Since 2013

Search

Search

Call Of Duty: Vanguard Alpha Arrives To PlayStation This Friday, Beta Begins Later In September

Rewinding back to 2019, it was a surprise to learn that developer Sledgehammer Games would be retracting its status as a three-year developer for the Call of Duty franchise. Due to a complication with the development for the planned release coming in 2020 between the team and Raven Software, Sledgehammer Games was out of the equation, Kotaku reported. However, entering 2021 welcomed new rumors that Sledgehammer Games would be making its way back to the series with a new release for this year. The claim told that the team would be re-entering with another World War II entry later this fall. It was not until this past May that Sledgehammer Games itself verified the speculation for this year’s release and its involvement. Last week, the team alongside Activision unveiled Call of Duty: Vanguard, which confirms the initial rumor on the game as well. Now, the firm shares that a planned Alpha test will be coming to PlayStation later this week. You can watch the Alpha trailer in the video below: “From August 27 at 10 AM PT to August 29 at 10 AM PT, every single PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 owner will be able to participate in the Call of Duty: Vanguard PlayStation Alpha, featuring Sledgehammer Games’ innovative new game mode known as Champion Hill,” Sledgehammer Games shares in the blog post. “This 48-hour play session is your first opportunity to play Call of Duty: Vanguard two months before its November 5 release, and for most PlayStation owners, a PlayStation Plus Subscription is not required.” For PlayStation 5, the Alpha is said to be roughly 20 GB. However, PlayStation 4 file size varies depending on the region you are from it appears. Additionally, there is details on the Beta for the game as well. Those that pre-order the game can expect it to arrive earlier on certain platforms. Specifically, PlayStation early time initiates from September 10 to September 13 with its open beta prompted from September 16 to September 20. During that, Xbox & PC gets early beta from September 16 to September 17 then a fully integrated open beta remains from September 18 to September 20, Activision shares. Are you excited to get hands-on with Call of Duty: Vanguard? Call of Duty: Vanguard ships on November 5, 2021 for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. Source: Activision

Open Beta For Riders Republic Kicks Off This Week

While fans await new exciting release from publisher like Far Cry 6 later this fall, the team is also planning to deliver another anticipated release in the same timeframe. In that, Riders Republic is planned to drop in autumn 2021. Previously, Ubisoft scheduled the release for the game landing on September 2 next month. However, the release date later happened to be overly ambitions for the game’s preparedness and left the game being delayed into October now. Additionally, that is not the only game receiving a delay at that time. Then, Ubisoft also announced that Rainbow Six: Extraction is also being pushed. Unlike Riders Republic, the project is said to arrive sometime next year in 2022. Recently, Ubisoft pressed that an open beta for Riders Republic will be going live and it has officially kicked off on Monday. You can watch the open beta trailer in the video below: “The Riders Republic Beta allows you to ride solo or join up with friends through three careers such as Bike Races, Snow Tricks and Air Sports, or multiplayer modes, including Mass Races, Tricks Battle and Free for All. Plus, you can also invite up to two riders to shred along with you,” Ubisoft writes when announcing the open beta previously. The open beta is available now and is said to take place from August 23 until August 25 later this Wednesday. If interested, you can still sign-up by heading to the game’s website. According to the FAQ for the Riders Republic open beta, “The Beta is a work in progress version of the game, so your progress will not be carried over to the final game,” so do not expect your experience to migrate to the full release later on. Are you planning to sample Riders Republic this week? Riders Republic is set to arrive on October 28, 2021 for Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, PC, and Stadia. Source: Ubisoft

Review: Psychonauts 2

Developer – Double Fine Publisher – Xbox Game Studios Platforms – PC, PS5, PS4, Xbox One, Xbox Series S|X Psychonauts was originally released in the old times, a.k.a 2005. A debut title from a new studio known as Double Fine, created by Tim Schafer after his departure from LucasArts. Most of his team from acclaimed point-and-click classic Grim Fandango joined him. Psychonauts was a departure from the classic adventure games that were their bread and butter. Instead, Psychonauts was a 3D-platformer. It had a lot of heart, style, and fantastic characters and writing, but also contained some growing pains as the new studio showed how tough it was to make a game completely outside their comfort zone. Pyschonauts, at the time, was an average platformer that ran okay but was carried to cult classic status with its downright hilarious and comedic writing, inventive level design and fantastic world building. Through the years, Double Fine grew, as did their game catalog, some of which were fan favorites in their own right. Despite all the success, Double Fine remained small, and fans’ demand for a sequel to the game that started them off grew. Eventually, a Fig campaign was created, and Psychonauts 2 was quickly funded. The onus was on the developer to finally create a sequel to the beloved game. Despite numerous delays, a complete corporate acquisition, and a whole platform generation shift, Psychonauts 2 is finally here and truly excels at refining what was not so hot, and ramps up its old strengths in meaningful ways. Psychonauts 2 continues the story of Razputin Aquato, acrobat and Psychonaut in training. This go around, the leader of the Psychonauts is missing, and they suspect one of their own is a double agent. Raz, old favorites and plenty of new characters embark on a journey to solve this mystery and bring closure to his story arc. I won’t delve too much deeper into the story or its beats other than to say it’s fantastic. Despite the insane art style, timely comedic writing, and truly inventive world design, it remains grounded in themes everybody can relate to. In a world that has seen mental health become a much more socially acceptable topic to discuss, Psyconauts 2 absolutely dives into some of the darker elements of the human psyche. The game even gives a warning up front about the subject matter, and as a new father during a horrible world wide pandemic, tackling depression off and on and bouts of severe self-doubt, nothing in my experience was triggering. In fact, it’s been quite refreshing to see such topics not just handled with care and empathy, but married to the core level design and a true feeling of satisfaction to endure and complete each stage. I felt better, in a sense, about these themes, and despite the sometimes dark nature of mental health, Psychonauts 2 tackles it with a warmth and a message that makes it feel okay to talk about and feel these things without a stigma branded on our day-to-day mental health. Even more so, another common theme from the original game and Psychonauts 2, is family. Essentially, Razputin is the Dominic Toretto of the platforming genre. No matter how tough the odds, or impossible victory may seem, family pulls everything together. How you experience those worlds, and the twisted minds of your fellow Psyconauts, is very much in tune with the original. A big hub world to explore and many opportunities for side quests and skill growth are everywhere you turn. A handful of powers return, such as levitation and pyrokinesis, joined by plenty of new ones. Each ability can be upgraded several times, and in any order you desire. Using the wide swath of abilities is essential, not just for finding secrets, but almost every world and combat encounter calls for variety. The need to use all of your powers calls into question my only true gripe with the game as a whole. At any one time, Raz can wield four powers mapped to the triggers and bumpers. Tapping on the d-pad will bring up a wheel of abilities, and tapping a button while highlighting a specific power will map it to that button. Early in the game, this method is completely fine, but as soon as your power set grows beyond a handful, it quickly becomes monotonous to quickly swap between powers just for a single action, then swap right back to what you were primarily using. Very quickly, almost every level and most combat encounters will start to require a healthy use of Raz’s abilities, but constantly using the method described to access all the tools for the job slow the pace and flow down a considerable amount. I would have much preferred a method where holding either trigger causes the face buttons to become shortcuts for your powers. This would cut out the middleman and allow for a smoother moment-to-moment gameplay experience. That issue, while frustrating at times, was my only real complaint through the experience. Much of the original game’s shortcomings, such as rudimentary platforming and a troublesome camera, are completely gone now. Psychonauts 2 has much more polish behind every aspect. The level design is top notch and they do a great job of keeping things visually intense but readable for the platforming. The game also performs great. On the Series X it ran at a rock-solid frame-rate that never dipped. Later stages also featured some terrific and downright gorgeous visuals that excel with the quirky art style. Combat is also a step-up, and if it becomes too tough or a chore, excellent accessibility options are contained to smooth over the combat and make it a breeze so the focus is purely on adventuring and the story. Boss fights are a bit formulaic, but still nice ways to cap off the world and mind you adventured through to see its climax. Furthermore, once the main story is completed, Psychonauts 2 also features one of the best