If you haven’t heard yet, there’s a hardcore football simulator coming out in the nebulous “soon”, and it goes by the name Behold the Kickmen.I even interviewed the developer, Dan Marshall back in the summer when all things were bright and beautiful. It’s something of a shock then to see that Dan is including a new mode in Kickmen which betrays the ultra-hardcore, extremely realistic simulation style of the game. The new mode – Dystopian Future BloodSport Mode. …
This year’s obligatory FIFA release is more worthy for attention than any in recent memory. That’s important for me, as I have not purchased a FIFA game since 2013. Simply put, they rarely do enough every year to justify a purchase. They update the graphics slightly, tweak the gameplay slightly and slap the latest footballing superstar on the cover and then release it into the wild. It’s not enough for me to shell out £50. Every year, I play the demo, each time all reaffirming my position.
Until this year.
FIFA 17’s demo is still so very familiar:
Roster of fully licensed teams? Check.
Mocap from real professionals? Check.
Licensed commentary from Martin Tyler and chums? Check.
Alarmingly well rendered face of Wayne Rooney and his new hairline? Check.
There are some differences though. This years game is running on the Frostbite engine, the same one used to power Battlefield and FIFA has never looked healthier for it. Bright, smooth animations give players a sense of weight allowing them to move and react to each other’s presence in very believable ways. So far, just a slight fancier update than the usual.
Then, you look at this year’s marquee signing.
“The Journey” is a single player story mode where you assume the identity of a young, up and coming star and his rise to one of the world’s elite footballers. You play Alex Hunter, the quintessential (he would have a potential rating of 200 in Football Manager) youngster and guide his on and off the field decisions. 2K have done this style of story mode once before in NBA 2K16 and while the basketball game took the first brave steps into the concept, it was lacking in refinement. The Journey feels like EA have worked out the formula, even in the short amount of time you have with Alex Hunter in the demo.
The new tweaks to the football of FIFA 17 are also interesting. A new set-piece creator enables you to choose how a player receives the ball. Be it a long far post cross to the giant centre-back or a near post drill for a first time Sheringham volley. It is a little ambiguous however, yet with a little practice became very effective.
EA also are championing something called “Active Intelligence System” in which the AI is constantly monitoring its special awareness and the way AI players react and make runs. FIFA’s singleplayer AI used to get lots of negative feedback however, the fact that I didn’t notice any AI failings is a sign that it’s working as intended. Nothing the AI did felt unnatural during my playtime.
Passing can feel a little difficult to be precise with the analogue stick. A fair few times I wanted to pass to one player and it ended up at another’s feet because they were closer. “Be more precise then!” I hear you roar, but it is difficult and is the area that needs the most improvement. Shooting on the other hand feels lovely. Thunderbolt shots have a weight and true thump about them and feel wonderful when they crack against the bar.
For years I have been begging for a game to have the same feel as Guy Ritchie’s first person Nike Advert “Take It To The Next Level”. Nothing has ever excited me more than the concept of a video game showing the experiences of real life footballer has. Being discovered, getting an agent, dealing with the press, the money, getting transferred all of these things seem to be present in The Journey the demo version was very enjoyable and I cannot wait to experience it fully.
When a game is described by the developers as containing “surly gelatinous characters, brutal mêlée fight sequences, and absurdly hazardous environments” with the action taking place in a fictional place known as Beef City, you know it’s going to be fun. This is Gang Beasts, and I’ve got some quick hit thoughts after playing a bit of the online beta.
When you consider all of the love (and sometimes, the grumbles) that I give to the Football Manager series, you might think that I started my management game life with something like Championship Manager 3. You’d be wrong, as my first sporting love was Formula 1, not football, and in turn, my first experience of in-game management was with Microprose’s brilliant, Grand Prix Manager 2. I loved that game to bits, and I might finally have something to replace it with Motorsport Manager.…
I love football, I think it is one of the finest sports in all the land. I’m not that good at it mind, neither playing the game with a ball, or playing with a gamepad. The prospect of a football game that I can play, and looks fun to watch? That’s something which has me interested. Behold, Behold The Kickmen, the upcoming football game from indie stalwart, Dan Marshall. …
While we here at Reticule Towers were hibernating over the winter period, Dovetail Games quietly announced that they were releasing two new flight sims this year. While we won’t see the fully fledged Dovetail Games Flight Simulator until later in the year, the smaller, more caring younger brother, Dovetail Games Flight School is due this April and has a genuinely exciting new trailer out. Hit the break to find out more. …
It always seems odd to me when a launch trailer is released for a game more than a handful of days from release. Even more so when said trailer comes a full two weeks ahead of the launch of the game. Yet I still tend to watch them, out of an ingrained curiosity and the chance to get a glimpse (after all the other trailers that have already been and gone) of the action one last time before launch. If there is one thing that will get me more excited to see a launch trailer than normal though, it is when you read that the trailer is backed up by a great rock song. So here we are with the launch trailer for The Taken King, the upcoming massive expansion for Destiny, backed up by the mighty Black Dog by Led Zeppelin. …
A good train management game can be a thing of excellence, just think back to the Railroad Tycoon series and bask the glow of glorious train timetabling and management. It is a genre which I’ve largely lost track of in recent time, but the upcoming full release of Train Valley on September 16th could change that. …
I spent much of the past weekend playing the Call of Duty: Black Ops III multiplayer Beta on the PlayStation 4. While the Beta is launching on the Xbox One and PC at the moment, I just want to share some of my early thoughts of the game. Hit the break, and let’s begin. …
Larian Studios have spent their development career working on the Divinity series, a history which has seen them dive into the traditional RPG-fair with Divinity II: Ego Draconis and RTS/political-sim hybrid Divinity: Dragon Commander. Their true success however came with Divinity: Original Sin (see my Verdict), an RPG with a highly interactive world to explore with some hardcore turn-based combat thrown in for good measure. It was a great game, and is set to become even better with an Enhanced Edition. …