First-Person Shooters

Source: Blue’s News

Activision is pushing back the launch of Season One for Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War and Warzone from December 10 to December 16. A separate announcement notes the series has taken in over $3 billion in the past year, so they may be trying to protect their cash cow from the release of Cyberpunk 2077, but they do not specify whether or not this is their reasoning. They do say they are offering XP bonuses and free content to all players. This post has all the details and here’s a summary:

The release date of Season One across the new Black Ops Cold War and free-to-play, free-for-everyone Warzone has been moved from December 10 to December 16.

Season One is the largest free content drop in Black Ops history: a massive expansion of free content, including the comprehensive integration of Operators, weapons, player progression, and Battle Pass rewards across Black Ops Cold War and Warzone.

To thank players for their continued support and patience, Treyarch will be enabling Double XP and Double Weapon XP in Black Ops Cold War from 10AM PT Saturday, Dec. 12 until the launch of Season One.

Two free bundles will also become available to all Black Ops Cold War players through a new Pre-Season offer. Players simply need to log in between 10AM PT Dec. 8 and 11PM PT Dec. 15 to claim both bundles.

By Wesley Yin-Poole @ Eurogamer

Treyarch has tweaked Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War so players level up weapons faster.

The developer released a patch for the shooter this evening just as Black Ops Cold War’s double XP and double weapon XP event came to a close.

“Coming out of last week’s 2XP + 2WXP event, we’ve made some additional tuning changes to global Weapon XP earn rates across the board,” Treyarch said in the patch notes.

“Starting today, you’ll now level up your weapons and unlock more attachments faster than the previous standard rate in both MP and Zombies.”

Treyarch had tuned progression for the launch of the game so that it took around 1200 kills to max out a weapon – and unlock all of its attachments along the way. I’ve only managed to max out one weapon so far, the AK-47, and that was only possible with the help of Nuketown, the recently-added close quarters map on which you tend to get more kills than any other because it’s so small and plays so fast, in combination with the double XP buff.

Read more…

By Morgan Park @ PC Gamer

Talking to friends and colleagues about a new Call of Duty is never the same as our banter about other games. As an annual series defined by incremental changes to a formula, nitpicking is ingrained in the discourse. That’s certainly the case for Call of Duty: Black Ops – Cold War, a good game that falls short of its predecessor. Instead of being undermined by unforgivable sins, it’s an accumulation of smaller flaws, like how guns feel or maps flow.

Read the Review Here

#1 Selling Call of Duty Series Continues Franchise Momentum and Releases to the Largest, Most Engaged Community at the time of Launch in Call of Duty History

Activision today announced the worldwide launch of the highly-anticipated Call of Duty®: Black Ops Cold War, an all-new entry in the #1 selling series in Call of Duty and a direct sequel to the fan favorite Call of Duty: Black Ops.

The new title infuses 1980s pop culture into a gripping conspiracy set at the height of the Cold War. In the fictional story campaign players must stop a plot decades in the making that could destabilize the global balance of power and change the course of history. The game delivers the next generation of online multiplayer combat with an arsenal of Cold War weapons and equipment across a wide variety of new maps and modes. Black Ops Cold War also provides an all-new co-operative Zombies survival mode experience.

The title supports cross-play across next generation and current generation systems with cross progression across all modes. Players can look forward to the biggest series of free, post-launch content in Black Ops history across Multiplayer and Zombies, as well as a robust schedule of in-game community events.

“Today’s launch starts the next great Black Ops experience across story, multiplayer and zombies in a direct sequel to one of the most iconic titles in Call of Duty,” said Byron Beede, Executive Vice President and General Manager, Call of Duty, Activision. “This is just the beginning. Our players can look forward to the biggest series of post-launch free content, community events and ongoing support ever in Black Ops plus tight integration across the ecosystem with Warzone. It’s a great time to play Call of Duty.”

The PC edition can be picked up through the Blizzard Shop. Watch the Call of Duty®: Black Ops Cold War Official PC Trailer HERE. For more game information please visit the official Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War website.

Milestone celebrated with free new firing drill, editor compositions in Workshop, and more

Seven years after the official release of version 1.00 and dozens of updates later, Bohemia Interactive is proud to announce the 2.00 release of Arma 3 (watch trailer). The latest update to the PC-exclusive military sandbox sim game adds a free new firing drill, as well as a new color edition of an existing firearm, a camo variant for selected gear, extra Steam achievements, and the option for players to share compositions made in Arma 3’s scenario editor via the Steam Workshop.

The new firing drill (Course of Fire: Gray) invites players to set a record time on a challenging course hosted by a familiar operative from Arma 3′s story campaigns. A gold medal is awarded to those who can complete the drill in under two minutes (2:00). Players running the course might encounter various surprises related to previous versions of Arma 3 if they know where to look and what to do.

Players can now share custom compositions from the game directly to the Steam Workshop. They can do so by accessing Arma 3’s extensive library of weapons, vehicles, equipment, characters, structures, and props available and arranging their in-game assets in the editor. When they’re done, all they need to do is save their selected assets as a custom composition and click on the appropriate icon to publish it to the Steam Workshop. Compositions can include anything from full-blown military camps to specific roadblocks or checkpoints, a Halloween pumpkin festival, a simple table and chairs, or anything in between. By sharing their unique compositions via the Steam Workshop, Arma 3 content creators can help each other build expansive, detailed, and atmospheric scenarios quickly and easily. Further documentation can be found on Bohemia Interactive’s Community Wiki.

But wait, there’s more! The 2.00 update also includes a new arid variant of existing CTRG special forces gear (stealth uniform and combat helmet – available for owners of the Arma 3 Apex expansion) and a black variant for the P07 pistol – both of which are used in the new firing drill. Players can also unlock three new ’2.00′ themed Steam achievements. And finally, all players receive a lifetime’s virtual supply of “Arma” Eau de Combat, which is now available as an in-game glass perfume bottle prop.

The complete changelog for update 2.00 can be found on the Arma 3 website. Those who have yet to pick up the game, or simply wish to complete their DLC collection, can get the Arma 3 base game and all of its downloadable content (DLC) at up to 75% off on Steam. People who purchase the Arma 3 Ultimate Edition, Apex Edition, Contact Edition, or DLC Essentials will receive an additional bundle discount on top. This special offer is available from Wednesday October 14 until Monday October 19 (starting and ending at 10:00 PDT/19:00 CEST).

The Alpha version of Arma 3 was first released in March 2013. It was one of the first titles to enter Steam Early Access and became the first to graduate from the Early Access program when version 1.00 was released on September 12, 2013. Since then, the Arma 3 base game has sold over 6 million copies, received over 80 free updates, and has been reinforced by 10 DLC packs and 2 expansions selling over 11.5 million times combined. Aside from its wide variety of official content, Arma 3 has also become a popular platform for user-generated content with over 75,000 items shared by players on the Steam Workshop, adding tons of free community-made scenarios, assets, sounds, gameplay features, and total conversions to the game.

Arma 3 remains popular to this day, with a 90% positive user rating on Steam (based on 120,000+ reviews), 100,000+ registered community groups (units), and an average playtime per user of 150+ hours. Hundreds of thousands of people still play the game every month. Bohemia Interactive currently plans on publishing several new Arma 3 projects made by third-party developers as part of its Creator DLC initiative. The first Creator DLC, Global Mobilization – Cold War Germany, was released in April 2019, and has sold more than 100,000 copies to date.

For more information about Arma 3, please visit www.arma3.com.

Tripwire Interactive Invites Players to Download and Play Acclaimed Multiplayer FPS for Free on the Epic Games Store

Publisher and developer Tripwire Interactive is pleased to announce the award-winning and critically acclaimed first-person shooter, Rising Storm 2: Vietnam, is available now on the Epic Games Store as a free download. This follows the July release of Tripwire Interactive’s Killing Floor 2 as a free title on the Epic Games Store where the co-op, horror, first-person shooter has clocked over 11 million new downloads since that time. Now Tripwire Interactive has teamed up with Epic Games again to share another of their celebrated titles, Rising Storm 2: Vietnam.

To receive a free copy of Rising Storm 2: Vietnam on the Epic Games Store, anyone with an Epic Games account can login online at EpicGames.com or via the Epic Games Launcher, click to the store section, and select Rising Storm 2: Vietnam under free titles. Once logged in and at the Rising Storm 2: Vietnam page, click “Get,” and Rising Storm 2: Vietnam will be added to the player’s Library, free of charge. Rising Storm 2: Vietnam will be free for a week, so anyone intent on jumping into the massive 64-player battles with authentic weapons, aircraft, and maps should visit the Epic Games Store before October 15.

Tripwire Interactive and Epic Games are excited to expand Rising Storm 2: Vietnam’s community, so Rising Storm 2: Vietnam is cross-play ready, allowing current users to connect with specific friends across versions by enabling ‘Steam to EGS’ invites once they have joined an active server. From there, players can sign-in to an Epic Games account and their friends list will be populated with the ability to invite players from the Epic Games Store version of Rising Storm 2: Vietnam to join them on a server. If players do not have an Epic Games Store account, there will be no impact on the Steam friends list.

For more information about Rising Storm 2: Vietnam, please visit the games official website.

Indie smash-hit hardcore FPS Insurgency: Sandstorm celebrates another massive update with Operation: Breakaway. The 1.8 patch introduces a new Co-op mode, a new map, new weapons, new cosmetics, and much more in this coup d’etat themed update where security forces have gone rogue and joined the insurgents. Get all the info in the brand new overview trailer, and download the update to start playing now! New players are invited too, with a 50% discount on Steam running from now until October 12.

New mode, new map, new weapons – same great action

Outpost focuses on defense in a brand new co-op mode designed for fast, fun, and frenetic gameplay. You start with limited equipment and gain more as you work through waves of increasingly difficult enemies. Losing an objective forces you to retreat back to a new objective area to hold…

There is also an abundance of new weapons and attachments in this update. Security receives the low recoil AUG A3 assault rifle while Insurgents get the high fire rate FAMAS F1. Weapon customization has been greatly expanded with six new weapon upgrades including new underbarrel shotguns and foregrips available for all classes.

Last but not least, the new map, Tell features a style of tight urban CQB that’s different from our other maps. It squeezes everyone together for more fast paced close quarters action where the new underbarrel shotguns come into play, but still allows for multiple navigation and flanking routes for more tactical and methodical players.

Cosmetics, DLC, and much more

Also included in this patch is a stack of new cosmetics matching the rogue security theme. Enjoy free outfits on each side with rogue cop uniforms for Insurgents and internal affairs officers for Security. To celebrate the update and its new map and mode, a Breakaway-themed bundle is out now, including four paid DLC packs also available separately. Grab new character and weapon skins and get ready to experience the all new free game mode, map, and weapon content while supporting the continued development of the game.

Visit the official Insurgency: Sandstorm website for more game information.

The second Creator DLC will add the Czechoslovak People’s Army and more 1980s Cold War content to Arma 3

Publisher Bohemia Interactive and third-party developer CSLA Studio are excited to announce the upcoming release of Arma 3′s second Creator DLC: CSLA Iron Curtain. Scheduled for release later this year, the CSLA Iron Curtain downloadable content pack will take players back to an alternate version of the Cold War in 1980s Czechoslovakia. The store page for the upcoming DLC is already live on Steam. CSLA (or ČSLA) stands for “Československá lidová armáda” in Czech and “Československá ľudová armáda” in Slovak, which refers to the Czechoslovak People’s Army.

These were the armed forces of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia and the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic from 1954 until 1990. With both Bohemia Interactive and the CSLA Studio developers coming from the Czech Republic, this particular Creator DLC stays very close to home by exploring the country’s contemporary history and taking a look at what life in Czechoslovakia and its heavily-guarded border with West Germany during the 1980s could have been like.

The Arma 3 Creator DLC: CSLA Iron Curtain will include:

• Original 256 km2 “Gabreta” landlocked terrain, with deep forests, windy mountains, and calm valleys
• Cold War-era armed forces of the United States and Czechoslovakia, as well as local rebel fighters
• Ground and air vehicles
• Weapons and gear
• Singleplayer and multiplayer scenarios

Creator DLC is a label for original new Arma 3 projects made by third-party developers and published by Bohemia Interactive. It enables external talent to earn a financial reward for their work, while players get to enjoy more new quality content. The first Creator DLC, Global Mobilization – Cold War Germany, has managed to achieve over 50,000 sales since its launch in April 2019. More Creator DLC projects besides Global Mobilization – Cold War Germany and CSLA Iron Curtain are currently in development.

In response to community feedback on the initial release of the first Arma 3 Creator DLC, Bohemia Interactive – in close co-operation with CSLA Studio – have decided to host a small-scale, closed beta test in the coming weeks ahead of CSLA Iron Curtain’s planned full release. Starting today, selected members of the Arma 3 community will be invited to help report on any remaining technical issues as well as take the upcoming DLC for a test drive on a wider variety of PC systems.

Furthermore, as soon as the CSLA Iron Curtain DLC releases, Bohemia Interactive and CSLA Studio plan to make compatibility data for non-owners of the DLC available via the Arma 3 Steam Workshop – similar to how this is now also done for the Global Mobilization – Cold War Germany Creator DLC. This solution enables people who own the Creator DLC and those who do not to still play together on multiplayer servers that make use of the Creator DLC’s assets. Access to DLC terrains and singleplayer content will remain exclusive to the owners of the DLC, and restrictions to the in-game use of DLC assets by non-owners apply.

The release date and pricing of the Arma 3 Creator DLC: CSLA Iron Curtain will be shared at a later time. For more information about Arma 3 Creator DLC, please visit https://arma3.com/dlc/creator.

Source: Blue’s News

Crysis Remastered is now available for Windows on the Epic Games Store and for consoles on their respective storefronts. This offers the chance to return to the jungle in the updated version of Crytek’s first-person shooter. Here’s the Official Launch Trailer and here’s word on how the game has been modernized to take advantage of modern hardware to make “can it play Crysis?” relevant again:

“Our aim was to upgrade the visual fidelity for a wide range of PCs and to use all the technical capabilities of current-gen consoles while offering the same great gameplay that Crysis is known for,” said Project Lead Steffen Halbig. “Naturally, we are thrilled to invite a new generation of players to suit up and experience Crysis, upgraded and remastered to take advantage of today’s hardware and advances in CRYENGINE.”

Crysis Remastered features the all-action, sandbox, single-player gameplay from the acclaimed shooter, upgraded with remastered graphics, including high-quality textures, improved art assets and more. For the first time this console generation, Crytek’s software-based ray tracing comes to PlayStation 4 Pro and Xbox One X. On PC, CRYENGINE’s hardware-agnostic technology brings ray tracing to a wide range of contemporary GPUs. Additionally, Crysis Remastered supports hardware-based ray tracing using NVIDIA’s VKRay Vulkan extension on launch, and NVIDIA® DLSS technology will be added soon for the NVIDIA® GeForce® RTX GPU.

In Crysis Remastered, players face down an alien invasion armed with the powerful Nanosuit, which provides super strength, armor, speed and cloaking abilities. Choose your own path as you fight through the open world of Crysis, destroying obstacles, driving vehicles, and using a huge arsenal of modular weaponry to dominate enemies on ever-changing battlefields.

CI Games takes the best-in-class sniping experience to the next level with precision long range shooting with targets over 1,000 meters away.

CI Games shared an in-engine teaser for Sniper Ghost Warrior Contracts 2, setting the stage for one of the most important gameplay changes coming in the upcoming sequel: Extreme long-range sniping. Long-range shooting is something the Sniper Ghost Warrior community has asked for and the new video teases a shot taken 1,506 meters away. Contracts 2’s long-range shooting will be supported by more accurate weapons, heightened realism, and enhanced visuals when it launches this winter.

Watch the trailer here.

“The Sniper community really enjoyed the changes we made with Contracts and the sniper’s paradise sandboxes but, based on their feedback, we designed the latest game with very long-range shots in mind,” said CI Games CEO Marek Tyminski. “We hope to continue building on the best sniping gameplay around and make significant steps forward in bringing modern, realistic sniping experience to consoles and PC. Our team is really excited to introduce the extreme range campaign in Contracts 2.”

The first Contracts was well-received and re-established the Sniper Ghost Warrior formula with the best-in-class shooting set within open-world sandboxes. Contracts 2 takes these sniper’s paradises to the next level with challenging long-range maps set in the game’s new modern setting. In addition to the core contracts, these campaigns are hand-crafted to provide engaging and robust gameplay over extreme distances. These maps will challenge even the most skilled snipers as players complete complex challenges undetected from over a kilometer away.

Sniper Ghost Warrior Contracts 2 features a more grounded and relevant experience set in modern day 2021 Middle East. As Reaper, a sniper on a mission, players can take advantage of new weapons and gear to take down more intelligent enemies across new, expansive maps.

For more information about the Sniper Ghost Warrior Contracts 2, head to the games official website.