PAX East 2019: Borderlands 3 Announced, Developer Trailer Shown

One of the most anticipated games ever has finally been revealed in all its glory. At PAX East 2019, Gearbox announced Borderlands 3 will be coming soon to the world. Although a release date hasn’t been announced, 2K Games has said they expect the game to come out sometime before next April. Gearbox started their panel in a very E3 fashion, as they detailed the teaser trailer that was released on March 27th. President and CEO Randy Pitchford and Creative Director Paul Sage went into detail about tidbits of Borderlands 3 that was placed in the trailer. They debuted two new villains and new looks to classic characters like Tiny Tina and Mad Moxxi. After many technical video difficulties, the Borderlands 3 trailer was shown and looks to be spectacular. It has the classic, cell-shaded art style that Borderlands is famous for. As usual, the game will feature four more Vault Hunters. It looks as though some of their special abilities were debuted, as one of the characters sprouted six extra arms from her back. Some brand new worlds were teased along with brand new enemies to fight. In the most exciting part of the trailer, Gearbox claims to have one billion different types of guns for Borderlands 3. This even includes guns with legs, which is sure to add plenty of wrinkles to Borderlands deep gameplay. See the trailer right here and stay up to date with more Borderlands news on Rectify Gaming.
PAX East 2019: Borderlands 1: Game of the Year Edition Announced

Borderlands 1 is getting a complete remaster for Xbox One, PS4 and PC in the coming year. Borderlands 1: Game of the Year Edition will be launching on April 3rd for all previously mentioned platforms. This will be more of a remaster, as there will be several improvements to the original classic. As per a Gearbox Software announcement, the game will include: New weapons, visual upgrades, character heads, gold chests and keys, and all four add-on packs. Part of the updates will include a mini-map and an updated version of the final boss. Borderlands 1 is getting the remastered treatment is rightly deserves. You can view the announcement trailer below.
PAX EAST 2019: Borderlands Handsome Collection to Have Free UHD Pack

Borderlands: The Handsome Collection just got a little bit more handsome. The Handsome Collection will be getting a free UHD pack to all systems on April 3rd. The pack will include 4k resolution native to the Xbox One and the PS4. This is a massive update for all Borderlands fans, as this beloved collection is getting the new improvements it desperately needed. Stay tuned for more PAX East 2019 updates here on Rectify Gaming.
PAX East 2019: Gearbox Announces We Happy Few DLC, Bulletstorm: Duke of Switch, Pathologic 2, Trover, and Risk of Rain 2

Gearbox wowed everyone at PAX East 2019 and Borderlands 3 wasn’t the only reason. Gearbox announced that Compulsion Games will be bringing a DLC for We Happy Few. The DLC will be entitled “They Came From Below” and will be available on April 4th of this year. The creators of Bulletstorm are also bringing the game and all its DLC to the Nintendo Switch. The version will be called “The Duke of Switch Edition” and is anticipated to be released early this summer. This is exciting news as Bulletstorm continues to be a popular IP for Gearbox. This might be a warmup for another Bulletstorm game in the future. They also announced that the game has been running extraordinarily well on the Switch port, which is great news. tinyBuild, the developers behind Hello Neighbor and No Time to Explain! are announcing a sequel to the 2005 game, Pathologic. Pathologic 2 will be a psychological thriller game developed in the Unity engine and looks to be a very terrifying game. The game is set to release on May 23 on Steam. Squanch Games is adding more hilarious high jinks with Justin Roiland with Trover Saves the Universe. Squanch was behind the hilarious VR game Accounting. In Trover Saves the Universe, it looks like the gameplay will be very combat-driven rather than a linear story experience. Trover Saves the Universe will be available on May 31st of this year. Hopoo Games has recently been acquired by Gearbox and they’ve announced Risk of Rain 2. This new Risk of Rain is a far departure from the first game. Risk of Rain 2 will be fully 3D as opposed to 2D, retro style. The game is available today in early access on Steam with the full version to be announced soon. PAX East has already added plenty of excitement in a near E3 fashion. Gearbox is taking hold as one of the best publishers in the games industry after today.
Rumor: EA Access Coming to the PS4

Despite EA pulling themselves from an E3 conference, the company is still making big moves for this summer. A tweet by Joe “Wotta” Anderson suggests EA is bringing EA Access to the PS4. The screenshot is taken from Reddit user Sabazin. EA said EA Access was coming to another major platform and now this. Seems like it’s happening. Pretty pleased if so. pic.twitter.com/f2D03kOmd0 — Joe 'wotta' Anderson 🏴⚽️🎮 (@_wotta) March 17, 2019 This move is not entirely shocking, as EA mentioned the video game subscription service would be coming to another major platform. In the tweet, Joe posts a screenshot of the PS Store in the “What’s New” section. In the screenshot, there is a tab that displays “EA Access Now Available” in Portuguese. As with all rumors, it must be taken with a grain of salt. Screenshots can often be altered and later revealed to be fraudulent. However, Joe Anderson seems to be a reliable source in the gaming community. He’s followed by several gamers, content creators, and journalists. He’s notably followed by Emily Rogers, who has accurately leaked, predicted and announced Nintendo news in the past. Having early access to unreleased EA games, instant access to 50+ EA games, and a possible 10% discount on EA games is a welcome sight for PS4 owners. Let’s hope the rumors are confirmed by EA sooner than later.
Review: Kingdom Hearts 3

After a long, arduous, and suspense filled 13 years, Kingdom Hearts 3 and all the answers with it arrived in late January. For all the fans that grew up with the franchise, this game is the climactic ending they’ve all been waiting for. For people who are brand new to the series, as I am, this game seems like a cluttered story with gameplay elements that have high highs and low lows. However, this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Kingdom Hearts 3 is one of the most fascinating games I have experienced. It is a mess of a video game, and that’s part of what makes it so special. Kingdom Hearts 3 takes place after the events of “Kingdom Hearts: 0.2 Birth By Sleep – A Fragmentary Passage” and “Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance.” Sora was on the verge of being led into darkness by the all-powerful, Master Xehanort and has lost all his powers. Sora looks to recover them before the epic battle of light and darkness takes place. Meanwhile, Riku and Mickey Mouse are off to find one of their strongest allies, Aqua, to also prepare for the upcoming battle. This leads us into Sora, Donald, and Goofy going to Olympus to find Hercules and find out how to unlock his powers in “Kingdom Hearts 2.9.” As Sora, you engage in battle after battle through a war-torn Thebes. Hades has unleashed the Titans onto the world and its up to you to stop him. This is the prologue of the game and it begins with a bang, which is a welcome sight considering Kingdom Hearts 2’s prologue was a slog with a whole lot of confusion thrown into the mix. Olympus sets the tone for what you will be experiencing throughout. The game gives you a drip feed of new mechanics, ways to attack, and movement options to slowly ease you into what it wants to present. Wall-running, attacking, dodging, and use of the “Flowmotion” system from previous games are explained in-depth. The world of Olympus, much like the subsequent worlds, are beautifully detailed and expansive. The design of each world makes you want to see every nook and cranny because of how gorgeous everything looked. This was a welcome sight since the previous games made worlds feel like a school diorama rather than a sprawling, life-filled environment. The animation of each character and Square’s loyalty to Disney’s source material is spot-on, though it takes some liberties with its storytelling. The worlds you encounter will give you a very basic idea of what the Disney story is, which leads to some let-downs with the impact of the events. In the Pirates and Toy Story worlds, they immersed you with interesting wrinkles in the gameplay. This includes taking control of giant-mechs in Toy Story and being able to man a ship to explore the ocean in Pirates. Toy Story made you feel like a real toy, as the world takes place mostly in a mall where each floor feels like a brand-new area. The aesthetics of Pirates are unmatched and puts you squarely in the movie. Sora and the gang are able sail to new islands and explore the secrets within them. Diving through ocean reefs, exploring the jungles of each island, and even diving for treasure are all present in Pirates world. On the other hand, the Frozen world and Big Hero 6 world lacked polish and went on a little too long. Frozen involves having to climb the same mountain multiple times with only one, thematic sledding portion that was ho hum. Big Hero 6’s world was large yet felt empty and devoid of life. Some of the missions just took too long to complete due to the sheer size of the map. Each climactic, ending moment felt more like a relief than a satisfying end to the story. This was even a problem with the more satisfying worlds in Kingdom Hearts 3. Part of the problem of lack of impactful moments also stems from the game’s combat system. As in previous Kingdom Hearts games, battles will consist of hordes of Heartless, Nobodies, and Unversed to slash and stab with Sora’s Keyblade. Sora also has control of elemental magic, summons of famous Disney characters, and the newly added “attractions.” When it comes to swinging your Keyblade to and fro, it feels precise and easy to control. Dodging and blocking are also present, but the litany of offensive weaponry makes these seldom used buttons (unless you do Proud mode). You will also have access to healing items and the ability to cook food to increase your stats temporarily. The food can be made from LeGrand Bistro with the help of “Little Chef.” With each world conquered, Sora will unlock several Keyblades that are themed from each world. Each Keyblade comes with nifty transformations that stack more damage and allow for various ways to defeat your enemies. As far as looks go, nothing looks cooler and flashier than pulling off a combo and moving from one enemy to the next. In a utilitarian sense, most of the options feel redundant or pointless. Most of the Keyblades have similar effects and transformations. Some Keyblades have interesting uses, but it doesn’t really add any deeper strategy options to your fights. Nearly all the enemies (including bosses) can be defeated by simply mashing the attack button while occasionally transforming for extra damage. Having more options and variance in any game isn’t a bad thing. It’s nice to be able to have access to any and all ways to defeat your foes. Rather, the effectiveness of changing up your combat is little to none. This makes most of the fights very uninteresting and takes away the gravity of significant battles knowing you can mash attack and win. Additionally, the attractions and summons suffer similar fates. Attractions are far too powerful, as most of them make you completely invincible for the duration of the move. The attractions are also clear out enemies
Rumor: Bully 2 in Development, Could Be Announced Soon

After rumors of Bully 2 began swirling after the release of Rockstar’s Red Dead Redemption 2, there might be more evidence pointing to its development. In a YouTube video published by the user “SWEGTA”, he mentions that an account named Alex Martens commented on a previous Bully 2 video. Alex Martens commented on the video saying, “Bully 2 is indeed in development.” The video gained traction quite quickly after the comment surfaced. Since that video’s release, Alex Martens removed his profile picture and changed his name to Alex M. The significance of Alex Martens is that he is listed as a Rockstar Games Technical Designer and made comments on other Bully 2 videos. The account also follows the Game Developers Conference channel and was made six years ago. These facts make the allegations of the account being a troll hard to back up. Additionally, a recent report by RockstarIntel details a casting call by UK Pinewood Studios. The casting call was for a “new unannounced video game title with a leading UK games developer.” Roles include college professors, several teenager and young adult roles. The tagline for the game says “Mild violence and profanity will be used in scenes with the young performer. The project itself is a thriller/drama and all scenes with the young performer will be handled with sensitivity.” These cues feel very much like something that sounds similar to Bully. The casting was allegedly being held by Jessica Jefferies, a motion capture casting director based in the UK. Yet, this rumor has been debunked by Comicbook.com’s Tyler Fisher after contacting Jessica Jefferies. Jefferies states, “I’m not casting this project and the completed casting back in October was not for Bully 2.” As with every rumor, it is important to not take these as fact and instead as unconfirmed pieces of information. Updates will be provided as we learn more in the coming future. Source
Resident Evil Franchise Has Sold Over 90 Million Copies Worldwide

Capcom is home to a bevy of world-renowned games, yet it is the Resident Evil series that has stood above the rest. In an announcement from Capcom itself, the company has stated that Resident Evil has sold over 90 million copies starting from 1996. The franchise has seen eight mainline Resident Evil games going from Resident Evil 0 to Resident Evil 7: Biohazard. Resident Evil also has several spin-offs and remakes, bringing their grand total to 33 separate games. Resident Evil 5 remains as the game that has sold the most individual copies, while Resident Evil 4 holds the highest critical acclaim of the franchise. Overall, Resident Evil is Capcom’s pride and joy of their company. Capcom saw a large spike in sales from the Resident Evil 2 remake, which sold over 3 million units in the first week of release. It also sold second in Japan behind Kingdom Hearts III and debuted at the top in the UK. This was Capcom’s best launch since Resident Evil 7 in terms of physical sales. The Resident Evil franchise traces its roots from a number of influences. Notably, the first Resident Evil was first conceived as a remake to Capcom’s PC RPG Sweet Home. They could not reuse the name Sweet Home as a DOS game had recently been trademarked. Capcom held a contest for the name and eventually came up with Resident Evil. Resident Evil was also heavily influenced by Alone in the Dark, a 1992 PC game developed by Infogrames. Alone in the Dark was one of the first games to have fixed camera angles. The game also involves heavy puzzle-solving and managing item inventory. Capcom looks to improve on these numbers by bringing Resident Evil 0, 1, and 4 to the Nintendo Switch this coming May.
Bethesda Placeholder Game Discovered on Amazon, Possibly Fallout Related

Bethesda might be in position to recover itself from Fallout 76’s backlash sooner than we thought. On February 23rd in a tweet from Wario64, it was discovered that Bethesda had a placeholder game on Amazon.com for the Xbox One, PS4, and PC. The price is a stagnant $59.99 for the Standard, Deluxe, and Collector’s Edition. This will most likely be changed later once the game itself is unveiled. Bethesda placeholder video/trailer page https://t.co/Z8N8FC5rdE pic.twitter.com/lUOjDsadR1 — Wario64 (@Wario64) February 23, 2019 Additionally, the game came with a trailer that involves a very Fallout-like countdown screen. It’s hard to imagine Bethesda is ready to put out a brand-new Fallout experience after a poor showing from Fallout 76, a game in which Bethesda has stated it will continue to support. If this is a Fallout game, it could be a remaster of Fallout 3 or Fallout: New Vegas in an attempt to quell the negative feedback from disappointed fans of the franchise. There is also a strong possibility that this could be another Wolfenstein game, as the countdown screen aesthetic fits in with either Bethesda franchise. What do you think the game will be? Let us know in the comments below.
Rumor: Watch Dogs 3 to Release in 2019, New Assassin’s Creed in 2020

As we draw ever closer to E3, the rumor mill is starting to churn with Ubisoft being the center of them this time. According to an anonymous post on a 4chan archive board “/v/ videogames” and a now deleted tweet from Nibel, Watch Dogs 3 is set to release this year and is to be set in London. The game will have a focus more on the hacking aspect with less powerful firearms and knives for combat. The protagonist won’t be limited to a male character and will now give you the option to be female. The story will remain the same no matter the player’s choice of character. In addition, a new Assassin’s Creed game code-named “Legion” is to be released in 2020 for the current and next gen consoles. The new AC game is to be set in Italy at the end of the reign of Marcus Aurelius, a Roman emperor from 161-180 A.D. This is also during a time of struggles with his son, Commodus, and the year of five emperors. The player will be able to be Cassius or Lucia, a descendant of characters from AC: Origins and AC: Odyssey. The game will feature player choices and heavy RPG elements, much like Odyssey. The story will also be the same for both characters. “Legion” is being developed by Ubisoft’s Sofia and is said to tie up the loose ends for the “Ancient Trilogy” of Assassin’s Creed games. The goal of Sofia is to make the game focus “First Civilization” and to blend old Assassin’s Creed with the new to make fans of both happy. “Legion” will also feature a mainland map of Italy with small parts of Gaul and Germania. The cultist and mercenary system will also see many changes and revisions. The anonymous post was also accompanied by a screenshot of what looks to be “Legion” in development with an eagle flying over Italy. Just like any rumor, none of this is confirmed until we hear more from other sources or from Ubisoft itself.