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10 Things To Do In GTA Online, New Multiplayer Screens

by David Veselka

September 4, 2013 2:00 pm in News

Grand Theft Auto Online is going to be huge. This October 1, Rockstar is going to offer Xbox 360 and PS3 gamers one of the biggest and most expansive online experiences ever in GTA’s history where you and 15 other buddies will be able to take part in all sorts of shenanigans in the fictional city of Los Santos.

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As you can see from the teaser, there certainly won’t be a shortage of things to do in GTA Online. Even character creation will be going more in-depth than ever before.

IGN recently had the chance to go hands-on with GTA online and explored a few of the crazy (and not-so-crazy) things you and your crew can get up to while online. Author Ryan McCaffrey writes, “Based on what I saw, it is everything you’ve always dreamed an online GTA should be. It even has elements of persistence, though it’s definitely not an MMO.”

Here are a few of the activities you’ll be able to partake in:

“Rob a Liquor Store Together…and Then Betray Each Other” – Players will also be able to insure their vehicles in case of theft. After all, it is Grand Theft Auto.
“Race Your Friends…and Hope Your Other Friends Don’t Get in the Way” – Players can drop pins anywhere on the map to initiate a race with others.
“Steal a Frickin’ Plane…and Land it Safely While Your Friends Escort You” – Placers will be able to race in the air just as they can on the ground. Of course, players will be able to tackle missions using a variety of vehicles.
“Full Multiplayer Golf and Tennis” – GTA Online’s not-so-mini mini-games will let players relax with less stressful activities like Gold and Tennis in several of Los Santos’ Tennis courts or its 18-hole Golf course.
“Chill Out at Your House and Spark a Bowl” – However, nothing is more relaxing than hanging out with your pals on your couch in your own apartment watching some in-game TV while getting high off virtual pot.
“The Most Popular Missions Bubble Up” – A mission playlist will be available to players where players can vote on missions to partake in.
“Go to the Movies” – Rockstar is keeping quiet about this feature in particular, but according to IGN, 16 of you will be able to pack a theater in GTA Online.
“ATM…but Not the Gross Version You’d Probably Expect GTA to Make a Joke About” – Like in real life, you don’t want to keep a loaded wallet in your pocket as you walk the streets of cities like Los Santos. You’ll want to stop at the many ATMs located throughout the city to deposit some of that hard earned cash before things go awry. You can also bank from your “iFruit” cell phone.
“Create Your Own Missions” – Rockstar is providing players with a whole set of edititing tools to create their own missions.
“Visit a Strip Club” – Watch girls dance, but don’t touch them while bouncers are looking. Bad things will happen. Rockstar has even included a “make it rain” button…

For the full details, check out IGN’s piece on GTA Online. Now, for some screens!

David Veselka

Musician, Gamer, Geek. Subscriber

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Battlefield 3 – Small Update Makes Improvements to Battlelog

by David Veselka

11:08 am in News

Yesterday, a few of you may have noticed a bit of an outage in Battlefield 3‘s Battlelog service.

According to DICE, the studio was busy working away at a few Battlelog improvements, which you may notice when booting up the game today.

It’s a relatively small update, but here are the notes regardless.

Battlelog Update – September 4th

This update mainly contained backend and infrastructure changes in preparation for Battlefield 4, and therefore not a lot of visible changes for users.

Improvements & Changes:

New header/menu design and layout
You can now choose to have your feed, game activity and personal info only shown to friends
Completely new UI for the Game Manager (only available for select few people)
Now only friends can see what server you are playing on in your profile

Fixes:

Issue where your presence would not change when you stop playing Co-op
Issue where the site didn’t scale correct in 1280×720 resolutions
Various compatibility issues with the Opera browser
Various issues with Battlefield 3 multiplayer Quickmatch
Issue where you couldn’t publish your emblem to the feed

Tags: PS3 PC Battlelog Featured Battlefield 3 BF3 Xbox 360

David Veselka

Musician, Gamer, Geek. Subscriber

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Battlefield 4 Will Let You Test Run Vehicles Before Entering Online Matches

by David Veselka

11:01 am in News

Vehicle warfare has always been a huge part of the Battlefield series, but unlike some other shooters out there today, the vehicles game can be a rather intimidating one that is tough to master. After all, nobody wants to be that guy who takes the team’s one good chopper, only to run it into the nearest building.

As a result, newcomers to games like Battlefield 3 tend to shy away from vehicle usage, leaving it to the pros. According to IGN, DICE has taken note of this concern and plans to do something about it in Battlefield 4.

“We’ve definitely heard that people are afraid of getting in there [and using vehicles like helicopters] and that’s not our intent,” DICE creative director Lars Gustavsson told IGN’s Cam Shea. “…so what we’ve done is, we’ve added a test range, which allows you to try out all the hardware ahead of time so that if you want to learn to fly a helicopter you can get in there and you can find the settings that work best for you. And then start doing some stunt flights just to feel safe before you go out and get the responsibility of a bunch of other people sitting in your helicopter, so I truly hope that this will help people feel more safe about trying out the whole battlefield.”

To us, that sounds like a great idea, something that would have proven wonders in a game like Battlefield 3. Looks like Battlefield “noobs” will finally have a place to get comfortable with the idea of flying helicopters or jets. Heck, I too could use some practice.

What do you guys think? Are you going to be using Battlefield 4’s test range? What vehicle do you need more practice with?

Thanks, IGN.

Tags: PS3 PC Vehicles Featured PS4 Battlefield 4 BF4 Xbox One Xbox 360

David Veselka

Musician, Gamer, Geek. Subscriber

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Black Ops 2 Apocalypse DLC Makes Its Way to PlayStation 3 and PC September 26

by David Veselka

10:42 am in News

Call of Duty: Black Ops 2‘s fourth and final map pack has been announced to arrive on the PlayStation 3 and PC later this month.

On September 26, PS3 and PC users can download Apocalypse for $14.99 USD.

As a refresher, here’s what the map pack will include. Feel free to relax and watch some gameplay footage of all the new content we recorded while down at Treyarch studios right here!

Pod

A failed utopian community from the 70’s has left stacks of dilapidated residential pods nestled into an abandoned cliff side in Taiwan. Its residents long gone, the modernist compound now hosts frenetic combat as players must run atop the pods, as well as navigate their multi-tiered interiors for a strategic edge.

Frost

Fresh snow meets explosive gunpowder in this snow-capped European city, where the bridge over a frozen canal separates it into two sides, requiring players to employ multi-level traversal strategies to outsmart and ultimately outshoot their enemies.

Takeoff

Fans of “Stadium” from the original Call of Duty®: Black Ops First Strike DLC will find themselves at home on “Takeoff.” Marooned in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, this remote launch site is all about close-quarters combat, combining tight corners with open spaces for intense encounters.

Dig

An adaptation of the fan-favorite “Courtyard” from Call of Duty®: World at War, where two archeological dig sites in Afghanistan become the perfect playground for combatants eager for hectic, unceasing confrontations. Treyarch, has retained the spirit of “Courtyard” with two major chokepoints, a wide open layout and raised platforms, but has provided fans with a fresh take on the multitude of paths.

Origins

Apocalypse also features Origins, the most horrifying and imaginative Zombies experience to date. Players will be deployed to a Dieselpunk-stylized World War I-era France where they will encounter the return of the four original heroes – Tank, Nikolai, Takeo, and Richtofen – from the very first Zombies map featured in Call of Duty: World at War, as well as hordes of undead that have overrun the French countryside’s trenches and fields, as well as the ruins of an ancient and mysterious location.

Tags: PS3 PC DLC Featured Black Ops 2 Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 BO2 Apocalypse

David Veselka

Musician, Gamer, Geek. Subscriber

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Xbox One Launches On November 22 In 13 Territories

by Joel Santana

10:32 am in News

This morning, vice president of marketing, strategy and business Yusef Mehdi finally announced to the world the date at which Microsoft’s Xbox One will be available for purchase in the 13 countries it will launch in first.

Those who have pre-ordered or thinking about purchasing an Xbox One can get their hands on the next-generation console this November 22, according to a recent posting on Xbox Wire.

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13 territories, who are Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, New Zealand, Spain, UK, and USA, will be the first to be able to walk home with an Xbox One when it launches. The console’s launch in the rest of the world will follow throughout 2014 with no exact date given at this time.

Those expecting to purchase the Xbox One on day one can expect these games to be available at launch.

Yesterday, Microsoft revealed that their upcoming next-generation console has entered full production and received a slight bump in it’s CPU power, feel free to read about it here. Xbox One retails at $499 USD.

Tags: Xbox One Launch Date Featured

Joel Santana

Gamer for the past 20 years who loves anything ranging from RPGs, Fighters and of course FPS games. Author

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League of Legends Patch 3.11 Notes Released

by MP1st Staff

September 3, 2013 10:01 pm in News

With the League of Legends Season 3 World championship inching closer, Riot Games has released patch 3.11, which will most probably be the last patch the tournament client receives.

This patch includes champion balances, as always, but also adds new HUD improvements, especially for spectator mode, where Riot Games added features the community asked for.

Check out the entire list of patch notes below:

Champions

Draven

League of Draven

Now grants a base 50 Gold bonus upon killing an enemy champion (from 0)
Now consumes all Adoration stacks on kill to reward Draven with Gold (previously only consuming half)
Gold per Adoration stack consumed reduced to 2 (from 3)
Visuals and sounds for League of Draven play on every Draven kill, instead of only playing on kills which consumed a large number of stacks

Fiora

Blade Waltz

Will now choose untargetable and invisible targets if necessary to continue the Blade Waltz. If Fiora needs to jump to such a target to continue Blade Waltz, she will do so, though the ability will not deal damage to untargetable/invisible units. If the target is revealed when Fiora jumps to them (in brush), she’ll deal damage as normal

Galio

Idol of Durand

Cooldown reduced to 150/135/120 (from 170/150/130)
Mana cost reduced to 100 (from 100/150/200)

Mordekaiser

Iron Man

Now displays shield amount in segments, similar to health segments

Singed

Fling

Fixed a bug where Fling was dealing more damage than the tooltip values indicated

Thresh

Death Sentence

If the target cleanses the initial spell or blocks it with a spell shield, the chain will now shatter, preventing Thresh from casting Death Leap

Udyr

Phoenix Stance

Phoenix Stance’s buff now displays a timer for Udyr’s next Phoenix Breath attack

Zac

Cell Division

Adjusted passive chunk drops to be more contestable by enemies
If an enemy champion is within 1000 units of Zac, his chunks will spawn in a contestable zone between him and his opponent (this isn’t a change, but is listed for clarification)
Increased the range at which champions cause chunks to be contestable (fly away from Zac) to 1000 (from 700)
Slightly increased the distance contestable chunks travel from Zac
Chunks are now credited to whoever is closest to them in the event that both Zac and an enemy champion are present (rather than automatically going to Zac)
Reduced chunk invulnerability time to 0.25 seconds (from 0.75)
Chunk invulnerability now applies to both Zac and enemies (previously only applied to enemies – Zac now has to wait 0.25 seconds before he can absorb his chunks)
Zac now has an increased chunk pickup range and bypasses the chunk invulnerability delay timer during Let’s Bounce

Elastic Slingshot

Fixed a bug where the landing point visual effect was not appearing for enemies

Items

Guinsoo’s Rageblade

Fixed a bug where the visual effects included the generic “increased Movement Speed” visual

Map Specific Changes

The following changes are for Crystal Scar and Twisted Treeline only

Sanguine Blade

Recipe Changed: Pickaxe + Vampiric Scepter + 500 Gold = 2175 Total Gold (previously: B.F. Sword + Vampiric Scepter + 500g = 2850 Total Gold)

Nidalee

Bushwhack reveal and Armor and Magic Resist shred duration reduced to 6 seconds (from 12)
Bushwhack trap duration reduced to 2 minutes (from 4)

Teemo

Noxious Trap duration reduced to 3 minutes (from 10)

Crystal Scar

The following changes are for Crystal Scar only

Kassadin

Null Sphere silence duration reduced to 1/1.25/1.5/1.75/2 seconds (from 1/1.4/1.8/2.2/2.6)

Kha’Zix

Taste Their Fear isolation damage reduced to 35% bonus (from 45%)
Evolved Enlarged Claws additional missing Health damage reduced to 6% (from 8%)

Lulu

Wild Growth cooldown increased to 120/110/100 (from 110/95/80)

Wukong

Stone Skin changed to 2/4/6 Armor and Magic Resist per rank (from 4/6/8)
Cyclone cooldown changed to 120/110/100 (from 120/105/90)

Yorick

Omen of Famine cast range changed to 500 (from 550)
Omen of Famine cooldown changed to 8 (from 10/9/8/7/6)

Game Interface

Undo Button in the Item Shop

Players can now undo recent transactions within the in game item shop
- Undo history is cleared under certain events such as leaving the shopping area, dealing damage, receiving damage, or casting a spell
- Items will remove benefits they granted you when undone, such as gold gained from gold over time items
- Certain items cannot be undone such as Homeguard or Captain’s Boot enchantments

HUD

Mousing over a champion’s passive icon will now show a range indicator if the passive has a range of influence (e.g. Soraka’s Consecration)

Spectator Mode

Team Fight UI

Context: We’ve developed a new Team Fight UI for spectator mode that minimizes and concentrates the UI so that it’s easier to focus on the action during team fights. With this change we’ve optimized the display of battle information in team fights, including who’s involved in the fight, who’s winning, and how many people have died on either team.

While spectating, press ‘A’ to toggle the Team Fight UI
Minimalist UI mode that focuses on presenting information relevant to on-screen conflicts
Team health bars communicate the momentum of the fight and impact of AoE damage
Crowd control indicators visualize the power of crowd control abilities
Pentakill counter tracks progress towards double, triple, quadra and pentakills

Automatic Dragon and Baron Timers

Timers will display in the upper left corner of Spectator Mode with a countdown showing Dragon and Baron spawn times

General

Fixed the minimap bug showing champions at incorrect locations when emerging from the fog of war

Cancelled Auto Attacks will no longer fire a damage-less missile at the target
- The damage-less missile will no longer consume buffs or passives
- You may still hear a sound effect without the missile. We are still investigating a fix for this

Minions will now disappear from the map sooner after their death

Cursors will be set to the center of their window by default, preventing the camera from panning to the far left or right corners of the map at game start

Cursors will also be set to the center of their window for a short period of time after player switches full-screen focus (alt-tab)

Removed the default key bind for “Show/Hide Summoner Names” (previously, Shift-K). The function can still be bound in the Key Bindings menu if you wish to use it

Reduced the amount of time you can spend AFK before being kicked from the game

Tower health is now updated even if you’ve never had the tower out of the fog of war

The Champions tab in the Summoner Profile has been updated with a new layout
- The Champion grid has been widened, allowing more Champions to be seen at once
- The primary role selector has been changed from a button group to a dropdown in the upper right

Friends List

Parts of the friend list view have been rewritten in order to increase stability and performance
- Fixed a bug causing the friend list to be corrupted with duplicate and missing entries when scrolling
- Friend Notes are now visible in friend tooltips without needing to hover over the note icon

Custom Games

AFK detection reduced to 3 minutes (from 8)
- The game now kicks you at 5 minutes (previously 12 minutes)
The minimum time custom games need to last to be eligible for IP/XP rewards has been increased to 7 minutes (previously 5 minutes)
A minimum number of human players must now participate in a custom game to receive IP/XP rewards. The current thresholds are:
- 5 players minimum for Summoner’s Rift, Crystal Scar, and Howling Abyss
- 3 players minimum for Twisted Treeline
- A notification has been added in the end of game results screen to explain why players did not receive IP/XP

Don’t forget to tune in for the League of Legends Season 3 World Championship starting September 15 until the finals in October 4. The LA Staples Center will be the final venue and tickets for the event sold out in less than an hour.

Lastly, for making it through all those patch notes, we’re giving away some codes for Riot Blitzcrank as well as Arcade Hecarim on our Twitter account, so be sure to give us a follow!

Tags: Multiplayer Patch Notes Patch PC Mac League of Legends Featured Riot Games world championship

MP1st Staff

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Plants Vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare Will Be An Multiplayer-Only, ‘Budget’ Title

by Joel Santana

9:27 pm in News

Plants Vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare, the quirky third-person shooter in the works over at PopCap Games, will not feature a single player campaign but will, instead, be dedicated purely to multiplayer, according to a recent interview with Shacknews.

Garden Warfare will support four player co-op and host 24 players in it’s competitive mode. Because the game won’t feature any single player content, PopCap Games has announced that Garden Warfare will be a ‘budget’ title and will be priced at only $39.99 USD on the Xbox One or $29.99 USD on the Xbox 360 and PC.

Additionally, the studio has also announced that those purchasing Garden Warfare on the Xbox One platform will receive exclusive content such as the new “Boss Rush” mode, which was revealed during this year’s Gamescom convention.

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Although Garden Warfare will be sold at a budget price due to lack of single player content, PopCap Games will be supporting the title after it’s launch via downloadable content additions. Garden Warfare’s creative director tells ShackNews that they will be taking a cue from Plants Vs Zombies 2 to keep the players engaged for the long haul.

Plants Vs Zombies: Garden Warfare is set to release on the PC, Xbox 360 and Xbox One platforms sometime in 2014.

Tags: Featured Trailer Plants Vs Zombies: Garden Warfare PvZ: Garden Warfare Garden Warfare PvZ

Joel Santana

Gamer for the past 20 years who loves anything ranging from RPGs, Fighters and of course FPS games. Author

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Killzone: Shadow Fall – First Multiplayer Details And Off-Screen Gameplay

by James Lara

7:18 pm in News

With only a few months ’til release, Guerrilla Games has updated the official Killzone: Shadow Fall website with the first details about the game’s multiplayer component.

You’ll find a few highlights, including the fact that the game packs 22 weapons with 19 customization attachments, as well as details on custom games, free DLC, and more.

Player Mechanics:
Most of the player mechanics available in the single-player campaign are now also available in multiplayer. This includes the cover system that allows you to snap in to/lean out of/vault over cover, as well as the sliding mechanic. In addition, the brutal melee system has been expanded with drop-down melees (as seen in the single-player playthrough).
Weapons:
Multiplayer features 22 different weapons, all of them unlocked from the get-go. Your ability to master the weapons is key, as each weapon has very different dynamics. For an in-depth look at the new weapons, read our “Guerrilla Armory” articles about the StA-55 assault rifle, the VC-15 shotgun pistol, the M55 assault rifle and the VC-30 shotgun. More weapon articles are coming to Killzone.com soon!
Attachments:
There are 19 different weapon attachments in multiplayer, unlocked by completing specific challenges. You can use these to extend the functionality of your weapons in a variety ways, from enhanced scopes to new ammo types to secondary fire options. Adding attachments that complement your playing style can greatly enhance your combat effectiveness.
Classes & Abilities:
There are three distinct classes and 12 unique special abilities in multiplayer. Each of the classes can be enhanced with up to two special abilities, allowing for some highly specialized playing styles. We’ll cover the three classes and their available abilities in more detail in the coming weeks, but we can already reveal that there will be a Placeable Spawn Beacon ability.
Custom Warzones:
Warzones, with their trademark rotating mission modes, return to multiplayer with supercharged customization features. There are eight mission modes in total, four of which are new to Killzone. More importantly, you can customize these modes to your heart’s content and share your favorite settings with the rest of the community. We will regularly highlight popular and interesting community-created Warzones for you to try out.
Combat Honors:
Combat Honors are temporary bonuses that can be activated by earning enough points during a round. These bonuses stay active for as long you continue play – when your play session ends, you lose your Combat Honors. Combat Honors include bonuses such as an increase to movement speed, etc.
Post-Launch Support:
We aim to keep the post-launch multiplayer experience fresh through the frequent release of paid DLC expansion packs that offer new gameplay and customization features. At the same time, all DLC multiplayer maps will be released free of charge to prevent the player base from becoming fractured.

Thanks, VG24/7.

Along with this, players who attended this year’s PAX had the opportunity to stop by the Killzone: Shadow Fall booth to get some hands-on with the multiplayer. Here are some of those play sessions, recorded off-screen (with a camera).

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Killzone: Shadow Fall is set to be a launch title for the PlayStation 4, which releases November 14th.

Tags: Killzone Featured PS4 Killzone: Shdaow Fall

James Lara

A gamer at heart, James has been working for MP1st for the last decade to do exactly what he loves, writing about video games and having fun doing it. Growing up in the 90's gaming has been in his DNA since the days of NES. One day he hopes to develop his own game.

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Xbox One Gains a 150 MHz CPU Boost, Launch Date Announcement Incoming ‘Shortly’

by David Veselka

5:48 pm in News

Shortly before entering full production, it appears that the Xbox One has received a bit of a performance boost in its CPU power.

Today, Yusuf Mehdi, corporate vice president of marketing and strategy for Microsoft’s Interactive Entertainment Business, announced that, along with being right on schedule in terms of production, Microsoft was able to squeeze an extra 150 MHz out of the Xbox One’s CPU, bringing the console up to a 1.75 GHz clock speed, previously running at 1.60 GHz.

Earlier, the console also saw a bit of a performance boost back in August when its GPU clock speed was increased to 853 MHz from 800 MHz.

Speaking at today’s Citi Global Technology Conference, Mehdi announced, “we’re on track for launch in November.” He added, “we’ll announce a launch date shortly. We recently just went into full production, so we’re now producing en masse Xbox One consoles. We’ve had real good progress on the system. In fact, we just updated the CPU performance to 1.75 GHz on top of the graphics performance improvement, so the system is really going to shine [and] the games look pretty incredible.”

Mehdi claims the Xbox One’s launch this November will be the company’s “biggest launch by a wide margin,” and that “we’ve built more [systems] than we’ve ever built for an Xbox launch.”

It has also recently been reported that the Xbox One will be able to support up to 8 wireless controllers at one time.

Thanks, Polygon.

Tags: Xbox One Featured

David Veselka

Musician, Gamer, Geek. Subscriber

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Halo 4 Global Championship Live Stream Replay, New Ricochet Playlist Now Live

by David Veselka

10:55 am in News

Last Sunday was host to one of the greatest tournaments in the history of Halo that pitted the top eight players in the world against each other for the chance to take home up to 200,000 in prize money.

The Halo 4 Global Championship, hosted by Xbox LIVE’s Major Nelson, Blair Herter and Jessica Chobot and casted by Andy “Bravo” Dudynsky and Alex “Goldenboy” Mendez, saw its epic conclusion in Seattle, WA last Sunday as Aron “lx Ace xl” Elam walked away with the big “W” against fan-favorite Justin “iGotUrPistola” Deese.

Whether you’re a Halo fan or not, the event itself was rather impressive and the intense Free-for-All and 1v1 battles were a blast to watch. The final fight between “lx Ace xl” and “iGotUrPistola” could not have been scripted better as it even went to sudden death, putting everything on the line for that one kill.

You can catch the official live stream replay of the entire event over on Halo Waypoint, so be sure to check it out!

We’ll post any YouTube replays once they become available.

In other news, Halo fans also have a noteable playlist update to look forward to today.

Ricochet, the new Football-esque game type introduced in Halo 4 with the arrival of last month’s Champions Bundle DLC, is getting its very own playlist today and is available to all Halo 4 players, Champions Bundle-owners or not. That means Ricochet 24/7, if you so desire.

Check out the map rotation below!

Ricochet Playlist

Pitfall

Monolith

Solace

Skyline

Haven

Adrift

Thanks, TeamBeyond.

If you’ve yet to try out Ricochet, give it a shot. It’s one of the more exciting Halo 4 game types. In addition to the new playlist, Legendary BRs is now being consolidated into the Infinity Slayer playlist as a third voting option. Players will also notice a new second voting option; Team Slayer. Replacing Slayer Pro, players will still have complete control over their customization options, but random elements like personal ordinance will be turned off.

Be on the look out for our upcoming review of the Halo 4 Champions Bundle DLC.

Tags: DLC Featured Halo 4 Playlist Update Global Championship Ricochet Xbox 360

David Veselka

Musician, Gamer, Geek. Subscriber

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Diablo III Unleashes on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3

by David Veselka

9:56 am in News

Today, Blizzard brings the fastest selling PC game of all time, one that has sold over 12 million copies world-wide last year alone, to the home consoles, giving the most popular dungeon crawler in gaming a new home in the arms of Xbox and PlayStation users around the world.

Diablo III is now available for purchase on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

The digital version of the game is currently available on the PlayStation Network and will soon be making its way to Xbox LIVE on October 1.

The PS3^™ and Xbox 360 versions of Diablo III have been custom-tailored for gamepad-driven action, with a dynamic camera perspective that puts your hero front and center, as well as an all-new user interface and an intuitive control system that make vanquishing evil feel like second nature on consoles. Players can take on the vile denizens of the Burning Hells alone or in a party of up to four via same-screen local cooperative play or online over PlayStation Network^™ or Xbox LIVE^®. In addition, the game supports parties composed of both local and online players. Once gamers experience the rush of Diablo III’s unique brand of hack-and-slash gameplay from the comfort of their couch, Sanctuary will never be the same.

Diablo III will also be making its way to the PlayStation 4 sometime next year.

So, with which class will you be starting your Diablo III console adventure? The Barbarian, Witch Doctor, Wizard, Monk or Demon Hunter?

Tags: Xbox 360 PS3 Diablo 3 Featured

David Veselka

Musician, Gamer, Geek. Subscriber

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Warframe On PlayStation 4 Now A Timed Exclusive, Possibly Coming To Xbox One

by Joel Santana

September 2, 2013 3:08 pm in News

As we previously reported, Warframe, the free-to-play shooter by Digital Extremes, is making it’ s way to the PlayStation 4 platform later this year as an exclusive.

However, it is now being reported that Warframe’s exclusivity deal is, as a matter of fact, just a timed deal. This is according to a recent statement by Digital Extreme’s creative director Steven Sinclair, where he stated the following:

With how the industry is evolving, this really is the player generation. Games are reaching players hands in so many different ways now and Sony gets it, which is why we are bringing Warframe exclusively to the PS4 first. There’s no reason not to download Warframe on day one if you’re an action game lover – it’s free.

From the looks of it, there’s a possibility that those who will be purchasing the Xbox One console when it launches in the month of November may have a chance to get their hands on Warframe once the timed exclusive deal with Sony has expired sometime this February.

Additionally, Warframe is also set to feature a companion app that allows you to perform in-game tasks, as well as schedule gaming sessions with your pals. This, of course, will be made available when it launches on November 15 in North America and two weeks later in Europe.

Warframe is available now on the PC.

Via, VG247

Tags: PC Featured PS4 Free to Play Warframe Xbox One

Joel Santana

Gamer for the past 20 years who loves anything ranging from RPGs, Fighters and of course FPS games. Author

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Killzone: Mercenary Beta Impressions – AAA Controls and Visuals Make For The Best Handheld Shooter Yet

by James Lara

6:00 am in Features

Every time I hear that a first-person-shooter is heading towards a portable device that I own, I cringe at the thought, with the first thing that comes to mind: “broken controls”. It’s not easy developing a first-person shooter on handheld. Even if they boast dual analog sticks (COD: Declassified, Resistance), controls have always been an issue, though it seems that the developers over at Guerrilla Games Cambridge have finally found a way to make it work.

I have played every single Killzone title to date, and I can say that from what I have played in the Killzone: Mercenary’s Beta so far, it is probably one of the better releases yet, despite being on handheld. The controls feel so right at home, so it’s easy for anyone familiar with any shooter to jump right in without issues. This is most likely due to the fact that the PS Vita is the first major handheld device to physically feature two thumb sticks, making it easy to move and control the camera at the same time. This is certainly joyful, considering that in most FPS titles that involve any sort of touch screen, the controls just feel unresponsive and displaced at many times.

There are some touch screen prompts but, for the most part, they are also mapped to the controller, with the exception of the melee attack, hacking, and navigation, which I’ll get into later. The melee system, while it is a bit annoying to initiate, feels completely badass. There’s nothing like going into an interactive quick time event to finish off an opponent. And not only that, but it also has a counter melee mechanism. If someone tries to CQC melee you, you’ll be given the opportunity to swipe in a certain direction on the screen to take control of the situation. If anything, it reminds me of that badass CQC teaser trailer for Killzone 3.

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Hacking is something that many players seem to be rather confused with when in reality, it really isn’t at all that hard. In matches, Tac Coms drop from the sky which players will then be prompted to hack. A Tac Com, once hacked, will give players a special Vanguard, which can only be used during that life. All that you are tasked with doing is just matching up the corresponding shapes with what ever is being displayed the middle.

9epHQ — the bottom left and the bottom right are the right choice since they make up the shape in the middle part.

It’s pretty simple, yet the maps are so small (not a bad thing) that hacks become difficult to perform. If you succeed, however, the Vangaurd is always fun to use. A Vangaurd ability stretches from simple things like cloaks, shields, to more fire power such as the Sky Fury, which is a continuous remote-controlled airstrike. While they may seem ‘overpowered,’ the beauty of it is that it only lasts the life you get it, so if you die, you loss it, even if you haven’t activated it yet. They are also pretty difficult to get, considering that the size of the maps are small. Even with only 8 players occupying, it feels like you fighting a whole army of players at times.

In the Beta, there’s only one game mode, which is the standard Killzone mode, “Warzone”. Players will have 5 different objectives to go through, each of them being different from one another. The goal is to have the most won rounds over the opponent. This is a game mode that never truly gets tiring as it offers you a wide variety of objectives to play through.

One thing that some Killzone fans probably won’t appreciate is that this game trashes the class system and swaps it out for load-outs and character customization. The kind of weapons and armor you are carrying can all be swapped out for more powerful or more agile gear. And to be fair, this approach makes more sense, considering that it’s not a game built for 32 players where there’s enough space to do what an engineer could do or set up spawn beacons and such. I can’t imagine a sniper going around cloaked on maps designed for close quarters. It would be completely unfair, which is why it’s a Vangaurd in the game.

Graphically speaking, it nearly resembles Killzone 3 with some textures off here and there, but it goes without saying that this is a Beta and the final build will most likely be on par. Lighting is great, and while we only got the chance to try out one multiplayer map, it shows in various areas. Light emits from fire and areas of red or blue will shine throughout a cave with those colors. The animations are all fluid and don’t seem distracting at all. It’s truly an impressive feat – to see such work go into a handheld title – and this is probably one of the best looking handheld games out there.

My only issue with the Beta are some of the touchscreen action positions. When you want to collect ammo, or perform a melee/stealth kill, you must tap the center of the screen. It just feels awkwardly placed and I would have preferred them to be either on the right or left sides of the touchscreen. Also, navigating menus is done VIA the touch screen. While it isn’t too annoying, it would be been nice to have been given the option to use buttons. Otherwise, other actions such as hacking, melee swipes, and counter melee feel correctly placed.

If you own a PS Vita and you haven’t already, then I highly suggest you try out the Killzone: Mercenary Beta. You can easily get started by checking it out on the PS Store. It’s probably the best handheld shooter out there today, and if your waiting for Killzone: Shadow Fall, this will surely keep you busy ’til then. Killzone: Mercenary is set to release September 10th exclusively on the PS Vita.

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Tags: Featured PS Vita Killzone: Mercenary

James Lara

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ID@Xbox Program to Support Free-to-Play Titles, Will Be ‘No Different Than Any Other Xbox One Title’

by MP1st Staff

September 1, 2013 8:47 pm in News

Microsoft’s new ID@Xbox program seems to keep free-to-play titles in mind for the upcoming Xbox One Platform.

Speaking to Joystiq at PAX Prime, Microsoft’s Portfolio Director of Digital Content Chris Charla says Microsoft’s new program will grant the same privileges to free-to-play and premium titles that retail releases are privileged too.

“On Xbox One, games that come through ID@Xbox are no different than any other game,” Charla said. “They have full Gamerscore, full Achievements, can take advantage of SmartGlass, Kinect – if you can do it with an Xbox One game, you can do it with anything that comes through the ID@Xbox program. That’s like a fundamental tenet of the program.”

Charla later clarified that the program will not be ready to go at Xbox One’s launch, but should be ready in 2014. While titles such as War Thunder might not be ready this year, the ID@Xbox program seems ready to serve these titles in 2014.

What do you guys/gals think of this news? Does Microsoft seem fully-ready to embrace the indie and free-to-play markets? Let us know in the comments below.

Tags: Free to Play Xbox One ID@Xbox Featured

MP1st Staff

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Halo Xbox One Allegedly Re-Branded as “Halo 5”

by David Veselka

6:14 pm in News

We all saw it coming, but it appears that 343 Industries’ next Halo title might actually be Halo 5.

At E3 2013, the studio teased audiences with a next-generation Halo title for the Xbox One simply called “Halo.” You can check out the original E3 trailer below:

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At the time, Microsoft and 343i were unable to either confirm or deny whether or not the title is yet another numbered release in the new “Reclaimer” trilogy, or a spin-off that would debut Halo on the Xbox One. However, a recent re-upload of the trailer from creators Axis appears to have re-branded the title as “Halo 5”. You can catch the new logo appearing at the end of trailer below.

Halo Xbox One from axisanimation on Vimeo.

As of yet, Microsoft or 343i have yet to officially announce the game as “Halo 5,” but while it may not come as much of a surprise to many, it could possibly confirm that 343i’s next Halo title will not be a spin-off and will indeed be another numbered Halo.

Thanks, AllGamesBeta, via VG247.

Tags: Featured Halo 5: Guardians Xbox One

David Veselka

Musician, Gamer, Geek. Subscriber

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Borderlands 2 – All Ultimate Vault Hunter Pack 2 Weapons And Class Mods Detailed

by Joel Santana

August 30, 2013 7:21 pm in News

With Borderlands 2’s latest DLC, Ultimate Vault Hunter Pack 2, close to it’s September 3 release date, you can be sure that more and more details of this upcoming add-on will be surfacing.

Fortunately for you guys, we have already uncovered some details like the new customization items it is set to include if you also purchased the previous Ultimate Vault Hunter Pack.

Of course, no real Borderlands 2 add-on would be complete without some loot to add to your collection and the upcoming level cap for Borderlands 2 is no different. It adds four new weapons, all which are Pearlescent tier, and 15 new legendary class mods, with your favorite vault hunter getting three new legendary class mods a piece.

Ultimate Vault Hunter Pack 2 Loot

Special Effect: Depending how far the bullet travels, it will split into two or bullets. With each spawned bullet spawning behind the previous one.

Special Effect: Although it has a very low accuracy, bullets fired from this actively seeks out enemies very effectively.

Special Effects: Very high damage, shoots rockets instead of bullets.

Special Effects: The further you are from your target, the more damage this weapon will deal.

Legendary Class Mods

As you can tell, these new legendary class mods have been specifically created with certain builds in mind, unlike their previous counter-parts, which can be found in the game currently.

Ultimate Vault Hunter Pack 2 will be available September 3 on the PC, Mac, PS3 and Xbox 360 platform for $4.99 USD.

Tags: Borderlands 2 UVHP 2 loot class mods Xbox 360 PS3 PC Mac Featured

Joel Santana

Gamer for the past 20 years who loves anything ranging from RPGs, Fighters and of course FPS games. Author

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Tactical Intervention Enters Open Beta, More Content to Come Post-Launch

by David Veselka

4:28 pm in News

Tactical Intervention, a tactical, free-to-play, PC first-person shooter from Counter-Strike co-developer Minh “Gooseman” Le and brought to you by 1337 Games, is now open for all players to join in on the action in the game’s open beta test.

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To participate, simply download the game from the Steam store. You can find it right here.

Featuring unique games modes and mechanics not seen in other shooters, Tactical Intervention allows you to experience first person combat from an entirely new perspective. Hijack a car to take part in an intense highway chase; unload your high-powered Gabard shotgun at the VIP while leaning out the window, as your opponents scramble to protect him. Take out the covering helicopter with a well-placed shot from an RPG while you handbrake turn to broadside your target.

Experience the thrill of rappelling down a building, kicking in the plexiglass, hurling a flash bang, grabbing a hostage as a human shield, and dealing some rapid fire death with your Uzi. Use riot shields to defend yourself against enemy forces and then command your vicious German Shepard attack dog to savage terrorists out of line of sight. Dive to cover and lay down suppressing fire with your Aug assault rifle so your teammates can liberate the terrified hostages.

Officially, the game launches in Europe, North America and Russia on September 12 with servers in Asia, Australia and South America available on October 1. It will include eleven different maps off the bat with more on their way, like Airport and Monaco. Expect regular updates from the team post-launch, expanding the game with new maps, weapons and equipment.

To learn more, be sure to check out the official Tactical Intervention website!

Tags: PC Featured Tactical Intervention

David Veselka

Musician, Gamer, Geek. Subscriber

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Battlefield 4 – Commander Mode In Detail

by David Veselka

2:09 pm in News

In the latest entry of DICE’s Battlefield Blog, the team details everything you need to know about Commander Mode in Battlefield 4.

As you know, DICE is bringing back the mode that was first introduced in Battlefield 2 as a way to act as a commander with a complete overview of the Battlefield via a top-down, tactical map where he or she could issue commands or aid teammates in a number of ways.

Early Battlefield 2 Commander Mode Mock-Ups

Commander Mode in Battlefield 4

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DICE writes that some of Lead Multiplayer Designer Thomas Andersson’s major goals were to create interesting Commander vs. Commander gameplay and to keep things accessibile, especially on multiple platforms. According to Andersson, Commander Mode on mobile devices will be on par with the console and PC versions.

Interestingly, unlike in Battlefield 2, Battlefield 4 Commanders will not have the possibility of switching between Commander Mode and a 1st-person soldier mode. Commander Mode is a full-time job, as they put it. This should ensure the Commander’s dedication to the entire team for the length of the match.

Now let’s check out some of that assets at the Commander’s disposal, of which there are two; the squad loop and the main Commander assets loop.

The basic set up includes UAVs and EMPs, as well as the Cruise Missile Warning, which will warn teammates of the location and blast radius of the incoming strike.

Using GTA’s classic “wanted stars” system as an inspiration, you’ll also be able to point out high value targets on the opposing team, giving your team a particular enemy to focus on (any enemy with a killstreak of 6 or higher). At the moment, the enemy’s location is relayed to your team for 45 seconds, which might change at the final release. This new mechanic will allow teammate to earn more points by following these orders.

Main Assests Loop

The Cruise Missile

launched from fixed positions on the map, they will fly at cruising altitude before dropping in an arc at the designated point, wiping out anything in the vicinity. Their power is substantial, and this is why a good Commander will use the Cruise Missile Warning asset whenever possible.

Two types of Map Scans

Vehicle and Infantry Scan, used for long-term highlighting of enemy units on the map for your team.

Finally, the AC-130 Gunship

as seen in the Commander Mode videos and in BF3’s Armored Kill, this powerful plane provides ground support from multiple weapons, as well as a mobile spawn point covering a large section of the map.

Squad Loop

Squad Promotion

Boost the squad members’ individual field upgrade bars towards the next unlock.

Vehicle Drop

Deploy a Quad Bike or a light Boat (depending on terrain) via parachute.

Rapid Deploy

Cut the squad’s spawn time in half for a fixed period of time.

Supply Drop

Deploy a large crate that will heal, resupply and repair friendly units. In addition, friendly units will be able to change kits on the field which we think is an interesting tactical addition to the game.

Are you guys excited for the return of Commander Mode?

Sourcre: Battlefield Blog.

Tags: Featured PS4 Battlefield 4 BF4 Commander Mode Xbox One Xbox 360 PS3 PC

David Veselka

Musician, Gamer, Geek. Subscriber

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Borderlands 2 – Preview Of New Loot And Legendary Class Mods To Come, New Customization Items Outed

by Joel Santana

1:30 pm in News

As we previously reported earlier in the week, those playing Borderlands 2 on the Xbox 360 platform should expect a new compatibility pack to be available soon.

Well as of this writing, you can go ahead and download the pack that’s necessary in order to play with friends who will be purchasing the upcoming Ultimate Vault Hunter Pack 2, set to raise the level cap to 72 and much more this upcoming Tuesday.

Speaking of which, the folks over at Gearbox have recently outed some interesting tid-bits of information regarding their upcoming add-on for Borderlands 2. Those who purchased both Ultimate Vault Hunter Packs will receive the following:

As you can tell, in addition to adding more loot like we previously pointed out, it looks like Gearbox will be rewarding those who have purchased both packs that have increased the level cap with special items like new customization skins, new legendary tier class mods and more ‘bad-ass’ weapons.

Some of these include new pearlescent tier weapons like Jakob’s ‘Godfinger’ Sniper Rifle, Maliwan’s ‘Wanderlust’ pistol, Torgue’s ‘Carnage’ shotgun and Jakob’s Bekah assault rifle. Yyou can catch a glimpse of the Wanderlust pistol and one of 15 new legendary class mods below, where each vault hunter gets a set of three new class mods:

Both items in the picture above are shown with their max level 61 stats.

Since we’re checking out some of the new gear, here are a few images of new the item customizations that have recently appeared, as well as the community day and an unknown skin packs. Feel free to check them out below:

New Customization Items

Axton

Gaige

Krieg

Maya

Sal

Zero

Whew! Now that’s a lot of customization items. You can expect a total of 36 new items to be made available in the near future. Ultimate Vault Hunter Pack 2 is set to release on September 3 for $4.99 USD.

Tags: Customization PS3 PC Mac Featured Borderlands 2 UVHP2 Xbox 360

Joel Santana

Gamer for the past 20 years who loves anything ranging from RPGs, Fighters and of course FPS games. Author

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Watch The Official Grand Theft Auto 5 Trailer

by David Veselka

August 29, 2013 7:59 am in News

You may have seen a couple Grand Theft Auto 5 trailers by now, including these character trailers, this gameplay trailer and this GTA Online trailer, but none can measure up to what Rockstar Games refer to as the official trailer that the studio has unleashed upon the world today.

Watch it in all its glory and get pumped (like I really need to tell you to get pumped) for GTA V’s release on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 this September 17 and GTA Online’s release this October 1.

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Also, if you haven’t yet, be sure to read up on how Crews will work in GTA Online.

So, what did you think of the official trailer? How does it compare to previous official GTA trailers?

Tags: Xbox 360 Playstation 3 Featured grand theft auto 5 GTA V

David Veselka

Musician, Gamer, Geek. Subscriber