Call of Duty: Warzone, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare’s free-to-play battle royale mode, has been played by over 6 million players in its first 24 hours.
Call of Duty revealed the news on Twitter, celebrating its first day since releasing the long-rumored mode into the wild.
It stands apart from other battle royale titles like Fortnite and Apex Legends with such features as the Gulag, which allows eliminated players to battle another 1v1 for a chance at a second life.
Warzone supports crossplay between consoles and PC and allows players to carry their progress wherever they choose to play.
The next expansion for Two Point Hospital, Off The Grid, will be available for PC via Steam on March 18. It will add 35 new diseases and three new areas to explore and build up hospitals within, and it’ll encourage players to devise hospitals where patients can live off the land.
The DLC is based on Two Point County mayor Tabitha Windsock’s ecological ambitions, and players will be able to grow produce, churn butter, and eventually harness green energy to power their hospital in Windsock City. It looks like a unique twist on the standard Two Point Hospital gameplay.
The DLC will sell on Steam for $9, with a 10% pre-purchase discount currently active. A trailer is below.
Two Point Hospital recently released for Switch, PS4, and Xbox One, and the base game came with the first two expansions, Bigfoot and Pebberley Island. There’s no release date set for the console versions of the Close Encounters or Off the Grid DLC packs.
Ori and the Blind Forest was a delight in 2015–a tough-as-nails combination of a metroidvania structure and Meat Boy-like demands with a surprising amount of heartfelt heft. Five years later, Moon Studios’ followup, Ori and the Will of the Wisps, is every bit as graceful and lovely as its predecessor, even if some of the emotional beats and exploration feel a little less novel the second time around.
Will of the Wisps picks up almost immediately where Blind Forest left off, with Ori’s patchwork family unit welcoming a new member, the owlet Ku. The family is happy and loving, but Ku wants to fly and Ori wants to help her. Soon the two are swept off in a gale to a new forest deep with rot, which begins the adventure in earnest.
Because this setting is disconnected from the one in Blind Forest, the geography is new, yet familiar. The painterly imagery is comforting, especially in the opening hours as you explore similar biomes. They’re beautifully rendered again, but a little samey if you’ve played the first game. After a while, Will of the Wisps opens up to more varied locales, like an almost pitch-black spider’s den or a windswept desert. The theme throughout the story is the encroachment of the Decay, a creeping evil that overtook this neighboring forest after its own magical life tree withered. But if it’s meant to be ugly, you wouldn’t know it from many of the lush backgrounds–especially in the case of a vibrant underwater section. Ori is often swallowed up by these sweeping environments, emphasizing just how small the little forest spirit is compared to their massive surroundings.
Ori’s suite of acrobatic moves makes delving into new areas a thrilling treat. Exploration becomes especially engaging as you unlock more abilities and become increasingly adept. Some of them are lifted directly from the first game, which can be disappointing next to the excitement of discovering a shiny new ability. Still, those old standbys still work well and make the improvisational leaps and bounds feel as great as ever.
The picturesque vistas seem to be pushing the hardware hard, however. Playing on an Xbox One X, I encountered visual glitches like screen freezes on a semi-regular basis, and the map would stutter. Usually these were a simple nuisance, but once in a while it would come mid-leap and throw off my sense of momentum and direction. A day-one patch significantly reduced the freezing and fixed the map issue altogether.
While Ori is ostensibly a metroidvania, Will of the Wisps is less focused on exploration and backtracking than is typical for the genre. Your objectives are usually clear, straight lines, and shortcuts littered throughout the environments get you back to the main path quickly. Most of the wanderlust comes in the form of plentiful sidequests, like delivering a message or finding a knick-knack for a critter. There’s even a trading chain. Eventually you open up a hub area that can be built into a small community for the forest denizens. These upgrades are largely cosmetic, so it’s mostly a visual showcase of having collected the specialized items used for it. The sidequests are almost entirely optional. I was glad for the freedom to pursue the critical path without artificial barriers, but I also plan to go back and plumb the depths simply to spend more time in the world.
The reduced emphasis on exploration seems to have been replaced by a major expansion of combat. Rather than the passing nuisance of the occasional enemy, Will of the Wisps introduces myriad threats that are a near-constant presence. Thankfully, the combat system has been overhauled to match the elegance of the platforming. The story progress provides a sword and bow, with other optional weapons for purchase, and you can map any combat moves to X, Y, or B. The combat does take some getting used to, though, in part because it’s built to work in conjunction with Ori’s nimble moves. While I felt awkward and imprecise in combat at the start, slashing my sword wildly at even the mildest of monsters, my comfort level grew as I gained new platforming skills. Around the mid-game I realized I had become adept at stringing together platforming and combat skills, air-dashing and bounding between threats with balletic rhythm and barely touching the ground until the screen had been cleared.
That level of finesse is necessary, because Ori and the Will of the Wisps introduces a series of massive boss battles, each more complex than anything in Blind Forest. Their attack patterns are often signaled by barely perceptible tells. Most of the time, the boss fills up a significant portion of the interactable foreground, and even more of the background–but this can make it frustratingly difficult to tell what is and isn’t vulnerable to your attacks, or what parts will do crash damage. This all makes defeating them feel like a relief and accomplishment, though sometimes more of the former than the latter.
Likewise, tension-filled escape sequences dot the map, requiring almost perfect precision and execution of your tool set to survive a gauntlet of threats. The game offers occasional checkpoints in these sections, as well as a more generous checkpointing feature around the overworld.
The sprawling bosses and climactic escapes are ways to express a larger, more operatic feel for Will of the Wisps. Blind Forest was a humble little game that told an intimate, relatable fable. Wisps has a grander, sweeping scope, and in the process it loses some of that intimacy. It still has moments with emotional heft, both exhilarating and heartbreaking, and Moon Studios still has a way of expressing an incredible degree of wordless emotion with subtle moments of body language.
The story in Will of the Wisps is often darker, and even its touching moments are more bittersweet. The chief antagonist, an owl named Shriek, is similar to the first game’s Kuro in having suffered a tragedy in the past. But how the story addresses that tragedy is significantly sadder, and stands as a moment of haunting animation that will stay with me more than any other single image from the game. Even the moments of finality that end the story, while appropriately heroic and hopeful, are tinged with quiet sadness and inevitability–the sense that everything ends.
That finality could signal that this is the last Ori game, a farewell to the fantastical world and memorable characters that made Moon Studios such a standout developer from its very first effort. If that is the case, you could hardly ask for a better send-off. Ori and the Will of the Wisps is a remarkable synthesis of artful design and beautiful moments.
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Over the course of the past eight years, the MMOFPS PlanetSide 2 has been through a range of updates, including a battle royale mode at one point. Now, Rogue Planet Games is undertaking the most ambitious update the series has ever seen with the release of Escalation.
Escalation marks the beginning of an all new age for PlanetSide 2. The update adds a plethora of new features, the biggest of which is Outfit Wars, an all new competitive end-game tournament for guilds to compete in. Outfits from every Empire and server region can opt-in to a monthly Qualification cycle, battling it out on Desolation, an off-planet Asteroid map made specifically for competitive play.
A new War Asset system has also been added, with a new system for Outfit Wars and the Social Sanctuary Hub, simplifying these new modes and some older ones for player’s convenience. Sanctuary is a new social hub for players of all Empires to enjoy. Here players can meet up, recruit new guild members, trade with NPCs and relax together. Future zones and expansions for the social hub will be added down the line.
The new War Asset system brings all-new depth and scale to the game’s large scale planetary warfare gameplay, as the meta will be completely changed thanks to the new strategic options available in Outfit Wars.
New resources can be collected during these Outfit Wars, which guilds can use to craft into a range of assets. Some of the new assets include the Bastion Fleet Carrier, Steel Rain, Citadel Shield, A.N.V.I.L, and an Orbital Satellite Uplink. Each of these assets can be used during combat and have different benefits that can be used to turn the tide of battle, for more on these new assets check out the developers blog.
To celebrate the release of Escalation, a Platinum giveaway event will be available until April 12. Redeem the code PS2Escalation in-game or online to get two free Platinum items, a salvaged platinum compound helmet and NS-11AP assault rifle. Additionally, a Double XP FOR ALL event starts today, running through to March 15 at 11:59 PM PST.
Polish developer CD Projekt Red’s new game, Cyberpunk 2077, has reached another major milestone. Studio boss Adam Badowski announced on Twitter that the game has now been submitted to local ratings groups, including the ESRB in America and PEGI in Europe.
As the team waits to see what rating Cyberpunk 2077 receives, it is working on polishing the “technical aspects” of the game. CD Projekt Red is also using the remaining development time on playtesting. “Game is looking better and better with each passing day!” Badowski said.
We just submitted @cyberpunkgame to age rating agencies around the world (PEGI, ESRB, etc.). While we wait for the game to get rated, we work on polishing technical aspects and playtesting it. Game is looking better and better with each passing day!
Given what CD Projekt Red has said about Cyberpunk 2077 and shown off thus far, it would seem likely that the game will receive an M rating from the ESRB and PEGI 18 in Europe, and an R18 in Australia. This would be in line with the rating for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, which was CD Projekt Red’s previous big release.
Cyberpunk 2077 was originally scheduled to release in April for PS4, Xbox One, and PC, but CD Projekt Red later delayed the game to September.
Mortal Kombat 4, the largely-forgotten follow-up to the frequently re-released Mortal Kombat Trilogy, has returned to sale on GOG. The game, which originally released in 1998 for PC, Nintendo 64, and PlayStation, after an arcade debut in 1997, costs $6 and is DRM-free.
The game has been updated to work with modern Windows operating systems, and ports across everything fans will remember from this slightly offbeat entry in the Mortal Kombat series. There are weapons that can be picked up and used, interactive backgrounds, secrets and codes (sorry, “kodes”) to enter, and 3D gameplay that lets you move around the arena and dodge attacks like you would in Tekken.
How has the game aged, visually? You can judge for yourself from the screenshots below.
Mortal Kombat 4 is a divisive game–our original review of the N64 version of the game scored an 8.9/10, and critic Jeff Gerstmann wrote that the game was “an excellent translation of a good arcade title, and fans of the arcade version won’t be disappointed at all.”
Players nostalgic for this fighting game can now revisit it at a low price–although many series fans will likely want to stick with Mortal Kombat 11.
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While the show may be finished, Game Of Thrones lives on in many forms. From the main books, prequels in development, and various games, Behaviour Interactive and GAEA are the latest to contribute to the franchise, with Game Of Thrones Beyond The Wall, a mobile game centered around an original story set beyond the wall.
Beyond The Wall puts players in control of the Night’s Watch on the Wall, where they must defend Westeros from mysterious enemies that lay beyond. Recruit major story characters from all over the Seven Kingdoms to aid you in your quest and set out on a journey fifty years before the events of the main series.
Send your troops and characters on missions.
Players can pre-register and earn special rewards on iOS now. Pre-ordering will earn players 10,000 copper pennies, 10 Shards of Jon Snow, and the Knight of the Vale character. If the pre-registers hit certain milestones, then players will earn even more rewards, with character shards unlocked at 1.5 million, 2 million, and 3 million. These character shards can be used to rank up the player’s character
Game Of Thrones Beyond The Wall is out on iOS on March 26, with the Android version coming April 3. Players can pre-register for the game on the App Store or at beyondthewall.bhvr.com.
Call of Duty: Warzone players have discovered a secret helpful tip about the battle royale game. Twitter user Jack “CouRage” Dunlop posted a gameplay clip on Twitter that shows when each member of a Warzone squad uses the UAV killstreak at the same time, the location of every enemy on the map and the direction they are looking is revealed.
A major component of Warzone–and all battle royale games–is moving around the map undetected, so this is a really big help if your team is able to pull it off. Of course it’s not easy to do, as each member of the squad needs to either unlock or obtain the UAV killstreak.
FUN FACT: Using 3 UAVS at once in Warzone reveals EVERY SINGLE ENEMIES LOCATION ACROSS THE ENTIRE MAP AND WHERE THEY ARE LOOKING for the duration of the UAVs… INSANE. pic.twitter.com/2wZ5InWpHt
Even if you’re able to coordinate the triple UAV, there is no guarantee it will help your team win, though it should definitely give you at least a temporary advantage over your enemies.
Here’s every question left dangling at the end of I Am Not Okay With This Season 1.
Season 1 of I Am Not Okay With This has made a major splash on Netflix, and ever since we finished it we’ve been looking forward to a second season. While a follow-up season has not been officially announced yet, it seems inevitable, thanks to the first season’s apparent success.
The show, which follows teenager Sydney Novak as he comes to grips with a newfound psychic ability that manifests when she’s angry, sad, or panicked, packs plenty of mysteries and fun plots in alongside the teen angst and drama that director Johnathan Entwistle (End of the F***ing World) is known for.
In GameSpot’s review of the series, it earned praise for its characters, plot, and nostalgic tone: “the characters, for all their flaws, are likable and compelling, and the awkward realness of their teenage personalities is what makes the series work.” But we also came away from it with plenty of questions.
Here’s everything we want to see and hear more about if we get I Am Not Okay With This Season 2. For more coverage of Season 1, check out our gallery of references and Easter eggs.
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1. Who Was That Guy At The End, And What Is His Deal?
Let’s get the obvious one out of the way. Season 1 of I Am Not Okay With This is essentially the first half of an origin story, and the final scene is setup for the second half. The supernatural figure we’ve seen around the boundaries of the show forms behind Sydney and announces that people should be afraid of her, before beckoning her with “let’s begin.” We don’t see his face, and his voice is not attributed in the credits. Who is he?
Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, director Jonathan Entwistle remains tight-lipped about the character, referring to him as the “shadow guy”, and not revealing his motives.”I hope people have their own guesses,” he says. “Without beating the drum of the art form of the ensemble, I hope there’s enough drive in these characters that the element of the shadow guy is an augmentation to the story.”
The “shadow guy” is surely going to tie in with Sydney’s father somehow, especially since his backstory has only really been teased. Speaking of which…
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2. What Was The “Incident” Sydney’s Father Was Involved In?
In Episode 6, Sydney’s mother explains that the things Sydney’s father saw and did as a marine weighed heavily on him–and that he came back convinced that he was being followed, and that he was dangerous, after being involved in an “incident” that he was the sole survivor of (or so it initially seems–the existence of the shadow guy suggests there could be others). Unless this is an enormous red herring, whatever happened during the “incident” may be the root cause of everything happening to Sydney. So what was it? And did he have the exact same powers Sydney does? And, if we can be more dramatic in our questioning…
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3. Is Sydney’s Father Really Dead?
The first rule of teen drama and fantasy alike–if you don’t see the corpse, they might not be dead.There’s an argument to be made that bringing Sydney’s father back from the dead could be in poor taste, considering how much of Season 1 is about grief in the wake of loss, and the fact that the “thing” inside Sydney and her father is a metaphor for PTSD and depression. But at the same time we’re not watching The Wire here, and we’ve met at least one character who can turn into dust. Sydney’s dad, who committed suicide without leaving a note, could still be out there. We’re not saying that we want it, narratively speaking, but it could happen.
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4. How Will The Exploding Head Be Explained?
Heads don’t typically just explode like watermelons in a microwave, and even by “head explosion” standards, Brad’s head exploded in a particularly traumatic, public way. How will the students of Westinghouse reconcile what they saw? No one but Stanley knew Sydney’s secret–but can they continue keeping it after that? Will there be an accepted narrative for what happened, or will the rest of the town start to pick up on the supernatural element at play? Will the principal, for instance, think of the library getting wrecked back in episode 5 and put two and two together?
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5. How Can Sydney’s Power Be Controlled?
When the shadow guy said “let’s begin,” was he talking about training Sydney to better use her powers? If her dad could never get them under control, does she have a chance? Will we see Sydney develop into a proper superhero as the series goes on? And, if she can control these abilities, is having the power to pop people’s heads really something she can be trusted with? It seems her father fought very hard to keep his powers from getting out–will Sydney do the same thing, or learn how to harness them?
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6. What Other Powers Does She Have?
It stands to reason that if Sydney can make things float and explode with her mind, she can do other things, too. Can she also turn into dust, like the shadow guy, and float away? Sydney’s powers have been tied to her emotions–what might happen if she experiences extreme joy, something she hasn’t really felt yet in the series?
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7. Does Sydney’s Brother Have Those Powers Too?
Liam, Sydney’s charming, preternaturally intelligent younger brother, is right on the cusp of the worst part of puberty–which is, we’d wager, when his powers would really start to manifest if he had them. Maybe they already have, though–Sydney blames herself for the death of Liam’s hedgehog in season 1, but was she really responsible from down there in the basement? If this power was passed down as a hereditary condition, wouldn’t it make sense for Liam to get it as well?
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8. How Will This Weird Little Love Triangle Be Resolved?
Depending on your priorities, this is either the most or the least pressing concern going into season 2. Stanley likes Sydney, Sydney likes Dina, and Dina, while not opposed to maybe kissing Sydney again, just watched her ex explode. Will the dramatic weight of these teenagers’ romantic feelings–which was, really, the backbone of season 1–be revisited in season 2? It would be a shame to cut back on the quieter moments and the dorky teen aspects of the show, even if the next season absolutely must delve further into the lore of Sydney’s abilities.
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Disclosure: ViacomCBS is GameSpot’s parent company
It will be interesting to see how Warzone fairs in its first week, and see if it can come close to Call of Duty: Mobile’s record breaking 100 million downloads.
