BOOM! Nexon and Final Strike Games Reveal New Title, Rocket Arena, Entering Closed Beta May 23rd

LOS ANGELES – May 16, 2019 – Nexon America, in partnership with veteran-led development studio, Final Strike Games, is bringing its brand new first-person multiplayer shooter Rocket Arena to closed beta on PC. The beta will occur from May 23 to May 29 via the Nexon Launcher and Steam. Players can sign up for a chance to blast off this exclusive round of beta testing here.

Rocket Arena brings a unique 3-on-3 cross-platform experience to the first-person shooter genre and features a roster of vibrant characters competing in quick 5-minute matches in the Rocket Championship Tour. Set in the curious World of Crater, Rocket Arena introduces special gameplay mechanics distinct from standard shooters, reveling in a host of colorful weapons and abilities that utilize fanciful rockets in imaginative forms.

In Rocket Arena, players are equipped with a blast meter that increases as they are blasted by rockets. As the meter reaches its critical point, players become susceptible to being knocked out of the map, but will quickly return to the stage to stay in the action. With dedicated matchmaking functionality, servers account for skill level and latency when pairing players together. Rocket Arena will be available for cross-platform play on PC and Xbox One at launch, with PlayStation 4 currently in development.

Watch the reveal trailer here:

“We developed Rocket Arena with high-quality gameplay mechanics, superb controls, and the network code required of an online FPS. Rocket Arena is an intricate shooter at its core, complete with a marvelous world, colorful characters, and ridiculous rockets,” said Kevin Franklin, Founder/CEO of Final Strike Games. “Nexon shared our vision for Rocket Arena and provided the resources and expertise to realize our goal. The result is a game that our team is exceptionally proud of, and look forward to playing every day.”

The closed beta period features a selection of six maps, four game modes, and six characters. Players participating in the beta will also be able to earn cosmetic rewards to use in the release version of Rocket Arena.

Klei Releases Don’t Starve: Hamlet out of Steam Early Access Today

Klei, the critically-acclaimed independent games studio behind the much loved franchise Don’t Starve, is pleased to announce the release of Don’t Starve: Hamlet, the third DLC for Don’t Starve, available on Steam on May 14.

View the teaser



In this latest DLC for Don’t Starve, players uncover a lost town of aristocratic Pigmen nestled within a foreboding tropical jungle. Expanding on Klei’s dark and whimsical style, Don’t Starve: Hamlet will see players having to use their skills and survival strategies developed in Don’t Starve, in order to find their place amongst the Pigmen and weather the ominous Aporkalypse.

With a whole civilization to explore, there’s much to do in Don’t Starve: Hamlet from adjusting to a new society to discovering lost ruins, all with new characters along for the adventure.

Key features of Don’t Starve: Hamlet include:

Reacquainting to city life: Visit shops and trade with the pig society. Players can purchase and renovate their own home.

Delving into ancient ruins: Explore the lost world of an ancient pig civilization filled with traps and try your hand at treasure hunting.

Exploring new lands: Discover the secrets of new wildlife and seasons.

Crafting and experimenting: New ingredients and recipes to help solve unique new problems this new land brings.

3 new characters:
Wilba - Daughter to Queen Malfalfa, Princess Wilba has the love of her people. If only she wanted the job.

Wormwood - Who knows where this creature of nature came from, but he'll likely grow on you.
Wheeler - A gutsy aeronaut whose latest adventure has blown off course.

In addition to the trials and treasures that await players in Don’t Starve: Hamlet, there’s a surprise new character for EVERYONE that owns Don’t Starve. But who? They’re a reckless inventor of curious contraptions, but can they survive their greatest experiment yet? Players will soon find out as Wagstaff has now arrived in the Constant.

Enter the world of Don’t Starve: Hamlet via Steam on May 14 here.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/712640/Dont_Starve_Hamlet/

A Plague Tale: Innocence - Launch Trailer

A Plague Tale: Innocence releases tomorrow – watch the Launch Trailer!

Asobo Studio’s debut new IP, A Plague Tale: Innocence, launches tomorrow for Xbox One on May 14. Embark on a dark adventure through a war-torn, medieval France, relentlessly pursued by the Inquisition and never-ending hordes of ravenous rats.

A Plague Tale: Innocence tells a grim and emotional story, with gameplay blending action and adventure. Follow Amicia and her little brother Hugo, as they attempt to survive a harsh, brutal world plagued by war and the Black Death. On the run from the Inquisition and surrounded by unnatural swarms of rats, the siblings’ rocky journey will not leave them unscathed.

A Plague Tale: Innocence releases May 14, on Xbox One. - (Amazon Link)

Yoshi’s Crafted World - Yoshi 101 Trailer - Nintendo Switch

Jump into a new Yoshi adventure in a world made of everyday objects—like boxes and paper cups! As Yoshi, you’ll leap up high, gulp down enemies, and set out on a treasure hunt to find all the different collectables.

Available now, exclusively on Nintendo Switch! (Amazon Link)

GRIP: Combat Racing changes the game with AirBlades Update

REVIEW by Jon Donnis
I have been playing GRIP for a while now, and the one thing I like most about this game is the fact the creators keep churning out free updates. Whether it is new tracks, weapons, or new vehicles, they have shown a great dedication to keeping the game fresh and interesting.

Well the latest update for GRIP is a whole new vehicle class of anti-gravity racers. Clearly here they are looking at the classic WIPEOUT game on Playstation and wanting to emulate the success of that with similar vehicles.

So you have the classic Rollcage inspired "Rollers" which are the standard vehicles you use, that can drive upside down, and now the new WipeOut inspired"Airblade" vehicles, which are pretty much hovercraft racers. Much like the Rollers, the Airblades can also flip upside down and ride on any surface. But the AirBlade does have one big advantage, when you come to wet surfaces, instead of being slowed down like the Rollers, the Airblades just keep on going, gliding majestically.

Also with this update are brand new levels set in a space backdrop.

The AirBlades are a welcome addition to the game, they do look amazing, but my main gripe here is that they pretty much handle exactly the same as the Rollers, and unfortunately some of the bugs of the game have still not been ironed out, these tend to be the way the camera moves and flips around too much when you flip to a different surface, as well as it not always being very clear which way you are supposed to be going.

If there was one thing that would improve this game massively, it would be more fixed camera angles, as well as it being much clearer the direction of the track. Although the open areas look nice, as soon as you go off track, you are regenerated back onto the track, so it is not like you can go and explore. There is also the issues of collision detection. You can be leading the race, and just as you are about the pass the finish line, you hit one of the posts, and suddenly you are at an instant stop, as the rest of the competitors pass you, and you end up in last, and because it is an instant stop, you have to slowly reverse, turn the vehicle, and then slowly crawl across the finish line. It is incredibly frustrating, and since it doesn't at all feel like you made a mistake, there is little feeling of wanting to try again.

So although the addition of new vehicles, tracks and so on is great. I wish the game creators would fix some of the camera view bugs, and collision detection, which does spoil the racing levels.

I will say however that the arenas are still awesome and one on one death matches are what you will end up playing the most.

Review by Jon Donnis

The Airblades free update is live right now on Steam, Xbox One and PlayStation 4, with Nintendo Switch to follow later in May.

GRIP: Combat Racing can be purchased now for console platforms (MSRP $39.99) and PC (MSRP $29.99) – digitally on Steam, the PlayStation™ Store, Xbox Games Store, Nintendo Switch or physically, upright and upside-down at global retail. All players who already own GRIP will receive Airblades as a free update.

In addition to its digital release on Xbox One, GRIP: Combat Racing is available through the Xbox Game Pass subscription service, bringing the title to Xbox players around the world.