News

EA taking feedback: Which Command and Conquer game to remaster?

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EA taking feedback: Which Command and Conquer game to remaster? 1

A new thread posted on the Command and Conquer subreddit talks about remasters for classic games in the long-running series that’s kind of trailed off in recent years. The anniversary of Command and Conquer is once again coming up, and EA is reported to be reaching out to the modding community for support.

EA seems to be looking for feedback to see which games fans want to be remastered. Deciding which title gets the HD remaster is the big question. The thread doesn’t detail anything else, such as platform, payment, release date, and even whether or not the new Command and Conquer remaster will have microtransactions.

The post comes from a producer at EA, Jim Vessella, who was the Lead Producer of Kane’s Wrath. They’re looking for feedback from fans and plan to return the game series to PC rather than the failure that was Command and Conquer Rivals on mobile. When it was announced at E3 earlier this year, fans were disappointed.

As much as a cash cow mobile games are, not all games should be ported exclusively to mobile platforms in general. Rivals is an F2P strategy game where players fight 1v1 as GDI, Brotherhood of Nod, or Rivals. The goal is to capture a mission silo with control points for a period of time until it launches and destroys the enemy. Fans didn’t like it at E3.

Redwood Studios GM Michael Martinez said that they were trying to build a good strategy game for mobile platforms, and urged fans to give it a try. The most recent Command and Conquer game was released in 2013 called Command and Conquer: Generals 2. But it was canceled later on.

As of now, they have a lot of work to do. They’re working on a slimmed-down strategy game for the phone which is probably just a cheap cash grab like many games on the phone are catered to loyal fans who want the full experience again on its PC origins. They should focus their energy on what the fans want. Regardless, we’ll have to see how Rivals turns out.

New Blackout trailer released; CoD: Black Ops 4 launches tomorrow

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New Blackout trailer released; CoD: Black Ops 4 launches tomorrow 2

Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 comes out tomorrow, the 12th of October. With just a single day left in the calendar, the fans are stoked about tomorrow’s launch of the next CoD entry. This one will have no single player campaign and is fully focused on multiplayer. Blacks Ops 4 will also be the first CoD game with a battle royale mode called Blackout.

The latest trailer released for CoD shows off the intense action of Blackout. This mode is apparently the focus of the game and you can definitely see Treyarch put in a lot of their effort. The trailers show a hectic, chaotic war zone with adrenaline-fueled action that just slaps you across the face. Twice. Just watch the trailer and you’ll understand.

CoD’s Blackout mode has gone under many revisions since the beta test back a few months ago. Player counts have increased, FPS has been capped, and much other quality of life improvements like item pickup toggling have been implemented. The focus is on fast-paced combat as 80 players fight to be the last one standing across land, sea, and air. Weapons, throwables, vehicles, and even the radio control car are all shown in the trailer. We also see a flash of grappling hooks and wire traps.

The trailer shows that players will be fighting on the biggest map ever created, complete with character unlocks, perks, and even zombies. Blackout is like everything a player could want packed into a single game, thrown into a blender with steroids, and then lit on fire.

Is the real game actually like this? Probably not. These are all just scenes taken from game footage. There will be slow segments of course, where the game feels like a walking simulator on a such a huge map. Then again, Treyarch has been working hard on this, so who knows how the actual gameplay will be like. But if the actual Blackout mode can meet half of what’s seen in the trailer, we’ll have a very intense battle royale game on our hands. We’ll find out soon.

CoD: BO4 rolls out for PS4, Xbox One, and PC tomorrow.

Fallout 76 stress test October 13-14; See if you’re one of the chosen!

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Fallout 76 stress test October 13-14; See if you're one of the chosen! 3

Bethesda announced today that select users on Xbox One will be able to play Fallout 76 starting this weekend.

A server stress test will be conducted in North American servers for Xbox One owners exclusively, which will allow a blessed number of players to explore, tame, and destroy things before the closed beta starts at the end of October.

To get access to this server test, the requirements are that:

  • You’re part of the Xbox Insider program
  • You’ve pre-ordered Fallout 76 on your Xbox One (no surprise)

One of the perks of pre-ordering is the ability to participate in beta tests and server tests like this.

For players who meet the two requirements, all they need to do is log-in to the Xbox Insider Portal this weekend to see if they’ve been selected by Bethesda to stress test the servers. Since it is a stress test, you can be certain that they’ll need a sufficient number of players actually playing the game and doing random things, so there’s a good chance you’ll get access.

Once you’re selected for entry, the official stress test begins October 13th- this Saturday.

As for the closed beta, Fallout 76 will begin on October 23 for those who’ve pre-ordered on Xbox One. Other platforms will be able to start their closed beta sessions on October 30.

Fallout 76 is the next entry into the long-running Fallout series and is the first time players will be able to explore a destroyed world online with other players. The game will have an MMORPG format with shelter building, crafting, and plenty of hunting. Players will be placed in a survival mode as they scavenge for resources and must form alliances- or play it lone wolf style.

And for those who aren’t interested in beta tests or server tests, Fallout 76 rolls out on November 14th for PS4, Xbox One, and PC.

For Honor hits 15M players; Marching Fire DLC details

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For Honor hits 15M players; Marching Fire DLC details 4

For Honor was one of those games that only did lukewarm upon launch. Sure, it has a player base, but the game didn’t have that level of virality that most were expecting.

The game has been offered for free on PC and Xbox- multiple times. We can easily guess that this is to get more players into the waning game’s player base.

However, these efforts may have finally paid off. Ubisoft’s current game lineup does include some very popular titles, like Rainbox Six Siege, which has built up over 30M players from release until now. Today, they revealed that For Honor has hit 15M total players since its launch back in February 2017. Comparing just these two games, For Honor actually seems to have done very well.

Only a year and a half later, the game already has half the total players of RSS, which is one of their more popular titles released in 2015. But then again, For Honor was offered for free many times already whereas RSS has always been a paid title- unless I missed a promotion somewhere along the lines.

Ubisoft Montreal developed both games with the help of a few other studios during development and upkeep over time. 15M players is still very impressive, even when you have to give the game away to get more players in. Now, the game’s servers are more populated and it’s likely that they’ve established a bigger active player base with all their promotional attempts.

For Honor: Marching Fire is an upcoming update which will add new game modes, such as a 4×4 breach mode, Arcade mode, and various other quality of life improvements. Players will also get a new faction called the Wu Lin, which is a group of martial artists who mastered eastern combat. There’s a new trailer that previews some of the new features coming out in Marching Fire (attached below).

For Honor is available for PC, PS4, and Xbox One. And For Honor: Marching Fire releases on October 16th.

Assassin’s Creed Odyssey goodies: Free AC3 Remastered, DLC, “enhanced” versions

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Assassin's Creed Odyssey goodies: Free AC3 Remastered, DLC, "enhanced" versions 5

Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey has some exciting news regarding the additional content. Players were happy to discover that they get to play a brand new, remastered version of Assassin’s Creed III. Ubisoft released more details about this awesome freebie today.

The remastered edition comes with the DLC from the game, including the special Benedict Arnold Missions, Hidden Secrets Pack, and Tyranny of King Washington, and even a copy of Assassin’s Creed Liberation– the full game! Liberation even has Xbox One X and PS4 Pro enhanced gameplay and the original version bundled with it so you can see the difference. Talk about generous.

Here’s a game overview of AC3:

“Ignite the American Revolution as Connor, the master assassin born of the beauty and the brutality of 18th century America. As a bloody revolution draws ever nearer, your clan is threatened by a powerful group seeking to crush the American Revolution and control the thirteen colonies. Shocked into action by the devastation of your village, you pledge your life to the cause of freedom, and embark on a decades-long quest to achieve it.”

The base game will also have special enhancements (via Ubisoft):

  • Resolution upscale allowing you to play in 4K & HDR on PS4 Pro, Xbox One X, and PC, and 1080p on PS4 and Xbox One.
  • Higher resolution textures
  • New character models
  • New lighting rendering system: Physically Based Rendering
  • Denser crowd, environments and VFX

So, to recap, here’s what you get with Assassin’s Creed Odyssey with the season pass:

  • Assassin’s Creed III (base game with enhancements)
  • Benedict Arnold Missions DLC
  • Hidden Secrets Pack DLC
  • Tyranny of King Washington DLC
  • Assassin’s Creed: Liberation (base game)
  • Assassin’s Creed: Liberation (enhanced)

The first DLC will release in December. It’s an episodic adventure called Legacy of the First Blade. The Fate of Atlantis is the second one and will be out Spring 2019.

MapleStory 2 now available worldwide; Game details and features

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MapleStory 2 now available worldwide; Game details and features 6

MapleStory 2 can now be played here in the US (and all over the world) starting today. MapleStory 2 builds upon the previously huge success that is MapleStory– the original KRPG that was super popular about a decade ago (and is still playable even today).

MapleStory 2 expands upon the previous game with a completely new take on the genre, changing from sidescrolling 2D to a full 3D environment for players to quest, grind, and party.

Some players have already had a head start on the game, as Nexon, the developer, allowed early access for a paid fee. The game was available on Steam for a price about $25 for anyone who wanted to play early. However, the game was already playable back in Korea a few years ago, but now it’s available for the rest of the world.

MapleStory 2 brings back the classic classes- Archer, Thief, Knight, and Wizard (remember when those were the only classes?), but also brings in some of the newer ones such as Berserker and Heavy Gunner.

The game also brings in the new class, Runeblade, which consists of a swordsman with magical swords infused with the elements and a special 2H blade.

MapleStory 2 has everything the previous game had, such as partying, bosses, dungeons, quests, minigames, special events, and more. The game also introduces world-building for players to “express themeselves unlike ever before.”

Their Steam product page says it better:

“Explore a New Dimension of MapleStory

Get ready to enter a whole new dimension of Maple World, as you and your friends encounter vivid 3D landscapes, a multitude of special events and exciting minigames, and enemies both familiar and completely original. Your all-new MapleStory is just waiting to be shared, and we can’t wait for you to get started!”

Currently, the level cap is 60 and the game has 8 Normal Adventure Dungeons for players to explore. As time goes on, there will undoubtedly be more content added. There’s already a pair of Epic Gear for players to loot, so get your MapleStory on already!

MapleStory 2 is available for PC on Steam and Nexon.

PlayStation confirms PSN name change feature; Program details released

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PlayStation confirms PSN name change feature; Program details released 7

Sony has announced that players can officially change their PSN username.

This has been a long-awaited feature (if you can call it that) that PSN users have been demanding for years. Xbox 360 and Xbox One users could change it anytime for a fee, but PlayStation users are set in stone once their online name has been chosen. They couldn’t change it even if they paid cash.

Microsoft gives every player a default, computer-generated username at the start, but can be changed once for free. Afterward, there’s a small fee for doing so. But the process is painless.

PlayStation announced that they would allow changes to your PSN Online ID. This news surfaced the web this morning and is beginning with a group of guinea pigs. The process doesn’t have an exact date, but they said the ability to change your username “is coming.” The testing phase will end next month. Rumors have been said that the program will roll out to everyone next year.

The first name change is free (just like Xbox), but following name changes will cost $9.99. If you’re a PS Plus member, it’ll cost just $4.99 (about 50% off). The feature works just as how you’d expect, but you also have the options to “display your previous ID with your new ID, so your friends can recognize you.” However, this decision is permanent and can’t be reversed to hide the old and new username associated together.

The majority of games will support the feature, but not all. PlayStation says that “a large majority of the most-played PS4 games” will support it and any game that’s released after April 1, 2018. A list will be released when the program is rolled out so players can refer to it and see if a name change is supported.

“This feature is compatible with PS4 games originally published after April 1, 2018, and a large majority of the most-played PS4 games that were released before this date. However, please note not all games and applications for PS4, PS3 and PS Vita systems are guaranteed to support the online ID change, and users may occasionally encounter issues or errors in certain games.”

Since the feature is still new, users are bound to face bugs, glitches, and errors. They can revert back to their old name for free if they should encounter any, but only one revision is allowed during the preview program.

Halo Infinite won’t be covered at X018: “Nothing currently planned”

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Halo Infinite won't be covered at X018: "Nothing currently planned" 8

Microsoft’s X018 event takes place next month. It’s an event where they’ll step out and announce a variety of projects, reveals, and other goodies that fans will undoubtedly get hyped over. The event takes place during a special episode of Inside Xbox.

Fans have been speculating that there will surely be some Halo Infinite news during the show- the fourth game in the long-running Halo series that dates back to the original Xbox. If you’re one of them, you shouldn’t hold your breath. A tweet from 343 Industries Director of Community, Brian Jarrard, they have absolutely no news to reveal during the event, or is just covering up the news?

He said this in a tweet replying to a fan, saying that there’s “nothing currently planned for X018.” Jarrard did, however, mention about when and where they’ll end up giving out the news about the next Microsoft exclusive- just not at X018. So Halo fans, don’t get trigger finger primed just yet.

You can see the tweet here:

Halo Infinite’s reveal at E3 was one of the features of the entire presentation. Microsoft hasn’t really said anything else about the game since then. Then again, what if Jarrard is just covering up the excitement at XO18? We’ll find out.

Stay tuned for coverage.

Twitch streamer Johnny_Now locks himself in a cage for 30 days

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Twitch streamer Johnny_Now locks himself in a cage for 30 days 9

Twitch streamer Johnny_Now has confined himself to a cage for 30 days. He says that he wants to break his addiction to fast food and unhealthy beverages (soda) and believes that the 30 days locked into a small area will help him break free.

He believes that this will help him “free himself from within,” as he’s also documenting his progress by writing a book titled “Into the Cage: Freeing Yourself Within.”

Physical confinement can surely drive one crazy, but at the same time, there have been historical figures that have been prisoners for extended periods of time and became “cleansed” when released. Although this feat is on a much smaller scale and in a controlled environment (he has an assistant to bring him meals or other necessities and the cage looks like it’s easily broken), this still is pretty impressive for at-will confinement.

Johnny’s profile outlines and details some of his goals:

“I hope I conquer this cage and come out a better, stronger person. But who knows, the cage might easily conquer me.”

“For the next 30 days, I’ll be living in a cage in my living room. This cage will restrain me from my weaknesses, and hopefully help me become a better person.”

He dubs what he’s doing as a “self-improvement” program. He puts on some oven mitts later on and explains how he’s trying to restrain himself- from himself. He notes he’s “addicted to food” and “addicted to sugar.” In other words, he’s a “prisoner to my own desires” and has taken the extreme route of sending himself to prison.

Jonny also plans to change careers and has another adventure up his sleeve after the 30-day challenge. He’s currently on Day 6 of his personal cleansing and will continue. You can watch his stream on Twitch.

Image via Johnny_Now.

XCOM 2: Tactical Legacy Pack now live; Free for a limited time

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XCOM 2: Tactical Legacy Pack now live; Free for a limited time 10

XCOM 2: War of the Chosen – Tactical Legacy Pack is now available for free for anyone who owns both XCOM 2 and War of the Chosen.

This is a limited-time offer as this DLC is only free from October 9th to early December. Afterward, the content pack will run you $7.99.

Tactical Legacy Pack offers three new modes to the game: Legacy Ops, Resistance Archives, and Skirmish Mode. We’ve written about these new XCOM 2 modes in an earlier article when the content pack was first announced. This is perfect for fans who were waiting for a reason to get the dust off their copy of XCOM 2 and give the game another go.

Aside from the new game modes, there will also be new weapons, armor, maps, customization, photobooth options, attitude options, and exclusive soundtracks from XCOM: UFO Defense, Enemy Uknown, and War of the Chosen.

Early downloaders have reported that this content pack had some startup issues, crashes, and other bugs on the XCOM 2 Steam Community hub. Developer Firaxis Games and is aware of these problems and is working for a solution.

For those who don’t already own XCOM 2, it’s available right now on Steam and its War of the Chosen expansion is also on sale. Buy both and get this content pack for free. And to make it even more appealing you can even play the base game for free this weekend on Steam!

Call of Duty: Black Ops 4’s Nuketown revealed: It’s in Russia.

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Call of Duty: Black Ops 4's Nuketown revealed: It's in Russia. 11

Treyarch just released a new teaser picture for their upcoming Nuketown map. Black Ops 4 rolls out this Friday and the launch day maps have already been confirmed. Nuketown is scheduled to release next month, but fans are unsure which Black Ops game the Nuketown map will be modeled after.

Treyarch’s latest tweet shows off a city limits sign that reads “W3LCOM3 TO NUK3TOWN” with a population of “11” and counting. To be specific, it’s more like 10.5.

The tweet was written in Russian, which easily suggests that the map will be located in a snow environment, which would actually be the first of its kind for a Nuketown map in Black Ops history. This sets up the scene for some nighttime camouflage and CQC with sniper locations. That’s typical of snowy maps in games- or at least what I imagine first hand.

Nuketown is one of the confirmed maps with the other 14 being available on launch day. The map will roll out sometime next month. PlayStation 4 owners will get to play the map a week early as part of Sony and Activision’s partnership.

Nuketown has been featured in every single Black Ops games since the beginning. With a smaller roaming area, the map is known for intense CQC and fast-paced action, with sniping at close distances (no scope!).

The new Blackout mode will also be in the form of Nuketown Island, where players will land on in an all-out last man standing battle royale mode, which has been revised many times since the beta hosted back in August.

The game comes out this Friday for the PS4, Xbox One, and PC. See our coverage of Call of Duty: Black Ops 4.

Metal Gear Solid 2 and 3 HD are now Xbox One backward compatible

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Metal Gear Solid 2 and 3 HD are now Xbox One backward compatible 12

Two new games made the list of Xbox One backward compatible titles. And they’re magnificent.

Both Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty HD and Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater HD are now officially playable on the Xbox One and Xbox One X. If you have the physical copy of legendary titles, you can plug them into your console and start another epic espionage adventure. Both games were released as a set as part of the Metal Gear Solid HD Collection, which was released in 2011.

A tweet by Larry Hryb “The Xbox Guy” sparked the news:

This set is the second HD collection released by Konami that made the Xbox One backward compatibility list within the past few months. The other collection was the Silent Hill HD Collection which becomes available for backward compatible play back in July.

Now that Konami has two sets of HD collections available on the Xbox One, players can get those nostalgic feels once again. And for players who’ve never played- you now have a chance to redeem yourself on playing Konami’s top-tier games.

You can see the full list of backward compatible games here.

Funny how this news comes out just after yesterday when Solid Snake (David Hayter) told Vinny of Vinesauce to “squeeze my hog.”

 

 

Overwatch Halloween Terror 2018: New skins, Junkenstein, cosmetics

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Overwatch Halloween Terror 2018: New skins, Junkenstein, cosmetics 13

Boo!

The hero shooter Overwatch is now back in full swing once again for its annual All Hallow’s Eve event through their Halloween Terror event. How many names does one event need? Their spooky, costume party Halloween celebration officially started today, October 9th, and will run through the rest of the month until Halloween day, on the 31st.

The event itself will include new skins, cosmetics, and Halloween-themed levels with full moons, spooky lighting, and cheap, but cute, Halloween effects.

The Junkenstein’s Revenge game mode is also back in action. For those who missed it last time, it’s a special game mode that includes four-player co-op where they play like a typical horde. Players choose from Solider: 76, McCree, Hanzo, and Ana to fight the evil Junkenstein and his evil creations. It’s definitely worth checking out if you haven’t played this limited-time game mode before. Junkenstein’s Revenge is just for casual play- there’s nothing competitive about it.

Overwatch costumes will be offered throughout the Halloween Terror event. Previous skins will be once again available for purchase through loot crates, but new skins will also be available for purchase for heroes like Wrecking Ball, Reaper, and Sombra. Many of these costumes have been already leaked by the community.

If you haven’t been keeping up to date with Overwatch, you may as well give the world’s most popular arena shooter a go- it just may scare you back into action!

David Hayter as Solid Snake tells Vinesauce’s “Vinny” to “squeeze my hog.”

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David Hayter as Solid Snake tells Vinesauce's "Vinny" to "squeeze my hog." 14

David Hayter, a voice actor known for his work as Solid Snake from the Metal Gear series has done something spectacular to please his fans. He’s always had a sleek and cool demeanor towards his fans, as you can see from his Twitter account, has honored one of the Metal Gear community’s ridiculous requests.

This time around, he says the line that was popularized by Vincent Jabroni (AKA Vinny). Vinny, a popular Twitch streamer and founder of Vinesauce, received the following line from Hayter:

“Vinny, this is Solid Snake. I’m told that you play a lot of Metal Gear games, and that you’ve devleoped a joke of telling Raiden to ‘squeeze your hog.'”

“So, I only have one thing to say.”

“Raiden, squeeze my hog!”

This was apparently paid by Twitter users Lorelei and Round of Apology. The phrase “squeeze my hog” was made popular by Vinny through his stream. After Vinny heard the line, he laughed and made some remarks. You can see the event in the attached clip here.

Vinny did make sure that the line wasn’t coming from an inappropriate standpoint:

“It wasn’t gross, like I wanted Raiden to squeeze Snake’s hog, like yeah.”

“No, it was much more innocent than that.”

Hayter did have a pleasant time reciting the line, even if it was paid for. He found some humor in it and you can tell because he had trouble holding down his laughter. Vinny laughed simultaneously at that portion of the clip. Vinny replies:

“He’s got a good sense of humor about himself.”

This meme has now been solidified on the interwebs and is forever a part of Metal Gear history. The clip has gone viral with over 220K views at the time of this writing.

Capcom unveils Resident Evil 2 remake costumes, weapons, details

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Capcom unveils Resident Evil 2 remake costumes, weapons, details 15

Capcom revealed some details about its upcoming horror game Resident Evil 2 remake. Specifically, Capcom went over some facts about the Digital Deluxe Edition of this remake of one of the most iconic RE games of all time.

This remake was confirmed nearly 3 years ago and has still been in development since them. Capcom showed off some of the first footage during Sony’s E3 presentation. As we inch towards the release date early next year, Capcom has revealed some more details about the game.

Some major differences include a camera over-the-shoulder rather than the static camera that was both annoying and iconic for its time. Tank controls may or may not still be present. The graphics and artwork for the remake are outstanding. They’re true to the original game with familiar scenes yet with tons more detail and effects.

A tweet posted on Capcom’s Twitter account revealed the following details:

The Deluxe Edition will include a special reversible cover with Claire Redfield on one side and Leon Kennedy on the other. There will also be a trio of exclusive costumes for Claire called “Military,” “Noir,” and “Elza Walker.” Leon will have two costumes- “Noir” and “Arklay Sheriff.”

The bundle will also come with the retro soundtrack option to listen to the old, spooky tunes that once (and still) send chills down our youthful spines. Don’t you remember walking into a door but then the “safe room” music plays? You got that sense of relief compared to any of the other dreaded tunes.

And that’s not all. The Deluxe Edition also comes with the Albert Model Samurai Edge gun. You can see the goods on this promo poster:Capcom unveils Resident Evil 2 remake costumes, weapons, details 16

Resident Evil 2 remake rolls out on January 25th, 2019 for the PS4, Xbox One, and PC. The base game and the Deluxe Edition are both currently available for pre-order from most major retailers online.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 “Multiplayer Overview” trailer; Dan Bunting discusses game modes

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Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 "Multiplayer Overview" trailer; Dan Bunting discusses game modes 17

Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 will launch this Friday. Fans will finally be able to get ahold of the newest entry into the long-running series of CoD games.

This time around, there will be no single-player campaign and Treyarch has decided to focus on the multiplayer aspect instead. There will also be the first-ever battle royale mode, called Blackout. It’s pretty much Treyarch’s attempt at a battle royale game mode and has seen success in the beta test.

Since then, the mode’s been adjusted multiple times for player count, weapon pickup, and server FPS performance.

Treyarch has already released a ton of promotional trailers for BO4– even one with Post Malone as a cut-out meme pasted into various scenes.

Just today, they released another “Multiplayer Overview” trailer to show off the game’s multiplayer goodness. There’s nothing that we already don’t know, but the video does have the co-studio head at Treyarch, Dan Bunting, talking about the multiplayer modes and gameplay and such. (You can view the trailer at the end of the article.)

Bunting also speaks about the game modes Black Ops 4 will have on launch day- Heist and Control, which were both previewed on the multiplayer beta back in August.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 comes out on October 12th. The game will be available for PC, Xbox One, and PS4. You can pre-order it now at any major retailer. Stay tuned for updates on launch day. Also, check out the launch day maps.

Ninja reveals his thoughts on the most underrated weapon in Fortnite

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Ninja reveals his thoughts on the most underrated weapon in Fortnite 18

Ninja was playing his usual session of Fortnite on Twitch (not surprising), and he talked about his thoughts on the most underrated weapon in the entire game.

He was facing off with an enemy and he chose to use the Epic rarity of the Dual Pistols. He shot two bursts and easily killed his opponent. Then, he carelessly remarked:

“Dualies might be the most underrated gun in the game.”

Whether his opinion matters in the Fortnite weapon meta or not, he is one of the top and most popular Fornite players in the world. He wiped out his enemy rather quickly and killed him off with a clean round of shots from his Dual Pistols. They offer accuracy even at long range and offer decent damage with fast firing speeds to boot.

The pair of handguns were first introduced to the game in the V4.5 update, which consists of a pair of Rare or Epic Pistols that are equipped simultaneously and allow the player to shoot both at the same time with one shot. You can check out the clip here.

However, the Pistols never became “meta” with the players. Most top players prefer SMGs as the secondary to their main weapon, which is usually an assault rifle. Ninja did show off a tact of skill in the clip, but it’s likely not enough to sway many players to work them into their loadout.

Source: Dexerto

Phil Spencer negotiating with Japanese creators to bring games to the States

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Phil Spencer negotiating with Japanese creators to bring games to the States 19

Phil Spencer, Head of Xbox, is over in Japan right now. But not for leisure- he’s actually responding to the drove of fan requests wanting to play Japanese games on the Xbox One (actually, probably a little bit of leisure). He’s meeting with developers, publishers, and other key figures in order to talk about bringing these much sought-after titles over to the west.

Often, Japanese games are presented during conferences like E3, but players in the rest of the world can only see what they can’t have. Every now and then, we get the odd port and translation, but we miss out on the AAA stuff.

Spencer mentioned in a tweet that he’s going back to Japan for more meetings. He plans to negotiate with local Japanese game devs and pubs to talk about game development and reveal the progress he’s made with local game creators.

Spencer says that he’s already been “making progress with creators” in Japan, so just from that, we can take away that there’s some hope for Japanese titles to finally be released in States.

He’s not doing this solo, either. Xbox Games Marketing General Manager, Aaron Greenberg, talked about similar concepts during an interview at Gamescom 2018. This is good news for those who have been wanting to get their control sticks on a copy of Powerstone.

Japan’s Xbox presence isn’t nearly as strong as the rest of the world, and Japanese gamers tend to stick to Sony, so there aren’t really that many exciting titles. Regardless, it may be an attempt to stay competitive for the PS5’s launch, where Sony is rumored to go all out- complete with backward emulation alongside other features.

No Man’s Sky – Update V1.63: What’s new?

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No Man's Sky - Update V1.63: What's new? 20

No Man’s Sky has kept their promise and is consistently pushing out new content for players ever since their last big update- No Man’s Sky Next. With the objective of having content roll out with every patch, players have been very pleased with this commitment to constant content.

The latest patch, V1.63, was released just a few days ago and works alongside the 5th Development Update for the game and is packed with new content. The most exciting part is probably the new Exocraft- the Pilgrim.

This vehicle is described to be very “rugged and fast moving.” Just from the looks of it, it really does. It’s like a speed bike equipped with some gnarly technology. Something from the future with off-road tires and antennas out the rear. The Pilgrim’s blueprints are widely available for anyone to purchase who can afford them, so anyone can buy them as long as they have the capital.

Hello Games is also improving the Exocraft Summoning Stations. Previous patches would require a separate station to be built for it, but now players will only need a single station per planet which has unlimited range.

Other improvements include a larger and expanded inventory, fixed races between vehicles, new upgrades for Exocrafts (including the Pilgrim) that changes handling, speed, boost power, and other stats, which are similar to the ship modules and multi-tool which will run nanites with each upgrade.

There are also a ton of bug fixes, visual upgrades, and object highlighting when the Analysis Visor is used. The game performance has also been upgraded with terrain tessellation on the PC version.

You can check out the full patch notes for No Man’s Sky V1.63 here. The game is available for PS4 and Xbox One and PC.

Fortnite brings in $1.5M/day in its first 200 days on Apple devices

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Fortnite brings in $1.5M/day in its first 200 days on Apple devices 21

Fortnite, the current most popular battle royale game in the world, has done produced some deep profits with its recent iOS release on mobile for Apple devices.

Based on a report from marketing intelligence company Sensor Tower, they’ve concluded that Fortnite on iOS has brought some huge profits- in excess of $300M in the mere 200 days the game has been available on the App Store on March 15th, 2018.

Fortnite brings in $1.5M/day in its first 200 days on Apple devices 22

However, you shouldn’t really be too surprised given the current state of the game. But on mobile, the release had the momentum from the PC’s popularity as a crutch to start the snowball effect, so the PC’s start was likely (a lot) less profitable compared to the mobile version.

Fortnite is completely free-to-play that’s currently available on every modern system and generates cash through in-game purchases of purely cosmetic-only objects. In essence, Epic Games, the developer, makes money by selling virtual goods like pretty much any other game or app on the planet. This is nothing new, but I thought I’d clarify for non-gamers.

Fortnite also has a paid mode called Save the World, but the profits from this don’t hold a candle to regular cosmetic purchases. Players can buy virtual pixels on any platform: PC, iOS, Android, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and Nintendo Switch using the game’s V-Bucks virtual currency, which can be automatically synced across all systems using the same account.

The report from Sensor Tower shows that Fortnite beat out other games like Clash Royale, Honor of Kings, and Knives Out in its first 200 days. Worldwide players have spent an average of $1.5M per day on iOS alone since the launch and that number increased to $2.5M since Season 6 went live on September 27, 2018. Fortnite is no joke. It’s not even the most popular game in just the battle royale genre- you could say it’s the most popular game in the world.

FromSoftware Game Event Fall 2018; Details and schedule

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FromSoftware Game Event Fall 2018; Details and schedule 23

FromSoftware is going to be hosting the FromSoftware Game Event Fall 2018 on October 14th, 2018 in Osaka. The event will feature four playable games and is completely free to attend for everyone who wants to attend.

The event is mainly for fans to catch up on FromSoftware titles. There will be live presentations on stage at the scheduled times throughout the day:

  • 12:30 Deraciné stage presentation
  • 13:10 Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice stage presentation
  • 14:00 Dark Souls Remastered stage presentation
  • 14:50 Metal Wolf Chaos XD stage presentation
  • 15:30 Armored Core 20th Anniversary Sound Request
  • 16:50 FromSoftware Cult Quiz Championship

One even worth mentioning is the Armored Core event, which is currently undergoing a vote to let fans decide on their favorite tracks int eh giant 20th anniversary OST. The tunes will be compiled into a special set and will be voted in completely by players.

There will also undoubtedly be the anticipated news surround the new Armored Core game that’s being developed right now. This event will likely be the reveal fans have been waiting for.

Stay tuned for updates. FromSoftware fans have a lot to look forward to.

PlayStation 5 may have backward compatibility; Sony files patent for “Remastering by Emulation”

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PlayStation 5 may have backward compatibility; Sony files patent for "Remastering by Emulation" 24

PlayStation hasn’t had backward compatibility for a long time. For over a decade, Sony has been facing flak for removing backward compatibility from the PS3 in later console revisions and eliminated it from their PS4.

Compared to Microsoft, who has had kept the backward compatibility titles in their Xbox One and underwent a backward compatibility software (ongoing) upgrade to even allow original Xbox titles to be played.

However, with the PlayStation 5, this may be all changing and getting Sony back into the game (of running older titles), as reported by Gearnuke.

Various sixth and seventh gen consoles included physical hardware so that older games can be run. PS1 games could be played on a PS2, and PS2 games could be played on older PS3 consoles. Xbox 360 could play some Xbox titles, and Xbox One can play both Xbox 360 and an ongoing list of Xbox games. Nintendo also allows backward compatibility on their Wii and GameCube games.

Digital emulation and backward compatibility are still going strong and players want to play and relive older times or get into the game they couldn’t play before.

Sony filed a patent on October 2nd, 2018 titled “Remastering by Emulation.” The patent summary is as follows:

“Each asset such as a texture called for by legacy software such as a legacy computer game software has a unique identifier associated with it. The unique identifier can be rendered by imposing a hash on the asset, and then the asset stored with its identifier in a data structure. An artist remasters the textures for presentation on a higher resolution display than envisioned in the original software, and stores them back in the data structure with their identifiers. The original software is then played on the higher resolution display, with asset (such as texture) calls being intercepted, identified, and the data structure entered to retrieve the remastered asset having a matching identifier. The remastered asset is then inserted on the fly into the game presentation.”

TL;DR: Sony is playing around with running legacy titles on a newer system via digital emulation rather than hardware parts. This easily jets the idea of backward compatibility.

Previous generation game enhancement or not, the PS4 Pro has enhanced titles that allow for better graphics, resolution, or FPS. They’re catching up to Microsoft, which has been emulation games for quite a while now. Digital emulation is how most games backward compatible now, rather than having the hardware available to run older titles, it’s all done by software.

Sony doesn’t seem to be doing anything new, but rather jumping on the bandwagon and keeping their PS5 competitive by going retro. Remasters don’t appear to factor into the next gen consoles as much as they have with current systems.

Recent games that already look pretty don’t need to be upscaled, or rather, the difference would be minuscule. Older titles are an exception. So what we can expect is older titles to be modernized, and modern titles to look the same as they are. It really depends on the age of the game and the tech utilized at the point of release.

Nonetheless, the PS5 will likely have backward compatibility via emulation to add to its feature list, which makes it competitive that much more. Every feature counts.

Nightdive releases October update for System Shock remake

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Nightdive releases October update for System Shock remake 25

Nightdive Studios’ System Shock remake is making some excellent progress even with the few obstacles the studio has encountered this year. Stephen Kick, CEO of Nightdive, talked about some development issues they were going through.

They had to pause everything and reevaluate their approach for this remake- possibly straying from their previous path. Then, after a long hiatus, they went back on track with their original plan.

The October update for the remake looked pretty good. Fans who backed the project got a small taste of the final remake- they were able to roam around Citadel Station’s retro environment and do a variety of basic things like “pick up items, listen to audio logs, read emails and complete the game’s objectives from start to finish.”

Although this isn’t that impressive for a game that’s been in development with crowdfunded capital for so long, it’s still progress given that they’ve had some turmoil over the past year or so.

The update was posted by Kick, and he stated the following:

“We launched the Adventure last week to the first round of backers and so far the reception has been extremely positive! Our dedicated group of Adventurers helped us track down a number of issues such as malfunctioning doors, missing key cards, holes in the geometry that lead to the infinite void of space, etc! We’ve been hard at work patching up the issues and will be pushing a new build today and will be selecting more backers to join in!”

Players could view a screenshot of various objects in Citadel Station, such as doors and walls. Compared to the original game, the remake looks amazing. Nightdive has remained true to the original System Shock even when the graphics are rendered in Unreal Engine 4.

Backers will be getting an invite the System Shock remake alpha soon.

Black Ops 4’s Blackout mode: Longer revive timers, increased crawl speeds

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CoD: Black Ops 4 has seen many changes recently after the player feedback from the open beta test on PS4 that ran a few weeks ago. We’ve seen FPS increases, player count increases, item pickup changes, and many other fine tweaks.

Treyarch is still working around the clock to finalize the Blackout mode before CoD: BO4 rolls out next Friday, October 12th. They want to ensure the best performance while not bogging down their servers so players get a positive gameplay experience.

An online personality, Tejbz, revealed that he was told directly by Treyarch that the revive timer in the Blackout mode was doubled in length, but then a developer has come out of the wild and said that it’s not exactly double. This dev was Matt Scronce, Senior Game Designer at Treyarch. He noted the following:

“Blackout was 3 seconds revive in beta and we’ve increased it to 5 seconds for launch”, he said in a Reddit post.

And to balance the revive timers, they increased the character crawl speed after you get downed. This way you can run (well, crawl) for cover while your teammates revive you or take down the enemies.

Scronce said that the Medic perk will become a useful attribute, which reduces the revive time by half. This perk was widely underused in the beta, so this just may make it meta. Posts on Reddit surfaced:

Double the revive time of Beta in full release. The right move IMO. Thoughts? from Blackops4

Other battle royale games have much longer revive timers anyway, with Fortnite being a whole 10 seconds. Scronce remarks:

“We enjoy the gameplay around revive times at a quicker pace compared to the genre standard.”

Call of Duty: Black Ops 4’s Blackout mode will be the first time the series has attempted a battle royale mode. It’ll also be the first CoD game with no single-player campaign. The game will undergo changes as time goes on to improve the gameplay and performance- namely FPS and server balancing. The game comes out next Friday.

See the officially confirmed Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 launch day maps.

DC’s Arkham Universe: Next Batman game leaked?

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DC's Arkham Universe: Next Batman game leaked? 27

Batman: Arkham Knight was released three years ago, which seemed like a proper ending to the small series of titles. But recent reports have surfaced the web that Rocksteady may have another Batman game up its sleeve- and this time around, they’re going all in.

A post on Reddit two days ago contained a list of information about this next entry into the Batman series. The account is now wiped, but an archive set up at ResetEra compiled everything about this title. From the information, we gathered that it’s set to be announced at X018, which takes place next month.

The title of the game is speculated to be called DC’s Arkham Universe. The game will be quite different from the previous game, with a focus on multiplayer and multiple playable characters than any of the previous Arkham games. The whole lineup from the Batman series is in, with Tim Drake as Robin, Nightwing, Batwoman, Batgirl, and more.

Arkham Universe will be about 1.5 times the size of the Gotham in Arkham Knight with complete neighborhoods and areas going under complete overhauls in order to make the city more live and persistent. The gameplay will be similar to the previous games with the co-op mode to allow special abilities and takedowns complete with stealth segments which have players working together to avoid danger and combat segments which have them bashing baddies as a team.

Characters in this game will also move much faster than previous titles. The storyline is inspired by the many Court of Owls storylines and the Batcave is present as a main hub for the player to upgrade, change characters, and take on new missions and game modes.

DC’s Arkham Universe is scheduled for release in Fall 2019 for PS4, PS4 Pro, Xbox One, Xbox One X, and PC. No word on Nintendo Switch yet. Stay tuned for updates in the coming weeks as we’ll quickly learn if this is real or just a rude Joker.

This is the original post (archived via ResetEra):

“Let me start off by saying that Rocksteady isn’t making that Harry Potter game. That’s Avalanche Software, WB’s new studio they purchased last year. To all those who were hoping that Rocksteady was moving on from the Arkhamverse and making a different type of DC game, I’m sorry, but they aren’t. There’s no Justice League or Superman game in development.
Rocksteady’s new multiplayer Batman game is scheduled to get announced at X018. Here’s everything I know:

  • Title: DC’s Arkham Universe
  • Release Date: Fall 2019
  • Current Gen: XB1/1X/PS4/PS4Pro/PC
  • Single player/Co-op/Multiplayer(specific modes)
  • Characters include the entire Batfamily: Batman, Robin(Tim), Nightwing, Batgirl, Batwoman, Catwoman, Red Hood
  • Gotham is about 1.5x the size of AK. Districts and neighborhoods have gone through complete overhaul.
  • Gotham is now a “living, breathing city”
  • Set Time of Day/Weather(Rain,Overcast,Snow)
  • There are random crimes such as car chases, bank robberies, muggings, and so forth.
  • Main Villain: Court of Owls
  • Story takes inspiration from the different Court of Owls storylines.
  • Every character is available in free roam.
  • Batman has a redesigned Batmobile(transport only) and the other characters have their cycles
  • Batcave serves as main hub for upgrades, character swaps, new missions, game modes
  • Game plays similar to past Arkham games, but there are new options for co-op: Dual takedowns in combat/stealth.
  • Stealth segments make you work together
  • Parkour has been expanded. Characters move a lot quicker and more fluid.
  • Main gadgets are the same except for a couple new additions.
  • New enemy types include Talons and Pilots(enemies that hover the battlefield, you have to either use a gadget or dual takedown to get them down)
  • Talons are the same as the ninja types from Arkham Knight. They can counter your counters and also have their own gadgets(knife, throwing knife)
  • Game takes place in the Arkhamverse, obviously
  • This is supposed to be Rocksteady’s true “last hoorah” of Batman games.”

Skybound Games takes over Telltale’s The Walking Dead: The Final Season

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Skybound Games takes over Telltale's The Walking Dead: The Final Season 28

Skybound Games is jumping to rescue Telltale Game’s The Walking Dead: The Final Season.

After the first announcement that Telltale is going out of business and being left with a skeletal staff of about two dozen employees, followed by the tweet that said they were all laid off a few weeks later, Telltale has pretty much abandoned its development of their final project.

Now, Skybound Games has stepped in and announced on Twitter that they’ve reached a deal with Telltale and going to “wrap up Clem’s story right!”

Skybound Studios was the original creator of The Walking Dead. Founded by Robert Kirkman, the company was established and made the deal with Telltale. Now, they’ll be taking over the publishing and development of the game and trying to continue the previous Telltale influences to the game by “ensuring” that the dev team completes the story. Kirkman, at Comic-Con facing a New York audience:

“We’ve successfully negotiated with Telltale Games for our company Skybound to come in and see Season 4 of the Telltale game to completion, we can’t lose Andrew Lincoln and Clementine in the same year.”

A different team taking over the reins could mean a vastly different second half of the game. So it makes sense to use the same group of developers.

Skybound Entertainment was originally founded in 2010 and helped develop titles for film, games, and TV. They worked on projects like Overkill’s The Walking Dead, The Walking Dead: Road to Survival, and The Walking Dead: Saints and Sinners were all published by them.

Skybound Games was then created in order to make it easier to develop video games, which has now taken over Telltale’s project. Fans can now rejoice that they’ll get to finish the game, even if it means another company has to complete it.

Overwatch “Spider Windowmaker” skin leaked

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Overwatch’s Windowmaker has a new Halloween skin. And it’s something that you’d feel like should’ve been implemented a long, long time ago.

It looks very similar to her default skin, but it has some spider webbing leggings and some darker, ominous colors over her outfit and rifle. Her skin is a delicious, yet deadly combination of purple, black, and various shades of silver entangled into a web of chaos. The skin really does fit her name.

Overwatch "Spider Windowmaker" skin leaked 30

The skin was leaked on a video posted to the Xbox Facebook page before any official word from Blizzard’s account was posted. The skin has been dubbed the Spider Widowmaker. No word on whether the skin will be Legendary or just Epic so far, but the buzzing community has debated that it’ll likely be available in the Hero Gallery as a mere Epic.

Overwatch’s Halloween Terror event begins on October 9th until the end of the month. Leaks have been revealed for a few Heros, such as Doomfist, Moira, and the now-unveiled Windowmaker.

Overwatch "Spider Windowmaker" skin leaked 31

Every Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 map confirmed for launch day

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Every Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 map confirmed for launch day 32

With Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 launching next Friday, fans have been curious as to what maps will be confirmed on launch day. Last year’s CoD: WWII only had 9 maps and fans were lukewarm about it. This year, fans are concerned that CoD: BO4 may have the same lukewarm offering once again.

David Vonderhaar of Treyarch stated in an interview that every launch day map is now “public knowledge” but this wasn’t entirely true, as new maps have since then been revealed over time. So far, we know there are 10 new maps, 4 remakes of older maps, and Nuketown will also be back in a later free DLC pack.

Right now, these are the confirmed maps on launch day for Black Ops 4:

NEW MAPS

Arsenal: “Hostile covert ops on a manufacturing facility of a powerful North American military defense contractor means someone may have stolen the keys to the castle.”

Frequency: “A covert listening station deep in the mountainous region of Hunan Province is being used to track strategic targets across the globe.”

Contraband: “Surveillance of an international arms smuggling operation has uncovered this shipping hub on a remote, uncharted island off the coast of Colombia.”

Hacienda: “A lavish vineyard estate situated on a quiet lake in the Spanish countryside, home to a high-ranking crime syndicate boss.”

Payload: “A defensive ICBM launch facility deep in an Icelandic mountain range has been infiltrated by hostile forces attempting to steal a nuclear warhead.”

Seaside: “An anti-government protest in this quaint coastal Spanish town grew out of control and forced a military shutdown.”

Gridlock: “A Japanese metropolis whose city center has been jammed up by a bank heist gone wrong.”

Icebreaker: “A long lost Nuclear submarine in the Arctic houses a uranium supply which a Russian unit has come to salvage.”

Militia: “Anti-government extremists backed covertly by a Russian cell are stockpiling weaponry in a remote region of Alaskan wilderness near the Bearing Strait.”

Morocco: “Rebels in a small Moroccan village are using government military supply planes as target practice as they fly over the surrounding Sahara Desert.”

REMAKES

Firing Range: “US Forces gear up for red team/blue team combat exercises in this Guantanamo Bay military base.”

Jungle: “The heat is on as Cold War forces collide in the sweltering depths of the Vietnam jungle.”

Slums: “Street battles rage in head to head heat through the center of a run down Panama neighborhood.”

Summit: “Cold War surveillance is at its peak above the clouds in the mountaintop listening post in the Ural Mountains.”

Nuketown will be free next month, but it’s unsure whether it’ll be from BO1, BO2, or BO3. Stay tuned for updates.

Source: GameSpot.

Capcom confirms Monster Hunter film; Paul W.S Anderson director

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Capcom confirms Monster Hunter film; Paul W.S Anderson director 33

After the recent Capcom announcement that the Mega Man games would get a shot at the big screen, another reveal was just announced today that they’re also making a Monster Hunter movie. Due to the huge, landslide success that is Monster Hunter: World, the film will be based around a duo of protagonists who attempt to survive in a world of mythical beasts.

Paul W.S. Anderson will be directing the film, who’s known for his work in directing Resident Evil movies from game-to-film adaptions.

Capcom also said that they’ll be distributing the movie in Japan to please the fans over there, who happen to take the game slightly more seriously than players here in the West- like us, for example. Toho will be the distribution company overseas.

We want to see a film that shows off a variety of the great beasts that crawl the earth and the struggles of humans in a world therein. The film has just been announced and no release date has yet be confirmed or even suggested. Stay tuned for updates for the Monster Hunter movie, which should follow up in the coming weeks.

 

Black Ops 4: New Zombies trailer, new maps, launch day news

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A new video was uploaded to the official PlayStation YouTube channel, which shows Call of Duty: Black Ops 4’s Zombies game mode Director, Jason Blundell, giving a developer’s behind-the-scenes look at the new game maps which will be available on launch day. He puts it to the fans that he’s clearly excited about this version of Zombies as you can tell by his enthusiasm during the video (linked within the article).

Previous CoD games launched with only a single Zombies map, but this time around, there will be a whole trio of Zombies maps for players to shoot down the undead- they’re called XI, Blood of the Dead, and Voyage of Despair.

IX has players going back in time to a medieval-like arena with costumes to match the craze. Players will be able to experience the all the violence and gore that once was in the olden days. The whole map is decorated with medieval-themed objects and the player costumes are ridiculous, funny, and awesome at the same time. If there’s any map I’m going to play first, it’s going to be this one for sure. Going back in time is much nicer than going forward, no?

Blood of the Dead previous map that was once used in the series already, so it’s a retro map in a way. Think the map Mob of the Dead back in Black Ops II. Now reimagine it with a similar theme and construct, and you have a new map. Players will see the familiar NPCs as they attempt to escape from the prisoner’s island.

Voyage of Despair is another map that involves time travel where players will go back in time to the Titanic and duke it out on the infamous ship. But this time, Blundell says there’s “more to the situation than just icebergs.” You can run around the ship and see crashing waves, ship-themed objects, and zombies as far as you can see!

The Zombies game mode has become a staple of the CoD series. Ever since its debut as an easter egg back in CoD: World at War in 2008, the game mode has grown into a fan-demanded no-holds-barred adrenaline-fueled experience.

Blackout will be the first time CoD has attempted a battle royale mode. So far, it has seen a lot of praise during beta testing. This could be another “Zombies” in the making.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 launches on October 12th for the PS4, Xbox One, and PC. See launch day notes if you’re amped.