Battlefield 5 is kicking off its new free co-op mode Combined Arms this week. Launching as part of the Lightning Strikes update, this mode lets players team up with up to three friends for eight PvE missions. The four key objectives span across four maps.
DICE says Combined Arms is meant to be a good way for players to practice together before throwing down in the much more competitive multiplayer, and it has variable difficulty settings and loadouts so you can get your time in with the gear of your choice. Plus it gives you Company Coins in any event, so you’re always grinding toward unlocks.
The studio promises more Combined Arms missions will be coming in later updates. In addition, the multiplayer mode Rush is coming back for a limited time on March 7. This update also includes a host of other quality-of-life tweaks, like increasing the speed when dragging allies to safety. The full patch notes are extensive.
Publisher EA recently shared a round of financial results, calling it a “difficult quarter.” One reason for that was that Battlefield 5 missed expectations. It sold 7.3 million units, but EA had projected more. CEO Andrew Wilson chalked up the disappointing sales to the marketing campaign failing to grab players, a tough competitive environment against other fall games and the free-to-play Fortnite, and the decision to focus on Battlefield 5’s single-player mode instead of pushing harder to complete its Firestorm battle royale mode.
By comparison, Activision’s Black Ops 4 didn’t have any single-player component and had its own battle royale mode, Blackout, ready on launch day. Firestorm won’t be ready until March. In the meantime, EA has just launched Apex Legends from Respawn, a free-to-play battle royale game that has quickly become a massive success.
Far Cry: New Dawn is set to launch this week for PS4, Xbox One, and PC. With so much excitement stirring around the impending launch of this latest entry in Ubisoft’s long running, first-person shooter series, we’ve compiled a series of news stories, features, and gameplay videos highlighting all the details you need to know about the game.
What do you think about Far Cry: New Dawn? Are you going to pick it up? Let us know in the comments below. Otherwise, check back often as we update this feature with our full review, as well as guides to help you overcome its most difficult challenges.
What You Need to Know
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Far Cry: New Dawn – Official Story Trailer
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Far Cry: New Dawn is a standalone spin-off that also serves as a narrative sequel to Far Cry 5 set 17 years after the events of the game. After a nuclear exchange has devastated the land, a colony of survivors attempts to rebuild civilization in Hope County. However, their efforts are threatened by a group of bandits known as the Highwaymen. With few options left, the survivors form an alliance with New Eden, the remnants of the antagonistic cult from Far Cry 5. Rather than assume control of the protagonist of Far Cry 5, you actually play as a completely new character.
Release Date And Price
Far Cry: New Dawn is set to launch on February 15 for PS4, Xbox One, and PC. As a series spin-off, it’s actually priced at the budget price tag of $40. If you’re looking to purchase the game, be sure to refer to our pre-order guide, which offers details on the various editions.
Our Impressions
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Far Cry New Dawn Leans Into Its RPG Nature
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We’ve had several opportunities to play Far Cry: New Dawn since its announcement. Below you can find links to features covering the game in further detail, as well as our impressions of how it plays.
Above you can find gameplay footage of Far Cry: New Dawn’s latest addition to the formula, Expedition Missions. These are special missions that let you fight the Highwaymen in entirely new areas outside of the familiar territories of Hope County.
A new game sale is now underway in the Microsoft Store. This week, publisher Take-Two is offering discounts on a variety of titles across Xbox One and Xbox 360, while Xbox Live Gold subscribers will find exclusive deals on Diablo III: Eternal Collection and other acclaimed games for both platforms.
On the Xbox One side, players can pick up BioShock: The Collection and Borderlands: The Handsome Collection for $15 apiece as part of this week’s publisher sale. The critically acclaimed strategy game XCOM 2 is also on sale for $15, while the mob game Mafia III is $10. Sports fans, meanwhile, can get Take-Two’s latest annual basketball and wrestling games, NBA 2K19 and WWE 2K19, for $19.80 each.
This week’s sales are scheduled to end on February 18, so you have until then to take advantage of most of these discounts. You can find some other notable deals below; the full list of discounted titles is available on Major Nelson’s blog.
We’re on the Road to Wrestlemania, and the last PPV that actually matters before it–sorry Fastlane–is Elimination Chamber. Raw’s card has been finalized for the show, and Smackdown’s will be very soon, and it’s shaping up to be a pretty stacked event. As of this writing, there are seven matches on the card, six of which are championship matches.
One of the biggest things about this show is that the first-ever Women’s Tag Team Champions will be crowned. This moment will happen after a 6-tag team Elimination Chamber match. Duos from both Raw and Smackdown will compete in this event, as it will be a cross-brand championship. If you’re staying up-to-date with WWE programming, then you probably have a good idea of who is going to win. There is one other Elimination Chamber match that night as Daniel Bryan defends his title against Mustafa Ali, Jeff Hardy, Samoa Joe, Randy Orton, and AJ Styles. It will be the perfect way to close out the show.
This year’s event comes to PPV and the WWE Network on Sunday, February 17. And the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas will host it, beginning at 4 PM PT / 7 PM ET / 12 AM GMT (February 18). Like all PPVs, there will be a Kickoff Show beginning one hour prior.
Elimination Match Card:
Buddy Murphy (c) vs. Akira Tozawa (Cruiserweight Championship)
Bobby Lashley (c) & Lio Rush vs. Finn Bálor (Handicap Match for the Intercontinental Championship)
The Miz & Shane McMahon (c) vs. The Usos (Smackdown Tag Team Championship)
Ronda Rousey (c) vs. Ruby Riott (Raw Women’s Championship)
Braun Strowman vs. Baron Corbin
Sasha Banks & Bayley vs. Sonya Deville & Mandy Rose vs. Naomi & Carmella vs. Nia Jax & Tamina vs. Liv Morgan & Sarah Logan vs. The Iiconics (Elimination Chamber for the Women’s Tag Team Championship)
“The New” Daniel Bryan (c) vs. AJ Styles vs. Jeff Hardy vs. Mustafa Ali vs. Randy Orton vs. Samoa Joe (Elimination Chamber for the WWE Championship)
Make sure to come back to GameSpot on Sunday, February 17 for live coverage and a review of the show.
Apex Legends has been available for just over a week, and already the community has discovered an Easter egg that Respawn thought would take much longer. By finding all ten Nessy plushies scattered throughout the map, you can get a very special visit from the Loch Ness Monster herself.
The Apex Legends subreddit noticed that a message reading “A Nessy appears” would sometimes appear on the kill feed. That was a clue regarding the hidden Nessy dolls, and subsequently at least one Twitch streamer has captured footage of exactly what happens if you find all ten. Standing near the edge of the map you can make out the hazy shape of the legendary sea creature as she comes to say hello.
“I had a bet with our producer, Drew [McCoy], on how long it would take,” said Chad Grenier, lead design scripter, in a comment on Reddit. “I thought he was crazy when he said a week, turns out he was just about spot on at 8 days! I figured a month at least. You are all unreal. I’d still like to see a good video clip of it when it’s not in the circle though. Guess I need to make the next one much harder.”
Apex Legends has been a massive success for Respawn, hitting 25 million players in just its first week, including more than 2 million concurrent players at its peak. With that many eyes on the new free-to-play game the community was bound to find it sooner or later. Currently Respawn and Twitch are hosting a special streamer tournament, and later this week the studio will introduce some new Valentine’s cosmetic items.
“Apex Legends is a mix of smart shooter ideas that makes for a competitive, team-based game that gets at all the best parts of battle royale while addressing a lot of the weaknesses,” critic Phil Hornshaw said in GameSpot’s review. “Respawn’s intense focus on team play makes Apex more than just a worthy addition to the genre; it’s an indicator of where battle royale should go in the future.”
Apex Legends just surprise-launched last week, but Respawn already has imminent plans for its first live event. Respawn recently teased that it will be celebrating Valentine’s Day with some special loot to collect.
A blog post from Respawn’s Vince Zampella says it will be “introducing some limited-time Valentine’s Day themed loot” later this week. It doesn’t mention just what those new cosmetics will be, exactly when the update will drop, or how long it will last.
These new items might be randomly distributed in Apex Packs, the game’s version of loot boxes. Those tend to grant random cosmetics and crafting materials. You can also unlock Legendary skins for the various characters.
This news came alongside word that the game had reached 25 million players in just its first week, including well over 2 million concurrent players. The studio is also kicking off the Apex Legends Twitch Challenge, which pits 48 streamers against each other in the battle royale game for your amusement. Apex has already become a massive success on Twitch, toppling the other most popular categories easily.
The promotional campaign for Captain Marvel is currently in full swing as we approach its March 8 release date in US theaters, but IGN has some extra insight you won’t find on a billboard or trailer. We visited the southern California set of Captain Marvel last year along with a small group of press and got to watch the cast shoot a key scene from early in the film. We’re going to break down everything we saw, so beware of some minor spoilers!
The scene took place inside a spaceship belonging to the Kree elite military strike squad known as Starforce. The entire interior of the ship was built there on set — as were the insides of some other alien ships, some quite massive — and was decked out with racks of alien blasters. Take a look at yours truly aboard the ship trying his hand at wielding some Kree weaponry.
The Division 2 will have an open beta after all. Ubisoft confirmed the impending beta will launch for PC, PS4, and Xbox One on March 1, giving you a chance to try it before the full game launch on March 15.
Word of a possible open beta began circulating recently, when the official account mentioned rewards for participation in either the private or open betas. This came just after a community developer mentioned an open beta during a livestream. Participating in the beta will grant you a DC Patriot weapon skin, and completing the Invaded mission will get you a Capitol Hill arm patch.
The private beta was reserved for pre-orders or those drawn randomly, and came with its share of technical hiccups. Ubisoft even recommended restarting every few hours to stave off one bug. It included two main missions, five side missions, open-world activities, a Dark Zone, and an endgame Invaded mission.
The first Division took place in New York City following a pandemic bio-engineered virus that made the social order break down. This sequel moves a few hundred miles south to Washington DC. For more on The Division 2, check out everything we know and our favorite new features. Microsoft recently announced two Division 2 Xbox One bundles. Those will come alongside the game on March 15.
