Month: March 2019

If you’ve let your World of Warcraft subscription go inactive, Blizzard really wants you to come back this weekend. To encourage players with inactive accounts to return, the publisher is upgrading those accounts with all expansion packs through Legion and offering a three-hour trial of the latest expansion, Battle for Azeroth. World of Warcraft is free to play now through Sunday, March 24.

To take advantage of the limited-time offer, all you have to do is re-download the Battle.net desktop app, log into your account, click on the World of Warcraft tab, install or update the game, and hit Play.

If you haven’t been keeping up with all the expansions, there’s a lot of new content to check out, such as new worlds, classes, races, and mechanics, and you likely won’t have time to dive into all of it this weekend. As another incentive to bring old WoW players back, Blizzard is offering $20 off on both the Battle for Azeroth expansion and the World of Warcraft: Complete Collection through March 31. Select game services are also marked down by 30%: character transfer, faction change, and race change.

Even if you’ve never purchased Battle for Azeroth, you’ll gain access to a free three-hour trial of the expansion this weekend. You can also repeat the trial with up to twelve different characters. Battle for Azeroth introduced two huge new features to WoW: level-scaling, which means the levels of creatures and quests are scaled to your character level, and Allied Races, design twists on the main races unlocked after meeting certain in-game requirements. Check out our World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth review for a full breakdown of what to expect from the expansion.

From Software’s latest game, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is nearly here. Its March 22 release date is just around the corner, and reviews are starting to go live across the web. So what do the critics think of the highly anticipated follow-up to Bloodborne and the Souls series?

GameSpot’s Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice review-in-progress awarded the game a 9/10, with critic Tamoor Hussain calling the stealth-action title “an experience that is as challenging as it is gratifying”–it is a From Software game, after all.

For more on the critical consensus of Sekiro, check out the selection of reviews below. Alternatively, take a look at GameSpot sister site Metacritic.

• Game: Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
• Developer / Publisher: From Software / Activision
• Release date: March 22
• Platforms: PS4, Xbox One, PC
• Price: US $60 / £60 / AU $100

GameSpot — 9/10 (Review-In-Progress)

“Sekiro marries From Software’s unique brand of gameplay with stealth action to deliver an experience that is as challenging as it is gratifying. At the time of publish I haven’t completed Sekiro. While I have invested upwards of 30 hours into it, there are still a few more locations I need to explore and bosses I need to beat before the credits roll, and I’m excited to do it.” — Tamoor Hussain [Full review-in-progress]

IGN — 9.5/10

“Sekiro evolves From Software’s formula into a stylish stealth-action adventure that, naturally, emphasizes precision and skill in its combat. It walks the line between deliberate and patient stealth and breakneck melee combat against threats both earthly and otherworldly. Its imaginative and flexible tools support a more focused experience that shaves down some of From Software’s overly cryptic sensibilities without losing its air of mystery. Sekiro is an amazing new twist on a familiar set of ideas that can stand on its own alongside its predecessors.” — Brandin Tyrrel [Full review]

Polygon — Recommended

“I have to put in a lot of work and effort to meet Sekiro on its own terms, but what might feel ponderous in a lesser game becomes rewarding in one created with this much care. Sekiro meets me with just as much effort and enthusiasm as I’ve put into it. It lets me know I’m capable and skilled, and that I can figure it out. And then it hands me my ass again.” — Dave Tach and Jeffrey Parkin [Full review]

Game Informer — 9.0/10

“Sekiro’s story moves in strange and compelling ways that defy the initial adherence to the trappings of feudal Japan, and allows the player to discover multiple endings and confrontations depending on choices and secrets. It’s a challenging journey through a weird and wondrous world that forces you to learn and master its punishing combat to succeed. However, the sweet thrill of victory keeps you pushing forward despite myriad disheartening deaths. Sekiro is one of the most difficult games I have ever played, but for those seeking adventure, exploration, and a truly realized ninja fantasy, the trek is worth the high demands.” — Daniel Tack [Full review]

It’s a great week for Xbox One deals–in addition to discounted Square Enix games and wireless controllers, Xbox Live just launched yet another sale you won’t want to miss. The Critically Acclaimed Sale went live today and includes some of the best game titles released in recent years, including Red Dead Redemption 2, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, Celeste, Dead Cells, and more. This batch of game deals has markdowns up to 75% off, and you can claim them for the next week.

Every one of these games is worth picking up (depending on your interests), but let’s take a quick look at the most notable deals. Mountain-climbing platformer Celeste, which was one of the best games of last year, is marked down 50%; you can grab it for $10 right now. Red Dead Redemption 2 has been going on sale frequently, but if you’ve been waiting to get it on Xbox One, you can pick up its standard edition for only $40.19. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt has been out for nearly four years but is still considered an RPG masterpiece–so if you don’t own it, consider picking up the standard edition on sale for $12 (or the Complete edition for just $15). Rogue-inspired metroidvania game Dead Cells is also marked down to $17.49.

Several excellent puzzle platformers are also marked down, including a bundle for Playdead’s acclaimed titles Inside and Limbo. Little Nightmares‘ Complete edition is only $9 and includes the DLC Secrets of the Maw. The Missing: J.J. Macfield and the Island of Memories is a wild, emotional adventure with a surprising ending–and it’s on sale for $19.49.

Quite a few of these game deals also overlap with the indie games sale happening in the Nintendo Eshop right now–if you own a Switch, you may want to take a glance at that sale too.

Shop the Xbox One Critically Acclaimed Sale »

And see the full list of game deals below!

The first-ever Apex Legends battle pass, this one for Season 1–Wild Frontier–released earlier this week. It clearly takes some inspiration from the battle passes popularized by Fortnite, and much like the ones offered by Epic, EA and Respawn have designed Apex’s so that it can pay for itself, provided you play enough.

The Season 1 battle pass costs 950 Apex Coins. You can also buy a bundle for 2,800 Apex Coins that includes the battle pass and gives you a head start by advancing you through 25 levels of battle pass progression (and unlocking the corresponding rewards). The pass itself includes a variety of rewards–such as skins, stat trackers, Legend voice lines, and Apex Coin and XP drops–with rewards unlocked by earning XP.

More importantly, you can actually earn 1,000 Apex Coins in total through the battle pass, which, EA notes in a blog post, can be “put towards unlocking the next Battle Pass.” Alternatively, you could put it toward unlocking a character, such as the new Legend, Octane. Whatever the case, if you level up the battle pass enough, you can make back the Apex Coins it costs to buy it in the first place.

The battle pass essentially gives players a second set of rewards to earn alongside those you get by leveling up your player profile. Whether or not you buy Octane or Apex Legends’ new battle pass, Season 1 lets you unlock some rewards for free: 18 new stat trackers, five Apex Packs, and a new skin for Octane. Although your battle pass level is separate from your player level, they are both increased by playing matches and earning XP. There are no Fortnite-style challenge to complete, although Respawn has suggested that future seasons may work differently and that it’s open to feedback from players.

Octane, the ninth and newest Legend to join Respawn’s battle royale game, is also out now. Octane is not a part of the battle pass though, and you’ll need to buy him with additional Legend Tokens or Apex Coins. Much like Mirage and Caustic, Octane will cost 12,000 Legend Tokens or 750 Apex Coins.

If you’re playing Apex Legends on PC or Xbox One, you might have a cheaper option for picking up Octane or the battle pass. Origin Access and EA Access, respectively, provide subscribers with 1,000 free Apex Coins in addition to a few other rewards. As such, if you aren’t already a member, you can subscribe for one month and get that bonus for less money than you’d spend on 1,000 Apex Coins

With the Epic Store growing in influence, we’re seeing a number of games–including Hades and the PC releases for Metro Exodus and The Division 2–release as exclusives on the new online marketplace. Another game launching as an Epic Store exclusive is The Cycle, coming from Yager Entertainment–the same developers behind Spec Ops: The Line and 2018’s multiplayer combat-sim Dreadnought. With the full rollout planned later this year, The Cycle will be Yager’s first self-published game, it blends PvE gameplay with the pace of an online shooter.

The developers explained why they felt the game was such a good fit for the Epic Store, crediting the success of Fortnite and flexibility of the Unreal Engine for online games. As a live game, Yager has plans to work on The Cycle for the long-term, adding in new content and features over its lifetime.

“We wanted to have a different type of relationship with the community than what we’d had before on Dreadnought,” said Jonathan Lindsay, Executive Producer at Yager Entertainment. “There’s been a lot of lessons learned from that, on a technical level, and also, we’ve gotten a lot of benefit out of the lessons we’ve learned from Epic on Fortnite, since they’ve worked on the Unreal Engine. The engine itself is really great for a live game and it supports that format really well.”

The Cycle is a PvPvE game (player-versus-player-versus-environment) that blends together different genres for a somewhat unorthodox approach to an online shooter. Landing on the hostile alien world Fortuna III, your character will have to explore the surface of the planet and collect resources to craft new gear to survive. In addition to fighting off the local wildlife, you’ll need to complete a number of contracts from your chosen faction in order to gain enough credits to call in better gear. However, you’ll also come across other players who are doing the same.

When reading that particular premise, it sounds like a game trying to take a crack at the battle royale genre. Though it features a very similar setup, complete with a map that has themed areas, The Cycle is not a battle royale game. Along with contending with dangerous alien creatures and tackling new missions thrown in during a match, you’ll need to actively collect materials to haul back to the extraction point. You’re certainly free to shoot other players on sight and try to take some of their resources, but you might be better off trying to form a squad with other players you can meet in the world.

The end goal is to make it to the extraction with your set of resources by the end of the match, but unlike other online shooters, multiple players can come away with a win. Resources kept with you during extraction can be used to craft new upgrades for your gear. These upgrades are persistent, allowing to you flesh out your character and loadouts, letting you bring a slightly more prepared character into the next game. However, you’ll still start fresh in every match, and you’ll need to collect credits to call-in the more high-end gear you’ve acquired.

The developers at Yager Entertainment state that The Cycle will be a community-driven game, with feedback collected from players helping to inform what comes next for the online game. At the end of this month, from March 28-30, a new alpha test will open up for players who sign up for access on the official site, allowing newcomers to check out what the online shooter has in store.