For most players, Destiny 2's Leviathan raid is already challenging. But if you're seeking an even more difficult version of it, you're in for a treat. Bungie has announced that the harder version of the raid, Prestige mode, launches for all PS4 and Xbox One players on Tuesday, October 10 at 10 AM PT after the weekly reset.
Bungie says you may not be able to beat the raid at this super-difficult level. "We do not expect everyone to be successful in completing this activity. Mechanical changes to the encounters are minimal, but they are there," Bungie said. The overall goal for the Prestige difficulty is to put players into a "more punishing sandbox" and challenge you to master the ins and outs of it.
There will be rewards for successful completion of the raid at the new difficulty level, but Bungie said the goal is "not to provide a boon to your character progression." Instead, players can expect "unique rewards to help you shine." Unfortunately, that's as specific as Bungie got, but presumably more details on the rewards will be announced soon.
The next big event in Destiny 2 is just around the corner. Bungie has confirmed that the game's limited-time Iron Banner Crucible event returns on October 10, making its first appearance in the sequel. While the name is the same, there's actually quite a bit that's changed from the previous game's version of Iron Banner. Below, we've outlined what's different, how to unlock Iron Banner access, and what kind of gear and rewards you can earn by taking part.
How To Access Iron Banner
To participate in Iron Banner, you need to visit Lord Saladin in the Tower. That task itself requires that you complete the campaign, as the Tower is inaccessible until you've done so. Once you've spoken with Saladin, Iron Banner is entered through its own Crucible playlist, which features Quickplay modes and matchmaking. You can join with a Fireteam or dive in solo.
When It Starts
Destiny 2's first Iron Banner begins on October 10 at 2 AM PT / 5 AM ET, as part of the weekly reset. It will run for the entire week, ending with the following weekly reset on October 17. This isn't the only major thing opening up on October 10, as that's the day the Prestige mode version of the Leviathan Raid unlocks.
What's New
As with all Crucible modes, Iron Banner matches are now 4v4, rather than 5v5 in the original Destiny. But the biggest change is that Iron Banner is now entirely about skill; Power levels are not taken into account, as Light levels were previously. "Your fighting abilities, not your power levels, will decide the outcome," Bungie says. Additionally, rather than completing bounties and ranking up, there are new Iron Banner Engrams that you'll earn for participating.
What You Can Earn
Iron Banner Tokens are handed out for every match you complete, win or lose--but you'll earn more if you win. Those can then be turned in for the aforementioned Iron Banner Engrams. New Iron Banner armor and gear is available for Titans, Hunters, and Warlocks, as pictured above. Daily and seasonal Milestones will let you "track your progress to glory."
Destiny 2 seasons are still something we don't know much about, but Bungie has said it plans to share further details about them soon. In the meantime, you can check out the latest Nightfall Strike.
There is only one season of Game of Thrones left, but fans might have to wait longer than expected to see it. It has been reported that filming on Season 8 will continue all the way to next summer, making it unlikely that the season will air before 2019.
According to Entertainment Weekly, Season 8 doesn't start shooting until this month, considerably later than previous seasons. Even if the show was to follow the six-month production schedule of earlier seasons, it still wouldn't finish until the spring. But as it stands, the scale of the production on these final episodes suggest that it may go beyond that into the summer. Even though this is the shortest season to date, it has been reported that each episode will be much longer than usual.
EW quotes actor Liam Cunningham (Davos Seaworth) who states, "[The episodes are] definitely going to be bigger and what I hear is longer. We're filming right up until the summer. When you think about it, up until last season we'd have six months to do ten episodes, so we're [doing] way more than that for six episodes. So that obviously will translate into longer episodes."
Another reason for the extended production was also provided by Iain Glen (Jorah Mormont). Glen suggested that the simultaneous shoots of previous seasons wouldn't be possible, as most of the key characters are required to be in the same place at the same time.
"I think this last season will take much longer to shoot because they can only use one unit because we're all in the same sort of scenes," he told the Independent. "We're all starting to occupy the same territory, we're all starting to be in the same storylines and so they can't [have two filming units] anymore."
If you've read our Divinity: Original Sin II review or heard the general buzz around the game, you likely already know that it's an outstanding experience. Some of its nagging issues and areas that players have hoped to see addressed have now been dealt with, as developer Larian Studios has released a big new update.
Patch 3, which brings Divinity: Original Sin II to version 3.0.146.559, improves the game's journal, adding or refining quest status updates that should help to keep you better informed about what's going on and what to do next. On a related subject, "several" unspecified quests should now close out as they should; previously, they could linger as if they hadn't already reached their conclusion. Additionally, Larian has added "several improvements and hints in Arx that tie people together, and that introduce places and characters." One example of this is a new "thief corpse/ghost in the death-fog storage room."
Other changes of note include Attacks of Opportunity no longer working inside of smoke; the difficulty of Persuasion has been lowered in Arx; and "spider legs now correctly prevent player from getting Webbed." You'll also have the choice of what waypoint to fast-travel to when fleeing combat, and clicking the right mouse button at any time will stop everyone's movement that is chained to the character you're controlling.
You can check out the full patch notes for yourself below; a wide variety of bug fixes are also included. The update is now live on Steam, but if you're looking for further assistance--whether you're a newcomer to the game or an expert--check out our roundup of Divinity: Original Sin II guides, tips, and walkthroughs.
Divinity: Original Sin Update 3 Patch Notes
Improvements and Changes
Improved and added several quest status updates in the Journal
Fixed several quests not closing properly or when expected
Spider legs now correctly prevent player from getting Webbed
Tweaked frequency of certain automated dialogs
Fleeing from combat now pops up the waypoint menu instead of moving you to nearest waypoint
Added several improvements and hints in Arx that tie people together, and that introduce places and characters (e.g. added a thief corpse/ghost in the death-fog storage room)
Save/load screen has been reskinned
Removed camera shake from poison damage over time
Smoke now blocks Attack Of Opportunity
Lowered Persuasion difficulty in Arx
Pressing the right mouse button now stops all characters' movement chained to the current character
Reskinned lobby and serverlist
Improved Taunting in favour of the Taunter
Optimised performance on certain AI actions
Filter states on inventory are now saved
Made the surfaces created by intersection temporary, but long-lived, instead of infinite (also fixes some surface puzzles)
Reactive Shot now uses equipped weapon stats to calculate damage
Reduced survivability and base damage of Bone Widow
Reduced Chicken form running distance to 6 meters
Small reduction in XP gain in Reaper's Coast and Council of Seven areas
Fixed melee and rogue archetypes ignoring characters with Stench talent
Fixed Windego's skills if you meet her in Council of Seven
Made several changes to Captive Deep-dweller in the third round of the Arena in Reaper's Coast
The puzzle to get to Reimond now has a perception check on the hidden wall, and the wall supports lockpicking
Voidwoken chicken should not be able to absorb source points
Updated stats, skills, loot and archetype of Zaleskar
Lobby browser now shows map names alphabetically
Controller UI shows button hint in dialog windows when you can scroll
Controller type can be auto detected and button hints are shown accordingly
There is now a button to immediately go to the Recipe window (H by default)
In the rune screen, you can now see all runes in all your party members' inventories
Bug Fixes
Fixed crash that could happen when putting parent containers into child containers
Fixed crash when you accept a party invitation from a client that has left the game
Fixed crash when attacking ground with a projectile strike type of skill (via script or modding)
Fixed a crash that could happen when loading game or returning to main menu (destroying AiGrid)
Fixed crash if you choose to sleep again with lizard after you put on all equipment and the thieves were already killed
Fixed a Story Patching issue. This prevented certain previous storyline fixes to not be applied correctly.
Fixed a blocking issue in the Hall of Echoes: not having the cloud appear after completing the third part of the ritual and talking to a God
Fixed a blocking issue with characters playing dead during the Kraken combat
Fixed a blocking issue when selecting the option "pick up" when talking to the Parrot plant in Arx
Fixed a blocking issue when saving during Braccus' dialogue in the endgame scene
Fixed a blocking issue that could happen in a dialogue with Dallis in the endgame scene
Fixed a blocking issue where characters would still be considered in combat in the endgame scene, and nothing would be clickable
Fixed blocking issues caused by story scripting setting items offstage
Fixed a blocking issue with the Pilgrim Door not opening in Arx
Fixed a blocking issue with the crypt puzzle where blocks would rotate 45 degrees instead of 90 degrees in multiplayer or in savegames
Fixed a blocking issue that could happen when being teleported while in the middle of casting a skill
Fixed issue where Gwydian could end up being non-interactable (kill magisters without triggered Gwydian and voidwoken)
Fixed an issue where some companions would not be recruitable after the attack on the Lady Vengeance
Fixed magic mirror portrait rendering
Fixed magic mirror showing encumbered icon
Fixed scrolls not scaling with primary attribute
Fixed desync when using Enrage which could cause lack of crits
Fixed a bug where instakill surfaces would make it impossible to resurrect a character inside them
Fixed several instances where Reactive Shot would not trigger correctly
Fixed Reactive Shot being triggered by invisible characters
Fixed Dome of Protection ignoring vision blockers
Fixed melee attackers sometimes being able to still attack enemies on a higher ledge
Fixed issues with statuses not being set during dialogues which could cause other issues in turn
Fixed some quest markers not showing up for all party members
Fixed a bug with the cat following the last of the players, not the first one
Fixed an issue with Malady having the wrong alignment
Can no longer unassign all characters from a player
Fixed clicking through NPCs, picking up items (often by accident)
Fixed certain limbs not triggering the correct dialogs in Council of Seven
Fixed jump skill issue that allowed players to end up in unintended locations
Fixed combat turn order being broken after character could no longer get a turn
Fixed Magister Julian sending the player East instead of West
Fixed several minor dialog text issues
Fixed several dialog flag issues
Fixed certain waypoints not being activated correctly
Fixed several issues with nodes in dialogs not playing voice file
Fixed several issues with Lovrik encounter
Fixed issue with spirit vision sometimes not working after save/load
Fixed incorrect gender in certain cutscenes
Fixed being able to teleport into the Magic Mirror room
Fixed bartering screen where "Balance offer" would show incorrect gold amount after something was changed in offer
Controller mode: fixed summons not being able to delay their turn
Fixed not getting up after being knocked down or teleported after using Play Dead skill
Fixed issue where disarming a knocked down character would cause character to stand up straight
Fixed issue where certain origin moments were queued one after the other
Fixed issue with story call ItemTemplateRemoveFrom not searching recursively through all inventories inside of the parent inventory
Fixed wrong vision cones (shift) when player has points in Sneaking ability
Fixed issue with White Magister ship not always moving correctly
Fixed pipe exit to escape Fort Joy being easily destructible
Fixed a repeating issue in Beast's recruitment dialog
Fixed pathfinding issues on Lady Vengeance
Fixed issue with poison surface not spawning correctly under undead party members
Fixed evidence chest not having a tooltip
Fixed several issues related to stealing
Fixed previews of Attack Of Opportunity not always reflecting execution
Fixed AI endlessly complaining about doors being stuck (they will only nag once, e.g. in Arena's treasure room)
Fixed issue where character could be stuck in combat mode and could never sheathe their weapon (desync issue)
Fixed queueing actions not always picking up item by default
Fixed an issue with skills disappearing from Skillbars or being un-memorised when dragging them around in the skillbar
Fixed make war issues near Gods in Hall of Echoes
Fixed not having anymore source if you want to bless each God in the Hall of Echoes
Fixed notification being sent about un-memorising skills even if character was not under control of the player
Fixed issue when attacking Gareth as he is carrying Jonathan
Fixed possible endgame combat blocker (combat would not start automatically)
Fixed recipe categories
Fixed dead characters getting stuck in Arx Arena combat due to horror sleep status
Fixed turn order issue in the fight for the Lady Vengeance
Fixed a bug where mask of the shapeshifter could shift you back to original shape
Fixed Dream Undone and All-Father, Life-Shaper achievements triggering incorrectly
Fixed several issues with Lohse's shapeshifted form
Fixed volatile voidlings having incorrect level in Reaper's Coast
Fixed Arx Death room having puppets that endlessly spawn and die instantly during combat
In multiplayer, use client language setting for showing origin names
Fixed mirror image of a hero character sometimes being wrong
Disabled trading with Kemm when he arrives at Arhu's
Fixed being moved to a different region altogether after teleporting into Windego's cell
Fixed Tarquin not telling you about Godslayer and not showing up at the Graveyard
When Malady mentions Tarquin, now set map marker on Tarquin instead of Graveyard cause Tarquin could be at 3 spots
Fixed bug where clearing a keybinding would not be saved
Fixed "glass weapons" not breaking when using with a skill
Fixed issue with Arx pipes puzzle: blessed blood would not propagate correctly
Fixed resurrecting sometimes not adding you to combat
Fixed not being able to receive skill from an item if you already memorised it but don't meet requirements anymore
Fixed a bug where dismissing henchmen seemed to give them a free talent point after you spent it already
Fixed being able to use projectile strike skills on items or characters that were out of sight range
Fixed characters teleporting automatically
Fixed being able to cast Swap Ground out of sight
Fixed not being able to talk to Gwydian Rince under certain conditions
Fixed being able to use fast targeting to find invisible characters
Fixed leaking PPGammaCorrection shader
Prevented party management tutorials from playing inside split screen character creation
Prevent flee tutorial if no waypoints available
Fixed creating water on top of electrified cursed blood: now leaves electrified water
In controller mode, fixed talking to ghost when ghost was on top of his corpse
Fixed visual effects (e.g. camera shake) playing eternally for second player if he joins game in the middle of the effect
Fixed issue with the camera not going correctly to the origin presentation camera in controller mode
Fixed AI still using taunt when near death or when no allies left
Smoke cloud after using laser ray is now blocking vision
Fixed source lich alignment issues and repeating dialogs
Made Siwan bleed because dialog says Siwan is bleeding
Fixed Almira trade table sometimes generating items of wrong quality
Fixed a bug where Illusionist dungeon objects could become invisible after save-load
Fixed Qanna fighting and talking while petrified
When memorial dig sites are unlocked on map, difficulty check now turns to trivial so you can find them
UI Fixes
Fixed journal map camera clamping
Fixed controller journal marking read quests as new when changing tabs
Fix Take All button sometimes missing on containers
Fix context menu displacement in splitscreen controller UI when opening inventory
Fixed text cutoff issues in some UIs
Fixed AP bar sometimes disappearing in controller mode when switching characters
Controller mode: now show HP bars of characters while it's not your turn
Controller mode: "invite to party" no longer bypasses the diplomacy manager
Fixed bug where icon of dismissed character would still be shown in party manager
Scrolling through more than four characters in the character-sheet UI now looks good and understandable
Selecting a stack in the crafting UI now shows item splitter
In controller mode, the Skillbar can now be used in combat when it's not your turn (for browsing, previewing)
Fixed issue when in controller mode player would teleport character or use waypoint while in selector mode, camera would not follow character but would still be locked on selector
Fixed item tooltip still showing after opening a book, blocking the view of the book
Overhead damage numbers displays are now offset, reducing overlap
Fixed missing strings for loca in Roll UI
Fixed text cut offs and button positioning in Inventory and Character Sheet
Fixed scrollbar in inventory sometimes not showing
Fixed message boxes with really long text
Fixed adding to wares sometimes moving wrong item when shift clicking item in inventory
Fixed up/down key assignment confusion on keyboard hotbar UI
Fixed close buttons in controls options not showing warning if there are unsaved changes
Fixed width of statuses in examine UI
Made longer enemy names fit enemy health bars
Fixed max gold amount not fitting in icon slot
Fixed some cooldowns in skillbar showing zero when it should be one
Fixed how main menu and some UIs in GM would handle the Escape button
Fixed dialog cutoffs in split screen when players are in different dialogs
Can now copy paste in direct connect message box
Fixed magic mirror throwing an invalid error message about tags
Fixed "mute sound" option in controller mode menu
Voice label in character creation was sometimes showing wrong name when choosing origin character
Updated backgrounds in the credits screen
GM Mode
Fixed issue that dragging items to inventory went directly into equipment slot
Fixed issue with loading a savegame while having new active mods
Fixed a crash related to equipment
Fixed broken stats for spawned equipment
Fixed names and labels of several building blocks
Fixed crafting being interrupted by global pause
Fixed Music Assets in mood panel
Fixed several issues on level binding screen
Removed some items from GM menus that shouldn't have been available
Fixed an issue that could happen where a GM couldn't seem to place an item or character in a certain spot when not using drag and drop
Fixed issue with adding physical and magical armour to characters
Fixed roll dice UI not showing up on top of some other windows
Fixed copied GM Campaign not showing in the list of My Campaigns until player launches GM Campaign Manager screen
When GM possesses creature, fixed UI showing tags instead of custom stats
Fixed duplication and saving of a shapeshifted character
Fixed issue when GM possessed a creature and could use the party management screen (invite/make war)
Character sheet in GM now uses shortest possible names for stats
Fixed Vignette half showing after spamming show/hide
Fixed being unable to make choice on vignette screen if skill bar is active in controller mode
Fixed player slots drawn outside of the border in the connectivity UI
Fixed ambiance not being saved in GM level
"New vignette" string can now be localised
Fixed "delete" button of exported monsters and items
Fixed groups update after exporting any monster or item
Fixed dragging newly created monsters to encounter pane
Fixed magnifying glass not opening sticky UI when expected
Fixed MoodPanel sometimes breaking after loading
Sound
Closing inventory / stats now makes sound
Fixed some drop item sounds
Fixed drop sound when splitting items
Trying to equip item without meeting the requirements makes sound now
Fixed music changing to wrong state when switching party members
Fixed voice of black ring reaver ghost in RC
Modding
Fixed: not being able to publish campaign after user sets dependency add-on for GM
Added extra osiris call CharacterResurrectAndResetXPReward() which resets the resurrected flag of the resurrected character.
Fixed having to create stats twice before it would be committed
It may be some time before we see the Eshop as busy as it was last week, when a whopping 18 games were released for Nintendo Switch. But the latest Eshop update is no slouch, bringing seven new games to the platform, with three more to arrive in the coming days. [Update: The first of those, Oxenfree, is out now.]
Most notably, as announced earlier this week, the Nintendo Switch version of Stardew Valley is finally available. Priced at $15/£11, the charming Harvest Moon-style game lets you create and tend to your own farm, get married, and generally relax. It seems like a perfect match with the portability of Switch, and it'll also be the first console version to receive Stardew Valley's upcoming multiplayer mode.
Those looking for something more action-oriented can pick up Axiom Verge, the acclaimed Metroidvania game, which costs $20/£15. Joining it is bloody 2D action game Volgarr the Viking ($10/£9), action-puzzle game Tumblestone ($15/£12), multiplayer beat-em-up Ninja Shodown ($15/£10), and the visually interesting side-scrolling shooter Earth Atlantis ($15/£13.49). There's also, of course, the obligatory ACA Neo Geo game; this time around, it's the delightful Metal Slug X ($8/£6.29).
Following all of this, the excellent adventure game Oxenfree ($20/£16) arrives on Friday, October 6. And you can look forward to at least two games during the early part of next week, with one-on-one shoot-em-up Touhou Kobuto V: Burst Battle ($30) and 2D action-platformer Tiny Barbarian DX ($30) releasing on October 10. The month's big release, Super Mario Odyssey, is coming up on October 27.
Grand Theft Auto V players are about to get a bunch of new content to play with in GTA Online. Rockstar has announced many new additions are on their way in "the coming months," including new modes, vehicles, and the much-anticipated Transform Races.
Transform Races are the next evolution of Stunt Racing. You race in land, sea, and air vehicles across Los Santos' streets, waters, and skies. The races will feature "new and unique stunt tracks [that] will allow for transitions that run the gamut of vehicle types," so players can expect to race in supers and off-roaders, boats, jet skies, plans, helicopters, and even do some skydiving, all in the same race.
Transform Races will launch later this month, with the Race Creator getting updates to accommodate these types of races later this year. There are also two new modes coming. Condemned mode makes one player a target until they kill an opponent, making them the target. Dogfight mode will take players to the skies in an aerial battle to the death.
Of course, it wouldn't be a GTA V update without some new vehicles. Some of the new ones coming this fall are the Hunter attack helicopter, the Coil Cyclone supercar, and the Vigilante. There will also be inventory updates at Legendary Motorsport and new properties at Maze Bank Foreclosures.
Like its predecessor, Divinity: Original Sin II is an incredibly mechanically complex RPG with hundreds of quests and secrets to discover. While the game reveals some details, it's mostly up to you to figure out how to navigate its world. To help you better equip yourself with the knowledge to survive, we've compiled all of our in-depth guide articles and accompanying videos below. Keep in mind, there are potential spoilers in some of our guides, so tread carefully.
Check back often as we update this feature with more guides. And for more about the acclaimed RPG, be sure to read our Divinity: Original Sin II review. The game is out now for PC, but it's been in Steam Early Access for almost a year. It's the sequel to our 2014 PC Game of the Year, Divinity: Original Sin, and it netted over $2 million from 40,000 fans on Kickstarter. It features over 1,200 characters, all of them fully voice-acted.
Original Sin II is a difficult game that eagerly punishes your mistakes in combat or even when talking to NPCs. With so many factors to consider as you explore, it can be tough to survive. To help newcomers to the series, we've gathered nine tips to know before you set off to Fort Joy and into the world of Rivellon.
Much likes its predecessor, Original Sin II lets you choose a pre-made character or completely customize one. And while you are free to create a custom character, you can also opt for an Origin character (whose class and skills you can adjust). Here are some major tips to help you find out what class best suits your needs.
The game is filled to the brim with clever dialogue and hidden secrets, so much so that you could spend well over 10 hours in the opening area, Fort Joy, alone. To help you make the most of your early adventures across Rivellon, we've highlighted nine cool things you might've missed in the fort.
Building up a party takes time. With how mechanically complex the game is, there's a lot to take into consideration as you assemble your merry band of adventurers. To help you create the best party possible, we've gathered tips detailing what to look for. In addition, we've provided pointers that'll help you better manage your party.
Original Sin II is one of the most challenging RPGs out right now, with a deep and intricate storyline, tons of quests, and tactical combat that demands the most out of players. That's why we've gathered some expert tips on how to tackle the game's various challenges, as well as details on what you need to do to become a god in the fantasy land of Rivellon.
It's easy to get by with your party's base skills and abilities in your early runnings. However, as you progress, the need to acquire more powerful skills becomes paramount to your survival. For better or worse, there are a multitude to choose from. From the fiery devastation of Dragon's Blaze to the rogue-buffing Assassinate, there's something for everybody. But with so many skills to experiment with, it's not always easy to tell which skills are the best for you. To help acquaint you with the most effective skills in the game, we've compiled 11 of what we believe to be the best.
Crafting is tricky to get to grips with, so much so that it can become an underused tool. However, crafting also happens to be incredibly useful, so to help you get comfortable with making cool things we've put together a list of interesting and eclectic recipes for you to use.
EA has expanded Star Wars: Battlefront II's ongoing beta to include all players on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. Following a two-day early access period for those who pre-ordered the upcoming shooter, everyone can now give it a try for themselves.
Four different modes are available to try out in the beta: Galactic Assault, Starfighter Assault, Strike, and Arcade. The latter is an offline, 1-2 player mode with split-screen support, while the others are online multiplayer modes ranging up to a maximum player count of 40. You can check out our previous coverage for more details on exactly what's in the Battlefront II beta.
Barring any extensions, the beta runs from now until October 9 at 9 AM PT / 12 PM ET / 5 PM BST (3 AM AEDT on October 10). Those playing the PC version can check out our previous story for the Battlefront II beta minimum and recommended specs. Keep in mind these could be adjusted for the official launch, though dramatic changes seem unlikely. You can grab the beta through the links below.
Destiny 2's first Iron Banner event has been announced and it's coming soon--with the usual rewards but also some changes, too. In its latest weekly blog post, Bungie announced that the limited-time Crucible event will kick off on October 10 at 2 AM PT, ending at the same time on October 17. The gametype is Control, which challenges players to ... control zones across the map.
Iron Banner matches will be 4v4 affairs, just like other Crucible modes. But as for what's new, Bungie said "you fighting abilities, not your power levels, will decide the outcome." Additionally, "Bounties and Ranks have been replaced with an Iron Banner Engram."
To access Iron Banner, you need to have beaten the campaign to find Lord Saladin in the Tower. After speaking to Lord Saladin, you'll unlock an Iron Banner quest. Complete that and you'll be able to access the Iron Banner playlist from Quickly.
All matches you participate in (win or lose) will yield Iron Banner Tokens, and you'll get more if you win. There will also be daily and season-length milestones. And of course, there is armor for each class up for grabs. You can see this armor in the image above.
Will you check out Destiny 2's Iron Banner event next week? Let us know in the comments below!
Like some sort of intergalactic, otherworldly ice cream truck, Xur has rolled back into town and he's got some nice treats for you Guardians out there. This week Destiny 2's mysterious merchant has pitched up on Earth, close to the Winding Cove.
Fast travel to the Winding Cove, bring up the map, and you'll see the icon for Xur on the bottom left(ish) side. Again, it's pretty easy to get to his general location, but you'll need to do a bit of jumping to get up to him. Look for the crashed ship and you'll spot him. If you're having trouble locating him, watch the video above to see his exact position. And if you're wondering if it's even worth the effort, you can find images and details on what he's selling below.
Foetracer (Hunter Class Helmet) -- 23 Legendary Shards
An Insurmountable Skullfort (Helmet) -- 23 Legendary Shards
Nezarec's Sin (Warlock Class Helmet) -- 23 Legendary Shards.
Destiny 2 director Christopher Barrett recently took to Twitter and asked fans to give feedback on what they would like to see in Destiny 2's first DLC expansion. Some of the most popular ideas so far include custom games, more loot, and a greater focus on endgame content.
Before Destiny 2 was released, reports suggested that the first DLC pack will focus on Osiris and will take players to Mercury. Later, Bungie confirmed that Curse of Osiris is real. However, since Barrett is still taking suggestions, it appears that Bungie hasn't finished all the content yet.
CD Projekt Red released a new update for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt this week that enabled the celebrated RPG to make more use of the PS4 Pro's extra horsepower. This means 4K support (if you have a compatible TV), while the game's performance overall has seen "a slight boost." We've installed the update and tested it out. Check out our video above in which GameSpot's Jake Dekker talks about the improvements and more.
Separately, Eurogamer's Digital Foundry reports that the PS4 Pro update for The Witcher 3 improves texture filtering and renders at 1920x2160 using a checkerboard configuration. Overall, the site said the PS4 Pro update "does indeed deliver an improved presentation overall," though it might not be as big a boost as some would have liked to see.
The first trailer for Pacific Rim Uprising is here. The sequel to Guillermo Del Toro's 2014 sci-fi action hit stars John Boyega and arrives in theaters on March 23, 2018. This first trailer introduces the new cast and delivers some inspirational speeches and some epic confrontations between monstrous Kaiju and giant mecha Jaegers. Check it out above.
Pacific Rim Uprising is directed by former Daredevil showrunner Steven S. DeKnight and also stars Scott Eastwood, Zhang Jin, Cailee Spaeny, and Jing Tian. The filmhas had a troubled development over the years, with Del Toro ultimately handing the directorial reins over to DeKnight, but remaining on board as a producer. In April, Del Toro spoke about working with DeKnight, and explained that he was a hands-off producer.
"It was such a great choice. I mean, I love [DeKnight], love what he does. I think he's really brilliant," Del Toro told Indiewire. "He's making it his own. I'm not breathing over his shoulder saying, 'What are you doing? What are you doing?' He's doing things differently and I like that.
"When I produce I try to produce the way I would like to be produced. I say to everyone I produce, 'If you need me I will be there 100% all the time. If you don't need me, I'm not there. You show me the cut then we'll start interacting.'"
Divinity: Original Sin II is complex and dense, with much of its gameplay pillars requiring some trial and error to figure out. Crafting, for example, is tricky to get to grips with, so much so that it can become an underused tool. However, crafting also happens to be incredibly useful, so to help you get comfortable with making cool things we've put together a list of interesting and eclectic recipes for you to use.
In the video above you'll see how to use spell scrolls to create spell books and learn skills permanently. Before long you'll be making enemy grenades explode in their pockets, automatically resurrecting, giving your party stable footing on ice, and much more.
Divinity: Original Sin 2 is incredibly deep, and we've dived deep into it to explore. If you're looking for more videos to help you understand the game, take a look below for a handy list.
7 Things You Need To Do In Fort Joy: You could potentially spend hours and hours in a single area in Divinity: Original Sin II, and still miss a ton of cool stuff. So we've come up with 7 things you might've missed from the game's starting zone, Fort Joy.
In GameSpot's Divinity: Original Sin II review, critic Brett Todd awarded it a 10/10, saying it "is one of the most captivating role-playing games ever made."
He continued: "Its immaculately conceived and emotion-wrought fantasy world, topped by brilliant tactical combat, make it one of the finest games of the year thus far, and it has to be regarded as an instant classic in the pantheon of RPG greats."
Jackie Chan has indicated that Rush Hour 4 could happen, but it depends on whether Chris Tucker agrees to join the project. During Power 106's The Cruz Show, Chan was asked if he intends to make the fourth film.
"Next year," he replied. "For the last seven years we've been turning down the script, turning down the script, [and] yesterday we just agreed [on the script]. Probably end of this month they'll have a second draft. Next year they'll probably start, I hope--if Chris Tucker agrees."
Chan noted that it wasn't a matter of money, but time. "It's about [having the] time to make [Rush Hour 4]. Otherwise, Rush Hour 4 [we'll be] all old men. I told Chris Tucker, 'Before we get old, please do Rush Hour 4.'"
The original Rush Hour was released in 1998, starring Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker as mismatched police officers. Despite their cultural differences and language barrier, the two team up to rescue the Chinese consul's daughter, who has been kidnapped.
Both Chan and Tucker reprised there roles for two further entries in the series, with Rush Hour 3 being released in 2007. As of yet, it hasn't been revealed whether series director, Brett Ratner, will be involved in the fourth entry, should it materialize.
Like so many great and terrible ideas, The Robot Chicken Walking Dead Special: Look Who's Walking was born at San Diego Comic-Con. Robot Chicken Executive Producer and co-writer Matthew Senreich was having dinner with Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman--an annual tradition among a close group of friends who got their starts together in comics--when, according to Senreich, Kirkman leaned over for a bit of gentle ribbing.
"Why'd you do [a DC special] and not Walking Dead?" Kirkman asked him.
"And I was just like, 'I dunno!' And that's how fast the special happened," Senreich told GameSpot during a group interview in LA. "It was just us kind of joking around at this dinner, and we called up immediately after and made this thing happen."
Robot Chicken's half-hour specials have become a semi-regular television event for Adult Swim, focusing on various holidays, Star Wars, DC universe characters, and more. The Walking Dead Special, which airs this weekend, is the tenth. It's set long after the events of the Walking Dead comics and show, where everyday citizens of a rebuilt civilization visit a Walking Dead museum to absorb history lessons about Rick, Carl, and the rest of the characters' exploits.
"Most of our specials really just start with us kind of joking around with these people, big smiles on our faces, saying 'Let's make something funny,'" Senreich said.
The really amazing thing about the Walking DeadSpecial is that most of the actors from the show actually showed up to record ridiculous new lines--and songs!--with the Robot Chicken crew. That includes Andrew Lincoln (Rick Grimes), Norman Reedus (Daryl), Jeffrey Dean Morgan (Negan), Danai Gurira (Michonne), Melissa McBride (Carol), Lauren Cohan (Maggie), Steven Yeun (Glenn), Sarah Wayne Callies (Lori), Michael Rooker (Merle), and more.
"I don't know that this has ever been done--having a parody version of a show performed by all of the actual cast while the regular show is still on the air. I've never seen anything like it," said Robot Chicken creator Seth Green. "The show itself is so indelible, the performances are so impressive, and the characters are so well-drawn, that it doesn't detract anything from the gravity of the real show to make this kind of parody. We were just excited that everybody came to play with us."
"Both AMC and Adult Swim were really cool at playing together, and that's why this exists," he said.
Jeffrey Dean Morgan has a song and dance number highlighting one of his character Negan's most memorable quirks--the little "dip" he does when he's threatening people, bending at the knees and tilting his torso backward slightly, with his razor-wrapped bat Lucille usually resting on one shoulder. That's the kind of humor the special captures.
"Being able to find the completely nonchalant, mundane, human moments within this outrageousness, that's where we think the best jokes are," Green explained.
Robot Chicken's writers didn't only pull from The Walking Dead's most recent episodes, though. They went as far back as the show's 2010 pilot, where Rick wakes up alone in a post-apocalyptic hospital.
"Rick finds that horse, and then rides that horse into town like a proud sheriff, and then that horse is literally torn apart in a crane shot," Green recalled, laughing. "We were like, 'Oh, we're for sure doing that with our unicorn.'"
Eat Your Heart Out
Michael Rooker's big cameo comes when he sings a heart-rending melody about how his character Merle, a fan favorite who died in an earlier season, will always be alone because of how racist and sexist he is. It's surprisingly emotional. Rooker, who had been one of the last actors to confirm he'd reprise his role for the special, had told Green and the show's other producers that he can't sing. They were prepared to do multiple takes and even record the song one line at a time to make it easier on the actor.
"I was really expecting this to be terrible," Green said. "The very first take, he sings the whole song all the way through, pitch f***ing perfect, and we were just like, 'You're playing with us! This is a joke that you're playing with us!"
"He has the voice of a goddamn angel," added Robot Chicken Director Tom Sheppard.
"And of course, I'm thinking, they're joking with me," Rooker, who had also joined the group interview last minute, humbly explained. "They're really being kind to me, and there's no way! I thought you were all joking. Even to this moment, I thought you were just goofing with me."
"You don't know at this point how deeply I love you?" Green teased him.
AMC gave the Robot Chicken crew a lot of freedom for the special, but they didn't create it unsupervised. Robert Kirkman and The Walking Dead showrunner Scott Gimple even joined them in the writers room. "They would come in and goof around with us, and like or s*** on our jokes," Senreich said.
Kirkman and Gimple had some guidelines, like not allowing Carl to curse, even when the special portrays him as an adult. For one scene in the special that pokes fun at an event from the most recent Walking Dead season--when a baseball bat stops a bullet--the Robot Chicken writers felt they had gone slightly too far.
"We got into a long conversation with Scott Gimple about it," Senreich said. "We don't understand how a bullet would be stopped by a baseball bat."
"We tested it in the writers room with a Nerf gun, and it's bulls***," Breckin Meyer, a writer and actor on the show, added. "Every now and then we get so giddy, and you make fun of stuff, you forget that the showrunner of the damn show you're lampooning is right there. You go, 'Maybe we should stop. He doesn't seem to be laughing anymore.'"
A large percentage of the special's jokes center on Carl's full head of shiny, shoulder-length hair, which Breckin seems slightly obsessed with. "The fact that he grows his hair long in this rebellious way is great, but it's tough for a post-apocalyptic world," the writer and actor said. "He manages to keep it bouncy and full-bodied."
Another gag swings for the question of Lucille's origin story, landing on a Superman-style tale in which the baseball bat arrives on earth after fleeing from its home planet. It's taken in by a fatherly figure also voiced by Rooker, making for yet more heartfelt scenes--which Rooker didn't remember performing.
"This is my favorite part about anybody coming in for voiceover--is inevitably, a month later, they have zero recollection of what they said because we record people line-by-line. It's usually three takes of each line, and that's usually it. So if they get it fast, there's not a lot of reason to retain it," Green explained.
"When I told carrie Fisher that I had a great time working with her on Robot Chicken she was like, 'What are you talking about?'" He continued.
What Might Have Been
In addition to The Walking Dead Special, Robot Chicken returns soon for Season 9. As always, the jokes will be the timeliest on TV, outside of South Park episodes referencing yesterday's headlines. When something exits the wider cultural consciousness, Green and crew generally leave it where it lies, they said.
Green shared an example of one that got left on the cutting room floor thanks simply to timing: a sketch involving everyone's favorite teenaged would-be Sith Lord, Emo Kylo Ren.
"The pitch was Kylo Ren, like, typing on his computer, and saying like, 'Parents are fighting again!' And the other person's like, 'That sucks, it's so hard to be a kid,' and he's like, 'I hate being a kid!' And then the other guy's like, 'You ever heard of the Sith?' And he's like 'I guess. My granddad was into it.' And they're like 'Sith is where it's at!'" Green described. "And in the background the entire time, you can just hear Han Solo and Princess Leia fighting. I thought that would be hilarious. And he's just like, cutting himself with a lightsaber."
"In the background, you just hear Princess Leia go, 'I hate you!'" Breckin added, laughing. "[Han Solo]'s like, 'I know.'"
You never know--if Adam Driver is half as game to guest star as the cast of The Walking Dead was, that could turn out pretty special too.
The Robot Chicken Walking Dead Special: Look Who's Walking airs Oct. 8 on Adult Swim.
As detailed in the update 1.38 patch notes, which you can see in full below, Hello's goal for this new system was to make "managing saves between game modes much easier." Players now have five slots for saves, which your existing files will be moved into. These can be used for any game mode; picking an empty one allows you to select which mode you want to play.
To further manage things, each slot has a pair of sub-slots: one for manual saves and one for auto saves. Manual saves are triggered at save points you build or by interacting with beacons. Automatic saves happen whenever you exit your ship, die, claim a base, or purchase a freighter.
Elsewhere in the patch, you'll now find a wider range of temperatures on dead planets, while weather effects during flight now vary in intensity depending on how high up you are. The Analysis Visor gains some new features, including the ability to see how much longer plants need to finish growing; scan ships to find their class, type, and value from afar; and determine how far away resources are that the Scanner discovers. Additionally, pirates can now show up sooner after entering some systems, and hazard protection is provided when near trade outposts.
A variety of other improvements and bug fixes are also implemented in this update. You can check out the full patch notes below to see everything that's changed. This update is out now for free on PS4 and PC. If you haven't played in recent months, you can check out our rundown of exactly how the Atlas Rises update changed No Man's Sky.
No Man's Sky Update 1.38 Patch Notes
New save system
You will now be presented with 5 save-game slots (each of which can be used for any game mode). Your existing saves will be mapped into these slots
Selecting an empty slot will start a new game, allowing you to then pick which game mode to play from the mode select menu
There are now two sub-slots for each save-game--one for automatic saves and one for manual saves.
Automatic saves occur when exiting your ship, dying, purchasing a Freighter or claiming a base
Manual saves occur when interacting with a save point (these can be built from the build menu), or a beacon found on planet surfaces
Starting a new game with no existing saves will take you directly to mode select
Hello Games says, "If you experience any problems with the new save system, be sure to let us know!"
Improvements & changes
Made the temperature range of dead planets more varied
In-flight weather effects now vary in strength based on height
The Analysis Visor can now be used to scan farm plants and see the remaining growth time
Analysis Visor can scan ships to determine their class, type and value at a distance
The Analysis Visor can be used to see the approximate distance of resources discovered with the Scanner
Added error message when no outpost is found by the economy scanner
Added the ability to skip black bars when discovering a planet or solar system
Prevented the cursor being reset to the center of the page as you switch between pause menus
Trade outposts now provide hazard protection
Added a chance for pirates to spawn earlier than usual when a player warps into a certain systems, to add more variety to exploration and trading
Galactic map now respects user mouse sensitivity settings
Galactic map now respects user control inversion settings
Prevented trade terminals having a negative quantity of stock
Made trading terminal stock values replenish over time
Separated stock levels for trading posts and space stations in the same system
Lush biomes in survival mode now occasionally exist without an aggressive sentinel presence
Reduced cursor UI slowdown when using a pad
Improved NPC ship target selection in space battles, prevented them reacting to accidental player fire
Added exotic ship audio for AI and NPC ships
Added ability to transfer items to and from containers in your base or freighter
Added tooltip text to explain the planet icons on the discovery page
Added ability to sell items from ship cargo slots at terminals
Storms on humid/lush planets are no longer toxic; humid/lush planets now have a chance of their rain being very hot. Note: no new storms have been added, and the frequency of storms has not been adjusted. Humid planets that previously had freezing rain storms in 1.3 have had that storm type changes to heated rain.
Added ability to transfer items from cargo slots during maintenance interactions
Improved trading by giving NPCs independent stock levels
Made NPCs who give directions refer to a wider spread of locations
Added ability to rebind the discard key
Bug fixes
Fixed an issue where some delivery missions would continuously tell players to visit other systems
Fixed an issue where the requirements to complete some missions could change as you spoke to NPCs
Fixed scaling issues with creature feeding icons
Fixed an issue where mining units would occasionally incorrectly produce Heridium
Prevented mining units being placed inside each other
Fixed an issue where base parts, including storage containers, built outside the base building radius in unlimited building mode would not be transferred when the player moved to a new base
Fixed an issue where storm-prone planets could be labelled as 'Mild.' Storm frequency has not been adjusted--the text should now more accurately describe weather conditions.
Fixed an issue where the terrain manipulator audio would occasionally continue after terrain editing completed
Fixed an issue where the terrain manipulator hologram would remain in one location after subtracting from the terrain
Fixed an issue where the terrain manipulator would occasionally create longer lines than intended
Fixed an issue where the ship crosshair would appear at incorrect times
Fixed the Upload All button on the discovery page not deactivating after being used
Corrected button prompts in the ship combat wiki
Restored Spectral Class to the galaxy map text
Prevented users occasionally falling outside the trading post platform when exiting their ship
Prevented traders from attacking pirates which are far out of their range
Fixed an issue where NPC ships would stop outside the entrance of freighters and space stations in systems with no trade routes
Fixed an issue where smaller freighters and containers could not be destroyed Corrected Roamer and Rover inventories appearing incorrectly in the transfer window
Added protection to allow the Mind Arc step of the Artemis story to be completed even if a player deletes their base
Fixed issue where a blue eye icon would occasionally appear over the crosshair
Fixed an issue where the Space Anomaly could remain in the player's home system indefinitely
Fixed an issue with dismantling tech on ship compare screens not correctly destroying the tech
Fixed an issue where unbinding a key would exit the control menu
Fixed an issue where selecting a new key binding could accidentally result in it being set to a mouse button
Fixed an issue where the Space Anomaly mission had no objective text in the log.
Fixed an issue where some players who should have been able to restart distant missions were unable to do so
Fixed an issue which could cause excess stacked inventory items to be lost
We're giving away fifty (50) codes for Axiom Verge on Nintendo Switch. Fifty (50) winners will be contacted via email after the competition ends on Friday, October 6th at 5:00 PM PT. Entry is open to North America and Europe.
Enter below (the additional entries are optional to increase your chances of winning):
Axiom Verge is an action-platform-exploration game that's not only created in intricate detail in the style of classics such as Metroid, Contra, Bionic Commando, and Blaster Master, but also uses those old-school "glitches" that we know and love as a gameplay feature. You'll use them to scramble enemies, corrupt environments, and pass through walls into hidden areas in a massive alien world.
As reported by Deadline, Bride of Frankenstein will no longer hit theaters in February 2019. The film is to be directed by Beauty & The Beast's Bill Condon, with Javier Bardem set to play Frankenstein's monster. However, the studio has decided to delay production to allow further work on the script.
Universal released a statement, which reads, "after thoughtful consideration, Universal Pictures and director Bill Condon have decided to postpone Bride of Frankenstein. None of us want to move too quickly to meet a release date when we know this special movie needs more time to come together. Bill is a director whose enormous talent has been proven time and again, and we all look forward to continuing to work on this film together."
While it is not unusual for the release date of a big movie to change, it does raise questions about the future of the Dark Universe. The franchise was launched this year with the Tom Cruise-starring The Mummy and is intended to bring together many of Universal's classic monsters, including Jeykll and Hyde and the Invisible Man, to be played by Russell Crowe and Johnny Depp respectively.
However, the negative critical reaction and underwhelming box office results for The Mummy may have changed the direction of the series. The movie made $407 million worldwide, far from a failure, but hardly a spectacular success on which to base an entire connected universe.
As is to be expected from the sequel to Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor, Shadow of War takes more than a few liberties with the Lord of the Rings canon. There's maybe no better example of that than Shelob, the giant, monstrous spider who is one of the main characters in Shadow of War, where she appears as a human woman. That's a form we never see her take in the books or movies, and it's understandably left some fans scratching their heads. But the alternative, according to developer Monolith, was to dramatically reduce her role.
GameSpot recently spoke with Shadow of War's lead narrative designer, Tony Elias, about the negative response to Shelob's initial unveiling. "I think people's sense of who Shelob is is one of the great spiders, and we could have done just that, sure," he explained. "We could have had Shelob appear in great spider form, but she would have had a much smaller role in the game, ultimately. We really wanted to explore this character."
"We thought there was a lot to explore there, and we could do that with a humanoid representation," he added. "We're not saying she is a woman; maybe she goes back between the two. It's very clear from the outset that this is a form that she takes when she communicates with Talion. It allowed us to do a lot more with the story, it allowed us to use her in a more meaningful way in the story."
Turning a giant spider into a human might seem like an out-of-nowhere stretch. And while he didn't claim that Shelob-as-a-lady was some small detail that people simply missed, Elias stated that Monolith did look to the original JRR Tolkien text in making the change.
"If you look back at Two Towers for example, I think one of the first descriptions of Shelob is an evil thing in spider form," he said. "It's an interesting way to describe this creature: a spider form. Not just a spider, or a great spider. And so it feels like it's chosen [that form] in a way.
"Her mother was Ungoliant, who it's suggested is a Maiar, but this kind of primordial being [who is] all powerful. Shelob is the daughter of Ungoliant. We kind of ran with that idea of a creature that could transform itself, depending on the context--we have done that in the first game with Sauron in fair form. Sauron has his war form and he has his fair form, and Shelob, you could think of the spider as Shelob's war form, and her fair form she uses when she counsels Talion. She can read the web of fate. We see her as this kind of dark oracle, a sort of dark Galadriel who can see the future and guide his path."
Elias agreed with a comparison to It, saying it's a "great contemporary reference." He went on to again reiterate that it would not have been possible to have Shelob in her role if she appeared to Talion in her usual form.
"These are sort of archaic icons in a way, these creatures that inspire terror in humanity, these ancient, monstrous forms," he said. "Shelob is just that, it's just sort of if she had appeared in spider form and remained in spider form, and then she's going to guide Talion on his path in the future, what actions he might want to take with the siege of Minas Ithil.
"I think this is not something that could probably be dramatically supported over the long haul. People generally don't trust monsters when they appear in monstrous form. I think you have to give it more breadth, and explore what this character, the other dimensions of what this character could be, and that's what we were trying to do in Shadow of War."
Whether that justifies the change to Shelob will be a matter of some debate; fans who dislike the various liberties that Monolith has taken with the canon aren't likely to be pleased, while others will overlook them. For a look at what the critics make of the game, check out our Shadow of War review and Shadow of War review roundup, as well as our look at the challenges of making a Lord of the Rings video game.
The Star Wars Battlefront II beta will consist of four modes, including Galactic Assault and Starfighter Assault. The former pits two teams of 20 players against each other in a large-scale battle as either a Clone trooper or Separatist droid. As in EA's live demonstration of the mode during E3, Galactic Assault will take place on the Naboo: Theed map during the beta. Starfighter Assault, meanwhile, is a 24-player space battle. In this mode, players will be able to try Battlefront II's three new starfighter classes and pilot Hero Ships from the prequel, original, and new Star Wars trilogies.
The remaining two modes featured in the beta are Strike and Arcade. The former is a class-based mode that doesn't feature any heroes. Players will have to use the unique abilities of their class to work together and complete objectives. During the beta, Strike takes place on Takodana. Arcade is Battlefront II's offline mode for one to two players. It is set on Naboo and features two options: a team battle with AI allies and enemies, and a one-vs.-many battle in which players take on a wave of foes.
The Star Wars Battlefront II beta runs until October 9 at 9 AM PT / 12 PM ET / 5 PM BST (3 AM AEDT on October 10). EA says that the Battlefront II beta is "among the biggest" the publisher has ever offered and warns players that downloading and installing it will take some time. EA has also outlined the beta's minimum and recommended specs for those planning to play on PC.
IO Interactive has laid out its schedule for upcoming content updates for Hitman and teased the reveal of something new on October 24. In a post on its official website, the developer got ahead of the hype for its much anticipated second season of content to keep expectations in check.
"Mark this date on your calendars: October 24th. That's the date when we will reveal brand new content for the game," it said. "We're going to let the announcement itself do all the talking, but there is one thing we want to clarify before then; this upcoming content is not Season 2. We're saying that now to keep expectations in check."
Alongside the tease, it released an image which you can see below.
October looks to be a fairly packed month for Hitman players, as there will be new updates for the game throughout. On October 13, 10 new contracts and a new challenge pack will be released, followed by 10 player-curated contracts later in the month. You can read more about those below, courtesy of IO.
Arriving October 13
10 newFeatured Contracts: You create Contracts and we feature the interesting, clever or creative ones. There is no perfect formula to explain how we select the contracts, but they have caught our attention for one reason or another.
Master Scarecrow Challenge Pack: Colorado is the only location yet to have an added Challenge Pack. That ends this month with the release of The Master Scarecrow Challenge Pack. Look forward to 5 new challenges, each with a high amount of location mastery; a great way to top out your mastery and collect any remaining unlocks. Completing all of the challenges will unlock a new item for 47 to use in all locations. We'll reveal more about this Challenge Pack and the new item next week.
Arriving Later in October
Our next batch of 10 player-curated Featured Contracts arrives later in the month. These contracts function in the same way to the Featured Contracts that you've come to know and love in the game, with one big twist: one of our players will curate the list.
The third curator to be in the spotlight is Hatch. He's a British speedrunner who plays on PS4 in search of unique routes on fun contracts. You'll get to know him even better later in the month when his curated contracts go live in the game and we publish a blog post right here with some insights into his choices.
IO Interactive previously said it planned to release several seasons of Hitman. As part of its acquiring its independence, IO also retained the rights to the Hitman series. Although it hasn't announced Season 2 properly, it hasn't indicated that plans to go ahead with it have been scrapped either.
Fortnite, the newly released base-building survival game with a PUBG-style Battle Royale mode, has passed a new player milestone. The game has reached 7 million players, Epic announced on Twitter. This is 7 million overall, covering the base game and the Battle Royale mode, which was released as a free download separate from the game.
Epic also announced that two new features are now available in Battle Royale: Duos and Supply Drops. As its name suggests, the Duo system lets players get into Battle Royale alongside a partner. And as for Supply Drops, these fall from the sky in random locations and at random locations. They can "the best loot you can find," but going after them could be tricky, as other players are looking to do the same.
Thanks to over 7 million of you who have played Fortnite! We want to keep the Battle Bus flying, so Duos and Supply Drops are available NOW. pic.twitter.com/sRx767u4aG
Fortnite's Battle Royale mode bears some similarities with PUBG in that it's a 100-player, Hunger Games-style, fight to the death, last-player-standing, white-knuckle experience. PUBG developer Bluehole recently responded to Epic overall Fornite: Battle Royale, calling out the similarities and threatening "action" against Epic. Nothing has come to light as of yet, it seems, though it will be interesting to see what happens in the future.
Nintendo has released a new trailer for Super Mario Odyssey. The company has described the new trailer as "cap-tivating" and we are big fans of this pun--good work Nintendo. As you'd expect, the video features everyone's favourite portly plumber running around the game's various cheery, colorful worlds, chucking his hat around with reckless abandon.
For those that haven't been keeping up with Super Mario Odyssey, the game's big new mechanic involves Mario throwing his iconic red hat, now called "Cappy," on objects and enemies in the environment to take control of them. Frankly the implications this has are kind of disturbing, but let's not dwell on that for too long.
Mario can also been seen sporting various cool new outfits, including an explorer outfit, a construction worker outfit, and, of course, his classic blue and red number. You can see all the Super Mario Odyssey outfits revealed so far here. There's also a brief showcase of the game's photo mode, which lets you output images in mobile phone format, for those that want him adorning their lock screens.
Finally, there's a quick overview of the two-player mode, which allows another person to jump in and control Cappy. Check all that, and more, out in the video above.
Super Mario Odyssey launches on October 27. For more about how it's shaping up, check out most recent impressions of the game. A new trailer recently broadcast during a Nintendo Direct showcased Mario shirtless (which you'll see in the slides ahead)--and people had a lot to say about that.
Nintendo has also announced a Super Mario Odyssey Switch bundle that comes with a system, a copy of the game, red Joy-Cons, and a Switch carrying case with special markings on it.
After a private beta, PS4's big 5.0 update is now available for everyone. In short, there are few huge features included in the update, but lots of small improvements that should improve the system's functionality overall. The patch weighs in at 375 MB, and it's mandatory to install--just turn your PS4 on and the update should begin downloading automatically.
Some of the enhancements center around streaming using the PS4's built-in broadcasting capabilities. PS4 Pro users will be able to stream in 1080p and 60 FPS, provided their connection is strong enough, and PSVR users will be able to see new messages and comments coming through while broadcasting. PSVR is also adding 5.1ch and 7.1ch virtual surround sound support.
Next up, the PS4's Friends List is being updated with greater management tools, such as the ability to set up separate lists of friends. You'll be able to create a list of all the people you play Destiny with and send them all an invite, for example. This feature replaces the old Favorite Groups tab.
In another move to help reduce the amount of time spent in menus, the Quick Menu is being updated to have more options. For example, you'll be able to check on download progress and see new party invites. You can also leave a party from within that menu and see your current Spotify playlist.
Notifications are also being improved when watching films and TV, as you can now disable messages and other notification pop-ups while watching media. You can also change how much of a message is displayed, as well as its color, when playing or watching any form of content.
Finally, Parental Control features are being overhauled in favor of what Sony calls "Family on PSN." This replaces the old Master/Sub account system; instead, one user is deemed the Family Manager, and they can set up other accounts and appoint them as a Parent/Guardian, Adult, or Child. Parents or Guardians can restrict Child accounts in their "use of online features and communication with other players, set restrictions for games, restrict the use of the internet browser, and set spending limits for PlayStation Store."
In the beta, Sony stated people setting up an Adult account for the first time would be charged $0.50 "to verify that you are an adult." It's unclear whether that requirement has been dropped, but it is not mentioned in the final update's patch notes, which you can see below.
In other PlayStation news, Sony revealed a new PSVR model just yesterday. The updated version contains a streamlined cable layout and the ability to watch HDR content on your TV without having to disconnect the PSVR's processor unit. No release date has been revealed for the new PSVR model, though the price will remain the same.
PS4 Update 5.0 Patch Notes
Main Features In Version 5.00 Update
You can now add users of your PS4 as family members. This makes it easy to manage your child's account information and to restrict PS4 features. To add family members, select (Settings) > [Parental Controls/Family Management].
As the family manager, you can set up your family.
Up to seven family members (including you) can be in your family and use online features.
Multiple adults can be in your family. The family manager can make other adults in the family parents or guardians. The family manager and family members who are parents or guardians can adjust parental controls for the children in your family.
You can configure parental control settings for each child. Using parental controls, you can restrict use of online features and communication with other players, set restrictions for games, restrict use of the Internet browser, and set spending limits for PlayStation Store.
You can configure parental controls anytime from your PC or smartphone.
You can now follow anyone, not just verified accounts. Select (Follow) on a person's profile screen, and their activities and broadcasts will appear in [What's New]. You automatically follow your Friends, but you have the option to unfollow them.
Recommendations for who to follow are now offered based on the games you play. Select (Friends) > (Follow).
You can now choose who can follow you and who can see your follow list. Select (Settings) > [Account Management] > [Privacy Settings], and then configure each setting.
(Custom Lists) has been added to (Friends). Create custom lists to easily organize your Friends and choose players to send messages or game invitations to.
For certain broadcasts, (Communities) now appears on the (Live from PlayStation) viewing screen. To access the broadcaster's community, select (Communities).
You can now view (Notifications) on the quick menu.
The following languages have been added as system languages.
With the second season of one of Netflix's most well-known shows, Stranger Things, releasing later this month, the streaming service has announced changes to its subscription prices in the United States. Some but not all of its subscription options are now more expensive for US customers.
The standard $10 per month option increases by $1 to $11, while the 4K-supporting $12 tier jumps up $2 to $14. At least for the time being, the basic $8 plan will remain at its current price. These prices are in effect for new customers as of today, while those who already subscribe will see the higher charges in an upcoming billing cycle, according to a Netflix statement shared with CNET.
"Starting Oct. 19, members will be notified at least 30 days in advance, based on billing cycle, on when they will see the price change," the company said. "Members will be notified with an email and also see a notification within the service. The price change will roll out to members over the course of the next several months."
It's been two years since Netflix prices last increased in the US. At the time, the standard tier went from $9 to $10, while the $8 option remained at that price.
Stranger Things: Season 2 is the biggest release on the service this month, but also coming up is another season of Voltron: Legendary Defender, The Hateful Eight, and a Patton Oswalt comedy special. You can see everything that's releasing in our roundup of what's new on Netflix in October.
Otherwise, however, Shadow of War seems to be going down well with critics. We awarded the open-world game a 7/10 in our review. "It tries to be larger than its predecessor … yet it leaves you wanting less," wrote Justin Haywald. "But at its core, it's a fun experience with brilliant moments that provide fascinating insight into some of the untold stories of Middle-earth." Read more in our full Shadow of War review.
"And that addition sums up several of Shadow of War's additions--things like the storefront and the menus and loot system don't make the game terrible, it just would've been better without them. It tries to be larger than its predecessor, there are more abilities, more weapons, more Orcs, yet it leaves you wanting less. But at its core, it's a fun experience with brilliant moments that provide fascinating insight into some of the untold stories of Middle-earth. I just wish it had known when to stop." -- Justin Haywald [Full review]
IGN -- 9.0/10
"Similar to the way Batman: Arkham City built on the foundation of Arkham Asylum, Middle-earth: Shadow of War is bigger and more ambitious in scope than Shadow of Mordor, with great results. The way it expands the Nemesis system with far greater variety and fortress sieges makes even better use of the stand-out generated characters, and its battles with memorable uruk captains remain challenging all the way through the campaign and into the clever asynchronous multiplayer beyond." -- Dan Stapleton [Full review]
Polygon -- 7.5/10
"If you can get past the microtransactions, Shadow Wars seems set to provide a much meatier extended playtime than Shadow of Mordor ever offered. But more than anything, that's my biggest disappointment with Middle-earth: Shadow of War: Everything about it seems to come with a caveat, some small annoyance or two that you need to dig past to get to the still-very-fun game underneath." -- Philip Kollar & Chris Plante [Full review]
Game Informer -- 9.5/10
"Shadow of War fulfills the promise of its predecessor, completing a dark and violent lost tale set within the world of The Lord of the Rings. I was initially frustrated by the liberties that Monolith takes with this beloved fiction (which are plentiful), but I eventually abandoned myself to the insanity, and fell down the rabbit hole into a superb fantasy adventure. Monolith captures the thrill of power with aplomb; the way it simultaneously speaks of its dangers and corrupting potential is the real magic." -- Matt Miller [Full review]
Eurogamer -- No score
"Shadow of War ends up the very epitome of the difficult second album. A lot has been added in order to scale it up for a full blown sequel and much of it has been implemented with style and aplomb. As fun as the core is, however, it is often overshadowed by an onerous and self-indulgent story. What should be the game's crowning feature is instead reduced to an undeserved supporting role, like an exquisitely carved plinth groaning under the weight of a gaudy bronze bust of an elven wraith who's looking very, very serious indeed." -- Johnny Chiodini [Full review]
GamesRadar -- 4.5/5
"For the most part, this is big spectacle and richly layered experience. The different regions are beautiful and varied to explore, while Sauron's forces are alway entertaining to meet and beat. If there are moments that don't quite click or things that fatigue a little it's because of that scale. There's almost an Assassin's Creed 2 feel of map spatter to all the markers for towers, collectables, bits and so on. I've not 100%-ed it but you're easily looking at a triple figure time should you try. This isn't a game to get in for the weekend, it's something to buy and cancel plans for the year." -- Leon Hurley [Full review]
The Star Wars Battlefront II beta is now underway for some players. EA has announced more details about the PC version specifically, revealing its minimum and recommended requirements. Starting off, you'll need 15 GB of hard drive space to install the beta client. As for the rest of the requirements, you can see them below, as posted on EA's website.
Minimum PC System requirements:
OS: 64-bit Windows 7 SP1, Windows 8.1 and Windows 10
Online Connection Requirements: 512 KBPS or faster Internet connection
Hard-drive space: 15 GB
Given that Battlefront II is only in a beta state, it's possible that the final PC requirements will change for the full release. We'll report back with more details as they become available. The Battlefront II beta runs October 6-9 on PC, as well as Xbox One and PlayStation 4. People who pre-order got in two days early, beginning on October 4.
Progress from the beta does not carry forward to the full game. This is often the case with betas--for EA games and others. For Battlefront II specifically, EA said, "We want everyone to start on a level playing field at launch, whether they have been able to take part in the beta or not, so we're resetting all progress after the beta." Here's what's included in Battlefront II's beta.
A new trailer for Battlefront II released recently that showed off how much more content the game has compared to its 2015 predecessor. The video is narrated by Star Wars actor John Boyega, who famously lamented the absence of a single-player mode in the previous game.
There is a problem with Destiny 2's raid system whereby raid keys for the Leviathan challenge are getting removed from players' inventories. That's a problem. Bungie is aware of this and has now explained what's caused the issue and what can be done to avoid it.
There are two situations that Bungie has found to cause this problem, the first is that you'll lose your raid keys when signing in with an alternate character if that character previously had not been signed in since the latest weekly reset. The other instance where you can lose your raid keys is if you earn a raid key and then create a new character.
To prevent the issue, Bungie advises players to sign in with each of their characters in the game or inspect all of them through the Destiny companion app before clearing checkpoints in the Leviathan raid after the reset. Obviously, this is not ideal. So you may be happy to learn that Bungie is working on a more permanent solution for this issue.
Another thing to note is that all of your Leviathan raid progress gets reset every week alongside the weekly reset that impacts the entire game. For much more on the raid, check out GameSpot's detailed Leviathan Raid walkthrough that covers everything you need to know.
For more on Destiny 2, check out our recent stories linked below:
Bungie has rolled out the latest weekly reset for Destiny 2, which soon see some server downtime and the release of a new 1.0.3.1 update. Among other things, the weekly reset means a new Nightfall is now available, complete with another set of modifiers, Challenges, and rewards.
This week's Nightfall Strike is Savathun's Song. As always in Destiny 2, you'll have to rush to finish, as a time limit is in place. But whereas last week's Nightfall featured a modifier that didn't permit you to extend the time limit, one of the modifiers this time around is Timewarp - Anomalies. Throughout the Strike, you'll encounter floating objects that can be destroyed, with each one providing an additional 30 seconds for you to make it to the final boss and defeat it.
The other active modifier is Momentum (which was to be used in an earlier Nightfall but had to be replaced because it was broken). When you stand still, neither your health nor shields will regenerate, which means taking cover like you normally might isn't a viable strategy. Instead, you'll want to consider sprinting, which actually increases the rate of your recovery.
There are again three Challenges, the first of which is the returning Speed Of Dark; this tasks you with finishing the Nightfall with at least five minutes on the clock, which may require taking out most or all of the anomalies you encounter. Unbroken requires completion of the Nightfall with fewer than three deaths. And The Best Defense asks you to shoot down 15 projectiles before defeating Savathun's Song.
Players have reported a possible Nightfall cheese, which once again takes advantage of the Timewarp - Anomalies modifier. As documented in this YouTube video, you can reach a point in the Strike where you can turn around and return to an earlier area, where the Anomalies will have respawned. Doing so provides you with more anomalies to destroy than you would otherwise have access to--and thus, additional time to finish.
Completion of the Nightfall rewards players with Powerful Gear rewards. This is one of the few activities to offer those, and they're among the best items you can get your hands on. It's also a reliable way to increase your Power level past 265, should you be struggling to pass that point. If you haven't made it to that point, you may want to consider waiting until after you've raised your Power level before grabbing the Nightfall reward. This Nightfall will be available until the next weekly reset, which occurs at 2 AM PT / 5 AM ET / 10 AM BST / 4 PM AEST on Tuesday, October 10.
If you haven't yet unlocked the Nightfall, you'll need to complete two Strikes and approach the suggested Power level of 240 before Zavala will allow you to take part in them. Traditional matchmaking is not available, but in its place we have Guided Games, providing players with the opportunity to be matched up with members of a clan for the mission (which requires a Nightfall Ticket). Alternatively, clan members can sign up to serve as guides through the Nightfall, and doing so does not require a Ticket.
This past Tuesday was the first of October, and that means Sony has launched the month's lineup of PlayStation Plus freebies. PS Plus members can now download six more free games across PS4, PS3, and Vita.
PS4 owners actually get a total of four games in October, as both Vita games--Hue and Sky Force Anniversary--support Cross-Buy. PS3 owners, meanwhile, get a total of three; Cross-Buy brings them Sky Force in addition to Hustle Kings and Monster Jam Battlegrounds.
If you haven't already claimed the bonus free game That's You, it leaves PS Plus on October 24; PSVR game RIGS is free until November 7. An additional bonus will be introduced in October for Plus members, as they'll get closed beta access to Hand of the Gods, the spin-off of Smite. Until November 14, you can also get a free Plus Pack that consists of a special Galactic Invader Leader skin for Ah Puch, a card back, a player icon, and five Core Packs.
October's free PS Plus games are available now. You can grab them through the respective systems or on the PlayStation Store website.
October 2017 Free PlayStation Plus Games
PS4
Amnesia Collection
Hue
Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
Sky Force Anniversary
PS3
Hustle Kings
Monster Jam Battlegrounds
Sky Force Anniversary
Vita
Hue
Sky Force Anniversary
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