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Divercast Ep.4 : Suggestions for Gears of War 4

9/8/2014

In this episode of Diver-cast, I talk about what I would like to see in the next Gears of War game. I talk about Co-Op, multiplayer and where I would set the Gears 4 campaign.

I also discuss my issues with the previous games and how to improve them. There are a few spoilers in this podcast, so if you haven't played Gears 1 to Judgement, you may have some story elements spoiled.

Divercast Ep.4: Suggestions For Gears Of War 4 by Divercast on Mixcloud

Do you have any suggestions for Gears of War 4? Well the game is still a few years away, which means you have plenty of time to make suggestions. If you have any suggestion that you would like to share, please feel free to tweet them to me or leave a comment on the blog. I will add them to a list that I will post here on my blog.

Do you have questions, comment or concerns? Email us at [email protected]
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- Danny Q
@Dannylv100

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Indie Arcade: Gang Beasts

9/2/2014

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A Call to Brawl

Welcome to another edition of Indie Arcade! This month, I am taking a look at Gang Beasts. A local multiplayer physics based brawler for the PC.

Note: The version of the Gang Beasts I am playing is build 0.0.3 and may not represent newer builds or the finished game.

Premise

Gang Beasts is a local multiplayer fighting game where players battle their friends in an array of arenas. The focus of the game is it's play-doh like physics that allow for some truly over the top fights.

To win, you must force your opponents to lose all of their lives. Depending on the stage/arena it might be something as simple as tossing them out of a wrestling ring or it might involve punching them off of a conveyor belt and into an incinerator.

Art and Design

This is an early build of the game, the art is all placeholder at the moment, but that really doesn't matter to me one bit. I am the kind of person that doesn't really care about the "graphics" of a game, as long as the art style of the game isn't a distraction.

What we have here are clean 3D stages. Everything in the environment is easily distinguishable. There is never a moment where you will be asking yourself whether that is a truck or platform etc. The characters are bright play-doh like figures and are easily spotted in the game world.

I know the games art is not complete, but I actually really like how it looks at the moment. Nothing out there has a similar look to it and that really helps it stand out from the crowd. I will admit though that I am looking forward to playing as a luchador. The planned character models remind me of those wrestler dolls that they used to sell back in the early 90s.

The game is pretty easy to get the hang of. You have two buttons to punch (right and left hand), a button to jump and a button to duck. When you hold one of the punch buttons you can hold or grab an object or opponent, and if done properly you can even lift them over your head to toss them out of the arena Royal Rumble style.

The arenas/stages are all great. They are designed with chaotic fun in mind and I have no complaints. The way the stages are designed, you can really go abstract with them and make some crazy obstacle course of pain. I would love to try my hands at a level editor and create an American Gladiators style arena.

Cons

Gang Beasts is till in it's early stages of development and as such it does have a few bugs and glitches. I did run into a few but they were usually nothing that was game breaking or truly frustrating.

The only really issue I had was the controls. By default you need to set the inputs yourself. The build I played did not have a default layout for the keyboard or controller. This was a bit annoying at first, especially when you need to set the inputs for every single player. I would have preferred a recommended or default input that I could then have the option of altering if needed.

The game is local multiplayer only (for now). This isn't an issue per se, but I know for me it was a bit annoying when I had no one to play with. This game is meant to be experienced with other human opponents. I didn't get the chance to truly experience the game until I was able to get friend and a second controller. This is no reason to not try out the game though, just something to keep in mind.

Fighting never stops

Gang Beasts is the perfect party game. Easy to learn mechanics and a vibe that took me back to a time where I would play games like Bomberman 64 with all my friends on the couch.

It has a great energy and a lot of potential. Don't believe me? Give it a download and grab a few friends.