Category: Gamespot

After a delay last year, Tacoma is finally coming out this week. It’s the follow-up to the critically acclaimed Gone Home from developer Fullbright, and while it’s not technically connected to the 2013 indie darling, Tacoma does feature similarly slow, narrative-driven gameplay. The game puts you in an abandoned space station searching for answers and is centered around individual human stories.

Now, with Tacoma’s August 2 release date nearly upon us, reviews have started to go live for the Xbox One/PC game. In GameSpot’s verdict, critic Kallie Plagge said she became “deeply attached to the Tacoma crew,” and that Tacoma’s greatest accomplishment was “getting you to care about people who aren’t even there.” Read more in our full Tacoma review.

For a wider view of critics’ opinions, meanwhile, take a look at our review roundup below, or check out GameSpot sister site Metacritic.

• Game: Tacoma
• Developer: Fullbright
• Platform: Xbox One, PC
• Release: August 2
• Price: US $20 / £15 / AU $22.45 (Xbox One), US $18 / £13.49 (PC)

GameSpot — 7/10

“I’m still thinking about [Tacoma], inferring what wasn’t spelled out for me and wondering about the complex politics of its near-future world. Mostly, though, I’m deeply attached to the Tacoma crew, who I only got to know through projections and the things they left behind. Out of everything, that’s Tacoma’s greatest accomplishment: getting you to care about people who aren’t even there.” — Kallie Plagge [Full review]

IGN — 8.5/10

“Tacoma successfully overcomes the challenge of featuring eight characters and making them all interesting in a relatively short game. Using the out-of-sequence AR recordings to learn about the exciting events on Tacoma is a unique way to see every side of a conversation, and it’s one I hope to see catch on. I would have appreciated more time and events that’d have given me a reason to explore more of the beautiful station, but the time I did have in this fascinating hypothetical future was great.” — Miranda Sanchez [Full review]

Polygon — 7/10

“I continue to think of Tacoma as a story first, but it’s more than that, clearly: It’s an interactive experience, and that plays for and against it. The story is built out of the playback mechanic, which gives birth to the subtler suggestions of what’s really going on with this station. But the playback system means there’s a lot of talking to listen to, and a lot of wireframes to stare at. For a game about an abandoned space station, Tacoma gave me plenty of company. But the moments where I had to reckon with being alone in space were the ones that stuck with me.” — Allegra Frank [Full review]

The Guardian — 4/5

“Over the course of about three hours, your investigative journey through Tacoma has you rooting for these characters by the time their story concludes. A space station powered by an advanced AI might not be a particularly original setting, but the team at Fullbright has taken these familiar pieces and used them to tell a different and engaging tale. It’s what you’d expect from the people who made Gone Home, but that’s no bad thing.” — Jordan Erica Webber [Full review]

Game Informer — 8.25/10

“With Tacoma’s unique take on branching narratives and a strong cast, it manages to tell an intriguing tale about mortality and relationships in the face of catastrophe. Tacoma builds on the foundations of Gone Home, but has its own unique tricks to tell an immersive story in a compelling way.” — Elise Favis [Full review]

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We already knew Resident Evil Revelations was coming to PS4 and Xbox One, but now publisher Capcom has announced when: the horror title will launch for Sony and Microsoft’s latest consoles on August 29. In addition, the publisher revealed that Switch versions of both Revelations and its sequel will arrive in “late 2017.”

This contradicts what Capcom has previously said about Switch versions of Resident Evil games; in January, around the launch of Resident Evil 7, producer Masachika Kawata said that Nintendo’s console is “a very unique piece of hardware,” but that Capcom had “no plans at the moment regarding Resident Evil on Switch.”

The original Revelations was originally released for 3DS back in 2013, before eventually coming to PS3, Xbox 360, and PC. Revelations 2, meanwhile, was an episodic title for last gen, current gen, PS Vita, and PC.

PS4/Xbox One versions of the original Revelations were announced in March, and some footage of them was shown off for the first time two months later. The game will see both a physical and digital release in Europe and North America, though it’s unclear if that also applies to the Switch version or if that will be Eshop-only.

In our original Resident Evil Revelations review, critic Jane Douglas awarded the game an 8.5/10, calling it a “thoroughly successful crossbreeding of old-school chills and new-school action.” Read the full review here.

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It’s already August 1 in some parts of the world, which means Xbox Live Gold members can now download more free Xbox One and Xbox 360 titles. This month’s free Games With Gold titles include Slime Rancher, Trials Fusion, Bayonetta, and Red Faction: Armageddon, and two of them are free starting today.

Xbox One owners with a Gold membership can pick up Slime Rancher for the low, low price of free, while Xbox 360 users can grab Bayonetta for $0.00. Additionally, one of July 2017’s free Xbox One titles, Runbow, will continue to be free until August 15.

Slime Rancher is a first-person sim game where you manage a farm of adorable slime creatures. It’s been in Early Access on PC for some time, but August 1 marks its official release, meaning Gold members will get it for free right out of the gate, which is cool.

Something else to note is that the Xbox 360 Games With Gold titles play on Xbox One through backwards compatibility. You can see the full rundown of August’s free Games With Gold titles below.

Microsoft is also expected to roll out a fresh set of weekly Xbox Live deals in the next day, so check back soon with GameSpot for a rundown.

August 2017 Games With Gold

Xbox One

• Slime Rancher (August 1-31)
• Trials Fusion (August 16-September 15)
• Runbow (July 16-August 15)

Xbox 360

• Bayonetta (August 1-15)
• Red Faction: Armageddon (August 16-31)

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A new patch has been released for Mass Effect: Andromeda. Update 1.10 is focused on the space RPG’s multiplayer mode, and it fixes bugs and makes other small changes.

Starting off, Naladen explosion now gives damage when Cryo or Incendiary ammo is used. Additionally, there are changes to veteran ranks. As for the bug fixes, this update clears out a problem that caused the screen to blink red/yellow when using certain weapons. Additionally, the Dhan shotgun should now properly prime enemies.

You can see the full patch notes below, as posted on BioWare’s website.

Andromeda launched in March. Though it did not resonate all that strongly with critics, EA CEO Andrew Wilson later said the franchise still has a bright future. A report from Kotaku claimed that EA put the Mass Effect series on hiatus and re-assigned developers to other projects instead of launching into a sequel right away.

If you’re curious about Andromeda, you can try a 10-hour demo right now.

Recently, EA officially confirmed that Andromeda developer BioWare Montreal merged with Motive Studios, another EA developer based on Montreal.

Mass Effect: Andromeda July 31 Patch Notes:

• Veteran ranks of characters will only drop after all characters of that rarity have been unlocked to rank 10.
• Naladen explosion now deals damage when Cryo or Incendiary Ammo are equipped.
• Fixed issue where Dwindling Supplies and Empty Resupply mission modifiers would not function correctly if a player left the game.
• Dhan shotgun now properly primes enemies.
• Fixed issue where Bulwark, Siphon, and Concussive variants of pistols and sniper rifles would prime enemies too slowly when using special ammo.
• Fixed issue where using Supply Pack Transmitter would reduce spare ammo if Empty Resupply mission modifier was active.
• Using First Aid with Supply Pack Transmitter no longer heals enemies.
• Fixed issue that caused screen to blink red/yellow when using Siphon and Bulwark weapons.
• Rank XIV Common Characters are no longer displayed as Rank XV

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Ark: Survival Evolved‘s full release has been delayed, developer Wildcard has announced. The final game will now launch on PS4, Xbox One, and PC on August 29.

The open-world title was previously scheduled to launch on August 8 after being available in early access for more than two years. Wildcard said the three-week delay is because the process of going gold and going through certification “took a little longer than expected.”

“We’re deeply apologetic for those who were negatively affected by the delay,” the company stated. “It sucks, it wasn’t what we had wanted nor planned but [it’s] where we currently stand. We wanted to address this sooner but did not want to make any statements until we were completely sure of what was going to happen.”

The game’s new Ragnarok map will also launch on console on August 29, the same day as a big PC patch will arrive for the arena. Wildcard says the additional time allows “further development of the map,” teasing that fans can “expect a gigantic update, even bigger than we initially thought.”

Release day will see Ragnarok grow in size by one quarter, says Wildcard. The update will introduce “new biomes, a coastal Wyvern canyon, an epic boss encounter, new engrams, and something secret the Ragnarok team are cooking up.”

Elsewhere in the announcement, Wildcard says it will mostly be focusing on PC and multiplayer updates in the coming weeks, though it says console users will receive the updates too, eventually. Check out the studio’s plans in detail here.

Wildcard faced controversy recently after doubling Ark’s price and saying it would wipe the game’s PvP servers in time for its full launch. Although the new price tag remains, the company has since reversed its decision on the server reset.

For more on the wildly popular survival game, check out last week’s episode of Reboot, in which we discuss games that let you find your own story.

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After Pokemon Go‘s Chicago fan fest ran into a bunch of problems earlier in July, developer Niantic has postponed a number of upcoming events in Europe. The Safari Zone celebrations in Copenhagen and Prague (previously scheduled for August 5) and Stockholm and Amsterdam (August 12) will now happen on “a date later in the fall.”

Niantic was quick to stress that no other planned events–including those in Japan, France, Spain, and Germany–are affected by the delay. “We apologize for any inconvenience and hope you understand that our priority is to ensure a great experience for Pokemon Go trainers in Europe and around the world,” the company stated.

However, it seems the news may not be all bad. The developer concluded by saying, “As a special surprise, we understand that some Pokemon that are rarely seen in Europe will be appearing soon in certain European cities for a brief time. Keep your eyes peeled!”

The European events were set to offer players in the continent the chance to catch region-specific creatures not often seen there. It seems those Pokemon–including Farfetch’d, Heracross, Kangaskhan, and more–may now be unlocked for more users to make up for the delay.

Although Niantic’s announcement doesn’t reference Pokemon Go’s Chicago Fest itself, it’s likely that the postponement is in some way connected to the myriad problems the event faced on the day. The issues encountered have caused some attendees to file a lawsuit against Niantic, whose game was rendered unplayable for many.

In an attempt to placate fans, Niantic did extend the amount of time the event’s rare Pokemon could be caught for and widened the area they were available in. Two Legendaries were ultimately unlocked–check out our guide on how to catch Lugia and Articuno here. The company also provided an explanation for why people weren’t able to play Pokemon Go at the event.

“Technical issues with our game software caused client crashes and interfered with gameplay for some users,” CEO John Hanke said. “A more protracted problem was caused by oversaturation of the mobile data networks of some network providers. This caused many attendees to be unable to access Pokemon Go or other Internet services. Network congestion also led to a login issue which affected some users able to access the Internet.”

In other Pokemon Go news, a new update is out now, bringing with it a number of bug fixes and re-introducing Team Instinct’s leader, Spark. Check out the full Pokemon Go patch notes here.

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