Electronic Arts and Dice have faced equal shares of disdain and excitement after acquiring the rights to the Star Wars Battlefront series, and devs admitted themselves that taking on Battlefront was “scary”. Revive a darling gaming franchise long stuck in purgatory? Do so while prefacing the return of the most loved science fiction universe in history, upon which said game is based? No pressure, right?

Immediately apparent from boot up, Battlefront is a gorgeous game. Still shots are beautiful and, when in motion, the diverse scenery is even more striking. The included maps cover a range of environments including snow, green fields, sun-beaten desert, and even volcanic rock as the foundation for these laser-riddled playgrounds. On top of the visuals, Battlefront continues DICE’s pedigree for sound design. The score from Star Wars is in place and ramps up at just the right time during matches, but the sound effects are the true feat here: rhythmic laser fire hypnotizes, the muted thud of the special imploder grenade mesmerizes, and subtle touches like debris careening off the hull when flying a ship through the disintegrated remains of another ship is pleasantly distracting. Sonically and visually, the Star Wars franchise is well represented.

In 1895, one of the very first cinematic shorts was being shown to a small audience. Train Pulling into a Station was the name of the short movie (at least the translated version), and the nature of the technology at the time struck fear into the audience. It's fabled that some individuals had run to the back of the theater to avoid the "oncoming" train. Such is an example in history where technology surpassed what people accepted as the truth; it was given that people cannot view an oncoming train inside of a theater house, and yet with the developing nature of cinematic theory the world was proven wrong. Henceforth, a new form of entertainment was introduced to the world and we were infants to understanding its reach.

This summer's Virtual Reality Los Angeles (VRLA for short) was a foray into a similar technological experience. The con was small, but the implications were far from what the show floor could virtually hold. Every booth was showing off some different form of entertainment, whether it was a 360-degree video, an Oculus-driven video game, an interactive hand-gesture demonstration, or even a full solipsistic immersion into self-propelled flight. Music videos, 3D-animation flourishes, interesting narrative panels, and other similar expos were about the floor. One such booth that had a lot of attraction was Reload Studios featuring their game World War Toons.

PAX East 2015 is currently underway and the team at Blizzard Entertainment has taken it upon themselves to reveal two new heroes that will be making their way to the Overwatch starting lineup. Introducing the futuristic gunslinger, Jesse McCree, and the frontline soldier, Zarya.

The Evolve Big Alpha weekend was definitely a blast; nearly every top-tier journalism site started tossing out alpha codes by the thousands and the masses gobbled them up for the weekend to test out the game servers. Streamers, YouTube personalities, weekend adventurists and even teenage brothers and sisters joined the massive asymmetrical shootfest of man against monstrosity. An impressive turnout definitely helped 2K Games / Turtle Rock to turn development and server testing towards the right direction, but is it enough to promise that the game will have lasting power? We take a look.

The BlizzCon opening ceremony was full of surprises for many of Blizzard's games, including the announcement of a brand new IP from the company. This new Blizzard title is classified as a team-based first-person shooter that utilizes objective-based maps, interesting and dynamic characters and roles, in addition to fast and exciting gameplay throughout its entirety.

Prepare to become a hero and enter the world of Overwatch.

The chase ends for fans of Bullet Run on March 8.

A free-to-play shooter based around the idea of a violent reality TV show, Bullet Run was developed by Acony Games and published by SOE.

According to a Q&A release on the official site, all Platinum memberships for the game ceased on February 1 with a pro rata refund being given to any time remaining on subscriptions running past January 31.