December 2020

Empire of Sin, the new turn-based strategy RPG set in the prohibition era from Romero Games and Paradox Interactive, is out now.

The game is available for purchase on PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC for $40 USD / £35 / €50. You can check out the launch trailer below.

Empire of Sin is set in the 1920s, with a story that focuses on organized crime. Players must "hustle, charm, and intimidate" their way to the top.

Pokemon Sword/Shield introduced a new mythical Pokemon, Zarude, earlier this year, with distribution set to commence this month in Europe. Now, you can easily claim Zarude through GameStop Germany for free--regardless of your region.

PokeJungle has noted that Zarude is now being distributed through the store's website, and getting a code is straightforward. We've tested it in Australia with a local digital copy of Pokemon Shield, and now have a Zarude in our box.

All you need to do is head to this link, enter your email address, and tick the top two boxes. Within moments, an email will arrive with a code. Once you have a code, go to "Mystery Gift" in the game menu, then select "Get A Mystery Gift" and "Get with Code/Password". Enter the code there to claim the Pokemon.

Call of Duty: Warzone looks set to expand soon with the addition of Rebirth Island.

As image doing the rounds within the Call of Duty datamining community shows the logos for Warzone and Rebirth Island on top of an aerial shot of the island itself.

In its roadmap for Warzone published last month, Activision teased a "classified Warzone experience" set to launch when Season 1 of Call of Duty: Black Ops - and its integration with Warzone - begins on 10th December.

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Worms Rumble reimagines the turn-based classic as a real-time arena shooter. It's arcadey and colourful and extremely brisk. I would love to tell you that this is the definitive Worms Battle Royale, but so far Last Worm Standing is actually my least favourite of the three modes on offer. Nonetheless I guess that's the pitch.

It's 32 players blasting each other to pieces in surprisingly expansive 2D environments with lots of architectural complexity to balance the fact that there are so many people packed in there together. There are shopping malls and underground stations with working trains. There are vents and elevators and secret areas, which are covered to the player until you head inside yourself - which could mean a nasty surprise. You spawn with one of a handful of weapons but there are plenty of others scattered around. This is Worms so there are rifles and shotguns, but also bazookas and the infamous Holy Hand Grenade. The baseball bat is there for melee.

Death Match is where it's at if you ask me: a clock ticks down while you die and respawn and die again, grabbing gear from moment to moment, maintaining the perfect two-weapon loadout, and finishing off as many other worms as you can. The weapons are extremely unbalanced - basically give me a bazooka and I'm a king for the next thirty seconds, and thirty seconds is a long time in this game - but this is a comedy affair as much as a precision shooter. It is hard not to have fun even when things can feel a little scrappy. There are in-game events, but as far as I've seen nobody really pays them too much attention. The trick is to keep moving, using the roll to get out of trouble - and using it in concert with the shotgun to pull off the old Gears multiplayer dance-and-blast number.

Some call it a hoax. Others say it’s no worse than the common cold. But make no mistake: the covid-19 pandemic is very, very real. If you don’t believe the mountain of scientific literature, the army of medical professionals, the frontline reporting from countless reputable sources, the firsthand accounts, the…

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There’s a moment at the beginning of Immortals Fenyx Rising, the new open-world adventure from the developers of Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, where it feels like newly-forged hero Fenyx is going to go full-on assassin. She climbs a massive stature, surveys the land, and then prepares to leap gracefully to the ground. She…

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Apple’s new MacBooks and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate lead Wednesday’s best deals.

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Based on what we know about biggo sci-fi RPG Cyberpunk 2077 so far, you could likely spend a couple hours just sitting around in character creation or wandering the city streets. While you’re out there getting lost like a tourist in the giant, neon city, might as well stop for a photo or two as proper tourists do, right? CD PRojekt Red have published a new video today showing off the many features of the game’s photo mode including some quite familiar poses, another way to likely lose a few hours in Night City.

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Alright, let me get this straight. Last night, Fortnite was eaten by Marvel villain Galactus, but Iron Man swooped in and put you in a battle bus rigged with explosives so he’d blow up in the process. The Fortnite island exploded as well, but has now magically come back to life, and everyone and his mum is a bounty hunter?

It’s been so long since I’ve played this game. But you know what? Fortnite Season 5 sounds like a party. It added everyone’s favourite bounty-hunting duo, Mando and Baby Yoda, and made a load of changes to its map and lore to boot.

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Xbox Game Pass for PC continues to collect some absolute belters, with the likes of Doom Eternal, Va-11 Hall-A, Yes, Your Grace and Call Of The Sea headlining its new additions this month.

There’s loads more coming throughout December, too. Looking down the list we’ve got Greedfall, Unto The End and Yooka-Laylee And The Impossible Lair. Genuinely, if you’ve been looking for a good time to try out the Game Pass for its cheapo £1 / $1 first month deal, I think now might be your chance.

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British animation studio Aardman has joined forces with Bandai Namco Entertainment Europe to develop a brand new game franchise. ...

Dauntless developer Phoenix Labs has established two new studios in Montreal and Los Angeles to help facilitate growth. ...

It’s already December 3 in Japan, which means that it’s release day for Gust’s new JRPG Atelier Ryza 2: Lost Legends & the Secret Fairy.

Of course, Koei Tecmo and Gust are celebrating, alongside character designer Toridamono, who certainly played a large role in the original game’s success.

They published two lovely pieces of artwork celebrating the launch, focusing on Ryza herself and the mysterious floating mascot Fi.

You can see both below.

Today CD Projekt RED published an interesting message on Cyberpunk 2077’s Twitter teasing something likely called “Cybernight.”

The message includes a message from the female version of the game’s protagonist V, teasing “a fresh job coming up” that “seems like it’s going to be big.” She also promises details “soon.”

The tweet includes the hashtag “Cybernight.”

At the moment, we don’t have further intel, but my money is on some sort of launch event, considering that we’re just a few days off.

You can listen below.

Dauntless has always been a solid multiplayer RPG experience, and a string of post-launch support has seen the title go from the strength to strength over the past 18 months. But it’s about to get even better for those with next-generation PS5 and Xbox Series X/S hardware with the launch of Dauntless Reforged this week.

The improved version includes new Hunting Grounds, a complete rework of the game’s progression systems, and various new island events. Today, a new trailer showcases a look at what’s to come for Dauntless players from tomorrow, Dec. 3.

Dauntless is, of course, the free-to-play action-RPG from developer Phoenix Labs, which is heavily inspired by Capcom’s popular Monster Hunter franchise. It similarly tasks players with teaming up in groups to slay giant monsters as they work toward upgrading their character’s abilities and gear. The game launched in May of 2019 to a decent critical reception.

Twinfinite reviewed the original version of Dauntless last year and thoroughly enjoyed it, scoring the game 4/5 and concluding:

Capcom is set to release the next mainline Monster Hunter title exclusively on the Nintendo Switch in March of 2021, titled Monster Hunter Rise. Thanks to a new developer Q&A with Capcom courtesy of Gaijin Hunter on YouTube, we’ve learned a couple of new details that are sure to be exciting for the hardcore fans out there.

One of the first questions that Gaijin asked the Monster Hunter Rise devs is whether or not there would be global matchmaking, which would allow for Japanese players to team up with players in the west.

Capcom confirmed that the matchmaking will be done similarly to Monster Hunter: World and its expansion, Iceborne. So yes, players from all over the world will be able to squad up, no matter the location.

There have been past Monster Hunter titles such as Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate that did not support global matchmaking, so it’s neat to see Capcom treating this entry with as much support as any other mainline title, even if it’s a Switch exclusive.

Another interesting tidbit of information that came out of the interview is the confirmation that there will be a pause button for offline quests. Monster Hunter: World and Iceborne did not allow any sort of pausing, whether you’re playing a quest single-player or online.

This is great to see as it can be frustrating when you need to stop playing for a minute, and the quest clock would continue to run, which can cause a quest failure or even death.

And for those that disliked the Mantle system from World/Iceborne, the devs confirmed that they will not be making a return in Monster Hunter Rise. There could be a chance that they can come back in a future entry, but for now, the team is leaving them out.

It's a huge week for Ubisoft's Rainbow Six Siege. Not only is new season Operation Neon Dawn now live in-game, but the intense multiplayer shooter is now available for download on PS5 and Xbox Series X, launching a brand new generation of door-kickin', smoke-poppin', hostage fuzin' action.

Operation Neon Dawn brings with it Team Rainbow's first prosthetic-wearing operator: Thailand's Apha Tawanroong, better known by her call-sign "Aruni." The 2-Speed 2-Armor Defender brings the high-tech Surya Gate to the battlefield, an intelligent laser fence that attaches to doors and windows, destroying enemy projectiles and providing more than a slight burn to any Attackers crossing its threshold. Aruni will be the only operator added to the roster this season, allowing the development team time to focus on tweaking Siege's core mechanics.

You really got to give it to 343 Industries and their support of the Halo: Master Chief Collection.

It's still a marquee title for the Xbox brand in that it basically collects every Halo game ever made in one place: and it's still lively to the point where I can jump in near-weekly and get into a game quickly. Given how convenient the whole launcher system is, it makes it easy to sift around and dive into whatever sort of experience you want at any given time.

That's in part due to the continued development of the game, which has spread to the PC platform as Microsoft sticks to their plan to expand their ecosystem beyond the Xbox family. Halo 4 is on PC now, in fact, with multiplayer cross-play, an enhanced Forge system, and all of the enhancements from the Series X/S. But what about going back and reworking older games? Well, that's tricky.

Answering a player question on their official November update blog about adding four player co-op to Halo 1 and 2, Community Support & Engagement Coordinator "Postums" noted that although the team "loves" the idea, it's "further down the list" in terms of priorities. Postums hints that although it can be done, there are more important tasks to get to, like updating co-op netcode or "bringing lost content to the [older] games," or other "global updates."

Postums says that 343 actually hopes that players mod the game to make this possible on PC, and thinks the modding community will be "where the game lives on" after it sunsets eventually. Another 343 developer explains that the game would have to be "solved and debugged" first, as two player co-op is hard-coded in.

Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon & the Blade Of Light is coming out on Switch on December 4. That's good!

It's also going away forever on March 31, 2020. That's bad!

I know I've been using that Simpsons bit a lot, but hey, I'm rewatching the entire series (I'm on season 18, and keeping current with season 32!). Plus, it's extra applicable to this particular situation.

Sukeban Games has announced that N1RV Ann-A, the highly anticipated follow-up to cult classic VA-11 Hall-A, will not meet its previously announced 2020 release date, and has been rescheduled to the vague release window of "when it's done."

The popular indie developer announced that it intends to focus on the promotion of some of its other upcoming projects, though Sukeban reassured fans that production on the cyberpunk sequel would not falter as a result of this, merely that the marketing around N1RV Ann-A would be a little more subdued for the foreseeable future.

N1RV Ann-A writer Fernando Damas also explained the events that have led to the delay, candidly revealing problems with project direction and work scheduling, requiring a recent reboot of the team's production methods. A more detailed explanation of these hurdles is available over on the official Sukeban Games website. For the most part, it seems that N1RV Anna-A's production remains steadfast, we're just going to have to wait a little longer before we return to the neon-soaked nights of 207X.

Saito Masatsugu, character artist for Xenoblade Chronicles 2, did an amazing job at bringing that cast to life. While the Xenoblade series is typically full of memorable party members, there was something special about Rex and Pyra/Mythra.

Masatsugu thinks so too, as they are celebrating the third anniversary of Xenoblade Chronicles 2 with a new piece of art starring the latter pair. As a reminder, the sequel came out on December 1, 2017: which is still hard to believe. That's mostly because the DLC expansion arrived nearly a year later, so the game is still fresh in my mind.

So fresh, in fact, that I kind of want to play it again! It's a good thing that Monolith Soft aims for a more timeless angle for their games: so beyond the time commitment, it's easy to wrap my head around doing that again. DLC included!

If you're interested in the finer details of Masatsugu's work, Nintendo did a little deep dive with him a few years back.

saitomasatsugu [Twitter]

British animation studio Aardman Animation - renown for its Wallace & Gromit stop-motion features - has entered into a new agreement with publisher Bandai Namco to collaborate on a brand new IP.

While both companies remain tight-lipped on the project, the new IP will exist in multiple media formats, with Bandai Namco no doubt handling the video game iteration of the brand. Aardman Animation will begin work on the project early in 2021, with more details to be revealed at a later date.

"Interactive Entertainment is a huge growth area within the entertainment world," said Aardman's MD Sean Clarke. "With new emerging technology blurring the lines of watching and playing, we are keen to develop strategic partnerships with partners such as Bandai Namco Entertainment Europe that share our vision of creating new IP that embraces this new world and cement our studio's reputation as a multi-disciplinary creative hub."

"This new partnership with Aardman is a dream come true, as it opens up a world of possibilities," states Bandai Namco SVP Hervé Hoerdt. "The teams at Aardman and BNEE are a perfect cultural and creative fit to build a successful long term partnership. I can’t wait to see what we can achieve together."

This partnership will be the first collaboration between Aardman Animation and Bandai Namco since the release of impressionist graphic adventure 11-11: Memories Retold, which launched on PS4, PC, and Xbox One back in November 2018.

Aardman partners with Bandai Namco Entertainmenton new IP [MCVUK]

Super Smash Bros Ultimate is turning two this week! Nintendo's celebrating with a "rewarding" Spirit Board event.

The post Second Super Smash Bros Ultimate Anniversary Celebrated With Spirit Board Event appeared first on Siliconera.

Fans will get a chance to play with top player Amemiya Taiyou and celebrity Puyo Puyo Tetris fans in Japan.

The post Sega Is Recruiting Puyo Puyo Tetris 2 Players for a Special Online Event in Japan appeared first on Siliconera.

Your characters will get to go through a "branching progression system" and stick around on Hunting Grounds islands after a quest is done.

The post Dauntless Reforged Update Will Let You stay in Areas After Hunting Grounds Quests appeared first on Siliconera.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons now lets you stock up on Toys at Nook's Cranny and buy Santa-inspired clothing at Able Sisters'.

The post Animal Crossing Toys Are Now on Sale in Nook’s Cranny appeared first on Siliconera.

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