Bethesda has released Starfield update 1.7.36 on both Xbox Series X|S and PC, and this adds an (Field of View) FOV slider on the PC version alongside bug fixes. Read on for what’s new in the official Starfield new update patch notes for October 9.
Starfield Update 1.7.36 Patch Notes | Starfield Update Update Patch Notes for October 9:
GENERAL
FOV: Sliders are now available in Settings that allow players using first person or third person to adjust their FOV.
PERFORMANCE AND STABILITY
[PC ONLY] Improved stability for Intel Arc GPUs.
Various additional stability and performance improvements.
QUEST
Echoes of the Past: Addressed an issue where tunneling creatures could pick a location that would prevent progression.
That’s about it. There are more patches in the works according to Bethesda, and once we know more about that, we’ll let our readers know.
In other news, the Starfield HD rework mod is available, which you can check out here.
The PlayStation Plus Extra games for October 2023 have been leaked by the ever-reliable Billbil-kun. In keeping with the spirit of the Halloween season, Sony is offering a few chilling horror classics as part of their lineup. The complete list of leaked titles is as follows:
Gotham Knights
Alien: Isolation
Dead Island Definitive Edition
The Dark Pictures Anthology: House of Ashes
Disco Elysium: The Final Cut
Gungrave G.O.R.E
Elite Dangerous
Far: Changing Tides
From horror to action, space combat to an indie classic, there appears to be something for everyone in this lineup. It should be noted that this is an incomplete list; Sony will make the official announcement on coming Wednesday, where they will unveil the complete list of titles that will be a part of PlayStation Plus Extra games for October 2023.
While nothing has been announced by Sony so far, Billbil-kun has been on the money in these early info.
These additions will become accessible to PlayStation Plus Extra/Premium subscribers from October 17, 2023.
BattleBit Remastered update 2.1.9 is now available this October 8, and this brings a new map called Kodiakm reward changes for weekly challenges, bug fixes and more! Read on for the official patch notes.
BattleBit Remastered Update 2.1.9 for October 8 Patch Notes:
NEW MAP: KODIAK
[1×1 km map]
This new playspace finds players taking part in an Invasion on an Alaska-inspired biome, with key locations like Power Stations, Shelter and Port. Overall, this map was designed with Infantry gameplay as the primary focus, while still offering combined arms combat.
Coastline (South) is best suited for close quarters and mid-range fire fights. Infantry will find plenty of cover from the Port area to Town.
Inland (North) is where players will find success with mid to long range weapons like DMRs and Snipers, while also serving as a battleground for armored vehicles. Open fields and elevation changes will grant stronger sniper capability.
Between Power Plant and Town you’ll notice a small bomb shelter. Utilize it to cross the area safely and avoid exposure to enemy snipers.
Show More
UX / UI
The remaining time for weekly challenges will now be displayed on the weekly challenges panel.
Brightness settings will now adjust the screen’s brightness instead of applying gamma.
GAMEPLAY
Weekly challenge XP reward bonus increased to 250,000xp from 100,000xp.
Improved networking for packet loss recovery.
Prioritized networking packets for hit registration.
During bandaging, players cannot switch their target (self or friend) once bandaging has begun, unless they are bandaging another teammate who then moves away.
FIXES
Fixed a bug that caused server crashes after an extended period.
Fixed an unintended blue filter on the screen
Fixed an issue where grenades sometimes dealt damage through walls.
Fixed a UI bug where users were shown the option to bandage another player even when the latter was out of reach and nonbandage-able.
It’s no secret that almost any online multiplayer game will have its fair share of cheaters ruin everyone else’s fun. But this time, this is something new, as the Modern Warfare 3 beta already has cheaters even if it’s only available on PlayStation consoles (PS4, PS5).
You can check out the cheating happen in the video below:
There are already cheaters and hackers on the Modern Warfare 3 beta even though it’s only available on PlayStation at the moment. #MW3pic.twitter.com/5nwjNGOJa9
While some have said that this is done via jailbroken PS4 consoles, we disagree with that sentiment. According to one of our staffer who’s been following the hacking scene, as of now, there are no supported public jailbreak firmware that allow online access, on both he PS4 and PS5. They’re speculation is that this may instead be a developer kit running a modified package of the beta.
Hopefully, this is nipped in the bud by Sledgehammer and Activision, as nothing can ruin someone’s online gaming fun faster than cheaters, and we all know how Activision takes these things very, very seriously.
In other Modern Warfare 3 news, don’t forget, the beta is now open to everyone! Yes, this means that even if you didn’t pre-order or get a code, you’ll be able to load it and play. Xbox and PC players, you’ll get your time with the MW3 beta starting next weekend. You can read more about the beta here.
While the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 beta isn’t even available to everyone right now, that hasn’t stopped info from the game from leaking ahead of any official announcement. This time, info regarding Modern Warfare 3’s upcoming season has surfaced, and it ties the game into Sledgehammer Games’ past Call of Duty game, Advanced Warfare.
This was revealed by reliable Call of Duty leaker Bob Network over on Twitter, where the four weapons set to be added to MW3 has been revealed.
In addition to that, Advanced Warfare weapons have been spotted as in-game Calling Cards for Modern Warfare 3.
Proof That the EM1 From Advanced Warfare is Returning in #MWIII Will likely coincide with the rumoured Advanced Warfare Season for Season 03 pic.twitter.com/IN25FeYM1G
Bear in mind that same with any other leaked info (even datamined ones), none of this has been confirmed by Activision or Sledgehammer Games, and as such, should be taken with a grain of salt. That said, it’s worth mentioning that most Call of Duty leaks tend to be real, so don’t be surprised if these are do come to fruition, which is highly probable given Sledgehammer Games is the developer of both games.
Stay tuned to our Modern Warfare 3 beta impressions hitting the site soon. Don’t forget, those on PlayStation, you can join the beta right now without the need for codes, while PC and Xbox players will get their chance to jump in next weekend.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 will be released on November 10 on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S and PC.
When Sony first revealed the PlayStation 5 over two years ago, expectations for the next-gen console were at an all-time high. Coming off a generation where games were starting to show their age, especially in performance, the new hardware promised more power and a blazing-fast SSD to eliminate load times and other generational leaps. However, while the console specs were impressive, what came as a huge surprise was the reveal that the PS5 controller wouldn’t be a new iteration of the fan-favorite DualShock but rather a new controller dubbed the DualSense. It was an odd name at the time, but soon after release, gamers everywhere began to realize the true meaning behind the “Sense” naming, as the controller gave players a new level of immersion with innovative haptic feedback and adaptive triggers.
Many had thought these features would die out like so many other gimmicks before, yet nearly three years after its release, support for its features has gone on strong from both first and third-party studios. And while Astro’s Playroom will remain the definitive showcase of the DualSense, there is another first-party studio that has already released three, and soon a fourth, title this gen that has made good use of it, and that studio is none other than Insomniac Games, who have seemingly become the masters of not just the PS5’s hardware but also the DualSense controller.
Let’s see how the studio has used the DualSense and why that should be one of the many reasons to be excited for the upcoming PS5 exclusive, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2.
Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered – With Great Power
Having initially played Marvel’s Spider-Man on the PS4, I was in no rush to replay the remastered version when it first launched alongside the PS5 two years ago. However, after playing through Miles Morales recently on the PS5 for the first time, I was intrigued to see how a remastered PS4 title fared on the PS5 with all the features Insomniac advertised. It was (and still is) an impressive remaster of a PS4 title that only got better with post-launch updates that added a ray-trace performance mode and VRR support.
The remastered is absolutely gorgeous, though that should be no surprise given Insomniac’s history of taking advantage of hardware to push visual fidelity. While the PS5 has plenty of untapped power to be showcased, I wanted to divert the attention away from the console itself and look at its fancy new controller, the DualSense.
When Sony first introduced the DualSense, they promised it would be a means to let gamers feel what was happening in a game, therefore offering an experience that was more immersive than their past consoles. How? Well, with haptics and adaptive triggers.
As we saw (or more like heard) in our breakdown of Astro’s Playroom last year, ASOBI demonstrated just how immersive the DualSense can make an experience by fine-tuning haptics so that players could feel and even distinguish certain feedback. For example, when it rained, you could feel droplets of water lightly splash from the haptics. However, when it hailed, while the effect of being able to feel each drop remained, the haptics themselves were “harder” due to the frozen water. Terrain and several other objects and actions also produced unique haptics exclusive to specific responses.
Looking at how traditional rumble works, walking on ice, snow, dirt, water, and grass would feel the same since the motors could only vibrate in a specific way. They could produce patterns and lower and increase their intensity, but they mainly served as a means to give players some form of feedback that wasn’t at all distinguishable from each other.
But when you introduce haptics, you can feel the difference between things like metal and wood, snow and ice, water and fire, dust and wind, basically anything. You can even feel the difference when something is hollow or not if a scene calls for that. This is what makes the DualSense such an amazing controller because despite what many call a gimmick, it truly heightens the level of immersion in a game in the most surprising of ways.
So, looking at Insomniac Games, how is the studio using the controller to make Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered feel more immersive? Well, give it a listen yourself. I do not recommend watching/listening to the entire thing, only the first four minutes, and I’ll go over why after.
Now, if you watched this video in its entirety or maybe just those first few minutes, you might have realized that many of the haptics sound the same. There’s a reason why I have this video showcased the way it is, because despite Insomniac doing a decent job, I realized that Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered is rather underwhelming for a game to make use of haptics.
I know, I just “hyped” haptics up, and to start on a bit of a low note after that? There’s a point, trust me.
If you were to go back and replay the video above, you’d notice that a bulk of the haptics revolve around the characters themselves. This is the case for many titles where the haptics are solely tied to the character’s actions. For Spider-Man, these are jumping, swinging, and punching, though those same effects are heard throughout the entire game on sources not even relating to those actions.
Most haptics end up being reused for actions that aren’t remotely similar, contrasting how ASOBI used haptics in Astro’s Playroom. Spider-Man has a charge jump (powering up) you can’t hear in-game, but if you listen closely, the DualSense will emulate a charging sound via its haptics. This same effect is used later in the game during the big villain team-up when Vulture charges at Spider-Man, only to be used again moments later by Mr. Negative when he unleashes his blast attack. It’s also used when Spider-Man is being dragged along the street by Vulture later. I heard that same “powering up” sound used when Spider-Man was simply opening a door and some odd random instances that didn’t make sense to have it.
Going back to the scene with all the villains beating on Spider-Man, you can hear Spider-Man’s jumping and punching haptics being reused multiple times as feedback for the villains. Rhino’s footsteps, for example, are used when Spider-Man hits an enemy, only at a slightly higher intensity.
Here’s a sample of that scene. We recommend you use headphones if you’re viewing this on mobile. You’ll notice many of the haptics are very much the same as the ones heard in the video above.
See what I mean?
Most boss fights are like this in their haptics, making them feel “lackluster” because outside of Spider-Man, there’s almost no feedback aside from the punches’ land, which is reused for other effects. Punching and being hit by Rhino should “feel” different than hitting someone like Mr. Negative since it’s metal versus a human body. What’s funny is that the jetpack enemies had more “varied” haptics than the bosses themselves.
The environment lacks, too, with many instances throughout the game having no haptic effects outside of explosions, and even those are misses in some scenes.
To be clear, the purpose of pointing this out wasn’t to nitpick or point out flaws, but instead, I wanted to show you how Insomniac’s first hands at the DualSense turned out. Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered is impressive for many reasons, and being a port of a game built initially for the PS4 with the upgrades mainly focused on visuals and performance, I think the lack of varied haptics is more forgiving. Plus, it’s a great example to look back on to show how the studio has evolved its approach to haptics. Most of you probably wouldn’t notice this, which could be a good thing, but it’s also a bummer that most of you wouldn’t realize just how far Insomniac has come with their haptic implementation since the Spidey PS5 remaster. I’d go as far as to compare it to a generational graphical leap. Yes, honestly, it’s that big of a jump.
From a haptics standpoint, I like to view Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered more as what the studio could do at a glance because when you look at Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales, you can see how much more the studio focused on the DualSense when having the feature in mind from the get-go.
So, how big of a leap does Insomniac’s experience with the controller jump in their next title? Well, quite a lot, as the studio realized in the standalone follow-up that haptics could bring more immersion than what they offered in the Remastered, giving us a true sense of feel.
Marvel’s Spider-Man Miles Morales – The Power of the Sun in the Palm of My Hand
Believe it or not, Marvel’s Spider-Man Miles Morales’ haptics are drastically improved over the Spider-Man Remastered. While players will feel almost no difference in feedback when playing as Miles and swinging across New York, given that he does practically play the same as Peter’s Spider-Man, it’s what’s going on around in the world that Insomniac has decided to focus on in this standalone experience.
Immediately when you start the game, you’ll notice the haptics kick in as you can feel the train Miles is on moving, the text messages he receives, and the vibration of a vehicle driving by as he walks down a busy street. If you noticed, none of those listed are related to the actions performed by Miles, but rather the environment itself, something that was lacking nearly entirely in the remaster.
What’s crazy here is that the bridge scene alone probably features more unique and varied haptics than the entirety of the Spider-Man Remastered. There’s so much going on in that scene alone, and having looked back on it, I’d say it’s possibly my favorite scene when it comes to showing off haptic features.
A breakdown of some of the haptics featured in that video.
Other improvements include feeling objects off-screen, such as the helicopter in the opening act or when Peter propels upside-down to meet Miles. Before you even see it, you’ll feel it first. the remaster had some of this, too, but not to the degree of Miles Morales.
These small details truly make the DualSense shine, elevating the level of immersion to new heights. Miles Morales is loaded with these small haptic details and improvements, which stretch out to other areas such as boss fights and even improved character haptics.
As mentioned, the remaster didn’t have much going on during boss fights, but Miles Morales quickly addressed it, giving Rhino and other bosses unique haptics. During the Rhino chase, you’ll feel the explosion he causes and the things he breaks, and as you fight him, you can feel his steps and his charge attacks, as well as him picking up and throwing objects. He had a light amount of feedback in the Remastered, which didn’t differ from the standard grunt enemy, but in Miles Morales, Rhino’s haptics have been designed specifically for him and only him.
A comparison video featuring snippets of fights from both games and other changes.
There’s something else that I noticed that Miles Morales introduces that is even more noticeable than it is in Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart, and that’s being able to feel haptics from more than one source in a given scene. If you pay close attention to the opening scene of Miles Morales, you can feel the brakes slowing the train down and the slight bumps on the train tracks. Later, when Miles meets up with Peter, the aircraft transporting Rhino can be felt, and as both Peter and Miles begin to follow it, you can feel every time they shoot their web and simultaneously feel the blades of the aircraft spin.
It’s even used in combat, which Insomniac pointed out in a PlayStation Blog post during the release of Miles Morales.
“The haptic feedback precision allows us to do all sorts of new things. In Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales, we’ll be hinting to players which direction attacks are coming from by providing haptic feedback from the appropriate direction on the DualSense wireless controller.”
This isn’t something you would notice unless you paid massive attention to it or, in this case, had it pointed out, but now that you know it, you can understand how much more advanced haptics can offer over traditional rumble motors. You aren’t going to get multiple sources playing over each other like that or a sense of direction as you would with haptic feedback.
There are also two other haptic effects that Insomniac added to Miles Morales that are mostly absent from the Remastered. One is around the distance of an object, which we’ll dive deeper into in the next section with Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart. The other is echoing. When you hear a sound, depending on the space you’re in, sometimes these sounds will produce an echo. Shout hello across a valley, and it’ll say hello back to you, but the reality is that’s your voice hitting a surface and bouncing back to you.
Insomniac has emulated this effect throughout Miles Morales with the use of haptics. The steel cargo carrying Rhino at the start of the game is one of these very examples, as whenever it bounces or gets hit, it produces a metallic echo that can be felt through the haptics. Here’s how it sounds.
Feel what you see, and Insomniac Games has undoubtedly delivered on that, fully utilizing the PS5 and its DualSense controller. The latter is something I don’t think Insomniac Games gets enough credit for. However, many acknowledged that in their next title, Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart.
Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart – A Beautiful Pairing of Haptics and 3D Audio
Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart is one of the best examples of what the PS5 is capable of when you build a game from the ground up exclusively. Visually, it’s damn near the quality of a Pixar movie, and as far as making full use of features such as the SSD, 3D audio, haptics, adaptive, and even ray tracing, it truly is one of the most next-gen games out there to date.
But sticking to the subject of haptic feedback, Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart is a beautiful showcase of the controller, producing even more unique haptics throughout the campaign than the two previous Spider-Man games. From feeling the different types of surfaces you walk on, the rumbling of a flying car driving by, loud music at a club, to even the subtle soft reloading of a gun, which by the way, are all unique for each weapon. If there is a game (outside of Astro’s Playroom) to impress someone with haptic feedback, look no further than Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart.
As impressive as the application of haptics is in Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart, I bet there’s one thing you didn’t notice (unless you watched the video above) during a playthrough, and that’s how Insomniac has taken distance and directional feedback even further with this title.
Sony has been very vocal over the last two years about the power of 3D audio. We don’t blame them because when a game utilizes the custom audio engine in the PS5, it can produce some unique and memorable moments. Resident Evil Village is one of those games that makes perfect use of 3D audio, as are the many first-party games that Sony has released, such as Returnal, God of War Ragnarok, and so many more. 3D audio lets you hear where sound is coming from and how it reacts dynamically in the environment.
But what if I were to tell you that Insomniac Games not only took full advantage of 3D audio in all their games but also made it so haptics would adjust to those instances where they shift direction and distances to provide even more of an immersive haptic experience?
To explain what I mean, think of sound and how we can hear and feel the direction it comes from. Now picture a road with a car traveling from one end to the other. With you positioned in the middle and the car traveling down the road, you would hear it getting closer as its engine would become louder.
By the time the car had passed, the sound would shift from one ear to the other, with the volume of the vehicle’s engine decreasing as it traveled away from you. This is known as the Doppler effect, which NASA explains better:
As any object moves through the air, the air near the object is disturbed. The disturbances are transmitted through the air at a distinct speed called the speed of sound. Sound is a sensation created in the human brain in response to small pressure fluctuations in the air. Sound moves through the air as a series of waves. When the waves pass our ears, a sound is detected. The distance between any two waves is called the wavelength and the time interval between waves passing is called the frequency . The speed of sound relates the wavelength and the frequency; high frequency implies short wavelength and low frequency implies a long wavelength. The brain associates a certain musical pitch with each frequency; the higher the frequency, the higher the pitch. Similarly, shorter wavelengths produce higher pitches. The speed of transmission of the sound remains a constant regardless of the frequency or the wavelength. The speed of sound only depends on the state of the air (or gas) not on the characteristics of the generating source.
Because the speed of sound depends only on the state of the gas, some interesting physical phenomena occur when a sound source moves through a uniform gas. You can study some of these phenomena by using the interactive sound wave simulator. As the source moves it continues to generate sound waves which move at the speed of sound. Since the source is moving slower than the speed of sound, the waves move out away from the source. Upstream (in the direction of the motion), the waves bunch up and the wavelength decreases. Downstream, the waves spread out and the wavelength increases. The sound that our ear detects will change in pitch as the object passes. This change in pitch is called a doppler effect.
This is something you think little about nowadays, so I could understand PS5 owners not noticing it when it comes to the haptic feedback since those are generally tied to the character’s action, which makes it harder to showcase this effect.
I love how Insomniac Games have taken advantage of the haptic features. They’re uniquely built for almost every action in Rift Apart, and the studio also takes things a step further by emulating the feeling of “distance” (also featured in Miles Morales) of specific actions. Again, the video above showcases all the sounds you could hear from the haptics, but I’ve spliced up a small clip below to show you that the Doppler effect does come into play. Do note that you won’t be able to hear the direction of the feedback due to the nature of the vibrations playing at a low-level decibel and our audio device only handling a single channel of capture. That prompted me to fill the left or right audio tracks with whichever channel was the loudest to have a higher volume. You may still find that you’ll need to crank up your system (especially mobile users) to hear this.
This may seem small, but as someone who enjoys looking at things from a technical standpoint, I appreciate the studio’s work tackling haptic feedback. Again, while the video doesn’t show it, playing it for yourself, you’ll not only be able to feel the different levels of intensity of the vibrations but also the different directions it’s coming from. As the two critters in the video travel from one side to the other, this is also reflected on the DualSense, with the haptics switching from the left to the right side of the controller and vice versa.
You can feel footsteps as they get closer and closer and as they get further and further away. As far as I’m aware, Insomniac was the first to do something like that, though that doesn’t mean there aren’t other titles to do this since.
The significant thing that sticks out for me the most for haptics when it comes to Insomniac Games and Sony’s first-party titles, in general, is how they’re not just using the in-game audio and throwing them in as the haptics output. Look at Rift Apart; what you hear in-game is not always the same as what you would feel and hear from the haptics. That was something many caught on fast when they realized the Pixelizer gun played a tune using only the haptic motors.
When you think of it, that means that someone (or more) is sitting there and looking at how to implement haptics in these games. They could take the easy way and, as mentioned, feed what you hear in-game out to the motors. But they didn’t, and because they’re putting so much focus and care, they can make these games feel even more immersive than they already are. Shout out to that person or group doing this; you’re doing a fantastic job!
This brings us to our final game.
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 – Be Greater. Together.
With everything shown here, there’s no denying that Insomniac Games has become the master of the PS5, not just with its hardware but also with its DualSense controller, adding to the reasons why you should be excited about Marvel’s Spider-Man 2. Of course, I’m sure many of you have other reasons to be excited about it. I know I do, as I instantly fell in love with the first game when it was released on the PS4 and could not wait to see where the series would go. Then the PS5 dropped, and little did I know just how revolutionary its controller would be, so much so that I look forward to seeing what every game can offer for it.
It’s often used to hype players up and, at times, a marketing gimmick, but Insomniac isn’t about being a gimmick; they’re about proving that things work if you put enough time and effort into something.
With Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 launching as a full-fledged PS5 exclusive, it’ll be interesting to see just how far the studio will manage to push the hardware. But it’s also the haptics that I believe will end up being among the highlights of the title. No doubt the studio will do some exciting things with them, given how varied they already are in Ratchet and Clank Rift Apart and the two previous Spider-Man games.
Luckily, we won’t have very long to wait as Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is due in a few short weeks. The studio has even talked about using haptics, giving us this small tease from a recent PlayStation blog post, confirming that unique haptics are tied to the black suit and Lizard.
“A massive bell tolls, sending impactful, reverberating ripples through the DualSense controller haptics. The resonant haptic sensation sells the bell’s disruptive effect on the twitching Black Suit. Cutscenes with the massive stampeding Lizard are also accented by intense haptic pulses, emulating the nerve-jangling might of the mutating Super Villain.”
Yeah, I’m excited, and I cannot wait to get my hands on Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 when it launches exclusively for the PS5 on October 25.
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.
Update: This update isn’t live yet, but it will be out soon.
Guerrilla Games has released Horizon Forbidden West update 1.027 (tagged as 1.27 by the developer) today for PS5. Check out the Horizon Forbidden West October 8 patch notes posted down below.
Horizon Forbidden West Update 1.027 Patch Notes for October 8 | Horizon Forbidden West Update 1.27 Patch Notes:
No patch notes have been posted about this update thus far, but the game’s ‘Complete Edition’ was released for PS5 this October 6. You can check out the features of the Complete Edition of the game below.
Horizon Forbidden West for PS5
Burning Shores DLC for PS5
Digital soundtrack
Digital art book
Horizon Zero Dawn Vol. 1: The Sunhawk digital comic book*
In-game items:
Extras in Photo Mode (special pose and face paint)
In-game items unlocked via story progression:
Carja Behemoth Elite outfit ·Carja Behemoth Short Bow
Nora Thunder Elite outfit
Nora Thunder Sling
Apex Clawstrider Machine Strike piece
Resources pack
We will update this post as soon as we can if the developer decides to release proper patch notes. Keep it locked at MP1st for more news about Horizon Forbidden West in the future.
EA has released the UFC 5 “Presentation” deep dive video, and it gives us an in-depth look at how the fighting sim’s visuals and overall authenticity to the sport (and fighters) lend an extra layer of realism.
Watch the 12-minute footage now to see how the Frostbite engine ramps up the graphics a step or two, and delivers a more technically impressive game.
For the first time in franchise history, the Frostbite™ engine powers EA SPORTS UFC, bringing unrivaled graphics upgrades for console games. From dynamic lighting and overhauled character fidelity to realistic strand hair and cloth animations — Frostbite helps bring the action in the Octagon to life.
Thanks to Frostbite and a significant upgrade to our lighting and rendering features — including dual-lobe skin and eye shading, strand-based hair, updated fighter body types, and industry-leading facial animation technology — the fighters you know and love have never looked more authentic.
It’s all about impact. Improved fidelity means when fighters absorb strikes, the results show on their face and body in an authentic, wince-inducing fashion. Plus, all new fluid physics and particle systems make blood and sweat drip and spray as it does during the heat of the action in the Octagon.
Signature walkouts, breathtaking knockouts, and everything in between. From the roar of the crowd to Bruce Buffer’s iconic introductions, new in-game cinematics bring a whole new level of excitement, authenticity, and immersion to UFC 5.
UFC 5 releases on October 27 for PS5 and Xbox Series X|S.
How do you build on a success that took a good part of the gaming world by storm? In theory, it’s the most straightforward of things: by potentially delivering a game of such scope and creativity that it makes the original pale in comparison. Putting that into practice is where the true challenge lies, but our first impressions from The Talos Principle 2 are exceptionally reassuring and exciting, not to mention nerve-wracking and filled with brilliant eureka moments.
A Portal Into a Brave New World
The influences from writers such as Isaac Asimov may not be intentional, but are nonetheless visible in many facets, namely the automatons that star in this mind-bending puzzle adventure where controversial and perpetual subjects go hand in hand, testing both your skills and your ability to question the information around you. It’s a deeper dive into the philosophical aspect brought forward by the first game, with dialogues that are often food for thought, with no right or wrong answers to an endless array of questions and existential doubts.
It’s a finicky balance for sure, creating a puzzle game with such a thoughtful theme and sustained by a narrative driving the game forward and encouraging exploration. The Talos Principle 2 manages to avoid the pitfall of pretentiousness by pacing progress in a way that doesn’t overwhelm you with its themes, nor does it force you into a certain train of thought. You will be taken in this journey of intrigue and mystery, that’s a given, but the way it’s done feels satisfying and almost like a colonist, exploring new and awe-inspiring places and structures.
You begin in this Egyptian-themed tutorial area with minimal context and a succession of puzzles that is nothing but a smoke curtain for what’s to come, deliberately hiding the scope of the game that will expand before your eyes about one hour later, when you awake to a new and surprising reality. As the thousandth and final robot to reach this futuristic settlement, you quickly discover that you in fact harbor the consciousness of a human, created after a plague erased humanity and organic forms as we know them. Known by your new peers as 1K, visiting the city quickly segues into exploring unknown regions, often comprised of stunning sights, jaw-dropping structures, and mind-bending puzzles.
The way your team of explorers discuss their approach and findings is akin to an adventure game, with reasonably sized areas to wander about freely. There’s lore to be found, PDA conversations to have, some of them of intriguing metaphysical depth, but locating the puzzle sectors is your goal, clearly signposted so that you know where to go to put your brain cells to the test. The light beam puzzles are just the entry point for a world of head scratching, now bolstered by the introduction of RGB convertors, where two colored rays will be converted into a differently colored one, a process that needs to be carefully thought out to activate receivers and unlock barriers.
Since colors play a huge role in the puzzles, accessibility options are crucial to help a segment of players who are color-blind and still want to enjoy this experience. Thankfully, there’s a dedicated mode with various settings and strength so that anyone can tweak it to their liking.
This Is Not a Drill
The Talos Principle 2 comes with a lot more options than light beams. Due to the nature of the gameplay and the barriers that you will eventually stumble upon until you finally hit that craved eureka moment, we couldn’t deeply examine all the new possibilities, but they sound fascinating and properly diabolic. We managed to experiment the new driller tool, however, opening holes in walls of a specific type and expanding the possibilities – you can move an object or send a light beam through the hole, but there’s no way for you yourself to pass through it. This goes further into Portal territory, despite the differences, and there are more gadgets waiting for you later on in the adventure.
Puzzles can be challenging when we’re simply playing with light beams and converters, but as soon as drillers and jammers join into the mix, it may descend into intimidating territory. However, there’s a palpable difficulty curve, and it goes without saying that one more advanced puzzle may click with you faster than an earlier trial, as you adjust your mindset, and everything seems to fall into place.
You can use a token to skip a particular puzzle that is giving you a troublesome time, but first you must discover them. Luckily, you’ll come to certain parts where new sites open without forcing you to fully complete the previous one, each featuring eight puzzles, giving the game a less restrained approach and offering players some deserved respite to try new puzzles, instead of pushing them to the point of breaking in a specific trial.
Brain Matters
For a game that requires you to use your brain to its full potential, it’s so obvious that The Talos Principle 2 is a no-brainer. The matter at hand is even more exciting than before to delve into, with amazing presentation and renewed scope, and the puzzles become more complex thanks to the introduction of various new tools.
As far as puzzle games go, they rarely come with such ambition and care, almost an adventure game that just happens to have several enigmas thrown in to test your intellect. There are few things as rewarding as watching all the pieces fall together, and The Talos Principle 2 is the kind of work that not only tests your wits but also makes you question some of your beliefs, and nearly a decade of waiting will surely be worth it in the end.
MP1st was given access to a preview build of The Talos Principle 2 for our hands-on session. The Talos Principle 2 launches on November 2, 2023 for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S.
Microsoft aims to complete its $68.7 billion purchase of Activision Blizzard next week. The reports indicate that they plan to make this announcement next Friday on October 13, 2023.
This deal has been going on for more than 20 months, experiencing its fair share of challenges. Microsoft has had to navigate multiplehurdles, but they now believe they have successfully addressed the concerns of the key stakeholders, and are optimistic about the outcome. Just last week, the tech giant indicated their intention to finalize this deal by October 18, 2023.
“We still anticipate that we will close the transaction by October 18, and we have full confidence in our case and the deal’s benefits to gamers and competition.”
The FTC lost their initial appeal against Microsoft-Activision, but they intend to appeal this decision to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. However, should the acquisition proceed as scheduled, then the FTC might attempt to overturn it, though accomplishing this would be a formidable challenge.
For all the latest on Microsoft-Activision deal, stay tuned to MP1st.
EA Sports’ NHL franchise dates back over three decades and has continued to release games annually ever since. The entries for this generation of consoles have yet to quite match the levels of those from the middle to the end of the last generation, but last year’s game was a noticeable improvement of its predecessor and now NHL 24 is looking to build on that foundation even further.
Hitting the Ice
Presentation is always important in sports titles, and last year’s NHL entry really focused on providing an authentic experience that only modern platforms could handle. NHL 24 maintains this level of quality when it comes to the game’s visuals and audio to the point where it feels like you are actually watching an actual hockey match take place sometimes during the breaks between the action. Most of the presentation is very similar to last year’s game, but the one significant new addition is that of Cheryl Pounder as the new color commentator in the broadcast booth. The former gold medalist Olympian has plenty of experience in the broadcasting arena, so she was able to slide right into NHL 24 by bringing a lot of new insight into the booth.
Brand new to NHL 24 is the Exhaust Engine, which consists of two major improvements for the game. The Sustained Pressure System boosts the attacking player’s passing speed and accuracy as you close in on the defense’s goal. While the offense gets this boost, the defense just has to try and survive as best they can by countering effectively. This added a lot of intensity to specific moments in each game, especially when my team was losing at the time.
The Exhaust Engine also introduces the Goalie Fatigue System, which allows you to wear down opposing goalies by utilizing offensive zone pressure and shots. This can lead to enhanced scoring odds from anywhere based on the fatigue level of the goalie, which you have to watch for in the game. If you do not learn the telltale signs of building fatigue, the goalie may be able to prevent what seemed like a good shot.
The Exhaust Engine can make it seem like the offense has much more of an advantage on the defense now, but some changes to the game’s physics system help to balance it back out a little. The NHL series has long offered very realistic physics to emulate that of a real hockey game. NHL 24 continues that trend with true-to-life player animations and even improvements to the physics system.
The game now allows you to decide which type of hit you want to deliver to the opponent with shoves and big hits, including new ragdoll physics built into these improvements to make them look better than ever. Shoves are less risky for the player but also do not have as much of an impact on the player. On the other hand, big hits can completely disrupt the offense and lead to the puck getting knocked far away and, thus, a good chance at turning things around for your team. However, there is a lot more risk with trying a big hit that can leave you more vulnerable on defense if you do not time it correctly. I learned very quickly that I had to not overuse the big hit mechanic, as there were moments where I missed entirely and found myself on my heels trying to recover before giving up a goal. The new smashes into the glass really added a lot to the overall presentation here, too, as a result of these big hits.
NHL 24 features a new Total Control scheme option for players, combining the right stick shooting and hitting with skill move buttons. In the past, you would mostly just use the left stick to move and the right stick to shoot, but now the face buttons come into play by offering you multiple skill moves separate from the right stick. If you are not a fan of this new control scheme, you can always go back to the more classic Skill Stick option and play as you always have in the past.
Regardless of which control scheme you choose, you will also use the game’s all-new Vision Passing system. This allows you to make easy passes to any teammate at any time, giving you many more options on the ice to confuse the defense. While you could obviously pass the puck around before, but it feels much more precise here than in the past.
The Usual Suspects
Sports games in general have a few staple modes that always have to be included, and NHL is no different with the return of Be A Pro and Franchise mode. These are often modes that do not get quite as much love as the others when it comes to new features year after year, and that is sadly once again the case in NHL 24. Be A Pro lets you create your own skater and take them through their career from either the start or once they make it to the NHL. Franchise mode essentially lets you do the same, but with taking control of a team as the GM instead and building them up into a dynasty. These are the types of game modes that I tend to spend a lot of time playing, so it was a bit disappointing to see the minimal changes. That being said, both of these modes still are a ton of fun to play, and you can find yourself sinking countless hours into them offline.
NHL 24 includes the return of the series’ version of Ultimate Team, known as HUT. This mode is always criticized due to the reliance on microtransactions, and those are still ever present in this year’s version. For the most part, the mode is just as it was last year, so you mostly know what you are going to get, except for the addition of a really cool new feature that fans have been asking to see added for a long time.
There are plenty of casual NHL series players, but those who are massive fans of the sport will appreciate the all-new HUT Moments that have been added to the game this year. Starting with more than 50 to choose from, the game allows you to play through some of the greatest moments in NHL history, such as Wayne Gretsky’s hat trick against the Toronto Maple Leafs in Game 7 of the Conference Finals in 1993. Not only that, but you also get to replay moments from the ongoing season as more are added. This is something that the NHL series has definitely been missing, as it has become a staple of many other sports franchises over the years, such as MLB The Show and Madden.
HUT also includes a shared marketplace between platforms for the first time ever as the series finally has crossplay. EA Sports games have gradually been adding crossplay into the mix, starting with what is now the FC franchise and just a couple of months ago with Madden. The only stipulation here is that only PS5 and Xbox Series X/S players can play together, and PS4 and Xbox One players can play together, as there is no cross-generational play available in the game. This is something that is for the best, though, to maintain the best experience on each version. Crossplay isn’t just for general matchmaking either, as it also carries over to EASHL with Mixed Clubs and the aforementioned HUT market.
Arguably, the most popular game mode among the more hardcore NHL game players is World of Chel, as it allows you to create your own custom player and team up with others online in 3 v. 3 or 6 v. 6 matchups. When making your skater, you get to create a separate Casual Skater, Casual Goalie, Pro Skater, and Pro Goalie. It was quite annoying to have to go through each of these and set up the name and information for my skater rather than just being able to carry that information across all four, so hopefully, that is something they could make more user-friendly later.
World of Chel is always a ton of fun, especially if you have friend groups to play with. That is thanks to the number of options to choose from, such as the ranked EASHL modes or extra modes like Threes Eliminator. Whether you are going all in with clubs or just playing some quickplay matches, World of Chel provides some of the best experiences that NHL 24 has to offer, just like in past entries.
This year’s big addition to World of Chel is bound to be a controversial one with the inclusion of a Battle Pass for the first time. This isn’t a huge surprise, considering how the majority of sports games have introduced a season-based system of some sort. As you level up throughout the season, you can earn cosmetics like new skates or player celebrations. This causes people to have to grind much more now, knowing they may not have a chance to collect higher-tier items in the Battle Pass after the season ends, at least not without having to pay for them. World of Chel also pushes you to purchase NHL points with real money to spend in the game for the World of Chel store, so microtransactions are starting to infect what has long been one of the best parts of the series. Thankfully, World of Chel still is a ton of fun and isn’t entirely disrupted by the Battle Pass and microtransactions, but it definitely is concerning moving forward.
Verdict
NHL 24 is once again another solid outing in the long-running series. It may be far from revolutionary, but it still provides players with a great hockey experience along with some enjoyable additions like the new Exhaust System and HUT moments, as well as the ability to finally play with friends on the opposing platform. Where it gets a bit concerning, though is the introduction of the Battle Pass and more microtransactions in the fan-favorite World of Chel mode, after mostly being relegated to HUT in the past. The overall experience is very good and gives players plenty of opportunities for pure hockey action across the game’s numerous game modes.
Score: 8/10
Pros:
Crossplay for the first time in the series
The New Exhaust System adds intensity to each game
HUT moments let you replay classic moments in NHL history
Cons:
Nothing groundbreaking added to the majority of the game modes
Battle Pass introduced for World of Chel
Repetitive skater entry information in World of Chel
CD Projekt Red recently shared that Cyberpunk 2077 Phantom Liberty cost the company nearly $86 million in production and marketing costs. This comes from a presentation the company gave during a recent Investor Day.
It’s a lengthy video, but around two hours and 15 minutes in, Chief Financial Officer Piotr Nielubowicz stepped up on stage to discuss the game’s sales and the costs that went into making it. He shared that the game cost the company 275 million PLN, or roughly $63.6 million USD, in direct production expenditures. It also cost the company 95 million PLN, or roughly $22 million USD. Doing some quick math, that means the entire release cost the company roughly $85.6 million USD.
Nielubowicz also stated that bringing the 2.0 update to the game and porting it to modern consoles cost the company 178 million PLN, or roughly $41.2 million. That means that all in all, Cyberpunk 2077 has received nearly $127 million USD worth of updates since its initial launch.
All in the investments have clearly paid off for CD Projekt Red. Just earlier this week, they reported that Cyberpunk 2077 had surpassed 25 million downloads, and its new DLC Phantom Liberty had surpassed 3 million downloads in the span of a week. The game has also hit some record high player counts on Steam since the DLC’s release.
We’re looking forward to whatever CD Projekt Red decides to dump millions of dollars into next. To read our review of the Phantom Liberty DLC, click here. We gave it a 9.5/10, so it’s definitely worth a read to find out why.
You can watch the full Investor Day video here, complete with English translation:
Excited for the next Call of Duty? Over the next couple of weekends, Activision is hosting two separate beta weekends for Modern Warfare 3. There’s a lot to keep up with, so we’ve got the rundown on what sort of Modern Warfare 3 beta content to expect, including all the maps and modes you can look forward to, as well as what you can unlock in the beta’s progression system.
Weekend One is available exclusively on PS4 and PS5. Players who pre-ordered the game on PlayStation can play the beta starting Friday, October 6 at 10am PDT/1pm EDT/1am HKT. Starting on Sunday, October 8 at 10am PDT/1pm EDT/1am HKT, the rest of the PlayStation community can begin playing the beta. This first beta comes to a close on Tuesday, October 10 at 10am PDT/1pm EDT/1am HKT.
PlayStation players can download the beta from the PS Store. Players who don’t preorder digitally need a beta code to participate; they’re automatically registered to participate in the Early Access period. If you purchased Modern Warfare 3 through a participating retailer, you should have received a beta code printed on the retail receipt or sent via email on an online receipt.
Weekend One: Maps and Modes
Weekend One kicks off with four maps and four game modes at the start of the Early Access period, with an additional map and mode being added on Sunday when the beta opens up to all PlayStation players
The maps included in Weekend One are:
Favela – Set in beautiful Rio de Janeiro, Favela’s topography gives you a number of options to choose from when engaging enemy Operators. Stick to the perimeter to keep opponents at range along the streets and through the shacks, or head into the central alleys to fight up close. Use the newer movement mechanics to get around the rooftops with more ease than ever before.
Estate – Get ready to infiltrate the great outdoors of Estate. Fight for a spot in the lodge or move through the wooded perimeter to flank opponents. Beware of enemies hanging out in the scattered buildings and be ready to swap to a close-ranged weapon when engaging Operators within.
Skidrow – Roam the streets of Skidrow and utilize the new Tac-Stance to round tight corners in this urban environment. Battle through the central building or take the tunnel and alleys to get around your enemies. Flanking opportunities are abundant here, so keep your head on a swivel.
Rust – Prepare for chaos. Fight for your position at the top of the tower or use the map’s various obstacles to avoid detection on the ground. It’s all about making the most of your angles in this infamous desert environment. Use your full array of Loadout gear to get the advantage on the enemy team.
Popov Power (Ground War) – Break through the defenses of the Popov Power Plant. Watch high and low for snipers, armored vehicles, and enemies emerging from the large concrete buildings. Prepare for every range of combat available in Modern Warfare 3 because in the Power Plant, you can and will experience all of them.
Here are the available game modes in Weekend One:
Team Deathmatch – Use teamwork to eliminate enemy players and reach the score limit.
Domination – Capture and hold up to three flags to gain points for your team.
Hardpoint – Capture and hold the Hardpoint (a zone that shifts to several locations during the match) to earn points for your team.
Kill Confirmed (Open Beta) – Team Deathmatch with a twist. Eliminate enemies and grab the Dog Tags they drop to score for your team. Pick up your teammate’s tags to deny the enemy from scoring.
Ground War – Large-scale conflict featuring vehicles. Capture and hold objectives to score. Capturing objectives opens forward spawning locations for your team. Like Domination, but with more objectives.
Weekend One: Progression
Players can obtain a maximum level of 20 during the first weekend of the Modern Warfare 3 beta. As you earn additional Player Levels, you’ll unlock more Loadout gear to use after hitting the Player Level 4 milestone when Custom Loadouts become available. See below for the items you’ll unlock for each level on the way to 20.
Level 1 – Demolitionist: A Loadout focused on explosives and survivability.
Level 2 – Combat Controller: A close-range, fully silenced Loadout emphasizing stealth and counterintelligence.
Level 3 – Rusher: A mobile Loadout for point-taking and flanking.
Level 4 – Custom Loadouts, New Launcher, and Perk
Custom Loadouts: Player-customized Loadouts that allow you to select Weapons, Equipment, and Perks.
PILA (Launcher): Portable infrared surface-to-air missile with a free-fire option. Self-propelled missiles have a higher speed and moderate explosive yield.
Infantry Vest (Perk): Increases Tactical Sprint duration and reduces its refresh time. Duplicate effects do not stack. If equipped with Running Sneakers, gain the effects of Lightweight Boots instead.
Level 5 – Guardian-SC (Killstreak): A beam-shaped, nonlethal, area-denial weapon. Enemies entering the beam endure similar effects to a stun grenade, such as reduced movement speed, blurred vision, and removed UI.
Level 6 – Comms Scrambler (Field Upgrade): Disables communication with intel within its radius. Enemies will not be able to activate Killstreaks. Enemy UAV and intel systems will not detect you and your teammates. Location of the scrambler is visible in the enemy minimap.
Level 7 – DG-58 LSW (LMG): A lightweight squad weapon for controlling zones and laying down suppressive 5.8 x 42 mm fire.
Level 9 – Remote Turret (Killstreak): Automated turret that scans for nearby enemies and fires incendiary-based rounds. The Operator can also take manual control of the turret.
Level 10 – New Perks
Engineer Vest (Perk): Spot enemy Equipment, Field Upgrades, and Killstreaks through walls. Aiming down sights highlights them for your team. Faster Field Upgrade recharge.
Tac Mask (Perk): Reduces strength of enemy flash, stun, and gas grenades. Immunity to shock, EMP, and Snapshot Grenades.
Level 11 – Mission Control Comlink (Perk): Reduce Killstreak cost by one kill. Reduce Scorestreak cost by 125.
Level 12 – MTZ-556 (Assault Rifle): Boasting an exceptional fire rate for a 5.56 weapon, this closer-quarters Assault Rifle excels at close and midrange.
Level 13 – Battle Rage (Tactical Equipment): Experimental stimulant that gives you an adrenaline rush. Tactical Equipment is resisted and Tactical Sprint is constantly refreshed.
Level 15 – Ordnance Gloves (Perk): Throw Equipment farther. Reset fuse timer on thrown back grenades.
Level 16 – Smoke Grenade (Tactical Equipment): Deploys a smoke screen that blocks vision and automated targeting systems.
Level 17 – BAS-B (Battle Rifle): A highly controllable and powerful Battle Rifle chambered in .277 Fury, designed for all-round reliability and performance.
Level 18 – Scatter Mine (Tactical Equipment): Throw a field of mines across a wide area that detonate when enemies come within range.
Level 19 – Climbing Boots (Perk): Increased climbing and mantling speed. Reduces fall damage.
Level 20 – Gunner Vest (Perk): Deploy with max ammo. Improved reload speed. If equipped with Mag Holster, gain the effects of Mission Comlink.
That’s everything you need to know before hopping into the MW3 beta this weekend. Have fun and stay safe out there on the battlefield!
We covered just about everything that was revealed at yesterday’s COD Next event, including the future of Modern Warfare Zombies. You can check that out here.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 launches on November 10 for PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.
Lies of P DLC has just been confirmed via a job posting on developer Neowiz’ website. The job posting is for a Lies of P DLC Content Planner and is available on their Korean careers page.
You can see the job posting at this link. Here’s the loosely translated content of the page:
To turn the game upside down by creating a game that will surprise everyone, that is Neowiz’ goal. In addition to publishing competitive IP, we are developing games of various genres on various platforms to provide new surprises and enjoyment that hasn’t been seen before in the world.
We pursue challenges fiercely and with passion, believing that excellent performance and teamwork begins with sufficient information sharing.
The posting also describes Lies of P as “an extreme action RPG project based on Unreal Engine 4” and a “Souls-like genre faithful to sophisticated combat workshops and level design.” These points are shortly followed by a line that reads “DLC to be produced,” seemingly confirming that extra content for the game is in the pipeline. The post also confirms that the DLC will release on both PC and console platforms, which is to be expected.
Lies of P is the one of the better souls-like games we’ve seen from a company that isn’t From Software. In our review, which you can read here, we gave it a 7/10 and said “Lies of P is a solid Soulslike that should keep fans of the genre happy and frustrated for the entire runtime.”
We’ll be sure to keep our readers posted as soon as we learn more about the upcoming DLC. If you’re excited for it, let us know in the comments.
Thanks to Twitter user Okami Games who spotted this job posting to begin with.
It has been nearly three years since 2020’s Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, which represents the largest gap between mainline games in the series’ history. Did that extra time allow Ubisoft to craft a better experience overall, or was all the waiting done in vain? Our Assassin’s Creed Mirage review is ready to settle this question.
Shorter Game, Familiar Feel
Assassin’s Creed Mirage looks pretty damn good. Ubisoft’s Anvil game engine can do vast cityscapes at great scale. The various cities Basim and crew find themselves feel lived-in, with hundreds of citizens going about their daily lives, and thanks to Basim’s thieving past, many targets ripe for the pickpockets. Of course, side missions and activities can be triggered with some exploration, and chests and caches of all kinds are peppered throughout most areas.
Assassin’s Creed Mirage is a single-player-only game, with a campaign playthrough time of around the 15-20 hour mark. While there is a large, open map of about five square miles, it is easy to stay on the main quest. The story is enjoyable and something of a coming-of-age tale involving protagonist Basim Ibn Ishaq, a common street thief who dreams of one day joining the Hidden Ones, as the Assassin Brotherhood was then known. By circumstances beyond his control, his somewhat dangerous but mostly anonymous life is upended by the Caliph, or more specifically, the shadowy organization the Caliph had dealings with. It’s an engaging, well-acted story that is intriguing to watch, with multiple cases for Basim to solve as he attempts to destroy the Order of the Ancients by taking out key members.
Like You Never Even Left
Regarding controls, Assassin’s Creed Mirage feels like riding a new bike. It’s familiar, but with a couple of tweaks your old bicycle didn’t have. Holding down the cross button while running is the easiest way to traverse the city’s many buildings tops, with devices such as hooks and lifts available at key moments to help you up and over obstacles. Basim’s arsenal is small but efficient, and mostly things we have seen before in other installments. He has the hidden blade that he had to pay dearly for in order to use, a dagger, a main sword, and various assassin tools of the trade, such as smoke bombs, throwing knives, poison darts, and more. Some of these weapons are particularly flashy, which is kind of unrealistic in a game centered around stealth, but hey, it’s a video game – some suspension of disbelief is required.
What’s not required this time around is spending extra time buried in menus as you sort through dozens of abilities and compare countless stats between equipment. Assassin’s Creed Mirage is less focused on RPG elements, though they are still present, just to a lesser extent than before. You can upgrade weapons and equipment a couple of times each, and Basim’s skill tree is more of a grid, not too deep in terms of layers, and easily remapped for most abilities. Leveling up happens sparingly, as the game seems to want the player to focus on the simple joys of stealthily killing your enemies instead of overwhelming them with force as could be done in, say, Valhalla.
Slow-Motion Powers, Activate!
Indeed, combat in Assassin’s Creed Mirage is deceptively simple. Tapping R1 performs a light attack while holding it initiates a charged, heavy attack. Pressing L1 will attempt to block, and if it is timed right, it will trigger a parry, where the enemy is stunned for a few seconds. Tapping square will dodge, which is crucial to perform when enemies use unblockable attacks, where they are briefly enveloped in a red aura as a warning sign that such an attack is incoming. Double-tapping dodge will move Basim more quickly out of an area at the cost of some stamina. Finally, a new ability dubbed Assassin Focus is unlocked at a certain point, which makes a sort of Red Dead Redemption-style slow-motion move where Basim can target up to five enemies while time slows down. Once the targets are selected, things resume, and Basim dispatches those chosen targets in quick succession. Of course, this ability must be charged first by defeating enemies the old-fashioned, non-slow-mo way. It’s a bit over-the-top but fun and useful to pull off.
Missions outside of the tutorial are pretty freeform, allowing the player to come up with the opportune time to take out their enemies in order to progress or to simply bypass those they deem unnecessary to take down. It is rewarding to learn the patrol routes of multiple guards and then take them out one by one, with each unaware of their imminent demise. Hiding in the bushes and waiting for the right time to strike may be cliché, but it still feels good.
Not Too Challenging
Maybe it’s because I’m now a veteran of Souls-like games, but on Normal mode, Assassin’s Creed Mirage doesn’t pose much of a challenge. Enemies are quick to lose interest, even when whistled at to the same spot several times, and once the initial shock of seeing their dead comrades passes, so too does their attention. Naturally, the hard difficulty setting helps to rectify some of this, but Assassin’s Creed games are not known for their difficulty, and most players should have no issue finding the right level for their experience with this genre or desire for a challenge. One thing that will seemingly always remain an occasional challenge lies in the Flow-like mechanic that is any Assassin’s Creed traversal scheme. For the most part, the game understands where you are trying to go. But sometimes, and this is usually when the action is the most intense, and you are trying to get away from someone or a group of people, the game gets it wrong, and Basim leaps down the side of the wrong building or hides in a closet despite his pursuers being right behind him, or worse. It’s usually funny when it occurs, but repeated failures of traversal can get annoying.
Basim has an aerial companion, much like in Valhalla. This time around, it’s an Eastern Imperial Eagle named Enkidu, who can help the player pinpoint places of interest or specific targets. Getting too close to city archers can result in the eagle getting shot at, which ends the scouting session temporarily. There are also mounts in the form of camels and horses. While the area of Baghdad depicted in Mirage is smaller than other Assassin’s Creed maps, it is still a large area, and occasionally using a mount or simply fast traveling is your best bet at getting around.
Comfort Soup for the Nostalgic Soul
If there’s one phrase that could describe Assassin’s Creed Mirage, it’s comfort food. There have been so many Assassin’s Creed games since the original in 2007, two whole video game generations ago, that after nearly three years since the last mainline entry, playing Mirage felt comforting. Its shorter length is actually disappointing in that regard – I wanted to have more new things to discover, enemies to tackle, or conflicts to arise in this recreation of 9th-century Baghdad, and knowing the ending is never too far away will be bittersweet to some.
Assassin’s Creed Mirage is a great return to form for a series that had sort of lost its way. A concise, single-player campaign with a story that has its share of twists and turns, a sprawling desert and surrounding wilds to play in, and even a new ability helps to return Assassin’s Creed to its roots while adding to the core feature set in a meaningful way. Fans, new and old, will want to check out Assassin’s Creed Mirage.
Paulmichael has been writing in the gaming industry since 2008. Living just outside of Los Angeles, he has been lucky enough to attend numerous gaming events around the world, including the last ten E3 shows (RIP)! A thoughtful reviewer, every game you see scored by PmC has been given careful attention. Paulmichael is also an aviation fan and an avid snowboarder. Favorite games include: No Man's Sky, Gran Turismo 7, skate., CloverPit.
Arkane Studios has released Redfall Update 2 for October 6, and this brings various fixes to the beleaguered game. Read on for the complete patch notes that touch on multiplayer, UI and loads more.
Improved PC performance and stability across a wide range of hardware configurations.
Addressed several edge-case memory crashes.
Addressed graphical corruption issue with changing resolution with AMD GPUs.
Fixed an issue with resetting Game Settings to their default values while in Windowed display on a second monitor.
The anti-aliasing setting is now hidden in Video Settings while AMD FSR 2.1 upscaling is enabled.
Various performance improvements made to Hero abilities, weapons, and general game systems.
Various fixes to support Hero abilities triggering properly despite environmental factors like ladders, death mist, electrocution, and more.
Improvements to player navigation and collision across both Redfall Commons and Burial Point.
USER INTERFACE
Weapons with silencers, or silenced muzzle attachments, now reflect their “silent” state in tooltips. – Silenced weapons generate less noise, and are less likely to alert nearby enemies.
Vault and Mantle indicators now display in the HUD when a surface can be vaulted over, or mantled.
The Mission Briefing Table now better delineates between Main Missions and Optional Missions.
Functional improvements to compass markers and objective search areas to behave more consistently.
Historical Markers now display on the Map in their locked state once players complete the introductory missions in Redfall Commons and Burial Point.
Improved the readability of ammo purchasing.
Added an off-screen indicator when Bribón is downed.
Fixed an issue where objective search areas were blocking fast travel actions while using the Map.
The Text-to-Speech hotkey now displays at all times when active.
Player reporting now shows a loading indicator when submitting.
Clarified the achievement description for Rum Runner.
ACCESSIBILITY
Improvements to Screen Narration:
Narration updates when a Multiplayer Lobby state changes between Ready and Unready.
Support when the text entry field is open. Narration updates every seven seconds if the field remains open.
Narrates “Back” and “Friends” menu controls on all pages of the Settings menu.
Support within the Username input field for the “Add Crossplay Friends” sub-menu.
Fixed an issue where players would be prompted to “Press Enter” when focused on the Username input field in the “Add Bethesda.net Friends” sub-menu.
Support for navigation control in Hero Select and System Select menus.
Narrates game invites and friend request notifications.
When selecting a locked difficulty, the screen describes the difficulty type as “Locked”.
When selecting an unlocked difficulty, the screen narrator will narrate “Difficulty Selected”.
Main Menu’s System tooltip displays “System” only, and will narrate “System” in both Main and System menus.
Hover support for all buttons and links, both digital and analog inputs.
Narration support when pings are placed or removed from the world.
Fixed several issues with screen narration in Bethesda.Net modals.
Removed incorrect prompt to “Press Enter” to input email address, username, and/or password when logging in.
Bethesda.net account Help menu now supports proper narration.
Narration Support in the Bethesda.Net Updated Agreement.
Exiting a Multiplayer Lobby now properly reads “Close”, instead of “Quit” or “Leave Lobby” when the Friends List is open.
Lobby labeling now visually and audibly differentiates between Singleplayer and Multiplayer.
Added a secondary sensory method in the Archive to indicate focus on the scroll bar.
Improved photosensitivity work in the following areas:
Firing the Clacker Unrivaled weapon in ADS near a red emergency light.
Flashing environment light bloom caused by weapon fire.
Vampire death and disintegration.
Remi’s Cluster Bomb C4 explosions detonating in rapid succession
Summoning Layla’s Lift with other players standing nearby.
GAMEPLAY
Numerous improvements to default Aim-Assist and Dead Zone tuning, and more options for players to customize these settings for both Controller and Keyboard/Mouse.
Arkane Recommendations:
For fast paced multiplayer FPS fans – Check out Medium, High, or Linear Input Response Presets as they tend to feel faster and more responsive overall.
For slower single player FPS fans – Check out Default, Low, or Medium Input Response Presets as the slower response curves tend to feel like you have a little more precision over your aim.
Increasing/decreasing your Controller Sensitivity from the Input Response Presets default value will directly increase/decrease your overall left/right turning speeds.
For players who turn up their Controller Sensitivity, consider trying out Default/Strong/Very Strong Aim Assist Strength and ADS Snap Strength if you would like that assistance.
For players who turn down their Controller Sensitivity, try Very Weak/Weak/Default Aim Assist Strength and ADS Snap Strength presets to prevent it from feeling like you are fighting for control over your aim.
Tinkering with the Input Response Preset setting is a great first step to help you find the controller settings that work best for you.
During the Settling In mission, Anna Creelman will now fill the player’s pistol, shotgun, and assault rifle ammunition.
Added new Vampire Nest spawns to Old Town and Sedgewick neighborhoods.
Added a tutorial blade and Archive entry for Psychic Residue.
Remi’s C4 no longer remains in the world after exploding.
Various fixes for mission objective persistence.
Added mission dialogue for Fall Like Lightning.
COMBAT
Players can now sneak up and take down unaware Cultists & Bellwether enemies with staked weapons.
Increased open world enemy population and mission encounter balancing.
Added unique open world enemy encounters in Redfall Commons.
Added elements of light or reflective clothing to vampire and human NPCs to aid in visibility during the night.
Increased ammo pickups in areas surrounding the Fire Station to help new players maintain early-game resources.
Enemies now reposition to avoid friendly fire.
Bribón is now guaranteed to shock nearby enemies while using Siren with the Robot Rock skill activated.
Remi will now be alerted when–and where–Bribón is downed.
Fixed several scenarios where enemies could become stuck in an idle state and stop engaging with the player.
Sights and silencer barrels have been updated to improve reticle visibility.
Sights using a green emissive have been tuned so they aren’t as bright at night.
Scale and positioning of magazines has been improved to prevent clipping and other animation issues.
Improved Rook combat behavior in the Black Sun boss arena.
ENVIRONMENT
References to the Burial Point district have been added into the Map, and other locations in the Redfall Commons district.
Improved the lighting presentation in the Black Sun boss arena.
Improved visual fidelity for psychic space butterflies, fog pockets, the Black Sun’s glowing sigil, and various water effects.
MULTIPLAYER
Added visually distinct player indicators and markers for Multiplayer sessions, and unique co-op ping color for each player in the squad.
Improved player ping visibility.
The Light’s Out achievement will now be awarded in multiplayer only if the Lost in the Fog mission is active.
Given the game’s not-so-stellar performance critically and commercially, don’t expect a lot more patches from the Arkane, though we’d love to be proven wrong.
Destiny‘s Trials of Osiris weekly PvP mode is back this Friday with a new map and rewards. If you’re wondering about the current rotation, we’ve got you covered: MP1st’s new Destiny 2Trials of Osiris rewards and map this week October 6, 2023post lists down all that information in full below.
New Destiny 2 Trials of Osiris Rewards This Week October 6, 2023:
Reputation System, Trials Engrams, and Adept Farming
Win individual rounds within each match to gain Trials reputation. The amount of reputation you gain increases with each round you’ve won on your card. Earn enough reputation, and you’ll be able to claim a Trials Engram from Saint-14! This engram can be focused into any currently available trials loot you have previously obtained, or it can be taken to Master Rahool for a random Trials drop. Your reputation increases after every match completion, based on the number of round-wins on your card, regardless of the result of that match itself (win or lose, 0-5 or 5-4).
Once you have gone Flawless, keep playing! Every win you achieve while at the 7-win level, even if you lose your Flawless, has a chance to drop bonus Trials Engrams, adept weapons, prisms, and even Ascendant Shards. There is no penalty for losing once you’ve made it to the Lighthouse!
When you’re done, you can cash in your 7-win passage for one additional adept drop, granted you have gone Flawless that week. This resets your card so you can start anew.
Passages
Name
Perk
Cost
Passage of Ferocity
Your third match win grants a bonus win.
15 Legendary Shards
Passage of Mercy
Forgives one loss per run. Forgives a second loss if you have not yet been flawless this week.
Xur has returned to Destiny this Friday with a fresh selection of Exotics, Engrams, and Legendary gear on sale only in exchange for Legendary Shards. For those seeking information about his current hideout and wares, here you go: MP1st’s new Destiny 2 Xur location today, October 6, 2023 post details both his location and full inventory until the next Weekly Reset.
New Destiny 2 Xur Location Today October 6, 2023 (And What Xur Is Selling):
Complete Vanguard playlist activities, or win matches in Crucible or Gambit. Extra progress is awarded for more challenging activities and for succeeding with clanmates.
Engrams
Name
Description
Cost
Exotic Engram
An engram with a predestined outcome. Contains a new Exotic if any of the possible rewards remain to be collected. Preview contents for possible rewards.
Xûr, Agent of the Nine, is a strange vendor who randomly appears in a Public Sector on one of the Worlds. Xûr sells Exotic equipment and only takes Legendary Shards in exchange for them.
TL;DR: He’s the Santa Claus of Destiny and every weekend is Christmas. Sometimes he brings you what you want, sometimes he brings you coal. Mostly it’s coal.
When does Xûr visit?
Xûr visits every Friday at 17:00 UTC and departs at Weekly Reset (Tuesday 17:00 UTC). If you would like to see all the live conversions of Time Zones, please follow this link here.
Ahead of Battlefield 2042 Season 6: Dark Creations’ release on October 10, DICE has revealed the official changelog! In it, we see the new additions, as well as the complete list of changes made. Read on for the Battlefield 2042 Season 6 patch notes, which DICE tags as Update 6.0.
Here is an overview of the new content, alongside highlights for changes and improvements:
New Map: Redacted
New Weapons: G428, L9CZ and VHX D3
New Gadgets: Ammo & Medical Pouches
New Vehicle: YUV-2 “Pondhawk”
New Battle Pass featuring all-new cosmetics for Specialists, Weapons, Vehicles and more.
Quality of Life Improvements: Aim Assist Improvements for Controllers, Vehicle Handling Improvements, Recon Balancing and more.
When can I play?
Update 6.0.0 deploys at 08:00 UTC on Tuesday, October 10. Season 6: Dark Creations and its Battle Pass progression starts at 12:00 UTC on the same day.
With the deployment of the 6.0.0 Update, 24/7 playlists for Redacted will immediately be available on both Conquest and Breakthrough.
WHAT’S NEW?
New Map: Redacted
Inspired by fan-favorite maps from Battlefield’s past like Operation Locker (Battlefield™ 4) and Operation Metro (Battlefield™ 3). This claustrophobic, close-quarters combat focused map takes place in the Scottish Hebrides where an “incident” has revealed a hidden tech-research facility performing classified experiments.
Located within an underground subterranean environment, this is our first map in the Battlefield franchise that offers no outdoor environment. You’ll need to use the tight corridors and elevated areas to play the enemy into your hand – or risk falling into a trap yourself.
This facility – with its biodomes and laboratories – hides more than its fair share of secrets for you to discover as you seek out your prey. Just be sure not to get distracted as the enemy will use any chance to turn the tables and ambush you.
Boreas Laboratory
The laboratory area is Boreas’ crown jewel and where the bulk of the forbidden research is happening. The lab is divided into two large rooms, split down the middle by a trench-like corridor with racks of servers on either side. Inside the laboratory rooms, large 3D printers are producing prosthetic parts, which you can also see scattered across the level. The laboratory offers close to mid-distance combat, where the looming printers offer excellent cover if you want to get up close and personal with your opponent.
Field testing
After you’ve passed through the laboratory, you enter the Field Testing area, where small, make-shift houses, provide cover and gives further hints as to what has happened in this facility. The lighting and atmosphere is due to send shivers down your spine, but you better stay alert, as the protruding rocks give both you, and your enemy, ample opportunity to flank.
Stress testing
If you’ve survived long enough to make it to the next biodome, you’ll soon notice the difference in both layout and atmosphere that the Stress Testing area has to offer. While it might feel less claustrophobic it does make vulnerable to enemy sniper fire, as this biodome opens up to long-range combat as well. If you prefer the high-ground, the stacked containers can offer you relative safety, but that means you have to get smack in the middle of the biodome, which means you’ll have to constantly watch your six.
Maintenance tunnel
If at any time you want to leave the frantic combat near the flags and enjoy a moment of peace and quiet, the maintenance tunnels can at least offer you the former. The dimly lit tunnels allow you to flank and run directly to any of the flags, but you better stay frosty, as your enemy might have already had the same idea.
New Weapons:G428, L9CZ and VHX D3
The weapons arsenal is expanding this Season with not only new weapons, but also further much community requested improvements to Vault Weapons.
G428
An all new DMR offering exceptional accuracy and substantial penetration power that can help you turn your enemies into prey.
L9CZ
This semi-automatic, highly accurate sidearm is your new best friend in close quarters situations when your primary weapon runs dry.
VHX D3
This unique and futuristic assault rifle features optimized portability and performance, making it a valuable asset for close and medium-range combat. Portable. Powerful. And pulverizing to any enemy that comes out of the shadows.
New Gadgets: Ammo & Medical Pouches
Ammo & Medical Pouches – Support your squad by throwing them pouches that will let them replenish their ammo or health. A valuable lifeline when you find death creeping on you and your team.
New Vehicle: YUV-2 “Pondhawk”
A dynamic two-person transport featuring flight capabilities, letting you and a buddy quickly provide support and rush objectives.
New Battle Pass
Season 6: Dark Creations will include an all new Battle Pass with over 100 tiers of rewards. As always, our gameplay-affecting items – weapons, vehicles, gadgets – are earnable without purchasing the Premium version of the Battle Pass.
We’re also introducing the Battle Pass Ultimate Pack, a new option for the Battle Pass that will allow you faster progress through tier skips while also granting you exclusive skins.
QUALITY OF LIFE IMPROVEMENTS
Dev Notes: Aim Assist Improvements for Controllers
With this update we set out to improve the experience of aiming and aim assist for controller peripherals with a high degree of customizability.
Our goal with aim assist on Battlefield is to make controller aim more accurate while retaining the challenge and skill required of aiming within a First Person Shooter. Aim assist is not only about the process of helping you aim but also about tuning and customizing the feel of input to your personal taste.
We have made multiple systemic improvements, while also ensuring we don’t obstruct the player.
Alongside code and design changes, we are including a new, carefully tuned Default Aim Input Response Curve with an emphasis on customizability. You will now be able to select between many different Response Curves from previous Battlefield titles. These curves can be found within the options and will alter the feel of your aim stick input. There are also legacy acceleration presets and a new slider for tuning slow down separately from other assist features.
Dev Notes: Vehicle Handling Improvements
One of our key focus areas for Update 6.0 was to improve the Vehicle Handling of Ground Vehicles and how they interact on a mobility level in comparison to the general gameplay pace that Battlefield 2042 offers.
Ground vehicles have received a wide range of changes in relation to their Tank Track Friction, Engine Power Curves, and Vehicle Gravity to allow for more weight and more. Additionally, we have made further changes to Jet Afterburners, Tor Tank balancing and Gunships to further realign and improve ground vehicular combat in cohesion with air and infantry Combat.
Dev Notes: Recon Balancing
Rao’s Cyberwarfare Suite will now trigger all damage states on targeted vehicles, as well as no longer blocking firing on vehicles. Additionally, Rao no longer reveals players around an enemy he has recently hacked and killed. Instead Rao will now reveal enemies in the target’s area when he hacks a target.
This will reveal all information in that area, such as all enemy soldiers, vehicles and gadgets within 10m of the hacked target for a very brief period of time.
We have also made adjustments to the EMP Grenade and Casper’s OV-P Recon Drone to align with this new hacking behavior.
OTHER AREAS OF IMPROVEMENT
Subsonic Ammo & Suppressors
The first update is a minor design change regarding Subsonic Ammo, and how it works in combination with Suppressors.
Previously, this combination would hide the directional indicator in the hitmarkers on the receiving end, hiding the orientation of the attacker.
We have decided to update this following our hitmarkers update and to improve the synergy with Suppressors in a way that minimizes frustration for the receiving end and promotes weapon build variety.
Previously:
Heavy Silencers = No self-spotting on minimap at any distance
Light Silencers = No self-spotting over 20 meters
Subsonic Ammo had no impact on this
Update 6.0:
Light Silencer = No self-spotting over 40 meters
Light Silencer + Subsonic = No self-spotting over 20 meters
Heavy Silencer = No self-spotting over 20 meters
Heavy Silencer + Subsonic = No self-spotting at any distance
Camera Recoil
Through Community Feedback we became aware of an issue where the crosshair of a weapon could deviate too much from the center of the screen and was affecting certain weapons a lot more than some others.
This resulted in a lack of consistency between weapons and could make controlling recoil more difficult particularly when it came to quick bursts on higher recoil weapons. We have done a pass on every All-Out Warfare weapon to resolve this issue and improve gunplay.
With the new settings, the weapons will still have some minor movement to transmit the feeling of the recoil but recoil control and bursting should feel more responsive and consistent.
We have additionally taken the chance to do some further small tweaks to the way bolt action recoil works with the camera which should also improve the feel of the weapons and help you keep your aim in follow up shots.
LMG Balance Update
Looking at the recent Update 5.2 release where we updated Vault LMGs Attachments, recoil and other stats, a dispersion change was also done to bring them to where we thought they should be when compared to Assault Rifles and the rest of the roster.
We believe we didn’t quite hit our intended goal with those changes and that we had pushed them a bit too far, where the gunplay when using LMGs didn’t feel quite right.
We decided to do an extra tweaking pass on the entire LMG category, take a look at the changelog below to learn more about the detailed changes coming as part of this update.
DMR Balance Update
DMRs have also received tweaks, but to a much lesser extent. The intention here was not really to do any significant blanket nerfing or buffing, but to review the state of the weapons and make sure they performed as intended. Take a look at the changelog below to learn more about the detailed changes coming as part of this update.
Boris & Crawford Improvements
In response to Engineer feedback, we are taking steps to improve the experience of playing as Boris and Crawford with Update 6.0. As we outlined many months ago as part of the Class Rework, the role of an Engineer is both as an anti-vehicle Specialist and one able to hold down a position and we feel this aspect of Engineer gameplay needed further balance improvements to make the available choices within the class more interesting.
As such, Boris will now have further emphasis on ensuring the uptime of his Sentry Turret in order to have optimal damage output of that Turret, while Crawford will have a completely new Specialist Trait called Deep Pockets which provides an extra rocket to shoulder-fired launchers.
We will continue to assess Engineer feedback, and all the other topics listed above as we begin to hear your thoughts once all these changes are live!
CHANGELOG
AI, Soldier and General Improvements
Added a new option that allows players to auto throw Ammo/Medical Crates upon button press, similar to the auto throw grenades option. This option can be found under Mouse & Keyboard or Controller > On Foot.
When a squad mate attempts to deploy onto a person who is in combat, that person will receive a notification informing them a squad mate is attempting to deploy onto them and that they should seek cover to let the squad spawn happen. Both visually and audibly.
Fixed the directional arrow on some world icons sometimes showing when the icon is not sticking to an edge.
Fixed an issue that caused the Nightstick Melee Weapon to fire an invisible projectile that’d create impacts on the world and geometry. Sorry about that, Penguin secret technology almost made it out.
Fixed an issue that caused downed players to appear as alive on the big map for a brief moment when playing as a Support Specialist.
Fixed an issue that caused no hand signal animation to play when spotting the Centurion C-RAM.
Improved the UI animation for when a player spots a target to feel more rewarding and snappy.
Improved the enemy health bar experience to be more readable in understanding how much health is remaining from an enemy player as well as how much damage you have recently dealt to that player.
Implemented an additional dark outline that helps visualize the total length of the health bar.
Changing the lost health bar (right side) so it uses an alpha gradient to improve contrast with the remaining health bar (left side), which will lead to better visibility of remaining health.
Added an animated hit event light gradient that sits at the right edge of the remaining health bar.
Darkened the remaining health glow (with the goal to visually coincide better with the player name).
Fixed an issue that would sometimes cause electrical static audio to play when reviving a player. Less zap zap, more pew pew.
Fixed an issue that would cause the same command to repeat itself when re-opening the Commorose for a second time.
Fixed an issue that would cause AI defenders to get stuck in concrete walls under certain fences.
Fixed an issue that would cause the distance to enemies further than 50m to not show up.
Improved performance on Xbox One and PlayStation 4 consoles while navigating Weapons in the Deploy Screen
Fixed an issue where input became throttled while having more than one controller plugged in and using any controller other than controller 1.
Fixed an issue that caused VFX particles to be seen through some objects / materials.
When performing a revive, attempting to Fire or ADS will now cancel the revive action.
Dev Comment: We made this change as we noticed that players were sometimes getting stuck performing a revive action when they’re trying to quickly cancel to kill an enemy. This change is to respect your input given to the game.
Medics inside of vehicles will now be hidden from the nearby reviver list unless they specifically ping the downed player.
Dev Comment: This is to reduce player frustration of medics not reviving when they are playing within vehicles, we acknowledge players within vehicles are less likely to jump out and revive.
Audio
Polished the audio experience when dying from explosions.
Added audio fixes around foliage assets on Hourglass.
Removed tinnitus sound effect from low damage dealing explosions.
Resupplying Med Pens from a Medical Crate now has audio.
The RPG7-V2 now has audio when performing a lock on to a designated target.
Other players can now hear when a jet is doing a close by while boosting.
Fixed an additional issue that caused the SU-57 jet to not have any boost audio.
Improved the obstruction system to minimize cluttered soundscape involving sounds further away and make close sounds more relevant and valid.
Vehicles, explosions and weapon sounds played in an exterior environment, will be more obstructed beyond a certain range if the player is in an interior environment.
Additionally, this same category of sounds when played in an interior environment will be more obstructed on far distances and several rooms away.
Battlefield Portal
Vehicles now spawn at maximum health when the vehicle maximum health multiplier is set to 2.
Fixed an issue that would cause the JU-87 Stuka’s (Battlefield 1942) crosshair to disappear when in ADS/Zoom
Fixed an issue that caused the Dynamite (Battlefield 1942) to switch to another weapon when trying to detonate all 5 sticks at once.
Fixed an issue that caused XP restrictions to not correctly update when changing PvP AI settings in the Portal Web Builder.
Fixed an issue that caused Armored Transports (Battlefield 3) to have the incorrect world iconography.
Fixed an issue where the Input Restriction blocks were not affecting AI Soldiers.
Fixed an issue where the OnPlayerUndeploy and OnPlayerDeployed events would sometimes not trigger for AI Soldiers.
Enable controls while rearview camera is active on Battlefield Portal planes
Class Changes
Recon
The Recon Class now has a Weapon Proficiency to Secondary Weapons alongside their Sniper Rifle Proficiency. This new Secondary Weapons Proficiency enables them to deploy and undeploy their Secondary Weapon at a faster rate.
This combination will function on all weapon combinations as Recon, such as hitting an enemy with a Sniper Rifle to quickly swap to a pistol, or SMG to quickly swap to a pistol.
Maps and Modes
Hourglass:
Fixed an issue where Vehicles would start shaking if placed on top of sand dunes.
Discarded:
Fixed destruction around A1 flag.
Ensured Tornado does not spawn on HQ at the start of the round.
Reclaimed:
Fixed an issue on Custom Conquest where B1 and B2 points were not working as intended.
Breakthrough:
Deployable gadgets are now destroyed after territory control change on Breakthrough.
Fast Conquest:
Fixed an issue with where teams had the incorrect number of tickets.
Tactical CQ:
Fixed Missing Voice Over during End of Round.
Gadgets & Specialists
Fixed an issue that caused the smoke grenade to allow explosive damage to bleed through walls.
If the EOD Bot falls onto a soldiers head, it will now kill them (It’s-a me, Penguinio)
Fixed an issue that caused passengers of vehicles firing shoulder-fired launchers to push the vehicle.
When attempting to deploy a gadget in the world in an area that it cannot be deployed, it will now present the reason why it is failing to do so, such as Underwater, Not Enough Space, Stolen by Penguins.
Improved the scaling of the out of range lock-on states to be more visible at range
Improved the readability of blocked lock-on states.
Grenades and missiles will now have their minimum damage capped out at 10 to ensure damage reliability.
Fixed an issue that caused a broken sprint animation when swapping to the RPG7-V2 during a tactical sprint.
Fixed an issue that could sometimes cause defibrillators to be in the characters hands while parachuting.
The Ammo Crate is no longer invincible and can now take damage and be destroyed.
The Spawn Beacon now requires slightly more room to be deployed that matches more accurately to its object boundaries.
Dev Comment: This should help alleviate situations where Spawn Beacons can be wedged into incredibly narrow spaces which prevent deploying on the Spawn Beacon from occurring. Sometimes sneaky doesn’t always mean optimal.
Angel
Fixed an issue that caused the parachute to lag behind Angel’s supply drop
Blasco
Increased spotting radius of Blasco’s X6 Infiltration Device by 10%.
Boris
Increased the range at which Boris’ Technician Trait activates from 1.6m to 3.2m
Boris’ Technician Trait will now cause the Sentry Turret to have increased rate of fire by 25%
Dev Comment: The common behaviour we saw with players playing as Boris was to place their turret and then forget it entirely in hopes it’d scoop up a kill or two. With this change we’re seeking to incentivise staying near the turret and to use it as a defensive tool placed with intention. Chokepoints, high reaching balconies and corridors are now Boris’ territory.
Casper
Fixed an issue that allowed the Recon Drone’s thermal sight to see enemies through smoke.
Increased the cooldown for the Recon Drone’s EMP by 5 seconds.
Dev Comment: This change comes as part of the EMP / Hacking gameplay behaviour improvements mentioned within Rao’s section to ensure healthy gameplay balance.
Crawford
Crawford’s Trait has been replaced by Deep Pockets, which provides an extra rocket to shoulder-fired launchers.
Dozer
Dozer will now take damage and flinch when taking direct hits towards his shield.
Fixed an issue that caused the 40mm Kinetic Grenade Pod to spawn a bullet deflection off of Dozer’s shield.
Dozer has also received additional balance improvements regarding his movement:
Rotation Speed decreased from 265 degrees per sec to 240.
Pitch Speed reduced from 190 degrees per sec to 120.
Strafing right/left movement speed reduced from 0.9x to 0.85x.
Walking Backwards speed reduced from 0.9x to 0.85x.
Sprint velocity reduced from 0.9x to 0.8x.
Falck
Fixed an issue that caused the self heal animation on Falck’s Syrette Pistol to sometimes repeat itself.
The Penguins have stolen Falck’s Syrette Pistol charges from the Medic Crate, resulting in her no longer being able to resupply Syrette Pistols from the crate. Pesky Penguins, why would they need Syrette Pistol charges?
Irish
Fixed an issue that caused the health bar of the Shootdown Sentinel (EIDOS) to not appear when repairing it with the Repair Tool.
Fixed an issue that caused Irish”s trait to not resupply the SPH Explosive Launcher.
Fixed an issue where an active friendly Shootdown Sentinel (EIDOS) would incorrectly try to intercept an enemy grenade turned friendly after being thrown back by a friendly soldier.
Fixed an issue where an active friendly Shootdown Sentinel (EIDOS) would fail to show any VFX & SFX upon intercepting a grenade turned hostile after being thrown back by a soldier.
Lis
Fixed an issue where Lis in third-person perspectives wouldn’t aim in the correct direction with her G-84 TGM equipped while in vehicle open-seats.
Mackay
Fixed an issue that caused weapon magazines to clip through Mackays forearm in the pre-round screen of a match.
Reduced maximum range of Mackay’s grappling hook by 17%.
Reduced the speed at which the grapple hook reaches maximum length after being fired by 25%.
Dev Comment: We’ve made these changes to reduce the number of scenarios Mackay could use his grapple hook to get to unintended locations, as well as to reduce what we call the 360 problem which means you can die from 360 degrees of the level around you, which makes it difficult to assess where the danger will come from.
Paik
Improved the visibility of Paik’s EMG-X Scanner which will now be more opaque so characters are more visible against the environment.
We have altered the timings of Paik’s EMG-X Scanner which will result in a longer stay time and a snappier fade out, while still taking the same total time to play her scan.
Improved the audio experience when acquiring targets with her EMG-X Scanner to understand how many enemies have been detected.
Rao
Added visual and audio feedback to vehicles that have been hacked by Rao’s Cyberwarfare Suite.
Rao no longer reveals players around an enemy he has recently hacked and killed, instead Rao will now reveal enemies in the target’s area when he hacks a target. This will reveal all information in that area, such as all enemy soldiers, vehicles and gadgets within 10m of the hacked target for a very brief period of time.
Sparks VFX appear when a vehicle is hacked to give improved player feedback.
Vehicles will now be able to shoot while they are hacked. Vehicles will instead become “damaged” when hacked. Wheel, turret, engine damage states will trigger.
To provide further emphasis on electronic warfare, the EMP Grenade will now behave similar to Rao’s new hacking behaviour.
Explosion Balancing
The following changes are made as our continued efforts to reduce the prevalence of explosions within Battlefield 2042, and ensure that we work towards a more balanced combat field, as intended. We will continue to assess community feedback around this topic.
Frag Grenade
Reduced inner blast radius from 2.25m to 2m.
Reduced blast radius from 7m to 6m.
Scatter Grenade (Not Fragmented)
Reduced inner blast radius from 2.5m to 2m.
Reduced blast radius from 6.5m to 4m.
SPH Launcher
Reduced magazine capacity to 1.
Reduced maximum amount of shells carried from 4 to 2.
Added a movement speed penalty when aiming down sight from 1x to 0.6x.
XM370A
Reduced number of magazines from 2 to 1.
Increased the recharge timer from 15s to 18s.
Adjusted the recharge behaviour to fill missing rounds into the reserve as it only has a singular magazine now, to ensure recharges occur when the weapon is still loaded.
The XM370A’s projectile explosion will now light up the surrounding environment.
C5
Reduced the range at which the C5 explosion will kill a max health soldier.
Adjusted the damage curve to be more readable.
Vehicles
As you may have seen with our recent communications on BattlefieldComms, a large focus for Update 6.0 is to improve the handling and feel of vehicular combat and to move their mobility in line with the pacing of the current state of game.
These changes will ensure that Ground Vehicles remain more grounded, but have the ability to tackle tighter combat scenarios with increased mobility through tank track friction and gravity improvements. We have also taken on board player feedback to address the current power of the EMKV-90 TOR, and taken the opportunity to bring further improvements to Jets.
General
Updated Heat Shell name to match its functionality.
Fixed an issue where directional exit points would not behave as intended when on slopes.
All vehicle open seats will now keep their own aim rotation within their constraints when the vehicle rotates
When your vehicle has been designated by either the SOFLAM or Tracer Dart, it will now display information as part of the locking on warning, such as Incoming, Locked, Locking and Designated.
Dev Comment: This is to provide feedback to pilots and drivers when they have been made vulnerable by the Tracer Dart or SOFLAM.
Fixed an issue that would let thermal scopes on certain vehicles capable of viewing enemies thermal signature through smoke.
Fixed an issue that would cause some vehicle crosshairs to shake after a reload when holding down the fire button.
Fixed an issue that allowed players to control a vehicle while their body remained outside the vehicle after a revive.
Fixed an issue that prevented characters from equipping a pilots helmet when piloting an air vehicle. Safety first!
Fixed an issue that would cause the camera to clip through the ground when entering a vehicle with Dozer’s shield equipped.
MBT
Lowered track friction for better maneuverability.
Increased turning rates when accelerating to allow for more mobility during combat, additionally we have also increased turning rates without acceleration input.
We have made improvements to acceleration and deceleration when in a standstill position, and the ability to turn whilst in this position.
Increased power of braking slightly.
Longer time to reach max speed in MBTs, players can bypass this by using boost
Bolte & LATV4
Lowered max speed when boosting and undergoing normal acceleration.
Steering improvements for all speeds, gear ratios have also been updated in connection to these new settings for the Bolte.
Fixed an issue that caused the systemic damage icon to not be updated when in the second seat of the M5C Bolte.
EBAA Wildcat
Increased power of braking.
Air Vehicles
Lowered impulse of 30mm on Attack Heli.
Players will now be ejected from aircraft when attempting to enter elevators with them.
Fixed an issue that’d cause the Mi-240 Super HIND to continually fly left or right after landing on a surface.
Fixed an issue that allowed attack helicopters to fire before the overheat stage had fully finished.
Ground Vehicles
All ground vehicles will now have an improved sense of gravity that will result in less float.
Suspensions and wheel traction have been tweaked for all ground vehicles to support this extra gravity.
Additionally, we have made further alterations to ensure that heavy tanks are less likely to flip from vehicular collisions.
Polaris RZR
Fixed an issue that caused the camera to not completely follow the Polaris RZR when it would perform a skid.
Gunships
Removed gunships 40mm GL and replaced it with a burst 30mm, please continue to share your thoughts on this as we assess Gunship balancing.
EMKV90 TOR
Minimum damage lowered on both primary weapons and default weapons from 400 to 200 and HHV-EMG Maul from 635 to 400
The HHV-EMG Maul weapon will no longer no longer one shot light air vehicles (Jets, Nightbird, Stealth Heli) beyond 330m, additionally it will also no longer one shot Attack Helicopters beyond 280m.
Fixed an issue that caused the EMKV90 TOR to warp when going up a vehicle elevator as it transitions into siege mode.
Added velocity scaled by pitch for EMKV90 TOR. This starts at 6 degrees and reaches its maximum impact by 12 degrees, weapons will fire roughly half their original speed at 12 degrees.
Dev Comment: These changes are being made to underline that the vehicle is suited for a defensive role on the Battlefield, however it is not a vehicle that is about sniping from afar. Range will now become an important factor if you wish to continue with the EMKV90 TOR.
Jets
Included a Jet Afterburner Meter so players are now able to manage how and when to use afterburners to gain air combat advantage.
Improvements made to first perspective crosshairs.
Weapons
Fixed an issue with the VCARs camera shake being out of proportion
Fixed an issue where Extended Barrel did not affect rate of fire on VCAR
Fixed an issue where you could Hold Breath with the SVD, as this weapon is classed as an DMR this is no longer possible.
Fixed an issue where minimap stealth bonuses from suppressors and subsonic ammo was not consistent with descriptions and in game behavior
Fixed an issue that caused the Assault Weapon Proficiency to grant extra underbarrel ammo on the AEK971.
Fixed inconsistencies between suppressor firing sounds when choosing different magazine types for the AEK971.
Adjusted animation undeploy speed of the MP412 REX and M44 Revolver to be more in line with actual timings of undeploying.
Increased the blast radius of the explosion bolt of the Ghostmaker R10 from 2m to 3m.
Fixed an issue where semi auto dispersion was not calculated correctly on some weapons, causing them to be less accurate
Fixed an issue that caused the 12M Auto to have higher rate of fire in single fire while equipped with the Shortened Barrel
Fixed an issue that would cause the scope glint to sometimes be disabled due to the interaction with some underbarrel attachments
Fixed an issue where the RPK-74M Laser Sight was misaligned with the weapon.
Fixed an issue that caused the SVD’s ejected bullet casings to be misplaced when equipped with any barrel attachment.
Updated the K8 reticle icon in the menus to match the reticule that is present in game.
Updated the NVK-FSN’s reticle icon in the menus to match the reticule that is present ingame.
Fixed an issue that caused certain specialists sleeves to clip through the NVK-P125’s when reloading.
Fixed an issue where some vault weapons did not have the right spread bonuses for different fire modes
Fixed an issue that caused the K30’s subsonic magazine to not have a mesh when selected.
Polished the animation when reloading the AM40 when it has underbarrel attachments equipped.
Fixed an issue that prevented several Vault Weapons from being able to revert to their factory (default) skin
Fixed an issue that caused the GAR45 Suppressor and Warhawk compensator to have a muzzle flash when equipped on the MP443
Fixed an issue that caused an increase in dispersion (bloom) when proning with the M1911
Fixed an issue that caused recoil on hipfire to reset very slowly on the PP-2000
Polished the general alignment of laser underbarrel attachments across weapons.
Fixed an issue that caused the BPF.50’s reload animation to snap when ADSing after having swapped magazine type.
Fixed an issue that caused the NVK-P125’s weapon slide to remain open after swapping magazine type.
Removed headshot multiplier from the 12M Auto and MCS-880 to be in line with other shotguns.
Fixed an issue that caused weapon magazines to clip through Mackays forearm in the pre-round screen of a match.
Fixed an issue where the Aim Assist (crosshair slow down over targets) and Aim Assist Zoom Snap Modifiers in Battlefield Portal weren’t working as intended in some cases
Fixed an issue where Aim Assist would be active on targets occluded by vehicle smoke
P90 dispersion has been increased.
PP29 dispersion while moving has been fixed, it was using incorrect (lower) values.
LMG Balance Update
LCMG
Slower dispersion increase
PKP
Slower dispersion increase
Vertical recoil multiplier decreased by 20% for the first 2 shots to improve bursting capability
Vertical recoil increased by 5%
Avancys
Slower dispersion increase
XM8L
Slower dispersion increase
M240B
Slower dispersion increase
Vertical recoil reduced by 5%
Initial shot recoil multipliers redone from scratch to improve sustained fire stability
Type 88
Slower dispersion increase
RPT-31
Vertical recoil increased by 8%
Slower dispersion increase
Dispersion behavior is now more differentiated between high and low rate of fire builds i.e. dispersion will vary more depending on which attachments are used, where a higher rate of fire will result in lower accuracy and the other way around.
RPK
Slower dispersion increase
M60
Slower dispersion increase
Reduced maximum dispersion
All LMGs
Reduced initial dispersion penalty when moving while standing, crouching and prone
Slightly increased the time it takes for recoil to fully reset overall, where on average it will now take a bit longer than for ARs. The intention is that while LMGs will now be more accurate and reliable over longer distances, their close-quarters agility will be slightly lower.
This is further split into two groups with a very minor difference between the two: Fast – Avancys, RPK and XM8 and Standard – All others.
DMR Balance Update
M39, SVK and SVD
Slightly increased dispersion when firing at maximum fire rate.
VCAR
Slightly decreased dispersion when firing at maximum fire rate.
BSV-M
Horizontal and initial vertical recoil have been increased.
Once the patch is live, we’ll be sure to let our readers know.
With Battlefield 2042’s Season 6: Dark Creations set to start next week on October 10, some might be wondering how the new map will play out. Well, thankfully, you don’t have to wait long, as we have over an hour of Battlefield 2042 Season 6 gameplay to share.
Check out our own James Lara play Conquest, Team Deathmatch on the Redacted map. Don’t forget, this new level is something that was inspired by both Operation Metro and Operation Locker, so expect a close-quarter affair that puts the focus entirely on Specialists.
Battlefield 2042 Season 6: Dark Creations will launch October 10 on all platforms. Check back before then, as we should be getting the patch notes before the new season launches.
