Author: trafficblast

Despite being an enjoyable arena shooter, LawBreakers has faced a challenging first few months as the size of its playerbase has dwindled. Developer Boss Key Productions co-founder Cliff Bleszinski is intent on saving the game, and part of that effort manifests itself this week with the release of a major new update.

Described as the biggest content patch released so far, Boss Key and publisher Nexon have announced details of the All-Star update (version 2.0). For more competitive players, this introduces a ranked mode called Boss Leagues. This ladder-style mode will launch with a beta season that will help to shape how it operates in the future. Dubbed Season 0, anyone who plays Boss Leagues during this beta period will receive some freebies, including exclusive profiles and silver weapon skins. To take part, however, you’ll first need to reach level 5.

Boss Key also introduces two new maps. Gateway is a Blitzball arena map described as “The world’s first ‘mobile stadium,’ which floats effortlessly in the sky thanks to Hadronium’s anti-gravitational properties.” Also new is Redfalls Blood Moon, which is a modified version of the existing Redfalls map.

Additionally, this update brings balance changes, multi-region queuing (which should help players to get into matches more quickly), better tutorials, and new cosmetics. All of this arrives on Thursday, October 19. The patch begins rolling out on PS4 and PC through Steam beginning at 10 AM PT / 1 PM ET / 6 PM BST (4 AM AEDT on October 20).

The upcoming Sonic Forces is shaping up to be an entertaining follow-up to 2011’s Sonic Generations. While it still calls back to the past with its visuals and level design, it builds upon its predecessor’s concepts and mechanics with new ideas of its own.

The game switches between 2D and 3D modes, and you’ll play as Classic Sonic, Modern Sonic, and a custom character, depending on the level. Both Classic and Modern Sonic play similarly to how they did in Generations, but the custom character playstyle is where some of the Sonic Forces’ newest innovations are showcased.

Custom characters are equipped with special weapons called Wispons, which grant them unique offensive and navigational abilities. For example, the Drill Wispon allows you to quickly charge through foes or ride up and down walls. During a given stage, you can bring up to two custom characters, allowing you to freely switch between them at will to utilize their respective Wispons.

Sonic Forces’ third playstyle is surprisingly involved, requiring you to make quick and precise use of Wispons in order to overcome obstacles. And as you use them to navigate the environment, new paths open up to offer even more platforming challenges to clear. In many ways, custom characters are more advanced than the typical Classic and Modern Sonic playstyles that fans have likely grown accustomed to over the years.

Watch the video above for a glimpse at custom characters in action in the game’s new iteration of Sonic 2’s iconic Chemical Plant Zone. Further on in the video you can also see Classic Sonic in wracking up rings in the Casino Forest Zone.

Sonic Forces is set to release on November 7 for PS4, Xbox One, Switch, and PC. It comes from the same developers that made both the critically acclaimed franchise games, Sonic Colors and Sonic Generations. Sega recently announced a Bonus Edition of the game, which comes with nice physical and digital bonuses.

While we still don’t have any official details on what to expect from Pokemon Go‘s upcoming Halloween event, there’s now more evidence that it’ll introduce a couple of new Pokemon. The iOS App Store inadvertently shared an image presumably for the event that features some Ghost-type Pokemon, including a couple that aren’t currently available in the game.

The new image (via Eurogamer) shows four Ghost Pokemon, most notably the Generation 3 monsters Duskull and Sableye. This certainly lends more weight to the recent datamine that suggests certain Gen 3 Pokemon would be added soon to the popular AR game. The image also features a Pikachu wearing a witch’s hat, which will likely only be available to catch during the Halloween event. You can see it below.

Sableye and Duskull also appear in an image that was unearthed by the aforementioned datamine, which features Gengar standing atop a spooky hill along with other Gen 3 Ghost Pokemon: Shuppet, Banette, and Dusclops. The image also shows a Trainer wearing a hat that resembles the Sun/Moon Ghost Pokemon Mimikyu. Additionally, sound files for all Pokemon species up to #386 (the Legendary Pokemon Deoxys) and Halloween music (including the Lavender Town theme) were found in the game.

This would mark the second Halloween event Niantic has run for Pokemon Go since the game first released in summer 2016. During last year’s event, spooky Pokemon like Gastly, Haunter, Drowzee, and others would spawn more frequently, and players got increased candy bonuses for every Pokemon they caught. You can see our roundup of all the games holding Halloween events this month.

A couple of other events are going on now in Pokemon Go. Until October 25, players can share the best AR photos they take in-game for a chance to win cool prizes. The Legendary dogs Entei, Raikou, and Suicune are also available in new regions through October 31.