Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and the battle royale game Warzone are set to receive a pair of new updates in the future. Senior communications manager Ashton Williams announced on Twitter that the first update will fix bugs, make some weapon tuning changes, and clear out an exploit.
The second one will address a “graphical corruption issue” related to weapons. It will also fix a problem that caused the “Play Again” option to break.
We’ve got two patches in the works that’ll fix a few bugs: One has weapon tuning, a fix for an exploit, a fix for an error that occurs when opening the armory, and a few other issues.
The second one fixes the graphical corruption issue with weapons, the ‘Play Again’ option not working, and more. I don’t have an ETA just yet, but we’ll share more details when we’re all set.
There is no ETA on when these patches will arrive, however. We’ll report back with the full patch notes when they are published.
In addition to the ongoing updates for Modern Warfare and Warzone, Activision is preparing to announce this year’s new game, which is believed to be Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War. Recent teasers have suggested that Activision will further pull back the curtain on the new game this Friday, August 14. However, the official reveal of the new game is expected to come later.
Fast & Furious: Crossroads released August 7, but reviews have not been forthcoming–it seems that very few media got code for the game, and those that did certainly didn’t have them in time for launch. GameSpot has not reviewed the title, but the sites that have covered the game, unfortunately, have few good things to say about it.
Crossroads seemed, in the lead-up to launch, like a possible winner. The game was developed by Slighty Mad Studios (Project Cars 3) alongside Tigon Studios, the Vin Diesel-owned studio behind The Wheelman. It features Diesel as series mainstay Dominic Toretto, along with Michelle Rodriguez and Tyrese Gibson, reprising their roles. The Fast & Furious saga has struggled to produce a good game, but this one seemed to have a chance.
The game, which was originally due to release in May alongside F9: The Fast Saga before its delay, is out now, and the few reviews have not been kind. Common complaints cite poor mission design, awful handling, and lousy visuals, although the plot has earned some mild praise for feeling, more or less, like a typical Fast & Furious story. There’s at least one flat-out positive review so far, too–we’ve included it below.
“I can understand why some people might bounce off Crossroads. Its story is campy, its driving unrealistic, and its physics and graphics a bit on the wonky side. This is the furthest thing from a polished AAA experience, and it’s very clear that Bandai Namco isn’t marketing it much because of that. But here’s the thing – I value creativity, fun, and focus over polish, to an extent. To me, Crossroads is bursting with those things. Yeah, it’s janky and a bit dumb, but what other game this year is going to let you chase a space shuttle through New Orleans?” – Bella Blondeau [Full Review]
Game Informer – 5/10
“Many of us lived through the era of video games that was overflowing with bad movie-to-game adaptations, and Crossroads is a pointed reminder of those days, showing just how far games have come since then. It’s a mess of a game that hones in on why the Fast movies are great, but will make you want to put the controller down to watch one of those movies instead.” – Andrew Reiner [Full Review]
The Xbox Hub – 2/5
“The controls in Fast & Furious Crossroads are dreadful, with as much feel as a dead trout and as much effect on the way your race goes as rubbing your lucky rabbit’s foot. One mission sees Cam trying to win a race on a narrow course in Rio, and without a word of a lie it took me about 15 attempts to get around the course without crashing on every corner. Handbrake turns don’t work, slowing down doesn’t work – you may as well close your eyes and mutter a little prayer every time you come up to a corner, and I feel like you wouldn’t do any worse than if you tried to race properly. The secret to beating this level? Wall grinding – just letting the track take you where you need to go. Although the barriers do seem to be weirdly magnetic, as once you hit them it is hard to drive off them.” – Paul Renshaw [Full Review]
Push Square – 3/10
“How Fast & Furious Crossroads wound up as a full-price release will forever remain a mystery. It is lacking in every department possible, from shallow and repetitive gameplay through to abysmal visuals that belong on the previous generation of consoles. Not even the most committed Fast & Furious fans should subject themselves to this monstrosity. That is unless you want to have a good laugh alongside Vin Diesel.” – Liam Croft [Full Review]
Metro – 2/10
“Fast & Furious Crossroads is an unwanted reminder of the bad old days of movie tie-ins, when cheaply made games would be thrown out as quickly as possible (or not in this case) in order to make money on name recognition, before word got around that the game was no good. It had seemed that such days were long behind us, but this is just as bad as all the other Fast & Furious games, if not worse given how it wastes the behind the scenes talent.” [Full Review]
Eurogamer – Avoid
“Perhaps the biggest frustration, coming to Crossroads as a Fast & Furious fan, is those glimpses of what could have been, and seeing an enjoyable enough slice of series lore being under-served so severely by the game behind it. In a saner, less cruel world Crossroads might have been put to rest when it became clear it just wasn’t going to work – as it is, it’s just been left to limp out in this sorry, sorry state. What a disappointment.” – Martin Robinson [Full Review]
Click To Unmute
Size:
Want us to remember this setting for all your devices?
Another major celebrity has been diagonosed with COVID-19, but thankfully it sounds like they’re doing okay. Antonio Banderas, who received his first Oscar nomination earlier this year for Pain & Glory, announced the diagnosis on his 60th birthday.
In a tweet made in Spanish, and translated by Variety, Banderas said that while he has been diagnosed with the potentially deadly virus, he has little reason for serious concern. “I feel relatively good, just a little more tired than usual, and am confident that I will recover as soon as possible following medical instructions that I hope will allow me to overcome the infectious period that I am suffering,” he wrote.
“I will take advantage of this isolation to read, write, rest, and continue making plans to begin to give meaning to my 60 years, to which I arrive full of enthusiasm,” the actor continued. “A big hug to everyone.
Whether or not this will impact the upcoming Uncharted movie, which Banderas will feature in, remains to be seen. As of late July, filming had not started yet, but the film’s stars had begun gathering on set and self-isolating ahead of shooting.
The film is due to release October 8, 2021. The movie was first announced in 2008, when Tom Holland, its eventual star, was just 12 years old. Looking at its production history, the movie feels flat-out cursed–but hopefully Banderas will make a speedy recovery and will still be able to feature.
Other stars to catch–and recover–from COVID-19 include Tom Hanks and Bryan Cranston. Many others have not been so lucky. If you’re living in an area with active cases or any level of risk, remember to stay inside when possible (and play some games), wear a mask if you have to leave, and wash your hands.
Mediatonic’s whimsical battle royale game Fall Guys is the latest craze in gaming, and the fervor around the title is extending beyond gaming circles.
The NHL’s Washington Capitals put out a tweet asking for the developers to add hockey skins to Fall Guys. They created a mock-up showing a blue jelly bean character wearing a Capitals jersey, along with a helmet and skates. KFC’s gaming Twitter account also asked for a special skin for Colonel Sanders. You can see both of the mock-ups below.
Other brands, including Clash Royale and the Get Well Gamers UK charity, also chimed in to call on Mediatonic to release special skins for the game. Clearly, there is a lot of demand for special skins in Fall Guys, and it’ll be interesting to see how Mediatonic responds in time.
Fall Guys does already have some special skins, including Gordon Freeman on PC and a Hotline Miami skin, so there is some precedent for new skins in the game based on other brands.
With more than 2 million sales on PC, Fall Guys is setting records for Mediatonic and publisher Devolver Digital. The game is free on PS4 with PS Plus, which is surely helping the game reach a wide audience, too.
GameSpot’s Alessandro Barbosa enjoyed his time playing Fall Guys and its variety of mini games. “With its short games and easy-to-grasp mechanics, Fall Guys is easily the most approachable and welcoming battle royale yet,” he said in GameSpot’s review. “Its bursting color and varied game modes do a good job of reeling you in and keeping you hooked, even if a handful feel at odds with the easygoing nature of its premise.”
Raphael Colantonio, who founded studio Arkane and worked on classics like Arx Fatalis, Dishonored, and Prey, went indie after leaving the studio in 2017. His new studio, WolfEye Studios, will debut their first game Weird West next year. Now, in an interview with PC Gamer, Colantonio has explained why he left the studio he created, and the benefits of going independent.
Colantonio says that the risk of development is offset, at least partially, by the studio’s independence, saying that “what’s at stake is a little lower” than it was with Arkane’s bigger offerings. “We can take more risks, and we are less worried about the market than we would be if we were doing a AAA game,” he says. “Because the numbers to recoup a AAA game, you’re talking about numbers that are so high that, then you’re not making a game anymore, you’re making a product.”
This is a large part of why he left Arkane. “My dream when I started Arkane in ’99 was to make Underworld for the rest of my life,” he says, referring to Ultima Underworld, a series that hugely influenced his work. Following Prey, he felt a creative anxiety over what he was working on, and says he was “so tired in general”.
“It was extremely, extremely liberating to leave a company that, in spite of all the passion and love I had for it, at the same time it had been an 18 year chunk of my life,” he admits. “There was no way I wanted to come back to AAA, making another thing where you focus 90 percent of your efforts on having the feet not sliding on the floor.”
Back in 2016, ex-Naughty Dog director Amy Hennig discussed the impact of working in AAA, in relation to her work on the Uncharted series, particularly Uncharted 3. “I mean, my health really declined, and I had to take care of myself, because it was, like, bad,” she said. “And there were people who, y’know, collapsed, or had to go and check themselves in somewhere when one of these games were done. Or they got divorced. That’s not okay, any of that. None of this is worth that.”
For more on Weird West and Raphael Colantonio, check out our video interview with him above.
Click To Unmute
Size:
Want us to remember this setting for all your devices?
A closed beta for NHL 21 is coming soon. EA Sports has announced that registrations for a closed technical test for this year’s professional ice hockey game are now open.
You can visit the sign-up page here to get started. An EA Account is required, and you must select your platform of choice (PS4 or Xbox One). Those who are selected will receive an email with further instructions on how to access the closed beta test, which is scheduled to begin in the “coming weeks.”
The fine print also points out that progress, achievements/trophies, and other data will not carry forward to the full release, which is normal and expected. The page also warns that players accepted into the beta may find bugs and other issues due to the in-development state of the game.
NHL 21 is launching on October 16, which is a few weeks later than normal. EA Sports is developing the game from home due to COVID-19, and this has caused some production delays.
The beta for Marvel’s Avengers gives players a more expansive look at the game than anything we’ve seen so far, but it’s not a complete one. Though the beta provides a sense of the game’s characters, story, teamwork-focused gameplay, combat, and loot chase, it’s still only a sample of all those things. What we’ve seen gives a general sense of how the game will work (as well as some of the hidden secrets of Marvel’s Avengers), but leaves out some specifics.
Apparently, there’s a lot more to building your Avengers and assembling your team than the beta shows off. As Crystal Dynamics studio head Scot Amos and Avengers game designer Lauryn Ash explained, thinking about the characters you’re building and how they’ll work together, either as AI companions or on teams with other human players, is a big part of the experience. Only a small sample of that shows up in the beta, but expect a whole lot more complexity in character interactions in the full game.
At first, it comes down to your characters’ customization and specialization through their skill trees. The beta includes a few short, truncated skill trees for each character, but it sounds like there are a lot more skills that will appear in the full game. When you customize your characters, you’ll be thinking about how they handle combat with abilities that allow them to tank more damage or focus on more ranged combat, while also figuring out how you want them to support their teammates.
“You have like one skill tree in the beta, but there are two other incredible skill trees that are all about supporting your team and mastering the combat of your hero,” Ash said. “So for players in the beta, they will experience what it’s like to fulfill that fantasy and just a taste of what it’s like to support your team by increasing your power, increasing your hero level. But there are all these skill trees dedicated specifically to those support heroics, to the ability to support your team, as well as gear that you won’t see in the beta that will be available at launch to really dive in and support your team from the role definition standpoint.”
You’ll spec out your characters with their skills as well as their gear, and a lot of the gear shown in the beta can debuff enemies that allow for greater synergy between your characters. One example Amos gave would be to spec Iron Man with rockets that carry Pym technology from both skills and gear, giving them the “shrink” effect when they hit enemies. Enemies that take on the shrinking debuff are stunned more easily and take more damage, so you could spec your AI Iron Man for ranged combat, and as it shrinks enemies on the battlefield, you smash your way through the enemies with a damage-focused Ms. Marvel.
So there’s a level of strategy to the combat that has you making decisions about all your characters at once if you’re playing alone with AI companions, or working together with your teammates if you’re playing with other humans online.
But while you’re choosing skills that can make for a damage-absorbing Ms. Marvel or a range-focused Incredible Hulk, your characters won’t necessarily be stuck in those roles. Ash said you’ll also have “choose three” skills that you can change on the fly, which aren’t shown in the beta, that give you an opportunity to adjust your characters to specific combat situations.
“For us, it is important that you’ll be able to spec into pretty much everything,” Ash explained. “You’ll really be able to hone in on all of the possibilities, you’re going to unlock all of the possibilities. But once you get those possibilities, it’s what you do with them. So you have these choose-three skills and it basically is, do you want your Heroic Ultimate to deal more damage, do you want it to be a little bit more crowd control, or do you want the ultimate to just to last a lot longer so that you can end up doing more damage over time? What are all of the ways you want to spec out your hero? But because of choose-three, you can actually start a mission taking a little bit more of an offensive approach and then switch it up to a defensive approach as you need to during combat. And so that’s the depth that we want to get.”
You’ll also have the ability to switch your character’s gear while you work through missions, giving you another layer of customization for your strategies and your team’s composition, Ash said. While there’s a fair amount of gear to find and equip in the beta, what we’ve seen so far tended to be fairly low-level, conveying perks like a small chance to convey certain kinds of damage and debuffs, such as Gamma radiation or Shock.
But since gear is a big part of the long-term hook of Marvel’s Avengers, expect finding better equipment and finding good ways to use it to be a big part of how you create your Avengers team. Amos and Ash said that gear you find later in the game will start to be more and more specialized as it becomes more and more powerful–so rather than finding gear for Iron Man with the same general perks as gear for Black Widow, you’ll start to find gear that has perks specific to Iron Man and specific to Black Widow, and how each character plays.
Artifacts are another area of the gear chase where you can expect to find the best, most interesting stuff. These are items with perks and Power levels of their own, but which can be equipped on any character. The artifacts we’ve come across in the beta tend to be crystals and similar objects that aren’t particularly interesting–but Amos said there are Artifacts late in the game that are definitely worth chasing.
“There are things, particularly in certain areas, that you can go and find that only those really advanced players will find,” he said. “You will get things that, suddenly, you’ll see they have a unique name, and they actually have some unique things that only they do. … [Artifacts] actually even have some mythology with them. They have some great references back to the comics, you’ll see a name like, ‘Oh, where does this thing come from? Oh my God.’ Some of them give you hints of, ‘Whoa, if that artifact’s in the game, does that mean this other story thread might happen down the road?’ That’s the kind of stuff that we love people who are fans, who want to dig into this, who want to actually go and invest that time, will start uncovering and then you’ll be ready when, ‘Oh my God, they did bring X, Y, and Z in and it happens this way.'”
There’s also the question of the Avengers endgame–what happens after you work through the game’s story? Amos and Ash didn’t give much in the way of specifics, but did hint that there’s a lot of potential endgame content that hasn’t been revealed yet. Some types of missions have been mentioned, like enemy strongholds called Hives and raid-like activities.
Amos and Ash also mentioned content that will roll out post-launch in ways that might be similar to live games such as Destiny 2. Amos suggested the idea of new missions and challenges unlocking in the weeks after launch, for example. We also know that new characters are coming to the game after launch, starting with Hawkeye. Crystal Dynamics also announced that Spider-Man will join the game for players on PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5, but that’s the only platform-exclusive character. Amos reiterated that all additional characters and regions that are added to Marvel’s Avengers will be free.
So while the Marvel’s Avengers beta currently gives a look at what playing the game will be like in the early going, there’s a lot of complexity and depth Crystal Dynamics intends to help keep the game interesting over the long haul as well. As with all live games, the questions that remain are how well those systems will work together to make the game interesting over the long term–and whether the developer can create and support endgame content that keeps players invested. Crystal Dynamics seems to have a lot of ideas and plans in that arena, and we’ll need to wait until September to see what they all are.
Click To Unmute
Size:
Want us to remember this setting for all your devices?
FIFA 21 is releasing this year as a cross-generation title, coming not only to the PS4 and Xbox One, but also the PS5 and Xbox Series X. The game, which has been largely developed under COVID-19 restrictions, will add new features and tweaks, as is standard–but it won’t feature cross-play.
The FIFA Direct Communication Twitter account confirmed that you won’t be able to play across consoles or generations, meaning that, for instance, PS5 players can’t play against PS4 players. Whichever console you play the game on, your online opponents will be limited to whoever else is playing on that console.
You won’t be able to play across console generations or cross-play in #FIFA21.
However, you will be able to carry over your FUT progression from PS4 to PS5 and Xbox 1 to Xbox Series X. https://t.co/mUqU3zcAud
Progression, however, will carry across–at least in the FIFA Ultimate Team mode. Start the game on this current gen and you’ll be able to continue your Ultimate Team journey on your new system if you buy one.
If you buy the game for PS4 or Xbox One, you can get a free upgrade to the next-gen version once it releases. You’ll need to stick to the same console manufacturer to get that upgrade, though–you can’t upgrade from PS4 to Xbox Series X, for example.
The game launches on October 6 for PS4, Xbox One, Switch, and PC. The Switch version is a Legacy Edition, so don’t expect any major steps forward from FIFA 18, the first Switch FIFA game.
We’re still waiting for a full reveal of FIFA 21’s modes, with EA Sports focusing on Madden NFL 21 in its marketing so far. In GameSpot’s recent gameplay preview of FIFA 21, Richard Wakeling said that the game is shaping up well. “EA is set to reveal additional details about Volta, Ultimate Team, and a revitalized Career Mode as it gears up for FIFA 21’s launch, but as far as the on-pitch action is concerned, it doesn’t look like we’re in for a disappointment,” he wrote.
Click To Unmute
Size:
Want us to remember this setting for all your devices?
Yet another SpongeBob TV show spin-off is in the works. In addition to Kamp Koral, Nickelodeon is moving forward with a second show focused on SpongeBob’s dim-witted best friend, Patrick.
The animated show is called The Patrick Star Show, according to Deadline. Bill Fagerbakke is returning to voice Patrick in the show, the report said.
There will be 13 episodes in the first season, and voiceover work has already begun, according the report. Patrick will be a late-night talk show host in the show, the report said, which also mentioned that it will mostly focus on Patrick and his family. It is said to feature a “largely new cast voicing new characters,” but some familiar characters from the main show will make “occasional appearances,” the report said. Whether or not SpongeBob himself will show up is unknown.
The SpongeBob franchise debuted in 1999, and the show has remained very popular to this day. It’s spawned all manner of merchandising and movies, and even a Broadway play that won a Tony.
As for the other SpongeBob TV show spin-off, Kamp Koral is scheduled to premiere later this year on CBS All Access. Despite the huge success of the SpongeBob series, Nickelodeon didn’t announce plans to make spin-offs until early 2019.
Nickelodeon and GameSpot are owned by ViacomCBS.
Click To Unmute
Size:
Want us to remember this setting for all your devices?
Assassin’s Creed Valhalla was first revealed back in April with a cinematic trailer, which showcased the male version of protagonist Eivor as he warred against the British. Now, a new version of that same trailer has been released, featuring the female form of Eivor, so fans of that design can see and hear her in action.
The trailer is otherwise identical, beat for beat, in terms of action and dialog. Only the character and the background music have changed. You can watch it below.
This new trailer is called the “Official Soundtrack Cinematic Trailer,” and when Ubisoft announced it on Twitter they highlighted the fact that it features a remix of the main theme instead of the presence of female Eivor.
A rumor sprang up recently that Eivor was originally conceived as female-only, but that internal pressure changed that. The game’s narrative director, Derby McDevitt, has refuted these claims. Interestingly, Valhalla will let you switch Eivor’s gender at any point in the game.
This all comes in the wake of multiple accusations against Ubisoft staff of creating and fostering a hostile work environment. Valhalla’s creative director Ashraf Ismail stepped down from Ubisoft following multiple accusations of infidelity, and he’s one of many. Here’s some further reading on the recent firings and policy updates at Ubisoft:
Assassin’s Creed Valhalla releases on November 17 for PS4, Xbox One, PC, and Stadia. PS5 and Xbox Series X versions are coming too, although we don’t know when, since system release dates have not been set. Check our out pre-order guide for all the special editions coming.
