Good news, Guardians: Destiny 2 now allows you to chase the Whisper of the Worm Exotic sniper rifle at any time. Gone are the days of waiting until the weekend rolled around to complete the steps necessary to access the hidden special mission, or to unlock one of the best guns in the game.
Bungie made the announcement on Twitter, revealing that The Whisper mission is now available on the moon Io any day of the week. The change is part of Update 2.1.4, which rebalances a ton of Supers and weapons throughout the game. The update also adds in The Draw, another Exotic weapon quest.
The Whisper quest only appeared in the game last summer, and it took the Destiny 2 community a while to discover what it was all about and how it worked. Used to be, from Friday to Sunday on any given week, you could access the quest by waiting for a particular public event to occur in the Lost Oasis area of Io. When the right event popped up, a special enemy would also appear, and killing it would open up a portal to the special mission.
From there, you had to complete a long, elaborate platforming puzzle, before engaging in some extremely tough battles with hordes of Taken enemies--all within a 20-minute time limit. The mission was difficult enough that most people required a team to complete it, but The Whisper was so super-secret that it didn't include matchmaking. Finishing the mission, though, granted you Whisper of the Worm, a powerful Exotic sniper rifle similar to Destiny 1's Black Spindle. The weapon has become a mainstay for players taking on big boss fights like the ones found in Destiny 2's raids.
With Bungie's latest change, The Whisper is available all week in Lost Oasis, and it can be activated from any public event in the region, which should drastically reduce wait times. The mission itself is still pretty tough, but removing the weekend requirement should make it a whole lot easier for Guardians to band together and finally unlock Whisper of the Worm if they've been waiting.
Fortnite's latest update adds the extra gear and bug fixes we've come to expect from Epic's regular updates, but one surprising addition comes after a long wait. The 7.30 update, which released just today across all platforms, finally adds bluetooth controller support on mobile devices.
Upon downloading the update, Android players will be able to use most Bluetooth gamepads and adapters including Steelseries Stratus XL, Gamevice, and Moto Gamepad. Players on iOS can use the MFi controllers like the Steelseries Nimbus and Gamevice. It also adds 60 Hz gameplay on some Android models, for those who want performance out of their mobile play.
Other additions in v7.30 include the chiller grenade and the return of the Solid Gold limited-time mode. The chiller grenade has a knock-back effect that makes enemies slide along the ground with icy shoes but be careful because it also affects your own teammates. The Solid Gold LTM makes every weapon drop Legendary quality, letting you more easily try out some new ones, and also provides more crafting materials.
Meanwhile, Epic also announced that it will be bringing back the NFL outfits just in time for Super Bowl weekend. In addition to the regular spate of outfits, two new variants are available to celebrate the competing teams, the New England Patriots and Los Angeles Rams. It's also adding a free Pigskin Toy to the shop, and an NFL Rumble limited-time mode.
Mobile v7.30
Mobile Controller support
Android: most of Bluetooth controller adapters, such as Steelseries Stratus XL, Gamevice, XBox1, Razer Raiju, and Moto Gamepad.
iOS: MFi controllers, such as Steelseries Nimbus and Gamevice.
Disabled phone vibration if a gamepad attached.
60Hz on select Android models
We are rolling out 60Hz support (to be enabled in settings) on select Android devices. We have been working with our partners on optimizations and are rolling this out initially on the following specific models.
Samsung Galaxy Note 9 (USA variant)
Huawei Honor View 20
Huawei Mate 20 X
Added audio visualization icons for vehicles and Balloons
Bug Fixes
Fixed an issue causes players to be unable to build multiple structure types while simultaneously holding down the build button and changing build types.
Fixed Harvesting Tool button no longer swaps back to the previously selected weapon
Fixed Multiple simultaneous button presses on mobile can disable the fire button
Fixed No padlock icon appears on the directional pad when locking with auto-run on mobile.
Fixed Several UI buttons having lower resolution than the other buttons.
Microsoft has kicked off a new sale on Xbox Live. This week, players will find discounts on nearly every installment in the Assassin's Creed series across Xbox One and Xbox 360, along with a selection of deals reserved exclusively for Xbox Live Gold subscribers.
On Xbox 360, both the original Assassin's Creed and Assassin's Creed Liberation HD--a home console port of the series' previously Vita-exclusive spin-off--are down to $8 each, while Assassin's Creed III is $10. Thanks to backwards compatibility, all three of these games are also playable on Xbox One.
In addition to the Assassin's Creed sale, Xbox Live Gold members can grab Destiny 2's well-received expansion, Forsaken, this week for $30. If you're more interested in sports games, FIFA 19 is on sale for $24, while NBA Live 19 is $10. The Madden NFL 19: Ultimate Super Bowl Edition is also discounted ahead of Super Bowl LIII; you can pick it up for $26.40.
We've rounded up a few other notable deals for Xbox One and Xbox 360 below; you can see the full list on Major Nelson's blog. All of these prices will be available until 3 AM PT / 6 AM ET on February 5. Xbox Live Gold members also have a little more time to grab this month's free titles, as the next bath of Games with Gold is set to arrive on February 1.
Along with Destiny 2's new Exotic weapon quest, The Draw, comes a big new update to the game that is likely to have some pretty sweeping changes for the Crucible, Destiny's competitive mode. The update rebalances basically all of the ultra-powerful Super abilities players use in the game, making some a little stronger and a few much less powerful.
Chief among the nerfs in Update 2.1.4 is the one to Nova Warp, one of the Supers added to the Warlock class with Destiny 2's big Forsaken expansion. The extremely powerful attack allowed players to fire off an explosion all around their bodies that vaporized anyone unlucky enough to get close. It was a Super that was tough to deal with when you were facing it down in the Crucible, seemingly lasting forever and absolutely destroying players at great distances.
Bungie has reeled in Nova Warp quite a bit, slowing down your movement speed while you're charging the explosion and increasing the energy cost of each charge, resulting in fewer explosions. Bungie also decreased the damage the attack can do to other players by 27% and dropped its duration by almost seven seconds.
Another big change is that to Blade Barrage, a Hunter Super that was also added with Forsaken. Blade Barrage does massive damage to both bosses and other players, sending out a blast of exploding knives in one direction that's difficult to avoid. After Update 2.1.4, damage from the initial impact of those knives has been greatly reduced, from 150 to 35--but the damage from the resulting explosion has been increased from 150 to 250. Meanwhile, the handy Exotic armor Shards of Galanor, which gives you Super energy based on how much damage you do with Blade Barrage, has been nerfed a bit so that you can only retrieve 75% of total Super energy at a time. That's down from the previous 90%.
There are a few changes to Supers that drastically increase their effectiveness, though. Hunter Golden Gun Supers are a lot more powerful and should be more useful both against boss enemies and in the Crucible. The Titan Super Burning Maul is also a lot stronger, dealing more damage and covering a wider radius.
The update also sees a bunch of changes to weapons, notably with scout rifles and sniper rifles getting damage increases that should help get them in players' rotations a bit more. There are a lot of other quality-of-life changes mixed into the update as well: read the full patch notes below.
Destiny 2 Update 2.1.4 Patch Notes
Super Tuning
Hunter: Gunslinger
Golden Gun Super
Increased damage to bosses by 40%
Includes Six-Shooter and Celestial Nighthawk
Golden Gun Six-Shooter
Base damage increased from 275 to 300 per shot
Kills now return a bullet to the Golden Gun's magazine
"Line 'Em Up" Perk
Doubled precision damage bonus per stack of the buff
"Practice Makes Perfect" Perk
Stack limit increased from 3 to 5
Super regen modifier increased by 20%
Blade Barrage Super
Impact damage decreased from 150 to 35
Explosion damage increased from 150 to 250
Now deals self-damage
Our goal for AoE supers of this type is that they incur self-damage when activated too close to a target. We consider Blade Barrage not causing self-damage a bug, which we are now addressing.
In other words, Hunters will know how Warlocks feel when they throw a Nova Bomb into a wall.
Fixed an issue in which Blade Barrage projectiles could track allies
Hunter: Nightstalker
Moebius Quiver
Tethered targets now have the full damage increase, rather than needing to be tethered by multiple Shadowshots
Additionally, the Shadowshot damage bonus to tethered targets was increased
Increased Moebius Quiver tether radius by 20%
Increased Moebius Quiver tether lifetime
Made it easier to fire successive Shadowshots
Developer Commentary: This is step one for Shadowshot, and we intend to keep improving the way it works. For this pass, we focused on Moebius Quiver quality of life. We plan to continue to make it more effective and globally relevant in the future.
Spectral Blades Super
Bonus damage resistance while in stealth decreased from 15% to 5%
While in Spectral Blades AND in stealth total damage resistance is 62%
Total Super duration while invisible decreased by 3.67 sec
Hunter: Arcstrider
Arc Staff Super
Heavy ranged and slam attack damage increased from 220 to 300
Heavy palm blast attack damage increased from 400 to 700
"Lethal Current" Perk
Bonus hit damage has been increased from 100 to 130
Raiden Flux (Exotic Armor)
Damage bonus decreased from 20% to 13.5%
This change keeps the bonus damage granted by this Exotic about the same. Because this is calculated on a scaler instead of a flat number, any big changes in base damage have a large effect on the Exotic.
Titan: Sunbreaker
Sunspots
Damage increased from 25 to 50 per tick
"Sun Warrior" Perk
Buff now increases ALL damage output from the Sunbreaker by 20% in PvP; 25% in PvE
Buff duration has been increased from 3 to 5 seconds
Burning Maul Super
Spin melee attack damage increased from 65 to 80 per hit
Slam detonation radius increased from 5 to 6 meters
Improved Slam attack projectile tracking
Titan: Sentinel
Sentinel Shield Super
Final melee combo hit damage increased from 300 to 390
Damage to PvE combatants increased by 17%
Titan: Striker
Fist of Havoc Super
Heavy slam attack (R2/RT) base damage decreased from 325 to 275
Damage to base, elite, and miniboss combatants increased by 7%
Damage to bosses increased by 23%
Damage to vehicles increased by 60%
"Terminal Velocity" Perk
Changed the way that bonus damage from this perk is granted
Added a third threshold tier based on how long you are in the air before impact
Arc damage hits per tier increased from 3 to 4
Tier 1 = 4 hits
Tier 2 = 8 hits
Tier 3 = 12 hits
Increased damage per Arc hit from 100 to 112
Code of the Juggernaut
Fist of Havoc shoulder charge energy cost reduced by 83%
"Trample" Perk
Can now trigger the energy return every 0.5 sec, up from 1 sec
Warlock: Voidwalker
Cataclysm Nova Bomb
Initial detonation damage increased from 900 to 1500
Detonation radius increased from 8 to 10 meters
Seeker projectile detonation damage increased from 205 to 300
Improved seeker projectile turning radius and homing to make it more consistent to use against bosses/single targets
Fixed an issue where seeker projectiles could be prematurely detonated
Vortex Nova Bomb
Initial detonation damage increased from 900 to 1200
Linger volume damage increased from 10 to 23 per tick
Nova Warp Super
Slightly slowed movement while charging
Charging costs more energy
Initial charge cost (each time you trigger your super) increased by 60%
Sustained drain cost (holding) increased by 60%
Duration decreased by 6.8 seconds
Decreased Super damage resistance from 56% to 54%
Damage against Guardians decreased by 27%
Warlock: Dawnblade
Daybreak Super
Increased damage against minor, major, and miniboss combatants by 43%
Increased duration by 3 seconds
Warlock: Stormcaller
Stormtrance Super
Increased chain lightning maximum target count by 1
Weapons Tuning
Auto Rifles
Increased base damage on rapid fire by 9%
Increased base damage on high-impact Auto Rifles by 5%
Increased base damage on adaptive Auto Rifles by 6%
Scout Rifles
Increased base damage on lightweight Scout Rifles by 5%
Increased base damage on rapid-fire Scout Rifles by 6%
Increased all Scout Rifle PvE damage by 10%
Sniper Rifles
Increased base damage of rapid-fire Sniper Rifles by 8%
You can two-shot to the body to defeat other Guardians in PvP
Grenade Launchers
Tweaked Grenade Launcher projectiles to feel more consistent on direct hits
Proximity Grenades can no longer impact directly (prevents Special ammo Grenade Launchers from one-shotting with the perk active)
Increased ammo reserve size of Special ammo Grenade Launchers
Increased initial spawn ammo in PvE for Special ammo Grenade Launchers
Bows
Made the effect of draw time from bow string perks more noticeable (High Tension String, Flexible String, Elastic String, and Polymer String)
The accuracy stat from High Tension String was increased from 10 to 15 to better compensate for the slower draw time
KNOWN ISSUE: The tooltip for High Tension String was not updated to show the larger accuracy increase; this will be addressed in a future update
Legend of Acrius
Range increased by 0.5 m
PvE damage increased by 50%
Telesto
Reduced base damage of each bolt from by 19%
Increased optics stat from 15 to 20 to be comparable with other Fusion Rifles with scope perks
PvE damage increased by 30%
Trace Rifles
Trace Rifles now gain additional ammo when picking up Special ammo
Reduced damage output of Wavesplitter against Guardians
Reduced by 19% on medium-damage mode
Reduced by 27% on high-damage mode
Adjustments were made to keep the damage output the same in PvE activities
Exotic Armor
Tuned energy values on Shards of Galanor to accompany changes to the Blade Barrage Super
Reduced maximum energy return from 90% to 75% of the total Super
Now only returns energy on the knife impacts
Reduced energy return on Gwisin Vest from 10% to 7% of the total Super
Miscellaneous
Abilities
Fixed an issue where players could retain Super energy for Chaos Reach even when being suppressed mid-Super
Fixed an issue where players could equip Celestial Nighthawk mid-Super to partially benefit from "Hawkeye Hack" perk when using the Six-Shooter subclass
Weapons
Fixed an issue where the arrows the Spiteful Fang left lodged in targets did not match the arrows it fired
Fixed an issue where Anarchy's trap detonation was not dealing damage if the owner had died
Fixed an issue where the Auto-Loading Holster perk was not reloading the magazine in some circumstances
Fixed an issue where the muzzle blast and spent shell effects had become misaligned on the Suros Regime and its ornaments
Fixed an issue where the No Feelings Scout Rifle had incorrect stats when Masterworked
Fixed an issue where the Tempered Dynamo Fusion Rifle wasn't playing all of its charge-up audio on consoles
Crucible
Breakthrough
Fixed an issue where deploying the Breaker or hacking the Vault exactly as time expired could end the round in an incorrect state
Heavy Ammo Tuning
Competitive
Control
Initial timers stay the same
Increased respawn timer for Heavy ammo (was 45 seconds, now 120 seconds)
Clash
Initial timers stay the same
Increased respawn timer for Heavy ammo (was 45 seconds, now 120 seconds)
Survival
Initial timers stay the same
Increased respawn timer for Heavy ammo (was 45 seconds, now 60 seconds)
Rotators:
Showdown
Initial timers stay the same
Increased respawn timer for Heavy ammo (was 30 seconds, now 60 seconds)
Rumble:
Initial timers stay the same
Increased respawn timer for Heavy ammo (was 60 seconds, now 120 seconds)
Ammo Counts (All Modes)
Reduce Heavy crate ammo for Machine Guns
Redrix's Broadsword Quest:
Valor Rank Resets:
The Valor rank resets step will now look at previous seasons accomplishments as well.
Five Valor resets are still required during a single season, but this is no longer restricted to the current season. Ex: If a player had five Valor resets in Season 4, this will now grant progress towards the quest.
Completion Inconsistencies
Fixed various issues where the quest was not progressing to the pickup step until a player re-entered orbit.
Crucible Ranks
Enhancement Cores
Fixed an issue that prevented Enhancement Cores from being awarded when reaching Legend in Valor and Glory ranks
Activities
Raids
Scourge of the Past
Fixed an issue where players could initiate damage phases for the boss encounter too early
Fixed an issue where the "Like a Diamond" Flawless Triumph was not being rewarded properly
Black Armory and Forges
Fixed an issue where players were not being properly credited when consuming keys for the Mysterious Box quest.
Players already affected by this issue will be awarded credit for the keys they've used the next time they log in.
It is still possible, on rare occasions, for players to use a key and not complete the objective. When this happens, returning to orbit should resolve this issue.
Forge emblems are now awarded from forge completions, rather than forge-specific bounty completions
Modulus Reports and Ballistics Logs will now go to the postmaster if lost; cap on Modulus Reports remains at 15 per account
When hunting for high-value targets on Nessus for the "Siviks's Delivery Note" quest step, all players who damage the enemy will be given credit toward the kill
Players can no longer purchase weapon frames if the Pursuits bucket is full
Black Armory lore drops have been increased to 20% (up from 10%), and successful forge completions are now required to earn the reward
Weapon Frame Updates:
Ballistics Logs no longer removed at reset
Ballistics Logs increased cap to five per character
Ritual Frame quests carried across reset now "refund" into purchased currency
"Gold" frames refunded into one Ballistics Log
"Silver" frames refunded into three Modulus Reports
Any instance of a "Radiant Matrix" removed on weekly reset
Players should stop experiencing frames "missing" from Ada's inventory on a week-to-week basis
Players may still only purchase up to two "Gold" frames per week
All Nessus Fallen Captain high-value targets around the Exodus Black will now spawn correctly
Public Events
Whispers on Io now occur more frequently
General
Fixed an issue where the Fastidious Miser Triumph was not properly unlocking for players
Fixed an issue there the Veterans of the Hunt emblem was using the wrong art
Fixed an issue where the Knife Flip emote did not properly loop
Eververse
Fixed an issue where the Summer's Altar and Jupiter Midnight Sparrows shared the same appearance
Fixed an issue where the "Visions of Iron Bundle" and the "Form Given Function Bundle" did not show the correct message if players did not own proper DLC entitlements for purchase
Satou and Rassmussen Ghost Projections now have the correct imagery
Each week brings a shuffling of content to Destiny 2, and this week that includes the new Exotic weapon quest to reclaim the Destiny 1 hand cannon, The Last Word. The Ascendant Challenge, on the other hand, is not actually new--we're actually back to the fourth week of the cycle of challenges. But whether you've done it before or not, there's good reason to give it a shot, as Powerful gear awaits you as a reward. Here's where to go and what to do to complete the current Ascendant Challenge.
Before you try to tackle the Ascendant Challenge, the same requirements as always hold true; most notably, you need a Tincture of Queensfoil. This is a consumable item that you'll happen upon while playing in the Dreaming City, although you can also buy them. Using a Tincture gives you the Ascendance buff, which allows you to see a Taken portal. It's this portal you must go through to complete the Ascendant Challenge. Along with a Tincture, you have to grab the Ascendant Challenge bounty from Petra in the Dreaming City; it's through this that you actually get your Powerful gear.
For the current challenge, the portal is located in Rheasilvia. In the northeast corner, head inside a building and go straight as far as you can. Turn right, and then go left in the next area to reach Harbinger's Seclude. Go up a set of stairs and out the doorway on the right. Head straight through this area, through another doorway, and continue straight in the next zone. At the end of a bridge you'll see a statue covered in Taken Blight balls; platform your way up the objects around it and you'll be able to go through the portal on top of its head. Check out the video above for a walkthrough. If you struggle to get up, take out your ghost and you'll see some invisible platforms just off the slide of the area that can help you get up.
Going through the portal transports you to the Keep of Honed Edges in the Ascendant Plane. Platform your way across a series of rocks and you'll find an area with three knights who are immune to damage. Kill all of the other enemies and the barrier protecting a sword will go away, allowing you to pick up the relic.
At this point, more enemies spawn in and one knight will begin attacking you. Kill the knight, and the other two will join the fray along with additional enemies. Take them all out, and you'll again have to platform across a series of rocks, now with enemies to make things more challenging. There is debris moving through the area, and at least certain things you step on will disappear after a short period of time, so make sure not to linger. Make your way toward a platform with a large blue object on it to complete the challenge.
As in previous weeks, the chest you receive at the end of the Ascendant Challenge isn't anything special. But the bounty you get from Petra offers Powerful gear for completing it; this can help to boost your Power level, so ensuring you have the bounty is essential.
Meanwhile, The Draw quest for The Last Word should keep players busy for a bit. It also represents a step forward in one of the biggest, most interesting running stories in all of Destiny lore--check out our lore catch-up guide for everything you need to know about the famous gun, its famous wielder, and what's going on with the Drifter in Destiny's next season.
The Hong Kong Massacre aims to replicate the experience of a gun-kata-action scene, where characters shoot while diving through the air, performing acrobatic feats as they blow each other's brains out. It's an extremely violent riff on the twin-stick shooter, one clearly inspired by Hotline Miami and Max Payne. You play as a former detective in 1992 Hong Kong, seeking retribution against the Triad for murdering someone close to you. The exact specifics are unclear, but that doesn't matter too much--the plot elements are kept to a minimum, as the game focuses most of its energy into frenetic and satisfying action.
At the start of each mission you equip one of four guns--a pistol, SMG, rifle or shotgun--and are then unleashed in a top-down level to kill everyone inside it. Because of the zoomed-out view you can see into rooms and scope out opponents well before they know you're there. The rules of engagement are established quickly: one shot from any gun is all it takes to kill either you or your enemies (until later levels where some enemies get body armor and can withstand two shots), and you also need to collect new guns from the enemies you kill, lest you run out of ammo. If you go into a dive, you cannot be hit until the dive is over. Your enemies can dive too, and the same rules apply for them.
The one major advantage you have over the bad guys is your ability to slow time. This is how the game lets you fight at the speed and fury of the action cinema choreography it is paying homage to, and it makes you feel like a badass. In almost every situation, the best way to excel is to enter slow motion, dive into a position where you have a line of sight, and fire at your enemies. Often this will mean shooting through a window, or a door, or the paper-thin shoji screens that are used to separate rooms in just about every building you enter. In its wildest moments, The Hong Kong Massacre turns into a wonderfully violent ballet of shattered glass, splayed bodies, and bullets from a variety of guns all firing at once in slow motion.
The meter and cooldown for your slow motion ability is extremely generous, as it takes quite a while to drain and fully recharges within about two seconds. So as long as you plan to be in cover by the time it runs out you can use slow motion almost continuously. The star rating system for each level encourages you to try not using slow motion at all, though. Complete a level without it and you'll be awarded a star that can be spent on weapon upgrades--but not only does this make things considerably harder, it would make some levels all but impossible to complete. If you're playing on PS4 with a controller, your aiming reticule moves slowly, which is important for lining up long shots and maintaining some sense of tension and realism amidst all the madness, but it also means that completing the more difficult missions at full speed would be extraordinarily difficult.
Even with these abilities, The Hong Kong Massacre can still be extremely hard. Your enemies are not the smartest, but when there's so many of them and it only takes a single bullet to kill you, you'll likely die an awful lot. There are plenty of mistakes you can make and traps you can fall into, too. Every now and then a dive won't go as planned, and you'll slide up against a door jamb instead of leaping through the door, for instance, or end up surrounded by gunfire. It's quite tricky to pay attention to both your person and your aiming reticule, and often I wasn't sure exactly when a dive animation had ended.
Each failure requires a restart of the whole level, and even though the absolute longest one will ultimately take less than three minutes to finish once you've got a handle on the situation, there will likely be many, many failed attempts on the way there. But there's a certain pleasure in how you begin to memorize the layout, the patterns of the bad guys (which can change slightly), and weigh up the pros and cons of the different strategies and approaches you've tried thus far. And when you're in the zone, completing levels back to back with very few deaths, you'll really feel like an action hero.
Five boss fights change up the level format and see you and your opponent both moving down parallel hallways, taking shots whenever there's an opening through a window (bosses take multiple shots to kill), and every now and then you'll need to take out an enemy on your side to collect their gun. At the end of each boss stage, you'll both end up in a more open area where you'll need to finish them off, and they work well enough as a change of pace. Some levels also make you dive between rooftops, which is satisfying and fun as you fire at enemies while making an almost-impossible sideways leap.
But there's a lot of repetition across the campaign, too. The level designs aren't distinctive; while layouts and aesthetics change, the basic building blocks never do. Even as you shoot your way through a police station, you'll still notice that they're using shoji screens to separate some rooms. After a while, it becomes clear that the game is, essentially, the same few seconds of gameplay over and over. The four-weapon selection also feels slightly hamstrung by the general uselessness of the shotgun, unless you pump all the points you earn from completing levels into upgrading it (for my money it's better to focus on the SMG and pistols).
The game's strangest oversight is its lousy leaderboards. While you can see your top time for every level from the menu, there is no friends leaderboard, nor does the game show you where you sit on the global total. In fact, only the top 99 are shown for each level, and even if you've made that list you need to scroll to find yourself. This removes some incentive to replay levels and try for a faster time.
The Hong Kong Massacre is a game with a specific goal--to capture the feeling of an over-the-top John Woo-style slow-motion diving kill shot, and it succeeds. The game's faults are washed away whenever you leap out of the way of a bullet and quickly take out the person who fired it. It's a game that sticks with you when you're not playing it, as you think through different approaches to the room you died in last time. You'll fail frequently, and the repetition can wear you down, but it's hard to resist the temptation of bursting through a window and perfectly lining up three kill shots.
DC's streaming service DC Universe launched back in September, offering fans a mix of movies, TV shows, and comic books. It has now been announced that the service will be expanding its curated comic collection, more than doubling the number of titles on there over the next few months.
DC has confirmed that the current selection will be joined by thousands of titles, including some classic adventures from Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman. Among the latest additions are much-loved collections such as Batman: Hush, Batman: Year One, Gotham Central, Flashpoint, Infinite Crisis, Static Shock, and Superman: For All Season. There will also thousands of single issues representing the vast scope of DC's comic output, from classic adventures from the '80s to more recent New 52 and DC Rebirth stories.
In a statement, Sam Ades, senior vice president and general manager of DC Digital Services, said: "When launching DC Universe, we knew the comic reader was an area that we wanted to expand and provide more choice. Fans want a place to discover new titles and the opportunity to enjoy full arcs of iconic and notable storylines from start to finish. We are listening to fans and responding with an expanded comic book offering that improves the overall DC Universe experience."
The first batch of titles has been released today, January 29. It includes Batman Incorporated, Justice League: Darkseid War, The Omega Men, Superman: For All Seasons, Wonder Woman, and Alan Moore's classic run of Swamp Thing. They will be joined over the coming weeks by titles such as Forever Evil, Superman: Secret Origin, Midnighter & Apollo, Hawkworld, Batman: Year One, and Grant Morrison's Animal Man arc. DC Universe costs $7.99 per month or $74.99 annually.
In related news, the live-action Doom Patrol show is set to hit DC Universe on February 15. Check out the latest trailer.
Unless you're comfortable with people discreetly listening in on your most private conversations (it's okay, I talk about the movie Face Off with my cat, too), you should disable FaceTime right now on any supported devices. A newly discovered bug impacting iOS devices, including iPhones, allows someone to call another user through FaceTime and force it to begin transmitting the call receiver's audio--all without them potentially even being aware.
As originally reported by 9to5Mac, the process involves you initiating a FaceTime call and then adding yourself to the call again. Due to the bug, this causes the other person's device to effectively answer the call so that you can hear audio from their end. This has been confirmed by numerous other sources, and it's reportedly possible that--if the call receiver presses the Power button--video is transmitted, too.
Apple has acknowledged the bug and says a fix is coming later this week. In the meantime, it's disabled Group FaceTime functionality, which is seemingly to blame for the issues, although 9to5Mac says it's still possible to take advantage of the exploit.
Disabling FaceTime is relatively easy, as you simply need to go into your device's FaceTime settings and turn it off. If you do need step-by-step instructions, CNET has put together a guide on how to turn off FaceTime on both iOS and Mac devices.
In case you missed the NFL Outfits in Fortnite the last time around, Epic is bringing them back in celebration of the Super Bowl, along with a few new football-themed goodies. The special skins were only available for a limited time before, and that will likely be the case again, so grab them while you can.
According to the announcement, the sportswear will be available in the store starting on Friday, February 1 at 4 PM PT / 7 PM ET. It also says you can find two more outfit styles, with special white uniforms for the Patriots and Rams. Plus, starting on Saturday, February 2 at 4 PM PT / 7 PM ET, you can visit the store to get a free Pigskin Toy.
Also to mark the occasion, you can take part in a new NFL Rumble limited-time mode. This puts you on a team of 20 in Patriots or Rams outfits, battling for the win and a trophy. Or Epic says you can just head over to Pleasant Park for a game of catch.
The last time NFL outfits were available was in November for four days. That was a short window, but this one may be even shorter. The jerseys cost 1,500 V-Bucks ($15) the last time around, and let you customize with your own number and variants like Strong Guard, End Zone, Gridiron, and Spike.
Of course, the fan base found creative and clever ways to poke fun at the NFL through the outfits, with players sporting jerseys to lambaste controversial athletes like Michael Vick and Aaron Hernandez.
This announcement comes alongside a new Fortnite patch just released today that adds a chiller grenade, a new 'Solid Gold' limited-time mode, and mobile controller support.
We may be headed into the shortest month of the year, but that doesn't mean that February will be short on offerings from Amazon Prime Video. Starting February 1, Amazon is unloading plenty of movies and television series for you to check out, and some of these movies date all the way back to the 1920s.
As far as familiar fare goes, all three Matrix movies will release on February 1, along with both Wayne's World movies. So you can take the red pill and watch Keanu Reeves beat people up and enter "bullet time" or take the blue pill and watch Wayne Campbell go see the band Crucial Taunt play. The choice is yours.
On the TV side of things, the third season of the Syfy series The Expanse comes to the service on February 8. It is one of the best new series to come to the network in years, so we highly recommend catching up on that.
Finally, later in the month, you can watch the remake of Death Wish starring Bruce Willis. It is a pretty bad movie, but a fun watch regardless. Below, you'll find the full list of what's coming to Amazon Prime Video for the month of February. Also, check out what's coming to Netflix and Hulu next month as well.
Coming To Amazon Prime Video In February
February 1
TV
*Agatha Christie Presents: ABC Murders (Prime Original series), Season 1
It's a bit later in the month than we're accustomed to learning about Games With Gold, but Microsoft has finally shared the list of games that Xbox Live Gold members can expect to receive for free in February 2019. As always, there are a total of four games split evenly across Xbox One and Xbox 360.
On Xbox One, the month starts out with Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon, a classic Castlevania-style action game released just last year; it serves as a spin-off from the upcoming Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night. It's available for the entire month of February. From February 16 to March 15, you'll also be able to grab 2017's Super Bomberman R, an action game where you try to corner opponents with bombs in a maze. It's best played with friends.
Xbox 360's first title of the month is Assassin's Creed Rogue, an oft-overlooked entry in the series that was originally only released on last-gen platforms just as Assassin's Creed Unity arrived for current-gen systems. It'll be replaced on February 16 by Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy, a well-received action game for the original Xbox, rather than Xbox 360. It's available until the end of the month.
Both Rogue and Jedi Academy are playable on Xbox One through backwards compatibility, giving that system a total of four freebies in February. If you haven't already grabbed January's Games With Gold, you can still claim some of them before the month ends; one of them, WRC 6 FIA World Rally Championship, will be available until mid-February. The full February schedule follows below.
February 2019 Games With Gold
Xbox One
Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon (Feb. 1-28)
Super Bomberman R (Feb. 1-Mar. 15)
WRC 6 FIA World Rally Championship (Jan. 16-Feb. 15)
Pokemon Go's big Hoenn celebration event is coming to an end, and a new Legendary Pokemon is set to debut soon afterward. Niantic has announced that Palkia, the cover monster from Pokemon Pearl, will begin appearing in Raid Battles today, January 29, at 1 PM PT / 4 PM ET.
As usual, in order to catch Palkia, you'll first need to team up with other players in-person, then visit a Gym that's hosting a Palkia Raid and battle it. If your party manages to defeat the Legendary Pokemon, you'll be rewarded with a handful of Premiere Balls and an opportunity to capture it.
Although it may not look it, Palkia is a dual Water- and Dragon-type, which means it only takes neutral damage from Ice attacks, one of a Dragon Pokemon's biggest weaknesses. Your best bet is to battle it using other Dragon-types, such as Dragonite and Rayquaza--although The Pokemon Company warns that Palkia will always know a Dragon-type Fast Attack of its own. You can read more details on the official Pokemon website.
Palkia will appear as a Raid Boss until February 28, giving you about a month to capture it. It is also the fourth Gen 4 Legendary Pokemon to appear in Pokemon Go thus far, following Giratina, Cresselia, and Heatran.
Niantic hasn't announced when other Gen 4 Legendaries will debut in Pokemon Go, but the developer had previously teased the Lake trio--Azelf, Uxie, and Mesprit--in a promotional image for the game's recent winter event, suggesting they may also be on the way soon.
In addition to Palkia's arrival, Pokemon Go players have the game's next Community Day to look forward to soon. The event takes place on Saturday, February 16, and will feature another Gen 2 Pokemon: the Ice/Ground-type Swinub.
Metacritic has released its 2019 Game Publisher Rankings, providing a look at the best the industry had to offer last year from a different angle than individual games. Capcom took the top prize, with an average Metascore of 79.3 across all of its games released last year.
The publisher rankings are actually divided into two categories. The first consists of big publishers that released 12 or more distinct titles throughout the year. The second group, labeled "mid-size" publishers, released between 5-11 games. Publishers who released four or fewer weren't listed at all. The formula takes into account average Metascore, the percent of scored products with "good" (75 and above) and "bad" (49 and below) reviews, and the number of games with "great" (90 and above) reviews, with point values attached to each.
After crunching the numbers, Capcom came out on top. It had 83% good games and only 17% so-so ones, and no bad ones. Its best-scoring game was Monster Hunter World at an average metascore of 90, which helped boost it from the fifth place last year. Its worst-reviewed game was Mega Man X Legacy Collection 2, which we noted in our own review was the weaker half of the full package.
Sega came in second place with an average score of 78.5 led by Sonic Mania Plus, followed by EA at 77.5 led by FIFA 19. Those were both improvements over last year, when Sega came in third place and EA didn't make the list at all. Nintendo wasn't so lucky, though, falling from second place in 2017 to fourth. Ubisoft rose from sixth place to fifth.
Due to its number of releases, gaming giant Activision Blizzard falls in the mid-size publisher of these rankings, where it came in the first. It was followed by Paradox Interactive and 505 Games. In a surprising twist, the publisher behind the best-reviewed game of the year, Red Dead Redemption 2, came all the way in fourth place for the mid-tier. Its points were weighed down somewhat by some so-so releases along with Carnival Games for Switch, which reviewed poorly.
You can read below for the top ten listings in both categories, and hop over to GameSpot's sister site Metacritic for all the detailed data.
Nintendo Switch's new system software update, version 7.0.0, is out now. However, the patch changes surprisingly little, despite the important-sounding version number.
The update adds Chinese and Korean language support to the home screen and introduces new user icons themed around New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe. Aside from these features, version 7.0.0 merely includes "general system stability improvements to enhance the user's experience."
New Super Mario Bros. U is the most recent big exclusive to launch for the Switch, so perhaps it's unsurprising for Nintendo to include content around that game in its system updates. We awarded the platformer a 7/10 in our New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe review.
"Despite its aging formula, New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe is still a great entry in the series, with its typically tight platforming and both accessibility and depth to spare," we said. "While it can feel a bit stale for those who have been round the Mushroom Kingdom one too many times before, Deluxe is well worth playing, especially if you didn't get a chance to play NSMBU on Wii U."
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