Ubisoft Massive is still working on a fix for the High-End backpack bug for Tom Clancy’s The Division – which will require a client-side patch – but in the meantime, it’s performing maintenance today to fix some farming exploits that players have been doing.
In the Madison Field Hospital mission, it was possible to kill a certain Elite enemy continuously to farm Phoenix Credits. The patch will change it so that the Elite NPC no longer drops additional loot from being killed continuously. Named NPCs outside mission areas will also no longer drop loot when killed repeatedly and a fix has been issues to prevent groups from bypassing the four player limit. No more bringing 10 players on Challenging mode missions.
The glitch with the Mask’s health regen will be addressed when the Incursion’s patch is out. In the meantime, outfits like the Hazmat Suit should be available tomorrow for players. What are your thoughts on the patch and the upcoming Incursion for April 12th? Let us know in the comments. Source: Rheena.com
Bungie has ruffled its fair share of feathers with the Destiny community thanks to the reveal of Sterling Treasures. Arriving with the April Update, these boxes contain guaranteed Legendary gear and random items like reputation boosters. Players can receive up to three each week or they can drop real money on Silver to purchase them from Eververse.
Obviously, there are issues with being able to purchase gear. Even if it drops at 3 Light and must be infused to be battle-worthy, there is still hullabaloo about being able to roll with the right perks and stats if enough money is spent. Thankfully, it seems the Sterling Treasure gear can’t be farmed for Legendary Marks.
According to the developer on Twitter, “This just in from the Design Team: Legendary Gear obtained from Sterling Treasure boxes will dismantle into Chroma – not Legendary Marks.”
Chroma is a new item which allows players to aid coloured highlights to their armour and weaponry. In this way at least Bungie is ensuring that players still have to play the game to pick up Legendary Marks.
What are your thoughts on Sterling Treasures in Destiny? Let us know in the comments as the April Update arrives on April 12th. Source: Rheena.com
After revealing that it had a fix in the works for a glitch in Tom Clancy’s The Division which would lock players out of the game after crafting a High-End backpack, Ubisoft Massive confirmed that it had identified the source of the bug.
On the official forums, the developer said it would be issuing a patch “as soon as possible” while offering a quick workaround in meantime. “It’s our top priority in bug fixing. In the meantime, we would like to advise you not to attach mods on items you are not using. We’d like to thank you again for your cooperation and patience.”
Ubisoft Massive also has a large update planned for April 12th which will introduce the first Incursion, “Falcon Lost”; loot trading; Assignments for daily and weekly objectives for different rewards; and much more. You can read all about it here including information on the upcoming Gear Sets.
What are your thoughts on Tom Clancy’s The Division? Let us know in the comments below and stay tuned for more information about the patch. Source: Rheena.com
Quantum Break is an ambitious title from the folks at Remedy Entertainment. It’s also in many ways a true union of video games and live action movies, something that the developers and Microsoft have implemented quite well in the game. Right from the day it was first shown off almost 3 years ago, it was touted as a title that will set new benchmark for visuals on the Xbox One in the same way Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End is expected to do for the PS4 next month.
So does Quantum Break deliver breathtaking image quality with optimal performance? Well, the answer is a bit complicated but before jump there we wanted to talk briefly about the NorthLight engine. NorthLight is Remedy’s in-house engine which supports a full physically based deferred renderer which essentially means the game’s framework uses a modern combination of rendering and lighting tools along with a multi-scale global illumination methodology. Global Illumination was one of the biggest challenges that Remedy faced while developing Quantum Break. They tried with several solutions such as Voxel Cone Tracing and Light Propagation Volumes, all of which were too resource intensive given the quality Remedy were aiming for. In the end, the developers settled for Irradiance Volumes. This methodology approximates illumination where traditional global illumination algorithms may prove to be too expensive. Long story short, Irradiance Volumes is proven to have good performance. This is especially important in Quantum Break given how dynamic the levels are during gameplay. Furthermore, this method works consistently well for dynamic objects and volumetric lighting, something the game employs liberally.
The engine also employs screen space ambient occlusion along with complex using of screen space lighting, screen space occlusion, screen space reflection, and reflection probes. All of these come together to create a realistic dynamic lighting solution which puts the tech right up there with the likes of The Order: 1886 and Assassin’s Creed: Unity.
Moving on to other facets of the tech employed, the game utilizes a cinematic grain filter along with depth of field and intense blur. The character modeling is simply outstanding in the game. The game employs advanced sub surface scattering along with fantastic and realistic muscle animations, especially during cutscenes. Ambient occlusion has been implemented but as revealed by Remedy during Siggraph 2015, they are rendered at 720p. Fortunately, they seem to be free from any artefacts.
However the heart of the game’s visual prowess is its use of physics, destruction and post processing effects. The NorthLight engine is able to render destruction at reasonable levels with the ability to destroy covers and several objects in the game. It’s definitely not up to the par of say, the FrostBite engine but what is there is remarkably impressive given the complex physics simulation and the continuous time shifting that some of the levels introduce. Time manipulation is the main theme in Quantum Break so one can expect a ton of post processing effects on display when time comes to a standstill. And bullet trails…they look dazzling!
In order to achieve such an intense on screen simulation, Remedy had to make a number of compromises and employ complex techniques to achieve the desired result. Right off the bat you can see pop in issues when you are in an area which has vegetation. Shadow quality isn’t all that great either and dithering can be experienced from time to time. Texture quality looks great up front but some of the details are lost when seen from a distance due to a lower quality anisotropic filtering solution. Furthermore the quality of reflections is mediocre at best. The inclusion of 4xMSAA is a great addition and to an extent it removes all jaggies although at times we can see some of them hovering around Jack’s hair.
Level of detail is also an issue in some places with some objects resolving to their expected state with a short amount of delay. Performance is solid for the most part. The game targets 30 frames per second cap and for the most part, the experience was smooth. But there were times during cutscenes where frame drops can be noticed.
This brings us to the interesting tidbit…the image quality and the resolution this game is rendering at. Unlike other games, the way NorthLight engine renders the game is quite different. In order to explain this in detail, let us take the case of Killzone Shadowfall which uses a method called as temporal reprojection to achieve a 1920 X 1080 resolution. The way this methodology works is that instead of discarding previous frame information, the game’s engine uses the current, past and the past-past frame to reconstruct the image at a full 1920 X 1080p render image. So essentially three images of history pixels of 960 X 1080 are used with a pixel movement algorithm to correctly predict where they will be in the future with a 1080p image used as reference. Obviously this is easier said than done but for the most part it works and the process is only bound to get better in the future.
On the other hand we have Quantum Break which uses temporal reconstruction from four previous 720p 4x MSAA frames. Remedy claims that such a method gets them complex shading and effects, resulting into a cinematic look. This particular solution does not really make it an easy job on getting a fix what the actual resolution is. Several components of the game such as ambient occlusion are clearly running at 720p but there is a good chance that other sections of a particular image may be running at a higher resolution. We analyzed a few initial scenes and it’s clear that at least in those scenes the game is running at a 720p to 900p resolution possibly indicating a dynamic buffer in place. But do note that this may not hold true for every scene out there.
This also means that a combination of 4xMSAA and temporal reconstruction results into a softer image quality during motion and a far better image quality when there is not a lot of motion. For some odd reason, this does not translate into the in-game cutscenes as there is a noticeable bump in image quality. Furthermore, we observed a lot of shimmering and ghosting effects. We are not quite sure about the reason behind this. May be it’s because of the temporal reconstruction methodology where the algorithm is struggling to stabilize the information it has received from past pixels. However it must be noted that this mostly happens during motion.
It’s not easy to ignore these issues and it can be distracting when you are following NPCs or when there is not a lot of shooting going on. However once the action begins, the on screen visuals are a sight to behold. Especially the time rush and time dodge powers help the action feel as if it is running at a higher frame rate. It’s within these action sequences the player can forget the annoying shimmering effects and get sucked into the breathtaking visual effects on offer.
So where do we stand regarding Quantum Break on Xbox One? Is it a technical showcase for the console? It comes very close to achieving that but it falls short due to a number of compromises that Remedy made to gain on screen effects. The shimmering and ghosting effects along with the occasional tearing and frame drops are distracting but in no way they are a deal breaker. In some facets such as animation technology and post processing effects, yes, it manages to set new benchmarks. But in terms of image quality and general sharpness that comes along with a higher resolution buffer, Quantum Break falls short. However despite its complex resolution methodology and the compromises in other graphical facets it manages to shine through as one of the best looking games available right now on the Xbox One. Source: Rheena.com
Xur has returned to the Tower in Bungie’s Destiny, bringing all manner of Exotics for players to enjoy. Unfortunately none of those are actually weapons so it’s a good time to sulk. Xur will be present until 2 AM PST, April 3rd.
What’s he carrying this week? There’s the Sealed Ahamkara Grasps (Hunter gloves), The Taikonaut (Titan helm) and Apotheosis Veil (Warlock helm), each for 13 Strange Coins. An Exotic glove engram is on sale for 19 Strange Coins and can net you items like The Impossible Machines or even the Sealed Ahamkara Grasps. The Legacy engram is for Year One body armour, which is on sale for 29 Strange Coins, and will offer items like Heart of the Praxic Fire. The best part is that you’ll gain armour from Year One that you’re missing.
Along with these items are Heavy Ammo Synths, Glass Needles and Three of Coins. What are your thoughts on Xur’s inventory? Let us know in the comments. Source: Rheena.com
While Dark Souls 3 is not yet actually available in Europe and North America, those Xbox One users who used the workaround to get the title from the Japanese store can download the newest patch that helps fix a few little flaws that have surfaced since the title went live in Japan. Bandai Namco has said the game that launched in Japan and the one that players are using a workaround to get outside that country launched without some fixes installed.
According to reports on Reddit, the patch tweaks some of the difficulty levels in the game and offers support for online play. That last part is obviously not all that helpful for people who aren’t playing the game in Japan since the servers are not actually online in the United States and Europe.
Dark Souls 3 is a bit of an anomaly in this day and age, especially when it comes to AAA games. There just aren’t that many well-known titles that are available in one section of the world weeks before it gets released everywhere else. Dark Souls 3 launches on April 12. Source: Rheena.com
Lost in the decadence of its own design, Remedy Entertainment’s Quantum Break is going to fall a little short for most people’s intensely hyped up desires. However, this doesn’t indicate that Quantum Break is a bad game, in fact it is the opposite. It is a daring game that Remedy Entertainment took great pride and care with, yet it never truly reaches that jaw dropping moment in story. As for the power of Jack Joyce’s (the main protagonist played by Shawn Ashmore), the world he fights to save as time begins to collapse i on itself, and the massive set pieces throughout the entire adventure? Well, those save the entire game on an epic scale.
Dealing with a story based around warping in and out of time always comes with some form of convolution. That is often the point to not only coming up with a story about twisting time, but always keep the player guessing, but too often it’s easy to lose the context behind the meaning. Quantum Break is a linear, third-person adventure game based in a very narrative world. But the story developers scripted it out to make sure there was that sense of confusion. It was nothing so overwhelming that it will lose us within the first act.
The story in fact, continually reels you back in so as to never lose you to begin with. The best parts about the story aren’t exactly what’s been answered, but what they leave unanswered that’s the true mystery behind it all. This all makes Quantum Break‘s story fluid, confusing and good, but never gets to that climactic moment where your jaw drops to the floor and you say, “Wow! I never saw that coming!” I completed the game wanting much more from the story.
What’s new and very intriguing about Quantum Break are the four live-action TV shows that are placed between each act and are approximately 20 minutes or so long. These serve mainly as cut scenes but in a whole other light from Jack Joyce’s story as they focus on supporting character angles that are not portrayed in gameplay for more than a few fleeting moments. Interestingly enough, the show does give a substantial focus on the enemies’ side and what their next plot is.
For the most part, character acting is strong in some and weaker in others, naturally. Actors Lance Reddick and Aiden Gillen really steal the show as you never truly know what they’re thinking and their acting skills portray that perfectly. Gillen, who plays Paul Serene (the main antagonist), really digs into the script at times giving a very authentic man who is flawed like every other human and completely paranoid but trying to cover it up for his public appearance towards his company and the world. Sadly, the overall feel and atmosphere of the show is of a lower budget quality, but Remedy did a fantastic job in hiding that as much as possible.
Of course, what would a game about time travel be if it didn’t have alternate paths to choose from? This is where you’ll actually get the chance to play as Jack’s enemy Paul Serene. His gameplay comes in extremely small doses, but centered around very important points just before each act. These Paul Serene moments are called “Junctions.” And Junctions occur when more than one possible future is possible within the game. Each decision at the Junction impact points will slightly steer the stories of the game and a an even slighter steering of the live-action TV show.
Similar to other decision making games, choosing a path will alter the outcome of the story to a degree, but not by much. There are two choices to choose from in each Junction, with nothing else to really change the course of the game. I thought this was a very strange choice, to limit the paths in a game designed around the idea that there could be thousands of different paths was just too narrow of a route. At the very least, what I did like about choosing a path was that the games gives the option to view both setups that will lead to an outcome before forcing the player to actually stick to one path permanently. This also allows the game to be played through at least twice to see the alternate character stories and outcomes.
Now, onto the powers. Playing with all the time powers takes getting used to. Don’t expect to just jump into the game and feel like a bad ass right off the bat. Hitting the time powers, connecting them into special combinations, and pulling off some stunning kills took some practice for me. But when I finally achieved the hour or so it took to practice and achieve those skills, mixing time altering attacks, blowing away enemies, and taking control made me feel completely bad ass. The dynamics of wrapping an enemy into a time bubble, following it up with a dodge attack, and finishing it off with a bullet to the head was beyond satisfying.
Several Chronon Sources are hidden throughout each level. These are essentially collectibles nodes that can be redeemed to upgrade and/or unlock powers to help against fighting ever growing stronger enemies. Upgrading is amazing. It’s comprehendible and fast. Waiting two or three hours for a single upgrade in any other game is often turned into upgrading two or three different abilities within an hour in this one, giving me the chance to explore Jack’s abilities on a much broader potential sooner than later. And that’s a good thing as Quantum Break is only about a 10-12 hour game, and that’s factoring in collecting everything and watching each TV show. Of course, this all depends on weather you choose to run off and search for extra Chronon Sources, which are almost always nearby and never a hassle to obtain.
Besides, the more impressive collection of time tactics and abilities, you’ll often be using a rifle, pistol or one of a small arsenal collection of standardized video game cliche weapons to take care of enemies. Quantum Break often deals in stereotypical video game tropes: such as snipers on a rooftop near explosive tanks, or even lots of conveniently placed weapons and ammo reload packs. Though these tropes are there, they are mostly overlooked by rarely having to depend solely on a rifle for a kill as many of the time abilities are just too fun to not use constantly over weapons when possible.
Alas, Jack is not an unstoppable juggernaut within this time-altering world. After the pushover enemies of Act One, moving forward things start to really heat up. But it never becomes overwhelmingly difficult though. Some enemies start equipping themselves with anti-stutter suits, granting time moving abilities that are able to negate Jack’s powers; and Chronon Dampeners, which well, dampen his abilities in certain areas. This brings a certain tier of levity in an otherwise overpowered character build, when negating Jack’s powers lead to more challenging obstacles that take physical work rather that the twisting of objects and time. Just as it sounds, however, this game is almost always based around waves of enemies in any act and rarely deviates from that tone.
Sadly, Jack’s movement, the simple kind of moving backwards and forwards, and to either side feels rusty. Almost as if nudging the left analog stick feels less like a command and more like trying to persuade Jack to move. I found this quite bothersome, especially when trying to avoid bullets and enemies when most of my time powers had been drained from use. Just dodging an enemy without the use of powers can sometimes be fatal. And when other characters scream for Jack to hurry, well, he never moves like the world depends on him. It came down to there’s just no true sense of urgency in Jack’s movement when he tries to get from place to place.
At times, the fluidity of the character movement feels awkward, unstable, and jittery. Jack’s actions, of simply climbing over a box or jumping to a platform look and feel unnatural — almost as though I had to hope his actions would do what I commanded into the controller.
A minor annoyance that I found from certain locations is an instant-death scenario where Jack just, unnaturally dies from simply touching obscure objects. Some examples include an uncontrollable door sliding open then closing wildly; if Jack tries to go through it, he dies — that’s understandable, but just rubbing up against the door is death. Another example is during a time shift when an object fell, then froze in place, I walked up to it, touched it and died. These are minor annoyances that only occurs during time shifts, but it’s something that should have been polished up a bit more.
Character design and level design are magnificent. Facial features represent intricate emotion just through a twitch of an eye, or a small semi-grin. Comparing these characters to their live-action TV show counterparts is very simply to determine reality from the game even though the character design is quite advanced. So was it appropriate to have real actors in a show and in the gameplay? They don’t blend perfectly, granted, but it was fun to see this new experiment take place.
Quantum Break is a true adventure game that prides itself on elaborate set pieces, maybe more so than any other game I’ve ever seen. From derailed trains to massive explosions and much, much more. Just adventuring from one point to another there’s almost guaranteed to be something jaw dropping, unbelievable, and catastrophic around every turn. The finely tunes graphics of each location and set piece are brilliantly defined, making this game a current gen standard for what games should look like going forward.
The authenticity of the voice ensemble from some of Hollywood’s finest actors (in some respects) substantially brings Quantum Break‘s intense atmospheres and nuances between cynical masterminding and saving the world up to a whole other level. It’s nice to see a game with fresh voices rather than the same people from other games carried over from one franchise to another.
A game wouldn’t be great without an amazing musical score and soundtrack. Quantum Break‘s tactile music, manipulated, broken down, rearranged through Jack’s time skills is often a sentiment of just how beautifully rendered the sound of it is. You’ll definitely appreciate Remedy’s time that was spent creating an ironic cacophony that works brilliantly with each action.
The truth about the manipulation and control of time as a story element in Quantum Break is not solely focused on what changes the world goes through or what new obstacles get in the way; but also the focus on character development, on their struggles and hardships. Quantum Break delves deep into designing a world around character development in a very strategic format: not only does time change the characters, but it does so rapidly it’s almost like watching a single cell organism evolve into a tiger in minutes.
Immense; right to the point and figuring out what happened, what these characters went through that changed them during that time is part of the puzzle you’ll constantly be thinking about while playing though the first time. This is definitely a game that isn’t afraid to have fun while playing a few tricks on the player. Was the show worth the risk of being new and inventive? We’ll see how people react, but I think it was worth experimenting with, for better or for worse. Sadly, the story leaves a lot to be desired and never once gives off that jaw dropping moment we all crave in big blockbuster games such as Quantum Break.
Oh, and if you’re wondering, yes. The game is jam packed with references to Alan Wake!
THE GOOD Powers act and feel amazing, Graphics are phenomenal, Set pieces are way too good, Enemies are intelligent and the live-action show was worth the risk.
THE BAD The controls are often slow to respond. It feels like controlling Jack is more of a suggestion to him rather than a command. Very few choices to alter a very narrow story. A whole lot of video game tropes. The story never gives a single "jaw dropping" moment.
FINAL VERDICT Quantum Break makes some amazing innovations in the gaming industry with the live-action TV show, unique and original powers and abilities, and beautifully designed set pieces and the levels built around them. However, the story leaves a lot to be desired, the abundance of video game tropes thrown in your face is way overboard, and the controls for telling Jack where to go really need some tweaking. However, it's still worth the ride. Source: Rheena.com
Bungie recently showcased the return of several Year One Legendary weapons at Year Two Light levels for Destiny‘s upcoming April Update. While one could make the case for re-skinning, at least some classic weapons help to expand on Guardians’ arsenals, right?
However, it seems there’s a catch – these weapons can only be obtained by leveling up your Crucible or Vanguard vendor. The correction was made by community manager David “DeeJ” Dague on the latest edition of This Week at Bungie. “In reality, Year One Legendary Weapons come from Vanguard/Crucible reward packages. Level up with the Quartermasters for a chance to gain a Year One Legendary with up to 330 Light.”
The grind isn’t apparently all that bad when you consider that, “Reputations gains have increased greatly in Strikes, the Crucible, and Prison Of Elders.” How significant that increase will be remains to be seen.
And when Bungie is selling Reputation Boosters through its Sterling Treasures, obtainable from Eververse as well as the new activities, this is seems like a way to gently nudge players towards the micro-transaction side if they want their favourite Year One weapon as a Year Two Legendary.
Then again, maybe we’re just being paranoid. Regardless, it is kind of ridiculous that Legendary Marks can’t be spent on Engrams to pick up these new weapons. Source: Rheena.com
Treyarch finally revealed its second DLC pack for Call of Duty: Black Ops 3. “Eclipse” will be out on April 19th for the PS4 and likely a month later for Xbox One and PC due to a timed exclusivity deal Sony has with Activision.
New multiplayer maps this time around include Spire, a sub-orbital airport in the clouds with multiple levels; Rift, the core of a military complex with different funnels for close combat; Knockout, set in a Shaolin Temple; and Verge, a re-imagined version of Banzai from World at War.
The new Zombies map is Zetsubou no Shima which takes place in a research laboratory on a remote island in the Pacific where experiments with humans, plants and animals have been going. Activision has promised “new terrifying zombie enemies, a variety of innovative transport mechanics, more devastating traps and classic Zombies side quests.”
Check out the prologue for Zetsubou no Shima below. Eclipse will retail for $15 standalone but can also be picked up with the other four DLC for $50 with the Season Pass.
The release of Homefront: The Revolution is almost here, and publisher Deep Silver will be pushing it in a way that is very different from anything most AAA publishers have tried before, and that is uniquely suited to out modern social media age- they will be hosting a major community event on Twitch which shows off brand new near final gameplay from the co-op Resistance mode as well as world exclusive footage from the narrative driven single player campaign.
The event will be called Homefront: The Revolution LIVE, and it by twelve streamers, who will play the game over a period of six hours, hosted by prominent gaming personality Adam Sessler.
Attendees:
Amie Lynn
Angry Joe
Dansgaming
GiantWaffle
Jahovaswitniss
KingGothalion
Kry_sp33dy
Melonie Mac
ProfessorBroman
Rooster Teeth
Sodapoppin
Wes The Editor
Live Commentary By:
Rachel “Seltzer” Quirico
WitWix
Homefront: The Revolution will launch in May on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC. Source: Rheena.com
DOOM is finally here- the long awaited next entry in the classic, pioneering first person shooter franchise takes us back to the basics by rebooting DOOM, and delivering a classic, vanilla adventure unlike anything else currently on the market.
To continue tickling that nostalgia bone that fans of the classic DOOM games have, id Software and Bethesda released a brand new live action trailer, which follows the exploits of the (unnamed) DOOM Marine.
In other news,t oday also marks the start of DOOM’s Closed Multiplayer Beta, which runs from March 31 through to April 3 on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC. So if you want to see whether or not id Software can still make a new game like the classic games that made them one of the most influential developers of all time not too long ago- this is your chance to get the early scoop.
DOOM will launch worldwide on May 13, 2016 on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC
Against all odds, it looks like Konami finally got that multiplayer Metal Gear goodness they so badly wanted going- Metal Gear Online for Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain seems to have developed a consistent, active community, and it seems to have been a profitable venture for Konami. You know what they say- the third time is the charm.
Next week, Metal gear Online gets Update 1.11, which adds a new Survival mode to the game. Survival mode is closest to traditional multiplayer shooters, and sees two teams of six players each go head to head in an attempt to be the first to achieve a streak of five round victories.
With the mode due next week, we received a brand new video today, that showcases exactly how it will work. There really isn’t much to it- but if you want to see how a traditional shooter can be adapted to the Metal Gear mold, I think you will find it interesting.
The one thing about Final Fantasy 15 that everyone, even the most ardent detractors of the game, will agree on is that it is a beautiful, gorgeous game. The Final Fantasy games have had a history of pushing the limits of what is expected from the graphics tech of their day – even Final Fantasy 13 looked beautiful – and that tradition continues with Final Fantasy 15 too.
At no time was this more evident than last night, during Square Enix’s Final Fantasy Uncovered event. We got to see a lot more of the game yesterday evening than we ever have before- and it looked consistently gorgeous and beautiful.
You can see just how beautiful in this new video, which shows off the game’s environments and world, below. Final Fantasy 15 is set to launch on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on September 30, 2016, after a ten year long wait. More incredibly, it is set to actually meet those ten years’ worth of expectations. Can’t wait.
Flying Wild Hog’s Hard Reset Redux will be bringing back the rather unorthodox gameplay from the 2011 cyberpunk shooter of the same name. However, as the “redux” part indicates, there will be several visual improvements as well.
Flying Wild Hog’s marketing man Tadeusz Zielinski was asked by GamingBolt if both the PS4 and Xbox One versions of the game would run at 1080p resolution and 60 FPS, to which he said, “Yes. The game will run in 1080p/60fps on both current generation consoles.”
What other improvements can players look forward to in terms of lighting and engine upgrades? Our proprietary engine, the RoadHog, has grown bigger and stronger over the years – for instance, we added SSAO effects – so you can expect better quality of ambient lighting.”
However, when it comes to DirectX 12, Zielinski said, “No, we don’t have any plans concerning DX12 support.”
Hard Reset Redux will be out later this year for Xbox One, PS4 and PC so stay tuned for more details. Source: Rheena.com
The second episode for Hitman will be launching on April 26. After the first episode took the players to a sojourn in Paris, the second one takes them to coastal Italy, offering a dramatically changed experience.
“If I tell you that you’re going to infiltrate a palace, then your mental projection of what that is is quite clear: there’s an entrance, an exit, a garden, there are walls. But if I tell you you’re going to infiltrate an old mansion in a coastal Italian town, then that image starts to dissipate, and you get something where you can get much more lost in that area. So the very nature of what it feels like to be in different levels can also be affected by how we construct them as a mental space in the beginning,” IO Interactive’s Christian Elverdam had said in an interview earlier this month, about how the episodes will cause a dramatically different experience for player, by offering different settings.
You can check out what the new episode looks like in the trailer below. Hitman is available on Xbox One, PS4, and PC.
Following up on Resident Evil Zero HD Remaster, Capcom have now gone ahead and released Resident Evil 6 HD Remaster, the weakest entry in the long running survival, horror and action franchise. Capcom also have plans to remaster Resident Evil 5 and Resident Evil 4 later this year. At this pace every single Resident Evil game could possibly be remastered on the PS4 and Xbox One.
This year alone will see four remasters…which to be honest is stretching it a bit. Why exactly Capcom is implementing such a releasing schedule is baffling and one that is beyond us but we can only assume that this is for the funding of the long rumored Resident Evil 7. Regardless, how do the PS4 and Xbox One versions perform? Should players who have already played the title back in 2012 decide to take a double dip? Let us find out.
Resident Evil 6 on last gen platforms was already a decent looking game. The MT Framework engine did a great job of rendering dynamic lighting, a decent post processing anti-aliasing solution and some fantastic in-engine cutscenes. Unfortunately, the game struggled with performance issues and screen tearing resulting in mediocre experience at times. Resident Evil 6 HD Remaster to an extent fixes all of these issues due to the processing power of the PS4 and Xbox One.
As is expected, Resident Evil 6 HD Remaster runs at 1080p on both the PS4 and Xbox One resulting in a sharper image quality compared to sub-HD 720p resolution on the PS3 and Xbox 360. Furthermore, we are also looking at a target fps cap of 60 fps and for the most part the game runs at that standard, especially in enclosed areas. The game provides five different campaign modes for each character. For the purpose of this article we only analyzed the initial sections of Leon and Jake’s campaign.
Performance was relatively stable during Leon’s mission which is expected since most of that takes place in a mansion. We witnessed frame rate struggling a bit during the prologue helicopter scene and during the initial sections of Jake’s campaign. Fortunately, the game is very much playable and there were no drastic frame rate drops observed. Furthermore, the screen tearing issue from last gen consoles is almost non-existent.
This all sounds well and good but how much of visual jump are we talking here? Is this a big leap over the 2012 original? Does it come anywhere near to the quality of remastering we have seen in the likes of Gravity Rush and Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection? The answer is simply no. Other than the improvements in anti-aliasing, better rendering resolution and frame rate, most of the core assets remain the same. Texture quality, filtering and ambient occlusion are slightly improved compared to the original but for the most part we did not found any major improvements. Unfortunately, some of the graphical inconsistencies that plagued the original make a return to the remaster. Shadow quality although improved in some places could be downright awful and blocky. Dithering shadows is another thing and may be acceptable to some players but total disorientation is not. Remember, this is a remaster of a game that is more than 3 years old so it’s quite disappointing to see such inconsistencies getting carried over from the last generation
Regarding the differences between the PS4 and Xbox One versions…well, there is nothing substantial. We witnessed no differences at all and the developers have done well to maintain the parity between the two platforms something that they have managed to implement since they started remastering on current gen consoles.
So where do we stand regarding Resident Evil 6 HD Remaster on the PS4 and Xbox One? At its core, Resident Evil 6 is one of the weakest games in the series that may appeal only to the hardcore fan-base. So if you want to experience it all over again with improved image quality, better performance and slightly improved graphical facets than you may appreciate what the remaster offers. As a whole, the remaster work is decent. It isn’t ground breaking and for the most part the developers have done an OK job. It’s certainly not up to level we have seen in the likes of Resident Evil Zero HD Remaster. Overall we expected much more than what we received which is tad disappointing. Source: Rheena.com
Sony’s PS4.5 or PS4K – depending on what you want to call it – could apparently have a GPU twice as powerful as the current SDK according to insider reports. NeoGAF user OsirisBlack claimed to have lots of information about the PS4.5 from a meeting that happened recently. NeoGAF mods verified these sources and it seems the console will cost $399. If a better CPU happens, then it’s likely that the price is $499.
The GPU will apparently have a faster clock speed and will be smaller. It will also apparently have a 4K Blu-ray player and upscale games which aren’t 4K native (not that new games will run at native 4K anyway).
Developers are already in possession of dev kits apparently and while games developed for the PS4.5 will also head to the PS4, there will be sacrifices made for performance. Launch games will apparently include EVE: Valkyrie and Robinson: The Journey for PlayStation VR, Deep Down and God of War 4.
Take this all with a grain of salt of course. What are your thoughts on the same? Let us know in the comments. Source: Rheena.com
While that other MMO shooter is planning to introduce numerous re-skins to existing content, Tom Clancy’s The Division from Ubisoft Massive will be introducing its first major update on April 12th with the Incursion “Falcon Lost.”
Set in an underground water facility converted into a fortress by the Last Man Battalion, players will be tasked with hunting down a new leader named Perez. It won’t be easy – the activity will have two difficulties at Hard and Challenge. Die once and you restart the mission from the beginning. The Hard mode’s difficulty is for those with Level 31 gear while Challenge mode is meant for those rocking the new Gear Sets. Different roles and team play are encouraged during the Incursion.
The new Gear Sets – Sentry’s Call, Striker’s Battle Gear, Path of the Nomad and Technician’s Authority – will each suit a specific play-style. Find all four pieces for a set and you’ll pick up a new talent, which is still unconfirmed. It should be noted that Gear Set pieces won’t render current High-End gear obsolete but they will bestow special bonuses to players. It was also noted that blueprints from the Gear Sets could drop from the Dark Zone and Challenge Mode among other activities.
The update will also introduce Assignments. Think of them as daily and weekly bounties with simple tasks that will net you Phoenix Credits and Division Tech along with “generally good rewards”. The Dark Zone will also see Supply Drops every hour which you and other groups will fight over. They house great loot but are protected by strong enemies. The best part though is that you can collect the loot directly. No extraction and no stealing.
Loot trading will also be possible among players in the same co-op session. It can simply be dropped on the ground while in the Dark Zone, it can be done inside checkpoints. Be careful though – once on the ground, anyone can take it.
Other features include a death cam for following your team-mates and new enemies in the Falcon Lost like aerial drones and an armoured carrier as a boss which can’t be damaged with bullets. It was also confirmed that the next Incursion, Conflict, would arrive in May as a free update and would take place in New York’s Columbus Circle. Source: Rheena.com
