Total War: Warhammer III is scheduled to arrive on PC this year, and we had a chance to dive in and try out one of the big new features: Survival battles. These are akin to major boss battles, and are huge in scale, size, scope, and time investment, and can be much more involved than a traditional Total War fight. Over the course of multiple skirmishes and large scale battles in the same space, you are tasked with recruiting and replenishing troops, building defenses, holding points, and potentially engaging in several battles simultaneously.
Click here to watch embedded mediaSurvival battles are strategic enagements that force you to make both micro and macro choices as you progress throughout an experience. In the case of the demo I participated in, the massive confrontation culminated with an epic demonic encounter.
Playing as the Kislev and their Ice Queen Tsarina Katarin, it was cool to get a feel for one of Total War: Warhammer III’s playable races. The Kislev features powerful cavalry units, flexible infantry, and of course, ice magic. In the demo, I only had access to ice powers via Queen Katarin, but the Kislev also wield wind magic capabilities in the full game. Katarin was enough to shift many battles in my favor with a multitude of potent skills, allowing me to buff allies, freeze enemies in their tracks to control the battlefield, and of course, dish out plenty of direct icy damage.
Finding fun factions to play likely won’t be a problem in Total War: Warhammer III, as there are a multitude of flavorful and fantastic options across the first two titles. However, these extended big survival brawls are a new element to enjoy - and endure. In this survival demo, my Kislev forces faced off against the hellish hordes of Khorne. Initially, it was essentially a battle against another army, which is nothing new. However, we battled over a capture point. Once taken, I could choose how to use my supplies. Supplies in survival allow you to make choices that rippled across the entire battle. These resources can be used to heal existing troops, recruit new ones, and even set up multiple kinds of defensive structures from giant walls to magical towers. You can also upgrade your troops in terms of armaments.
How you choose to allocate your resources can make a big difference, especially as your options can option up as you progress through an encounter, offering higher-tier units for purchase. In this case, that’s the giant Kislev ice bear unit that can take on tons of demonic little annoyances by itself! Essentially, capturing each outstanding victory point and defending your current victory points is the imperative, and each point essentially comes with its own full-scale battle. By the time I had captured the third and final victory point, I had participated in three big battles and countless smaller ones.
However, taking that final point was not the end, as the final armies of Khorne, led by an Exalted Greater Daemon, came charging in to attack. During the distraction of this major encounter, first I lost one of my previously held victory points and eventually capitulated in a war of attrition to the big Daemon threat. Some of my loss I attribute to misallocation of resources, and the rest to poor distribution of troops during that final battle. Whatever the reason, there’s no doubt these survival battles are designed to be both lengthy and challenging, with tons and tons of choices to make along the way. I was impressed with the previous Total War: Warhammer titles, and I really have no reason to expect this one will be any different. When will we see it in 2021? Hopefully soon! Ice bears!
Are you looking forward to Total War: Warhammer III? Let us know in the comments!
PlayStation 5 brings with it a ton of improvements over the last generation of hardware, but perhaps the most novel addition of Sony's latest console is the DualSense controller. Featuring a built-in mic, haptic vibration, and adaptive triggers housed in a comfortable casing, the PS5 DualSense controller adds immersion to games that effectively harness the capabilities of the gamepad. Following terrific uses by games like Astro's Playroom and Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, a new wave of developers of games coming to PlayStation 5 have revealed their plans for using the technology of the popular controller.
Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart allows players to feel everything from footsteps to explosions in the palm of their hands. As you might imagine, those sensations occur pretty frequently in Insomniac's upcoming adventure, but the team says it has worked to make it so the feeling of those responses don't get old as you continue to play. Insomniac Games calls the decision to make firing weapons and hitting different surfaces with your wrench "no-brainers" for haptic feedback, but the studio also added several more subtle features. For example, picking up bolts from defeated enemies gives you a tiny impulse from each bolt in addition to a quiet sound in your controller's speaker. Players can also look forward to feeling the weapon wheel or map scans in more tactile ways when Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart comes to PlayStation 5 on June 11. For more on the upcoming game, check out our recent preview.
If you're looking for a more immediate feature to experience, Subnautica: Below Zero launches tomorrow, giving players unique features on PS5 through the DualSense controller. Haptic feedback accompanies the use of certain tools, like flipping the switch on your flashlight or feeling the coil of your grappling arm. The DualSense also lets you feel the drilling sensation as you mine for resources with your drill arm. The rumble feature of the PS5 controller vibrates to let players sense their target when using the metal detector, and the controller will even pulse faster as players get closer to their resource objective. If you're curious about how Subnautica: Below Zero turned out, you can read our review here.
The next game from The Evil Within developer Tango Gameworks, Ghostwire: Tokyo, also puts unique features in the palms of PS5 players' hands. As players walk through the environment, they'll not only feel their supernatural powers through distinct adaptive trigger responses, but they'll hear otherworldly voices emanate from the controller speaker. Tango Gameworks says that thanks to the DualSense controller, players will be able to tell the difference between using their wind, water, and fire powers, and that performing in-game exorcisms is aided by the triggers to make pulling out a spectral enemy's core even more intense. As players increase the power of their abilities, the feedback of the controller will also intensify, giving players a tactile sense of progress. For more on Ghostwire: Tokyo, check out our interview from last summer where we attempted to get answers to some of our biggest questions.
The recently announced Life is Strange: True Colors looks to give players added immersion into the world of protagonist Alex Chen's psychic powers. As her emotions change to anger, feature, sadness, and joy, the light bar will react with red, purple, blue, and gold respectively. The adaptive trigger also gets stronger as Alex reaches out with her psychic abilities to hint at a supernatural sense that she's barely able to keep in control of.
Scarlet Nexus, the upcoming action title from Bandai Namco, plans to use the haptics and adaptive triggers to enhance the sensation of smashing and slashing through enemies and the environment. Lifting and tossing objects give you the feeling of doing so through vibration that moves from side to side while adaptive triggers provide a more realistic experience by making you feel the weight of what you're picking up in the game. For more on Scarlet Nexus, be sure to check out our recent episode of New Gameplay Today here.
Speaking of Bandai Namco, the PS5 version of Mobile Suit Gundam Battle Operation 2 gives players the feeling of firing various weapons and taking hits. When firing using the two triggers, you'll notice resistance that differs based on the weapon. In addition, the vibration also recreates the discharge of larger caliber bullets and the unique sensations of machine guns and beam rifles. Melee attacks also give you the feeling of landing a heavy blow. Finally, the weapon fire and weapon switch audio outputs on the DualSense's built-in speaker.
One of the most anticipated games from the early days of the PlayStation 5, Kena: Bridge of Spirits, may have gotten delayed, but developer Ember Lab has increased the DualSense immersion. The main star is the trigger resistance as Kena transforms her staff into a bow, pulls back an arrow and the wood bends. For more on Kena: Bridge of Spirits, check out our exclusive coverage hub here.
While I'm a huge fan of the DualSense's features and all of this sounds awesome. Unfortunately, many players are still unable to get their hands on a PlayStation 5 due to supply shortages. While the system's sales are outpacing its competitors and predecessors, Sony said the shortages could even stretch into 2022. If you happen to be one of the lucky ones to have a PS5 in your possession, do these features drive you towards picking up games on the PS5 over other platforms? How important are DualSense features to you?
[Source: PlayStation Blog]
Microsoft is celebrating 20 years of Xbox with new gear in its shop, Halo reflection, and so much more! Can you believe it? 20 years of Team Green, time sure flies! Xbox has made some drastic pivots through the generations and the Xbox Series X has kicked off a strong start for a new era of gaming for those that love the Microsoft platform.
Xbox's Major Nelson took to the company's official blog to reflect back on the last two decades from its inception on November 15 back in 2011. "Twenty years ago, playing on Xbox meant hooking up your console with three (or more!) cables to a standard definition CRT TV. You had to pre-order the hottest new games and stand in line at your favorite retail shop to pick them up. Games were played in 640×480 resolution, and you only had 8GB of storage and 64MB of memory to enjoy them with. And you either played alone or with a friend sitting next to you on the couch."
With the Xbox Series X and S, players can enjoy every generation before the current one, which means that some of the most beloved adventures from the past don't have to stay there. With Xbox Game Pass, games are even more accessible than ever before in terms of a more cost-effective library model. Xbox has also broadened its reach immensely in recent years, bridging the gap between console and PC and even more growth is expected on the horizon.
"Thanks to game creators and players like you, we have a greater variety of games and diverse characters – with more worlds to explore, stories to tell, heroes and villains to meet, and achievements to unlock – in the 7 thousand games that have been released across the Xbox platform. Do you remember unlocking your first Xbox achievement? To-date, you and the Xbox community together have racked up nearly 1 trillion total Gamerscore. Most importantly, you’ve worked together to change the face of gaming by welcoming players from all walks of life, everywhere in the world."
Xbox also paid tribute to Halo, the game that started it all for Team Green! Master Chief became an icon when he first made his DNA and this franchise was a vital part of what made Xbox ... well, Xbox! With Halo Infinite on the horizon later this year, the legacy continues. Where it goes from here is anyone's guess.
For those that love gear, Xbox is offering special merch to celebrate the 20-year milestone. You can find out what is available with the Xbox Gear Shop right here. Other ways Xbox is celebrating 20 years with fans include:
And so much more! Read all about it right here!
What are some of your favorite memories of Xbox through the years? Shout them out in the comments below!
As Call of Duty continues to embrace the 80s with content for both Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War and Warzone, there are rumors swirling about some iconic characters from that era coming to the game(s) as operator skins. The official Call of Duty twitter has been the source of speculation here based on some not-so-cryptic tweets hinting at Rambo a little while ago, and the Die Hard protagonist more recently. You can see those tweets below here and connect the dots.
Does anyone know SURVIVORJOHN#1009062? Their #WarzoneReport is a sight to be seen. pic.twitter.com/EUFPmexQnF
— Call of Duty (@CallofDuty) May 5, 2021
Welcome to the party, COWBOYMCCLANE#0070030. #WarzoneReport pic.twitter.com/N26Y2vrN2A
— Call of Duty (@CallofDuty) May 12, 2021
However, more recently we have a purported image on Reddit. While the accuracy of the image can’t be verified and people always love to have fun mocking up potential reveals, you can check out this post right here to get a look at what these two new characters might look like. Reddit user JohnnyUtahBrah has posted the image and it’s gotten plenty of attention over on the Call of Duty: Warzone board. Whether or not the images are 100% accurate or not, the clues that have been dropped on Call of Duty’s social channels are fairly blatant, so it’s likely that both Rambo and John McClane are going to make their way to the Warzone soon.
This invites further speculation into other 80s action hero icons that may find their way to Verdansk in the future. Who would you like to see join the crew? Honestly, nothing is really out of potential scope here. For instance, if you would have told me ages ago that the Saw puppet was coming to Call of Duty, I would have been completely mystified. But as crossover inclusion from massive media properties continues to become more of the rule both here in the Warzone and in big battle royale brands like Fortnite, I wouldn’t be surprised to see other characters from the era joining the ranks. We really need John-Claude Van Damme from Bloodsport, for instance, to really round this crew out.
Some may wonder why Christmas movie icons are headed to the Warzone, but I’m pretty much all for it. At this point in time, when the CoD store is loaded with everything from anime angels to weed-themed fare, there’s no sense in keeping things grounded.
Who do you want to see from the 80s make their way into the Warzone? Let's get Back to the Future characters in there! Let us know in the comments!