Sea of Thieves is Live! /  by Caleb Sawyer

Sea of Thieves Release

In alignment with its swashbuckling characters, Sea of Thieves has opened its sails a bit early!

In an attempt to have a "rolling release," a practice becoming more and more common as games become more online reliant, studio Rare has been rolling out access to Sea of Thieves for most of the day. Starting originally in Australia and New Zealand and working its way west around the world, Sea of Thieves has been gradually opening its ports to marauders and treasure seekers for about eight hours now.

So grab your lads, heft some steel, and weigh your anchors. 

There's fortune to be had!

Fable is Coming Back! /  by Caleb Sawyer

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According to report from Eurogamer , Microsoft has tasked UK developer Playground with creating a new installment of action/adventure RPG (and Xbox exclusive) Fable. 

Returnig to the series staple character driven, story focused gameplay, Microsoft is apparently funding a team of nearly 200 developers at Playground to get the title off the ground and into development. While it is unlikely that we will see anything from this project in the near future, the prospect of a new Fable title is exciting to long time fans of the series that were dismayed at the news of original creator Lionhead Studios’ closure in early 2016. 

It could be argued that Lionhead had “lost their way,” experimenting with a multiplayer-focused title called Fable Legends. Fans of the RPG style gameplay of Fable responded with cautious enthusiasm for the direction the series was heading. 

Playground is known for the Forza Horizon series, and while that doesn’t exactly qualify them to make a high quality action/RPG, in 2017 we saw PlayStation exclusive developer Guerilla Games (of Killzone fame) knock it out of the park jumping genres to make critically acclaimed Horizon: Zero Dawn. The Fable series brought back to life in fresh hands is exciting news and we look forward to seeing the project come to life from the new studio in the UK. 

Assassin’s Creed Origins DLC Date Announced /  by Caleb Sawyer

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The first story DLC for Assassin’s Creed Origins was given a date today. The Hidden Ones, a DLC that takes place after the events of the main game, focuses on Bayek and his new brotherhood of Assassins.   Players can look to dive into this fresh bale of hay on January 23rd, only one week from today!

The expansion will increase the Bayek’s level cap to 45, as well as add two new legendary weapons, two new mounts, a new outfit, and a handful of other weapons. 

If you own the Assassin’s Creed Origins Season Pass, this DLC will be downloadable free of additional cost. For others it will cost $10. 

Sea of Thieves Closed Beta is Coming Up. /  by Caleb Sawyer

Sea of Thieves Closed Beta info

The long awaited Sea of Thieves, developer Rare's swashbuckling foray into the open-world, persistent multiplayer playspace will launch a closed beta on January 24th. 

Featuring a manicured portion of the game, designed specifically for the beta experience, Sea of Thieves' beta will give players a taste of the pirate life that will be available in the full experience, slated to release on March 20th. Entrance to the closed beta is restricted to players who have pre-ordered the title, and to those who signed up to be in the Sea of Thieves Insider Program before December 1st of last year. 

To pre-order you can visit the Sea of Thieves website, or head to the Xbox or Windows Store. For a more comprehensive rundown of the closed beta and its details you can read the FAQ posted by Rare. 

Game Dev Tycoon Releases on iOS! /  by Caleb Sawyer

Game Dev Tycoon

Hey! You ever feel like you could run a videogame studio? Ever want to give it a shot, but you don't have the startup money? You should give Game Dev Tycoon a shot! Initially released in 2012 on PC, Mac, and Linux, by indie publisher Greenheart Games, Game Dev Tycoon starts you in your garage in the 80s, on the cusp of the videogame revolution. Take control of your own studio and climb up the ladder to stand next to industry giants. Develop games, choosing the right topic, genre, platform, audience, and time of year to release. Decide which aspects of each game should receive what amount of focus on the way to making a blockbuster hit, or a critical failure. 

Game Dev Tycoon is a blast, and as of November 28th, it is available on iOS devices! Get into it, forge your path, dominate the industry. And check back soon, we will have a review of the iOS release soon!

@LubWub
~Caleb
 

Prestige Raid is Live! /  by Caleb Sawyer

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Hello Guardians! Hardcore Destiny 2 players will be happy to hear that the Prestige level of the Raid has been released. For those who don't know, the Prestige Raid is the Leviathan Raid, but rather than the power entry level being 280, it is 300. Players can expect a few changes, though nothing hugely different. The Royal Gardens have been reported to be sporting a couple more dogs, as well as one less orb and one more Psion to kill in the Gauntlet. Bungie has also said that players can earn, "unique rewards to help [them] shine."

So gather your friends, equip your best gear, and dive into the depths of Leviathan again. Become Legend.

~Caleb
@Lubwub

Destiny 2 is Upon Us! /  by Caleb Sawyer

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Tonight is the night! For countless fans, eager to see the next evolution of the Bungie shooter, tonight is going to be a long night. As if you didn't know, the highly anticipated sequel to Destiny releases tonight at 12am ET. That's 11pm for those of us in the Central Timezone and 9pm for the lucky bastards on the West Coast. 

There were a lot of things that made the first Destiny less than stellar. Several of those issues weren't immediately apparent to the public, though their impact on the game was. Some of those issues stood at the forefront of the title. With a shorter than desired storyline, plot holes, unfinished threads, and a lack of content, the first Destiny had to work hard to make itself into the game it intended to be. 

This time, the news of departures from Bungie were nonexistent. The rumblings have, instead, foretold a game that is far larger, with more to do, and with a story that Bungie fans would expect to see from the sci-fi storytellers. 

So lock in Guardians, grab whatever supplements you will need to stay up late, and get ready to get your greedy fingers all over some tasty loot. The Cabal have come. New Guardians must rise!

~Caleb
@LubWub

Tokyo 42 Releases on PS4! /  by Caleb Sawyer

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SMAC Games and Mode 7 have released their trippy isometric shooter on PS4. Tokyo 42, described by the publisher as the lovechild of Syndicate (the original) and GTA 1, is a beautifully unique twin stick shooter that places players in a futuristic Tokyo. Fighting to clear your name of murder, the player becomes a hitman (I know, seems counter productive) and hunts the one responsible for framing you. 

NerdyBits had the opportunity to play Tokyo 42 when it released for Xbox One, and boy did we enjoy it! Tokyo is stunning, with multilayered neighborhoods, temples, parks, and monuments littered across a stylistic and fresh open world. The game features adversarial multiplayer and a full single player campaign. Tokyo 42 is ruthlessly fun and, at times, painfully difficult, but there are few games that make raining lead on a group of enemies as beautiful as it does.

Go grab your copy of this truly unique shooter. You can find it on PC, Xbox One, and now PS4 for $19.99. You won't find anything else like it.

~Caleb
@LubWub

Post Mortem is Live! /  by Caleb Sawyer

Our new podcast/feature hybrid Post Mortem goes live today! Post Mortem is an extensive look at a game or topic that is written out and then recorded as a podcast, giving readers and listeners the ability to consume the material as they like. The articles are longform so if you have the time, settle in and give it a thorough read through, but if you have things to do, say you are in your car, queue it up on the radio and give it a listen. This first episode is about Ghost Recon: Wildlands, and Caleb goes into the both the mechanical side of the game and the moral implications of the protagonists' actions. 

So head on over to the Post Mortem page, give it a read/listen, and let us know what you think!

NerdyBits is Back with Bounty Board! /  by Caleb Sawyer

It has been a long time since we have produced quality content on a consistent schedule. We apologize for that (sincerely). But now, we're back, and better than ever! 

Bounty Board is the first part in a revitalization project that stretches as deep as it does wide. With a new weekly podcast NerdyBits is stepping up a putting our best foot forward. We have a lot planned for the future, so look forward to more post activity, live streams, experimental podcast shows, interviews, and so much more. 

For those of you who have stuck around: thank you from the bottom of our hearts. It means the world to us. For those of you new to our site: Welcome! You couldn't have chosen a better time to get on board.

Stay tuned for Episode 002 of Bounty Board today at 12:00 pm CST

Digging into Andromeda /  by Caleb Sawyer

It took a bit to get used to the new Mass Effect and all that came with it, but five plus hours in and Mass Effect: Andromeda has its claws embedded. 

Starting a new game has its ups and downs. New mechanics and systems take a little getting used to, even in brilliantly developed games. For Mass Effect, this is the beginning of a new era. New characters are introduced, new worlds, in this case a whole new galaxy. Straying from the traditional snap-cover based shooting mechanics, Andromeda seeks to make combat, and gameplay overall, a more fluid, visceral experience. I won't lie, I had my struggles. After trudging through the first engagements with the grace of a lanky teenager who hadn't quite mastered the use of their own limbs, it is finally clicking with me. A few hours of multiplayer with my friends later, I understand the new engine and its intricacies a bit more, and in a game as big as Andromeda, a little goes a long way.

“...in a game as big as Andromeda, a little goes a long way.”

Combat is just as pulse pounding as previous installments, without a doubt. But the lack of snap cover made the transition a bit harrowing. The first hour of play I died about as much as college girls (or me, if I'm honest) visit Starbucks. And while I repeatedly tried to do what I did years ago, Andromeda was liberal in serving size of punishment. Andromeda is unforgiving, both as a game and a galaxy. The enemies are smart. The Kett, the game's new primary antagonists, are unrelenting. Grunts are accurate, elites are smart, and shielded tanks walk right at you. Perhaps a testament to their implementation of a new cover system, hunkering down and fighting off waves of enemies just will not cut it.

As I said, I have only put in about six hours yet, but as soon as the scale and purpose of Andromeda made itself known, I was hooked. World exploration is interesting enough to make me drive away from my objectives hoping to discover new locations and missions. But it was calling in the first settlement that really locked it in. Mass Effect: Andromeda is about finding a new home for the human race. Establishing that first settlement, and the steps that led up to getting there, restored a feeling of wonder that I hadn't felt in Mass Effect since the first installment.

Caleb Sawyer
~@LubWub