Is Skyrim DLC Coming Soon?
Without a doubt, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is one of the highest critically acclaimed RPG games ever released for the PC and modern gaming consoles, receiving an amazing 9.5 IGN score. More »
New D&D Adventure! Halls of Undermountain
It’s Spring Break, and any gamers still in school have earned a little rest and relaxation time from their studies. If you’re on break, perhaps you have some free time to do More »
Wasteland 2 RPG Project is Underway
Fans of classic RPG video games are in luck. Word is that a sequel to Wasteland, the world’s first ever post-apocalyptic computer RPG, is in the works. Wasteland was released back in More »
Xenoblade Chronicles Is Epic RPG!
Perhaps a hardcore gamer like myself shouldn’t like the Nintendo Wii, but I just can’t help myself. I’ve been a Nintendo fanboy for as long as I can remember, and have fond More »
Chessex Pound of Dice
There’s a lot of good things to say about role playing games such as Dungeons and Dragons, Pathfinder, Call of Cthulhu and the like. Table top RPG games are imaginative and a More »
Is Skyrim DLC Coming Soon?
Without a doubt, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is one of the highest critically acclaimed RPG games ever released for the PC and modern gaming consoles, receiving an amazing 9.5 IGN score. It’s rare for a game to achieve a 9.0, let alone a 9.5 and be given an “Editor’s Choice” ranking. So how about it? Is Skyrim really that good? You betcha!
The Skyrim RPG has captured the imaginations of millions of gamers worldwide. Like most fantasy RPG games, Skyrim allows a player to create their own unique character in order to complete adventures and quests. A player begins by choosing their character’s race (there are ten to choose from), and special racial powers, skills, and spells are granted. There are no set “classes” in Skyrim, rather players are given the freedom to play the game however they wish. Like magic? One can pursue the mystic arts and improve their mage abilities. How about fighting? Train your character in one-handed and two-handed attacks and eventually none will dare stand before you. How about thieving? A player can emphasize their character’s sneak and lock picking abilities and become one with the shadows. As players progress through Skyrim their characters can “level up” based on the amount of experience they gain throughout the course of the game.
Character creation and development is all well and good, but what makes Skyrim a totally amazing RPG experience is the huge world players can explore. The game is an “open world sandbox,” and players are free to travel wherever they desire — whenever they desire. The world of Skyrim is vast and beautiful. Unlike popular role playing games like the Mass Effect series, game events aren’t linear in nature — you won’t find cinematic cut sequences, and players are given unparalleled freedom of movement and freedom of choice. Granted, there is a main storyline, but their are over 400 side quests that will keep gamers entertained for hundreds of hours.
Despite the epic world of Skyrim and its hundreds of hours of game play, fans are still hungry for more and are eagerly awaiting the first DLC release. While no definitive date has been released, rumors are that a game expansion is coming soon. Zenimax Media, the parent company of Bethesda (the game’s publisher), recently filed a trademark application for downloadable content entitled “Dawnguard.” You can read about the rumor here and here. Whether or not “Dawnguard” will prove to be the first Skyrim DLC released is yet to be seen, but rest assured DLC is coming. For Skyrim fans this is wonderful news. It’s hard to believe, but the world of Skyrim is soon to be become a whole lot bigger.
Related Posts:
New D&D Adventure! Halls of Undermountain
It’s Spring Break, and any gamers still in school have earned a little rest and relaxation time from their studies. If you’re on break, perhaps you have some free time to do some gaming. Maybe you can start tackling that video game backlog you’ve amassed since the holidays, or maybe you can play some table top role playing games with your friends? No matter what you do on your vacation, just know that Wizards of the Coast has been busy when it comes to their flagship product – Dungeons and Dragons.
The latest news from WOC is that a brand new D&D adventure is being released on April 17. You may not be looking forward to going back to school, but at least you can take comfort in the fact that 4E: Halls of Undermountain will soon be available. This gaming supplement can be used to extend an earlier WOC release, The Elder Elemental Eye, or can be used as a starting point for a new campaign for character levels 1 through 5. No matter how you decide to use Halls of Undermountain, this adventure offers a great excuse to play Dungeons and Dragons this Spring. Halls of Undermountain promises to offer a classic dungeon diving experience for players of all classes. Over 80 locations are finely detailed and the RPG supplement is chock full of sinister monsters, dangerous traps, and loads of treasure and unique magic items.
The basic premise of Halls of Undermountain is as follows:
Eons ago, a wizard named Halaster created a massive dungeon beneath the streets of Waterdeep. Since its creation, sinister villains and hordes of monsters have taken up residency. As if this isn’t bad enough, these denizens of the deep aren’t satisfied in keeping to themselves. Quite the contrary, they despise the citizens of Waterdeep and plot the destruction of those who inhabit the streets above them. A brave group of adventurers is needed to travel underground through the twisting labyrinth in order to root out the monsters and stop the evil machinations taking place. Who is brave enough to face the dangers of the deep places and claim its treasures?
Players and Dungeon Masters should expect another well-designed RPG supplement by Wizards of the Coast. Halls of Undermountain not only offers a ready-to-use dungeon of the sort that made D&D a household name, but includes two double-sided poster maps in full color as well. The game supplement retails for $29.95 and is available for pre-order at your favorite game and hobby store.
Related Posts:
Wasteland 2 RPG Project is Underway
Fans of classic RPG video games are in luck. Word is that a sequel to Wasteland, the world’s first ever post-apocalyptic computer RPG, is in the works. Wasteland was released back in the 1980’s and was named the 1998 Adventure Game of the Year by Computer Gaming World as well, as being picked by IGN as one of the top 25 games of all time for the PC. The game was groundbreaking in its day, and was the inspiration for the wildly successful Fallout RPG series.
It’s been 24 years since gamers first adventured in Wasteland, but it looks as if Wasteland 2 is definitely going to be made. The game’s original creators having gotten together to make the sequel, and are currently seeking funding for the project through a Kickstarter campaign. Kickstarter allows private donors to contribute to worthy projects to see that the necessary funding is available to launch a finished product. It takes a considerable amount of money to create a video game, and it’s cool that regular gamers like you and me can be instrumental in project funding. At the time of this post, over 22 thousand backers have ponied up over 1.2 million dollars to see that Wasteland 2 gets made. The funds have exceeded the $900,000 goal the developers set, and there are still 31 days left to go. If interested, you can back the Wasteland 2 project with a $1 donation — if you pledge $15 you’ll receive a digital, downloadable copy of the game when it’s released (estimated date: October 2013).
The Wasteland 2 project is being headed by Brian Fargo (the executive producer of the original Wasteland and Fallout games). The game’s original designers are also on board for the project as well as an entire host of other gaming greats, including Mark Morgan, the music director of Fallout 1 and 2. This isn’t simply a re-licensing deal where some new developers are taking the Wasteland name to churn out a sequel. Far from it. The game’s original creators have banded together to create a follow-up to a classic game that they know and love. Not only that, but Wasteland 2 supporters will have an opportunity to suggest ideas regarding design and game play on special forums established to solicit ideas. Gamers will truly be given a chance to be part of an epic project from start to finish. How often does this happen in the gaming world?
Related Posts:
Xenoblade Chronicles Is Epic RPG!
Perhaps a hardcore gamer like myself shouldn’t like the Nintendo Wii, but I just can’t help myself. I’ve been a Nintendo fanboy for as long as I can remember, and have fond memories of waiting in line outside at Best Buy in the freezing cold to get my hands on the Wii when the system first came out. I remember people in line talking excitedly about the new motion controller — as a gamer, it was all about the cutting edge tech and everything just felt so “revolutionary” somehow.
Today, the revolution is over. The Wii’s proprietary tech just isn’t novel anymore. We have the Kinect, and even 3D video games now. Tomorrow I’m sure we’ll have something else all together — a new gaming advance that will make the Wii seem like an old school Atari 2600. Despite all this, I still like my Wii. The game system’s library isn’t as big as that of the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3, and game selection even gets thinner when looking for quality RPG titles, my favorite genre. I realize this, but a game changer is on the horizon next month that reaffirms my faith in the Wii and lets my friends know I’m not that crazy. Xenoblade Chronicles is coming April 6, 2012, and this Nintendo and RPG fanatic just can’t stop smiling.
Xenoblade Chronicles, like many excellent games before it, was initially released in Japan. Last year, Australian and European gamers were treated to a release of Xenoblade Chronicles, and I’m happy to say that it’s now finally North America’s turn. Frankly, I’m somewhat surprised that it has taken this long. Xenoblade Chronicles has been critically acclaimed and has received many positive reviews. Regardless, I’m just happy that the game is coming in only a few more weeks.
Xenoblade Chronicles is a fantasy RPG that features a real time battle system that incorporates auto attacks for party members, as well as for allowing manual activation of special attacks. This battle system helps keep the action at an exciting pace, and makes certain that the game’s mechanics don’t bog down the fun. Players can game with the Wiimote and attached nunchuck for that special Wii experience, or can opt for the classic controller (while I’m not a “button masher” per se, I still feel more comfortable with the classic controller in a game environment such as Xenoblade’s).
Without getting into too much detail and not wanting to reveal certain plot spoilers, the game tells the story of Shulk, Xenoblade Chronicle’s hero who wields an unmistakably oversize sword called the Monado. Shulk begins his adventures with his friends after his village is attacked by the Kishin army. The world in which Shulk and his companions adventure in is absolutely gorgeous. The graphics and colors are brilliantly rendered in such a way as to not be “cartoonish,” and the game looks amazing (which is quite an accomplishment for the Wii — a system that willingly sacrifices processing power for its motion control system, as opposed to the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 who were designed for graphics intense games).
Xenoblade Chronicles is epic, and North American gamers are in for a special treat. I’ve attached a YouTube game trailer below so you can get a feel for the game’s graphics and environment. Like I mentioned earlier, I just can’t stop smiling and I can’t wait for April 6!
Related Posts:
Chessex Pound of Dice
There’s a lot of good things to say about role playing games such as Dungeons and Dragons, Pathfinder, Call of Cthulhu and the like. Table top RPG games are imaginative and a whole lot of fun to play. Unlike video games, classic RPG games are a social event shared with your best friends. Sure, you can play multi-player video games online or over Xbox Live, but it’s not the same experience as sitting across the table with your best buddies, drinking Mountain Dew and rolling dice.
Speaking of dice, I just can’t get enough of them. If there is one definitive element that symbolizes table top role playing it’s the dice. Gamers everywhere are familiar with those strange, geometric shaped dice capable of generating different numbers. Sometimes known as RPG dice, D&D dice, or polyhedral dice, a typical set consists of the d4, d6, d8, d10, d12, and d20 (“d” is short-hand for “dice,” and the corresponding number represents how many sides each die has — a “d20” is a twenty-sided die for instance).
When I first started playing Dungeons and Dragons back in grade school, I had a set of plain red dice. The dice served their purpose well, but it didn’t take me long to discover that manufacturers produced dice in a much broader assortment of colors and styles. When I attended my first gaming convention (the Origins Game Fair in Columbus, Ohio), I was amazed at the variety of RPG dice available for purchase. My local game store only stocked a few dice sets (in plain colors I might add), but at Origins I saw the best that manufacturers such as Chessex and Crystal Caste had to offer.
Presented with such a variety of choices was at first somewhat overwhelming. My imagination was limitless, but regrettably my finances weren’t. Having only the one dice set to my name at the time, I finally settled on purchasing an assortment of game dice called the Pound of Dice by Chessex. I felt a bulk dice purchase offered me the most value for my money. The Pound of Dice not only contained a random assortment of RPG dice in a variety of styles and different colors, it also included a complete set of seven dice in an exclusive speckled color. I couldn’t tell what color the exclusive dice were until I opened the package (it was a bit of a mystery — like getting a prize in a box of Cracker Jacks), but I was pleased with the set I ended up with. The dice were white with green specks and inked numbers, looking a whole lot better than my plain old red dice. Overall I received around 100 dice in my one pound assortment, and had plenty to make up different dice sets. If truth be told, I actually had too many dice, so I gave some away to my gaming buddies, and kept the ones that I found the most interesting for myself. It’s been several years since I first attended Origins, but I still have many of the Chessex dice that I bought that day.
