Category: ! Vitneta and Column

We were able to see Dragonwald one of the first, at the stage of internal studio testing. This is when developers and producers run through the forests, birds sing in debt mode, and the dying dragon meticulously writes his sensations in the log. We saw that for ordinary mortals it will become a reality in two weeks – a new card, and with it a new game mode in Prime World.

What is Dragonwald on

The latest history of computer games remembers the case when a single addon has become a full -fledged game, and then a whole genre. Mechanics laid in Dota Allstars, They reproduced a myriad of times – ten heroes, three lines of the offensive, two bases and an endless stream of monsters that grind each other on a counter attack. Heroes of Newerth and League of Legends level projects moved on and eventually introduced new cards (in fact, the modes of the game) – “three to three”, “dominance” and the like. This time has come in Prime World. And if the base card strictly follows the genre canon, then the dragonwald is the author and very unusual development. Most of all, it resembles a dungeon in an online role: a group of heroes moves towards a large “boss” through a string of “bosses” of a smallest, alternating tactics and helping each other, and the raid leader marks goals and yells heartily in the voice chat.

Where the bomb will fall, a warning circle flashes. Who did not have time, he was killed or firmly crippled.

There are no place for weakmings here

There are no weak soldiers and monsters in Dragonwald. A few local inhabitants went into groups and guard the paths, so there is no direct path to the enemy. Docts and Adornians enter the game from opposite bases and move towards each other, clearing the road. At the beginning of the party, we have a pure PVE-mode in front of us, and a rather complicated. Those who managed to get used to, that wild monsters in Prime World – frail cannon fodder, inevitably collide with a couple of painful surprises.

Experience accumulates slowly. If on a standard map it was enough to meet the advancing, receiving one level after another, then here – only run, choosing the next group that you can already overcome. Solo tactics for many classes are not far off: the chance to go to the base is too high, and the unfinished monsters will not bring a drop of prime. You have to group yourself and, as far as possible, try to divide the enemy detachment. The latter is not so simple: the enemy will not pursue you in half a card. You just have to break the distance, and the monsters will return back, and at the same time restore health.

So, clearing the paths and growing in levels, the teams are approaching the center of the map. There are birds on the way, whose leader destroys enemies with a piercing cry;Piruins armed with powerful bombs;flocks of dragon;riders in lizards;Ghosts of ghosts;green beast, paralyzing enemies with a flashlight on the head;ficus, oozing poisonous green gas … and a dragon. One. In the very center.

Tugting eggs

The dragon is the closest relative of the Gorynych snake, but his role in the gameplay is completely different. He is no longer a side “boss”, on which the team, having seized the moment, can quickly raise a couple of decisive levels. Here it is the main and only key to victory. For most mortal prime, it means death, but for dragons it is a source of strength and health. The dragon itself is the focus of the prime, and the dragon egg is the same, only in the square. And if you bring such an egg closer to the mining installations, the units will fail from the overload.

The offensive strategy of both fractions is being built on this. Kill the dragon, grab the fallen egg and attribute to the enemy territory. The closer it is to the enemy base, the faster the strength of the building decreases, and within one or two minutes the base explodes, bringing the victory of the aggressor team. A player carrying an egg is especially vulnerable: he is disconnected by all the talents of invisibility, acceleration, quick movement, a teleport does not work. In a word, everything that would leave the pursuers. Therefore, at the time of the murder of the dragon, the game sharply changes the genre with PVE to aggressive PVP with the elements of the “capture of the flag”. With the only difference being that you need to take the “flag”, that is, the egg, not to your territory, but in the very heart of the enemy. Opponents, of course, try to kill the egg -pronoun hero, take away the burden and drag it in the opposite direction. It turns out something like tug of a rope on the contrary.

A pair of hits at the last hero, a couple of hits at the dragon. Now everything is solved by milliseconds … and the probability of “Crete”.

Differences and nuances

Each team has four heroes (and not five, as in the main mode). There is no mini-game: with such a number of participants, it would be too wasteful to send someone to the “zoom”. When compared with a classic map, the parties are more fleeting, so you should not bet on the upper line of talents – the game usually ends earlier, within 20 – 26 levels. Since there are few monsters, less effective and “cumulative” talents that enhance their effect from mass killings.

Tactically, the party can be divided into three phases: a set of experience, a battle with a dragon and a decisive battle. Moreover, the last stage is almost completely predetermined – which team was better “pumped” and the first killed the dragon, she

will be released by the winner from a series of final conflicts. And although we happened to see the exception (the team with the egg was carried away by the attack, was killed near the base and eventually lost), the victory in Dragonwald is based on a competent PVE development. The final PVP is more likely to summarize the results.

It is also equally important to guess the moment when it’s time to go to the dragon. Overestimate your strength – lose time and lag behind, underestimate – the opposite team will intercept the initiative. The local dragon has fewer health than the usual Gorynych, but it bites more painfully and brings less than a primary. It is optimal to beat him with a team of 19 – 23 levels – depending on its class composition.

This is how Dragonwald appeared before us. It will be worth reminding that all of the above can still change, because right now there is a final refinement of balance and individual details of game mechanics. The launch of the regime is expected over the next couple of weeks.

Developers warn that Dragonwald will not be available constantly: additional cards are planned to alternate over time. That is, the base card of the border guards will always be open, and sideways will cyclically change each other as part of a regular rotation. True, here is the principle and frequency (on Tuesdays, on holidays, during the days of full lunar eclipses?) not yet disclosed. Let’s try to keep you in the know.

The fact that large corporations prefer not to invest in separate projects, but immediately create franchises, not news and not a secret. But sometimes the producers go, it seems, too far, starting to revive the series and brands, which for the first time did not particularly interest anyone. For what?

Original HomeFront was a gray and faceless joker-one-day, parasitizing on all fashionable ideas. The game did not offer anything really original (except for setting). After the collapse ThQ The trademark has passed into new hands, another studio is now working on the continuation, but this seems to have not changed: the demo presented at the Igomir The Revolution – This is again sad mediocrity.

Pseudo -historical certificate

In 2025, treacherous Koreans attacked the noble and freedom-loving USA. Attacked quickly and decisively, having enslaved half of the country and establishing their own orders there. And the states were smashed to smithereens could not oppose anything and for four years have been waging a war on their territory. And the occupied inhabitants get used to living under the oppression of uninvited guests.

The plot line of the original game is discarded as unnecessary: ​​events were postponed to 2029. It makes no sense to go into the more specific nuances “who

has been re -prostatic” during this time: in principle, nothing has changed. The player will have to get used to the role of a resistance fighter, who conducts an underground struggle for a just cause.

The “plot-oriented cinematic shooter” remained in 2011-now the developers have taken up the open world with adaptive gameplay. “Far Cry In the city “,” “Dying Light without parkour ” – the authors themselves give such comparisons. Of course, making a theatrical curtsy, they say, this is all only guidelines, but in fact they have plenty of original and interesting ideas.

True, while they are not known about them too much. The most interesting today is the structure of the game world. The city is divided into zones: green, yellow and red. As you might guess, this means the level of security – if it is allowed to shoot in the red ones, then it is not customary to arrange in green fingers on the streets. The most interesting are the yellow zones, because it is a real ghetto with a huge number of armed soldiers who are third inhabitants.

Partisan War and other entertainment on Friday evening

Armed with this information, I went to the stand HomeFront On the first day of the “game”, until the queue presses in the back. It turned out to be given the passage of about thirty minutes, and this is more than enough to understand all the main mechanics.

It was allowed to play in demo with E3. This is a fairly faceless mission in the red zone, which boils down to several shootings in different parts of the city. First of all, with several patterns, you need to attack a futuristic military convoy.

On the cornice where we set up an ambush, the authors carefully placed several barrels of fuel: if you pull the lever, they will fall on the heads of the invaders. You can do something else: lay on the C4 road, arrange an explosion behind the convoy and disperse attention, or throw all Molotov cocktails from the window.

The shootout can be carried out at any distance convenient for you and in any rhythm. The weapon consists of modules, as in Crysis, – You change the sight, trunk, fire mode, type of shells and their modifications. Turn the machine into a grenade launcher is a matter of three seconds.

The only thing that cannot be done is to go out on the forehead and shoot everyone. Kill in the game quickly: the character is equal to opponents and is often crushed by the amount. Therefore, you have to use partisan methods – constantly move, throw grenades, arrange traps and try to control the course of the battle. It sounds good, but the firing mechanics are very mediocre: this is a slow console shooter, which is still not very comfortable from the gamepad.

After the first bunch of enemies was shot, I was offered to go to the next marker on the other edge of the card: it is time to capture the “tower”. Sitting on a motorcycle, I began to explore the city – and it turned out to be somewhat more interesting than I expected.

Firstly, it’s nice that during the plot tasks the world around the world does not freeze. Random events take place in it (I came across several shootings), the Asians still patrol the streets, snipers are sitting on the roofs, drones fly around. Getting involved in a fight with each painful, so you try to be either fast or inconspicuous. “Partisan” logic really works: if the path is blocked by enemies, it is better to look like a roundabout.

A special pain is a ship flying over the city, which illuminates the streets with rays. If you get into his zone of attention, then the opponents will begin to pour endlessly on their heads until you manage to hide. Here, there is an opportunity to climb absolutely anywhere – there are absolutely no restrictions in the city. This works especially funny with a motorcycle: if you find a suitable staircase (and you will find for sure), you can roll out an iron friend on any roof.

Driving the streets from the persecution, I got to the “tower” that needs to be captured – that is, to the shield, which needs to be hacked. And then to the generator that needs to be launched, and to the cans of the fuel, which needs to be brought. In general, a boring and completely unintended set of tasks, formed only to have to stagger more around the city, collecting adventures.

As a result, the main idea of ​​red zones The Revolution The fact that the player practically does not withstand direct confrontation, but is forced to constantly get involved in fights. For victory, it is necessary to show imagination and use the maximum of available gadgets. Typical “sandbox”.

To promise does not mean fulfilling

This was fully confirmed by one of the developers with whom I managed to talk: he launched the same demo level and began to have fun with a much greater understanding of gameplay nuances. Now there was a rainy night in the yard (there are a change of time of day and weather conditions, but gives a purely cosmetic effect).

It turned out that there really is a lot of creative freedom. You can throw a chimney exactly into the drone, it will get stuck and smoke everywhere wherever he flew (the author vowed that this is a bug that they decided to make a “Picky”). You can attach explosives to the motorcycle, and then send it to the enemy convoy. You can take a radio-controlled machine and again send it something to blow up. Although no possibility of all variety causes a “wow” effect. Representative Dambuster Studios I tried very much, but I never could surprise some really original focus.

But showed a lot of new. It turned out that the city is so detailed and open to research that literally in every building you can find caches. True, judging by the evasive answers, nothing but an extra portion of cartridges, it will not be possible to find. But if you find a drawn icon on the wall and count it using a mobile phone as a QR code, then the location will remain marked on the map.

By the way, about a mobile phone. This is one of the main objects in the world HomeFront – And the map, and the cracker of the systems, and the gadget control panel, and the camera, and, most importantly, a distinctive sign among revolutionaries. The cellular in the gloomy future is prohibited, and therefore anyone who sees you with the device will immediately understand how you spend your free time.

In red areas, this, of course, does not play a role, but in yellow and green it affects the most direct way. Depending on how successfully your revolutionary activity will be advanced, the mood of civilian will also change – they can behave more aggressive in relation to the invaders or, conversely, poke a finger in you, as in the outrage of calm and traitor. So that everything is good, you need to do the same as in all games of recent years: to perform side quests, the same type of tasks in the sectors and everything in that spirit. And you also need to ensure that your war does not lead to victims among the population.

Accordingly, if you decide to send SMS in the middle of a crowded area, then others have several behavior options: screaming with screams;take you to the dark lane and convey some supplies for the sake of the common cause;Ask for help or offer it.

The authors promise to follow the principles Half-Life, когда главный герой обезличен, а вокруг него постоянно разворачивается драма с яркими характерами и эпическими событиями. The revolutionaries will have their own headquarters and a whole team of diverse characters, with each of which will need to be built relations. More modest than in Mass Effect, but it seems in essence: get skeletons from the cabinet of a partner and fulfill several personal requests.

Problem HomeFront: The Revolution not in the absence of ambitions or budget, not in some critical mistakes. Her problem is a complete lack of imagination. Like the previous part of the series, the game is trying to be fashionable and youth, but there is still nothing to catch on the eye here.

I would not put a cross or say that it turns out badly. Everything works as the authors think. The environment and mechanics are made with dignity and pleasant, but too gray and unpretentious. But, in the end, we have already seen twice how the obvious “rims” turned out to be great games (Mad Max or Shadow of Mordor), therefore The Revolution you can give out a small credit of trust.

Reasons to be interested The Legend of Korra Maybe two. One of them is, of course, the source. Many people consider the original animated series almost the main masterpiece of the last decade. It was as if it were specially created in order to make action: there is an emphasis on magical martial arts, an epic storyline and an almost invincible main character, capable of scattering a crowd of opponents alone.

And it seems that I want to play something like that, but we all know what games are usually obtained by motives. Especially if they are downloaded, that is, they are not even released on the disks. So the announcement of the “Legends of Corre” could not be given meaning if it were not for the developer studio- Platinum Games, Creators Vanquish And Bayonetta. Когда люди, собаку съевшие на экшенах, делают восточный боевик, — это становится интересно.

This is the whole game: each of those present in the frame even has its own stand. It is a pity that this trinity will have to beat ten times, no less.

Song of ice, flame, fluid and chernozem

A small excursion into the history of “Corre”. There are magicians of four elements in the world: earth, water, fire and air. Ordinary people of these magicians respect, but they are afraid: wizards own martial arts and can seriously catch. There are even revolutionary movements of technocrats who specially learn to counteract the “threat”. All disagreements between the castes are designed to resolve the avatar – a kind of local Buddha, constantly reborn in various bodies, the only one who can simultaneously control all four elements. In our case (that is, in the second part of the animated series) the avatar became the sweetest metica of the Corr.

This is all you need to know before starting. For a calm passage, half the first season is enough, although if you want to be consistent, then you need to see two. The action takes place between

the second and third books and is a short arch about how the heroine took the mysterious sorcerer from the heroine.

Nickelodeon took care of, invented a new villain and specifically painted ten animation inserts for about ten minutes. No revelations, unfortunately, this does not bode: everything is as self -ascetic. The inhabitants of the temple on the island of “suddenly” left for some business, there is no time to cross with friends, and only one Jenora flies around us in the mental bubble and occasionally gives advice.

Reference to the source is also stingy. Sometimes a controlled one can say: “And I forgot that I destroyed the city so much during the last battle,” occasionally a familiar detail will flash in the scenery. The funny thing is that it will meet is collectible objects in the chests scattered everywhere: “The pipe that the Corra looked into”, of course, will be recognized, but this claims to the title of the most stupid fan service in history.

The game generally feels a fatal budget deficiency. Levels are empty square corridors with a minimum of branches, interactive objects and a total lack of detail. A couple of lines of the script of the city’s population were evacuated – there is no one on the main street today and nothing. It looks strange.

As well as the fact that for all eight stages you will meet only a few types of opponents and two intelligible “boss” – each of which will have to beat several times. Formally there are a lot of enemies: blue ninja, green, red. Mages again: in hats, scarves, vests. And “boss”, a huge robot, there are already three modifications. But the fact that for each type of enemies is allocated by a pair of the same counterattacks is already completely in any gate.

Of course, part of the disadvantages can be attributed to the genre: this is still the purest beat ’em up, where only you need to go between arenas and fight with opponents’ waves. Sometimes turning to the side to find a secret. In this case, it is even somehow incorrect to demand a rich open world and cinematographic levels: the main thing is that the combat system is interesting.

Fire, water and poor “mobs”

The “Legend of Corre” is constantly a step away from the complete failure, and you want to remove it by the fourth level and never remember it. Primitive locations, the same opponents – clear. But it is sad not even from this, but because the main character is originally devoid of all his avatar techniques, and they need to be returned gradually. Typically, there is a very ridiculous pretext for this: “You got angry? It seems that this will help to wake fire in you! Nabey Combo in 40 beats!”

Each combat style is two types of attacks that add up to five to six combinations. And having received the first, “water”, the gamer is forced to poke one button, shooting annoying ninja. Then it becomes a little more spacious: the “earth” falls into the chakras. It turns out that different styles have their own specifics: somewhere the blows are slow and heavy, and somewhere-in general long-time. And they look very different.

The more often you use a certain technique, the faster the new combo open. In addition, conventional “money” is accumulated, for which you can buy modifiers and unusual attacks. Gradually, the game becomes more fun and more diverse: the combat system is increasingly growing in detail, and a highlight appears in the levels.

An additional type of stage arises – the race on the two -meter “dog” of the main character. At first this is an ordinary ranner where you need to dodge objects and collect coins, but then the battle with the Boss will take place on the run.

So, accumulating more and more features, by the end The Legend of Korra becomes really cool action. And if after the first passage to launch it on increased complexity, then the game becomes what it should have been from the very beginning. This is a very complex action movie, where you need to consciously switch between different types of attacks, constantly keep the position and type of enemies in the arena, instantly counterattack or dodge. We have to arrange priorities and think about tactics, replay individual episodes many times and look for an approach to certain situations. Platinum Games Once again she proved that she knows how to make combat mechanics.

The animated series dedicated to martial arts was surprisingly seriously treated. Almost all movements, blows and jumps made by magicians were authentic and interpreted real oriental acrobatics. A trifle, but a shame: Platinum Games I did not seem to know about this – visually movements are similar, but the enchanting realism of what is happening was completely lost.

Another trifle opens after the completion of the story campaign is the Pro-Bending mode. This is a local sports championship, a kind of magical “bouncers”. Two teams of three people push each other to the edge of the arena to lose their opponents into water. This is realized very meticulously: the entire set of rules is reproduced, the power of the team depends on the level of the corrara in the main plot campaign, and the victory in the match requires reaction. It would be even interesting to play in the multiplayer – it’s a pity, you can’t.

The Legend of Korra -This is a fairly stupid and terribly limited game in the budget, not very skillfully working with a fan service. Everything here looks some kind of unfinished, crumpled. Everything, except for an excellent combat system, which, with a greater scope, could extend the assessment at least “amazing”. And this makes a small downloaded game interesting not only for the animated series, but also for connoisseurs of good Beat ’Em Up. The main thing is to endure the disgusting introductory, and from the process you can even start to have fun.