Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order’s Stormtroopers Have Their Own Personalities

/0 Comments/in /by

When designing the enemy Stormtroopers you’ll fight in Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, Respawn crafted individual personalities for each one. So even if you’re fighting a whole squad, individual troopers will behave and act differently.

“Under the helmet they have personalities, and so we’ve kind of given them nicknames and call signs,” Fallen Order narrative lead Aaron Contreras said, according to PC Gamer. “So it looks like a horde of faceless grunts. And they are because they’re Stormtroopers, but they each have a specific personality and they’ll interact with each other in ways that are specific to their personality. [So] when one’s left alone, it could be the guy who’s terrified or it could [be] a guy who’s super gung-ho and he’s like, ‘Now it’s my time to shine and take out a Jedi!'”

Individual Stormtroopers will also act differently depending on the make-up of a fight as well. The more observant among the group may inform their peers of their lack of ranged support if they notice you’ve cut down all of the snipers first. For the most part, Stormtroopers will also stay out of the way of the Purge Troopers if one is in their midst, allowing you to duel with the alpha killer. Of course, defeating said leader will cause the Stormtroopers to react, and those reactions will depend on their prewritten personalities.

Though each Stormtrooper has a call sign and personality, their individuality stops there. Fallen Order lead level designer Jeff Magers said that each trooper does not have their own individual name. Though Contreras did add, “Not yet,” so there may still be a possibility that some troopers get even more individuality between now and Fallen Order’s launch. As seen in The Last of Us Part II, giving enemies individual names and designing them to care about one another can make for some deeply unsettling combat encounters.

Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order is scheduled to launch for Xbox One, PS4, and PC on November 15. We recently got three hours of hands-on time with Fallen Order at a preview event, coming away excited about the upcoming Star Wars game.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/star-wars-jedi-fallen-orders-stormtroopers-have-th/1100-6470649/

Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare To Use Battle Passes For Post-Launch Content

/0 Comments/in /by

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare releases next week, and the team at Activision laid out how it will handle post-release content. The company had already announced it would be removing season pass and DLC maps to ensure a more unified player base, but it wasn’t clear how the game would handle monetization. It has answered that lingering question now with the announcement of a Battle Pass system.

According to the announcement, the Battle Passes will be timed to live seasons, with both a Free Stream and Premium Stream of content to earn. The Free Stream will let you unlock anything with an impact on gameplay, like base weapons and attachments. The Premium Stream will earn you cosmetics items. You’ll also be able to earn COD Points with the Battle Pass.

However, the Battle Pass won’t be ready to go on day one. It will launch sometime later in 2019. Activision says this is because right now the company is focused on the game launch, and also because players will have plenty to play through and earn from the base game to start anyway.

“Understandably there are still questions around how the economy will evolve throughout the post-launch, live seasons,” the announcement says. “We recognize this will take time to fully demonstrate. Please know we are committed to delivering a fair system guided by the principles we’ve outlined here, and will continue to monitor feedback and player engagement to help us achieve that goal.”

Recently, Infinity Ward’s Joel Emslie ruled out loot boxes for Modern Warfare, and this sheds more light on the approach the studio is using instead. The company also recently clarified that its PC download size, listed in specs at 175 GB, is the number including a series of post-launch content.

Modern Warfare releases on October 25. For more details, check out our pre-order guide.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/call-of-duty-modern-warfare-to-use-battle-passes-f/1100-6470647/

Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order Won’t Have Fast-Travel, But There Is A Reason

/0 Comments/in /by

Much like the Metroid Prime games it takes inspiration from, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order doesn’t have a fast-travel system. If you’re looking to leave the planet you’re currently on, you’ll need to retrace your steps back to your ship.

“A lot of the game is traversal, re-traversal, and exploration,” Fallen Order producer Blair Brown said, according to USG. “Not having fast travel encourages the player to go off the beaten path; find quick routes, and master the level. Also as you play through you’ll see some stuff that you wouldn’t if you fast traveled through the critical path every time.”

To assist in navigating each world, there are certain landmarks on every planet in Fallen Order that you can use to help orient yourself. A careful eye will most likely notice the dragon-like Bynog making its roost on a faraway bridge when first visiting Bogano, for example. And as you continue to explore the new Star Wars planet, your efforts will bring you closer and closer to him. “He’s a really good landmark,” Fallen Order combat designer Jason De Heras said. “He’s there to spark interest.”

Though Fallen Order won’t have a traditional fast-travel system, it remains to be seen whether the game adopts a quick-travel system similar to what’s seen in Metroid Prime 3: Corruption. In Metroid Prime 3, you could not fast-travel back to Samus’ ship. You had to make your way back to it every time you wanted to go off-world. However, on each planet, you could venture off the beaten path and occasionally discover landing platforms for Samus’ ship to dock at. This way, you could change where you would have to backtrack to once you were done exploring. There’s no confirmation that Fallen Order will do the same, but given that Respawn has repeatedly said the Metroid Prime trilogy is an influence in the Star Wars game’s development, it’s at least a possibility.

During a recent preview event, we got three hours of hands-on time with Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order–giving us a better idea as to what to expect for protagonist Cal Kestis’ journey as a Jedi Padawan, Fallen Order’s “thoughtful combat” and challenging but fair encounters, and metroidvania influences. Overall, the game isn’t groundbreaking, but it still manages to be exciting. Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order launches for Xbox One, PS4, and PC on November 15.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/star-wars-jedi-fallen-order-wont-have-fast-travel-/1100-6470644/

Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order Sees The Return Of A Major Clone Wars Planet

/0 Comments/in /by

Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order previews were published online earlier today, with several outlets offering their thoughts on Respawn Entertainment’s first foray into the third-person action-adventure genre. Of the two planets available to visit during a preview event, Respawn has opened the landing zone for one of Star Wars’ iconic planets in the galaxy far, far away–Dathomir.

Dathomir is a very important locale in Star Wars lore. Not only is the crimson planet seen in The Clone Wars, but it is also the home base of the Nightbrothers, the Nightsisters, and prequel Trilogy villain, Darth Maul.

The Nightbrothers were a tribal group of Zabrakian males who served as a military arm for the Nightsisters. In contrast, the Nightsisters were magick-sensitive women who harnessed much of Dathomir’s power. Maul has feet in both camps: born a Nightbrother and birthed by the Nightsister clan’s Mother, Nightsister Talzin. He gets chopped in half by Obi-Wan Kenobi in Episode I: The Phantom Menace, but survives by focusing his hatred on Kenobi and makes a cameo in Solo: A Star Wars Story. With confirmation that characters like Rogue One’s Saw Gerrera will make an appearance, there’s a very real possibility Darth Maul could battle Jedi Fallen Order protagonist Cal Kestis at some point.

A lot of bad happened on Dathomir during The Clone Wars, though, including the almost total annihilation of the Nightsisters executed by Count Dooku. With Jedi Fallen Order taking place not long after Order 66–an executive order by Emperor Palpatine that saw most of the Jedi killed–Respawn has remained tight-lipped about what Dathomir is like. However, the planet is available to visit for those looking for a tougher challenge.

“Within the cinematic, it’s very clear that Dathomir is a dangerous planet, and you’ve got to be careful if you’re going to choose that,” game director Stig Asmussen said in an interview. “The player is given a warning if they go there, but at the same time though, I don’t want to discourage people from going there because some people might. It’s almost like it’s a difficulty level that’s built-in without actually having a menu in front of you.”

GameSpot editor Alessandro Fillari attempted Dathomir during his three hours with Jedi Fallen Order. He didn’t see much success. “[Dathomir’s] an incredibly unnerving world to explore, and the roaming Rancors that come in various sizes didn’t make it any it any easier,” Fillari said. “After a few attempts exploring the space, I decided to pack it in.”

We’re a little less than a month from Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order’s November 15 release on PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. There’s plenty of Jedi Fallen Order coverage to comb through till then, including the lack of fast travel, the PC requirements necessary to run it, and much more. So be sure to check back for all the latest news on Respawn’s upcoming character-action title.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/star-wars-jedi-fallen-order-sees-the-return-of-a-m/1100-6470642/

The Outer Worlds Has Huge Day One Patch; Unlock Times Confirmed

/0 Comments/in /by

The Outer Worlds is coming next week, and Obsidian has outlined a roadmap of how you can get yourself prepared for the big event. That includes details about a day-one patch across console retail copies, and when exactly the game will unlock in each territory.

According to a post on Obsidian’s forums, a day-one update will be a whopping 38 GB on Xbox One, and 18 GB on PS4. That only goes for the retail disc editions, though, since digital purchases will have the patch included in the pre-load of the game. The post also details the rolling global release times, and PC players get a slight head start on exploring the galaxy. You can check the schedule from Obsidian below.

The studio recently had to clarify that The Outer Worlds will run at 4K on both PS4 Pro and Xbox One X, following reports that it would only be enhanced for the Xbox platform. The Xbox does still have a slight advantage going for it, though, since it’s included with Microsoft’s Game Pass subscription. That extends to the PC version as well. If you’re going to buy The Outer Worlds on PC a la carte, though, it’s going for a good price.

The Outer Worlds PC Unlock Times

  • October 24, 2019 – 16:00 PDT
  • October 24, 2019 – 19:00 EDT
  • October 25, 2019, 2019 – 00:00 BST
  • October 25, 2019, 2019 – 10:00 AEDT

The Outer Worlds Console Unlock Times

  • October 24, 2019 – 21:00 PDT
  • October 25, 2019 – 00:00 EDT
  • October 25, 2019, 2019 – 00:00 BST
  • October 25, 2019, 2019 – 00:00 AEDT

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/the-outer-worlds-has-huge-day-one-patch-unlock-tim/1100-6470639/

The Nintendo Switch Gets A Nice, Little Discount In This Awesome Deal (US)

/0 Comments/in /by

There have been a lot of great Nintendo Switch games this year, from Fire Emblem: Three Houses and Super Mario Maker 2 to Link’s Awakening and Astral Chain–and we still have Pokemon Sword / Shield and Luigi’s Mansion 3 to look forward to. If you’re finally ready to take the plunge and get the console–or upgrade to the version with improved battery life–then Amazon has a nice little deal that makes the Switch a little easier to afford.

No Caption Provided

Nintendo Switch w/ improved battery life – $275 ($300)

See at Amazon

At this moment, you can pick up a Nintendo Switch from Amazon for $275, thanks to a currently available coupon. Once you activate the coupon by clicking the box on the Switch’s product page, the discount will be applied at checkout. The coupon is applicable to both the Neon Red/Blue and Grey editions. Unfortunately, there’s no indication of when this deal might end, so be sure to take advantage of it soon if you’re interested.

If you’re already a Switch owner and interested in upgrading, then there are a few things you need to know. Thankfully, we put together an easy guide that walks you through upgrading your Nintendo Switch to the better-battery model. Alternatively, you can check out our list of the best Nintendo Switch games available right now.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/the-nintendo-switch-gets-a-nice-little-discount-in/1100-6470643/

Fortnite “O” Location: Where To Find Letter O In Open Water Loading Screen

/0 Comments/in /by

Fortnite‘s next batch of Chapter 2 challenges are now live on PS4, Xbox One, PC, Nintendo Switch, and mobile. This week’s set is called Open Water, and if you complete enough of them, you’ll unlock another letter search challenge. This time, you’ll need to search the hidden O in the Open Water loading screen. If you need help finding it, we’ve put together this guide showing you exactly where to go.

Where Is The Hidden “O” Location?

Similar to the secret Battle Stars from past seasons, the location of the letter O is hidden in a special loading screen. Once you’ve unlocked the screen, you’ll need to scour it carefully to see where the letter O is hiding around the island.

You’ll unlock the loading screen in question when you complete eight of this week’s Open Water challenges. That should be easy enough to do, as most of the tasks are fairly straightforward. If you need help mopping them up, you can find our tips for the Open Water challenges here.

The loading screen depicts two characters reeling in a Slurpfish at one of the many bodies of water around the island. The O can be spotted just beneath the dock surrounding the white building, which is located on the northernmost edge of Craggy Cliffs–that’s where you’ll need to go to find the letter.

How To Complete The Challenge

Once you know where to look, make your way to the aforementioned building in Craggy Cliffs and the letter will appear when you approach. Interact with it to collect the O and you’ll complete the challenge. This is the second hidden letter thus far in the season, with six more to go until you spell out “FORTNITE.” If you still haven’t found the letter F, be sure to consult our hidden F location guide. You can also check out our other Fortnite Chapter 2 coverage below.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/fortnite-o-location-where-to-find-letter-o-in-open/1100-6470636/

New Borderlands 3 Update Patches Legendary Guns

/0 Comments/in /by

Gearbox has scheduled another hotfix for Borderlands 3, and the patch is going live today by 3 PM PT / 6 PM ET / 11 PM BST. The hotfix is primarily aimed at balancing certain legendary weapons, but it also implements a few bug fixes as well.

“After looking through the data, we found that some pieces of Legendary gear were greatly outperforming others and felt they were limiting builds instead of increasing them,” Gearbox writes in the full patch notes. “In addition, some of the damage output of Legendary gear limited the growth in combat engagements for the future so we tuned everything to an acceptable median.”

The patch notes list massive buffs and nerfs for several legendary weapons across all gun manufacturers and several grenades. The most notable changes are to Flakker and Butcher–both shotguns are currently some of the best guns you can find in the game, dealing out tremendous amounts of damage with very few penalties.

Hidden among the many bug fixes implemented in this latest patch is a change that many Borderlands 3 players are likely going to enjoy seeing: a modification to shield boosters so that they now auto-pickup. Some shields, when damaged, cause boosters to drop that either buff or debuff your shield in unique ways. Since launch, you’ve had to individually loot these boosters off the ground–which is incredibly difficult to do in the midst of a hectic firefight. And once the fight is done, you have little need for the boosters. So automatically picking up the boosters is a very welcome change.

We’ve listed the remaining weapon changes and bug fixes below.

Borderlands 3 October 17 Hotfix Patch Notes

Weapon Hotfixes

Maliwan

  • Westergun damage increased by 25%
  • ASMD damage increased by 28%
  • Cutsman damage reduced by 25%

Tediore

  • Ten Gallon damage increased by 8%

Vladof

  • Sickle reload speed increased by 25%
  • Faisor damage increased by 15%
  • Infiniti damage increased by 40%
  • Magnificent damage increased by 25%
  • Jericho damage increased by 40%
  • Lucian’s Call accuracy and handling reduced
  • Lyuda Critical Damage Bonus decreased by 30% and made a modification to address a reported bug that an extra bullet was spawned in the center

Torgue

  • Try-Bolt damage increased by 25%
  • Alchemist damage increased by 25%
  • Devils Foursum damage increased by 13%
  • Flakker now consumes the full magazine when fired and damage is reduced by 33%
  • Laser-Sploder rocket projectiles spawn interval increased by 0.4 seconds

Jakobs

  • Maggie damage increased by 35%
  • Hellwalker damage reduced by 8%

Hyperion

  • Conference Call damage increased by 15%
  • Crossroad accuracy reduced and it now fires 3 projectiles instead of 4
  • Butcher accuracy reduced and damage reduced by 25%

DAHL

  • Vanquisher damage increased by 20%
  • Children of the Vault
  • Skeksis damage increased by 15%
  • Linoge damage increased by 20%
  • Pain is Power damage increased by 25%

Atlas

  • Ruby’s Wrath damage increased by 10%

Grenades

  • Hunter-Seeker damage increased by 25%
  • Hex grenade damage reduced by 70% and duration reduced to 3 seconds
  • Firestorm damage reduced by 70%

Artifacts

  • Elemental Projector damage max roll reduced to 90%

Vault Hunter Adjustments

  • Iron Bear: health increased by 50%
  • All pets’ health increased by 50%
  • Digi-Clone: health increased by 100%
  • Addressed a bug with Salvation where grenades were giving life-steal

Bug Fixes

  • Psychos will now use their True Vault Hunter Mode name in True Vault Hunter Mode
  • Removed the optional Rare Spawn missions from Galaxy Progress
  • Addressed a reported bug where Completely Sane Sid didn’t always become hostile when using FL4K
  • Addressed a reported bug where Ratch would not properly spawn during “Ratch’d Up”, which potentially blocked completion of that side mission
  • Included a modification so Lilith would continue to move toward the door in Shiv’s confession chamber during “From the Ground Up”
  • Lowered the chance for a weapon to drop from the Pachinko machine
  • Included a modification so that Zane’s Digi-Clone will no longer spawn into the cage in Cistern of Slaughter
  • Shield Boosters were modified and are now set for autopickup
  • An addition was introduced so Eridium chests are no longer listed as Red Chests in the ECHOcast extension on Sanctuary III

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/new-borderlands-3-update-patches-legendary-guns/1100-6470637/

Fallout 76’s Big Human NPCs Update Delayed To 2020

/0 Comments/in /by

Fallout 76‘s Wastelanders update, which was to add human NPCs with dialogue and quest-lines more like a single-player Fallout game, has been delayed. In an post on its website, Bethesda explained that the update is turning out to be rather ambitious, and as a result it’s being pushed to Q1 (January-March) 2020.

“We’re excited about how Wastelanders is coming together but it’s going to need more time to be the best, most polished update it can be,” the announcement states. “Wastelanders is turning out to be one of the largest expansions we’ve ever done, and it changes the entire world with human NPCs returning.”

The announcement goes on to lay out a roadmap for future plans. Those include reworking the Atomic Shop and Challenge and reward systems, while maintaining a careful approach so that players can’t buy a competitive advantage. Bethesda says it is also working on quality-of-life improvements for 2019, along with more new events, the perk loadouts, Legendary Player system, and public test server.

Coming much sooner than all of those will be the addition of private servers. The company says this is the top-requested feature, and it’s coming next week. The ability to mod your private worlds will be added in a future update.

Fallout 76 had a rocky launch and was met with largely negative reviews, including GameSpot’s review which awarded it a 4/10. One chief criticism was that the lack of NPCs made the world feel sparse and inconsequential, which the Wastelanders update aims to fix. In the meantime, Bethesda has been releasing updates fairly regularly, adding features like a battle royale mode and raids.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/fallout-76s-big-human-npcs-update-delayed-to-2020/1100-6470635/

Fortnite Hideout Locations: Where To Hide In Hideouts For Open Water Challenge

/0 Comments/in /by

Chapter 2 of Fortnite officially kicked off earlier this week, but due to the truncated duration of this season, a new set of challenges is already here as well. This batch is called Open Water. That name is somewhat misleading, however, as most of the missions revolve around hiding. One in particular asks you to hide inside hideouts in different matches. If you’re not sure where those can be found, we break down how to easily complete the challenge below.

Where Are The Hideout Locations?

Hideouts are a new map feature introduced in Chapter 2. They come in two forms–dumpsters or haystacks–and can be hidden inside, letting you get the jump on an opponent. Fortunately, both kinds of hideouts are scattered plentifully across the island, so you shouldn’t have too much trouble completing this challenge.

Dumpsters are typically found near large points of interest, so you can expect to see them by buildings in named locations like Retail Row, Craggy Cliffs, Salty Springs, and Dirty Docks. The latter three are good places to check, because you need to visit those areas to complete a different Open Water challenge, making this a chance to kill two birds with one stone. Hay piles are less common, but you’ll be able to find them primarily in the new Frenzy Farm area.

How To Complete The Challenge?

Once you have an idea of where the hideouts are, all you need to do is head to one and hide in it. To conceal yourself, simply approach the hideout and press the interact button when prompted. Do this in three different matches and you’ll complete the challenge, netting you 14,000 season XP and unlocking another Open Water challenge to complete.

If you’re trying to run through this week’s challenges quickly, you’ll want to wait before moving on from the hideout; a separate mission asks you to deal damage within 10 seconds of leaving a hideout, making this another good opportunity to double up. However, you’ll need to unlock that mission first before your progress can be counted. You should also be wary near hideouts, as they’re sure to attract other players, so there’s an increased chance you could be ambushed.

Chapter 2, Season 1 runs until December 12, according to the official Fortnite website. You can see the full list of Week 1 challenges here, along with our guides on how to complete the trickiest ones. For more, be sure to check out our other Fortnite Chapter 2 coverage below.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/fortnite-hideout-locations-where-to-hide-in-hideou/1100-6470630/