Marvel’s Spider-Man

The most successful open-world superhero game is undoubtedly Marvel’s Spider-Man. Available in 2018 for PS4 before arriving on PS5 in “Remastered” form, it sold over 20 million units on the previous-gen console alone. It made you feel like Spider-Man, a given and a nice thing when it came to the combat and web-swinging, but also sometimes like Miles Morales and Mary Jane Watson, which was weird in certain sections.

Nevertheless, its stellar encounters, gorgeous visuals that accurately captured Manhattan, and memorable storyline had us hooked. And while the open world may have adhered to some familiar tropes, the sheer fun it offered, combined with the incredible movement and traversal methods, was simply sublime.

Control

The morphing Service Weapon may be her claim to the Director position in The Oldest House but it’s Jesse’s psychokinetic powers that make her a force to reckon with. Along with launching objects – and bodies – into enemies, she’s capable of using nearby rubble to create a shield, temporarily Seize a foe’s mind, and even Levitate. Further powers were added in subsequent updates, like Shield Rush for conjuring a shield of rubble and then charging into enemies with it.

With next gen right around the corner, all of us have all sorts of wishlists in our minds, and most of them, of course, are all about the thing that matters most- the games. There’s so many games we’d like to see on next-gen platforms, so many franchises we’d like to see making a return. In this feature, we’ll be talking about fourteen sequels to Microsoft-owned franchises that we’d like to see on the Xbox Scarlett, at one point or another.

Some of the games we’ll be mentioning will be obvious picks, the kind that will inevitably show up sooner rather than later, while others will be more out there, as hopes and dreams go. In all cases though, keep in mind that this is a wishlist, not a prediction list. With all that out of the way, let’s get started.

HALO WARS 3

Halo will, of course, be a major presence on Xbox Scarlett – it’s launching with the next big Halo title, after all – but we’d like to see more from the franchise on the console than just its mainline games. Halo Wars started as an interesting strategy offshoot, and though the first game was definitely a flawed one, it showed plenty of promise. Halo Wars 2 made good on a lot of its potential, and was a much better game than any of us were expecting it to be. Our hope is that Microsoft will continue to invest in this branch of Halo, and allow Halo Wars to continue its upward trajectory with a third game.

CONTRA

When Contra was at its peak, it was one of the best franchises in the industry. Contra games brought with them a guarantee of riotous fun, gruelling action, and non-stop carnage, and when the franchise died down with the advent of time, it came as a bitter disappointment to a lot of people. Recently, Konami revived the franchise- perhaps “revived” is the wrong word though, because really, all Contra: Rogue Corps has done is drive the series even further into its depressing grave. Opting for a third person shooting style instead of the sidescrolling run’n’gun action the series is know for, Contra: Rogue Corps completely misses the mark in every way possible, and doesn’t seem to understand what fans liked about the series in the first place. It’s failure is made all the more baffling when you consider that an indie game called Blazing Chrome that came out earlier this year delivered everything that made people love Contra in spades- and yet Konami seem to have completely lost their way. Perhaps it’s best to let the legendary property die with some dignity.

In this feature, we’ll be taking a look at fifteen games where despite all your best efforts (or perhaps because of all your worst ones), the villains ended up coming out victorious.

Obviously, there will be spoilers ahead for every game on this list. If you see us mention a game you don’t want spoiled, skip ahead to the next entry.

RED DEAD REDEMPTION

Red Dead Redemption saw John Marston fighting with all he had to escape the cycle of violence that his life had been caught in since he had been taken in by Dutch van der Linde as a boy, but we all saw how that turne out. Things kept spiralling out of control, and Marston’s past came back to bite him with the deplorable Agent Ross marching down on his ranch with a posse an tearing him apart with a barrage of gunfire. Jack would go on to avenge his father and kill Ross, but in doing so, he also ended up entering the life his father had tried so hard to keep him out of.

]]> https://gamingbolt.com/15-video-games-in-which-the-villains-won/feed 0 392190 https://gamingbolt.com/the-witcher-2-crackdown-and-fable-anniversary-will-all-be-getting-xbox-one-x-enhancements https://gamingbolt.com/the-witcher-2-crackdown-and-fable-anniversary-will-all-be-getting-xbox-one-x-enhancements#respond Tue, 27 Feb 2018 18:51:06 +0000 https://gamingbolt.com/?p=326781

One of the coolest things Microsoft is doing with the Xbox One X is remastering and enhancing old Xbox 360 games for Xbox One X compatibility- all free of charge. We already have some good Xbox 360 games, such as Oblivion, that have benefitted from this program- and now we know the next batch of games that will be getting One X enhancements.

On Xbox Wire, Microsoft announced that the original Crackdown would be one of the games that would be getting Xbox One X enhancements- presumably, this is to prep up players ahead of the impending launch of Crackdown 3 later this year (I hope). Fable Anniversary, the Xbox 360 remaster of the original Fable, will be another- which should serve as a primer for Fable fans, especially if news about the upcoming Fable 4 is real.

The true crown jewel of this batch, however, will be The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings. The game released on Xbox 360 as a console exclusive back in 2012- now, Xbox players can play it with full Xbox One X enhancements. Which is absolutely fantastic, and as good a reason as any for players to visit Geralt’s second major gaming adventure.

This brings the total number of Xbox 360 games enhanced for Xbox One X to 11- hopefully, Microsoft continues to add to that number in the future, too.

In case you haven’t heard, Pokemon GO is quite the popular mobile title. So popular in fact that it occupies almost half of all mobile gaming purchases in a single day. It makes sense then that everyone would want to get in on the hype train, especially Microsoft.

Xbox UK’s official Twitter account actually went as far as to re-imagine popular Microsoft franchises like Halo, Forza Motorsport and Crackdown as “GO” titles while also asking players what games they’d like to see get the same treatment. We’d think there would be issues with Forza GO if it didn’t function as a GPS-like app or something. It also seems that all of the GO variants are running on Windows Phone for which Pokemon GO has not released yet (huge shock, we know).

Would you be interested in playing a GO version of Halo, Forza or Crackdown? Or would you be interested in sticking to Pokemon and, to a lesser extent, Hitman and Tomb Raider? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

Former director of cinematics for the Halo franchise and former Destiny writer Joe Staten is a busy man these days. After leaving Bungie in January 2014 (and reportedly having his entire story overhauled as a result), Staten joined Microsoft Game Studios as a senior creative director. According to his Twitter (via NeoGAF), he’s involved in a number of games.

“I’m helping great teams tell great stories, including @Scalebound @Crackdown @QuantumBreak and @ReCoreGame…”

That’s a pretty impressive list of titles and developers and it’s good to see Staten in an important role for the Xbox One. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem like he’s working on the franchise that kick-started his career.

“Wow, folks. Thanks for the follows and for all the kind words. To clear something up real quick. No, I’m not working on Halo 5…”

What are your thoughts on Staten’s involvement at Microsoft? Let us know in the comments below and stay tuned for more information on upcoming Xbox One exclusives like Halo 5: Guardians in the coming months.

We’ve compiled some of the more interesting things to look forward to this year, along with a few educated guesses here and there. Sony may not be attending but there are still plenty of great things to look forward to at Gamescom 2015.

Crackdown, Scalebound and Quantum Break

Microsoft’s Gamescom presser has already been dictated by the presence of three major upcoming releases: Crackdown, Scalebound and Quantum Break. The first will finally see gameplay footage being revealed to the public and according to Xbox boss Phil Spencer, it’s looking pretty good.

Scalebound should be interesting simply because  of the pedigree behind it in Platinum Games while Quantum Break could finally nail down its vision and appeal to consumers’ wallets in the future with this showing.

Then there are all the different playable games on the showroom floor, including Halo 5: Guardians, Forza Motorsport 6 and Rise of the Tomb Raider. We hope Fable Legends is finally dated but we won’t hold our breath – it’s more likely that Microsoft dates its backwards compatibility for Xbox 360 games at this point.

Gears of War: Ultimate Edition will also likely be available to play, offering fans their first taste of what the single-player campaign holds. All in all, it’s not a bad line-up for Microsoft and attendees will have plenty to look forward to.

The EA Train

Electronic Arts will probably do what’s in its best interest and not focus entirely on sports titles. Then again, this is EA we’re talking about so expect to hear more about exclusive tie-ups with Xbox One for FIFA 16’s Ultimate Team mode, bundle deals and whatnot.

At least Star Wars Battlefront appears to be present at the conference as COO Peter Moore indicated in a recent earnings call that the gam’s showing would be vital to its success. And hey, what better for fans to know what they’re getting into then to have it playable for attendees? One can hope that people get a glimpse at each mode rather than a single experience on a single map.

As for the rest, EA seems to be quite tight-lipped on its Gamescom offerings. While we doubt there will be another instance of Shadow Realms being propped up, the atmosphere does seem ripe for an announcement of some kind. Then again, it could just be that EA will offer more information on games like Plants vs. Zombie: Garden Warfare 2, Mirror’s Edge Catalyst, Need for Speed and whatnot.

Is it too much to hope for Mass Effect: Andromeda receiving new information? At this point you’d think there’d be something to offer than just teases on Twitter.

Blizzard Entertainment and WoW

Make no mistake – Blizzard’s main attraction will be the next expansion for World of Warcraft. Not much is known, save for the fact that it might be called “Council of Glades” but it will be interesting. Warlords of Draenor didn’t quite smash sales records and if anything else, there was a significant loss in subscribers several months after its release. Blizzard has been doing its part to release new updates in the form of entire raids, zones, story missions and whatnot. Will that be enough for the next expansion?

StarCraft 2: Legacy of the Void is also expected to appear and perhaps even receive a release date. Overwatch will probably have a more substantial presence since its beta is set to begin in the fall.

What else does Blizzard possibly need to offer other than, well, some more additions to Hearthstone? We’re not quite sure at this point but why mess with the company’s approach when it’s still doing great?

All the Rest: Horizon, Call of Duty Black Ops 3 and More

Even without every single major publisher holding its own press conference, there will be plenty to look forward to at Gamescom. Square Enix will be revealing more details about Final Fantasy 15 which is expected to be a major showing to make up for its absence at E3. It’s likely that games like Hitman and Kingdom Hearts 3 also receive significant updates.

Activision will have its hands full with its shooters, particularly with Treyarch revealing details for eSports tools in Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 and Bungie showcasing even more titbits for Destiny’s The Taken King expansion. There’s not much pressure on either to deliver – Call of Duty has always been successful for Activision and the craze for Destiny isn’t dying down any time soon either.

Guerrilla Games’ Horizon: Zero Dawn will be one of the few upcoming PS4 exclusives to make an appearance at Gamescom and we can only hope that means more footage. Heck, we can also hope the game is closer to being done than initially thought. Now if only there was real-time gameplay footage instead of in-engine visuals.

Ubisoft will be Ubisoft. So look forward to Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate, if you weren’t already. But hey, at least For Honor will be available to play. Is that alone worth getting excited about? Maybe not so expect some kind of new information on Tom Clancy’s The Division, like a beta release date or something.

What do you hope to see at Gamescom 2015? Let us know in the comments. The event will kick off on August 4^th with Microsoft’s presser and ends on August 9^th.

This year’s Gamescom is a bit different though, particularly because of Microsoft and Sony. The latter has actually changed things up by not attending this year’s conference. Given the number of blockbusters it announced at E3 – including the remake for Final Fantasy 7, reviving The Last Guardian and launching the Shenmue 3 Kickstarter with Yu Suzuki besides showing off Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End and announcing Horizon: Zero Dawn – that makes some bit of sense. Sony is on a tear now anyway with 25.3 million PS4 units shipped worldwide anyway so despite the lack of any major AAA titles this Holiday season, it doesn’t have much to sweat about.

"Remedy's Quantum Break is perhaps one of the few games that have been hyped for the Xbox One since the console's introduction, especially with the changes made since its inception..."

However, this opens up a very interesting door for Microsoft. Not only are games like Halo 5: Guardians, Forza Motorsport 6 and Rise of the Tomb Raider available for hands-on play but we also expect new details for each game as well. The advantages these hold are that they release later this year itself. Forza Motorsport 6 is out first in September, followed by Halo 5 in October and Rise of the Tomb Raider in December.

There’s also the fact that Microsoft will be holding a dedicated presser for Gamescom and taking the covers off of some of its more mysterious titles. Crackdown will finally be getting some gameplay footage, showing us just how much the open world supercop title has evolved since its days on the Xbox 360. Scalebound will be revealed in some form or another (it’s hard to decide which one has Platinum’s Hideki Kamiya so worked up) and there may be more to the game than initially believed. Xbox division boss Phil Spencer at least stated that it would be a true AAA title.

Remedy’s Quantum Break is perhaps one of the few games that have been hyped for the Xbox One since the console’s introduction, and it’s undergone some since its inception due to Microsoft abandoning its efforts for TV shows to focus more on gaming. That’s not to say that Quantum Break won’t have some kind of TV series attached to it for players to unlock as they progress through the story.

"Remedy's Quantum Break is perhaps one of the few games that have been hyped for the Xbox One since the console's introduction, and it's undergone some since its inception due to Microsoft abandoning its efforts for TV shows to focus more on gaming."

However, the upcoming showing at Gamescom will offer the most up to date version of the game till now and hopefully build some hype to a real release. You can also bet that Microsoft will use its presser to talk about other key features coming for the Xbox One including its fall update which significantly speeds up UI navigation and backwards compatibility for Xbox 360 titles.

While Microsoft may not dethrone Sony any time soon in the console war, its plan to focus on several key releases at E3 2015 while saving others for Gamescom seems to have panned out. Time will tell just how great the individual presentations for these games are when Microsoft’s conference rolls around but above all else, it offers Microsoft some significant talking points at a time when Sony lacks a major presence (aside from Guerrilla Games showcasing Horizon: Zero Dawn). Word of mouth is the console’s best weapon right now and the more Microsoft stays in the public eye – in a positive way, of course – the better.

The real kicker, besides the overall strength of the presentations, will be when exactly Crackdown, Scalebound and Quantum Break will be releasing. Microsoft was able to fall back on its upcoming Holiday releases when announcing new games at E3. But will the company be able to pull off the same at Gamescom if none of the above games have release dates attached? It’s hard to say but at this point, the House of M needs to keep dating its releases and delivering on time.

"There's still plenty more that could be done when the presser finally rolls around. Microsoft could finally bring its slew of indie titles, like the long in development Cuphead to the forefront."

One of the bigger problems Sony has had, besides the lack of releases for the remainder of 2015, is the lack of dates for games like The Last Guardian and Final Fantasy VII. For all its hype, we may not see Shenmue 3 until 2017. No one knows when Media Molecule’s Dreams is out and David Cage/Quantic Dream are occupied with bringing Beyond: Two Souls and Heavy Rain to the PS4 (neither have release dates). The only major titles that seem to have a strong chance of actually releasing on time in 2016 are Uncharted 4 and Horizon: Zero Dawn. Neither release date has been confirmed. We can only expect Uncharted 4 to be properly dated when the next PlayStation Experience comes up but it should be done earlier.

At least there’s Until Dawn, for what it’s worth, coming out on August 23rd.

There’s still plenty more that could be done when the presser finally rolls around. Microsoft may finally bring its slew of indie titles, like the long in development Cuphead to the forefront. It could significantly expand its preview program to include new games. It could make another blockbuster announcement from out of nowhere. Whatever it decides to do, the company’s calendar for 2015 is set – it now needs to make strong strides for 2016’s line-up. Touting Halo and Forza, along with Gears of War and Tomb Raider, is fine but if there were ever a time to further expand on that roster in a meaningful way, then Gamescom is it.

What are your thoughts on Microsoft’s plans for Gamescom 2015? Let us know in the comments and stay tuned for more coverage on the company’s presser when it begins on August 4th, 9 AM PDT.