Far Cry New Dawn is the sequel to last year’s Far Cry 5, taking place 17 years after the events of a nuclear apocalypse that devastated Hope County, Montana. Despite taking place in the same setting and including familiar weapons and allies, New Dawn introduces several new mechanics and features that can take some getting used to.
In the video above, Jess McDonell goes over several handy tips to help you survive Hope County. Whether or not you’ve completed Far Cry 5, these pieces of advice will save you time and a headache when jumping into New Dawn.
First and foremost, collect ethanol. This seemingly normal resource is the only means of acquiring better weapons, and you’ll need it to advance the story as well. The best way to stock up is by completing enemy outposts, and you’ll get a bonus if you can do so without setting off alarms or being detected. At the beginning of New Dawn, you’ll be able to scavenge these outposts for extra ethanol and while that means handing the location back over to the Highwaymen, they won’t be too hard to take down again.
Speaking of better weapons, you’ll want to upgrade your weapons workshop as quickly as you can. Unlocking a third weapon slot in your inventory and the lock-picking skill are great early-game decisions as well. The best way to unlock these new perks is with treasure hunts, which are most easily found through ally intel. If you see someone with a blue exclamation point over their head, don’t ignore them! Better to nab the intel early on as you come across them than try to find them when you need some perk points. In fact, this philosophy can be applied to scavenging too. If you see something you can pick up, grab it. In that regard, bring you dog companion Timber along with you, as he’ll help you discover any hidden piles of crafting material you may have missed.
All these tips, and more, are explained in greater detail in the video above. Be sure to watch it before getting too far into Far Cry New Dawn. And if you’re still on the fence about buying it, you can read our Far Cry New Dawn review.
Anthem is BioWare’s latest game, but fans of the studio’s massive RPGs like Mass Effect and Dragon Age will find a very different experience waiting for them. Anthem is a loot shooter, more akin to Destiny or The Division, consisting of a campaign followed by an extensive post-game with bigger and better rewards to collect and more difficult bosses to take on.
Anthem differentiates itself from the competition with extensive use of a flying mechanic, letting you zoom above the battlefield like Iron Man. It also lets you swap between classes more easily, as your character is a pilot called a “Freelancer” who can take the controls of the various suit types at will.
So far Anthem has only been released in early access on PC and Xbox One, through EA’s various membership programs. Many of the reviews published thus far are early impressions without scores. Still, a consensus seems to be forming that while flying through the battlefield is enjoyable, the story is lackluster–especially compared to BioWare’s best–and many say the game feels unfinished in its current state. Read on for impressions from around the industry, and check out GameSpot sister site Metacritic for more details.
GameSpot — No Score (In Progress)
“I’m currently treating Anthem’s disparate missions as an excuse to try a new weapon or special attack, which, combined with flight, gives me incentive to keep going. I’m hoping that I get more out of the story as I go on, but so far it’s too generic to get its hooks in me. I’ll keep playing on PC–I’ve luckily only been kicked due to server issues twice–so look out for the full review in the next few days.” — Kallie Plagge [Full review]
Destructoid — 7/10
“I wish some things were different but I find myself wanting to play Anthem beyond the scope of this review. It isn’t changing the way the genre operates, not by a long shot, and if you’ve struggled with a few of them before and tossed them in the gutter, you’ll probably do the same here. BioWare will need to build quickly on top of its shimmering jet-fueled foundation to hold people’s interest, but folks looking for a new neighborhood to move into might want to give Anthem a try–either now or after fixes and updates.” — Chris Carter [Full review]
Ars Technica — No Score
“This game is freaking rad at its best, but it’s just not done. It’s not fun to have sessions with friends so constantly interrupted. It’s not fun to keep quitting out of the main map just to check my loot and quest beats. It’s not fun to fight these boring bad guys in these boring missions, again and again and again. It’s not fun to feel confused by a lack of information all over the place. Anthem has flashes of being a really good game, but what’s the point if it’s not fun?” — Sam Machkovech [Full review]
Polygon — No Score
“BioWare has already done a lot of the hard work. A satisfying core gameplay loop is difficult to create, but the studio has managed it. Playing makes me feel like a true sci-fi superhero, 10 seconds at a time. But in order for Anthem to survive, BioWare will need to clarify its identity and prioritize the right elements of it. I’d love for the story, the interface, the experience of playing Anthem to service that loop, rather than fight it. I’d love for unique quests and activities to not just keep me occupied, but give me something to strive for. Playing Anthem, I can sense where this game is going. I just worry about how long it will take to get there.” — Russ Frushtick [Full review]
GamesRadar — No Score (In Progress)
“But there’s nowhere near enough of the stuff that makes BioWare games distinctly BioWare. That’s the content that Anthem needs sooner rather than later because, at the moment, it’s existing solely in the shadow of Destiny. Not Destiny 2, which has steadily grown and evolved with the community, mind – but the Destiny of five years ago. Anthem is designed to grow and evolve over time, but unless that happens sooner rather than later it’ll be dead on arrival.” — Sam Loveridge [Full review]
USGamer — No Score (In Progress)
“It’s a beautiful game where the movement is unique and freeing. The story is throwing a lot at the players and some of the characters feel like living mannequins, but there are standouts as well. And the overall mission loop feels like it has too many operations and too much downtime. It feels like the first Destiny: it’s an intriguing start, but there are several problems that need to be ironed out. What’s frustrating is that many of these problems have already been solved by other MMOs. It’s baffling to me that Anthem seems to be starting from scratch, even if I’m sure BioWare is going to do whatever it takes to improve post-launch.” — Mike Williams [Full review]
Cities: Skylines publisher Paradox Interactive has announced it is partnering with Microsoft to bring its opening modding platform, Paradox Mods, to Xbox One. Beginning today, February 20, players will be able to download and play mods for select Paradox titles on Microsoft’s console.
Through this partnership, mod creators can now easily distribute their mods across PC and Xbox One “with a single upload” using either GOG or the Paradox Launcher.
“Modding has been, and remains an important part of the Paradox community,” Paradox Mods product owner Andres Törlind said. “As we have diversified the way we distribute our games, we want to make sure all our players can take part in the creation process.”
The first game to receive mod support is Surviving Mars, a 2018 simulator that tasks players with building and sustaining a colony on the red planet. More than 30 mods are now available for the title. These can be accessed by logging into your Paradox Account on the game’s title screen, then selecting the Mod Manager option at the bottom of the screen. Additionally, the Xbox One version of the game has been updated to allow mouse and keyboard support
While Surviving Mars is currently the only Xbox One title to take advantage of this new feature, Paradox says that mod support for other titles “is planned to come later this year.” You can take a look at some of the mods that are available through the platform on Paradox’s website.
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Cross-platform parties in Rocket League were promised last month, and the new Friends Update V1.58 adds the feature.
In January, Rocket League became the second PS4 cross-play title in the PlayStation Cross-Play Beta program and, as Competitive Season 10 kicks off, the game’s begun allowing more than just matchmaking between players on different consoles.
Using an auto-generated RocketID, players can search for and add their friends to Parties and Clubs, as well as viewing a list of 25 recent players met online.
You can check out the update’s highlights below, and the full patch notes on the official website.
Captain Marvel was screened to members of the press Tuesday evening in LA, and those who saw it have now been allowed to post their honest reactions about the upcoming Marvel Studios film on social media.
The reactions have been overtly positive, with many saying that Captain Marvel is unlike any other film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Multiple critics have praised Brie Larson, Samuel L. Jackson, and Ben Mendelsohn, as well as the ’90s vibe movie setting.
Our roundup of Twitter’s first reactions from critics follows:
Editor-in-Chief of We Live Entertainment, Scott Menzel, said it is one of his favorite Marvel films of all time.
Dirt Rally 2.0 is a first-rate return to the more serious side of Codemasters’ off-road catalogue. It may be hot on the heels of Dirt 4 – with a couple of tricks pulled from its friendlier stablemate – but make no mistake: Dirt Rally 2.0 reasserts this spin-off series’ reputation as the premier rally simulator of the modern era.
Dirt Rally 2.0 is designed primarily for hardboiled rally enthusiasts and returning fans, so new players may struggle initially. The original Dirt Rally was eventually augmented with a pile of tutorial videos in time for its jump from PC to console, and Dirt 4 features a fully-fledged Dirt Academy training mode set within the sprawling DirtFish Rally School – a real-life facility based in the US Pacific Northwest. But there’s none of that here in Dirt Rally 2.0. It’s a case of learn on the job or perish.
There’s quite a bit that Anthem doesn’t explicitly tell you in its tutorial or first few hours. The basics–such as shooting, dodging, and flying–are covered, but several of the game’s more nuanced mechanics, like executing a combo during combat, are left for you to figure out. Setting up and executing a combo isn’t necessary for beating Anthem, but understanding how to do so–and also knowing how each Javelin does so differently–can really help with tackling the game’s Grandmaster difficulties.
To combo in Anthem, you’ll first need to know which of a Javelin’s unique abilities act as a primer and which are a detonator. Primers typically cause a status effect to an enemy, such as ice or acid, and set an enemy up for a combo. A detonator, meanwhile, will execute a combo on an enemy that has been primed. There are also standard abilities in the game, which neither prime nor detonate, and the Storm’s Ultimate attack–Elemental Storm–is both a primer and detonator. In-game, primers are marked in the Forge customization window with a circle icon, and detonators are identified by a four-pronged star icon. If a weapon does neither, you won’t see either symbol.
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Both primers and detonators can be used alone and still cause enemy damage, much like a standard weapon. However, you’ll want to execute combos as often as you can to do the most damage in the shortest amount of time. Some enemies tend to be bullet sponges and take a while to kill with firearms alone, so detonating a primer on them is a much easier way of dealing with them.
Detonating an enemy won’t remove a primer’s effect either, so you don’t have to worry about neutralizing status effects by pulling off a combo. If you freeze a group of enemies with a Ranger’s Frost Grenade, detonating the combo with a Colossus’ Lightning Coil won’t unfreeze them. You will have to prime the enemies again for another detonation, but the ice status effect remains until it naturally melts away.
It’s also worth noting that each Javelin creates its own unique special effect when it detonates an enemy, so if you’re playing in a group, you should know when to combo and when to let a teammate take the lead. Each Javelin and their corresponding combo effect are outlined below.
Javelin Combo Effects
Ranger — Critical Target Damage: Detonating an enemy causes more damage than any other Javelin’s detonation
Colossus — Explosion: Detonating an enemy causes an explosion which damages all nearby enemies
Storm — Spread: Detonating an enemy causes an explosion which spreads the enemy’s elemental status effect to nearby foes
Interceptor — Aura: Detonating an enemy causes its elemental status effect to imbued into your Javelin, which can then be spread to nearby targets through proximity
Each Javelin’s Role When Setting Up A Combo
Ideally, you’d have Ranger handle all of the detonations when fighting a boss, as its combo effect allows it to do the most damage on a single target. Colossus, Storm, and Interceptor, on the other hand, are great for handling mobs of enemies bunched up together.
That’s not to say these roles can’t be reversed, though. Ranger’s Ultimate, the Multi-Target Missile Battery, hits a bunch of enemies and is a detonator. If you prime a mob, you can do huge amounts of combo damage with this attack. Conversely, Storm and Interceptor’s combo effects are ideal in situations where a boss is joined by enemy mobs. Also, Colossus’ Ultimate, Siege Cannon, launches three detonators, which can do a lot of damage if your teammates can quickly prime a boss between each shot.
Each Javelin’s melee attack needs to be taken into consideration as well. The Ranger’s Shock Mace is a primer, while the Colossus’ Heavy Smash, Storm’s Fiery Strike, and Interceptor’s Bladed Daggers are all detonators.
Going Solo Vs. Being A Part Of A Team
In Anthem, it’s good practice to have at least two loadouts for each Javelin, one for solo play and another for when you’re with others. Because when by yourself, you want a Javelin that can both easily prime and detonate so you’re not scrambling against high-powered foes. For example, it’s not the best strategy to play by yourself with a Ranger armed with Inferno Grenade and Venom Darts–both of which are primers–as then you’ll only be able to detonate a combo with the Javelin’s Ultimate. It’s a great loadout, however, when playing with another player who’s armed with a powerful detonator.
By yourself, one of the best Ranger loadouts is Frost Grenade and Seeking Missile if you prefer fighting from long range. This loadout will allow you to keep enemies in place and detonate them from afar. For close range, consider Inferno Grenade and Pulse Blast. Colossus has a devastating solo build with Lightning Coil and Flamethrower, and it’ll put you right in the enemy’s face where the Javelin can do the most damage. Interceptor, who also excels at close-range, has two solid solo loadouts: Cyro Glaive and Tempest Strike for those who prefer to shoot firearms or Venom Spray and Spark Dash if you enjoy using melee attacks and a hit-and-run playstyle. You’ve got a ton of choices for solo builds with Storm, since most of its primers and detonators are really good and can be mixed and matched.
