Author: Donster

Just Announced Hardware for 21 December 2021

Check out these latest hardware announcements for today from around the web. Also included are some hardware news bits, and on some days, a few rumors tossed in for good measure. Click on the links below to read the official press release, visit the products web page, or to an independent news source.

Hardware | Donster | December 21, 2021 |

An Israeli Sky Awaits War Thunder Players

The update brings a new nation, a shipborne aircraft feature, dozens of new vehicles and new effects

Gaijin Entertainment announces that the “Winged Lions” major content update for the military online action War Thunder is available now. It brings the previously announced Israeli aviation tech tree closed beta testing and playable shipborne reconnaissance aircraft. There is a lot of other new content, including the new “Israel” air battles location, the first two Israeli tanks from the future Israeli ground vehicles tech tree as well as dozens of other new military vehicles.

The history of the Israeli Air Force starts with the S-199 fighters imported from Czechoslovakia. These were assembled from the leftover parts originally intended for the German Bf 109 G-10 fighters, but the engine used was Jumo 211 designed for bombers. On May 28th, 1948, the first ever Israeli fighter group of four S-199s was formed under the leadership of several experienced veteran pilots. S-199 is one of the first planes in War Thunder’s Israeli tech tree, and the players will be able to get all the way to the top where the Kfir C-7 fighter jet resides. The Israeli aviation beta testing is available to the early access packs owners for now, but it will be available to all players later.

The next major update that will come after the “Winged Lions” will feature the closed beta testing of the Israeli ground vehicles tech tree. Two premium packs with Merkava Mk.2 and Sherman M-51 tanks are already available for purchase, and their owners will become the first players to access the upcoming testing.

Ground vehicle fans will probably be in awe with the fearsome Swedish SPG Bandkanon 1 that entered service in early 1960s. The 155mm autoloader-assisted howitzer is the centrepiece of attention here and not only due to its relative size to the vehicle itself. Thanks to the autoloading mechanism, this machine can fire its entire 14 round magazine in just 45 seconds. Even one hit of a huge HE round to the slightly armored parts of a tank, such as the roof of the hull or turret, will probably one shot any opponent. Another long-awaited new vehicle is the Soviet SPG 2S3 Akatsiya. The 2S3 received a baptism of fire in Afghanistan and was subsequently mass-produced until 1993, having gone through several upgrades. 2S3M is the result of modernization in 1975, with the mechanized ammunition rack and a good fire rate.

War Thunder continues to receive visual upgrades, and the “Winged Lions” update brings enhancement to the simulation of wind. Previously the wind was only seen on the grass and on the waves, but now all particle effects, such as fire and smoke, dust from ground vehicles and aircraft engines, gun shots, explosions and sparks – all these effects, will now be affected by the wind, especially during a storm.

More information on the update is available at the official War Thunder website.

MMORPGs War Thunder | Donster | December 18, 2021 |

Modern Naval Warfare Coming Soon

modern-naval-warfare Slitherine has announced that a new Modern Naval Warfare game, developed by Maslas Bros Studio, is coming soon.

Modern Naval Warfare is the next generation naval combat simulator, which will immerse you in the dark and unforgiving world of the modern high-tech naval battlefield.
Keep track of your enemies, hunt or escort convoys, undertake covert operations and unleash devastating land strikes.
You will be in command of United States’ latest and most lethal Nuclear Attack Submarine the SSN-774 Virginia Class in such detail that will blow your mind.
Play in cooperative mode and assign your friends, into a wide variety of highly detailed stations or face them as enemies.
Choose from a wide range of weapons and play hide and seek into the underwater valleys of the South China Sea.

Watch the Modern Naval Warfare introductory trailer HERE.

Modern Naval Warfare Coming soon, Wishlist on the Official Product page or Steam.

Modern Naval Warfare Naval Combat | Donster | December 18, 2021 |

Sniper Elite 5 Will Be Located in France, to Arrive in 2022

sniper-elite-5 Rebellion, one of the world’s most successful independent studios, has today revealed that its award winning Sniper Elite franchise will return in 2022 with the release of Sniper Elite 5. Launching simultaneously on Xbox Game Pass, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 4 & 5, Epic, Steam and Windows Store, Sniper Elite 5 will see elite marksman, Karl Fairburne, travel to France in 1944 to destroy Operation Kraken.

To celebrate the announcement Rebellion has released the first trailer for the forthcoming game using all in-game engine footage. You can view the new trailer HERE.

As part of a covert US Rangers operation to weaken the Atlantikwall fortifications along the coast of Brittany, Karl makes contact with the French Resistance. Soon they uncover a secret Nazi project that threatens to end the war before the Allies can even invade Europe: Operation Kraken. It’s Karl’s mission to take out the high ranking Nazi officers and end Operation Kraken once and for all.

Based upon real world locations from France in 1944 the new game maps are the largest and most immersive in the franchise’s history with the new traversal system offering players an even greater sandbox of options when it comes to taking out their targets. You can even invite a friend to help you on your mission with enhanced co-operative gameplay options.

Sniper Elite 5 continues the franchise’s unparalleled tactical sniping experience complete with incredible ballistics and enhanced kill cam taking the genre-defining feature to the next level. New customisation options allow you to adjust your rifle, other weapons and ammo to suit the mission and your play style.

Game Features:

Expansive Campaign – real-world locations have been captured using photogrammetry to recreate a living, immersive environment, and multiple infiltration and extraction points and kill list targets provide a whole new perspective on each mission. Take on the Nazi plot solo or work with a partner, with improved co-op mechanics allowing you to share ammo and items, give orders and heal each other.
Advanced gunplay physics and traversal – use ziplines, slide down slopes and shimmy along ledges to reach the perfect vantage point, or to sneak past a sharp-eyed lookout. Factor in rifle stock and barrel options along with gravity, wind and heart rate while you line up your sights on the target.
High calibre customisation – use workbenches to customise and upgrade virtually every aspect of your weapon. Change scopes, stocks, barrels, magazines and more. Rifles, secondary weapons, and pistols all have a huge variety of options. On top of that you can select the ammo to suit your target, from armour-piercing right down to non-lethal.
Invasion mode drop-in PVP – you can invade another player’s Campaign as an Axis sniper and engage in a deadly game of cat and mouse, providing a new dimension to the challenge as you stalk your prey. Alternatively, as Karl you can call for assistance and have a second sniper drop in to help you out of a tricky situation.
Tense adversarial multiplayer – customise your character and loadout and earn XP, medals and ribbons as you take on intensely competitive 16 player battles that will really test your sharpshooting skills. If co-op’s more your style, you can team up with up to 3 other players against waves of enemies in Survival mode.
Enhanced kill cam – more realistic and grisly than ever, the trademark X-ray kill cam returns, showing you the true destructive power of each shot. Bones deflect bullets unpredictably, ripping a new path through enemy bodies. SMGs and pistols can also trigger kill cams, including multiple shots in dramatic slow motion.

Sniper Elite 5 will release on Xbox Game Pass, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 4 & 5, Epic, Steam and Windows Store in 2022 with more news to come in the run up to release. To keep up to date with all the latest Sniper Elite 5 news please visit sniper.com.

First-Person Shooters Sniper Elite 5 | Donster | December 14, 2021 |

Assassin’s Creed Valhalla Dawn of Ragnarök Announced

assassins-creed-valhalla Ubisoft has announced that Assassin’s Creed® Valhalla’s next major expansion, Dawn of Ragnarök, will be releasing on 10th March 2022. Dawn of Ragnarök will be available as a separate purchase for all owners of the main game. Additionally, Ubisoft announced Assassin’s Creed Crossover Stories, with two stories that feature Eivor and Kassandra available for fans tomorrow, 14th December. Both stories are available for free for owners of the respective base games, with one story featuring Eivor and Kassandra available in Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, and one story featuring Kassandra or Alexios available in Assassin’s Creed Odyssey.

With development led by Ubisoft Sofia, Dawn of Ragnarök is the next major expansion, continuing Year 2 of post-launch support for Assassin’s Creed Valhalla. In this expansion, Eivor must embrace their destiny as Odin, the Norse god of Battle and Wisdom. The dwarven kingdom of Svartalfheim is crumbling, and amid the chaos, Odin’s beloved son, Baldr, has been taken prisoner by the unkillable fire giant, Surtr. In Dawn of Ragnarök, players will be able to unleash new divine powers as they continue their legendary Viking saga by embarking on a desperate rescue quest through a mythological world of contrasts.

All players purchasing Dawn of Ragnarök between 13th December 2021 and 9th April 2022, will receive the Twilight Pack and will have immediate access to the main game. This exclusive bonus includes the Dellingr’s Envoy Raven Skin, the Havardr Lynx Mount, the Twilight Gear Set and the Algurnir Dane Axe Weapon.

Watch the Assassin’s Creed Valhalla: Dawn of Ragnarök – Cinematic World Premiere Trailer HERE.

Assassin’s Creed Crossover Stories were also announced, the first cross-game project on the franchise, led by Ubisoft Quebec in close collaboration with Ubisoft Montreal. The content aims to answer the question, “What happens when two Assassin’s Creed heroes meet?”, exploring the connections in space and time between these Assassin’s Creed heroes to provide a unique narrative experience to players.

Assassin’s Creed Crossover Stories will be available for free for owners of the respective base games on 14th December; one story will be available in Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, and one story will be available in Assassin’s Creed Odyssey. These stories explore the ties between the heroes of the two games, featuring new environments to explore as well as a rich story line. For the Assassin’s Creed Valhalla story, A Fated Encounter, players must have reached Settlement Level 4 and completed the quest “A Wise Friend,” where Eivor helps Valka establish herself in Ravensthorpe. For the Assassin’s Creed Odyssey story, Those Who Are Treasured, players will need to have completed Chapter 1 and reached Megaris to access the content, but it’s recommended that players finish the main game’s three story arcs (Family, Cult of Kosmos and Mythology) to avoid spoilers.

With development led by Ubisoft Montreal, Assassin’s Creed Valhalla offers players the captivating experience of playing as Eivor, a legendary Viking warrior, driven from Norway by endless wars and dwindling resources in ninth century AD. Players can relive the ruthless fighting style of Viking warriors with a dynamic dual-wielding combat system and experience exciting gameplay features such as raids, assaults, and the settlement, as well as a substantial progression and gear upgrade system. Political alliances, combat decisions and dialogue choices can influence the world of Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, so players must choose wisely to protect their clan’s home and their future.

For more information about Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, please visit assassinscreed.com.

Action/Strategy Assassin's Creed Valhalla | Donster | December 14, 2021 |

Just Announced Hardware for 14 December 2021

Hardware | Donster | December 14, 2021 |

War Thunder Uncovers the Secrets of Winged Lions

Players are getting the Israeli aviation tech tree and cruisers equipped with reconnaissance aircraft

Gaijin Entertainment announces that the next major Content Update “Winged Lions” for the military online action War Thunder will be released later this December. It will bring the Israeli aviation closed beta test, launchable shipborne reconnaissance aircraft, dozens of new air, ground and naval vehicles and more.

Since the Israeli Air Force was formed after the end of World War II, the Israeli aircraft lineup begins immediately from rank IV. While researching new machines, players will follow the way that the Israeli engineers have chosen. Domestically assembled Spitfires were one the first planes in the force later joined by French Mirage III fighters that became the base for developing original Israeli Kfir (literally, “lion cub”) machines, while the US gives access to F-4 fighter jets and A-4 attackers. Aviation of Israel mainly consists of imported aircraft, but with a distinctive local feel, as they are highly modified, adapted to local conditions and equipped with new weapons. Their arsenal includes unique rockets with a shape-charge warhead, new to the game calibers of aircraft bombs, air-to-air missiles and even guided bombs!

All owners of early access packs will be able to take part in the closed testing of the Israeli aviation immediately after the “Winged Lions” update is live. After the end of closed testing, to start researching the Israeli Air Force aviation, the player will need at least one purchased aircraft of rank IV in any of the following playable nations: USA, Great Britain, France or Israel.

The update brings ship-launched reconnaissance aircraft, a feature that many large WW2 era warships were capable of. The reconnaissance aircraft will allow the players to better examine the enemy grouping, scout a ship hidden behind rocks, fight enemy aircraft, destroy an enemy boat with cannons and machine guns, or damage an enemy cruiser or destroyer with bombs. Just like regular seaplanes, reconnaissance hydroplanes will be able to capture points – a small plane can decide the outcome of a battle for large ships. Powerful and fast German battlecruiser Scharnhorst that is equipped with such aircraft will be added to War Thunder in the “Winged Lions” update.

Ground vehicle fans will get several modern tanks like Challenger 2 TES (2008) and Leclerc SXXI (2003). The most interesting one is probably Type 10, the latest Japanese MBT that entered the JSDF service in 2012. One of the main new features of Type 10 is the automatic loader located in the rear of the tank, which increases the rate of fire. The new diesel engine doubles the reverse speed in comparison with the predecessor. The Type 10 also receives a new APFSDS round, that has the same name as the tank itself – Type 10. It complements the range of shells, already familiar with the JM12A1 HEATFS and the JM33 APFSDS rounds.

Watch the “Winged Lions” Update Teaser HERE.

Follow the news at the official website to get more information on the “Winged Lions”.

MMORPGs War Thunder | Donster | December 3, 2021 |

NVIDIA Releases GeForce 497.09 Drivers with Curious RTX 2060 12GB Support

Source: TechPowerUp!

NVIDIA has released the GeForce 497.09 Game Ready drivers. These introduce launch-day optimization for “Icarus,” including support for NVIDIA DLSS, and RTX ray-traced global illumination (RTX-GI). The drivers also add optimization for “Chorus,” including DLSS support; and “Halo Infinite.” Six new displays receive NVIDIA G-SYNC support. Among the fixes released with these drivers are TDR or system crashes with “DOOM Eternal” and RDR2, a display corruption with ye olde “DOOM 3 BFG Edition,” extreme gamma/contrast issues with YouTube on hardware-accelerated web-browsers; NVIDIA Image Scaling resolutions not correctly appearing in-game after a driver update; and incompatibilities between Adaptive Sync and G-SYNC.

A curious addition with these drivers is support for the GeForce RTX 2060 12 GB graphics card. We’ve been hearing reports of NVIDIA resurrecting the RTX 2060 “Turing” with 12 GB of GDDR6 memory to target the 1080p gaming crowd; and these drivers confirm it. The 12 GB SKU could be achieved by pairing the “TU106″ GPU with 12 GB of memory across its 192-bit wide memory interface.

You can download the GeForce 497.09 Game Ready drivers via GeForce.com.

Hardware Video Cards | Donster | December 3, 2021 |

Just Announced Hardware for 3 December 2021

Hardware | Donster | December 3, 2021 |

Battlefield 2042 Released

Featuring Three Standout, Distinct Multiplayer Experiences with All-Out Warfare, Battlefield Hazard Zone and Battlefield Portal

Electronic Arts Inc. has launched the highly-anticipated first-person shooter, Battlefield™ 2042. Powered by groundbreaking technology through the use of the Frostbite game engine, Battlefield 2042 features up to 128 player matches on the latest consoles* and PCs. The game introduces epic maps, a dynamic world and signals a return to modern settings which opens up the immersive sandbox gameplay through vehicles, weapons and more. Battlefield 2042 has been hailed by EGM as a “true evolution” for the series, IGN lauded the game’s “impressively huge and gorgeously detailed maps,” while Game Informer described the title as “an easy recommendation.”

Battlefield 2042 places players in a near-future, all-out war experience where resources are limited and the world powers of the United States and Russia are in conflict, while refugees from collapsed nations known as the Non-Patriated (“No-Pats”) struggle for survival. The game features the franchise’s signature Levolution, as well as dynamic storms and environmental hazards, that create an added layer of action that alters the battlefield and tactical combat.

The PC version of the game is available through Origin, the Epic Games Store, or Steam.

For more information about Battlefield 2042, visit the games website.

Battlefield 2042 First-Person Shooters | Donster | November 22, 2021 |