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Creative Assembly has gone all-out with Total War games these past few months. Total War: Warhammer 2 recently got Tomb Kings as a brand new race, Total War: Rome 2's Empire Divided expansion launched with a whole bunch of new content, Total War: Three Kingdoms and the more focused Total War Saga: Thrones of Britannia are just beyond the horizon, and if that wasn't enough, Rome 2 will soon be getting another DLC - the Desert Kingdoms Culture Pack!
As you might imagine from the name alone, the Desert Kingdoms expansion will bring with it four new playable factions that will help flesh out some of Rome 2's less interesting provinces. The kingdoms in question are: Meroe (Kingdom of Kush), Saba, Nabatea and Masaesyli. If the names alone don't ring any bells, allow me to share with you the recently posted trailer. It'll give you a pretty good idea of what to expect from these new factions. Have a look:
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The Humble Monthly is a $12 subscription service that instantly gives you access to a couple of major games, and then a whole bunch more once the next month rolls around. Last time the featured game was the excellent Dark Souls 3 and its equally fun DLC Ashes of Ariandel, while this time around you're looking at a combination of Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, God Eater 2 Rage Burst, and Mafia 3 + Sign of the Times DLC.
If you're unsure whether this bundle is worth your time and money, I would say the answer is a definite yes. Deus Ex: Mankind Divided alone is well worth the asking price, so when you add both God Eater 2 and Mafia 3 as well as all of the games that will be coming next month, the choice really is quite simple. If you're not a fan of any of the featured games I can understand skipping over this month's bundle, but otherwise I would heartily recommend it because for $12 you really can't go wrong here.
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The free-to-play arena brawler Battlerite is soon going to become even more competitive as Stunlock Studios have just announced that the very first competitive season will be starting up on March 7th. The update will also bring with it a variety of balance changes, as well as new features such as regional leaderboards, a pre-game lobby to help you plan your champion picks and strategies, a VR observer mode, and perhaps most interestingly of all, a brand new champion!
While the exact dates haven't been given just yet, the current plan is for the seasons to last around 10 weeks, with each new season appearing every 2-3 months. In order to entice more people towards competitive play Stunlock Studios have also revealed that the seasonal rewards will be based on special quests rather than the end-of-season placement. A small change in the grand scheme of things, but one that I feel is going to have a large impact with the casual side of the playerbase.
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Overwatch's 27th hero, a tank/support hybrid by the name of Brigitte, recently made her way onto the test servers. As you might expect from a newly released hero, Brigitte arrived alongside a couple of major balance issues, as well as the ability to essentially fly if you aimed the Shield Bash in just the right way while near a small incline.
With that in mind, I am glad to say that Blizzard has now decided to speed up their usually glacial balancing process and release some much-needed changes to Brigitte. The patch notes aren't very long, so you'll find all of the important bits right below. If you're interested in all of the bug fixes as well, however, you should head on over to the official website. But for now, here's the short version:
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Northgard is a viking themed strategy game that made its way onto Steam Early Access in February of last year. Even during my initial review I found it to be a great deal of fun, which is why I am very glad to say that it will be sailing out of Early Access as a fully finished game this March 7th.
The release version will bring with it six different clans, singleplayer and multiplayer modes, and perhaps most importantly, the long-awaited campaign spanning 11 chapters! You can get a little bit of a sneak peek at what the "Rig's Saga" campaign has to offer via the recently posted trailer down below. Have a look:
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Attack on Titan 2 is set to arrive this March 20th for PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and the Nintendo Switch. As you might deduce from the name alone, it will be picking up directly after the original Attack on Titan game and will be covering the show's second season. You can also expect to see a variety of new characters (including a roster of playable Titans), improved visuals, tweaked controls and dodging mechanics, as well as a more interesting world to explore.
If you're wondering how all of this translates into gameplay, allow me to share with you the two recently posted trailers. The first video primarily focuses around combat, while the second one has gone for a completely different approach by highlighting the relatively peaceful town life. Have a look, it's quite interesting if you're a fan of the show:
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Blizzard has just announced that Hearthstone's Year of the Mammoth is soon coming to an end. While the exact date hasn't been specified just yet, it is expected that the newly unveiled Year of the Raven will arrive this April alongside a new expansion, faster and easier quests, and naturally, the annual set rotation.
Once Year of the Raven begins the following sets will be leaving the Standard format: Whispers of the Old Gods, One Night in Kharazan and Mean Streets of Gadgetzan. Furthermore, a couple of the more 'problematic' cards will be headed into the Hall of Fame as well, meaning they will not be available in the Standard format either. These cards are: Ice Block, Coldlight Oracle and the Molten Giant which is also getting its old stats restored!
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A fairly short amount of time has passed since the last major update, and already Path of Exile has received another dose of content! The appropriately named Bestiary update has brought with it the ability to capture and sacrifice rare beasts in exchange for amazing loot, a complete rebalance of the Ascendancy system, three new gems and a variety of items to collect, and naturally, even more devious bosses to fight.
You can get a good glimpse at what all of this looks like in-game via the recently posted trailer. Have a gander, it's well worth the two minutes if you're into ARPGs:
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Warhammer: Vermintide 2 is set to arrive on PC this March 8th, but if you would like to start playing it ahead of time you might be interested to hear that the pre-order beta has now begun. It only contains a couple of maps and there are still some issues that are likely to get patched by time Vermintide 2 launches, but other than that it is basically the same experience as the full game. As such, all of your progress in the pre-order beta will carry over to the final version!
If you're not sure what Vermintide 2 is all about and whether it's a game you would even enjoy, allow me to share with you the recently posted gameplay trailer. It's fairly short, but it should give you all of the information you need. Have a look:
- By Ash
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It is downright impressive how quickly Epic is balancing and adding content to Fortnite. The last update was a mere two weeks ago, and already there is a new one! The rather plainly named Update V.3.1.0 has now brought with it Lucky Landing as a new point of interest on the southern edge of the island, the Hunting Rifle as a new weapon, as well as some much needed balance changes and bug fixes.
The most important of these new tweaks is the drop rate adjustment for the Burst Assault Rifle, Revolver and Tactical Shotgun. According to Epic this does not change the overall likelihood of finding the weapons, but it does increase your chance of finding a higher rarity version. A small change in the grand scheme of things, but as someone that gets saddled with a common Revolver far too often it's one that I'm quite happy with!