Resident Evil: Resistance brings 4v1 asymmetrical multiplayer gameplay to Capcom’s long-running survival horror series. As a side-story during the events of the outbreak in Raccoon City, Resistance includes many callbacks and references to classic Resident Evil while showing off a different side to the larger story. In each game, four players will face off against the might of one, who assumes the role of the architect behind the nightmare gallery filled with monsters and other deadly traps.
As the survivors, four players will need to work together to survive a gauntlet of the Umbrella Corporation’s most dangerous bio-weapons. Each of the six playable characters has their particular set of skills to overcome challenges in different locales around Raccoon City, and learning to communicate with others is key to survival. All the while, the fifth player in the game will assume the role of the test’s Mastermind, manipulating the traps, encounters, and other hazards from behind the scenes.
In this new video, we show off some gameplay from both sides of the conflict. Playing as the survivors, it focuses heavily on the classic formula of survival horror gameplay, where resources are scarce, and the enemies come in full force. Using firearms, melee weapons, and along with fever skills that buff you and your teammates, you’ll need to work with your squad to make through the test and escape. Throughout the trial, the Mastermind will need to use all manner of advanced technology and bio-weapons to spawn in enemies to overwhelm the survivors. But when the time is right, the Mastermind can also call in a Tyrant and assume direct control of it to go in for the attack against the survivors.
Resident Evil: Resistance will release on April 3 with Resident Evil 3 on PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
Season 5 of Call Of Duty: Mobile content is arriving soon, and with it come two newly unlockable characters from the Black Ops series. Black Ops 2 protagonist David “Section” Mason and Black Ops 3‘s war robot Reaper will be available on the Battle Pass from April 1.
David Mason is the son of Alex Mason, who was made available in Call of Duty: Mobile in the second season Battle Pass. The two acted as dual protagonists in Black Ops 2, with the main story split across two timelines.
Reaper is one of the nine Specialists from the more sci-fi-leaning sequel Black Ops 3, an experimental war robot who shows signs of sentience.
Season 5 is named Steel Legion, and not only features the two Black Ops characters but also introduces the classic Black Ops 2 nuclear-themed map Meltdown to CoD’s mobile title. You can check out Activision’s in-depth tips for playing Meltdown on mobile at the Call of Duty blog, with the map already live ahead of the season launch.
The season 5 Battle Pass also includes the Magmacomb weapon camo series, including the M4 assault rifle, the AK117 assault rifle, and the M21 EBR sniper.
The new season adds a new game mode–2v2 Showdown, which is exactly what it sounds like. The pair-based brawls will feature randomized loadouts, no health regen, and victory comes through either eliminating the other team or capturing the overtime flag.
Call of Duty: Mobile is available on iOS and Android, with Season 5: Steel Legion dropping on April 1.
Veteran TV writer Gennifer Hutchison–whose credits include Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul, and the upcoming Lord of the Rings TV show for Amazon–is doing her part to help people facing hardship during the COVID-19 crisis.
For a period of time on Twitter, Hutchison was giving away $100 to everyone who replied to her tweet or sent her a DM. “The end of the month is always stressful, and pandemic makes it worse,” Hutchison wrote. “If you need a little help right now, let me know. No need to justify. I’ll take you at your word you could use the hand.”
Hutchison said she gave away $100 to as many people as she could before wrapping up. “If I didn’t get to you, I’m sorry. I’ll try to do this again if I can,” Hutchison wrote. “And if you have the means, please scroll the replies and send some folks a little help.”
The end of the month is always stressful, and pandemic makes it worse. If you need a little help right now, let me know. No need to justify, I’ll take you at your word you could use the hand. Reply/DM with your venmo, and I’ll send you 100$. I’ll do this for as many as I can.
Okay, I have to stop. I can’t send anymore. If I didn’t get to you, I’m sorry. I’ll try to do this again if I can. And if you have the means, please scroll the replies and send some folks a little help.
Persona 5 Royal adds tons of new content, chief among them is the new third semester that also contains the ninth and final palace, all of which happen after the events of the original game. But it’s possible to miss all those features entirely if you don’t meet certain requirements. It’s an absolute must to see all the game has to offer, so here’s everything you need to do to unlock the new content, as spoiler free as possible.
The gist of this is that you need to rank up three separate Confidants to certain ranks before specific dates. Some of the ranks are gated by certain days and events, and if you don’t rank them up by then, you’ll miss out on extra gameplay and the new, major story arcs. We have everything detailed below.
Goro Akechi (Justice Confidant)
First, let’s start with Goro Akechi, the Justice arcana. In the original Persona 5, Akechi’s Confidant arc was tied to story events and was unmissable, but in P5R you choose to spend time with him. You’ll first meet Akechi in early June when you take the class field trip to the TV Station. This is an unmissable story event that kicks off rank 1.
After rank 1 he’ll be in Kichijoji, the new area in Persona 5 Royal, to hang out. He’ll be a catalyst to show you some of the new things you can do like play billiards and relax at the jazz club. You can achieve ranks 2 to 5 right after rank 1, and there’s no time gate on them. However, his Confidant rank 3 requires you to have Knowledge and Charm stats at rank 3 before engaging.
Rank 6 is locked until a story event on September 3, and he’ll be waiting for you in Leblanc. Ranks 7 and 8 are then locked until November 2, but you must complete both before November 18. A word of advice: make sure you’re prepared to fight for rank 8, though you can always retry if you don’t succeed. If you do all those things correctly, ranks 9 & 10 will unlock automatically as the story progresses.
Kasumi Yoshizawa (Faith Confidant)
Next, let’s move on to Kasumi Yoshizawa, the new transfer student at Shujin Academy. You’ll bump into Kasumi on the train early on, but you won’t truly interact with her until the new park clean-up event on May 30. This is an unmissable story event, and you’ll reach rank 1 with her and open up her Confidant route (she holds the Faith arcana).
You’ll notice that Kasumi only has five Confidant ranks which is different from everyone else. Ranks 2 to 5 aren’t gated by anything and can be easily unlocked after you officially meet her–you’ll find her hanging out in Kichijoji. You have until December 22 to do all of this so no pressure…but don’t slack off, unless Kawakami says it’s okay.
Takuto Maruki (Councillor Confidant)
Finally, the last important Confidant to ensure you reach the extra semester and palace, is Shujin Academy’s very own guidance counselor Takuto Maruki, who holds the Councillor arcana. Maruki joins the story after the first palace and is hired by the school to help the students through their problems. There’s an automatic story event that introduces him, and since you and your friends have endured traumatic experiences, you’re required to go visit him early on. From there you’ll reach rank 1 with him, and throughout the story, you’ll even see moments of your fellow Phantom Thieves receiving counseling from him as well.
Ranks 2 to 5 can be achieved immediately after that, and he’ll be hanging in front of the nurses office on Monday’s and Friday’s after school. Ranks 6 to 9 are then gated until September 20. You can also do ranks 1 through 9 after September 20 if you choose since you won’t be locked out if you wait that long. However, you will be locked out of rank 10 if you do not reach rank 9 by November 17. Rank 10 then happens automatically on November 18 if you have reached rank 9 by then.
It’s also worth noting that Maruki raises your SP cap and grants abilities like Detox, Flow, and Mindfulness which are extremely useful. He’s also a refreshing personality and you honestly should just meet with him regardless; he provides perspective for mental health, which will be very important by the time you reach the new content.
A Few More Tips
To rank up Confidants faster, make sure you’re carrying a Persona with the same arcana as the person you’re hanging out with–you’ll receive more points for proper dialogue options. Oh and lastly, make sure to refuse any deal that would compromise your morals throughout the course of the story.
If you accomplish all these steps then you should be ready for the brand new palace, third semester, and everything that comes with them. When you follow through on the new final boss, make sure you have everyone’s Baton Pass at rank 3 (which levels up by playing darts throughout the game)–trust us on this one.
Michael Bay has set his production company Bay Films up for a multi-year first look deal with Sony, as reported by Deadline. This returns Michael Bay to Sony, which is where he got his start as a director with the original Bad Boys, and will see him directing and producing several films for the company.
Bay’s most recent film, 6 Underground, was one of the most popular releases on Netflix in 2019, and was viewed over 100 million times. He’s currently attached to direct Black Five for Sony, an ensemble drama based on his own idea, from a script written by Ehren Kruger (Top Gun: Maverick).
While Bay has had a career full of clunkers, there’s also plenty of bright spots in his filmography, including The Rock and Pain & Gain. His Transformers films were not received well critically, but they were huge successes, with two entries (Dark of the Moon and Age of Extinction) grossing over $1 billion worldwide.
Bay will also produce television shows for Sony. While he’s mostly known for his work as a director, Bay has been successful as a TV producer for a while now, having previously served as an executive producer on shows like Amazon’s Jack Ryan, Black Sails, and The Last Ship.
No shows have been announced out of the deal as of yet, but production is stalled across Hollywood due to the COVID-19 pandemic–it might be a while before we learn more about what Michael Bay is working on.
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If there’s anything we can count on in these uncertain times, it’s that Target will continue to offer buy two, get one free sales on video games, and Amazon will continue to price-match them. These B2G1 sales have become fairly common at the two retailers, offering a nice way to snag a bundle of new games for a fraction of the price. And this week, you can take advantage of the latest B2G1 sale at Amazon, which includes many PS4 and Xbox One games along with a few Switch titles. Unsurprisingly, some of these deals are beginning to sell out, and delivery dates will likely take longer than usual as Amazon prioritizes health and household goods. Be sure to check out Target’s B2G1 sale as well for even more options.
Amazon’s B2G1 sale spans not only video games but toys, board games, electronics, and more. To take advantage of the deal, just add three items from the sale page to your cart. At checkout, you’ll see a “multi-buy discount” that slashes off the price of the cheapest item in your cart. Keep that in mind as you select your three items–it may behoove you to pick three items at similar price tags.
In order to better manage data usage and downloads on its side during these times of social distancing, Steam said it will only push updates to games that have been played within the last three days.
According to a blog post, all other infrequently-played titles will need to be manually updated as Steam has “schedul[ed these] updates for the next off-peak local time period.” The post said this new auto-update policy will take effect this week.
Steam also made a number of suggestions to assist with reducing data strain. Scheduling updates for some games, opting out of auto-updates for other games, and self-throttling your own connection to Steam are some ways the company hopes you can “ease the load on your network connection” while stuck at home. Steam said it is also “looking into additional solutions to help on our side.”
After the success of last year’s Resident Evil 2 remake, fans have waited with bated breath for Capcom to give Resident Evil 3: Nemesis the same treatment. Now that the reviews are finally out, it seems that critics are mostly enjoying Jill Valentine’s jaunt in Racoon City, albeit with less enthusiasm than its universally-acclaimed predecessor.
In our review, critic Alessandro Fillari praised the remake for its tense opening hours, but found that it lost momentum as the game carried on. “However, as the game goes on, it becomes clear that Resident Evil 3 struggles to maintain its poise when the scope begins to narrow, and how blatantly the game relies on recycling many of RE2’s tricks and tropes, which now feel less interesting,” he wrote. “This has to do with the game’s focus on momentum. Just when you’re getting accustomed to a location, particularly the extensive and varied Downtown area, a story beat will occur that brings you to the next area, preventing your return. The series’ penchant for puzzles are also infrequent in RE3 remake, putting more focus on exploration and combat which can eventually become exhausting.”
We’ve collected some more reviews below. Though they vary in tenor and praise, most seem to agree that Resident Evil 3 is a bit disappointing compared to its predecessor. While they praise its improved action-game DNA, critics describe its reinterpretation of Nemesis as a bit disappointing. They also note the game’s short length, as well as the fact that the remake excises certain environments from the original game, such as the park locale. For more reviews, check out our sister site Metacritic to see what other writers thought.
GameSpot – 6/10 (review-in-progress)
“As a remake, Resident Evil 3 not only falls short of honoring its source, but it also doesn’t quite stick the landing as a standalone horror experience. Even without taking into account the original game, or its predecessor, RE3 struggles to keep up with its pace amid a clashing of elements from survival horror and standard action. While it has a strong start and gives its principal villain some great moments, this truncated retelling of the concluding game from the original Resident Evil trilogy doesn’t do it proper justice.” – Alessandro Fillari [Full Review]
IGN – 9/10 (single-player only)
“It’s a shame, then, that [Nemesis] doesn’t show up more often. Mr. X in Resident Evil 2 is so frightening because his presence felt unexpected, which led to a feeling that you were never safe even if you were in areas you thought you could be. Nemesis apes this pattern in Resident Evil 3’s first couple of hours–there’s a brilliantly climactic showdown with him that involves you desperately trying to escape through a vent as he pursues you–but he soon gets relegated to big, pre-programmed boss fights. Once that happens, that sense of the looming pursuer operating under his own AI is lost.” – Lucy O’Brien [Full Review]
USG – 3.5/5
“Despite my disappointment at the more linear aim of Resident Evil 3, it’s uplifted by Jill and Carlos. Like Leon and Claire before them, they’re two characters I just like. Their corny dialogue is endearing, much as it was with Claire and Leon in Resident Evil 2. The circumstances and plot conveniences are often laugh-out-loud dumb, but it’s part of the fun. The action, when it’s not a pain in crowded narrow spaces, is tense in a good way. Zombies may go down easier, but they still have bite. Perhaps that’s what Resident Evil 3 needed all along to rewrite and justify its own deserved place in Resident Evil history: extra B-movie flair from action to tone.” – Caty McCarthy [Full Review]
Kotaku – [no score]
“Resident Evil 3 is loud. It is a snarling dog too close to your face, spittle flying everywhere. For some players, the intensity will be a turn off. The original version is the link between the earlier games’ simmering spookiness and Resident Evil 4’s bold action. It marked the first step in a tonal shift that arguably went too far: As the series progressed, the action grew too excessive. The remake threads a spectacular needle. The explosive boss fights and ever-present cat and mouse chases never feel out of place. Windows shatters as the zombie horde bursts in, giant lizards swallow you whole, and the Nemesis slams down behind you at the worst moment. The terror doesn’t fade simply because you have an assault rifle or grenade launcher. Resident Evil 3 solidifies a new model for the remakes. For good and ill, it takes last year’s Resident Evil 2 remake and hones it into something meaner and more intense. Embracing that chaos leads to an intense and confidently executed Resident Evil experience.” – Heather Alexandra [Full Review]
Eurogamer – [no score]
“I feel like I’m coming down a little too hard on the Resident Evil 3 remake. After all, my expectations were set with the incredible Resident Evil 2 remake in mind. Jill is a triumphant character, and there are moments of genuine brilliance here. The hospital level, whose tone rekindles memories of Resident Evil 2’s police department, is fantastically unnerving. But for every super cool area in the Resident Evil 3 remake, there are two areas that fail to inspire. Downtown Raccoon City is, unfortunately, not the expansive, multi-layered stalk-fest I’d hoped it would be. There are no alternate endings to chase, no story-altering choices to make, no new game plus mode. The source material is – and I think this is the perceived wisdom–simply not as good as the original Resident Evil 2. But I can’t shake the feeling the Resident Evil 3 remake was rushed–as its original was. Now that’s an unfortunate parallel.” – Wesley Yin-Poole [Full Review]
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After a seven year wait, Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord finally launched on Steam Early Access today, and it’s already proving popular. By player count, the medieval action RPG is now the biggest new Steam launch of 2020, mere hours after its release.
#Bannerlord becomes the 5th most played game on Steam within 6 hours of its release in Early Access, at 160.000 concurrent players and preceded only by such games as CS:GO, Dota 2, PUBG and GTA V. And this is all thanks to you, warriors! Harvesting season is here! pic.twitter.com/BCHEmq2cm6
There’s been some stiff competition already this year, too. Doom Eternal‘s player count peaked at 104,891, while Wolcen: Lords of Mayhem hit 127,452. It helps that a lot of people are stuck at home right now, but Mount & Blade II’s numbers are impressive, and they’re sure to rise throughout the week as more people hop in.
Originally scheduled to release tomorrow, developer TaleWorlds Entertainment decided to launch Mount & Blade II a day early. During its first two weeks on sale, you can purchase it for 10% off, with an additional 10% discount applied if you already own another game in the series.
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In preparation for SoulCalibur 6‘s upcoming guest DLC character, Bandai Namco has released a new update on PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One for the long-running fighting game. We’ve compiled the full patch notes below.
The headlining feature of the update is Haohmaru, the white gi-clad samurai from SNK’s Samurai Shodown. The patch adds him as a playable character, though he can only be acquired by purchasing him individually for $6 or picking up the game’s $34 Season Pass 2. Haohmaru will become available on Tuesday, March 31.
The patch also adds new creation items for the game’s character creator, including new weapons for Cervantes and Taki-based created fighters, extra clothing and accessory options, and more.
Elsewhere in the update, SoulCalibur 6 gets a brand-new stage, multiple battle and game system adjustments, additional quality-of-life functions, and more.