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After a week of teasers and tiny bits of information here and there Titanfall 2: Monarch's Reign update has now finally arrived. It brings with it a brand new Titan by the name of Monarch, a remastered version of the Relic map from the original Titanfall, new cosmetics including Tone and Ronin Prime, a new execution move that uses Cloak, and a whole bunch of fixes to make Crashsite more pleasant to navigate.
The new Monarch Titan is primarily geared towards flexibility through both survival and support options. Its capable of dishing out a fair bit of punishment on its own, but the true strength of the Monarch comes from its ability to draw power from enemy Titans in order to recharge its shields, or even the shields of friendly Titans. If you're wondering what this might look like in gameplay terms, wonder no more as Respawn has released a brief trailer showcasing the Monarch in action. Have a look:
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For those of you wishing The Elder Scrolls: Legends was a bit more popular, I might have some good news. Bethesda's digital card game has now made its transition to Steam for both PC and Mac, which should go a long way towards attracting new players given the massive amounts of people using Steam on a daily basis.
Besides Steam integration The Elder Scrolls: Legends has also been updated with the first version of the spectator mode, as well as with Gauntlet Events. These Gauntlet Events will be organized global competitions during which players will compete in a series of matches, all with the intent to reach the highest spot on the worldwide ladder. Top performers in Gauntlet will earn rewards that include Card Packs and Gold, but also some exclusive in-game prizes. In the most basic terms the Gauntlet Events are in-game tournaments, which in my opinion is something every competitive card game should have, so its good to see Bethesda among the first to actually implement them.
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If you're sick and tired of watching people pick the same few heroes in All Pick over and over again, you'll be glad to hear that Valve has now finally done something to curb the 'one trick pony' problem. At the start of each All Pick match 25 heroes will be randomly removed from the hero pool before the draft/ban phase even begins! These changes will only affect Ranked Matchmaking, so don't worry about this negatively impacting your practice sessions or 'meme-teams' in Unranked.
Besides the adjustments to All Pick this update has also changed how commands are processed in order to address input problems and improve responsiveness. The reasoning and explanation behind all of this is a bit complex, so allow me to share with you a couple of examples from Valve themselves:
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Very rarely can you perfectly describe a game by its title alone, but when it comes to Genital Jousting there is simply no other way to do so. Its literally a bunch of penises competing in a variety of mini-games, and yes, this includes genital jousting!
Naming conventions aside, in celebration of 200,000 copies sold the developers have released a "throbbing orgy of new content". What they mean by this is six new party games for local and online co-op, as well as five stylish new outfits to make your virtual penis the fanciest in all the land. If you're wondering what any of this madness might look like in gameplay terms, here's the recently posted update trailer:
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After months of teasers and brief gameplay videos the release date for Sonic Mania has finally been announced. You can expect to see it arrive for both PC and consoles on August 15th at a $20/€20 price tag, which I must admit is a lot lower than expected given the amount of marketing behind it.
All of this information comes to us via the recently posted pre-order trailer, and if you're interested in seeing what Sonic Mania is going to look like on release you'll find the video right below. Just don't ignore it purely based on the title, its a gameplay trailer through and through. Anyway, have a look:
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Blizzard released a brief teaser yesterday showcasing the Horizon Lunar Colony, which instantly gave rise to a whole bunch of fan theories. Could this teaser be for a brand new map set on the Moon's surface, or could the enigmatic Hammond be a brand new gorilla hero? Or better yet, could it be both?
Unlike the previous few teasers where the Overwatch team gave us well over a week to puzzle over the initial image, the developers this time around have just straight up released the update onto the PTR. And as you can probably guess from the title, the teaser was pointing towards a brand new Assault map set on the Moon's surface... and yes, it does have low-gravity environments! Here's the preview video for the Horizon Lunar Colony:
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Northgard is a viking themed real-time strategy game from the makers of Evoland. In gameplay it resembles a hybrid between the Civilization and Settlers series, though with a bit less complexity than either of those. In other words, Northgard is primarily focused around city-building, resource management, tight production cycles, and an open-ended playstyle that allows you to achieve victory by any means you wish.
When I first did my review back in February I expressed some concerns about the combat playstyle given that it only features three types of units, all of which are relatively slow and melee. As such, I am very glad to say that some of these issues have been corrected with today's patch as Northgard has not only added two new combat units, but multiplayer as well! The first of these units is the powerful but fragile Axe Thrower which should go a long way towards promoting hit and run tactics, while the second unit is the Shield Bearer - a strong defensive frontliner designed to protect your troops from enemy ranged units and towers. Naturally, each of the units requires their own building to field, so this should hopefully bring some much needed strategy and depth to Northgard's combat.
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Stones Unturned, Mafia 3's second piece of DLC, has now arrived with a brand new story centered around John Donovan. Together you will be trying to uncover a dangerous plot in New Bordeaux that will lead you on a chase throughout the city, and ultimately to a new island location filled with secrets and interesting places to explore.
If you're interested in seeing what this new location might look like in-game, here's the recently posted launch trailer that showcases just that. Its a bit light on gameplay, but it'll at least give you a good idea of what the story is all about. Have a look:
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Warframe is a co-op focused game about space ninjas slicing and dicing hordes upon hordes of monsters and mutants. Given the premise you wouldn't really expect Warframe to have an interesting story, or even a story at all, but the truth is that Warframe's lore is actually quite compelling! Its full of ancient horrors, unanswered questions, dubious allies, and enemies whose hatred for the Tenno (the aforementioned space ninjas) goes far beyond what is expected.
As such, I am quite excited to say that Top Cow Comics will be working on an official comic book series for Warframe. The details are currently a bit shaky, but from what I can tell you the comics will follow Excalibur as he tries to protect a blinded young girl, the last survivor of a recently destroyed village on Earth. The writers are also promising a bunch of hints and teasers for events that are yet to come, but sadly they didn't disclose more than that.
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Rising Storm 2: Vietnam is a 64-player brawl between the US forces and the Vietnamese, with each side having their own unique abilities, weapons, and tactical advantages such as napalm strikes or artillery barrages. Unlike the majority of FPS games out there Rising Storm 2 is all about making combat as realistic and authentic as possible, so expect to see low kill times and plenty of squad-based strategies.
For those of you wondering what this might look like in gameplay terms, here's the recently posted launch trailer that covers pretty much everything from vehicles to infantry charges. Have a look: