Diablo III Monster Power System Detailed

Blizzard has detailed the Monster Power feature coming to Diablo III. In patch 1.0.5, Blizzard will add the Monster Power system, which gives players “more control over how challenging enemies are in each difficulty setting,” similar to the “Player X” feature in Diablo II. Monster Power lets players adjust monster health and damage based on various power levels. The harder the enemy, the more bonuses to stats players will receive, plus more drops. Monster Power will be available beginning at level 1 in the Quest Selection window and can be adjusted separately within Normal, Nightmare, Hell and Inferno.

At launch, Monster Power will be available in solo and private multiplayer games. According to a post from Blizzard’s Stephanie Johnson on Diablo III’s official site, “Whenever you join a private multiplayer game, your hero will temporarily adopt the Monster Power level set by the party leader, and it will return to the previous setting you selected as soon as you leave the group.” Players won’t be able to adjust Monster Power in public games, but Blizzard is “looking into the possibility of adding that ability in the future.”

Adjusting Monster Power will offer “bonuses to experience, Magic Find, and Gold Find (which will stack above the 300% cap), and Blizzard showed off the difference between the bonuses in Normal, Nightmare and Hell versus those in Inferno. Inferno will offer increased bonuses, plus offer a chance for monsters to drop an additional bonus item.

“In Inferno at Monster Power 1 or greater, monsters in every Act will also be bumped up to level 63 and share the same high-end item drop rates,” Johnson explains. “This means that no matter which act you're progressing through, the monsters in that act will all have the same shot at dropping items level 61-63, including crafting recipes, Legendary items, and set items. While monsters in Inferno will all be level 63 at MP 1 through MP 10, their skills, abilities, and attributes will still vary from act to act. This means that certain Acts or Chapters may still be more difficult for you than others based on what monsters and Elite packs appear in each, but -- since the rewards will be identical across the entire difficulty -- where you choose to play is ultimately up to you and your personal play style.”

As for the philosophy behind adding the system, Johnson explains that “the intent of Monster Power is not necessarily to make the game ‘unbeatable,’ but to provide better ways for players to measure their progress as they become more powerful.” The team built the system around that idea, focusing on two areas.

The first is Monster Damage vs. Monster Health. Johnson explains that “with each Monster Power level there's a heavy emphasis on increased monster health rather than monster damage. This is because, in general, it's more fun to find ways to maximize your damage than it is to be forced into taking every available form of damage mitigation. We also didn't want to create situations where ‘hard to beat’ could become ‘impossible to beat’ because players couldn't survive long enough to make any progress.” The team tried testing scaling up monster damage but found that it made some fights more challenging in unfair ways or made it too easy for heroes to die after one hit. Increasing monster health, on the other hand, “allowed the game to scale up in difficulty more naturally and in a way that still felt manageable.”

The second area of focus is Efficiency. “By now, some players have reached a point where they can kill monsters so fast that even Inferno provides almost no challenge, and enemies die as soon as they appear on the screen,” Johnson wrote. “For these players, the bottleneck for efficient farming is actually the speed at which they can traverse the map rather than how well they can dispense with enemies.” Blizzard feels that Monster Power fixes this, as players can increase Monster Power for more of a challenge with better rewards. “Will some players be able to kill Diablo on Monster Power 10 as soon as 1.0.5 goes live? Absolutely,” Johnson writes. “Will that be the most efficient Monster Power level at which to farm items? For most, probably not. Monster Power allows each individual decide what that ‘sweet spot’ is for them.”

“In Diablo III, your character's power can grow by multiple orders of magnitude, but up until now there hasn't been a way for you to truly put that potency to the test,” Johnson concluded. “The Monster Power system provides a new outlet for high-powered heroes to truly see how far they've come and tangibly experience just how epic the gear they've collected is. Different players want different levels of challenge, and with Monster Power you'll be able to determine what the right level of challenge is for you. Whether you're in it for the guts, the glory, or simply the goodies, we're excited to offer players the opportunity to face the forces of evil on their own (possibly slightly insane) terms.”

Previously, Blizzard explained how patch 1.0.5 will reduce Inferno difficulty along with its changes to defensive skills and monster damage. For more on how patch 1.0.5 changes Diablo III, read our interview with senior technical game designer Wyatt Cheng and game director Jay Wilson about the patch’s two biggest features, plus when we can expect PVP to come to Diablo III.

Andrew Goldfarb is IGN’s associate news editor. Keep up with pictures of the latest food he’s been eating by following @garfep on Twitter or garfep on IGN.

Source : ign[dot]com

Epic Mickey’s Epic Challenge

Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two forges new territory for its franchise and action-adventure games as a whole. That a modern era game would even think to be a musical is daring enough, but mix that with an ambitious attempt to increasingly incorporate the ideas of choice and consequence with platforming, not to mention two-player, split-screen co-op, and you have one massive undertaking.  However, whether Power of Two can successfully turn that into an enjoyable experience remains to be seen – our recent time with the game revealed flaws that have carried over from its predecessor, plus missed opportunities when it comes to the Wii U version.

The first Epic Mickey was a single-player affair that sent Mickey Mouse out to investigate the twisted world of Wasteland, and the creature seemingly responsible for its destruction – Oswald the Rabbit. This time around, Power of Two works to bring Oswald and his unique abilities directly into the game as a playable character.

Oswald easily holds his own against Mickey, and his power set, which is based more around mechanics and electricity, is a necessity to gameplay. The game requires cooperation to succeed. Some enemies are more vulnerable to different power sets, and various puzzles will require both players to complete. When a partner isn’t present for split-screen play (there is no online option), AI will take over. A CPU-controlled ally is reasonably competent, though attempting to issue some commands in our recent demo proved troublesome.

Epic Mickey 2 retains a strong sense of character and world design. Much like its predecessor, the game pulls in vast amounts of Disney lore – from its theme parks to cartoon shorts that are decades old – to create a cohesive, fully realized world that fans will spend hours scrutinizing. The way developer Junction Point amalgamates so many sources is truly admirable, and is only helped by great voice work and some truly catchy musical numbers.

The catch here is that Epic Mickey 2 struggles when it moves beyond conceptual design and into practical application. Though the development team swears it has spent time refining its camera, but playing through a section of the game revealed similar problems. Getting a proper, intuitive perspective for battling is still frustrating – even with manual controls and a targeting system. Likewise jumping from platform to platform is problematic. Surfaces have a very slippery nature, and the camera often sits too low, impairing your ability to gauge distances. Combining those two elements means needlessly sliding off ledges is all too common, a frustrating exercise if there ever was one.

Bringing Epic Mickey 2 to Wii U has resulted in some strange development choices as well. Though it would seem likely (and logical) that port developer Heavy Iron would simply apply Wii’s remote-based controls to this HD counterpart, it doesn’t. In fact, it actually forces the first player (Mickey) to use the GamePad and the second (Oswald) to a remote and nunchuk. There are no plans for Pro controller support, and you can’t use the remote if you’re playing alone. It would have also been great to allow players to take advantage of the GamePad’s built-in map and objective displays while using a different controller, similar to Treyarch’s approach with Black Ops II. These types of omissions are simply baffling, as Wii U, alongside PlayStation 3 with Move, could easily be one of the more ideal consoles for this game. The core concept simply begs for pointer-based controllers - certainly a missed opportunity.

For Disney fans, Epic Mickey 2 is a dream come true. It’s truly a celebration of everything that makes Disney so special, from its rich animation to the wonders of its theme parks. And it does that in a musical package that has remarkable ambitions in terms of co-op gameplay. But for a platformer to struggle so much with its camera and controls worries us, particularly as the game has just over a month until its release. Junction Point swears it is tending to the problems of the first Epic Mickey, but some of them seem to be making a comeback – perhaps even more than before. Here's hoping these flaws were simply limited to the areas we tried this time around.

Rich is an Executive Editor of IGN.com and the leader of IGN's Nintendo team. He also watches over all things WWE, Resident Evil, Assassin's Creed and much more. Follow him on Twitter, if you dare!

Source : ign[dot]com

Treyarch Defends Black Ops' Ageing Engine

Treyarch has defended using the seven-year-old IW engine to power Call of Duty: Black Ops II.

In an interview with OXM, game design director David Vondehaar explained that modifications had been made to ensure the game ran robustly, and admitted he was baffled that anyone would criticise the title's technical performance.

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To me, it's like I never really understood. It runs at 60 and it's gorgeous. What exactly is there to be upset about with the engine?

"Anybody who comes at the engine needs to remember it's the 60 frames they love in the first place," he asserted. "And we can make it beautiful - that's through years and years of working with the engine, improving upon it and improving the pipeline and improving our approach, our lighting rendering.

"People like to talk about the engine, but the truth of the matter is that this isn't like something that was invented six years ago. At this point that engine doesn't resemble anything like any engine - we've ripped out the UI system, the rendering and the lighting are all new, the core gameplay systems are all new.

"To me, it's like I never really understood," Vondehaar concluded. "It runs at 60 and it's gorgeous. What exactly is there to be upset about with the engine?"

The IW Engine has been used by both Infinity Ward and Treyarch for the companies' work on the Call of Duty games. It was first used for Call of Duty 2 back in 2005, and the exact engine being used for Black Ops II is a modified version of the IW 3.0 engine that was used for Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, as well as the original Black Ops. The PC version of the game is also confirmed to take advantage of DirectX 11 video cards.

The first image of the Nuketown 2025 pre-order bonus map for Call of Duty: Black Ops II was unveiled yesterday, and the game itself is due to release on Xbox 360, PS3 and PC on November 13, and on the Wii U on its respective launch dates.

Luke Karmali is IGN's UK Editorial Assistant and a meleeing ninja when it comes to COD. You too can revel in mediocrity by following him on IGN and on Twitter.

Source : ign[dot]com

Disney Epic Mickey 2 Confirmed for Wii U Launch

Disney has revealed that Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two will be available for the Wii U at launch in the UK and America.

While we already knew that the game would appear as one of 23 games on Nintendo's console when it launches in America on November 18, Disney has now confirmed that the game will be available when the Wii U launches in the UK on November 30.

This now brings the number of Wii U launch day titles available in the UK to 12, and it remains to be seen if more will be announced as we move closer to the console's release.

Luke Karmali is IGN's UK Editorial Assistant. You too can revel in mediocrity by following him on IGN and on Twitter.

Source : ign[dot]com

Manimal Gets a Movie

Sony Pictures Animation has just landed the movie rights to Manimal, based on the 1980s television series about a wealthy doctor with the power to transform into animals in order to fight crime.

The Hollywod Reporter says the film will be a live-action/CG hybrid, with the original series' producer Glen A. Larson -- known for his work on other '80s fare like Battlestar Galactica, Knight Rider and Magnum P.I. -- attached to produce the film.

Manimal was widely panned by critics and slaughtered in the ratings when it aired opposite Dallas in 1983. The series only lasted eight episodes before it was cancelled. However, the show gained a cult following for its campiness in the years that followed.

The studio is currently in search of writers to pen the new project.

Max Nicholson is a writer for IGN, and he desperately seeks your approval. Show him some love on Twitter and IGN.

Source : ign[dot]com

Nintendo Power's Best Covers

Today the video game industry was hit with some sad news. It was announced that Nintendo's official magazine, Nintendo Power, will be closing its doors. The magazine published its first issue in 1988 - and long before most people even knew what "online" was, it was providing gamers with unforgettable memories and tasty game news.

Later today we'll be running a feature looking back at some of our favorite things about Nintendo Power magazine, and gathering together all of our favorite memories. In the meantime, take a look at the covers below, which represent some of the best from the publication's 24 year run. We're sorry to see you go, Nintendo Power - thanks for the cool covers and great memories.

Did we miss your favorite cover? Tell us all about it in the comments below!

Audrey Drake is an Associate Editor at IGN and a proud member of the IGN Nintendo team. She is also a lifelong gamer, a frequent banisher of evil and a wielder of various legendary blades. You can follow her wild adventures on her IGN blog and Twitter. Game on!

Source : ign[dot]com