Author: Trafficblast

There’s no better way to kick off a weekend than with free games, and this week Humble has stepped up with a great giveaway: Age of Wonders III. The turn-based strategy game is free to claim and keep right now–all you have to do is sign up for Humble Bundle’s newsletter. The deal ends tomorrow, May 11, at 10 AM PT / 1 PM ET or while supplies last, so hurry over to Humble and claim your copy now.

Note that the free download will be provided in the form of a Steam key, so you must have a free Steam account to redeem.

GET AGE OF WONDERS FOR FREE AT HUMBLE »

The game earned a 7/10 in GameSpot’s Age of Wonders III review for its enjoyable tactical combat, streamlined empire management, and balanced randomization.

“Age of Wonders III is a well-crafted strategy game that doesn’t let itself get bogged down in needless busywork. It pushes your focus onto its strongest suit, the battlefield, while keeping everything else in the background,” wrote critic Maxwell McGee. “Some smart elements of randomness help keep you on your toes after multiple sessions, though you will find several go-to strategies still apply regardless of the sort of army you lead. Age of Wonders III is the welcome return of a long-absent strategy series and a tactically rewarding game.”

And while we’re on the subject of free Steam games: Heads-up that Conan Exiles is free to play this weekend through Sunday to celebrate the game’s one-year anniversary. The open-world survival game just received a huge free update that added two brand-new dungeons, a new feat, total revamp of several locations and enemies, new items (both lootable and craftable), various UI fixes, and more. Plus, new DLC, The Riddle of Steel, is now available with a range of items and cosmetics inspired by the 1982 movie starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. The base game is 50% off until May 20, so there’s no better time to dive into Conan and check out all the new changes.

PLAY CONAN EXILES FOR FREE AT STEAM »

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Last year, before its big debut at Bethesda’s E3 press conference, Rage 2 was outed by a large leak from Walmart Canada. Bethesda took those lemons and made lemonade by essentially acknowledging the leak was legit and making jokes about it. Now as it prepares for release, it’s immortalizing the leak with a special giveaway.

A tweet from Rage 2 account announced that for the one-year anniversary of the Walmart Canada leak, it’s giving away some specially stylized Xbox One controllers. The controllers are essentially a printout of the leak itself, showing the game page with Bethesda’s wise-cracking notes, along with the pink anarchy symbol. You can enter to win a controller by following and retweeting the Rage 2 account.

Of course, it’s no coincidence that this promotion is also coming just as the game itself is on the way. It releases next Tuesday, May 14, and Bethesda recently announced PC system specs and other technical details for the two console versions.

A separate giveaway, with a similar entry structure, recently gave away a custom Rage 2 “Dreamcast.” It’s actually a custom-built PC inside a Dreamcast shell, but it does actually play Rage 2. The game is also leaning into nostalgic references with NBA Jam announcer Tim Kitzrow commentary available as a pre-order bonus.

The Matrix was one of most successful and influential action movies of the ’90s, and while the sequels didn’t live up to their predecessors, the series looks set to return to the screen. There have been rumors of a Matrix reboot since 2017, but now John Wick director Chad Stahelski has stated that Lilly and Lana Wachowski, who created the series, will be involved.

Stahelski worked on all three Matrix movies as a stuntman and stunt coordinator, and he has been involved with several other Wachowski projects. In an interview with Yahoo Movies UK to promote the upcoming release of John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum, Stahelski revealed that the Wachowskis will be returning to the sci-fi series.

“I’m super happy that the Wachowskis are not just doing a Matrix, but they’re expanding what we all loved,” he said. “And if it’s anywhere near the level of what they’ve already done, it wouldn’t take more than a call to go, ‘Hey, we want you to be a stunt guy’ and I would probably go and get hit by a car. [But] if they wanted help, I would absolutely put down whatever I was doing to help them.”

While Stahelski seems sure that the Wachowskis will be working on a new Matrix film, he did admit that he wasn’t sure if they would be directing. “I’m not sure of the overall,” he said. “I’m not sure if Lana is [directing].”

The first Matrix was released in 1999. It starred Keanu Reeves and Laurence Fishburne and grossed more than $463 million worldwide. The sequels–The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions–were not as popular with critics but were still very successful, making $742 million and $427 million worldwide respectively.

John Wick: Chapter 3 hits theaters on May 15. You can check out a clip from the movie here, as well as the latest trailer.

Pokemon Sword and Shield might have already been announced, but we now know there’s another new Pokemon game on the way from DeNA. The Japanese developer, which has partnered with Nintendo on a number of smartphone games before this, says it plans to launch a new mobile Pokemon game in the coming months.

“[We] plan to launch a new and exciting smartphone game this fiscal year based on the globally popular Pokemon franchise in partnership with The Pokemon Company,” DeNA stated in its latest financial report. “More details, such as information about the game and launch timing, will be announced later.” The current fiscal year ends on March 31, 2020, so we can expect the game to launch before then.

DeNA has previously made a number of games for Nintendo franchises, including Super Mario Run, Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp, Miitomo, Fire Emblem Heroes, and the upcoming Mario Kart Tour. However, the developer has not been involved in any of the existing mobile Pokemon games, such as Pokemon Duel, Pokemon Shuffle, and Pokemon Quest.

Pokemon Sword and Shield are also due to launch in the next few months: no release date has been announced, but they’re scheduled to be released in 2019. We might learn more during Nintendo’s E3 2019 Direct presentation, which kicks off on June 11 at 9 AM PT / 12 PM ET / 5 PM BST (2 AM AET on June 12).

Mortal Kombat 11 players recently received a thank you make-good gift of in-game currency across almost all platforms, and now Nintendo Switch has joined them. The latest patch for the Switch version adds the Community Thank You gift alongside a series of other balance fixes and other tweaks.

Most importantly, if you own the Switch version you’ll want to log on soon to claim the currency bundle. It will award you 500,000 Koins, 500 Hearts, 1,000 Souls, and 1,000 Time Crystals. That last currency is the premium type, equaling about $10, or enough for two of the premium skins. The other rewards are used to unlock chests in the Krypt. The bundle is only available for a limited time, so you’ll need to claim it by May 20, 2019 at 6 AM PST / 9 AM ET / 2 PM BST.

Those changes come alongside a huge host of improvements to the Towers of Time, which was commonly cited as a weak point in early reviews and player impressions. It tweaks the modifiers and difficulty curve, increases Koin rewards, and adjusts cooldowns and difficulty options. All of it is aimed at making the Towers less of a grind. You can read more about it in the full patch notes posted on Reddit.

“MK11 isn’t just a sequel for series fans and NetherRealm devotees, it’s a gateway into the realm of fighting games for anyone who has a passing interest in watching ruthless warriors beat each other silly,” Edmond Tran wrote in GameSpot’s review. “Streamlined mechanics keep the act of fighting furiously exciting no matter what your skill level, and comprehensive tutorials encourage you to dig into the nitty-gritty. There’s a diverse roster of interesting characters and playstyles, and the story mode is an entertaining romp. The randomization of Krypt rewards and the odd issue with the game’s always-online nature can occasionally chip away at your patience, but Mortal Kombat 11 absolutely hits where it matters.”

Sony has announced a new PlayStation 4 model–and it looks pretty slick. The “Days of Play” edition was announced during Sony’s State of Play video broadcast this week.

The console features the Triangle, Circle, X, and Square logos on the side of the system, which features a steel-grey look with a matching DualShock 4 controller. It’s a 1 TB system for the newer, slimmed down model. Pricing wasn’t announced, but it’s expected the system will cost in the area of $300 USD if it’s in line with the standard PS4 base model.

Sony also released a limited-edition Days of Play PS4 system last year that had more of an eye-catching design. The new console will presumably go on sale in June alongside the start of the Days of Play event. Days of Play is Sony’s annual PlayStation celebration where the company offers lots of deals on games and hardware.

Today’s State of Play event featured a lot of news, including more details on Monster Hunter: World‘s next expansion and a new look at a game where you play as a cute possum. Check out GameSpot’s State of Play news rundown to find out everything that was shown off.