JAMES SWALLOW

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Games

2K19 Games

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My third annual year-end blog is all about the games…

I played a couple less titles this year than in 2018, but still kept my PlayStation 4 as the console of choice.

This year I also decided I’d include the non-digital games I played alongside all the others.

I spent the most time online with my clan-mates playing The Division 2 and saving Washington DC from destruction.

My top picks for 2019 are Far Cry New Dawn, Control, Astroneer, Observation, and my top board game choice is the excellent lo-fi sci-fi solitaire title Deep Space D-6.

Here’s the full list:
Steep, The Spectrum Retreat, Anthem [Beta], The Division 2 (including Private & Open Betas), Apex Legends, Rogue Aces, Call of Duty Modern Warfare Remastered, Just Cause 4, Far Cry New Dawn, Before I Kill You, Mister Spy, Ghost Recon Breakpoint (including Techincal Test Alpha & Private Betas), Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel!, Borderlands 2 (PS4 version), Project Madison, Horizon Chase Turbo, Sniper Elite 4, Deep Space D-6, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, Tinderblox, Home on Lagrange, Observation, Dangerous Driving, Outer Wilds, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare [2019], Colt Express, Scythe, Star Trek Chrono-Trek, Wacky Races: The Board Game, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, Astroneer, Control, Titanfall 2.

BLEEDING EDGE revealed!

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The big E3 video games industry show took place this weekend, and one of the new titles revealed to the world was Bleeding Edge, a cyberpunk-themed action brawler title from studio Ninja Theory (the team behind games like DmC: Devil May Cry and Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice).

I did some work on this game back in 2017, developing backstory for the game world and writing dialogue scripts for wild cast of main characters, such as biker chick powerhouse Buttercup, fighter-artist-hero Daemon and pint-sized mecha-head Gizmo; I’ve previously worked with the Ninja Theory crew on Pigsy’s Perfect 10 (a downloadable content pack for Enslaved: Odyssey to the West), a cancelled DC superheroes game and Disney Infinity 3.0 Star Wars, so it was great to team up with them on something new!

Bleeding Edge is my first experience of working on a “fighter” game, and I loved the innovative designs of the characters! Part of the fun of this project was getting to create histories and narratives for these personas and bringing them to life – and I hope gamers will enjoy playing them!

Experience one of a kind multiplayer that fuses combo mechanics with dynamic 3rd person action. Team up and execute powerful synergised attacks to become an unstoppable force in the face of your enemies – freeze foes in time, control minds, ride missiles and unleash electrifying guitar solos in a fast-paced yet strategic combat system that rewards technique, timing, and teamwork.

Use your environment to your advantage with deadly arena hazards and gain the upper hand in moments of chaos. Yank opponents into a high voltage electric fence with Buttercup’s buzzsaw whilst Daemon lies stealthily in wait. Charge enemy aggressors into the path of an oncoming train with Makutu’s shoulder barge. Trap careless enemies within Maeve’s magical cage and light a raging fire beneath their very feet.

Give yourself an edge by creating unique load-outs for every fighter. Choose from hundreds of cybernetic mods to fully tailor your build to suit your personal play style, all earnable through gameplay. Customise each fighter’s hoverboard with blazing trails, unique stickers and slick paint jobs to ride with style across the arena.

Learn more about Bleeding Edge here or visit the official website.

THE DIVISION 2 is out now!

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Today marks the official global release of Tom Clancy’s The Division 2, the action-packed videogame sequel from Ubisoft Massive, and I’m thrilled to have been a part of the writing team on this dynamic new project…

If Washington D.C. falls, Humanity falls.
Washington D.C. is on the brink of collapse. Lawlessness and instability threaten our society, and rumours of a coup in the Capitol are only amplifying the chaos. All active Division agents are desperately needed to save the city before it’s too late.

The capital in crisis.
Unlike anything before it, The Division 2′s Washington D.C. is a 1:1 representation of the real city, making the game world more authentic than ever. The game’s map offers up-close-and-personal views of landmarks, natural landscapes, neighborhoods, and enemy hideouts.

Enemy factions at your doorstep.
Various factions, vying for power in the wake of the crisis, are aiming to claim D.C.’s future for themselves. Only Division agents are equipped to take on these new threats and protect the civilians that remain.


Gear Up. Save DC.
You are a member of the Division, an elite group of civilian agents charged with being the last line of defense. With DC at risk, it’s time to gear up and use your unique skills to take on this new threat.
The Division 2 features a strong narrative element distributed throughout the core storyline.
 
As well as being a long-time reader of the Tom Clancy novels, I’ve also been a dedicated player of the videogames created under the author’s name. Last year I worked on the Ghost Recon Wildlands open-world shooter game, and having expended a lot of hours on the first iteration of The Division, I was excited to be involved with the sequel. 
 
My contribution to The Division 2 comes in the form of the “endgame” faction, a deadly group of lethal special ops soldiers known as Black Tusk, who become the key enemy for players in the later phases of the game. My scripts for the Black Tusk faction are just one component of a huge project, involving several other scriptwriters and a great many talented people.I hope gamers will have as much fun playing The Division 2 as I had working on it…



2K18 Games

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And my annual year-end blogs conclude with my list of games played and enjoyed/endured/shouted at/otherwise engaged with…

I hit 33 titles in 2018, an improvement on 2017’s 22 – although once more I returned to games from earlier years for a lot of play (key among them Destiny 2, The Division and Ghost Recon Wildlands). But by far the new games I put the most time into during 2018 were Horizon Zero Dawn and Far Cry 5.

Top picks for this year: Abzu, Tacoma, Horizon Zero Dawn and Marvel’s Spider-Man.

Here’s the full list:
Sniper Ghost Warrior 3: The Sabotage, We Are Doomed, Pocket Ops, What Remains of Edith Finch, Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus, Tacoma, Night in the Woods, Call of Duty: WWII, Reigns: Her Majesty, Assassin’s Creed Origins, Uncharted: The Lost Legacy, NieR: Automata, Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice, Horizon Zero Dawn, Trackmania Turbo, OnRush, Space Station Continuum, Grip, The Division 2, Far Cry 5, Far Cry Arcade, Call of Duty: Black Ops III, WipeOut Omega Collection, Sky Force Anniversary, LEGO Marvel Superheroes 2, Rainbow Six Siege (PS4 version), Space Hulk Tactics, Hyper Sentinel, Abzu, Space Hulk Deathwing (Enhanced Edition), Far Cry 5: Hours of Darkness, Far Cry 5: Lost on Mars, Marvel’s Spider-Man, The Crew 2, Elite: Dangerous (PS4 version), Far Cry 5: Living Dead Zombies.

Space Hulk Tactics strikes!

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A few months back, I mentioned that I’d been doing some scriptwriting work on a new Warhammer 40,000 videogame – and this week Space Hulk Tactics deep-strikes its way on to Xbox One, Playstation 4 and PC platforms for all players…

Space Hulk Tactics is a turn-based strategy game set in the Warhammer 40,000 universe, pitting squads of Space Marine Terminators against swarms of alien Genestealers aboard a massive amalgamation of abandoned starships – the gargantuan Space Hulk known as The Forsaken Doom…


Based on the classic Games Workshop boardgame, Space Hulk Tactics lets you pick between these two factions in full campaigns, solo vs. AI, or via competitive online play. 

The game has two narrative campaigns (scripted by me), one from the point of view of the venerable Blood Angels chapter and one casting players in the role of the rapacious alien Genestealers. 

Here’s a link to a developer blog I wrote about the storylines. 

A “card” system enhances the turn-based strategy gameplay, ensuring no two games are ever the same and giving you many more tactical options on every turn. There’s also a versatile map editing tool, so games can create and upload their own scenarios. 

Check out the official Space Hulk Tactics website right Here, for more details, along with ordering details. The game is released on 9th October, but pre-orders will get bonus custom content.

 

Mission to Malmo

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A couple of weeks back I was chatting with another author about the inescapable value of “walking the territory” – that is, the importance of visiting a place to get the sense of it, to make your writing feel as authentic as possible. It got me thinking about my own research jaunts, and so partly inspired by the travelogues of fellow thriller writer JF Penn (check out her great website Here) I thought I’d post some observations from one of my most recent trips…

Ever since I was kid, airports have always been intertwined in my mind with thrillers. I think part of it is the whole romance of travel/thrilling locations stuff right out of a James Bond novel, mixed with my love of the classic “airport novel” that fills the shelves of duty free bookstores. And what’s cool for me is that now my books get to fit in that space…

I was heading to Malmo in Sweden, under a non-disclosure agreement, on a two-day flying visit to talk about a new videogame project connected to one of the thriller world’s biggest names. But the quickest way there is actually through Denmark. So my route in was via Copenhagen airport….

…and then across the Øresund Bridge by train. 

And it was neat for me to look down the carriage and see this gentleman and think… Hey. That book cover looks familiar… (What are the odds?!)

My first real glimpse of Sweden through my window was an orchard of wind-farms, a strange and slightly alien sight rising up from the straight along the coastline. I have to admit that my perception of what to expect in Sweden was warped a little by the work of an artist named Simon Stålenhag… Check out his stuff Here and you’ll see what I mean. He’s just had a TV show based on his stuff green-lighted by Amazon.

His art fuses a 1980’s view of the world with odd, invasive technologies that look like they come from some alternate reality, and wandering through Malmo I soon understood how this country influenced him.

Malmo reminded me of the kind of brutalist, concrete-cube architecture that was all new and futuristic when I was growing up in the 1970’s, the buildings that were the backdrop of austere dystopian SF movies – Farenheit 451, Alphaville, THX 1138 and the like – but with flashes of artistic weirdness here and there.


One morning I woke up and realized that the hotel I was staying up reminded me of City 17, the location of the game Half-Life 2 – check out the similarity Here.

All this might make Malmo sound a little distant and unwelcoming, but it wasn’t! 

I loved the artwork and the river winding through the town, the great restaurants and numerous craft beer places. I also want to highlight the Science Fiction Bokhandeln for accommodating a quick drive-by signing by me, and The Bishops Arms pub off Gustav Adolf Square for having an amazing book-laden snug in the back that was very conducive to a glass of scotch and some writerly company.

But I was here to work; I’d come to Sweden to meet with Massive Entertainment, developers of The Division 2 – the sequel to the hit action game under the Tom Clancy franchise banner. 

As well as being a long-time reader of the Clancy novels, I’ve also been a dedicated player of the videogames created under the author’s name. Last year I worked on the Ghost Recon Wildlands open-world shooter game, and having expended a lot of hours on the first iteration of The Division, I was excited to work on the sequel…

Details on the elements I contributed to The Division 2 haven’t been announced yet, but I can say my part is just one component of a massive (ha ha) project, involving several other scriptwriters and a great many talented people. 

(Also, as some fans of the game have asked, I should make it clear I’m not writing a Division novel or a comicbook – as cool as that would be! – but writing scripts for the game itself). 

48 hours later, and I was done. While the trip was short, I liked the city enough to want to come back and see more of it. And while I don’t (right now) have plans to write something set in Malmo, I’m pretty sure I’ll make use of my exposure to the city somewhere down the line. 

Writers store all this experiential stuff away and it rises back to surface when you least expect it. I never intended to draw on my trip to Madeira as detail for a 31st century planet of vintners in my Horus Heresy novel Nemesis, or my visit to the Maltese “silent city” of Mdina in my latest Marc Dane thriller Ghost, but both places inspired me and helped me make those stories feel authentic. Travel doesn’t just broaden the mind, it stimulates it.

If you enjoyed this travel blog and you’d like to see more of the same, let me know in the comments below or via my Twitter feed…