Posted by: xSicKxBot - 06-23-2019, 08:14 AM - Forum: Lounge
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Halo: Reach PC Beta Starts Next Week
The first beta test for Halo: Reach on PC will begin next week, Halo developer 343 Industries has confirmed. It's not locked down, however, as plans could change. Still, next week is when the studio is looking to release the first beta test on PC.
"We're starting more modestly because we've got quite a few levers to pull and we want to ensure our delivery pipeline runs smoothly, our communications are clear, and that participants can properly provide their feedback on the build," 343 said in a blog post. "Since there are so many pieces and levers that need testing, verification, and appropriate approvals, we need to take our time to ensure we're sending out a quality flight to our Halo Insiders."
The development team is close to finalizing a version of Halo: Reach for PC for the beta, but it is still "going through the test process."
"We're still targeting to release next week and will be sharing the details with the public, so even if you aren't selected for the flight, you'll know what's happening. Stay tuned for more details throughout!" 343 says.
Halo: Reach was playable at E3 2019 in Los Angeles this week, but this first beta will mark the first time the wider public will have a chance to check it out.
Reach is coming to PC as part of Microsoft's plans to launch The Master Chief Collection on PC. The rest of the releases will follow in chronological order, spanning Halo: Combat Evolved, Halo 2, Halo 3, Halo 3: ODST, and Halo 4. Each game will be sold for $10 USD each, except for ODST which is $5 USD. The beta releases for each title are free.
Reach is also coming to Xbox One and it'll release on consoles through a beta test as well, though a release date has not been announced.
Insurgency: Sandstorm is a team-based, tactical FPS based on lethal close quarters combat and objective-oriented multiplayer gameplay. Experience the intensity of modern combat where skill is rewarded, and teamwork wins the fight.
If you already have Steam installed, click here to install or play Insurgency: Sandstorm. If you don’t have Steam, you can download it here.
E3 2019: Bleeding Edge is Four-on-Four Competitive Brawling Mayhem
Hellblade developers Ninja Theory brought their frantic new team-based brawler, Bleeding Edge, to E3. Bleeding Edge is a MOBA riff, a competitive four-on-four battle with frantic, fast-moving combat and ridiculously huge attack effects.
I played a few rounds of Bleeding Edge on the floor of at the Xbox E3 Showcase. Here are all the details.
Controlled Chaos
My first experience with Bleeding Edge was pure chaos. As two teams experienced the game for the first time, the match was a riot of clashing area attacks, rapid retreats and dashes towards checkpoints, with not enough attention paid to strategy by new players eager to try out all their attack options.
All of which is a good lesson because my next matches were different. Bleeding Edge looks like a colorful, casual game, and certainly can be played without deep commitment to character. But as you’d expect, real communication between teammates is rewarded. A point tally determines who wins, and points are earned from kills (of course) and control point possessions —and the score tallies can shift quickly as the battle moves around a map.
Coordinating control point assaults, not to mention tactical planning for the use of long-range attacks, is essential. Ten characters are divided between three major classes — heavy, support, and assassin — and each has multiple basic and passive abilities, three special attacks and an ultimate, with very little overlap between attacks. All that makes for a pretty wide array of gameplay options.
Mapping Out a Plan
The E3 demo map is fairly contained, with a few half-circle paths that connect to a central corridor dotted with three control points. A few elevated overlooks offer flanking positions, which are helpful for the support characters with ranged and trap attacks. That central corridor, however, is also a live train track, and maintaining a hold on a couple of the control points means standing on or near the track — which is bad news when a deadly train careens down the rails.
Each team spawns essentially on opposite sides of the map, with players riding hoverboards to cover long stretches of ground between spawn and control points. (You can jump on that hoverboard at any time, but it does not provide instant escape if you’re in a jam, as it takes a few seconds to spawn.)
Control points don’t all open at the same time. One will go live and become a battleground, then others go online in sequence. Partway through the match, all the points would shut down at once, forcing each team to reset its placement — and enabling a new scramble to control the first point to light up again. That kept all my matches moving at a fast clip.
Become a Real Witch
The characters in Bleeding Edge are even more over the top than what you’ll find in other modern team-based action games. There’s the witch, Maeve, inspired by Baba Yaga, who uses tricks like trapping opponents in cages. She’s an assassin character, as is Gizmo, a sneering redhead who builds explosives, places turrets, and can become a rough-hewn mech. The assassin Nidhoggr is an android or cyborg metalhead (a literal metalhead, basically) who wields his guitar as an actual axe, while the heavy Buttercup rides around on a single big wheel and likes to use saw blades against opponents.
With the single available map available at E3, I only got a taste of how all these characters and the rest of the roster can interact. The option to play an actual witch in a heavy-hitting brawler is reason enough to keep an eye on Bleeding Edge as it rolls towards release.
Bleeding Edge is coming to Xbox One and Windows 10 PCs, with a Technical Alpha set to open on June 27.
Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (June 22nd)
After another busy week full of Switch Mini suspicions and a Mario Kart Hot Wheels announcement of all things, it’s time for us to sit back and talk over our weekend plans. Members of the team have shared their entries below, and we’d love for you to get involved via our comment section and poll, too. Enjoy!
Ryan Craddock, staff writer
I have all sorts of stuff going on at home at the minute meaning my playtime is sadly limited, so I’m still working my way through GoldenEye 007 on N64. The end is in sight, though; I think I only have three or four mission parts to do so I need to be brave and take them head on this weekend.
Annoyingly, with so many amiibo releasing at the minute for the Smash Bros. line, I’m sadly restricted from a budget point of view, too. I’m determined to complete the Smash set (I’ve come this far!) so I’m having to put off the likes of Cadence of Hyrule, Crash Team Racing and Super Mario Maker 2. Some days I think buying all of these amiibo was foolish. Some days.
Liam Doolan, news reporter
Fortnite was beginning to take up too much space on my Switch, so I’ve decided to swap it out with the free version of Realm Royale, which has just been released.
When I’m not attempting to be the last player standing on the battlefield this weekend, I’ll either be speeding about in Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled or dancing to the rhythm of the beat in Cadence of Hyrule. I’m now up to the fourth champion (yes, I’ve taken the game slow), but most of my sessions have been in short bursts so far. I also find myself playing the game in handheld mode quite often, which is a bit of rarity for myself. Hopefully, I can power through the rest of it this weekend so I can focus on Super Mario Maker 2 next week.
Gavin Lane, staff writer
This weekend I’m planning to forfeit video games and catch up on some reading. I’ve been about a third of the way through John Szczepaniak’s The Untold History of Japanese Game Developers for at least six months and I’m determined to make a dent in it. It features interviews with developers, archivists and more, and everything I’ve read so far has been fascinating, even if I wasn’t overly familiar with the game(s) being discussed. So yes, reading on something that isn’t a screen! Well, it’s on a Kindle, but let’s not split hairs. Have a good one everybody.
Stephanie Woor, reviewer
Well, I did it – I launched headlong into Valkyria Chronicles 4, and Squad E are inevitably save-scumming their way deep in imperial territory. Yes, you really should “play your mistakes”, but when smooth progression and unlockable content is basically tied to your performance, you’re going to be endlessly repeating something.
There’s a lot to justifiably criticise in Valkyria Chronicles generally (they really should give the Shiba Inu more screentime) but even for all of its cribbing of real-world history and previous titles, it is still awash with creative ideas while having a feel distinct to other strategy RPGs.
Ollie Reynolds, reviewer
This weekend I’ll continue to plug away at The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. In comparison to my first playthrough where I basically binged the entire experience in as little time as possible, I’m really savouring every moment this time. It’s amazing what you can come across when you’re just exploring the land of Hyrule!
I’ve not made my mind up yet, but I may well pick up Crash Team Racing Nitro Fueled, time permitting. I had such fun with the original back in 1999 – CTR had an incredible boost mechanic that made it a joy to play!
Dom Reseigh-Lincoln, reviewer
This weekend I’m going to be scratching a very particular itch in the form of Blade II – The Return of Evil. Sadly this game doesn’t feature Wesley Snipes in any capacity, but it is a Diablo-esque dungeon crawler with (so I’m told) all the usual ingredients present and correct. So lots of monsters and a ton of loot then? Look out for my official verdict next week, right here on Nintendo Life.
I’ll also be dipping my toes back into the Wii U Call of Duty community. A seemingly final bastion of COD on Nintendo hardware. They might be small in number, but they’re not short on dedication.
My game of the week is unsurprisingly Rolling Gunner. The day you release a brand new ex-Cave employee’s developed manic shooter on the Switch and I don’t take notice, my time as a gamer has come to an end.
Zion Grassl, video producer
I recently picked up EarthBound on 3DS right before my trip out to LA! I’ve played it before on the Wii U’s Virtual Console, but unfortunately, I ended up putting it down for other things. However this time I won’t make the same mistake. I’ve got about 10 hours in so far, but I promise to stay dedicated!
I also started back up the original Banjo-Kazooie on N64 a few weeks ago. Surprisingly for how big of a Banjo fan I say I am, I’ve never actually finished the game. I occasionally have this problem where I’ll make it to the end of a game, but never finish it! So I’ve made my way once again to Click Clock Wood and will do my best to collect all the notes and Jiggies I can before tackling that green oaf Gruntilda. Wish me luck!
Which games are you playing this weekend? (35 votes)
GoldenEye 007
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Cadence of Hyrule: Crypt of the NecroDancer Featuring The Legend of Zelda
My Friend Pedro is a violent ballet about friendship, imagination, and one man’s struggle to obliterate anyone in his path at the behest of a sentient banana.
Posted by: xSicKxBot - 06-23-2019, 08:14 AM - Forum: Lounge
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Fall Eververse Changes
Hey everyone,
Like we did a few weeks ago on the Livestream, we’re going to continue to talk about how Destiny will continue to evolve this Fall and beyond. This update is about how we’re changing Eververse.
We’ve already made a number of changes to Eververse in Season of Opulence (we’ve redesigned the store, we’ve made Bright Engrams only include Year 1 gear—and have it bias heavily toward giving you items you haven’t unlocked in your Collections), and we’re going to make more changes to the economy, store, and armor in this fall’s patch.
Armor
It stinks to go to the Eververse store and see an item that looks cool and then seeing that the item has bad perks on it. In fact, when we’re setting up the armor, we’d twist ourselves up in knots to make sure the Eververse armor sets didn’t have good perks. We did this because we want the best way to get sweet perks on your armor to be by playing the game, not shopping for enhanced Hand Cannon loaders at Tess. The root cause (dating all the way back to Destiny 1) is that Eververse armor has always had perks/gameplay capability as a part of the package.
We’re done with that. As of this September, all Eververse armor is being converted into Universal Ornaments. These Universal Ornaments can be applied to all of the Legendary armor sets we’re releasing this Fall. They override the look of your equipped gear while preserving the perks, mods, and stats of the original item.
Any Eververse Armor you have acquired in your Collections will have its Universal Ornaments automatically unlocked for use on new Legendary armor. For example, if the song in your heart is to have your Titan roll with the 2018 Tin Man-esque Festival of the Lost Helmet, you can put it on any of the new Legendary armor coming to the game this fall.
Work in progress build.
Evolving Bright Dust
Historically, the best way to earn Bright Dust in Destiny 2 has been to buy a bunch of Bright Engrams, shard everything from the engrams, build a giant bankroll of Bright Dust and then spend it when the Warlock Dire Ahamkara helmet shows up the Bright Dust row in the last week of the season. We’re going to change this.
This Fall we’re changing Bright Dust from a pay- and/or play-to-earn currency to a play-to-earn reward. We’re adding Bright Dust as a reward for completing Vanguard, Crucible, and Gambit bounties. We want all players to earn Dust for playing, not for spending money and destroying a bunch of items in their inventory. After you complete all your bounties for the week, there will be an additional avenue to keep grinding out Bright Dust.
It’s also been pretty uncool to go to the Collection screen and spend Bright Dust to get shaders or Ghost Shells or whatever. We’re going to fix that too. Beginning September 17, Eververse items in your Collections will cost Glimmer and Legendary Shards. If you want to keep pulling out that Exotic Sparrow that looks like a motorcycle until you get the good Sparrow perk (Instant Summon), you can do that with Legendary Shards and Glimmer.
Changes to Dismantling Eververse Items
Lastly, because we are changing the cost of pulling things out of the Collections, Eververse items will no longer dismantle into Bright Dust. This Fall, Eververse items will dismantle into Legendary Shards and Glimmer.
However, that means right now the absolute best thing you can do with all the Eververse items you don’t use regularly—armor, Sparrows, shaders, Ghost Shells, transmat effects—is dismantle them. Sitting on a pile of Midnight Talons or Metro Shift from your Year 1 stockpiles? Shard ’em for Dust.
That’s right! Everything must go—dismantle the extra stuff you have in your inventory, build up a huge amount of Bright Dust, and spend it on sweet stuff as it rolls through the Eververse store—because on September 17, everything changes.
TL;DR recap for Twitter:
On September 17, 2019:
All Eververse armor (new and armor you’ve already acquired!) is being converted into Universal Ornaments
Universal Ornaments can be attached to any newly acquired Legendary armor
Bright Dust is going to come from doing bounties, not dismantling things you spent money on
Eververse items can now be pulled from your Collections with Glimmer/Legendary Shards instead of Bright Dust
Before September 17, 2019:
Dismantle all of your unused Eververse items to maximize your Bright Dust reserves
‘Harry Potter: Wizards Unite’ lands on iPhone in 25 more countries
By Malcolm Owen Saturday, June 22, 2019, 02:59 pm PT (05:59 pm ET)
Niantic and WB Games is expanding the availability of the wildly-popular ‘Harry Potter: Wizards Unite,” bringing the AR-based iOS game to 25 more countries around the world just one day after the title launched in just four major markets.
“Harry Potter: Wizards Unite” went live on Friday in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand, following a beta period in the latter two countries. Joining those four are another 25 countries, with players able to download the game from the App Store straight away.
The long-awaited launch in a limited number of countries is thought to be Niantic’s attempt to limit how many players are in the game at the start, so as to not strain its infrastructure. Niantic’s previous and similar title “Pokemon Go” rolled out at a far slower pace, with servers reaching capacity as the game went live in each region.
The latest countries to get the “Harry Potter” title are: Austria, Belgium, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Mexico, Norway, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Portugal, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland.
The official website advises the game will roll out to more countries “soon.”
“Harry Potter: Wizards Unite” puts players in the role of a protector of the secret wizarding world, tasked with covering up events of “The Calamity” from the non-magical “Muggles.” Similar in concept to “Pokemon Go,” players can walk around their local environment to collect items and to complete challenges, as well as to take part in multiplayer Wizarding Challenges.
Up till at least yesterday afternoon I was thinking this was going to be another fairly slow week in terms of new releases, and then everything seemed to happen all at once. It’s been more of a place-holder week in terms of content although it was nice getting an official ‘games like’ Auto Chess guide out the door – I know a lot of people have been wary of accidentally jumping on a clone. Revisiting our BoardGameGeek mobile list was also fun.
Next week we should have a few more reviews, as well as guide content on some of our newly arrived ‘Games of Interest’, but I will try and maintain a balance of posts for those of you who aren’t interested in AR or the latest fads.
Launching last night, Valve’s official take on the unofficial Auto Chess Mod for DOTA 2 game is, officially, available on iOS and Android. I’ve taken it out for a spin – it’s… ok? There’s a bit of a weirdness about it right now; because this is an official interpretation of the mod, and the official Auto Chess app is a whitewashed version of that mod to avoid IP conflicts. It means I feel like I’m in a strange dreamworld where I recognise everything, and yet nothing is actually the same.
It’s certainly a prettier looking app, although something about the pieces feels a bit lack-lustre in how they move and fight. It’s got some almost game-changing quality of life improvements over the main Auto Chess game, such as offline play, switching between PC and mobile, as well as some nice UI goodness that should really become the standard for games like this. I’m not a fan of you not being able to buy pieces and place them on the board – they have to go to your bench (which makes managing your bench numbers even more important). I’ve got someone looking into this over the weekend so we’ll have a deeper look at it next week.
Rome: Total War’s first expansion, originally released on PC back in 2004, was released onto iPads in April 2017, followed by iPhone only this year in May. Now it’s finally come to Android, so all you freedom fighters out there can enjoy bringing down one or both halves of the Roman Empire with your unwashed hordes. Or try and save Rome and restore it to its past glory (which from what I remember is really, really hard). Feral Interactive have a released a list of all the ‘officially’ supported devices. All of the Google Pixel Phones, Samsung Galaxy S7 and up, the Nokia 8 etc… so make sure you check to see if your device is supported.
Fox Factory (iOS & Android) – Full Review Coming Soon!
As my daughter grows older, I’m going to be more and more alert to what kinds of apps and games are out there that cater to children. And I’m just talking about ‘games’ – I do want to try and find some decent educational experiences as well. Me and my wife are basically in agreement about regulating screen-time, but I’m more optimistic about apps power to educate and entertain in the same way children’s books do.
Fox Factory caught me eye this week for exactly this reason – it’s a colourful puzzle game that’s designed to try and teach programming logic for kids aged 7 and upwards. It has parental controls, no IAPS or advertising, and doesn’t seem to be too geared towards making ‘success’ too important for the enjoyment of the app. I’ll get someone on this ASAP to do a full review and we’ll see if it lives up to its promises.
Launching ahead of time yesterday evening, Niantic’s latest foray into location-based AR gameplay is now available to anyone living in the UK and the US, with further roll-outs planned over the coming weeks. If you ever played Pokémon GO when it first came out, you’ll recognise the basic gameplay loop. By walking around your local area, you’ll find encounters where you can draw on your screen to cast spells, and then key locations in your area will have been turned into either Inns, Greenhouses or Fortresses for you to interact with.
Niantic have tried to provide a better grounding of stuff to do for Wizard’s Unites initial release – the spread of locations seems a lot better (Pokémon Go did not like the Medway towns), and there’s more activities to do at home such as potion brewing and making a wicked selfie. The story is a bit clumsy, if I’m honest, but it’s still got that magical pull of getting you outside to have a bit of fun in news ways. Fair warning – there are micro-transactions and an energy metre that limits what you can get done in a single session.
You can buy premium currency and cosmetic items, as well as in-game items that will help speed up some of the various processes in the game. This is purely co-operative for the moment, so it’s not ‘Pay-to-Win’ but players can buy themselves an advantage. We’ll be looking into this one more over the coming weeks.
And the rest…
Other games that caught our eye this week include Olimdalon iOS, a challenging based movement puzzle where everything in the room moves when you do, and Serial Cleaner!, which seems to be a stealth/puzzle-y based on you being a clean-up guy who needs to go find bodies and clean up rooms without getting caught. It’s not as good as it could be though, by all accounts.
If you’re a fan of the ‘Farming & Village Life’ Simulator, you’ll have been treated to three smaller updates over the past week. V1.31 and V1.32 improved support for gamepads and did a round of bug fixes, where as V1.33 fixed a bug with gamepads and chests. Now you can control almost all of the game functions and menus with a controller instead of the touch interface, if that’s more your speed.
I should probably just create a template for this article that has a Star Traders entry permanently carved in stone or something. The Trese Brothers have updated Frontiers yet again, adding in new talents for the Doctor and the Zealot, as well as tweaking mission/contract generation and some rules around boarding talents.
Sales
Nothing actually worth shouting about this week, unless you’ve been eyeing up Noch mal!’s digital port. It’s a dollar cheaper than it usually is. Otherwise save your money and we’ll see what crops up next week.
Seen anything else you liked? Played any of the above? Let us know in the comments!
Posted by: xSicKxBot - 06-23-2019, 01:41 AM - Forum: Lounge
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New Stranger Things 3 Trailer Teases An Action-Packed Season
Stranger Things has come a long way since it initially premiered back in 2016, and that's never been more clear than in the new trailer for Season 3 that Netflix released today. A lot has happened to Eleven and her friends, and it seems Season 3 will see the gang fighting against the most dangerous and menacing threat so far.
The new Season 3 trailer, which Netflix says is the final one, is riddled with spoilers about previous events, so steer clear if you're not caught up.
Season 3 is set in Hawkins, Indiana in the summer of 1985--and yes, elements of the period such as New Coke will appear. In addition to the evil alien threat they're facing, Eleven and company are learning more about one another. Here is the official description for Season 3:
"School's out, there’s a brand new mall in town, and the Hawkins crew are on the cusp of adulthood. Romance blossoms and complicates the group's dynamic, and they'll have to figure out how to grow up without growing apart. Meanwhile, danger looms. When the town’s threatened by enemies old and new, Eleven and her friends are reminded that evil never ends; it evolves. Now they'll have to band together to survive, and remember that friendship is always stronger than fear."
Stranger Things Season 3 premieres July 4 on Netflix. All of the main cast return for Season 3, along with Princess Bride star Cary Elwes who plays the sleazy politician Mayor Kline. There's also the offspring of some '80s stars; Jake Busey, son of Point Break star Gary Busey, will play a journalist named Bruce, while Maya Thurman-Hawke (daughter of Uma and Ethan) is set to play a character named Robin.
