Category: Games

Note: This article contains spoilers for the end of Destiny 2’s Season of the Splicer, so you might want to complete the epilogue before reading further.

Two more weeks remain in Destiny 2‘s Season of the Splicer, but with the launch of the final Override activity, the story of the season seems to have officially concluded. The epilogue quest, “As Prophesied,” closes off the story threads of the season, brings together its themes, and sets up where things are going as we draw nearer to Destiny 2’s next expansion, The Witch Queen. In a big way, the Season of the Splicer also just upended a lot of long-standing elements in Destiny 2, and that could have a big impact on the game’s future.

First, a quick rundown of everything that’s happened during this season. After the Vex created the Endless Night simulation and Ikora recruited Mithrax and the House of Light Eliksni to help deal with it, we found ourselves in the uncomfortable situation of having Eliksni refugees in the Last City. After centuries of fighting the Fallen in a war that could have meant humanity’s extinction, we were giving quarter to our longtime enemy. That angered a lot of people in the City, the loudest voice being that of Future War Cult leader Lakshmi-2.

Despite Lakshmi’s objections and unrest brewing in the City, Guardians worked with Mithrax to learn who was behind the Endless Night and how to stop it, but that took time, which allowed Lakshmi to foment more resentment against the Eliksni refugees. With anger rising among the people, Lakshmi started working with the other faction leaders to launch a coup against the Vanguard, seemingly with the goal of installing herself as the leader of the Last City. She looked to major figures for support, including Saint-14 and Lord Saladin, although neither ended up aiding her.

Eventually, we ended the Endless Night with the help of the Eliksni. But that didn’t fully ease tensions, and in the epilogue, we saw what Lakshmi’s rhetoric finally wrought. Claiming she had the help of Osiris, she used Future War Cult technology to open a portal for the Vex in the City’s Eliksni quarter, in hopes that the invading robots would eliminate them. In the final mission, various major characters from the Vanguard and around the City worked together to save the Eliksni and drive back the Vex invasion.

That leaves a bunch of major changes in the wake of the end of the season. Lakshmi perished in the Vex invasion. The members of her Future War Cult have scattered, as have her supporters in New Monarchy, another of the factions. The third faction, Dead Orbit, has left the City as well, even though it didn’t participate in the coup. So it seems that in addition to Lakshmi, we won’t be seeing Arach Jalaal or Executor Hideo around the Tower again.

The three factions have been a part of Destiny since the first game released, originally appearing for the most part as part of an event called Faction Rally, in which players would pledge loyalty to one group in exchange for special weapons and armor. Faction Rally hasn’t been a part of Destiny 2 for years, though, and this story development more or less makes official the fact that there haven’t been factions for quite a while.

What’s interesting, though, is what the lack of factions might set up for Destiny’s future. Future War Cult, Dead Orbit, and New Monarchy were three groups that, along with the military leadership in the Vanguard and the Speaker, made up the Consensus–what was essentially the government of the Last City. The factions represented the City’s civilians, but they’re now gone, and the Speaker was killed back in Destiny 2 vanilla. All that’s left of the Consensus, then, is the Vanguard, which could leave a power vacuum of government in the City. That could also strain the already stretched Vanguard, which now has to take on whatever governmental duties formerly fell to the factions. Given how interesting intra-city politicking became in the Season of the Splicer, addressing how the people of the City govern themselves–or don’t–could lead to some very interesting situations in Destiny 2’s future.

We’ve also seen some big changes in many of the major characters of Destiny 2. After supposedly helping Lakshmi and watching the battle with the Vex without participating in it, Osiris has disappeared. There’s a lot of speculation for what that could mean from a plot perspective, and we may well have a new villain on our hands. Meanwhile, Saint-14 has become the Eliksni’s biggest ally, which is a huge shift. This is a guy famous in Destiny’s lore for fighting the Eliksni, so much so that they have stories they tell their children describing him as a monster. The epilogue cutscene saw Saint-14 fighting to defend the Eliksni, before he was eventually backed up by Ikora, Zavala, and Amanda Holliday. It seems very likely that this year’s continuing theme of re-evaluating our enemies and finding common ground with them is only going to continue now that we’ve watched several main characters risk their lives for their former enemies.

The Eliksni are staying in the City, at least for the time being. We can now likely expect Mithrax, and other Eliksni, to become regular characters as they become citizens under the same Guardian protections as other humans. That’s huge. It’s a major change to the Destiny status quo–as a reminder, the Fallen are the very first enemies you ever fight in Destiny–and it feels like it’s going to build to an even larger shift over time as Bungie fundamentally shifts the underlying premise of who are our allies and who are our enemies.

We don’t know where Destiny 2 is headed just yet (although we’re making some guesses), but it’s not much of an exaggeration to say that the Season of the Splicer has shaken up Bungie’s game world pretty profoundly. Elements introduced way back in Destiny 1 have been fundamentally altered or removed altogether. Characters we’ve known for years are changing their perspectives. The status quo going forward has already shifted.

That’s all great news for Destiny 2, even as it raises more questions about where the game is headed going into Season 15. We’ll likely learn more during Bungie’s Destiny 2 showcase on August 24, but even without more clues to the future, it’s rewarding to watch Destiny 2 continue to evolve into something new and exciting as it challenges its own underlying foundations.

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The time to play Back 4 Blood‘s open beta has arrived. If you were fortunate enough to play the closed beta, this is your next chance to spend more time with the game. For those coming in fresh, we’ve compiled some essential tips to help you better tackle the content found within Back 4 Blood’s beta.

If you’re looking to play it, check out our explainer detailing when the Back 4 Blood beta starts and how to download it. Otherwise, if you’re looking to secure yourself a copy once the game releases in October, then be sure to check out our Back 4 Blood preorder guide.

Coordinate Weapon Types With Your Teammates

While it’s not the biggest deal on the lower Survivor difficulty, there are several reasons why it’s beneficial to talk with your team and coordinate weapon loadouts. You can have teammates fill particular roles, such as a long-range sniper for picking off certain enemy types, an up-close shotgunner to protect the team, or an LMG user in charge of crowd control, to name a few. Ammo also becomes a concern as the difficulty increases, and picking different weapon types keeps players from having to worry about taking ammo away from teammates who might need it. Speaking of ammo, you can hold or drop ammo types you aren’t using for your teammates when they need it. Consider your teammates your very own ammo pouch!

Be Mindful of Ammo Types

Just as you should coordinate what weapons you and other teammates are using, you should be mindful of what two weapons you’re carrying yourself. At a basic level, you likely want to ensure you’ve got your bases covered and can deal with enemies both near and far, but the type of ammo your weapons use should also be accounted for. You don’t want to end up with two weapons that use the same ammo, since you’ll find yourself running out twice as quickly as you otherwise would. Even if you don’t care for melee weapons, you may be better off with one as your secondary as opposed to two weapons that use the same ammo type–that way, you’ll at least have some way to fend off the hordes if you run out of that ammo.

Stick Together

Sticking together is a good strategy in almost any co-op game, but as Left 4 Dead players can attest, it’s imperative in a game like this. Certain enemies can trap players, requiring them to be saved by a teammate. You can also revive a teammate who’s been knocked down, but you’ll need to be nearby to do so. Ensuring you don’t need to scramble to find a path to your teammate (while fighting your way there) will help your team get back to full strength quickly. That’s critical, as it’s easy for a shorthanded squad to get overwhelmed while trying to rescue someone and keep the enemies at bay with fewer guns.

Don’t Be Shy About Meleeing, Even If You’re Reloading

An in-game tooltip will alert you to this, but if you’re a veteran of this type of zombie shooter, there’s a certain behavior you may need to break. Even if you’re reloading, you’re still free to use the melee/bash ability to deal with any enemies who are right on top of you. You might be desperate to get your gun reloaded so you can handle them more permanently, but the melee won’t actually interrupt your ongoing reload, so ditch any hesitation you have about using it while trying to get your gun ready. You’ll still want to begin firing your weapon again as soon as you can, but when times are desperate, that melee can spare you from taking some unnecessary damage and/or give you the room to escape to a safer location.

Make Sure One Player Always Has a Tool Kit

Tool Kits are handy items that allow you to unlock special doors and crates. These doors are always worth opening, as they typically contain several piles of copper, better-than-average weapon drops, and Health Stations. You can also use tool kits to open locked minigun crates, which can be incredibly useful in sections where you need to hold off a hoard. Tool Kits are found in the world but are always available to purchase at the start of each act. You should always have at least one Tool Kit in your party at all times, so take a moment to coordinate with your team before leaving the safe room.

Sharing Is Caring: Redistribute Copper As Needed

If you have extra copper, coordinate with your team and drop your extra currency for teammates in need. This practice helps ensure your whole team is stocked on grenades, heals, and other items you can buy from the Safe House shop. And that’s especially important if there is a good but expensive team upgrade in the shop or if you need to get everyone a turn at a Health Station once the free charge has been used.

Use That Ping System!

While playing with a group of friends over voice chat would be the ideal Back 4 Blood experience, sometimes you have to play with randos online. This is where the game’s excellent ping system comes into play. Pointing out special Ridden, ammo, crates, or whatever is as simple as the press of a button and a valuable tool, as a major component of the game is taking the time to search every nook and cranny for valuable resources. Be a good teammate, press that ping all the time, and let your teammates know when useful items are around to be picked up.

Beware of Trauma Damage

Whenever you’re downed or take a substantial amount of damage, your maximum health starts to decrease; this is what’s known as Trauma Damage. If you’re not careful, Trauma Damage can sneak up on you and put you in situations where you will have to waste whole medkits on small amounts of recoverable life. Health Stations and some Safe Houses are your primary sources for regaining maximum health, but this can be expensive–after you use a Health Station’s free charge, additional charges cost 400 copper each. So try to be mindful of how much damage you’re letting yourself take, as taking too much means you’ll need to pay some hefty prices simply to survive.

And Friendly Fire, Too

Friendly fire can be devastating, especially if you’re hanging on by a thread with just a few points of life. If you’re often in the front of the group, make a habit of crouching; this will help prevent your teammates from accidentally shooting you in the back. Next, if you’re strafing or evading, try to keep track of where your teammates are so you don’t dodge right into their gunfire. Lastly, gas cans and Molotovs create a much wider spread of fire when they explode han you might expect, so be careful of setting them off near your team or in a small area.

Fine Tune Your Deck Order

In Fort Hope, you can set your deck order. This means you can have your preferred cards in the first round, allowing you to create combinations that give you a serious advantage. For instance, cards like Combat Knife are really useful in the early rounds, since it turns your melee into a one-shot stab against any common enemy–even those powered up by Ridden cards. Pairing that card type with others that grant health per melee can be vital for scraping some health back when you’re running low. Just try to avoid taking hits with the Ridden when doing this, or it’ll ultimately be for nothing. Regardless, be mindful of your card combinations and how they can serve the necessity of your current build.

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Democrats are calling for new laws which will keep loot boxes away from children, citing new rules being placed in the United Kingdom this September.

The Verge reports that Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA), Rep. Kathy Castor (D-FL), and Rep. Lori Trahan (D-MA) wrote a letter to bring the UK’s Age Appropriate Design Code to the United States. The letter addressed 12 mainstream game companies such as Activision Blizzard, Disney, Sony, Microsoft, and Epic Games.

The US Congress claims in the letter that loot boxes are “encouraging purchase before a child knows what the “bundle” contains–akin to gambling.” Unlike micro-transactions, players are unaware of the contents inside the loot box until they purchase it. It usually takes at least a couple of purchases to get what you want. Some games let players preview possible rewards inside the loot boxes. The Congress members believe that games need stricter rules beyond the Entertainment Software Rating Board’s (ESRB) regulations.

Although the UK looked into the addictive aspect of loot boxes in 2019 and 2020 and has since enacted changes in the Pan European Game Information (PEGI) guidelines, it’s not part of the AADC. It resulted in ESRB changing its guidelines as well, but some members of Congress feel like it was not enough.

Democrats are citing the AADC for something it never refers to. The AADC “is a set of 15 flexible standards–they do not ban or specifically prescribe–that provides built-in protection to allow children to explore, learn, and play online by ensuring that the best interests of the child,” according to the AADC page. It doesn’t target loot boxes or microtransactions.

The AADC pushes for social media sites and popular games such as Roblox and Minecraft to prevent questionable practices for children until the age of 18. It would provide increased privacy settings and prevent unhealthy usage of a service.

However, the US already has the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act to protect the privacy of young children, so citing the AADC could be seen as another excuse to attempt a loot box ban. It’s a conversation in Congress that occurs seemingly every year, and earlier in 2021, lawmakers in Chicago wanted to ban games such as Grand Theft Auto 5 due to an increase in carjackings. This new letter also states “exposure to violent content” as another concern for young gamers.