We may be in the midst of E3 2019, but that hasn’t stopped Epic from rolling out another update for Fortnite. Patch 9.21 is now live on PS4, Xbox One, PC, Nintendo Switch, and mobile devices, and it introduces another new weapon to the popular battle royale game, as well as a new pair of limited-time modes. Here’s what it does along with the full patch notes.

This week’s new weapon is the Proximity Grenade Launcher, which fires an “arcing, bouncing, explosive projectile” that will detonate when near another player. The gun comes in Epic and Legendary varieties and can be found in chests, supply drops, vending machines, or from Loot Carriers. It also uses rocket ammo and can hold two rounds.

In addition to the Proximity Grenade Launcher, Epic has made some balance tweaks to an assortment of existing weapons and items in the game. The Storm Flip, which was added as part of last week’s update, now deals flat damage rather than being based on the current storm phase, Epic has decreased the availability of the Mounted Turret and common variants of the Heavy Assault Rifle.

Beyond that, the developer is adding two new limited-time modes to the rotation this week. The first is the low gravity One Shot Duos mode. Here, all players have only 50 health, the only weapons that will spawn are snipers, and the only available healing items are bandages. The second mode, Horde Rush, drops four-player squads on the island and has them defending areas against waves of Fortnite Fiends.

You can see all of the changes for Fortnite: Battle Royale below. This week’s update has also added some new items to Fortnite Creative and Save the World; the full patch notes for those can be found on Epic’s website.

Fortnite: Battle Royale Update 9.21 Patch Notes

Limited-Time Mode Rotation

One Shot Duos

Low Gravity. Every player has 50 health. Sniper weapons are the only weapon, Bandages are the only healing item. Jump high and aim well!

Horde Rush

Fortnite Fiends are back on the island and angrier than ever! Fight alongside your teammates to rack up your score by finding hidden score multipliers, opening special loot chests, and eliminating as many monsters as you can. Traverse across the map, survive all of the Defend locations and take down the Final Boss to win!

• Mode Details
  • Four player Squad mode divided up into multiple stages.
  • Prepare to defend an area by searching for weapons & items, scavenging materials, and building defenses.
  • Rack up points by fighting Fiends, collecting score multipliers, and destroying Fiend Spawners.
  • Recover from the battle and search for more equipment.
  • Travel across the map to the next defense point.
  • Respawning is enabled until the last stage when players have to destroy a Boss Fiend and his horde of minions.
  • Keep an eye out for special loot chests, which contain powerful weapons & provide a scoring bonus.

Weapons & Items

• Proximity Grenade Launcher
  • Fires an arcing, bouncing, explosive projectile that explodes when in proximity of an opponent.
  • Available in Epic and Legendary Rarities.
  • Found from Chests, Loot Carriers, Supply Drops, and Vending Machines.
  • Semi-Automatic.
  • Uses Rocket Ammo.
  • Holds 2 Explosive Rounds.
  • Rate of Fire: 0.65 shots per second.
  • Player Proximity Radius: 250 units (about half the width of a tile).
  • Explosion Radius: 300 units (about 60% of the width of a tile).
  • Explosion damage:
    • Player: 67/70
    • Environmental: 131/138
  • Reload Speed: 2.8s/3s
  • Projectiles explode automatically after 10s or if it has nearly come to a stop.
• Shield Potion
  • Increased the availability from Chest loot from 11.3% to 12.09%
• Small Shield Potion
  • Increased the availability from Chest loot from 16.95% to 18.13%
  • With items being added and removed, we’ve noticed that Shield Potions and Small Shields have been less available in Chests. So we’ve increased the chance to find Shields from Chests to compensate for that.
• Shotguns
  • Increased the overall chance to find from Floor loot from 8.50% to 9.77%
  • After seeing the community’s feedback about Shotgun availability, we’ve increased the Shotgun availability from Floor Loot to make finding them in the early phases of the game easier.
• Infantry Rifle Epic and Legendary variants
  • Increased the availability from Floor loot from .067% to .105%
  • Increased the availability from Chest loot from .414% to .645%
• Heavy Assault Rifle Common variant
  • Decreased the availability from Floor loot from 2.04% to 1.715%
  • Decreased the availability from Chest loot from 12.47% to 10.46%
• Mounted Turret
  • Decreased the availability from floor loot from .59% to .46%
• Storm Flip
  • Adjusted Storm Flip to cause flat damage instead of being based on which Storm Phase is currently active.
    • Causes 5 damage every second.
    • We noticed with scaling damage that players held onto their Storm Flip later into matches, creating undesirable effects. This change gives players more value in using it earlier in matches.
  • Reduced the availability from Chests from 3.39% to 1.69%
  • Reduced the availability from Floor loot from 3.32% to 1.66%
  • Added back into the Arena and Tournament playlists.
    • We have visual effect changes coming in v9.30 that will help improve readability.

Audio

Bug Fixes

• Audio was sounding muffled due to a filter optimization issue.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/fortnite-update-adds-new-gun-and-horde-rush-mode-h/1100-6467761/

Niantic’s annual Pokemon Go Fest event is about to kick off in Chicago, and to celebrate the occasion, the developer is making a special Pokemon available for a limited time. Beginning tomorrow, June 13, the adorable Water-type Horsea will spawn around the world much more frequently than it normally does, and you’ll also have your first chance to encounter a Shiny Horsea.

The increased Horsea spawns will only be available throughout the Pokemon Go Fest, which is scheduled to end this Sunday, June 16. However, the spawns won’t be limited to the event venue; you’ll have a chance to find more Horsea even if you can’t attend Go Fest in-person. Any Shiny Horsea you catch will also retain its special coloration when it evolves, making this your first opportunity to add Shiny Seadra and Kingdra to your collection as well.

That isn’t all that’s going on during Pokemon Go Fest. As usual, Niantic will be holding Global Challenges throughout the event. These have players around the world making progress toward the same goals, and if those goals are achieved, Niantic will unlock special bonuses in the game, from additional Candy to the appearance of Shiny Entei, Raikou, and Suicune. You can see the full list of this year’s Global Challenges on the official Pokemon Go website.

In other Pokemon Go news, this is your last chance to encounter Cresselia. The Legendary Psychic Pokemon will be available in Raid Battles until June 18, when it’ll be replaced by Kyogre, the cover monster from Pokemon Sapphire. Kyogre will then be replaced by Groudon from June 27 to July 10. Not only do you have another chance to catch the rarely seen Legendaries, you may also encounter their Shiny versions.

E3 2019 is also underway, and it’s brought a ton of news about the series’ next mainline installments, Pokemon Sword and Shield for Switch. We got our first look at the games’ new Dynamax battle mechanic, as well as more details on how Max Raid Battles work. Sword and Shield launch on November 15; you can read more about the games in our Pokemon Sword and Shield pre-order guide.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/pokemon-go-adds-shiny-horsea-for-a-limited-time/1100-6467754/

Netflix has shared further details on its video game plans at E3 2019. The streaming entertainment company announced one new game, but indicated that we’ll see some crossover much sooner than that. Fortnite is going to get some Stranger Things flavor, seemingly near the launch of the show’s third season.

“We’ve been really busy over the past year, making new friends and we have a number of projects coming out,” Netflix director of interactive games Chris Lee said. “You guys may have seen, in Fortnite season 9 we had a Scoops Ahoy from Stranger Things show up in the mall there. So there’s a bit more behind that in a few weeks.”

Scoops Ahoy is the ice cream parlor that has appeared in trailers for Season 3 of Stranger Things, and Fortnite fans took note of its appearance in the game. Lee’s comments seem to indicate that was just a teaser for a larger crossover event, and the mention of a few weeks would align it with the new season’s launch on July 4.

Lee also noted the company has “a few other projects” in the works for this year, with the implication that these are partnerships similar to the Fortnite one.

The company also announced a new original game coming in 2020. Next Games out of Finland is working on another Stranger Things adaptation, this one an RPG-puzzle mobile game with location-based mechanics. The studio has previously worked on licensed mobile games based on AMC’s The Walking Dead series.

Many of these first games are based on Stranger Things, with the lone exception being the recently revealed Dark Crystal game. This could be because opening up its shows to video game adaptations is a fairly recent development. The panel told the story of realizing Stranger Things was “a phenomenon” and exploring merchandising opportunities for the first time, and finding games development to be one avenue.

Another Stranger Things game, this one a retro action-RPG, has already been announced to launch alongside Season 3. The panel revealed two more characters for the game, Max and Eleven.

More E3 news:

• Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2 teased
• New Xbox console, Scarlett, revealed
• Xbox Scarlett details: 8K, 120 FPS, SSD
• Elden Ring is From Software and George RR Martin’s new game
• Cyberpunk 2077 release date announced
• Final Fantasy VII Remake release date announced
• Marvel’s Avengers revealed

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/netflixs-e3-2019-game-news-includes-a-fortnite-cro/1100-6467758/

The upcoming Marvel’s Avengers game finally made its debut at the Square Enix E3 2019 press conference, and it’s left a rather noticeable impression on fans who are looking forward to the superhero game. Coming from Crystal Dynamics and Eidos Montreal, the new superhero team-up game focuses heavily on cinematic, action gameplay that’s playable either solo or co-op. Featuring Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Black Widow, and the Hulk, it lets you play as some of Marvel’s most iconic heroes in a variety of missions. Completing missions allows you to power up your chosen character and customize them with new gear as you see fit. And following its May 15, 2020 release, new missions and heroes will be added in as free updates.

It’s a really fascinating concept, but after the game’s presentation at the press conference, the details about the title’s larger structure and moment-to-moment gameplay are still a bit vague. During E3 2019, we saw Marvel’s Avengers behind closed doors, which focused on one of the game’s early missions. As seen in the E3 2019 trailer, San Francisco is under attack on the opening day of the West Coast Avengers’ headquarters, and the heroes spring into action to fight off Taskmaster and his minions, all of whom are wielding weapons stolen from Tony Stark.

This level is set shortly after the opening of the game, serving as something of an extended tutorial, allowing you to get a feel of how each hero plays and what their role can be in a squad of other players. From this demo, Marvel’s Avengers’ style, presentation, and emphasis on punctuating each encounter with a set piece makes it clear the game is cut from the same cloth as other AAA action-adventure games like the Uncharted series or the recent Tomb Raider reboot trilogy–the latter also helmed by Crystal Dynamics. The demo featured several highly scripted encounters, most of which are punctuated by quick-time-events that give each member of The Avengers their moment. There’s a significant focus on the spectacle of super-heroics, the type of elaborate gravitas and ensuing mass collateral damage that’s become common in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

During an E3 interview with GameSpot, Crystal Dynamics studio head Scot Amos stated that the game is heavily focused on offering a fun Avengers experience, with each hero designed in a way where they could be the lead of their own game.

“We’ve made games focusing on one character with Lara Croft, and now, we made a game with like six characters (including Ant-Man),” said Amos. “Then we figured we should make 12, then 30 characters. It is crazy for us to be able to go back and say, here’s all the stuff these other heroes can do on their own. That’s when we started hiring people like Vince Napoli, who did God of War last year, to lead combat for the game. How do we start pulling people together that are experts in these things, and say, ‘now go make this hero awesome’? With access to all these heroes that play differently, you can play the way you want.”

This opening level leans quite heavily on spectacle, both in terms of core combat and action-oriented set pieces with characters moving through the levels at a fast pace. Combat seems quite similar to games like Batman: Arkham Asylum, allowing you to freely move and engage your surrounding enemies while activating each hero’s unique skills. Thor uses his hammer and lightning abilities to pummel goons on the streets, for example. In addition to throwing his hammer Mjolnir–which he can call back after a strike–he can also summon forth massive bolts of lightning on the enemies and even imbue his regular attacks with enhanced energy.

After clearing out the enemies on the street, the action switches over to Iron Man, who chases after a set of airborne soldiers. In flight mode, Iron Man can freely move around, firing off missiles and repulsor blasts. On the ground, he’s very much like the character’s appearance in the MCU films, charging up his hand blasts and using them to power up his melee strikes. Iron Man’s super move is the Uni-Beam, a high-powered chest-laser that can destroy vehicles and clear out most enemies in front of him. Next up, the Hulk jumps into the fray. Sticking mostly with close-range attacks, he can grab enemies, slam them into the ground, and toss them aside with ease. One of the Hulk’s signature moves is his Sonic Clap, which wipes out all enemies nearby. His section of the level ends with him picking up a tank, chucking aside its driver, and tossing it at another vehicle.

The action jumps over to Captain America, who fights off enemies in the Avenger’s helicarrier. Similar to the Hulk, Cap is a brawler and sticks mostly with close-range attacks. However, he can still use his shield to strike multiple enemies at a distance. One of his unique skills allows him to target specific foes and send his shield their way for a powerful blow, with his shield returning to him after it hits its targets. The demo culminates in a confrontation between the Taskmaster and Black Widow, who uses a pair of batons and high-tech spy gadgets. The villain quickly adapts to Black Widow’s tactics, using his shield to block her long-range attacks.

This entire sequence, which sets up the larger story of how the Avengers have become outlawed and why they need to come back together, does a fun job of showing off that familiar MCU spectacle. It felt very much like a sequence that could easily be presented as a major set piece in the Marvel films. However, a growing question I had throughout this demo is, what kind of game is this, exactly? One thing that is still a point of confusion is the overall structure of the Marvel’s Avengers, which will apparently open up for co-op play as you take on more missions. Following this linear demo, it’s hard to picture how this will all come together as a games-as-a-service title that features online co-op. During our talk, Crystal Dynamics stated that Marvel’s Avengers follows a “bespoke campaign,” focusing on story and character-driven missions.

“Throughout our history, we’ve done third-person action adventures that are very much intimate, personal stories,” said Amos. “Something of this size, this massive game with all these heroes, it’s a matter of not one of them, but all of them. When we first partnered with Marvel Games and said, ‘Hey, how do we want to do this? What are we good at? What are you guys good at?’ They know about heroism and humanity, we know about third-person action-adventures and character-driven narrative. […] Getting to switch between those heroes, that’s even more fun. With these levels of the bespoke campaign, we want to tell a very specific story here, that’s still open for you to dive into at your own pace. We want to tell a very specific story here. What about going further than that? Once you have these heroes to play with, you can start mixing and matching them in ways, online with your friends.”

I do like what this superhero team-up game is trying to accomplish, but it seems like it’s retreading ground that’s already been covered by other games. It also doesn’t help that the style and designs of the heroes come off as somewhat outdated and unflattering. In a lot of ways, the new Avengers game gave me similar vibes from the PS3/360-era of licensed Marvel games, from the design and visual standpoint. Still, I enjoyed the spectacle and scale that was shown off in the demo. Though this section focused on a linear level, the full game plans to feature an array of missions that open up and can be taken on at your leisure—and that’s something I’m still looking forward to seeing.

For more on Marvel’s Avengers, Cyberpunk 2077, Dying Light 2 and other games we saw during E3 2019, be sure to check out GameSpot’s E3 hub page for all the latest news.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/e3-2019-marvels-avengers-has-a-good-concept-but-we/1100-6467752/

CD Projekt Red’s Cyberpunk 2077 is all about player choice, being an RPG and all. Based on what we’ve seen since the game’s unveiling, it looks like you’ll encounter plenty of shady characters and will have the ability to take them out in a number of creative and deadly ways. But as we learned during a behind-closed-doors gameplay presentation at E3 2019, you can also get through the entire game without killing anyone at all.

Whether you choose to put people in the morgue or the hospital will have some impact on how the story plays out, too. Lead quest designer Pawel Sasko told GameSpot that how you deal with the various folks you encounter won’t necessarily matter all the time, but there will be story moments where the finality of your actions will have lasting consequences.

“This is more of a personal choice of the play style of the player,” Sasko said. “However, there are cases when it’s taken into account because it’s important. It’s important that you knock down the dude or you kill the dude, and so on. …But if you, as a player, are going through, let’s say the Grand Imperial Mall [a location in CD Projekt RED’s E3 demo], you are knocking down 40 Animals [the name of one of the game’s gangs] and you decided to, I don’t know, spare a fifth of them, that’s not really going to have that much impact.”

The gameplay demo, which lasted nearly an hour, showed off two different ways to approach the same mission. Using “developer magic,” CDPR switched from a male Netrunner (hacker) character to a female character with extreme strength–you won’t be able to do that in the real game, so this was for the sake of the presentation–to highlight the differences. For example, while a Netrunner can hack a turret to make it target enemies, a brute-force build will let you rip the gun off its turret and wield it like any other weapon.

While we only saw a little bit of stealth during the Netrunner portions, CDPR made it clear that you will be able to play the entire game peacefully if you so choose. You will be able to sneak, hack, and otherwise avoid combat scenarios, though it’s not clear if there are situations where you have to fight if, say, things go terribly wrong and you fail to sneak around properly. We’ll know for sure when the game releases for PC, PS4, and Xbox One on April 16, 2020.

More E3 News:

• Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2 teased
• New Xbox console, Scarlett, revealed
• Xbox Scarlett details: 8K, 120 FPS, SSD
• Elden Ring is From Software and George RR Martin’s new game
• Cyberpunk 2077 release date announced
• Final Fantasy VII Remake release date announced
• Marvel’s Avengers revealed

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/e3-2019-you-can-finish-cyberpunk-2077-without-kill/1100-6467750/