Who wants to fight back the dinosaurs?

It's that time again: The list of games being added to Xbox Game Pass for July has been revealed. There are only a few new titles being added to the game pass this time around, but it includes a couple of day one releases. As is tradition with Xbox Game Pass, this list focuses on the first half of the mon??th. The seco?nd wave of games for July will probably be revealed in a couple of weeks.

According to the post, the highlight for July is the return of Grand Theft Auto V. Unfortunately only the console version is being added to the pass, but it does include both Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S versions. Grand Theft Auto V is a big open-world game so it's always nice to have acc??ess to a ga??me with so much content.

There are two day-one releases included in this month's pass. First is Capcom's online game Exoprimal. The team-based action game blends PvE and PvP as players battle dinosaurs and each other while piloting powerful exosuits. The second day one release is first-person automation game Technotica. Play alone or in co-op as you master automation, gather resources, and research new technologies to build your base. The game reminds me a lot of Factorio and Satisfactory and looks promising.

Here's the full list of games being added to Xbox Game Pass with th?e fir?st wave of July.

[caption id="attachment_390334" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image via Capcom[/caption]

Added today to Xbox Game Pass (July 5, 2023):

• Grand Theft Auto V (Cloud and Console)
• Sword and Fairy: Together Forever (Cloud, Console, and PC)

Heading to Xbox Game Pass the week of July 6, 2023:

• McPixel 3, July 6 (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• Common'hood, July 11 (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• Insurgency: Sandstorm, July 11 (PC)

Heading to Xbox Game Pass the week of July 13, 2023:

• Exoprimal, July 14 (Cloud, Console, and PC) * Day one with Game Pass
• Technotica, July 18 (Cloud, Console, and PC) * Day one with Game Pass
• The Cave, July 18 (Cloud and Console)

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M-M-M-MONEY SAVER!

Despite not owning an Xbox One, I've been consistently tempted to make the plunge with all of the Games with Gold titles Microsoft has given out. Even the less exciting months have had at least one strong title, but January is just loaded with good stuff. Killer Instinct Season 2 Ultra Edition is the obvious standout, but having Rayman Origins available is damn awesome (especially with Legends just being added to backward compatibility).

Along with that, you'll be able to grab The Cave, a Ron Gilbert-directed puzzle platformer, and Deathtrap, an action RPG set in the world of Van Helsing. Deathtrap will be available for the entirety of January while the other titles have limited windows. The Cave will be on offer from January first until the 16th with Killer Instinct and Rayman Origins filling in from the 16th until the 30th.

The best part about the Ultra Edition of Killer Instinct is that it comes with the classic Killer Instinct 2 arcade game. Microsoft actually did this in January with Killer Instinct Season 1 Ultra Edition being available on Games with ??Gold, so anybody lucky enough to grab that has a ton of content to work through. That new story mode sounds great, too, so color me jealous.

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Hit up the Amazon App Store

[Update: ?the deal/mistak??e is over -- the price has reverted back to $4.99]

If you're an Android owner, stop what you're doing, follow this link, and grab The Cave. It isn't a game?? changer in the puzzle or adventure arena in the slightest, but it's still a particularly imaginative and fun game in its own right.

This deal is available on the Amazon App Store (which is confusingly separate from Google Play), and it's not advertised as the "free app of the day" -- so make sure and grab it fast. I??t's still normally priced at $5 on Google Play.

The Cave [Amazon - Thanks Dave!]

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Double Fine's adventure game is iOS bound this summer

Ron Gilbert's only game with Double Fine, The Cave, is bound for iOS devices this summer. Touchgen have had some hands-on time with port being handled by SEGA and say the touch-screen controls work pretty well. Pointing on the screen to move your character seems li??ke a much more appropriate solution to movement rather than using virtual buttons or joysticks.

I'd be interested to see how the platforming is handled on the iOS version as that's something Conrad raised in his review as a problem with the original con??sole and PC versions. Still, the game's real strength is in the writing and the puzzles and I'm sure that will still shine through. 

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Ron Gilbert's latest trek is a morbid, hilarious romp

Ron Gilbert, being responsible for classic LucasArts titles like Maniac Mansion and The Secret of Monkey Island, is a legend in adventure game circles. His latest adventure, The Cave, feels a bit like a return to those roots but winds up being something altogether different. Unlike his other games, The Cave is not a singular tale. Instead, Gilbert and the team at Double Fine have composed seven darkly comic vignettes and enveloped them within a huge, singular stage that feels like a cross between a cheap, roadside attraction and The Twilight Zone.

The Cave is a sentient, talking cave and within its depths lay everyone's greatest desire, whether it be wealth, fame or glory. At the beginning of the game, players are introduced to The Cave? and seven characters (technically e?ight; a pair of twins count as one character) who each seek something from it. In a brief introduction, the player can switch characters freely and become accustomed to the game's basic, 2D platform mechanics, but will be able to take only three of them along for the journey.

The Cave (PC, PS3, Wii U, Xbox 360 [reviewed])
Developer: Double Fine Games
Publisher: SEGA
Released: January 22, 2013
MSRP: $14.99 

It should be made abundantly clear that The Cave is an adventure game that uses gameplay and design elements found in 2D platform games. It should not be viewed an action game by any stretch of the imagination, although the abundance of 2D act??ion-platform games currently on the market might lead you to conclude otherwise. There are no chase sequences or tricky jumps and few p?uzzles where timing is a concern, so there's no practical need for pixel-perfect accuracy and timing.

Keeping this in mind, there's no denying that the controls are a bit gummy here. Basic movement is responsive but characters often seem to jump considerably later than prompted. The game compensates for this awkwardness by being rather forgiving on jump timing and a cliff hang which works almost too well. While characters will "die" from falling from too great a height, The Cave just warps them back to the last solid ground they occupied, so there's almost never a consequence for missing a jump. The control issues aren't re?ally a detriment to the gameplay as much as they make the game feel unpolished.

While on the subject of polish, there are a few other thing??s which bear mentioning. The Xbox 360 version we were given to play had a few instances where characters or objects would penetrate the environment, causing occasional issues with pushing sequences. Again, nothing terribly significant, but mild annoyances nonetheless.

Each of the characters has some kind of special ability which will be needed on their trip through The Cave. The Hillbilly can hold his breath indefinitely, while the Time Traveler can teleport through thin walls. The abilities of some other characters are not always as apparent from the start, but their primary function is to gain access to the portions of The Cave centered around a character's specific story and in the solving of puzzles within these zones. Outside of those areas, most of the abilities are nev??er used, though a few can come in handy on rare occasions or in spots where their possible use feels shoehorned in.

This leaves the player to judge the characters on their individual stories and sections within The Cave which are, for the most part, entertaining and well-designed. Each region of the cave is distinct. As the player progresses down, The Cave nudges them in the right direction, indicating when the use of a specific character will be necessary to proceed and offering pithy observations on the journey. A character in its own right, The Cave is a morbid ham who would be right at home hosting midnight movie marathon??s; a wry delight, with excellent timing in delivery.

Every character (and, by extension, the player) performs ethically repugnant actions in service of their goals and The Cave's sense of humor. Sometimes their desires are of an implicitly sinister nature, such as the Twins who seek to kill their parents and be rid of their control. Others demonstrate more of a hapless disregard than deliberate malic??e, but the player isn't allowed to escape the awareness that they are directly responsible for every bad thing that happens.

Often, the game will even drag out the period of time between the realization of what task must be performed and its final execution, giving plenty of opportunity for the player to consider the implications while effectively powerless to avoid the outcome if they wish to proceed. Such instances are often comically absurd, which help counter some of the horror felt by actions players will perform, but if you can't laugh about death and mayhem, The Cave probably isn't going to be your cup of tea.

There is one outlier among the stories which doesn't quite seem to fit the theme as well as the rest. The Hillbilly's tale is downright sympathetic for most of its plot, which is itself something of a cold splash of water. The deceptions which he performs in the service of his objectives consist of cheating self-professed cheaters, making it difficult to view them as victims. Finally, the resolution is equally puzzling, as he doesn't actually seem to get what he wants at all, as opposed to every other character who explores The Cave and achieves their end, however brie??fly. Still, six for seven is a pretty good record.

The approach taken to puzzle design in The Cave is quite successful, introducing basic elements right from the start and building upon them as a foundation for later challenge??s. Puzzles mostly involve using objects with the environm?ent, block pushing, switch pulling, and character switching in various quantities, though a few other, more creative concepts do occasionally appear. The knowledge necessary to solve nearly every puzzle in the game -- with the exclusion of those which necessitate the use of special abilities -- is provided in the first twenty minutes of play, but this is enough variety to sustain hours of additional gameplay as elements are combined and tweaked. There are some head-scratching moments, but the puzzles are predominately logical with clear solutions, provided the player has fully explored the environment and considered all their options.

About half of each playthrough is dedicated to the individual characters selected at the beginning, with the remaining half an exploration of other parts of The Cave and interacting with non-playable characters who are seeking their own desires. These sections are a part of every play and are every bit as enjoyable from a design standpoint, but they can also have something of a chilling effect on the inherent replay value of the game's three character limitation. While The Cave provides enough content that it will require at least three complete plays to s?ee everything, the best way to enjoy it will be to play once and then set it aside for a while, returning when these recurring sections are no longer as fresh in the? mind.

All told, The Cave is a morbid, humorous romp filled with life lessons which should be apparent already to all but the total sociopath. While there are some niggling issues with overall polish, it's a fun time for fans of adventure games that should set you to giggling and, hopefully, feeling just a little bit guilty about that gl?ee.

The post Review: The Cave appeared first on Destructoid.

From Monkey Island and Maniac Mansion's Ron Gilbert

The Cave publisher Sega has pinned down the release schedule for this new adventure game from the joyful minds at Double Fin?e Productions. Even though it's coming?? to several digital distribution services, there thankfully aren't any major discrepancies with respect to individual platform launches. Screw your annoying timed exclusivity deals!

First up are the Wii U eShop and PlayStation Network releases on January 22, 2013, followed by Steam and Xbox Live Arcade a day later. The Cave's price, $14.99 / 12??00 Microsoft Points, will be consistent across all versions. I feel like I have limited knowledge about much of the game outside of its mechanics, which is great. Something tells me going in mostly blind will pay off.

The post Double Fine’s latest adventure The Cave drops next week appeared first on Destructoid.

Get some new TF2 gear while you're at it

While the exact release date for The Cave hasn't been nailed down quite yet -- it's "January 2013," for now -- the upcoming adventure game from Ron Gilbert and co. at Double Fine Productions will be available shortly. In fact, pre-orders have opened for the Steam version, complete with obligatory Team Fortress 2 items offered as an incentive to purchase early.

They must be doing something right; The Cave is standing strong on the platform's top-sellers list. Th?e fact that we'll be given direct control over the various playable characters should help those who normally shy away from point-and-clicks to stay engaged. While this game has slipped off my radar a bit lately, the more I think about it, the more excited I am to play.

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Hillbilly power

Sega, Double Fine, and Ron Gilbert have sent along their newest trailer for upcoming puzzle action/adventure title The Cave. In it, a talking cave gives us a brief rundown on a few of the seven characters that you'll chose from to create your expl??oration team. As these things usually go, you can expect the rest in a later video.

The Hillbilly is definitely in my p??arty, and that decision lies ?solely on the way he runs. 

This looks like a great (and weird) game. I'm loo??king forward to its release next month. You?

The post Explore the new trailer from The Cave appeared first on Destructoid.

At the Sega Booth during PAX Prime 2012, I was able to get a quick demo preview of The Cave, an upcoming puzzle platform?er coming to both consoles and PC by Ron Gilbert and Double Fine. From first impressions, I immediately appreci?ated the graphical style and humorous attention to detail.

The demo I played gave me only a small glimpse of the direction the?? game is going in, though I came away slightly wondering at the overall difficulty of the various puzzles considering the way the game plays as opposed to Gilbert's more traditional adventure games.

The Cave (PlayStation Network, Xbox Live Arcade, PC)
Developer: Double Fine Productions
Publisher: Sega
Releases: Early 2013

The Cave is a game that features seven eccentric characters: a Hillbilly, a Knight, Creepy Twins, a Time Traveler, an Adventurer, and a Monk. You play as thr??ee of these characters, and apparently in the actual game your choices in this matter will a??ffect the kinds of caves you'll be exploring, as each character is looking for something special to them (such as the twins seeking out their lost mother).

Therefore, you may have to play through the game more than once to solve all of the puzzles and play out the characters' stories. You control a single character at a time, and as you progress through levels, you'll find yourself switching between them in a style reminiscent of Gilbert's Maniac Mansion in order to solve puzzles with appropriat?e timing.

When I began the demo, the cave for which the g??ame is named gave me a brief welcome and tutorial, and I was free to wander around the vibrant, beautifully rendered environment. Based on first impressions, I noticed that all of the characters moved around at a pretty quick pace that isn't?? usual to an adventure game, and that solving puzzles generally relied on finding objects in the environment and using them on other objects to progress deeper into the world. There is no real inventory management and the game plays like a platformer rather than a point-and-click adventure game.

A good example of this: as I ran around with my knight, I found a fuse box that was powering a sort of claw machine over a pit of spikes. I knew from earlier in the level that I needed the fuse itself to power up some vending machines, though I wasn't en?tirely sure what good this would do me. Getting the active fuse required first finding something to stop it from being live and dangerous, and so I went to an earlier point in the level and grabbed a bucket from a well to come back and catch water that was dropping onto the lively fuse. Once I got to th??e vending machines with the fuse, one of them dropped a hot dog. My knight picked this item up and carried it with him.

At this point, the need for your other characters starts to come into play. I ??knew that I couldn't go further into the level without getting eaten by a giant monstrous lizard creature, and I also knew that the tasty hot dog would p??lay into this whole equation somehow.

Between myself and the giant lizard was a deadly pit of spikes, so I?? decided to climb up and see if I could lure the beast right into the pit. Before using the hot dog, I realized I could possibly use the claw machine to grab the lizard when it came out to investigate. I brought my knight up to the top level of the cave where the mechanics for the claw machine sat.

I quickly realized that without the fuse, the machine was no longer active, so I got my second 'set' of characters into play, and broug??ht the twins back to the vending machine to retrieve the fuse. I knew better than to drop the hot dog now, though I could imagine that if I had and needed another one, I'd have to use my third character to bring it back before taking the fuse out of the machine again with the twins. It's this sort of item management that will surely play a key part of solving puzzles in the game.

Once the fuse was back in place, I threw the hot dog onto the spikes. Still no dice. The monster need??????????????????????????ed to be alerted to its meal. Fortunately, at the same level as the spike pit was a bell that could be rung. The solution to the puzzle lay in bringing the knight up to the mechanical claw's main gearbox while using another character to ring the bell. As soon as the lizard was alerted by the twins and wandered out to investigate, the knight pulled the lever, the claw descended, and soon one bellyaching lizard hung high in the air -- safely grantin??g the characters passage.

This is where the demo ended, and it didn't exactly give? me a great i??dea of the exact scope of the game. I solved the puzzles pretty quickly and they tended to feel like the sort of puzzles we've come to expect from both the adventure and puzzle-platformer genres.

Having said that, my time with the game was certainly enjoyable and the brief demo left me intrigued as to what the cav?e itself will symbolize for the various characters and their quests.

The Cave will be released in early 2013 for PC?, P?SN, and XBLA.

The post Preview: Solving simple puzzles in The Cave appeared first on Destructoid.

The "market" allegedly says that adventure games don't sell anymore, that Ron Gilbert has had his day, and that Double Fine makes games nobody wants. Well, as Tim Schafer continues counting his coppers after raking in a ton of loot on Kickstarter, we have Sega blessing his studio with the means to create a brand-new Gilbert game: The Cave. 

It looks like a pla??tformer, but make no mistake -- this is an adventure game, and I do believe it's going to turn a lot of heads when it's finally ready for consumption.

The titular cave is more than just a location -- i?t is a sentient being, the narrative character that guides us on whatever quest we choose to undertake. The Cave to which the game's name refers is a source of great power, an environment filled with trials which, when completed, will grant a successful hero anything he or she desires. So it is that seven potential protagonists intend to journey into the stony depths, each with a prize in mind. 

The Monk see??ks enlightenment, the Hillbilly is simply looking for love, the Scientist wants the answer to a breakthrough, the Time Traveler needs to stop an inevitabl?e catastrophe, the Knight demands a sword with unrivaled power, the Adventurer seeks treasure, and the Twins wish only to find their parents. Players can choose up to three characters for the adventure, and will need to switch between them in order to solve a variety of puzzles -- or play cooperatively with others. 

As well as a personal goal and special quest areas within the cave, each character also has a ??unique power. In the demo, we got to see the Knight's "Guardian Angel" ability, which protects him from harm. This was useful for distracting a dragon in one cavern, allowing another character to sneak behind it and grab a crucial quest item. While there are light platforming sequences, the game's heart is rooted firmly in the desire to provide a traditional adventure experience, with all manner of item and logic puzzles in place to tax the mind. Having to work with three characters in tandem is an important element in solving each task, and it should be interesting to see how different combinations of protagonists can work together. 

The interface is fairly simple. Characters run, jump, and can pick up a single item at a time as well as manipulate levers and switches. One puzzle involves a monster that blocks the way forward and will chew heroes up as soon as they approach (death is but an inconvenience, as characters will respawn a short distance away). In order to cross, the player will need to find a bucket of water to put in a vending machine so that a hot dog can be obtained. The hot dog can then be placed on a spike that the monster will perch on to begin ??eating. Up above the snacking creature, another character stands near a lever that can be pulled to drop a claw mechanism. The claw grabs the beast and hoists it harmlessly into the air, allowing for safe passage. A fairly simple puzzle, but one that gives an idea of how teamwork plays a vital role. 

The all-important element of humor seems to be firmly in place, with aforementioned vending machines dispensing giant, monster-baiting hot dogs and dragons running amok to cause hilariously violent chaos. The silly comedy is punctuated with a beautiful art style full of exaggerated features and wild, swinging animation that reminds me of old claymation games such as The Neverhood or Skullmonkeys. W??hile no clay is to be found in this game, the graphics are incredibly reminiscent of that style and tug at one's nostalgic heartstrings. The cartoon designs and vibrant colors, especially on the various beasts inhabiting the cave, are fantastic to behold. 

Then of course, the name-drops can be easily had. Character choices similar to Maniac Mansion, scrolling item puzzles reminiscent of the Dizzy series -- th??ere is a lot of old school love, and plenty of comparisons, to be made. Gamers of the '80s and '90s might just find a crack in their jaded stone hearts when observing this one. 

The Cave had me smiling all throughout the demo, and I have a feeling that adventure fans are going to be totally won over by the game's welcome nostalgia and charming humor. The market may claim that adventure games are dead, but The Cave looks set to keep it joyfully alive.

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Double Fine is one of those rare anomalies that carries a truck-ton of admiration from its fans, almost no scorn or distaste from anyone in this industry, and yet it has still experienced a fluctuation of moderate monetary success. And even more puzzlingly, the company simply asked fans for m?on?ey, which resulted in over $3 million in contributions. Crazy!

While it remains the be seen what Double Fine delivers with their Kickstarter project, they've still carried on making games at their leisure. Coincidentally enough, one of those games, The Cave, is an adventure game in and of itself ... one they've actually been working on for over a?? year now.

The Cave (PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 [previewed])
Developer: Double Fine Productions
Publisher: Sega
Release: TBA 2013

First, I want to clear up what this game is??n't: It's neither a point-and-click style game, nor is it in old-school 2D sprites. Can you at least handle that? Please do, because everything else that is so loved about this genre is certainly here, and in the cherished style of one of the genre's pioneers, Ron Gilbert.

For those of you who don't know who Ron Gilbert is, well, I feel a tad sorry for you. His body of work consists of some of the most cherished games in history: Maniac Mansion, The Secret of Monkey Island, Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders, and more. I'm pretty sure he also invented dri??ving on two wheels while blasting Sabbath (screw it, might as well give him a little more). I'm an infant in this industry, compared to my peers, and even I've experienced ?this man's games.

So an adventure title being made by a man such as Gilbert would be like an epic biopic being directed by Orson Welles, were he alive to??day. It's the creator making another of his divine creations.

The Cave started off exactly how I expe?cted, charmingly funny. An ominous voice explained how he has be??en a source of hope and desire for people throughout the ages -- those who simply seek for their greatest of wishes to come true. We were then introduced to the Cave. Really, it was a talking cave. Don't laugh at him, though. As he stated, "It's hard enough dating, as it is."

Players are given the choice between three of seven character archetypes: the wise Monk, the daring Adventurer, the slack-jawed Hillbilly, the methodical Scientist, the stalwart Knight, the rift-bending Time Traveler, and the creepy-as-shit Twins. All of these characters, as expected, have their own personality, story arcs, and spe??cial abilities. How you combine them, though, is where?? the real meat of the experience lies.

After picking a combination of three characters, players are thrown into the depths of the Cave, where they must solve a variety of zany and kooky puzzles -- in that familiar Gilbert fashion -- to reach that specific area of the cave whe??re a particular character's wish will come true. Double Fine was pretty light on the details of each character's wish and quest, but after being told that the Hillbilly's ultimate goal is to find love, I can tell that plenty of gratifying heart, humor and hubris will be present in each character's journey. Stuff like this is where Double Fine excels, after all.

Did I mention the game is kooky? One of the puzzles shown consisted of the Scientist, Knight, and Hillbilly. At a particular area of the Cave, a giant, fire-breathing monster blocked their path (discovered after the lovelorn yokel was fried to a crisp). Just before the monster lay a spiked pit filled with bones, and above it hung the giant a??rm of a crane, which lowered into the pit and hoisted up whatever remains it could grab. To lure the monster to the pit, though, the Scientist had to reactivate a vending machine (which read "OMDOGGG!") with a bucket of water, subsequently providing a plump, juicy sausage. She put the frank on a spike in the pit, the monster began gnawing away at it, and then bam. The crane pulled the then-yelping and squealing beast out of harm's way.

Another such puzzle was from the Knight's storyline, where a large coin had to be re??trieved from a deadly dragon, and then traded for a princess's tiara. Obviously, a head-on approach resulted in a flame-broiled archetype, but the Knight's special ability -- a magical aura that protected him from harm -- was the perfect distraction as the Scientist snuck into a gate behind the dragon with the words "Do not leave gate open" written beside it, nabbed the coin, and then ran off with it. Unfortunately, she didn't close the gate behind her, and as she ascended towards the princess, the sounds of chaos and bloody murder could be heard. One random voice even screamed, "What idiot left the gate open?!"

When the Scientist reached the Princess's tower, though, her highness dangled from the gnawing jaws of the escape??d dragon. No worries, though; the beast coughed up the tiara after he gulped her down.

These two puzzles are but a taste of The Cave's many ?different puzzles that are indicative of the adventure games that inspired it. The??y never really made much sense, logically speaking, but they sure were funny and a blast to figure out.

A lot of you are probably wondering how the game looks and plays, though. As I stated before, it doesn't look as old-school as m?any fans would have liked, but it is still in 2D. Or rather 2.5D, to be specific. The game is being built with 3D graphics, but on a two-dimensional plane, based in a seamle?ss environment (no more going from room to room, static screens and all). Nonetheless, it looks great, as is expected from the fantastic art direction that Double Fine typically provides.

With all that said, The Cave handles much like a 2D platformer. While no balancing acts or quick actions are required, the camera constantly follows whichever character is being controlled. Like I mentioned in previous examples, up to three archetypes are chosen at any given time, which requires the players to switch between them, depending on the situation or puzzle that is present. Basically, The Cave is an adventure game at heart, with some of the trappings of more modern titles. Considering that the game will also be availab??le on consoles, it only makes sense that such a control scheme would be present.

So there you have it. As countless eyes have been gazing at the activities of Double Fine, they've been slowly but surely working with a genre that many people have long considered "dead." Obviously it's not; publ??ishers have just kept it caged for many years. Thankfully, companies like Double Fine have enough faith in the?ir fans and the genre to let it run loose for a little while longer.

And yes, if you caught the? rumors from earlier this week, this is also being published by Sega. Weird, right?

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