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The Games of April 2018

Posted on April 5, 2018 by Warp Zoned Staff

After the end of a long Winter, things usually start bursting to life in April thanks to the fresh Spring air. This adage used to apply to the game release calendar too, but only a handful of new games will make their way to store shelves in April 2018. And an even smaller handful of titles will rise above the rest.

Nintendo will launch their latest experiment, the cardboard-powered Nintendo Labo kits, for the Switch this month. They’ll be joined by a new beginning for Kratos in Sony Santa Monica’s God of War, and the end for Kazuma Kiryu in Sega’s Yakuza 6: The Song of Life.

You can find out why the Warp Zoned staff is looking forward to these games, and view the release schedule for all of this month’s new games, after the break. (more…)

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Overwatch’s “Retribution” seasonal event begins April 10

Posted on April 5, 2018 by John Scalzo

Just in time for the Spring, Blizzard is launching the latest seasonal event for Overwatch next week. Like last year’s “Uprising” event, players will be heading back to the past in “Retribution,” a limited-time PvE mode featuring Genji, Moira, McCree, and Reaper:

Travel eight years into the past and join Blackwatch as they seek to capture a high-ranking member of the Talon organization. Fight in the streets of Venice as Genji, Moira, McCree, or Reyes (later known as Reaper) to complete the mission and unlock pieces of the past with over 100 items from last year and 60 new ones—including highlight intros, emotes, sprays, and more.

To help get fans up to speed on the events preceding the “Retribution” mission, Blizzard uploaded a new prequel comic to their website. The publisher is also giving Overwatch players who missed out on last year’s “Uprising” event another chance to relive Tracer’s first mission in the “Overwatch Archives.”

Overwatch’s “Retribution” event begins on April 10, and will conclude on April 30. In the meantime, Game Director Jeff Kaplan and Lead Engineer Tim Ford talked a bit about “Retribution” in the latest Developer Update video, which has been embedded after the break. (more…)

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Activision unveils first trailer for Call of Duty: WWII’s War Machine DLC Pack

Posted on April 5, 2018 by John Scalzo

Last week, Activision deployed the first details about Call of Duty: WWII‘s second expansion, The War Machine DLC Pack. More recently, the publisher gave fans a sneak peek at the upcoming add-on content in a new trailer:

Tensions escalate in DLC Pack 2 for Call of Duty: WWII — The War Machine. Join the Allies and stop the powerful Axis advance in three new Multiplayer maps that illustrate the might and global reach of the Axis War Machine. Strike back and take part in the Allied invasion of Sicily in “Operation Husky,” the all new objective-based War Mode mission. Plus, experience the latest Nazi Zombies chapter: “The Shadowed Throne.”

To complement the trailer, Activision’s Editorial Manager, Kevin Kelly, took a turn at the keyboard of the PlayStation Blog, and delivered a few additional details on “Operation Husky”:

Operation Husky takes its historical cues from the real-life Operation Husky, the codename for the Allied invasion of Sicily, that took place in July of 1943. This operation wrestled control of Sicily away from Axis powers and put into motion a course of events that opened up the Mediterranean Sea lanes for the first time since 1941. It also toppled Italian leader Benito Mussolini from power and paved the way for the Allied invasion of Italy.

As an Allied participant in Operation Husky in Call of Duty: WWII, you’re a soldier in the town of Ragusa, Sicily. Your mission is to retrieve key intel to initiate a bombing of enemy forces.

Or you might find yourself on the flipside of that equation as an Axis soldier, trying to stop the Allied advance, as they try and complete their mission.

There are three key objectives for the Allies to complete before they can declare victory, so let’s take a look at what they are.

PS4 players will be able to download Call of Duty: WWII‘s The War Machine DLC Pack on April 10. PC and Xbox One players will get the chance to download the expansion sometime in May.

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Chasm will come to the PC, PS4, and Vita this Summer

Posted on April 3, 2018 by John Scalzo

After more than five years in development, developer Bit Kid is finally ready to release Chasm on the PC, PS4, and Vita this Summer. If you’re unfamiliar with Chasm, it’s a MetroidVania that asks players to take control of a young knight on his first adventure. Together, you’ll explore a procedurally-generated world stitched together from a batch of pre-built rooms:

Welcome to Chasm, an action-adventure game in which you play a new recruit undertaking your first mission for the Guildean Kingdom. Thrilled to prove your worth as a knight, you track strange rumors that a mine vital to the Kingdom has been shut down. But what you discover in the mining town is worse than you imagined: The townspeople have begun to disappear, kidnapped by supernatural creatures emerging from the depths.

Honor-bound to solve the mystery and restore peace to the Kingdom, you embark upon an epic adventure, with deadly battles against cunning monsters, exploration of ancient catacombs and castles, and powerful new equipment hidden at every turn. Though the overall story is the same for all players, your hero’s journey will be unique: each of the rooms has been hand-designed, and behind the scenes Chasm stitches these rooms together into a one-of-a-kind world map that will be your own.

Bit-Kid’s James Petruzzi talked a bit more about Chasm’s development process on the PlayStation Blog, and a new trailer for the distinctly retro-styled game has been embedded above.

Posted in News, PC, PS4, Vita | Tagged

Square Enix will release a patch to restore SNES-era graphics to Chrono Trigger on PC

Posted on April 3, 2018 by John Scalzo

Square Enix surprise-launched Chrono Trigger for the PC back in February, but fans were disappointed that the publisher used the remastered visuals from the mobile re-release instead of the 16-bit sprites from the original Super NES game. Thankfully, it looks like they’ve seen the error of their ways.

The publisher announced (via Steam) that a series of patches will be coming to Chrono Trigger, and the first will include an option to switch back to the RPG’s “original graphical style.”

Thanks for all of your feedback, patience and support so far.

We have been working on addressing the issues that you’ve raised, and will be releasing a number of patches over the coming months as we continue to support CHRONO TRIGGER on Steam.

We’re aiming to release the first of these patches in the first half of April, and the biggest change is that it will include an option to switch between the current high-resolution graphics, and the original graphical style of CHRONO TRIGGER.

The patch is scheduled to be released sometime in “the first half of April,” so it should be available any day now.

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Telltale will unveil The Walking Dead: The Final Season for the first time at PAX East 2018

Posted on April 1, 2018 by John Scalzo

Telltale Games has announced they’ll pull the curtain back on The Walking Dead: The Final Season at next week’s PAX East convention.

The first episode in the concluding chapter of Clemenstine’s story will launch for the PC, PS4, Xbox One, and mobile devices later this year. But first, the developers want to give fans a sneak peek at the game during a panel on Friday, April 6, at 12:30 PM (Eastern Time)…

If you’re unable to attend PAX East this year, you’ll be able to keep up with all the announcements by viewing a livestream of the panel on Twitch (via the PAX East #2 channel). Fans at home will also be able to tune in to an exclusive aftershow on the Twitch channel for Robert Kirkman’s Skybound Entertainment at 2:00 PM (Eastern Time).

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Lindsay Lohan loses appeal in her lawsuit against GTA5 and Rockstar Games

Posted on March 30, 2018 by John Scalzo

grandtheftautov-bikiniThe beancounters at Rockstar Games can rest easy, the Court of Appeals in New York has firmly shot down Lindsay Lohan’s lawsuit against the publisher.

If you recall, the actress originally sued Rockstar in 2014 over her belief that a character from Grand Theft Auto V named Lacey Jonas was based on her “portrait and voice.” The character was regularly depicted in the game’s advertising as a blonde woman in a red bikini, and she also appeared in an optional in-game mission. After lengthy legal proceedings, Lohan’s lawsuit was dismissed in 2016, but she vowed to appeal.

Yesterday, that appeal came up short as New York’s Court of Appeals affirmed the ruling in the earlier case. Judge Fahey wrote that even if Lacey Jonas had been inspired by Lohan’s “portrait,” Rockstar cannot be held liable because she’s a fictional character that’s never identified as Lohan in the game:

We conclude that the amended complaint was properly dismissed because the artistic renderings are indistinct, satirical representations of the style, look, and persona of a modern, beach-going young woman that are not reasonably identifiable as plaintiff.

In addition to shooting down her lawsuit, the Court of Appeals also ordered Lohan to pay Rockstar’s court costs.

Posted in News, PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One | Tagged

Call of Duty: WWII’s The War Machine DLC Pack will launch for PS4 on April 10

Posted on March 29, 2018 by John Scalzo

Activision and Sledgehammer Games recently announced the first details of Call of Duty: WWII‘s second downloadable expansion.

The War Machine DLC Pack will launch for the PS4 on April 10 with three new multiplayer maps, a new War Mode mission, and the next cooperative chapter in the Nazi Zombies saga. PC and Xbox One players will be able to download the expansion sometime in May, but here’s what everyone can expect from the new content:

Multiplayer Maps
Egypt: For the first time in Call of Duty: WWII, we’re bringing players to the battlefields of Northern Africa and the Egyptia pyramids. Players fight in and around the ancient ruins at Giza with landmarks that you’re sure to recognize. The map features an interior temple in the center that heats up during intense Domination matches with more open exterior lanes to either side. There’s something for everyone, as all ranges and playstyles have a place to call home here.

Dunkirk: Players face off on the sands and beachfront boardwalk of the French sea-side city of Dunkirk. This map features a lage, open and dangerous beach area flanked by tight interiors through the buildings lining the beach-front. Sniping can be effective here, though aggressive running and gunning can also pay off, so keep sharp and watch your angles and surroundings to win the day.

V2: Welcome to V2… a rocket development and test site located in rural Germany. V2 is a tight, ultra-fast paced map that neve lets up for a moment. The launch tower sits at the map center, providing a focal point and an opportunity to grab an elevated sightline on unsuspecting opponents. Short-to mid-range engagements are dominant here, with fast and furious gameplay throughout… don’t blink!

War Mode
Operation Husky: Operation Husky, whose namesake referred to the Allied invasion of Sicily, is centered on an Allied action to etrieve intelligence on the locations of sensitive German targets in the ports of Palermo and Naples. In this exciting new War mode offering, players will gather intel, transmit it to HQ, and then take to the skies to clear the area of enemy fighter planes in order to make way for Allied bombers.

Nazi Zombies
The Shadowed Throne: The Shadowed Throne brings our heroes into the heart of Nazi Germany to confront a desperate and evil regie. Berlin is burning, and Doktor Straub’s monstrous army is hellbent on purging his city of the Allied invaders. Join Marie, Drostan, Olivia, and Jefferson on their descent into madness in a city warped with terror, blood, and war, as Nazi Zombies steps out from the shadows of history.

A few screenshots from Call of Duty: WWII’s War Machine DLC Pack can be found at CallofDuty.com.

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