A young family on the verge of breaking up, a young girl whose imaginary world suddenly becomes a reality in It Takes Two.

A co-op game like no other, It Takes Two sees a family drama story and throws in two player fantastical action and adventure as you and a local or online friend take on the roles of two parents Cody and May who through the emotional wish of their daughter end up in the bodies of her two dolls.

As Cody and May you find yourselves lost in a tool shed… seemingly the tool shed from hell and together you must work through puzzles, traps and bosses aswell as a bunch of mini-games in order to survive and get yourselves back to the house.

From the shed to a lucid journey through a hidden world inside a tree, making alliances and encountering an ever growing roster of enemies.

Clearly developers Hazelight, have taken to a lot of both narrative and strategic detail with the mechanics of play and how a player really cannot get through It Takes Two on their own.

Many levels of cooperation with your fellow player are required as you both strive for the same outcome, yet help each other survive and progress. Patience between players can also be key… and likely tested. You infact NEED each other.

It Takes Two features two striking differences in fluidity.

The NPC characters – the humans in the CGI segments see a rather stiff moderately rendered cast, but in gameplay as you are the two handmade dolls and the environments and other in-play NPC’s are marvellously rendered with full detail.

There is some longevity to play here too. While the same story will repeat, taking on the role of a character you didn’t play as will give you a differing experience as the two dolls have their own selection of skills and tasks that are dictated by the games story.

I loved It Takes Two.

It takes the multiplayer aspect, makes it a compulsory factor to play and does this in both style, extremely high playability, some old skool platforming in one hell of an adventure game.

The post It Takes Two (Xbox One / X|S) Review appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

Kalypso Media (Vikings: Wolves of Midgard) has announced to us here at StG that it is bringing Daedelic Entertainment’s strategy title Valhalla Hills – Definitive Edition to PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on 28th of April 2017 across the UK and Export territories. Brought to you by the brains behind classic strategy titles such as The Settlers II and Cultures, Valhalla Hills – Definitive Edition tasks gamers with guiding a group of Viking warriors to their rightful resting place in Valhalla by helping them survive, build and fight their way to glory. This new console version release also includes the official DLC – ‘Sand of the Damned’ and ‘Fire Mountains’ – as well as a new exclusive map type – ‘The Dwarf Cave’.

In Valhalla Hills – Definitive Edition, you are Leko – youngest son of Odin, exiled to Midgard by your father for failing to meet his expectations. More interested in building villages than pillaging them, you now find yourself far from home with a disgruntled band of recently-deceased muscleheads. Odin has turned his back on his people, and it’s your fault. There’s only one thing for it – you’ll have to guide your new-found companions to heavenly glory the only way you know how.

Now, you must lead your band of outcast Viking warriors through the varied landscapes of Valhalla Hills – Definitive Edition, where a magical portal awaits to take you to your rightful place in the realm of the gods. But the journey is a hazardous one, and the Vikings will need to do one thing first…survive!

To do that, you’ll have to take good care of your Vikings by putting your building and management skills to the ultimate test. Your band of heroes may be tough but you’ll still need to protect, equip and feed them as well as help them to fend off ghostly residents and wild beasts. Control of the Vikings is indirect – these bearded citizens have minds of their own, so you will influence their actions with general commands rather than controlling any one specific unit at a time. Guide your mighty followers into gathering food, wood and other resources, all while defending their fledgling camp.

Featuring crisp, bold and beautiful 3D graphics (powered by Unreal Engine 4) with full day and night cycles, Valhalla Hills – Definitive Edition sees you playing across randomly-generated maps in varying mountain terrains, as you master a balanced economy system to ensure endless gameplay challenges and variety.

The post Valhalla Hills – Definitive Edition Release Date Announced appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

NOW CLOSED – Are you prepared to Dive into Hell?

Thanks to our good mates at PlayStation NZ, Shane the Gamer has one copy of Helldivers on PlayStation 4 to Giveaway! Helldivers has only just released and includes all 11 DLCs.

The PS4 version also includes a cross-over for both PlayStation 3 and PS Vita.

Helldivers is a co-op online title where you will need to strategise to survive whilst blowing stuff up across a varied myriad of maps. You can read our Review here.

To Enter to Win the copy of Helldivers that we have on PlayStation 4 you will need to answer this question:

Asides from heated carnage, throughout gameplay you also need to search for an item. What is it:

A: Chaos Emerald

B: Unexploded Ordinance

C: Dark Runes

You may just find the answer to this Question in our Review.

* Winner(s) will be randomly selected from those that Comment below / Facebook Comment / Email in accordance to the above question. Winner will receive a new Copy of Helldivers for PlayStation 4. Competition ends the 20th of September 2015. Helldivers is Rated M15+ in New Zealand.

The post Enter to Win a Copy of Helldivers appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

Finnish game developer Frozenbyte is proud to announce that the puzzle-centric platformer, Trine 3: The Artifacts of Power has been officially released, and the Windows version is now available for purchase on Steam, GOG, and Humble.

“We are excited! We have taken the Trine series to a new level with the move to fully playable 3D world and we can’t wait to hear the feedback from players and the media,” said Lauri Hyvärinen, CEO of Frozenbyte, and continues: “We hope our ideas and art inspire and resonate with players in the same way they have with us. Welcome to a new beautiful journey in the Trine series!”

Experience a fairytale world of breathtaking sceneries and face a myriad of physics-based puzzles, wonderful contraptions, dangerous foes and enchanting creatures.

Trine 3: The Artifacts of Power is a platforming game of action, puzzles and adventure, and the sequel to the award winning Trine and Trine 2. Reunite with the familiar heroes – Pontius the Knight, Amadeus the Wizard and Zoya the Thief in an all-new adventure, now for the first time in full 3D!

Amadeus the Wizard, Pontius the Knight, and Zoya the Thief have slowly come to the conclusion that having their lives commandeered by a powerful magical artifact is not a desirable state of existence on a permanent basis.

The heroes try to return their extraordinary gifts to the Artifact called Trine, and so they meddle with powers beyond their understanding: Trine shatters, and a heartless ancient sorcerer escapes. With only a broken artifact to guide them, the heroes must try and repair the damage they’ve caused… or the damage that might yet be done.

Adventure through breathtakingly beautiful landscapes in an enchanting fairytale world, and for the first time ever explore the Trine world in a full 3D setting, allowing you to go check out all the nooks and crannies that have been so alluring in the past.

Playable in single-player or in co-up with up to three players, both locally or online. Any mix is possible (for example 2 local, 1 online) and you can switch from single player to multiplayer and vice versa.

Prep yourself for the ultimate test with the Lost Pages, which feature the most incredible contraptions, character-driven design, and ridiculous puzzles. Are you skilled enough to unlock all the Lost Pages?

The post TRINE 3: THE ARTIFACTS OF POWER RELEASED FOR PC appeared first on Shane the Gamer.