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Planet Alpha: Team17’s 100th Game!
PLANET ALPHA launches next month and it will mark Team17’s 100th game release!
Team17 are an incredible games label and they’ve teamed up with Denmark based independent developer Adrian Lazar of Planet Alpha ApS game studio to create a truly wonderful and beautiful game in PLANET ALPHA. Consequently, Team17 are incredibly proud of the work that’s gone into this game so much that they’re marking their landmark 100th game release with it!
Team17 began as a publisher when it was founded in 1990. Working on games such as Housemarque on Super Stardust and Epic on Silverball. However what made Team17 famous in the gaming industry is their work with the Worms series which launched in 1995. Consequently in 2013 Team17 set up their games label and brought to the masses games such as The Escapists, an How To Kill An Hour favourite Overcooked and Yooka-Laylee. Now 27 years on Team17 are shortly releasing (Sept 4th) PLANET ALPHA on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch™ and PC.
Plot
PLANET ALPHA is an atmospheric side-scrolling platform adventure game. Combining fast platforming, creative puzzles, stealth mechanics and a unique art style to create an unforgettable experience.
“The 100th game marks an incredible milestone for Team17 as we move closer towards our 30th year in this diverse and creative industry. Team17 started life as an indie publisher in 1990; the release of PLANET ALPHA in 2018 is a poignant moment for us all in that we have come full circle in bringing our expertise, perspective and values from our time as an independent developer to games publishing in this exciting modern era of indie games…..I’d like to pay tribute to employees of Team17, both past and present, as we celebrate the release of a multitude of titles across many game systems from 16-bit and beyond and in countries far and wide. I’m appreciative, humbled and honoured to work with talented developers in bringing their wonderful creations to fans everywhere. We’re just as passionate and excited for the next 100 games!” Debbie Bestwick MBE, CEO of Team17.
So, check out our PLANET ALPHA gameplay video from E3 below:
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Check out our exclusive play through when we got our hands on it here!
PicDrift: Bringing a new lease of life to photos!
PicDrift are an amazing company that do absolutely amazing things with photos. They bring a whole new look on what we believe photos to be and blends them with video to make truly amazing pieces of content. Blending together videos and pictures to make breathtaking pieces of art. It’s not a gif though! Far from it. The pieces of content that they make are high quality animations to bring your ideas and creations to life!
They cater to everyone too, videographers who want to breathe a new lease of life into their video projects. Wedding Photographers who want to bring something different to their work. Website designers who want to draw people into their content and make themselves stand out from the rest. PicDrift also create social media posts for yourselves or influencers who want to wow their followers.
Simply send them your photo(s) and they will do the rest. They can make animations from almost any still photo! They then build layers from your image(s) and create custom animations that can last from 5-20seconds long. Then it’s delivered to you in whatever format you wish. Be that if you want them to be ready for social media posts, any size web banner or broadcast quality videos for content as high as 4K video projects!
We think that they’re absolutely incredible and think that you’ll love them!
So, purchase your own PicDrift by clicking here!
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Detroit Become Human
Developed by Quantic Dream, the gaming heavyweights that are responsible for games such as Heavy Rain and Beyond:Two Souls. Detroit Become Human follows the same feature premise as Heavy Rain, a movie like game.
Players navigate around a futuristic world where you follow the lives of three androids, Kara, Conor and Markus. Kara has just escaped the owner that she was serving, her new mission in life is to protect a young girl that she encounters. Conor’s mission is to hunt down sentient androids. While Markus is devoted to releasing other androids from servitude. It is your role to follow these androids and their fate is dependant upon what dialogue you choose to shape the story. If a character dies, you take control of another character, as the story evolves further, so therefore there is no traditional ‘game over’ in this game. (Wiki)
Plot: Detroit Become Human
Enter the near-future metropolis of Detroit in 2038 – a city rejuvenated by the introduction of highly advanced androids that exist only to serve mankind. But that’s all about to change…
Step into the shoes of three distinct android characters as this brave new world teeters on the brink of chaos. Your decisions dramatically alter how the game’s intense, branching narrative plays out. With thousands of choices and dozens of endings, how will you affect the future of Detroit? (Amazon)
So, listen to Marcus and Julia chatting about this on the show by clicking here!
You can purchase Detroit Become Human by clicking here!
Overcooked 2: Let’s Play
An How To Kill An Hour favourite is BACK! Yes that’s right everyone’s favourite cooking game is returning, this is Overcooked 2! In this game the Onion Kingdom is once again in peril. Though it’s at the fault of the Onion King himself! By reading aloud from the fabled Necronomnomicon, he has cooked up a real problem. A problem in the form of a doughy and dangerous army of Undead Bread, named: The Unbread! The game requires players to chop, bake and fry their way to a set of brand new kitchens and tasks to defeat and save the kingdom!
Overcooked 2 is a co-op game that allows 1-4 players to help serve recipes to hungry customers in an series of unconventional kitchens. The game will follow players across kitchens located in hot air balloons, a magical school and even planets! Don’t forget to dodge the fires, collapsing floors or overbearing waiters!
Overcooked 2 New Features
What’s new:
- Online multiplayer! For the first time you can cook up a storm with up to four players in both local and online multiplayer
- Throwing! Throwing is now an official game mechanic, allowing you to toss ingredients to your fellow chefs or even straight into the pan/blender/onto the floor
- New level mechanics! Overcooked 2 sees the introduction of new game mechanics including moving walkways, controllable platforms and even portals!
- Dynamic levels! Throwing you from the frying pan and into the fire. Dynamic levels will change around you, offering a new challenge to overcome as the recipes and levels themselves change!
- Interactive world map! As you drive, sail and soar your way around the map in the Onion King’s amphibious air bus you will open up new areas using hidden buttons around the world
- Kitchens! From the neon lights of a sushi restaurant to the bubbling pots of a Wizard school kitchen, there are plenty of places to cook up a storm in Overcooked 2!
- Recipes! From spaghetti to sushi and pancakes to pizza, recipes both old and new will need to be cooked to perfection (or at least not burnt to a crisp!) New recipes mean new ingredients and new equipment so even the most well-seasoned Overcooked players will be challenged.
- Chefs! Overcooked 2 introduces a whole host of new of chefs to play in the kitchen including an eagle, mouse, beaver and what kitchen is complete without an octopus!
(Credit: Overcooked 2/Team 17 Press Release)
Listen to Marcus and Julia chatting about this on the show by clicking here!
Buy Overcooked 2 by clicking here!
Cyberpunk 2077
Developer CD Projekt Red describe Cyberpunk 2077 as an ““an open world, narrative-driven role-playing game” so essentially this game, as beautiful as it looks, is a first person role playing game. A first person role playing game that is also open world and narrative driven. We are liking the sound of this already! Fallout fans listen up! As even though the game is in first person, the game is said to offer players, plenty of chances to see what your character looks like. Pointing out that the game is a First Person RPG and not an FPS.
We are liking the route that this game is taking, making sure to emphasise the fact that it’s not just a shooter and it seems like there is a HUGE focus on storytelling. That’s what we got from the trailer, the trailer looked very movie like and we cannot wait to get our hands on it!
Plot
Users are playing as “V”, who is a “hired gun on the rise” within the Cyberpunk violent metropolis, Night City. Judging from the trailer we are getting a Matrix/Ready Player One vibe to the game. Going more indepth on the character customization, CD Projekt Red promises a “robust character creator” which will allow platers to choose things such as gender, appearance class and even their characters backgrounds. However, choose wisely as the choices that you make now, will affect and influence how the game plays out.
Yet much like regular RPG’s players are encouraged to interact with the various residents of Night City. Users do this via a dialogue system, which in turn will navigate the Cyberpunk 2077 narrative. With CD Prokekt Red stating that “difficult decisions will ripple through the entire game” (Polygon)
Listen to Marcus and Julia discussing this on the show by clicking here!
Pre-Order Cyberpunk 2077 by clicking here!
We also covered this game in one of our E3 specials listen it by clicking here!
NBA 2K19 – “Take The Crown” Trailer
NBA celebrates 20 years of redefining what sports gaming can be, from best in class gameplay to ground breaking game modes and an immersive open-world “Neighborhood.” NBA 2K19 continues to push limits as it brings gaming one step closer to real-life basketball excitement and culture. (Amazon/2K)
Entitled “Take the Crown” and featuring music by Jay Rock (@jayrock), the trailer reminds all NBA 2K19 fans that to be the best, you have to take down the king. (2K)
To pre-Order please click here!
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Orange Is The New Black
If you’ve been living under a rock for the past several years, here’s a little run down of what Orange Is The New Black is all about:
Orange Is The New Black is a comedy drama web based series created by Jenji Kohan for streaming powerhouse Netflix. The series is based on Piper Kerman’s Memoir of similar name (Orange Is The New Black: My Year in a Women’s Prison). Within her memoir Kerman discusses her experiences at a minimum security federal prison: FCI Danbury.
Orange Is The New Black
The series revolves around Piper Chapman, a woman in her 30’s living in NYC. Chapman is sentenced to 15 months in Litchfield Penitentiary, a minimum security women’s federal prison. The prison is operated by Federal Department of Corrections a fictional version of the real life Federal Bureau of Prisons. This prison is later acquired by a private prison company called Management & Correction Corporation. Piper’s conviction is due to her role in drug smuggling. Carrying a suitcase rammed full of cash for her then girlfriend Alex Vause (a career international drug smuggler). The initial offence took place a decade prior to the start of the first series.
Since then Piper had long moved on from the criminal world and was living a quiet life among New York’s upper middle class citizens. Her arrest shook her world and those around her, her family, her relationship with her partner and her friends. In prison Piper is reunited with her former lover. It is discovered that Alex had named Piper in her trial which lead to Chapman’s arrest. Now in a world that is somewhat alien to her, Piper learns to survive prison and how to overcome a number of problems that she soon faces in prison. Consequently reexamining her relationship with her former flame.
Orange Is The New Black follows Chapman as she makes friends and enemies whist trying to get through her 15months. Episodes often feature flashbacks of significant events of the people that Chapman encounters. Helping to explain backstories or develop a character.
Social Commentary
Orange Is The New Black also has elements of social commentary. Highlighting how corruption, drug smuggling, funding cuts, overcrowding and guard brutality affect a prisoners health. As well as commenting on the prisons basic ability to fulfill fundamental responsibilities and ethical obligations. It is here where the acquisition of the prison comes to fruition. Due to poor housing and conditions Litchfield was on course to be shut down. The Director of Human Activities and warden, Joe Caputo, constantly conflicts with the business interests of MCC. Conseuqently affecting his relationship of many of the inmates and guards within Litchfield.
(Wiki)
We are now on Season 6, it began showing on July 26th 2018 and we cannot wait to crack on with it. We could tell you what it’s about but it will ruin the other seasons and it’s much better to watch rather than us tell you! Plus we’d be here all day! So go ahead and check out Season 6 if you are a Orange Is The New Black veteran or crack on with Season 1. It’s worth it!
(Mobile Viewers) Download Netflix here: Apple / Android (Then click on the link below or search for Star Trek Discovery within the app)
(Desktop Viewers) Watch Orange Is The New Black here!
