October 2021 – Cloudy

GFN Thursday: Ride Through The Galaxy For Another Day in Paradise

It’s the last of this month’s GFN Thursday updates and what a month it’s been for content, features and technology. This week sees 5 games available to stream this week, which may not sound a lot but the quality of the titles brings it on home to wrap up October.

The first thing to cover is that following on from last week’s news of the new RTX 3080 Tier, We explained that Founders and Priority Members had the option to exclusively place their pre-orders before it would be made available for all. Did you get your pre-order in? Let’s hope so as from today that step closer to the cloud’s next generation is available for all to pre-order.

So just to recap, the RTX 3080 Membership is available for $99.99/£89.99 for new members and if you are a founder or priority member that hasn’t pre-ordered yet, then don’t forget that you can still claim your 10% off this price. Signing up is easy and it’s available here .

Confused about the new tiers? What’s Included? What it all means? Then don’t forget that we have a list of videos designed to make the RTX 3080 Membership announcement super easy for you to understand, check them out over on our YouTube Channel

Now that we’ve recapped and reminded you about that, it’s time to talk games. So what do we have streaming on GeForce NOW this week?

Guardians of The Galaxy

The time has finally come as we set off on a galactic adventure with cinematic qualities and all whilst rocking that awesome 80’s soundtrack.

For Founders and Priority Members, it’s time to get your RTXON! That’s right, you read it correctly. Marvel’s Guardians of The Galaxy is now streaming on GeForce NOW with RTX so that you get the very best of visual quality to add to the epic adventure. Eidos Montreal recently revealed that Marvel had given them full license to create and craft the adventure they wanted to with their own take on the guardians.

With the reviews coming into an overwhelmingly positive response, it’s a game that has to be on many people’s lists to enjoy before the end of the year.

Plus, this October brings a super-awesome reward for GeForce NOW members. Get the in-game Sleek-Lord Outfit for the main character from Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy — Star-Lord — and play in style. GeForce NOW members can redeem the outfit today through the Epic Games Store.

That really sets the bar for this week, but if that’s not enough. Check out the other 4 titles available to stream on GeForce NOW this Thursday

● Riders Republic (new game launch on Ubisoft Connect)
● Alan Wake Remastered (Epic Games Store)
● Hide and Shriek (Steam)
● Paradise Killer (Steam)

On the surface you may feel like the end of the month is a little light in terms of the quantity of the games that we are accustomed to being made available each week but looking at the quality we’ve got 2 great new releases, an old friend remastered and of course something to keep you on your toes over Halloween.

October in the world of GFN has been an absolute blast and it’s setting us up in anticipation for a strong finish to 2021. Don’t forget to check back next week as we will be due the monthly overview of what to expect in the month of November.

GFN Thursday: It’s a Whole New World

Welcome to our usual weekly update for GeForce Now Thursday! Aside from the colossal upgrade news, which can be found here *link article*, we have 9 new
titles arriving this week, including Amazon Games’ New World. Let’s jump in!

A Whole New World (In the Cloud)
If you’ve been living under a rock for the last few months, you’ve probably heard of absolute smash hit New World. One of this year’s massive success stories, this open-world MMO is a testament to the effort the developers over at Amazon Games have put in. Arriving on a mysterious island called Aeternum with no
supplies or friends, your task is to survive and thrive. Destiny is whatever you make it, as you embrace the flowing magic that brings life and death to a place
written in legends.

“From tattered rags to powerful hero, you’ll grow in might, skill, and influence your adventure in Aeternum. When and how you progress is up to you: each
gathered plant, tanned hide, slain foe, or completed quest will make you better at the particular skill or weapon you’re using and will also contribute to your
overall character level”

Uncover the true secrets lying deep within as you fight against the environment and other players in a stunning realm of fantasy delight.

“Explore a thrilling, open-world MMO filled with danger and opportunity where you’ll forge a new destiny for yourself as an adventurer shipwrecked on the
supernatural island of Aeternum. Endless opportunities to fight, forage, and forge await you among the island’s wilderness and ruins. Channel supernatural forces or wield deadly weapons in a classless, real-time combat system, and fight alone, with a small team, or in massed armies for PvE and PvP battles—the
choices are all yours.”

New World is available today (21st October) through Steam.

Games Coming This Week
As Uncle Ben once rightly said; “With great power, comes the need for more great games.” Or something like that…

Here’s a look at what is coming this week:
● Disciples: Liberation (new game launch on Steam and Epic Games Store)
● ELYON (new game launch on Steam)

● Riders Republic – (“Trial Week” on Ubisoft Connect)
● Rise of the Tomb Raider 20 Year Celebration (new game launch on Epic Games Store)
● Sword and Fairy 7 (new game launch on Steam)
● The Forgotten City (Steam and Epic Games Store)
● Legend of Keepers (Steam and Epic Games Store)
● New World (Steam)
● Townscaper (Steam)

What a crazy day it has been! We hope you’re thrilled with the GFN updates as much as we are but let us know what you’re most excited for! As always, game on.

geforce now GFN Thursday

GeForce NOW RTX 3080 Upgrades & Membership

GeForce Now Receiving RTX 3080 Performance Upgrades/GeForce Now Adding 9 New Titles Including
New World.

Welcome back to GeForce Now Thursday! This week brings some of this year’s most exciting cloud gaming news in the form of some warp speed upgrades
coming very soon. Read on to find out!

Power Up
This week, we’re happy to report a GFN upgrade that is absolutely out of this world. With an all-new membership tier, Nvidia has announced its new streaming
supercomputer monster; the GeForce Now SuperPOD. These new behemoths are kitted with RTX 3080 GPU’s and AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO CPU’s.
If the technical jargon isn’t your thing, what we’re trying to say is they’re fast, and they’re powerful. If you use a PC or a Mac, this means 1440p resolution at a
lightning-fast 120 frames per second (dependent on your monitor, of course). For SHIELD TV users, this means a shining 4K HDR at a smooth 60 FPS.
We aren’t forgetting mobile users here either. If you’re rocking a compatible Android device that has 120hz, you’ll also be able to gain access to 120 FPS
gameplay with the help of the new hardware. For every platform, it means ultra-low latency and much faster game rendering and 8-hour long playing sessions.

New Tier, New Power
With this new upgrade comes a new membership tier; the aptly-named RTX 3080 tier. Including all the new upgrades, the new tier is available for preorder now for Founders and Priority members at the price of $99.99/£89.99/€99.99 for 6 months (Founders are eligible to a 10% discount to this price). The preorder
window will open next week for all gamers.

If you are a Founder or Priority member, you can preorder by going into your account, clicking “Manage” and then selecting the “Preorder” menu. Payment
will be taken when the new service is available, which as it stands will be November for North America, December for Western Europe and at a later date
in GeForce Now Alliance regions. Information will be sent out as and when per region nearer the time.

Whilst that price tag may seem high, the cost of the CPU and GPU alone comes to nearly £2000*, not including the motherboard, RAM, PSU and other parts
needed to run a machine with that much power. This makes it a good offer for those wanting top-of-the-line performance without the huge cost of physical
hardware.

Updates Big and Small
As if today’s news wasn’t enough, version 2.0.34 of the GFN client brings with it beta support for Microsoft Edge on PC, just in case Chrome isn’t your thing. It
also packs a new Adaptive Sync update, synchronising frame rendering to the local display to ensure a smooth and lower-latency experience.

geforce now GFN Thursday RTX

GeForce NOW Can Run Crysis + 7 New Games This Week

It’s Thursday once more, and after today, we have 12 more Thursday updates left for the rest of the year! This week focuses on the PC-destroying but well-loved Crysis series from Crytek.

Ever wanted to play games on your Mac, low-spec PC, or mobile? GeForce NOW is there to help. But did you ever think your second-hand desktop or 10 year old Mac would ever stand a chance against the notorious Crysis? Now it can. GeForce NOW is getting the entire Crysis Remastered trilogy as separate games but also in the form of the Crysis Remastered Trilogy. This, as you can probably guess, includes all three titles in one.

Games Coming This Week

Crysis Remastered

Go back to where it all started; the ultimate shooter in an enormous world. Use Nanosuit’s different abilities to be stealthy, or go in all guns blazing and dominate the enemy. Fancy a different tactic? The choice is yours. The aliens have arrived, and it’s time to get the job done.

“What begins as a simple rescue mission becomes the battleground of a new war as alien invaders swarm over a North Korean island chain. Armed with a powerful Nanosuit, players can become invisible to stalk enemy patrols, or boost strength to lay waste to vehicles. The Nanosuit’s speed, strength, armor, and cloaking allow creative solutions for every kind of fight, while a huge arsenal of modular weaponry provides unprecedented control over play style. In the ever-changing environment, adapt tactics and gear to dominate your enemies, in an enormous sandbox world.”

Crysis Remastered is available now through Steam and the Epic Games Store.

Crysis 2 Remastered

Nanosuit not enough? Fight harder, smarter, and faster with the Nanosuit 2, as the aliens return with enough firepower to cause total extinction. Load up once more, explored a climate-ravaged world, and save humanity once again.

“The world has been ravaged by a series of climatic disasters and society is on the verge of breakdown. Now the aliens have returned with an invasion force bent on nothing less than the total annihilation of mankind. One supersoldier wielding the Nanosuit 2, will make the last stand to save humanity.”

Crysis 2 Remastered is available tomorrow (15^th October) through the Epic Games Store.

Crysis 3 Remastered

The grand finale in the trilogy; explore a contained New York and it’s seven different environments. Use the rainforest as your hunting ground with all new weapons, including a very snazzy but dangerous-looking bow and even alien weaponry from fallen foes. Nothing like killing aliens with their own weapons. Hunt, destroy and survive.

“Return to the fight as Prophet, the Nanosuit soldier as he rediscovers his humanity and exact revenge.”

Crysis 3 Remastered is available tomorrow (15^th October) through the Epic Games Store.

Here’s a look at what is coming this week:

Crysis Remastered (Steam and Epic Games Store)
Crysis Remastered Trilogy (new game launch on Epic Games Store)
Crysis 2 Remastered (new game launch on Epic Games Store)
Crysis 3 Remastered (new game launch on Epic Games Store)
The Riftbreaker (new game launch on Steam and Epic Games Store)
Going Medieval (Epic Games Store)
STEINS;GATE 0 (Steam)

That’s a wrap for GFN Thursday! Thanks once again for checking in. As always, game on!

A wild Phil Harrison appears as part of the Gaming Awards and is still part of Stadia

Phil Harrison has been very quiet of late much to the displeasure to a number of people with the Stadia community. We can confirm today, thanks to Anderzz on Twitter, that Phil Harrison is very much still part of Stadia and is part of the advisory panel for the Gaming Awards hosted by Geoff Keighley. His title states that he is VP and GM. There had been some outcry if he was still at Stadia or had shifted to a different job within Google. It appears that he is very much still at Stadia.

Phil Harrison is listed alongside other notable people from the gaming world like Phil Spencer, Dr Lisa Su, Doug Bowser and Hideo Kojima. It is unknown if there will be any Stadia presence during the awards. Phil Harrison’s last significant appearance was during the Ubiforward Event in September last year that won moment of the year at our Cloud Gaming Awards.

Let us hope that this is the first of many appearance by Stadia personnel over the next number of months.

GeForce NOW Thursday: From Far Cry to the Galaxies and Beyond

Our October update for GeForce NOW is here and there is a month of some big games on the horizon, it all starts now! We have big hitters from Far Cry 6, Guardians of the Galaxy and Riders Republic. Including those titles, there’s 23 coming to the service this month.

It’s a great month ahead with some fantastic titles being added, so let’s take a look at what is coming.

F.I.S.T: Forged in Shadow Torch

For the second month running, GeForce NOW snaps up a Playstation console exclusive and brings it to life in the cloud. A game that our very own Maker of Chaos gave us all a first look at on our YouTube Channel.

Six years ago, the Machine Legion invaded and colonized the Torch City, which was originally inhabited by animals. Rayton, the former soldier in the resistance war, has been living in seclusion since then. After his friend is forcibly arrested, Rayton reclaims his mechanical fist and steps to his journey fighting back. And he never expects that he has been involved in a bigger scheme between the mafia, the rebellion, and the legion.

Exploring the Metroidvania game world with a dozen of areas with distinguishing vision themes and level designs. Earning the rewards by conquering the challenges of combats, puzzles and platformers in countless chambers, tunnels and shortcuts.
Interconnected and automatically loading game map makes the detailed Torch City more convincing and beautiful.

Far Cry 6

Welcome to Yara, a tropical paradise frozen in time. As the dictator of Yara, Antón Castillo is intent on restoring his nation back to its former glory by any means, with his son, Diego, following in his bloody footsteps. Their oppressive rule has ignited a revolution.

Play as Dani Rojas, a local Yaran, as you fight alongside a modern-day guerrilla revolution to liberate Yara!
Fight against Castillo’s regime in the most expansive Far Cry® to date, through jungles, beaches, and Esperanza, the capital city of Yara.
Employ an arsenal of resolver weapons, backpacks, and vehicles to take down Castillo’s ruthless regime.

Duncan checked this out on launch day and we’ll have footage up on our YouTube channel shortly for people to get a glimpse into what to expect from the latest instalment in the Far Cry series. Have you got what it takes to liberate Yara and free the people of Giancarlo Esposito’s twisted character?

In addition to the above titles, we’re also getting the full game streaming experience with the following titles this week.

PC Building Simulator (Free on Epic Games Store, October 7)
The Bus (Steam)
Going Medieval (Steam)
Gone Home (Steam)
Space Haven (Steam)

Not enough games for you? Well don’t worry, GeForce NOW have got you covered with the remaining titles which will be available on the service in the month of October.

Disciples: Liberation (new game launch on Steam and Epic Games Store)
Fire Commander (new game launch on Steam)
Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy (new game launch on Steam and Epic Games Store)
Riders Republic (new game launch on Ubisoft Connect)
The Riftbreaker (new game launch on Steam and Epic Games Store)
Sword and Fairy 7 (new game launch on Steam)
The Unliving (new game launch on Steam)
The Forgotten City (Steam and Epic Games Store)
Gone Home (Steam)
Hide and Shriek (Steam)
The Last Friend (Steam and Epic Games Store)
Legend of Keepers (Steam and Epic Games Store)
Paradise Killer (Steam)
STEINS;GATE 0 (Steam)
Townscaper (Steam)

Originally in addition to the above, Buccaneers was listed to be coming to the service, however on the Steam page there is a notification showing that this game is seemingly now arriving in February 2022, so watch this space on that one!

There feels like only one way we can end this week’s post for #GFNThursday. That is with this…. ENJOY! Are you excited for Guardians and all it’s RTX goodness? Let us know!

far cry 6 geforce now GFN Thursday guardians of the galaxy

Age of Darkness: Final Stand Review

Fight off hordes of nightmarish creatures in this top down medieval RTS called Age of Darkness: Final Stand. Create your town and build up your defenses to survive the night. Explore during the day for extra resources and treasure and defend the city when darkness falls. Make your final stand in this dark and eerie world!

Visuals and Music:

The visuals in this game have some great contrast to the brown thatch roofs and walls to the blueish green enemies that lurk the woods. Colors stand out brilliant in this game. Enemies could use a bit more variance. You mainly see tons of the creatures on all fours that are like ghouls of sorts. There is also axe creatures, spear ones, and 4-legged spiderlike creatures, as well as, Elite Nightmares you can face during the night. Audio ties all this aesthetic in with the deep drums and the eerie music. The music picks up and really hypes you up when the swarm comes out on the death night.

Story:

Unfortunately since this game is early access, the scenarios are not complete, and the only available game mode is survival. As for the main concept of the story, you build and create a well defended town against an ever growing threat of horrors and nightmares that come rushing from the woods at night.

Gameplay:

Gameplay is very much like the RTS games before it, and very reminisce of Warcraft or Starcraft. Set up farms for food, lumber stations for wood, mine for stone and metal. Housing increases your available civilians to work buildings or turn into soldiers to fight and defend against the horrors. There is only one available hero at this time out of 3 total heroes planned. You can upgrade your hero with special abilities as they level up, and you can also upgrade each type of troops with bonuses (which will be a resource cost). I do wish the hero had more of a skill tree rather than just three abilities to use.

They offer a wide variety of defenses with ballistae, siege vehicles, and archer towers. They have to be manned to work so keeping a good supply of townsfolk is key. These defenses are key to surviving a swarm as this game has a technology called “Swarmtech” which helps allow the game to render over 70,000 enemies on screen at any time. The Death Nights are great and I love that they have elite nightmares to fight during the night for rewards as well. Really good job with variety of defenses and units as well as rewards for risking your units in the night.

Overview:

Age of Darkness: Final Stand offers a very cool RTS with a lot of potential, but is lacking more heroes and the scenario mode which I think would boost this game even higher. It is a really good concept for an early access title with the swarmtech which makes the Death Nights exciting and a bit stressful with the large amounts of enemies at once. Beautiful colors and great music that fits the theme and tone. Fun, classic RTS style gameplay with some great options for the player, but I wish we had a bit more depth with a story of some sort. Very good game so far, and I will be watching for the scenarios to release for this one. Definitely recommend for those who love RTS games!

Rating: 3.5/5

The game is available to purchase on Steam.

Horror review RTS steam