October 2021

The original Ghost Recon is free for keepsies right now

2 years 7 months ago

To celebrate the Ghost Recon games turning 20 years old next month, Ubisoft last night announced Ghost Recon frontline, a free-to-play battle royale shooter. But they haven't entirely forgotten the roots of the tactical shooter series, because they're giving the first game away free for keepsies right now. You've got a few days to grab 2001's Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon and remember the good ol' days. Ubi are giving away some DLC for the latest games too.

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Author
Alice O'Connor

Yes, Far Cry 6 Has an Early Alternative Ending Easter Egg

2 years 7 months ago

Far Cry 4 famously included an Easter Egg ending that allowed you 'finish' the game right from the beginning. Far Cry 5 then repeated the trick and, as you might expect, Far Cry 6 is keeping up the tradition.

Spoilers follow for the alternative ending to Far Cry 6. Stop reading if you'd like to find it yourself.

Granted, Far Cry 6 does make you work a little harder than previous games to get to its own early ending. Where 4 and 5 placed their alternate endings just after the introduction, the latest installment requires you to play the game's early missions (it took us around an hour and a half) to get to a specific point in the storyline that will allow your character, Dani, to escape a naval blockade around the Yaran island they're on.

After doing so, guerrilla leader Clara offers you a choice - to fight for Yaran freedom, or to escape on a boat to Miami. You're obviously meant to pick the former, but the latter is entirely open to you. You can check out the full secret ending in the video below:

The alternate ending itself is fairly downbeat, showing Dani on a Miami beach three months after their escape. A news report mentions that Clara has been killed and the civil war effectively ended, before mentioning pandemic lockdowns, and then playing Gloria Estefan's 'Conga' over the end credits. And that's that.

Author
Joe Skrebels

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Far Cry 6 Review

2 years 7 months ago

The Far Cry series has long experienced something of an identity crisis. Is it a hard–boiled story of survival, or a goofy physics playground with pet bears and flamethrowers? The answer has usually been “a bit of both,” and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Far Cry 6 doesn’t buck that trend – the flamethrower definitely hasn’t gone anywhere – but the latest installment does manage to smooth over a lot of the bumps that have cropped up in the past few games, and in doing so becomes the best the series has been in years – but it also misses some steps, especially with its updated inventory system, and that creates some new problems along the way.

Far Cry 6 once again sees you trapped in a huge open world controlled by a charismatic madman, this time on the fictional island nation of Yara. Even after this many games, the job of turning all the red dots on your map into blue ones is still a good time, whether by sneakily silencing every enemy guard or by going the less subtle route of throwing bullets and Molotovs at them until no one is left.

Author
Jon Ryan

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Far Cry 6 review - not quite the revolution, but a solid entry all the same

2 years 7 months ago

For many fans, Far Cry 3 was the pinnacle of the Far Cry experience. It cast likeable jock douche Jason Brody as a fish out of water, learning to survive in the jungles and beaches of the Rook Islands. Underskilled, outnumbered and stranded on a strange lump of rock and moss with the psychotic Vaas hot on your heels, it always felt like you were one tiny step away from tragedy and an untimely death.

More recent Far Cry's have progressively steered away from 3's set-up, making each protagonist more and more of a one-person war machine - it's less about survival of the individual and more about the survival of a revolution. With Far Cry 6, we see the culmination of that ideology - Ubisoft boasts that on Yara, you'll be made to feel like a single Guerilla fighter taking up the space of an entire army. Dani Rojas is ex-military, instantly proficient in all weapons and vehicles, and a natural, but reluctant leader. They were made for this.

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Author
Ian Higton

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Twitch source code and data reportedly leaked in hack

2 years 7 months ago

Update 4.35pm: Twitch have confirmed that a breach has taken place, more below.

Original story 1.20pm: Twitch has reportedly been attacked by an anonymous hacker who has allegedly leaked a large amount of data, from source code to streamer earnings. A 4chan user has posted a 128GB torrent supposedly containing the leaked info, and more could be leaked down the line. There's also a suggestion that user passwords might be compromised, so now is probably a good time to change yours.

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Author
Imogen Beckhelling

New World Update 1.0.1 Gets Deployed; Addresses Long Queue Time, Major Bug Fixes & More

2 years 7 months ago

Since its launch last week, Amazon Games’ New World has proven to be a pretty big hit, as evidenced by the numbers on Steam and Twitch. The ambitious pirate-themed MMORPG features a very robust crafting and gathering system, as well as a deep focus on PvP where players can fight with each other to try to claim territory. The game didn’t launch without its issues, though, and Amazon has just pushed out a new update to address them.

First off, server transfers aren’t here yet, though the developers have stated that this update will lay the groundwork for that through the in-game stores. In the meantime, they hope to alleviate long queue times with shorter AFK timers, as well as a confirmation prompt when a player wants to leave the queue.

Several bugs have also been addressed, such as characters not interacting with items properly out in the open-world, as well as notifications persisting on the screen indefinitely. You can check out the full patch notes here.

New World is now available on PC.

The post New World Update 1.0.1 Gets Deployed; Addresses Long Queue Time, Major Bug Fixes & More appeared first on Twinfinite.

Author
Zhiqing Wan

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Far Cry 6 Review – Viva Libertad!

2 years 7 months ago

Far Cry 6 on PlayStation 5

“When tyranny becomes law, resistance becomes duty.” This Thomas Jefferson quote is retorted by Far Cry 6‘s protagonist Dani Rojas at a significant moment in his battle against the game’s chief antagonist and Yara’s dictator Anton Castillo. It stuck in my head for two reasons: firstly, it perfectly sums up why you’re fighting in Far Cry 6. The members of revolutionary group Libertad, having been downtrodden for years are finally ready to reunite rebel factions across the country and overthrow the corrupt Castillo regime once and for all. Second, it’s a very profound quote to be uttered in a game where you’re also jamming CDs of the Macarena into people’s throats… literally.

That’s by no means a bad thing. If anything, Far Cry 6 feels as though the series is beginning to tackle more complex themes, while still retaining its tongue-in-cheek charm and undoubtedly satisfying combat, its sandbox open world, and its checklist approach to activities.

For fans of the series, Far Cry 6 is yet another triumph that you’re going to want to slap your hard-earned cash down on the counter for. But the double-edged sword of such an approach is that it doesn’t do quite enough to convert non-believers of Ubisoft’s sandbox FPS series.

Author
Chris Jecks

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Nintendo Switch – OLED Model Review

2 years 7 months ago

In 2021, Nintendo announced the latest iteration of its hybrid gaming console in the form of the $350 Nintendo Switch OLED model. Despite all of the things this hardware refresh does right, most notably the slightly bigger and much better-looking display, the unchanged internal specs and lack of significant improvements to the dock have left me ambivalent after spending a week using it. The excellent new screen certainly makes this the best Switch for anyone who doesn’t already have one, but the relatively slim list of upgrades for those who do also has me wondering why some of these design revisions weren’t rolled out with the 2019 model.

The Switch OLED features a larger 7-inch 720p OLED display, making it slightly bigger than the base Switch’s 6.2-inch screen, but thanks to the smaller bezels (the black frame around the screen) it’s nearly the same physical dimensions as the previous Switch – it’s 242mm long, as compared to the original’s 239mm. The Switch OLED also beefs up the storage, doubling it from the original Switch’s tiny 32GB to… a still pretty small 64GB. Of course, we have the same option to expand it with a MicroSD card (the slot for which has been shifted slightly).

The crown jewel of the Switch OLED is, of course, the quality of the display itself. The OLED display is a significant change to the original Switch and vastly improves playing in handheld mode. As disappointed as I was to hear that Nintendo decided to keep a 720p resolution in handheld mode for this revision, it’s still a major step up in not only how good games look, but where they look good.

Author
Taylor Lyles

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Metroid Dread Review

2 years 7 months ago

Metroid Dread first turned up in 2005 – it even got a name drop in a terminal in Metroid Prime 3: Corruption. In many ways, the re-announced, presumably reworked Metroid Dread of 2021 feels like that 2D-ish Metroid game we should have gotten 16 years ago, following two masterpiece Metroid games, Zero Mission and Prime. It’s not often we get to say this about a game that emerges from more than a decade of development purgatory, but the wait has been worth it: The epic delay allows Metroid Dread to use the Switch’s power to greatly improve on what could have been accomplished on previous Nintendo systems, and makes the supposed conclusion to Metroid’s mainline story something of a grand finale.

Everything works in handheld form, but you really have to dock the system to get the full 2D-style Metroid experience on your TV that we’ve been missing in the three decades since Super Metroid on the Super Nintendo (that said, Zero Mission looks pretty cool emulated on the Virtual Console). Playing on a big, HD screen reveals sprawling alien scenes in diorama-like backgrounds, lit by the dynamic glow of Samus’s arsenal and projectiles. Also thanks to the Switch, the action never seems to drop a frame. That’s important, since combat is lightning fast, and just keeps getting faster with each powerup. Everything seems to speed up as you move through Metroid Dread. Upgrades add to your movement, and reduce backtracking time with boosts, dashes, and jumps, all while you’re making incredibly short work of once-powerful enemies with your new arsenal.

Author
Samuel Claiborn

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Nintendo Switch OLED Model vs. Original Nintendo Switch Comparison

2 years 7 months ago

We got our hands on the Nintendo Switch OLED Model ahead of its launch later this week. The new Nintendo Switch OLED features a seven inch OLED screen and a slimmer bezel compared to previous Switch models. It also has a wide adjustable stand with more effective viewing angles when playing in tabletop mode, onboard speakers with enhanced audio, and 64 GB of internal storage. The Nintendo Switch OLED Model comes with a new dock, complete with an HDMI port for connecting to a TV, two USB ports, and a new wired LAN port.

The Nintendo Switch OLED Model releases on October 8, 2021. Check out our gallery for new photos of the Nintendo Switch OLED, and for comparison images with an original Nintendo Switch base unit.

Author
emma_matthews

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Pokémon fans ponder how much Legends: Arceus is open world

2 years 7 months ago

The latest round of Pokémon Legends: Arceus screenshots have prompted fresh fan discussion on the game's structure.

In the past, Nintendo has described the game as offering "natural expanses" and "untamed landscapes". Meanwhile, trailers have suggested the game will offer some of the series' largest spaces to date.

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Author
Tom Phillips

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Metroid Dread review - a sublime return for a Nintendo icon

2 years 7 months ago

It has been, long-suffering fans will not need reminding, some years since Metroid's last proper outing. How long exactly depends who you ask; four years have passed since Mercury Steam's solid remake of series curio Metroid 2, eleven since Team Ninja's action-oriented and highly divisive Other M that some would rather forget, and it's been just shy of two decades since Metroid Fusion, the last original 2D adventure and the game to which Metroid Dread acts as a direct sequel.

For all that, though, it's not as if Metroid's ever really been away. Indeed, in many ways Yoshio Sakamoto's series has been inescapable in recent years, the Metroidvania genre cast partly in its likeness reaching near ubiquity thanks to the likes of the sumptuous Ori, the melancholic, hard-edged Hollow Knight or the perfectly pitched pixel charm of Axiom Verge. How exactly can Nintendo and Mercury Steam make up for that prolonged absence, whilst making sure Metroid remains relevant to an audience that's gorged on its imitators?

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Author
Martin Robinson

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Nintendo Switch OLED Model review: an excellent premium upgrade

2 years 7 months ago

When Nintendo finally unveiled the Switch OLED Model, impressions were mixed - it wasn't a more powerful system, it was not the mythical 'Switch Pro'. Instead, we were looking at a more incremental upgrade: the existing model improved via a larger, OLED panel along with quality of life improvements including a more robust kickstand. On the face of it then, perhaps not a big deal. However, the truth is that the Switch OLED Model will live or die according to the quality of its screen - and as an OLED enthusiast, I was really looking forward to checking it out. And the truth is, it's a big, big upgrade to the handheld gaming experience.

The first thing you'll notice when you take the Switch OLED out of the package is the quality of the new materials. The screen is now glossy, as is the bezel around it. The rail system that holds the Joycons in place feels more solid with less wobble and the whole device simply feels like a more premium design. Along the top, numerous changes are made to core elements: the power and volume buttons are different in shape and feel while the game card slot now uses a slimmer cover, which is slightly trickier to open than the original Switch.

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Author
John Linneman

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Metroid Dread | New Gameplay Today Live

2 years 7 months ago

Metroid Dread is just around the corner. With developer MercurySteam's latest entry in the series comes one of the best versions of the classic platforming/exploring experiences in the long-running franchise. To celebrate such an occasion, we're sharing the fun with you and checking out the game live exclusively on our Twitch page!

Click here to watch embedded media

Join Ben Reeves and Alex Stadnik as they ascend through Planet ZDR in the hopes of freeing Samus from this terrifying alien prison. We'll be going live at noon CT, so be sure to join us in the chat to get your burning questions answered by the game's reviewer! We're limited to only showing 30 minutes of gameplay, so today's stream will be a very brief affair.

The hype behind Samus' return is genuine, according to our own Mr. Reeves:

Author
Alex Stadnik

Pokémon Company Confirms Monster Hunter-Like Style Of Exploration For Legends: Arceus

2 years 7 months ago

Pokémon Legends Arceus

Update, 10/11/21...

The Pokémon Company has confirmed to Kotaku that Pokémon Legends: Arceus will feature Monster Hunter-like exploration. This news comes after fans noticed that the in-game map features segmented areas like those seen in Pokémon Sword and Shield, rather than a wide-open map that indicates the game will be fully open-world as previously believed. 

In Pokémon Legends: Arceus, Jubilife Village will serve as the base for surveying missions. After receiving an assignment or a request and preparing for their next excursion, players will set out from the village to study one of the various open areas of the Hisui region. After they finish the survey work, players will need to return once more to prepare for their next task. We look forward to sharing more information about exploring the Hisui region soon. -A statement from The Pokémon Company to Kotaku

As you can see from the statement above, players will be visiting "one" of the various "open areas" of the Hisui region when completing specific quests and catching Pokémon. This quest completion and exploration style is most like Capcom's Monster Hunter series, which often tasks players with completing quests collected at a central village hub while exploring segmented wild areas.

Author
Jason Guisao

Switch OLED Review – Playing With Portable Power

2 years 7 months ago

Click to watch embedded media

Nintendo has often made an effort to iterate on its existing consoles, often to varying degrees of success. The Nintendo Switch is no stranger to iteration either, with the Lite and the upgraded battery model appearing on store shelves over the last four years. The Switch OLED is the latest update to the company’s flagship handheld console hybrid, and while those who primarily play on the TV shouldn’t feel the need to purchase the system on day one, handheld players will benefit the most from the shiny new update.

Author
Alex Stadnik

This hybrid RTS citybuilder has big ideas, big hordes, and an even bigger sky laser

2 years 7 months ago

It's been a long time since I've found an RTS that recaptures the many hours I spent playing Warcraft 2 growing up, but Diplomacy Is Not An Option gets pretty darn close. I've been playing the hybrid citybuilder/tower defence game's demo this week, and those long forgotten memories of building row upon row of archer towers to nuke incoming orcs, defending my town hall and sending my little workers out to fish, mine and chop wood all came flooding back. Only here, those enemy armies come in waves of increasing size. Fortunately, in addition to the standard sword and bow folk at your disposal, you've also got a bit of magic - including a big fat giant sky laser. Count me in.

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Author
Katharine Castle

Forget Halo Infinite's Big Team Battle, it's little Halo that excites me

2 years 7 months ago

Loads of us were called up by Master Chief to test out Halo Infinite and its Big Team Battle mode last weekend. Going in, I thought there would be no competition between its smaller 4 vs 4 Arena modes and this bombastic 12 vs 12 playground. Surely I'd prefer the latter. In my mind, this would be Halo at its messy best.

But no, I have proven myself wrong. In a strange turn of events, I've decided I actually much prefer Halo Infinite's smaller modes. And I think this comes down to laziness.

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Author
Ed Thorn

Exhausted Man demo's physics fun satisfied me, an exhausted person

2 years 7 months ago

Isn't everything exhausting? Sorry, I didn't mean to tax you with having to think about an answer; I know you're exhausted too. And yet even I, a perpetually exhausted person, was glad to make the effort for the Exhausted Man demo in the Steam Next Fest. It is, like many modern comedy games, about completing tasks by controlling a weird figure with wonky physics—in this case, a man so tired he slithers along like a human slug. I smile every time this horrible slugman crawls up a wall.

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Author
Alice O'Connor

Bug-splatting in the Starship Troopers RTS demo is harder than you'd think

2 years 7 months ago

People get well into Starship Troopers, don't they? Back in the before times when I was a teen, a friend of mine went to uni and formed a terrible metal band, and one of their songs was about Starship Troopers (I believe it included shouting "Roughnecks! Ho!" a lot). And don't get me wrong: the 90s action-schlock film adaptation is very good. Replaceable cannon-fodder marines pumping bullets into giant skittering aliens, bombastic Join The Army And Die!! propaganda - It's good stuff. And perfect grist for the RTS game mill! Hence you can play the demo for Starship Troopers - Terran Command right now, in the Steam Next Fest.

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Author
Alice Bell

Animal Crossing: New Horizons Direct to Air About 20 Minutes of Content Next Week

2 years 7 months ago

Earlier today on Twitter, via Isabelle, it was revealed that next week’s direct would feature over roughly 20 minutes of information about the content coming to Animal Crossing: New Horizons. As you can see in the tweet below, the upcoming presentation is set to take place on Oct. 15 at 7am PT.

Author
Andrew McMahon

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Tales of Luminaria Gets New Trailers Revealing Ana-Maria & Introducing the Adventurers

2 years 7 months ago

Bandai Namco released two more trailers of the upcoming mobile JRPG Tales of Luminaria.

The first trailer showcase one more of the characters available in the game, Ana-Maria Marschner.

This follows more trailers introducing Leo Fourcade and Celia Arvierone showcasing Michelle Bouquet, one featuring Maxime Hasselmans, more introducing Yelsy, Vanessa Morax, and Lucien  Dufaure, another revealing Lisette Regnier, and a batch focusing on Edouard Rouquier, Lydie Delacroix, and Raoul.

Since with Ana-Maria we see the last of the Adventurer faction, we also get a second trailer showcasing it as a whole, alongside the other members.

You can check them out below, with both English and Japanese voice acting depending on your voice-over language of preference.

Author
Giuseppe Nelva

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New World Patch Adds Important Message: Don't Be A Dick

2 years 7 months ago

One of the main features of Amazon’s New World is an ongoing struggle between three massive player-run factions for control of Aeternum Island. This is causing some players to behave badly, from harassing members of other factions to loudly shouting obscenities in local voice chat. Today’s update adds a helpful login…

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Author
Mike Fahey

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Microsoft Reveals Adidas Sneakers Themed After the Original Xbox

2 years 7 months ago

Microsoft has revealed that it will be partnering with Adidas to bring the world its first-ever set of console-inspired sneakers.

In an article on its website, Microsoft announced that the collaboration will feature an all-new Xbox-inspired sneaker, called the Xbox 20th Forum Tech, in honor of the original console's 20th anniversary.

Sporting a green and black color scheme with added translucent details to finish, the Adidas sneakers take inspiration from the special edition Halo-themed original Xbox console in 2001. Microsoft says that aesthetic inspiration for the footwear was guided by the company's past.

"The Adidas Forum Tech design balances nostalgia while embracing modern technology and is symbolic of how we look at our own Xbox history — celebrating the last 20 years and looking ahead to the limitless future of gaming," says James Monosmith, Senior Sales and Marketing Manager at Xbox.

While the Xbox 20th Forum Tech sneakers may have been the first to be announced in the partnership between Microsoft and Adidas, they certainly won't be the last. Over the next few months, fans should expect to see further reveals for additional sneakers, with each inspired by the various Xbox console generations of past and present. A report back in May suggested that the Adidas collaboration would include four shoe designs.

Author
Jared Moore

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Spider-Man: Miles Morales Documentary Celebrates a Powerful Superhero Legacy

2 years 7 months ago

Miles Morales has made quite an impact in the first decade of his existence, growing from heir to the Spider-Man mantle in Marvel's Ultimate Universe to star of both an animated feature film and a video game. That evolution is the subject of a new mini-documentary from Sony, a three-part YouTube series dubbed Creator to Creator.

IGN can exclusively debut the first episode of Creator to Creator. Check out the video player above or the embed below to see the minds behind the animated film Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, the video game Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales and the comic series Miles Morales: Spider-Man talk shop:

The video features quite an impressive creative lineup. Representing Into the Spider-Verse are writer/producer Phil Lord, producer Christopher Miller, and director Peter Ramsey. Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales Senior Animator James Ham and Creative Director Brian Horton offer a game development perspective, while comics scribe Saladin Ahmed (whose work on the ongoing Miles Morales: Spider-Man series helped earn him a nomination for Best Comic Book Writer of 2020) rounds out the talent pool.

The video should offer Marvel fans much more insight into the work that goes into expanding on and adapting Miles' story for new media, and the struggle in crafting a character who is simultaneously relatable and representative. And as it turns out, these various incarnations of the character wind up influencing each other.

Author
Jesse Schedeen

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