Author: Trafficblast

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And so ends the Clone Wars. “Victory and Death” is a fitting conclusion o both the Siege of Mandalore arc and the series as a whole. It doesn’t necessarily have many surprises to add to the stories of series mainstays like Ahsoka Tano and Captain Rex, but it cements this arc as the very piece of Star Wars television to date. For all that The Clone Wars has struggled in the past to maintain a consistent level of quality over the course of longer arcs, this final tale has been a thrilling ride from start to finish.

“Cinematic” is really the operative word with this arc. Perhaps more than any episode of the series, “Victory and Death” leaves you with the impression that it must have been an extremely expensive and time-consuming. The scale of this finale is incredible, especially during the climax as Ahsoka and Rex battle their way out of a doomed Star Destroyer and the focus shifts to an impeccably rendered free-fall sequence. Maul has a terrific moment of his own, singlehandedly dealing a death blow to the ship by ripping its hyperdrive apart. More than ever, I’m crossing my fingers these four episodes are eventually re-released as a feature film, because those sequences would surely look incredible on the big screen.

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Also impressive is how easily this episode maintains a high level of suspense despite viewers knowing the ultimate outcome. We know where Ahsoka, Rex and Maul end up years after the dust of the Clone Wars has settled, yet we’re still trapped on the edge of our seats watching the three battle overwhelming odds in a bid to escape. That tension remains even when the episode cheats a little bit and applies some of that Star Wars plot armor. It’s always funny how Clonetrooper/Stormtrooper armor is completely worthless as protection, yet someone like Ahsoka can take multiple, direct blaster hits and keep fighting.

It helps that the prolonged firefight in the hangar also emphasizes the tragedy of the situation and the fact that Ahsoka is fighting for her life against a group of soldiers who would have gladly given their lives for her just hours before. Ahsoka could have taken the easy way out by following Maul’s example and fighting to kill, yet she did her best to spare the lives of her men. Even more tragic is the fact that her efforts were all in vain. The ending gives no reason to assume anyone other than Ahsoka and Rex survived the crash. Ahsoka gained nothing by fighting honorably, but the fact she tried at all is a testament to her heroism. She may not be a Jedi, but the Force is with her.

Given how directly the previous episodes paralleled and mirrored the events of Revenge of the Sith, it’s a little disappointing we don’t see that element repeated in the finale. I would have liked to see these events somehow sync up with Anakin and Obi-Wan’s battle of Mustafar or Anakin’s rebirth as Darth Vader. It also might have been nice to see a more extended epilogue sequence showing how Ahsoka and Rex went into hiding and what set Ahsoka down the path toward becoming a Rebel agent. Did she ever make contact with Yoda or Obi-Wan? Granted, we have the Ahsoka novel to address some of that, but it still would have been nice to see a little farther past the events of Episode III.

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Still, the closing scenes are excellent about setting a somber mood and making that transition from the Prequels into the gloomy Imperial era. The emphasis on silence and mournful reflection really seals the deal. The final shot of a robed Ahsoka contemplating her future seems an intentional callback to the finale of Star Wars Rebels. And though we don’t get a new perspective on Anakin’s final descent into darkness, we do get a very welcome closing scene of Vader surveying the wreckage of the Star Destroyer and finding Ahsoka’s discarded saber. Without Vader uttering a single word, it’s clear the burden of the war and all the empty victories and painful losses remains with him. And at long last, The Clone Wars has a true and proper finale.

Bringing the Master Chief Collection (MCC) to PC is a big undertaking–with two games live and needing support, and three games still to be released, the team has a big job ahead of them. This is only complicated by the added need to work from home, but a new dev blog shows that the MCC team is taking this well in stride.

The new post showcases some of the team’s home offices as they work to bring the MCC to PC, with setups ranging from a backyard farm with multiple goats to a desk set up in the garage to ensure work-life separation. You can check out the rest of the teams set ups in the post, featuring many pictures of developers’ pets and PCs.

The blog also includes updates on the progress of Halo 2 after April’s Insider testing. The team received 2000 tickets from the test period, and will now work on bringing Halo 2 to PC “in the not too distant future.”

While all focus at the moment is on getting Halo 2 to release, the team have also released some work-in-progress screenshots from Halo 3 and Halo 3: ODST, and once Halo 2 is released they will be looking towards further Insider playtests for those games.

Halo Reach and Halo: Combat Evolved are currently available on Steam as part of the Master Chief Collection.

The Xbox Series X games showcase on May 7 promises to be a big and exciting event, featuring next-generation gameplay footage for a series of titles. But there is something very important to remember. Microsoft has said this event will focus on titles from its “global development partners.”

This means you should expect to see footage of titles like Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed Valhalla and others from third-party publishers, but not games from Xbox Games Studios like Halo Infinite.

Xbox marketing executive Aaron Greenberg confirmed on Twitter that Microsoft is planning a separate, later event to showcase the work of Microsoft’s various Xbox Games Studios teams. Greenberg said Microsoft has “some big summer plans” for showcasing first-party titles.

There are many options here. Microsoft could hold another one of its Inside Xbox livestream events to showcase footage of new Xbox exclusives. It’s also possible the company may choose to share information during the newly announced summer games shows, including the Gamescom digital event and Geoff Keighley’s Summer Game Fest. Microsoft may do both, or something else altogether.

Whenever this event does happen, it could be stacked with news and reveals. Thanks to recent acquisitions and studio formations, Microsoft now has 15 game development studios, many of which have not announced new games yet.

The Xbox Series X releases this holiday, and Halo Infinite is a launch title. Despite being around six months away from release, give or take, Microsoft has not shown any Halo Infinite gameplay whatsoever. Halo fans are surely hoping that changes soon. The game will also release on the regular Xbox One and Xbox One X, as well as PC.

The Xbox Series X games showcase takes place on Thursday, May 7 at 8 AM PT / 11 AM ET / 3 PM GMT. You can watch the Inside Xbox livestream on Facebook Mixer, Twitch, Twitter, and YouTube.

Xbox Series X And Xbox One News

While it may be sometime longer until we finally see Halo Infinite gameplay, developer 343 Industries continues to share neat behind-the-scenes videos about how the team made the game.

This latest video, posted on Instagram, shows how the Halo Infinite audio team captured the sounds of bullets flying overhead. Earlier, the team actually captured real rounds flying overhead, but in this video, the studio got more creative. As you can see in the video below, they used a slingshot to launch bullet casings, washers, and various other objects overhead to capture more unique sounds.

This is just the latest behind-the-scenes video from the Halo Infinite audio team. Earlier videos showcased the team firing all different types of weapons for use in the next-generation Halo game. Yet another video showed the team using a propane cannon to capture sounds of explosions. The team also showed off how they recorded a Chevy El Camino, helicopters, and jet engines for the sounds of vehicles in Halo Infinite. And who could forget this delightful video featuring a pug whose guttural gruffs will be heard in Halo Infinite.

Halo Infinite releases in Holiday 2020 as a launch title for Microsoft’s next-generation console, Xbox Series X, as well as PC. The game will also be playable on Xbox One as well as the other variations of the next-generation Xbox that might be coming.

These behind-the-scenes videos are fun to watch, but Halo fans are surely hoping to see some actual gameplay soon. Microsoft is hosting an Xbox Series X event on May 7, but this is focused on third-party games, so fans will have to wait a bit longer to see Halo Infinite in action.

It appears the battle royale game Warzone will be supported on the soon-to-release next-generation consoles. Infinity Ward’s Taylor Kurosaki told GamerGen that the plan is to support the game for “quite some time,” and this will include a release for the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X.

“I know that our plan is Warzone is going to be around for quite some time, so as soon as those new systems are out and available I’m sure we’ll support them,” he said.

Presumably, Infinity Ward is also planning for Modern Warfare to be supported on the next-gen consoles as well. The two games exist in the same universe and are built on similar technology. They share the same Battle Pass, including weapons, items, gear, and more.

It’s no surprise at all that Warzone and Modern Warfare will play on PS5 and Xbox Series X, as both next-generation consoles play titles from the previous generation by default. Whether or not Infinity Ward is planning any upgrades for the next-gen consoles remains to be seen.

The PS5 and Xbox Series X are both due to launch this Holiday, though neither company has announced a price or release date for their machine.

Now that hedges have been added to Animal Crossing: New Horizons, a whole load of new designs are now possible for island landscaping–including this iconic location from Ocarina of Time. A Twitter user has recreated the Hyrule Castle garden where Link and Zelda first meet, complete with the hedged garden, statues, and a nice little surprise at the end.

Japanese Twitter user @penpen_0907 posted a video of the intricate Animal Crossing design, saying it was their favorite place in the Zelda series, and that they were planning to add more details to the scene, including the patrolling troops.

The recreation is so spot-on that you’ll start hearing the scene’s iconic music in your head the second the video starts playing.

This isn’t the first Zelda-themed island to have gone viral since the release of Animal Crossing: New Horizons on Switch. One player made their island into an exact replica of the Zelda: Link To The Past map, while others have recreated scenes from Pokemon, and made a crossover with another of this year’s big games, the Final Fantasy 7 remake.

Call of Duty’s free-to-play battle royale game, Warzone, is performing incredibly well right now, and Activision is apparently going to continue to support the game even after the next mainline Call of Duty game comes out later this year. In a new interview, Infinity Ward’s Taylor Kurosaki teased that Warzone will be the “through line that connects all the various sub-franchises of Call of Duty.”

Reading between the lines here, it sounds like Warzone will continue to be supported with content based on the year’s new Call of Duty game.

“We’re in kind of uncharted territories here,” Kurosaki told GamerGen. “Call of Duty has been on a very regular cadence for many many years, and Warzone has made us rethink exactly how best to release new content and how to integrate it. Call of Duty is a genre in itself, there are different branches in the Call of Duty tree, but they’re all connected in some ways. Warzone will be the through line that connects all of the different various sub-franchises of Call of Duty.”

Kurosaki further teased that he’s excited to see how the various other Call of Duty games get incorporated into Warzone as the years go on.

“It’s going to be really cool to see how the different sub-franchises sort of come in and out of focus, but Warzone will be the one constant,” he said.

2020’s new Call of Duty game is reportedly a Cold War/Vietnam-era Black Ops spin-off from Treyarch with the support of Sledgehammer Games and Raven Software. It is expected that it will be a cross-generation title, releasing for PS4, Xbox One, and PC, as well as PS5 and Xbox Series X.

Warzone is Call of Duty’s second battle royale experience, following the Blackout mode that was featured in 2018’s Call of Duty: Black Ops 4. The situation is different, however, as Blackout is only available to people who bought Black Ops 4, while Warzone is a free-to-play standalone game.