Month: September 2019

The products discussed here were independently chosen by our editors. GameSpot may get a share of the revenue if you buy anything featured on our site.

With demanding games like Control releasing more and more these days, the base consoles are starting to show their age, especially when it comes to maintaining a solid frame rate. The more powerful PS4 Pro and Xbox One X are very appealing for this very reason, and if you’ve been looking to upgrade or enter the console space at all, then Newegg has a great deal on a PS4 Pro bundle that may interest you.

PS4 Pro with Sekiro, Black Ops 4, and For Honor

$400 ($533)

See it at Newegg

This bundle is going for $400 USD down from $533. It comes with Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, Call of Duty: Black Ops 4, and For Honor: Marching Fire Edition. There’s nothing to indicate when this deal will end or how much stock is left, so if you’re interested, you may want to act sooner rather than later.

Sekiro received a 9/10 in GameSpot’s review, with our own Tamoor Hussain saying, “The orchestration of intense one-on-one boss encounters that truly test your mettle, and slower-paced stealth sections that let you take on battles at your own pace, is masterful.”

Our Black Ops 4 review scored it an 8. GameSpot’s Kallie Plagge praised the smart level design and all three modes: Versus, Zombies, and Blackout. “Blackout pushes Call of Duty in an entirely new direction, making use of aspects from both multiplayer and Zombies for a take on the battle royale genre that stands on its own,” she wrote. “Sure, there isn’t a traditional single-player campaign, but with the depth and breadth of what is there, Black Ops 4 doesn’t need it.”

For Honor’s review also awarded it an 8, in which Matt Espineli praised its satisfying and layered combat and unique, fulfilling modes. Since this review, much has been added to the game as Ubisoft continues to support it. This includes new characters, maps, and much more.

Red Dead Redemption 2‘s big summer update is now live on PS4 and Xbox One. As Rockstar previously detailed, the update introduces a wealth of new content to the game’s online component, Red Dead Online, including the first Frontier Pursuits, new items, an array of quality-of-life improvements, and more.

The biggest addition are the aforementioned Frontier Pursuits–specialized roles that come with their own unique activities, skills, and unlockable items. Players have a choice of three Frontier Pursuits. The Bounty Hunter role focuses on tracking down wanted criminals; the Trader can open up a shop and sell animal pelts and meat; and the Collector specializes in searching for valuable treasures. You can read a more detailed breakdown of each Frontier Pursuit on Rockstar’s website.

As you complete your Frontier Pursuit’s unique activities, you’ll earn Role XP that will help you unlock new Role Ranks. That, in turn, will net you Role Tokens, special items, new skills, and even role-specific Free Roam events. Each Frontier Pursuit has a startup cost of 15 Gold Bars, but Rockstar has detailed a couple of ways to get each role’s starting item for free on its website.

In addition to the Frontier Pursuits, Red Dead Online’s summer update introduces a litany of new items, clothing options, horse-drawn vehicles, and horse breeds. You can now also change your character’s appearance without resetting your progress, and Rockstar has added the ability to name any saved outfits.

On top of all the new content, PlayStation 4 players are getting another handful of timed-exclusive content. You can see the full list of those below. Meanwhile, all players who log into Red Dead Online between September 10 and November 18 will be automatically enrolled in the Wheeler, Rawson & Co. Club, which gives you access to new clothing, accessories, a special gun wrap, bonus cash, and more.

PS4 Timed-Exclusive Items

• American Foxhound Camp Dog
• Shoot The Sky Emote
• Three new Ability Cards
  • Gunslinger’s Choice
  • Strength in Numbers
  • Ride Like The Wind)
• Three new clothing items
  • Carrigan Hat
  • Burnham Boots
  • Avery Gloves

Finally, rounding out the update are a wealth of bug fixes and other gameplay improvements, including increased movement and animations speeds. You read more about the new Frontier Pursuits below, while the full patch notes for Red Dead Online’s summer update can be found on Rockstar’s support site.

RDR2 Title Update 1.11 Patch Notes

The world of Red Dead Online evolves with Frontier Pursuits – featuring three new Specialist Roles – each with their own unique paths and activities to help you forge new directions and carve out a life for yourself on the frontier:

Bounty Hunter:

• Become a Bounty Hunter for a life of constant action. A licensed Bounty Hunter can track down targets and capture – or kill, depending on how honorable you are in your pursuits. Occasionally, a nearby player with a high enough bounty can also be a designated target.

Trader:

• The life of a Trader is perfect for burgeoning capitalists as you establish and develop a business from your Camp. Thanks to your trusty companion Cripps’ knowledge of furs, skins and butchery, you’ll be able to take on new opportunities to collect materials and produce valuable goods to sell.

Collector:

• A Collector loves to explore the world for rare and valuable items. Look for a mystic travelling saleswoman in the wild to get started down the Collector’s path, searching for lost jewelry, rare arrowheads and other treasures to sell as individual pieces or highly valuable sets.

Activision’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare reboot arrives in a little over a month, but players will soon have a chance to try it out ahead of its release. Activision is hosting a Modern Warfare open beta beginning this week on PS4, and if you’re eager to jump in, the beta client is now available to preload on Sony’s console.

The first Modern Warfare open beta session takes place on PS4 from September 14-16. However, if you’ve pre-ordered any edition of the game, you’ll be able to access the beta early on September 12 and 13. If you pre-ordered the game digitally, you can now grab the beta client from the PlayStation Store and preload it ahead of the first session; if you reserved a physical copy, you’ll receive a beta code via email. The client is a hefty download, weighing in at 27.52 GB.

The next Modern Warfare beta session begins on September 19. On that date, Xbox One and PC players who’ve pre-ordered the game (in addition to all PS4 players, whether or not you’ve pre-ordered it) will be able to participate in the beta. Finally, on September 21, the beta will expand to all PS4, Xbox One, and PC players until September 23.

The second beta session is notable because it gives players their first chance to try out cross-play in Modern Warfare. This year’s Call of Duty game is one of a small (but growing) handful of titles that support the feature, allowing players to play with each other across PS4, Xbox One, and PC. You can read more in our Modern Warfare beta roundup.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare launches on October 25. Unlike last year’s entry in the series, Black Ops 4, it will feature a traditional campaign; however, it probably won’t have a battle royale mode. If you’re interested in securing a copy, be sure to check out our Call of Duty: Modern Warfare pre-order guide.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Beta Details

PS4 Exclusive Beta Dates

• September 12-23 (Early Access, PS4)
• September 14-16 (Open beta, PS4)

Cross-Play Beta Dates

• September 19-20 (Early access, PC and Xbox One; open beta, PS4)
• September 21-23 (Open beta, PS4, Xbox One, and PC)

The products discussed here were independently chosen by our editors. GameSpot may get a share of the revenue if you buy anything featured on our site.

Borderlands 3 was first announced in April of this year, and now we’re just days from its official release date: September 13. The new first-person shooter from Gearbox Software will launch on PS4, Xbox One, and PC, with the latter version exclusive to the Epic Games Store until April 2020.

If you can’t wait to get your hands on Borderlands 3 this weekend, here’s a way to save yourself some money if you’re purchasing for PS4 or Xbox One. According to deals site Cheap Ass Gamer, Walmart stores will be selling Borderlands 3 for $49.94 rather than $60 on release, a growing trend we’ve seen with other recent games like Astral Chain and Fire Emblem: Three Houses. You’ll have to physically go to your nearest Walmart store to take advantage of this offer; it doesn’t appear to be available online.

Alternatively, Amazon and Best Buy shoppers can get $10 reward credit if they pre-order Borderlands 3. At Amazon, this offer is exclusive to Prime members, while Best Buy’s deal is available to My Best Buy members (you can sign up for free). Borderlands 3’s other pre-order bonuses include a gold weapon trinket and gold weapon skins for all guns in the game. You can read more about the game’s various editions and what they contain in our Borderlands 3 pre-order guide.

See Borderlands 3 at Amazon

See Borderlands 3 at Best Buy

The game earned an 8/10 in our Borderlands 3 review for its unique enemies and environments, new Vault Hunters bringing a variety of playstyles, and strategic weapon builds, although GameSpot’s Jordan Ramée did take issue with the game’s bullet-sponge bosses and disappointing villains. “Borderlands 3 has a few stumbling blocks when it comes to bosses, but these fights are overshadowed by the game’s rewarding gunplay and over-the-top humor,” he wrote.

“The game’s character-driven narrative acts as a satisfying finale for the loot-shooter franchise, and the new mechanics and features–especially the reworked skill trees and weapon manufacturer effects–give you plenty of agency in how you want to play through it. If you’ve never been a fan of the franchise, it’s unlikely Borderlands 3 does enough things differently to change your mind, as the game best excels at continuing what the series has always done: deliver a humorous tall tale of misfits looting and shooting their way to heroism.”

EA has announced that Respawn’s Titanfall-themed battle royale game, Apex Legends, is getting two physical editions. One is themed after Bloodhound and the other after Lifeline, and both include exclusive content.

The Apex Legends Bloodhound Edition is themed after the devil, including a legendary skin for the recon character, called The Intimidator, that makes them look like a demon. The edition includes a demon-themed banner for Bloodhound that’s called Feeling Impish, a legendary Wrath Bringer skin for the Prowler submachine gun, and the Tormentor badge. If you’re feeling a bit more angelic, you can instead get the Apex Legends Lifeline Edition. This version includes a legendary skin for Lifeline called Guardian Angel (which looks really cool), a legendary Chooser of the Slain skin for the Flatline assault rifle, and a Lifeline Winged Guardian banner and Angel Struck badge.

Both physical versions of Apex Legends also include 1,000 Apex Coins–one of the three in-game currencies. Apex Coins can be used to buy a variety of items, though their main purpose is the purchase of new Legends if you don’t have enough Legend Tokens. The starting roster of Apex Legends only includes six characters. You need to purchase Caustic, Mirage, Octane, and Wattson–each of which cost 750 Apex Coins / 12,000 Legend Tokens. Apex Coins can also be used to purchase loot boxes (100 each), the seasonal battle pass (950 each season), battle pass levels (150 each), or items from the in-game store.

Apex Legends Bloodhound Edition and Lifeline Edition each go for $20. You can buy the physical version of the game for Xbox One, PS4, or PC. With the exception of the Apex Coins, all of the content in each physical edition is exclusive to their respective versions, so if you want those awesome-looking legendary skins you’ll need to buy a physical copy of Apex Legends. The physical editions are scheduled to release on October 18, which is probably around the time Apex Legends Season 3 begins–and likely when the hacker Crypto and anti-Titan Charge Rifle are added to the battle royale game.

In GameSpot’s Apex Legends review, Phil Hornshaw wrote, “Apex Legends is a mix of smart shooter ideas that makes for a competitive, team-based game that gets at all the best parts of battle royale while addressing a lot of the weaknesses. Respawn’s intense focus on team play makes Apex more than just a worthy addition to the genre; it’s an indicator of where battle royale should go in the future.”