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'Battlefield V' returns to WWII with ever-evolving multiplayer
Games in the Battlefield franchise have covered conflicts from the Vietnam War to a fictional future in 2142. Developer EA DICE took the series into new territory in 2016 with the well-received Battlefield 1, setting the game in the rarely touched World War I era. For the next installment, Battlefield V (let's just not talk about the naming convention) returns to where the franchise started: World War II. As you know, the conflict comes up time and time again in films and games, but DICE hopes Battlefield V will tell some of its untold stories, and link these narratives to an ever-changing multiplayer experience intended to keep players interested, and logging back into the fight. Oh, and you won't have pay for the privilege of new content either.
A proper 'Serious Sam' sequel is in the works
There's a new Serious Sam game on the horizon. A fresh instalment of the bombastic shooter franchise was teased in 2014 but never came to fruition. Instead, developer Croteam released The Talos Principle, a critically acclaimed puzzler about androids and AI. Now, though, we have a teaser trailer for Serious Sam 4: Planet Badass, which shows the titular hero driving through the (French? Italian?) countryside on a classic motorcycle. Of course, he's soon attacked by a "headless kamikaze," which Sam dispatches with a casual shotgun blast. The camera then pans back to reveal a horde of gruesome enemies and the message: See you at E3 2018.
'Doom’ for the Nintendo Switch feels exactly like it’s supposed to
When Nintendo announced the launch of the Switch by using footage from The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, it was a surprise -- but a reasonable one. Bethesda's open-world adventure game was beloved, but old enough that a port to Nintendo's new console seemed entirely reasonable. When the company announced that it was bringing the upcoming Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus and last year's Doom reboot to the Nintendo Switch, however, it gave us pause. Those games were made for more powerful platforms, like the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. It sounded ambitious, but if the early build I played of Doom is anything to go by, they might actually pull this off.
‘Doom’ is coming to Nintendo Switch this holiday season
Any Switch owner will tell you that ports are a big part of the console's ecosystem. Nintendo has already ported games like Mario Kart 8 to the convertible console, and upcoming titles like L.A. Noire and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim promise to fill out the library even further -- but so far, the Switch hasn't had any ports of AAA current-gen titles. Bethesda is about to change that. During today's Nintendo Direct, the company announced that it's bringing 2016's Doom reboot to the Switch.
ASUS' new ROG Strix gaming laptop is built for FPS players
ASUS' IFA welcome mat is scattered with laptops, and it's not just more slender ZenBooks. The company's gaming arm, ROG, has recast its Strix gaming laptop in two different editions, each dedicated to a different type of game. First up, the SCAR edition, which was built for first-person shooter gamers "looking for a competitive edge". That edge involves the newest eighth-generation Intel Core i7 processors, and NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 10 in the way of graphical might. You'll be staring into either a 15-inch or 17-inch screen, with a 5ms response time and smooth 120Hz refresh rates. ROG says this will eliminate motion blur, while also contradicting itself and teasing an even smoother 144Hz, 7ms display option also in the works.
'Titanfall 2' DLC adds another weapon slot and new maps on June 27th
It might be hard to top Titanfall 2's last DLC release that dropped the first new playable titan since the game launched. But the mech-filled multiplayer shooter's next free content block will add something back that fans have been wanting for months: Another weapon slot allowing players to carry both anti-titan weaponry and a sidearm in addition to their main gun.
Low-grav shooter ‘LawBreakers’ comes out August 8th for $30
LawBreakers, the low-gravity team shooter made by Boss Key Productions, just got a release date for both its PC and recently-announced PS4 versions: August 8th, retailing for $30. But before then, the game will have another beta (sadly, still only for desktop) starting at noon ET on June 28th.
Elusive 'Overwatch' hero Sombra is now available to everyone
Blizzard has been teasing the second post-launch Overwatch character, Sombra, for months -- cryptic clues and leaks have been floating around since the first extra character showed up. At last, though, she's here. After about a week of public testing, Blizzard has released a finished update that brings Sombra's stealthy hacking to PC, PS4 and Xbox One players. To recap, she's an "infiltrator" who can temporarily become invisible, teleport to a beacon, disable enemy shields with EMP blasts and hack both health kits as well as Torbjörn's turrets. She's who you send in to undermine a stubborn defense before your main assault.
Next 'Call of Duty' lets you craft guns and call down guard bots
Activision is raising the bar for its annual miniconvention celebrating its Call of Duty shooter franchise, Call of Duty XP. This year's has panels, eSports championships and performances by Snoop Dogg and Wiz Khalifa, but the real attention is on news for the next entry in the franchise, Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare, which launches on November 4th. Here's all the new details of the modern shooter that studio executives shared this afternoon.
'Quantum Break' studio's next project isn't what you expect
Historically, Remedy Entertainment has only worked on one project at a time, releasing only a handful of games since 2001's Max Payne. The company recently announced it was moving away from that fan-frustrating workflow and was becoming a studio that has more than one iron in the fire at a given moment. Now, a few months after the fantastic Quantum Break, we know what one of the team's next projects is: creating a campaign for the next installment of free-to-play shooter CrossFire, the aptly named CrossFire 2.
'Destiny' splits off from PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 today
If you're still playing Destiny on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, today's update is the last you'll see. That's aside from any emergency fixes, according to a post on Bungie.net. The patch also addresses a number of minor glitches involving loot, gear and quest items. From today forward, though, your progress won't be shared between last-gen hardware, and PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. This patch also marks the cut-off for weekly events like Trials of Osiris and the Iron Banner on older hardware, and expansions like this fall's "Rise of Iron."
Twitch offers a close look at first-person film 'Hardcore Henry'
Hardcore Henry is basically a mix of Jason Bourne, Captain America and Call of Duty. It's an action epic about a man who wakes from near-death in a futuristic laboratory and with no memory of his past. Minutes after regaining consciousness, he embarks on a dangerous mission to save his kidnapped wife from a warlord who plans to create genetically engineered super soldiers. The entire movie is shot in a first-person perspective, directly from Henry's point of view. This perspective twist certainly sounds interesting -- and you can get a closer look at it on Wednesday, February 10th, live on Twitch.
Time-twisting shooter 'Superhot' arrives on February 25th
The innovative, time-based shooter Superhot has had a long, unusual road to completion -- it started out as a clever idea at a game jam, got off the ground through a successful crowdfunding campaign and built up tremendous hype through pre-release copies and countless "let's play" videos. At last, though, it's nearly here. The team has revealed that Superhot will be available on Linux, Mac and Windows PCs on February 25th. You can pre-order it at $14 for the regular Steam version, and $25 if you'd also like the soundtrack and a PDF art book. Xbox One gamers can buy the game sometime in the next few weeks.
The first 'Doom' gets a new map from co-creator John Romero
John Romero is virtually synonymous with Doom as one of its key developers, but he never made a map for it after 1995. Quake, and eventually his other studios, took over after that. However, he's finally coming home to roost: Romero has released an add-on map for the original Doom, "Tech Gone Bad," that reimagines the Phobos Anomaly at the end of Episode 1. That's bound to whet your appetite if you're a veteran gamer. He's not only intimately familiar with Doom, he's approaching it with 21 years of additional experience under his belt -- as early reactions attest, this is probably much better than the homebrew maps that you saw two decades ago.
Blizzard's 'Overwatch' shooter enters public beta on October 27th
Blizzard is almost ready to put its colorful team-based shooter Overwatch in the hands of the public. An "extremely limited" number of US players will gain access to the closed beta on October 27th, followed by fans in Europe and Asia at a later date. Blizzard says it wants this group of testers to scrutinise every part of the gameplay, including the various heroes, maps and abilities. There's much to dissect, but in particular we suspect Blizzard will be looking at the individual characters and whether they're all balanced. If you fail to get into this elite group, fear not. Blizzard will also be running "Beta Test Weekends" from time to time, with the sole purpose of stress-testing its servers. The company will be limiting the modes, maps and heroes available, but it should still give you a flavour of the game and indicate if it's your cup of tea. Team-based shooters are nothing new, but Blizzard's pedigree means it's hard not to be just a little curious about the game. Its first cinematic trailer looked like something out of a Pixar movie, and if it can offer deep, over-the-top shooter mechanics, it could be a welcome break from the ever-proliferating MOBA genre.
Chatroulette users stumble into a live-action zombie shooter
Chatroulette often brings surprises, but usually not good ones. However, several users were recently greeted with an amazing real life, live-streaming Doom-style first person shooter (FPS) game complete with undead characters and a creepy graveyard setting. To play, they talked the hero character through the scenes, giving commands like "Run! Run, fat boy, run!", "Go for the head shot!" or "Check what's in that pot!" The "game" was replete with sound effects, blood and guns, including a "rhino turret" and rocket launcher. The reaction of the players was beyond hilarious, with many adapting surprisingly quickly to the scenario ("Hit him again to make sure he's dead!").
Blizzard's next game is 'Overwatch,' an online superhero shooter
Blizzard is breaking out of its role-playing and strategy niches in a big, big way. The game developer has just unveiled Overwatch, a superhero-focused, team-based multiplayer shooter. Details of how it works are scarce, but it's definitely more lighthearted than the likes of Diablo. Think of it as a cross between Team Fortress 2 and The Incredibles, with an added emphasis on high-tech weaponry. Blizzard isn't talking release dates or platforms, but a release is "nearer than you think." BlizzCon attendees will try an early version of Overwatch, and a beta test is due in 2015 -- unlike Titan, there's a good chance you'll get to play this yourself. Itching for just a little more? Peep the BlizzCon trailer after the break!
Titanfall reaches Xbox One, Xbox 360 and PC on March 11th
The many gamers buying an Xbox One for Titanfall (or don't mind the Xbox 360 and PC versions) can now mark a date on their calendars: EA says that the shooter will reach North America on March 11th, 2014. While that's more than four months away, the company is offering a Collector's Edition that just might encourage a few pre-orders among well-off players. If you can spend $250 -- yes, that's half as much as an Xbox One -- you'll get an 18-inch, LED-lit Atlas Titan figurine that's likely to be the centerpiece of your gaming den. You'll also receive an art book and a large schematic poster. You'll want to act quickly if you like the idea of a miniature (albeit stationary) robot, though. EA says that the Collector's Edition is available in "extremely limited" numbers, which suggests that supply will run out by launch day.
Halo creators unveil 'Destiny,' an MMO-like first-person-shooter for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3
When Halo creator Bungie managed to steal away from Microsoft back in 2007, Master Chief's forefathers were afforded a few years to go dark and head down on a brand new gaming universe. Today, Bungie and its new benefactor, Activision, revealed that new franchise as "Destiny," an online-required persistent world first-person shooter. Even though the game's not due out this year, Bungie says it's headed to Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, with no mention of next-gen. The online requirement extends to both single-player and multiplayer campaigns -- your character's achievements remain persistent, and your avatar will seamlessly populate friends' games (rather than futzing with menus and the like), allowing for on-the-fly pairings. Bungie's shying away from outright referring to Destiny as an MMO, a la World of Warcraft. "[The] amount of players you see is design controlled. It's not about stuffing as many people in there as possible," Bungie COO Pete Parsons told our sister site, Joystiq. Of course, with next-gen sounding online connectivity, Bungie's silence on next-gen consoles is little more than a temporary vow -- Destiny seems a lock for (at very least) Sony and Microsoft's next consoles, if not also the PC (Wii U's looking unlikely). Hard details on Destiny are a bit scarce at the moment -- when it launches, if it's part of a series, how exactly the game will work -- but we've dropped concept art below and a debut video just beyond the break. The video goes into a bit more detail on the universe, and briefly touches on the smartphone tie-in that Destiny will have (think Halo Waypoint), but for a more exhaustive approach to Destiny's debut, Joystiq's got you covered. Update: In Activision's official PR, Destiny is listed as heading to Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and, "other future console platforms."
Delta Six controller gets redesigned, Kickstarted
Most video game controllers sporting a firearm form factor are a far cry from realistic -- bright colors, odd shapes and obvious thumbsticks leave many accessories looking more like toys than weapons. Not David Kotkin's Delta Six. This gun-shaped controller's first prototype looked so much like a real rifle, Kotkin told us, it had to be redesigned. An orange tip, whitewashed body and a few less authentic looking components don't make the Delta Six look any less believable as a digital soldier's modern musket, but it does make it less likely to be mistaken for the real McCoy. The peripheral's internals haven't changed though -- an accelerometer to help players aim and turn, cheek-sensing pressure sensors (for looking down the scope), faux-recoil and its assortment of modular components are still all on target. Like all budding hardware projects these days, the Delta Six is looking towards the crowd to source its production. According to the peripheral's Kickstarter page, the Delta Six will be available between July and August next year, boasting compatibility with the Xbox 360, PS3, PC, Wii U and even the OUYA. Pitching in $89 buys the basic submachine gun body (with a free rifle attachment for first-week buyers), and subsequent levels tack on additional attachments, bonus items and more. Kotkin needs $500,000 to make his rifle-shaped dream a reality. Like-minded FPS gamers can join him at the source link below. Not a dreamer? Feel free to read on for the official press release (plus a video and an additional image), instead.
