It’s Tuesday, and that means there’s a new Destiny 2 weekly reset! For a list of the new activities, modifiers and rewards, head on below.
Destiny 2 Weekly Reset – April 7, 2020
Red Dead Online Update This Week – Double XP on Showdown Modes & More
Rockstar Games has rolled out a new Red Dead Online update this week, and it brings double XP on Showdown Modes, Daily Challenge Streak Gift and more.
Red Dead Online update this week summary:
- Double XP is now available in any Showdown Series, Showdown Mode, or Race
- Any player who logs in by April 14th will receive 5 free Gold Bars
- A special gift will be rewarded to any player reaching a 3-day Daily Challenge streak, including: 10 Special Health Cures, 10 Special Miracle Tonics, 10 Special Snake Oils and 20 Incendiary Buckshot Slugs
- Multiple discounts: 40% off Rifles, Pistols, and Pamphlets, 50% off Ponchos, Shirts and all Wilderness Outfitters store items (except the Butcher’s Table), 70% off all Off-Hand Holsters and Gun Belts, Draft Horses, War Horses, Pants, and Gloves
- Ongoing Twitch Prime Benefits: A free Collector’s Bag, a Polished Copper Moonshine Still Upgrade and 5 Moonshiner Role Ranks
Players can complete one Daily Challenge per day in Red Dead Online to reach a three-day Daily Challenge stream and receive a special gift of 10 Special Health Cures, 10 Special Miracle Tonics, 10 Special Snake Oils, and 20 Incendiary Buckshot Slugs. The gifts will arrive in your Camp Lockbox or Post Office within 48 hours of completion.
Aside from that, players who play at any time before April 14 will get five Gold Bars; these gifts will arrive 48 hours for the gift to arrive.
DISCOUNTS
There is a broad swath of discounts on offer across the Wheeler, Rawson & Co. Catalogue this week, including:
40% Off:
50% Off:
Ponchos, Shirts and all items in the Wilderness Outfitters store (Butcher’s Table not included)
70% Off:
Those playing GTA Online, stay tuned to the GTA Online update later this week.
DICE Giving Away Battlefield 5 Company Coin Login Rewards, Game Giveaways on Streams
While there hasn’t been a lot of good Battlefield 5 news the past few days, that should change today. DICE has announced that the studio will be giving away Battlefield 5 Company Coin login rewards for players, as well as giving away the game via streams!
This was announced in the This Week in Battlefield V Community posts on Reddit. Note that the game giveaway starts Friday, April 10, while the Battlefield 5 Company Coin login rewards giveaway starts today.
Stream Drops – We’ll be popping into random Twitch/Mixer/FB streams playing BFV and giving the streamers codes for Battlefield V for giveaways
- 6000 in Company Coin Login Rewards – Login to Battlefield V within these dates to receive 1500 CC (Company Coin)
- April 6 – 7: Login on either of these days to receive 1500 CC
- April 8 – 9: Login on either of these days to receive 1500 CC
- April 10: Login on Friday, April 10, 2020 and receive 1500 CC
- April 13 – 14: Login on either of these days to receive 1500 CC
As for the week’s The Pacific War challenges, it’ll start on Thursday as usual, though DICE has already said that the current playlist will remain throughout Chapter 6.
With most of the people on the studio working from home due to the COVID-19 global pandemic, don’t expect any major updates this month, as the studio has already mentioned that they’re rolling the April update into May.
More Battlefield 5 Reading:
No Man’s Sky Update 2.40 Live, Introduces Mechs (Update)
No Man’s Sky update 2.40 has just been deployed, bringin with it the surprise introduction of mechs! The update weights a little over 11GB on the PlayStation 4 & 9GB on Xbox One (Steam version yet to deploy), and while no patch notes have gone live yet, players are starting to see some noticeable changes.
For starters, there are new craftables, which are:
Orbital Exocraft Materialiser – Allows players to summon any Exocraft while in the same system of their freighter. To build it, you need 3 warp cells, 150 gold, and 50 ionised cobalt.
Electrical Cloacking Unit – This craftable will now automatically hide wires that are scene on base building!
Minotaur Heavy Exosuit Hybrid – This one happened to leak earlier via trailer, but No Man’s Sky not has Mechs! There’s no quest lines tied to this, all you need to do is simply travel to the Nexus and trunks in the required materials to claim it. Easy enough.
There are more changed that have been introduced, though as stated, Hello Games have yet to release the patch notes. We will be sure to update this post once the studio releases the official No Man’s Sky update 2.40 patch notes, so make sure to check back later.
If you spot any changes, let us know what they are down below.
No Man’s Sky update 2.40 patch notes:
PATCH NOTES
THE MINOTAUR
- Added a new planetary Exocraft, the Minotaur Heavy Exosuit Hybrid.
- Acquire the plans for the Minotaur Geobay at the Construction Research Station aboard the Space Anomaly.
- The Minotaur allows exploration in even the most extreme environments, with a unique hazard protection upgrade that keeps the pilot safe from environmental damage.
- The Minotaur comes with its own set of upgrades and technologies.
- Blueprints are available to purchase from Iteration: Perses on the Space Anomaly.
- Upgrade Modules can be found at the Exocraft Technology Merchant at your local Space Station.
- Other specialist Minotaur abilities include the ability to upgrade its mining laser with Terrain Manipulation capabilities, and the ability to collect or harvest rare planetary resources such as Storm Crystals without leaving the safety of the cabin.
EXOCRAFT HAZARD CHANGES
- Exocraft no-longer grant immunity to planetary hazards by default. External environmental conditions will now drain the player’s hazard protection, though at a reduced rate from on planet.
- Specialist technologies have been made available at Iteration: Perses on the Space Anomaly that allow Exocraft to be upgraded to prevent environmental damage
NEW EXOCRAFT TECHNOLOGIES
- Perses now also offers the Icarus Fuel System, an Exocraft upgrade that recharges the engine during daylight.
- The Exocraft Scanner has been improved. Performing a standard scan will now reveal all nearby points of interest – i.e. all those that would be revealed by using the Analysis Visor.
- Added an Orbital Exocraft Materialiser. This is a new freighter module that will allow all Exocraft to be summoned while the freighter is in-system.
EXOCRAFT QUALITY OF LIFE AND OTHER FIXES
- Added new decal options to Exocraft customisation.
- Exocraft cockpits now match the customisation of their exterior.
- Improved the light cast by the headlights of all Exocraft.
- Increased the base speed of the Roamer, Nomad and Pilgrim exocraft.
- Tweaked a number of Exocraft cameras to improve visibility.
- Increased the speed and acceleration of the Nautilon submarine, and tweaked its camera positioning.
- Fixed an issue that caused the Exocraft fuel efficiency stat not to increase fuel efficiency.
- Fixed an issue that caused the Exocraft speedometer to flash during a storm.
- Fixed an issue that prevented items in the Exocraft inventory from being available for crafting.
- Added a coordinates readout to the Exocraft HUD data.
- Tweaked some early game rewards to give players access to an Exocraft earlier in a playthrough of the Artemis story.
- Reduced the blueprint and construction cost of some Geobay blueprints.
- Improved the Guide entry for Exocraft, including tweaking when it becomes unlocked and adding a mission to the Guide page to walk players through the Exocraft unlock and upgrading process.
- Fixed an issue that caused the Exocraft mining laser to be ineffective when used on minable objects.
- Fixed an issue that caused Exocraft to turn invisible when saving and charting at a waypoint.
- Fixed an issue that caused the object health indicator to either appear in the wrong position or not appear at all when mining objects in an Exocraft.
- Fixed a soft-lock that could occur when the Inventory auto-opens to the Exocraft page and no Exocraft is present in the system.
- Fixed an issue that caused the position and icon of the network player marker to be wrong when the player is in an Exocraft.
- Fixed an issue where Exocraft could sometimes fall through planetary terrain.
- Fixed an issue where the Exocraft customisation camera could be incorrectly positioned when swapping between Exocraft types.
- Fixed an issue where exiting an Exocraft could cause a fade to black transition if the ship camera was set to first person.
GRAPHICAL IMPROVEMENTS AND OPTIONS
- GTAO: improved performance by avoiding oversampling on distant objects.
- GTAO: modified attenuation heuristic to avoid over-darkening of thin objects, particularly noticeable on grass.
- GTAO: modified reprojection filter to improve AO temporal stability. This reduces flickering on moving objects, particularly noticeable on grass.
- 3D rendering resolution can be now scaled as a factor of the window resolution. This means UI can render at a higher resolution to the 3D game view, offering more options for improving performance while keeping UI crisp. Additionally, the in-game resolution may be scaled larger than the actual screen resolution, allowing for greater image quality than possible when rendering at the monitor’s native resolution.
BASE BUILDING QUALITY OF LIFE
- Added a new base part, the Electrical Cloaking Unit. This can be placed to hide power lines when outside of build mode.
- Added the ability for console players not using VR to disable local base complexity limits (PC players could already adjust the Base Quality setting). This may come at a performance cost when viewing large, player-made, structures.
- Added a Quick Menu option to immediately return to the Space Anomaly when visiting a featured base.
- Fixed an issue that caused incorrect planet information to be displayed when previewing bases in a different galaxy.
- Fixed an issue that could cause players to become stuck when warping to a featured base if the base computer had not loaded in time.
- Fixed a number of soft locks that could occur when interacting with base parts that were outside the local complexity limit.
BUG FIXES
- Fixed an issue that prevented AI ships from ever landing on player-owned landing pads.
- Fixed an issue with the transition to a new galaxy that caused it to be entirely white.
- Fixed an issue that prevented the Blaze Javelin from being cycled while cooling down.
- Increased the distance at which damaged frigate icons are displayed on the ship HUD and compass.
- Added a timeout sequence to the start of Nexus missions to discourage players from going AFK on board the Anomaly after readying up.
- Extended the time during which weekend missions are active to 9AM GMT on Mondays.
- Added some additional graphic warnings when low on hazard protection or life support.
- Fixed an issue that caused diplomatic frigates to award units as a substance rather than directly.
- Fixed an issue with the trails on certain Royal ships not lining up correctly with their engines.
- Fixed a number of graphical glitches that could occur when warping in a starship.
- Fixed a graphical issue that affected the Bytebeat envelope rendering on console.
- Improved the readability of the currency readout when browsing tech trees.
- Added a recovery fix for players who lost their Void Egg after they come back through the Portal at the end of the final Starbirth quest.
- Fixed a rare crash in the lighting system.
- Fixed an issue that caused the audio environment to be set incorrectly while on Atlas Stations.
- Fixed an issue where Armoured Clams could be destroyed with the Terrain Manipulator.
- Fixed an issue where Weekend Event missions could sometimes have partially encrypted descriptions at the Nexus.
- Fixed an issue where player models could sometimes inherit their scale from ships or Exocraft.
Source: No Man’s Sky
SMITE Update 11.37 Brings the Grim Omens Bonus Update
Just a few weeks ago, Hi-Rez Studios has released the big Grim Omens update for SMITE, and same as before, there’s a bonus patch set to roll out after two weeks. Well, that day is today. SMITE update 11.37 is out and it brings the Grim Omens Bonus Update.
SMITE update 11.37 patch notes:
BONUS BALANCE LIVE APRIL 7
Bonus Balance is being handled slightly differently this update for clarity reasons. Many players have been confused about what is going live when, and we are changing our process to improve that. Bonus Balance going forward will only be meta nerfs for top gods.
We are also doing a series of community, marketing, and in-game text changes to help better convey the concept of bonus balance.
CAMAZOTZ
Ever since his leap range buff Camazotz has been a dominant force in high MMR ranked and competitive play. This new found mobility has allowed Camazotz to either escape or engage in for more situations. His sustain has been nerfed recently and now his power buff will be as well. 20 bonus power at low levels is pushing him into an overpowered state in the solo lane. This change should make him a more reasonable matchup in solo while keeping him as a viable jungler.
SCREECH
- Decreased Physical Power buff from Echo from 20/25/30/35/40 to 10/15/20/25/30
KUKULKAN
Kukulkan continues to slither through his nerfs and maintain sky-high stats. Making whirlwind slightly more reliable has improved his playability massively, and so we have continuously adjusted him. Following up some damage from the last update, we are now focusing on his mobility. Slipstream was regarded as a weak ability for years, but after multiple buffs it is now one of the most versatile movement abilities in the game. We are increasing the cooldown and decreasing the slow immunity window to give opponents a better chance at catching this slippery god.
SLIPSTREAM
- Increased Cooldown from 15/14/13/12/11s to 15s at all ranks
- Decreased Slow Immunity from 1s to 0.6s
PERSEPHONE
Persephone is a unique balance case, touting quite high pick/ban and win rates at high MMR, and some of the worst stats in the game everywhere else. Because of this we applied a shift last update to make Persephone’s Harvest ability slightly more usable for your average player, paired with multiple nerfs. Players were concerned that those changes buffed her when she did not need buffs due to her pro level performance. We want to keep the usability changes but agree with nerfing her at pro play, so we are adding another strong nerf this update.
GRASP OF DEATH
- Decreased projectile speed from 150 to 120
YEMOJA
Yemoja received a group of nerfs during the 7.1 update and we have been closely monitoring her stats ever since. She continues to be one the top banned gods, highly played, and maintaining over 50% win rate so we are looking to nerf her again. In this round we are making sure to target Yemoja’s offense as well as her defense. Magical Power scaling reductions across the kit should ensure players can’t abuse this guardian in the mage role, and decreasing the slow duration at high ranks should make her easier to play around in the team-fight stage.
BOUNCING BUBBLE
- Decreased Magical Power Scaling on Bubble Damage from 40% to 30%
- Adjusted Slow Duration on Bubble from 1.2/1.4/1.6/1.8/2 to 1.4s at all ranks
MOONSTRIKE
- Decreased Magical Power Scaling on Moonstrike Inner Damage from 45% to 40%
MENDING WATERS
- Decreased Magical Power Scaling on Mending Water Heal from 20% to 15%
- Decreased Magical Power Scaling on Mending Water Shield from 20% to 15%
FIFA 20 Update 1.18 Released
EA Vancouver has released a new FIFA 20 patch and it’s live now on PS4 and Xbox One. Console gamers will see this as FIFA 20 update 1.18, and it brings a bunch of bug fixes and even gameplay changes. Clocking in at 4.7GB on both the PS4 and Xbox One, check out the full FIFA 20 update 1.18 patch notes below.
FIFA 20 update 1.18 patch notes:
Gameplay
Made the following changes:
- Further increased the impact of the Overload Ball Side D-Pad Tactic on in-game Stamina.
- Decreased the impact of the Team Press D-Pad Tactic on in-game Stamina.
- This has been decreased to have the same impact that was experienced prior to Title Update 12.
CONMEBOL Competitions
Made the following changes:
- Added Guarani and Barcelona SC to CONMEBOL competitions.
- Updates to multiple stadia, teams, kits, and presentation packages.
Visuals
Made the following changes:
- Updates to multiple kits, stadia, and ad boards.
We’ll be keeping an eye out for more sports titles moving forward. Aside from FIFA, what other sports games do you want MP1st to cover? Let us know down in the comments or send us an email to let us know.
Source: FIFA forums
More MP1st Reading:
The Division 2 Update 1.21 Now Out, Here’s the Changes in TU8.5
Following last week’s patch preview for The Division Title Update 8.5 (TU8.5), Ubisoft Massive has released the patch today! Console gamers will see this as The Division 2 update 1.21. Clocking in at just 1GB on PS4, this patch introduces a bunch of gameplay tweaks.
The Division 2 update 1.21 patch notes:
Bug fixes
- Fixed an issue causing the stack acquisition of “Striker’s Gamble” to be inconsistent.
- Fixed an issue causing players to be unable to revive other agents.
- Fixed an issue causing the revive UI to disappear if a player was killed too fast.
- Fixed an issue causing “Aggressive Recon” and “Crossbow Expert” talents of the “Tip of the Spear” Gear Set to trigger in the DZ Safe House or DZ Control Points.
- Fixed an issue causing the Joyride weapon skin to not be applied to “The Stinger” LMG.
- Fixed an issue causing League Reward Caches to be contaminated when leveling up in the Dark Zone.
- Fixed an issue causing the Exotic BTSU Gloves to always roll at a minimum roll range from certain sources.
- Fixed an issue causing the “Short Circuit” buff to not restart after the cooldown has expired for the Hard Wired Gear Set.
- Fixed an issue causing players to be able to gain infinite ammunition.
- Fixed an issue causing players to be able to gain more than intended Operation Dark Hour keys.
- Temporarily removing Warhounds from the first mission beat in the Manning National Zoo Main Mission.
- This workaround prevents Warhounds to get stuck on the roof in the Manning National Zoo. A proper fix for this issue is scheduled for TU9.
- Fixed an issue causing the checkpoint for Heroic Difficulty Darpa Research Lab Main Mission to be missing.
- Fixed an issue causing the checkpoint for Heroic Difficulty Pentagon Main Mission to be missing.
- Fixed an issue causing players to receive self-damage when killing an enemy player with the Full Flag debuff from the True Patriot Gear Set.
- Fixed an issue that could cause the Season Level 60 and 65 rewards to be incorrect under certain circumstances.
- We are adding these rewards to players inventory if they were not correctly delivered at level 60 and 65.
Gameplay changes
- Control Points can now be reset by changing Global Difficulty.
- Changing Directives will not reset Control Points.
- League UI
- The League UI should now be more intuitive when switching between week one and two.
Balance Changes
NPCs
BTSU Support Station:
- Will now check line of sight between support station and NPCs more frequently.
- Decreased tick rate of Support Station healing to 2 seconds (up from 1.5 seconds).
- Elite Support Station now only provides overheal once per NPC.
- The Support Station heal amount is now capped.
- Support Stations no longer heal while affected by EMP / disruption effects.
Warhound Grenadier:
- Increasing windup warning of triple shoot of Warhound Grenadier.
- Increasing aftershoot delay of triple shoot of Warhound Grenadier.
- Slightly increasing cooldown of moving shoot of Warhound Grenadier
Warhound Minigun:
- Adjusting Warhound Minigun behavior to flank less frequently and to maintain more distance to the players.
- Adjusting Warhound Minigun to path less close to players.
- Increasing intention icon duration of 360 spin from Warhound Minigun to 2.5 seconds (up from 2)
- Reducing 360 spin from Warhound Minigun to only 2 spins (down from 3)
- Reducing range of 360 spin of Warhound Minigun to 30m (down from 70m).
Tank archetype reaction to Hive / Turret:
- Adding more distance checks so Tanks don’t rush at a hive next to a player.
- Reducing threat limit so Tanks don’t switch targets too suddenly.
- Outcast Incendiary / Molotov:
- Reducing duration and tick damage slightly.
Developer comment: Grenades were very strong compared to other factions’ grenades and this will bring them closer in line.
Pentagon Bosses:
- Reducing Drone Helicopter health and damage.
- Slightly reduce health and armor for Brenner.
- Reducing Brenner’s mortar damage.
- Decreasing armor of John ‘Architect” Figgs.
Mortars:
- Reducing damage of mortars in Coney Island.
- Increase delay between UI warning and explosion damage of mortars in the Washington National Zoo.
- Fixing general damage scaling issues with mortars.
Skills
Assault Turret:
- Improving auto-targeting of Assault Turret to better prioritize NPCs it can shoot, and which are close to it.
Assault Drone:
- Improving behavior to prevent the Drone from becoming stuck.
- Improving the consistency of firing and pathing.
Status effects
Poison Status Effect:
- Reducing tick interval, damage and duration.
Developer comment: Even with the damage reduction to enemy NPCs poison continues to be extremely strong, this nerf will alleviate this further.
EMP:
- EMP Skills and Shock effects will now do damage to several NPC Skills like the Jammer from Support units and the Nail Bomb from Thrower archetypes.
Leaderboards
- Reset the leaderboards for Operation Dark Hours
Don’t forget, there should be a State of the Game devstream happening this Thursday. Once we know more about that, we’ll let our readers know.
Source: Reddit
Saints Row The Third Remastered Release Date Set for May 22
Deep Silver has announced the Saints Row The Third Remastered release date, and it’s set for May 22 on the PS4, Xbox One, and PC! There’s a new trailer accompanying it, as well as a list of critical features.
Key Features:
- The Full Package, Remastered – With enhanced graphics, improved lighting, reworked environments, and visual effects, Steelport and The Third Street Saints have never looked so good.
- City of Sin – Disrupt and dismantle the Syndicate stranglehold on weapons, cybercrime, and criminal rackets. Discover the secrets of Steelport, where there is action on every street corner, for better or, more likely, worse.
- Weapons of Crass Destruction – It’s one thing to defeat your enemies. It’s another to humiliate them. Hover jets, human cannonball cars, and outrageous melee weapons are all part of the fun.
- Crazy Character Customization – Create the most outlandish characters ever seen, from washed-up celebrities to mask-less ninja pirates. Inside every sinner, there is a Saint. Who will you become?
- Over The Top Co-op – Fly solo or play online with a homie. Give freefall skydiving a try, landing in your partner’s flaming pickup as you make a desperate run toward a heavily armed Syndicate base. Steelport is always more fun with a friend.
- All DLC included – All three expansion packs and more than 30 pieces of DLC from the original version are included in this massive Saints package, all for the low MSRP of $39.99.
Inside Xbox 2020 Debut Episode Coming Tomorrow
Microsoft has announced the first Inside Xbox show for 2020, and it’s happening tomorrow! The Inside Xbox 2020 debut happens on Tuesday, April 7, at 2 p.m. PT/5 p.m. ET.
According to Microsoft, there will be news on Groundd, Gears Tactics, Seas of Thieves, Xbox Game Pass, and some surprises from the ID@Xbox team. For those looking forward to more Xbox Series X news, that sadly, won’t be the available. Microsoft has confirmed that there won’t be any Xbox Series X news to share, though there will be a sitdown discussion with Director of Program Management for Xbox Series X Jason Ronald to talk about the recently revealed tech specs.
People will be able to watch Inside Xbox live tomorrow on Mixer, Twitch, YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter, and of course, we’ll post a livestream up on the site once we can.
Following the episode, there will be a live, first-lok at the single-player experience in Grounded, and will also be broadcast live.
MP1st will post the big news, and relevant info as it happens so stay tuned.
Source: Xbox
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Battlefield 1 Scrap Exchange Update – April 6, 2020
Battlefield 1 players, there’s a new Battlefield 1 Scrap Exchange update live now! Aside from the rotating daily game modes, it seems DICE is making sure Battlefield 1 players have stuff to do.
If you’re interested in what items are available, check out a preview below via DICE Producer Jaqub Ajmal.
BATTLEFIELD 1 – Scrap Exchange Update – The Nagant Revolver skins are now in the exchange! #Battlefield1 #XboxShare pic.twitter.com/Pt1RMhfaI2
— Jaqub Ajmal (@JaqubAjmal) April 6, 2020
BATTLEFIELD 1 – Scrap Exchange Update – The Nagant Revolver skins are now in the exchange!
We’ll be on the lookout for more Battlefield 1 news and will report on it once we know more. Make sure to bookmark our Battlefield 1 game hub for the latest news and info.
What other legacy Battlefield games do you want us to cover? If you have a suggestion, let us know down below in the comments.
More Battlefield Reading:
DICE States: “Our Dubai site for hosting Servers was retired today and players in the region will instead be matchmade to our servers in EU.”
- Top 5 Things We Want to See in the Next Battlefield Game – What are the top things you are looking forward to?
- Ex-DICE Dev “Wishes” Battlefield 5 Firestorm Was F2P, Doesn’t See Mod Support Coming Back – Does the lack of mod support upset you?
Apex Legends The Old Ways Event Trailer Teases What’s Coming Tomorrow
In case you didn’t know, Respawn Entertainment is bringing a new event called “The Old Ways” to Apex Legends starting tomorrow. To help drum up hype, the studio has released the Apex Legends The Old Ways Event trailer that brings a mix of story, and what’s set to come in terms of gameplay.
Apex Legends The Old Ways Event Trailer
Prepare to discover the Old Ways. Prove yourself before the gods in the new Town Takeover: Bloodhound’s Trials. Test your strength against the hoard of prowlers stalking the temple. Survive, and you will be richly rewarded. Master daily challenges to earn exclusive items. And should you desire to return to older modes and Arenas, you can now find Kings Canyon and Duos in the main menu. Are you ready to follow Bloodhound’s path and earn the favor of the Allfather?
This event will focus on Bloodhound, and as the trailer shows, there’s a new area that houses high tier loot that’s sure to be crowded with people starting tomorrow.
We’re expecting a full-fledged patch to drop along with the event, and if past events are anything to go by, we should get the patch notes within the day. Once we have it, we’ll be sure to let our readers know ASAP.
Read up on The Old Ways Event rewards and what’s coming here.
Final Fantasy 7 Remake Reviews Round Up
Possibly one of the most anticipated video game remakes of all-time is finally here — well, at least it’s intial part. Square Enix is set to finally release Final Fantasy 7 Remake, and the reviews are in! Curious how it fares? Read on for the Final Fantasy 7 Remake reviews round up!
Same as always, we collected reviews from some of the most trusted publications around, and put them in one handy list with the scores already shown, as well as links leading straight to the review.
Final Fantasy 7 Remake reviews round up:
| Cultured Vultures – | 100 ~ 10 / 10 |
| Game Revolution – | 100 ~ 5 / 5 stars |
| GameSpot – | 100 ~ 10 / 10 |
| Wccftech – | 93 ~ 9.3 / 10 |
| Attack of the Fanboy – | 90 ~ 4.5 / 5 stars |
| Destructoid – | 90 ~ 9 / 10 |
| Easy Allies – | 90 ~ 9 / 10 |
| GamesRadar+ – | 90 ~ 4.5 / 5 stars |
| God is a Geek – | 90 ~ 9 / 10 |
| PlayStation Universe – | 90 ~ 9 / 10 |
| Press Start – | 90 ~ 9 / 10 |
| Shacknews – | 90 ~ 9 / 10 |
| Game Informer — | 88 ~ 8.8 / 10 |
| Critical Hit – | 80 ~ 8 / 10 |
| IGN – | 80 ~ 8 / 10 |
| Push Square | 80 ~ 8 / 10 |
| Stevivor – | 80 ~ 8 / 10 |
| VG247 – | 80 ~ 4 / 5 stars |
| USgamer – | 70 ~ 3.5 / 5 stars |
| EGM – | 60 ~ 6 / 10 |
So far, so good, it seems Square Enix’s hard work is paying off as the critic scores are quite high, give or take a few outliers. Don’t forget, there’s a demo out now. Stay tuned to our Final Fantasy 7 Remake review hitting the site and SP1st soon.
Those who managed to snag an early copy already, how are you liking it so far? Final Fantasy 7 Remake will be out April 10 on the PS4 and PC.
More Final Fantasy 7 Remake Reading:
Hitman 2 April Content Calendar Revealed
Those looking for more assassinations and new targets in Hitman 2, IO Interactive has revealed the Hitman 2 April content calendar, and there arenew contracts, targets and more!
Hitman 2 April content calendar:
Featured Contracts – Fool’s Gambit
You make great contracts, and we put them in the game for everyone to enjoy. If you’re up for the task, jump on over to the Official Submission Thread. This month’s theme is based on April Fool’s Day and we look forward to seeing exactly how you adapt that into a Contract idea.Elusive Target Reactivation – The Politician
Your target is Dame Barbara Elizabeth Keating a New Zealand tycoon and the former Minister of Trade and foreign affairs. Her recent actions have forced her to employ a body double, so stay sharp to identify the correct target.
You may only have 1 target, but 10 days of opportunity to complete the contract.Curated Contracts
Our Curator for April is KevinRudd! He’s a well-known figure on Hitman Forum and Reddit. He’s a very creative soul and often creates humorous, mindpuzzling contracts and shares stylish screenshots. You could say he’s an Ansel master! Look out for his contracts in-game on April 16.Elusive Target Reactivation – The Serial Killer
The identity of this target is currently unknown, but the recent discovery of two new victims indicates he’s now using Whittleton Creek as his new hunting grounds. Your task is to take him down and you have 10 days to do it. You’ll earn the Suburban Suit with Gloves for successfully completing the mission.
Finally, IO Interactive has mentioned that the last IOI Monthly stream was stuck at #13, and last month’s stream was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. For now, the studio isn’t sure how episode #13 will unfold, bt they are working on something.
Source: IO Interactive
Report: Modern Warfare Season 3 Village Map Not a MW3 Remake
Just last week, a bunch of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Season 3 info got leaked via datamined info from the latest patch. Some of the info obtained there included the new maps and weapons Infinity Ward is set to introduce in Season 3, which starts this coming week.
In the datamined files, it mentions that there will be a Modern Warfare Season 3 Village map for multiplayer, which we all assumed would be a remake from Modern Warfare 3. Well, as it turns out, that won’t be the case.
Reliable dataminer Senescallo posted a new map layout of the upcoming Village map, and as you can see, it’s not really the same from Modern Warfare 3.
While this is good news for those tired of remade maps, the community has been mixed about it so far, with some not trusting the current Infinity Ward devs to release a proper map (Azhir Cave, anyone?), with others stating that given Infinity Ward’s current map design decisions, they’ll probably include a ton of windows and doors so newbies and campers have new spots to hide in.
Bear in mind once again, these are all from datamined files and have not been confirmed by Activision or Infinity Ward. That said, if the past seasons of Modern Warfare are any indication, these datamined info are usually super spot-on.
Nonetheless, the wait won’t be long now as Modern Warfare’s Season 3 starts April 8, and you can bet Infinity Ward will release a new trailer highlighting what players will be geting in it.
More Call of Duty Reading:
Dying Light 2 Dark Zones will Be More Intense due to Ray-Tracing
Developers Techland discusses how ray-tracing is making Dying Light 2 dark zones a whole lot scarier.
Speaking in the latest issue of OPM (Official PlayStation Magazine), Techland’s rendering director Tomasz Szałkowski opens up on how ray-tracing is improving their game and giving Dying Light 2 dark zones a darker, scarier and intense feeling.
Dying Light 2 is the largest game created using our in-house C-engine. It is very important for us to achieve our ambitions in terms of graphics, which is why this will be the first Techland production to support ray tracing. We are implementing it in cooperation with Nvidia [on PC] and using the latest achievements in this domain.
Thanks to this technology, our shadows in sunny weather look like they really would (among other reasons, because they take into account the size of the sun in the sky). Ambient occlusion effects have gained spatial stability and no longer suffer from compromises tied to the specifics of effects affecting screen space (they operate only on what is visible on the screen, meaning the floor under a table doesn’t affect the displayed image when we look down at the tabletop)
Dark Zones are an important element of our game, which is why we are experimenting with secondary illumination (reflected off surfaces) from artificial light sources (such as the player’s flashlight), which will make the experience of exploring these regions even more intense.
While the quote only mentions PC, next-gen console buyers (PS5, Xbox Series X) can rest easy knowing that the next-gen version of Dying Light 2 will indeed support ray-tracing on both systems. Dying Light 2 currently does not have a release date as the studio announced a delay back in January. We most likely won’t hear about one anytime soon either, with the current COVID-19 pandemic happening and all.
Source: GamesRadar
Boundary Is an Outer Space FPS Coming to PS4 and PC This Year
Tired of your usual military first-person shooter? Perhaps you want one set in outer space? Well, if so, there’s one coming later this year. Called “Boundary,” it’s a first-person shooter set in outer space!
Check out the game’s trailer below.
According to developer Surgical Scalpels Studio, they’re building Boundary as a “more simulative, low-orbit environment shooter.” Gamers will play as armed astronauts or what the game calls “AO” or Astroperators.
Being set in space, players won’t be restricted to the laws of gravity like in other shooters, though this means it will also open up challenges not usually present as well. As for customization, players can choose to be an Assaulter or a Sniper Specialist.
Boundary will be releasing later this year on both PC and PlayStation 4. It’s unlikely to be coming to the Xbox One as this is being funded under PlayStation’s China Hero Project, a program meant to help studios in China reach other territories in the global market.
Source: PlayStation Blog
Next Risk of Rain 2 Survivor to be Decided by the Community
Voting for the next Risk of Rain 2 survivor has commenced, giving players the chance to decide which Survivor will be in a future update.
In total, there are seven characters that can be voted on, six of them being existing characters from the previous game and the last a new mystery survivor. The full list of characters can be found below:
- Sniper
- Miner
- Han-D
- Enforcer
- Chef [VOTE FOR THIS ONE IT’S TOTALLY NOT MY CHOICE]
- Bandit
- Mystery Survivor
Voting began on March 31st and will last until April 7th. Down below you can find the current standing as of April 1st.
Entirely New Survivor (21,479 votes)
Sniper (19,293 votes)
Chef (18,000 votes)
Enforcer (11,523 votes)
Bandit (9,160 votes)
Miner (5,309 votes)
HAN-D (3,048 votes)
If you wish to participate in the poll, make sure to join the official Risk of Rain 2 discord channel. We would like to point out that just because only one of these characters will win, it doesn’t rule them out of appearing in the game in a future update. This is especially true as the game files actually hold most of these unfinished characters with some even appearing in the background of the character select screen.
We’ll be sure to post the winning Risk of Rain 2 Survivor once the final count is revealed, and expect them to appear in a future update (PC first Consoles after) soon after. Risk of Rain 2 is now available on all major gaming platforms. Steam is currently holding a free weekend if anyone is interested in trying it. I highly recommend it as it offers countless hours of fun, and even more with friends.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Remastered Review – Hard Decisions
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 has always been considered my favorite in the Modern Warfare series. From it’s excellent multiplayer to its extremely controversial campaign, the game felt like a proper sequel to an already stellar game. So when Activision shadow dropped it just a couple of days ago, I was eager to jump back in just to see how much of an improvement has been made. To say the least, outside of the absence of multiplayer, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Remastered still holds up, and the fresh coat makes it one of the more impressive remasters out there today. Read on for our full Modern Warfare 2 Remastered review.
It’s crazy to think that it’s been a little over a decade since the release of Modern Warfare 2 on the PS3 and Xbox 360. That’s a whole full generation ago, and yet despite that, this newly remastered version looks as if it’s coming out of this generation. Much like the remaster of the first Modern Warfare, the sequel sees textures and character models, along with lighting and coloring all reworked. While it certainly isn’t going to blow people’s minds away, it will surprise many by how much better it looks over the original release.
To give you a better idea of how much of a difference it is, YouTuber ElAnalistaDeBits recently uploaded a side-by-side comparison of the original and remastered.
Beenox Studio really did knock it out with the visuals, which isn’t surprising as they were behind the first remastering. I had to stop a few times to stare at some of the textures, just thinking to myself, did the game look like this when it came out? And no, it absolutely didn’t. The improvements are day and night, making this well worth a revisit for old fans, and well suited for new ones.
As for the story, what can I really say about it that wasn’t said ten years ago? It was a fantastic follow-up to the original, and the theme it set out to tell still holds up even for today. Sure, many may see Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2019 shadowing it with some of its own controversial missions, but mind you this is a game that came out over ten years ago, it would be ashamed if the new one didn’t do just that. Does that mean you should view the campaign of Modern Warfare 2 any less? Of course not, I think it’s one of Infinity Ward’s best in terms of plot, as it always would keep players on the edge of their seats with all the controversial sections and jammed pack, Michael Bay action. It was fun for the time, and that still hasn’t changed outside of the now improved visuals.
Not the Definite Version…Yet
Despite highly recommending players to give the Modern Warfare 2 Remastered another go, I wouldn’t quite say it is the best version of the game yet. Why? Well, because it doesn’t have any co-operative or online multiplayer. While the vastly superior visuals may be enough for some players, the lack of its core experience is a significant disappointment and most likely will deter fans. I would have loved to see the old multiplayer get the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered multiplayer treatment, as the sequel is perhaps my favorite in the franchise, but sadly with 2019 being heavily supported it’s understandable why Infinity Ward doesn’t want to split the player base any further than it already has. Still, multiplayer is in the series blood, and it is odd to see no multiplayer launching for such a major title rerelease. In the very least, Spec Ops would have been nice since I found that to be the worse part of the new game. And as it stands, the only way to experience the multiplayer is by playing the original release. PS4 owners are out of luck altogether if they don’t own a PS3 or another playable platform, but PC and Xbox One players can still enjoy them. At this point it’d be a matter of preference; Do you buy a remaster just for better graphics, but with half the content? Or do you take the dive and play an uglier version of the game to experience it all in its original form? Tough call, though I suppose it’s fair to say that the price point for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Remastered does reflect that as its only $20 on the storefronts.
SCORE: 7.5/10
PROS
- The frame-rate on the original was already rock solid, doesn’t change here if not slightly improved
- Incredible visual bump makes the game look completely new
- Remarkable story that kept everything from the original intact
- Fun fast, classic Modern Warfare gameplay
- A few surprises added for this new release
CONS
- No competitive multiplayer whatsoever. It could be a tough buy for many, but the price reflects that.
- Some audio bugs (cutting out, volume, and more)
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Remastered review code provided by the publisher. Reviewed on PS4. You can read MP1st’s review and scoring policy right here.
Resident Evil 3 Remake Review: In the Shadow of a Giant
As a fan of the Resident Evil franchise since essentially day one, Resident Evil 2 was always my favorite due to the unheard of (at the time) replay value. As such, Resident Evil 3: Nemesis felt like a step backwards with a far more linear campaign, eschewing the “Zapping System” from Resident Evil 2 which allowed you to play the game four different times and have four relatively unique playthroughs, depending on which character you started with. As a result, Nemesis felt like a much shorter, less rewarding experience. Capcom managed to do the impossible (to me) when they remade Resident Evil 2 (and it did splendidly) by making a game that largely improved upon the experience of the original while keeping most of what made me love it in the first place. Curious? Read on for our full Resident Evil 3 Remake review.
Resident Evil 3 Remake Review
When I found out they were giving Resident Evil 3 the same treatment a year later, I was hoping for the same type of improvements. In many ways they nailed it. In others, they missed an opportunity and released a game that feels like an expansion to Resident Evil 2, instead of a proper full-fledged game.
The Gory Story
The story follows much of the same beats as the original with a few key differences mostly in the second half of the game. Starting two days prior to the events of Resident Evil 2, and ending shortly after, Jill Valentine finds herself being pursued by a seemingly unstoppable monster (she later finds to be called “Nemesis,” natch) while assisting UCB member Carlos and his team escape the city that is now overrun by zombies and other manner of things that want to kill you.
Jill Valentine is a great character. She feels confident but never cocky and she’s extremely likable. Carlos is much improved this time around. He believes he’s doing the right thing and doesn’t fully grasp exactly what his employers have done…at first.
While the basic story is the same, the clocktower section is excised making the experience much more truncated. There are also no branching paths. Just a linear straight shot to the climax. It does make for a tighter, more focused experience, but it also means the game is absurdly short. It’s entirely possible for the game to be beaten on a first run in under six hours (it took me eight because I am obsessive about running back to store things I might need later which means a lot of backtracking). However, once you complete the story, the game does offer some incentives to play it again by unlocking “power up” items you can purchase with in game currency to go for those higher ranking playthroughs. These items do take up inventory space though, so choose wisely.
As Deep as a Puddle of Blood
It doesn’t end with the story that comes up short, it’s also, surprisingly, the depth of the game as well. There are far fewer puzzles, weapons and upgrades this time around as well. Also, Mr X, while a more limited villain than the Nemesis, felt much more foreboding than what we get here, which is basically a triggered boss fight four times. I am loathe to compare one game to another in most cases but the feeling that this game had lots of compromises to its ambition can’t be shaken when Capcom got nearly everything right a year ago.
Through most of the game you’ll play as Jill, and this is where the game focuses on the survival horror, adventure game elements. Jill will need to explore and acquire key items to open locks, get through chained fences and so on and she has to do this with minimal inventory slots. This makes every item she picks up extremely valuable, no matter what it is. She is also the only one who has to deal with Nemesis which are either sections where you will need to avoid getting pummeled by it or fight him as all of the boss battles in the game. Resident Evil 3 breaks up the gameplay styles by having you play as Carlos for two sections of the game. In his sections, Carlos can take more damage and has a fully automatic assault rifle with a ton of ammo. This makes his sections easier, but also more action oriented as opposed to survival horror. He also disappears for large portions of the game which has me wondering if future DLC will feature these sections. It’s also comical how many healing items he gets where as Jill gets much fewer outside of the Nemesis boss fights.
Standing in the Shadow of a Giant
That isn’t at all to say Resident Evil 3’s remake is a bad game. It’s not. At all. The core gameplay is just as good, if not better than Resident Evil 2 with the addition of a dodge button. Shooting feels great. The new enemies provide a significant challenge and are all extremely satisfying to kill. The presentation is also stellar. It’s every bit as beautiful as its predecessor, and the new character models for Jill an Carlos surpass Leon and Claire. Having most of the first act of the game taking place outside on the ravaged streets of Raccoon City allows the RE Engine to flex its lighting and rendering muscles (I would love to see a much more expansive, explorable version of the city in this engine rather than the few streets and alleys we get here but I digress). It’s a drop dead gorgeous game and it sounds great as well. I played with my headset on through most of my playthrough and the sound design is staggeringly immersive and the performances rise to meet it.
Resident Evil 3 Remake is extremely polished, gorgeous, and a ton of fun to play. It’s really the content where the game falls short and that is disappointing for a $60 game that feels less like a sequel to a remarkably fantastic game and more like a decent sized piece of DLC.
Note that the game includes Resident Evil Resistance, the asymmetrial multiplayer game as a freebie. We’ll have a separate review of that soon.
Score: 7.5/10
Pros
- Killing monsters is always fun and satisfying
- Stunning visual presentation and sound design
- A solid retelling of the story in Resident Evil 3: Nemesis
- In game currency for bonuses to be used in multiple playthroughs
Cons
- It’s so short that it feels like it should have been DLC for Resident Evil 2 Remake
- Lacks the depth of its predecessor
Resident Evil 3 review code provided by the publisher. Reviewed on PS4 . You can read MP1st’s review and scoring policy right here.
Marvel’s Avengers Game Gear Have 100+ Unique Perks
It’s been a while since we last heard about anything related to the Marvel’s Avengers game, and while most of the talk regarding it have been about how the characters look, and the different in-game costumes available, people might have forgotten that the actual “gear” in the game aren’t just cosmetics, but actually gameplay affecting items.
- Related Reading: Marvels Avengers Game – The Story So Far (Spoiler Warning)
In case you didn’t see it, we reported on the Marvel’s Avengers game gear and power level last year, and even posted a picture of what it looks like. Apparently, there’s going to be a lot of customization to do in terms of gear, as Crystal Dynamics confirmed that there are over 100+ unique perks tied to gear alone. This was mentioned by Crystal Dynamics dev vnapoli3313 when answering fans on the game’s subreddit.
Actually we have a bunch of pretty cool twists up our sleeves for how Artifacts stand out among other items. They are definitely unique.
I cant wait until we get to demonstrate some of the stuff we’ve done with them!
Most of those perks were early tests. A lot of work has been done to overhaul that system, but there are easily 100+ unique perks for gear alone. Perks are also exclusive to the slot item and perk slot on the items themselves.
Hopefully, this means that we’ll get a new look at the game soon, as from Crystal Dynamics’ last mention of it, Marvel’s Avengers is still due September 2020. We’ll be sure to keep you updated on all the latest news for Marvel’s Avengers game.