- By Ash
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As someone that loves acquiring in-game cosmetics through various challenges and achievements, the constant rise in pre-order DLC has been a massive annoyance. Rather than unlock cool new things by playing the game, these days you unlock new things by blindly throwing your money away, desperately hoping the pre-release trailers weren't of the "vertical slice" variety.
With that in mind, I am very glad to say that all of Deus Ex: Mankind Divided pre-order DLC has now been made available for free, for everyone! What this means is that you'll now have access to the Desperate Measures extra in-game mission, a whole bunch of armor and trench coat skins, a re-skinned pistol and combat rifle, as well as a variety of consumables.
- By Ash
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If you were itching to get your hands on Mass Effect: Andromeda, you'll be glad to hear that you won't have to wait for very long. According to a recently posted announcement, Mass Effect: Andromeda will be launching on March 21st in North America, and March 23rd in Europe. As for the rest of the world, there is unfortunately no information, but I'd assume its going to be somewhere in between.
And if you're wondering what exactly you'll get to toy around with, you'll find one of the most recent gameplay previews down below. Do bear in mind that this is alpha footage you'll be watching, so be prepared to see a couple of really awkward animations and textures, which will hopefully be corrected by the time Andromeda finally arrives. Anyway, here's the video:
- By Ash
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The Overwatch PTR has been updated a couple of days ago with a Roadhog hook redesign, a slight nerf to Ana's grenade, a slight buff to Sombra, and a potentially devastating D.Va nerf. Unfortunately for all Roadhog players out there, the new hook redesign was so buggy and broken that it seemed like it would completely remove the hero from competitive play should the change ever go live. And if you're wondering how ridiculous things really got, let's just say that the hook would break if the enemy was hiding behind a traffic sign... a thin, easily breakable traffic sign!
Thankfully, an update has arrived just recently in order to correct these glaring issues, but also to further nerf Ana's Biotic Grenade and buff Sombra's Hack. But rather than simply blabber on myself, allow me to share with you the official "patch notes". Have a look:
- By Ash
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If you were itching for a little bit more content, and a whole bunch of balance changes to puzzle over, you'll be glad to hear that World of Warcraft's Patch 7.1.5 has now finally arrived. It has brought with it Pandaria dungeons as a part of a new Timewalking event, micro-holidays to remember the great days of old, an improved version of the Brawlers' Guild with brand new bosses and rewards, as well as a variety of other minor changes.
For those of you looking for a more in-depth look at all of these changes and additions, you can find the official "survival guide" and full patch notes by heading to the WoW website. But if you're just looking for the short version, allow me to show you the recently posted preview video. Have a look:
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If you're sick and tired of substandard PC ports, you might just be in luck with the upcoming Tales of Berseria. According to the recently posted system requirements and settings overview the PC version will support resolutions up to 4K, run at 60 FPS by default with the option to go lower for weaker configurations, and naturally, come with the usual batch of graphics settings to fiddle with.
For those of you interested in the specifics, you'll find the system requirements and a brief overview of the options menu down below. Have a look:
- By Ash
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Scalebound, Platinum Games' action RPG starring a giant dragon and his hipster friend, has unfortunately been canceled. The details are obviously a bit murky, but apparently Scalebound has been going through a lengthy period of "development hell", and with the project falling more and more behind schedule Microsoft has decided to cut their losses and shut it down entirely.
All of this is currently hearsay, and it will most likely remain as such given that Microsoft's only official response so far has been a generic PR message: "After careful deliberation, Microsoft Studios has come to the decision to end production for Scalebound. We’re working hard to deliver an amazing lineup of games to our fans this year, including Halo Wars 2, Crackdown 3, State of Decay 2, Sea of Thieves, and other great experiences."
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For those of you that might not know, Long War is a truly amazing mod for XCOM: Enemy Unknown that adds new missions, classes, perks, weapons, as well as various balance changes and overhauls - all with the intent to create a much more engaging and challenging experience. Long story short, it managed to take a great game and bring it up to a whole new level. As such, I am incredibly happy to say that the same team is now working on Long War 2 for XCOM 2!
Pavonis Interactive, previously Long War Studios, have already published a variety of XCOM 2 mods, but according to the recent announcement this one should be their most ambitious mod yet. If you're looking for specifics, I'm afraid you're going to have to wait for a couple of weeks, but the good news is that Long War 2 is now finally and officially confirmed!
- By Ash
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With Patch 7.1.5 and World of Warcraft: Legion's third raid right around the corner, Blizzard has decided to do a bit of a preview showcasing the challenges that lie ahead. So if you're interested in learning more about the bosses that inhabit the Nighthold, and don't mind the slight spoilers that come with such revelations, head on over to the official blog.
Perhaps the most interesting piece of information there is that unlike most other raids that are designed to be as dreary and gloomy as possible, the Nighthold has been built from the ground up with the image of grand palace in mind - a rather stark contrast to the dreary gloominess of the Emerald Nightmare. Or as the developers themselves put it:
- By Ash
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When it comes to trailers the only ones I really care about are the ones that showcase long stretches of uncut gameplay, for obvious reasons, but there are occasionally some that catch my eye purely due to how different they are. The one I would like to show off today falls firmly in that second category because it doesn't dwell on the "super serious" aspects of Ghost Recon Wildlands, but instead focuses on a bit of dark comedy with cats, laser pointers, and a high-powered sniper rifle.
Before you dive in, however, its probably worth mentioning that the video has as many logical flaws as its run-time has seconds, so don't fry your brain trying to figure out why someone is sniping in broad daylight with an easily-visible laser sight. That glaring recommendation aside, here's the cat video you came for:
- By Ash
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If you have a desire to watch your favorite games get absolutely demolished, all in the name of charity, you might want to tune into the Awesome Games Done Quick 2017 Twitch stream. And if you don't have time right now, don't worry as the whole event will last until January 15th, with each and every single run being updated to Youtube after the fact.
For those of you not familiar with the speedrunning scene and in need of a bit of an example to showcase what in the world this is even all about, I would recommend watching this year's Shovel Knight race. The gameplay is simple enough that you can always keep track of what's going on, while the commentary should keep you clued in on the "why" of things. So if you've got a bit of time to spare, give it a look. Here's the video: