Multiplayer in Mass Effect: Andromeda will be getting a new difficulty mode soon. In a new trailer, developer BioWare and publisher EA have teased Platinum difficulty for the game's Apex multiplayer missions, challenging players to "take your skills to the next level." Little more is revealed in the video, but we'll presumably learn more about the update in the near future.
Apex missions are Andromeda's multiplayer squad-based challenges, and new ones have continued to be introduced since launch. The Platinum missions join Bronze, Silver, and Gold levels for more skilled players.
The news comes just a few days after reports emerged that Andromeda would not be getting any single-player DLC and that a sequel had been shelved. They followed previous reports that EA had put the Mass Effect series on "hiatus" and scaled down BioWare's workforce. According to Kotaku, a small team will remain working on Andromeda's multiplayer portion to add content and push out fixes. However most of the game's primary development studio, BioWare Montreal, has apparently moved on to other projects.
The Edmonton, Canada-based developer has since unveiled its new IP, Anthem, which is coming to PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC in 2018.
In our Mass Effect Andromeda review, critic Scott Butterworth said, "In many ways, Andromeda feels like a vision half-fulfilled. It contains a dizzying amount of content, but the quality fluctuates wildly. Its worlds and combat shine, but its writing and missions falter--and the relative strength of the former is not enough to compensate for the inescapable weakness of the latter." He awarded the game a 6/10.
The fourth of July means the US is celebrating its historic Independence Day. And as is tradition, consumerism pairs with the holiday and plenty of sales are going on for PC hardware! If you're in the market for a new monitor, it's a good time to snag a 1440p or 4K display. Although you'll also want to make sure your PC is powerful enough to run the latest games smoothly at these higher resolutions, now is probably not the best time to buy a graphics card as price spikes are still in effect due to a surge in digital currency mining.
Regardless, deals on components for a gaming PC litter the internet, and we're here to share the ones that caught our eye. Feel free to share any worthy deals you found by commenting below.
There are many reasons to look into this 27-inch 4K monitor from LG. Not only does it give an ultra high-definition resolution, but it sports an IPS panel for better color accuracy and offers AMD's FreeSync technology.
If you're not ready to game in 4K but still want something more than 1080p, then this 25-inch 1440p monitor from Dell should be on your radar. There are many options for high-refresh rate 1440p displays out there, but you generally need a stronger PC to take advantage of it. With this, you'll get an IPS panel for better colors without needing to beef up your PC too much.
It doesn't get much cheaper than this for a 28-inch 4K monitor. The S2817Q from Dell sports a 60Hz TN panel and 2ms response time along with its ultra high-definition resolution. This monitor typically goes for around $500, so $300 to jump into 4K is quite the deal.
Pre-built PCs tend to be more expensive than one you could build yourself with equal components. However, you can't get a PC with these specs much cheaper than this. It's a well-rounded mid-high range build with an i5-7600K CPU and GTX 1070 GPU. It also doesn't skip out on key pieces like 16GB of RAM and a 480GB solid-state drive. So if you're in the market for a new gaming PC altogether, this is the perfect deal.
The Ryzen 7 1700X is on sale again for $50 off its retail price. It's an eight-core processor that's competent for gaming, but shines in CPU-demanding tasks like video production and image rendering. It's also hard to find a high-end desktop CPU as cost-effective as the Ryzen 7 series.
Solid-state drives are highly recommend for modern systems, but they don't come cheap. At 480GB, this SSD from SanDisk can be more than just a boot drive and it won't break the bank. It's plenty fast with a read and write speed of 550MB/s and 500MB/s, respectively.
Desktop memory is still a little pricier than it used to be, but PCs still need RAM to run. So, if you need high-performance memory, you might want to look into these sticks from Corsair. Take note that this is an Amazon Prime exclusive.
Sennheiser has a reputation of making headphones for audiophiles, and they also have a few gaming headsets available. The PC350 headset sports an over-ear and closed-back design, and it connects through a 3.5mm audio jack.
1000 watts is a ton of juice for a PC, so if you're looking to run multiple video cards but still need to save money, this might be what you're looking for. Its semi-modular design helps cable management and the 80 plus bronze certification ensure efficiency.
Not everyone has a power-hungry PC, which is why we highlighted Rosewill's 500-watt counterpart. This model typically goes for $90, so you'll be saving a decent amount on a modest power supply.
Mechanical keyboards can be quite expensive, which is what makes the G.Skill KM570 interesting. Corsair and Logitech also released sub-$100 mechanical keyboards recently, but the KM570 is slightly cheaper right now. You can get it at this price with either Cherry MX Blue or Red switches.
A new Nintendo Switch game will launch on the European Eshop later this week. Nintendo of Europe has announced that multiplayer action-puzzle game Flip Wars is coming to the Eshop on July 6. It is unclear at this stage whether the game will come to the US and Australia on the same date.
The game is centered around trying to change as many squares on the board into your color as possible. A number of items can help you in your mission, while environmental hazards like water waves and electricity can also mix things up. It supports both local and online multiplayer and a variety of game modes, some of which focus more around defeating your opponents than coloring in their squares.
The colorful title originally launched in Japan in May under the name Battle Sports Mekuru. We currently don't have a price for its western release, but its Japanese price tag of 980 Yen translates to around US $8.66.
PS4 owners can grab exclusive horror game Until Dawn and Telltale's episodic Game of Thrones series right now. The timing of the latter works out nicely with the show returning on July 16. PS4 and Vita owners can also enjoy bullet hell title Don't Die, Mr. Robot, thanks to Cross-Buy support. The other PS Vita game this month is indie exploration game Element4l.
On PS3, Plus members receive Darkstalkers Resurrection, which is actually a collection of two different games from the Darkstalkers fighting game series: Night Warriors: Darkstalkers' Revenge and Darkstalkers 3. Also free on PS3 is Tokyo Jungle, the brilliant, quirky action game where you play as various animals--ranging from pomeranians to lions--in a post-apocalyptic version of Tokyo.
In addition, the first PlayStation Playlink mobile title, That's You!, is available for Plus members free from now until October 24. Plus subscribers can also grab a booster pack for Orcs Must Die: Unchained for one month after its beta launches on July 18.
Blizzard has updated the official Overwatch website with new story details alluding to Doomfist, a character fans have been wanting for some time now. Although Blizzard has historically been cagey about whether he will appear in the game, the new lore drop certainly suggests fans could be getting what they've asked for.
"Three months after initial reports of an incident at Helix Security International's classified maximum security installation, a more complete picture of what happened has emerged," reads the post. "Information and details of what happened were scarce as has been any news from the installation, said to be a prison for the world's most dangerous threats.
"However, after recent events in Numbani, it can now be confirmed that what occurred was an attack by the Talon organization with the express purpose of freeing one man: Akande Ogundimu, better known as Doomfist."
The post goes on to recount how Doomfist was broken out of prison by "a black shadowy figure," who is believed to be Reaper.
"After escaping from the facility, Helix lost track of Ogundimu until he resurfaced in Numbani, where he clashed with the newly introduced OR15 defense robots at the Adawe International Terminal, easily destroying them and reclaiming the Doomfist."
Doomfist is named after the incredibly powerful gauntlet the figure wields. It rumored that this weapon is capable of levelling skyscrapers. In official Overwatch canon the Doomfist moniker has been carried by three people; the first was referred to as "The Savior," the second "The Scourge," and third "The Successor." Ogundimu is the current Doomfist, and believed to be aligned with Overwatch's villains.
In February Blizzard updated the public test realm version of Overwatch and, in the attack team's spawn point, you can see the aftermath of Doomfist's Numbani attack, as mentioned above. This ignited speculation that he could be the next character Blizzard adds to the game.
It may be that the character makes his debut at Gamescom, which takes place from August 22 to August 26. Blizzard unveiled a new map called Eichenwalde at the event in 2016, so it has a history of making big reveals at the events.
The Overwatch community has rallied around Brooklyn Nine-Nine actor Terry Crews, requesting Blizzard cast him as the voice actor for Doomfist. For his part, Crews has expressed his interest in being involved, going so far as to create a Doomfist audition video.
Spider-Man has probably the greatest collection of adversaries in the Marvel Universal, and in Spider-Man: Homecoming he faces another classic bad guy--The Vulture. A new behind-the-scenes promo takes a look at the iconic winged bad guy, who is played by Michael Keaton. Check it out below:
Spider-Man: Homecoming hits theaters this week. The movie stars Tom Holland as Spidey, plus Robert Downey Jr, Marissa Tomei, Jon Favreau, and Zendaya. It's directed by Jon Watt.
The film has been very well received by critics. GameSpot's review said that "Spider-Man: Homecoming gets everything right about this beloved Marvel character, which after the Batman and Robin-like awfulness of The Amazing Spider-Man 2, comes as a huge relief. It's one of the best crowd pleasers in the Marvel oeuvre, and the best Spider-Man film so far."
Plans are also underway for the Homecoming sequel. The movie is set for release in August 2019 and is reportedly set to pick up right after the end of Avengers 4, which arrives three months earlier. Marvel boss Kevin Feige recently confirmed that it would also kickstart Phase 4 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
"So much happens in [the third and fouth Avengers movies], as you can imagine, and so much is affected by it, that we felt what better person to hold your hand and lead you into the next incarnation of the MCU, in a grounded, realistic manner, than Peter Parker?" he said. "So, coming out two months after Untitled Avengers, [that's what] much of what the next Spider-Man film will be about."
A new game in the Evil Genius franchise is in the works at Sniper Elite and Battlezone developer Rebellion. The company revealed the news today, saying, "We're thrilled to announce we are now officially working on Evil Genius 2."
The original Evil Genius was a PC RTS game developed by Elixir Studios that launched in 2004. Rebellion obtained the IP in 2005 after Elixir's closure.
"We'd like to make this super-duper clear," wrote Rebellion in a press release. "This isn't a remaster. Evil Genius 2 will be a fully-fledged sequel and it won't be free-to-play."
The company went on to confirm the sequel will come to PC, though there is a possibility it will also come to consoles or mobile: "Our focus currently is on a PC release, but as ever we'll look at other platforms and see what fits and what doesn't."
Rebellion hinted a sequel may be coming back in 2013, when it said: "We've always wanted to make a fully-featured PC follow-up. We've taken concepts for an Evil Genius sequel to publishers before but we weren't able to secure the funding we needed. However since then, we've looked into alternative ways to get this game funded and created. We are going to make this happen. And it's going to be soon."
In today's press release, the company said the delay from 2013 was partly because of the other big projects it had in the pipeline at that time: Sniper Elite 3 and 4, Zombie Army Trilogy, and Battlezone. The crowdfunding idea has since been dropped in favor of a traditional payment and development route, thanks to "the growing success of the Sniper Elite series and other Rebellion games IP."
However, the developer did warn that Evil Genius 2 is "still at a very, very early stage."
Two Evil Genius games have launched since the original. 2010's Evil Genius: WMD and 2015's Evil Genius Online were both Facebook games, though Rebellion has admitted in the past that WMD in particular "wasn't up to scratch." For more on Evil Genius 2, check out the announcement video above.
Series creator Michel Ancel rediscovered the game last year, and now another game developer, Omar Cornut, has posted it to the web so anyone can play it. GameSpot has verified the build does run on PC, though do note you'll need an emulator to play the "very early dev build." Remember to be aware when using third-party software downloaded from the internet.
Cornut worked with Ancel on the latter's upcoming open-world survival game Wild. When Kotaku asked how he came into possession of the unreleased game, Cornut replied, "There's not a lot to it really; I borrowed the cartridge from Michel Ancel who kindly let me look at it and dump it."
In a tweet, Cornut wrote, "According to old screenshots and reports it _did_ grow to a more fully fledged game but a later version wasn't found yet."
Ancel originally posted about the prototype last year: "It's working! Four people in the world have seen this," he wrote. "We thought it was lost, but somewhere in the cold electronic circuit, something was still alive. And running at full 60 FPS!"
He'd previously said the game "was playable on the Super Nintendo console but was never finished."
According to Unseen64, the game featured two-player co-op, though Cornut told Kotaku that this early build doesn't contain that feature. It seems Ubisoft shifted development of the project from SNES to support CD-based systems. It then came out in September 1995 for the original PlayStation and Atari Jaguar. The franchise has spawned numerous sequels, the latest in the core series being 2013's Rayman Legends.
We already knew Playerunknown's Battlegrounds has two new maps in development. Now, developer Bluehole has shown off one of them for the first time. The desert arena doesn't yet have a name, but we know it's based in Peru and will have sandstorms, among other new features. Take a look at the new images below.
Bluehole originally shared the news at E3 2017, where it also showcased a new weapon--the short-to-medium range OTS rifle--and improved traversal animations. More weather effects are also on the way, along with mod support further down the line.
The Peru-based desert map isn't the only one coming: in addition, Bluehole is working on a snowy arena set in the Adriatic region, containing a ruined cosmodrome. No release date has been announced for either map.
We already know that the Game of Thrones Season 7 finale will be a lengthy affair, coming in at 82 minutes. But episodes in Season 8, the show's last one, could be longer.
The show's sound designer, Patricia Fairfield, said at the Con of Thrones convention this past weekend that all episodes in the final season could be feature-length. This is according to the account of Cast of Kings podcast co-host David Chen (via GameSpot sister site CNET).
Fairfield just said the Season 7 finale of GAME OF THRONES will be 82 mins. Final season they're considering making each ep feature length!
Season 7 will only have seven episodes, while Season 8 has just six. But if they're going to be super-sized, then the total runtime might not be all that different from past seasons.
In other Game of Thrones news, actress Sophie Turner, who plays Sansa Stark, recently discussed growing up on the show. You can read the full interview here at The Times UK.
Harmonix has announced this week's lineup of Rock Band 4 DLC. A pair of new songs are coming out this week, both of which are of the metal/heavy/\m/ variety.
Starting off, the classic Disturbed song that people sing at karaoke, "Down With The Sickness," is coming to the Rock Band Music Store as DLC this week. The track is not completely new for Rock Band, as it was featured on the Rock Band 2 disc and Rock Band VR.
The other new Rock Band 4 DLC track this week is Ghost's "Cirice," the performance of which won the 2016 Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance.
You can see the songs in action in the video below. They will be available to buy this coming Thursday, July 6. Pricing was not specified in Harmonix's blog post (via DualShockers), but if history is any indication, you can expect to pay around $2 each for the tracks.
Rock Band's DLC library has over 1,800 songs in it, but what tunes are you hoping to see added down the road? Let us know in the comments below!
A teaser trailer for the new tennis movie Borg Vs McEnroe has come online, showing off Shia Labeouf and Sverrir Gudnason as tennis legends John McEnroe and Bjorn Borg, respectively.
The film tells the story of their intense rivalry, including an epic showdown at Wimbledon. The release of this trailer was timed with the start of the real-world Wimbledon event, which started today, July 3.
John McEnroe is know for his short temper. The first trailer shows Labeouf performing one of McEnroe's trademark outbursts, "You cannot be serious!"
Borg Vs McEnroe is directed by Janus Metz Pederson (Armadillo, True Detective) and is due out in September this year. Stellan Skarsgard also stars in the movie as Borg's trainer, Lennart Bergelin.
Disney has released a new episode of its Star Wars Forces of Destiny series, this one focusing on the character Rey, the android BB-8, and an evil alien trying to harm them. Actress Daisy Ridley from The Force Awakens and this year's The Last Jedi returns to voice Rey. The new episode is called "Sands of Jakku."
Forces of Destiny is an original series of animated shorts focusing on a number of the female Star Wars characters, including Rey, Jyn Erso, Princess Leia, Sabine Wren, Padme Amidala, and Ahsoka Tano.
Notably, this is the first time that Ridley is reprising her role as Rey since 2015's blockbuster smash, The Force Awakens, which made more than $2 billion worldwide. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Jyn Erso actress Felicity Jones is set to voice her Rogue One character in a future instalment of Star Wars Forces of Destiny.
You can watch the video below to get a glimpse at what's to come.
The Last Jedi opens in December this year. The film picks up directly where The Force Awakens left off, which is pretty exciting to think about.
The Crash series is back in the spotlight with the release of the N. Sane Trilogy for PlayStation 4. The remaster package comes with updated versions of the first three games. But could Activision make a brand-new entry in the series someday? That could happen, Activision Publishing CEO Eric Hirshberg has teased.
Speaking to GI.biz, Hirshberg said Activision is "experimenting" with Crash right now. He is not sure as of yet if there is mass appeal for Crash or if the interest in the N. Sane Trilogy only comes from a smaller market of dedicated fans.
"We know there's a vocal fanbase that wanted that to come back. But you never know if that is emblematic of a larger audience or just this niche, nostalgia-based community," he said. "So far, we are seeing some real passion for it, so that could lead to other things."
Hirshberg added: "Of course, we are always trying to find the next big thing. But our first priority is to make sure we are servicing the communities that we are already lucky enough to have."
GameSpot's N. San Trilogy review scored it a 6/10. "It's easy to imagine how a dyed-in-the-wool Crash fan will fall in love all over again via the N. Sane Trilogy," reviewer Peter Brown said. "But if you're experiencing Crash for the first time--or the first time in a while--it might pain you to realize that Crash's original adventures aren't as inventive or surprising as they were 20 years ago."
Back in 2012, the group that represents Lord of the Rings author J.R.R. Tolkien filed an $80 million lawsuit against Warner Bros. The Tolkien Estate claimed that Warner Bros. was "usurping rights to which they are not entitled," and the suit was stewing for years, until this week, when Warner Bros. and the Tolkien Estate announced a settlement, according to Variety.
As reportedly previously, the thrust of the case was the Tolkien estate's assertion that Warner Bros. violated a decades-old rights agreement that allowed the company to create only "tangible" merchandise based on Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, and not digital offerings. Warner Bros. countersued.
In its lawsuit, the Tolkien Estate named a number of categories of goods that it was not pleased with, but specifically noted that LOTR gambling games are problematic. "Not only does the production of gambling games patently exceed the scope of defendants' rights, but this infringing conduct has outraged Tolkien's devoted fan base, causing irreparable harm to Tolkien's legacy and reputation and the valuable goodwill generated by his works," reads a line from the suit.
As is often the case in these situations, terms of the settlement deal were not shared. However, the companies said they came to an agreement "amicably." A spokesperson for Warner Bros. told Variety, "The parties are pleased that they have amicably resolved this matter and look forward to working together in the future."
George Jetson might be coming back to TV. A report from TV Line claims that Warner Bros. is looking to develop a live-action version of the much-loved '60s Hanna-Barbera animated show. In that show, the Jetson family lives in a futuristic city in outer space.
According to the report (via IGN), Warner Bros. has brought on Family Guy executive producer Gary Janetti to work on the multi-camera series. The show does not have a green light as of yet, it seems, as Warner Bros. is only now shopping it to potential networks. Another interesting note from the report is that Robert Zemeckis (Back to the Future, Cast Away, Forrest Gump) is attached as an executive producer.
The original Jetsons, which ran from 1962-1963, was set in the year 2062. The live-action version would also take place 100 years in the future.
In 1990, Hanna-Barbera released a movie called Jetsons: The Movie, featuring the voices of original cast members. More recently, an animated entry titled The Jetsons & WWE: Robo-Wrestlemania was released. Really.
Additionally, a new animated Jetsons movie from Sausage Party and Shrek 2's Conrad Vernon is in the works, according to Variety.
Game of Thrones actor Kristian Nairn is the star of a new commercial for fried chicken fast-food restaurant KFC, recreating one of his famous GoT scenes with a silly twist.
"The lunchtime rush. A hungry horde. Only one man can hold them back," reads the video's description (via Entertainment Weekly). The video is hyping KFC's new Ricebox meal for the company's UK stores, which comes with chicken and rice instead of fries. Nairn is bombarded with customers, all demanding "chicken with fries," which he repeats himself until it morphs into "chicken with rice." This is a callback to a very memorable and impactful GoT scene [so many spoilers] involving Nairn's character, Hodor.
The video was only just released recently, which is probably no accident, as the seventh season of GoT premieres later this month.
Season 7 debuts on Sunday, July 16, on HBO; there will be seven episodes. As for Season 8, while the release date hasn't been announced, we know it'll only contain six episodes.
Recently, Sony's YouTube channel hosted a video for BioWare's new IP, Anthem, but it's now been removed because something potentially weird was going on, apparently.
People on NeoGAF discovered that the Anthem footage might have actually been from the Xbox One X version shown at E3. At different points in the video, due to the edit, you can see that PlayStation button prompts were overlayed over the Xbox prompts.
— ✖️Aaron Greenberg✖️ (@aarongreenberg) July 3, 2017
Xbox marketing manager Aaron Greenberg is having a little fun with the news story, tweeting today, "Oops!" We haven't yet seen a comment from Sony's side.
It is not uncommon for the Xbox and PlayStation YouTube accounts to host the same footage, but what's different here is that Microsoft's video from E3 was meant to specifically show off the Xbox One X edition. Given that the Xbox One X is more powerful than the PS4 and the PS4 Pro, the footage might not necessarily be representative.
Developed by BioWare Edmonton, the studio behind Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Anthem is a new sci-fi action game set in a "vast open world." The game pits players in the role of a Freelancer tasked with exploring unknown planets and protecting humanity. You'll be able to outfit your Freelancer with customisable exo-suits called Javelins, which can be equipped with a range of new gear you either craft or acquire.
The game is being "built around a live service" and features a heavy emphasis on cooperative play. EA has confirmed that up to four players can team up to complete missions together. During today's gameplay demonstration, we got our first look at one called "Hell or High Water," which took players through a dense jungle filled with giant creatures and through a bioluminescent underwater cavern.
The 2014 original Destiny was a well-received and very popular game. However, there are some areas that could have been better. Now, Activision Publishing CEO Eric Hirshberg has spoken up to say Destiny 1 didn't release new content fast enough, and Destiny 2 is going to improve upon.
"I have not been happy with the cadence [of new content]," he told GI.biz. "We got a lot right with Destiny 1, but one of the things we didn't do was keep up with the demand for new content. I feel like that, as great as [DLC packs] The Dark Below, House of Wolves, The Taken King, and Rise of Iron all are, clearly there was appetite for more."
For Destiny 2, Activision has recruited a number of studios to work alongside Bungie to produce more content, including High Moon (Transformers series) and Vicarious Visions (Skylanders series). "That will allow us to keep an even more robust pipeline of content in the ecosystem."
"In the past, I've mentioned that the incredible demand for Destiny content has somewhat outpaced our ability to deliver upon that demand," Hirshberg said in November 2016, before Destiny 2 was even announced. "Going forward, along with our partners at Bungie, we've put together what we believe is a very smart approach that will allow us to deliver that steady stream of great content to keep our players engaged and keep the universe alive and growing in the wake of that sequel."
If you're a PlayStation Plus subscriber, today's the last opportunity to grab the free games from June on PS4, PS3, and Vita. Tomorrow, the free games for July will replace the current selection.
As always, six games are currently available to subscribers. The highlights of June's selection are cooperative zombie-killing game Killing Floor 2 and episodic adventure game Life Is Strange, both available on PS4.
If you have a Vita, you can get Neon Chrome and Spy Chameleon, both of which are also playable on PS4. Finally, if you've hung onto your PS3, you can play WRC 5 and Abyss Odyssey.
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