At long last, Sony recently set a release date for The Last of Us Part 2, and there was much rejoicing throughout the land. That date will not stick, however, as the anticipated follow-up from Naughty Dog has been pushed until Spring 2020.

In a letter to fans from game director Neil Druckmann, a new release date of May 29, 2020 was confirmed for The Last of Us Part 2. The news is unexpected–after all, the long-awaited release date announcement came less than a month ago and pegged the game as coming to PS4 on February 21, 2020.

Druckmann acknowledged this, writing, “I know. It was just about a month ago when we had our big blowout for the game, letting media play over two hours of it along with debuting our new story trailer and revealing the release date. The positive response we saw from our community was overwhelming. You can feel the energy among the team members. After working on something for so many years, it’s invigorating to get a glimpse of validation for all the hard work.

“However, it was during the last few weeks, as we were closing out sections of the game, that we realized we simply didn’t have enough time to bring the entire game up to a level of polish we would call Naughty Dog quality. At this point we were faced with two options: compromise parts of the game or get more time. We went with the latter, and this new release date allows us to finish everything to our level of satisfaction while also reducing stress on the team.

“While we’re relieved that we won’t have to compromise our vision, we’re disappointed that we weren’t able to avoid this exact situation. We wish we could’ve foreseen the amount of polish we needed, but the size and scope of this game got the better of us. We hate disappointing our fans and for that we’re sorry.

“We hope you understand that this additional time ensures that The Last of Us Part II lives up to our collective ambition as well as our commitment to the highest level of quality. We know the extra few months will add to what may already be an excruciating wait for all of us. We are grateful for your patience and continued support. Come next May, you will finally rejoin Ellie in The Last of Us Part II.”

The release date and Outbreak Day festivities were accompanied by loads of new details, including some from our own hands-on time. Among them was the revelation that TLOU 2 will no longer have multiplayer, though Naughty Dog says a separate online experience is in the works.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/the-last-of-us-2-officially-delayed-until-may/1100-6470845/

Gearbox is set to release a new patch for Borderlands 3 today, October 24. The update addresses bug fixes, stability improvements, and general adjustments, but the studio has also outlined its roadmap for the coming weeks in terms of what we can expect from future hotfixes and patches for the looter shooter.

Gearbox says game performance and stability continues to be its top priority. An upcoming November patch promises to introduce various improvements games-wide, with the studio saying, “performance and stability will continue to be an ongoing effort with more fixes rolled out with each upcoming patch.”

One of the most requested features by the community is an expansion to Borderlands 3’s bank. As a result, Gearbox has begun laying the groundwork for expanding the bank. The upcoming release of Takedown at Maliwan’s Blacksite will introduce a significant expansion to the bank that will more than double the existing space for storing your items.

Bosses will also be getting dedicated loot pools to ensure that more specific gear drops from defeated bosses. Once this happens as an expected part of the November update, you’ll be able to go to a specific boss and get the specific gear you’re looking for, saving a lot of time and hassle.

Gearbox says it will be introducing some character buffs as well, since Moze’s Iron Bear, FL4K’s pets, and Zane’s Digi-Clone/SNTL aren’t performing as well as expected when Mayhem Mode is activated in the late stages of the game. The developer is looking at ways to adjust damage according to the relevant skills and gear, to make sure Borderlands 3 has as many viable character builds as possible.

Speaking of Mayhem Mode, Gearbox is also planning a significant revamp that will introduce a host of improvements to the way it works. The first update will, once again, be released as part of Takedown at Maliwan’s Blacksite, and will include the first new Mayhem Mode level, Mayhem 4. The new level promises to offer a significant challenge, with tougher enemies and better rewards that revolve around new Legendary gear. Beyond this, Gearbox will eventually overhaul Mayhem Mode with Mayhem 2.0, adding more UI support, playlists, additional levels, new rewards, and new Mayhem Modifiers that will dramatically change the gameplay.

Lastly, there will be new vending machines cropping up throughout Borderlands 3’s planet-hopping adventure. Gearbox is also hard at work trying to find a solution that will let you skip cutscenes, and it’s introducing a target dummy so you can easily test your gear on Sanctuary.

As for today’s patch, the latest update fixes numerous bugs afflicting Borderlands 3 by addressing various crashes, removing a reported bug in the Space-Laser Tag mission that prevented some players from progressing to the next objective, and altering the Flakker weapon so it now consumes one ammo instead of five, among a host of other changes detailed in the full patch notes.

There’s also a free Bloody Harvest Halloween event kicking off today, introducing spooky new cosmetics like skins and weapon elements, the new Bloody Harvest boss, and a new Legendary weapon. GameSpot has all of the details on how you can access the Halloween-themed event and when it comes to an end.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/borderlands-3s-bank-is-expanding-other-future-upda/1100-6470849/

In rebooting Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, developer Infinity Ward has changed a lot of about the franchise’s formula. The game adds new equipment to your loadout, offers new abilities like reloading while aiming down sights, and allows for new strategies thanks to its different take on map design. It also makes some changes to how its weapons work in multiplayer, allowing you to add attachments to your guns that change how they handle.

Like past Call of Duty games, Modern Warfare includes a slate of “perks” you can add to your loadout that give you different abilities. Some will fill up your killstreaks a little faster, while others will make you tougher for enemy technology to spot you. But perks work a little differently in Modern Warfare. They’re not just specific to your character loadout, they can also be added to your weapons, as well. Here’s what you need to know about how perks work in Modern Warfare, and how to make the most of them.

Perks On Your Loadout

Your main group of perks come as part of your character loadout. As in past games, you get three of them, each with a different thematic drive. Some affect how fast you move or how quickly you can ready your weapons; others change how enemies can see you or how you’re affected by their equipment. Combining the perks for different situations can help you make the game fit your playstyle and give you an edge against an opponent under the right circumstances.

Modern Warfare also lets you edit your loadouts mid-match, so you can make adjustments to your perk choices as the situation dictates. If your enemy is using a lot of UAVs, you can switch to a perk that makes you invisible to enemy radar, for example. In general, you don’t want to just pick a set of perks and forget about them–try to adjust your perks to give yourself advantages and abilities to deal with whatever you’re dealing with in a given match.

Perks On Your Guns

Modern Warfare uses a similar system to past Call of Duty games, in that you don’t just level up your overall character to unlock new guns, equipment, and perks as you play, you also rank up your individual guns as you use them. Experience earned with a particular weapon unlocks new attachments for that gun, which can change the way it handles–a scope increases a weapon’s range while making it heavier and therefore slower to wield, while a different stock might speed up how quickly you can move around while aiming.

Guns also have perks of their own you can unlock, independent from your loadout perks, and specific to each weapon. Unlike attachments, each of which has pros and cons when you add it to a weapon, perks are slight boosts to your weapon that can give you a particular edge. For instance, one perk gives your gun more bullet penetration, allowing you to do more damage to players you shoot through cover. Perks don’t drastically change a weapon’s capabilities or damage, but like attachments, they can change how a gun works to make it better fit your playstyle. You can add one perk to a gun, so you’ll have to choose wisely–and adding a perk counts as an attachment, which means you’ll have one less slot for things like magazines, barrel attachments, and sights.

Spend some time considering which perks work best with your playstyle on a particular weapon. As with loadout perks, you can change your gun attachments in your loadout at any time during a match, and that goes for your gun’s perk, too. Adjusting to the situation is key to victory in Modern Warfare, and with perks on both your character and your weapons, you have a lot of customization options that, if used well, can help you excel over the opposition.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/call-of-duty-modern-warfare-how-perks-work/1100-6470832/