Month: April 2020

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Remastered is out now on PlayStation 4, but it’s only the campaign that’s received a visual upgrade. There is no multiplayer in the package.

In a blog post, Activision said it decided against releasing Modern Warfare 2 multiplayer as a standalone pack and instead favored the idea of launching additional “classic map experiences” within Modern Warfare over time.

“Rather than release a separate, multiplayer experience as a standalone pack, Activision and Infinity Ward are looking to bring more classic map experiences to new life within the Modern Warfare universe as it continues to grow and build over time,” the publisher said.

With the release of Modern Warfare in 2019, Activision said it started to focus on “bring[ing] players together seamlessly in one unified online multiplayer playground.” Th game supports cross-play between PS4, Xbox One, and PC, while all DLC packs are free for everyone. This was all done in an effort to keep the playerbase together.

While Modern Warfare 2’s multiplayer might not be getting a remaster, some of the game’s original maps are in Modern Warfare already, including the the fan-favorite Rust.

The release of Modern Warfare 2 Remastered follows Modern Warfare Remastered, which was released in 2016 through premium versions of Infinite Warfare. It was later released as a standalone game, featuring both a remastered campaign and multiplayer.

Modern Warfare 2 Remastered launched first on PS4 thanks to a timed-exclusivity deal between Sony and Activision. The game, which was developed by Activision subsidiary Beenox, launches for Xbox One and PC on April 30.

Activision has confirmed over 50,000 accounts have been permanently banned from Call of Duty: Warzone for cheating. The publisher revealed the figure in a new post on the Activision Games Blog.

“There’s no place for cheating in games,” the company stated. “Warzone has zero tolerance for cheaters.”

Activision stressed that cracking down on cheating is something it has been heavily focused on but conceded that “it isn’t always something we discuss publicly.”

According to Activision, security teams monitor Call of Duty: Warzone “24/7” to investigate and identify cheating, and that “[p]lans are underway to streamline the UI for a more seamless reporting experience.”

“We recognize that there’s no single solution for combating cheaters, it’s a constant enforcement every day, 24/7,” continued the statement. “Rest assured, we’re committed to ensuring a fun and fair experience for everyone.”

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IGN’s review called Call of Duty: Warzone thoroughly enjoyable in spite of the serious concessions to depth made in the name of instant gratification, but there is one element unique to its design that may be somewhat troubling to experienced fans of existing battles royale.

In other Call of Duty news, the long-rumoured Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 Remastered is official and out right now, but it’s exclusive to PS4 for 30 days (and doesn’t include multiplayer).

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Luke is Games Editor at IGN’s Sydney office. You can find him on Twitter every few days @MrLukeReilly.

If you took Death Stranding’s delivery-based gameplay and traded its oppressive post-apocalyptic setting for a tropical toy town with overblown physics you’d have Totally Reliable Delivery Service. In a similar vein to Goat Simulator and Human: Fall Flat, this game is shambolic by design in order to derive maximum humour from the resulting unpredictability, but it takes it to such an extreme that it’s not always easy to identify where the deliberate wonkiness ends and the unintended rough edges begin. As a result, Totally Reliable Delivery Service is just as likely to trigger fits of laughter as it is to spark fits of anger.

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Up to four players, either locally in split-screen or online, can cooperatively tackle 100 different deliveries dotted around an island-based sandbox. I say up to four players but what I really mean is a minimum of two, because although Totally Reliable Delivery Service can technically be played solo, it is a vastly inferior experience when you don’t have additional dopey deliverymen bumbling along with you to either help or hinder your progress.

Deliveries can be tackled in any order and your success in completing them awards you a gold, silver, or bronze trophy, some cash, and a cosmetic item to customise your character with. I didn’t really find any of these rewards particularly compelling, though, especially the cash which seemingly can’t be spent anywhere, and my only real motivation for undertaking each delivery was the chaos that would typically unfold en route between each dispatch zone and reception point.

[poilib element=”quoteBox” parameters=”excerpt=Even%20the%20most%20straightforward%20tasks%20quickly%20spiral%20into%20silliness.”]Each character’s right and left hand grips are controlled by the corresponding trigger buttons, and these same basic interactions are employed to carry boxes, grab other players, or manipulate the physical controls of vehicles and other machinery. However, an inherently tipsy sense of equilibrium and a blobby body shape means that even the most straightforward tasks quickly spiral into silliness as you struggle to shunt a fragile box into the back of a delivery van without inadvertently reducing it into a pile of packing peanuts.

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There are a number of different vehicles to help ship your consignments, from forklifts and speedboats to helicopters and hang gliders, as well as a solid variety of different delivery types. I particularly enjoyed the urgency of the bomb disposal requests – literal TNT Express jobs – where the slightest jolts had explosive repercussions. Elsewhere, the delivery that required a motorised launcher to sling large fish into the upper deck of an air traffic control tower was as hilariously absurd as it sounds.

But while Totally Reliable Delivery Service’s pool noodle character limbs and exaggerated physics conspire to create no shortage of laughs, it all seems a bit too slapdash beyond the slapstick. Getting your character stuck inside objects is an annoyingly regular occurrence, and it’s particularly aggravating when it happens at critical moments – like when you’re just about to offload a delivery inches away from a drop-off point and your foot falls through the flatbed of your truck, leaving you to feebly flail back and forth like one of those inflatable men out front of a used car yard as the clock continues to tick.

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Totally Reliable Delivery Service is also hampered by some pretty horrendous pop-in when playing on PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch, resulting in even more moments of disparity instead of hilarity as you pilot some precious cargo in a helicopter bound for a snowy mountain top only to plough into a towering bridge that suddenly sprouts into existence a short distance ahead.

Technical issues aside, my biggest disappointment with Totally Reliable Delivery Service is that, despite the fact it’s clearly more fun with friends, its mission design hasn’t really been crafted with cooperative play in mind. There’s rarely any need to work together to achieve your goal, as invariably what happens is one person drives the delivery vehicle while the others just hang off the side and try not to fall off. I certainly feel that Totally Reliable Delivery Service would really shine if it were to emphasize a more Overcooked-like level of coordination in order to complete each job.

Adult Swim has confirmed the second half of Rick and Morty’s fourth season will air from May 3. The news comes via a trailer for season four’s final five episodes on Adult Swim’s YouTube channel.

The fourth season of Rick and Morty initially commenced back in November 2019 before pausing in mid-December.

While this upcoming salvo will only include five episodes, Rick and Morty was renewed for 70 episodes back in 2018 so there are plenty more on the way. Eventually, that is. Rick and Morty isn’t exactly renowned for rapid arrival, though co-creator Dan Harmon has previously stressed the gap between the next season shouldn’t be as long as the gulf between season three and four.

The news of Rick and Morty’s return follows the announcement of Rick and Morty co-creator Justin Roiland’s new adult animated series Solar Opposites, which is also arriving in May. Solar Opposites, which Roiland has co-created with Rick and Morty writer Mike McMahan, will be available in the US on Hulu.

If you missed it, you can watch the hilarious new trailer for Solar Opposites below:

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Luke is Games Editor at IGN’s Sydney office. You can find him on Twitter every few days @MrLukeReilly.

2020 is barely three months in, and it has hit the world with a nonstop stream of surprises, both good and bad. In this perilous time of unpredictability, Atari delivers another haymaker with Pong Quest.

Pong Quest puts the player in the role of what could be the first-ever video game hero, the paddle from Pong, in an epic quest through themed worlds based on classic Atari titles. Players will be able to customize their paddle as they take on the main adventure, multiplayer modes, and a treasure trove of game modes.

Scheduled to drop this Spring on PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, and Steam. Atari promises Pong Quest to be a hilarious take on the arcade classic, and at this point, anything is possible.

Master Chief voice actor, Steve Downes, has pledged to donate all proceeds from any paid message recordings he receives this month to Project C.U.R.E. For those who may be unaware, Master Chief is the main character of the Halo franchise, and is known for having a deep and gruff voice.

Downes can be commissioned on Cameo to record a personalized audio track or video. He uses the platform to make videos celebrating or just providing fans with some cool voice lines. This has been a stream of revenue for the voice actor, but now he intends on donating all his proceeds for the month of April.

Project C.U.R.E focuses on strengthening health systems in under-resourced countries and is currently working on obtaining safety equipment like masks and gloves to health workers across America.

Downes isn’t the only one contributing to COVID-19 relief. Famous Mixer streamer Tyler “Ninja” Blevins donated over $150,000 to Feeding America. This is a non-profit organization that provides food to food banks and children who depend on school lunches to eat.

Microsoft and 343 Industries have also begun raising money for charity through Halo 5: Guardians, with a “Relief and Recovery” cosmetics pack available in game to purchase, with all proceeds donated to the Coronavirus Relief Fund.

It is still unclear on just how the outbreak will affect Halo Infinite’s launch on the Xbox Series X later this year, but Microsoft is stressing that neither the game nor the console will be delayed.

Untitled Goose Game was one of the big success stories of 2019, selling over 1 million copies and winning multiple game of the year awards. A large part of the game’s success is due to its excellent, reactive soundtrack, and now you can listen to it anywhere.

The previously-announced Untitled Goose Game soundtrack is now available through Decca Classics, and it’s available to stream on multiple platforms, or to buy on iTunes. You can preview each of the tracks below.

There are 14 tracks to the soundtrack, with the first 12 being based on Claude Debussy’s Préludes. The final two are original pieces, created by the game’s composer, Dan Golding.

According to GameSpot’s contact at Decca Classics, there is a possibility of the soundtrack receiving a vinyl release, although it has not been confirmed yet.

Untitled Goose Game developers House House have previously pledged to donate 1% of all profits to Australian indigenous groups. If you haven’t played the game yet, it’s available on Xbox Game Pass.