New Dragon Age Video Shows of Combat

Dragon Age's combat has always looks simliar between 1 and 2 but behaved very differently. Dragon Age one require strategical thinking and DA2 required quick reflexes. Dragon Age Inquisition wants to give you the choice.

Watch the video below for the full break down but lets quickly go over it. Without changing any settings or going into a menu you can flip between real time action RPG combat controlling a singular unit to paused time tactical combat dishing out movement and attack orders to your entire party. The impressive thing about the new system is that you can do one or the other but also BOTH. You can give orders to the rest of the squad and then lead them in battle yourself.



It's worth pointing out once again just how pretty this game looks and boy did that Dragon look fearsome. For those who don't know every dragon in Inquisition is a unique creature with it's own attack patterns, behaviour and territory.

Abe's Take
This is shaping up to be one of the best RPG's in a long while the previous Dragon Ages had various flaws that seem to be ironed out for the new release. here's hoping no new ones affect this promising game

Titanfall Update 5 and DLC land soon

Titanfall has evolved a lot since it's launch way back in march, new content in the form of modes, maps and functions have been added over the months along side the usual tweaks and fixes.

Titanfall will go though some extra changes this Thursday as a new update hits along side the new map pack.
First up is the addition of an in game currency (no micro-transactions confirmed) that will be awarded for completing (the newly added) daily and weekly challanges, playing matches and selling unwanted burn cards. The purpose of this new currentcy? so you can (blind) buy themed burn card booster packs and new titan decals.

Elsewhere the Campaign has been moved into the multiplayer tab and levels will rotate though the story making it a lot easier to get a match and finish that campaign off

Here is the full patch notes

GAME UPDATE FIVE
NEW FEATURES (All Platforms)
For this update, we're introducing the Black Market -- where you can buy and sell burn cards. Additionally there are eight new Titan decals available in the Black Market which you can also buy with in-game credits.
Daily Challenges - Collect three new Daily Challenges every day. You can have a total of 9 active daily challenges at any one time.
We have moved Campaign game mode in with the other existing game modes. It will rotate through all maps over and over and you can join at any point.
Added message when a friendly Pilot with the flag jumps on your Titan in CTF.
There is now a Gen 1 image which will show up for Gen 1 players in all menus.
NEW FEATURES (X1)
Added achievements for Frontier's Edge DLC.
BUG FIXES (All Platforms)
Fixed Titan decal unlocks showing up repeatedly.
Removed pre-lobby after selecting a game mode, now you will be taken directly to the game lobby.
Made wi-fi hacking count towards Spectre leeching for stats / challenges / insignias.
Fixed an issue where you could earn enough XP that it would appear to wrap around and reset your level.
Nuclear Eject: fixed a rare bug where an invincible Titan would be left roaming around the level because the player died upon ejecting.
Lots of yummy bandwidth optimizations as well as various delicious framerate optimizations have been lovingly hand-crafted and squeezed into the game.
Fixed case of being smushed into a solid wall while rodeoing and becoming unable to shoot through the Titan.
Fixed many cases of incorrect or missing impact sounds from explosions including Arc Cannon fire and Cluster Rockets.
Fixed a server issue when players used the Rematch burn card in areas where they would get stuck.
Fixed a case of getting a double lock-on with the Archer.
Fixed an annoying case of the party chat icon not appearing.
Fixed a case where parties could be split up.
Fixed text overlap on controller layout menu.
Fixed some kills/events not counting towards progress on challenges, achievements, or decals.

EA Unviels Xbox Exclusive Program - UPDATE II

EA was a big fan on Microsoft's always online vision for the Xbox One sure it took the pressure off them regarding online passes and 2nd hand sales but they also saw potential in its "your content, everywhere" approach and its strong digital presence and had idea's about their own sub membership and now we have first details of EA Access 

Just what is EA Access? I hear you ask though the soundless void of the internet. It's a secondary subscription within Xbox Live for Xbox One £3.99 a month £19.99 a year (Currently seeking confirmation because that seems to be quite the gap between monthly and annual cost) that offers benefits to (assuming) Gold members

The Vault - Unlimited access to "the greatest EA games on Xbox One" that's Fifa 14, Madden 25, Peggle 2 and Battlefield 4. (the press release refers this list as "Beta users have access to" unsure if the Vault itself if locked to beta users or if the game list is limited in beta) UPDATE: Full game access is for all users and will expand after launch!

Early Access - Access members get access to digital trails for 5 days before launch and any save data transfers across to the full game (unaware if this happens for retail as well as digital) Fifa 15, NBA 15 and Dragon Age are all confirmed Early Access games UPDATE: different games will have different amount of content available in their pre-releases. Some will be full games with a time limit others will be unlimited but only be one mode of the game but data will transfer to the full title regardless of the form (of the trail or the full release so buy retail if you want)

Discounts - Access members receive 10% of ANYTHING EA from the Xbox store. That's full games, DLC, micro-transactions or anything with an EA sticker. UPDATE: The small print excludes Titanfall from discounts which I suspect is due to their contract with developers Respawn

The service hit's Beta today and will launch in Europe "soon"

Abe's Take
This is very tempting just for Early Access to Dragon Age and (possibly) Mass Effect 4. If Battlefield Hardline is featured in this too it will help players burned by the BF4 release know the game will preform.

First Look At Frontiers Edge Pack for Titanfall

There was complaints that the maps in Titanfall was all too "samey" along with "lack of" content but they have been approaching that with the DLC map packs and free Content updates. The first map pack added a Jungle, a VR simulation and a very "samey" level

The second map pack is looking like it will bring the break the so called "samey" feel to the maps.

First up we have Haven, This rather shiny map is set in an "exclusive" sun draped beach resort. Which has apprently escaped the conflict till now

Haven will feature large buidling both to run along but also inside of allowing for some tense pilot vs pilot action. Titans will occupy the streets as well as the beach and the roadway

Second up is Dig Site which (proably because we've been playing Alien recently) reminds me of Hadley's Hope from Aliens.

This level is set in the side of a mountain in a mining facility. this level will be filled with winding routes and lots of high ground for pilots. Dig Site is said to off mid to close range combat so keep an eye out for SMG's

Last up is Export, The final map is set in what is being called a "boom town", a settlement that exists because of successful mining of rare materials.

This map is set up for "house to house" close quarters combat for Pilots and plenty of natural choke points for Titans. With a smattering of roof tops for pilots to battle over and then attack rival titans.


All in all the new maps are visually interesting and do look like they will have different play styles (for the most part) to previous maps.

First look Halo 5's Agent locke

A while ago we got a look at the Halo 5: Guardians box art (below) and it showed chief but also an new character. Now we can see under the hood of the new character

There was a lot of guess work, was it really a Spartan? could it be Cortana in a robot body? Small details started to appear. We now know its a Spartan by the name of Agent Locke and that he'll co-star not only in Halo 5 but also Halo: Nightfall the live action series produced by Ridley Scott.

Agent Lock will be played by Mike Colter (The Good Wife and The Following) and (is Believed) he will also voice the character in Halo 5. It's also believed that Agent Locke will appear in some form in Halo: Master Chief Collection's meta story told though terminals hidden though Halo 2 and 3.

Trailer for the said collection suggests that Locke has a history with chief and seems to be reciving someform of training from the Arbiter
X

Abe's Take
We still don't know that much about Locke. Why is he an Spartan but doesn't carry a Navy rank perhaps he is part of O.N.I (Office Of Navel Intelligence)? Is he hunting Chief? I sure hope he doesn't turn out to be Johnson's son but it should be rather fun finding out

MASSIVE rainbow 6 Video appears

It seems after years of Call of Duty, Last years rough Battlefield 4 Launch and Titanfall shaking up the online multiplayer. It seems like the perfect time to bring something else to the table.

until last year the FPS genre has become saturated by "gritty" modern shooters. All running around with the same dull face, same guns and the same brown and grey contrasts. It looked like the FPS market had been played out (much like the music genre before it) but then came a string of releases that changed that. Farcry 3, Blood Dragon, Payday 2, Wolfenstien, Titanfall, (the incoming destiny) and even the Meh Alien Colonial Marines showed us FPS could have colour, could have fun, could be about anything and multiplayer didnt have to be like CoD or Battlefield.



Now the rule book has been thrown out games are off doing there own thing such as Rainbow Six Siege for which we have 24 Minutes of live stream footage for you. This Raindbow Six isn't like the last few that tried to lure the CoD crowd, Seige is bring back what the series stood for; Tactics, Teamwork and... Hostages!

Abe's Take
In a year where people are feeling burnt out with CoD and weary of Battlefield R6: Seige could easily become many's go to online game. Unless CoD or BF: Hardline are major shake ups of the core gameplay I can see myself buying this and Team GK-UK will comically struggle to rescue/hold the hostage

Next Xbox One Update

Another month passes and another update is heading to Xbox One.

Microsoft's new systems has continually evolved since launch, something that on 360 had to be done in massive updates like NXE and Kinect Dash, this is evidently down to the "three OS" they have been championing since launch.

We now have details about what to expect in the next one, here are the details ripped straight from Major Nelson's mouth (or his blog if you prefer)

Activity feed updates - We're adding new ways for you to interact with friends in the activity feed. The interface will change to a single column scrolling list that is longer and includes more content. We'll add the ability to post text to your feed, and to "like" and comment on feed items. You can share game clips and anything else in the feed with friends either publically (to your activity feed) or privately (as an attachment to a message). You'll also be notified when anyone likes, comments on or shares your items. Each user will get a personal feed on their profile, so you can see what specific friends have been up to. And, with SmartGlass, you can see what your friends have shared to their activity feed and "like" specific posts (additional activity feed support coming in future SmartGlass updates).

Expanded Friends area on Home - Right from Home, see what's going on with your friends. Stay up-to-date with their current activity, the top trending games your friends are playing, and a leaderboard to see who has been working the hardest on their Gamerscore. We're doing an extended preview on this, rolling it into the early access preview this month to a subset of our preview audience so we can refine it until it's ready for the entire Xbox One market.

Mobile purchase - One of the most requested features on Xbox Feedback. Using Xbox SmartGlass or on Xbox.com, you can remotely purchase games and Add-on content. No more waiting to begin downloading when you get home - if your console is set to automatically take updates, your console will begin downloading your purchase.

Low battery notification - You asked for it, now a notification will pop up when your controller battery is getting low.

Disable notifications during video - Adding the ability to turn off notifications based feedback we heard from you.

Enabling 3D Blu-ray - An update to the Blu-ray player app will enable 3D Blu-ray functionality on Xbox One.

OneGuide in Brazil, Mexico, Austria and Ireland - Live TV listings can be configured for four new countries as part of this month's Preview program. And now there is an OneGuide Issue Reporter available under the TV & OneGuide settings, Troubleshooting section.

Last seen time in Friends list - Direct from Xbox Feedback, the friends list will now show how long it's been since a friend has been online. For example, "Last seen 20m ago: Forza Motorsport 5."

Abe's Take
That's a fair amount of changes to the Xbox One whilst bring features up to speed and added fan requested ones. I know the 3D blu-ray has held back some people from acquiring the device.
The first one however seems to be a response to Miiverse Nintendo's surprisingly great "Gaming Social Network"