Posts

Episode 292 Julia Hardy

Planet Alpha

Planet Alpha E3 2018 Gameplay!

We got to play Planet Alpha at E3 this year and boy is it good! Finally we can show you how beautiful it looks too! Absolutely gorgeous arcade game and we cannot wait to play it in more detail!

Planet Alpha: Plot

Planet Alpha’s plot revolves around a beautiful alien world. So, the story is filled with mystery and danger, as you would expect from an alien planet! So, you’re pursued by enemies and you must use a unique game mechanic, the power of night and day, to survive. As Planet Alpha is richly affected by the solar cycle, as you progress throughout the game, you’ll discover you’ve been given a unique gift. The power to manipulate night and day. You must use this power intelligently to your advantage to progress as effectively and as quickly as possible.

Your character awakes on this alien world, injured, alone and left to your own devices to venture across this planet. Scaling the beautiful and varied, sometimes treacherous terrain to survive. Consequently creating an insanely rich landscape on which this incredible story lives on.

Interested?  We know we are! Yet, unfortunately this amazing game, Planet Alpha is available in Q3 of 2018 – (PC, PS4, XBOX One and Nintendo Switch) So we wait with baited breath! After all they do say that all good things comes to those that wait. So, we are hugely confident that this will be a very good thing to wait for! Planet Alpha appears to be one of those sleeper titles that just gets you hooked from the very first play!

#E3 #E32018

Check out our play through when we got our hands on it here!

Also check out Planet Alpha being recognised as Team17’s 100th Game by clicking here!

Strange Brigade

Strange Brigade

What is Strange Brigade?

Strange Brigade is your next favourite game! That’s what it is!

Strange Brigade takes users to places that they have never been before. The Plot? Well, simply there are four remote corners of the British Empire. What these remote corners entails no one knows as the shadows linger at their deepest. Who knows about these places the best? The servants of The Crown do and there are some supernatural beings that exist in these places!

Therefore it’s time to introduce the Strange Brigade! It is here where users are taken on an exotic safari, it’s dangerous and few dare to even embark on such an adventure. Why? As few return! As you go along this treacherous safari, you encounter civilisations that have once been forgotten by society, yet they’re fantastic within their own right, all while being shrouded in mystery! Go on adventures that take you to dark tombs and battle unimaginable evil!

Strange Brigade: Plot

You take on one of four adventurers or explorers. Each of the characters available to you have their own special powers, weapons and even tactics! The campaign takes you across a 1930’s era landscape and play with up to 4 friends along this action packed safari! However, as with many exotic plots, be aware of fighting armies of mythological characters that have been unleashed by an ancient Egyptian ruler: Seteki The Witch Queen. She’s so evil she has been wiped from hieroglyphs! So beware! To help you along the way there are secret caves around the safari. Why are these so special? Well within these caves there’s buried riches. Find these to help you along the way!

Furthermore, you can keep up to date with everything How To Kill An Hour by signing up to our Newsletter! How? Well, simply click here to get a dose of How To Kill An Hour in your inbox!

EGX Rezzed

EGX Rezzed – All gamed out

EGX Rezzed

We recently got the chance to attend London’s biggest gaming event: EGX Rezzed which ran between 13th-15th of April 2018 in Tobacco Dock, London.

What is EGX Rezzed?

Well EGX Rezzed is a video games event that’s the little brother of the guys who bring you EGX in Birmingham each year. The massive games convention in the UK, however, it still features many of the features of the bigger event. You’re able to play pre-release games on both PC/Console, there’s also a strong focus on indie titles! You even have the opportunity to chat to the developers!

 

We got the chance to check out Codemaster’s newest, craziest racing game yet. It’s called ONRUSH and is available for Xbox One and PS4 this summer! (June 2018) – However, it’s just a build and is no reflection of the main game. However, what we can say is that it’s a lot of fun. By fun, we mean FUN!

Consequently, it’s worth noting that ONRUSH is an Arcade game. Codemasters are marketing ONRUSH as the game to bring back Arcade racing, it’s doing a pretty good job of it too. ONRUSH is a racing game that rewrites the rules of racing. By throwing players in to competition where playing for fun is just as important as winning. Sounds conflicting right. Well, it’s a sport that’s built for the fans, by the fans and ONRUSH, as you can kind of tell by the name. So it’s all about chasing that adrenaline rush. Whilst maintaining that competitive edge to win.

ONRUSH: Features

ONRUSH, within the game, is designed to be a contact sport. Therefore playing it safe will get you no where and simply is not an option in this world. Whilst racing and rushing through the gauntlet in landscapes which are riddled with risk, not forgetting your just as crazy competitors. Users are reminded to put everything on the line when chasing that W! Don’t forget those takedowns!

What we will say that this is a very exciting game and gives you the rewards if you take the risks. It’s the ultimate manifestation of speed and strength, protect your teammates and get those takedowns whilst maintaining the lead. Trust us when we say, you’ll get an adrenaline RUSH!

Within the world of ONRUSH, there are 8 classes of contenders, each having a unique handling style along with their unique abilities and characteristics. Plus they have their own flavour of RUSH!

So, if your interested in this game you can preorder by clicking here!

 

Before we say any anything. First of all, we got to play Planet Alpha recently and boy is it good! However, we can’t say too much as it was just a build, the game isn’t available until the latter stages of 2018, yet, what we can say is that it looked visually stunning!

Planet Alpha: Plot

Planet Alpha’s plot revolves around a beautiful alien world. So, the story is filled with mystery and danger, as you would expect from an alien planet! So, you’re pursued by enemies and you must use a unique game mechanic, the power of night and day, to survive. As Planet Alpha is richly affected by the solar cycle, as you progress throughout the game, you’ll discover you’ve been given a unique gift. The power to manipulate night and day. You must use this power intelligently to your advantage to progress as effectively and as quickly as possible.

Your character awakes on this alien world, injured, alone and left to your own devices to venture across this planet. Scaling the beautiful and varied, sometimes treacherous terrain to survive. Consequently creating an insanely rich landscape on which this incredible story lives on.

Interested?  We know we are! Yet, unfortunately this amazing game, Planet Alpha is available in Q3 of 2018 – (PC, PS4, XBOX One and Nintendo Switch) So we wait with baited breath! After all they do say that all good things comes to those that wait. We are hugely confident that this will be a very good thing to wait for! Planet Alpha appears to be one of those sleeper titles that just gets you hooked from the very first play!

What is Strange Brigade?

Strange Brigade is your next favourite game! That’s what it is!

Strange Brigade takes users to places that they have never been before. The Plot? Well, simply there are four remote corners of the British Empire. What these remote corners entails no one knows as the shadows linger at their deepest. Who knows about these places the best? The servants of The Crown do and there are some supernatural beings that exist in these places!

Therefore it’s time to introduce the Strange Brigade! It is here where users are taken on an exotic safari, it’s dangerous and few dare to even embark on such an adventure. Why? As few return! As you go along this treacherous safari, you encounter civilisations that have once been forgotten by society, yet they’re fantastic within their own right, all while being shrouded in mystery! Go on adventures that take you to dark tombs and battle unimaginable evil!

Strange Brigade: Plot

You take on one of four adventurers or explorers. Each of the characters available to you have their own special powers, weapons and even tactics! The campaign takes you across a 1930’s era landscape and play with up to 4 friends along this action packed safari! However, as with many exotic plots, be aware of fighting armies of mythological characters that have been unleashed by an ancient Egyptian ruler: Seteki The Witch Queen. She’s so evil she has been wiped from hieroglyphs! So beware! To help you along the way there are secret caves around the safari. Why are these so special? Well within these caves there’s buried riches. Find these to help you along the way!

So, to listen to the guys chatting about their time at EGX Rezzed, please click here!

Furthermore, you can keep up to date with everything How To Kill An Hour by signing up to our Newsletter! How? Well, simply click here to get a dose of How To Kill An Hour in your inbox!

Skyfront VR

Skyfront VR: Find out who the peacekeepers are!

Skyfront VR: Who’s the champ

Skyfront VR, it’s time to decide who really is the best shooter around.

We  love virtual reality and feel as though it’s the next best thing for gaming. (Whilst also the most logical step in next generation gameplay) There are an array of great games currently available for the various VR systems out there. However, one caught our eye recently. Skyfront VR. A team based multiplayer shooting game that’s set in the future!

An idyllic future (2300) at that and all of your favourite city’s and landmarks were once a war zone. In AD 2700, society is now rebuilt and thriving after a terrible few hundred years. A zero-gravity battle arena is formed to prevent this from happening again. Teams take each other on to determine who are the best in town. What Skyfront are calling ‘The Final War’ it is up to you as a team to help determine who are the ‘Guardians’ – otherwise known as ‘Keepers of the Peace’ To find out who exactly are the peace keepers, a challenge was set. A battle, if you will. ‘The Skyfront Tournament’ is that challenge where players take on each other to preserve the memory of a violent past.

Skyfront VR: Gameplay

While the story is a lot of fun and one of the most original we have seen. Most of all the gameplay is incredible. The movement mechanics take advantage of the characteristics of your VR motion controllers. So, for example, move your wrist left and aim the controller sideways, the hand/gun mimic this behaviour. Paving the way for one of the most innovative and immersive gaming controllers that we have ever seen. Plus the game is incredibly fast paced, you can get hit from any angle so it’s a good idea to keep your witts about you! Plus don’t forget the arena is zero gravity, which adds another layer of uniqueness to this truly amazing game.

Most of all, and those who suffer from motion sickness will like this. The game developers are claiming that it’s nausea free!

We have to say we haven’t experienced any yet!

To apply for the early access to Sky Front VR please click here!

To Hear about it on the How To Kill An Hour Podcast click here!

Fifa franchise

Fifa franchise may be changing?

SOne of the world’s most popular gaming franchises may be changing! EA’s Fifa franchise may look completely different from 2019 onwards. In the form of subscription based gaming. According to EA Chief Executive Officer, Andrew Wilson, there will be no more annual releases in favour of continuous game updates.

According to him, consumer culture is gearing more towards digital downloads and subscribtion based models. EA’s own EA Access is a prime example. The Fifa franchise would move in an era where squad and kit updates would occur at the end of each transfer window.

“When we design a game that lives in a true streaming world, we have to think about screen size and session time” Explained Wilson. “The greatest disruptor to the consumption of entertainment media in the last five years has been the combination of streaming plus subscription” 

While, it can be said that this has been a long time coming. Since, Fifa at the end of the day only transfers and a few gameplay tweaks every year. So why not have these as simple game updates annually, whilst patching and adding bits in throughout the year?

Questions!

Most of all it boils down to how much consumers are willing to pay. How much would you pay to play EA’s Fifa franchise?

 

 

Hyperkin Smartboy

Hyperkin SmartBoy – Smartphone Gameboy!

Hyperkin Smartboy

This is the Hyperkin Smartboy, the easily and quickly way to change your smartphone into a retro gameboy!

SmartBoy

Turn your Samsung into a Gameboy with the SmartBoy by Hyperkin. Music Credit: Mate Lyons – Instrumental Hip Hop soundcloud.com/lyonsss/instrumental-hip-hop

Posted by How To Kill an Hour on Thursday, 10 August 2017

There is not much that can be said about the Hyperkin Smartboy, apart from that it is absolutely incredible!

The device will turn your phone into a powerful handheld gaming console. The Hyperkin for the Gameboy/Gameboy colour attaches to an Android USB Type C device and even uses Gameboy or Gameboy Color cartridges. As, the device then utilizes your smartphone’s display to show the Gameboy colour games! Just pop the device into the Hyperkin Smartboy and away you go!

  • According to Hyperkins website the Hyperkin Smartboy is compatible with: 
  • ASUS ZenFone 2, ZenFone 3
  • Gionee Marathon M5
  • Google Pixel, Pixel XL, Pixel 2, Pixel 2 XL
  • Huawei Honor 8, Nexus 6, Nova, P9 Plus, P10
  • LeEco Le 2, Le 2 Pro
  • Lenovo Zuk Edg, Zuk Z1
  • LG G5 LG Nexus 5x
  • Meizu Pro 6 Plus
  • Motorola Moto Z, Moto Z Force
  • OnePlus 2, 3,3T
  • Samsung Galaxy Note 7, Note 8
  • Samsung Galaxy S8, S8+
  • Vivo Xplay 5 Elite
  • Xiaomi Mi 5
  • ZTE Axon 7

 

 

To check out more please click here!

To listen to our latest show please click here!

Batman The Enemy Within

Batman The Enemy Within – Point and Click Game!

Batman The Enemy Within – Your New Point and Click Game!

Batman The Enemy Within is the sequel of the hugely successful “The Telltale Series”. Published by Telltale Games and distributed by Warner Bros, the game follows an episodic format.

Both Bruce Wayne and his alter ego are forced into situations and roles that they have yet to experience. An old foe in The Riddler has returned to wreck havoc on Gotham City, while gruesome his puzzles may be. While is something a lot worse going on within Gotham City.

A players actions by either dialogue and physical effects the story of Batman The Enemy Within immensely. Yet a player will be approaching as Bruce Wayne or Batman, players have to decide what to do to move the story forward.

Batman The Enemy within follows a similar run to that of Netflix TV shows, releasing episodes in monthly intervals.

1 “The Enigma” August 8, 2017
2 “The Pact” October 3, 2017
3 “Fractured Mask” TBA 2017
4 “What Ails You” TBA 2018
5 “Same Stitch” TBA 2018

 

Bathman The Enemy Within is available on Xbox One, Playstation 4, Microsoft Windows, Android and iOS. So you have got no excuse to not check it out!

Listen to our latest show by clicking here!

Yu Gi Oh

Microsoft Hololens bringing Yu Gi Oh to real life!

Yu Gi Oh In Real Life!

Yu Gi Oh is about to invade our lives, our real lives and it’s all thanks to Microsoft Hololens!

Yu-Gi-Oh! in Augmented Reality

Tag a mate who would play this!

Posted by How To Kill an Hour on Wednesday, 9 August 2017

Yu Gi Oh is entering the world of AR and trying to knock Pokemon Go off of its perch. So Yu Gi Oh in augmented reality makes perfect sense! Since the anime series had players who’s cards used holograms to bring it’s duels to life. Therefore the logical next best step is to introduce this feature and step it up a level and bring the cards into the world of Augemented and virtual reality!

A fan of the anime series, a developer has created a game for the upcoming Microsoft hololens! Bringing the world of Yu Gi Oh into the world that we live in today. A player puts on the hololens and he puts a card up in front of the device and a monster appears!

Since the game follows the same format as the regular card game, so think of it as the regular card game but enhanced with the 21st technology of Augmented reality. Bringing to life everyone’s imagination right in front of their eyes! Futhermore users can use their voice to control the cards and the action!

To listen to our latest show please click here!

LA Noire

LA Noire comes to the Nintendo Switch

LA Noire is coming to the Switch!

LA Noire, the gritty crime fighting thriller that once graced your screens on home consoles is now making it’s way to the Nintendo Switch!

The Nintendo Switch version of LA Noire features a whole range of console specific features such as gyroscopic controls and HD rumble! Furthermore the Switch version of the hugely successful came comes with touch screen controls!

Returning to the post war era of Hollywood’s Golden Age, you take control of newly minted police officer Cole Phelps as he takes on the city where everyone has something to hide. It is up to him to uncover the truth in the murky underworld of LA. Undertake exciting car chases, breathtaking shootouts and use your intelligence to uncover the truth in interrogation mode. Find clues and work your way through the crime world to uncover the truth!

Corruption is rampant and the drug trades are exploding during this era. With it bringing a rise in the murder rates in LA. Phelps must fight to eradicate this from his town and uncover truths behind various crimes in the city. Such as arson and racketeering conspiracies that plague the LA underworld. His detective work soon will uncover people from within his own department and it is up to him to decide what to do next as the secrets could shake the city!

LA Noire is an unprecedented interactive experience that is based on the true crimes of 1947 LA! We at how to kill an hour cannot wait to get into it. Historically accurate but with the right twist of excitement. It’s the Rockstar gamers dream come true!

To purchase LA Noire for the Switch please click here! ( It is released on Nov 14th)

To listen to the guys talking about this please click here!