Mad Max Looks Disastrously Brilliant
After a lengthy period hiding in the shadows, WB Games has shown off the first gameplay footage from Avalanche Studios’ (best known for the exceptional Just Cause games) Mad Max. This is an apocalyptic open world adventure – blending elements of survival with hand-to-hand combat and the franchise’s iconic vehicular mayhem. The five-minute gameplay trailer shows off all of these new dynamics and more. Immediately the game’s combat and open world progression fell reminiscent of last year’s Shadow of Mordor – another WB Games joint. Though in fairness, that game’s main character never ate a can of dog food with his bare hands. You’ll be able to get your hands on Mad Max this September for XBox ONE, PlayStation 4 and PC.
 
The Internet is Not Happy about Star Wars: Battlefront
When you have a long-awaited sequel to a game with a beloved cult follow and a publisher as openly despised as Electronic Arts (whose fanboy-enraging antics led to two consecutive “Worst Company In America” wins) – the stage is going to be set for conflict. Such is the case with Star Wars: Battlefront. After the game’s announcement late last week, die-hard fans started to notice some beloved features that wouldn’t be making the cut for this fall’s new installment. Compared to 2005’s Battlefront 2, Battlefront 2015 lacks a single-player campaign, 64-player multi-player, space battles, and Instant Action. Additionally, the PC version will not support split screen play. A developer at DICE was quoted suggesting that players “buy a second PC” if they want to play with friends in the same room. Naturally, this has led to a snowball effect of outrage, resulting in countless negative posts regarding the game on enthusiast sites like Reddit, NeoGAF and more. However, the game still hasn’t been fully revealed – so only time will tell if the outrage is warranted. Star Wars: Battlefront hits stores this November.
 
The Internet is Not Happy about Steam Selling Mods
Ever since the days of Doom in the mid-90s, modding has been one of the biggest reasons for gamers to choose the PC platform. New maps, game modes, characters, weapons, missions and more – all made by die-hard fans. Mods have gone strong into the 21st century, with Skyrim, Grand Theft Auto and more, all supporting active mod communities. (In fact, popular games like DayZ, League of Legends and Rise Of The Triad all got their start as mods of other popular titles.) Last year, Valve’s Steam took a step towards making mods easier to install with the creation of Steam Workshop, which gave a convenient front-end to installation and browsing. But now, a new feature has split the community. Creators of mod content can now charge for their creations – a huge shift from an industry founded on the idea of free content that expanded upon existing games. Strengthening concerns is the fact that mod creators will only see 25% of the profit made from those sales – with both Valve and the game’s original creator taking a cut. Currently the feature is only active on mods for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim – but it will likely become a standard part of the mod experience going forward. Many voices have expressed concern that this move turns the mod community into little more than third-party DLC – ending up giving consumers less than more. Steam will still allow free mods on their marketplace, but how many creators will choose to give away their efforts for free?
Follow Chris Berg on Twitter @Mushroomer25