Month: May 2019

Hardware | Donster | |

Gaijin Entertainment announces that the Open Beta of War Thunder’s anticipated World War mode is starting today. The new game mode gives players the opportunity to re-enact famous battles of World War II, to follow in history’s footsteps or change its course completely.

In game, these battles are organized in ‘Operations’, which are based on real world events and combat campaigns, such as the Battle of El Alamein or Battle of Vitebsk. Commanders of either side can move air- and ground armies on a strategic map, and when those armies meet, their clash is resolved by a battle session between players. Results of said battles can have significant effects on the outcome of the Operation, as the defeated side retreats and loses vehicles or even full regiments. An Operation can take up to two hours to complete, depending on the decisiveness of its battles.

Only Squadron Commanders, leaders of War Thunder’s player communities, can initiate the launch of a new Operation, but everyone is allowed to participate – both squadron members as well as the general playerbase. The list of available vehicles in each Operation is limited by historical context, meaning it is not possible to fly a jet fighter over the skies of El Alamein or ride a Japanese tank to battle at Vitebsk. If a player participating in the Operation has vehicles fitting to the historical context, he will be able to take his specific vehicle including crew and modifications. If a player does not own any of the required vehicles, he or she can still participate by receiving a vehicle in its basic modification. This means that participation is open to both veteran players as well war history fans that are still new to War Thunder.

Each operation consists of various battles with differing tasks and available vehicles. Modes include assault, defence, convoy attacks, cover missions as well as head-on confrontations featuring both ground and air forces. The vital link between battles is the strategic map, where commanders may e.g. send an air army to assist ground forces, making aircraft available for one side what previously seemed to be a ground battle only. The diversity of different mission types as well as the asymmetry between relative team power and objectives will open a new experience to players, offering an exciting alternative to War Thunder’s regular PvP battles.

View the War Thunder – World War teaser trailer HERE.

The World War mode is a season-based event, with the first already running until June 10, with the best players set to receive additional rewards. The full schedule of the season and more information about War Thunder is available on the games official website.

MMORPGs War Thunder | Donster | |

fighter-royale-last-ace-flyingSource: Blue’s News

Steam now offers the release of Fighter Royale – Last Ace Flying, a flying combat action battle royale game from Axion Ventures that challenges players to be the last pilot standing. Or, you know, flying. This free-to-play game is set in the south pacific, and puts you behind the yoke of World War II era aircraft in battle for air superiority in an ever-shrinking airspace. This teaser showing off gameplay is over a year old, and their is a series of short clips on various aspects of the game on their YouTube Channel, but they are all from about 10 months ago. Here’s word on the game, including an unexpected Earth, Wind, & Fire pun:

FIGHTER ROYALE – LAST ACE FLYING is an arena style, air combat game of WWII dogfighting. You and up to 100 other players compete for supremacy in an expansive, 50 km world filled with opportunities to upgrade your plane and weapons, and tangle with other pilots. As the game progresses, the air combat space slowly shrinks, forcing players into close proximity and resulting in wild and unpredictable dogfights until eventually only one pilot remains: The Last Ace Flying!

The stage for this bogie wonderland is a South Pacific themed island chain, filled with volcanoes, narrow canyons, steep cliffs, military installations and an armada at sea gunning for you is designed to increase the intensity of the dogfights. Take out a bomber sortie or torpedoing an enemy battleship- the game world is full of juicy air, ground and sea targets- but the real challenge will be the other player pilots, and the innovative shrinking combat space ensures that players can’t simply avoid conflict- as the combat zone gets smaller you must engage the enemy to survive.

This isn’t just a dogfight… this is Fighter Royale!

More game info is available at the Fighter Royale – Last Ace Flying website.

Hardware | Donster | |

sniper-elite-v2-remasteredIndependent developer and publisher Rebellion is celebrating today’s release of Sniper Elite V2 Remastered with a stunning new launch trailer.

Showcasing gripping gameplay, revamped visuals and new features, the trailer highlights the improvements fans old and new can look forward to in Sniper Elite V2 Remastered.  Today’s release is available on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and PC.

Sniper Elite V2 Remastered takes players to Berlin, 1945, and the heart of World War 2. As veteran sharpshooter Karl Fairburne you must use skill, patience and cunning to prevent the unthinkable. Your mission is to go behind enemy lines and prevent the cataclysmic Nazi V2 rocket technology from falling into the hands of the Red Army. Deadly aim and a stealthy approach are vital as you find yourself trapped between two armies in a race against time.

Sniper Elite V2 Remastered amplifies the original’s iconic sniping and advanced ballistics with a host of improvements and added extras. In addition to impressive 4K and HDR support on available platforms, the game features stunning remastered visuals, from overhauled assets to modernized rendering and much more.

Sniper Elite V2 Remastered also adds a versatile new photo mode that lets you pause and move the action frame-by-frame for that perfect X-ray Kill Cam shot. You can also play the campaign and multiplayer modes as one of 7 new characters from Rebellion’s Zombie Army series. And now multiplayer is expanded for up to 16 players online across all modes.

On top of all this, Sniper Elite V2 Remastered includes all the DLC ever released for the game including the iconic “Assassinate the Führer” mission, making it incredible value-for-money.

Sniper Elite V2 Remastered is now available on digital platforms across PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and PC, including Steam and GOG. Physical editions are available from Friday 17th May on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch.

Sniper Elite V2 Remastered is priced £29.99 across all platforms. Steam and GOG users who already own the original Sniper Elite V2 can upgrade to Sniper Elite V2 Remastered for just £6.99.

Visit the official Sniper Elite website for more game information.

tom-clancys-the-division-2Ubisoft has announced that “Operation Dark Hours”, the first eight-player raid in Tom Clancy’s The Division franchise history, will go live for all The Division 2 players globally on 16th May 5pm BST. Tom Clancy’s The Division 2 is available on the Xbox One family of devices including the Xbox One X, PlayStation®4 computer entertainment system and Windows PC.

With “Operation Dark Hours”, Ubisoft introduces the toughest of all challenges to date. “Operation Dark Hours” will test the teamwork and ability of the most experienced agents who have reached World Tier 5 and defeated Tidal Basin. Operation Dark Hours will bring Agents to Washington National Airport, controlled by the Black Tusks who are using it to fly in even more soldiers and supplies. Capturing the airport will strike a significant blow to their operations. Players will discover that the technology available to the Black Tusk is even more advanced than what they have had to face so far.

Players will take on some of the games’ most challenging bosses yet. In a team of 8 players, agents will have to work closely as a team to execute their strategy in order to overcome these tenacious opponents. The Raid will reward players with exclusive loot, such as new gear sets, an exotic weapon and other unique rewards.

The first team to complete “Operation Dark Hours” after it goes live will be forever immortalised in-game by having their team photo and names displayed in The Division 2’s White House for all players to see. All other players that complete “Operation Dark Hours” between 16th May and 23rd May will receive a commemorative Arm Patch, while players who complete the raid after those dates will be rewarded with a clan banner icon and a trophy in their clan space.

Fans can follow the race to the by checking out “Operation Dark Hours: Race to a World First” Twitch Rivals Program at https://www.twitch.tv/twitchrivals beginning at 5pm BST.

Watch the Tom Clancy’s The Division 2: Raid Trailer- Operation Dark Hours HERE.

More game information can be found on the official Tom Clancy’s The Division 2 website.

amd-radeon-software-adrenalin-2019Source: TechPowerUp!

Just in time for the release of Bethesda’s open-world first-person shooter Rage 2 (find our performance analysis here), AMD has released their latest installment of the Radeon Adrenalin 2019 edition drivers for their graphics cards to make the most of the game. Indeed, AMD claims an improvement in game performance of up to 16% on the Radeon VII relative to last month’s 19.4.3 drivers, and this is in addition to added support for the big Windows 10 May 2019 update and instruction tracing for AMD’s GPU Profiler version 1.5.X.

The new Radeon Software Adrenalin 2019 Edition 19.5.1 drivers are available online at the AMD driver download page.

Hardware Video Cards | Donster | |

call-of-duty-black-ops-4-boxSource: Blue’s News

The PS4 exclusivity for Operation Spectre Rising has run out, and this new content is now also available for the Windows and Xbox One editions of Call of Duty: Black Ops 4. This includes the debut of Spectre in Multiplayer, a Wetworks map update and Bounty Hunter mode in Blackout, “Super Blood Wolf Moon” Gauntlet in Zombies, as well as new weapons and cosmetics. The Alcatraz map also returns to Blackout, and they celebrate all the news by awarding 2XP in Multiplayer, Zombies, and Blackout modes. Here’s the overview of all the changes:

The PS4 exclusivity for Operation Spectre Rising has run out, and this new content is now also available for the Windows and Xbox One editions of Call of Duty: Black Ops 4. This includes the debut of Spectre in Multiplayer, a Wetworks map update and Bounty Hunter mode in Blackout, “Super Blood Wolf Moon” Gauntlet in Zombies, as well as new weapons and cosmetics. The Alcatraz map also returns to Blackout, and they celebrate all the news by awarding 2XP in Multiplayer, Zombies, and Blackout modes. Here’s the overview of all the changes:

Multiplayer

  • Spectre in MP and Blackout after unlocking Tier 1 in the Black Market (Xbox One/PC).
  • 3 Black Ops Pass Multiplayer maps: Masquerade, Artifact, and WMD (Xbox One/PC).
  • Prop Hunt gameplay improvements.

Featured Playlists:

  • Earn 2XP in Map Pack Moshpit through 10AM PT Friday, May 10.
  • PS4: Map Pack Moshpit, Prop Hunt, Barebones Moshpit, Deathmatch Domination, Mercenary Deathmatch Moshpit.
  • Xbox One: Map Pack Moshpit, Infected, Barebones Moshpit, Deathmatch Domination, Mercenary Deathmatch Moshpit.
  • PC: Map Pack Moshpit, Infected, Barebones Moshpit.

World League Hub

  • Restricted Tigershark LMG.

Blackout

  • “Wetworks” map update now live in Blackout, flooding large portions of the main map (Xbox One/PC).
  • “Wetworks” map now available in Custom Games.
  • Bounty Hunter mode now live in Blackout (Xbox One/PC).
  • Earn 2X Merits in Bounty Hunter through 10AM PT Friday, May 10.
  • DART now available to find and equip in Blackout (Xbox One/PC).
  • Uncle Frank character now playable with the Black Ops Pass (Xbox One/PC).
  • Tuning changes to Spectre in Bounty Hunter.
  • Alcatraz returns to Blackout on all platforms.

Zombies

  • New “Super Blood Wolf Moon” Gauntlet (Xbox One/PC).
  • Earn 2XP in “Super Blood Wolf Moon” through 10AM PT Friday, May 10.
  • New Tigershark LMG added to Mystery Box (Xbox One/PC).

Black Market

  • 50 Tiers with new Contraband items to earn (Xbox One/PC).
  • New Death Effects and Weapon Charm item types added (Xbox One/PC).
  • New weapons in the Contraband stream: Tigershark LMG and Nifo’Oti melee weapon (Xbox One/PC).

For more information, fans can visit www.callofduty.com.

fields-of-glory-2-wolves-at-the-gateMatrix Games has announced that a new installment for Field of Glory II is coming and it is “darker” than ever. Wolves at the Gate depicts the epic struggles that newly forged European kingdoms had to face for their survival during the “Dark Ages”, a long period of recurrent conflicts that eventually gave birth to Europe.

This age was marked by the volcanic expansion of the Umayyad Caliphate and its fights against the Byzantine Empire, the last bastion against the Islamic advance in the middle-east. In Europe, Charlemagne, King of the Franks, and then crowned Emperor of the Romans, built the foundations of the Carolingian Renaissance and the beginning of the Translatio Imperii in the West.

But no-one was prepared for the endless waves of ruthless and merciless raiders and warriors that from the end of the eight century onward ravaged almost the totality of the Continent and the Mediterranean. Christendom’s towns and holy places were in constant danger from the depredations of the Vikings and Magyars, as well as the on-going Saracen threat. The Vikings were to carve out colonies in Ireland, the Danelaw in England, Normandy in France and the Kievan Rus in Russia. The Magyars were eventually to cease their raids and become the Christian kingdom of Hungary.

The Wolves have arrived. Is this end of Christianity, or is it just the birth pangs of a new world order?

Get more information about Wolves at the Gate on its official webpage.

armored-brigade-nation-pack-italy-yugoMatrix Games announces that Armored Brigade Nation Pack: Italy – Yugoslavia, the first DLC for the acclaimed Cold War wargame Armored Brigade, is now available.

Italy and Yugoslavia are ready to join the conflict with hundreds of new units and aircraft, on a complete new map (the Gorizia Gap) covering 61×61 kilometers.

Together with the Nation Pack DLC developers have released also an important update featuring, among many other goodies, a Campaign Generator tool! And it is free!

If you want to know about how Campaign Generator works, have a look at this guide.

You can check the full changelog here.

Get more information about Armored Brigade Nation Pack: Italy – Yugoslavia from its official webpage.