Ubisoft unveils Ghost Recon Breakpoint10/5/2019 The next Ghost Recon game, Breakpoint, was revealed via a live stream last night and will be dropping on 4 October, with a private beta in the run up to release. We were able to get a closer look at the game when we attended its London-based premier. Anyone who played 2017’s Wildlands will already be familiar with what modern Ghost Recon has become, but there are still a few notable changes here. Levels look well put together, with weather effects really adding to the isolated aesthetic, and there's a clear graphical step up between what's already being shown of Breakpoint and the likes of Ubisoft’s recent The Division 2. Being a vertical slice of an alpha-state game, we’ll see whether the level of quality is maintained across the board come October. There's an emphasis on survival as you battle the elements in the game’s remote island setting of Auroa, which boasts impressively muddy jungle terrain. That dirt presented opportunity to show off a new feature, dubbed “Prone Cammo”, where you lie motionless in the muck as patrolling enemies move by unawares. During the reveal we saw the player character taking time to bandage up serious wounds, so as to not fall victim to a gameplay handicap, plus there was mention of other common survival mechanics like keeping your character fed and watered as well. Your personal drone - which makes a return after proving very helpful in Wildlands - won't be the only surveillance technology at play in Breakpoint, since the baddies are backed by business tycoon Jace Skell, who's tech company has led to a rise in militarised drones and autonomous vehicles, some of which you'll encounter as you explore. In a franchise first, characters subscribe to specific class archetypes, all of which include special skills, items and progression which are carried between solo, co-op and even PvP play. In one sequence, we saw a Ghost deploy a class-specific smokescreen ability which gave them cover to revive a downed ally. There’ll be four classes at launch and more to come at a later date, so we’ll have to wait and see exactly how involved their unique specialisations prove to be. A fair amount of melee stealth takedowns were on show, some of which involved extended hand-to-hand combat, resulting from the fact that your foes are no longer mere grunts. It’ll be interesting to see how these control, since there weren’t any visible on-screen QTE prompts. Ubisoft apparently received and implemented a lot of community feedback during the development of Breakpoint, based on players’ experiences with Wildlands, leading to features including a more involved story and even branching dialogue options.
Not only that, but there’s also more character, weapon and vehicle customisation on offer, all of which should come in handy since it sounds like you'll need every tool at your disposal to counter the beefier enemy AI. Finally, there was a hint at the sort of post-launch support we can expect (besides the aforementioned new classes), as four weeks after launch Breakpoint is scheduled to receive the first raid ever seen in a Ghost Recon title. It wasn’t said whether the raid add-on will be free or premium. While we only saw some hands-off gameplay at the reveal event, Breakpoint’s Community Developer team were clearly very excited to show off what they've been working on and first impressions for those in attendance were certainly positive. Let's hope the next few months provide the team ample time to put the final polish on, without subjecting 1,000+ developers to any crippling levels of crunch. EA Access rolls out onto PS4 in July9/5/2019 EA have announced that the subscription service will be available on PlayStation 4 in the summer. The list price mirrors that of the Xbox One service, with a monthly cost of £3.99 or £19.99 for a full year. "As we continue to invest in digital and subscription services, bringing our games to even more people across both consoles is an exciting opportunity for everyone," said Matt Bilbey, Executive VP of Strategic Growth.
"Our goal is to give players more choice to try and play our games wherever and however they choose and we’re happy to bring the service to PlayStation 4." Visit the official website to find out more and opt in to get notified when the service launches. Are you a fan of EA Access? Let us know below or over in the forums. Warhorse Studios have announced a delay for the console versions of Kingdom Come: Deliverance Royal Edition and the fourth major expansion, A Woman’s Lot.
It’s a similar story for the fourth expansion, A Woman’s Lot, which stars Theresa the miller’s daughter and romance option for main protagonist Henry. Players take on the role of Theresa in a standalone questline which offers an alternative perspective on one of the major events in the game.
The DLC is out 28 May for PC players, but once again console users have to wait until 11 June to access the new content. According to Warhorse, the delay is to ensure the studio “deliver the highest quality for all players.” Have you played KCD? Looking forward to the latest expansion? Let us know below. Total Mayhem Games’ first-person co-operative puzzle titles, We Were Here and sequel We Were Here Too, are coming to Xbox One later this year. “The team at Total Mayhem Games have always been Xbox fans, so bringing our We Were Here games to Xbox One has been a long-time dream of ours,” said Project Lead Lucia de Visser.
“We can’t wait to see how a whole new audience react to the puzzles and mysteries of Castle Rock!” Both games are currently available on Steam, with a third entry, We Were Here Together, expected to be released on PC later this year. Each game is connected, but can still be enjoyed in any order, according to the developers. There’s no word on when the Xbox One versions of We Were Here and We Were Here Too will be released, but more details are said to be coming “soon.” Have you played any of these games before? Looking forward to their console debut? Let us know below or in the forums. ENDED: Serial Cleaner giveaway6/5/2019
Lance Mesina (@Stagunantu) cleaned up the competition in this week’s giveaway!
The Borderlands 3 gameplay reveal took place on 1 May and Gearbox shared some tantalising details about the upcoming looter-shooter. The reveal was a little under an hour long with a minimal amount of build up. Gearbox and 2K also premiered the Borderlands 3 ECHOcast Extension, an official Twitch extension which allows viewers to interact with livestreams in new ways and score in-game goodies from participating in events.
With the extension, viewers can check out an overview of the Vault Hunter they are watching, including their class, level, equipment and skill trees. An explanation of how the skills work can be found by hovering over each one and the same method will show you the stats of any weapons in the streamer's inventory. Touted as one of the most exciting features of ECHOcast, Rare Chest Events give viewers the chance to receive the same loot that a streamer finds in rare chests. Once a rare chest is opened, you'll have 30 seconds to opt in to the event then, provided you're one of the lucky winners, you'll have 30 seconds to choose which one of the items you'd like to claim. The item (which is scaled to your level when you retrieve it) will be added to your SHiFT account and can be claimed from the in-game mailbox upon the game's release on 13 September. You'll need to link your SHiFT and Twitch accounts beforehand but it's a painless process. Details can be found on the official website. What did you think of the reveal? Let us know below or over in the forums. Bigben and Zordix Racing have announced a new off-road simulator called Overpass, which will be making its way to PC and consoles later this year. The game features a career mode where players must “manage their buggies and quads” as they try to win races and attract sponsors, while multiplayer has you competing against others to place the best track times.
Overpass is out this October on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Switch and PC. What do you think of the game? Let us know below. |
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