It's safe to say that HITMAN 3 is the first AAA title of 2021.
We're here... at the dramatic conclusion to the World of Assassinations trilogy. Players/Agents will dive back in on a globetrotting, heart-pounding adventure that is sure to send me back to the drawing board again and again... to figure out how best to approach my missions. This time around Agent 47 will be dealing with the most important contracts of his entire career... according to the team at IOI.
Needless to say that I look forward to jumping back in with Diana Burnwood in my ear while joining forces with 47's long-lost friend Lucas Grey. I haven't even played yet, and I'm already suspicious of the guy... because you just never know what the twist maybe.
Anyway, the ultimate mission is to eliminate the partners of Providence while adapting to situations as the hunt turns up. Apparently, something is going to happen that will change everything. If you want to find out, grab the game on PS5, PS4, XBSX, XB1, or PC!
Happy New Year... this is the first TALW of the year. I made it to see 2021, and if you're reading this... you did too. That's something to celebrate (IMO), so grab the gummies or something sweet and... check out the top audiences this week! BOOM!
The first console game ever based on the world-renowned franchise comes exclusively to Nintendo Switch™! Customize your L.O.L. Surprise! doll in this fun-filled 3D adventure! Explore the L.O.L Surprise! themed world, move into a new house, make new friends, complete quests, play mini-games, earn a VIB ticket and perform on stage with your favorite L.O.L. Surprise! dolls.
Start from Scratch:
Players move into their new home, and gradually customize, furnish, and earn new items by attending various events. As they move around the world, they will encounter a variety of mini-games and quests. Once quests are completed, they will earn glitter tokens that allow you to purchase items.
Explore:
Walk around the L.O.L. Surprise! Remix festival ground sand interact with L.O. L. Surprise! dolls.
Decorate your House and Accessorize Earn in-game items including furniture to decorate your home with, fashions to change your player doll's outfits, and records that will play different L.O.L. Surprise! songs!
Take Photos:
Players take photos of themselves in the game. These can be used to decorate their house and, in some cases, will be tied to quests.
Content Drops
Players can expect several monthly content drops following the release of the game. These will include additional dolls, quests, mini-games, and fashions. These packs of downloadable content are free to every player that owns the game.
Wearing masks stops the spread, so imagine COVID-19 if everyone acted accordingly and wore their masks. People are dying, people are losing their jobs, people are being evicted, companies are losing business, essential workers are getting sick, and that only increases the scarcity of everything when you think about it. It doesn't require you to wear it in your car, just wear it in stores and public buildings around others, and when you're in crowded spaces and areas where you will interact with things where the public, in general, will go (i.e. gas stations).
Not sure what type of mask is most effective? Take a look at this lab test from June, where the Florida Atlantic University researchers developed a cough emulator lab configuration to determine what the most effective mask would be. The focus is air droplets and how effective certain masks are, and we have the most effective masks in the test available for you w/ a coupon code to save 15% off. So take a look at the video to verify for yourself, and... let's flatten the curve.
Cosmic Express is a puzzle game about planning the train route for the world's most awkward space colony, from the minds behind A Good Snowman Is Hard To Build and the art of Tyu from Klondike. It's cute, harder than it looks, and guaranteed to give you hours of frustrating fun across hundreds of levels.
Awards:
Finalist - IMGA Global, 2017
Finalist - IndiePlus, 2017
Official Selection - Indie Megabooth, GDC 2017
Official Selection - Google Play Indie Corner, PAX 2016
Shout out to Raw Fury for supplying a copy of this game for a review.
Story: Star Renegades revolves around Wynn Syphex, a female protagonist who began this story off by being shoved into an escape pod by her mother. Her mother fought until her dying breath to ensure her daughter's escape, this also resulted in Wynn witnessing her mother dying.
She was a little girl at the time, so seeing that did something to her. Rather than letting fear take over, she moved forward knowing that her mother went down fighting for her survival... and decided to step into her shoes to fight back. That's where you come in, leading a war-hardened Wynn and her ragtag squad of renegades into a life or death battle against... the Imperium. Gear up, they're coming!
Gameplay: Star Renegades is interestingly cool. It takes what could have been a safe traditional RPG and puts a spin on it. At the core, it's still a turn-based RPG, but you basically know who you're going to be facing from the get-go (at least to some degree). I would say that would take some of the mystery out of it... but it doesn't, there are many unknown challenges tucked in there for sure, and not all of the major boss characters are revealed.
I won't lie, this game is challenging... if you don't figure out a strategy, you will be overwhelmed by the Imperium. You will see Behemoth's revealed to you... and the reason why I like seeing them in this game ahead of time is that it allows you to prepare (somewhat). If you aren't prepared for certain enemies in the multiverse, at least you can avoid some because their stats are revealed to you before you face off. All you have to do is hover over them and see.
Even if you're facing off with an unavoidable Behemoth in your procedurally generated campaigns, your team can take them on in these fast-paced, turn-based battles by juggling tasks. Break their attacks by knocking them off the action timeline with your attacks, restore shields, and hunker down for retaliation.
You aren't just trading attacks with your individual renegades to take down the enemy... they can also work together and pull off combo attacks. This won't just happen ASAP, you'll have to use these cards to continue building the relationships between your individual soldiers... to the point that these abilities unlock.
Not only that, but these relationships can also result in your squad members creating... progeny. So outside of equipment + skill upgrades, you have other interesting things like relationships to build upon that result in... entanglements.
Tip: Defense isn't always the best way to protect yourself (when it comes to some of your team members), so keep an eye on what works best for them. You don't just obtain the same characters either, you can decide who joins the team... if you can afford them. I currently have two members of the squad that increase my chances of breaking enemies and preventing them from attacking. They're essential to my strategy.
Anyway, check out the gameplay below... and then we'll dive into the visuals.
Oh yeah, you won't experience everything this game has to offer in any... one gameplay session or playthrough... because on the field you only have so many days to do what you need to do before you take on a boss character. Also, you have to decide on the route you're going to take in some areas... one may have a certain item or defense upgrade and select enemies. This gives you the opportunity to take on a different strategy based on what you have and who's rolling with your squad... so switch it up!
Visuals:The visuals in Star Renegades are... kick ass. Not only does it serve up traditional 2D animation for the opening of the game, but it also delivers this cool 2D pixelated animation in combat that I would have loved to see on the Nintendo 3DS. Overall, I would actually love to play this game on the Nintendo 3DS because of the 3D slider feature on the device and the game having a lot of parallax layers going on.
They worked the pixel art in a very eye-catching way too, like with the special attacks and so forth. It may not seem like a big deal, but someone had to put in the work to piece these pixels together in order to make them look this badass. That's why I have a deep respect for 2D animation because you have to do that frame by frame versus using a rigged 3D model. That still takes work, by not as much as 2D animation (IMO). Oh yeah... The Art and Illustrations of Star Renegades artbook is available now!
Price:Pricewise, Star Renegades comes in at $24.99. Kick-ass price and one thing I forgot to mention is that... the game has a lot of references (even if they don't openly mention it) that remind me of Star Wars, TMNT, and many others. It's not a blatant rip-off of anything... but there are cool little references there to check out. I just found that to be a plus.
In addition to what's currently offered in the game, the developers are providing updates that include new planets, adversaries, behemoths, and drones via updates like "The Imperium Strikes Back" (what did I tell ya about those references... huh?). It's currently available for PC gamers, but console owners will have access to the content in early 2021. I'd say that the game is strategically priced, even if it could sit comfortably at $29.99... because it's a solid game with a good chunk of replay value.
The deluxe edition is about $5 more and includes the game (duh of the day), the OST + the artbook! Grab the game on PC, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox... now!
Overall, I just think this is a great game. It's challenging, and it will send you back to the drawing board to fill in the holes of your strategy until you figure out a way to successfully take on... the Imperium.
