Month: June 2018

Call of Duty: WWII‘s third expansion, United Front, is now available for PS4. The DLC pack introduces an assortment of new content to the World War II shooter, including a handful of maps, a new War mode mission, and the next chapter in the Nazi Zombies story.

Those who purchase the United Front pack will get three new maps for Call of Duty: WWII’s multiplayer mode. The first, Market Garden, is a fast-paced arena that forces players into close-quarters confrontations. The second, Monte Cassino, takes place in a “war-torn village” and emphasizes verticality with its many rooftops and other high vantage points. The final map, Stalingrad, is based on the largest confrontation in WWII and features two bases that are located on opposite sides of the war zone.

In addition to the new maps, United Front introduces a new mission for War mode called Operation Supercharge. In this mission, players are dropped in Tunisia and must push into a Nazi-controlled village and capture key supplies there. After that, they must destroy a key transport bridge and then capture “entrenched Axis fortifications.”

Finally, United Front adds a new chapter for Nazi Zombies mode called The Tortured Path. This installment has players trying to stem the advance of the Axis’s undead army. “Players must uncover the lost forges of ancient Thule, make the sword whole again, and also deliver a final death to the Undead in this all-new Zombies experience,” Activision says. You can watch us play through a portion of the new Nazi Zombies chapter above.

Like Call of Duty: WWII’s previous two DLC packs, United Front can be purchased individually for US $15 / £11.59 / AU $20.45. It’s also included as part of the game’s US $50 / £40 / AU $65 season pass, which grants access to all of Call of Duty: WWII’s DLC packs as they release. Activision hasn’t announced when United Front will launch for Xbox One and PC, but thanks to an exclusivity agreement with Sony, Call of Duty DLC typically arrives on those platforms about a month after it hits PS4.

Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle‘s DLC, Donkey Kong Adventure, is out now on Nintendo Switch. The new expansion is a considerable addition to the game, bringing 10 hours’ worth of new gameplay and, of course, the addition of Nintendo superstar Donkey Kong to the lineup of heroes.

Donkey Kong Adventure lets you play as Donkey Kong, but the new storyline revolves around more than just him. In the expansion, Rabbid Peach is separated from her friends must team up with Donkey Kong and the stubborn Rabbid Cranky. Developer Ubisoft says the DLC introduces new tactical gameplay mechanics, along with new enemies, environments, and an epic fight against the vengeful Rabbid Kong, who has used his powers to take control of a mysterious island.

The expansion includes some classic Donkey Kong enemies, mixed in with the Rabbids, and DK sports some of his iconic attacks, like bongo-ing enemies and swinging from vines. You can get a look at some of his moves, along with the new levels and characters, in the launch trailer below.

Donkey Kong Adventure is available now in the Nintendo Eshop and costs $15. In GameSpot’s Mario + Rabbids review, Edmond Tran gave the game a 9/10 and called it an “implausibly engrossing formula that is positively challenging and endlessly charming.” GameSpot also ranked it one of the best Switch games of 2017.

June has almost come to an end, and that means its Games With Gold freebies will wrap up too. Be sure to catch Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: Russia, Smite Gold Bundle, and Lego Indiana Jones 2: The Adventure Continues before they go back to regular pricing.

Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: Russia is one of this month’s Xbox One titles, and will only be available for free until June 30. The other Xbox One freebie, Smite Gold Bundle, will continue to be free through July 15, however. The Xbox 360 title, playable on Xbox One through backwards compatibility, Lego Indiana Jones 2: The Adventure Continues, will leave Games With Gold on June 30.

Take a trip to Europe in Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: Russia. This iteration of the series follows Nikolai Orelov in 1918 as he attempts to steal an artifact from the Bolsheviks who are holding the Tsar’s family. Smite Gold Bundle adds to the free-to-play MOBA title with 20 Gods, over 50 skins, voice packs, and more in one neat package. Lego Indiana Jones 2 takes the original three games and revamps them, while also adding a fourth adventure for The Crystal Skull.

July’s Games With Gold titles haven’t been announced quite yet, but at least you can still enjoy June’s for the time being. You can check out the full month’s list of freebies down below.

June 2018 Games With Gold

Xbox One

• Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: Russia — June 1 – 30
• Smite Gold Bundle — June 16 – July 15

Xbox 360

• Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed — June 1 – 15
• Lego Indiana Jones 2: The Adventure Continues — June 16 – 30

The post-apocalyptic world of Nier: Automata thrives on its mysteries. Its ruined Earth setting is a playground of mayhem where fashionable androids lay waste to less sophisticated looking robots. Its premise of a never-ending war is initially straightforward. But if you know anything about the game’s director, Yoko Taro, then you know to expect the unexpected. That includes everything from an unusual soundtrack steeped in vocals to a battle-hardened heroine who walks with the swagger of a supermodel. Automata also delivers a well-executed and refined combat system, the level of which alone makes Automata well worth the price of admission.

You initially see Automata from the perspective of a female android named 2B who is part of YoRHa, a group of artificial soldiers tasked with wiping the Earth of its hostile robots and their alien creators. This conflict is all the more poignant due to humanity’s displacement to the moon, an exodus that occurred hundreds of years ago. Joining 2B on most of her missions is 9S, a male android who lacks 2B’s dual weapon-wielding prowess but compensates with invaluable hacking skills. They start off as strangers, but through the obstacles they overcome, an obvious closeness begins to form. This is thanks in part to Automata’s sensational anime-as-hell archetypes and story beats.

Given that Earth is utterly overrun with homicidal machines, making Earth hospitable seems like a tall order. But this challenge is softened by the manageable size of Automata’s open world, which is equivalent to a small city. It entices exploration without feeling intimidating, and it’s hard to get lost once you’ve run through the same paths a couple times. Much of the backtracking stems from the game’s numerable side quests, where you help your fellow androids on simple errands and kill missions. While most of these tasks aren’t especially memorable, they do add character to world. Furthermore, monotony is minimized by the convenience of fast travel and swift steeds like moose and boars.

The brightside of being a robot exterminator in Automata is that your canvas of destruction is the product of Platinum Games. Their penchant for feverishly fast and elegant combat is on full display with visuals that echo even the most outrageous attacks from Bayonetta. Combat evolves beyond mindlessly mashing on quick and strong attacks thanks to the variety of bladed weapon styles. Combining any two types produces uniquely flashy animations and, more importantly, damaging results. You can trigger other gorgeous maneuvers by attacking after pulling off a slick dodge cartwheel or by holding down either of the two attack buttons. 9S’ own skill with a sword makes him a substantial AI-controlled contributor, and his ability to keep up with 2B make the battles look positively frenzied. Given the demanding yet rewarding high-dexterity combat and the acrobatic skills of 2B, it wouldn’t be unreasonable to say that Automata is the closest thing there is to a spiritual successor to Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, also developed by Platinum.

You’re expected to use tools and techniques beyond the two main attack inputs if you have any hope of victory in ever encounter. Your pod companion–which echoes Grimoire Weiss, the floating book from the first Nier–provides you with various forms of support. Not only does the pod provide you with a sustained ranged attack, it’s another outlet for personalizing your approach to combat. You can swap in a wide variety of passive performance enhancing chips, that provide you with stat buffs and helpful automated commands. Relying on your pod to automatically use one of your health items when your HP drops below a certain point makes healing one less thing to worry about. Your pod allows you to focus on other survival concerns, like kicking ass and looking good in the process.

Given the demanding yet rewarding high-dexterity combat and the acrobatic skills of 2B, it wouldn’t be unreasonable to say that Automata is the closest thing there is to a spiritual successor to Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, also developed by Platinum.

If you ever run out of healing items and get murdered by enemy robot, however, you’ll lose your experience points if you can’t return to the point of your last death. This is similar to the style of difficulty popularized by Dark Souls with an additional risk of loss: along with the suspense of potentially losing experience you’ve earned since your last save, you can also lose all of your pod’s installed chips, with the exception of the mandatory operating system chip.

While Automata resoundingly delivers that specific flavor of stylish combat found in Platinum’s best works, it never overshadows Taro’s distinct directorial handiwork and penchant for unconventional game and narrative design. It’s the type of production that seamlessly blends story, hack-and-slash combat, and–believe it or not–an engaging bullet-hell shooter component. You don’t question the infantile behaviors of many of the enemy robots because they’re so darn endearing. And you don’t get an explanation for 2B’s cosplay-ready gothic lolita outfits, how she manages to move smoothly through a desert in heels, or why some of her comrades behave like self-involved teenagers. You just go along with it because of Automata’s captivating world and involving battles.

Taro’s unorthodox approach to game design is best exemplified by Automata’s multiple endings and the varying degrees of substance in those conclusions. He’s not above novelty or gag endings, though the real rewards are the five major endings and the various journeys to each one. You don’t get the complete picture until you reach those five endings. As you travel down these various paths, you’re not only introduced to new events, but also given new perspectives to moments you’ve already experienced. Your forward progress isn’t propelled by the mere compulsion to achieve 100% completion; you’re simply pulled by curiosity to learn more about what happened to Earth and humanity.

Thanks to Platinum Games’ knack for riveting and gratifying combat, Automata is Yoko Taro’s most exciting game to date. The combat mechanics click after hurdling a low learning curve, and the end result is a skillful dance where balletic dodges complement wushu-inspired aggression. Moreover, this multi-ending trip is generously peppered with surprises and revelations, as well as easter eggs that call back to the first game and the Drakengard series from which Nier spun off. It’s a meaty, often exhilarating trek that showcases Platinum Games’ and Yoko Taro’s unique blend of genius.

Editor’s note: Nier: Automata has released on Xbox One as the Become As Gods Edition, which includes the 3C3C1D119440927 DLC along with several cosmetic items for the main characters and pods. We tested the new Xbox One version by playing through the first three hours of the game, and it runs at a stable frame rate at 4K on the Xbox One X. Most importantly, everything we love about Nier: Automata is, of course, still here: the evocative soundtrack, unique narrative style, and affecting story are as strong as ever. We have updated the score to include the Xbox One version. – June 26, 8:00 PM PT