Pages

▼

Ghost of Tsushima: Legends – Ronin Class Guide & Techniques

The first choice you'll make in Ghost of Tsushima: Legends is picking one of the co-op mode's four playable classes. Compared to the other three, the Ronin is perhaps the least straightforward as he's not specifically melee, ranged, or stealth focused. Instead he fills more of a support role.

Team composition is key in Ghost of Tsushima: Legends and it won't take long for the Ronin to prove himself a worthy party member. He's your go-to guy for healing, his ultimate – Breath of Izanami – allowing you to revive multiple fallen allies simultaneously.

When playing Survival on Silver tier difficulty or higher the Ronin becomes an essential part of any squad, keeping everyone's health topped up while carefully unleashing his ultimate when it's needed.

Ronin Overview

The Ronin more than makes up for his lack of offence with reliable support actions but requires a team player mindset. His Healing Incense should be used regularly and in proximity of allies in combination with Weakening Burst. This power consumes one Resolve but plants a helpful debuff on surrounding enemies, dropping their attack power and defence by 25%. If timed correctly, you and your companions can unleash a deadly onslaught. However, knowing when to spend Resolve and when to keep it for Breath of Izanami is the sign of a great Ronin player.

Ronin Techniques

Name Type Rank Required Description
Breath of Izanami Ultimate 0 Revive all downed allies
Spirit Animal Class Ability 1 Summon a friendly dog companion for a short amount of time
Enhanced Ghost Weapons Perk | Slot 1 2 Increase damage from all Ghost Weapons by 50%
Staggering Imposition Perk | Slot 2 3 Increase Stagger damage inflicted by 15%
Soothing Breath Perk | Slot 3 5 Breath of Izanami now also applies a heal over time to all players for 8 seconds
Weakening Burst Perk | Slot 1 7 Weaken enemies so they deal 25% less damage and take 25% more damage
Resolve Increase Perk | Slot 2 9 Increase max Resolve by 1
Healing Incense Class Ability 10 Deploy a small pot of incense that heals nearby allies
Fire Breath Perk | Slot 3 11 Breath of Izanami now also ignites enemies near all players
Ronin Unleashed Perk | Slot 1 14 Decrease class ability cooldown by 15%
Quick Regen Perk | Slot 2 16 Increase healing received and health regen by 50%
Legendary Perk | Slot 3 18 Increases the number of Legendary items you can equip by 1

Unless you're in a party with other Ronin, you should always select Healing Incense as your class ability. Having a spirit dog is fun and all but they're not as essential, only distracting enemies for a short time while you could be healing instead.

You should really be taking Weakening Burst in your first perk slot for the reasons mentioned earlier. If used well and often it can help in just about every combat scenario. That said, Enhanced Ghost Weapons could also come in handy if you're particularly handy with you kunai and caltrops.

In perk slot two, we recommend taking the Resolve Increase. Again, this links back to Weakening Burst – when at full Resolve you have enough to activate this ability then have enough left over in case you need an emergency Breath of Izanami. Opting for Staggering Imposition is a solid backup for those Ronin who thrive at guard breaking enemies and maintaining crowd control.

Finally, in perk slot three you can mix things up here. Naturally, we'd go for Soothing Breath due to its healing properties but if you're already carrying other medic perks then Fire Breath might be more suitable, potentially torching swathes of enemies that surround individual squad mates.

Ghost of Tsushima Guides & more from TheSixthAxis

Assassin's Creed Valhalla's post launch content plans includes two expansions

Ubisoft has confirmed the post launch content for Assassin's Creed Valhalla, and the publisher has stated that there will be two expansions and an exclusive quest for season pass owners, and a lot of free content for all players. The exclusive quest for season pass holders is called The Legend of Beowulf which explores the legend, and this quest will be available on launch day of the game. The two expansions will then expand the world of Assassin's Creed Valhalla.

The first expansion is called Wrath of the Druids and in it players will be travelling to Ireland on the hunt for the members of a druidic cult while being immersed in the folklore or Ireland. This expansion is due in Spring 2021. The second expansion is The Siege of Paris and as you can probably guess players will be heading to the French capital. To be precise this expansion will allow players to experience the famous siege that took place in 845 AD. Players will have to infiltrate Paris and create alliances to secure the future of Eivor's own clan. This is expected in Summer 2021.

The free content will be released across seasons with each of these seasons lasting three months. Season one will include:

  • A new settlement area, allowing players to continue to grow and evolve their settlement.
  • A traditional Viking Festival: the Yule Festival, for players to experience in their settlement.
  • A new game mode: the River Raids. Building on Valhalla's core raiding mechanic the mode will deliver a dynamic, challenging and highly replayable raid experience.
  • The addition of the Ranks for Jomsviking: in Assassin's Creed Valhalla players can not only create their lieutenant to be part of their raiding crew, but also recruit some from their friends and the community. In Season 1, players will see an update to the Jomsviking feature which will allow their Jomsviking to earn XP and rank up – the higher will be the rank of the lieutenant, the more silver players will earn when recruited by other players.
  • Finally, as for each season, Season 1 will also come with new player skills and abilities, weapons and gear, and cosmetic items for the settlement, longship, horse and raven.

Season two will be available in March 2021. Assassin's Creed Valhalla is launching on the 10th of November, a week earlier than previously announced, to line up with the launch of the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S. The game will be be releasing for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC and Google Stadia. For the home consoles, if you're not hitting the next-gen on day one there's free cross-gen upgrades, like using Smart Delivery on Xbox.

Source: Press Release

Dirt 5's full launch car list has been confirmed

Today, Codemasters confirmed the full list of cars that will be available at launch for Dirt 5. There are 13 classes of vehicles in total suited for different vehicles. Some cars are real while some are fictional, and a couple will have designs exclusive to the Amplified Edition of Dirt 5. The full list of vehicles is below.

Super Lites

  • Ariel Nomad
  • Ariel Nomad Tactical (Amplified Edition exclusive)
  • Armada Engineering Class 10
  • Blitzworld Beast
  • Brenthel Industries Class 10
  • Exomotive Exocet Off-Road
  • Speedcar Wonder
  • Speedcar Xtrem
  • Volkswagen Baja Beetle
  • Volkswagen ID Buggy

Rock Bouncer

  • WS Auto Racing Mudclaw (fictional)

Formula Off Road

  • WS Auto Racing Titan (fictional)

Unlimited

  • Armada Engineering Unlimited Truck
  • Brenthel Industries Class 1 Buggy
  • Brenthel Industries Unlimited Truck
  • Jimco Unlimited Class 1
  • Jimco Unlimited Truck

Modern Rally

  • Citroën C3 R5
  • Ford Fiesta R5 MKII
  • ŠKODA FABIA Rally2 evo
  • Volkswagen Polo GTI R5

Classic Rally

  • Fiat 131 Abarth Rally
  • Ford Mustang GT Fastback Rally
  • Lancia Stratos
  • Porsche 911 SC/RS Rally
  • Porsche 924 Carrera GTS Rallye

80s Rally

  • BMW M1 Procar Rally
  • Ford RS200
  • Lancia 037 Evo 2
  • Peugeot 205 T16 Evo 2
  • Porsche 959 Prodrive Rally Raid

90s Rally

  • Ford Escort RS Cosworth
  • MITSUBISHI LANCER EVOLUTION VI
  • Peugeot 306 Maxi
  • Renault Clio Williams Maxi
  • SUBARU Impreza S4 Rally

Rally GT

  • Aston Martin V8 Vantage GT4
  • Audi TT Safari (Amplified Edition exclusive)
  • BMW M2 Competition
  • Fiat Abarth 124 Rally
  • Ford Mustang GT4
  • Lotus Exige R-GT Rally
  • Porsche 911 RGT

Rally Cross

  • Audi S1 EKS RX quattro
  • MINI Cooper SX1
  • Peugeot 208 WRX
  • Megane R.S. RX
  • SUBARU WRX STI RX Supercar
  • Volkswagen Beetle Rallycross (Amplified Edition exclusive)
Pre-Runners
  • Aston Martin DBX
  • Audi AI: TRAIL quattro
  • Cadillac Escalade PreRunner
  • Chevrolet Colorado ZR2 Bison
  • Ford F-150 Raptor PreRunner by Deberti Design (pre-order bonus)
  • Ford F-150 Raptor
  • MITSUIBISHI e-EVOLUTION
  • Porsche Cayenne Transsyberia

Cross Raid

  • Laffite G-Tec X-Road
  • MINI John Cooper Works Buggy by X-raid
  • Peugeot 3008 DKR Maxi
  • Porsche Macan T1 Rally Raid (Amazon exclusive)
  • Sodicars Racing BV6
  • Volkswagen Race Touareg 3

Sprint

  • Jupiter Hawk 410 (fictional)

It was recently confirmed that save data would not transfer between PS4 and PS5, but that data will transfer between Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S. Recently gameplay was shown of Dirt 5 which featured South Africa. Codemasters has confirmed that Dirt 5 will be a launch title for next gen consoles, meaning it will be available on November 10th for Xbox Series X|S, and should be making its way to PS5 on November 12th/November 19th depending on which region you are residing in. The current gen release will be on November 6th.

Source: Codemasters

With Ubisoft Connect all your Ubisoft saves follow you wherever you go

Slightly late in the day for us here in the UK – and France where Ubisoft are based – but Ubisoft have just announced Ubisoft Connect, a new system for allowing cross save on Ubisoft games to follow you from platform to platform. Set to release on the 29th of October, Ubisoft Connect is billed as an ecosystem of player services that covers all Ubisoft games on all platforms.

Player's will be happy to learn that this is a free service, and you can access it on PC, via the mobile app, or directly through your games, building on and replacing the infrastructure of Uplay and Ubisoft Club. To make use of the service all you need is a Ubisoft account, which most gamers in the world will have probably signed up for at some point.

Sadly, the progression across all devices is currently limited to Ubisoft's newest or upcoming games, with the battle royale Hyper Scape, Viking-flavoured Assassin's Creed Valhalla, Breath of the Wild-aping Immortals Fenyx Rising and extreme sports title Riders Republic the first games to benefit from it.

Besides the cross-save functionality you can access your stats at any time to compare your progression with your friends, see highlights of your best performances, and even get personalised tips to help you become a better player.

You'll also continue to benefit from the benefits of Uplay like the huge back catalogue of free rewards across their back catalogue, including legendary weapons, character outfits, emotes and consumables. All of them can be purchased with Ubisoft Units that you gain from progressing in games or by levelling up in Ubisoft Connect.

Ubisoft are set for a big winter in 2020, with mega-hitters like Assassin's Creed Valhalla, Watch Dogs Legion and Immortals Fenyx Rising likely to make up a huge portion of the games sold in the coming months. Ubisoft Connect will at least make it easier for those hopping from old platforms to new for some of those games, and hopefully we might see it roll out to more Ubisoft titles in the future.

Darkest Dungeon 2 comes to Epic Games Store early access in 2021

Red Hook Games has confirmed that Darkest Dungeon 2 will be released on Epic Games Store in 2021 as an early access title. Darkest Dungeon 2 was announced last year. A new teaser "A Glimmer of Hope" has been released but it does not give too much away. What we do know is that there will a lot of challenges ahead in Darkest Dungeon 2. You can watch the brand new teaser below.

The description for Darkest Dungeon 2 is quite brief, and this is what it says:

The eagerly awaited follow-up to Red Hook's smash hit gothic horror RPG! DDII will test your mettle and drive you to the brink of madness. Armor yourself with purpose and provision your party for the journey ahead. It will be arduous.

 

In our review for Darkest Dungeon, Steve wrote:

Darkest Dungeon has found itself high up in my games of the year list, and I'll be playing it for a long time to come. An ungodly combination of Fire Emblem and Dark Souls, it delights in making you suffer, but every small step forwards feels like a massive achievement. It's not for everyone, but if you enjoy the darkness and feel up to the challenge, you can't do much better than enter the Darkest Dungeon. Just make sure that all your affairs are in order and that you have written a will, because once you're in, you might not make it back out…

You can read the full Darkest Dungeon review here.

Source: Epic Games Store

Rainbow Six Siege PS4 update 1.96 brings mid-season changes

As promised by Ubisoft earlier this week, the PlayStation 4 version of Rainbow Six Siege has received a new update.

Rainbow Six Siege update 1.96 is now available to download following some brief server downtime this afternoon. It includes not one but two lots of mid-season changes for Year 5 Season 3 which started on September 3rd, adding Splinter Cell's Sam Fisher as playable Operator "Zero".

Microsoft recently confirmed that Rainbow Six Siege will join Xbox Game Pass. It has also been revealed that Siege will receive a next-gen update on Xbox Series X|S and PS5, boosting performance up to 4K and 120fps. Finally, one more bit of Siege news: fan favourite Operator Tachanka is currently undergoing a major rework and is available to play on the Test Server.

For the full patch notes, see below. Ubisoft has also posted designer notes on the Y5S3.3 update, explaining the motive behind these changes.

Rainbow Six Siege PS4 Update 1.96 Patch Notes

BALANCING

ACE

Ace couldn't handle all the thirst from his fans.

  • Reduced the number of explosive ticks of the SELMA Aqua Breacher to 2 ticks (down from 3).

FROST

Shoot your shot(gun).

  • Added the ITA12S as a secondary weapon.

GLAZ

Lonely Russian sniper looking for some love.

  • Reduced vision recovery time to 0.4s (down from 1s).
  • Reduced movement penalization by 50% to 12s (up from 6s).

MELUSI

  • MP5 primary will replace the T-5. Optics available on the MP5 will be the red dot, holographic, and reflex.

ORYX

  • T-5 primary will replace the MP5. Optics available on the T-5 will be the red dot, holographic, reflex, and scope 1.5x.

BALLISTIC SHIELDS

  • The guard break effect occurs when operators with a ballistic shield are hit by an explosion or take certain types of damage (from a scale of a minimum of 50 to trigger the guard break to 100 damage).
  • The severity of the guard break is proportional to the damage done to the shield. Electric damage and the minimum 50 damage threshold will trigger the minimum strength guard break animation.
  • Melee damage, concussion FX, sonic bursts, and explosions of 100 damage or higher will trigger the the maximum strength guard break animation.
  • Operators positioned behind a Clash, Monty, Blitz, or Fuze are now also partially protected from explosion damage (this still applies even if they are from the opposing team). This protection also applies if the shield is on the operator's back. Damage taken from the explosion is proportionally calculated based on the operator's exposure to the blast.
  • Instead of folding Montagne's Extendable shield, he now as a guard break animation.
  • Shield explosion protection is reduced to 66% (down from 80%).

TCSG12 + ACS12

  • Damage drop-off is now more progressive to reach minimal damage at 50m (instead of 20m).
  • Damage at max range increased to 68% (up from 48%).
  • Suppressor damage penalization normalized to -12.5% regardless of range.

GAMEPLAY UPDATES

  • Changes to the defuser interaction that allow players to pick up the defuser, even in situations where it might have originally been inaccessible, due to falling into difficult-to-reach spaces.
  • Improvements to the chat filter feedback system.
  • The ban ticker has been deactivated for custom games. It will remain visible in all other game modes.

BUG FIXES

  • FIXED – Sometimes defenders spawn on top of each other when in 2nd Floor Master Bedroom on Chalet.
  • FIXED – Players can't vault over the half-wall/railing in 2F Library Stairs on Chalet.
  • FIXED – Dropped defuser can be difficult to recover from behind the table of 2F Cigar Balcony on Kafe.
  • FIXED – (PvE) Barbed wire spawns issues in Situation 10.
  • FIXED – Poor lighting inside the cabinet between sofas in 1F Bar of Chalet.
  • FIXED – Players can use a deployable shield to get to the counter next to the piano on Chalet.
  • FIXED – Zero's Piercing Camera can pierce and see through the ceiling in 1F First Aid on Plane.
  • FIXED – Missing SFX when picking up generic items.
  • FIXED – (PvE) Missing pre-barricaded doors/windows in Heavily Fortified Situation.
  • FIXED – Cancelling a Ranked queue can sometimes trigger an abandon penalty even when the player did not join a match.
  • FIXED – Secondary hard breach gadget's blue light can sometimes be seen through a barricade when deployed on it.
  • FIXED – Residual black smoke is visible after some soft walls in the Basement of Chalet are destroyed.
  • FIXED – Minor map asset issues.

Source: Ubisoft

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Ver. 9.0.1 patch release date confirmed

Nintendo have revealed when the next major patch for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate will be available for Nintendo Switch players.

The Ver. 9.0.1 patch now has a release date set for tomorrow, Nintendo confirmed earlier today. However, they have not specified an exact time for when this latest update will go live.

So far, we have no concrete information as to what's being included in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Ver. 9.0.1. The only details we have is that it will feature various "fighter adjustments". These character roster changes mean that replay data will be incompatible following the update – Nintendo posted a tweet detailing how to convert existing replays.

Naturally, Smash Bros. fans want to know exactly when the recently announced Minecraft DLC will be making its way to the popular Nintendo fighter.

Having been rumoured long before the game's announcement, the upcoming pack will see Minecraft's Steve make his debut alongside other familiar faces from the world-beating sandbox series.

Steve and his chums might initially seem to be an incredibly jarring inclusion, but it's hardly the first time that Super Smash Bros. has included characters from quite a few steps outside Nintendo's pantheon of characters. Sonic was one of the highest profile crossover characters, busting down the traditional walls of the Sega-Nintendo rivalry, but there's also been Snake from Metal Gear Solid, and the thoroughly saucy Bayonetta (partly because Nintendo now funds and publishes the series). Still, Minecraft characters just stand out from the crowd.

Nintendo revealed earlier this year that it would be extending its support for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate with a second fighter pass string of 6 bonus fighters. With Min Min from ARMS having been added to the roster this summer, and now Steve, four more characters will follow within the next year.

Source: Twitter (@NintendoofEurope) 

Per Aspera Preview – A fascinating take on the Martian terraforming project

For centuries, Mankind has looked to the stars and dreamt of the possibility of voyaging to new worlds, going boldly beyond our little blue and green marble and exploring the galaxy. You've got to walk before you can run, though, and even just having humans reach Mars for the first time would be a monumental project, let alone actually colonising it, terraforming our reddest of neighbours, or going any deeper into space.

Per Aspera is another relatively realistic take on the genre, loosely similar in tone to Surviving Mars. It's not humans that build their first colony on Mars, but rather robots, machines and artificial intelligences laying the foundations and building the habitats that humans need to survive. Per Aspera cast you as AMI, the custodial artificial intelligence that's running the show.

While AMI might be artificial, she's given meaningful intelligence and awareness through the game's early plot beats. Booting up upon arrival at Mars, you get a call from Nathan Foster from the ISA, who briefs you on the mission, and gives context. It's curiously framed, making it clear that AMI is almost like a newborn in AI terms, able to run through simple initial procedures, but also set to learn from them.

It's a perfect analogue for you as the player going through the game's opening for the first time, but you're given regular narrative prompts where you choose between two styles of response. Additionally, AMI's internal monologue sees her awareness of the situation evolve and grow, pondering the scenario, curious as to how the arrival of humans will affect your work, if they will simply see you as a machine or as a peer and custodian that ensures their safety, and more.

Then there's the seismic narrative twists and mysteries that were teased in the game's reveal trailer. Any game that gives me the option to nuke the ice caps will have me smashing that launch button faster than a really fast thing.

But first you need to build a sprawling network of industry on the hostile, barren face of the planet. Starting off with just the lander, you need to create mining installations and the first factories to turn aluminium, carbon, iron, chemical, water and other resources into polymers, circuitry, glass, and other building blocks for everything that comes after.

You're able to take a rather overarching view of proceedings, working in relatively broad strokes as the drone Workers scoot back and forth and move resources to where you need them. You simply have to pay attention when placing structures, to ensure that they are in range of an energy source, that it's close enough to other buildings to have a road automatically created for it, and after a little while, that it's within range of a maintenance building to ensure that it keeps on working.

Of course, you should consider the efficiency of your network, as each drone hub only has a single drone and they handle all the to-ing and fro-ing in their area.It can become exceptionally busy if you don't have enough drone hubs, slowing down the growth of your settlement as factories are starved of resources. You can give priority to a construction or factory, but it's really a stopgap measure for when you're pushing your network to the limits. You can often find yourself creating this sprawling network and then having to dive in to fix a mountain of niggling issues from inefficiencies, especially as your initial mines start to run dry and you have to spread the tendrils of your Worker network further and further.

Once humans arrive, they'll autonomously start to work in the colonies and research buildings you create, letting you pour research into advancing the structures and network of buildings, as well as opening up the options for expanding your reach to other parts of the planet. This starts to meaningfully advance the narrative, as you're able to investigate leftover structures from previous expeditions. One of these is the abandoned and secretive Huolong mission by China which, as luck would have it, was based around using nuclear weapons to melt the ice caps and kickstart the terraforming project.

That's a pretty big deal, because your overarching goal is to make the planet habitable for humanity. The first step is to raise the surface temperature, which can be done in a number of ways. You could use those aforementioned nukes (the whole radiation poisoning thing be damned), use giant mirror arrays to focus the sun's light, import carbon emissions from Earth, and even drag an asteroid through the thin atmosphere in the hopes it releases some CO2. There's other options as well, but I'm sure many people (like me) will have an itchy nuke button finger…

Per Aspera is a fascinating new take on the Martian colonisation project, not least for the way that it injects a science fiction narrative into proceedings centred around the growth of AMI's consciousness, her interactions with the human colonists and how her choices affect them, and a mysterious threat that could derail all of your work.

Hello Neighbor universe introduces Hello Engineer, coming 2021

Developer tinyBuild have announced Hello Engineer, their newest game in the Hello Neighbor universe. Revealed during the latest Google Stadia broadcast (which also revealed demos for Immortal: Fenyx Rising, Humankind, and PAC MAN Mega Tunnel Battle), Hello Engineer will be launching some time in 2021 and will be exclusive to the cloud game-streaming service.

Hello Engineer moves away from the stealth horror trappings of Hello Neighbor though shares the same setting and characters including the terrifyingly omnipresent Neighbor himself, Mr. Peterson.

In teams of three, you will play as a group of kids who need to explore the Golden Apple amusement park for materials to craft into various inventions. As always, you'll need to watch out for the Neighbor as he tries to thwart your plans. Here's an official rundown of what expect when Hello Engineer launches on Google Stadia next year:

Story​

A group of kids from Raven Brooks, members of the Inventors club, went to the abandoned amusement park to scavenge for resources to win the State Inventors Contest. Under unclear circumstances, the whole group was trapped there. Turns out that they're not alone here, somebody watches their moves and controls the evil bots. Little inventors need to use all their engineering skills to get out of amusement parks and don't let the strange Neighbor get them down.​
Construction:​

  • Using frame parts, gears, engines, wheels, weapons, and even jet engines from the amusement park scrap, you can build different vehicles that suit your ever-changing needs.
  • There are several advanced features such as electrical circuits and smart modules that are accessible for skilled engineers to build self-driven mechanical vehicles or creatures.
  • The most important ingredient is your creativity. There are no prescribed solutions to complete objectives, progress through the level however you want.

Multiplayer:​

  • You have too many moving parts and need more hands to control it? Just add more control panels and enjoy the ride with the crew members.
  • Do you have an idea to build a roller coaster? Team up with your friends to build even more exciting attractions.
  • You'd like to match your creation against other players' machines? Start the PvP mode to determine the best construction and copy the blueprint of it.
  • Sharing blueprints is an effective way to infinitely improve mechanisms and implement new ideas.

Game Modes:​

  • Creative mode is a sandbox with infinite resources to build any kind of creations.
  • Challenges mode. Complete challenges with a certain amount of resources.
  • PvP/PvE mode. Challenge players or evil bots in the "Bumper Car" arena to define the best and effective creation.

Hello Neighbor is one of those video game franchises that doesn't attract much mainstream attention yet has a thriving fanbase. It was reported earlier this year that the franchise has surpassed 30 million players. Hello Neighbor 2 is currently in development with a playable alpha available now via Steam.

Source: Press release

Risk of Rain 2 update 1.0 out now on consoles

As promised, Hopoo Games and Gearbox Software have launched their latest patch for manic roguelike, Risk of Rain 2, bringing the console version up to version 1.0.

Coming out of early access, there are plenty of changes that have been made to Risk of Rain 2 including the introduction of a new Survivor: The Captain. Oh, and there's an ending too.

Previously, solo and co-op players would continue advancing between stages with the difficulty steadily rising. In Risk of Rain 2 version 1.0 you can enter a final stage, defeat the end boss, and watch those credits roll!

Hopoo have introduced new items as well, adding even more ways for you to customise your Survivor loadout in-game. Keen for players to discover some of Risk of Rain 2's new arrivals for themselves, the team have blanked out some of the items found in the patch notes below.

If you haven't played it already, then Risk of Rain 2 is well worth picking up on consoles. Now available on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch, it crams in oodles of replayability as you go from run to run, sharpening your skills against the game's randomised gauntlet or perils.

Risk of Rain 2 Update 1.0 Patch Notes

Major Content

    • Added System: Game Ending
      • The game now includes a proper ending, with credits and cutscene.
    • Added System: Server Browser
      • Quickplay served an important function at launch – but the QP featureset is barebones. Not only that, but the game has evolved past needing to just find a match – you need to find the right match. We think a built-in Server Browser (and hosting) will still allow you to connect and find other players easily while also providing a lot of the features and choices you want to make before connecting to a game.
    • Added System: Intro Cutscene
      • The game now includes an intro cutscene!
    • Added New Survivor
      • New Survivor: Captain
    • Added New Stage
      • New Final Stage: ???

 

  • Added 4 New Music Tracks
      • New Track: Through a Cloud, Darkly
      • New Track: …con lentitud poderosa
      • New Track: You're Gonna Need a Bigger Ukulele
      • New Track: Lacrimosum

 

  • Added New Survivor Skin
      • New Survivor Skin: Captain Skin

 

  • Added 2 New Monsters
      • New Monster: ???
      • New Monster: ???

 

  • Added New Boss
      • New Final Boss: ???

 

  • Added New Interactable
      • New Interactable: Scrapper

 

  • Added 7 Items and 3 Equipment to the game
      • New Item: Item Scrap (White, Green, Red, Yellow)
      • New Boss Item: Molten Perforator
      • New Boss Item: Shatterspleen
      • New Boss Item: Mired Urn
      • New Lunar Item: Defiant Gouge
      • New Lunar Item: Mercurial Rachis
      • New Lunar Item: Purity
      • New Equipment: Super Massive Leech
      • New Equipment: Gorag's Opus
      • New Equipment: Forgive Me Please

 

  • Added 3 Character Challenges to the game
      • New Captain Challenge: Captain Mastery
      • New Captain Challenge: Wanderlust
      • New Captain Challenge: Worth Every Penny

 

  • Added 3 Challenges to the game
      • New Challenge: I Love Dying!
      • New Challenge: Washed Away
      • New Challenge: The Calm

 

  • Added 36 Lore Entries to the game
    • New Item Lore Entry: Molten Perforator
    • New Item Lore Entry: Shatterspleen
    • New Item Lore Entry: Mired Urn
    • New Item Lore Entry: Super Massive Leech
    • New Item Lore Entry: Gorag's Opus
    • New Item Lore Entry: Forgive Me Please
    • New Item Lore Entry: Soulbound Catalyst
    • New Item Lore Entry: Bandolier
    • New Item Lore Entry: The Crowdfunder
    • New Item Lore Entry: Old Guillotine
    • New Item Lore Entry: Jade Elephant
    • New Item Lore Entry: Blast Shower
    • New Item Lore Entry: Lepton Daisy
    • New Item Lore Entry: Shattering Justice
    • New Item Lore Entry: Topaz Brooch
    • New Item Lore Entry: Ocular HUD
    • New Item Lore Entry: Unstable Tesla Coil
    • New Item Lore Entry: Milky Chrysalis
    • New Item Lore Entry: Will-o'-the-wisp
    • New Item Lore Entry: Gnarled Woodsprite
    • New Item Lore Entry: Halcyon Seed
    • New Item Lore Entry: Purity
    • New Item Lore Entry: Glowing Meteorite
    • New Item Lore Entry: Preon Accumulator
    • New Item Lore Entry: Aegis
    • New Monster Lore Entry: Clay Dunestrider
    • New Monster Lore Entry: Alloy Vulture
    • New Monster Lore Entry: Imp
    • New Monster Lore Entry: Void Reaver
    • New Monster Lore Entry: ???
    • New Monster Lore Entry: ???
    • New Monster Lore Entry: ???
    • New Stage Lore Entry: ???
    • New Character Lore Entry: Huntress
    • New Character Lore Entry: Captain
    • New Character Lore Entry: MUL-T

Gameplay Changes

  • General
      • Bleeds now refresh all existing bleed durations on that target. This affects both enemies and players, and is a huge change for how bleeds will work.
      • Increase difficulty rate over time for all difficulties by +10%.
        Developer Notes: In this update, we've buffed a ton of items – and also given players way more agency over the way a run progresses. Our goal is for players to be more engaged with the game – what we don't want is for the game to be suddenly much easier. This is a bit of a sanity check, and shouldn't dramatically change the difficulty.
      • Slightly reworked OSP. The goal is to fix inconsistencies and make it actually protect you from one-shots – while also fixing some abuse cases with curse.
        • The threshold for OSP is now displayed on the healthbar with a faint graphic.
        • Now has a lingering 0.1s duration when activated.
        • 🌧 Now is subtracted via Curse (Shaped Glass, Artifact of Glass, etc), i.e a curse of 10% will remove OSP entirely.
        • 🌧 Update OSP logic so it still triggers if you receive multiple sources of damage in the same frame that go past OSP values, i.e Malachite Lesser Wisps

 

  • Elites
      • Blazing, Overloading, Glacial
        • 🌧Health Bonus: 470% ⇒ 400%
      • Malachite, Celestine
        • 🌧Health Bonus: 2350% ⇒ 1800%
          Developer Notes: We've had a lot of feedback that elite health has always felt a bit bloated – and that subsequently, it makes the Old Guillotine feel required. Our intent is to make characters less reliant on the Old Guillotine, and to make it feel more like an elite hate item – and less of an overall DPS item.

 

  • Survivors
        • 🌧🌧🌧 Mobility skills are now considered 'sprinting', scaling with sprint speed multipliers and also sprinting after use.
        • Melee Survivors
          • 🌧 Melee skills will now perform more consistently at high attack speeds.
          • Melee skills will now scale hitpause duration with attack speed – since the pause when hitting enemies were static, melee characters actually scaled poorly with attack speed.
          • Melee skills will now 'hold' you in the air better at high attack speeds.
        • Added a 'Keyword' system. Keywords are just words to describe common repeated behavior without explaining it every time. Added the following keywords:
          • Freezing
          • Stunning
          • Shocking
          • Poisonous
          • Regenerative
          • Agile
          • Percent HP
          • Sonic Boom
          • Weaken
          • Expose
          • Heavy

 

      • MUL-T
        Developer Notes: MUL-T has gotten some love from this patch to really push forward the idea that his weapons are strong in specific roles. Faster swap time and more responsive actions for the weapons will (hopefully) make weapon swapping feel better. We've also admittedly creeped cooldowns down over time, and MUL-T felt a bit left behind.

        • Base Acceleration: 25 ⇒ 30
        • Rebar Puncher
          • Now charges after firing, rather than before.
        • Scrap Launcher
          • Now behaves like a rocket instead of a grenade
          • Lifetime: 3s ⇒ 4s
          • Explosion Radius: 5m ⇒ 7m
          • Velocity: 70 m/s ⇒ 100 m/s
        • Nail Gun
          • No longer has an initial shotgun of 6 nails.
          • Now has a final shotgun of 12 nails.
          • Now fires in a consistent corkscrew pattern
          • Proc Coefficient: 0.4 ⇒ 0.6
          • Damage: 60% ⇒ 70%
          • Wind-down duration: 0s ⇒ 1.152s
        • Retool
          • Swap duration: 0.7s ⇒ 0.4s
        • Transport Mode
          • Cooldown: 8s ⇒ 6s
      • Mercenary
        Developer Notes: The Mercenary was always supposed to be the highest skill-cap survivor. However, in actual gameplay he became very flow-charty, using abilities directly off cooldown while holding down M1. The intent for all these changes is to allow skill expression, dynamic cooldowns, and higher risk vs reward in fight with the new 'Exposed' debuff. The hope is that the character will be stronger for advanced players, but weaker for new players.

        • Base Health: 140 (+42 per level) ⇒ 110 (+33 per level)
        • Base Regeneration: 2.5 health / second ⇒ 1 health / second
        • NEW Debuff: Exposed
          • Striking an Exposed target reduces all cooldowns by 1 second and deals an additional +350% base damage
        • Laser Sword
          • Third Strike Damage: 300% ⇒ 130%
          • Third hit now applies 'Exposed' debuff
          • The second and third hit of the combo can no longer be started in the middle of other attacks
        • Whirlwind
          • Ground Speed Multiplier: 6 ⇒ 8
        • Blinding Assault
          • Cooldown: 7s ⇒ 8s
          • Can now be canceled mid-attack by both Whirlwind and Rising Thunder
        • Slicing Winds
          • Last hit now applies 'Exposed' debuff
      • Acrid
        Developer Notes: Acrid has always been a melee-ranged hybrid. We want greater rewards for engaging in melee and completing your M1 combo for players who enjoy a more aggressive playstyle.

        • NEW Buff: Regenerate
          • Regenerate for 10% health over 0.5 seconds.
        • Vicious Wounds
          • Third hit of the combo now grants 'Regenerate' buff
        • Ravenous Bite
          • Now grants 'Regenerate' buff
        • Frenzied Leap
          • 🌧Now (properly) stuns
      • Artificer
        Developer Notes: We want to enforce the Artificer's role as a high-damage, high AoE character. Nano-Bomb in general was core to the fantasy, but was pretty much inferior to Nano-Spear in every way.

        • Plasma Bolt
          • Blast Radius: 4m ⇒ 6m
        • Charged Nano-Bomb
          • Now has slight gravity
          • Blast Radius: 10m ⇒ 14m
          • Blast Damage, Max Charge: 1200% ⇒ 2000%
          • Blast Force: 1300 ⇒ 3000
          • Lifetime: 5s ⇒ 10s
          • Improved FX for clarity
        • Ion Surge
          • No longer has -75% damage falloff at the edge of the blast

 

  • Items
      • Monster Tooth
        • Healing: 8 (+8 per stack) ⇒ 8
        • 🌧Now also heals for 2% (+2% per stack) of maximum health
      • Medkit
        • Healing: 24 (+24 per stack) ⇒ 20
        • 🌧Now also heals for 5% (+5% per stack) of maximum health
      • Repulsion Armor Plate
        • Now properly reduces damage from environmental effects
      • Warbanner
        • 🌧 Now also places a Warbanner when activating the Teleporter
        • Improve VFX to be less opaque, since it will always be near the Teleporter
      • Death Mark
        • Debuff Duration: 7s ⇒ 7s (+7s per stack)
        • 🌧Remove text stating that the damage bonus scaled with stacks
      • Old Guillotine
        • Execute Threshold: ~20% (+20% per stack) ⇒ 13% (+13% per stack)
          Developer Notes: Since we've re-tuned the health of elites across the board, the Guillotine should be appropriately re-tuned as well.
      • Runald's/Kjaro's Band
        Developer Notes: The two rings have undergone a bit of a rework, working off of an internal cooldown rather than a chance on-hit. We're hoping that this can help diversify one of our "on-hit" items to be more than just attacking enemies and hoping things activate. We've also changed the behavior of Kjaro's to be more of the AoE option, while Runald's is the single target option.

        • Proc Chance: 8% ⇒ 100%
        • Now has an internal cooldown of 10 seconds
        • Now has a minimum threshold of only triggering on attacks that deal 400% or greater damage
        • Runald's Band
          • Ice Blast Damage: 250% (+125% per stack) ⇒ 250% (+250% per stack)
          • Ice Debuff Duration: 3s ⇒ 3s (+3s per stack)
        • Kjaro's Band
          • Fire Tornado Damage: 500% (+250% per stack) ⇒ 300% (+300% per stack)
          • Fire Tornado Hitbox Width: 4.8m ⇒ 13m
          • No longer moves
      • H3AD-5T v2
        • Reworked logic for calculating fall speed so it scales better while falling farther. Now has the following behavior:
          • Damage Coefficient: 1000% – 10,000% at maximum speed
          • Explosion Radius: 5m – 100m at maximum speed
          • Improved FX
      • Interstellar Desk Plant
        • Healing Radius: 3m (+1.5m per stack) ⇒ 5m (+5m per stack)
        • Healing: 5% max health every 1 second ⇒ 5% max health every 0.5 second
      • Milky Chrysalis
        • Now grants true flight and antigravity instead of jump-to-hover.
        • Pressing jump now performs a short dash in the direction of movement with a 0.5s cooldown.
      • Strides of Heresy
        • No longer puts you in combat
      • Helfire Tincture
        • Helfire Radius: 10m ⇒ 15m
        • Helfire Duration: 8s ⇒ 12s
        • Improve VFX and SFX
      • Effigy of Grief
        • Now placed at where you're aiming, rather than at your feet
        • No longer is consumed on use.
        • Now limited to 5 per map per character.
      • Little Disciple
        • Fire Rate: 0.5s ⇒ 1.6s
        • Damage Coefficient: 100% (+100% per stack) ⇒ 300% (+300% per stack)
        • 🌧Fire Rate now scales with movement speed

 

  • Stages
      • 3D Printers will appear more often on all stages, ~50% more
      • 3D Printers will cost less to spawn on all stages, ~50% less
      • The new interactable, the Scrapper, can now appear on all stages
      • Titanic Plains
        • 🌧 Update with new visuals to make it depressing
      • Sky Meadow
        • Update with new visuals and functionality that leads to the final stage
      • Bazaar Between Time
        • Base Portal Chance: 25% for the first portal ⇒ 37.5% for the first portal
        • Lunar Buds: 4 ⇒ 5

 

  • Monsters & Bosses
    • Mini Mushrum
      • 🌧 Base Health: 360 (+108 per level) ⇒ 290 (+87 per level)
    • Parent
      • 🌧 Base Health: 1200 (+360 per level) ⇒ 900 (+270 per level)
    • Lesser Wisp
      • Now properly stops charging attack sound when interrupted
    • Imp Overlord
      • 🌧Maximum Blink Distance: 600m ⇒ 300m
      • Now throws Void Spikes in a staggered fashion, rather than all at once
    • Magma Worm
      • 🌧Maximum "Blink" Distance: 600m ⇒ 300m
      • Now considerably more aggressive and better able to hit targets
        Developer Notes: The blink behavior of both the Imp Overlord and the Magma Worm allows it to follow players between platforms, but it leads a lot of the times to the bosses blinking across the map to attack drones and turrets. While they may still do that, it'll be a bit less pronounced.
    • Void Reaver
      • Now attempts to lead its Void Bombs in a straight line against its target
      • Updated AI to fire more aggressively and backpedal when its target is too close
      • AI now has 360° vision
    • Bison
      • 🌧 Add spawn effect and animation (finally!)

Quality of Life

  • 🌧 Added a language dropdown menu to the Main Menu
  • Audio has received an overall mix pass
  • Reduced the audio levels of the Magma Worm, Imp Overlord, and Clay Dunestrider
  • Updated the Teleporter model
  • Updated the Ukulele model
  • Improved Infusion VFX to be more noticeable
  • Reduced brightness of some Mercenary effects to they are less white and have more color
  • Fixed dithering for several on-character item displays
  • Updated the kick system to be able to supply detailed messages and enforce version matching when connecting to a server
  • Added functionality for servers and lobbies to provide mod info and reject players for mismatches
  • Servers can now define behavior to run upon entering character select by supplying a "server_pregame.cfg" config file
  • Updated "MUL-T: Gotcha!" challenge to allow Preon tendrils to count toward completion
  • A bunch of other stuff we probably forgot!

Bug Fixes

  • Fixed an issue with spread from bloom being applied to both minimum and maximum spread (ie you could never have a bullet travel dead-center when your spread bloom is at maximum) for Commando's Phase Blast, Huntress' Ballista, and MUL-T's Rebar Puncher
  • Fixed potential physics crash that could occur if a character attempts to use a melee attack after crossfading into a new animation from a paused animation
  • Fixed immobilization from Void Reavers and REX's Tangling Growth becoming permanent if using Wax Quail while affected, which would also sometimes lead to a crash upon getting killed
  • Fixed Repulsion Armor Plate not applying against posthumously dealt damage
  • Fixed Visions of Heresy allowing Huntress' Ballista to exceed three shots
  • All gameplay stats are now forced to update before generating the final run report to make sure all values are up-to-date at the end screen
  • Fixed MUL-T's Nailgun not properly animating over the network
  • Fixed some projectiles not playing their pre-expiration sounds over the network
  • Fixed several sounds not being played over the network
  • Fixed a timing issue in which lobby player count would not update immediately after a player leaves the lobby
  • Fixed a variety of other bugs we also probably forgot!

Source: Gearbox Software Forums

Feather Review

Imagine for a second, having the ability to escape into the air, to soar through the sky with no clear destination in mind and to just enjoy the freedom to explore. Sounds great, doesn't it? And this is essentially what Feather allows you to do as you take control of a bird in flight. From indie studio Samurai Punk, this atmospheric flight sim isn't going to be to everyone's taste but if you enjoyed games such as Flower or Journey, you should certainly find something here to appreciate.

One of the first things you'll notice is how Feather does away with the need to mindlessly press X through a whole bunch of loading screens. Just launch the game, press 'Start' and you're off and flying over rolling hills – off to a flying start, if you will – accompanied by a soothing, atmospheric soundtrack. 

When you play for the first time, you'll be given a very brief – but entirely adequate – tutorial on and then the game lets you loose in the world which you are free to explore at your leisure. And as you fly around trying to master the simple controls of your bird, you might be forgiven for thinking that there's not a lot to the game but that's certainly not what I'd consider a negative here. There are no enemies or combat and you can't die – at worst if you do accidentally misjudge a dive or turn, time will rewind for a few seconds to let you correct your path. There are no clear goals and it's up to you entirely how you spend your time. 

Feather_20201017180215

The controls are intuitive and easy to pick up, and thankfully you can invert the controls via the options if they feel odd. The analogue sticks control your direction and camera and you can give yourself a speed boost or slow yourself right down with the left and right triggers. The more you become used to the feel of flying, the more you begin to appreciate the little nuances. Sure you have a speed boost button, but diving will also increase your speed dramatically and make for some exhilarating fly-bys, as well as some occasional – and embarrassing – crashes.

The views are fairly spectacular too, even with the low-poly graphics. And this is enhanced further with a day and night cycle, allowing you to enjoy countless sunsets and sunrises or take a leisurely moonlit flight across the islands. The weather also changes, giving the landscape a different look and feel. The murkiness of a cloud-filled rainy day or the early morning mist followed by bright sunshine makes the world feel that much more vibrant and alive.

Feather_20201019115121

Feather's music is a great accompaniment to the entire aesthetic of the game, and as you fly around the island, you'll notice circular gateways dotted around. Naturally, you'll want to fly through them and doing so will change up the music track and, as this plays such a big part in the mood of the game, it's well worth checking out all of them to find one that really suits your aerial pursuits. There are also smaller, triangular versions of these which will transform your bird's colour and change the sound of your chirp.

Speaking of which, there's also a passive multiplayer which you'll be familiar with if you played Journey. You may encounter other players flying around the island and you'll be able to spot them from the ribbons of air that trail behind each bird, though your only form of communication is through chirping which can be heard from quite a distance away. There's something really heartwarming when you suddenly hear the chirping of another player and you chirp back excitedly while flying around together. And if you're desperate to know who you've been sharing your airspace with, the pause menu will list the names of players in your game – though it may shatter your immersion if you suddenly discover that person you've been racing through the skies with for the last 20 minutes is actually 'Xxlolun00b69Xx'.

Feather_20201019121958

Many of the objects and environments of Feather's world are interactive in some way and it is well worth exploring every corner of the island – I actually didn't discover that you can land and perch on certain objects until I had been playing for quite a while! Performing low fly-bys can reveal many interesting features and if you look hard enough you'll find well-concealed entrances to caves and even a portal to another island with even more musical gateways and colour-changing portals to experiment with. 

So while there are things you can do in Feather, most of your discoveries will probably be made in a fairly short amount of time. But that's okay – Feather feels like it is meant as a relaxing interlude from everyday life and many will enjoy it as such. The real fun comes from the freedom of soaring through the air or performing daring dives at break-neck speeds and swooping through trees or between river banks after all. Despite there being no real replay value to speak of, it's a game that's quick to load up and come back to again and again to escape the stresses that the real world has a habit of throwing at us.

Despite all this, it feels like some players might be put off by the lack of direction or goals in Feather. Even Flower gave you a purpose and it seems a shame that this game lacks something more tangible to come back for. Still, it's a surprisingly enjoyable distraction – just as long as you're aware of what may be perceived as its shortcomings before you take flight.

Thrustmaster T.Racing Scuderia Ferrari Edition Gaming Headset Review

While most headset manufacturers are weighing up the options between copying Bose and Sony or trying to imagine what an alien's pair of headphones might look like, Thrustmaster are doing things a bit differently. Always keen to give you the most realistic experience while gaming, whether you're flying a jumbo jet, or trying to keep a rally car on the twisty and narrow, that desire for realism now extends to what you put on your head.

After their Air Force flavoured T.Flight, the newest addition to their headset line-up is the revamped T.Racing Scuderia Ferrari Edition, with a vibrant red styling that lets you look like you're taking a quick break from an F1 pit-lane. Whether you're a racing fan, or you just like the colour red, the Thrustmaster T.Racing is as successfully styled as a Schumacher is good at racing.

The T.Racing isn't a direct match to the current headsets used by the Ferrari F1 team, but they're clearly influenced by them. Bright red plastic housing around each earpiece is topped off by the instantly recognisable Ferrari logo, and the proportions and curvature of those earpieces mimics what you can see down the pit lane on a race weekend. There's also a chunky volume control knob at the top of the left earpiece which is gloriously easy to find in the midst of a hectic gaming session, and that's all of the controls you're going to find on the headset itself.

The other controls can be found on the inline controller a short way down the audio cable, which is also fitted with spring section that made me feel a little like I'd got the old home phone I grew up with attached to my head. The dinky little box includes the switch for muting the microphone and a mic volume dial for getting the mix just right. It's as good for hearing your Forza 7 pit crew natter away as it is for hearing the screams as you let your fireteam down in Destiny 2.

Oddly, despite looking like the type of headphones that are going to protect your ears when you've put your head inside an internal combustion engine, they have virtually no passive noise cancellation. Without any audio running through them you can hear the outside world with very little trouble, which is pretty disappointing when you're expecting the opposite. Listening to music with them on while writing this review, I can hear the clacking of the keys during quieter moments – they're almost as open as a pair of open-back headphones.

Still, blocking everything out isn't always what people are looking from in their headphones and the T.Racing benefits from a pleasingly wide soundstage that gives audio room to breathe. The overall audio response is very balanced. There's no overwhelming bass, while the top end is clear and distinct without becoming too sharp. It's a solid all-rounder, and while it lacks the magic you'll experience with the top-end of the gaming spectrum, it's a good companion for all of your content, particularly in its sub-£100 price bracket.

Gunship's synthwave tuneage sounded excellent, while an evening of NFL action this past Sunday allowed me to pick out all of the details of the commentary alongside the crunching action. It was of course a prerequisite to test the T.Racing with a batch of racing games and from F1 2020 on Stadia to Forza Horizon 4 the engine sounds, and Horizon's excellent soundtrack, were perfectly reproduced.

The refreshed T.Racing now includes a one year subscription to DTS Headphone X, giving Xbox and PC players another option on the 3D audio front. Given that you can already make use of either Windows Sonic as standard, or pick up Dolby Atmos access for a single payment, getting a one year unlock feels like a real nickel and dime job, but once you've hooked up the DTS Unbound app on your Xbox, it does at least do a good job of recreating a three dimensional audio space.

A few rounds of the excellent Gears 5 Horde mode became even more intense as you can pick out Locust rushing around on your periphery, and it certainly avoids the overly-airy effect some virtual surround offerings produce. Still, I'm not entirely convinced you'll be renewing the sub after one year.

If you're going to play a few rounds of whichever multiplayer poison you favour, you'll be needing a decent microphone and the T.Racing has you covered. For one thing the mic arm is removable – a gold standard in my book – or you can angle it up out of the way. It's also possibly the strongest flexible mic arm I've come across; once you have this thing set it's not going anywhere. In use the uni-directional microphone picks up exactly what you want it to, providing clear audio for all of those important things you have to say about people's mums.

It's a real pleasure to wear the T.Racing thanks to the excellent level of comfort that Thrustmaster have built in. The huge ear cushions are filled with cooling gel – one of my favourite advances in headset technology – and they're big enough that you won't experience any unwanted ear pain or pressure. The headband itself is covered with soft leatherette, and while there isn't a huge piece of foam beneath it, there's more than enough to keep you playing for many hours.

Ghost of Tsushima: Legends – how to survive Gyozen's Curse

If you've been playing Ghost of Tsushima: Legends, then you may have noticed the trio of bonus challenges attached to each of co-op mode's two-player story missions.

In order to squeeze as many rewards out of each Legends run you'll need to complete the same three optional objectives (only available on silver tier difficulty or higher). These include finding one of Gyozen's lost scrolls, recovering an Oni Treasure, and surviving Gyozen's Curse.

Even after completing all of the Legends missions, there's a chance you might have missed how to trigger Gyozen's Curse. This quick guide will explain exactly what the curse is and how you can overcome it to earn some extra loot while playing Ghost of Tsushima online.

Ghost of Tsushima: Legends Guide – 7 tips & tricks for beginners

If you've been playing Ghost of Tsushima: Legends (or wandering the island as Jin Sakai) you'll have likely encountered Gyozen the storyteller. He serves as your gateway between the solo and co-op modes the game has to offer, recounting tales of demon scourges and ancient battles. Here's a fun bit of trivia – he's voiced by Greg Baldwin who many will recognise as Iroh from Avatar: The Last Airbender.

Ghost of Tsushima: Legends – how to survive Gyozen's Curse

First, you need to know how to trigger Gyozen's Curse – this isn't made very clear in-game and is easy to miss. Each story mission is split into three stages separated by portal-like torii gates. As you pass through them, it prompts a kind of interactive loading screen as you walk down a corridor and through another gate.

Once per mission you'll find two shrines next to this second gate. You can activate them (this requires two players) to activate Gyozen's Curse. But what does it do?

The curse will create a bond between you and your partner, slowly draining your health if you move too far apart. Additionally, if one of you respawns then the curse will fail. So, in order to survive Gyozen's Curse you will need to complete one area while it's active, co-ordinating with your ally and making sure you don't get separated during those tougher combat encounters.

It adds an extra layer of challenge though the pay-off isn't all that great. At the mission complete screen you'll earn some extra Blessing – Legends most valuable currency. If you're regularly modifying gear and re-rolling stats then the extra Blessing will help with this.

Ghost of Tsushima Guides & more from TheSixthAxis

Dead By Daylight update 2.04 improves graphics and Pyramid Head

It's feels like a strange thing to be typing, but Pyramid Head – Silent Hill's relentless, gore-soaked executioner – has been rebalanced in a video game update.

Changes made to the gaming horror icon are one of the highlights of the latest Dead By Daylight update which went live earlier today.

This brings the game up to version 4.3.0 which will display as 2.04 if you happen to be plugged into the PlayStation 4 or Xbox One versions of Dead By Daylight.

There's a shopping list of changes to get through – developer Behaviour Interactive have a handy portal where you can view the latest patch, as per the system you're playing on whether it be PC, Stadia, Switch, and more.

Pyramid Head has been simultaneously nerfed and buffed as part of this mid-chapter update. Behaviours Interactive note that players have had a hard time landing his special power while others have been winding it up, only to feint into a cheeky basic attack.

Will Dead By Daylight get bots on PC & consoles?

Other changes include a visual update to improve the appearance of some assets and video effects.

Dead By Daylight recently entered it latest chapter "Descend Beyond" which introduced The Blight as a new playable killer. Looking further into the future, Behaviour have confirmed that players will get a free next-gen upgrade on both PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S.

We've listed the latest Dead By Daylight patch notes in full below. In the meantime, keep an eye out for upcoming re-review of the game.

Dead By Daylight Update 2.04 Patch Notes

THE EXECUTIONER BALANCE UPDATE

At the moment, the cost of missing a Punishment of the Damned attack is too high, and it's too easy to fake Rites of Judgement into a basic attack. The following adjustments address these issues.

  • After cancelling Rites of Judgement:
  • Movement speed is 3.68 m/s for 1 second
  • Further attacks cannot be made for 1 second
  • Cooldown before further attacks after Punishment of the Damned reduced from 2.75 seconds to 2.25 seconds

Perks:

  • Trail of Torment: Undetectable now lasts until the affected Generator stops regressing or a Survivor is injured or put into the dying state by any means
  • Forced Penance: Broken Status effect lasts 60/70/80 seconds
  • Blood Pact: Haste bonus is now 5%/6%/7%, and lasts until the Survivors are no longer within 16 meters of each other

Perk Updates:

  • Any Means Necessary now awards Bloodpoints when used, and its cooldown has been reduced to 100/80/60 seconds
  • For the People now awards Bloodpoints when used
  • Thanataphobia no longer affects healing speed, and its penalties have been increased to 4%/4.5%/5%
  • Mindbreaker's effect now lasts 3/4/5 seconds
  • Cruel Limits's range has been increased to 32 meters
  • Slippery Meat no longer affects Bear Trap escapes, and now increases hook escape attempt probabilities by 2%/3%/4%. These escape attempt percentages are additive, i.e. with this perk the chance of escaping the hook is now 6%/7%/8%
  • Discordance now has limited range of 32/64/96 meters. It triggers one loud noise for a Generator when it's first marked. The aura of the Generator remains visible as long as the conditions are fulfilled. From the time the conditions are no longer fulfilled, the aura remains for another 8 seconds
  • Hex: Huntress Lullaby now only affects healing and repairing skill checks
  • Technician now prevents all Generator explosions from missed skill checks. The Generator loses and additional 5%/4%/3% progress for missed skill checks
  • Pop Goes the Weasel now lasts 35/40/45 seconds
  • We're Gonna Live Forever now increases healing speed by 100% when healing a Survivor in the dying state. Players now gain a token when rescuing a Survivor by stunning the Killer with a pallet or blinding them with a flashlight

Generator Terminology changes and clarifications:

  • A Generator losing progress over time is "regressing"
  • Putting a Generator into the regressing state is "damaging the Generator"
  • If a Generator loses some of its progress immediately, this is "losing progress"
  • A blocked Generator cannot change its progress
  • A blocked Generator retains its regression state, but no progress is lost until it is no longer blocked
  • A regressing Generator can lose progress due to other effects
  • e.g. a Generator affected by Ruin can still lose progress due to Surge
  • Surge, Pop Goes the Weasel, and Overcharge have had their text updated to reflect these changes

Visual Update:

  • Visual updates to maps in The MacMillan Estates Realm.
  • Visual update to Lockers.
  • Added Footstep VFX.
  • Visual update to all Blood VFX. On Screen Blood, Blood squirt on hit, Blood pool decals.
  • Updated VFX for Trapper, Wraith and Hillbilly.
  • Updated dissolve VFX in-game and in-lobbies.

4K UI Icons

  • Updated Character portraits and customization icons for better resolution at 4K. This may result in your custom icons being replaced when you update.

Perk rarity:

All perks now have the same rarity:

  • Tier 1: Uncommon
  • Tier 2: Rare
  • Tier 3: Very Rare

BUG FIXES

System:

  • Disabled daily rituals screen and claiming while in Custom Game
  • Disabled audio sounds while being in the platform's store after proceeding from the In-game Store
  • Added the player Cloud ID in the soft ban pop-up

Gameplay:

  • Fixed an issue that might cause a survivor to remain in the being carried position after being hooked
  • Fixed an issue that might cause players to have less control on their character after being unhooked
  • Fixed an issue that caused the Cursed effect to appear before any token is earned on the perk Hex: Huntress Lullaby
  • Fixed an issue that might cause Hex totems to appear as dull totems for some players
  • Fixed an issue that caused the Make Your Choice perk to override a survivor's Calm Spirit while unhooking
  • Fixed an issue that caused failed skill check animations to continue after a player lets go of the interaction button
  • Fixed an issue that caused the survivor to hold the Deathslinger's chain with one hand after holding and dropping an item
  • Fixed an issue that might cause players to receive the Torment effect at random times when playing against The Executioner
  • Fixed an issue that caused survivors in the Cage of Atonement not to cause instant death if the remaining survivors are in the struggle phase
  • Fixed an issue that caused The Oni's Blood Orbs to spawn too far from survivors

KNOWN ISSUES

  • The Killer will sometimes see an incorrect animation during the start of match camera pan.

Source: Dead By Daylight

2K promise unskippable pre-game adverts "will be fixed" in NBA 2K21

NBA 2K21 courted controversy in an all-too-familiar fashion this week, as gamers found themselves confronted with unskippable adverts while NBA 2K21 loaded in a match, framed as part of a TV broadcast-style pre-game show.

This caused uproar amongst players who had already forked out $60 / £55 to $100 / £85 for the game, pushing 2K Games to issue a statement over the matter.

The statement reads:

As many are aware, in recent years ads have been integrated into 2KTV segments. Yesterday's 2KTV ad placement impacted our players' experience in a way we didn't intend, as these ads are not meant to run as part of the pre-game introduction.

This will be fixed in future episodes.

Thanks for your continued feedback.

Which is all fine and dandy, but highlights how there's a cycle of predictable controversy that surrounds the NBA series and pre-game advertisements. The game launched on 4th September for PS4, Xbox One, Switch and PC, and 2K waited around 6 weeks, until after the typical review window of the game, to insert adverts into their faux TV show game intros.

For NBA 2K19, they waited until June (per Gamerant) and the twilight of the game's relevance before they did this, but for last year's NBA 2K20, this kerfuffle kicked off at the end of October (per Comicbook). I don't know about you, but that seems pretty damn intentional, and it clearly follows in the footsteps of the last several years worth of games.

You can see the current implementation, as captured by Stevivor over the weekend:

I guess someone slipped while coding the loading screens?

It comes just a month after EA pulled a similar move in UFC 4, inserting adverts into the transitions around replays, before removing them after backlash from players.

It also adds to the criticism of 2K's efforts to monetise their dominant sports franchise beyond the initial sticker price. NBA 2K has long had microtransactions that have gone beyond cosmetics and can tie into the player and character progression across all modes through the overarching Virtual Currency. Some years strike a decent balance between earning VC though play and pay, and others fail to do so. Then there was the whole advert that was specifically made to look like gambling scandal.

2K were also the first to announce a price hike for their game series while heading to the next generation, and decided not to offer players an upgrade path from the current generation, paid or otherwise. Instead, the only way to get the next-gen upgrade included with your current-gen game was to buy the Mamba Forever edition at £84.99. It should be acknowledged that the next-gen version has been rebuilt from the ground up and offers significant changes to the game's visuals, animation, presentation, and more. 2K might have to work a little bit harder to integrate adverts when loading screens will be so much shorter, though.

NBA 2K21 is out now for PS4, Xbox One, Switch, PC and Stadia. It's coming to Xbox Series X|S on 10th November, and PlayStation 5 on 12th or 19th November depending on your region.

Source: twitter

Rocket League update 1.85 & Ghostbusters Halloween event announced

Rocket League (which recently went free-to-play) is celebrating Halloween in style this year, offering players the chance to net some Ghostbusters themed goodies as part of its Haunted Hallows event.

Starting today (and running through til November 3rd) you'll be able to unlock a cluster of spooky cosmetics for your vehicle all based on the popular film franchise.

These goodies include a Slimer roof attachment, as well as Mood Slime boost and Golden Pumpkins containing items from the Turbo, Nitro and Vindicator series. Ecto-1 will also be returning this year and will be up for grabs via the Rocket League marketplace.

As with the previous Fornite crossover event, you will need to complete a series of themed challenges in order to get this Ghostbusters swag. Alongside these rewards there are two limited time game modes to participate in including Haunted Heatseeker and Spike Rush.

That's not the only bit of Rocket League news coming your way. Developer Psyonix have also released their newest update for the popular footie/racing hybrid, bringing version 1.83 to all platforms.

Rocket League Update 1.85 Patch Notes

NEW CONTENT

Blueprints

  • Season 1 Series Blueprints are now available as drops after online matches

CHANGES AND UPDATES

Tournaments

  • Changed behavior of the Leave Tournament button

    • Once a teammate votes to leave during a match, the 'Leave Tournament' button will turn red

    • At the end of a match, the Leave Tournament button will not be usable until you reach the post-match screen. Disabling the button during the podium, progression, and drop screens will ensure you do not leave the tournament early enough to receive a temporary Tournament Ban

  • Removed time limit on Tournament Finals Series

General

  • Adjusted coloring on Free and Premium Challenges

BUG FIXES

General

  • [Xbox One] Fixed the bloom intensity on several different Wheels

  • Corrected stat tracking for double demolitions

  • Fixed trade status of several non-Common items

  • Bots joining a match in progress will use Boost as normal

  • Fixed several bugs preventing Challenges Menu navigation and Challenge claiming

  • Removed shading covering scoreboard during goal replays

  • Fixed a bug causing another player's Accolades to show on the post-match screen

Source: Rocket League

Google Stadia is packing in three days of exclusive demos everyone can try – starting now!

Starting as of this moment – that's 5pm on Tuesday the 20th of October – Google's Stadia is making a play for new users, and pleasing its current ones, by hosting three days of exclusive demos.

To get us started you can check out PAC MAN Mega Tunnel Battle right now. Mega Tunnel Battles is a head-to-head 64 player battle royale featuring your favourite yellow dot muncher, and introduces a host of new power-ups, character customisation and different mazes. Pac Man Mega Tunnel Battles launches first on Googles Stadia on the 17th of November.

Day two on the 21st of October brings with it the Humankind beta. This historical, turn based strategy game allows you to rewrite history, moulding the growth of humanity in your own image. I assume that means you can continue worshipping cats for as long as you like, before going to war with the dog faction in the twentieth century.

Finally, on Thursday the 22nd of October, Stadia users will be treated to the much-vaunted demo for Immortals Fenyx Rising. One of Ubisoft's big hitters this winter, Immortals Fenyx Rising casts you as Fenyx, a new winged Demi-god who's off to protect the Greek gods from a dark curse.

Formally known as Gods and Monsters, the game has more than a hint of Breath of the Wild about it – or Genshin Impact if you're so inclined – and it certainly looks like it could be a lot of fun. The Stadia demo is exclusive to the platform and takes in Aphrodite's region, featuring new content from what's already been seen of the game.

Each demo is going to be available for seven days, so you've got one week from when they go live to have your fill. New users don't have to make any payments or take a Pro subscription, everything is gratis.

Today's Stadia news also includes the release date announcement for Jedi Fallen Order, which will be joining the streaming service on November 24th, and details of another First on Stadia game in the shape of Hello Engineer, a machinery-building construction game set in the Hello Neighbour universe.

PUBG Update 9.1 will let Xbox One X, PS4 Pro and next-gen consoles play at up to 60fps

Update 9.1 for PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds is going into testing on the Public Test Servers and brings with it the usual swathe of tweaks, bug fixes and new content to try out. However, it also brings a major change for owners of the Xbox One X and PlayStation 4 Pro: you'll now be able to play at 1080p with a frame cap of 60FPS.

All players and owners of PUBG on console can test this out by downloading the separate PTS client.

For Xbox:

You can search and download the "PUBG – Public Test Server" on the Microsoft Store or the 'My Games and Apps' menu.

For PS4:

You can find the "PUBG – Public Test Server" in the 'Purchased' section of your Library.

I'm sure that PUBG players that own either of these consoles are thinking one thing: "FINALLY!" PUBG has always tried to maintain a level playing field with a 30FPS cap across all consoles, using the added power of the Xbox One X and PlayStation 4 Pro to push higher resolutions – 2160p and 1440p respectively. However, PUBG has never had what could be called good performance, with a lot of hitching and stutter present, even if the frame rate is generally at the 30FPS level.

Update 9.1 adds a new Framerate Priority setting that will let you choose to lower the screen resolution to 1080p and lift the frame cap to 60 FPS. We'll have to wait on some benchmarks and testing to establish how effective this actually ends up being, though. While clocked higher than the original consoles of the generation, the Jaguar architecture CPU of the Xbox One X and PlayStation 4 Pro can still be a limiting factor for frame rates, depending on the demands that a game makes.

However, even if the current consoles can't manage 1080p60, you can almost be sure that the next-gen consoles can. Both Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5 will be able to leverage their additional power to boost frame rates and stabilise dynamic resolutions of backward compatible games, regardless of whether a game has direct support for the platforms or not. Xbox Series S will not be able to take advantage of this, as it will be running the game in base Xbox One made, though it should manage to steady the ship at 1080p30.

Update 9.1 also adds Paramo, a new and dynamic map location  set in South America. It's a 3×3 map, but has the unique hook that it's a "dynamic" map. This means that landmarks and terrain can move from one match to another, and the lighting can change to be evocative of the active volcano. Speaking of which, there's streams of lava that will deal 10 damage per second and will wreck the tyres of any vehicle you drive through it.

Head to the PUBG news blog for more details on the new content coming to PUBG in Update 9.1.

Source: PUBG

Share Factory Studio for PS5 revealed by new PlayStation Store update

A new version of SHAREfactory is coming to the PlayStation 5, as revealed by an entry found in the new browser-based PlayStation Store. Dubbed 'Share Factory Studio' it promises to be an enhance video editing experience, tapping into the more ambitious sounding Create button on the PlayStation 5's DualSense controller.

ResetEra user Toumari captured the above image, while others snapped the description

Share Factory Studio beefs up the technical functionality compared to the PlayStation 4 version of the software, now allowing for capture and editing of game footage and screenshots in 4K and with HDR colours. Screenshots can be modified in a Photo Editor. You'll then be able to modify this with stickers, text, sound effects, filters, camera effects and more.

Interestingly, you'll now be able to import your own videos, images, music and sound effects from a USB drive, which will add a lot of possibilities for end users to use this as a much broader editing suite compared to the PlayStation 4 equivalent that allows you to put your own personal stamp on the videos you're making.

All of this can then be shared to YouTube – beware of importing copyright material if you do that and wish to monetise the videos – Twitter or to your friends in Party groups, which are collected together in what the PlayStation 5 UI reveal showed was called Game Base.

There's been a lot coming out of Sony's camp around the PlayStation 5 UI reveal last week, which showcased the speed of the system, the Control Centre overlay that provides access to pretty much all system features while in game, the new PlayStation Activites and card-based interface, and more. A part of the change is that the PlayStation Store will be baked into the main system software and not be a separate app.

There have also been other foundational changes made over the last few weeks. The PlayStaiton 4 was updated to system software 8.00 making fundamental changes to how parties and messages work to tie into the new philosophy behind social interactions on PS5 – much to the chagrin of some users – and the standalone PS Messages mobile app is being discontinued as the feature will be integrated back into a new PlayStation App on smartphone.

Source: ResetEra, Twitter

It's showtime in the Balan Wonderworld opening movie

One of the surprises of the summer was the announcement of Balan Wonderworld, a new 3D action platformer from the creators of Sonic the Hedgehog and Nights into Dreams. Check out the opening movie to the fantasy adventure here:

Balan Wonderworld is coming out on 23rd March 2021 for Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One (with Smart Delivery), PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch and PC via Steam.

The story sees the two protagonists Leo Craig and Emma Cole – by my count that's two characters with three first names – entering a mysterious theatre and meeting Balan, who draws them both into the magical Wonderworld.

The adventure then sees them drawn through the land of Wonderworld, guided by Balan along the way. You'll jump, climb, fly, smash and everything you'll expect from an action platformer, discovering 80 unique costumes that give you new special powers. These include the Rail Runner outfit, which lets you conjure up train tracks to quickly cross long distances and get around obstacles.

Source: press release

Halo: The Master Chief Collection will get a free Xbox Series X|S upgrade with 120fps campaign and multiplayer in November

No, there's no Halo: Infinite for the launch of the Xbox Series X|S, but that doesn't meant there won't be a ton of Halo to play on those new consoles next month. Microsoft have confirmed that there will be a free Xbox Series X|S upgrade for Halo: The Master Chief Collection to take advantage of the huge amount of added power that the new consoles offer.

Those optimisations will enable 120FPS play in both Campaign and Multiplayer, as well as split-screen improvements that allow for up to 4K on Xbox Series X.

The upgrade will be coming for free to existing owners and those with Xbox Game Pass on 17th November.

Halo: The Master Chief Collection is a huge collection of almost every single first person shooter in the Halo series. Launching back in 2014 for Xbox One, it features Halo 2: Anniversary alongside upgraded ports of Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary, Halo 3 and Halo 4. That later expanded to include Halo 3: ODST in 2015, and just last year, Halo Reach.

While the campaign gameplay played fine off the bat, the game was hampered by sever multiplayer matchmaking issues for years after release. It was really only with the announcement of the Xbox One X that 343 Industries committed to returning to the game collection, not only to add One X enhancements, but also to revive the game's multiplayer.

Then, in 2019, Microsoft announced the plan to release Halo Reach into the collection and use that game as a starting point to bring the whole Master Chief saga to PC for the first time. Since then we've seen each game tested and released in sequence, up until Halo 3: ODST in September. There's just one piece of the puzzle left in the form of Halo 4, but that's clearly not the end for MCC.

We can add full Xbox Series X|S to list of features planned for later this year.

  • Crossplay
  • Input Based MM
  • Sever Region Selection
  • Custom Game Browser
  • Per Game Graphics Options
  • Per Game Audio Options
  • M&K Support for Xbox
  • PC Fileshare
  • Double Keybinds for all games
  • Viewmodel adjustments for all games
  • In game FPS Cap/Adjustments
  • Steam Account Linking

Crossplay is by far the most exciting element here, letting people team up for co-op or competitive, regardless of their platform. It'll be great for catching up on the series before Infinite finally releases in 2021.

Source: Twitter

Zombie Army 4: Dead War DLC Season Pass 2 starts today with a trip to Damnation Valley

Rebellion are kicking off the second Season Pass for Zombie Army 4: Dead War, starting with the release of Damnation Valley for PS4, Xbox One, PC and Stadia today!

Damnation Valley takes you and whoever you can recruit to join you up to the North to head off the danger posed by a Hell Storm spotted above the Alps. A facility up in the mountains is the setting for the debut mission from the new Death From Above campaign, with the second and third parts set to arrive in the coming months.

Available as part of Season Pass Two or individually, it's joined by the following content:

  • Zombie Gentleman Dress Uniform Character
  • Halloween Headgear Bundle
  • Lee Enfield Rifle Bundle
  • Occult Ritual Weapon Skins
  • Halloween Charm Pack.

Alongside this paid content is a free new Horde map for all players of the game.

The new season pass will continue with a roadmap of content through to early 2021, with the second mission expected in December and the third coming in January. There's obviously plenty of extra gubbins to go alongside, as seen in the content roadmap.

Update: Rebellion have issued a new roadmap to fix a little boo-boo they made in the original.

We had a grand old time with our Zombie Army 4: Dead War review when it came out all the way back in February. With new player abilities and weapon mods, alongside more refined level design, I said:

"If you like shooting zombies with friends, then Zombie Army 4: Dead War is the game for you. There's a few new twists and several layers of progression now thrown into the mix, as you battle undead Nazis once again, but this is classic undead sniping action through and through."

Source: press release

Rainbow Six Siege Y5S3.3 makes new Operator and weapon changes

A new update for Rainbow Six Siege has just gone live on PC, ushering in a new wave of midseason changes for the popular tactical shooter.

The Rainbow Six Siege Y5S3.3 update includes a number of balancing tweaks for various Operators and weapons while also squeezing in a list of bug fixes and other in-game improvements.

Ubisoft have confirmed that the Year 5 Season 3 patch will be rolling out later this week on PlayStation 4 though did not specify an exact date or time. Those playing on Xbox One can expect it to drop next Monday on October 26th.

Rainbow Six Siege Y5S3.3 will look to improve the competitive viability of several Operators including Ace, Frost, Glaz, Melusi, and Oryx. Glaz will become more mobile thanks to reductions in movement penalisation and vision recovery time whereas Frost and Melusi get some secondary weapon swap-outs. Ubisoft have also changed how ballistic shields will behave in response to mitigating explosive damage.

Microsoft recently confirmed that Rainbow Six Siege will join Xbox Game Pass. It has also been revealed that Siege will receive a next-gen update on Xbox Series X|S and PS5, boosting performance up to 4K and 120fps. Finally, one more bit of Siege news: fan favourite Operator Tachanka is currently undergoing a major rework and is available to play on the Test Server.

For the full patch notes, see below. Ubisoft has also posted designer notes on the Y5S3.3 update, explaining the motive behind these changes.

Rainbow Six Siege Y5S3.3 Patch Notes

BALANCING

ACE

Ace couldn't handle all the thirst from his fans.

  • Reduced the number of explosive ticks of the SELMA Aqua Breacher to 2 ticks (down from 3).

FROST

Shoot your shot(gun).

  • Added the ITA12S as a secondary weapon.

GLAZ

Lonely Russian sniper looking for some love.

  • Reduced vision recovery time to 0.4s (down from 1s).
  • Reduced movement penalization by 50% to 12s (up from 6s).

MELUSI

  • MP5 primary will replace the T-5. Optics available on the MP5 will be the red dot, holographic, and reflex.

ORYX

  • T-5 primary will replace the MP5. Optics available on the T-5 will be the red dot, holographic, reflex, and scope 1.5x.

BALLISTIC SHIELDS

  • The guard break effect occurs when operators with a ballistic shield are hit by an explosion or take certain types of damage (from a scale of a minimum of 50 to trigger the guard break to 100 damage).
  • The severity of the guard break is proportional to the damage done to the shield. Electric damage and the minimum 50 damage threshold will trigger the minimum strength guard break animation.
  • Melee damage, concussion FX, sonic bursts, and explosions of 100 damage or higher will trigger the the maximum strength guard break animation.
  • Operators positioned behind a Clash, Monty, Blitz, or Fuze are now also partially protected from explosion damage (this still applies even if they are from the opposing team). This protection also applies if the shield is on the operator's back. Damage taken from the explosion is proportionally calculated based on the operator's exposure to the blast.
  • Instead of folding Montagne's Extendable shield, he now as a guard break animation.
  • Shield explosion protection is reduced to 66% (down from 80%).

TCSG12 + ACS12

  • Damage drop-off is now more progressive to reach minimal damage at 50m (instead of 20m).
  • Damage at max range increased to 68% (up from 48%).
  • Suppressor damage penalization normalized to -12.5% regardless of range.

GAMEPLAY UPDATES

  • Changes to the defuser interaction that allow players to pick up the defuser, even in situations where it might have originally been inaccessible, due to falling into difficult-to-reach spaces.
  • Improvements to the chat filter feedback system.
  • The ban ticker has been deactivated for custom games. It will remain visible in all other game modes.

BUG FIXES

  • FIXED – Sometimes defenders spawn on top of each other when in 2nd Floor Master Bedroom on Chalet.
  • FIXED – Players can't vault over the half-wall/railing in 2F Library Stairs on Chalet.
  • FIXED – Dropped defuser can be difficult to recover from behind the table of 2F Cigar Balcony on Kafe.
  • FIXED – (PvE) Barbed wire spawns issues in Situation 10.
  • FIXED – Poor lighting inside the cabinet between sofas in 1F Bar of Chalet.
  • FIXED – Players can use a deployable shield to get to the counter next to the piano on Chalet.
  • FIXED – Zero's Piercing Camera can pierce and see through the ceiling in 1F First Aid on Plane.
  • FIXED – Missing SFX when picking up generic items.
  • FIXED – (PvE) Missing pre-barricaded doors/windows in Heavily Fortified Situation.
  • FIXED – Cancelling a Ranked queue can sometimes trigger an abandon penalty even when the player did not join a match.
  • FIXED – Secondary hard breach gadget's blue light can sometimes be seen through a barricade when deployed on it.
  • FIXED – Residual black smoke is visible after some soft walls in the Basement of Chalet are destroyed.
  • FIXED – Minor map asset issues.

Source: Ubisoft

The new PlayStation Store for PC & mobile is starting to go live

Sony are rolling out a brand-new web and mobile browser version of the PlayStation Store, to coincide with the upcoming launch of the PlayStation 5 and the renewed UI of the company's next-gen console.

Images of the new design and pre-orders for next-gen games that have gone line have been captured by users on Resetera, Reddit and beyond. You can see the general style here:

And there's more in this Imgur repository:

New PlayStation Store PS5 Games

The store is currently available to view in some parts of the world, with a staggered shift on computer from now until 26th October for computer, and then by 28th October on mobile. It adopts a layout and design more in keeping with the main PlayStation.com website.

However, even in areas where the new store design is visible, the work is seemingly unfinished. While we knew that the Wishlist function would be disappearing, store pages also seem to lack file size information and game screenshots, while there's no way to filter listings and a lack of distinction between full games and add-ons.

We expect those functions to reappear over the coming days. Some things that definitely won't be reappearing are games from before the PlayStation 4 era, which are being hidden from view. You will no longer be able to buy the following currently available content from the web store, but can still access purchased content and browse on their respective platforms:

    • PlayStation®3 games and add-ons
    • PSP™ (PlayStation®Portable) games and add-ons
    • PlayStation®Vita games and add-ons
    • Apps
    • Themes
    • Avatars

This all comes hot on the heels of the PlayStation 5 UI reveal yesterday, which showcased the speed of the system, the Control Centre overlay that provides access to pretty much all system features while in game, the new PlayStation Activites and card-based interface, and more. A part of the change is that the PlayStation Store will be baked into the main system software and not be a separate app.

There have also been other foundational changes made over the last few weeks. The PlayStaiton 4 was updated to system software 8.00 making fundamental changes to how parties and messages work to tie into the new philosophy behind social interactions on PS5 – much to the chagrin of some users – and the standalone PS Messages mobile app is being discontinued as the feature will be integrated back into a new PlayStation App on smartphone.

Source: Resetera, Reddit

Ghost of Tsushima: Legends Guide – 7 tips & tricks for beginners

Ghost of Tsushima has bolstered in size since launching earlier this year, introducing a surprise multiplayer mode that comes with a supernatural twist.

You and up to three other adventurers can tackle a host of co-op challenges in Ghost of Tsushima: Legends, showcasing your skills as one of four playable classes.

It's a fun and fairly substantive add-on for Ghost of Tsushima though one that can also be fairly challenging, especially in those first few online battles. Therefore, we've put together a handy guide of tips and tricks to help get a headstart in Legends co-op.

1. Choose your class

Ghost of Tsushima: Legends has four classes at launch, each with their own unique abilities and techniques. They all share the same combat, stealth, and traversal gameplay but are geared towards specific roles. The Samurai is a reliable melee fighter whereas The Hunter excels at ranged combat. The best stealth class is The Assassin while The Ronin fills more of a support role, able to heal and revive their teammates.

You can only choose one class to begin with, unlocking others as you steadily earn experience and rise through the ranks. There is no "best" class though we'd opt for either the Samurai or Ronin to start out as the other two require more precision to use effectively.

2. Understanding the game loop

In Ghost of Tsushima: Legends you start off with two ways to play – the wave-based Survival mode for up to four players and the story-driven Legends which is designed to be experienced in pairs.

Your ultimate goal in Ghost of Tsushima: Legends is to replay missions, earning experience points, gear, and resources as you do so. Your overall power level – or "Ki" – is determined by the gear you have equipped and will unlock new activities and difficulty tiers as the numbers go up.

We'd recommend focusing on one character first, raising your Ki to access endgame content and readying yourself for future challenges. Thankfully, all characters share the same inventory though you'll still need to increase their XP rank if you wish to unlock their individual techniques.

3. Complete side objectives

All modes in Ghost of Tsushima: Legends feature side objectives that allow you to aim for bonus resources and loot drops. In Legends missions you can hunt for Oni treasures and lost scrolls as well as surviving Gyozen's curse to earn these extra rewards.

Meanwhile, Survival mode will present you and the other players with team challenges such as getting a certain number of air assassinations or headshot kills within a time limit. These can be fairly tricky depending on your loadout so coordination is key.

4. How to heal

Constantly finding yourself with little to no health? It might be worth checking if you have the recommended Ki before entering a match as higher level enemies will be way more lethal and harder to kill.

Two ways to restore your health (regardless of class) are the healing drums and offerings found throughout each map. You can only use them once so don't waste them, especially when triggering drums – these are designed to be healing zones for your entire team.

You can also equip a healing flask, one of the available blessings in Survival being a health regen ability. Some class powers can also be modified to have a healing effect with the Ronin being Ghost of Tsushima's medic.

5. Finding the best Gear

You will always earn gear that is level appropriate when playing Ghost of Tsushima: Legends. So, if you're playing a gold tier mission then don't worry about picking up useless, underpowered items.

However, the best loadout in Legends will depend on your chosen class and personal playstyle. Samurai players will want gear stats that increase their defence and melee renown gains while Ronin may want to amp up their healing and crowd control effects.

You can dismantle any unwanted gear to earn Essence, Honor, and Blessings. These currencies can be spent to reroll stats and perks on gear, giving you the chance to turn undesirable loot into something that slots perfectly into your loadout.

6. Bombs or bows?

I have to admit that I rarely used bombs when playing as Jin Sakai in Ghost of Tsushima's singleplayer story. Here in Legends, however, they easily outrank the bow as the co-op mode's best ranged weapon.

Whether up close or from afar, they can stun enemies while dealing a decent amount of damage. What makes them particularly lethal is their blast radius, hitting multiple targets at once without requiring precision aiming.

7. Survival Mode tips & tricks

Here we have some extra tips and tricks for those playing Survival mode. Firstly, in order to squeeze as many points and rewards from each match you'll want to cover all three control zones. It's easy to develop tunnel vision and focus on where the first wave of enemies spawn at the beginning of a round. However, you need to pay close attention to when red flares light up the sky, signalling another patrol and one that typically rushes towards an unguarded control point.

To keep the hordes at bay you need to traverse the map as quickly as possible. This is where your grappling hook comes in handy, allowing you to zip between areas of the battlefield, as long as you know where to look, memorising the fastest routes possible.

During the downtime in between rounds you should be looking for explosive red barrels. Carry these and drop them in the centre of a capture zone or, even better, place them at chokepoints. When these go boom they deal out huge damage with a wide radius. Be careful not to waste them on early rounds.

Finally, try to optimise your team composition. Having four Assassins or four Hunters will ensure a high damage output though you'll lack substantive crowd control or healing.

Ghost of Tsushima Guides & more from TheSixthAxis

One Finger Death Punch 2 Review

One Finger Death Punch 2 is a 2D kung fun game that uses only two buttons. Just two buttons are all that you'll need to punch, deflect bullets, and shoot lasers like an amalgamation of every action hero after the loss of a loved one. If you've ever wanted to be a stick figure who can breakdance a group of people to death or catch bullets out of the air, then this is perhaps the only game for you.

The game begins at a surprisingly leisurely pace as it introduces you to its mechanics, which initially seem far too simple. Enemies will run towards you from the left and right sides of the screen and, once they're within range, you press the relevant bumper and your little stick figure dude will hit them. Easy. Then the game introduces green enemies that require more than one hit to go down, then blue enemies that swap sides after each hit, enemies that throw weapons or shoot at you, which can be either blocked, dodged, caught, or deflected depending on what colour they are, and it all starts to feel a bit more complex. Then it introduces enemies that have their own little mini-games and bosses that go through random combination of three of all of these gameplay elements in a row.

It certainly looks incredibly impressive on screen, as your character jumps and kicks like it's a fight scene from the Matrix whilst legions of stick figures fall before him. The 2D buildings in the background are destroyed as you fight only to be replaced by more ill-fated constructions, but you barely even register how badass it looks because this game is somehow so gripping that all you can see is the next enemy.

After you're done with the tutorials, the game starts to speed up and by the end of the first map of the campaign you'll be completing all of the above in random combinations without skipping a beat, because if you skip that beat you'll get a face full of fists almost immediately. It really does get incredibly fast at times, but thankfully the game is pretty forgiving, allowing you ten misses and five hits before you need to restart the level. Of course, there's a star rating of your performance that will drive you to seek perfection.

The pace is mercifully broken up a bit by a wide variety of absurd abilities that can trigger. These serve not only as a brief reprieve from the flood of enemies, but as a special attack as well. Laser eyes, for example, briefly halt the action whilst you grab an enemy and shoot lasers from your eyes through the skull of every enemy on that side of the screen. These moves are satisfying to watch and incredibly useful, so it's a good job there's a skill system that lets you increase how often they happen.

If you complete missions that are away from the main pathways on the map you can unlock revenge tokens and skill points. The former can be used to make a level a bit easier if you're struggling to finish it, whilst the latter can be invested in a wide variety of skills that increase how often the abilities are triggered. If you like those laser eyes, you can invest up to three skills points to ensure it happens as often as possible, or if you're prone to getting hit, then maybe a shield or even a medic could appear, or maybe you love guns and you want some more ammo when you happen to get one.

These all help you through the long campaign, which thankfully features a handful of different modes. There's simple things, like multi-rounds, which – get this – are split into multiple rounds, but then there's some stranger ones too, like the one that gives you a power sword (which is a lightsaber, if we're being truly honest) for the whole level and a few hundred enemies to tear down, or the Horror Show mode, which only counts kills if they happen in front of the booby traps in the background. There are a tonne of levels in the campaign and, whilst it does get a little repetitive, it has that quality that demands you play one more level. Obviously you then end up playing another six.

On top the the campaign, there are also a few extra modes, including a survival mode, a local multiplayer mode for some friendly cooperative beatings, and even a mode called No Luca No where you're playing the game as normal, but occasionally a cat blocks half the screen and you have to move it out of the way with the analog stick. These modes aren't as varied as the main campaign but they'll be good for showing the game to friends once they've played the tutorials.

I have encountered one recurring bug where suddenly I'm unable to attack left, but it seems to be fixed by simply pausing and unpausing the game.

The Division 2 patch 1.28 includes Title Update 11.1 Summit overhaul

Ubisoft and Massive Entertainment have released their newest patch for Tom Clancy loot-shooting sequel, The Division 2.

Those playing on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One will need to download and install patch 1.28 in order to log-in and play The Division 2. Officially referred to as Title Update 11.1, the patch includes a number of fixes and quality of life changes while also improving the game's recently introduced Summit co-op mode.

The Summit officially made its way into The Division 2 last month on September 22nd and is available to all agents who have hit level 40. Designed with replayability in mind, you and three companions will need to battle enemy waves as you attempt to conquer The Summit's 100 floors, earning powerful loot along the way.

In The Division Title Update 11.1, Massive are looking to make some changes to this new mode. You can review the patch notes in full below.

The Division 2 Title Update 11.1 Patch Notes

The Summit

Developer comment: With the TU11.1 changes to The Summit, we are addressing topics brought up by the community including difficulty, directives and targeted loot. We want to fulfill the player fantasy of climbing from floor 1 to 100 with customized challenge and rewards.

Difficulty & Directives
When interacting with the lobby elevator, players will be able to select their desired difficulty and directives

  • All Difficulties are selectable: Normal – Legendary

  • For Directives, players are able to select from all 9 released Directives

    • Developer comment: We advise limiting yourself to 5 active Directives; use more at your own risk

    • NOTE: Missions and Global Difficulty still have the 5 seasonal directives

The New Summit Experience

Players can now ascend their customized Summit at their own pace.

  • With TU11.1, all players will initially start at floor 1 of The Summit

  • Progress is now saved more frequently at each elevator players encounter

    • Instead of the old Rally Points, now Players will resume where they left on subsequent playthroughs.

    • This means that you can stop at floor 38. Then the next day continue from the elevator at floor 37.

  • After players finish floor 100, on their next Summit attempt they will restart at floor 1

  • NOTE: for coop we save the maximum of your previous checkpoint and your current session

    • Example: player previously had a save at floor 60, they matchmake and finish floor 95 with a group, on their next playthrough the player would continue at the elevator on floor 93.

    • Example: player previously had a save at floor 81, they matchmake and finish floor 34 with a group, on their next playthrough the player would continue at the elevator on floor 81.

Targeted Loot

At any point while in The Summit, players can open the Mega-Map and set their personal Targeted Loot

  • For their allocation players can select from weapon types, gear slots, mods, brands, gear sets.

  • The Targeted Loot selection within Summit is personal (which means each player in a group of 4 could have a different allocation chosen)

Threat Scaling

The higher players climb in The Summit, the more likely they are to encounter tougher enemies.

  • The chance for enemies to spawn as veteran or elite gradually increases per floor.

  • Lieutenant Squads occur more frequently as you ascend The Summit.

  • The Boss floors (10, 20, 30,…,90) feature multiple named hostiles on higher floors.

Additional Gameplay Improvements

  • Added a weekly project for finishing Summit (which along with other rewards grants an Exotic Cache)

  • Added more objective types

  • Quicker laptop interact animation

  • Adjusted spawning of enemies during Hack Terminals objectives

  • Holding SHD Crates is more beneficial

  • Added new UI notifications about Exotic Fireteams, Bosses, etc.

Directives

  • Directives now increase the chance for Targeted Loot to drop

    • Since introduced in TU6, Targeted Loot has been influenced by a number of factors (including difficulty).

    • Now with TU11.1, each active Directive adds a small amount to the total drop chance for Targeted Loot.

    • This applies everywhere Directives are present (missions, open world, summit).

    • NOTE: Directives still increase XP as well.

  • Increased cooldown reduction per Skill Part collected with Scavenged Skills Directive.

  • Fixed issue causing Fragile Armor's broken stacks to behave strangely after dying and being revived.

Targeted Loot

  • Added individual Targeted Loot Allocations for each Gear Set

    • This applies both to the normal rotation and to Summit's Personal Targeted Loot

    • Ex: Lincoln can have True Patriot

Gear

  • Ridgeway's Pride exotic

    • For first part of exotic quest, parts now drop based on Summit floor numbers and increased drop chance of parts

    • For third part of exotic quest, lowered number of Rogue Agents and Hunters that need to be killed to 2

    • Increased radiuses of Bleeding Edge talent to 15m

    • Increased repair strength of Bleeding Edge talent to 1: 3%, 2: 6%, 3: 12%, 4: 24%, 5: 48% (per bleeding enemy within radius)

PvP

  • These PvP balance changes affect both the DZ and Conflict:

    • Decreased overall time to kill by 10%

    • Decreased shotgun damage by 12.5%

    • Increased damage to shields by 25%

  • Fixed issue in Conflict which caused the Firewall specialization's flamethrower to deal an excessive amount of damage.

Bug Fixes

The Summit

  • Fixed loot crates not resetting if encountered twice in a session.

  • Restored the ability to select Matchmake without reloading

  • Mega-Map now has correct tabs (Projects/Manhunt/SHD)

  • Improved loot from final 100th Floor enemy

  • Swapped doors to be windowless in various spots

  • Legendary Black Tusk have been taught how to hold guns properly

  • Improvements to an issue that could cause the 100th floor to note complete after killing all enemies

  • Fixed an issue where agents could fall through the map and become stuck between the elevators

  • Fixed an issue causing legendary Black Tusk to sometimes appear on difficulties they should not be in

  • Fixed occurrences of enemies not leaving their spawn closets.

  • Fixed the objective requirements for Toxic Gas remaining on screen after a group member interacts with the laptop

  • Fixed a loot room that could not be interacted with

  • Fixes occurrences of enemies incorrectly spawning in parts of the floor that have already been cleared

  • Fixed the lobby voice over triggering when returning to the lobby

  • Fixed "Neutralize the Lieutenant" objective sometimes choosing a non-named NPC as the Lieutenant

  • Fixed an issue where a controller button had double functionality on the mega map

  • Fixed an issue where the player could get stuck in the spectate mode screen after switching camera from another player

  • Various UI & Map fixes

Other

  • Fixed enemies sometimes being unreachable in the Grand Washington Hotel

  • Fixed an issue causing the SHD level notification UI to not work

  • Fixed an issue in the Operation Iron Horse raid where RPGs could stop dropping if disconnected or fast travels out of the raid when having one equipped

  • Fixed an issue which occurred when the player dropped down from an object in combat causing the agent to be pushed forward then back

  • Fixed an issue causing group members to have no ammo when the group leader activated the Pistolero directive in the Dark Zone

  • Fixed Global Event modifiers not working as intended on Legendary difficulty.

Source: Reddit

Fall Guys update 1.10 increases probability of Medieval rounds

Developer Mediatonic have rolled out their latest game update for Fall Guys which is now available on PlayStation 4 and PC.

You'll need to download Fall Guys version 1.10 to dive back into the ultimate showdown, this new patch making a number of season 2 fixes.

You can read more about the changes made in the list below. In the meantime, Mediatonic have launched a new issues tracking site via Trello allowing the community to see what Fall Guys bugs the team are working on.

Fall Guys Seasons 2 easy XP and rewards guide

As for Fall Guys 1.10, there have been a small cluster of improvements including a higher probability of medieval themed rounds turning up. These were introduced as part of Fall Guys season 2, including Wall Guys, Hoopsie Legends, Knight Fever, and Egg Siege.

Fall Guys Update 1.10 Patch Notes

  • Party members show first in Spectator Mode
  • Jump Showdown speed issues have been fixed
  • Hex-A-Gone VFX clarity improvements
  • We've redone the floor colours in Hex-A-Gone
  • Tip Toe VFX clarity improvements
  • Improved the performance issues in Hex-A-Gone which were causing a few FPS drops
  • We've fixed an issue where players would be disconnected during the countdown phase – Should hopefully reduce disconnections
  • Higher probability of the Medieval rounds turning up
  • Lower probability of Nicknames and Nameplates in the regular store section

Source: Reddit

In case you missed it, here's everything introduced in Fall Guys season 2:

  • New Feature –  The Show Selector: Time-Limited Shows give players new ways to enjoy their favourite rounds types by selecting which Show they want to play!
  • New Feature –  Nameplates: Mix and Match customisable Banners and Nameplates to compliment your Fall Guy's attire!
  • New Feature –  Random Outfit Generator: Press triangle on the customiser screen until you get a combination of items you like!
  • Improvement – See your party members fall alongside you while waiting for matchmaking to complete.
  • Improvement – Fall Guys now have more responsive mantling up ledges.
  • Improvement – Visual updates to many levels
  • New Level –  Knight Fever:  Our hardest gauntlet level yet.
  • New Level –  Wall Guys:  Cooperate with other players to traverse castle walls.
  • New Level –  Egg Siege: A brand new Egg Scramble map with moving drawbridges!
  • New Level –  Hoopsie Legends: A Solo Hoopsie Round with moveable blocks.
  • Plethora of new customisation options – costumes, faceplates, colour palettes, emotes, and celebrations.
  • Many bug fixes and optimisations.

After launching in August, Fall Guys quickly became the most-downloaded title to ever feature on PlayStation Plus, picking up a fantastically fumbly 8/10 in our review.

Football Manager 2021 new features previewed in latest trailer

A new, much quieter football season is upon us, and with it has come the usual array of yearly sports games – well, almost. FIFA 21 might have copied some of Football Manager's homework, but that's not stopped Sports Interactive from forging ahead with new features and gameplay changes to their popular management sim.

Coming out on 24th November for PC via Steam and the Epic Games Store, here's a trailer for Football Manager 2021 and its new features:

The game promises more control than ever before in managing your team to championship after championship. There's more analysis and information for you to pour over, while interactions with players and the media aim to be much truer to real life, right down to your body language. The overall game presentation has been revised as well as having new pre-match and post-match events.

You'll also have more control over which players to target for transfers, and come the end of a season, you'll get to decide how to celebrate any success you've had.

That's all about the PC version of the game, but console players will also expect to see a number of tweaks and changes to the game. For the first time in a long time, Football Manager 21 will be coming to Xbox One and Xbox Series X | S. That version of the game is based on Football Manager Touch 21, though, which simplifies certain elements to be more… manageable on controller and touch screens. It's also coming to PC, Switch and mobile devices on 24th November. And why not PlayStation? Well, Sony never sent them dev kits is why.

Source: press release

Spinch Review

When Super Meat Boy skidded onto the scene in 2015, it was met with mixed reactions. On one completely degloved hand, you had an excellent platformer that captured the attention with its unique and bizarre premise, but on the other slightly more normal-looking hand, you had players who were immediately repulsed.

Regardless of whether you love Team Meat's contribution to platform gaming, there is no denying the yuck factor of a skinless boy battling an evil, disembodied foetus (or Dr Fetus, if you spell like an American). Spinch is a somehow less bizarre, far more psychedelic flavour of platformers and — if I were to guess — it tastes like an acid trip.

The eponymous character, Spinch, is on a quest to save its babies from the psychedelic storm which has sucked in its progeny and scarpered off over the rainbow. What follows is a trippy platformer where you bounce and dash your way through a variety of environments, from your standard grassy plains to your standard frozen wasteland, killing or dancing past the colourful enemies as they pop up.

As you do, you will come across one of your babies — three per level — which help you in your fight against the world's boss. They do this by jumping in a gun and being shot at the enemy. Don't ask why, it's just weird.

Another thing helping you in your fight is the one non-white thing in the game which isn't an enemy: a weird cluster of pink eggs which claims to be your cousin. Think Exeggcute from Pokémon, but less angry. Find your cousin hidden in a level — up to twice per world — and you'll unlock a one-attempt bonus level.

Despite the chipper look on it's face, your cousin spends bonus levels hurling its babies into the air, expecting you to catch them before they splat on the ground. It also throws bombs at you, because, why the hell not? Beat the level by not killing at least 75% of its babies and you get a bomb to put in your end-boss gun. Again, I know it's weird but let's just go with it.

Unambitious as the game's background environments might be, you won't find yourself complaining about it. There is so much going on in the foreground, from the difficult platform sections to the truly eye-catching enemies, that your attention will never be waning. The thumping dance and trance soundtrack is so utterly perfect that, much like your spinchy babies, you can't help but get sucked in.

The biggest problem I found with this game is that my hands were cramping while playing the game. The gameplay is so tense in parts — such as the levels where you are fleeing a flying enemy which drops bombs that kill you unless you are in a scant piece of shelter — that I have had to put it down and come back many times.

These sections, along with the more difficult platform sections, make for an intentionally challenging game: Queen Bee Games has said that they were trying to bring back old-school difficulty. The quick-restarts and lack of a game-over screen mean that you can keep throwing yourself against the game until you beat it, thankfully, but that doesn't necessarily make the levels any easier.

If you aren't a fan of die-and-try-again games, I can tell you right now that you will not finish this game. It takes a fair amount of determination and love for the genre.

Disclaimer: Freelancer and regular contributor Miguel Moran is the social media manager for publisher Akupara Games. He has had no involvement or influence over the review process.