Dotemu Is Publishing A New Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Co-Op Beat-Em-Up

Dotemu is bringing back the 90s style of beat-em-up again with a new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles game subtitled Shredder’s Revenge.
The game will be a 2D pixel-graphics beat-em-up featuring all four Ninja Turtles -Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael, and Michaelangelo- reminiscent of the 90s Konami titles like the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles arcade game, Turtles In Time, and The Hyperstone Heist. They go from left to right in a side-scrolling fashion to beat up Foot Soldiers, aliens from Dimension X, and big bosses like Rocksteady, Bebop, title character Shredder, and other TMNT baddies Dotemu and developer Tribute Games are allowed to use via Nickelodeon’s consent. FYI, Nickelodeon owns the Ninja Turtles license.
If Tribute Games sounds familiar, that’s because they developed the awesome Panzer Paladin; its two founders were involved with the 2010 beat-em-up Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game. Hopefully, with what they’ve learned from making beat-em-ups, the team can make a game that’s just as good as (or better than) 2019’s River City Girls and 2020’s Streets of Rage 4. To quote Tribute Games’ co-founder Jean-Francois Major (via Game Informer):
“We wanted to bring back a game for the fans of the â€˜87 animated series and also the old arcade games of the â€˜90s. Because we felt that people missed it. And including us, because, personally, I played those games a lot as a kid and I missed them a lot. So that was the idea that started it.”
It took Tribute Games a while before they could secure permission from Nickelodeon to use the license for this; this was due to bad timing on the latter’s part. To quote Tribute Games’ other co-founder Jonathan Lavigne:
“We were always super persistent. Like, if we’re gonna take on one of your IPs, we want it to be TMNT. Every time the topic was brought up about us taking on a project, I would always say, â€˜Well, we really want to do TMNT.â€™ We grew up in the arcades and playing TMNT, so we really wanted to have a stab at it.”
So far it’s announced for PC (via Steam); there’s no release date yet. Judging from the trailer, we might have yellow jumpsuit April O’Neil and Splinter as unlockable characters. Bosses include Bebop, Rocksteady, a giant Chrome Dome, fly Baxter Stockman, a Triceraton, and the duo that is Shredder and Krang. Speaking of which:

The official description is below:
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredderâ€™s Revenge features groundbreaking gameplay rooted in timeless classic brawling mechanics, brought to you by the beat â€™em up experts at Dotemu (Streets of Rage 4) and Tribute Games. Bash your way through gorgeous pixel art environments and slay tons of hellacious enemies with your favorite Turtle, each with his own skills and moves â€“ making each run unique! Choose a fighter, use radical combos to defeat your opponents and experience intense combats loaded with breathtaking action and outrageous ninja abilities. Stay sharp as you face off against Shredder and his faithful Foot Clan alone, or grab your best buds and play with up to four players simultaneously!
With Bebop and Rocksteady assaulting Channel 6 and stealing super gnarly devices to support Krang and Shredderâ€™s latest twisted plan, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredderâ€™s Revenge sees the Turtles battling across a righteous range of timeless TMNT locations. From Manhattan and Coney Island, to city rooftops and dank sewers, help the fearsome foursome trounce Foot Soldiers, Triceraton Warriors, and Rock Troops all the way to Dimension X!
Enjoy stunning full-color pixel art graphics and a vintage TMNT vibe that will rock you straight back to the awesome 80s. Every character, vehicle, weapon, item, and background is directly inspired by the 1987 TV show, making you feel like you hopped into the television â€” with a dope mix of killer humor and action-packed adventures!
Key Features

Gnarly game design takes you back to the â€™80s
Beautiful full-color pixel art graphics
Old-school gameplay enhanced with super-fresh mechanics
Up to four players simultaneously
Play with iconic TMNT characters and vehicles in diverse gameplay options
Radical new story mode
And totally more to come!


The ASUS ROG Phone 3 Is Coming To Malaysia This September

The ASUS ROG Phone 3 has been officially announced, and it’s powerful. It features a 6.59-inch OLED HDR colour-calibrated screen with a fast 144Hz refresh rate and 1ms response time. Itâ€™s powered by the Snapdragon 865 Plus chipset with 5G support, and it can be configured with up to 16GB of LPDDR5 RAM and 512GB of UFS 3.1 ROM storage.

Lastly, the ROG Phone 3 features a massive 6,000mAh battery, similar to last yearâ€™s ASUS ROG Phone 2.

It also has a side-mounted USB-C port, so gamers can still play in landscape mode comfortably even while charging. In addition, the ASUS ROG Phone 3 will also be compatible with Google Stadia when it launches. Those who purchase the device will also receive three months worth free trial of Google Stadia.

The ultrasonic AirTrigger pressure-sensitive touch sensors located around the edges of the phone attempt to replicate the experience of using a real controller, adding a swipe gesture to each button to make up for the lack of a physical L1/L2 and R1/R2 buttons on the phone.

Besides that, the ASUS ROG Phone 3 will feature a 24MP front camera and 64MP back camera.

There will also be a bunch of accessories, including the TwinView Dock 3 display, the ROG Kunai 3 Gamepad, the ROG Strix XG16 15.6-inch portable gaming monitor with an IPS panel and a 144Hz refresh rate, the ROG Cetra RGB are in-ear gaming headphones with active noise cancellation and USB-C connectivity, the ROG Falchion wireless mechanical keyboard with a touch panel, and many others.

The ASUS ROG Phone 3 will launch in Malaysia sometime in mid-September 2020, but ASUS has yet to reveal the official price for the phone. According to ASUS, the ASUS ROG Phone 3 will have a similar price with last year’s ASUS ROG Phone 2 (which ranged from RM2499, RM3499, and RM4499 for all three models, respectively).
There will be three variants:

ROG Phone 3 Strix (865 / 8GB Ram / 256GB Storage / 5G)
ROG Phone 3 (865+ / 12GB Ram / 512GB Storage / 5G)
ROG Phone 3 (865+ / 16GB Ram / 512GB Storage / 5G)

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QCWapuB_6A&w=560&h=315]


Pre-Orders for Figma Genji Now Open

Heads up Gengu fans. The Figma Genji action figureÂ by Good Smile CompanyÂ  is now open for pre-orders at Blizzard’s official store. Standing at approximately 6-inch tall, the highly articulated figure comes in Genji’s default skin,Â made of painted ABS and PVC and comes equipped with his trademarkÂ katana and wakizashi for various combat poses. Check them out in the gallery below:

Figure, available at $80 a pop will ship about the end of Q2 2018 and you can drop in your pre-orders at Blizzard’s store here. You’d want to get it quick as it is limited to ten units per customer and you can expect scalpers to stock up on this once they get a whiff of it.
This is one Genji your mates won’t ask you to switch.
Also available on sale is Tracer Figma, also by Good Smile Company and retails at $70. You can check the full description of her action figure here.Â


Yokai Watch World Announced For Mobile; It’s Like Pokemon GO With Yokai

It’s only a matter of time until Level-5 and its Yokai Watch franchise take the AR gaming route ala Nintendo and the Pokemon Company.
This morning, Level-5 livestreamed a presentation about its new mobile game Yokai Watch World where you catch cute little ghosts/yokais that look like cats and cuddly Japan-friendly creatures on your Yokai Watch device. Only instead of doing this in the fictional Yokai Watch world, you have to catch yokai in the real world via the magic of augmented reality tech. Check out the ad below, featuring music from Japanese band Bump of Chicken.
The similarities between this game and the already-out Pokemon GO are pretty close though Level-5 outlined some key differences.Â Here are the key takeaways of the presentation.

This game is a collaboration between Level-5 and GungHo, the folks who did the juggernaut mobile game hit Puzzle & Dragon.
Just like Pokemon GO, the game uses Google Maps and features an AR view.
The game runs on the Unity engine.
Those key differences we mentioned earlier? The in-game battles are similar to the Yokai Watch games on the 3DS.Â
The Japanese version of the game is live right now for iOS and Android phone devices. There isn’t any word on a Western version at this point in time.
The game will be getting a huge local marketing push as it’s involved with tie-ins with Family Mart, NTT Docomo, and Fruity Jinbayans Coro Coro.
Because of its partnership, Yokai Watch World will feature a collaboration event with Puzzle & Dragons.Â

https://www.facebook.com/kakuchopurei/videos/1468020269969050/
Check out the official game app page description below:
You are the Protagonist on an Adventure Set All over Japan
The many unique yo-kai of theÂ Yo-kai WatchÂ series like Jibanyan and Komasan appear in the real world. Search for and battle against the yo-kai that appear all over Japan. Complete your Yo-kai Encyclopedia by moving yourself or by getting other players to move.
First, â€œSearchâ€ for Yo-kai on the Map
In order to find nearby yo-kai, â€œSearchâ€ the location youâ€™re at on the map. There are various yo-kai to be discovered depending on the location. Donâ€™t forget to Search whenever you visit a new place.
Find Yo-kai with Your Smartphone Screen
Tap the icon of the yo-kai you discover through Search. By doing this, you will be able to see that yo-kai through your smartphone screen. Find yo-kai and pursue them so they donâ€™t escape.
Battle Yo-kai with Simple Controls
When you Search for yo-kai, a battle will begin. Since battles are semi-automatic, theyâ€™re very simple. Use special moves when you have an opening or are in a pinch. By winning battles against a yo-kai, you may be able to befriend them. By training the yo-kai you befriend, you can battle even stronger yo-kai.
Possess Nearby Players
Your yo-kai can â€œPossessâ€ nearby players. A possessor yo-kai can travel with the player it possesses to new areas. They might bring back a yo-kai from somewhere you couldnâ€™t go on your own, or sometimes they even bring souvenirs. (Rest assured that your exact position will not be shown to nearby players.)
Plant â€œYo-kai Treesâ€ at Various Places
You can plant trees at your current location, as well as at places a possessor yo-kai visits. Yo-kai gather around trees, creating the opportunity for new encounters. Make proper use of Yo-kai Trees to increase the number of places you can befriend new yo-kai.
Plenty of Ways to Play
Yo-kai Watch WorldÂ is full of other ways to play. From â€œAdvent Bossesâ€ you can enjoy anywhere, to â€œDeparted Mapsâ€ where you can look back on your previous travels and more. How you play is up to you.
Check out the full livestream below which was live an hour or so ago. Are you excited to capture digital ghosts in the real world? Let us know.


Doom Eternal For Switch Launches Next Week

Bethesda Softworks and developer id Software have announced that the Nintendo Switch version ofÂ Doom EternalÂ will launch via theÂ Nintendo eShopÂ on 8 December 2020.
The Switch version of the game was developed in partnership with Panic Button, the same studio behind the Nintendo Switch ports of 2016’s Doom, Wolfenstein II The New Colossus, and Wolfenstein Youngblood.
Motion Aiming arrives for Doom Eternal on Nintendo Switch, a control option that utilizes the built-in gyroscope of the Joy-Con. The option can be used in conjunction with traditional aiming using the controllerâ€™s analogue stick for the perfect blend of immersion and accuracy.
DOOM Eternal first launched on PS4, Xbox One, PC via Steam and Bethesda.net, and Stadia on 20 March 2020.
PS5 and Xbox Series X versions are planned for release sometime in 2021.


Samurai Shodown 2019’s New Characters Include A Pirate(?), A Feng Shui User, & Another Ninja

SNK just announced the brand-new characters in its upcoming Samurai Shodown 2019 reboot which looks awesomesauce so far. The game has a Japanese release date: 27 June for PS4 and Xbox One. They’ll also be an arcade version of the game this summer.
But you’re not here for that! You’re here to find out more about the new additions to the SamSho legacy. Check out the trailer and the following character summary below:

Darli Dagger

We have our latest non-Asian fighter in the roster: Darli Dagger. Part shipwright, part pirate, all giant blade-wielding badass. She’ll also be using her fists just as much as her sword here. She’s probably going to be the power character stand-in to SamSho 2’s Sieger.
Wu-Ruixiang

We’re just gonna call her Wu. She’s a descendant of a feng shui clan. She fights with a feng shui gong, and can summon mythical beasts and whatnot as mid-ranged and powerful counter-attacks. Reminds me of Akari from Last Blade but with a megane girl.
Yashamaru Kurama

This new ninja wields a nagamaki blade and employs the power of the tengu to probably perform mixups and quick strikes on his opponents. He’s shaping up to be the next beginner/all-rounder character of the series complete with his projectile/anti-air/tatsu-like moveset.
This Guy

He could be the game’s last boss, for all we know.
As reported earlier, the main cast includes Haohmaru, Charlotte, Earthquake, Genjuro, Galford, Hanzo Hattori, Jubei, Kyoshiro, Nakoruru, Shiki, Tam Tam, Yoshitora, and Ukyo who still isn’t dead yet.
How About The Different Editions Of The Game?
There’s the standard edition and a deluxe pack; the former costs 7,200 yen while the deluxe pack costs 9,000 and comes with a Season Pass.
If you buy the game early, you will get a Retro 3D Haohmaru costume DLC which hearkens back to the Samurai Shodown 64 Warrior’s Rage days of yore. If you get the Deluxe Pack and Season Pass Bonus early before 16 July, you’ll get a Retro 3D Nakoruru costume DLC.

If you can order the game via the SNK Online Shop, you can get the Japanese version of the game that features an AES-style package. It’s yours for 9,180 yen!

Check out our SamSho early mechanics guide below to hear more about how it plays out.


Westworld Season 3 Trailer Features Breaking Bad Alum & New Futuristic Setting

Hot off the heels of the Game Of Thrones Season 8 finale, HBO has released the first trailer for Westworld Season 3. Nothing much is known about the upcoming new season of Westworld as of now, other than the fact that it features the debut of Breaking Bad alum, Aaron Paul.
The past two seasons of Westworld has focused primarily inside the park of the same name so Season 3 will be set outside of the park for the first time, in a futuristic city setting not unlike ones seen in other sci-fi series.
We can see Aaron Paul’s character going on what seems to be heists, and that he has a dying loved one. At the end of the trailer, he meets a wounded Dolores in an alleyway in a surprise twist.
Besides that, we know nothing else about Westworld Season 3, which will likely remain shrouded in mystery until it premieres sometime in 2020. In the meantime, check out the trailer below.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=deSUQ7mZfWk&w=560&h=315]


Comics’ Hottest Writer Donny Cates On Venom, Kevin Feige & More

Singapore Comic Con 2019 (SGCC 2019) took place at the Marina Bay Sands Expo last weekend and we received the opportunity to interview comic book writer and the next hottest thing in comics, Donny Cates.
For those who don’t know him, Donny Cates is a comic book writer who has worked (and are currently working) on a slew of projects at Marvel Comics, including Venom, Cosmic Ghost Rider, Death Of The Inhumans, Guardians Of The Galaxy, Silver Surfer Black, Thanos, Doctor Strange and most recently, the Absolute Carnage crossover.

His past non-Marvel works include God Country at Image Comics, a cosmic story set in the most non-cosmic setting possible; a farm in the middle of rural America.
Q: What’s the important thing when you write?
A: I think it’s important to keep in mind that people are spending money on this product and every script that I write, I try to make sure that it’s worth four dollars. I used to run a comic book store and I read a lot of comics that aren’t worth people’s time.
We have to compete with Netflix and movies, so I like to think that if you buy a comic book from me, you’re getting a lot of comic book for your money.
Q: Your work on Venom and Absolute Carnage swing more towards horror, with its Lovecraftian themes and cosmic fear. Are there any plans for Marvel to follow up on that with perhaps a Vertigo-like imprint?
A: No, I don’t know, that’d be fun. It’s weird, Al Ewing and I didn’t really know each other before he was on the Immortal Hulk and I was on Venom. We both just weirdly at the same time decided that Marvel needed a lot of really fucked-up horror stuff.

I thought that the concept of Venom has always been a sci-fi horror, it’s a guy walking around with a black alien on him.
That’s terrifying, but he’s just never really been written that way.
I also wanted Venom to have his own little corner of the Marvel Universe because even the Punisher started off as a Spider-Man bad guy, but none of us thinks of him like that.
I’ve been trying my best to bring Venom out of Spider-Man’s shadow and give him his own world, give him his own bad guys.
I found a little niche area that’s Cthulu, elder god, H.P. Lovecraft kind of stuff, and people seem to dig it, so I keep on doing it.

Q: You’ve been touted as the next hottest thing in comics right now. How do you feel about that?
A: It’s really scary, I don’t like it at all. You know, on my desk, I have this page from Wizard magazine from the 90s and they used to do these top ten lists of like, the top hottest writers of 1994.
Number one is like Grant Morrison, two is like Mark Waid, and three is Garth Ennis, but number four through ten are like dudes you’ve never heard of. I keep it there as a reminder that that yeah, I might be the hottest guy this year, but if I don’t keep on working and making sure my stuff is good then I might not be next year.
So, I don’t know, I hear people say that but my life hasn’t changed. I’m still in my sweatpants on my laptop writing comics. You know, it’s fun, and I’m glad that people like it, but it’s not something I try to think about that much.
Q: What are your thoughts on Kevin Feige being handed the reins to everything from Marvel Comics to Marvel Entertainment?
A: Well, let me first begin by saying that Kevin Feige is now my new boss, so I’m way into it. Kevin’s really smart. In the same way that Disney bought Pixar, Disney doesn’t buy companies to change them. Disney buys successful things and then says keep on doing that, and then just give us the money.

So, much in the same way that Disney bought Marvel in 2009, everyone was so scared that Disney was going to change everything.
It’s so not true because Disney leaves us alone entirely.
We do everything we want to do and Kevin’s the same way, he’s not going to come in and try to make our comic books like the movies or anything like that.
The more I think about it, comics are like a very cheap experimental lab because we can do anything and then the stuff that works will go into huge movies.
The newest Thor film is going to be Jason Aaron’s run, Jane Foster is Thor.
So, it would short-sighted for him to change what we’re doing because they won’t be able to get any new stuff out of us.

I, like everyone else on the Marvel Publishing line, are really excited. We think it’s really cool. In fact, if anything changes, we’ll have more freedom.
Q: What do you think about the Venom movie and Tom Hardy’s role as Eddie Brock?
A: I think it is insane to me as a kid who grew up reading Venom and has been Venom fan my entire life, that not only do I live in a world where there is a Venom movie but also that by the time a solo Venom movie came out, I was the writer of Venom. That’s so weird and I can’t ever get my head around it.
I think they did a really good job on that movie, I always thought that Venom works the best when he’s a metaphor for addiction, and they nailed that in the film. The way that Tom Hardy played Eddie Brock is he’s a strung-out addict, all sweaty and people are worried about him.
The soundtrack is amazing too. I write my Venom books to the Venom soundtrack.
Q: You created Cosmic Ghost Rider. How do you feel now about the character turning out to be so popular?

A: Dude, I never thought that stupid character would get so much attention.
I think he’s really cool, obviously, but it was an idea I had when I was in high school.
People ask me all the time like, where did Cosmic Ghost Rider come from, and they’re always let down by the answer because the answer is: I thought the Ghost Rider would look cool in space.

I thought that would be a cool drawing, but like a lot of Marvel characters, they started out that way. Like the original Ghost Rider, he’s a cool drawing that would look good airbrushed onto the side of a van. Like Venom, he’s that way too, he’s like a black abyss with teeth, it’s fucking cool.
But no, we never thought Cosmic Ghost Rider would be that popular. I mean, he’s like so convoluted, confusing and weird, who has the least accessible storyline for anyone. He’s like Frank Castle in the future in an alternate dimension, who died and went to hell and came back and was Ghost Rider and was there for thousands of years and then Galactus came back and he became his herald, then he got killed by Silver Surfer in the future, and went to Valhalla, and got kicked out, and then raise baby Thanos into the Punisher, and then went back in time to drop him off.
It’s all so bananas, it’s so stupid. The fact that anyone can access it and get into it is so weird to me. Compare that to like, this kid got bitten by a spider and now he’s Spider-Man, that’s so easy. So, I don’t know, there’s like a statue and a toy, t-shirts and all that stuff, it’s really weird.

Q: What are your plans for Carnage post-Absolute Carnage?
A: If you’ve read Absolute Carnage, he’s dead. That’s the extent of my plans with Carnage. That being said, read Venom Island. The next arc that I’m doing with Mark Bagley on Venom will kind of answer that. I might not be totally done with that character yet.

Q: How does it feel to be the next writer for Thor after Jason Aaron’s epic years-long run?
A: It’s terrifying. It’s the scariest job in comics, man. When you look at the pantheon of writers who’ve written Thor, starting with Stan and Jack, Walt Simonson, Fraction, going into Jason Aaron. To me, I’m new to comics, I’ve only been here for three years, and so for me, it’s terrifying.
That said, when Jason took over the book, Jason made it his book, and we all talked about it as Jason’s Thor. In that spirit, Jason is one of my biggest heroes, he’s my favourite writer in the world, but I’m not writing Jason’s Thor. That’s done, it’s Donny’s Thor now. I kinda have to kick it all over, which is hard for me, because like that Thor run is my favourite run of comics.
I’m really proud and honoured to be the next guy on Thor, but I am sad that I won’t get to read Jason’s Thor anymore. All it means to me is that I should do my job better, and I have to honour that because the bar has been set really fucking high. I just have to not mess it up, man.
Q: How would your run affect the continuity on Thor as a character?
A: Well, it helps that Jason and I are really good friends. Jason has known that I was gonna be on Thor for like, three years now. Jason and I have known that for a long time and that’s why I kinda like my Venom book tying into his Thor run.
We keep on playing back and forth with each other’s stuff like Knull is talking about King Thor and all these things. We’ve been playing back and forth this entire time, and we’ll keep on doing that. He’s now on a team book, and I’m on a solo book, so we all know what we’re doing. It’s why we have these retreats.
That being said, I never let continuity get into the way of a cool story. I always think about Jonathan Hickman’s Secret Wars, which is a phenomenal event. You have to understand that when Jonathan pitched that story, he came into a room and said, okay, my event starts with all your books being cancelled.
That had to have happened because everyone’s books stopped. Sometimes you just gotta do that. It’s weird to say it to Jason, but at a certain point, I just have to say, you can’t use Thor on this. But what’s really cool about that is I get to write the Avengers because I’m writing Thor, and if I want Captain America or Iron Man to show up, I can just do that.
Q: Are you going to return to creator-owned or independent comic books in the near future?

A: Yeah, I’ll be announcing two new Image books next year (in 2020).

Q: What’s your creative process when writing comics?
A: On Venom, especially, that’s like a culmination of 30 years of me being a little kid. When my first issue of Venom came out, that month was the 30-year anniversary of Venom. I’m 35, I was a five-year-old when it first came out.
A lot of my stuff is just ideas that I’ve had since I was a little kid. I remember I would just make stuff up to tell my friends because I was the only one who read comics. I would tell them, like the green drool in Venom’s mouth is actually the bullets that he gets hit with dissolved and retroactively I now make myself not a liar because I went and made that shit canon.
So really, it’s just me having fun, man, and to make Venom feel unique in his own space. I think that J. Michael Straczynski’s Amazing Spider-Man was very big for me as a writer because it’s such an additive series. He developed so many new things. What I took from that was in the first arc of JMS’ run, he introduced Morlun. We’ve seen Spider-Man fight Doc Ock, we kinda know how that fight goes.
You don’t know what’s going to happen with Morlun. He’s going to beat Peter Parker to death on a street, which he does, by the way. That makes it so scary because it’s new and unknown. There’s a lot of Morlun’s DNA in Knull.
I try to be very additive, I try to look at what’s never been done. Not to promote my own book, but like Thor number #1 out January 1st, I found an unexplored area of Marvel dating back to the Jack Kirby cosmic odyssey stuff that I was just researching and looking at. I was reading it and I was like, I found this little plothole, this little piece of unexplored territory in an old Stan and Jack comic.
But I called Tom Brevoort at Marvel. He’s kinda like the all-father who knows everything. I called him and I said, hey, is it possible that no one has ever explained ‘this’, that ‘this’ has never been fleshed out? And he said, no, no one’s ever done that. I ask, can I do it, and he said, yeah.

I know that I’m speaking in absolute vagueries now but you’ll understand what I mean when you read it.
I don’t like telling stories about stories, I don’t like to do my version of whatever, I like to add some type of lore into it.
I want books to be changed after I leave them if that makes any sense.

Check out more of Donny Cates on his Instagram and Twitter.
Alleef ‘ComicsLord’ with Donny Cates.


Warhammer 40K Darktide Class Guide

Warhammer 40K Darktide will be out on 30th November for PC and Xbox consoles; if you love your team-based PvE first-person action games, you’ll no doubt find a ton of replayable fun in Fatshark’s latest.
Here’s everything you need to know about the four main classes you’ll be using in this Warhammer 40K multiplayer game. Each of the four Darktide classes has distinctive weapons and skills that define their playstyle. You can level them up to gain access to their new feats and guns.

Veteran

FPS Archetype: Ranged specialist. Kills things from a good distance.
Overview
Apart from shooting things real good from afar, Veterans have Volley Fire as their main skill. They go in a ranged stance for five seconds and designate any nearby non-Ogryn Elite and Specialist enemies as their priority targets. Any ranged damage dealt while in this stance increases by 50%.
The Veteran’s passives include dealing additional 15% damage to weak spots and 40% increased ammo reserve for all ranged weapons. This synergizes well with Volley Fire as they can fire for quite a while.
The Veteran’s Scavenger Hunt Aura gives your allies buffs from killed elites.
The Veteran also has access to Frag Grenades; useful for clearing groups whether taking the offense or just defending. You can’t go wrong with grenades in an FPS. When all else fails, they have a combat shovel to deal damage up-close. We won’t recommend you using this as your main; it’s essentially the default fists in Doom.
Best Weapons: Bolt Gun, Braced Autogun
Best Feats

At Arm’s Length: Restores 7.5% toughness per second as long as you are at least 8 meters away from an enemy.
Sniper: Deals up to 25% more damage depending on the distance between you and the target.
Camo Expert: If you stand still, enemies are significantly less likely to attack you.
Bio-Optic Targeting: Volley Fire designates non-Ogryn elites and specialists as priority targets for all players near you.
Frag Storm: Grenades cause 2 stacks of bleeding to all enemies hit by them.
Counterfire: 25% more weak point damage during the Volley Fire ability. Volley Fire also now designates all Scab Shooters as primary targets, and defeating a marked enemy during Volley Fire resets the duration.

Zealot

FPS Archetype: Melee damage. Kills things up-close and fast. Has ranged weapons too, but considered a jack-of-all-trades DPS class but focused on melee.
Overview
The Zealot’s main ability is Chastise the Wicked: they dash towards a targeted enemy, replenishing 50% toughness and get a 25% melee buff in their next melee attack.
The Zealot’s aura is The Emperor’s Will, which raises toughness damage reduction by 7%. To complement that aura, the Zealot’s passive perks focus in increasing their max health, increasing melee attack speed, becoming temporarily invulnerable to any damage that’s considered a killing blow.
The Zealot has Stun Grenades to temporarily halt all enemies within its blast radius. This support tool is perfect for prepping up for a melee kill, or letting your Veteran of Orgryn take the kill. It’s a team game; sharing is caring.
Best Weapons: Crucis Mk II Thunder Hammer, Artemia MKIII Purgation Flamer
Best Feats

Enemies Within, Enemies Without: Replenish 5% toughness per second while within five metres of three enemies.
Punishment: Attacks that hit three or more enemies grant +30% impact for five seconds. Stacks five times. At max stacks, gain uninterruptible.
Benediction: +15% toughness damage reduction (Allies in coherency).
Thy Wrath Be Swift: You no longer get stunned by enemy melee attacks. When you take damage, gain +20% movement speed for two seconds.
Rising Conviction: +4% damage for five seconds on hit. Max stacks five.
Purge The Wicked: Chastise The Wicked now has two charges.

Orgryn

FPS Archetype: Tank, bruiser. He takes all damage and acts as the team shield.
Overview
The literal meatshields of your squad, the Ogryn will bruise foes and take most of the hits for your team.
The Ogryn’s aura ability will give an additional 10% heavy melee attack damage all around. Other passives include getting an additional 25% melee stagger that activates when you hit an enemy with your attacks, as well as 20% total damage reduction and 20% health damage reduction. Ogryns are immune to interruptions when hit as they’re reviving or assisting allies, so they’re not just pure bruisers and tanks.
Best Weapons: Orox MkII Battle Maul, MK II Slab Shield, Foe-Rend Mk II Ripper Gun
Best Feats

Smash ‘Em Good: Replenish 20% toughness on single enemy heavy melee hit.
Blood And Thunder: +1 bleed stack on heavy melee hit.
Bullfighter: +10% Bull Rush cooldown reduction when you or an ally in coherency kills an elite enemy
Bloodthirst: +10% damage resistance per bleeding enemy in melee range. Stacks five times.
Raging Bull: +5% damage (next melee hit) on melee hit for each enemy hit with the initial attack.
Bull Gore: +2 bleed stacks on enemies hit by Bull Rush.

Psyker

FPS Archetype: Support(?), Magic user. Can also buff allies.
Overview
The Psykers use Force-imbued swords and staves as melee/ranged weapons. They also deal damage using Brain Burst; it targets enemies to hit and can be charged up for greater damage.
The Psyker’s Kinetic Presence aura will give the squad 10% additional damage dealt towards elite enemies. The Psyker’s main ability is Psykinetic’s Wrath, which uses 50% of accumulated Peril and staggers enemies in front of them.
The Psyker’s passives gives them a 10% chance to Quell 10% of Peril with every kill and earn Warp Charges for every enemy killed with Brain Burst. For every Warp Charge, the Psyker gets 3% damage buff for 25 seconds; this can stack up to four charges at a time.
Best Weapons: Force Sword, Accatran Mk II Recon Lasgun
Best Feats

Warp Absorption: Replenish 10% toughness when you kill an enemy with a Warp attack.
Wrack and Ruin: Killing an Elite or Specialist with Brain Burst applies two stacks of Soulblaze to all enemies within three metres of the target.
Cerebral Lacerations: Damaging an enemy with your Brain Burst ability causes them to take an additional 15% damage from all non-Warp sources for five seconds.
Kinetic Shield: Take between 10% and 33% reduced toughness damage from ranged attacks based on your current number of Warp Charges.
Kinetic Flayer: All attacks have a 10% chance on hit to Brain Burst the target. This cannot occur while at critical Peril and has a cooldown of 15 seconds.
Ascendant Blaze: Psykinetic’s Wrath expends all Warp Charges and applies Soulblaze to enemies hit based on the number of Warp Charged expended. Enemies killed by your Soulblaze effects from any source have a 10% chance to grant you a Warp Charge.


NBA 2K23 Season 3 Is Going To Be Icy

2K Games have revealed that NBA 2K23 Season 3 will feature new icy content coming to MyCAREER and The W* and will be available on 2 December.
In NBA 2K23 Season 3, Atlanta Hawks’ All-Star guard Trae Young shows off his cold-blooded approach as winter comes to the court, bringing an avalanche of new rewards and content and turning The City (PS5 and Xbox Series X | S) and The G.O.A.T Boat (PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC) into a winter wonderland for players to ice out the competition.
Season 3 also features music from Grammy Award-winning producer Hit-Boy with Dom Kennedy, plus Lil Pump and Jovaine make their 2K Beats debut.

More updates include:

MyCAREER additions include a festive version of the North Pole and holiday events to experience in The City and the G.O.A.T. Boat, new chilly courts and arctic artwork, and a special Santa outfit as a Level 40 reward for players on PS5 and Xbox Series X | S or Level 39 on PS4, Xbox One, Switch and PC. New Core Badge Patterns are exclusive to PS5 and Xbox Series X | S players who reach Level 40. Additionally, earn rewards like Ski Goggles, Trae Young 2 “Forever Young” Shoes, a Magic Carpet vehicle, and even more.
MyTEAM offers up all-new rewards, including Free Agent Damian Lillard as the Level 1 reward for simply entering the Season menu, and Trae Young as the first Galaxy Opal Level 40 reward. Additionally, for the first time in 2K23, Beyond Level 40 returns with more agendas and opportunities to improve teams. Also, Tim Duncan and Julius Erving are now available to those who have collected the entire Eastern or Western Conference’s Trophy Case, with 15 more Centerpieces and other rare Trophy Case event cards available this Season.
The W* additions include refreshed challenges, and updated Community rewards such as the Dream Logo MyTEAM Card, and Vicki Johnson Coach MyTEAM Card. NBA 2K23 continues its rollout of the 60 WNBA player jerseys coming to the City and the G.O.A.T Boat in MyCAREER. Season 3 brings Dallas Wings star Arike Ogunbowale, New York Liberty standouts Natasha Howard and Sabrina Ionescu, and Washington Mystics Elena Delle Donne and Natasha Cloud’s jerseys onto the court.
2K Beats continues to bring the hype with new music additions, including the latest track from Grammy Award-winning producer Hit-Boy and Dom Kennedy and the 2K Beats exclusive in-game debut of new tracks from Lil Pump and Jovanie. Additionally, the NBA 2K Producer Series adds beats from well-known producers Kosine and JohnG. Players can record their own verses over these new beats while playing through the game and share it on social media.


PS Plus February 2020 Has The Best Lineup Value In Months

Asian gamers will have not two, but a whopping five new games to look forward to in the PlayStation Plus Asia February 2020 lineup. Not only are they some of the most exciting games weâ€™ve received in months, but they also provide immense value for money, especially for what you’re paying your monthly subscription.
From 4 February to 2 March 2020, PS Plus Asia subscribers will be able to redeem the Bioshock The Collection, The Sims 4, and Firewall Zero Hour.
BioShock The Collection

The BioShock The Collection alone is already worth more than a month’s PS Plus subscription, especially since it contains three great games. This includes the 2007 classic BioShock, its 2010 sequel BioShock 2, and the most recent title in the franchise, 2013’s divisive BioShock Infinite.
Despite releasing more than a decade ago, the first BioShock remains one of the best video games ever made, due to its morally-complex storyline, immersive atmosphere, and engaging first-person combat during gameplay. The BioShock The Collection features remastered versions of all three BioShock games with all their previously-released DLC.
The Sims 4

I remember having a lot of fun as a kid playing The Sims 2 on my PS2. The Sims 4 is the latest instalment in EA’s long-running life simulation franchise. There’s a reason why this game is being offered as part of the PS Plus February 2020 lineup.
It’s because The Sims franchise is celebrating its 20th anniversary in the very same month this year. The Sims 4 has tons of expansions and content, so fans of the franchise will have lots of the game to look forward to.
Firewall Zero Hour

Firewall Zero Hour is a 4v4 multiplayer tactical shooter developed exclusively for PlayStation VR, where players can become a hired contractor and expertly seize (or protect) sensitive information from opposing team.
The game’s new season, Operation: Black Dawn, also begins on 4 February 2020, which will introduce a new map (Oil Rig) for all players. It’s the best time to jump into the game for the first time, but make sure you already have a PS VR headset before you download and install Firewall Zero Hour.
If this is Sony Interactive Entertainment’s attempt to promote PlayStation Plus and drive new subscriptions, they’re doing a pretty good job so far in 2020. The inclusion of BioShock The Collection might also have something to do with the new BioShock game currently in development.
In the meantime, check out the trailer below courtesy of PlayStation Asia.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5GfYFfIiS8&w=560&h=315]


Dota 2 The International 10 Battle Pass On Sale Now; Crashes Game Servers

Despite The International 10 being delayed to 2021 thanks to COVID-19, Valve went ahead and released its patented Battle Pass.
You can pay US$9.99 for the Battle Pass. 25 percent of it will go to The International 10 prize pool. Right now, the current prize pool is at US$1,782,014, showing no signs of slowing down.

What will you get?

A new terrain that is unlockable at level 160.
Pudge and Anti Mage personas.
three new Arcana sets (Wraith King, Queen of Pain, Windranger).
Living Towers, unlocked at level 200.
The option to create and join guilds. This option features daily challenges for guild points-farming and exclusive guild challenges that require a whole community to participate.

Do take note that while you have to pay for a Battle Pass to create a guild, you can join one free of charge. Naturally, everyone’s looking forward to the Battle Pass, which resulted in this recent announcement on the official Dota 2 Twitter page.

We are aware of the outages going on right now, we are working on repairing them as soon as possible.
— DOTA 2 (@DOTA2) May 25, 2020

With everyone still staying at home during MCO/lockdown, is this really surprising? The International 10 will happen in 2021; it was originally supposed to be held in Stockholm, Sweden in 18th-23rd August.


Brawlhalla Adds Avatar The Last Airbender’s Aang, Toph & Zuko Next Week

During this year’s Brawlhalla World Championship, Ubisoft announced a collaboration with Nickelodeon’s Avatar The Last Airbender, bringing heroes Aang, Toph and Zuko to Brawlhalla as Epic Crossovers on 16 November 2022. Brawlhalla fans can also look forward to Battle Boots, a new Weapon available in December.
Check out the details below:

Aang, an Epic Crossover for Wu Shang, is the last Airbender and only known survivor of the Air Nomads. His destiny is to learn the art of the Avatar and defeat the Fire Lord of the Fire Nation. Because Aang is the Avatar, he must learn how to bend all four elements: water, earth, fire, and air. He is a trickster and longs for a life full of fun experiences. Aang uses Gauntlets and Spear, and his Signature attacks show Aang bending all four elements, even entering the Avatar state.

Toph, an Epic Crossover for Kor, was born blind and grew up learning to adapt and thrive. As a powerful Earthbender, she’s stubborn, uninhibited, exuberantly self-confident, and loves to say and do whatever she pleases. She has no patience with other people telling her what to do, but she’s more than happy to boss others around. Used to being underestimated, she uses people’s misperceptions of her to gain an advantage over them. Toph uses Gauntlets and Hammer, and her Signatures use her earthbending skills to increase the power of her attacks.

Zuko, an Epic Crossover for Hattori, is the son of Fire Lord Ozai and a powerful Firebender, banished from the Fire Nation for speaking out against his Father and the Fire Nation’s conquest. During his mission to retrieve the Avatar, Zuko faced much internal struggle and turmoil. Supported by his uncle, General Iroh, Zuko ultimately joined the Avatar’s group to become Aang’s firebending mentor and restore both his and the Fire Nation’s true honor.? Zuko uses Sword and Spear, and in his Signatures he takes on the disguise of the Blue Spirit and unleashes his firebending mastery.

Developed by Blue Mammoth, Brawlhalla is an epic free-to-play platform fighting game that transports over 80 million players to a fight for glory in the halls of Valhalla. There are more than 50 unique characters, where players can jump into single-player and co-op modes, as well as online and local competitions.
Brawlhalla also supports cross-platform play between Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch, PS4 and PS5, PC, Mac, iOS, and Android devices where players can play custom games and queue together for all online matchmaking.


Super Mario Bros Movie Announces Update On Japanese Version

The Super Mario Bros. Movie is on a path towards hitting $1 billion at the global box office before it even opens in Nintendo’s home country of Japan. Mario’s creator Shigeru Miyamoto said in an interview with the Japanese press, which is translated by VGC, that the animated movie’s massive success surprised him, adding that the relatively low review scores from some professional critics might have helped generate additional buzz for the film.
“I did have a level of expectations that this movie would also do well [like the Super Nintendo World theme park], but I was very surprised that it went beyond what I could have imagined when it finally came out. You need some luck to achieve this level of success for a film. While many foreign critics have given the movie relatively low ratings, I think that also contributed to the movie’s notoriety and buzz.” said Miyamoto to the press, who is also a producer on the film.
On Rotten Tomatoes, The Super Mario Bros. Movie carries just a 59% rating and a 46 on GameSpot’s sister site Metacritic. However, scores from the audience on both sides are much higher. The film also scored a highly coveted A rating on CinemaScore, which indicates that audiences really like it.
Miyamoto also clarified in the interview that the writers came up with a different script for The Super Mario Bros. Movie in Japan, where it opens on April 28.
“Since we were creating this movie in both Japan and the United States, we thought we should make a Japanese version as well. When we decided to make this movie, we discussed creating a unique Japanese script from the beginning. Even if we were shown an English script, it would be hard to understand the subtle nuances.”

The Super Mario Bros. Movie stands at $875 million worldwide right now, with expectations that it will climb to $1 billion before it even finishes its run in theaters. It is the highest-grossing video game movie of all time, and is 2023’s biggest movie so far.
You can read our review on The Super Mario Bros. Movie here.


Children Playing Games At Night? Not Anymore, Tencent Is Watching

Big Brother is watching, or rather, Tencent is watching.
The China-based gaming giant has launched a controversial new technology to stop children and teenagers from excessively playing games throughout the nighttime. How? They have unleashed a time-sensitive facial recognition system that will identify minors who play the game between 10pm to 8am, which is when they should be asleep.
Tencent’s new facial verification system is linked with big data from the central public security system, and it is officially dubbed “Midnight Patrol”.
In a statement via Sixth Tone, Tencent Games said:
â€œWe will conduct a face screening for accounts registered with real names and that have played for a certain period of time at night.
Anyone who refuses or fails the face verification will be treated as a minor, and as outlined in the anti-addiction supervision of Tencentâ€™s game health system, and kicked offline.â€
This new tech comes as the issue of gaming addiction among minors continue to be a massive problem in China, which lead to the government introducing several measures to curb the problem back in 2019. These measures included registration that requires real names, barring children from playing games between 10pm and 8am., and capping purchases on gaming platforms.
Tencent is initially launching the facial recognition tech in over 60 popular games, including Honor Of Kings, Game For Peace and more. They are also planning to incorporate more titles in the future. Tencent already began testing the use of facial recognition software all the way back in 2018, in order to verify the real ages of users living in the cities of Beijing and Shenzhen.


Get A RM500 E-Voucher With Early Orders Of Samsung 2023 TVs

Unveiled recently at the Unbox & Discover 2023, Samsung is committed to providing the most innovative products with consumer-centric designs in order to fulfil the promise of a truly connected experience and contribute to a more sustainable future. Under the tagline “More Wow than Ever,” Samsung’s 2023 TV lineup comes with some great specs and technology.
You can register from 18 April to 2 May 2023 to receive an exclusive instant rebate of RM500 e-voucher and FREE TV upgrade savings worth up to RM4,500 upon early order of selected 2023 TV models. If you want to know more or reserve your place in line for the 2023 TV lineup, you can register now for news alerts on the Samsung official website at https://cdm-form.mysamsungcampaign.com/.


Darkest Dungeon Is A New RPG Game On Android

Darkest Dungeon is a new RPG game developed by Loongcheer Game on Google Pla. It is already available to download on the Google Play store in early access.
Darkest Dungeon is an RPG driven by a black fairy-tale legendary storyline. The entire UI is made to look like a dungeon. Deep colour with low saturation is chosen to present with the eerie background music, which creates a dark atmosphere to closely connect with the storyline. However, the monsters and heroes have more cartoonish designs.
Since the primary in-game currency is the gold coins, you can quickly collect them in dungeons in order to upgrade your heroes and castle. The automatic battle mode makes the game much easier to play. There are also many minigames you can check out in the game.
In the meantime, check out the trailer below:


Mobile Legends Goes All Out For Fifth Anniversary Celebration

Mobile Legends: Bang Bang is turning five very soon! To celebrate, the game will be launching an All-Star match campaign and releasing the Project NEXTÂ  patch, where players can redeem a free ‘Miya’ anniversary skin that will be featured in the fifth-year anniversary music video.Â Â
Get ready for the All-Star Match!Â

Kicking off the festivities is the All-Star Voting, happening between 3 â€“ 12 September 2021, where players can vote for their favourite key influencers to participate in the All-Star stage. The All-Star battle will see more than 60 esports athletes and influencers clashing in epic-match ups to win exclusive prizes fromÂ  Razer.Â Â
The All-Star match will happen on 2 October 2021 at 8 PM (GMT+8) across the Facebook, Youtube, and official Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Malaysia page. To participate, users need to log into their MobileÂ  Legends: Bang Bang accounts to vote for their favourite talents. Each user can vote up to 10 times per day, and the celebrity line-up includes esports athletes from MPL Malaysia.Â Â
By showcasing1the voting microsite on Facebook and including the #MLBB5HAREFUN hashtag in their post, users can gain an additional voting ticket that will help propel their favourite stars to compete! The community-chosen winners will be revealed between 19 to 22 September 2021.Â Â
In addition to the All-Star stage, there will be a Mobile Legends: Bang Bang fifth-year anniversary theme song (sung in Bahasa) that will be exclusive to Malaysia. The teaser will be released on 17 September 2021 for fans to tune in and look forward to.Â
The video will feature two celebrities that will compete on the All-Star stage, and the full-length music video (MV) release on 18 September 2021.Â Â
Heading to the next stage with Project NEXT
By logging into Mobile Legends: Bang Bang between 21 September to 8 October 2021 and completing daily tasks, players can redeem the fifth-year anniversary ‘Miya’ skin for free. There will be four heroes that will be completely redesigned, from skills to character models – Lancelot, Odette, Hayabusa, and Kagura.Â Â
Kagura, Mobile Legends: Bang Bang
Hayabusa, Mobile Legends: Bang Bang
Lancelot, Mobile Legends: Bang Bang
Odette, Mobile Legends: Bang Bang
In addition to the character revamp, there will be new UI effects added to the lobby screen in December. Players can expect to see a simple day and night system in the lobby area that reflects real-time periods. There will also be a time-limited skin draw to commemorate the new changes, starting from 22 September to 15 October 2021. Players can also stand the first skins from an exciting new theme, starting 24 September to 24 October 2021.Â Â


Goodfellas’ Actor & GTA Vice City Star Ray Liotta Dies At 67

Sad news for fans of crime dramas and classics: renowned actor Ray Liotta has passed away in his sleep in the Dominican Republic. He was 67.
A report on Deadline said that he was shooting the film Dangerous Waters in the country. He left behind a daughter named Karsen and was engaged to be married to Jacy Niittolo.
He was iconic in his role as gangster Henry Hill in Martin Scorsese’s Goodfellas opposite great actors such as Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci. He was also well-known for playing Shoeless Joe Jackson in Field of Dreams. These films cemented his road to fame, getting him a ton of roles in 90s films like No Escape, Operation Dumbo Drop, and Cop Land. In the 2000s, he was in films such as Hannibal, Blow, Narc, John Q, and even the Bee Movie as a cartoon version of himself.

Let’s also not forget his role as the protagonist of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, Tommy Vercetti.

Rest In Peace Ray Liotta, legendary actor and the iconic voice of Tommy Vercetti. pic.twitter.com/d2VPVjRNGX
— Rockstar Games (@RockstarGames) May 26, 2022

Rest in peace, Ray Liotta. Thank you for the memories and what it means to be a cinematic gangster.


Bethesda Will Nuke Its Own PC Launcher On 11th May

Bad news to a small number of you using the Bethesda Launcher for your Doom Eternal and Skyrim experiences: Bethesda is shutting it down.
The company announced plans to nuke the Bethesda Launcher as it wasn’t really adored much by many users who would rather just play the company’s games on Steam or any other launcher. The company elaborated further about its sunsetting plans.
If you have games on the Bethesda.net launcher, you can migrate your games and wallet to your Steam account starting 27 April, which is a few days from now. Also, your Bethesda.net account will still be around and useable so don’t throw that away. More details and instructions will be laid out on that date.
“We expect almost all save progress to be transferable automatically or manually with the exception of Wolfenstein: Youngblood, which currently is unable to transfer.
For games that require it, you will still use your Bethesda.net login to sign in to play. Your Bethesda.net account will not be lost and will still be accessible on our website and in-game, and we will continue supporting all Bethesda.net accounts with our future titles.”
The launcher will still be up and running until 11 May. Even after that date, you can still transfer your games and wallet to Steam.


All Legend and Weapon Changes in S17 Apex Legends

Season 17: Arsenal comes out May 9 and all the weapon and legend balance updates are finally out! Will the meta shift away from its current one? Will players be picking up a different weapon? Let’s take a look at what weapons and legends got touched this coming season.

ROTATIONS

Crate Rotation

L-Star EMG enters the crate

The L-Star also went through some balance changes with it going into the care package.

They’ve re-added Disruptor Rounds but only to the L-Star: Disruptor does 60% damage increase against shields
The base damage has been reduced to 16 (was 17)
Projectiles now have passthrough: 60% damage retained
Projectile growth has been increased
The recoil pattern has been improved
Barrel is removed from attachments
Ammo Stockpile: 324
Reduced VFX brightness when hitting unarmored targets

The RE-45 pistol returns to the floor

Weapon Crafting Rotation

The Alternator SMG and Sentinel sniper rifle enters into the crafter
The EVA-8 shotgun and 30-30 Repeater marksman returns to the floor

Gold Weapon Rotation

Flatline, Triple Take, Spitfire, Mastiff, Volt

Loot Spawns

Improved Vault Loot

There is now an increased chance of gold loot. Light mags have also been added to the spawn pool.

Improved Cargo Bot Loot

All these items have been removed : small healing items, Mobile Respawn Beacon, White Armor,  White Backpack
Adjusted Large Healing and Heatshield spawns to allow for more desirable loot spawns
Removed gold weapons from purple tier Cargo Bots but increased spawn chance in gold tier

WEAPON BALANCING

30-30 Repeater

Projectile size increased when fully charged

Triple Take

Projectile size increased
Improved hipfire spread
Tightened bullet pattern when fully choked
Ammo per shot reduced to 1 (was 3)
Magazines sizes adjusted to match the new ammo costs, Purple Mag: Increased to 10 shots (was 9)

R-99 SMG

Removed 1 bullet from base and all magazines
No Magazine reduced to 19 (was 20)
White Magazine reduced to 21 (was 22)
Blue Magazine reduced to 24 (was 25)
Purple & Gold magazine reduced to 27 (was 28)

Charge Rifle

Reduced shots per magazine to 3 (was 4)
Reduced spawn rate

CLASS CHANGES

ASSAULT

Smart loot gains have been adjusted to reduce skipping an upgrade tier. It will now be less likely to jump from White to Purple or Blue to Gold
Optics are now given based on team rather than just Assault Legend who opens them
A special drop rate has been added for Gold Optics

SKIRMISHER

Care packages are now automatically pinged for the team on reveal. This includes empty Care Packages that have already been looted by another team

SUPPORT

Support Bins will now guarantee at least one Battery in one of the Secret Compartment slots
Support Bins will now award MRBs if your ally is dead, even if you don’t have their banner card.
Legend Banners can now be crafted by ANY player who has a Support Class Legend in their Squad

LEGEND CHANGES
Catalyst

Dark Veil
Scan Highlights & Diamonds are no longer visible through the Dark Veil

Mirage

Class changed from Skirmisher to Support

Ash

Now gets slowed to weapon sprint speed instead of weapon walk speed when targeting with her tac

Season 17: Arsenal drops May 9 and you can find the full patch notes over here.
You can also find other changes about Season 17 here, and all rank changes here.


New Lies Of P Gameplay Trailer Features More Dark Souls Pinocchio Action

Publisher Neowiz and developer Round8 Studio have released new gameplay for its upcoming action RPG Lies Of P, which is Dark Souls mixed with the lore of Pinocchio.
A lot has been updated and changed since then; the hits and attacks look a lot polished and refined, we see more new bosses and foes for our hero to kill, and that’s really it! What more do you need from a dark fantasy steampunk game that relies on brutalizing players over and over again?
Lies Of P will be out in 2023 for PC and consoles. It’ll also be out on Xbox Game Pass. Check out the IGN Fanfest trailer and feature list below:

A Dark Fairytale Retold – The timeless tale of Pinocchio has been reimagined with dark and striking visuals. Set in the fallen city of Krat, Pinocchio desperately fights to become human against all odds.
Visual Concept – The city of Krat was inspired by the Belle Epoque Era in Europe (late 19th Century to the early 20th Century) and is the epitome of a collapsed city bereft of prosperity.
“Lying” Quests and Multiple Endings – Experience interconnected procedural quests that play out depending on how you lie. These choices will then affect how the story ends.
Weapon-Making System – You can combine weapons in a multitude of ways to create something new altogether. Research to find the best combinations and make something truly special.
Special Skill System – With Pinocchio being a doll, you can change parts of his body to gain new skills and hopefully an edge in battle. But not all of the enhancements are for fighting though, they can also provide several other unique and useful features.


War of the Visions: FFBE Guide – The Top Tier Characters To Roll For

War of the Visions: Final Fantasy Brave Exvius is a free-to-play tactical turn-based strategy JRPG co-developed by Square Enix and Gumi Inc. It was initially released in Japan for Android and iOS devices on 14 November 2019.
It’s a spin-off of the mobile game Final Fantasy Brave Exvius, with XCOM-like gameplay derived from the Final Fantasy Tactics franchise. The international version of the game is now available for Android (Google Play Store) and iOS devices (Apple App Store), since 25 March 2020.
Story And Setting

The story takes place on the continent of Ardra on the world of Lapis, the primary setting of Final Fantasy Brave Exvius, depicting a war between five rival nations that occurred in the distant past.
Just like the main game, the war is waged using the power of Visions, physical manifestations of powerful warriors from different eras and worlds summoned using Crystals. It sort of works like the Servants in the Type/Moon’s Fate franchise.
Though small and surrounded by more powerful nations, the Kingdom of Leonis maintained its presence, thanks to an ancient ring bestowed upon the kingdom by the Winged One.
The ability to summon and command Visions was indeed a palpable military threat to the other kingdoms. The twin princes of Leonis, Mont and Sterne, fight over the Crystals.
How The Combat Works

Each battle occurs on a grid consisting of different tiles with different heights and altitudes. Units move on those tiles – depending on their move (horizontal tile range) and jump (height difference between tiles that can be crossed at once). However, there can only be one unit on each tile at once.
The player can send five units and a companion (the unit of a friend) into battle. Before combat commences, players can make preparations, by changing the equipment (first row) and summons (second row) of each unit.
Another important setting is the choice of the Vision card, which grants a special effect to the entire party.
Available Jobs And Classes

There are 19 jobs available to choose from in War of the Visions: Final Fantasy Brave Exvius.
Jobs determines what kind of abilities and stat growth a unit will have. A unitâ€™s main job is locked, meaning the job they start off with when you first summon them cannot be changed, but players will later be able to unlock sub-jobs which can be equipped upon clearing stage 3-4.
What The Different Stats Mean
The units in War of the Visions: Final Fantasy Brave Exvius have the following basic stats:

HP: A unit’s health value (unit will be KO’d when this value reaches 0).
TP: Required to perform various abilities.
AP: Required to perform various abilities, including Limit Bursts.
ATK: Mainly affects the strength of physical attacks.
MAG: Mainly affects the strength of magic attacks.
AGI: Mainly affects the unit’s Evasion Rate and how quickly its CT accumulates.
DEX: Mainly affects a unit’s Accuracy and Critical Hit Rate.
Bravery: Affects how often reaction abilities will activate when taking physical damage.
Faith: Affects how often reaction abilities will activate when taking magical damage.
Luck: Mainly affects Accuracy and Evasion.

In addition to the main states above, equipping certain items might add the following additional stats:

DEF: Mainly has an effect on defense from physical attacks
SPR: Mainly has an effect on defense from magical attacks
Critical: Mainly affects the unit’s ability to deal and evade Critical Hits

What Items Can Be Obtained Through Gacha

You can currently get two things through gacha mechanic; characters and Vision Cards. That is how players can get more characters to play with, and obtain Vision Cards, which are essential for combat.
Like any Gacha game, there are different tiers of rarity ranging from Normal to Ultra Rare, each of which comes with their own varied drop rate.
NEXT: The Best Heroes To Gacha & Save


We Might Be Getting A Squid Game Video Game

Netflix Asia executive Minyoung Kim said that the hit Korean show Squid Game, the one about kid’s games turning deadly with millions of dollars as a reward for debt-ridden outcasts-turned-contestants, might churn out a video game adaptation.
According to a THR report, Netflix is looking at what will be coming next for the Squid Game IP, seeing as the show is the most-watched on the streaming service and is beating The Witcher’s reported viewership of 76 million. Netflix and the show’s director and producer are still in talks about a season 2, but you may have to temper expectations and wait a while longer as the show has only been out for a month.
So how will a Squid Game video game turn out? Kim didn’t provide any speculation whatsoever though he did say that they will expand it beyond a video adaptation via “consumer products”. Our guess? A battle royale game with minigames ala Fall Guys, but bloodier and less cute. And haunting music to accompany its OST.


Spider-Man Across The Spider-Verse Is Banned In Saudia Arabia; Here’s Why

Spider-Man Across the Spider-Verse, the highly-acclaimed international animated film, has been pulled from the Middle East release schedule, including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and several other Middle Eastern countries.
The sequel to the 2018 film, Spider-Man Across the Spider-Verse was scheduled to debut on 22 June across the region ahead of the Eid Al Adha holiday. Official word comes after days of speculation on social media and Reddit when multiple parties contacted local exhibitors, Vox Cinemas, the leading theatre company in the UAE and Saudi Arabia and were informed the film wouldn’t be released.

Although the cause of the ban remains unclear, many speculate that it is due to a pro-trans flag briefly appearing in the movie. Fans are also suggesting that the character known as Gwen is transgender. In a certain scene, a trans flag with the message “Protect Trans Kids” can be seen hanging on the wall of Gwen’s room, revealing Gwen’s adolescent experiences in her own universe.
In 2021, it was widely reported that censorship had ended in the UAE, cited by AP News, with a quote from a government agency saying, “Movies will be screened according to their international version.” However, that was not the case. Local and international content must adhere to certain guidelines according to local customs and values, especially when it comes to films intended for children, which animated films always classified as.
It wasn’t the first time a movie was banned in Middle East, including Marvel’s Eternals, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, West Side Story, Lightyear, and Thor: Love and Thunder, all of which were either banned from release or did not release due to a breakdown in negotiations between Disney and the regulatory agencies.
On a side note, check out our Spider-Man Across the Spider-Verse review if you haven’t seen it yet, or find out which cameos took us by surprise.


Raised By Wolves Season 2 Improves On Its Messier First Season

It’s been almost two years since the first season of Raised By Wolves debuted in September 2020, but Season 2 is finally almost here. Aaron Guzikowski’s sci-fi series (executive produced by Ridley Scott) started out with promise and potential, but it suffered from a confusing and messy narrative. Thankfully, the beginning of Season 2 has improved on that with a more focused story, which once again is about androids and religion.
Two Sides Of The Same Coin

Just like the first season, Raised By Wolves Season 2 continues the story of two androids, Mother (Amanda Collin) and Father (Abubakar Salim), tasked with raising human children on a mysterious and dangerous planet. After spending almost the whole first season isolated and trying to survive, the second season finds them with a colony of atheists and them trying to co-exist with each other.
Again, the underlying theme explored in Raised By Wolves touches on religion versus atheism. The first season felt more black and white, as it showed two warring factions of humanity; one that supports atheism and another that believes in the Mithraic religion, worshipping Sol. In Season 1, it was clear which one was meant to be an antagonist of sorts.
In Season 2, it’s more vague and open-ended, as it explores the two extremes of both sides of the spectrum. In reality and practice, atheism can be just as violent, narrow-minded and restrictive as religion. Just look at communist countries like North Korea or China. It’s also interesting to see members of the atheist colony committing hate crimes against Mithraics in an action that mirrors the burning cross of the Ku Klux Klan.
There’s even a potentially evil AI (with a creepy name like The Trust), and other familiar sci-fi trappings. Even now, the growth of the androids in Raised By Wolves somewhat reminds me of Data from the Star Trek franchise. Another reason why Season 2 feels more compelling is that having the androids and their family living in a human settlement opens up the opportunity for more interactions and hence, more potential for character development.
An Upgrade

Just like the first season, Raised By Wolves Season 2 doesn’t skimp on the visuals. Again, the series takes its visual cues from the gritty and grimy aesthetics of Alien, PrometheusÂ or Blade Runner. The wide shots of beautiful landscapes look cinematic, which is bolstered by an ominous and dark vibe. However, compared to the first season, there are several things that make Season 2 an improvement.
First, the narrative is more focused and less messy than the first season. Season 1 relied on a lot of flashbacks and vague religious imagery, which disrupted the flow and pacing of the series. I was given only the first three episodes of Raised By Wolves Season 2, but I can tell that the pacing of the narrative has definitely improved a lot with no flashbacks at all and a more linear narrative. It ultimately results in a season that feels less draggy, which I really hope will continue to be the case for the remaining five episodes of Season 2.
I, Android
Raised By Wolves Season 2, SD12 Ep 201, Scenes: 135, 125, 129
If you watched and sat through the entire first season of Raised By Wolves, you should certainly check out the second season. It’s an improvement on almost all aspects in Season 1, as Season 2 is no longer burdened with having to introduce and set up the characters and world. Now, it only has to focus on expanding and developing what already been established.
Raised By Wolves is still decent a sci-fi series with high-production value. It’s not as good as it can be, but it can still continue to improve. We need more sci-fi properties to take risks like Raised By Wolves, even if they might not be perfect.
FINAL SCORE: 70/100
Raised By Wolves Season 2 is slated to premiere with its first two episodes on 3 February 2022 exclusively on HBO GO, with new episodes premiering every subsequent Thursday on a weekly basis. In the meantime, check out the trailer below.


Sir Ian McKellen Shares Experiences 20 Years After Filming Lord Of The Rings

It’s been almost two decades after Peter Jackson’s iconic The Lord Of The Rings trilogy ended with 2003’s The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King. 20 years after filming the last movie in the legendary movie franchise, Sir Ian McKellen (who plays the wizard Gandalf) reflects on when he first arrived to film in New Zealand all those years ago.
He shared his old blog posts that he wrote (which you can check out by heading to this link) from 20 years ago on his personal Twitter account, recounting his experiences from then.

20 years ago, I arrived New Zealand to begin filming “The Lord of the Rings.” I joined the cast on January 10, 2000. During that time, I kept a journal, which today would be called a blog Perhaps you’ll enjoy reading about those heady times: https://t.co/bJ6Nsqgwi2
â€” Ian McKellen (@IanMcKellen) January 10, 2020

Sir Ian McKellen started by saying that he wouldn’t have looked forward to filming The Lord Of The Rings if not for the director, Peter Jackson, and the place for shooting, New Zealand, which is will forever be popular with tourists for having been the place where The Lord Of The Rings movies were shot.

“If it weren’t the director of Heavenly Creatures in control, with a strong vision of all those precise, quirky, majestic locations, I should not much look forward to a full year away from my home in London.
But Peter Jackson’s designs, script and his unshowy dedication to the task are irresistible. Had I been unable to play Gandalf (because of an encroaching X-Men schedule), I should have hoped for another less time-consuming part later in the trilogy.”

Even back then, Sir Ian McKellen recognises how iconic and legendary The Lord Of The Rings could be, musing over its timelessness, as well as acknowledging how he can’t possibly satisfy every single Tolkien fan out there with his portrayal of Gandalf. That’s a problem even current actors have when portraying beloved fan-favourite characters in movie adaptations.

“Meanwhile, Tolkien aficionados are mailing to the “Grey Book.” From teenagers and readers old as wizards come the advice, the demands, the warnings – united by the hope that the film’s Gandalf will match their own individual interpretations of the Lord of the Rings.
I take comfort from the general assurance that they approve of the casting (not just of me but of all the other actors so far announced – thrilling news that Cate Blanchett is joining us.)
Yet how can I satisfy everyone’s imagined Gandalf?
Simply, I can’t.
I recognise the responsibility of course.
It’s not as if LOTR were a play that could be revived over and over, each new cast adding to the discoveries that their predecessors have made. The Jackson trilogy will be unique.
It is, after all, unlikely that there will be a re-make any time soon – although there have already been the cartoon “Hobbit” (which I have yet to see) and the BBC’s radio LOTR (with Ian Holm as Frodo).
But some of my correspondents seem to think that actors are essayists or critics who analyse a character’s complexities and then parade them, like sticking on a false beard.
It’s just not like that.”

He also praises the practical and special visual effects of The Lord Of The Rings movies.

“Answering these and weightier puzzles is the responsibility of the designers and their craftspeople who have been in training for 2 years at the WETA workshops in Wellington.
I have seen the results of their deliberations – and been overwhelmed.
Their work on masks, armoury, weapons is almost complete and it is complementary to that of the visual effects experts who will enhance the New Zealand landscapes.
They have solved how to make the Hobbits appear to be the right size, in any number of ways, most too complicated for me to understand.
They know whether Gollum be an actor or a puppet or a computer effect or all three.
They have designed Hobbiton and built it â€” a year ago so it has weathered â€” and allowed the vegetation to grow round about.”

These Sir Ian McKellen blog posts might not load properly, or it might take some time to do so. That’s because these were written and published over two decades ago. The Internet was a different time then. Try opening a similarly-old website from back then and you’ll probably have the same slow experience.
We have lost too many legends and icons recently, but Sir Ian McKellen is a living legend. We should appreciate the actor while he’s still with us, and cherish the fact that he’s sharing his precious experiences with us.


Razer Wins Major Awards At CES 2021

Razer took home a myriad of awards at CES 2021, including the official â€œPeopleâ€™s Choice Awardâ€ for the 2nd year in a row and the 5th time overall, after having been nominated in the â€œBest Gaming Productâ€ category.
Strong demand for the companyâ€™s growing ensemble of innovative gaming hardware was also recognized by the NPD Groupâ€™s technology division for the â€œTop Increase in North American Market Shareâ€ for gaming accessories.
Beyond solidifying their place as the top gaming peripherals company in 2020 with their core products, Razer expanded into new categories such as gaming chairs, desktop cases, lifestyle products, and a new productivity line.
At CES 2021, Razer continued to demonstrate their industry-leading innovation with these exciting products and concepts:

Razer Blade 15, the Best Gaming Laptop â€“ featuring up to an ultra-fast 360Hz refresh rate display, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 30-Series Laptop GPUs, and improved storage and memory, up to a 1TB NVMe SSD and 32GB DDR4 RAM, to meet the needs of demanding gamers and content creators.

Razer Blade Pro 17, the ultimate desktop replacement â€“ offering robust connectivity, a massive 17.3â€ display with up to a 360Hz refresh rate display, and next-gen NVIDIA GeForce RTX 30-Series Laptop GPUs.

Project Brooklyn, the next generation of immersion in gaming chairs â€“ featuring a 60â€ rollout display, immersive tactical feedback, and fully-modular 4D armrests that roll out into an adjustable peripherals table.

Project Hazel, the Worldâ€™s Smartest Mask â€“ designed for a more health-conscious future. It has N95 medical-grade respiratory protection while offering excellent user-friendly features such as a transparent front panel to see the userâ€™s mouth, Razer VoiceAmp technology to help amplify the userâ€™s voice, a charging case with a UV-light interior to sterilize the mask, and Razer Chroma RGB for users to personalize their mask.

CES 2021 AWARD LIST
At the time of writing, Razer has received 19 awards from the following media:
Razer Blade 15

Best of CES, Peopleâ€™s Choice Award â€“ Engadget
Editorâ€™s Choice â€“ Slickdeals
Editorâ€™s Choice â€“ Reviewed.com
Best Gaming Laptop â€“ Android Authority
Best Gaming Laptop â€“ Best Products

Razer Blade Pro 17

Best Gaming Laptop â€“ Techaeris

Razer Project Hazel

Best of CES â€“ Windowâ€™s Central
Best of CES â€“ PC World
Best of CES â€“ PC Mag
Best of CES â€“ Mashable
Best Concept â€“ How-To-Geek
Hottest of CES â€“ TechRadar
Best in Show â€“ Trusted Reviews
Best Concept â€“ Tomâ€™s Hardware
Best in Show â€“ Tech Advisor

Razer Project Brooklyn

Best of CES: Best Concept â€“ Tomâ€™s Guide
Best of CES â€“ Windowâ€™s Central
Hottest of CES â€“ TechRadar
Best in Show â€“ Trusted Reviews

In other related Razer news, Razer has also announced its intention to lead the charge for esports in the 31st Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games) in 2021.


The Best Steam Lunar New Year Sale Deals That Aren’t BullS***

The Steam PC Lunar New Year Sale has started. You have until the 16th of February (GMT+8) to start buying the best games on PC on the cheap.
As usual, here are our top picks (priced at RM/MYR and SG/Singapore Dollars). We’ll add more titles as the days pass; it’s CNY right now and we need a well-deserved weekend break.
Katana Zero (RM19.20/S$8.70)

One of 2019’s best 2D action games featuring slowdown, rewinding, and a lot of one-hit kill slashing & styling is sold for a criminal price. With lovely pixel graphics and an ace soundtrack, this one’s a cut above the rest.Â
Star Renegades (RM33/S$16.50)

Need a rogue-lite strategy RPG that’s sci-fi themed? Try out Star Renegades, now at a pretty decent 25% discount.
Torchlight III (RM41)

You could do worst than this dumbed-downed version of Torchlight II. Part 3 may not be the huge upgrade befitting of the series, but it’s still pretty fun, especially at half of.
Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor (RM15.20)

This Warner Bros. action-adventure game is now sporting a pretty nifty price tag. If you want to see why the Nemesis System is such a valuable commodity that it’s patented legally, check it out.
Red Dead Redemption II (RM146.73)

You have one of 2018’s magnum opuses in open-world games now at a decent price, as well as an online cowboy game. Yee-haw!
Hades (RM53.20)

This action-adventure title is already a steal at full price. With a 20% discount, do not miss out on 2020’s best title featuring the made-up son of the title Greek god.
Damn, just talking about Hades makes us want to attempt another run.
The rest of the games…

Rainbow Six Siege (RM26)
Total War: Warhammer II (RM54.06)
Total War: Three Kingdoms (RM79.50)
Deep Rock Galactic (RM33.15)
Sekiro (RM142.35)
Sonic Mania (RM21.25)
My Time At Portia (RM23.46)


A Total War Saga Troy Rhesus & Memnon DLC Adds Spice To This Greek Yoghurt

Platform(s):Â PC
Genre:Â Strategy, Real-Time Strategy, RTS, Turn-Based, Historical, Fantasy
A Total War Saga Troy made a comeback earlier this year with its Mythos expansion. It finally gave fans of the franchise what they wanted; proper full-fledged mythological and historical modes instead of the half-baked ‘truth behind the myth’ approach the game originally had at launch. That could have been a nice cap to a decent Total War title, but it turns out that Creative Assembly still wasn’t done with the game yet.
It was a pleasant surprise when the developer announced earlier this month that the game would receive new playable DLC leaders/factions with the Rhesus and Memnon expansion. However, this has been confirmed to be the game’s final DLC as of now, so the question is; are Rhesus and Memnon worth getting?
Rhesus Pieces

What’s interesting is that both Epic Heroes (Rhesus and Memnon) are traditionally tied to the Trojans, and it’s great to be getting new Trojan factions. It’s no secret that most players will probably gravitate towards the Greek factions, since they’re significantly more well-known and iconic, not to mention that it sounds more exciting to have a final endgame goal of reaching and capturing the city of Troy. However, the problem with the Greek factions is that most of them have similar generic units, which gets really old quite fast. Meanwhile, the Trojan factions usually have more variety compared to the Greeks, but a lot of them are still similar and repetitive in a lot of ways.
The Rhesus and Memnon expansion alleviates this problem by adding two new factions with not only new mechanics but also brand new units not shared with any of the other factions. Also, while they’re allied with the Trojans, they’re not culturally Trojan, or Greek, for that matter. That’s huge in terms of spicing things up and making your campaigns interesting again. Plus, I know I initially wrote above that reaching and capturing Troy is ‘exciting’, but it gets repetitive as hell when all Greek factions have the same endgame goal. As Trojan factions, Rhesus and Memnon both have unique endgame goals, as well as unique mechanics of their own, which makes the game feel fresher.
First things first, let’s look at Rhesus. He’s the king of Thrace, a region that’s to the far north of the campaign map in A Total War Saga Troy. In the present day, most of Thrace is now Bulgaria and the rest of the Balkans. As I mentioned before, he’s not Greek or Trojan. If you’re familiar with previous Total War games, Rhesus’ Thracian units are essentially the equivalent of barbarian factions from those previous titles. They’re not as heavily armoured as the ‘civilized’ factions, but their units usually have advantages in other aspects.

Rhesus’s faction features two new unique campaign mechanics; Countless Host and Thracian Rituals. Countless Hosts are special armies you can summon after conquering the forests of Thracia. What distinguishes them from your normal armies is that they don’t add to your Administrative Burden, which means that they’re a lot cheaper to raise and maintain. If you think that means you can just spam these Countless Host armies, think again. They come with limitations to avoid players from spamming them too much. They can’t occupy settlements, only sack or raze them, and they can’t replenish themselves.
The Thracian Rituals is a bit more important, as this mechanic introduces a brand new resource unique to the Rhesus’ faction; Devotion (in addition to existing ones like bronze, gold and food). Being a non-Greek/Trojan faction, the Thracians have their own gods and pantheons. You can use Devotion and other resources to enact rituals for a bunch of bonuses, including access to special elite units, economic/military buffs, and more. Of course, you can still choose to engage with the Olympian gods mechanic, which is still accessible for Rhesus and his faction. Seriously though, why would you worship boring old Zeus and Poseidon when you can ask for the blessings of gods with exotic names like Zalmoxis and others that I can’t properly spell or pronounce.
Besides Rhesus’ new units and mechanics, I find his faction’s starting point to be refreshing as well. Veteran Total War fans will understand how even something as simple as where a faction’s starting settlement location can determine not only how easy or hard the ensuing campaign will be, but also the different strategies and plans you’ll have to think of in terms of growing and expanding your empire.
Gone Memnon

Out of the two new factions, Memnon was definitely the bigger highlight of this new expansion. There was previously only one other horde faction in A Total War Saga Troy and it was one of the two Amazon tribes. Now, we have Memnon’s horde faction, which is the most diverse in the entire game. How is that possible? Well, just like Rhesus, Memnon may be tied to the Trojans but his faction is neither Greek nor Trojan. However, unlike Rhesus, Memnon’s faction is even more unique, in that it’s not tied to any one culture or race.
Memnon himself hails from Aethiopia (which is now the African nation of Ethiopia), but he comes to the aid of the Trojans on behalf of the Egyptian Pharaoh. That means he can raise armies with units not only from Aethiopia and Egypt but also from other nations of the Bronze Age era, including Canaan (what is now parts of Syria, Israel, Palestine, etc.) and Susa (Persia). Imagine having a multi-cultural unified army filled with Aethiopians, Egyptians, Canaanites, and Persians. What other Greek or Trojan faction can beat that level of diversity?

As a horde faction, Memnon can’t occupy settlements at all, which means that you’ll be rampaging through Greece, sacking and razing the land. Similar to the Amazons or the Huns in Total War Attila, part of the fun in using a horde faction is in not having to worry about building or defending an empire, as well as having the luxury of always going on the offensive. In addition, Memnon doesn’t have access to traditional Total War agents, but he can employ camp followers using the Resourceful Strategists, which comes with pretty OP buffs like being able to disable settlement towers in siege battles and more.
Memnon’s sheer diversity of units and non-conforming horde playstyle makes it the best for anyone looking for a less conventional experience in A Total War Saga Troy. The potential is ripe. You could potentially just destroy the entire map, Greek or Trojan be damned. By the Pharaoh, it’s goddamned fun, and I say this as someone who’s played thousands of hours of Total War.
Trojan Defenders

Ultimately, both Rhesus and Memnon are great and worthy additions to A Total War Saga Troy. They offer refreshing experiences with brand new mechanics and units not shared by any of the other factions, which is important in selling a DLC or expansion as a must-buy. Previous Total War games like Total War Rome 2 have suffered from issues like having paid DLC that felt like merely lazy reskins.
The Rhesus and Memnon DLC doesn’t have that problem. If there’s one DLC you want to get for A Total War Saga Troy, let it be the Mythos expansion first, but the Rhesus and Memnon expansion comes in a close second. Rhesus and Memnon will add hours and hours of gameplay even if you’ve already sunk in a chunk of time into the game.
A Total War Saga Troy is still one of the most stable and optimized modern Total War games out there with a compromise for fans of both the historical and fantasy titles, even if that only really applies to the Mythos version of the game (check out my full review for why that is).
Review copy provided by Sega. Played on PC. A Total War Saga Troy Rhesus and Memnon will release on both Steam and Epic Games Store on 14 December 2021.


Tales of Crestoria Reroll Guide: The Best Starting Characters To Gacha For

This guide is still under development; the game is pretty recent and is ever-updating.
The latest Bandai Namco mobile game Tales of Crestoria features a lot of polish in its turn-based RPG gameplay, a bevvy of Tales characters to collect, and a solid plot involving a messed-up society with twisted senses of justice & retribution. It almost makes you forget that there’s an upcoming Tales for next-gen.
This new mobile RPG also features a slew of characters to pick from. But who is the best? And who should you start with?Â We won’t be releasing a tier list for a game that’s not even a month or two old, but we’ll talk about the next best thing…
The Best SSR Heroes You Should Reroll
For those who are not aware, rerolling in a mobile RPG means restarting an account (and doing the necessary data-wiping & clearing) once you’ve reached the screen featuring a huge selection of random starter heroes. Just make sure to use a Guest Account when prompted if you are starting and attempting a rerolling. This is common in mobile RPGs, since the reason you’re rerolling is to get a good selection before committing to a choice.
Tales of Crestoria is pretty generous with its in-game currency, since you can make up to 8 extra pulls once you complete the game’s current story on Normal. And also get 10 extra summon tickets.
Having said that, why not tweak the odds to your favour and try out a reroll or two before committing for the long haul? As an added bonus, you can also score Memoria Stone versions of existing copies of SSR characters; Memoria Stones can be used as “equipments” to boost character stats and add buffs to your preset party. (eg: You can equip a Memoria Stone of Kanata onto a Kanata in your party to give him a good attack bonus. It makes sense in-game).
Here are our SSR picks from high to low priority. If you happen to gacha them in your subsequent pulls, way more power to you!
Estelle (Tales of Vesperia)

It’s pretty tough to gacha a decent healer once you’re past the “reroll” stage, so you might as well pick an SSR tier one if it’s offered FOC. Estelle has the skills and kits to heal your party and deal some support-level fighting for your party; her Mystic Artes is pretty awesome in that regard.
As a general rule though, it’s best to prioritize support characters over damage dealers because you’ll be getting more of the latter for your future pulls. Just like any gacha game, results may vary.
Kanata (SSR version)

The main character of the game comes in an SSR flavor too. He hits hard and can give +15% attack to all his pals. His Memoria Stone boost is good, and he has short cooldown times for his skills.
Kanonno (Tales of The World: Radiant Mythology 2)

When your game features a LOT of heroes who use Longswords, a Longsword-focused SSR hero who gives his/her kin substantial buffs is invaluable in the long run. Kanonno is one such heroine you should aim for if you want to build a Longsword-wielding party. Also her artes cooldown is decent when compared to other SSR heroes.
Velvet (Tales of Berseria)

Her evil arm isn’t for show: Velvet is one of the best SSR level damage dealers in the game. Her Mystic Artes deals a whopping 450% damage at max upgrade, and her regular Artes can debuff enemies efficiently.
A pity there aren’t any decent Martial Arts characters to team her up with. Still, do not count her out as she ends battles super-quick.
Leon (Tales of Destiny)

Leon is a multi-hitting beast who can keep the combo count going. Getting a high combo count means getting extra buffs via a hero skill.
Speaking of which, his hero skill will benefit dual-blade wielders exponentially, as well as stack with the additional +10% he bestows.
Rita (Tales of Vesperia)

Rita is a speedy Water-based attacker with short cooldowns for her artes and has a hard-hitting Mystic Artes. Her buffs aren’t too shabby either if you’re going for a separate all-Water party. Pairs well with heros like Kanonno.
Ludger (Tales of Xillia 2)

If you rather just play the debuffing game, Ludger is your go-to SSR hero. He also comes with a good skill bonus for Dark allies and can help boost up the combo count with his multi-hitting artes. He goes well with heroes like Leon.
Milla Maxwell (Tales of Xillia)

This titular fan-favourite is a good hard-hitting pick if you want to focus on offence-driven characters and an all-Light party. Her cooldowns for her skills are decent and she does give a generous HP boost.
Misella (SSR Version)

Like we said, healers are invaluable at the start of the game. She may not have the best cooldown times, but she has good debuffs and can heal in a pinch.
Plus, she does give good defense to the party with no additional cost.Â If you can get another SSR character in your pulls, go for her.


Embracer Group Acquires Gearbox, Aspyr Media, & Easybrain

Embracer Group has announced that they have entered into a merger with The Gearbox Entertainment Company in a transaction worth up to US$1.3 billion and set to close within three months, Aspyr Media through its wholly-owned subsidiary Saber Interactive, and Easybrain in a transaction set to close in approximately two months.
Gearbox is best known for the Borderlands franchise (which is getting a movie soon), while Aspyr Media has worked with franchises like Call Of Duty, Sid Meier’s Civilization, SimCity, Borderlands and Star Wars. Meanwhile, EasyBrain is a developer which is focused primarily on mobile games.
Gearbox Entertainment Company founder Randy Pitchford said:

â€œLarsâ€™ vision of Embracer as an allied partner group committed to fueling and accelerating the ambitions of a series of decentralized, successful entrepreneurial member companies while magnifying the collective value and advantages of diversification across the entire group is the most brilliant strategy and design for short, medium, and long-term success in this industry that I have worked in during 30 years.
The feeling at Gearbox is that we are just getting started and this transaction is not merely a stimulant for the talent of our employee-owned company, but a propellent for the exciting future we have planned.â€

The initial purchase price for Gearbox was US$363 million, half in cash and half in Embracer shares. The company will get US$1 billion extra if the company can hit “agreed financial and operational targets in the next six years”.


So What’s Been Up With Gearbox’s CEO Randy Pitchford Lately?

Gearbox, known for the awesome Borderlands series and the not-so-awesome Aliens: Colonial Marines s***fest, is having a heckuva time these past few months. Its CEO and magician Randy PitchfordÂ and its former general counsel/lawyer Wade Callender are suing one another where both men are accused of violating their legal duties to the company.
Here’s the breakdown via Kotaku:

Wade Callender filed a suit on 21 December 2018, accusing Randy Pitchford of violating various contracts that involve Gearbox, his employment contract, and a real estate company they both owned. Gearbox’s official statement is as follows:

The allegations made by a disgruntled former employee are absurd, with no basis in reality or law. We look forward to addressing this meritless lawsuit in court and have no further comment at this time.

Previously, at least a month ago before the Callender lawsuit, Gearbox sued the former company lawyer in a separate case for fraud and breach of fiduciary duty. Basically, Callender borrowed money from Gearbox for a home loan and tuition that he did not pay back in full; he “abused the privilege of credit card access by charging unapproved, wholly personal expenses, including family vacations, gun club memberships, and firearms accessories, and trying to get six-pack abs.”
Callender was also accused of destroying the evidence of the home loan agreement he made with the studio.
Both men were longtime friends whose relationship fell apart over the past two years.

Image credit: Ars Technica
Here’s where the story gets even juicier.

The current lawsuit Callender brought up also alleges that Pitchford made a deal in 2016 to receive a “personal, secretive ‘Executive Bonus’ of US$12 million to be paid directly to [him via a company called] Pitchford Entertainment Media Magic, LLC.”
That US$12 million bonus was supposed to be royalties for the Gearbox staff. According to the lawsuit, this is “particularly tragic exploitation because these millions are being syphoned to Randy Pitchfordâ€™s personal accounts instead of funding the development ofÂ Borderlands.”
Arguably the most sensational allegation is an accusation surrounding an event in 2014, where Pitchford left a USB drive in a Medieval Times restaurant in Texas containing sensitive corporate documents for Gearbox and its partners like 2K Games, Sega, and others. It also contains Pitchford’s personal collection of ‘underage’ pornography.Â
Pitchford’s defence for the USB pornography bit? According to a magic podcast The Piff Pod (via Ars Technica), he described his enjoyment of “camgirl” pornography where their sex acts are akin to a magician’s trick than anything. Also, the video in question featured a barely 18 actress.
Of course, the drama continues. Callender also accused Pitchford of holding “Peacock Parties” where “adult men have reportedly exposed themselves to minors, to the amusement of Randy Pitchford”. Gearbox denied this, stating that this was “made up by Wade in a further attempt to paint a sensational picture that is demonstrably false.”
Following this news from Kotaku, Gearbox issued a new statement regarding the situation:

Gearbox will be filing a grievance with the State Bar of Texas against our former general counsel Wade for disciplinary proceedings for filing a lawsuit that includes accusations that he knows to be untrue. The lawyerâ€™s rules of professional conduct expressly prohibit the filing of documents that are knowingly false.
The tell is within Wadeâ€™s claim itself â€“ his use of hedged lawyer language and clever application of quotation marks betray that he knows that the impression he is trying to create is based in lies. We imagine that he used the quotation marks and lawyer language in hopes that will give him some angles of defense when we inevitably take action against him for false statements.
Wade is engaged in a shakedown and heâ€™s clearly using deceit and lies to try to cause damage by promoting a narrative that he knows is false.
Guess we won’t be seeing a Borderlands 3 anytime soon, eh?