There’s a new Rocket League update out now, and it’s the Rocket LeagueAutumn update hotfix, which brings with it, a slew of bug squashing, technical fixes and more.
Clocking in at 1.4GB on the PlayStation 4, some Arenas are being tweaked, along with a host of tech issue fixes, though Xbox One players might still see performance problems.
CHANGES AND UPDATES
Arenas
Brightness on DFH Stadium (Day) and Champions Field (Day) has been reduced
Fixed an issue with the grass in Champions Field (Day) on low detail
The broken texture on Starbase Arc has been fixed
Mac/Linux: Farmstead map visuals have been updated
Lighting on Farmstead has been adjusted
Urban Central boost locations are now consistent with other Standard Arenas
BUG FIXES
General
Boost audio will no longer cut out when rapidly tapping the Boost button
Season Reward Level progress should now display correctly at the end of Competitive matches
Added additional checks to prevent undesired demolish scenarios reported since the Autumn Update
Fixed several issues with in-game grass
The appearance of grass on lower detail modes on PC has been updated as part of ongoing optimizations
Fixed the item thumbnail for Halo toppers with a Black ‘Painted’ attribute
Fixed a game crash issue related to the Season 4 Reward Trails
The ‘Labyrinth’ Decal for Takumi has been fixed
The Season 2 Reward Prospect Boost has been fixed
Second player in splitscreen mode will now retain color choices made in the Garage
Joining Free Play during join countdown no longer blocks player from entering a match
KNOWN ISSUES
Some players on Xbox One may still experience performance issues
Restarting Rocket League can help solve this issue temporarily while we continue to investigate
If you see some persistent bugs, or just technical issues, report them to Psyonix on Reddit.
Are you good at Hi-Rez Studios’ Paladins? You game on console? Well, here’s your chance to earn with your mad gaming skills. Hi-Rez has announced the Paladins Console Series with a cool $250,000 prize pool!
Check out the announcement trailer above to see what it’s all about. The Paladins Console Series is open to all console players (PS4, Xbox One) from North America and Europe. Teams will compete in a series of 12 monthly tournaments scheduled from October 2017 to October 2018. Each monthly tourney will consist of three weeks of open bracket play, where Crystal prizing will be involved, with the top eight teams being qualified for the monthly finals with actual, real-world money on the line.
We’ll be giving away $19,000 and more than 84,000 Crystals to Paladins Console Series competitors every single month. And the best Paladins Console Series teams will earn invites to compete at LANs including the inaugural Paladins Console World Championship at Hi-Rez Expo 2018!
That’s a lot of scratch! Those interested can join the Paladins Discord channel right here and sign up.
If you’d rather watch the matches than compete, then make sure to boomark this site since all matches will be broadcast there exclusively.
In other non-eSports Paladins news, go check out the new Halloween update for the game to see the new stuff Hi-Rez has put in the game for the month.
With games like Overwatch, Battlefield 1, Call of Duty: Black Ops 3, and even the soon-tob-released games Call of Duty: WWII and Star Wars Battlefront II all featuring loot boxes of some kind, it’s safe to say that this latest gaming trend is here to stay.
While some might like the idea of unlocking random stuff, it’s a pain in the neck for those looking for one specific item. With that in mind, there has been calls from the gaming enthusiast crowd for the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) to classify loot crates, loot boxes and the sort as some form of gambling. But nope, not going to happen as the ESRB doesn’t see it as a form of gambling at all.
Here’s the statement an ESRB spokesperson sent to Kotaku
ESRB does not consider loot boxes to be gambling. While there’s an element of chance in these mechanics, the player is always guaranteed to receive in-game content (even if the player unfortunately receives something they don’t want). We think of it as a similar principle to collectible card games: Sometimes you’ll open a pack and get a brand new holographic card you’ve had your eye on for a while. But other times you’ll end up with a pack of cards you already have.
Additionally, the ESRB has mentioned that any game with real gambling involved will receive an “Adults Only” rating, though there’s also a classification of “Simulated Gambling” that most games featuring loot boxes aren’t part of too.
It’s fast becoming the reality that loot boxes aren’t all that it’s cracked up to be. With more and more gamers voicing their displeasure at how this little feature is now used as a microtransaction tool, expect more gamers to hate it in future games.
Speaking of loot boxes, check out the first-ever loot boxes you get in the Star Wars Battlefront II beta in this video.
Are you against loot boxes? Is there another alternative to this at all?
Daybreak Games’ H1Z1 is going to have its own league as the new H1Z1 Pro League has been announced. In partnership with Twin Galaxies, which will host the new Pro League Division for H1Z1, the press release states a “player-first” approach to the competition scene, with a guaranteed player minimum salary (baseline salary of $50K), along with a comprehensive “Player Bill of Rights” and even a revenue sharing model.
The first season will debut in early 2018 along with “15 teams of 5 players that will come together in live 75-person matches, battling it out over two 10-week rounds of competition, including championship finals in late 2018.”
Those interested in joining can attend a private H1Z1 Pro League briefing taking place at TwitchCon 2017 on Friday, October 20 in Long Beach, CA. You can also check them out on Twitter for more info.
$50K guaranteed baseline pay? Yeah, why didn’t I just become a pro gamer than a games media person. If you’re good at H1z1 and know a few people, try your luck and you can be the next superstar team.
[tps_header]If the regular DualShock 4 doesn’t work for you anymore, go check out these new PS4 controllers by HORI, @PLAY and Nacon. Announced over on the PlayStation Blog, Check out the full description of each controller below, with all three devices expected to hit retail this November.[/tps_header]
Impressively in addition to a range of core controls, the compact design has a touch pad, stereo headset jack, vibration motors and a 3m long cable. It also features an LED* on the front which can display in-game information such as your player number or health status in compatible games.
The Wired Compact Controller will launch in November across the region, available in Black, Blue, Grey, Orange and Red colours. Nacon are also simultaneously launching illuminated Green, Red and Blue versions, which feature extra colour LEDs* for a striking translucent look.
With the SNES Classic, Nintendo is clearly aiming it at the old players (like me) who have very fond memories of the console way back then. Well, so far so good, it seems to be working — even in Japan! The Nintendo Classic Mini Super Famicom, which is the Japanese equivalent of the SNES Classic has already sold over 368,913 units in its first four days of release!
This was revealed by Famitsu, with the sales numbers listed for the dates of October 5, which was when the Nintendo Classic Mini Super Famicom was released, until October 8. It’s safe to say that the SNES Classic is a hit worldwide, and it’s easy to see why.
For those who manage to get one, you can add more games by using this easy tutorial we posted yesterday.
Remember when we reported that there’s a KFC and Snickers-related Trophy/Achievement in WWE 2K18? Well, apparently that’s nothing to the craziness of having the actual Colonel Sanders in the wrestling game! Yes, the Colonel Sanders that invented the chicken!
Now, before any of you thinks of a cool finishing move for the Colonel, it’s not as easy as just picking him from the huge roster pool; nope. You’ll have to build the character in the “Create a Wrestler” feature. Check the “official” announcement from Kurt Angle in the video below.
The only thing better than one Colonel Sanders is one Colonel Sanders plus one WWE Superstar who looks a lot like Colonel Sanders. pic.twitter.com/lLPmEKvN36
For those looking to buy some accessorizes for their controllers, and looking forward to Call of Duty: WWII, you might want to give Kontrol Freeks’ thumbstick grips a look since you’ll also be getting a free and exclusive Divisions Calling Card.
Priced at $17.99, the FPS Freek Call of Duty: WWII thumbsticks are available for both the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, and features the Infantry Division emblem on the grips themselves. All you have to do to redeem the exclusive COD: WWII Calling Card is to enter the code in the redemption site, and that’s it.
Here’s what the Calling Card looks like as well as the full product description:
Designed with Activision® and Sledgehammer Games® specifically for use in Call of Duty: WWII, FPS Freek Call of Duty: WWII features two high-rise thumbsticks (12.2mm) to enhance precision and mobility in Call of Duty: WWII. The iconic Infantry Division emblem and concave surface boosts grip and control to keep you at peak performance in any warzone.
Built to meet the demands of high-speed gameplay in Call of Duty: WWII, these Performance Thumbsticks allow for faster target acquisition at any range. Additionally, they allow you to dial up the sensitivity on your controller so you can make the shots that win the battles. Show your Pride! Represent the Infantry Division with the exclusive Calling Card only available with the purchase of KontrolFreek FPS Freek Call of Duty®: WWII Thumbsticks.
Benefits:
Iconic Infantry crest in striking crimson
High-rise thumbsticks increase precision and aim
Concave surface for enhanced comfort
Designed for use in Call of Duty: WWII
Includes exclusive in-game Infantry Division Calling Card
For other Call of Duty: WWII news, we just ran a video feature explaining the COD: WWII Prestige system since it’s a bit different compared to past Call of Duty games. We also ran a video yesterday where we summed up the most interesting info leaks we’ve reported on so far.
While we liked what we played of the recently-concluded Star Wars Battlefront II beta, developer DICE has gotten a bit of flack for the game’s loot boxes and how it handles progression. We’ve seen people from the studio address concerns on social media, or even on Reddit, but so far, they have kept mum on the loot boxes.
Over on Reddit, DICE emplployee Peter Vesti explained the reasoning why the studio doesn’t comment on every little thing the community is in uproar about, and mentions the studio reads “pretty much everything.”
I mostly respond to level design questions and feedback – since that’s what I do. There hasn’t been much feedback in that area for a while. When we don’t comment on issues, it mostly means that we don’t feel we can add anything useful to the discussion. We are reading pretty much everything though!
Given how toxic some people are when complaining about games and their lack of features and whatnot, maybe it’s for the best that they don’t answer everything, no?
Don’t forget to check out our hands-on impressions piece with Star Wars Battlefront II’s space battles mode, Starfighter Assault.
Microsoft has announced four new Xbox One S 500GB bundle deals. The following bundles are available to purchase: Xbox One S Minecraft Complete Adventure Bundle, Xbox One S Rocket League Blast-Off Bundle, Xbox One S Starter Bundle and the Xbox One S Ultimate Halo Bundle.
For the full list of bundle details see below:
Xbox One S Minecraft Complete Adventure Bundle
Own the Xbox One S Minecraft Complete Adventure Bundle (500GB) for $279 USD / £229 GBP / €279 EUR and be part of a worldwide phenomenon. This bundle is available at local retailers in select markets including Microsoft Store and includes:
Xbox One S with 500GB hard drive
Xbox Wireless Controller
Full-game download code of Minecraft – Now you can build, dig, and craft together with friends across Xbox One, mobile, VR and Windows 10 with the Better Together update
Full add-on download code of the Minecraft Explorer’s pack – The Explorer’s pack features the Chinese Mythology Mashup, Natural Texture Pack, Biome Settlers Skin Pack, Battle and Beasts Skin Pack and Campfire Tales Skin Pack. The Explorer’s Pack will also be available as a standalone retail offering which includes the base game and DLC (valued at $29.99) starting Nov. 7.
Full-game download code of Minecraft: Story Mode Season 1 – The Complete Adventure(Episodes 1-8) – Experience this episodic point-and-click adventure game.
Xbox Live Gold – Enjoy 3 months of Xbox Live Gold to join the online Minecraft community and build, dig and craft together with friends.
Xbox Game Pass – Get instant access to over 100 great games with 1 month of Xbox Game Pass.
Xbox One S Rocket League Blast-Off Bundle
Still wondering what soccer would be like with rocket-equipped cars? Wonder no more and get in on the action with one of the most popular multiplayer games around. The winner of numerous awards, get ready to score amazing aerial goals with the Xbox One S Rocket LeagueBlast-Off Bundle (500GB) for £229 GBP / €279 EUR. This bundle is available at local retailers in select markets including Microsoft Store and includes:
Xbox One S with 500GB hard drive
Xbox Wireless Controller
Full-game download code of Rocket League – Choose from a variety of high-flying vehicles equipped with huge rocket boosters to score amazing aerial goals and pull off incredible, game-changing saves, take on the single-player challenge in Season Mode or join in 8-player online competition and 4-player split-screen action.
Xbox Live Gold – Enjoy a 3-month subscription of Xbox Live Gold to play your favorite games online with friends and get free games each month plus deep Xbox Store discounts on games, add-ons and more.
Xbox Game Pass – Get instant access out of the box to over 100 great games with 1 month of Xbox Game Pass.
Xbox One S Starter Bundle
Own the Xbox One S Starter Bundle (500GB) for $279 USD / £229 GBP / €279 EUR and dive into the very best of Xbox One. This bundle is available at local retailers in select markets including Microsoft Store and includes:
Xbox One S with 500GB hard drive
Xbox Wireless Controller
Xbox Live Gold – Play with and against friends and family on the most advanced multiplayer network with 3 months of Xbox Live Gold, plus receive exclusive membership perks like free games each month and deep discounts in the Microsoft Store
Xbox Game Pass – Get instant access to over 100 great games carefully curated for high quality and fun gameplay with 3 months of Xbox Game Pass. Games are added every month so there’s always something new to play including fan favorites such as Halo 5: Guardians, DiRT Rally and LEGO Batman.
Xbox One S Ultimate Halo Bundle
Own the Xbox One S Ultimate Halo Bundle (500GB) for $279 USD and live the legend of the Master Chief on Xbox One S. This bundle is available exclusively at Walmart in the U.S. and includes:
Xbox One S with 500GB hard drive
Xbox Wireless Controller
Full-game download codes of Halo 5: Guardians and Halo: The Master Chief Collection, which collectively offer fans the chance to experience the Master Chief’s epic journey over five Halo games
Xbox Game Pass – Get instant access to over 100 great games carefully curated for high quality and fun gameplay with 1 month of Xbox Game Pass
14-day Xbox Live Gold trial – Play games with friends near or far on Xbox Live with a 14-day trial
Will you be picking up a new Xbox One S? Which bundle looks most enticing?
Veteran Call of Duty: Black Opsfans will know James C. Burns as the voice actor behind Frank Woods, a main character who appeared in both the original Black Ops and Black Ops II.
Well, Woods’ voice actor is offering some teases at what could be next for the Call of Duty franchise. Posting on Twitter, Burns wrote the following:
Relax Black Ops fans… I will tell you what I know very soon…@Sgt_Frank_Woods
The @Sgt_Frank_Woods account linked in the above tweet is another handle owned by Burns. Over on that page, he’s been retweeting articles that hype up a potential Black Ops 4 release:
While this will be very exciting news for those who want to see another Black Ops title, user RdJokr1993 on Reddit commented that Burns has done this kind of thing before, even when he’s not involved with the game:
“He did the same thing around BO3 season, doing all sorts of teases. Guess what? He wasn’t even in it. Take this with a huge grain of salt.”
So yes, do consider that Burns could well be trolling!
Would you like to see Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 in 2018?
Wish there was some way to magically know when Destiny 2vendors are selling the highest level loot? Well, it isn’t magic, but there is now a tool that will alert you once high level loot is available.
If you’re rank 300-305, you may have noticed that Vendors rotate their gear level every half an hour. Gear can be between 295-300. Obviously, you’ll be wanting to grab gear when it’s at its peak Power Level.
Enter Vendorengrams.xyz, which is now compatible with Discord, the popular communication app. Here’s what it’s all about:
Each of the vendors in Destiny 2 that you can collect tokens with to recieve engrams rotate the level of the gear they drop. They do this every 30 minutes–on the hour and half hour–but only for guardians at 305PL or base 300PL. The engrams can vary between 295 – 300. At VendorEngrams.xyz you, and other users, vote on what the current vendors are showing so collectively we can help everyone see what the current drops are.
In order to add the alerts to Discord, and have notifications come through your phone for ultimate convenience, follow these instructions:
We just added integration with vendorengrams.xyz so you can get notifications in Discord when a vendor is selling PL300 engrams. Just type !server vendorengrams on in the channel were you want the notifications to be posted and they’ll pop in within a minute of being discovered by the community.
Want instant notifications on your phone? Want it easy for your clanmates to set up?
Create a new channel and set it to read-only for all users except Charlemagne. Make sure Charlemagne can post to the channel.
Type !server vendorengrams on in that channel
Now turn on notifications for all posts in that channel
Posting on Pixel Enemy, I’ve shared a video that explains Call of Duty: WWIIPrestige mode, and what we’ve learned from the various info leaks.
Click “play” on the video above to give it a watch, and be sure to leave any thoughts of your own in the comments below.
“This is Mack, for Pixel Enemy, here to talk about prestiging in Call of Duty: WWII.
Prestige has been in Call of Duty since the Modern Warfare days. Back then, entering into Prestige Mode meant forgoing all of your current progress in exchange for a cooler-looking player icon.
In the more recent Call of Duty titles, Prestige has worked a little differently. You still trade-in most of your progress, but in exchange you get some bonuses, like a new Custom Class slot and additional challenges.
In Call of Duty: WWII it looks like players will get a little something extra. Thanks to the info found in the mined PC beta files, we’ve now got a good idea of what WWII’s Prestige Mode will involve.
Again, take all this with a grain of salt, as some of these things may have changed by the game’s launch.”
Don’t forget to check back regularly here on MP1st for the latest gaming news!
For more original video, podcasts, and the latest in game trailers, don’t forget to subscribe to Pixel Enemy!
Nintendo has released patch 1.4.o for Splatoon 2, fixing a load of multiplayer issues and making improvements to the Spectator mode, Salmon Run, and more.
Update 1.4.0 is currently available to download and install automatically if your system is connected to the internet.
Find the full list of patch notes below:
Changes to Player Ranks
Previously when going down in rank while rank S+1 or higher, players could drop to S+0 all at once. This drop is now limited to a maximum of five ranks levels.
In conjunction with the above change, maintaining current rank from S+0 to S+49 will now require the rank meter to stay at least 50% full (was previously 40%).
Changes to Salmon Run
Fixed an issue causing certain combinations of main and special weapons to not appear, though they had been among the four supplied for that session of Salmon Run.
Fixed an issue causing players in life preserver form positioned near the edge of a stage to fall through the stage when super jumping to the starting point or to the Grizzco ship at the end of a wave.
Fixed an issue when hunting for a Goldie, causing its size and the location of the Golden Eggs it drops when defeated to appear differently to different players.
Fixed an issue allowing a Flyfish’s missle launcher to be destroyed when hit with a bomb just as it closed, although the bomb hadn’t gone inside.
Fixed an issue causing players swimming on walls to take damage continuously when attacked by a Chum, Smallfry, or Cohock.
Fixed an issue preventing ink from a Slosher from reviving allied players in life preserver form at point-blank range.
Fixed an issue that gave both pieces of gear the same randomly assigned gear abilities when receiving the current and previous month’s Limited-Time Bonus gear simultaneously.
Changes to Spectator Mode
Fixed an issue causing incorrect animations to play when objects other than players, such as Inkrails or Splash Walls were damaged while viewing a particular player’s perspective.
The sound effect that plays when taking damage during regular play now also plays when viewing that player’s perspective in spectator mode.
Other Changes
Fixed issues while creating posts in which 1)lines drawn outside of the frame and then back into the frame failed to properly appear and 2)the “undo” function failed to work properly.
Fixed an issue when testing weapons in which coming into contact with one of the targets immediately after performing a vertical swing with a roller failed to deal contact damage.
Fixed an issue when testing weapons in which coming into contact with one of the targets continuously with a Brella-type weapon incorrectly only damaged the target once.
Fixed an issue occurring when exceeding the number of displayable League Battle results caused recent results to not be displayed instead of the oldest results.
Updating to Ver.1.4.0 will disable wireless matchmaking for local multiplayer with players using Ver.1.3.0
Changes to Multiplayer
Fixed an issue where, under the following conditions, players would only receive the benefit of Ink Resistance Up when stacking it to maximum effect.
Moving while shooting a weapon in the Shooter category.
Moving while shooting a weapon in the Dualie category.
Moving while preparing to throw a bomb or sub weapon.
When storing a charged shot with a Charger, swimming into enemy ink and being returned to kid form now allows you to maintain the charge you had stored.
Fixed an issue preventing players using a Charger from shooting when pressing ZR again after releasing the button once a stored charged shot had expired.
Decreased the knock back distance when coming into contact with a roller that has run out of ink or is in mid-air.
Fixed an issue causing the aiming reticule to display outside the center of the screen when moving the camera and using a Roller or Brella-type weapon.
Fixed an issue causing Brellas to shoot in an off-center direction when shooting them while moving the camera.
Fixed an issue causing a discrepancy in movement speed while trying to shoot a Brella-type weapon with no ink remaining, as opposed to shooting a Brella with ink in the ink tank.
Fixed an issue causing Slosher-type weapons to shoot ink from a higher position than they appeared to.
Fixed an issue occasionally allowing opposing players standing behind a Splash Wall to be splatted when a bomb hit the edge of the wall.
Fixed an issue causing Curling Bombs to lose speed inappropriately when thrown on sloping surfaces.
Fixed an issue causing bombs not to ink the floor when exploding at the very edge of a stage.
Fixed an issue causing the predicted range of the sub weapon to incorrectly display when readying an Ink Storm special while also equipped with either a Point Sensor or Toxic Mist sub weapon.
Fixed an issue causing the inking effect of an Ink Storm special to occur unnaturally when the storm intersected with a roof or other similar object in a stage.
Bubbles from the Bubble Blower that burst after the end of a match will no longer ink the stage.
Fixed an issue causing movement speed while firing the Bubble Blower to vary depending on which main weapon was equipped.
In Rainmaker mode, equipping weapons such as the E-liter 4K and Dynamo Roller will no longer lower movement and swim speed while holding the Rainmaker.
Fixed an issue in Rainmaker Mode in which splatting a player holding the Rainmaker while they were jumping caused the Rainmaker to reappear not in its fixed location, but where the player had started their jump.
Fixed an issue in The Reef causing Suction Bombs and other objects thrown onto the area around the central bridge to sink inside it.
Fixed an issue in Inkblot Art Academy causing players readying a Roller or Brella at specific locations in the stage to fall through it.
Fixed an issue in Moray Towers causing players who fell off the stage near its center to fall faster than in other stages.
Fixed an issue in Manta Maria allowing players to enter into certain pillars in the stage.
Fixed an issue applying to the Drop Roller in which players returning to their starting point after using the Inkjet special were unable to roll when going into squid form just before landing.
Specifications for some of the main weapons have been changed.
Specifications for some of the special weapons have been changed.
Specifications for some of the gear abilities have been changed.
Points required to fill the special gauge for some weapons have been changed.
Will this patch make your game more enjoyable? Let us know below!
While we already have our Star Wars Battlefront IIbeta impressions piece, it mostly talked about the infantry-centric modes, and how it played. For this hands-on impression piece, we’re focusing on Battlefront II’s space battles mode, Starfighter Assault.
Bit of a disclaimer from me: I never really like dogfighting in games much. Sure, I played them, but if I had a choice between infantry and space/jet combat? I’d choose the former every time. Now that’s out of the way, here’s the big kicker: I absolutely loved Starfighter Assault. I wasn’t particularly super good at it, nor can I control my spacecraft with pinpoint precision, but man, did I enjoyed the time I had — especially as the Imperials.
Destroying Stars
In the Star Wars Battlefront II beta, Starfighter Assault mode had three ships to choose from: there’s the X-Wing, which was your standard assault vehicle with rapid fire lasers; the Interceptor, which was more of a one-on-one specialist; and the Bomber, a heavy-hitting craft that either slowed down a targeted enemy ship (for the Rebels), or fired off three missiles that can lock on to multiple targets (Imperials). Each “side” (Rebels and Imperials) had their own version of each craft though with slight variance in each.
What was surprising to me was, each vehicle felt really different, and that was pretty much evident with the abilities, and the laser sound each vehicle made (more on that later). So far, my favorite of the three is the Bomber ship, since it meant you can support your teammates in taking out Hero ships or pesky pilots by slowing them down (as the Rebel Bomber), or targeting multiple enemy ships as the Imperial Bomber. It’s so satisfying taking out a vehicle by bombarding them with missiles and watching things blow up.
Adding to each spaceship’s abilities are Star Cards that acts as buffs for offensive or defensive abilities, or gives players ability boosts such as their main weapons taking longer to overheat, faster lock-ons and more. It would be awesome to have the ability to put a skin over your own vehicle, but it doesn’t seem to be an option that’s available — at least in the beta.
Cockpit Commander
I can’t, for the life of me, pilot a chopper or jet in DICE’s Battlefield games. Call me a noob, idiot, or whatever, but I just can’t. Imagine my surprise when I found the controls in Starfighter Assault easy to adapt, but a tad harder to master. After a few matches I was weaving and flying through structures, painting enemy spacecrafts and more.
One cool objective had you flying in the trenches of a space structure where you had to take out multiple targets inside. Imagine having to maneuver that and have to contend with enemy fighters on your tail trying you laser your ass down! It’s definitely one of those I-can’t-believe-I’m-really-doing-this moments that needs to be experienced firsthand.
Aiding in that movie-like chase downs are the simple controls where the left stick handles the acceleration and deceleration, with the right stick making your craft roll, Weapons are fired by L1, R1 and L1+R1 which means you’re hands are always ready to fire when ready.
While some people might scoff at making the controls super simple, I’m all for it. It’s hard enough fighting with enemy spaceships, don’t let the player wrestle with the controls, too.
Hero Ships
Of course, it won’t be a Star Wars dogfight without the universe’s legendary ships. In the beta, we have access to Han Solo’s Millenium Falcon, Bobba Fett’s Slave-1, Darth Maul’s Scimitar and a modified X-Wing. Out of the lot, Bobba Fett’s craft is easily my favorite and if I’m being honest, feels a tad overpowered. Its ultimate ability is leaving a bomb area of attack that damages and stuns those who are tailing you. Sure, the wind up takes a second or two, and there’s no way to lose enemies targeting you, but the damage capabilities of Fett’s ship easily outclasses those of the Millenium Falcon and the rest.
Controlling the hero spacecrafts give off a sense of power, which is emphasized by the ship-specific voice overs. Piloting the Falcon? Prepare to hear Chewbacca and Han Solo spew out some quips that should be appreciated by Star Wars fans.
Fortunately, the Hero vehicles aren’t too overpowered — at least from what I’ve experienced so far. Sure, they can take away a few ships, but if a few regular spaceships are coordinate in taking it down, it should go down given the self-repairing gameplay mechanic doesn’t kick in immediately when no one is shooting.
Based on what I’ve played of Starfighter Assault in the Battlefront II beta, DICE and Criterion have nailed the mode down. If you ever wanted to pilot an X-Wing or drop goons while piloting the Millenimum Falcon, then your dreams are one step closer to reality. Simply put, if a non-genre fan like me can be swayed by what I’ve played, imagine what it’ll do to those who are huge fans of Star Wars and flight sims or space battles.
Let’s hope that the Hero vehicles we’ve yet to see live up to the rest that was showcased in the beta. Other than that, maybe a way to customize ships (though not too much), and I can see myself getting lost in the vast oceans of the galaxy.
Will what was shown in the beta have enough depth to have would-be pilots coming back after the initial thrill has worn off? How will the other maps differ from the rest? There’s lots of questions left, but so far so good, DICE and Criterion are on the right trajectory when it comes to bringing the thrills Star Wars Battlefront II’s space battles, and I for one, am excited to jump back into the cockpit once again come this November 17 when the game ships for the PS4, Xbox One and PC.
Star Wars Battlefont II early access beta code provided by EA, played on PS4.
A new Humble Bundle deal is up for grabs, featuring some fantastic RPGs starting from just $1, enough games to entertain you all fall.
For just $1 you can get Borderlands: Game of the Year Edition, The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing: Final Cut, and Wurm Unlimited.
We’d recommend grabbing some friends for a bit of Borderlands gameplay, if you’ve somehow managed to avoid playing the game!
Head here to check out the Humble Bundle and buy it for yourself.
Here are the full tiered list of games and blurbs:
Pay $1 or more and you will purchase the following:
Borderlands: Game of the Year Edition
With its addictive action, frantic first-person shooter combat, massive arsenal of weaponry, RPG elements and four-player co-op, Borderlands is a breakthrough experience that challenges all the conventions of modern shooters. Borderlands places you in the role of a mercenary on the lawless and desolate planet of Pandora, hell-bent on finding a legendary stockpile of powerful alien technology known as The Vault.
The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing: Final Cut
Grab your weapons and embark on an incredible adventure in the gothic-noir world of Borgovia, where mad science threatens the peace between monsters and mortals. Save the day with your charming companion, Lady Katarina (who happens to be a ghost). Explore the wilderness and the grim districts of a metropolis twisted by weird science, and don’t forget: you might never know who the real monsters are! The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing: Final Cut is the definite collection of three stand-alone episodes told as one continuous story, with six playable classes and a new endgame mode with a huge variety of open missions!
Wurm Unlimited
In Wurm Unlimited, players can explore an elaborate fantasy sandbox world in the predefined Creative or Adventure modes as well as set up their own game server and invite friends to live and experience the Wurm universe.
Muster up the average $5 and you’ll receive all the previous games plus:
Borderlands 2 + DLC
A new era of shoot and loot is about to begin. Play as one of four new vault hunters facing off against a massive new world of creatures, psychos and the evil mastermind, Handsome Jack. Make new friends, arm them with a bazillion weapons and fight alongside them in 4 player co-op on a relentless quest for revenge and redemption across the undiscovered and unpredictable living planet.
Endless Legend: Classic Edition
Another sunrise, another day of toil. Food must be grown, industries built, science and magic advanced, and wealth collected. Urgency drives these simple efforts, however, for your planet holds a history of unexplained apocalypse, and the winter you just survived was the worst on record. A fact that has also been true for the previous five.
Guild of Dungeoneering
Guild of Dungeoneering is a turn-based dungeon crawler with a twist: instead of controlling the hero you build the dungeon around him. Using cards drawn from your Guild decks, you lay down rooms, monsters, traps and of course loot! Meanwhile your hero is making his own decisions on where to go and what to fight. But will he be strong enough to take on the dungeon’s overlord? In between dungeon runs you manage your Guild, building new rooms to attract new classes of adventurer and to expand your decks of cards with more powerful items and events.
Pay $10 and you’ll get the entire list of games including:
Borderlands The Pre-Sequel
Discover the story behind Borderlands 2 villain, Handsome Jack, and his rise to power. Taking place between the original Borderlands and Borderlands 2, the Pre-Sequel gives you a whole lotta new gameplay featuring the genre blending fusion of shooter and RPG mechanics that players have come to love.
If you want to get your hands on over $242 worth of games boasting over 300+ hours of potential play time, then time is running out!
Will you be making a cheeky purchase? Let us know below.
In case you haven’t logged on today for Destiny 2, you’ll be prompted with a new Destiny 2 update (1.07) that’s out now on PlayStation 4. Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be any new tweaks or additions to the gameplay experience, but this one is all about the crashes players are experiencing in the Tower.
Here’s what the Bungie site says about this latest Destiny 2 hotfix:
1.0.3.2 The one about Tower crashes.
General
Fixed an issue that was causing crashes while loading into the Tower
Note that this is a hotfix, but Bungie says that players might need to manually check for updates to begin the installation process.
Hotfix 1.0.3.2 is now available. Players may need to manually check for updates to begin installation process: https://t.co/Ocy0lEVMfq
In other Destiny 2 news, the weekly reset happened this week, which you should read about if you care about new stuff to do in the game. Also of note, the big Destiny 2 Leviathan Prestige Raid has been delayed to next week due to a lingering exploit.
Epic Games has released a cool-looking infographic that compiles a bunch of fun facts and statistics. Give it a look below!
– 10 million Battle Royale players in 2 weeks *That’s the entire population of Sweden. – 44,494,571 total number of hours played* *1,483 college defrees that could have earned in that time – 58,925,337 traps found* *Zero traps found in Return of the Jedi – 797,785,423 walls/stairs/floors/ceilings built* *3,873,000,000 bricks in the Great Wall of China – 6,957,908 number of unbreallas earned* Over 8,000,000 copies of Rihanna’s Umbrella have been sold – 292,715,319 number of people who have jumped from the Battle Bus* *2 – Number of times Patrick Swayze jumps out of a plane in Point Break
Well, it’s happened! PlayerUnknown’s Battlegroundshas reached a concurrent player count of 2 million! That is 2 million people all online playing PUBG at the same time.
What’s more, it’s been achieved on a Wednesday, whereas previous record player counts have been achieved during the weekend. Impressive!
Above you’ll find the PUBG player count as recorded by Steam.
Bluehole’s unstoppable game smashed the 15 million sales milestone a couple of days ago, and now it’s claimed another impressive achievement. And remember, this is all through the PC version! I can only wonder what heights this game will achieve when it comes to Xbox One and (hopefully) PS4!
That’s a lot of people competing for first place and a “Winner, winner, chicken dinner!” I feel bad for all of those chickens…
Well, here’s a weird one. It seems there’s a Star Wars Battlefront II beta patch (1.01) that just went live right now — at least on the PlayStation 4. Checking the update history of the title update, it says, “Multiplayer Beta test patch” and nothing more for the 140MB download.
What’s interesting and weird here is that the beta is set to end today, and it’s weird for DICE to roll out a patch for something that should be over in a few hours. Maybe it’s another beta extension? Or maybe it’s to fix some weird matchmaking issues? We’ll give the Battlefront II beta a spin to see if there’s any changes. Speaking of which, go give our beta impressions piece a go to see what we think of it so far.
In other Star Wars Battlefront II news, Darth Vader has been confirmed to be in the game, and you can read about his powers here. DICE is also asking for feedback on the beta’s crosshairs, which I admit, isn’t ideal for me.
