Destiny has been around since 2014 and over the years it has built up… well, a lot of just stuff to know. This includes weapons, armor, lore, story, quests, enemies, friends, people, etc. There’s just a lot going on in the world of Destiny.

Why not test your knowledge with a spot of trivia? Let’s see how much you can actually remember across both Destiny games. We’ll go over a grab bag of topics including lore, story, character information, and more.

Go ahead and see how you do!

And if you enjoyed this quiz, we have a bunch more for you right here.

Co-developer Raven Software will deploy a new update for Call of Duty: Warzone on PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S soon that re-enables the recently removed XP tokens players were saving up. The patch notes are outlined below.

All XP tokens earned prior to the start of Season 1 are now usable in both Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and Warzone. However, any tokens acquired during Season 1 and beyond will only work in Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War and Warzone. From this point forward, XP tokens--which are used to help players level up faster--can't be used in Modern Warfare's multiplayer.

Players were saving their XP tokens to level up the Black Ops Cold War weapons that just hit Warzone. This includes the Groza Assault Rifle and Mac-10 submachine gun.

A masterpiece, 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim got lost among the new video game consoles

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There’s nothing quite like an anniversary announcement to remind you just how old gaming is, and 40 years? Astonishing. For this special 40th anniversary of the beloved Pac-Man, Bandai Namco Entertainment has partnered up with the NBA (National Basketball Association) to celebrate four decades of the ghost muncher.

Watch Dogs: Legion has been receiving regular updates with bug fixes and quality-of-life features, but with that work done Ubisoft says it's looking ahead to the next big thing: multiplayer. The online mode is expected to release with a title update in early 2021.

In a State of the Game update, Ubisoft says that future updates will continue to issue fixes and improvements, but most title updates from here on will include new content. The company says it wanted to focus on fixing some remaining player issues before shifting resources, and now it feels is the time to make that shift. This is the first we've heard of the multiplayer mode since it was delayed in service of prioritizing bug fixes.

When it launches, the online mode will allow up to four players to roam the open-world London and take on missions together. The multiplayer options will also include the first Tactical Op and a new PvP mode, Spiderbot Arena. The blog also promises it's looking into more game modes and surprises, and it will be detailing those along with the Season Pass story content next year.

This week on GameSpot After Dark, the crew discusses their personal top 5 games of 2020. (Last year we did our personal top 10 lists, and that took about a thousand hours, so we narrowed it down for you this year.) Jake, Lucy, Tamoor, and Kallie wax poetic about such games as Persona 5 Royal, Yakuza: Like a Dragon, Hades, and more that I won't spoil for you in this intro paragraph.

This is all preceded by a rather somber discussion about the complexities of Cyberpunk 2077's launch, including the game's notably poor performance on base PS4 and Xbox One hardware. The After Dark crew gets a little bit sad thinking about people who are sad about all this.

Also, do you know what a "teaboo" is? No? Well, we have good news--you'll only have to wait about five seconds before we start explaining that one. Jolly good show!

CD Projekt Red states it has started reaching out to players who applied for refunds of Cyberpunk 2077. The game launched as a technical mess on consoles, specifically the base versions of the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, causing many disgruntled players to want their money back.

The studio tweeted the following update:

As I’m sure most have gathered by now, it’s been a challenging week for Cyberpunk 2077. The techy RPG launched with quite a lot of bugs for PC players, prompting both players and investors to pepper CD Projekt Red with questions about how the game wound up launching in this state and what their plans for the future would be. Even the staff themselves have questions, according to a new report about a company meeting in which developers confronted the studio’s board about the conditions under which the game was developed and launched.

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The weekend is upon us, which means we will have lots of free time to enjoy relaxing and looking at some hilarious content. We’ve got plenty of anime memes to celebrate that fact, including plenty of Attack on Titan and even JuJutsu Kaisen. Be sure to check them all out below.

The one and only Master Chief came to Fortnite after a surprise reveal at The Game Awards earlier this month. Lobbies were filled with Spartans almost immediately, but the real star of the show wasn't him--it was his Warthog. People love that little engine that could.

"I might not have had the v-bucks to get Master Chief," said Redditor TheRealCourtNut in a thread about the new emote. "But hell yes did I buy this skin and amused the hell out of myself with it last night."

Just like Kratos before him, Master Chief came to the item shop with a back bling, glider, harvesting tool, and an emote. The emote, which can be purchased separately and used on other characters, shows the character riding around on a mini-Warthog. Master Chief may be the hot skin right now, but every pre-game lobby is packed with tiny Warthogs scooting around in circles. And yes, they are Warthogs despite being more the size of the Mongoose vehicle also found in nearly every Halo game.

Genshin Impact's Xinyan has it rough, but don't overlook this rock star!

The post Genshin Impact’s Xinyan Is Easy to Overlook appeared first on Siliconera.

Red Dead Online players have requested many new features since the game’s launch, but one of the aspects of the game that players wanted to see expanded and improved upon, more than any other, is the Frontier Pursuit (also known as Roles) system, a component of the game that has a wealth of untapped potential.

For all of the freedom that Red Dead Online offers in terms of exploring and interacting with the world, there’s the sense that even more can be done to fully blend the experiences provided to each player through their role.

Activities provided to players in each role are largely solitary, and when they do intersect, it feels like it’s only scratching the surface of what could be done with this feature.

Fortunately, Rockstar seems to be addressing this area of Red Dead Online. They’ve recently released an update for the Bounty Hunter Role, one of the first roles introduced to the game and one which has been behind newer roles in terms of content offered.

After taking some time to check it out, it’s safe to say that it’s a big step toward building on what makes Red Dead Online special and, hopefully, could serve as a framework for how to develop the game’s other roles.

You don't need to spend $60 or $70 to get a great game, and quite often it's not even required to spend any money at all. It wouldn't be much of an exaggeration to suggest that free-to-play games dominate the industry, with staples like Fortnite: Battle Royale and Call of Duty: Warzone among the most-played games today. And when you're looking for a new single-player game, it's easy to find riveting and stellar indies for low prices.

GameSpot's Free/Cheap category spotlights 11 games that truly emphasize the fact that some of the best releases don't have conventional price tags. As you'll see, this is an eclectic mix of games, from wildly popular free-to-play multiplayer games to affecting narrative-focused independent games.

For the purpose of this list, we've defined cheap as $15 and under. Of course, free-to-play games feature microtransactions, so you could wind up spending quite a bit more, but you don't have to with the games we've highlighted. While most of the games on this list released in 2020, you'll notice that a few are existing live service games, each of which continued to make big strides forward throughout the year.

Ori and the Will of the Wisps has some of the best setpieces we’ve ever played. Unlike the Uncharted or Spider-Man games, where bombastic sequences are basically cutscenes with a few button prompts, Ori never takes you out of the moment, no matter how intense. The game always wants you in control of the action. 

Control is what makes this game special. A precise 2D platformer lives and dies by how responsive it feels, and Ori rarely drops the ball in this regard. Exploring its beautiful world, mastering its obstacles, and marveling at its numerous setpieces and boss fights, Ori has some of the tightest gameplay we’ve ever experienced. It’s a game you never want to tear yourself away from; you want to see the next part of the world and best the challenges it contains, all while remaining fully in control of what is happening on screen – whether you’re succeeding or failing. 

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Nintendo is slowly but surely filling up the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate roster with video game characters from all over. The second round of the Fighters Pass kicked off earlier this year with Min Min from ARMS, and then we got Minecraft Steve, and now we have Sephiroth.

The devilishly handsome villain from Final Fantasy VII joins the cast of characters with a moveset that is wildly unique but also doesn’t stray far from the typical Smash Bros. fighter.

Both Min Min and Steve came with a certain type of moveset that one could call a sort of “gimmick.” Min Min had her pair of long, extendable arms that could be switched out with a button press and Steve brought the pixelated world of Minecraft with him, allowing him to craft swords and build blocks.

These DLC characters recently have had some wild movesets and mechanics, but Sephiroth is a bit different. He doesn’t have a “gimmick” per se, as he fights with pretty normal moves. With that being said, he still has some tricks up his sleeve that we’ve never seen before in Super Smash Bros., making this fighter a very enjoyable character to play as.

One of his standout moves that I love using is the neutral special, which is called Flare. But this move can transform into two other moves, depending on how long you hold the special for.

The first one is a quick burst of flame that can deal a good chunk of damage, and then the second one is a much faster orb that explodes on impact and has much farther reach, and that’s called Megaflare. And the final one, Gigaflare, takes a few seconds to charge up, but if you can successfully hit someone, it does massive damage and is very capable of killing at low percentages.

Cyberpunk 2077 has gone through a few tumultuous weeks since launch, with current-gen console players decrying the amount of bugs, clipping, frame rate issues, and full-on crashes. Dissatisfied with the gameplay experience, some players asked for refunds. CD Projekt Red--as well as retail and online stores--is responding and making its refund policies known.

CD Projekt Red's latest statement addresses retail purchases. The company explicitly comments that their intention is for "every owner of a physical copy, or a digital copy bought at retail, who has valid proof of purchase, to receive a refund." Notably, CD Projekt Red states it will refund players out of its own pocket if necessary. Players have until December 21, 2020 to request refund help from CD Projekt Red.

Retail stores are clarifying and modifying policies around game software returns for Cyberpunk 2077, as well. Best Buy will officially refund Cyberpunk 2077 console edition purchases from now until December 21, 2020, in line with CD Projekt Red's own deadline. Previously, per its return policy, Best Buy did not refund opened game software. It will return to that policy after December 21.

CD Projekt Red now says that it intends for "every owner of a physical copy, or a digital copy bought at retail" to receive a refund for their purchase of Cyberpunk 2077. ...

Cyberpunk 2077 developer CD Projekt Red says it intends to refund players out of the company’s own pocket if they can’t get refunds from other stores.

In a tweet posted Friday morning, CD Projekt Red updated its initial post about Cyberpunk 2077 refunds, stating that their “intention is for every owner of a physical copy, or a digital copy bought at retail, who has valid proof of purchase (and sends us an email at helpmerefund@cdprojektred.com within the time window) to receive a refund. We will do this out of our own pocket if necessary.”

CD Projekt Red also stated it is asking players who can’t get a refund from the store they bought it from to email CDPR by December 21.

CDPR said that the company will provide next steps for people requesting refunds after the request submission window closes. CDPR reiterated that digital versions of Cyberpunk 2077 will still need to be refunded through their respective platforms.

If you’re unsatisfied with your copy of Cyberpunk 2077, here’s how to request a refund on PS4 and Xbox. Xbox recently expanded its refund policy to allow for Cyberpunk 2077 returns.

[ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/12/18/sony-pulls-cyberpunk-2077-from-ps-store-will-offer-refunds"]

Big box joins Microsoft and Sony in the money-back parade

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Fortnite's holiday event has frozen some of the battle royale map while giving players new challenges to complete. Operation Snowdown has a number of special rewards you can earn within the next two weeks--here's a guide on how to handle one of the most challenging ones.

The challenge tasks players with visiting Snowmando Outposts across the Fortnite map. Yes, that is literally all there is to it! There are five in all. This guide will show you the quickest way to get to them.

Where Are All The Snowmando Outposts?

The Snowmando Outposts are scattered throughout the map. One can be currently found in the new section of the map that's been snowed in, while the other four are in old locations. All you'll need to do is land at them for a brief second to complete each section of the quest. Here's a map with specific locations. With the map, you can quickly hit them all.

Cyberpunk 2077 developer CD Projekt RED provided an update about refund requests for physical retail copies of the game.

The developer advises that they will respond to mail sent at this address requesting a refund in waves. Information about the next step will come after Dec. 21, which is also the deadline to send in your request.

On top of that, CD Projekt mentions that the intention is to provide refunds to everyone who requests it, even if they have to foot the bill directly if necessary.

You can check out the full announcement below.

For digital purchases, both Sony and Microsoft have committed to providing full refunds, with only PlayStation going one step beyond and delisting the game entirely from the store.

Cyberpunk 2077 is a disaster that the executives at CD Projekt knew full well was going to crash and burn. That said, one of its numerous bugs has the benefit of giving players what they’ve asked for since the game’s long-ago 2012 reveal: a third-person mode.

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Among the new additions to Call of Duty: Warzone which have arrived as part of its integration with Black Ops Cold War is a new map. But this isn't a full-scale map on par with Verdansk. Instead, it's a compact, densely populated island about the size of two of Verdansk's named locations. Matches are quick and packed with fights--providing a nice change of pace from the sprawling landscapes that players have become accustomed to with Warzone's main map.

The fact that Rebirth Island feels so good shows that Warzone is in need of something new for its standard mode and map. Many players wish Rebirth Island were added to Verdansk as a new location alongside its current placement as a special mode for three-person squads. They're frustrated that this has been one of few major changes to the game in its first year, and it's not even an original area. It's taken directly from Black Ops 4's battle royale mode, Blackout.

An English release and sequel are currently in the works, but no release date has been revealed.

The post Bustafellows English Release and Sequel Announced appeared first on Siliconera.

Top Pick: Zvox Dialogue Clarifying Sound Bar | $200

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It him

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It’s a stronger, tighter story — even with the characters scattered

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Staff at CD Projekt Red are asking upper management and publisher CD Projekt SA questions about why Cyberpunk 2077 released in such a poor state, according to a Bloomberg report.

During an internal meeting this week, CD Projekt Red developers posed blunt and pointed questions to the board of directors about the company's reputation, Cyberpunk 2077's unrealistic deadlines, and the mandatory crunch and numerous delays before its release.

Some staff asked why the board marketed that the game was "complete and playable" earlier this year when that evidently wasn't true. Other CD Projekt Red employees thought it ironic that the developer was making a game about corporate exploitation while imposing crunch periods. When asked specifically about crunch during this week's staff meeting, the board said that plans to improve production are set to be implemented in the future, but there was no clarification on what that meant. The other questions were either dodged or given vague answers.

The Cyberpunk 2077 launch was one of the most anticipated launches in recent years, making its post-release hardships all of the more shocking. From mismarketing to veiled review restrictions, even game-breaking bugs to the extent where many felt last-gen version of the open-world game was something else entirely, it's been a tumultuous week for the Polish company. Following a public conference call that revealed more information about how little care went into the pre-launch prep, especially for last-gen versions, the atmosphere surrounding this game has been rife with tension and it looks like it's the same way internally, as well. 

In a recent report from Bloomberg, an internal video meeting took place on Thursday addressing the ongoing situation, the same day that Sony delisted the game from its platforms entirely. It was during this meeting that a "frustrated and angry staff" went directly to the board following another apology from management and, according to the report, many of the staff were met with vague responses. 

The teenage version of Tifa is apparently ready to fight machines in this NieR: Automata mod. It makes A2 look a young Tifa.

The post NieR: Automata Mod Turns A2 into FFVII Remake’s Teenage Version of Tifa appeared first on Siliconera.

In today's contest, you can win cellphone-based thriller Replica for Nintendo Switch!

Everyone just stares at their phones these days -- it's nuts. Go to a restaurant, and like 90% of the people will be scrolling through apps instead of talking to one another.

Now, simulate real life on your Switch! Replica is a phone-based thriller where you have to solve a case using only clues from a cellphone. Neat! Win a Switch copy so you can check it out for yourself.

Hivebusters is a new single-player DLC campaign released for Gears 5. It’s also one of the best-looking games on Xbox Series X and feels like a full Gears game compressed into a bite-size experience that has me excited for the future of Gears of War. 

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If you're looking for something to do over the weekend, then Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War has your back. The first-person shooter's multiplayer is now free until December 24. This will include a selection of playlists on all 18 of the game's maps--including the fan-favourite Nuketown. The free access week is available on all platforms: PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and PC.

From now until December 21, players will have access to Team Deathmatch, Domination, 2v2 Gunfight, the Nuketown Holiday 24/7 playlist, and the Raid the Mall playlist. Starting December 21, players will gain access to Prop Hunt, Combined Arms Hardpoint, and Fireteam Dirty Bomb in addition to the aforementioned modes and playlists.

Before 2008, Valve was already known as one of the premier studios for creating engaging and masterful first-person shooting experiences with titles such as Half-Life, Counter-Strike, and Portal. But then the company did what the great ones always seem to do: they continued to build their legacy by creating one of the best zombie co-op shooters of all time in the original Left 4 Dead. 

The concept was simple. Take the best tropes from undead classics such as Dawn of the Dead and 28 Days Later and merge them with Valve's penchant for creating immersive worlds and incredibly engaging moment-to-moment gameplay. The result was a mix of intense final standoffs and surprisingly funny character moments that players (including myself) spent hundreds of hours delighting in.

Today, we're reminding you why Left 4 Dead became a phenomenon and spawned a whole sub-genre of games. I've assembled one of the best zombie-slaying teams at Game Informer to take on the unrelenting waves of Boomers, Witches, and whatever else the game can throw at us. So join Andrew Reiner, Liana Ruppert, Kim Wallace, and me for all the fun on today's episode of Replay.

After a couple of delays following the release of the Beyond Light expansion, Destiny 2's toughest multiplayer challenge, the Trials of Osiris, returns to the game this weekend. Along with it comes the opportunity to earn new Adept weapons and mods, making Trials the only place to earn some of the best gear in the game--especially if you can manage to go Flawless.

Each week, the map that Trials matches are played on changes, as do the gear rewards you can earn for notching wins in the tournament. Here's a rundown of where you'll play this week's Trials matches and what you can get:

Trials of Osiris Map And Rewards (December 18-22)

• Map: Bannerfall
• 3 wins -- Hunter, Warlock, or Titan Chest Piece: Vest, Robe, or Plate of the Exile
• 5 wins -- Exile’s Curse, Arc fusion rifle
• 7 wins -- Eye of Sol, Kinetic sniper rifle Flawless run -- The Summoner (Adept), Solar auto rifle
  • Adept Mod: Targeting

If you're unfamiliar with the Trials of Osiris, it puts you into some of the Crucible's most challenging battles. The goal is to win seven battles against other players without losing any, earning what's known as a "Flawless" run. That gets you a trip to the Lighthouse, a special Trials social space, where you earn special rewards and recognition. In the Beyond Light expansion, opening the Flawless chest earns you an "Adept" weapon, which comes with extra stat boosts unavailable on any other guns in the game, as well as powerful Adept mods.

Yes, your game will still work

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The annual Destiny 2 winter/Christmas holiday event, The Dawning, is back for 2020, bringing holiday cheer to the solar system. The Dawning runs until the weekly reset on Tuesday, January 4, requiring you to bake lots of treats to unlock special Dawning rewards. The key component of the event is Eva's Holiday Oven 2.0, an item that lets you bake cookies using recipes you'll discover as you combine ingredients earned throughout the solar system. While some characters are gone this year, five new ones have been added with the Beyond Light expansion, and with them come new treat recipes to discover.

The treats you make are handed over to Destiny's various NPCs--including some you might not expect, such as Last Wish raid boss Riven--to complete bounties and quests, earning you various rewards. Because you won't want to waste any ingredients you've gathered, we've put together a full list of all Dawning recipes, as well as a list of ways to acquire the items you'll need. To kick off all the Dawning festivities, visit Eva Levante in the tower to pick up your Holiday Oven and get a quick rundown of how to use it.

If you want to do a lot of baking, it'll require some grinding. You'll earn ingredients in a variety of ways, but they almost all involve killing enemies--what you obtain will depend on the enemy type (eg, kill Vex to get Vex Milk) or what you use to kill them (Personal Touch comes from melee kills, Sharp Flavor from sword kills, and so on). No matter what you're baking, you'll also need 15 Essence of Dawning for each recipe; this drops to 10 once you masterwork the oven by baking (and thus discovering) each available recipe.

Pick up one armor piece, two weapons, and Destiny 2’s first Adept weapon

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Microsoft is offering full refunds to those that bought Cyberpunk 2077 digitally but doesn't currently plan to delist the infamously buggy console game. ...