Use the fields below to perform an advanced search of Ball State Daily's archives. This will return articles, images, and multimedia relevant to your query. You can also try a Basic search
22 items found for your search. If no results were found please broaden your search.
by Byte's Editorial Board It's the end of 2015, which means it's time to select the best games of the year. To celebrate, members of Byte's editorial board picked their favorite games to highlight. The games below are the favorites of Lucas Schmidt (@SchmidtyFro), Byte's Features Editor and Senior Copy Editor. 4. Fallout 4 "I've got something a bit different for you this time." The previous Fallout games were difficult for me to get into. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed them, but I was never able to fall in love with them like so many other people did. Fallout 4 is different though. From the enhanced shooting mechanics to the enticing Power Armor, this new entry in the series offered just what I needed to sink about 80 hours of playtime during one month. Like all Fallout and Elder Scrolls games from Bethesda, Fallout 4 excels at providing nearly endless amounts of activities. There was always multiple quests for me to take on, and exploring off the beaten path often yielded surprising stories and locations. My only gripe with the game is that once I completed the main storyline I found myself with a nearly empty quest log. The only quests I have available now are the repetitive ones for the Minutemen. 3. Helldivers "For democracy!" Top-down games are a rarity in my video game library. But every now and then, one comes along (usually a shooter) that brings me back into the genre. Helldivers did just that to me and simultaneously satisfied the urge I’ve had to fight giant bug aliens since the first time I watched Starship Troopers. There are dozens of weapons and stratagems available to fight the bugs, or the game’s other enemy factions; cyborgs and illuminate. While not all of them are as powerful as the others, there is still lots of diversity available for your loadout before you drop onto a planet surface and jump into combat. If you’re lucky enough to have three good teammates by your side, Helldivers can easily be some of the most cooperative fun you’ve ever had in a shooter. Since the hordes of enemies are endless, each mission is a race to complete the objectives as quickly as possible. Every mission ends with an extraction via a shuttle, and usually makes for an exciting and tense standoff as you attempt to hold your position until the shuttle arrives. 2. Star Wars: Battlefront "Don't get in my way." After waiting for nearly a decade to play a new Battlefront, I was finally able to relive my childhood fantasies of being a soldier in the Galactic Civil War. Naturally, this was my most anticipated game of the year. In many ways the game met my expectations, but a lack of content keeps Battlefront from being as great as it should be. Blasters sound and feel better than any Star Wars game I’ve ever played, and are a fun alternative to the usual bullet-fed guns that is the standard in most shooters. Heroes and villains are wildly fun to play, and playing as them tends to feel like a mad dash to get as many kills as possible during the sparse amount of time you’re given to control them. What Battlefront offers is incredible and is sure to make any Star Wars fan ecstatic. But the severe lack of maps, vehicles, unlockables and customization prevent the game from being as great as it should be. 1. Rocket League "Goal!" I had no expectations for Rocket League. The first time I heard of it was when Sony announced their lineup of free games for August for PlayStation Plus members. It didn’t look all that interesting to me, but a few friends of mine wouldn’t stop raving about it, so I decided to try it out. I was hooked after the first game and have been playing regularly since then. Rocket League is a perfect game. This doesn’t mean that it’s better than every other game though. I say it is perfect because Rocket League accomplishes everything it sets out to do. Regardless of whether you’re playing by yourself or with friends, the game never forces you to team up with strangers unless you want to. Customization of your car is deep and varied, and ensures that you’ll be unlocking something new after every match for at least your first few hundred matches. I almost never experience online connection issues, and the Season game mode is a fantastic option for offline couch co-op.
On the final Button Mash of the year, the gang says farewell to one of the founders. Plus they talk about their GOTY selections. Check it out!Hosts: Jacob Doolin, Nick Dowell, Lucas SchmidtEdited By: Aidan HallLogo By: Meghan DuffyMusic By: Lex Bravary
@schmidtyfroThe first game I ever preordered was Star Wars Battlefront II. I sunk countless hours into it and played more Hero Assault on Mos Eisley than I’d like to admit. It was one of my favorite shooters, and after ten years of countless rumors of a sequel, and even the announcement that it was 99 percent completed, Battlefront is finally back. It’s a fine-tuned multiplayer shooter that brings euphoric nostalgia to fans of the original Star Wars trilogy, but underneath its beautiful aesthetics and excellent gameplay, you’ll find a game that’s missing roughly half of its content.
@schmidtyfro
by Lucas Schmidt @schmidtyfro Smashing beers while smashing in Smash Bros. Combining video game arcade cabinets with the nightlife of bars isn’t a revolutionary idea, but it’s not everyday that an arcade cabinet in a bar is handcrafted by local artists and fundraised by a Super Smash Bros. tournament. Such a cabinet now sits in the basement of the bar Be Here Now, where it begs to be played by any patrons, at no cost. The cabinet was built by Glue & Scissors, a Muncie art collective that collaborates on various projects such as art shows and organizing musical performances. This year they wanted to create something that deviated heavily from the routine of their previous works, but was still achievable within the members’ skillsets. “Glue & Scissors wanted to define a new direction that played off its members' strengths. Where in the past we've been known primarily for art shows and concerts, we wanted to expand our boundaries. Our new members, as well as being musicians, writers, artists, are also programmers and designers,” said Blake Mellencamp, assistant creative director of Glue & Scissors. But before they could start building the arcade cabinet they had to raise several hundreds of dollars for the necessary materials. Since the funds would be used to build a machine primarily built for Smash Bros., it seemed only natural that the funds should be gathered through a Smash Bros. tournament. And by bringing people to Be Here Now, the tournament doubled as a promotional event for the cabinet’s inevitable unveiling. “The arcade machine had already been decided as a free-to-play game system, but the idea of bringing the whole community together to have a hand in making it a reality just seemed too extraordinarily awesome that we couldn't pass it up,” said Andy August, creative director of Glue & Scissors. The fundraising tournament With Ball State University’s campus right down the street, the members of Glue & Scissors figured they would be able to draw in enough young college students to have a large and vigorous Smash Bros. tournament. They dubbed it the Boldly Brawl Ball and set up a Facebook event. It quickly gained traction online and when the cold, February night of the tournament arrived, Be Here Now was packed. “I'm not sure any of us knew quite what the response would be, but we certainly weren't disappointed. I didn’t realize there’s such a huge Super Smash scene around here and the first night we had about 10 or 15 people sharing the event and we just started getting an unprecedented amount of interest,” said August. With nearly 30 competitors in the Boldly Brawl Ball, two setups were in constant rotation of 1 vs 1 matches as spectators and waiting competitors watched. Since one setup used Smash Bros. Melee, and the other used Smash Bros. for Wii U, the tournament was split into two brackets, one for each game. A third game console and screen were set up for casual games to play Project M, a popular mod of Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Many people attendees were dressed as Smash Bros. characters because doing so exempted them from the bar’s cover charge. Anyone who walked into Be Here Now that night would have quickly sensed that the patrons were there for more than just music and beer. [gallery columns="4" link="file" size="medium" ids="6377,6378,6379,6380,6381,6382,6383,6384,6385,6386,6371,6372,6373,6374,6375,6376"] After dozens of matches, the tournament was settled and the champions of both brackets made it clear that it takes years of practice to win such a tournament. Dan Fischer, a senior elementary education major at Ball State, said he loves the sense of community that exists among many people who play Smash Bros. He was exposed to the competitive aspect of the game by watching professionals play. “You’ve got this community of people who have this one game in common and it’s really cool to see that bring people together,” he said. “First time I saw competitive Smash, I knew that’s how I wanted to play.” Fischer keeps his skills sharp by practicing at least five times a week, and says his roots in athletics had a heavy influence on his passion for competitive Smash Bros. “I’m a very competitive person. I’ve been an athlete all my life,” he said. “What really got me into it was the competitive nature. It’s really great to put time into something and get results.” Fischer won the Smash Bros. Melee bracket and was rewarded with having his name painted on the frontside of the arcade cabinet. “I can’t wait to have my name on it,” he said. “I actually hadn’t heard of Be Here Now until today. I’d definitely like to come back.” Joe Clemmer won the Smash Bros. for Nintendo Wii U bracket and is no stranger to the competitive side of the game. He said he played two and a half years of Smash Bros. Brawl in Major League Gaming, and competed in more than 50 tournaments. When he was in school, he honed his abilities by playing with roommates and friends. “My roommates learned to hate the game because of me,” Clemmer said. By the tournament’s end, competitors were already buying one another drinks at the bar and excitedly reminiscing about the night’s matches. Glue & Scissors now had much of the funds they needed to build the arcade cabinet. Constructing and painting the cabinet In the months following the tournament, Glue & Scissors assembled the cabinet, arranged all the electronics and painted on illustrations that reflected those in the community who contributed to the project. [gallery columns="4" size="medium" ids="6398,6399,6400,6401,6402,6403,6404,6405,6406,6387,6388,6389,6390,6391,6392,6393,6394,6395,6396,6397"] Grand opening The Super Smash Bros. arcade cabinet will have its unveiling this Saturday night at 8:30 at Be Here Now. The Smash Bros. tournament will be divided into three brackets: Smash Bros. for Wii U, Melee and Project M. Mario Kart will be set up on the projector for anyone to play. Cover charge is $4 and registration in the tournament is $6. Free frozen yogurt is included for all entries and live music will be performed all night. All fees will go towards future community projects such as the arcade cabinet. For those who are interested, more information can be found on the event’s Facebook page.
This week, the editors sit down and discuss Battlefront, Micro-transactions, and just konami as a whole. Check it out! Hosts: Aidan Hall, Lucas Schmidt, Chase Streetman, Jacob DoolinEdited By: Matt Turner
At first glance you wouldn’t consider them to be potential college athletes. They practice on Friday and Saturday nights. They play with a mouse and keyboard instead of balls or cleats. They wear hoodies and jeans instead of pads and helmets. In fact, most of them don’t even refer to themselves as athletes.
by Lucas Schmidt At first glance you wouldn’t consider them to be potential college athletes. They practice on Friday and Saturday nights. They play with a mouse and keyboard instead of balls or cleats. They wear hoodies and jeans instead of pads and helmets. In fact, most of them don’t even refer to themselves as athletes. These are eSports players, a community of gamers who don’t look like traditional athletes, but share many of the revered qualities of athletics such as teamwork, strategy, dedication, and of course, an intense, competitive passion to defeat their opponents. Regardless of whether or not you believe competitive video games are worthy of being called sports, one thing is undeniable: they have quietly thrived on college campuses for years, and within the last year have seen more growth than ever before. During the span of one year, two U.S. universities have recognized their eSports organizations as varsity sports, the number of collegiate teams has nearly doubled and more scholarship money is set to be awarded this year than ever before. The largest of these eSports is the video game League of Legends. The free-to-play title pits two teams of five players against one another. The objective is simple: destroy the opposing team’s base. But much like the simple objectives of football and basketball, defeating your opponents is anything but simple. League of Legends’ complexity and large capacity for mastery of its gameplay has resulted in an average of 27 million people playing it every day. It is by far the most popular eSports on the planet. Student Katie Braman plays League of Legends regularly and doesn’t believe that the lack of physicality should prevent people from recognizing it as a sport. “Look at the definition of a sport, it meets all the requirements,” Braman said. “From what I have seen from eSports, it is extremely competitive and the fan base is just as strong as regular sports.” This passion for competitive gaming draws members of the Ball State University Electronic Gaming League to congregate every Friday and Saturday evening to play games like League of Legends for hours on end. During the week, the Student Center’s computer lab is a place to take quizzes and tests, but once the weekend arrives the lab transforms into a digital battleground for 30 to 40 students. The faint clicks of mice and the clacking of keyboards is the only constant sound that fills the air. Talk is sparse and is mostly reserved for calling out in-game play actions or cracking jokes. It’s surprisingly quiet for a room with so many people, but the silence serves as a testament to the intensity of the game, and the high-level concentration that it demands from those who play it. EGL’s Vice President Brad Hughes has been playing League of Legends since its first season in 2011. He says that teamwork and strategy are the strongest similarities between League of Legends and traditional sports. “Sports have always been physical, but we’re using a lot of brain power just to figure out these things,” Hughes said. “It can be a huge mental game. It can be really stressful, and it can actually really tire you out.” What eSports athletes lack in physical strength and cardiovascular endurance they make up for with dexterity and multitasking. Real time strategy games such as Starcraft require players to handle a large amount of multitasking, resulting in a flurry of mouse and key inputs. Most professionals register about five, six, or even seven key inputs every second. Such speeds are faster than most people are able to type words, and these professionals do it for the entirety of 30-60 minute-long matches. Like traditional athletes, eSports players often experience their athletic prime during their young adult years. Along with the competitive nature of these games, their demand for razor-sharp cognitive skills and the immense popularity of video games among young people make eSports a natural fit for any American university. Two universities have already expressed their beliefs that eSports are worth investing in and have granted varsity sport status to their League of Legends teams. Last year, Robert Morris University in Illinois became the first U.S. school to include eSports in its athletic program. Then, in early January, University of Pikeville in Kentucky announced their plans to build an eSports varsity team during this year’s upcoming fall semester. Both eSports teams play League of Legends exclusively. The student athletes adhere to the same rules and responsibilities as their traditional counterparts. Pikeville’s media director, Bruce Parsons, said that they must meet minimum GPA requirements, attend scheduled practice times, and even watch footage of other teams playing in order to learn their strategies. In return, they receive scholarships. The 35 members of the Robert Morris team have half of their tuition and room and board paid for by the university. Pikeville plans to offer 20 scholarships, but has not released their amounts. Before eSports splashed onto the college scene there were only professional leagues, and just like collegiate leagues the pros have seen nothing but growth in the last several years. In 2014, more than 71 million people around the world watched eSports according to SuperData Research. The U.S. was home to 31.4 million of them, and the entire audience was twice the size it was in 2013. Making the leap to the professional leagues isn’t an ambition reserved to “sportsball” players. For many of these collegiate eSports players, the dream of making it to the major leagues is more tangible than what traditional athletes are used to. Instead of waiting for major league games to air a few times a week, eSports fans can frequently tune into their favorite pro players. Since the pros practice for 12 hours or more each day, they often broadcast themselves for fans to view. This enables them to interact with their fans more, as well as earn a consistent salary so long as people continue to tune into their channels. Hughes says that most of the streamers explain their strategies and tactics, providing a public teaching session of sorts. The largest of these streaming services is Twitch. “I’m definitely a huge fan of Twitch,” Hughes said. “I definitely learn a lot from watching streamers and I’m definitely huge into the eSports scene so I always follow the professional players just like other people follow football players.” Players who are ranked moderately high in the community and have a little luck can even get the chance to play with pro players. Hughes recalls a few instances where he got to play with famous players who he had previously only been able to spectate in broadcasted pro matches. “It’s really cool that the people you always watch will play with you,” Hughes said. The fact that eSports fans can interact with their favorite professionals has likely contributed to the growth of the collegiate eSports scene. As the first varsity eSports team, RMU solidified the aspirations of collegiate players everywhere when their star player, Adrian Ma, dropped out after one month after being offered a contract to join a professional team. It’s no coincidence that the number of professional eSports players and the number of collegiate eSports teams in the U.S. have both starkly risen in the last year. Many of these collegiate players have hopes of making it to the big leagues, and being able to watch professionals play every day makes the dream all the more believable. Despite the decisions of two universities to recognize the athleticism of League of Legends, these schools are the outliers of the collegiate eSports scene. Various online leagues allow players to compete in tournaments every day, but the largest collegiate organization is StarLeague. More than 10,000 students from 450 schools are currently competing in the second season of the North American Collegiate Championship which began in early January. The league’s membership saw an increase of 4,400 students and 260 schools within the last year. The first season of the North American Collegiate Championship resulted in $100,000 in scholarships being awarded, with the members of the championing team receiving $7,500 each. There’s no word on how large the pool will be this season, but the winning portion of $7,500 will be increased to $30,000. This collegiate eSports growth has also been reflected in Indiana schools, and they’re quickly expanding. IUPUI is currently the only university in the state that’s registered in StarLeague, but according to Jeff McDaniels, the president of the Electronic Gaming League, a tournament will be held for Indiana schools at the end of March. There hasn’t been any confirmation of scholarships in the prize pool, but Riot Games, the developer of League of Legends, will be giving away in-game currency and exclusive champion skins to the winners. Ball State University, Indiana Tech, Indiana University, IUPUI, and IPFW will all be competing in the tournament. Collegiate eSports don’t show any signs of slowing down, and is actually one of the few aspects of eSports where the U.S. excels compared to South Korea. Arguably the birthplace of eSports, South Korea has embraced computer gaming as a national pastime. And just like smartphones and high-speed internet, they did it years before western countries. But while South Korea has more gaming cafes, and a greater overall reverence for eSports, they are only just now starting to nationally organize at the collegiate level. The Esports Collegiate Club Association began in early 2014, and by September had 50 universities under its fold, quickly becoming the South Korean equivalent of StarLeague. South Korea is still the undisputed epicenter of the world of eSports, but it’s collegiate institutions aren’t the only area where the U.S. is outpacing them. There are 2,754 professional eSports players living in the U.S. according to e-Sports Earnings. That’s more than any other country, and is more than twice the amount of South Korea’s 1,142 professionals. America is starting to give the world a run for its money when it comes to embracing eSports, and it’s beginning to reflect in more conventional ways. South Korean stadiums have been packed with eSports events for years, but has only recently been a trend in the U.S. The 2013 League of Legends World Championship was held in Los Angeles’ Staples Center. Within the first hour of being on sale, tickets for the event sold out, proving that eSports events can pack stadiums outside of South Korea. Even the U.S. government has gotten its hands in incentivising eSports businesses and athletes. The U.S. government began granting major league competitor visas for foreign eSports players back in 2013. Before that, players from outside the U.S. could only stay for limited time, or had to obtain a celebrity visa. Esports is still a fledgling athletic institution and there’s plenty of room for growth. A substantial portion of that growth will likely come from the U.S. thanks to the continually expanding collegiate eSports scene, from the varsity League of Legends teams, all the way to the small student organizations that play just for fun. Back in the computer lab turned digital arena, Hughes admits he has no delusions of becoming a professional player of any game. He doesn’t play for fame or money. He plays because it’s an enjoyable experience with friends. “It’s no fun playing by yourself.” Hughes said. “Sometimes I’ll get on and none of my friends will be on, so I don’t play.” Hughes has competed in roughly 10 tournaments with friends, and recalled the first one as being the most exciting. A friend convinced him and others to enter a tournament that was organized to raise money for video game themed supply drops for deployed troops. Their team made it to the finals and a famous streamer by the name of “Trick 2g” anchored all the matches. Since it was the finals, more than 10,000 people watched the match, all the while, one of his favorite streamers narrating it play-by-play. “It was pretty nerve-wracking but we ended up winning, just barely,” Hughes said. Like many gamers, his setup in the computer lab is tried and true. A few Pepsi cups rest to the side of his keyboard. Since it’s Saturday, the Late Nite program provides him and the others with free spaghetti and bread sticks to eat throughout the night. The meals aren’t usually eaten all at once though. There’s no time for that. Hughes’ teammates in the lab are urging him to hurry up and jump into another match with them. There’s always one more game to play.
The Star Wars teaser gets a parody, the world's largest LAN party was last weekend, and Cards Against Humanity sells feces on Black Friday.
Hosts: Krissy Thomas & Max Holtman
South Korea holds a Pikachu parade, WoW subreddit gets shut down by frustrated moderator, and Snapchat gets Snapcash.
Bungie executive gets surrounded by police after prank call, Blizzard announces its first person shooter game, and Pokemon receives changes to its Eon Ticket distribution.
An Air Force base bans geo-location game, Grumpy Cat gets her own Lifetime movie, and Super Smash Bros. glitch bans players from 136 years.
Producers: Lucas Schmidt & Kelsey Hayes
From PokeParents with their young competitors, to the adults who have been playing the series since its beginning in 1998, Fort Wayne was home to the 2014 Pokemon VGC Regional Championships on Sunday.
by Lucas Schmidt From PokeParents with their young competitors, to the adults who have been playing the series since its beginning in 1998, Fort Wayne was home to the 2014 Pokemon VGC Regional Championships on Sunday. The Grand Wayne Convention Center was packed with more than 300 attendees in a room filled with Pokemon banners and plush toys. There were nearly as many Nintendo DSes as there were people. Each competing trainer brought there’s to battle other Pokemon trainers for a shot at moving on to Nationals. For the people who attend Pokemon video game championships, the events are all about socializing with like-minded gamers and getting to compete in a family-friendly environment. “Unlike some other game tournaments, I don’t really have to worry about people swearing at these ones,” said Shannon Hurley, a mother of two kids who were competing in the Junior Division. But these tournaments are by no means family-exclusive events. Most attendees are adults who come in groups with their friends. There are adult siblings, life-long friends, and couples. Pokemon tournaments are filled with all kinds of people and can’t really be categorized into any one demographic, other than fans of Pokemon, of course. Katzia Finlayson-Roberts and Jeremy Roberts have been married for five years and Pokemon has been a commonality between them. Appropriately fitting to their shared interest in a video game, they started dating after attending a Dear Friends concert, a band that exclusively performs Final Fantasy music. They’ve only gone to a few tournaments but have had positive experiences at them so far. “I picked [my Pokemon team] on the car ride to St. Charles Regional and I did better than him!” said Katzia when describing her lack of preparation for the day’s tournament. Katzia was far from the only person who put together their six Pokemon team at the last minute. It was actually quite common. To most of the trainers, the tournament wasn’t so much about winning as it was about socializing with fellow Pokemon trainers. Ball State University student Robert Brooks summarized the attitude of many others when he said, “Roughly half of my team is untested, so it could go pretty poorly. But I’m here to have fun with my friends, so it’s no big deal.” Even with Nintendo DSes and hundreds of starter packs of cards given out to the best trainers, the general tone of the entire event wasn't tense or confrontational. Instead it was relaxed and friendly. Tournaments are held on regional, national, and world levels. The higher up the ranks you go, the better the prizes get. Many winners receive scholarships of upwards of $10,000 which can be used on most educations ranging from elementary schools to universities and graduate schools. Like any tournament, however, the majority of people didn't take home any prizes. To them the enjoyment came from spending a day with friends and catching up with other trainers. The tournaments certainly have the staying power to keep competitors coming back for more. Devin Peltier-Robson has been playing the games since their initial release in 1998 and has gone to the tournaments every year. One of the main reasons he’s stayed in it is because, “I've had a lot of friends keep me playing during the decade and a half that it’s been around. I went to the first World Championship in 2002, befriended a girl, and watched her go on to win the championship. We were in different age divisions. My mom battled her dad and that's how we met. Her dad was so happy when she won." Powered by Cincopa Video Hosting for Business solution. ... // var cpo = []; cpo["_object"] ="cp_widget_b09d1a77-62c7-4ca7-9ff4-9695fd4e9706"; cpo["_fid"] = "AkCAMC8wXmsz"; var _cpmp = _cpmp || []; _cpmp.push(cpo); (function() { var cp = document.createElement("script"); cp.type = "text/javascript"; cp.async = true; cp.src = "//www.cincopa.com/media-platform/runtime/libasync.js"; var c = document.getElementsByTagName("script")[0]; c.parentNode.insertBefore(cp, c); })(); // Powered by Cincopa Video Hosting for Business solution.
by Lucas SchmidtShadow of Mordor is an exceptional game that brings some of the best elements of modern open-world action games into the the world of Middle-earth. With its cliffhanger ending and positive critical reception, Monolith Productions is likely to have another journey to Middle-earth ready for us within a few years. These are the five things that the sequel should have in it.A more intricate nemesis systemHeralded by many as the defining element of Shadow of Mordor, the nemesis system is unlike anything seen before. While other developers are sure to copy this system, Monolith has already staked their claim as the originators and would do well to add additional layers of complexity and control to it.Imagine if the orcs under your control could follow commands similar to those of a real-time strategy game. Rather than giving a single command to a single orc, you could give a diverse range of commands to numerous orc captains with all of their soldiers following close behind.An expansion in options for commanding your orcs is a must for a sequel. Every command you give in Shadow of Mordor can only be completed if you are present when they follow through on said command. In order for your branded captain to betray their war chief, you must be present for the betrayal. It would be incredible to be able to send orcs on missions and complete them independently. They could either return to you with a reward, perish in their attempt, or even return to you with an angry mob hot on their trail.Also, is it too much to ask to have a personal bodyguard who follows you around and can obey real-time commands?More buildings in the environmentMost of Mordor’s land is open ranges and plateaus with small ruins and camps scattered about. They add a greater sense of scale to the world, but the real excitement happens in the orc strongholds. Sneaking across rooftops and through alleys to eliminate loners, then fighting 20 orcs and a few captains in a massive brawl is always intense. The sequel needs more of this but on a larger scale and with more options in which to navigate these strongholds, fortresses, or whatever they may be.A city that’s been overrun with orcs is the perfect job for Talion, but with such a large population it would be suicide to charge in and fight them all. Instead, sections of the city could be taken under your control by branding captains. The city’s infrastructure could be weakened by cutting off their food supplies, burning down buildings, freeing slaves, and hanging the corpses of orc leaders in public to put fear into the hearts of their followers.A departure from the well-known Tolkien loreMost Middle-earth movies and video games don’t stray far from either The Hobbit or The Lord of the Rings, but there’s much more to the world of Middle-earth than the lands and the events that transpire during those two stories. If Monolith truly wants to make its mark on the lore it will move its setting away from the limited time and location that most modern Middle-earth stories are told.Characters that we can care aboutThe biggest issue with Shadow of Mordor was its shallow story and the bland characters that moved it along. Talion encountered less characters than can be counted on two hands, and every one of them either requested that he slay orcs, or retrieve an artifact (sometimes both). Conversations were brief, they never provided insight into the personalities of these individuals, and only existed to provide context for your next orc-slaying mission.From the relentlessly optimistic best friend Samwise Gamgee, to the unexpected friendship of Legolas and Gimli, and the pitiful demise of Boromir, Middle-earth is littered with evocative characters. The source material sets the bar high for Monolith and it can’t be expected of them to craft stories on par with it, but surely they can give us a game where the most interesting character isn't a Smeagol cameo.Cooperative modeThe fact that Shadow of Mordor contains two protagonists connected by one body makes a cooperative mode a plausible addition for a sequel. One player controls Talion, the other controls Celebrimbor. Both characters have abilities that the other lacks, and would make working in tandem a necessity for success. Talion could dive into the action, taking out enemies with his sword and dagger while Celebrimbor would assist with arrows from a distance and brand orcs to have them fight for them.This co-op probably wouldn’t work well as part of the main story, but if it were an external addition, friends could team up after completing the story and continue to slaughter the forces of Sauron together, like true friends do.Monolith created the F.E.A.R. series, and even though development of F.E.A.R. 3 was handed to Day One Studios, it’s worth noting that it included a cooperative mode similar to what the Shadow of Mordor sequel could use. One player controlled the traditional gun-wielding soldier, while the other controlled a psychic who could kill and disable enemies from range, and even posses them.Sequels are tricky to create, and there’s no guaranteed method to make one that pleases both fans and newcomers. But if Monolith addresses the few issues the series has, and adds elements that bring some substantial growth to the already impressive gameplay, the sequel could easily become an instant classic.Also...arrows that can pass through and kill multiple enemiesIt’s as simple as that. I want my arrows to eventually be so powerful that they can pass through a horde of enemies and I can watch half dozen of them drop to the ground.
Higher education instructors from Afghanistan’s Shaikh Zayed University came to speak Tuesday about the progress their country has made in education as a result of a partnership with U.S. universities, including Ball State.