Turtle Rock Studios, best known for multiplayer games like Left 4 Dead and Evolve, has announced its next game, which promises to be a much more personal experience. Coming exclusively to Samsung Gear VR, The Well is a turn-based fantasy role-playing game built specifically for VR. It features a “storybook art style” and a “dark, dreamlike atmosphere.”
While playing The Well, players explore the ancient world of Tholl to defeat the demonic Tesh. This destructive force is throwing off the balance between the peaceful villagers and the barbaric tribes in the wilderness. Players choose between one of four classes — Warrior, Mage, Rogue, and Druid — each with their own set of spells and abilities. Along the way, other characters will join the party and level up over time to unlock new abilities.
For those who doubt Turtle Rock’s ability to create a quality experience in virtual reality, this isn’t the first time the studio has created a VR game. It’s actually its fourth. Previous titles include Face Your Fears, Blade Runner 2049: Replicant Pursuit, and Otherworlds. All can be found on the Gear VR Store.
“The Well is not only our most ambitious VR title to date, it is our most unique,” said Turtle Rock GM Steve Goldstein in a statement to Gamespot. “We’re excited to create a new, original fantasy world unlike anything we’ve seen before, and it’s specifically crafted for the Gear VR platform. It’s not just a fun game, it’s beautiful.”Priced at $10, The Well launches for Samsung Gear VR on October 11, which is the first day of this year’s Oculus Connect event, where the game will also be playable.
To get the most out of Samsung Gear VR, players should get their hands on a controller. A new headset with the controller included can cost as little as $98 new depending on the user’s phone. Early adopters looking to improve their experience can pick up a stand-alone controller for $25.
In October 2016, Turtle Rock Studios ceased support on its previous multiplatform release, Evolve. Since then, support has moved over to rights owner Take-Two Interactive.
Acer’s Predator Atlas 8 finally has a US release date and price, several months after the company first showed off the handheld in May. The highlight is the Intel Arc G3 Extreme chip inside, which has been adopted by only a couple of other consoles besides the Atlas 8. This version will go on sale exclusively at Best Buy on November 1 for $1,299.99.
Acer originally said the Atlas 8 would arrive in North America in October, but left pricing open at the time. The launch came amid the ongoing DRAM crunch, which has made memory more expensive across the PC industry and complicated pricing for hardware makers.
Gaming laptops and I have a complicated relationship. One of my first gaming rigs was an Acer Predator that was already outdated when I bought it. I was a broke college kid, and that was the best I could afford. So trying out high-end gaming laptops is always fun. But ASUS' ROG Zephyrus G14 is a lot more than a laptop that can run AAA games. It is portable, so you're not lugging around a 2.5kg machine everywhere you go. It is built well, none of that plastic chassis, and can even function as a normal laptop outside of just gaming.
Google Play is borrowing one of the Nintendo Switch’s most useful little tricks. A new Sidekick tool called Playbacks captures a short clip after something interesting has already happened, sparing players from running a screen recorder throughout an entire game.
Playbacks is part of Google Play Store v53.8 and keeps saved clips on the phone. Google first announced it earlier this month, but the new Play Store update marks its arrival for players. Anyone who has watched a perfect win vanish because the record button came too late already understands the appeal.