Author: Trafficblast

Ubisoft has canceled one of Assassin’s Creed Odyssey‘s first live events. The NPC “Damais The Indifferent” was supposed to show up in the game this week but he did not. Delays and cancellations are unfortunate, but Ubisoft’s tweet about this instance provides a nice amount of levity to soften the blow.

“Rumour has it that Damais bailed at the very last minute,” Ubisoft said in a tweet. “Apparently, he was intimidated by the idea of facing the misthios. He’ll give you a fair fight as soon as we track him down.”

While the Damais The Indifferent event has been canceled, Ubisoft is adding a new “epic ship” to the game on October 23. You’ll find this ship in the Aegean Sea.

Odyssey launched earlier in October for PS4, Xbox One, PC, (and Nintendo Switch in Japan), and it was a massive success; it broke sales records for Ubisoft.

Ubisoft is promising the “biggest and most ambitious” follow-on content in franchise history for Odyssey. This includes two new storylines, Legacy of the First Blade and The Fate of Atlantis, which each contain three instalments that will be released episodically. That content is paid, but Ubisoft is also offering a third storyline, The Lost Tales of Greece, to all players for free.

GameSpot’s Assassin’s Creed Odyssey review scored the game an 8/10.

“Assassin’s Creed Odyssey’s ambition is admirable, which is reflected in its rich attention to detail for the era and its approach to handling the multi-faceted narrative with strong protagonists at the lead,” reviewer Alessandro Fillari said. “While its large-scale campaign–clocking in at over 50 hours–can occasionally be tiresome, and some features don’t quite make the impact they should, Odyssey makes great strides in its massive and dynamic world, and it’s a joy to venture out and leave your mark on its ever-changing setting.”

The seventh season of the Netflix hit TV show Orange is the New Black will be its last. The ensemble cast confirmed in a video today that the prison drama is ending in 2019.

Orange is the New Black, along with House of Cards, was one of Netflix’s first original shows. Created by Weeds creator Jenji Kohan, the show is based on the memoir by Piper Kerman, who like main character Piper Chapman (Taylor Schilling), was locked up in a women’s prison.

“After seven seasons, it’s time to be released from prison,” Kohan said in a statement (via Refinery29). “I will miss all the badass ladies of Litchfield and the incredible crew we’ve worked with,” Kohan said in a statement of the end of the series. “My heart is orange but… fade to black.”

Orange is the New Black premiered in 2013, with new seasons airing on a yearly basis. The final season will debut sometime in 2019.

In addition to Schilling, the show stars Laura Prepon, Uzo Aduba, Danielle Brooks, Natasha Lyonne, and Kate Mulgrew.

The fall release season means the biggest games, and it doesn’t get much bigger than Activision’s annual Call of Duty franchise. This year revisits one of its most popular series with Call of Duty: Black Ops 4. But for the first time in the long-running franchise, this one eschews a single-player campaign altogether in favor of more multiplayer modes and standalone stories with each of its operators.

Reviews are rolling in, and the conclusion from critics appears to be that the lack of a traditional campaign hasn’t hurt the total package. Our own Black Ops 4 review found that the three main modes were substantial enough to make up the difference, and the depth and breadth of the multiplayer offerings kept reviewer Kallie Plagge from missing the usual bombastic story mode. Read on for a variety of critical responses, and take a look at GameSpot’s sister site Metacritic for more reviews from around the industry.

• Game: Madden NFL 19
• Developer / Publisher: Electronic Arts
• Platforms: PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
• Release date: August 10
• Price: US $60 / £60 / AU $69

GameSpot — 8/10

“Black Ops 4 isn’t short on content, and its three main modes are substantial. Multiplayer introduces more tactical mechanics without forcing you into them, and it largely strikes a good balance. Zombies has multiple deep, secret-filled maps to explore, though its returning characters don’t hold up and prove distracting. Finally, Blackout pushes Call of Duty in an entirely new direction, making use of aspects from both multiplayer and Zombies for a take on the battle royale genre that stands on its own. Sure, there isn’t a traditional single-player campaign, but with the depth and breadth of what is there, Black Ops 4 doesn’t need it.” — Kallie Plagge [Full review]

Game Informer — 9.5/10

“Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 makes a sacrifice that’s sure to be off-putting to some with the lack of a campaign, but the surrender of tradition comes with sweeping and significant benefits. Blackout is the best battle-royale experience available today, zombies offers crazy customizable co-op, and multiplayer keeps things grounded for those looking for the classic core.” — Daniel Tack [Full review]

VentureBeat — 90/100

“I hope that Treyarch and Activision see this as a new jumping off point, with frequent updates to add new experiences and maps to Blackout and the other modes. But we’ll see just how much the Call of Duty community appreciates what Treyarch has done.” — Dean Takahashi [Full review]

EGM — 8.5/10

“This always seemed like the inevitable conclusion we faced as Call of Duty fans. With the exception of the side-thought that is the Specialist HQ, Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 is a wholly social experience, and it stands all the stronger because of it. Committing to three full-fledged multiplayer modes was a necessary risk for making a Call of Duty game that will likely have longer legs than any installment before it. Quality single-player campaigns are always welcome in our Call of Duty games, but if this is Treyarch’s new direction for the series, that works too.” — Nick Plessas [Full review]

Destructoid — 8/10

“Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 can’t just operate with the same business-as-usual mentality from Activision, now that it’s taken this step. Blackout has the potential to be its own game in the same way Epic tore its Battle Royale mode from the main package as a separate entity. Leave it to Treyarch to create a conundrum after introducing a non-traditional project into the fray.” — Chris Carter [Full review]

Variety — No Score

“While it lacks the reinvention of some of its predecessors, Call of Duty: Black Ops IV is dutifully crafted, meticulously polished, and the best Call of Duty multiplayer outing in years.” — Luke Winkie [Full review]

Chinese networking and mobile giant Huawei introduced a new smartphone this week that it claims is a competitor in the video game space to the Nintendo Switch. The Mate 20 X is a 7.2-inch smartphone that CEO Richard Yu boasted as “the best portable mobile gaming machine.”

Variety reports that the event was ostensibly to debut two new phones, but Huawei finished its presentation with the surprise announcement of the Mate 20 X as well. After comparing its performance to phones like the Galaxy Note9, Yu showed a gamepad add-on and began comparing the Mate to the Switch, complete with side-by-side comparisons.

Yu said the Mate 20 X has a larger screen than the Switch at 7.2 inches, higher resolution with a 1080p OLED screen, and a larger battery. It features a vapor chamber and graphene film designed to keep the chips working at lower temperatures. As a phone, it comes equipped with a 40 MP camera. And it comes in two colors, Phantom Silver and Midnight Blue. You can check out the full specifications here.

“We bring you an extra display, extra power and also extra performance,” Yu said.

The Mate 20 X is priced at €899 or around $1,040. That makes it significantly more than a Nintendo Switch, and aligned more with the price of higher-end iPhone models.

The Switch has provided a financial boom for Nintendo, joining its mobile and console markets. It’s clear enough why a mobile manufacturer would want to position its latest device as a direct competitor. Some of Nintendo’s success, though, comes down to Nintendo’s own first-party games and third-parties getting on-board with specialized software. Huawei is a huge name in China, so it may use that leverage to attract its own development community.

IO Interactive has announced its first Elusive Target mission for Hitman 2, and it stars none other than the man of many lives (and deaths), actor Sean Bean. Bean plays Mark Faba, an MI5 agent gone rogue as a freelance assassin. Faba has gained a reputation for faking his death, even earning the nickname “The Undying.” Agent 47 might have a thing or two to say about that.

The Undying will release as the first Elusive Target on November 20, one week after the release of Hitman 2. The mission takes place in Miami, where Faba is trying to complete his own contract at the Global Innovation Race event in Miami. You’ll have ten days to complete it. As with the first Hitman, Elusive Targets are free, temporary missions that you’ll only have one chance to complete.

A live-action trailer accompanying the announcement stars Bean as Faba, talking with a therapist about his life as an assassin and describing the various ways he’s eluded death. The role as an expert in faking his own death serves another purpose as a meta-joke, as Sean Bean has become known for playing characters who ultimately die. This is similar to the last Hitman game, which set actor Gary Busey as an Elusive Target.

Hitman 2 adds a new Sniper Assassin mode, which lets you take down targets from a distance solo or paired with a partner. You can gain access to that instantly by pre-ordering, or pre-order a Silver or Gold Edition for more bonuses like extra gear. The Gold Edition also includes four days of early access to the game. You can read more details in our pre-order guide.

Microsoft is once again teaming up with Taco Bell to give away a frankly absurd number of Xbox One consoles as prizes. This year, though, the special edition Xbox One X consoles are customized to remind you of Taco Bell with the restaurant’s bell “ring” sound whenever you power on your console.

Yes seriously.

Purchasing a $5 Double Chalupa Box between October 18 and November 21 will enter you to win the Xbox One X Platinum Limited Edition Bundle. That includes the Taco Bell branded Xbox One X, a white Elite Wireless Controller, and three months of Xbox Game Pass and Xbox Live Gold. To sweeten the pot, the prizes will be given out approximately every 10 minutes throughout the promotion, and they’ll be distributed to the winners a zippy 72 hours after winning. That translates to roughly 5,000 Xbox One X consoles altogether.

The Double Chalupa Box includes the oversized double chalupa or spicy double chalupa, a crunchy taco, cinnamon twists, and a beverage. It also includes a code you can text to the number provided to check if you’re a winner. You can check the official rules for the fine print and to enter the contest with no purchase necessary.

“We are excited to partner again with Xbox, but this time on a collaboration that is entirely exclusive to fans of both Xbox and Taco Bell,” said Taco Bell brand officer Marisa Thalberg in the announcement. “It delights us to delight our fans with unique experiences, and what better way in this case than through the best in ‘boxes.'”

Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 (read our review) has issued a new patch aimed at stability and crash fixes, but it still has some new gameplay tweaks to try out that will make a substantial difference. The biggest change is to Blackout, which is testing different player counts in a few of its modes.

100-Player Duos and 88-Player Quads are now in the playlist under Blackout, in an effort to prod at different formulations of the player count. Some other multiplayer maps have gotten updates as well. The TDM playlist now supports parties of 6 up from 5, and the Featured multiplayer playlist has changed to Heist. Activision says these will regularly rotate and more details on how the Featured playlists will work are coming soon.

Custom games have been fixed to conclude after one team wins six rounds, and the studio has fixed a crash caused by earning multiple Medals in a single match. Plus in Zombies mode, a fix has been issued to a UI error caused by a loss of Internet connection in split-screen play. The PC version has gotten a few bug fixes of its own as well.

In the immediate future, the studio says it’s keeping an eye and working on the Easter Egg quests in Zombies mode, reports of multiplayer audio volume bugs, and teammate names disappearing. On PC it’s investigating a crash associated with the Hellion Salvo launcher, and on Xbox it’s looking into some user reports that their Shadowman and Classified content isn’t showing up.

If you’re just cracking into Black Ops 4, check out our tips for beginners. Or if you’re still on the fence, you can make sure your PC is up to snuff and read all about how it compares to battle royale competitors Fortnite and PUBG.