March 2018 – Page 28

27. March 2018

Fortnite V-Bucks And Items Available In Nice New Starter Pack

Part of Fortnite: Battle Royale’s success stems from the fact that it’s free-to-play; anyone on PC, PS4, or Xbox One–and now, some on mobile–can dive right in and start playing. But there are a number of ways to spend money on the experience if you so choose, and now there’s a new option in the form of a Starter pack that provides good value.

In-game purchases in Battle Royale are all done with V-Bucks, a currency you can earn through Save the World mode and the game’s Battle Pass but is primarily purchased with real-world money. The Starter pack centers around this: For $5 / £3.19, you get 600 V-Bucks. Those can be spent on cosmetic Battle Royale items, put toward the Battle Pass (which provides access to weekly challenges), or spent on Save the World items, schematics, and characters.

The Starter pack also includes two cosmetics for use in Battle Royale: the Rogue Agent outfit and the Catalyst Back Bling (a recently introduced type of item that, as the name suggests, puts a decoration of some sort on your back). You can see what those looks like in the images below.

The pack is a pretty good value if you’re looking to spend money on the game. Pricing on V-Bucks varies, as larger bundles get you more for your money, but the cheapest bundle costs $10 / £8 for 1,000 V-Bucks. Getting 600 for $5 / £3.19 is thus a nice deal, even if you’re not interested in the two cosmetics. However, this won’t be a reliable source of V-Bucks for you, as the bundle can only be purchased once per account.

You can now purchase the Starter pack on all platforms, including mobile (which remains an invite-only test on iOS). Meanwhile, a new weapon is on the way to the game “soon” called the Guided Missile, though we don’t know when it’s set for release.

27. March 2018

Call Of Duty: WW2 DLC The War Machine Detailed

Activision has revealed the next DLC expansion for Call of Duty: WWII, and it’s on the way for some players very soon. The War Machine pack releases for PS4 on April 10 and introduces new maps, a War Mode mission, and other content to the WWII shooter.

Like other Call of Duty DLC packs, The War Machine adds three new multiplayer maps to the game: Egypt, Dunkirk, and V2. Egypt marks the first time the Call of Duty series has taken players to the country and has them battling around the Great Pyramids and other familiar landmarks. Dunkirk drops players in the French seaside city and features a “large, open and dangerous beach area flanked by tight interiors.” V2, meanwhile, is an “ultra-fast paced map” set in a secret rocket test site in Germany.

Additionally, The War Machine adds a new War Mode mission called Operation Husky. This map was co-developed with Raven Software and tasks players with gathering intelligence on the location of German targets. It also introduces aerial dogfights to the game; after transmitting their intel to HQ, players will have to shoot down enemy planes in order to clear the area for Allied bombers.

Rounding out The War Machine pack is another chapter in the Nazi Zombies mode, called The Shadowed Throne. This chapter “takes the Barbarossa storyline to an entirely new level.” As Activision teases, “Berlin is burning, and Doktor Straub’s monstrous army is hellbent on purging his city of the Allied invaders.”

Thanks to Sony’s timed exclusivity deal with Activision, The War Machine pack will release for PS4 about a month before it arrives on Xbox One and PC. The DLC is included in Call of Duty: WWII’s $50 / £40 / AU $65 season pass, which also grants players access to the game’s first expansion, The Resistance. That can be also purchased separately for $15 / £11.59 / AU $20.45.

27. March 2018

Final Fantasy 15 Director Heads New Square Enix Studio

Hajime Tabata, director of Final Fantasy XV, has been put in charge of a new Square Enix development house. He’ll serve as the studio head as well as the Chief Operating Officer of Luminous Productions, which Square says will develop AAA games and innovative game content.

The announcement (via Siliconera) also notes that the core team will be made up of staff from Final Fantasy XV as well. They’ll be preparing an announcement regarding their new project for later this year. The official site is setting the tone for its new philosophy with a few slogans:

“Imagine. Scheme. Obsess. Create. Iterate. Start over. Repeat. Repeat. Begin again.”
“Imagination has no limits. Boundaries can be pushed. An obsessive drive to turn ideas into reality.”
“The future of imagination begins here.”

Final Fantasy XV was a record-breaker for Square Enix, marking the fastest start in the franchise. This was after a long and shaky history, having been announced as a spin-off for Final Fantasy XIII more than a decade ago. Most recently it was ported to PC with plenty of goofy cross-promotional tie-ins. Not everything that carries the name has been a breakout star, though. Its mobile spin-off is closing down this June.

27. March 2018

Destiny 2 1.1.4 Update Makes Players Deadlier And Faster

With interest in Destiny 2 seemingly having dropped off greatly since launch, developer Bungie continues to work on revamping the game. Following the first DLC and subsequent updates meant to address fan complaints, another major update is now being rolled out that makes some significant changes–including letting players generally deal more damage and move more quickly.

Full patch notes for update 1.1.4, which is out now on PC, PS4, and Xbox One, have been released, and they are quite extensive. As outlined in a recent video (below), Bungie wants players to feel more empowered. To accomplish this, PvE damage for numerous weapon types has been increased, in some cases significantly–shotguns deal 35% more, linear fusion rifles deal 50% more, and sniper rifles deal either 20% more (against yellow bar enemies) or 40% more (against red bar enemies). These buffs coincide with other weapon balance tweaks, like being able to store more ammo and increasing accuracy or aim assist. Specific weapons and perks also see adjustments.

Each class has also been touched to varying degrees; Hunter’s Arc Staff Super and Warlock’s Dawnblade Super should be more effective, and the various Warlock glide abilities have been improved. All players, regardless of class, will now get their Super more frequently, and the so-called melee Supers–Fist of Havoc, Sentinel Shield, and Arc Staff–each enjoy a movement speed boost.

It’s not just those Supers that see a bump to movement speed, though. Bungie says it’s increased the “output of every increment of the Mobility stat, from 2-10.” Provided you invest in that stat, it allows for “a significant boost in player speed.”

Unique rewards are being introduced for Nightfalls, presenting you with Legendary weapons and Exotic accessories that can be earned only from specific missions. You’ll also no longer face the same Nightstrike back-to-back when playing through a Strike playlist. And, in another extremely welcome change, Exotic repetition has been reduced, and you should no longer ever get the same Exotic when decrypting consecutive Exotic Engrams.

Crucible has also been updated in a variety of ways. You should see maps repeated less often, and Iron Banner is now 6v6, as was the case with standard Crucible matches in the first Destiny. Quickplay matches now have a 10-minute time limit (with score limit adjustments to match). Power ammo will spawn more quickly in Control, Clash, and Supremacy matches, and you’ll be able to obtain Power ammo by killing a player who is carrying it in any mode. Now, when someone with Power ammo dies, they’ll lose all of it, and 50% of what they had will drop on the ground for 30 seconds for anyone to pick up.

You can see everything that’s changed in the full patch notes on Bungie’s website.

27. March 2018

New Fortnite: Battle Royale Weapon, The Guided Missile, Coming Soon

Epic’s aggressive rollout of new content for Fortnite: Battle Royale continues. With a Starter pack now available for purchase, Epic has teased the next bit of playable content that will be added, and it’s another explosive weapon.

As teased through the in-game updates screen, something called the Guided Missile is on the way to Battle Royale. You can see a small image of it below; the description states, “Remote control destruction from above.”

Beyond that, we don’t really know what to expect from this weapon, including just how it will work. Is this a homing rocket? Or, more likely, are you able to aim the rocket after you fire it? What rarities does it come in? Whatever the particulars, we’ll know before long, as the tease also states that it will be released “soon.” That could mean another weapon will be “vaulted”–removed from the game temporarily to avoid having too many items active at once–as has been the case recently with some other items.

While players’ arsenal will expand further with the Guided Missile’s release, one thing that we still haven’t gotten yet is the Jetpack. This was intended to have launched weeks ago, only for Epic to delay it at the last minute. We unfortunately still haven’t gotten an update on where development on it stands, though this hasn’t stopped Epic from releasing more new weapons, cosmetics, and limited-time modes like the just-concluded Blitz.

27. March 2018

The Ready Player One Cast Takes Our Oasis Quiz

It’s nearly time for Ready Player One to hit theaters, giving fans their first chance to see the virtual world first created by author Ernest Cline’s novel of the same name in 2011. With Steven Spielberg directing, the movie attempts to fully immerse viewers in this future world that’s a mix between dystopian and a dream come true.

While there’s plenty to look forward to seeing in Ready Player One–including robots, dinosaurs, Master Chief, and so much more–what happens when the technology shown in the film becomes something you can actually use? In recent years, virtual reality has become far more common in gaming–with the PlayStation 4 even getting its own VR add-on. While the Oasis in the film is still far more advanced than anything you can play now, it’s not unreasonable to believe something similar could be developed in the next few years.

What would you want to see if you could set foot in the Oasis and what would your avatar look like? GameSpot asked these questions and more of the Ready Player One cast at WonderCon. After filming the movie and fully immersing themselves in the nostalgia on display, they’re all more than ready to journey into its virtual world.

After you check out their answers, take a look at the ridiculous amount of Easter eggs and references in the film’s trailer, along with a special collection of posters that take their cues from several classic movies. Ready Player One arrives on the big screen on March 29.