Cyberpunk 2077 Might Turn Out to be One of the Most Unique Open World Experiences Yet
The gaming space in this day in age is nothing if not totally chock-full of quality open world experiences with lots to do and plenty to see. Whether you just look at the last few years of gaming or the last 10 years of gaming, no matter how you slice it open world games with similar structures are everywhere. They populate every nook and cranny of the gaming space to no end and as a result it can be hard for a large open world action-adventure RPG to stand out in this day and age. Cyberpunk 2077 is aiming to do just that though.
First and foremost, for those of us who haven't been paying a whole lot of attention to the development of Cyberpunk 2077 over the last few years, the game is aiming to be absolutely massive and that is even compared to the games that are currently holding on to the throne of scope and scale in open world games today. If The Witcher 3's densely packed world is any indication, Cyberpunk 2077 will also be just as full of things to do and not just space to do them in. This might seem like a no-brainer but it's important to know that going in. If you want to see the entirety of Cyberpunk 2077 the world and its possibilities, you're going to be spending an unfathomable amount of time doing so. Fans of the genre will be delighted to know that the odds are good we are going to see a new plateau for the sheer amount of content we can expect to see from open world games going forward after Cyberpunk 2077 launches, as it will likely serve as a benchmark for the genre for years and years to come.
Right off the bat Cyberpunk 2077 will be treating you as if you're ready for an incredibly in-depth RPG with tons of skillsets to choose from to start out. This alone opens up the possibilities of different ways to play to an amount that will seem infinite to the player. Whether you want to put emphasis on shotguns, engineering, assassinations, or nerve will entirely depend upon your inclinations at the very beginning of the game as you allocate yourself to any number of these and more skills.
This is on top of choosing one of the several backstories to begin the game which will all also affect the direction the story and its characters take and how they interact with you throughout the game. This is a level of depth the most open world action RPGs don't take into account. Games like Horizon Zero Dawn and Ghost of Tsushima are excellent in their own right, but you play the same person every time with the same backstory and the same motivations. Cyberpunk is doing away with that for this game and giving you even more unparalleled freedom to craft your story and your adventure through this world the way you see fit.
In that same vein the large step with customization and choice that Cyberpunk 2077 is making with the genre it is also taking with its storytelling and interaction with NPCs. For those who played through The Witcher 3 and saw how densely populated it was with things to do and places to go, it shouldn't be too much of a surprise to see that there are conversations to be had at every turn in Night City with an incredibly wide variety of character archetypes that all have their own special outcomes of conversations that you can trigger or not trigger depending on how you interact with them. For fans of variety and unexpected outcomes, Cyberpunk 2077 has definitely got you covered at least in terms of interacting with characters in the world, both story-related and not.
Any open-world action adventure RPG worth its salt has at least tried to figure out a way to make traversing its world as interesting as its destinations. Granted, most don't quite accomplish this, as riding around on a horse or driving around in downtown traffic will never be quite as fun as slicing through a band of menacing mongols or pulling of a bank heist. That said, CD Projekt RED isn't throwing in the towel on traversal either. From what we currently know about the game it appears that they'll be taking the same approach in incredibly detailed statistics and pros and cons to their characters, to their vehicles.
Out of the wealth of different vehicles there are to take control of in the game, there are going to be several different classes of them each with different strengths and weaknesses depending on the vehicle. while we do not yet currently know whether or not those stats will factor into certain story-driven events, or how much of the burden of choice will be placed on the player at certain moments to pick the best vehicle for any given situation, we do know that vehicles will vary widely in their utility. Among the many stats that vehicles will have for you to look through will be manufacturer, style, curb weight, as well as door mount and windshield type.
Knowing CD Projekt RED and how they like to incorporate stats into just about every decision you make as a player, I would be shocked if these different elements didn't factor into how each and every vehicle drives and fairs in different situations whether that be a combat scenario or trying to manoeuvre through traffic in a way that either keeps you hidden or losing a pursuer. Usually an open world game with lots of different vehicles to choose from, vehicles do differ but only in superficial or barely noticeable ways.
Here, it's looking like Cyberpunk 2077 is going to go above and beyond with its vehicle types and classes in a way that really makes you think about what type of vehicle to use for any given situation. Do I charge my way through the problem with something big and heavy? Or do I speed away in something small and nimble? Maybe some balance of both? Hopefully this is in a way that doesn't make certain things impossible to do but just makes them unfold differently, but we're going to have to wait until we have our hands on it until we can determine that.
I suppose if nothing else Cyberpunk 2077's amalgamation of all of gaming's most successful gameplay elements from the past 10 years or so is what's shaping up to be its most impressive characteristic. Everything from the investigative elements of the Batman: Arkham games or Detroit: Become Human, to the deep, cyberpunk action and stealth mechanics that we saw Deus Ex games, to the aforementioned, seemingly endless dialogue options with a vast array of characters, and a wealth of different alliances you can create and destroy at will. These ideas are not, at their core unique, but the inclusion and integration of so many of them and in such an organic way does seem to be an unparalleled agenda for the game that will take other games in the future a very long time to eclipse if they ever do.
Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.
5 Reasons We Are Concerned About Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War
Call of Duty has consistently remained one of gaming's biggest franchises for over a decade, but a biproduct of its annual release cycle means that quite a few have pointed to issues with the series' lack of meaningful evolutions, and the consequent recycling of ideas. But while blanketing the entire series with these complaints is unrealistic – some titles are worse off than others – they're not entirely without merit.
To be fair, there's only so many ways you can dress up the gameplay and make it feel different in a military shooter, especially in a long-running annual franchise such as this one. Sure enough, there's plenty to be excited about in Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War- but there's plenty that has us legitimately concerned as well.
Thankfully the Black Ops Cold War beta has helped many Call of Duty players discover issues for themselves and report them to Activision in hopes of having them fixed in time for launch. Here, we're going to talk about the five most prominent concerns we have about the game – aside from SBMM, since that's more than obvious – leading up to launch.
Player Visibility Issues
This one might seem like a bit of a nitpick but I assure you it isn't. Since the beta has been playable for Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, Call of Duty players have been noticing and raising concerns about odd visibility issues that seem to give advantages to campers and people who just want to manipulate the map to get ahead. Sometimes players hiding inside a building, and thusly obscured by shadows would also avoid having their player tag show up on-screen, causing them to be virtually invisible to everyone else while still being able to see their opponents perfectly well. In Cold War, some folks are taking advantage of this by standing in shadows or even inside shrubbery, neither obscuring their view, but still getting the advantage of keeping themselves very difficult to see. This seems to be particularly prevalent in the "Cartel" map. This is something that hopefully Treyarch can iron out fast. This is the type of thing that, if unaddressed, could definitely harm the community of the game long-term.
Overpowered Vehicles
Another issue that's cropped up concerns vehicles. Essentially, they're strong. Like, really strong, to the point of feeling kind of overpowered, especially the tanks and helicopters. Of course, the reward for commandeering either of these is having some advantage over those on foot. But vehicles feel overtuned in this regard, locking down areas in matches with ease. Whether the solution is to bring down a vehicle's overall hit points, limit the fire rate, reduce explosive splash damage or something else is up to the developer. For a mode like Fireteam: Dirty Bomb which features such a large play space and encourages quickly traversing between areas, vehicles can be downright oppressive. Hopefully, this gets addressed sooner rather than later, especially if Fireteam: Dirty Bomb is meant to have any long-term engagement.
Flinch Removal
Flinch is a bit of a mainstay in first person shooters, particularly in Call of Duty games. And though this system of providing realistic feedback, even for a split second while aiming, isn't handled perfectly, the alternative – which is to remove flinch entirely – hasn't gone down well. Removing those little moments of somebody losing their aim while being shot now allows weapons like sniper rifles to dominate. Want to run around and easily body someone in one to two shots without any risk of losing your aim, even when being pelted by assault rifle bullets? Say hello to the snipers in Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War.
This also affects semi-auto rifles, offering advantages to these weapons over submachines and shotguns (which give up range for more damage up close, though SMGs are a whole other problem in that regard). How you feel about the changes to flinch will largely depend on how you feel about snipers as a whole. If forgoing flinch altogether, it makes sense to have other penalties for snipers to even things out like slower ADS time, weapon sway, or reduced damage on body-shots. Either way, snipers need to be looked at before launch.
Lack of Scorestreaks Alerts
You would think being alerted when certain scorestreaks are available would be a given. After all, this is a Call of Duty game where scorestreaks can be fairly common. But Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War is currently not doing as much as previous entries to alert players when large scorestreak attacks are incoming, especially artillery strikes. While one could get on without proper alerts, it just means little to no time to react to powerful game-changing scorestreaks. Whichever way you look at it, alerts need to show up properly and offer some kind of counter-play.
Funky Aim-Assist
What used to be a fairly reliable mainstay of the Call of Duty franchise is becoming one of its biggest annoyances, namely the inconsistent aim-assist. Complaints about aim-assist in Black Ops Cold War have been pretty varied – some feel it's too generous, to the point of being able to compete with a controller against keyboard and mouse users on PC, while others feel it actually hinders their aim. The reliability of the system is being called into question and given the fast-paced nature of Call of Duty's multiplayer compared to other games, having a consistent aim-assist system is important. Not just to maintain balance but also to ensure that gunplay feels right.
Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.
Cyberpunk 2077 Lore – What is Militech?
In the world of Cyberpunk 2077, corporations and megacorporations are who hold the real power, and there are few megacorporations as big and powerful as Militech. By the time CD Projekt RED's upcoming open world RPG will begin, Militech will already have been around for nearly a century, which means the company has gone through a rather interesting journey in all the time it's been around. Presumably, it'll have a big role to play in the game, seeing as it's been had a pretty major presence in the Cyberpunk lore up until this point. If you're not familiar with Cyberpunk lore, however, don't worry- here, we're going to talk about everything that you need to know about Militech.
Interestingly enough, when the company was first founded, it wasn't even called Militech. No, Italian weapons designer and manufacturer Antonio Luccessi named the company Armatech-Luccessi International when he first started it, and later on, when it would get its first big break, it would not be under his leadership. Armatech was in the running for landing a big weapons contract with the United States military at one point in 1998, at a time when, following major national unpheavals, the nation's leadership was looking to bring some stability back into proceedings.
Armatech's weapons were well designed and reasonably priced, and caught the eye of one General Donald Lundee in particular. However, Antonion Luccessi's talent for designing weapons was not enough to take the company over the line. In spite of Lundee's insistence that they get into business with Armatech, the US military went in another direction- which would prove to be a costly mistake, and would eventually take them back Armatech years later.
Before that, however, not long after Armatech's failed attempt at selling their weapons to the US military, General Donald Lundee resigned from his position, and at the request of Antonio Luccessi, became the CEO of Armatech. Lundee, as someone who had been in the military for years and years of his life and knew the ins and outs of the system, knew exactly what the issues were that were plaguing its weapons, and combined with Luccessi's talent for designing weapons that were durable yet cheap, the General planned on shaping Armatech into the perfect military contracting company.
In 2004, the United States military would come to realize that it had made a pretty major mistake not going with Armatech as its arms manufacturer. The weapons that the military had gone with turned out to be the absolute worst choice for them and cost them dearly, which meant that they did, after all, wind up getting into business with Armatech after all. That finally proved to be the company's big break, and following that, there was no stopping them. With this success also came a new name, to go with the new image and personality the company had built for itself, going from being known as Armatech to becoming Militech International Armaments.
By 2020, Militech had become one of the largest megacorporations of the world and was known as the largest weapons manufacturer across the globe. The company manufactured and sold weapons to dozens upon dozens of nations, on top of hundreds of corporations and megacorporations. On top of that, however, the early 2020s brought more than just widespread success for Militech- eventually, they also brought a major conflict with them.
That's because of the Fourth Corporate War, which saw the two rival corporations OTEC and CINO hiring Militech and Arasaka Corporation respectively as not only their weapons manufacturers, but essentially their private armies as well. The conflict between the two companies quickly grew fierce, and ended in a total defeat for Arasaka, including the death of their CEO, their permissions to operate in the US being revoked (only to be reinstated many years later), the destruction of their headquarters in Night City thanks to a nuke, and they themselves being blamed for the nuclear explosion (even though it was Militech who was behind it).
Interesting sude note here- none other than Johnny Silverhand, who will be played by Keanu Reaves in the upcoming Cyberpunk 2077, also briefly fought alongside Militech during the war when their interests aligned, and it was around this time that he "died" (or at least disappeared completely from public view for a long, long time) after being gunned down by the Arasaka employed cyborg known as Adam Smasher.
Back to Militech- though Arasaka were the clear losers in the war, Militech were not necessarily the winners. The Fourth Corporate War was a major, large scale conflict, and in its aftermath, there were many who believed that it was Militech that was responsible for the nuclear explosion in Night City, not Arasaka, and demanded that the United States investigate the issue and take necessary action against the company (on top of that, Militech had, throughout its history, gathered a reputation for indulging in activities such as assassinations and more). US President Elizabeth Kress, however, had different plans.
Rather than investigating and prosecuting Militech, she nationalized it, with the United Stats government taking complete control of the company and its assets, while many of the company's top executives and officials were given high ranking positions in the US Department of Defense. Over the years, Militech continued to be a major megacorporation and one of the largest weapons manufacturers of the world, and in the year 2077, when Cyberpunk 2077 begins, that it still very much true.
By 2077, Militech has been working with the United States and its defense and police services for years, providing them with weapons and even military and combat training, while the company has also managed to regain some (but not all) of its independence after having been nationalized by the United States government decades ago.
What role Militech will end up playing in Cyberpunk 2077 and how important they will be to the larger story remains to be seen, but it's a pretty good bet that they will factor in quite significantly. Militech and Arasaka have been at the centre of some of the biggest stories in Cyberpunk lore, and it seems like CDPR are definitely taking some cues from that stuff. We do know that Johnny Silverhand is going to be an important character in the story, and he has a history (one way or another, and to varying degrees) with both Militech and Arasaka, so the dots there are pretty easy to connect, if you ask us.
Thankfully, even with the recent delay, it won't be too long before we get answers to all of our questions. Unless Cyberpunk 2077 gets delayed again, CDPR's RPG is going to launch on December 10, and hopefully close out the year with a bang.
Cyberpunk 2077 Lore – The Gangs and Districts of Night City
When Cyberpunk 2077 (hopefully) launches on December 10, it will transport players to its futuristic world of megacorporations, body enhancements, and cyber warfare, and Night City will be the backdrop for all of it. Walking the streets of the future promises to be an exciting activity, and it seems CD Projekt RED are dead set on completely immersing players in the game's world.
Cyberpunk is an old and established property, of course, which means Night City has a rich history. What we're concerned with here, however, is not that history, but rather the state the city finds itself in in the year 2077. By the time Cyberpunk 2077's story kicks off, the city will already have been around for nearly a century, having gone through conflicts, upheavals, redesigns, crime wars, corporate takeovers, and so much more. In 2077, Night City is an independent and international city-state, populated by nearly seven million people, riddled with crime and corruption and poverty- but it's also the hub of the entire world. It's where anyone and everyone wants to be.
In 2077, Night City is divided into six districts (and over a dozen sub-districts). At the heart of the city is the City Center district, which is the commercial hub of the city, and some might even say the world. Megacorporations like Arasaka, Militech, Kung Tao, and more have their headquarters located in the Corpo Plaza of the district. Arasaka, in fact, more or less run Night City from their headquarters in Corpo Plaza, and one look at this district's imposing and bustling skyline is enough to tell you everything you need to know about its status.
Then there's Watson, which isn't doing nearly as well as some of the other districts of the city. Though Watson was once a bustling center of activity with skyscrapers, corporate towers, what have you, the district has fallen into disrepair over the years. Now, this rundown part of town is home to immigrants of several ethnicities.
Acting as the staging ground for a vicious gang war between two groups known as the Maelstrom and Tyger Claws, Watson is now known as the bad part of town. Maelstrom, known for having many members with heavy combat augmentations, and the Tyger Claws, who have become fixated in equal measure on cyberware enhancements and riding motorcycles, have differing ideologies. While the former are obsessed with cyberware and the Net, the latter are essentially a futuristic, cyberpunk version of the Japanese Yakuza. Meanwhile, another gang known as Moxes also largely operates in the Watson district.
But the Tyger Claws have influence in other districts of Night City as well- such as Westbrook, which is essentially the swankiest and wealthiest part of the city. While City Center is the commercial hub of Night City, Westbrook is its cultural hub. It is where its wealthiest elites hang up their hats at the end of the day, and some of the most influential and powerful corporate figures, gang members and leaders, and celebrities of the city live in this part of town. Westbrook's also got a sizeable Japanese community, thanks largely to the Tyger Claws and their Yakuza leaders and members who essentially run the entire district.
Then there's Heywood, one of the most interesting districts of Night City, and simultaneously home to some o the richest and some of the poorest sights in the city. While the northern sector of the district is dominated by dazzling skyscrapers and beautiful parks, the southern part of Heywood plays home to large slums that act as a hotbed of activity for illegal and illicit activities, with two gangs in particular being highly prominent here.
The first of these is 6th Street. Formed originally in the 2020s by veterans of the Fourth Corporate War, in 2077, the gang comprises of veterans of the military and corporate security forces, who have come together to take security and justice into their own hands. All of their members receive military training, but the 6th Street's interpretation of justice is shady at best and often self-serving, which makes them quite dangerous. The second gang that runs amok in Heywood is the Valentinos, whose ambitions seem to be limited to partying and… having a good time? Yeah, we'll see how that turns out.
Then there's Pacifica, a district of the city that once held much promise and was building toward a bright and wealthy future, but has fallen on bad times in recent years. Pacifica was once meant to be the vacation resort of Night City, with beaches, luxury hotels, tourist attractions, and what have you, and attracted some of the wealthiest and most influential people from around the world. Economic upheavals hurt the district terribly though, the corporate funding that was routinely being funneled into the district's construction dried up.
Now, Pacifica is a half-constructed hellhole, full of gang wars and free and unchecked combat. The law enforcement groups of Night City, NCPD included, have all but given up on the district altogether, and its streets are now controlled by the gang known as Voodoo Boys. Once a group of terrorist drug dealers, the Voodoo Boys are now comprised largely of netrunners who are all singularly focused on uncovering the secrets of the Old Net and getting behind and destroying the Blackwall, the virtual wall that is said to keep AIs in check and prevent them from breaking into the larger virtual world and wreaking havoc. Other gangs such as the Animals an the Scavengers, also tend to operate mostly in Pacifica, though they have a presence in other districts of the city as well.
Finally, there's Santo Domingo, which is one of the oldest parts of Night City. Not only is this district the industrial hub of the city where megacorporations running tests for many corporate projects and routinely construct and re-construct factories, Santo Domingo is also one of the most densely populated areas of the city. Thousands upon thousands of inhabitants live crammed together in megabuildings, and none of them seem to be doing too well for themselves. Like Heywood, Santo Domingo, too, sees a lot of 6th Street activity.
Meanwhile, outside the bounds of Night City proper, there are the Badlands, which are not technically a district of the city, but will be part of Cyberpunk 2077's map. Massive landfills, chemical wastelands, derelict and burning oil fields, rancid winds, and acid rains have essentially turned the Badlands around Night City into a barren wasteland that is populated largely by Nomads and exiles of Night City. There's no shortage of lawlessness in these parts, even in areas that are relatively more developed.
Clearly, Night City promises to be a diverse and large playground, with dozens of different groups to interact with (or fight with, if you so choose), lots of history to learn and dive into, and plenty of room for exploration. What's exciting is that depending on what Lifepath you pick for your own V, you will begin the game in different parts of the city. The Nomad Lifepath will take you all the way out to the Badlands, playing as a Street Kid will see the game beginning in the Watson district, while the Corpo Lifepath will take you straight to the heart of things, in Arasaka Tower in the City Center.
Since the moment CD Projekt RED first re-revealed Cyberpunk 2077 a couple of years ago, walking the streets of Night City and getting immersed in that world has been one of the game's most alluring prospects. We might have to wait a bit longer to finally be able to do that, but hopefully, it'll be worth the wait.
Holiday 2021 Lineup Will be More Important to Next-Gen Consoles Than Launch Games, Says Phil Spencer
The Xbox Series X and Series S are going through some pretty interesting launches, and that's not just because they're releasing in the middle of a global pandemic. It's also because the two consoles don't have a lot of major exclusives to speak of at launch. And in an industry that puts so much stock in launch lineup for new hardware, that's been an unusual sight to see, to say the very least.
Of course, Halo Infinite was supposed to be the big launch game for the two new Xbox consoles, before it got delayed into 2021. And while that was definitely a blow felt by Microsoft and by all prospective Xbox owners, Xbox boss Phil Spencer believes that a strong launch lineup with exclusives isn't actually something that new consoles need to sell units anymore. With consoles in heavy demand, Spencer believes it will be supply more than anything else that will dictate sales.
"Sales are going to be dictated by supply this holiday," he said in an interview with Shacknews. "I know there'll be press that will want to write, 'Xbox launch lineup versus PS5 launch lineup.' But if they're both sold out completely, I'm not sure the launch lineup had much impact on anything other than maybe some review score. It's not going to dictate what, how many consoles we sell. The number one thing that's going to dictate how many consoles we sell is not the competition and it's not a Halo or a launch lineup. It's going to be how many units we can build."
"Our pre-orders sold within hours, and that's true of the competition as well," Spencer said. "There is a high demand for gaming consoles right now, and we're both going to build as many as we can. So I think the possibility of Halo Infinite launching beside Xbox was more of a brand and heartfelt moment for us than it was critical to the launch. In fact, you could argue that holiday 2021 from a lineup is probably more important because from a competitive standpoint, both consoles—knock on wood—will have supply so there will be a demand constraint rather than a supply constraint in the next year."
Following that, Spencer went on to emphasize the Xbox Series X/S' backward compatibility capabilities at launch, comparing the two systems to the Xbox One at launch, which had a dedicated launch lineup, but no backward compatibility when it released. According to Spencer, Xbox's new approach is much more preferable.
"I think this is going to be a console that launches with thousands of games because of back compat, and hundreds of games that you're going to get to go play day one," he said. "I remember the days when no compatibility was there. Xbox One was one of these: It had Killer Instinct, Ryse, Lococycle, and a few third-party games. But I lost access to everything I was playing on 360 for the most part. I like this world better, which is more continual, and gives people a lot more things to play."
The Xbox Series X and Series S are both out now globally.
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War Has Eight 6v6 Maps at Launch
With all the major releases this week, it's easy to lose track of Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War. Activision's blockbuster FPS is out on November 13th but it seems the copies are already out in the wild. A leaked image from what seems to be the French version appeared on Reddit and indicated that multiplayer would only have eight 6v6 maps at launch.
New mode, Fireteam: Dirty Bomb, has two dedicated maps but for the majority of players dabbling in the core playlist, eight maps is fairly limited. When you consider that one of the free post-launch maps, Nuketown '84, is a remake, there's slim pickings in terms of "new" content. Time will tell if Treyarch addresses this in the coming months or relies more on remade content to carry the release.
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War will be available for Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, PS5 and PC at launch. PlayStation players have quite a bit of timed exclusive content to look forward to including double XP weekends, loadout slots and even the Zombies Onslaught mode. Stay tuned for more details in the coming days.
Rocket League Will Get a 120 FPS Update on Xbox Series X/S, But Not PS5
Like many other games, Rocket League will be receiving enhancements to run on the new next-gen consoles soon, but it seems not all consoles are receiving equal treatment in that regard. Psyonix have posted an update talking about the updates coming to the game for Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, and PS5, and it seems the PS5 version of the game will be lagging behind the others.
The update, which will add later this year, will allow players to choose from performance and visuals modes on the Xbox Series X and Series S. On the former, this will entail 4K/60 FPS in visuals mode, and 2688×1512 resolution (which is 70% of 4K) and 120 FPS in performance mode. On the Xbox Series S, those numbers will be 1080p/60 FPS and 1344×756 (70% of 1080p) at 120 FPS respectively.
On the PS5, however, there will only be one mode that will offer a checkerboard 4K resolution at 60 frames per second, while a 120 FPS mode doesn't seem to be on the way. This isn't the first time we've seen such disparity between multiplatform games' updates on Xbox and PS5- Star Wars: Squadrons will be doing something similar.
On all three next-gen consoles, however, Rocket League will have faster load times and improved performance in split-screen gameplay.
Currently, Rocket League is available on PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC. It is playable on Xbox Series X/S via backward compatibility, and will be on PS5 tomorrow as well. The aforementioned next-gen update will be arriving later in the year.
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War – Full Install Will Take up Nearly 190 GB on Xbox Series X/S
Activision revealed recently that Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War will require 136 GB of storage space to install on Xbox Series X/S, but it turns out the game's install size is actually significantly larger. As revealed by a user on Reddit, the game's final install size is actually much larger.
The game will allow players to install it in various distinct parts. The multiplayer requires 27.6 GB, Zombies mode requires 7.5 GB, while Dead Ops Arcade needs 11.8 GB. On the visuals front, the game's HD texture pack needs 38.2 GB, while ray-tracing data needs 11.8 GB. Collectively, the game's install size comes up to a whopping 187.9 GB.
On an Xbox Series S, which has just 364 GB of usable storage, that's over half of your internal memory gobbled up by a single game. Essentially, if Xbox Series S owners install this and NBA 2K21, they're pretty much almost out of memory. Things will be better on an Xbox Series X, which has 802 GB of usable internal storage, but nearly 190 GB for a game is still a ridiculous requirement.
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War launches on November 13 for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, Xbox One, and PC.
Assassin's Creed Valhalla is Out Now for Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PS4, PC, and Stadia
After receiving fairly positive reviews in the past few days, Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed Valhalla is now available for Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PS4, PC and Google Stadia. Check out the launch trailer below. It showcases the combat and premise along with accolades received till now.
Assassin's Creed Valhalla focuses on Eivor, a Viking who leaves his homeland to settle in Anglo-Saxon England. Establishing his own settlement, Eivor and his band take to raiding the surrounding countryside, which draws the ire of the ruling classes. By making different allegiances – along with engaging the Hidden Ones – the player ultimately seeks to carve out their path in the world.
Along with meatier combat than previous titles, Assassin's Creed Valhalla also sees the player upgrading their settlement, customizing a band of raiders, engaging in Viking rap battles and much more. You can even visit mythical realms like Jotunheim and Asgard. For more details, check out our review of the game here. The PS5 version is currently slated to release tomorrow – stay tuned for more details in the meantime.
Destiny 2: Beyond Light is Now Available
Bungie's latest expansion for Destiny 2, Beyond Light, is now available for Xbox One, PS4, PC and Google Stadia. To celebrate the same, a new trailer has been released offering a brief overview of the war between Light and Darkness. It also talks about Eramis and the threat that awaits on Europa.
Along with a new destination, new story missions, new Exotics and so on, the Cosmodrome from Destiny 1 also makes a return. It represents the new player experience though it's not quite the full destination – more will be added in the coming months. In the near future, expansion owners can expect Beyond Light's raid, Deep Stone Crypt, to launch on November 21st.
Meanwhile, Season of the Hunt has also begun with new missions and activities to be made available. Unlike last year, seasonal content and its gear will now be around for a year, offering more time for players to enjoy it. For more details on Season of the Hunt's roadmap, head here. Destiny 2 is also slated to arrive for Xbox Series X/S and PS5 in December.