course beat the level, collect all the strawberries, find the blue crystal heart and find the B-side tape. The B side tape is medium difficulty in our opinion, a few are well hidden while most just requires you to look around. Collecting all the strawberries is hard as they are in places that tests the players skill and ability to use your available action in the right order, most of the time. The crystal hearts though are a different story. They are basically tricks. You either know the trick or you’ll never get them. The first one requires you to dash in certain directions in a specific order. You know what direction based on the direction the colour coded birds are moving and you get the order from the machine which keeps flashing the same colours in the same order. Cryptic right? We know!

Celeste Strawberry ending

The game tells you that the strawberries don’t do anything and that’s a lie. We at X35 Earthwalker hate lies! You have youtubers and big review companies agreeing and saying they don’t do anything too. Just shows how inexperienced and not good at paying attention they are. The strawberries actually only have an effect at the end of the game. When you complete it, your character will bake a strawberry cake for certain guests. How much strawberries you collect will effect the selfie that Theo takes and the dialogue. If you hardly collected any, then it will be a plain cake and the guests will look confused, disappointed and even skeptical of whether it still counts as a strawberry cake or not. If you collect all of them then the cake is loaded with strawberries everywhere and everyone looks like they are having the time of their life or completely amazed. They also give some serious compliments. So go get those strawberries.

Once you beat the game, your next challenge is to take on the B side of the levels which you unlock with the B side tapes. Let us warn you now. This is where the fun stops. You thought the reflection and summit levels were hard then you aren’t ready. B side is basically a much harder version of the level you played. More spikes, less mercy and more death. You will fail and die, again and again. Many players have given up because of the B side levels and they are crazy. They force players to get good or git gud. Every trick you have learnt and every combination will be used here. There’s no way around it. The levels are as long as the original but when you see what the game wants you to do to get through it, you just have to say “come on Celeste… This isn’t fair”. Once you figure out what the game wants you to do though, it’s only a matter of time before you execute it right and get it done. These levels aren’t impossible. You need all the crystal hearts and hearts you get for beating B side to challenge the B side of the chapter 8 ‘the core’. What we haven’t seen though is a video of the developers beating these B side levels. We bet they can’t. Now if you beat all the B side levels you can call yourself a Pro level Celeste player.

Congratulations you beat the B side levels. You can rest now… actually you can’t. What? You thought you was done? Nope! Beating all the B side levels and finding all the crystal hearts will allow you to challenge the C side levels. C side are the real deal. They are completely unfair, punishing levels that only the best can beat. They are harder than B side but much shorter than B side. The most is three rooms while there are some with almost only two rooms. Each room requires all the tricks and at times including the new trick you learnt from the B side level of Summit. That’s one thing we hate. Celeste teaches the players a new trick at the end of the game and they then expect you to master it and use it for the rest of the levels and challenges ahead, instantly. C levels are so tough that only 0.64% of all the Celeste players on the Xbox One have beaten them all! The last C side level is brutal but fair and that’s how all the challenges should have been but some felt very chance based especially with some mechanics like the clouds and getting the exact timing. The last level is the longest room in the game with all the mechanics from the previous levels and no check points. You can watch how X35 Earthwalker, the legendary soldier himself took on this level.

As you complete the different challenges in Celeste, your ticket (your save file) gets different stamps on it. When you beat the game, you get a mountain top flag stamp. When you get all the strawberries you get the strawberry stamp, another thing the strawberries do (the strawberries don’t do anything… liars). When you beat all the B sides you get a heart stamp but when you beta all the C sides you get another heart stamp. Fill your cards up with stamps and feel proud of yourself. Also the last challenge in our opinion is to now get all the Celeste achievements which are reasonable. You can also collect the golden strawberries but after beating C side, you start to get fed up with the game. It’s fun to play from time to time but the difficulty and what you go through makes you want to finally put it down when you are done.

Celeste stamped tickets

Overall Celeste is very difficult and requires a lot to master. There are unlockables and challenges that most gamers just can’t do. There’s a lot to like about this game. The characters stand out and are very different and weird in their own way. Theo keeps taking selfies. The music is very well done and the story is something that you have to pay attention too otherwise you won’t really get it. Now Celeste may have a special mountain that effects those who climb it but this mountain cannot stand before… the ‘Earth Walk!’

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A Plague Tale: Innocence. Sounds serious

Posted on February 13, 2019 by X35 Earthwalker

A Plague Tale: Innocence is a new action adventure game developed by ‘Asobo Studio‘ and published by ‘Focus Home Interactive‘. A Plague Tale: Innocence will be coming out the 14th of May on the Xbox One, PS4 and PC. No normal person likes plagues but this game has it. Let’s take a look.

In A Plague Tale: Innocence, players are in France but don’t get carried away, this isn’t a holiday. This is France in the year 1349. The game has called it the darkest hours in history. The plague is just causing all kinds of problems in France. The disease has destroyed and ruined villages and many lives. Players control 15 year old Amicia and her five year old brother Hugo. They will face some real bad times through this story.

A Plagues Tale innocence

Now let’s look at the characters so far in A Plague Tale: Innocence. Amicia is even though only 15 years old is described as a strong woman, independent and physical. We also learn that she has been trained to hunt by her father. Those skills will come in handy. Her brother Hugo is a different story though. Hugo is described as a frail child. Also doesn’t help that he’s five years old. He suffered from an unknown disease. Thanks to the disease he was kept locked up for most of his childhood and has very little contact with his big sister. He’s a smart kid though and both siblings must work together to survive.

Things get worse though, in A Plague Tale: Innocence, as the Inquisition is after them for reasons we don’t know. These knights are dangerous and will seek to harm you if found. They are also capturing young children which let’s us know that Amicia and Hugo aren’t the only ones left. Off course the soldiers of the inquisition are too much for the siblings to handle straight up. It is advised that clever thinking and being strategic is the way to beat them. So yes, stealth is a part of this game too. Sneaking around, crunching and avoiding being seen are essential.

A Plagues Tale innocence

Wait… you thought the knights of the inquisition were bad? It gets worse. Remember that plague? Well let’s just say the rats are connected to it. They are a deadly horde of vermin that can’t be stopped. They devour and eat everything in their path without mercy or even thinking about it. You have even less chance against the rats then you do with the knights. Run from them, get somewhere where they can’t reach you. They do have one weakness though. Fire. The light from the flames keep the evil rats at bay. Remember this when playing A Plague Tale: Innocence.

We checked out some A Plague Tale: Innocence gameplay and we quite like what we see so far. The graphics for the demo are good. The sounds are very good too, giving quite the detail. The knights don’t look scary except their leader. The rats definitely look dirty indeed. Their eyes light up in the dark when you use a torch. Eventually the player will find and work together with other children, orphans to be exact. Amicia can use her equipment and wit to knock torches or lamps out of the hands of certain knights allowing the rats to eat them alive. Pretty cool.

Overall A Plague Tale: Innocence looks like a good game. We do wonder how much of a balance is there between knight and rat encounters. The rats clearly seem like the main factor. Also there is quite a bit going on in this game and mysteries for the players to figure out. We will have to see more in the future. The developers ‘Asobo studio’ did a good job with this game. We at X35 Earthwalker will keep an eye out for A Plague Tale: Innocence. Now A Plague Tale: Innocence may have dangerous rats but those rats can’t do a thing against… the ‘Earth Walk!’

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One Piece: World Seeker. Big adventure

Posted on February 11, 2019February 11, 2019 by X35 Earthwalker

One Piece: World Seeker is a new action adventure anime game developed by ‘Ganbarion‘ and published by ‘Bandai Namco Entertainment‘. It is coming out the 15th of March 2019 on the Xbox One, PS4 and PC. A game based on a anime as popular as One Piece is going to have lots of expectations from fans. Let’s take a look.

In One Piece: World Seeker players take control of Luffy, the captain of the straw hat pirates. So playing from Luffy’s point of view in a new big adventure is what’s going on. You are in a big expansive world full of different areas and some structures. For example players can reach and explore beaches, plains, castles and cities. So it’s all about exploration so players need to spend time doing that.

One Piece: world seeker

Luffy can easily get around by stretching his ams and then swing, like Spider-Man. Our question is what is Luffy’s top speed when he does his arm swinging. In One Piece: World Seeker, Luffy isn’t alone as the whole star hat crew is here too. Franky, Brook, Sanji, Zoro, Chopper, Nami and Robin are ready for action.

What would a One Piece game be without battles and fights? Good thing we won’t have to find out as there are many battles and fights to be had in One Piece: World Seekers. Use the signature and famous rubber rubber attacks to smash your foes around. For some enemies you can aim to target certain parts of attacks. You can even upgrade Luffy too. This makes sense as when you watch the One Piece anime you get to see Luffy improve, get stronger, learn new techniques and even forms.

One Piece: world seeker

Eventually you can use haki to increase hitting power and be able to defend against devil fruit users and even hit logia users. Eventually players will be using second gear for increased strength and speed, third gear for large mega attacks. We have seen Gear four, bounce man form to be exact. Now if you watched the anime you would know that gear four is not something to take lightly, unless you are an emperor like Big Mom who can shut it down with one elbow. Either way being able to use Gear four is a big deal.

One Piece: world seeker

Now concerning the enemies in One Piece: World Seeker there are some obvious clues. You can see the Marine signs around the place. Off course the enemies will be marines. We have seen vice admiral smoker, some strong marines and even Admiral Akainu is here too. We hope to see more types of enemies though. For example will there be rival pirate crews or famous ones like warlords in this world? We hope so. For example will they be wandering around or appear based on the story progression.

We checked out some One Piece: World Seeker. It does look like how we would imagine. The way Luffy traverses the world is very good. The combat is what we expected, sort of like a beat em up game style. We don’t know if there are any difficulty levels. The game doesn’t look difficult right now. The enemies see quite easy to deal with. We hope that changes. Off course it will be different when you actually play the game.

Overall One Piece: World Seeker, looks good for a One Piece anime game but doesn’t impress us. We definitely like the forms and progression of Luffy’s powers. The graphics are very good and definitely have a anime feel to it. Either way the developers ‘Ganbarion’ did a good job with this game but it hasn’t impressed us. We at X35 Earthwalker aren’t looking forward to this game. Now One Piece: World Seeker may have the whole straw hat crew but even the whole crew doesn’t stand a chance against… the ‘Earth Walk!’

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Rage 2. Not calming down soon

Posted on January 21, 2019 by X35 Earthwalker

Rage 2 is a new action first person shooter developed by ‘Avalanche studios‘ and ‘Id Software‘. It is coming out the 15th May on the Xbox One, PS4 and PC. This game is suppose to be bigger, more action and more rage than before. Let’s take a look.

There is quite a bit of information on Rage 2. Rage 2 is set in the year 2165. So basically 30 years later from the first Rage game. There has been some positive changes to the world as humanity has found a way to change parts of the wasteland into tundras, jungles and even wetlands; however the ways and mindset of the people haven’t changed. Gangs now want control of these areas for their resources.

Rage 2

The authority is back in Rage 2. Just a reminder, they are the main enemy of the previous Rage game. They have a much higher level of technology than the other factions so they are more dominate than them and are a bigger threat. For example the Authority’s troops have personal energy shields and also recharging stations. The authority is fighting everyone and anyone who doesn’t agree with them or gets in their way.

The players take control of Walker, who is one of the last rangers. The rangers used nanotrite technology to enhance their abilities and weapons. The Rangers were destroyed by the authority. Off course Walker wants revenge. Players will face factions like bandits, mutants and even monsters who have no problems killing.

You won’t fight like a normal person as there is a nice variety of weapons that can be upgraded. Use nanotrites to trigger and use powerful abilities. There’s also the Overdrive which basically forces your weapons past their mechanical limits. These will be useful as the enemies vary in size too.

Rage 2

Vehicles are off course available in Rage 2. The official website claims that “If you see it, you can drive it.” So whatever wasteland looking vehicles you coke across is useable. We hope that’s true. Players can expect gyrocopters and off course monster trucks.

We must remember that Rage 2 is also an open world game. There is going to be a lot of areas, territories, battles, different environments and things to do. There is racing too. Not Crash Team Racing but explosive and dangerous. There are some crazy brutal events like Mutant bash TV. Explore cities where activities and life is happening.

We checked out some Rage 2 gameplay and things don’t look as crazy and rage filled as we expected. It’s definitely wild and running over mutants with a monster truck can be fun (from personal experience). The gameplay is definitely action packed but what is quite concerning is that the Rage 2 world looks like the typical open world game. The question is what makes Rage 2 different from other open world games.

Overall Rage 2 does look like a good game. They have lots of room to get creative and we hope to see more creativity. Will the enemy factions fight each other and if yes, will we see it? There’s a lot to say. The graphics are looking very good and the sounds go well. The area design is okay. We hope the tundra and jungles truly stand out. Now Avalanche studios and Id software did a good job with this game. We at X35 Earthwalker will just keep an ear out for Rage 2. It’s currently not our thing. Now Rage 2 may have faction wars but their wars are puny when compared to the size of… the ‘Earth Walk!’

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The Division 2. Coming to us soon

Posted on January 18, 2019January 18, 2019 by X35 Earthwalker

The Division 2 is a new action shooter open world game developed by ‘Massive Entertainment‘ and published by ‘Ubisoft‘. The Division 2 is coming out the 15th of March 2019 on the Xbox One, PS4 and PC. The Division 2 is going to need something big in this game to have a stand amongst the other games coming out. Let’s take a look.

So what’s the story? Basically Washington D.C is in trouble (again). A whole lot of instability and that goes very well with lawlessness. This creates lots of chaos. So Washington D.C just might collapse. Even worse and adding to the chaos is that some say a coup will take place. A situation this big and serious requires every division agent on the scene. Time to save the capital.

In the Division 2, Players take the role of a Division member. The Division is a group of civil agents. They are an elite group and they are the last line of defence when everything else goes wrong or fails.

The Division 2 will be quite different from the previous release as this game’s Washington D.C is suppose to be the representation of the real city. The Division 2 aims to be as authentic as possible. So when moving around in the city, players can actually go see views of actual neighbourhoods, landmarks, natural landscapes and off course enemy hideouts. So be a tourist and go look around.

The devision 2

Also players need to watch out for Dark zones. Basically almost anything can happen here. What are dark zone? Go do the research yourself you lazy- what we meant to say is, Dark zones are areas that haven’t been touched for months. It’s a dangerous walled of section. If you go inside, expect enemies in the form of enemy players and even the environment itself. So are you sure you want to go in? Think about it.

Also within Washington are warring factions. There are three. The Hyenas, True sons and Outcasts. The Hyenas are basically scavenger scum. They steal whatever they can and destroy everything else. They target struggling civilian encampments and use violence and intimidation to have their way. Opportunists but of the worse kind. They have a council for leadership made up of the strongest leaders. One thing to note is that they aren’t that organised.

The True sons are a very militant group. They are a bunch paramilitary warlords, experienced fighters who rely heavily on their high amounts of firepower. They continue to expand and dominate. their leader is a former JTF officer who thanks to his combat expertise and ruthlessness have made the true sons a force to be feared and taken seriously. They are very organised and smart. Take note that since they are ruthless, they might be easier to bait.

The devision 2

The Outcasts are the bitter survivors of a forced quarantine. They hate you, your mother and everyone else. They are all about revenge against society who didn’t help them and those who imprisoned them in the first place. Their leader is all about blood shedding, very charismatic and pushes her followers to bring justice to the guilty ones. They also like to kill indiscriminately and spread sickness, so probably biochemical weapons.

So yeah, players will have to face these three factions. So you need to be prepared. Division 2 claims to offer fully customisable gear. There will be a variety of armour, cosmetics that can be found, exotic items that are only for high level players, just like in Destiny 2, more gear sets and lots of weapons. Further expansion of abilities and equipment basically at endgame.

You can customise the abilities and equipment that you bring on your missions. Think carefully about what you use and what you depend on in situations. You can use the Hive which can be used to release small drones that will attack enemies within an area. There’s also the assault drone which can be controlled remotely to target and bring destruction on enemies. Seeker mines are basically mobile mines that chases enemies down within a range. The chem launcher can fire different types of rounds from acid and explosive to repairing nano bots.

We did mention above that you can face enemy players in dark zones. There are also modes for PvP action like Skirmish which is basically death battle and Domination which is more objective based and capturing areas.

We checked out some gameplay and so far things look much better than the previous release. The animations are very good. The graphics look very good. The sounds seem good too. It does seem slower in pace than Call of Duty. A nice variety of weapons. The rewards you earn in multiplayer can be used in the main campaign. The health seems fair for now but when you play it, it may be a different story.

Overall The Division 2 so far seems like a very good game right now. The story is like that from a movie. Since it’s open world we can expect lots of quests which we hope aren’t mandatory. Open worlds aren’t easy to get right but we won’t say more. The developers ‘Massive Entertainment’ have so far done a good job. We at X35 Earthwalker aren’t looking forward to the Division 2 as it hasn’t got anything that attracts us. We will keep an eye on it though. Now the Division 2 may have stepped up their game but they are still nowhere near the level of… the ‘Earth Walk!’

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Shovel Knight: King of Cards. The conclusion

Posted on January 14, 2019 by X35 Earthwalker

Shovel Knight: King of Cards is a new action adventure platformer game developed by ‘Yacht Club Games‘. It is coming out the 9th of April 2019 on the Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PS4, PS Vita, 3DS and PC. This is the final campaign in the Shovel Knight: treasure trove saga. Let’s take a look.

Some gamers should know what Shovel Knight is about by now. You run around, collect treasure and attack with shovels but there is some changes here. In Shovel Knight: King of Cards Players control King knight. Now king knight has a different fighting style so he isn’t a clone or skin character. Basically king knight is on a journey to take on and best the current three kings who rule over the land. This isn’t a simple walk up the road as king knight will need to make his way through 4 new worlds. There are more than 30 courses too. Players better be prepared.

shovel knight: king of cards

King knight has a signature bash attack for destroying his enemies and a spinning strike. King knight is definitely a physical fighter. Shovel Knight: King of Cards has lots of in-game stuff. There are lots of abilities, weapons, followers and armours for players to find, collect and use to your advantage and become a powerful ruler. What else is new? Shovel Knight: King of Cards has card battles (big surprise) which are not physical battles but more mental ones. Players have to be strategic and clever to defeat their opponents and come our victorious. There are challenge stages, only for those who want to push themselves. There are challenges that let you take on the bosses again in a rematch. There are also platforming challenges too.

Shovel Knight: King of Cards is taking the retro approach. As you can see, the graphics are 8-bit style which we are sure older fans would definitely appreciate. Gamers aren’t done yet as there is a new game+ mode. This will give the players new challenges and there are more secrets in the world. So those who like to complete and get 100% will need to beat Shovel Knight: King of Cards twice. There isn’t really much we can say about Shovel Knight: King of Cards. It’s a shovel knights game, you are either a fan or not.

We checked out some Shovel Knight: King of Cards gameplay and it does look retro but definitely advanced. The music is very good and fits what’s happening on the screen. The graphics are definitely 8 bit styled and looks good. Controls seem simple and the action is simple too. Jump on enemies to destroy them. Spin and jump to destroy projectiles, bash through blocks, take on other knights and explore these worlds. There are hidden areas, hidden behind breakable walls. Some areas can only be reached by timing your jumps on projectiles to reach the higher area.

Overall Shovel Knight: King of Cards looks like a good game filled with action. There is some replay value and things look good. The developers ‘Yacht Club Games’ did a good job with this game. We at X35 Earthwalker are not looking forward to Shovel Knight: King of Cards simply because like the previous Shovel Knight games, it has shown or got anything that makes us want to play it. Just seems like another good action platformer but nothing special. This one is a good game though. Now Shovel Knight: King of Cards may have the king knight but that king is a peasant when compared too… the ‘Earthwalk!’

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Terraria. Expert difficulty bosses are merciless

Posted on January 11, 2019 by X35 Earthwalker

Terraria is a very good action adventure sandbox game. When you play the game you see how different and bigger it is compared to Minecraft. Terraria certainly stands out when it comes to the bosses. Many struggled and didn’t even know how to beat them. It took planning, resources and exploration in order to be ready to face them. So you’ve beaten everyone and feel like the ruler of Terraria. So you are finally finished right? Wrong! There is expert mode. Here’s where things get interesting.

To make things simple, expert mode is basically just like the normal mode. You find resources and things the same way and even craft the same way. The only real difference is the enemies. All the enemies are stronger as in they have increased health and deal more damage than ever before. This isn’t a joke. Pretty much every player was caught off guard with how much stronger they were. From when you start the game, a slime is very capable of killing you by itself. A slime! We aren’t joking. Oh and you better make sure you have some shelter before the night comes otherwise you will die guaranteed. The zombies cannot be held back for long with your short copper sword. The knock back isn’t enough and they will get through. Scary? Probably.

The main attraction is the bosses. You thought you handled them in normal mode. You thought you owned them and told them they were trash. How silly of you players. Did you really think you can beat them and be done with them? They are back and expert mode for most of them has not just given them increased health and damage (big increase) but also given them new attacks or abilities. This meant a number of players had to switch up their strategies.

For example King slime is considered the easiest boss in the game but not always the first boss you meet. King slime still hops around in expert difficulty but not comes with an army of slimes to fight alongside it. So expect purple, green, blue and even pinky slimes to keep raining down and getting in your way. King slime will summon blue slimes thats have spikes who are more dangerous than regular ones. King slime can also teleport in expert difficulty! So trapping it behind some walls and leaving a gap for easy arrow shots won’t work. It will appear on top of you dealing heavier damage. No where is safe. Eye of Cthulhu is perfectly the same except that it’s second form has taken some steroid because it now launches at lighting speed trying to ram the players. You will need speed to stay away. Just run in a straight line and it misses all the time. Just keep calm and don’t panic.

The brain of Cthulhu is a mean one, simply because it’s second form as it chases you it creates three other mirror images of the brain which become more visible as it loses health. Also expect more negative status effects. If you focus you can tell which brain is the real one and use long ranged weapons. High knock back weapons do help. The Eater of worlds is the same in expert difficulty except for the fact that it periodically shoots vile spit from it’s body. Those vile spits can give you the weak debuff. We suggest fighting this boss on it’s home turf as they are more narrow so chance of getting hit with a vile spit is so low. Use weapons that pierce through enemies. The Queen Bee, the real one, not some singer is much more different in expert difficulty than others. The Queen Bee’s fires stingers quite rapidly with near perfect aim, can summon bigger than normal bees to attack you and as she loses health, she performs all her attacks much faster. The ram attacks are deadly at this point. Use the honey at the bottom to regenerate health faster and remember that she can be poisoned.

The wall of flesh is basically the same, still moving towards you and allowing no escape. On expert difficulty the Hungry that you fight and shoot will respawn as long as the wall of flesh is alive and the leeches that it releases are more annoying and have a lower chance of dropping hearts. Be ware in expert mode the wall when below 500 hp can move at 50mph! This faster than the Hermes and lightning boots. So make sure you are far enough before getting it too low. Some say use a mine cart but we did it and others have without a mine cart. Piercing weapons work very well. The hell wing bow with jester arrows helped us out quite a lot. Also aim for the eye instead of the mouthing you can as the eye has less defence, so you’ll deal more damage.

Now for the dreadful part. The three mechanical bosses: The Destroyer, The Twins and Skeletron prime. These three rule the night and strike fear in the hearts of even the seasoned Terraria players. Like with the other bosses, they have increased health and really increased damage. Aim for the destroyer first. Functions the same way in expert difficulty. The only difference we noticed is that it’s head deals insane amounts of damage. If not prepared it can deal over 200 hp worth of damage in a single blow. Use your mini map to see where and when it’s coming for you to dodge. Have a camp fire, heart lantern and even a small pool of honey for maximum health regeneration (use a regeneration potion too). We beat the Destroyer in expert difficulty by fighting in a box that’s above the ground. The walls protected us from probe attacks until they come within our melee range.

The Twins are a problem indeed. Yes we know their names are: Spazmatism (fire one) and Retinazer (laser one). We will call them fire and laser. In expert difficulty both fire and laser got a tune up. Fire charges much faster and further than before. Seriously it will surprise you. Also the cursed inferno debuff lasts twice as long on players. Laser fires faster and also charges further. Aim and take out Fire first. It’s capable of the most damage. Stay at mid range minimum and never get close because it’s flame thrower attack can easily end the fight thanks to it’s crazy damage. Laser isn’t really a problem. We even ended up taking very little damage from it when you have good armour like hallowed or frost. We used our Sky minerail to have the speed advantage and keep the distance but don’t travel to fast as it may despawn. Ranged weapons are a must and use the golden shower of ichor flasks to inflict the ichor debuff which lowers their defence by 20. Matter of fact, the Twins are susceptible to all the debuts except confuse. So stack up the burning, cursed flames, shadow flames, frost burns and whatever you like.

Skeletron prime felt exactly the same. Off course in expert difficulty it gets increased health and damage but other from that, it felt the same. Fight on platforms as the bombs it launches explode on solid surfaces. With some practice and good observations you can jump and avoid the attacking limbs with medium difficulty. The laser is something we like to aim for and destroy first as thats the annoying limb. If you destroy the laser and the two melee limbs then the rest of the fight is a joke. Skeletron Prime is susceptible to frost burn so using the frost armour can really help. We again used our Sky minerail against this boss, hopping in our carts to dodge the melee limbs if possible. Yoyos are very good for sawing away at Skeletron prime’s head while spinning as it moves slowly making it a easy target. Make sure to apply the ichor debuff at all times.

Off course this isn’t all the bosses. We know all about the golem, plantera, duke fisheron and more. Plantera definitely got a new engine in expert difficulty but we will save those guys for another time. We’ve seen many struggle and get destroyed by these bosses so don’t listen to those foolish people who say everything is easy and that you need to get good. They are hard but definitely beatable. First focus on your battle ground and set it up to give you as many advantages as possible. Regenerative things, space to move around if serious evasion is needed and off course equip the right items and increase your defence as much as possible. Always have your potions ready. For expert difficulty have the iron skin, endurance, regeneration and thorn potions as they are a must. open some time fishing to get the ingredients to build more powerful potions like life force which increases your maximum health, summon which increases the amount of minions you can have fight with you, wrath and rage which respectively increases your damage and critical hit chance by 10%.

Expert mode is no joke but we are confident you can beat the bosses. If you want to see some epic Terraria gaming action then make sure to follow our YouTube channel and Livestream channel on Mixer. So to all the Terraria players, do your best and keep trying. Now Terraria may have large and powerful bosses that got even stronger in expert difficulty but even if all of them worked together, they are no match for… the ‘Earth Walk!’

For more information check out the link below:

More Terraria gameplay

Hive Jump. Jumping to us soon

Posted on January 9, 2019 by X35 Earthwalker

Hive Jump is the new action platformer developed by ‘Graphite Lab‘. It is coming out the 11th of January on the Xbox One and Nintendo Switch but already out on the PC. It seems like it’s about running around and blowing up aliens. Sounds fun. Let’s take a look.

The story in the world of Hive Jump is a typical one. Basically it’s set in the 24 century. Humanity is in a serious battle against a hostile alien race called Ordovicians. As usual, the aliens are in big numbers. Matter of fact, humanity is outnumbered, a million to one. It’s clearly a one sided battle and the aliens don’t want to share the galaxy with humanity (We wonder why). The J.U.M.P corps is here to fight back against the aliens and bring victory.

Players control the, Jumpers, who’s mission is straightforward. Beat the aliens, hive by hive and planet by planet. Now straight up Hive Jump makes it clear that it’s all about multiplayer. That’s right, you can play local multiplayer with your friends in Hive Jump. It’s four players. We love to see games do this. We need games like this that gives you the option to just play with family or who else is around (More fun than angry online players).

Hive Jump

Since the emphasis of the Hive Jump is on multiplayer know that if you do play with friends, one of you is the team leader and therefore carry the Transponder backpack. This pack is very important. Basically that backpack allows your command ship to send “soldiers and supplies” to your location. We assume it means that as long as you have the packsack, your team can respawn. If the leader dies then the backpack is just sitting there and can be destroyed. Don’t let that happen (and tell your leader to stop being a noob).

Your standard Jumper comes armed and ready Hive Jump. As we already made clear, the leader has the Transponder backpack. All soldiers have a multi-gun which has it’s standard fire but can be modified and switched up to be a rocket launcher and even a flamethrower. It does get crazier though. The Jumper alien infiltration suit offers some good protection as attacks get deflected but only for a while. The suit can be repaired but the means to be able to do that can be found deep in the Hives. Also your suit has a limited blast jetpack to give you a boost in the air. Lastly there are grenades (who doesn’t want grenades against aliens?). These grenades deal big damage to enemies but also have a special function like the explosives in Aliens Trilogy. They can destroy weaker walls which have treasures, goodies and hidden areas. Keep your eyes open.

Hive Jump

There is a wide range of location for players to be fighting in. The Hives are different and look different but there are also different biomes too. You say biomes, we say Terraria. There is the volcanic wasteland which is where the aliens use the temperature to quickly hatch their eggs from the cold storage. The mushroom forests is basically the giant food store as the Ordovicians eat fungus. The crystal caverns is where the aliens produce and get their power source for their interstellar travels. The frozen underground acts as the cold storage room for the unhatched alien eggs. It’s clear that the aliens here in Hive Jump are quite organised.

The aliens themselves, the Ordovicians, are numerous as they are dangerous. Clearly hostile and will stop at nothing to stop you from completing your mission. They will hunt you and your transponder backpack throughout the hives and they can get to you no matter where you are. The aliens have four classes. They are: minor, mini, major and elite. These aliens get stronger and more powerful as you progress. So players need to keep getting better and more prepared.

Hive Jump

Lastly the planetary campaign is not so straight forward and more strategic. In order to win you must manage carefully the amount of jumpers you have and alien goo. The alien goo is the resource you use to build fortifications, request jumper reinforcements, get new weapons and off course upgrades. When you look at the map, m you will see three things, alien hives which are orange, human bases which are cyan (light blue) and grey which is a free space for either a human or alien base. If you destroy a hive then you “jump” there and start a human base which brings in more resources and a random one time use bonus ability. These abilities are strong and must be used wisely. After a successful jump (destroying a hive), the aliens then have their turn and they could expand, buff up their defences or even come attack you!

We checked out some gameplay and the action looks good. Each Jumper in, Hive Jump, can equip only one utility at a time. So expect a utility to grant shields another to allow quick teleportation while another boosts fire power or even your mobility. The Hives are procedurally generated (random). The A.I has been classed as intelligent and challenging (we will be the judge of that). You can also get your hands on experimental weapons and explosive. So getting those resources and research is very important. There is permadeath simply because if you lose your bases then it’s all over and also if your Transponder backpack gets destroyed then you definitely lose as you can’t call in any more soldiers.

Overall, Hive Jump looks like a real cool game. It looks like it’s a difficult game as the aliens are many, the deaths are high and there are also traps for players to match out for. The big boss enemies look like big battles and requires a learning of patterns probably. The developers ‘Graphite lab’ have done a good job with this game. We at X35 Earthwalker look forward to seeing what others will think of this. It does look fun. Now the Jumpers may have technology and a big mission but those things are tiny when compared to… there ‘Earth Walk!’

For more information check out the link below:

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