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Celeste Composer Lena Raine Releases New Solo Album “Oneknowing”
One of the several aspects that make Celeste a superb game is the soundtrack. Its catchy, rhythmic mix of piano and chiptune-style synths masterfully complement the game’s tone, story, and intense platforming at just the right moments. The Celeste soundtrack is also wonderful to simply listen to as a standalone album, and the remixed Piano Collections just as much. But you don’t have to take my word for it. It’s been nominated for multiple awards including Best Music at the upcoming BAFTA Game Awards, and it took home Best Audio at the 2019 GDC Awards. That’s because of the work of composer Lena Raine, and today she released her debut solo album titled Oneknowing.
Oneknowing is now available on multiple music streaming platforms such as Bandcamp, Apple Music, Spotify, Google Play, and much more. While you may recognize a few parallels between that of Celeste’s soundtrack and Raine’s new record, Oneknowing hits a more relaxing, ethereal vibe especially in the songs “Breath” and “Momodani.” Raine also sings in an expressive, artificial language with her voice modified via vocaloid software for tracks like “Tsukuyomi” and “Light Rail.”
I caught up with Raine following the win for Best Audio at the GDC Awards this year and asked her about the approach in creating Celeste’s soundtrack. She said, “In a lot of ways, Celeste was sort of me finally claiming my own voice. I had been writing music for other franchises, like Guild Wars 2, that already had an established voice. And so Celeste was finally my chance to actually just go super into the kind of music that excited me. And in a lot of ways, everything that has come since then, that’s where I now need to diversify my sound and keep coming up with new things to challenge myself.”
You may have seen her performing at The Game Awards 2018 alongside renowned composers Hans Zimmer and Lorne Balfe. Celeste was one of GameSpot’s favorite games last year and we awarded it a spot in our 5 Best Nintendo Switch Games of 2018. In regard to the soundtrack, writer and editor Oscar Dayus said in his Celeste review, “The piano and chiptune-heavy soundtrack adapts in a similar fashion [as the art style and environments], moving from the serene to the spooky at the perfect moment, all while remaining forever catchy.”
from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/celeste-composer-lena-raine-releases-new-solo-albu/1100-6465912/
Borderlands 3: Characters, First Trailer, Impressions, And What We Know
After countless teasers and subtle misdirections over the years, developer Gearbox has finally lifted the veil over Borderlands 3. The game was revealed at the developer’s PAX East panel, which was met by as much fanfare as it was technical difficulties. Still, the game’s big debut trailer sparked excitement and a ton of questions. If you haven’t watched it already, be sure to check it out in the player above.
To catch you up on all things Borderlands 3, we’ve compiled all the latest news, features, impressions, trailers, and details we know about the game. Be sure to check back often as we update this article with even more new information about this highly anticipated loot shooter.
What Is Borderlands 3?
Borderlands 3 is the highly anticipated third game in the popular Borderlands franchise, a series whose mechanics and conventions predated many of today’s most well-known loot-based shooters, such as Destiny and The Division. Like previous games, it appears that you’ll be taking on the role of one of four treasure-seeking mercenaries known as Vault Hunters. You’ll explore the world and complete missions, which feeds into your overall skill progression and acquisition of new guns and gear. The series is predominantly known for its number of available guns; Borderlands 3 claims there are over a billion guns to collect, some of which are capable of walking and acting autonomously of its user.
Not much is know about the Borderlands 3’s overall story; though, glimpses of several returning characters and a set of new baddies called the Calypso twins seem to be setting up a much larger conflict than previous games–as noted from the variety of new planets it appears you’ll be visiting this time around.
Release Date
There’s still no confirmed release date for Borderlands 3. More details are set to be announced about the game on April 3, but it’s unclear whether or not we’ll hear a release date during that time. However, we have reason to believe the game will be out in the next year. Coinciding with the other franchise news it had to share, Gearbox has dubbed 2019 the Year of Borderlands, which may suggest Borderlands 3 will be out this year. Beyond that, Take Two has repeatedly referred to a highly anticipated sequel to a 2K franchise during past earnings reports. That game was believed to be Borderlands 3, which–if true–means it is scheduled for release between April 1, 2019, and March 31, 2020.
Playable Character Classes
The first trailer features a few familiar faces from the series’ past, but much of the focus goes to a group of four new characters in the screenshot above, which are likely the Vault Hunters you’ll get to control. Currently, it’s unclear what specific classes they correspond to or even what their names are.
The Borderlands games tend to have a mixture of traditional shooter-RPG class archetypes, like Berserker, Hunter, and Soldier. However, the series is also known to utilize several unexpected classes that mash up a variety of interesting skills and abilities. This tradition seems to continue with one of the female Vault Hunters, a Siren who showcases a skill where she summons multiple ethereal arms, possibly alluding to her being a more melee-centric character.
We got brief glimpses of the remaining three that give some detail into what they are. The robotic fella appears to have a pet Skag that follows him around, the grizzled old guy seems to be able to create doppelgangers of himself, and the helmeted girl has a D.Va-like robot that she and other Vault Hunters can jump into.
Confirmed Returning Characters
As stated, many of the series’ characters are returning in Borderlands 3, which includes folks from Borderlands 1, Borderlands 2, and spin-off Tales from the Borderlands. Despite not making an appearance in the first trailer, Gearbox has stated that characters from Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel will appear too. Below you’ll find the confirmed returning characters so far.
- Brick
- Claptrap
- Ellie
- Lady Aurelia
- Lillith
- Marcus
- Maya
- Mordecai
- Moxxi
- Rhys
- Sir Hammerlock
- Tannis
- Tiny Tina
- Zero
The First Trailer Impressions
After watching the first trailer, we had a lot of thoughts to share about how the game appears to be shaping up. Check out our breakdown of the trailer and what we think about getting a new Borderlands game in the video above.
from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/borderlands-3-characters-first-trailer-impressions/1100-6465916/
Big Star Citizen Update Launches Soon
Star Citizen‘s been trudging along since it debuted on Kickstarter in 2012. Initially seeking $500,000, Cloud Imperium Games’ space-sim closed its Kickstarter campaign after accruing a little more than $2.1 million in November 2012. Some years later, the studio’s first game has exceeded well over $200 million–and the numbers keep going up. Now it’s announced the game’s biggest update should blast off this weekend.
Titled Alpha 3.5, the update includes a new city-planet, overhauled flight models, and additional character creator options. The new planet is called ArcCorp, a planet with two moons that’s “almost entirely covered in man-made structures.” Players will be able to visit the Area18 landing zone where you’ll find an NPC quest-giver who will dish out new missions.
Alpha 3.5 takes gravity into consideration, as it’s factored into planetary flight. Further, the update adds a new map called Star Marine for the squad FPS mini-game, new guns for pilots and ships, some new vehicles, and additional performance balancing and improvements.
In addition to overhauled flight mechanics and a new planet to explore, Cloud Imperium implemented a new character generator. Now, players will pick two parents when creating a new character–think the character creators from Rockstar’s GTA Online. Women will also (finally!) be playable, getting added to the character creator along with a variety of parents to pick from. Returning pilots can pick a new look and/or gender thanks to this update.
Star Citizen is available now on PC to those who backed the project. Alpha 3.5, similarly, will be available to all backers.
from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/big-star-citizen-update-launches-soon/1100-6465914/
