Author: Trafficblast

Call Of Duty: Mobile has launched its new season, The Forge, with a heap of new rewards for both free and premium players. The brand new Juggernaut game mode is also live this week, along with the classic Highrise map from Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.

The Forge Battle Pass operates the same as previous seasons, with a free and a premium stream. The free stream will unlock the brand new DR-H assault rifle at tier 21, as well as the new Shrapnel perk. The premium stream will unlock new characters including the Wrecker skin for Tank Dempsey at tier 1 and Krueger’s Reaper skin at tier 50.

The new game mode for COD: Mobile is Juggernaut–a 1v5 mode where a squad of soldiers faces off against the high-tech XS1 Goliath. The asymmetrical multiplayer mode sees one player take control of the overpowered Goliath fighting machine against five other players.

Coming to COD: Mobile for the first time is Modern Warfare 2’s Highrise map–you can find it in the Featured section of Multiplayer for both standard and ranked play.

The new Solstice Awakening event starts on Thursday July 16, continuing for two weeks until July 30. Similar to last season’s Radiated Sector, the new event lets players play games and collect in-game currency to trade in for more loot.

For more COD, check out what’s new in Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare and Warzone this week.

The Last of Us Part II‘s lead animator, Jeremy Yates, has shared another neat behind-the-scenes video showcasing how Naughty Dog captured footage of real-world animals for the game.

In this newest video, Yates shows off a recording session for the horse sequences. Naughty Dog brought in real horses and built a special stage, featuring a lot of rubber mats, to have the horses run around on. In this video, we see one of the horses vaulting over an obstacle and another galloping through the stage. Take a look for yourself:

Another picture shows Ellie actress Ashley Johnson and Dina actress Shannon Woodward riding a horse-shaped rig for additional motion capture. The rig was set up to look like a unicorn.

Before this, Yates showed off some footage of very cute dogs wearing motion-capture suits for their own recording sessions for The Last of Us 2.

For more fun The Last of Us Part II content, check out Blink 182’s Mark Hoppus covering his own music in-game, and actor Troy Baker’s take on who could play Joel in a movie.

Former MythBusters and White Rabbit Project host Grant Imahara has died, aged 49. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Imahara died suddenly after a brain aneurysm.

Former Mythbusters co-host Adam Savage has expressed via Twitter he’s at a loss over the news.

“I’ve been part of two big families with Grant Imahara over the last 22 years,” wrote Savage. “Grant was a truly brilliant engineer, artist and performer, but also just such a generous, easygoing, and gentle person. Working with Grant was so much fun. I’ll miss my friend.”

I’m at a loss. No words. I’ve been part of two big families with Grant Imahara over the last 22 years. Grant was a truly brilliant engineer, artist and performer, but also just such a generous, easygoing, and gentle PERSON. Working with Grant was so much fun. I’ll miss my friend.

— Adam Savage (@donttrythis) July 14, 2020

Imahara’s Mythbusters and White Rabbit Project co-host Kari Byron has also responded, posting a picture of herself alongside Imahara and fellow Mythbusters alum Tory Belleci.

Somedays I wish I had a time machine. ⁦@ToryBelleci⁩ ⁦@grantimahara⁩ pic.twitter.com/o9FRE2l16W

— Kari Byron (@KariByron) July 13, 2020

Imahara was best-known for his work on MythBusters, which he joined in 2005 and appeared in over 200 episodes. Imahara left the show in 2014 alongside his on-screen “Build Team” partners Byron and Belleci and the trio went on to host the shortlived Netflix Original Series White Rabbit Project in 2016.

Prior to his work on MythBusters Imahara spent nearly a decade working in visual effects for Lucasfilm’s Industrial Light and Magic division. Imahara worked as a model maker on a host of high-profile films, including The Lost World, Terminator 3, Galaxy Quest, and all three films in the Star Wars prequel trilogy.

[poilib element=”accentDivider”]

Luke is Games Editor at IGN’s Sydney office.

Sky: Children Of The Light, the social mobile game by Journey developers Thatgamecompany, has announced reaching a new milestone of 20 million downloads across Android and iOS, almost exactly a year on from launch.

Sky launched first to iOS on July 18 last year, and picked up Apple’s iPhone Game of the Year award in its first six months. The game later came to Android in April 2020.

Thatgamecompany is marking a year of release with a week-long in-game anniversary celebration that started on July 13. The celebration opens up Sky’s secret area, The Office, to all players–a zone usually exclusive to players who own the TGC Founders cape or Beta cape.

The Office anniversary party includes a handful of bespoke interactive decorations, plus a new anniversary party hat that can be purchased for three hearts. The Office is accessible from a hidden room in the entrance of the Vault of Knowledge.

The event coincides with the first week of the new Season of Sanctuary, which is live now with a new area accessible from the Daylight Prairie’s Bird’s Nest area.

Thatgamecompany co-founder and creative director Jenova Chen issued a statement on the anniversary of Sky’s release, saying “Without a doubt, Sky has been one of the most exciting, challenging, rewarding and heartwarming chapters of thatgamecompany studio. We humbly launched Sky a year ago with the hope that it may emotionally evoke or touch people’s hearts… I don’t think we were ready for the players’ response or that over 20 million fans would get to play it.”

Sky: Children of the Light is free to play on iOS and Android devices, with a Nintendo Switch edition planned to launch next.

As part of ESPN’s drip-feed reveal of Madden NFL 21‘s player ratings, the sports network announced that Patrick Mahomes is the game’s first 99-rated player. But that’s not all. ESPN also released the list of the top 10 highest-rated quarterbacks in the game, and Mahomes is on top of that list as well.

Madden NFL 21 cover star Lamar Jackson lands at No. 3 overall with a 94 rating. You can check out the full list of the highest-rated QBs in Madden NFL 21 below.

Top 10 Highest-Rated QBs in Madden NFL 21

1. Patrick Mahomes — 99 OVR
2. Russell Wilson — 97 OVR
3. Lamar Jackson — 94 OVR
4. Drew Brees — 93 OVR
5. Tom Brady — 90 OVR
6. Aaron Rodgers — 89 OVR
7. Matt Ryan — 87 OVR
8. Deshaun Watson — 86 OVR
9. Dak Prescott — 84 OVR
10. Carson Wentz — 84 OVR

While Mahomes might be the highest-rated QB overall, Lamar Jackson is No. 1 when it comes to speed (96). Jackson is known for his rushing and speed–for his rookie season in 2019, Jackson racked up 1,206 rushing yards to break Michael Vick’s record for the most by a QB in a single season in NFL history.

The highest-rated rookie running backs have also been announced, with JK Dobbins leading the way with a 75 OVR rating. You can see the full list below.

Madden NFL 21 is coming on August 28 for PC, PS4, and Xbox One. It will also be coming to the next-gen PS5 and Xbox Series X, with free upgrades for current-gen owners through EA’s Dual Entitlement program. For more details check out our Madden NFL 21 pre-order guide.

It’s a new week, and that means Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and the battle royale game Warzone are being updated with new stuff to keep things fresh and interesting. Activision announced all the new updates in a blog post, and we’re rounding them up here by game.

Modern Warfare Playlists

Modern Warfare is getting a playlist update this week that will add a new playlist called Party Mode. This includes the One in the Chamber, Gun Game Reloaded, and All or Nothing game modes. Additionally, a 2v2 Gunfight playlist is coming this week.

What’s more, Activision will add a new 24/7 playlist featuring 8v8 multiplayer on the new Cheshire Park map and Shoot House 24/7.

New Microtransaction Bundles

Activision is releasing a new bundle called Hydra Slayer. It includes two weapons, the Spirit of the Beast SMG and the Soul of the Beast assault rifle. Both are “legendary”-tier weapons.

There is also the Syd Rogue Operative bundle that comes with a watch, a vehicle skin for the cargo struck, a calling card, and an emblem.

Additionally, Activision has added a new Call of Duty League Champs Pack to buy from the store. It comes with weapon blueprints to unlock the guns used by members of the Chicago Huntsmen professional team, along with their favorite calling cards and skins.

Warzone Playlists

Warzone is getting some attention this week, too, as Activision is bringing back the large-scale 50v50 team deathmatch mode, Warzone Rumble, this coming weekend. Additionally, Plunder Trios will be available, alongside the usual suspects: Solos, Duos, Trios, and Quads.

Looking ahead, Warzone’s rumored Season 5 update is set to introduce some major changes to the map. The map refresh is said to be part of how Activision will unveil the new Call of Duty game for 2020, which is believed to be Black Ops: Cold War.

It’s a big day for Halo fans. 13 years after the release of Halo 3 for Xbox 360 on September 24, 2007, Microsoft has finally brought the game to PC. Additionally, the big Season 2 update for Halo: The Master Chief Collection has arrived for both PC and Xbox One.

You can get Halo 3 right now on Steam for $10 USD, or you can buy it through The Master Chief Collection for $40 USD. Halo’s community director, Brian Jarrard, said Microsoft released the game and the update a little bit early, so you might experience some issues before the “official” launch on July 14.

The big Season 2 update for MCC is 23.4 GB on Xbox One, and you can see the complete patch notes below, as posted by Microsoft. MCC owners on the Microsoft Store and Game Pass for PC will see a 20.84 GB update, while people who have MCC on Steam will have a 17.6 GB update.

MCC’s total file size, with the new update applied, becomes 127.76 GB on Xbox One, 124.5 GB on Steam, and 93.15 GB on the Microsoft Store.

The update introduces Forge mode on Halo: Reach, Halo 2, and Halo 3, while Halo 3’s Forge mode specifically is getting a whole suite of new features.

This update also adds the new “3D model viewer” for Halo 3, while audio issues for Halo: Reach and Halo 3 have been addressed. What’s more, Halo 3 gets a new Skull called “Acrophobia” that makes you fly. Halo: Combat Evolved, meanwhile, gets vehicle skins for the first time in 19 years.

You can see the full patch notes below.

Halo: MCC July 13 Patch Notes

New Features

• (PC) Forge is now available for Halo: Reach, Halo 2: Anniversary, and Halo 3.
• Halo 3 Forge has been updated with new features, including Object Physics, rotation, coordinate snap and precision edit tools.
• Halo 3 and Halo: Reach Forge pallets have been expanded with new objects and budget increases.
• Halo 3, Halo: Reach, and Halo 2: Anniversary Forge tools have been updated with a new “Toggle Rotation Axes” feature adding toggleable rotation around World and Local axes. Note: This is planned to be added into Halo 4 at a later date.
• Updated season unlock flow to feature non-linear unlocks per page and added Season 2 featuring 30 new nameplates, 46 new H1 Weapon and 18 H1 Vehicle skins.
• Challenges are now available to complete across all available titles. Note: Campaign Challenges are currently not supported in Halo 4: Spartan Ops.
• New spartan customization 3D model viewer for Halo 3.
• Updated Skill Rank backend for Ranked Matchmaking. This resolved a long-standing rank reset issue and has required us reset all ranked playlists to 1.
• “Highest Lifetime” rank is now displayed for rotational hoppers that are no longer available.
• Halo: Reach & Halo 3 audio has been updated.
• New Acrophobia skull for Halo 3.
• “Dual Wield Inversion” has been added as a toggle for players who wish to disable the title from switching the “primary fire” weapon to your left-hand while dual wielding in Halo 2 or Halo 3.

Game Install Size and Version

Please see the information below to ensure you have proper disk space to install each title from your desired store platform as well as are on the latest update.

Latest Version

• The latest version of the game is 1.1698.0.0, to find the version number (Full KBA).
• To update your game if you are not on the latest version (Full KBA).

Microsoft Store and Xbox Game Pass for PC (Beta)

• MCC owners will receive a 20.84GB update with the full install being 93.15GB.

Steam

• MCC Bundle Owners: A 17.6GB update with Halo: Reach, H:CEA, H2:A, and Halo 3 being about 124.5 installed.

Xbox

• MCC will receive a 23.38GG update with the full install being 127.76

Resolved Community Issues

Improvements have been across the board from our last update and previous flights. Below are several new game-specific features and resolved issues that come with today’s update and the platform (Xbox Only, PC Only, or All Platforms):

Global (All Platforms)

• Fixed issues where achievements for killing Engineers were displayed as ODST-specific despite being attainable in Halo: Reach as well.
• Fixed an issue where nameplate unlock criteria was no longer displayed once unlocked.
• Fixed various cases where the game client could crash during shutdown.

Global (PC)

• Fixed an issue where the “He’s Running a Marathon”, “The Guardians are Coming” and “Why am I Here?” achievements would not unlock in Steam after unlocking them on Xbox Live.
• Fixed an issue where the campaign preview widget would appear on the root Main Menu after a sign-in change.
• Fixed a crash which could occur when entering the Seasonal Overview immediately after sign-in.
• Improved how the Seasonal Overview is displayed in non-standard aspect ratios.

Global (Xbox)

• Fixed a crash which could occur when looking up certain Gamertags with the Find Player feature in the Roster.

Halo: Reach (All Platforms)

• Audio has been updated with Waves integration, aligning closer to Xbox 360 quality.
• Fixed an issue where “Xbox 360” was referenced on the Boot Betrayer prompt in non-English languages.
• Added localization for map location names in non-English languages.
• Fixed an issue where the wrong key was displayed on the Boot Betrayer prompt.

Halo: Combat Evolved (All Platforms)

• New Customization Support for Halo: Combat Evolved Multiplayer, including Visor, Vehicle, and Weapon Skins.
• “New Skins” can be disabled under the “Gameplay” submenu in settings to locally return H1’s appearance to legacy.
• Fixed an issue where spamming the plasma pistol’s trigger would cause the charge-up sound to stick.
• Rocket Warthog can now be manually reloaded.
• Fixed an issue where some starting weapons were not respected on Rat Race.
• Gameplay audio should no longer be heard in the background while a terminal plays in Co-Op Campaign.

Halo 2 (All Platforms)

• Resolved a crash that could occur during long playthroughs.
• Enemy Elites now dual wield.
• Fixed an issue where the Energy Sword displayed incorrectly when viewed against flood tanks in “The Oracle.”
• Rebuilt the lightmap for the initial classic cinematic on “Outskirts” to return lighting and shadows to OG Xbox visuals.
• Adjusted a default gamma option to bring it closer to OG Xbox. This may result in lighting and brightness looking different then our past patch.
• Fixed an issue that was causing players in matchmade games to grenade jump higher than expected, bringing the height back down to OG Xbox clients.
• Fixed an issue where the “Malfunction” skull would display HUD elements incorrectly while dual wielding.
• Infinite ammo and grenades now display with the “infinity” symbol in the HUD.
• Fixed an issue where a controller would sometimes be stuck vibrating after coming out of gameplay.
• Resolved a loading issue that would cause Campaign Co-Op Players to disconnect when starting a mission.
• Horizontal mouse movement while on a stationary turret is now unbound and no longer restricted by the turning radius.
• Fixed an issue where some dynamic music tracks in Campaign Classic Mode was looping incorrectly.

Halo 2: Anniversary (All Platforms)

• Fixed an issue where the sentinel beam VFX would occasionally not display.
• Added 0% option for fall damage in Custom Games.
• Players can now move while the Scoreboard is open.

Halo 3 (All Platforms)

• Audio has been updated with Waves integration, aligning closer to Xbox 360 quality.
• Several matte paintings have been updated with higher fidelity versions in Campaign cinematics.
• Customization has been updated to support individual armor pieces and tertiary colors.
• Emblems now display on armor in gameplay.
• Footsteps in the snow no longer appear with black textures.
• Fixed some incorrectly lit particles when Scarabs or Phantoms were destroyed.
• Hornet and Brute Chopper turning speed has been improved to better match Xbox 360.
• Added the Fuel Rod Gun, Sentinel Beam, Carbine, Mauler, and Plasma Rifle as starting weapons to Custom Games.
• Fixed an issue where the prowler was misrepresented as the mauler in tools of destruction on the Post Game Carnage Report.
• Fixed issues where some strings extended outside of the gametype objective widget in non-English languages.

Ninjala released as a Switch exclusive on June 24, and since then a lot of people have downloaded it. The game, which is free-to-play, has been downloaded over 3 million times, developer GungHo Online Entertainment has revealed.

To celebrate, every player is being given 100 Jala, the game’s currency. As part of the game’s launch celebration, every new player who logs in before August 26 will be able to claim these Jala, on top of the other launch benefits previously offered–so if you jump in for the first time today, you’ll automatically get 400 Jala.

To claim this Jala, you need to load up the game and progress beyond the character creation screen and tutorial. Once you reach the main menu, you can claim it from your in-game mail. 100 Jala can be exchanged for a single gumball, although if you wait and save up, it’s likely that more Jala will be handed out as the game continues to amass downloads.

Version 1.2 of the game is currently being worked on, which will introduce some balance adjustments to the online brawler.

GameSpot’s review of Ninjala gave it a 6/10. “There isn’t much to do in Ninjala, and what content is present almost requires a battle pass to be fully enjoyed,” wrote reviewer Steve Watts. “But what we have so far is a solid foundation. The battle fundamentals are well-designed and unique, and the visual flair is absolutely bursting with personality.”