Category: Games

Rust, the competitive online multiplayer survival game that was first released in early access on PC in 2013, is officially coming to PlayStation 4 and Xbox One (and PS5 and Xbox Series X/S via backward compatibility) on May 21, 2021.

The announcement was revealed alongside a new trailer and a blog post by developer Double Eleven that details the differences between Rust Console Edition and Facepunch Studios’ PC version.

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While Rust Console Edition is obviously based on the PC version, it has been “designed and optimised for a completely separate and unique console player experience.”

Double Eleven had been in talks with Facepunch since 2016 about the idea of creating this console version, and the teams knew early on that the two games would “need to be in separate universes given that the PC edition can expand as it needed to, and performance would be maintained so long as people continued to upgrade their hardware, while consoles on the other hand have finite resources that need to be more closely managed.”

Performance was the team’s “biggest and most demanding challenge” and Double Eleven needed to “rip apart and rewrite major engine subsystems within Unity” to get it up to standards.

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Load times were also a big issue, and the team explained how initial load times took up to 45 minutes to read and decompress the procedural map and its assets into memory. By implementing a new bootstrap system that would allow for the loading of multiple Unity scenes and asset bundles simultaneously, the game now loads “in around one minute give or take.”

The team also decided to pick a point in Facepunch’s code base that served as a good foundation, and decided it would rebuild some of the more advanced features once a solid base on which to build was established.

This means that Rust Console Edition will follow its own update roadmap that differs from the PC version that will “provide an optimal player experience while gradually introducing players to the vast amount of game play and content that makes Rust an incredible experience.”

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While Double Eleven isn’t quite ready to reveal the roadmap, the studio promises some of it will be shown closer to the release of the game in May.

The developer did reveal that Rust Console Edition will be getting a Deluxe and Ultimate Edition which include Beta access in April 2021, 3-days early access, and more.

For more on Rust, check out why everyone was playing Rust again earlier this year and read our review of the game from 2018.

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Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to [email protected].

Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.

Editor’s note: Earlier this week, we shared the first look at gameplay in Six Days in Fallujah, a game that has been the topic of heavy criticism due in large part to the subject matter itself, as well as its portrayal of what are very real, very recent, and very painful memories for the Iraqi and Arab communities. 

This new asset followed shortly after we published a lengthy report that both detailed the context of why The Second Battle of Fallujah is a painful subject and black mark on the US’s history, as well as shared the perspectives of the Arab community who have close ties to the war, and to the communities affected by that war. We did so in the hopes that we could capture the larger conversation happening around the game for our readers. We believe it’s our responsibility to give you the necessary context and lens by which to view and consider the contents of the game to make those judgments for yourselves. 

But our packaging and rollout of the trailer earlier this week contributed to a tonal disconnect with our reporting, as well as our increasing concerns around the intentions of the game, and it was a disservice to our readers to not frame and present the news of a first in-game look at Six Days in Fallujah within that larger context and conversation. We wanted to take the time to reshare and reframe this new point of reference with our readers, to apologize for the original misrepresentation, and to remind you all of the valuable voices and perspectives from our sources who took the time to speak to us and share an important side of the conversation. 

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In a feature last week, I spoke to a number of game developers and critics who are either from Arab or Iraqi backgrounds, or otherwise have close ties to the Second Battle of Fallujah — a controversial battle that occurred during the Iraq War, in which at least 800 Iraqi civilians died at the hands of US and British troops.

Six of those I spoke to agreed to go on the record about their fears, frustrations, and criticisms of what we know about the video game Six Days in Fallujah, which claims to “recreate true stories of Marines, soldiers, and Iraqi civilians” involved in the battle. Their concerns are many and if you have not already, I recommend taking the time to click the link above to read the full context of what they said, as a summary does not do their stories justice but it’s also important context as we continue to see more of the game itself.

Among those concerns are:

• The game’s pitch and marketing thus far focuses heavily on US forces who invaded Fallujah, and has either minimized or often even excluded stories from Iraqi civilians.

• A game like Six Days in Fallujah runs the risk of contributing to an ongoing culture of generalized, racist, and dehumanizing portrayals of Arab, Muslim, and Middle Eastern cultures across all entertainment, and especially FPS games.

• Publisher Victura has numerous verifiable past ties to the US military, making it difficult to trust that Six Days in Fallujah is not at best unintentional, or at worst very intentional, US military propaganda.

• Six Days in Fallujah has had minimal and often contradictory messaging as to how it will address the controversial political contexts around the Second Battle of Fallujah, including the documented (if denied) war crimes allegedly committed by US forces.

With its first gameplay reveal, Victura had an opportunity to account for these numerous valid concerns. If Six Days in Fallujah is indeed an empathetic, thoughtful portrayal of the horrors of the Second Battle of Fallujah as they impacted everyone involved, this week’s trailer was a perfect time to showcase that intent with a focus on the Iraqi perspective, as well as some acknowledgement of the US’s harmful decisions in entering the war in the first place. All of this could have been done alongside gameplay that told a meaningful story to those watching.

However, the trailer that Victura released this week has done nothing to quell those fears and criticisms. Instead, it has substantiated many of them.

The First Look at Six Days in Fallujah, Broken Down

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Six Days in Fallujah’s first gameplay trailer opens with narration from US Sgt. Jason Kyle, who continues to tell the story of his experience in Fallujah interspersed throughout the trailer. A handful of other US veterans make appearances and tell their stories, as well. Almost the entirety of the six-minute trailer is told through their viewpoints, and all of the gameplay shown is through the US military perspective, lending credibility to the concerns that this is largely a game about empathizing with the US military rather than the people who lived in Fallujah. A brief perspective from two anonymous Iraqi civilians is shown later in the video, but it is far and away eclipsed by what is clearly a military-focused story.

Sgt. Kyle’s introduction gives way to a narrator who introduces the gameplay of a soldier walking down an alley. Upon turning a corner, you can see a dark, undefined figure at the end of the alley, who the player immediately begins shooting at. We hear soldiers yell, “There’s one in the alley!” and then “I got you,” when the figure is dead. There is no context offered for the person who was shot at — which is notable because of the presence of civilians in the real-life counterpart to this story. They are merely presented as an enemy to be defeated.

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As the trailer continues, we are shown gameplay mechanics presented in the same manner as This Year’s Thrilling New Shooter, rather than what you might expect from, as Victura themselves have described it, a ‘playable documentary’.

“Pin enemies in place with suppressive fire, while you flank,” the voice says with a tone of hyping up a fun gameplay feature. An enemy shouts “Allahu Akbar” in the distance in the only attempt at detailing who the player is shooting at: presumably a generalized Islamic terrorist.

More shots are exchanged with distant figures in a house across a street, again impossible to tell who they are from a distance. It’s a scene reminiscent of what one of the developers I spoke to, Alex, mentioned in our interview, about the ease at which Middle Easterners are villainized in games, because Americans don’t have to question it.

“You just turn on a game, you see some terrorists, and you start shooting at them,” they said.

The Unknowable Fallujah

We cut to a segment called “The Fatal Funnel” in which Sgt. Kyle reappears with the line, “The person who goes in first is never wrong. They have the most to fear.” This line is not contextualized, but it’s especially dark given the number of civilian deaths in Fallujah. Without additional context, it’s easy to interpret this line as a defense or rationale around those deaths.

Three more US military veterans appear and share their experiences of entering houses and not knowing what to expect inside, focusing on the fears of those soldiers and ignoring what the people inside those houses might have feared. This discussion of fear is used as a transition point back to a gameplay feature, this time around the procedural generation to recreate the “realism” of the battle. “Six Days in Fallujah reshapes the battlefield every time you play. Each room, each building, even the entire neighborhood is generated procedurally. Every map is a new map. So just like actual combat, you never know what to expect.”

Six Days in Fallujah has, from the start, promised a “real-life” experience. Here’s one quote from Victura’s official website messaging:

“We’ve invested more than three years building technologies to explore specific parts of the combat experience more realistically than other games have so far,” the website continues. “We hope that participating in these real-life ‘moments of truth’ will give each of us a new perspective into events that have already shaped so much of our century.” [poilib element=”quoteBox” parameters=”excerpt=The%20reality%20of%20Fallujah%20–%20a%20place%20where%20people%20lived%20their%20lives%20–%20has%20been%20glossed%20over%20for%20the%20sake%20of%20a%20thrilling%20combat%20experience”]

While it wasn’t entirely clear at the time what this would entail, the demonstration of a procedurally generated Fallujah offers part of an answer. The “real-life” Victura is interested in is the real-life combat experience, focused on the soldier’s perspective of the city as an unknown, threatening place. The reality of Fallujah — a place where people had once lived their lives and which many refused to abandon due to a number of deeply personal reasons — has been sacrificed for the sake of a thrilling combat experience.

It’s an exacerbation of an issue that media critic Anita Sarkeesian, whose parents were born and raised in Iraq, pointed out prior to the trailer’s release:

“The developer statements very carefully acknowledge the Iraqi casualties but they are not providing any context about the fact that the heroes of this story are murdering people who are defending themselves and their homeland, a people who have been targeted repeatedly over the years by world powers, including the US.”

Why Stay?

More gameplay is shown featuring firing at distant and nondescript targets before cutting to another section titled “Fathers and Sons.” In this section, Sgt. Kyle tells an emotional story about missing his son’s birthday while in Fallujah, and not wanting to die on his child’s birthday. While this story is heartfelt, the trailer’s emphasis on the pain felt by loss of life is noticeably centered on the US side of that story. It does nothing to either contextualize the political decisions that sent Sgt. Kyle and the US military at large to Fallujah in the first place, or to tell any stories from Fallujah residents whose family lives may have been impacted in similar or far worse ways.

A final, lengthy gameplay sequence follows soldiers moving through an empty, dark house and checking rooms, all with the framing, lighting, and audio effects one might see in a horror game, just before the protagonist is attacked by some unseen enemy. The player kicks down the door and screams are heard as a family huddles in the darkness. It is entirely unclear whether or not control is taken away from the player at this point, and whether or not players might have the ability to fire on what are clearly civilians hiding from the invading force, a la No Russian.

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“So just think, you have this marine, you’re amped up, you’ve got all this adrenaline going through, and this family of four — and I’m talking to the dad, I’m like, ‘Dude, why are you still here?'” The focus of empathy, a major point of concern from the sources I spoke to in our original report, again favors Sgt. Kyle’s perspective. The tensions of war from any perspective notwithstanding, we never get to see him nor anyone else explore the implications of what could conceivably happen when a Marine in that situation opened fire into buildings or streets without checking who the target was, as previous segments of gameplay suggested.

The trailer then cuts to the only scene we see with Iraqi representatives. The anonymous interviewees say that the people in Fallujah were told to leave, but the reasoning for some staying behind is pinned on the stubbornness of an older generation. Excluded is the context that the US did not permit any males over the age of 15 to leave at all, and it is likely many families chose to stay together rather than be separated from one another or abandon their homes. The trailer ends here.

What Have We Learned About Six Days in Fallujah?

This first gameplay trailer for Six Days in Fallujah tells us that regardless of what ultimately ends up in the game when it releases, the priorities of publisher Victura are, first and foremost, on presenting the US military as brave heroes. Though the individuals whose stories are told may indeed be sympathetic, the ultimate motives and context of the US being in Fallujah in the first place were far from it, as US military veteran John Phipps acknowledged when we spoke to him for our original article.

“There is a massive unwillingness on the part of American media, no matter what form of media it is, to portray US soldiers as the antagonists or the bad guys, which, in that instance, we were,” he said.

It’s still possible this may be addressed in the shipped game, and Victura’s website says it will explore “the events that led to these battles.” But we haven’t seen evidence of that yet. Thus far, indications increasingly point to the idea that the bulk of Six Days in Fallujah will follow a war story intended to inspire empathetic feelings for the US military and its actions in Fallujah, and may engender negative feelings about Iraqis and Middle Eastern people as a whole.

“It sells you the idea that the soldiers are brave and that their cause is just without showing you if their fear is justified or not,” said Yifat Shaik, an Iraqi-Jewish academic who I spoke to in my original article. She was referring to this tweet at the time, but her analysis seems fitting for the trailer, too. “We do not see what they are encountering, the enemy is faceless and voiceless…It’s propaganda because it is telling you (and this is true for all the gifs and images they have on Twitter) that they are the good guys and that they are fighting a nameless enemy. It is there to sell you the idea of war being just and that the US Army [are] the good guys in this case. If I reverse this, and those would have been Iraqi soldiers or insurgents, our reaction would be a lot different.”

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In a six-minute trailer, less than one minute is devoted to the Iraqi perspective, and it is focused on a single subject: one possible reason why more civilians did not leave Fallujah. Of course, we won’t know what the final balance is until the game comes out, but the recently-updated FAQ on the game’s website states that the team spoke to over 100 Marines and soldiers for Six Days in Fallujah, while 26 Iraqis (23 of whom are from Fallujah) were interviewed, some of them as long ago as 2008. This does not inspire confidence that their stories will play a prominent role, or at least not as compared to that of the Marines.

What we do know so far is that, at least in the gameplay segments, the Iraqis in Fallujah will be portrayed as distant, non-specific foes who yell stereotypical phrases. We know that players will be encouraged to shoot indiscriminately where they think enemies might be, and while we don’t know if players will be able to accidentally shoot civilians (Victura has said it won’t depict war crimes, but has been inconsistent in other messaging), the idea of simply being able to fire into houses where innocent people might be hiding or firing at generic, unknown maybe-foes remains troublesome.

While the publisher has spent time and energy promoting the game’s “documentary” style of storytelling, this week’s footage ultimately focused on the intensity and specificity of shooting mechanics as a core point in its marketing. Though these mechanics — like the “Go” command and the procedural generation of the city — are said by Victura to be in the service of realism, the realism being uplifted is the realism of shooting, of violence, of destruction. It is not the realism of the lives of the everyday people of Fallujah.

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This is, of course, just a six-minute slice of a gameplay trailer, and does not encompass the entirety or even most of what Six Days in Fallujah will be. But with a subject as sensitive, real, and controversial as the Second Battle of Fallujah and its corresponding video game, Victura hasn’t taken many opportunities to make their intentions clear. What information and responses have been offered have revealed little about how the Iraqi side will be portrayed.

Whatever Six Days in Fallujah ultimately is, every step this game has taken from its initial announcement and cancellation, to its re-announcement and marketing has been contradictory and frequently thoughtless. Now, Six Days in Fallujah’s first gameplay trailer has only served to increase people’s concerns that it cannot be trusted to be more than another military-centric wargame.

Jonathan Ferguson, a weapons expert and Keeper of Firearms & Artillery at the Royal Armouries, breaks down the weaponry of Hot Dogs, Horseshoes and Hand Grenades, including the SPAS-12 shotgun, the Bren light machine gun, and the ridiculous hybrid gun, the Kalashniluger.

By Dave Jewitt and Adam Mason on March 27, 2021 at 7:00AM PDT

Hot Dogs, Horseshoes & Hand Grenades is a VR shooting gallery that offers up well over 150 firearms from the 18th century all the way through to the modern day, and as a result, it includes a range of weaponry such as the double-action revolver, the Glock 17, and the Barrett M82 rifle.

In the latest video in the Firearm Expert Reacts series , Jonathan Ferguson–a weapons expert and Keeper of Firearms & Artillery at the Royal Armouries–breaks down the guns of Hot Dogs, Horseshoes and Hand Grenades, and compares them to their real-life counterparts.

If you’re interested in seeing more of Jonathan’s work, you can check out more from the Royal Armouries right here. –https://www.youtube.com/user/RoyalArmouries

If you would like to support the Royal Armouries, you can make a charitable donation to the museum here. –https://royalarmouries.org/support-us/donations/

And if you would like to become a member of the Royal Armouries, you can get a membership here. –https://royalarmouries.org/support-us/membership/

You can purchase Jonathan’s book here – https://www.headstamppublishing.com/bullpup-rifle-book

The ID@Xbox stream on March 26 featured more than 100 games and ran for well over three hours, and one of the most-impressive games announced was Astria Ascending. A JRPG from Artisan Studios, it blends a Vanillaware art style with turn-based combat, and its development team includes some of the biggest names in Japanese gaming.

Written by Final Fantasy X and Final Fantasy VII Remake scribe Kazushige Nojima, and with music composed by Final Fantasy XII’s Hitoshi Sakimoto, Astria Ascending stars eight heroes known as the “Demigods,” and they’re “charged with the fate of the world.” The game features a number of different races as well as 20 different classes to choose from, and its story seems to be focused on a fruit known as the “harmelon” that keeps peace between the various groups in Orcanon.

“… their fates are doomed, but the world is not,” says a line on the Steam page. If you were looking for a story that was all sunshine and rainbows, you should probably look elsewhere. Alongside Final Fantasy and Bravely Default developers, Astria Ascending’s team also includes Nier: Automata veterans, and that game isn’t exactly known as a lighthearted romp.

Alongside the more-traditional turn-based battle elements, you’ll be able to collect and then summon beasts into battle, and there is also a powerful technique known as a “Cosmo Break” that will give you the edge. Since the game is releasing this year, we’ll likely learn more soon.

In addition to Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC, Astria Ascending is also coming to PS4, PS5, and Nintendo Switch. It will be available through Xbox Game Pass, as well.

One of the most important decisions you’ll make in Monster Hunter Rise is which weapon you’ll use. While you can switch between weapon types at any point in the game via your item box, you ideally want to only brandish and invest your time into one, and that choice can be somewhat intimidating. After all, there are 14 weapon types in total, each with unique attacks and mechanics.

Part of what makes Monster Hunter Rise such a complex game is the rich nuance of each weapon type’s capabilities, so locking in on the weapon type that best suits your playstyle takes some time. Fortunately, we’ve experimented enough with the game’s weapons to give you a general overview of what to expect. Below, you can find essential details about each weapon to help you decide which one is right for you.

Close-Range Weapons

If you prefer being up close and personal with your prey, then you’ll want to look to the weaponry below. Close-range weapons make up most of Monster Hunter Rise’s armaments, but what makes them fun to use is just how diverse they are in their mechanics and capabilities.

Sword & Shield

The Sword & Shield combo is easy to recommend for newcomers. While it may seem like a bore compared to the other, flashier weaponry available, you can’t go wrong with the Sword & Shield. As one of the most reliable and balanced weapons in the game, it’s capable of quick, decisive attacks that don’t require too much precise timing to land effectively. The shield as a side-arm is also an added benefit, making it easy to bash enemies or pop into a defensive posture to mitigate the damage inflicted by the monsters you’re hunting. And since the Sword & Shield is a light weapon, you don’t have to worry too much about your movement speed being hindered, allowing you to dodge out of the way of an incoming charge with relative ease.

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Dual Blades

Dual Blades are for hunters who want high mobility and like getting very close to their prey. The nuances of the weapons are easy enough to pick up on, making them great for beginners.

The Dual Blades’ main mechanic is a unique state called demon mode. At any point, you can press block to activate demon mode, which gives you greater attack damage and a chainable quick dash. While in demon mode, you can continue to build up your meter and eventually activate archdemon mode, which allows you to perform even more special attacks.

The key to Dual Blades is to always be on the offensive. The individual damage of each swing may be on the low side, but a well-trained Dual Blade user can pump out high DPS if they can maintain their attacks. The major downside is you have no way to block or counter and must rely purely on speed and dodging.

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Great Sword

Of all the different swords in Monster Hunter, the Great Sword is perhaps the most powerful in terms of sheer strength. This heavy blade is capable of dishing out devastating damage to monsters and can even hack off a beast’s tail, which you can then carve up for extra material. This raw power comes with some pretty notable drawbacks, however. As you’d likely expect, the Great Sword is slow and unwieldy; you can’t cancel out of swings, and your movement is seriously impeded when you have the weapon drawn.

Fortunately, the Wirebug helps offset some of these drawbacks. You can make a quick retreat by unleashing the Power Sheathe Silkbind move, which also has the added benefit of temporarily boosting your attack power. You can also press the ZR button when you have the Great Sword drawn to block with the weapon, which often comes in handy since you’ll need to be up close and personal when battling monsters. Although it’s not very beginner-friendly, the Great Sword is a satisfying weapon to master.

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Long Sword

Next to the Sword & Shield, the Long Sword is one of the most balanced weapons in the game. It offers decent swing speed, great range for a melee weapon, and simple combos that make it an excellent choice for beginners. Its main hook revolves around the spirit gauge. The key is to build up enough of the meter through the use of combos so you can pull off the Spirit Roundslash. Each time you hit a foe with this move, you’ll increase the spirit gauge to the next level, with a total of three boosts.

With each level boost you achieve, the Long Sword’s attack power will increase. Your goal is to stay at level three (red) spirit gauge as long as possible. Learning moves you can use to combo into Spirit Roundslash is the best way to keep up the damage and your spirit gauge high. This rhythm is actually pretty easy to pick up and pull off, and once you master it, you can begin adding in more advanced moves and combos.

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Hammer

The Hammer is a good choice for hunters who like to be in the thick of the action. While its reach is incredibly short, it packs a powerful punch and is particularly useful for staggering foes. Focus on hitting a monster in the head, and you’ll have a chance to stun it, which will allow the other hunters in your party to move in and attack. This raw power comes with some drawbacks, however. While wielding a Hammer, you’re unable to block–and since you’ll frequently need to be right in a monster’s face when attacking, you’ll be in the line of fire. Fortunately, unlike the Great Sword, you can move around while charging up your Hammer attacks, so you’re not completely immobile.

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Switch Axe

The Switch Axe is another powerful two-handed weapon that provides a nice mix of strength and speed, thanks to its namesake trick: the weapon can transform between an axe and a sword with a press of the ZR button. Each form has different attributes and attack patterns, effectively making the Switch Axe two weapons in one.

The trick to using the Switch Axe is to know when to transform it. Attack while the weapon is in its axe form, and you’ll gradually build up your blade meter, powering up the strength of your sword attacks. You can also swing the weapon much more quickly while it’s in sword form, although you won’t have as much mobility in this state. The blade meter will also drain as you attack in sword form, and once it’s depleted, you’ll need to revert to axe mode, so regularly switching between the two forms is key to effectively wielding the Switch Axe.

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Charge Blade

The Charge Blade is a heavy damage dealer, and when used in the hands of a master, it can take down monsters in no time at all. However, it’s also a slow weapon that can be tricky to wield and takes time to learn, making it more ideal for advanced players.

The goal of the Charge Blade is to fill up a series of phials by doing basic damage. Once filled, you can then store the charged phials into your shield. A charged-up shield can send damage back when blocking, making for a useful defensive tactic, but the real benefit is when you switch to axe form, which combines your sword and shield into one powerful weapon. Thanks to the charged phials, you can unleash elemental discharge attacks, which do massive damage. The Charge Blade is a complex weapon that takes time to master, but those who come to understand its many intricacies will be well-rewarded with one of the game’s strongest weapons.

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Lance

If you’re the type who gets a big thrill from keeping your distance and poking at enemies, the Lance is the weapon for you. It’s relatively slow, offering decent damage, yet is hampered by limited mobility as you brandish it. Still, if you can learn to effectively stay within arm’s reach from a foe and time your attacks accordingly, then the Lance’s strengths will quickly reveal themselves to you.

As one of the longer-ranged melee weapons in the game, the Lance emphasizes distance management and intelligent counter-attacking. It’s all about judging the best opportunities to attack, quickly thrusting forward, and then hopping away or defending should the situation call for it. Intentionality is key with the Lance, but it is worth noting that it does come with a shield, so any misjudgments you make can be somewhat padded from punishment. As an added bonus, the Lance has high sharpness, which makes it all the more useful against monsters with thick skin. Regardless, the Lance is a weapon best-suited for more intermediate-to-experienced hunters.

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Gunlance

The Gunlance is a much more explosive version of the standard Lance. It’s functionally similar, offering identical mobility and defensive capability. And though you might think that the Gunlance is a ranged weapon based on its name, it actually isn’t. Aside from a standard suite of lunging attacks, the Gunlance comes equipped with the ability to fire short-ranged explosive bursts, which can build up some great damage when used effectively. This particular attack is known as Shelling, and it can have greater potency in a combo depending on whether you press or hold the A button to execute it.

All that destructive capability, however, doesn’t come without a cost. You have to be mindful of reloading, which doesn’t take too long but is something you’ll often need to do as you continue to expend shells. It’s also important to note that Shelling chews through your weapon’s sharpness, so expect to have to use your Whetstone during a battle frequently. Lastly, its special attack, Wyvern’s Fire, must be incorporated into combos intelligently to decimate your foes. Otherwise, you’ll need to wait for the Gunlance to cool down before you can use it again.

The key to successfully using the Gunlance is mixing up your combinations, knowing when to use its firepower to rack up tons of damage. It’s highly recommended for folks who prefer weapons that are more involved in the moment-to-moment.

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Long-Range Weapons

If you’re reading this, then you probably think close-range weapons are overrated and are more intrigued by Monster Hunter’s other offerings. Fortunately for you, the game does have a few long-range weapons, some of which are useful in damaging monsters in practical and creative ways from afar.

Light Bowgun

If you’re a fan of shooting things, you’ll likely gravitate toward the Light Bowgun. Although it’s not as powerful as its heavier counterpart, the Light Bowgun is the closest you’ll get to turning Monster Hunter into a third-person shooter. Once your weapon is drawn, hold ZL to pan the camera behind you, letting you move around and aim with dual analog controls. While it’s not particularly strong, the Light Bowgun fires and reloads quickly, making it more mobile and beginner-friendly than the game’s other ranged weapons. Keep in mind, however, that the Light Bowgun requires ammo, so make sure you’re stocked up before you set off on a hunt.

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Heavy Bowgun

As its name suggests, the Heavy Bowgun packs a mightier punch than its lighter counterpart. Although the weapon fundamentally controls similarly to the Light Bowgun, it looks and feels closer to a rocket launcher, making it the better option if you prefer raw firepower. The drawback to this extra strength is that it isn’t as speedy to use as the Light Bowgun; you’ll move around slowly when the weapon is drawn, and reloading takes longer. That said, the shots it fires are much more powerful, and you can use the Wirebug to compensate somewhat for the weapon’s poorer mobility. These nuances make the Heavy Bowgun more suitable for advanced players.

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Bow

Although it looks more traditional than the other ranged weapons, the Bow is arguably even trickier to wield because it requires precision and timing. That said, it has a few benefits over the bowguns. Not only can you charge shots by holding down on the ZR button, but you can also fire restorative arrows into the air for you and your teammates. Unlike the bowguns, you also have unlimited arrows at your disposal, so you don’t need to worry about stocking up on ammo. To make the most of the weapon, however, you’ll need to apply coatings to your arrows, which will imbue them with different properties to help you take down monsters.

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Other

Some of Monster Hunter Rise’s most advanced and functional weapons don’t fall under the standard categories. If you’re going to use any of the ones we mention below, know that you’ll need to either be an experienced player or frequently hunt with friends to get the most out of them.

Hunting Horn

At a glance, the Hunting Horn functions much like any of the other close-ranged blunt weapons in the game, sporting a remarkably acrobatic array of powerful combos and setups that are easy to execute. But its biggest strengths come from its ability to play “songs,” which unleash different chains of attacks, and, in turn, amplify your abilities and buff your teammates. This feature makes the Hunting Horn ideal as a support weapon, as you can use it to buff up your teammates’ attack and defense stats, and even restore the group’s health (while still being able to dish out damage as needed). However, this also makes the Hunting Horn tricky to learn, and it’s best suited only if you’re playing with others.

If you’re inclined to tackle using the Hunting Horn, be aware that they’re not all built the same. When you’re crafting new Hunting Horns at the Smithy, you’ll notice that other ones have different buffs and songs they can use. Hone in on the buffs that best serve you and your friends, and you should be able to get plenty out of the Hunting Horn.

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Insect Glaive

The Insect Glaive is one of the most advanced weapons in Monster Hunter Rise, not because it’s hard to use, but because it’s difficult to master. It’s an agile weapon, offering many swift attacks that can get in quick damage during the smaller openings of a fight. You can also use the Insect Glaive to vault yourself into the air to unleash attacks upon your foe from above or even dodge–something that no other weapon in the game can inherently do.

However, what makes the Insect Glaive so complex is the ability to summon and control a Kinsect, a bug that can support you in battle in numerous ways. Aside from inflicting damage, a Kinsect can harvest Extracts from monsters to amplify your combat abilities. It gets even more complicated when you consider how the Extracts a Kinsect can harvest vary depending on which part of a monster’s body it attacks, which you must manually mark for it beforehand. With the Insect Glaive, you constantly have to consider an array of factors to unlock its full damage potential.

The Insect Glaive is a weapon that requires precision, intentionality, and a great deal of multi-tasking to execute its best setups. An intelligent wielder will also take advantage of numerous ways to customize the Kinsect at the Smithy, which only extends the possibilities available to those inclined to learn this exceptional yet tricky to handle weapon.

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For more Monster Hunter Rise guides, be sure to check out the list below.

Developer Psyonix has revealed the next seasonal theme for Rocket League. Following the musical Season 2, Season 3 will be a celebration of auto racing.

Keeping to the theme, Season 3 introduces a new auto racer battle car, the Tyranno. The Tyranno can be unlocked through Season 3’s battle pass; it has a Dominus hitbox.

Additionally, throughout Season 3, two new battle car bundles will become available in the shop. In early May, a NASCAR battle car bundle will be added, and in mid-May, a Formula 1 battle car bundle will roll in.

For Season 3, DFH Stadium is also getting a redesign. The new variation is called DFH Stadium (Circuit), adding a track and additional auto racing flair to Rocket League’s classic arena. DFH Stadium (Circuit) will be available in both casual and competitive playlists, as well as private matches and freeplay.

Season 3 begins on April 7, following an update that will go live in Rocket League on April 6 at 4 PM PT / 7 PM ET. Season 2’s competitive rewards won’t be added to your inventory until Season 3 goes live.