First-Person Shooters

By Alice O’Connor @ Rock, Paper, Shotgun

It’s not only French and Russian soldiers who were left out of World War 1 in Battlefield 1 [official site] for later appearances in paid expansions: women are coming in DLC too. Soldiers from the 1st Russian Women’s Battalion of Death will serve as the multiplayer Scout class for the Russian forces coming later this year in the expansion In the Name of the Tsar, DICE have revealed. They look pret-ty gnarly all right but it’s such a shame they’re limited to paid DLC.

DICE don’t have much more to say for now, instead pointing people towards EA’s big E3 livestream presentation EA Play on June 10th. Okey cokey.

Supposedly DICE did originally plan to include women soldiers in Battlefield 1 then changed their minds. Bedouin rebel Zara Ghufran is playable in part of the game’s singleplayer campaign but the plan was to have female soldiers in multiplayer too.

Read more…

Tripwire Interactive is pleased to announce the official release date for Rising Storm 2: Vietnam, the sequel to the smash hit Rising Storm, PC Gamer’s 2013 ‘Multiplayer Game of the Year’. The game will be available to play at 12:00PM Pacific Time on Tuesday 30 May. Fans who pre-ordered should be able to pre-load before that. The game will also be available to buy via Steam, at a 10% discount for the day, with the Standard Edition available for $24.99 and the Digital Deluxe Edition priced at $29.99 normally.

Tripwire Interactive is also including a new “goodie” for Killing Floor 2 PC owners who pre-order or buy the Rising Storm 2: Vietnam Digital Deluxe Edition. They will receive four bonus Rising Storm 2: Vietnam themed weapons skins to use in Killing Floor 2 for the PC. Those weapon skins include the RPG-7 rocket launcher, the M16 with M203 grenade launcher attachment, the M1911 automatic pistol and the classic Lever Action Rifle. Note – the weapon skins will be available as part of Killing Floor 2’s next major update which will be announced at a later date.

Tripwire and Antimatter Games have also created and released a series of tutorial videos for Rising Storm 2: Vietnam that offer up some great insights into the various aspects of gameplay. They can be viewed here.

Rising Storm 2: Vietnam is currently under development by Antimatter Games and will be published by Tripwire Interactive for PC.

Stay up-to-date with the latest Rising Storm 2: Vietnam news and information at the games official website.

Source: Blue’s News

Activision announces the full release of Continuum, the second map pack for Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare. This was released one month ago for PlayStation 4 and now comes to the Windows and Xbox One editions of the first-person shooter. This adds four multiplayer maps, including a modernization of one from Modern Warfare 2, as well as a new installment of the zombie saga. There are details on the Call of Duty website and previously released trailers show off the multiplayer maps and the Shaolin Shuffle zombie episode. Here’s the pitch:

Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare Continuum, the second DLC Map Pack for the game, is available now on PlayStation®4, Xbox One and PC. Continuum delivers four new maps, including the return of one of the most beloved maps from Modern Warfare 2, Rust, re-imagined for today’s generation with an ultramodern look. The new DLC pack also features “Shaolin Shuffle,” the next chapter of the Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare zombies experience set in 1970s disco era New York.

Shaolin Shuffle, features the return of Willard Wyler, the mysterious movie director villain. This time, Wyler has trapped the four protagonists inside a new horror film, set in the unforgettable 1970s. Players face all-new zombie enemies across a variety of disco-era New York locations, including subways, flashy nightclubs and a martial arts dojo headed up by the “Shaolin Sister.” In addition to hallmark Call of Duty action, Shaolin Shuffle introduces four unlockable fighting styles, each with its own set of unique combat moves. The four playable characters return, and are voiced by the same actors from the original story, but now take on funky, over-the-top roles from the ‘70s era including “the Punk Rocker,” “the Sleazebag,” “the Street Poet,” and “the Disco Chick.”

In addition to the Shaolin Shuffle, Continuum includes four new multiplayer maps:

• Turista: A plush spa and resort, Turista is nestled in the middle of a giant skeleton of an ancient creature. With sniper spots scattered across a majestic, central waterfall, Turista also boasts tight interiors for fans of close-quartered combat and a three-lane design that caters to a variety of play styles.
• Scrap: Set in an abandoned junkyard on the Moon, Scrap features a combination of extended sightlines and tactical pathways that reward players who engage in both long and short-range combat.
• Archive: Fast, frenetic action sets the pace in Archive, a post-futurist art gallery where tight engagements contrast with open exterior battlegrounds in this wide three-lane style map.
• Excess: Perched atop a gilded penthouse in a sprawling future metropolis, Excess is a small, circular map re-imagined from the classic Modern Warfare 2 map, Rust, that retains the intense, fast-paced combat from the original.

Celebrated with a launch trailer, Bohemia Interactive today released the anticipated Jets DLC for its tactical military shooter game, Arma 3. The Jets DLC delivers three air-superiority jets, an Unmanned Aerial Combat Vehicle, a new Showcase scenario, and more. The package is complemented by a free Arma 3 platform update, which introduces massive content (literally!) in the form of an aircraft carrier, and implements various new gameplay features related to fixed-wing aircraft.

Arma 3 Jets DLC Key Features

• F/A-181 Black Wasp II: The F/A-181 Black Wasp II is a fifth-generation, single-seat, twin-engine, all-weather tactical fighter jet. The aircraft was designed primarily as an air-superiority fighter, but also has ground attack capabilities. Its additional external hard points enable the aircraft to carry a wide variety of weapons configurations. The Black Wasp is fitted with the required equipment for carrier operations.
• To-201 Shikra: The To-201 Shikra is a fifth-generation, single-seat, twin-engine, all-weather tactical fighter jet. The aircraft was designed by a CSAT and Russian joint syndicate with the goal to build a highly agile and maneuverable air-superiority fighter. Similar to the F/A-181, the To-201 also has ground attack capabilities, and is able to support various weapons configurations via its conventional pylons, but also its internal weapons bay.
• A-149 Gryphon: The A-149 Gryphon is a fourth-generation, single-seat, single-engine, and all-weather tactical fighter jet. The aircraft was designed as a multi-role platform at an affordable cost, and unlike some of the larger air-superiority jets, it can also perform well in low-altitude flight. Despite its aging platform, the A-149 has still been upgraded with the newest sensors and weapons systems.
• Sentinel: The Sentinel is a fifth-generation, state-of-the-art, twin-engine, all-weather tactical Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicle (UCAV). The Sentinel was designed primarily as a reconnaissance platform, but can also perform precision ground attacks. It typically operates from an aircraft carrier.
• Showcase Fighter Jets: Take to the skies above Altis and engage in air-to-air and air-to-ground combat in a brand new Showcase scenario.

The Jets DLC is supported by the 1.70 platform update, which features new content and features. This platform update is free for all owners of Arma 3. Its highlights include:

• Sensor Overhaul: A new radar interface for targeting guided weapons, powered by advanced Active Radar and Infrared sensor technology.
• Extended Hitpoints: The damage model of fixed-wing aircraft has been upgraded to the level of detail of other vehicle classes in Arma 3.
• Dynamic Vehicle Loadouts: Players can now customize their vehicle’s armament. In the case of jets, this means you can choose what kind of ordnance each pylon carries.
• Other Improvements: Various audio enhancements, tweaked controls, several new scripted solutions such as ejection seat emergency procedures, and more.
• Aircraft Carrier “USS Freedom” (CVN-83): A nuclear-powered aircraft supercarrier which can carry various aircraft, and supports catapult take-offs and tailhook landings. The aircraft carrier is a static in-game object that can be positioned across the map via the 3D Scenario Editor, but cannot be ‘driven’.
• Surface-to-Air Weapon Systems: The USS Freedom is outfitted with 3 autonomous defensive weapon systems: Praetorian 1C AAA, Mk-49 Spartan SAM, and Mk-21 Centurion SAM.

The Jets DLC is available for purchase on the Bohemia Store and Steam at € 9.99 / $ 11.99 / £ 8.99. To already enlist for all planned upcoming Arma 3 DLC, players can purchase the Arma 3 DLC Bundle 2 (€ 22.99 / $ 24.99 / £ 19.99), which saves more than 25% over purchasing the Jets, and upcoming “Orange” (working title), Tac-Ops, and Tanks DLC separately. For a complete overview of the Arma 3 Jets’ content and features, check out the official website at www.arma3.com/dlc/jets.

Last February, developers from M2H and Blackmill Games visited the Western Front together with the The Great War YouTube Channel.

The Great War dedicated a special episode to the French fortress called Fort Douaumont. The fortress protected the city of Verdun and was captured without a fight by the Germans in February 1916.

In this episode, the Verdun developers explain to host ‘Indy’ Neidell how they rebuilt the fort in their game Verdun, staying as historically accurate as possible.

Verdun is the first multiplayer FPS set in a realistic First World War setting. The merciless trench warfare offers a unique battlefield experience, immersing you and your squad into intense battles of attack and defense.

The game takes place on the western front between 1914 and 1918, in one of the bloodiest conflicts in world history. The developers were inspired by the infamous Battle of Verdun France in 1916. The game offers 4 distinct game-modes; Frontlines, Attrition, Rifle Deathmatch and Squad Defense. Also many historically accurate features are included such as realistic WW1 weaponry, authentic uniforms, gore and maps based on the real battlefields of France and Belgium.

Find out more about Verdun at the games official website.

Today, Ubisoft announced that the second expansion for Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Wildlands, Fallen Ghosts, will be available to season pass owners simultaneously on Xbox One, PlayStation® 4 computer entertainment system and Windows PC on May 30th, 2017. The expansion will release for individual purchase for all players a week later, on June 6th, 2017.

Fallen Ghosts takes place after the fall of the Santa Blanca Cartel. With Unidad’s military force unable to maintain control over Bolivia, the country is in a state of civil war. To help restore order, the Unidad enlists cartel members, veterans, mercenaries and criminals from various nearby countries as volunteers. Together, they form a new brutal special unit, Los Extranjeros, which is ordered to track and eliminate all American agents.

In this chaotic situation, the Ghosts have one last mission: evacuate the last CIA members and American civilians remaining in the country. Shot down enroute to their mission, the Ghosts find themselves in the middle of the jungle, without external support, facing deadly enemies equipped with the latest gear and technology. These dangerous elite soldiers are separated into four distinct classes:

• Armoured: Equipped with heavy bulletproof plates, they are especially threatening in close combat.
• Elite Sniper: Geared up with an advanced movement detector, these Elite Snipers are able to spot far away targets, and never miss their shot.
• Jammer: With a jamming antenna directly in their backpack, they are able to neutralise drones and interfere with all electronic equipment.
• Covert Ops: Equipped with a new prototype cloaking device, that makes them almost invisible, and a powerful crossbow, they give a new meaning to the word “Ghost.”

The Fallen Ghosts campaign will feature 15 new missions in which players will have to take down four new bosses located in three different regions. In the expansion, players will start with a new character at level 30 and equipped with all of the main game skills. The level cap will increase from 30 to 35, and players will be able to unlock nine new skills, including physical, weapon and drones skills.

Fallen Ghosts also features six exclusive new weapons, ranging from new assaults rifles, sniper rifles and a crossbow that can be equipped with explosive arrows.

Finally, the more hardcore players will be pleased to know that the advanced and expert difficulties have been tweaked to offer an even higher challenge. By turning the HUD off, players will get the most extreme and tactical experience possible in Ghost Recon: Wildlands.

For more information about Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Wildlands, please visit games official website.

Source: UbiBlog

Rainbow Six: Siege boasts a thriving community of online players, and the game’s overall health is always chief among the development team’s priorities. As such, the team has made the decision to focus on improving the overall Rainbow Six: Siege experience over the next three months with a series of improvements and changes called Operation Health.

Operation Health is a hard push toward tech improvements and bug fixes, and it introduces a new three-stage deployment process for updates, with new features first rolling out on a Technical Test Server, then on PC, then on consoles. (There’s also a new on/off feature in case a rollback is needed). Because of this new focus, the planned Hong Kong season will be pushed back to Season Three in August, while November’s Season Four will feature South Korea. Poland will no longer have its own season in Year Two, but its GROM Operators will be available at the start of seasons three and four. The number of new maps has also been reduced to three, and includes the most recent map set in Spain.

Read on…

Source: Blue’s News

The Battlefield website has details on a new map called Prise de Tahure coming to Battlefield 1 as part of what they’re calling the “Summer of Battlefield,” a somewhat incongruous twist on the 50th anniversary of the Summer of Love. They recap all the new content coming to the game, and offer a bunch of screenshots from the newly announced map. Here is some of what they have to say about it:

We’re glad to announce that a new map called “Prise de Tahure” will be released shortly for testing on the CTE (Community Test Environment). Set in the autumn after the Nivelle Offensive, Prise de Tahure sees French troops desperately holding on to re-captured heights in the Butte-de-Tahure region. The frontline trench networks cut right through several villages facing obliteration from the constant skirmishing between German stormtroopers and French raiders. This is a war of attrition. Adaptability and tactics are the means to wear your adversary down.

Stay tuned for more details and join the CTE to try the content early and give your feedback.

Tripwire Interactive today is pleased to announce that the sequel to the smash hit Rising Storm, PC Gamer’s 2013 ‘Multiplayer Game of the Year’, Rising Storm 2: Vietnam is now available for pre-purchase through Steam. As it marches closer to its impending release, the Digital Deluxe Edition of Rising Storm 2: Vietnam can be pre-purchased now, at a 25% discount. At release, the Standard Edition will be priced at $24.99 and the Digital Deluxe Edition at $29.99. The pre-purchase discount offers the DDE version at $22.49 from now until launch. In addition, the pre-purchase will enable buyers to join a final closed beta weekend before launch.

The Rising Storm 2: Vietnam Digital Deluxe Edition contains a mix of exclusive in-game items, cosmetic unlocks and cool bonuses, including:

• 2 Exclusive Items: Camouflage “Boonie” Hats for the North Vietnamese and U.S. factions
• 4 Early Cosmetic Item Unlocks:
• PAVN – Camo Ushanka
• NLF – Headscarf
• US Army/Marines – Lowland ERDL Helmet
• US Pilot – Dark Horse Helmet
• The official soundtrack featuring original music from the game

The sequel to the smash hit Rising Storm, Rising Storm 2: Vietnam is a hardcore tactical first-person-shooter set in the brutal killing fields of the Vietnam War. The game is a brutal, authentic recreation of the Vietnam War, allowing players to join the fight – whether it be on the sides of the powerful United States Military or the fearless Vietnamese resistance fighters.

Tripwire Interactive is also pleased to reveal to fans the final suggested hardware specs for Rising Storm 2: Vietnam:

Minimum Spec
Windows® 7 / Windows® 8 / Windows® 10 64-bit (latest Service Pack)
Intel® Core™ i3 @ 2.5GHz or AMD Phenom @ 2.5GHz
NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 460 or ATI Radeon™ HD 5850
4 GB RAM

Recommended Spec
Windows® 7 / Windows® 8 / Windows® 10 64-bit (latest Service Pack)
Intel i5 @ 3.2GHz or AMD @4GHz
NVIDIA® GeForce® 760 or AMD R9 270X
6 GB RAM

Click here for the full press release and to view a dozen new screenshots.

Source: Blue’s News

This post on Steam has details on a new version 3.5 title update for Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Wildlands. They say this is now available through Steam and Uplay, offering the following notes on what it does:

The PC Title Update 3.5 is now live on Uplay and Steam. Please update your game to take advantage of all the fixes and new features. Here is the complete list:

NEW FEATURES

• Players can request for help now while in down state.

BUG FIXES

• Fixed the fast travel icon not being displayed on the tacmap when using a Steam Controller.
• Fixed an issue where the screen would flicker when exiting the vehicle while using the Tobii Eye tracking device.
• Fixed an issue where the game language was not automatically set if the Arabic language was set as the title’s language, from the Steam client.
• Fixed an issue where the game would show an incorrect display resolution in the Video menu if ALT+TAB was used during the confirmation pop-up message.
• Fixed an issue where the gray screen when the character is downed was displayed in NVIDIA Ansel.
• Fixed an issue where the 360 screenshot in Ansel had visual corruption if Ansel was used while the Night Vision was activated.
• Fixed an issue where the Weapon Fanatic achievement was not awarded if the weapon pack item was bought from the in game store.

NARCO ROAD

• Fixed and issue where the screen would flicker when using nitro boost while being detected.