http://auth.gamespot.com/ Gamespot's Everything Feed! News, Reviews, Videos. Exploding with content? You bet. en-us Sun, 02 Mar 2014 05:51:30 -0800 http://www.gamespot.com/articles/how-everquest-next-landmark-plans-to-make-money-without-annoying-you/1100-6418046/ <figure data-align="center" data-size="large" data-img-src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/1535/15354745/2446854-5958456374-24301.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2446854" data-resize-url="" data-resized="" data-embed-type="image"><a href="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/1535/15354745/2446854-5958456374-24301.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2446854"><img src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/scale_super/1535/15354745/2446854-5958456374-24301.jpg"></a></figure><p dir="ltr" style="">Director of Development for the EverQuest franchise at SOE David Georgeson has laid out the five phases of <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/everquest-next-landmark/">EverQuest Next Landmark</a>'s monetization strategy.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">"First of all, we are free-to-play," Georgeson said. "That means we have to entertain you before you decide whether to pay us or not. We like that burden of responsibility. We think it's cool and the right thing to do." Georgeson said that the majority of players in free-to-play games don't buy much, but that players who do will not invalidate the in-game economy to those who don't.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">In its current, first phase, EverQuest Next Landmark is selling <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/everquest-next-landmark-alpha-available-now-to-owners-of-60-founder-s-pack/1100-6417475/">Founder's Packs,</a> giving those who are willing to pay early access to the game and some bonus items.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">In the second phase, which begin later in the alpha, SOE will start selling outfits and resources.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">Phase three, which will also start in the alpha, will introduce the option to buy shortcuts, allowing you to buy some useful items instead of crafting them.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">In phase four, starting in the closed beta, SOE will launch Player Studio, where players can buy and sell templates to other players.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">Finally, at the end of the closed beta, SOE will add more, "bigger-ticket" items like cosmetic pets, sound and music packs, name and gender changes, extra claim flags, and more.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">"There will be additions/subtractions from this plan as we go, but we strongly believe that we can support the game well in these positive manners without compromising the game's balance, economy, or fun," Georgeson said.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">You can find more details on the game's monetization plans on <a href="https://forums.station.sony.com/eqnlandmark/index.php?threads%2Fthe-business-of-eqn-landmark-revealed.22393%2F" rel="nofollow">the official forums</a>, where Georgeson has also responded to several questions from fans.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">For more on EverQuest Next Landmark, make sure to read <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/you-decide-the-future-of-everquest-next-landmark/1100-6417446/">our preview of its creation tools</a>.</p><p style=""> </p><table data-max-width="true"><thead><tr><th scope="col"><em>Emanuel Maiberg is a freelance writer, and you can follow him on <a href="https://twitter.com/emanuelmaiberg" rel="nofollow" data-ref-id="false">Twitter @emanuelmaiberg</a><br /></em></th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><strong><em>Got a news tip or want to contact us directly? Email <a href="mailto:news@gamespot.com" rel="nofollow">news@gamespot.com</a></em></strong></td></tr></tbody></table> Sun, 02 Mar 2014 05:09:00 -0800 http://www.gamespot.com/articles/how-everquest-next-landmark-plans-to-make-money-without-annoying-you/1100-6418046/ http://www.gamespot.com/articles/twitch-plays-pokemon-crystal-after-beating-pokemon-red/1100-6418045/ <figure data-align="right" data-size="small" data-img-src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/1535/15354745/2446841-pokemon+crystal.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2446841" data-resize-url="" data-resized="" data-embed-type="image"><a href="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/1535/15354745/2446841-pokemon+crystal.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2446841"><img src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/scale_small/1535/15354745/2446841-pokemon+crystal.jpg"></a></figure><p style=""> </p><p dir="ltr" style="">Early in the morning yesterday, <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/twitch-plays-pokemon-collects-all-badges-enters-home-stretch/1100-6417981/">Twitch Plays Pokemon finally beat </a><a href="http://www.gamespot.com/pokemon-red-version/">Pokemon Red</a>. Once the game was over, the stream let viewers play a variety of Gameboy games while a clock counted down to "a new adventure."</p><p dir="ltr" style="">The anonymous Australian programmer who set up the stream said that he'll transition it to a second generation Pokemon game, but didn't say which one.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">Now, the wait is over, and the new game is <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/pokemon-crystal-version/">Pokemon Crystal</a>.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">More than 70,000 viewers tuned into the start of the new game. It's set for Anarchy mode for the first hour, but the player character, AJDNNW, has already picked Totodile as its first Pokemon.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">The premise is the same: Twitch viewers can use the chat window to input commands. They're also able to balance the game by shifting control between an Anarchy mode (where every command from the chat is input into the game) and Democracy (where the most popular commands go through).</p><p dir="ltr" style="">"It's safe to say that Twitch Plays Pokémon has been the biggest cultural phenomenon to strike Twitch all thanks to The Creator and You, our passionate and absolutely preposterous community," Twitch said on <a href="http://blog.twitch.tv/2014/03/twitch-prevails-at-pokemon/" rel="nofollow">its official blog</a>, where it also shared some impressive numbers.</p><p style="">In total, it took 1,165,140 people entering chat commands to beat the game in 16 days, 7 hours, 45 minutes, and 30 seconds. More than 122 million commands were issued. More than 36 million people watch the stream overall, hitting a peak of 121,000 simultaneous viewers.</p><div data-embed-type="video" data-src="http://www.twitch.tv/twitchplayspokemon" data-width="100%" data-height="100%"><iframe src="//cdn.embedly.com/widgets/media.html?src=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.twitch.tv%2Fwidgets%2Flive_embed_player.swf%3Fchannel%3Dtwitchplayspokemon&fv=hostname%3Dwww.twitch.tv%26start_volume%3D25%26channel%3Dtwitchplayspokemon%26auto_play%3Dfalse&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.twitch.tv%2Ftwitchplayspokemon&key=6efca6e5ad9640f180f14146a0bc1392&type=application%2Fx-shockwave-flash&schema=twitch&wmode=opaque" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen></iframe></div><p style=""> </p><table data-max-width="true"><thead><tr><th scope="col"><em>Emanuel Maiberg is a freelance writer, and you can follow him on <a href="https://twitter.com/emanuelmaiberg" rel="nofollow" data-ref-id="false">Twitter @emanuelmaiberg</a><br /></em></th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><strong><em>Got a news tip or want to contact us directly? Email <a href="mailto:news@gamespot.com" rel="nofollow">news@gamespot.com</a></em></strong></td></tr></tbody></table> Sun, 02 Mar 2014 04:17:00 -0800 http://www.gamespot.com/articles/twitch-plays-pokemon-crystal-after-beating-pokemon-red/1100-6418045/ http://www.gamespot.com/articles/playstation-platforms-gets-critically-acclaimed-cloning-puzzle-game-the-swapper-in-may/1100-6418044/ <figure data-align="center" data-size="large" data-img-src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/1535/15354745/2446718-6979404457-20406.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2446718" data-resize-url="" data-resized="" data-embed-type="image"><a href="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/1535/15354745/2446718-6979404457-20406.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2446718"><img src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/scale_super/1535/15354745/2446718-6979404457-20406.jpg"></a></figure><p dir="ltr" style="">Facepalm Games' The Swapper, a puzzle-platformer previously available only on the PC, is coming to the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, and PlayStation Vita as a Cross Buy title this year, Sony has announced on the <a href="http://blog.eu.playstation.com/2014/02/26/clone-swapper-ps3-ps4-ps-vita/" rel="nofollow">PlayStation Blog</a>.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">Curve Studios, which previously created ports for <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/thomas-was-alone/">Thomas Was Alone</a> and <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/proteus/">Proteus</a> (as well as its own <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/stealth-bastard/">Stealth Bastard</a>) will port The Swapper to PlayStation platforms. Sony has yet to announce what The Swapper will cost when it's released.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">The Swapper is set on a damaged space station and research facility, which was in part created with clay models, giving the game a dark, creepy look. You're able to create up to four clones of yourself, switch between them, and control them simultaneously in order to solve a variety of devious puzzles.</p><p style=""><a href="http://www.gamespot.com/reviews/the-swapper-review/1900-6408976/">Our review</a> of the PC version found that The Swapper was a smart, good-looking game with engaging puzzle mechanics and great atmosphere, if a little short.</p><div data-embed-type="video" data-ref-id="2300-6408985" data-width="854" data-height="480"><iframe src="/videos/embed/6408985/" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen></iframe></div><p style=""> </p><table data-max-width="true"><thead><tr><th scope="col"><em>Emanuel Maiberg is a freelance writer, and you can follow him on <a href="https://twitter.com/emanuelmaiberg" rel="nofollow" data-ref-id="false">Twitter @emanuelmaiberg</a><br /></em></th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><strong><em>Got a news tip or want to contact us directly? Email <a href="mailto:news@gamespot.com" rel="nofollow">news@gamespot.com</a></em></strong></td></tr></tbody></table> Sat, 01 Mar 2014 17:57:00 -0800 http://www.gamespot.com/articles/playstation-platforms-gets-critically-acclaimed-cloning-puzzle-game-the-swapper-in-may/1100-6418044/ http://www.gamespot.com/articles/titanfall-might-get-a-dlc-season-pass-pilot-only-mode-could-come-after-launch/1100-6418043/ <figure data-align="center" data-size="large" data-img-src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/1535/15354745/2446727-5179501631-24458.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2446727" data-resize-url="" data-resized="" data-embed-type="image"><a href="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/1535/15354745/2446727-5179501631-24458.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2446727"><img src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/scale_super/1535/15354745/2446727-5179501631-24458.jpg"></a></figure><p style="">Tonight during a special Microsoft Store event in Connecticut, <a href="/titanfall/" data-ref-id="false">Titanfall</a> developer Respawn Entertainment explained that the upcoming game could get a DLC season pass and teased that a pilot-only mode may come sometime after launch.</p><p style="">Respawn community manager Abbie Heppe said cofounder <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/titanfall-won-t-have-a-season-pass-or-split-screen-but-it-might-include-some-dinosaurs/1100-6418026/" data-ref-id="1100-6418026">Vince Zampella's tweet this week about the game not having a season pass</a> was a mistake. She clarified tonight that the game won't have an <em><strong>online pass</strong></em>, but said the company has nothing to announce--at least right now--regarding a <em><strong>season pass</strong></em>. Electronic Arts <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/ea-killing-online-passes-for-existing-games/1100-6409065/" data-ref-id="1100-6409065">did away with online passes last year</a>.</p><p style="">A tweet from the official Titanfall Twitter account <a href="https://twitter.com/Titanfallgame/status/439452664166752256" rel="nofollow" data-ref-id="false">apologizes for the confusion</a>.</p><p style="">The season pass would presumably include access to various Titanfall DLC packs at a discounted rate compared to buying them individually. Though Respawn has yet to announce firm plans for post-release support for Titanfall, the developer said previously that <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/titanfall-dlc-in-planning-stages-could-evolve-with-players/1100-6417412/" data-ref-id="1100-6417412">DLC for the game was in the planning stages</a>. Titanfall is a major multiplayer shooter, so significant add-on content should be expected.</p><p style="">Also during the special event tonight at the Westfarms Mall in West Hartford, Conn. Heppe said though a pilot-only multiplayer mode for Titanfall won't be available at release, "we'll see what happens after launch." The chief intrigue of Titanfall is its pilots vs. mechs gameplay, so a pilots-only mode would be a surprise.</p><p style="">Titanfall launches <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/titanfall-launching-march-11-2014/1100-6415710/" data-ref-id="1100-6415710">March 11</a> for Xbox One and PC, with an Xbox 360 version--developed externally at Bluepoint Games--to follow on <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/titanfall-for-xbox-360-delayed/1100-6417577/" data-ref-id="1100-6417577">March 25</a>. Microsoft is <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/microsoft-throwing-huge-titanfall-launch-party-in-texas/1100-6418024/" data-ref-id="1100-6418024">throwing a huge party in Texas</a> to mark the game's release.</p><div data-embed-type="video" data-ref-id="2300-6417279" data-width="100%" data-height="100%"><iframe src="/videos/embed/6417279/" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen></iframe></div><p style=""> </p><table data-max-width="true"><thead><tr><th scope="col"><em>Eddie Makuch is a news editor at GameSpot, and you can follow him on<a href="https://twitter.com/EddieMakuch" rel="nofollow" data-ref-id="false"> Twitter @EddieMakuch</a></em></th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><strong><em>Got a news tip or want to contact us directly? Email <a href="mailto:news@gamespot.com" rel="nofollow">news@gamespot.com</a></em></strong></td></tr></tbody></table> Sat, 01 Mar 2014 17:52:00 -0800 http://www.gamespot.com/articles/titanfall-might-get-a-dlc-season-pass-pilot-only-mode-could-come-after-launch/1100-6418043/ http://www.gamespot.com/articles/valve-gives-devs-tools-to-configure-steam-discounts-sales/1100-6418042/ <figure data-align="right" data-size="small" data-img-src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/1535/15354745/2446675-1517947464-22823.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2446675" data-resize-url="" data-resized="" data-embed-type="image"><a href="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/1535/15354745/2446675-1517947464-22823.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2446675"><img src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/scale_small/1535/15354745/2446675-1517947464-22823.jpg"></a></figure><p style=""> </p><p dir="ltr" style="">Valve has announced new tools that will allow developers to configure their own discounts for custom sale periods on Steam or opt in to take part in upcoming weeklong sales.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">According to an image of the announcement sent out to developers and posted to <a href="http://www.reddit.com/r/Steam/comments/1yy56p/steamwork_developers_now_can_self_discount_their/" rel="nofollow">Reddit</a>, to participate in weeklong deals, a developer can select from the upcoming promotions, up to two months ahead of time, and just enter the desired discount percentage.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">Custom discounts can be set up two months in advance, and can run for up to two weeks at most. Developers can set the percentage of the discount here as well.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">Steam sales have been known to be hugely profitable for some developers. Q-Games, for example, <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/deep-discount-in-steam-sale-makes-q-games-a-lot-of-money/1100-6416887/">doubled its lifetime income</a> on the PC version of <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/phoenix-cms/reviews/form?id=6195402/">PixelJunk Eden</a> after the game was featured in a flash sale as part of the 2013 Steam holiday sale.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">However, indie developer Jason Rohrer recently argued that "<a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/sales-screw-your-fans-says-indie-dev/1100-6417177/">sales screw fans</a>" over the long-term, training them to wait for discounts rather than ever pay the full price for a game when it launches.</p><p style="">Either way, the new tools should at least give developers more control on when and by how much they discount their games, and might mean we'll see more discounts throughout the year.</p><table data-max-width="true"><thead><tr><th scope="col"><em>Emanuel Maiberg is a freelance writer, and you can follow him on <a href="https://twitter.com/emanuelmaiberg" rel="nofollow" data-ref-id="false">Twitter @emanuelmaiberg</a><br /></em></th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><strong><em>Got a news tip or want to contact us directly? Email <a href="mailto:news@gamespot.com" rel="nofollow">news@gamespot.com</a></em></strong></td></tr></tbody></table> Sat, 01 Mar 2014 14:29:00 -0800 http://www.gamespot.com/articles/valve-gives-devs-tools-to-configure-steam-discounts-sales/1100-6418042/ http://www.gamespot.com/articles/dayz-doubles-size-of-development-team-cooking-system-in-the-works/1100-6418041/ <figure data-align="right" data-size="small" data-img-src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/1535/15354745/2446664-3079378068-tumbl.png" data-ref-id="1300-2446664" data-resize-url="" data-resized="" data-embed-type="image"><a href="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/1535/15354745/2446664-3079378068-tumbl.png" data-ref-id="1300-2446664"><img src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/scale_small/1535/15354745/2446664-3079378068-tumbl.png"></a></figure><p style=""> </p><p dir="ltr" style="">The <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/dayz/">DayZ</a> development team at Bohemia Interactive is being doubled in size, a post to <a href="http://dayzdev.tumblr.com/post/78119153354/weekly-report-starting-our-focus-on-survival" rel="nofollow">the game's development blog reveals</a>.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">DayZ creator Dean "Rocket" Hall wrote the post himself, detailing several fixes and new systems that will be added to the game soon. Earlier this week, <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/dayz-creator-dean-rocket-hall-will-leave-developer-bohemia-this-year/1100-6417925/">he announced that he plans to step down as the head of the popular open-world survival game</a> before the end of this year, and will start a new studio in New Zealand.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">The most interesting addition to the game revealed in the post is a new cooking system. "Heavily inspired by the outstanding cooking system in <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/project-zomboid/">Project Zomboid</a>, this will be part of a wider push in March to focus on Survival aspects of the game in general," Hall said.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">The cooking system will allow you to turn your cooking device on (a fireplace or stove) and then place items in it. Items will slowly heat up and become "cooked" when they reach the required heat, or become something else, like soup. "We're very excited by the possibilities for this system," Hall said.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">The team is also implementing several bug fixes, adding new animations, and improving stability. Finally, Hall said that there is much more going on, and that we'll see a roadmap for the rest of the year "very soon."</p><div data-embed-type="video" data-ref-id="2300-6410151" data-width="854" data-height="480"><iframe src="/videos/embed/6410151/" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen></iframe></div><p style=""> </p><table data-max-width="true"><thead><tr><th scope="col"><em>Emanuel Maiberg is a freelance writer, and you can follow him on <a href="https://twitter.com/emanuelmaiberg" rel="nofollow" data-ref-id="false">Twitter @emanuelmaiberg</a><br /></em></th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><strong><em>Got a news tip or want to contact us directly? Email <a href="mailto:news@gamespot.com" rel="nofollow">news@gamespot.com</a></em></strong></td></tr></tbody></table> Sat, 01 Mar 2014 13:41:00 -0800 http://www.gamespot.com/articles/dayz-doubles-size-of-development-team-cooking-system-in-the-works/1100-6418041/ http://www.gamespot.com/articles/payday-2-sales-pull-starbreeze-out-of-15-year-loss-in-six-months/1100-6418040/ <figure data-align="center" data-size="large" data-img-src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/1535/15354745/2446630-1004341237-24149.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2446630" data-resize-url="" data-resized="" data-embed-type="image"><a href="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/1535/15354745/2446630-1004341237-24149.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2446630"><img src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/scale_super/1535/15354745/2446630-1004341237-24149.jpg"></a></figure><p dir="ltr" style="">Since it was founded in 1998, Starbreeze has developed several well-known, critically acclaimed games including <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/reviews/the-chronicles-of-riddick-escape-from-butcher-bay-/1900-6099643/">The Chronicles of Riddick Escape From Butcher Bay</a>, <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/reviews/the-darkness-review/1900-6173249/">The Darkness</a>, and <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/reviews/syndicate-review/1900-6350825/">Syndicate</a>. But <a href="http://www.starbreeze.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/2014-02-27-Press-release-Half-Year-Report-July-1-December-31-2013.pdf" rel="nofollow">a recent press release from the Swedish developer</a> revealed that it only recently turned a profit, thanks mostly to <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/payday-2/">Payday 2</a>.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">For example, Starbreeze reported that it made $6.1 million in the last fiscal quarter, with $5.3 million in Payday 2 sales alone.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">"To put the past six months in perspective, I would like to highlight that Starbreeze historically, from 1998 to June 2013, accumulated a total loss of SEK 94 million ($14.4 million)," CEO Bo Andersson Klint said. "Thanks to our new business model, reorganization and a focus on our own brands, we have—in only two quarters—generated a profit before tax of SEK 104 million ($16 million)."</p><p dir="ltr" style="">Payday 2 was created by Overkill, another Swedish developer that Starbreeze acquired in 2012, and is published by 505 Games. The press release revealed that Starbreeze signed an "improved" contract with 505 Games to continue developing and refining Payday 2 for the next 20 months.</p><p style="">Klint said that <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/brothers-a-tale-of-two-sons/">Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons</a> also "finally" started generating royalty income for Starbreeze, bringing in around $250,000 in the last quarter.</p><div data-embed-type="video" data-ref-id="2300-6413623" data-width="854" data-height="480"><iframe src="/videos/embed/6413623/" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen></iframe></div><p style=""> </p><table data-max-width="true"><thead><tr><th scope="col"><em>Emanuel Maiberg is a freelance writer, and you can follow him on <a href="https://twitter.com/emanuelmaiberg" rel="nofollow" data-ref-id="false">Twitter @emanuelmaiberg</a><br /></em></th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><strong><em>Got a news tip or want to contact us directly? Email <a href="mailto:news@gamespot.com" rel="nofollow">news@gamespot.com</a><br /></em></strong></td></tr></tbody></table> Sat, 01 Mar 2014 12:05:00 -0800 http://www.gamespot.com/articles/payday-2-sales-pull-starbreeze-out-of-15-year-loss-in-six-months/1100-6418040/ http://www.gamespot.com/videos/top-5-skyrim-mods-of-the-week-become-the-ultimate-/2300-6417453/ Kevin isn't known for subtlety, but with five of the best thief mods behind him can he become the master of stealth? The king of conniving? The prophet of profitability? Find out in Top 5 Skyrim Mods. Sat, 01 Mar 2014 12:00:00 -0800 http://www.gamespot.com/videos/top-5-skyrim-mods-of-the-week-become-the-ultimate-/2300-6417453/ http://www.gamespot.com/articles/ps4-ps3-ps-vita-get-cartoon-inspired-vehicle-combat-game-cel-damage-hd/1100-6418039/ <figure data-align="center" data-size="large" data-img-src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/1535/15354745/2446610-0206758579-CelDa.png" data-ref-id="1300-2446610" data-resize-url="" data-resized="" data-embed-type="image"><a href="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/1535/15354745/2446610-0206758579-CelDa.png" data-ref-id="1300-2446610"><img src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/scale_super/1535/15354745/2446610-0206758579-CelDa.png"></a></figure><p style="">Developer Finish Line Games announced it's bringing the cartoon-inspired vehicle combat game Cel Damage HD to PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, and PlayStation Vita this spring</p><p dir="ltr" style="">Originally developed by Pseudo Interactive and released in 2001 on Xbox, PlayStation 2, and GameCube, <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/cel-damage/">Cel Damage</a> was a vehicle combat game much like Twisted Metal, only with cel shaded graphics and a Looney Tunes approach to weapons and gameplay. It was not well received by GameSpot at the time, getting a score of 5.7 in <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/reviews/cel-damage-review/1900-2825349/">our review</a>.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">Cel Damage HD will feature six playable characters, 13 arenas, 10 cars and more than 30 power-ups.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">"As longtime developers we've always enjoyed games that meld the realm of video games with other, similar forms of entertainment," co-founder of Finish Line Games Daniel Posner said. "With Cel Damage HD, we're bringing back one of our favorite mash-ups of classic vehicle combat games and cartoon animation to give players the distinct experience of playing as if they are in a cartoon."</p><p style="">Cel Damage HD will be Finish Line's first game. It will be available as a Cross-Buy release on the PlayStation Store this spring.</p><table data-max-width="true"><thead><tr><th scope="col"><em>Emanuel Maiberg is a freelance writer, and you can follow him on <a href="https://twitter.com/emanuelmaiberg" rel="nofollow" data-ref-id="false">Twitter @emanuelmaiberg</a><br /></em></th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><strong><em>Got a news tip or want to contact us directly? Email <a href="mailto:news@gamespot.com" rel="nofollow">news@gamespot.com</a></em></strong></td></tr></tbody></table> Sat, 01 Mar 2014 11:17:00 -0800 http://www.gamespot.com/articles/ps4-ps3-ps-vita-get-cartoon-inspired-vehicle-combat-game-cel-damage-hd/1100-6418039/ http://www.gamespot.com/articles/xbox-one-360-get-call-of-duty-ghosts-villains-themed-customization-items-march-4/1100-6418038/ <figure data-align="right" data-size="small" data-img-src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/1535/15354745/2446588-1195853964-codgh.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2446588" data-resize-url="" data-resized="" data-embed-type="image"><a href="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/1535/15354745/2446588-1195853964-codgh.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2446588"><img src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/scale_small/1535/15354745/2446588-1195853964-codgh.jpg"></a></figure><p style=""> </p><p style=""> </p><p style=""> </p><p style=""> </p><p dir="ltr" style="">Xbox One and Xbox 360 players will be able to buy villains-themed customization items for <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/call-of-duty-ghosts/">Call of Duty: Ghosts</a>' multiplayer mode on March 4, <a href="http://www.oneofswords.com/community/1os/blog/2014/02/27/new-customization-items-coming-soon-for-cod-ghosts-and-black-ops-ii#.UxIeg_m-2uR" rel="nofollow">Activision Community Manager Dan Amrich announced on his blog</a>.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">Fans of the Call of Duty series will see some familiar, despicable faces. The Makarov Legend Pack will allow you to play as the antagonist from <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/call-of-duty-modern-warfare-3/">Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3</a>, Vladimir Makarov, and will include a Makarov-themed Personalization Pack with a weapon camo, patch, reticle, playcard, and background. <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/will-call-of-duty-ghosts-feature-some-new-captain-price-dlc-update/1100-6417711/">Like the Captain Price Legend Pack before it</a>, The Makarov Legend Pack will cost $4.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">For $2 each, you'll also be able to play multiplayer as Gabriel Rorke, the villain from Call of Duty: Ghosts, Irman Zakhaev, the villain from <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/call-of-duty-4-modern-warfare/">Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare</a>, or some random soldier in a Hazmat suit.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">The customization items will be available on Xbox One and Xbox 360 first, and no release date has been announced yet for other platforms.</p><p style="">For more on Call of Duty: Ghosts be sure to read <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/reviews/call-of-duty-ghosts-review/1900-6415523/">our review</a>.</p><div data-embed-type="video" data-ref-id="2300-6415912" data-width="854" data-height="480"><iframe src="/videos/embed/6415912/" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen></iframe></div><p style=""> </p><table data-max-width="true"><thead><tr><th scope="col"><em>Emanuel Maiberg is a freelance writer, and you can follow him on <a href="https://twitter.com/emanuelmaiberg" rel="nofollow" data-ref-id="false">Twitter @emanuelmaiberg</a><br /></em></th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><strong><em>Got a news tip or want to contact us directly? Email <a href="mailto:news@gamespot.com" rel="nofollow">news@gamespot.com</a></em></strong></td></tr></tbody></table> Sat, 01 Mar 2014 10:17:00 -0800 http://www.gamespot.com/articles/xbox-one-360-get-call-of-duty-ghosts-villains-themed-customization-items-march-4/1100-6418038/ http://www.gamespot.com/articles/the-last-of-us-final-season-pass-dlc-adds-new-single-player-difficulty-mode/1100-6418037/ <figure data-align="center" data-size="large" data-img-src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/1535/15354745/2446550-9946934307-24424.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2446550" data-resize-url="" data-resized="" data-embed-type="image"><a href="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/1535/15354745/2446550-9946934307-24424.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2446550"><img src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/scale_super/1535/15354745/2446550-9946934307-24424.jpg"></a></figure><p style="">Developer Naughty Dog has announced that the final piece of DLC included in the <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/the-last-of-us-season-pass-detailed/1100-6408991/">$20 Season Pass</a> for <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/the-last-of-us/">The Last of Us</a> will add a new difficulty mode for the single-player campaign.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">At the moment, The Last of Us has Easy, Normal, Hard, and Survivor difficulty modes, with the last one disabling the game's useful "listening" ability. Naughty Dog did not specify how the new difficulty mode will change the experience.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">According to<a href="http://www.naughtydog.com/site/post/go_behind_the_scenes_of_the_last_of_us_and_the_last_of_us_left_behind" rel="nofollow"> the latest post on Naughty Dog's official website</a>, the DLC will also be "chock full of multiplayer goodness," with more maps, weapons and skills. Naughty Dog did not announce a release date, but said it will have more details on this latest piece of DLC as it nears completion.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">The announcement also came with a new short documentary about the making of <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/reviews/the-last-of-us-left-behind-review/1900-6415658/">The Last of Us: Left Behind</a>, the only story-driven, single-player expansion Naughty Dog plans to add to the game. If you want to find out more about Naughty Dog's development process, the company also <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/the-last-of-us-making-of-documentary-now-available-for-free/1100-6417882/">recently released the feature length documentary, Grounded: The Making of The Last of Us</a>, on <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0l7LzC_h8I" rel="nofollow">YouTube</a> and Amazon.</p><p style="">Last week, The Last of Us Creative Director Neil Druckmann said that <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/the-last-of-us-2-is-a-50-50-chance/1100-6417906/">there's a 50 percent chance that Naughty Dog will make a full sequel to The Last of Us</a>.</p><div data-embed-type="video" data-ref-id="2300-6417222" data-width="854" data-height="480"><iframe src="/videos/embed/6417222/" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen></iframe></div><table data-max-width="true"><thead><tr><th scope="col"><em>Emanuel Maiberg is a freelance writer, and you can follow him on <a href="https://twitter.com/emanuelmaiberg" rel="nofollow" data-ref-id="false">Twitter @emanuelmaiberg</a><br /></em></th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><strong><em>Got a news tip or want to contact us directly? Email <a href="mailto:news@gamespot.com" rel="nofollow">news@gamespot.com</a></em></strong></td></tr></tbody></table> Sat, 01 Mar 2014 09:09:00 -0800 http://www.gamespot.com/articles/the-last-of-us-final-season-pass-dlc-adds-new-single-player-difficulty-mode/1100-6418037/ http://www.gamespot.com/articles/soe-all-access-pass-delayed-two-weeks/1100-6418036/ <figure data-align="center" data-size="large" data-img-src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/1535/15354745/2446523-1994610370-20383.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2446523" data-resize-url="" data-resized="" data-embed-type="image"><a href="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/1535/15354745/2446523-1994610370-20383.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2446523"><img src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/scale_super/1535/15354745/2446523-1994610370-20383.jpg"></a></figure><p style="">The SOE All Access program will launch on April 16, two weeks after the original April 2 launch date, according to what SOE President <a href="https://twitter.com/j_smedley/status/439174334985166848" rel="nofollow">John Smedley said on Twitter</a>.</p><div data-embed-type="tweet" data-src="https://twitter.com/j_smedley/status/439174334985166848"><blockquote align="center" data-conversation="none" data-cards="hidden" data-mce-disable-toolbar="true"><p>Looking like new membership plans will go live around 4/16 instead of 4/2. Lots of stuff to finish</p> — John Smedley (@j_smedley) <a href="https://twitter.com/j_smedley/statuses/439174334985166848" rel="nofollow">February 27, 2014</a></blockquote><script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><p dir="ltr" style="">SOE revealed the All Access program last month after it announced it was <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/soe-shutting-down-four-mmos-including-star-wars-clone-wars-adventures/1100-6417333/">shutting down several of its massively multiplayer online role-playing games</a>.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">SOE All Access gives subscribers top-tier membership level in EverQuest, <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/everquest-ii-extended/">EverQuest II</a>, <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/dc-universe-online/">DC Universe Online</a> for the PC, <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/planetside-2/">PlanetSide 2</a> for the PC, and the upcoming <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/everquest-next/">EverQuest Next</a> and <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/everquest-next-landmark/">EverQuest Next Landmark</a>. Players with existing memberships in any of SOE's games will be upgraded to the All Access program.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">All Access membership starts at $14.99, with extra savings for three, six, and one year plans. It will also include a 10 percent discount on marketplace purchases, 500 Station Cash per month, and access to exclusive promotions.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">For more on SOE's upcoming EveryQuest Next Landmark, make sure to read<a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/you-decide-the-future-of-everquest-next-landmark/1100-6417446/"> our preview of its creation tools</a>.</p><p dir="ltr" style=""> </p><table data-max-width="true"><thead><tr><th scope="col"><em>Emanuel Maiberg is a freelance writer, and you can follow him on <a href="https://twitter.com/emanuelmaiberg" rel="nofollow" data-ref-id="false">Twitter @emanuelmaiberg</a><br /></em></th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><strong><em>Got a news tip or want to contact us directly? Email <a href="mailto:news@gamespot.com" rel="nofollow">news@gamespot.com</a></em></strong></td></tr></tbody></table> Sat, 01 Mar 2014 07:19:00 -0800 http://www.gamespot.com/articles/soe-all-access-pass-delayed-two-weeks/1100-6418036/ http://www.gamespot.com/articles/carmageddon-reincarnation-hits-steam-early-access-march-27/1100-6418035/ <figure data-align="right" data-size="small" data-img-src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/1535/15354745/2446493-3262991933-crush.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2446493" data-resize-url="" data-resized="" data-embed-type="image"><a href="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/1535/15354745/2446493-3262991933-crush.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2446493"><img src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/scale_small/1535/15354745/2446493-3262991933-crush.jpg"></a></figure><p style=""> </p><p style=""> </p><p style=""> </p><p style=""> </p><p style=""> </p><p dir="ltr" style=""><a href="http://www.gamespot.com/carmageddon-reincarnation/">Carmageddon: Reincarnation</a> will arrive on Steam Early Access on March 27, developer Stainless Games has announced.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">Stainless Games has yet to announce a price, but said that Kickstarter backers will be able to play the game two weeks before its Steam release.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">Carmageddon: Reincarnation will revive the "points for pedestrians" destruction derby-style car game series, which started in 1997, and was last seen in 2000 with the unfortunate <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/carmageddon-3-tdr-2000/">Carmageddon 3: TDR 2000</a>.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">"It's brilliant to see our demonic baby rise screaming from the grave," Stainless Games co-founder and CEO Patrick Buckland said. "This time we could finally do the stuff that we wanted to do 17 years ago. More blood was the main thing. Rivers of livers – that's what we wanted. Being publisher as well as developer means we get to be stupid."</p><p dir="ltr" style="">The game was <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/carmageddon-reincarnation-successfully-funded/1100-6378953/">funded on Kickstarter in 2012</a> with over $625,000, and last year Stainless Games <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/carmageddon-dev-raises-35-million/1100-6405671/">raised an additional $3.5 million</a> from Bullfrog Productions founder Les Edgar, which the developer said would allow it to bring Carmageddon: Reincarnation to Xbox One and PlayStation 4 as well as PC.</p><p style="">As the damage tech demo that Stainless released alongside the announcement makes obvious, Carmageddon: Reincarnation is currently in a pre-alpha phase.</p><div data-embed-type="video" data-ref-id="2300-6417460" data-width="100%" data-height="100%"><iframe src="/videos/embed/6417460/" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen></iframe></div><p style=""> </p><table data-max-width="true"><thead><tr><th scope="col"><em>Emanuel Maiberg is a freelance writer, and you can follow him on <a href="https://twitter.com/emanuelmaiberg" rel="nofollow" data-ref-id="false">Twitter @emanuelmaiberg</a><br /></em></th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><strong><em>Got a news tip or want to contact us directly? Email <a href="mailto:news@gamespot.com" rel="nofollow">news@gamespot.com</a></em></strong></td></tr></tbody></table> Sat, 01 Mar 2014 06:52:00 -0800 http://www.gamespot.com/articles/carmageddon-reincarnation-hits-steam-early-access-march-27/1100-6418035/ http://www.gamespot.com/articles/twitch-plays-pokemon-collects-all-badges-enters-home-stretch/1100-6417981/ <p style="">UPDATE 3/1/2014</p><p style="">Early this morning, after 16 days and seven hours of continuous play, Twitch Plays Pokemon beat the game! Congratulations to everyone who participated!</p><figure data-align="center" data-size="large" data-img-src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/1534/15343359/2446408-screen+shot+2014-03-01+at+1.21.40+am.png" data-ref-id="1300-2446408" data-resize-url="" data-resized="" data-embed-type="image"><a href="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/1534/15343359/2446408-screen+shot+2014-03-01+at+1.21.40+am.png" data-ref-id="1300-2446408"><img src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/scale_super/1534/15343359/2446408-screen+shot+2014-03-01+at+1.21.40+am.png"></a></figure><p style=""> </p><p style=""> </p><p style="">UPDATE 2/28/2014</p><p style="">And they did it! Twitch Plays Pokemon has officially beaten the Final Four and become a Pokemon Master...but they still need to beat their rival, BLUE.</p><div data-embed-type="html"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p style="">We did it :') <a href="http://t.co/dvCNiUENm4" rel="nofollow">pic.twitter.com/dvCNiUENm4</a></p> — TwitchPlaysPokemon (@TwitchPokemon) <a href="https://twitter.com/TwitchPokemon/statuses/439533666000060416" rel="nofollow">February 28, 2014</a></blockquote><script charset="utf-8" type="text/javascript" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" async=""></script></div><p style=""><em>The original story appears below.</em></p><div data-embed-type="video" data-src="http://www.twitch.tv/twitchplayspokemon" data-width="100%" data-height="100%"><iframe src="//cdn.embedly.com/widgets/media.html?src=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.twitch.tv%2Fwidgets%2Flive_embed_player.swf%3Fchannel%3Dtwitchplayspokemon&fv=hostname%3Dwww.twitch.tv%26start_volume%3D25%26channel%3Dtwitchplayspokemon%26auto_play%3Dfalse&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.twitch.tv%2Ftwitchplayspokemon&key=6efca6e5ad9640f180f14146a0bc1392&type=application%2Fx-shockwave-flash&schema=twitch&wmode=opaque" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen></iframe></div><p style="">Against seemingly impossible odds, the Twitch Plays Pokemon stream has collected all of the game's badges and is getting ready to take on the Elite Four.</p><p style="">If you'd like a complete recap of events, Reddit has put together an exhaustively <a href="http://www.reddit.com/r/twitchplayspokemon/comments/1y6wyc/nearly_complete_timeline_of_events/" rel="nofollow">time-stamped recap</a>, or you can read a <a href="http://www.reddit.com/r/twitchplayspokemon/wiki/historyoftpp" rel="nofollow">more narrative retelling</a>. But this <a href="https://sites.google.com/site/twitchplayspokemonstatus/" rel="nofollow">public Google document</a> is the easiest way to see at a glance what's up in the game. According to the document, the players are working towards getting past one of the game's trickier ledge sections (tricky when you have 50,000 people playing, at least) as they head towards Victory Road.</p><p style="">Also notable is that the stream was able to revive the Helix fossil into the Pokemon Omanyte. The Helix Fossil is an item given to the player early in the game that cannot be thrown away; it has been elevated to a savior-like status in the chat with prayers of "Praise Helix" and "Base Helix."</p><p style="">Users are able to balance the game by shifting control between an Anarchy mode (where every command from the chat is input into the game) and Democracy (where the most popular commands go through). But <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/twitch-plays-pokemon-is-a-fascinating-vision-of-the-future/1100-6417867/" data-ref-id="1100-6417867">none of the spin-off games (like QWOP and Tetris) have reached the same level of incredible popularity</a>. The phenomenon has seen some drop-off from it's <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/over-60k-people-watching-twitch-play-pokemon-update/1100-6417762/" data-ref-id="1100-6417762">high count of over 100k viewers</a>, currently sitting at just over 50k viewers, though it's likely the game will see another uptick as it nears its conclusion.</p><p style="">Are you going to tune in more frequently now that it's over? And if so, will you work to sabotage the people trying to finish the game, or are you part of the group trying to shift the game to democracy, order, and finality? Either way, Twitch Plays Pokemon has turned out to be a surprising experiment that no one could've seen coming.</p> Sat, 01 Mar 2014 01:23:00 -0800 http://www.gamespot.com/articles/twitch-plays-pokemon-collects-all-badges-enters-home-stretch/1100-6417981/ http://www.gamespot.com/reviews/basement-crawl-review/1900-6415683/ <p style="">Basement Crawl opens with a cutscene that promises horror and perhaps a bit of mystery. A grandmother sternly tells her granddaughter of the dangers that lurk outside their home, though the grandmother's warning is itself tinged with a sinister tone. What has happened to the outside world? How have these two people survived? Is the grandmother evil? What are these horrific creatures that we're getting glimpses of?</p><p style="">Then you start the game and find a lackluster, multiplayer-only <a href="/bomberman/" data-ref-id="false">Bomberman</a> clone bereft of features and personality. Any promise the premise had is immediately lost, and disappointment--not terror--lurks around every corner.</p><p style="">Basement Crawl is a grid-based game for multiple players in which you bomb things. As one of four different characters, each with slightly different starting stats (one is a bit faster, one has a bit more health, and so on), you lay down bombs--sorry, "traps"--which explode in straight lines in four directions: up, down, left, and right. You can collect power-ups for longer explosions, kick traps away from you, and hide behind a predictable pattern of unbreakable blocks, all in an effort to kill the opposing players over and over again.</p><figure data-align="center" data-size="large" data-img-src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/536/5360430/2441341-basement_crawl_preview_09.png" data-ref-id="1300-2441341" data-resize-url="" data-resized="" data-embed-type="image"><a href="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/536/5360430/2441341-basement_crawl_preview_09.png" data-ref-id="1300-2441341"><img src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/scale_super/536/5360430/2441341-basement_crawl_preview_09.png"></a><figcaption>Wait, am I the crash test dummy in the center or on the left? They both look the same!</figcaption></figure><p style="">If this sounds familiar, then you've probably played a Bomberman game before. Basement Crawl may call its bombs traps, but even the game's dark visuals can't hide the fact that this is just Bomberman with a shoddy horror theme.</p><p style="">Basement Crawl's biggest problem isn't that it's derivative, however; it's that it gives you no options. Never mind that there is no single-player mode whatsoever, not even an option to play against bots for practice. There simply aren't any settings to toggle for what kinds of rules you want to play by. Even when you create your own custom game (which is likely, since there's no matchmaking), you can't set options like match time, the number of kills needed to win, whether or not certain power-ups are disabled, or even a player limit. Your only options are Deathmatch or Team Deathmatch. That's it.</p><p style="">Want to limit your online match to four players, because you think having eight players in a match is too hectic and not very fun? Too bad. Want to disable the ability to kick traps, because that's all some players ever use? No dice. For having been inspired by a classic party game, Basement Crawl sure doesn't want you to have any chance at forming house rules. But hey, you can take your room full of four local players and join online matches with them, so that's something, right?</p><figure data-align="right" data-size="medium" data-img-src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/416/4161502/2446168-0002.png" data-ref-id="1300-2446168" data-resize-url="" data-resized="" data-embed-type="image"><a href="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/416/4161502/2446168-0002.png" data-ref-id="1300-2446168"><img src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/scale_medium/416/4161502/2446168-0002.png"></a><figcaption>Ooooh, look at all that blood outside the arena. So scary!</figcaption></figure><p style="">One thing you do get to choose is the arena, though differences between arenas are negligible and almost entirely cosmetic. They come in three flavors, with a few different grid shapes for each: Restaurant Dungeon, Abandoned Circus, and Forgotten Factory. Notably, none of these environments is a basement.</p><p style="">One thing all these environments have in common is that they are dark and cramped. So dark and cramped, in fact, that it's easy to lose track of the action. A pillar of light highlights your location when you spawn, but if you lose track of your character after that first moment, good luck finding it again. It's bad enough that there are only four characters to go around for eight players, but they're not visually distinct enough from each other to quickly pick them out in the dark environments anyway. There is often so much happening onscreen--much of which looks too similar to its surroundings already--that you lose track of the action constantly. As you play, you hear people screaming and a creepy child laughing, but none of it is the least bit effective at delivering on the premise of horror.</p><figure data-align="left" data-size="small" data-img-src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/416/4161502/2446169-0003.png" data-ref-id="1300-2446169" data-resize-url="" data-resized="" data-embed-type="image"><a href="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/416/4161502/2446169-0003.png" data-ref-id="1300-2446169"><img src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/scale_small/416/4161502/2446169-0003.png"></a><figcaption>It's hard to tell in the dark. How many players are here, again?</figcaption></figure><p style="">The only sense of progression is the ability to play online against strangers in an effort to increase your online rank. But since there's no form of matchmaking, your rank means very little. And if you want to increase it at all, you have to actually win matches--as in, win first place in Deathmatch (or as a team in Team Deathmatch). Otherwise, you get nothing. Reaching the maximum rank of 30 could take a very long time.</p><p style="">To top it all off, Basement Crawl is buggy at worst and unfinished at best. For example, when you pause an offline game, the action pauses, but the match timer keeps ticking down. How do you get the act of pausing wrong? It has been a while since a good Bomberman game was released, and nobody else seems to be interested in mimicking that classic gameplay. If you can get a solid group of four local Bomberman fans, and you have no desire to change any of the game's standard settings, you can have some simple fun blowing each other up. But if you're really desperate for this kind of experience, you're better off hunting down just about any Bomberman game from years past, rather than getting dirty crawling through the muck in this basement.</p> Fri, 28 Feb 2014 17:03:00 -0800 http://www.gamespot.com/reviews/basement-crawl-review/1900-6415683/
http://auth.gamespot.com/ Gamespot's Everything Feed! News, Reviews, Videos. Exploding with content? You bet. en-us Sun, 02 Mar 2014 05:51:30 -0800 http://www.gamespot.com/articles/how-everquest-next-landmark-plans-to-make-money-without-annoying-you/1100-6418046/ <figure data-align="center" data-size="large" data-img-src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/1535/15354745/2446854-5958456374-24301.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2446854" data-resize-url="" data-resized="" data-embed-type="image"><a href="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/1535/15354745/2446854-5958456374-24301.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2446854"><img src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/scale_super/1535/15354745/2446854-5958456374-24301.jpg"></a></figure><p dir="ltr" style="">Director of Development for the EverQuest franchise at SOE David Georgeson has laid out the five phases of <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/everquest-next-landmark/">EverQuest Next Landmark</a>'s monetization strategy.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">"First of all, we are free-to-play," Georgeson said. "That means we have to entertain you before you decide whether to pay us or not. We like that burden of responsibility. We think it's cool and the right thing to do." Georgeson said that the majority of players in free-to-play games don't buy much, but that players who do will not invalidate the in-game economy to those who don't.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">In its current, first phase, EverQuest Next Landmark is selling <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/everquest-next-landmark-alpha-available-now-to-owners-of-60-founder-s-pack/1100-6417475/">Founder's Packs,</a> giving those who are willing to pay early access to the game and some bonus items.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">In the second phase, which begin later in the alpha, SOE will start selling outfits and resources.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">Phase three, which will also start in the alpha, will introduce the option to buy shortcuts, allowing you to buy some useful items instead of crafting them.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">In phase four, starting in the closed beta, SOE will launch Player Studio, where players can buy and sell templates to other players.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">Finally, at the end of the closed beta, SOE will add more, "bigger-ticket" items like cosmetic pets, sound and music packs, name and gender changes, extra claim flags, and more.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">"There will be additions/subtractions from this plan as we go, but we strongly believe that we can support the game well in these positive manners without compromising the game's balance, economy, or fun," Georgeson said.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">You can find more details on the game's monetization plans on <a href="https://forums.station.sony.com/eqnlandmark/index.php?threads%2Fthe-business-of-eqn-landmark-revealed.22393%2F" rel="nofollow">the official forums</a>, where Georgeson has also responded to several questions from fans.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">For more on EverQuest Next Landmark, make sure to read <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/you-decide-the-future-of-everquest-next-landmark/1100-6417446/">our preview of its creation tools</a>.</p><p style=""> </p><table data-max-width="true"><thead><tr><th scope="col"><em>Emanuel Maiberg is a freelance writer, and you can follow him on <a href="https://twitter.com/emanuelmaiberg" rel="nofollow" data-ref-id="false">Twitter @emanuelmaiberg</a><br /></em></th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><strong><em>Got a news tip or want to contact us directly? Email <a href="mailto:news@gamespot.com" rel="nofollow">news@gamespot.com</a></em></strong></td></tr></tbody></table> Sun, 02 Mar 2014 05:09:00 -0800 http://www.gamespot.com/articles/how-everquest-next-landmark-plans-to-make-money-without-annoying-you/1100-6418046/ http://www.gamespot.com/articles/twitch-plays-pokemon-crystal-after-beating-pokemon-red/1100-6418045/ <figure data-align="right" data-size="small" data-img-src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/1535/15354745/2446841-pokemon+crystal.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2446841" data-resize-url="" data-resized="" data-embed-type="image"><a href="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/1535/15354745/2446841-pokemon+crystal.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2446841"><img src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/scale_small/1535/15354745/2446841-pokemon+crystal.jpg"></a></figure><p style=""> </p><p dir="ltr" style="">Early in the morning yesterday, <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/twitch-plays-pokemon-collects-all-badges-enters-home-stretch/1100-6417981/">Twitch Plays Pokemon finally beat </a><a href="http://www.gamespot.com/pokemon-red-version/">Pokemon Red</a>. Once the game was over, the stream let viewers play a variety of Gameboy games while a clock counted down to "a new adventure."</p><p dir="ltr" style="">The anonymous Australian programmer who set up the stream said that he'll transition it to a second generation Pokemon game, but didn't say which one.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">Now, the wait is over, and the new game is <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/pokemon-crystal-version/">Pokemon Crystal</a>.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">More than 70,000 viewers tuned into the start of the new game. It's set for Anarchy mode for the first hour, but the player character, AJDNNW, has already picked Totodile as its first Pokemon.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">The premise is the same: Twitch viewers can use the chat window to input commands. They're also able to balance the game by shifting control between an Anarchy mode (where every command from the chat is input into the game) and Democracy (where the most popular commands go through).</p><p dir="ltr" style="">"It's safe to say that Twitch Plays Pokémon has been the biggest cultural phenomenon to strike Twitch all thanks to The Creator and You, our passionate and absolutely preposterous community," Twitch said on <a href="http://blog.twitch.tv/2014/03/twitch-prevails-at-pokemon/" rel="nofollow">its official blog</a>, where it also shared some impressive numbers.</p><p style="">In total, it took 1,165,140 people entering chat commands to beat the game in 16 days, 7 hours, 45 minutes, and 30 seconds. More than 122 million commands were issued. More than 36 million people watch the stream overall, hitting a peak of 121,000 simultaneous viewers.</p><div data-embed-type="video" data-src="http://www.twitch.tv/twitchplayspokemon" data-width="100%" data-height="100%"><iframe src="//cdn.embedly.com/widgets/media.html?src=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.twitch.tv%2Fwidgets%2Flive_embed_player.swf%3Fchannel%3Dtwitchplayspokemon&fv=hostname%3Dwww.twitch.tv%26start_volume%3D25%26channel%3Dtwitchplayspokemon%26auto_play%3Dfalse&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.twitch.tv%2Ftwitchplayspokemon&key=6efca6e5ad9640f180f14146a0bc1392&type=application%2Fx-shockwave-flash&schema=twitch&wmode=opaque" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen></iframe></div><p style=""> </p><table data-max-width="true"><thead><tr><th scope="col"><em>Emanuel Maiberg is a freelance writer, and you can follow him on <a href="https://twitter.com/emanuelmaiberg" rel="nofollow" data-ref-id="false">Twitter @emanuelmaiberg</a><br /></em></th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><strong><em>Got a news tip or want to contact us directly? Email <a href="mailto:news@gamespot.com" rel="nofollow">news@gamespot.com</a></em></strong></td></tr></tbody></table> Sun, 02 Mar 2014 04:17:00 -0800 http://www.gamespot.com/articles/twitch-plays-pokemon-crystal-after-beating-pokemon-red/1100-6418045/ http://www.gamespot.com/articles/playstation-platforms-gets-critically-acclaimed-cloning-puzzle-game-the-swapper-in-may/1100-6418044/ <figure data-align="center" data-size="large" data-img-src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/1535/15354745/2446718-6979404457-20406.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2446718" data-resize-url="" data-resized="" data-embed-type="image"><a href="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/1535/15354745/2446718-6979404457-20406.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2446718"><img src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/scale_super/1535/15354745/2446718-6979404457-20406.jpg"></a></figure><p dir="ltr" style="">Facepalm Games' The Swapper, a puzzle-platformer previously available only on the PC, is coming to the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, and PlayStation Vita as a Cross Buy title this year, Sony has announced on the <a href="http://blog.eu.playstation.com/2014/02/26/clone-swapper-ps3-ps4-ps-vita/" rel="nofollow">PlayStation Blog</a>.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">Curve Studios, which previously created ports for <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/thomas-was-alone/">Thomas Was Alone</a> and <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/proteus/">Proteus</a> (as well as its own <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/stealth-bastard/">Stealth Bastard</a>) will port The Swapper to PlayStation platforms. Sony has yet to announce what The Swapper will cost when it's released.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">The Swapper is set on a damaged space station and research facility, which was in part created with clay models, giving the game a dark, creepy look. You're able to create up to four clones of yourself, switch between them, and control them simultaneously in order to solve a variety of devious puzzles.</p><p style=""><a href="http://www.gamespot.com/reviews/the-swapper-review/1900-6408976/">Our review</a> of the PC version found that The Swapper was a smart, good-looking game with engaging puzzle mechanics and great atmosphere, if a little short.</p><div data-embed-type="video" data-ref-id="2300-6408985" data-width="854" data-height="480"><iframe src="/videos/embed/6408985/" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen></iframe></div><p style=""> </p><table data-max-width="true"><thead><tr><th scope="col"><em>Emanuel Maiberg is a freelance writer, and you can follow him on <a href="https://twitter.com/emanuelmaiberg" rel="nofollow" data-ref-id="false">Twitter @emanuelmaiberg</a><br /></em></th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><strong><em>Got a news tip or want to contact us directly? Email <a href="mailto:news@gamespot.com" rel="nofollow">news@gamespot.com</a></em></strong></td></tr></tbody></table> Sat, 01 Mar 2014 17:57:00 -0800 http://www.gamespot.com/articles/playstation-platforms-gets-critically-acclaimed-cloning-puzzle-game-the-swapper-in-may/1100-6418044/ http://www.gamespot.com/articles/titanfall-might-get-a-dlc-season-pass-pilot-only-mode-could-come-after-launch/1100-6418043/ <figure data-align="center" data-size="large" data-img-src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/1535/15354745/2446727-5179501631-24458.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2446727" data-resize-url="" data-resized="" data-embed-type="image"><a href="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/1535/15354745/2446727-5179501631-24458.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2446727"><img src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/scale_super/1535/15354745/2446727-5179501631-24458.jpg"></a></figure><p style="">Tonight during a special Microsoft Store event in Connecticut, <a href="/titanfall/" data-ref-id="false">Titanfall</a> developer Respawn Entertainment explained that the upcoming game could get a DLC season pass and teased that a pilot-only mode may come sometime after launch.</p><p style="">Respawn community manager Abbie Heppe said cofounder <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/titanfall-won-t-have-a-season-pass-or-split-screen-but-it-might-include-some-dinosaurs/1100-6418026/" data-ref-id="1100-6418026">Vince Zampella's tweet this week about the game not having a season pass</a> was a mistake. She clarified tonight that the game won't have an <em><strong>online pass</strong></em>, but said the company has nothing to announce--at least right now--regarding a <em><strong>season pass</strong></em>. Electronic Arts <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/ea-killing-online-passes-for-existing-games/1100-6409065/" data-ref-id="1100-6409065">did away with online passes last year</a>.</p><p style="">A tweet from the official Titanfall Twitter account <a href="https://twitter.com/Titanfallgame/status/439452664166752256" rel="nofollow" data-ref-id="false">apologizes for the confusion</a>.</p><p style="">The season pass would presumably include access to various Titanfall DLC packs at a discounted rate compared to buying them individually. Though Respawn has yet to announce firm plans for post-release support for Titanfall, the developer said previously that <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/titanfall-dlc-in-planning-stages-could-evolve-with-players/1100-6417412/" data-ref-id="1100-6417412">DLC for the game was in the planning stages</a>. Titanfall is a major multiplayer shooter, so significant add-on content should be expected.</p><p style="">Also during the special event tonight at the Westfarms Mall in West Hartford, Conn. Heppe said though a pilot-only multiplayer mode for Titanfall won't be available at release, "we'll see what happens after launch." The chief intrigue of Titanfall is its pilots vs. mechs gameplay, so a pilots-only mode would be a surprise.</p><p style="">Titanfall launches <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/titanfall-launching-march-11-2014/1100-6415710/" data-ref-id="1100-6415710">March 11</a> for Xbox One and PC, with an Xbox 360 version--developed externally at Bluepoint Games--to follow on <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/titanfall-for-xbox-360-delayed/1100-6417577/" data-ref-id="1100-6417577">March 25</a>. Microsoft is <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/microsoft-throwing-huge-titanfall-launch-party-in-texas/1100-6418024/" data-ref-id="1100-6418024">throwing a huge party in Texas</a> to mark the game's release.</p><div data-embed-type="video" data-ref-id="2300-6417279" data-width="100%" data-height="100%"><iframe src="/videos/embed/6417279/" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen></iframe></div><p style=""> </p><table data-max-width="true"><thead><tr><th scope="col"><em>Eddie Makuch is a news editor at GameSpot, and you can follow him on<a href="https://twitter.com/EddieMakuch" rel="nofollow" data-ref-id="false"> Twitter @EddieMakuch</a></em></th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><strong><em>Got a news tip or want to contact us directly? Email <a href="mailto:news@gamespot.com" rel="nofollow">news@gamespot.com</a></em></strong></td></tr></tbody></table> Sat, 01 Mar 2014 17:52:00 -0800 http://www.gamespot.com/articles/titanfall-might-get-a-dlc-season-pass-pilot-only-mode-could-come-after-launch/1100-6418043/ http://www.gamespot.com/articles/valve-gives-devs-tools-to-configure-steam-discounts-sales/1100-6418042/ <figure data-align="right" data-size="small" data-img-src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/1535/15354745/2446675-1517947464-22823.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2446675" data-resize-url="" data-resized="" data-embed-type="image"><a href="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/1535/15354745/2446675-1517947464-22823.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2446675"><img src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/scale_small/1535/15354745/2446675-1517947464-22823.jpg"></a></figure><p style=""> </p><p dir="ltr" style="">Valve has announced new tools that will allow developers to configure their own discounts for custom sale periods on Steam or opt in to take part in upcoming weeklong sales.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">According to an image of the announcement sent out to developers and posted to <a href="http://www.reddit.com/r/Steam/comments/1yy56p/steamwork_developers_now_can_self_discount_their/" rel="nofollow">Reddit</a>, to participate in weeklong deals, a developer can select from the upcoming promotions, up to two months ahead of time, and just enter the desired discount percentage.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">Custom discounts can be set up two months in advance, and can run for up to two weeks at most. Developers can set the percentage of the discount here as well.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">Steam sales have been known to be hugely profitable for some developers. Q-Games, for example, <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/deep-discount-in-steam-sale-makes-q-games-a-lot-of-money/1100-6416887/">doubled its lifetime income</a> on the PC version of <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/phoenix-cms/reviews/form?id=6195402/">PixelJunk Eden</a> after the game was featured in a flash sale as part of the 2013 Steam holiday sale.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">However, indie developer Jason Rohrer recently argued that "<a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/sales-screw-your-fans-says-indie-dev/1100-6417177/">sales screw fans</a>" over the long-term, training them to wait for discounts rather than ever pay the full price for a game when it launches.</p><p style="">Either way, the new tools should at least give developers more control on when and by how much they discount their games, and might mean we'll see more discounts throughout the year.</p><table data-max-width="true"><thead><tr><th scope="col"><em>Emanuel Maiberg is a freelance writer, and you can follow him on <a href="https://twitter.com/emanuelmaiberg" rel="nofollow" data-ref-id="false">Twitter @emanuelmaiberg</a><br /></em></th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><strong><em>Got a news tip or want to contact us directly? Email <a href="mailto:news@gamespot.com" rel="nofollow">news@gamespot.com</a></em></strong></td></tr></tbody></table> Sat, 01 Mar 2014 14:29:00 -0800 http://www.gamespot.com/articles/valve-gives-devs-tools-to-configure-steam-discounts-sales/1100-6418042/ http://www.gamespot.com/articles/dayz-doubles-size-of-development-team-cooking-system-in-the-works/1100-6418041/ <figure data-align="right" data-size="small" data-img-src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/1535/15354745/2446664-3079378068-tumbl.png" data-ref-id="1300-2446664" data-resize-url="" data-resized="" data-embed-type="image"><a href="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/1535/15354745/2446664-3079378068-tumbl.png" data-ref-id="1300-2446664"><img src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/scale_small/1535/15354745/2446664-3079378068-tumbl.png"></a></figure><p style=""> </p><p dir="ltr" style="">The <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/dayz/">DayZ</a> development team at Bohemia Interactive is being doubled in size, a post to <a href="http://dayzdev.tumblr.com/post/78119153354/weekly-report-starting-our-focus-on-survival" rel="nofollow">the game's development blog reveals</a>.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">DayZ creator Dean "Rocket" Hall wrote the post himself, detailing several fixes and new systems that will be added to the game soon. Earlier this week, <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/dayz-creator-dean-rocket-hall-will-leave-developer-bohemia-this-year/1100-6417925/">he announced that he plans to step down as the head of the popular open-world survival game</a> before the end of this year, and will start a new studio in New Zealand.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">The most interesting addition to the game revealed in the post is a new cooking system. "Heavily inspired by the outstanding cooking system in <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/project-zomboid/">Project Zomboid</a>, this will be part of a wider push in March to focus on Survival aspects of the game in general," Hall said.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">The cooking system will allow you to turn your cooking device on (a fireplace or stove) and then place items in it. Items will slowly heat up and become "cooked" when they reach the required heat, or become something else, like soup. "We're very excited by the possibilities for this system," Hall said.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">The team is also implementing several bug fixes, adding new animations, and improving stability. Finally, Hall said that there is much more going on, and that we'll see a roadmap for the rest of the year "very soon."</p><div data-embed-type="video" data-ref-id="2300-6410151" data-width="854" data-height="480"><iframe src="/videos/embed/6410151/" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen></iframe></div><p style=""> </p><table data-max-width="true"><thead><tr><th scope="col"><em>Emanuel Maiberg is a freelance writer, and you can follow him on <a href="https://twitter.com/emanuelmaiberg" rel="nofollow" data-ref-id="false">Twitter @emanuelmaiberg</a><br /></em></th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><strong><em>Got a news tip or want to contact us directly? Email <a href="mailto:news@gamespot.com" rel="nofollow">news@gamespot.com</a></em></strong></td></tr></tbody></table> Sat, 01 Mar 2014 13:41:00 -0800 http://www.gamespot.com/articles/dayz-doubles-size-of-development-team-cooking-system-in-the-works/1100-6418041/ http://www.gamespot.com/articles/payday-2-sales-pull-starbreeze-out-of-15-year-loss-in-six-months/1100-6418040/ <figure data-align="center" data-size="large" data-img-src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/1535/15354745/2446630-1004341237-24149.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2446630" data-resize-url="" data-resized="" data-embed-type="image"><a href="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/1535/15354745/2446630-1004341237-24149.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2446630"><img src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/scale_super/1535/15354745/2446630-1004341237-24149.jpg"></a></figure><p dir="ltr" style="">Since it was founded in 1998, Starbreeze has developed several well-known, critically acclaimed games including <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/reviews/the-chronicles-of-riddick-escape-from-butcher-bay-/1900-6099643/">The Chronicles of Riddick Escape From Butcher Bay</a>, <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/reviews/the-darkness-review/1900-6173249/">The Darkness</a>, and <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/reviews/syndicate-review/1900-6350825/">Syndicate</a>. But <a href="http://www.starbreeze.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/2014-02-27-Press-release-Half-Year-Report-July-1-December-31-2013.pdf" rel="nofollow">a recent press release from the Swedish developer</a> revealed that it only recently turned a profit, thanks mostly to <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/payday-2/">Payday 2</a>.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">For example, Starbreeze reported that it made $6.1 million in the last fiscal quarter, with $5.3 million in Payday 2 sales alone.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">"To put the past six months in perspective, I would like to highlight that Starbreeze historically, from 1998 to June 2013, accumulated a total loss of SEK 94 million ($14.4 million)," CEO Bo Andersson Klint said. "Thanks to our new business model, reorganization and a focus on our own brands, we have—in only two quarters—generated a profit before tax of SEK 104 million ($16 million)."</p><p dir="ltr" style="">Payday 2 was created by Overkill, another Swedish developer that Starbreeze acquired in 2012, and is published by 505 Games. The press release revealed that Starbreeze signed an "improved" contract with 505 Games to continue developing and refining Payday 2 for the next 20 months.</p><p style="">Klint said that <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/brothers-a-tale-of-two-sons/">Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons</a> also "finally" started generating royalty income for Starbreeze, bringing in around $250,000 in the last quarter.</p><div data-embed-type="video" data-ref-id="2300-6413623" data-width="854" data-height="480"><iframe src="/videos/embed/6413623/" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen></iframe></div><p style=""> </p><table data-max-width="true"><thead><tr><th scope="col"><em>Emanuel Maiberg is a freelance writer, and you can follow him on <a href="https://twitter.com/emanuelmaiberg" rel="nofollow" data-ref-id="false">Twitter @emanuelmaiberg</a><br /></em></th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><strong><em>Got a news tip or want to contact us directly? Email <a href="mailto:news@gamespot.com" rel="nofollow">news@gamespot.com</a><br /></em></strong></td></tr></tbody></table> Sat, 01 Mar 2014 12:05:00 -0800 http://www.gamespot.com/articles/payday-2-sales-pull-starbreeze-out-of-15-year-loss-in-six-months/1100-6418040/ http://www.gamespot.com/videos/top-5-skyrim-mods-of-the-week-become-the-ultimate-/2300-6417453/ Kevin isn't known for subtlety, but with five of the best thief mods behind him can he become the master of stealth? The king of conniving? The prophet of profitability? Find out in Top 5 Skyrim Mods. Sat, 01 Mar 2014 12:00:00 -0800 http://www.gamespot.com/videos/top-5-skyrim-mods-of-the-week-become-the-ultimate-/2300-6417453/ http://www.gamespot.com/articles/ps4-ps3-ps-vita-get-cartoon-inspired-vehicle-combat-game-cel-damage-hd/1100-6418039/ <figure data-align="center" data-size="large" data-img-src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/1535/15354745/2446610-0206758579-CelDa.png" data-ref-id="1300-2446610" data-resize-url="" data-resized="" data-embed-type="image"><a href="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/1535/15354745/2446610-0206758579-CelDa.png" data-ref-id="1300-2446610"><img src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/scale_super/1535/15354745/2446610-0206758579-CelDa.png"></a></figure><p style="">Developer Finish Line Games announced it's bringing the cartoon-inspired vehicle combat game Cel Damage HD to PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, and PlayStation Vita this spring</p><p dir="ltr" style="">Originally developed by Pseudo Interactive and released in 2001 on Xbox, PlayStation 2, and GameCube, <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/cel-damage/">Cel Damage</a> was a vehicle combat game much like Twisted Metal, only with cel shaded graphics and a Looney Tunes approach to weapons and gameplay. It was not well received by GameSpot at the time, getting a score of 5.7 in <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/reviews/cel-damage-review/1900-2825349/">our review</a>.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">Cel Damage HD will feature six playable characters, 13 arenas, 10 cars and more than 30 power-ups.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">"As longtime developers we've always enjoyed games that meld the realm of video games with other, similar forms of entertainment," co-founder of Finish Line Games Daniel Posner said. "With Cel Damage HD, we're bringing back one of our favorite mash-ups of classic vehicle combat games and cartoon animation to give players the distinct experience of playing as if they are in a cartoon."</p><p style="">Cel Damage HD will be Finish Line's first game. It will be available as a Cross-Buy release on the PlayStation Store this spring.</p><table data-max-width="true"><thead><tr><th scope="col"><em>Emanuel Maiberg is a freelance writer, and you can follow him on <a href="https://twitter.com/emanuelmaiberg" rel="nofollow" data-ref-id="false">Twitter @emanuelmaiberg</a><br /></em></th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><strong><em>Got a news tip or want to contact us directly? Email <a href="mailto:news@gamespot.com" rel="nofollow">news@gamespot.com</a></em></strong></td></tr></tbody></table> Sat, 01 Mar 2014 11:17:00 -0800 http://www.gamespot.com/articles/ps4-ps3-ps-vita-get-cartoon-inspired-vehicle-combat-game-cel-damage-hd/1100-6418039/ http://www.gamespot.com/articles/xbox-one-360-get-call-of-duty-ghosts-villains-themed-customization-items-march-4/1100-6418038/ <figure data-align="right" data-size="small" data-img-src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/1535/15354745/2446588-1195853964-codgh.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2446588" data-resize-url="" data-resized="" data-embed-type="image"><a href="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/1535/15354745/2446588-1195853964-codgh.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2446588"><img src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/scale_small/1535/15354745/2446588-1195853964-codgh.jpg"></a></figure><p style=""> </p><p style=""> </p><p style=""> </p><p style=""> </p><p dir="ltr" style="">Xbox One and Xbox 360 players will be able to buy villains-themed customization items for <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/call-of-duty-ghosts/">Call of Duty: Ghosts</a>' multiplayer mode on March 4, <a href="http://www.oneofswords.com/community/1os/blog/2014/02/27/new-customization-items-coming-soon-for-cod-ghosts-and-black-ops-ii#.UxIeg_m-2uR" rel="nofollow">Activision Community Manager Dan Amrich announced on his blog</a>.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">Fans of the Call of Duty series will see some familiar, despicable faces. The Makarov Legend Pack will allow you to play as the antagonist from <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/call-of-duty-modern-warfare-3/">Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3</a>, Vladimir Makarov, and will include a Makarov-themed Personalization Pack with a weapon camo, patch, reticle, playcard, and background. <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/will-call-of-duty-ghosts-feature-some-new-captain-price-dlc-update/1100-6417711/">Like the Captain Price Legend Pack before it</a>, The Makarov Legend Pack will cost $4.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">For $2 each, you'll also be able to play multiplayer as Gabriel Rorke, the villain from Call of Duty: Ghosts, Irman Zakhaev, the villain from <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/call-of-duty-4-modern-warfare/">Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare</a>, or some random soldier in a Hazmat suit.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">The customization items will be available on Xbox One and Xbox 360 first, and no release date has been announced yet for other platforms.</p><p style="">For more on Call of Duty: Ghosts be sure to read <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/reviews/call-of-duty-ghosts-review/1900-6415523/">our review</a>.</p><div data-embed-type="video" data-ref-id="2300-6415912" data-width="854" data-height="480"><iframe src="/videos/embed/6415912/" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen></iframe></div><p style=""> </p><table data-max-width="true"><thead><tr><th scope="col"><em>Emanuel Maiberg is a freelance writer, and you can follow him on <a href="https://twitter.com/emanuelmaiberg" rel="nofollow" data-ref-id="false">Twitter @emanuelmaiberg</a><br /></em></th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><strong><em>Got a news tip or want to contact us directly? Email <a href="mailto:news@gamespot.com" rel="nofollow">news@gamespot.com</a></em></strong></td></tr></tbody></table> Sat, 01 Mar 2014 10:17:00 -0800 http://www.gamespot.com/articles/xbox-one-360-get-call-of-duty-ghosts-villains-themed-customization-items-march-4/1100-6418038/ http://www.gamespot.com/articles/the-last-of-us-final-season-pass-dlc-adds-new-single-player-difficulty-mode/1100-6418037/ <figure data-align="center" data-size="large" data-img-src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/1535/15354745/2446550-9946934307-24424.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2446550" data-resize-url="" data-resized="" data-embed-type="image"><a href="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/1535/15354745/2446550-9946934307-24424.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2446550"><img src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/scale_super/1535/15354745/2446550-9946934307-24424.jpg"></a></figure><p style="">Developer Naughty Dog has announced that the final piece of DLC included in the <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/the-last-of-us-season-pass-detailed/1100-6408991/">$20 Season Pass</a> for <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/the-last-of-us/">The Last of Us</a> will add a new difficulty mode for the single-player campaign.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">At the moment, The Last of Us has Easy, Normal, Hard, and Survivor difficulty modes, with the last one disabling the game's useful "listening" ability. Naughty Dog did not specify how the new difficulty mode will change the experience.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">According to<a href="http://www.naughtydog.com/site/post/go_behind_the_scenes_of_the_last_of_us_and_the_last_of_us_left_behind" rel="nofollow"> the latest post on Naughty Dog's official website</a>, the DLC will also be "chock full of multiplayer goodness," with more maps, weapons and skills. Naughty Dog did not announce a release date, but said it will have more details on this latest piece of DLC as it nears completion.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">The announcement also came with a new short documentary about the making of <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/reviews/the-last-of-us-left-behind-review/1900-6415658/">The Last of Us: Left Behind</a>, the only story-driven, single-player expansion Naughty Dog plans to add to the game. If you want to find out more about Naughty Dog's development process, the company also <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/the-last-of-us-making-of-documentary-now-available-for-free/1100-6417882/">recently released the feature length documentary, Grounded: The Making of The Last of Us</a>, on <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0l7LzC_h8I" rel="nofollow">YouTube</a> and Amazon.</p><p style="">Last week, The Last of Us Creative Director Neil Druckmann said that <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/the-last-of-us-2-is-a-50-50-chance/1100-6417906/">there's a 50 percent chance that Naughty Dog will make a full sequel to The Last of Us</a>.</p><div data-embed-type="video" data-ref-id="2300-6417222" data-width="854" data-height="480"><iframe src="/videos/embed/6417222/" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen></iframe></div><table data-max-width="true"><thead><tr><th scope="col"><em>Emanuel Maiberg is a freelance writer, and you can follow him on <a href="https://twitter.com/emanuelmaiberg" rel="nofollow" data-ref-id="false">Twitter @emanuelmaiberg</a><br /></em></th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><strong><em>Got a news tip or want to contact us directly? Email <a href="mailto:news@gamespot.com" rel="nofollow">news@gamespot.com</a></em></strong></td></tr></tbody></table> Sat, 01 Mar 2014 09:09:00 -0800 http://www.gamespot.com/articles/the-last-of-us-final-season-pass-dlc-adds-new-single-player-difficulty-mode/1100-6418037/ http://www.gamespot.com/articles/soe-all-access-pass-delayed-two-weeks/1100-6418036/ <figure data-align="center" data-size="large" data-img-src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/1535/15354745/2446523-1994610370-20383.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2446523" data-resize-url="" data-resized="" data-embed-type="image"><a href="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/1535/15354745/2446523-1994610370-20383.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2446523"><img src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/scale_super/1535/15354745/2446523-1994610370-20383.jpg"></a></figure><p style="">The SOE All Access program will launch on April 16, two weeks after the original April 2 launch date, according to what SOE President <a href="https://twitter.com/j_smedley/status/439174334985166848" rel="nofollow">John Smedley said on Twitter</a>.</p><div data-embed-type="tweet" data-src="https://twitter.com/j_smedley/status/439174334985166848"><blockquote align="center" data-conversation="none" data-cards="hidden" data-mce-disable-toolbar="true"><p>Looking like new membership plans will go live around 4/16 instead of 4/2. Lots of stuff to finish</p> — John Smedley (@j_smedley) <a href="https://twitter.com/j_smedley/statuses/439174334985166848" rel="nofollow">February 27, 2014</a></blockquote><script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><p dir="ltr" style="">SOE revealed the All Access program last month after it announced it was <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/soe-shutting-down-four-mmos-including-star-wars-clone-wars-adventures/1100-6417333/">shutting down several of its massively multiplayer online role-playing games</a>.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">SOE All Access gives subscribers top-tier membership level in EverQuest, <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/everquest-ii-extended/">EverQuest II</a>, <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/dc-universe-online/">DC Universe Online</a> for the PC, <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/planetside-2/">PlanetSide 2</a> for the PC, and the upcoming <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/everquest-next/">EverQuest Next</a> and <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/everquest-next-landmark/">EverQuest Next Landmark</a>. Players with existing memberships in any of SOE's games will be upgraded to the All Access program.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">All Access membership starts at $14.99, with extra savings for three, six, and one year plans. It will also include a 10 percent discount on marketplace purchases, 500 Station Cash per month, and access to exclusive promotions.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">For more on SOE's upcoming EveryQuest Next Landmark, make sure to read<a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/you-decide-the-future-of-everquest-next-landmark/1100-6417446/"> our preview of its creation tools</a>.</p><p dir="ltr" style=""> </p><table data-max-width="true"><thead><tr><th scope="col"><em>Emanuel Maiberg is a freelance writer, and you can follow him on <a href="https://twitter.com/emanuelmaiberg" rel="nofollow" data-ref-id="false">Twitter @emanuelmaiberg</a><br /></em></th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><strong><em>Got a news tip or want to contact us directly? Email <a href="mailto:news@gamespot.com" rel="nofollow">news@gamespot.com</a></em></strong></td></tr></tbody></table> Sat, 01 Mar 2014 07:19:00 -0800 http://www.gamespot.com/articles/soe-all-access-pass-delayed-two-weeks/1100-6418036/ http://www.gamespot.com/articles/carmageddon-reincarnation-hits-steam-early-access-march-27/1100-6418035/ <figure data-align="right" data-size="small" data-img-src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/1535/15354745/2446493-3262991933-crush.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2446493" data-resize-url="" data-resized="" data-embed-type="image"><a href="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/1535/15354745/2446493-3262991933-crush.jpg" data-ref-id="1300-2446493"><img src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/scale_small/1535/15354745/2446493-3262991933-crush.jpg"></a></figure><p style=""> </p><p style=""> </p><p style=""> </p><p style=""> </p><p style=""> </p><p dir="ltr" style=""><a href="http://www.gamespot.com/carmageddon-reincarnation/">Carmageddon: Reincarnation</a> will arrive on Steam Early Access on March 27, developer Stainless Games has announced.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">Stainless Games has yet to announce a price, but said that Kickstarter backers will be able to play the game two weeks before its Steam release.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">Carmageddon: Reincarnation will revive the "points for pedestrians" destruction derby-style car game series, which started in 1997, and was last seen in 2000 with the unfortunate <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/carmageddon-3-tdr-2000/">Carmageddon 3: TDR 2000</a>.</p><p dir="ltr" style="">"It's brilliant to see our demonic baby rise screaming from the grave," Stainless Games co-founder and CEO Patrick Buckland said. "This time we could finally do the stuff that we wanted to do 17 years ago. More blood was the main thing. Rivers of livers – that's what we wanted. Being publisher as well as developer means we get to be stupid."</p><p dir="ltr" style="">The game was <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/carmageddon-reincarnation-successfully-funded/1100-6378953/">funded on Kickstarter in 2012</a> with over $625,000, and last year Stainless Games <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/carmageddon-dev-raises-35-million/1100-6405671/">raised an additional $3.5 million</a> from Bullfrog Productions founder Les Edgar, which the developer said would allow it to bring Carmageddon: Reincarnation to Xbox One and PlayStation 4 as well as PC.</p><p style="">As the damage tech demo that Stainless released alongside the announcement makes obvious, Carmageddon: Reincarnation is currently in a pre-alpha phase.</p><div data-embed-type="video" data-ref-id="2300-6417460" data-width="100%" data-height="100%"><iframe src="/videos/embed/6417460/" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen></iframe></div><p style=""> </p><table data-max-width="true"><thead><tr><th scope="col"><em>Emanuel Maiberg is a freelance writer, and you can follow him on <a href="https://twitter.com/emanuelmaiberg" rel="nofollow" data-ref-id="false">Twitter @emanuelmaiberg</a><br /></em></th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><strong><em>Got a news tip or want to contact us directly? Email <a href="mailto:news@gamespot.com" rel="nofollow">news@gamespot.com</a></em></strong></td></tr></tbody></table> Sat, 01 Mar 2014 06:52:00 -0800 http://www.gamespot.com/articles/carmageddon-reincarnation-hits-steam-early-access-march-27/1100-6418035/ http://www.gamespot.com/articles/twitch-plays-pokemon-collects-all-badges-enters-home-stretch/1100-6417981/ <p style="">UPDATE 3/1/2014</p><p style="">Early this morning, after 16 days and seven hours of continuous play, Twitch Plays Pokemon beat the game! Congratulations to everyone who participated!</p><figure data-align="center" data-size="large" data-img-src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/1534/15343359/2446408-screen+shot+2014-03-01+at+1.21.40+am.png" data-ref-id="1300-2446408" data-resize-url="" data-resized="" data-embed-type="image"><a href="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/1534/15343359/2446408-screen+shot+2014-03-01+at+1.21.40+am.png" data-ref-id="1300-2446408"><img src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/scale_super/1534/15343359/2446408-screen+shot+2014-03-01+at+1.21.40+am.png"></a></figure><p style=""> </p><p style=""> </p><p style="">UPDATE 2/28/2014</p><p style="">And they did it! Twitch Plays Pokemon has officially beaten the Final Four and become a Pokemon Master...but they still need to beat their rival, BLUE.</p><div data-embed-type="html"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p style="">We did it :') <a href="http://t.co/dvCNiUENm4" rel="nofollow">pic.twitter.com/dvCNiUENm4</a></p> — TwitchPlaysPokemon (@TwitchPokemon) <a href="https://twitter.com/TwitchPokemon/statuses/439533666000060416" rel="nofollow">February 28, 2014</a></blockquote><script charset="utf-8" type="text/javascript" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" async=""></script></div><p style=""><em>The original story appears below.</em></p><div data-embed-type="video" data-src="http://www.twitch.tv/twitchplayspokemon" data-width="100%" data-height="100%"><iframe src="//cdn.embedly.com/widgets/media.html?src=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.twitch.tv%2Fwidgets%2Flive_embed_player.swf%3Fchannel%3Dtwitchplayspokemon&fv=hostname%3Dwww.twitch.tv%26start_volume%3D25%26channel%3Dtwitchplayspokemon%26auto_play%3Dfalse&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.twitch.tv%2Ftwitchplayspokemon&key=6efca6e5ad9640f180f14146a0bc1392&type=application%2Fx-shockwave-flash&schema=twitch&wmode=opaque" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen></iframe></div><p style="">Against seemingly impossible odds, the Twitch Plays Pokemon stream has collected all of the game's badges and is getting ready to take on the Elite Four.</p><p style="">If you'd like a complete recap of events, Reddit has put together an exhaustively <a href="http://www.reddit.com/r/twitchplayspokemon/comments/1y6wyc/nearly_complete_timeline_of_events/" rel="nofollow">time-stamped recap</a>, or you can read a <a href="http://www.reddit.com/r/twitchplayspokemon/wiki/historyoftpp" rel="nofollow">more narrative retelling</a>. But this <a href="https://sites.google.com/site/twitchplayspokemonstatus/" rel="nofollow">public Google document</a> is the easiest way to see at a glance what's up in the game. According to the document, the players are working towards getting past one of the game's trickier ledge sections (tricky when you have 50,000 people playing, at least) as they head towards Victory Road.</p><p style="">Also notable is that the stream was able to revive the Helix fossil into the Pokemon Omanyte. The Helix Fossil is an item given to the player early in the game that cannot be thrown away; it has been elevated to a savior-like status in the chat with prayers of "Praise Helix" and "Base Helix."</p><p style="">Users are able to balance the game by shifting control between an Anarchy mode (where every command from the chat is input into the game) and Democracy (where the most popular commands go through). But <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/twitch-plays-pokemon-is-a-fascinating-vision-of-the-future/1100-6417867/" data-ref-id="1100-6417867">none of the spin-off games (like QWOP and Tetris) have reached the same level of incredible popularity</a>. The phenomenon has seen some drop-off from it's <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/over-60k-people-watching-twitch-play-pokemon-update/1100-6417762/" data-ref-id="1100-6417762">high count of over 100k viewers</a>, currently sitting at just over 50k viewers, though it's likely the game will see another uptick as it nears its conclusion.</p><p style="">Are you going to tune in more frequently now that it's over? And if so, will you work to sabotage the people trying to finish the game, or are you part of the group trying to shift the game to democracy, order, and finality? Either way, Twitch Plays Pokemon has turned out to be a surprising experiment that no one could've seen coming.</p> Sat, 01 Mar 2014 01:23:00 -0800 http://www.gamespot.com/articles/twitch-plays-pokemon-collects-all-badges-enters-home-stretch/1100-6417981/ http://www.gamespot.com/reviews/basement-crawl-review/1900-6415683/ <p style="">Basement Crawl opens with a cutscene that promises horror and perhaps a bit of mystery. A grandmother sternly tells her granddaughter of the dangers that lurk outside their home, though the grandmother's warning is itself tinged with a sinister tone. What has happened to the outside world? How have these two people survived? Is the grandmother evil? What are these horrific creatures that we're getting glimpses of?</p><p style="">Then you start the game and find a lackluster, multiplayer-only <a href="/bomberman/" data-ref-id="false">Bomberman</a> clone bereft of features and personality. Any promise the premise had is immediately lost, and disappointment--not terror--lurks around every corner.</p><p style="">Basement Crawl is a grid-based game for multiple players in which you bomb things. As one of four different characters, each with slightly different starting stats (one is a bit faster, one has a bit more health, and so on), you lay down bombs--sorry, "traps"--which explode in straight lines in four directions: up, down, left, and right. You can collect power-ups for longer explosions, kick traps away from you, and hide behind a predictable pattern of unbreakable blocks, all in an effort to kill the opposing players over and over again.</p><figure data-align="center" data-size="large" data-img-src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/536/5360430/2441341-basement_crawl_preview_09.png" data-ref-id="1300-2441341" data-resize-url="" data-resized="" data-embed-type="image"><a href="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/536/5360430/2441341-basement_crawl_preview_09.png" data-ref-id="1300-2441341"><img src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/scale_super/536/5360430/2441341-basement_crawl_preview_09.png"></a><figcaption>Wait, am I the crash test dummy in the center or on the left? They both look the same!</figcaption></figure><p style="">If this sounds familiar, then you've probably played a Bomberman game before. Basement Crawl may call its bombs traps, but even the game's dark visuals can't hide the fact that this is just Bomberman with a shoddy horror theme.</p><p style="">Basement Crawl's biggest problem isn't that it's derivative, however; it's that it gives you no options. Never mind that there is no single-player mode whatsoever, not even an option to play against bots for practice. There simply aren't any settings to toggle for what kinds of rules you want to play by. Even when you create your own custom game (which is likely, since there's no matchmaking), you can't set options like match time, the number of kills needed to win, whether or not certain power-ups are disabled, or even a player limit. Your only options are Deathmatch or Team Deathmatch. That's it.</p><p style="">Want to limit your online match to four players, because you think having eight players in a match is too hectic and not very fun? Too bad. Want to disable the ability to kick traps, because that's all some players ever use? No dice. For having been inspired by a classic party game, Basement Crawl sure doesn't want you to have any chance at forming house rules. But hey, you can take your room full of four local players and join online matches with them, so that's something, right?</p><figure data-align="right" data-size="medium" data-img-src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/416/4161502/2446168-0002.png" data-ref-id="1300-2446168" data-resize-url="" data-resized="" data-embed-type="image"><a href="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/416/4161502/2446168-0002.png" data-ref-id="1300-2446168"><img src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/scale_medium/416/4161502/2446168-0002.png"></a><figcaption>Ooooh, look at all that blood outside the arena. So scary!</figcaption></figure><p style="">One thing you do get to choose is the arena, though differences between arenas are negligible and almost entirely cosmetic. They come in three flavors, with a few different grid shapes for each: Restaurant Dungeon, Abandoned Circus, and Forgotten Factory. Notably, none of these environments is a basement.</p><p style="">One thing all these environments have in common is that they are dark and cramped. So dark and cramped, in fact, that it's easy to lose track of the action. A pillar of light highlights your location when you spawn, but if you lose track of your character after that first moment, good luck finding it again. It's bad enough that there are only four characters to go around for eight players, but they're not visually distinct enough from each other to quickly pick them out in the dark environments anyway. There is often so much happening onscreen--much of which looks too similar to its surroundings already--that you lose track of the action constantly. As you play, you hear people screaming and a creepy child laughing, but none of it is the least bit effective at delivering on the premise of horror.</p><figure data-align="left" data-size="small" data-img-src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/416/4161502/2446169-0003.png" data-ref-id="1300-2446169" data-resize-url="" data-resized="" data-embed-type="image"><a href="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/416/4161502/2446169-0003.png" data-ref-id="1300-2446169"><img src="http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/scale_small/416/4161502/2446169-0003.png"></a><figcaption>It's hard to tell in the dark. How many players are here, again?</figcaption></figure><p style="">The only sense of progression is the ability to play online against strangers in an effort to increase your online rank. But since there's no form of matchmaking, your rank means very little. And if you want to increase it at all, you have to actually win matches--as in, win first place in Deathmatch (or as a team in Team Deathmatch). Otherwise, you get nothing. Reaching the maximum rank of 30 could take a very long time.</p><p style="">To top it all off, Basement Crawl is buggy at worst and unfinished at best. For example, when you pause an offline game, the action pauses, but the match timer keeps ticking down. How do you get the act of pausing wrong? It has been a while since a good Bomberman game was released, and nobody else seems to be interested in mimicking that classic gameplay. If you can get a solid group of four local Bomberman fans, and you have no desire to change any of the game's standard settings, you can have some simple fun blowing each other up. But if you're really desperate for this kind of experience, you're better off hunting down just about any Bomberman game from years past, rather than getting dirty crawling through the muck in this basement.</p> Fri, 28 Feb 2014 17:03:00 -0800 http://www.gamespot.com/reviews/basement-crawl-review/1900-6415683/
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