[UPDATE] Bethesda released a new statement to GameSpot on this matter that, among other things, confirms that a “small number” of players are in fact losing scrap items. The studio is working to fix this issue right now; it is a “top priority” for the company.
“Following the release of Update 14 earlier this week, the development team has been looking into player reports of scrap going missing. We have some details to share with you on our findings and our plan moving forward. Our initial investigation indicated that this was a display issue, and that no items had gone missing. However, we have since found that a small number of players have in fact experienced a loss of scrap items after placing them into the Scrapbox and then loading into a world. Resolving this issue is currently our top priority.
We are also exploring ways to restore the missing items.We are working to address this with a hotfix as soon as possible, and we will let players know once we are ready to deploy the fix.”
The original story is below.
Bethesda has released a statement in regards to some of the more prominent issues in Fallout 1st–the new subscription-based content update for Fallout 76. Speaking to GameSpot, Bethesda addressed the reported issues individually.
In regards to the disappearing scrap issue, Bethesda said, “A small number of players with a large quantity of scrap are experiencing a display issue causing their Scrapbox to appear empty. At this time, we believe this is a User Interface issue and that players have not lost any scrap. Players should still be able to access the scrap for crafting from workbenches. We are actively working to address this issue, both internally and using the data and characters folks from the community have provided us.”
Players have also expressed concern that their private servers have appeared already looted, but Bethesda clarified that this is most likely not an issue. Instead, private worlds behave like Fallout 76’s public worlds do. “When a Fallout 1st member starts a Private World, a dedicated World is launched on an AWS server,” Bethesda said. “Players who have seen looted containers upon login may be experiencing the expected behavior upon log out and log in. Loot is instanced for each player in containers. As Fallout 76 players know, if you loot a container on one server, and then log out and log back into another server, the container remains in a looted state for a period of time.”
Finally, Bethesda admits that allowing friends to join private worlds without gaining permission from the host player is not ideal and should be changed. “Currently, players on your friends list can join your Private World without an invitation,” Bethesda said. “We understand this is not what players expected for their private worlds and we are looking to provide an option in an upcoming patch that will allow Fallout 1st members to restrict access to their servers more completely, preventing friends from joining without permission.”
For $12.99 / £11.99 a month or $99.99 / £99.99 a year, a Fallout 1st subscription provides you with access to private worlds, a monthly bonus of 1,650 atoms to spend in the Atomic Shop, discounts on certain items in the in-game store, a private Scrapbox, unique emotes, the Ranger Armor outfit, and a survival tent that acts as a fast travel point you can put anywhere on the map.
Bethesda had already announced that some of these additions would be coming to Fallout 76 but gave no prior indication that they would be locked behind a paywall. This has attracted some criticism from players in the Fallout 76 community–though it remains to be seen how this will affect the overall reception that Bethesda has been cultivating for the game with its free post-launch content updates.
One of Fallout 76’s most anticipated expansions, Wastelanders, has also been delayed. Wastelanders is scheduled to add NPCs with dialogue and quest-lines to Fallout 76, which would ideally curate a gameplay experience similar to Fallout 76’s single-player predecessors.
Cliff Bleszinski, the creator and designer of Gears of War, nearly had a role in Hideo Kojima’s much-anticipated upcoming game Death Stranding. Bleszinski said on Twitter that Kojima asked him to visit the studio to get scanned into the game, but it didn’t work out.
“He asked me to come get scanned when I was in Japan but it was as [Boss Key Productions] was nearly over and I was starting my ‘lay low’ phase and opted out. Kinda regret it,” he said.
Even without Bleszinski and Barlog, Death Stranding is stuffed with celebrity roles and cameos. Walking Dead actor Norman Reedus plays main character Sam “Porter” Bridges, while Hannibal and Casino Royale actor Mads Mikkelsen plays Cliff. James Bond actress Lea Seydoux plays a character named Fragile, while Once Upon a Time in Hollywood’s Margaret Qualley portrays Mama. The Bionic Woman actress Lindsay Wagner portrays Bridget in Death Stranding, while veteran voice actor Troy Baker plays Higgs. Tommie Earl Jones (Pandora, The Politician) plays Die-Hardman.
Another Marvel TV series bites the dust, as Freeform has officially canceled Marvel’s Cloak and Dagger.
Deadline broke the news, which comes five months after the live-action superhero series wrapped its second season. That lengthy gap already had fans speculating as to the show’s future (or lack thereof). But as Deadline reports, the final nail in the coffin came this week as the cast’s options ran out and the actors were released to pursue other projects.
“We are so proud of Marvel’s Cloak & Dagger and the trailblazing stories this series told,” Freeform said in a statement to Deadline. “We are also grateful to our incredible talent Olivia Holt and Aubrey Joseph for bringing these beloved characters to life, and showrunner Joe Pokaski for his vision. We’d like to thank our partners at Marvel Television for a wonderful two seasons and are we are hopeful that we can find another project together.”
Joker cinematographer Lawrence Sher has answered the lingering question of whether Arthur Fleck killed his neighbor Sophie Dumond near the end of the blockbuster DC film.
makes it clear she wasn’t killed. Arthur is killing people who’ve wronged him in a certain way, and Sophie never wronged him.”
The cinematographer added, “In terms of what we did visually to play with the real and not real, there are callbacks and scenes that mirror each other. We leave hints using imagery or way we covered scenes similarly between scene. Outside of that, I like that people can have the conversation and come to their own conclusions.”
Bethesda recently announced that Fallout 76 would be getting a $100-a-year subscription service called Fallout 1st. Unfortunately for Bethesda, the company neglected to claim the web domain, and it was instead taken over by a hilarious, and mildly irate, fan.
FalloutFirst.com (fair warning, some of the language used in this website would make a ghoul blush) lampoons the developer for charging a subscription fee to turn a multiplayer game (which many fans didn’t want) into a single-player experience, after having already bought the game. The website ostensively parodies Bethesda’s blog post announcing Fallout 1st, right down to its layout and included graphics.
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Amazon Prime Members: Sign up for 1 Month of Amazon Music Unlimited for $7.99, Get a 3rd Gen Echo Dot for Only $0.99
This deal only works for new Amazon Music Unlimited subscribers. Sign up for one month of Amazon Music Unlimited for $7.99 and you’ll get an Echo Dot for only $0.99 more ($8.98 total). By default your subscription is auto-renewed, but it is SUPER easy to go to your preferences and opt out of it (just make sure you remember). Even on Black Friday the 3rd gen Echo Dot will not be discounted this low, so grab it now with no worries. Amazon Music Unlimited works alot like the paid ad-free versions of Spotify or Pandora. Get access to millions of songs and playlists that you can stream from your Echo Dot, phone, PC, or other Alexa device.
I spent a few dozen hours playing Call of Duty: Modern Warfare at a review event last week, and walked away with a lot of positive impressions. Perhaps the most superficial and obvious of which is that Modern Warfare looks absolutely phenomenal. As a PC gamer in 2019, “next-generation graphics” is kind of a murky term — but I think it applies here. Modern Warfare is running on a “new game engine” which is to say that major sections of Infinity Ward’s IW engine have been rewritten and now support features like 4K and ray tracing. This new-found fidelity was certainly noticeable when I played gunfight at Gamescom 2019, but it wasn’t until I sat down last week to play Modern Warfare’s single-player campaign in its entirety that the full effects of the visuals really sunk in.
From Metroid Prime 4 restarting development to Destiny 2: Shadowkeep’s two-week delay, there have been many high-profile release date changes this year, and we’ve detailed every game’s delay (and release date) below so you have something to read while you wait for these games.
The Modern Warfare series has always been about the messiness of modern war–the fundamentally different rules of engagement that come with a battle that has no set battlefield. When the fight could be anywhere at any time, where do you draw the line between doing what’s right and doing what has to be done?
Throughout Call of Duty: Modern Warfare‘s campaign, that line is chemical weapons. It’s a safe line to draw; people are largely in agreement that chemical weapons are beyond horrific. But there are other horrors of war, some of which Modern Warfare depicts, starkly, in strong but uncomfortable missions. Just when it could really make a point about any other aspect of modern war, it pulls back. Modern Warfare makes old observations and presents them with new flourishes. Those new flourishes do make for a good campaign and solid multiplayer. But it’s when Modern Warfare asks you to think harder that it falls short.
Campaign
In one of the game’s most distressing levels, you play Farah, a young girl in a fictional war-torn Middle Eastern country as she hides from both a Russian terrorist and the deadly gas his cohorts have unleashed on her town. To escape, you have to kill a man twice your size with his own gun. It’s a deeply uncomfortable experience. But the flashback serves to illustrate why Farah, now the leader of a group of freedom fighters, refuses to use chemical weapons or associate with anyone who does. It is a hard line she won’t cross, even though she’s had to face a lot of ugliness in the course of defending her country.
In many ways, Farah is Modern Warfare’s moral compass. There are a few key players in Modern Warfare’s proxy war, and everyone you play as–Sgt. Kyle Garrick from the UK, rogue American soldier Alex “Echo 3-1,” and sometimes Farah herself–abides by her one rule. Outside of that, though, the rules are much murkier. In getting pulled into a war between the Russian terrorists, a separatist group from Farah’s country, and the freedom fighters, US and UK military personnel disagree on how best to proceed with the situation–matters of disobeying orders, sacrificing some lives to save others, taking civilian hostages, and even torture. And on these matters, the moral compass is Captain Price.
A returning face from the original Modern Warfare and undeniably a problematic fave, Captain Price is the seasoned badass who takes the lead in most Garrick missions. Early levels with Price are among the best. As a rash and impatient Garrick, you follow Price’s directions in order to save as many people as possible from terrorists–though more than once that means watching as innocent people die while you wait to make the best possible move.
These missions range from large-scale, high-octane firefights to a carefully planned raid on a terrorist hideout with less than a dozen enemies total. You direct a woman through an embassy under siege using security cameras to make sure her path is clear. You quietly search a compound for an enemy using night vision goggles as Price watches overhead, shooting out lights to keep you hidden. Price guides you through the different approaches you need for each mission, and his mentorship–both in the mechanical skills you need to be successful and the hard choices you have to make along the way–makes these missions memorable.
While Alex’s missions don’t stick out quite as much in a gameplay sense, he gets a sniping level reminiscent of the original Modern Warfare’s “All Ghillied Up”–though with more enemies–and otherwise a few cool gadgets. His dynamic with Farah is strong, though. He follows Farah’s lead on her turf and on her terms because he believes in the cause, and they share mutual respect.
It’s disappointing, though, that Farah doesn’t play more of a role. While she is a key part of Alex’s missions and the driving force behind much of the story, you only play as her a few times. On top of the childhood flashback, there is an even more disturbing flashback later on in which you see the full extent of Farah’s resolve. Experiencing her suffering this way borders on unnecessary, as it’s already established in Alex’s missions that she’s a respected leader and a strong-willed person in general. While I liked Alex, I would have rather just played as Farah in those missions than get to know her character largely through her trauma.
I already liked and respected Farah without that context, and despite some questionable decisions, I liked each of the main characters and their small but crucial differences in working toward the same goals. Farah and Alex are principled, whereas Garrick and Price are results-driven. Alex goes so far as to disobey orders in favor of doing what’s right, and when he’s told that would be illegal, he responds, “I’m pretty sure everything we do is illegal.” To Alex, it’s a criticism; to Price and Garrick, it’s an excuse.
That tension builds up over the course of the campaign, and because the characters are likable, it’s easy to at least consider each one’s view of what’s right. But in the end, all you get is a vague “we all did what we had to do” sentiment rather than anything more substantial or interesting. Quite a bit of what you had to do–as Garrick, as Alex, and as Farah–was unpleasant or distressing, but the questions raised by your actions aren’t interrogated further, especially the questionable side of Price’s approach. Modern Warfare’s ending isn’t bad, but it is a safe one, leaving you to think on the harder questions yourself.
If anything, Modern Warfare lets Farah down with the bizarre and much-discussed inclusion of white phosphorus as a killstreak in multiplayer. Given how strong the campaign’s emphasis is on chemical weapons being a reprehensible war crime, it’s tone-deaf to include one in multiplayer, even though one could argue–much like Alex does–that pretty much all of it is illegal at the end of the day.
Multiplayer
Outside of any thematic contradictions, Modern Warfare’s multiplayer is up to par, with a variety of game types for different kinds of players. Across all the modes, maps move away from the obvious three-lane structure in favor of nooks, crannies, and tons of cover; there’s generally a balance of close-quarters and long-range approaches. The standard, highly customizable toolkit for your chosen loadouts returns, with a good selection of perks to suit different game types and playstyles. Modern Warfare largely stays within the strong foundations of Call of Duty multiplayer without pushing them much, with the exception of the excellent Realism mode.
Undeniably the highlight of Modern Warfare’s multiplayer, Realism mode is somewhere between the familiar Core and Hardcore modes, bridging the gulf between them. Oddly enough, in a mode called “Realism,” you can take more damage than in Hardcore, and your health regenerates like it does in Core. But Realism removes the HUD entirely, going beyond Hardcore to strip out the kill feed on top of everything else. In order to confirm a kill, you have to listen for the sound effect that plays upon death, and you also have to listen for NPCs over the comms alerting you to available killstreaks and enemy intel. It’s a fantastic balance for those who want more of a chance to survive a scrap, rather than dying in one or two shots like in Hardcore, but with the rest of the challenge intact. It’s a smart, satisfying evolution, and as a stubborn Hardcore-only player, it’s one I could see myself playing exclusively going forward.
While none of the new game types are earth-shattering, some are better additions than others. TDM 20, a 10v10 version of the classic 6v6 Team Deathmatch mode, is the least inventive or warranted of them, instead functioning as a more bloated version of regular TDM with bigger maps that can make getting back into the action an overly long process. One of the two maps I’ve tried, Euphrates Bridge, also suffers from balance problems on top of that; of the two spawns, one is much closer to the bridge dividing the map, and the closer side was almost guaranteed victory in every match I played. My team once managed to flip the spawn mid-match after struggling against snipers on the bridge for a while, and from there we were able to gain the lead relatively easily.
Gunfight is the antithesis of TDM 20. It’s a one-life, 2v2 mode in which your loadout rotates each round, and the goal is to kill your two opponents with the means available to you before they get you first. Gunfight features small maps with two main routes on each, and quick coordination with your partner–a “you go left, I’ll go right” at the beginning, plus callouts over voice chat if things go haywire–can make or break the fight. With a relatively level playing field, battles are often exhilaratingly close, and it’s hard to get discouraged by a loss since rounds go by so quickly. There’s also a version where you start without any weapons and have to find a gun in the map, which is a fun scramble before the frenzy of Gunfight itself. Either way, the more arcadey bent to Gunfight keeps things light and makes both versions a great addition to the multiplayer suite, if not a huge draw.
Ground War is somewhere in the middle. Maps are sprawling, with five control points to capture and one safe zone for each team on either end. Unlike in TDM 20, you can pretty easily get back to the fight after dying by respawning at any capture point your team owns, or on vehicles or your teammates (provided they’re not actively in a fight). Having objective points is also helpful for keeping such a large game type–it supports 64 players currently–more structured than the free-for-all of TDM. That said, matches can drag on a bit too long, as there isn’t anything to break up the constant tug-of-war for capture points.
There’s also a night vision mode, NVG, for a different take on the same maps, and by its nature it makes things a bit more tense. It pretty much plays the same as the other game types, but you don’t aim down sights in night vision–you have a laser, and that laser is easy to spot. You have to be extra cautious when lining up your shots, paying close attention to sightlines and who might see where your beam is coming from. Like in the campaign, the threatening glow of these beams cutting through the darkness looks excellent, and the slight change of pace NVG affords is enough to keep it interesting and distinct from the daytime modes. Editor’s note: As of October 24, Infinity Ward has removed NVG maps from the rotation and has said it will add them in at a later time. Stay tuned for updates.
Spec Ops
As of this writing, Spec Ops is the mode I’ve had the least experience with, though it’s not one I particularly want to play much more of. On paper, it’s a co-op mode where you and a team complete a set of objectives and are rewarded with some story. You can choose one of several roles at the onset, each with its own ultimate ability–there’s a medic, for instance, that can revive fallen teammates–and as a group, you have to work together to overcome enemies while gaining intel, heading to specific objective points, and so on.
In practice, my team of four could barely complete a handful of the objectives on both of the missions we attempted. This was largely due to frustrating enemy spawning–enemies seem to generate endlessly from all directions, and it’s all too easy to get overwhelmed by them. To add insult to injury, there are also no clear waves. It’s just enemies, from everywhere, at all times. After struggling to fight them off, reviving each other was we each inevitably died, we would end up running out of ammo and dying for good.
We tried a few different approaches on each of the two missions to try to figure it out. Splitting up was a disaster; stealth seemed to have no impact whatsoever on the number of enemies; different loadouts with PvE-friendly perks helped marginally. No matter what we did, it didn’t help our understanding of the mode itself. It’s just frustratingly, inexplicably hard. That said, I will be trying it again in the coming days to see if there was anything we were missing, and I also have to play the PS4-exclusive Survival mode as well as Spec Ops’ Classic mode.
But the pitfalls of Spec Ops don’t detract from what Modern Warfare does well. Realism mode is an excellent addition to the slate, and although not all the new multiplayer modes are great, Gunfight and the Night Vision playlist are refreshing standouts. And while the campaign ends up playing it safe in the end, it’s still a memorable one, and it lays a strong foundation for where the Modern Warfare series could go from here.
Editor’snote:This review, including the score, will be finalized once we’ve tested multiplayer on live servers and played more Spec Ops.
