Ezreal is one of the most versatile champions in League of Legends. His scaling with both attack damage and skill power, and his reliance on skills rather than basic attacks, has seen him take on many different positions and roles.

Like other old school champions like Jax or Akali, Ezreal maintains its double scaling, making its itemization very flexible. We have seen a critically based Ezreal, the legendary Blue Build that made an impact in the middle game and even in the jungle. The father of the Frozen Mallet shooters, Martin Rekkles Larsson, was the one who introduced a new variant of Ezreal based on buying the two objects created from the Tear of the Goddess.

Although the merit of making this build popular belongs to the blond shooter of Fnatic, everything indicates that the authorship is, as happens in not a few occasions, of the Korean server. Many professionals are practising this itemization, with very good results. But, which are the keys of Ezreal with double tears?

The most popular and effective construction of Ezreal involves the Manamune, the Trinity and the Staff of the Archangel. This last patch has been played 15.45% of the time in Korea with 60.98% of wins, with the second most effective build being the one that keeps those two Goddess Tear objects and changes the Trinity for the Ice Gauntlet.

Nobody doubts at this point that the Manamune is a vital object for Ezreal. Converting 3% of the current mana into 6% of the current mana damage is an incredible leap in quality for a champion who also itemizes with another item that adds mana such as the Trinity or the Ice Gauntlet; but what if we add an item to the equation that gives him 1400 maximum mana points such as the staked Archangels Staff?

The calculations are simple: With those three items loaded, plus the Mana Band, Ezreal spends a maximum of 120 mana points to add another 240 to his basics. This would already be an important reason for Ezreal to stop being the best shooter in the midgame and win even more in the late game, but there are plenty more. The maximum shield he can get from activating the Archangel is 750 (450 if hes on half mana), adds 20% CDR to a skill-dependent champion, and returns 25% of the mana spent on 15% of the Muramana.

Not least, it grants slightly more than 200 Ability Power, depending on the runes chosen. It should be remembered that his abilities scale with Ability Power, up to a maximum of 285% in a single rotation. This extra damage from the Seraphim causes him to gain even more power in his Qs, and can be a nightmare to besiege.

Its a good idea to choose runes that will help you get these three items as quickly as possible. Kleptomania is a must, as well as Mana Band and Storm is coming as secondary branch runes. Getting the Manamune as soon as possible and accumulating all the charges is something we should all do. It is not possible to stagger two Tears at once, so it is necessary to finish an item first. Therefore, it is necessary to get the Trinity or the Gauntlet of the second item.

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Dota 2 has received a big update, which includes two new heroes who are already talking. Snapfire and Void Spirit generate excitment with their arrival in The Outlanders patch.

Dota 2 has released its new massive update with which it has already begun to make the whole community fall in love. The new heroes Void Spirit and Snapfire, have captured the attention of all. Its always exciting when they add new heroes as this changes the dynamics and strategies of the game, such as knowing what can be their counter picks, and so on.

This patch is 7.23 of Dota 2, which was announced three months ago when The International 2019 was held in China, a tournament where the OG squad was crowned as the first bicampeón in the history of the video game.

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Now lets analyze the aspects that this update has left us.

Spirit Void

He is a killer type hero, very slippery and with high magic damage, and can impact very quickly in the game since he has level 6. His particularity is that thanks to its abilities he can appears from the shadows, very similar to what Ember Spirit does with its holograms.

Snapfire

This is the other hero who debuts in Dota 2. This hero is range support, with the ability to do a lot of AOE damage at a distance. In the medium and low medals, he is used a lot as a midlaner for his high damage in the early game. In addition, his ultimate level 6 has great magic damage and is excellent for teamfights.

Similar to Tinys kick, Snapfire will be able to push an ally or even a few meters to jump and stun his enemies. However, the most striking thing is his ultimate, with a lot of damage at a huge distance. Already many people claim to modify it because its very powerful.

Courier

Another very important aspect that leaves us this update is that each player already has a particular courier. This avoids the typical discussions in the let me use the courier first games. Although that if, now the speed of movement that has is lower. But now the courier also has a level that goes according to the level of your player, when you reach level 15 can put wards and this will be of great help to the supports.

Map modification

This is one of the least liked things. The map has been modified with many new elements for a single update. Previously it had changed but very small, this time it has not been like that. Now the mid runes are closer to the midlaners so a bottle is now a crucial item to stay in line. In addition, two new structures were added in the place where the old tents were, these are called Outpost, and provide vision and experience for the team that dominates them.

Neutral Items

Now the neutral creeps can drop unique items, which are classified according to the minute the game goes on, so the longer the game goes on the neutral creeps can dropping better items. From the moment luck becomes a factor this alters the strategies you can have to win a game.

Although in general this update is very good and refreshes the game, it is true that at first feel a little rejection from the community. For now, it is left to wait to see the next Major and to watch the games of the professionals to see how they take advantage of each one of these aspects and learn what is the new META.

Ride Out Heroes is the (still fairly)new multi-class battle royale for mobile. Released back in May of 2019 by developer NetEase, the game has gained a significant following that includes me in its ranks. Havent heard of this wonderful game yet? Well read on!

Ride Out Heroes is not like other battle royale games. While the basic premise is in place 100 competing players are dropped into an environment to fight to the death, while the safe zone becomes smaller, forcing characters into closer proximity and a final confrontation the theme is completely unique. ROH is about the characters.

Each character is unique. So far there are 11 heroes, ranging from Lilith, a female demon who flies and flings eldritch blasts from great range, to White Earp, a bounty hunting cowboy with twin revolvers and a shotgun who specializes in hunting down characters trying to run and hide.

This is a huge change from the normal battle royale formula. You never know who youll run into and you have to be ready to change you strategies on the fly. Tesla can build fortifications, changing the terrain (ala Fortnite). John Wright controls the skies and can attack from completely unique angles. Its a far cry from the basic cookie cutter avatars with guns in every other game.

Each character has multiple points of customization. They have 3 base abilities, 1 of which is permanent and 2 that can be swapped with 2 other unlockable abilities. Each match renders up experience used to upgrade existing abilities or unlock others. For instance, White Earps rate of fire and maximum ammo capacity can be upgraded 3 times. This means you never know what exactly his DPS will be or how many shots before he needs to reload.

The characters each have two class weapons that benefit from their abilities, but they can choose to use any of the weapons scattered across the map instead. These are the usual sorts of weapons: rifles, Uzis, pistols, and sniper rifles, and they are very effective. Over the course of a match, weapons can be upgraded from common up to legendary, and this makes a tremendous difference. The same is true of armor in the game. Each piece can be be maxed out at legendary, and will confer special benefits like decreased reload time or faster respawn.

Speaking of respawn, another cool feature is what happens when youre downed. Instead of instant death, or slowly bleeding out, you instead are transformed into a cute little dragon. Thats right, a dragon. In this form you are not very fast and just a few shots will finish you off, but you have a special ability that allows you to transform into an object from the environment. If youre good, you can run, jump, and hide long enough to return to your normal form.

There are also relics that can be found at random, or prayed for at shrines, that provide crazy power ups. My favorite is probably the Ring of Ouroboros. With it, you can level up your weapons and armor each time you find the same one again. This means you can max your gear at legendary before everyone else, giving you a tremendous advantage.

If that wasnt enough, every character has a mount that they can summon at will for fast travel. Youll make use of it often, because the map is huge. Even after a few months of play, Im still running across areas I hadnt seen.

Graphically, ROH is a delight. Bright and colorful, the style is more Overwatch than PUBG. Everything is well animated, and the sound effects are spot on. Listening to the metallic clicking of White Earp reloading two revolvers in less than 2 seconds flat is a joy every time. Moreover, you can aurally identify when characters trigger abilities out of sight, which gives you key clues to the identity of your enemies and what they are up to.

Personally, I have no complaints about this game. However, its worth noting that there is no 1st person play, only 3rd person. I know that may be a deal breaker for some. Additionally, while characters are unlocked on weekly rotation to try for free, to unlock them permanently requires collecting crystals, the in game currency.

This is hardly a challenge when you start. At low ranking each match yields a hundred crystals or more, and starter characters like Lilith are fairly inexpensive. But once you reach the status of Lord and King, collecting crystals becomes a grind.

This is the nature of nearly all mobile games, however. If you dont want to grind your way through it, you can always spend money to buy characters and various cosmetic items. Ive bought a few things myself, but thats because I feel the game deserves the profit.

Hopefully youll feel that way when you try it. If you enjoy 3rd person shooters and other battle royale games, you should definitely give Ride Out Heroes a shot. Its a truly unique experience on mobile and in the genre.

Riot Games presents its new champion, Sett, The Boss. With a new Aphelios still in town, the California company seems to have no intention of slowing down and has already revealed the next champion we will see on Summoners Rift shortly. In fact, Sett is already available in the Trial Kingdom (TRP) of the title, so we already know about his skills, looks, and playability.

Sett is a half-breed between human and vastaya and is also a fearsome master of organized crime in the nation of Ionia, forging his throne in the world of organized crime with an iron fist. This introduction comes shortly after the recent release of Aphelios, the new multi-skilled champion who had left League of Legends fans speechless.

Sett is a Vi, Darius, or Garen style fighter (bruiser) who uses his fists exclusively to get rid of enemy champions. His style is reminiscent of some Tekken franchise fighters, as well as wrestling shows. So much so, that his ultimate is a purer WWE-style finisher. Pay attention to Setts skills. By the way, The Boss doesnt use manna.

Passive

Basic Sett attacks alternate between a left and a right fist, always starting with the left. Attack speed increases punch speed. left fists deal normal damage, while right fists are faster and deal more damage. in addition, Sett gains additional health regeneration for every 5% of health he lacks.

If Sett has not thrown a right punch for 2 seconds after hitting with his left fist, his next punch will be a left punch. The attack speed of a left punch is the same as Setts normal attack speed, while the right punch is 8 times faster.

[Q]

Sett gets 30% movement speed for 1.5 seconds if he moves in the direction of an enemy champion. The next two basic Sett attacks deal additional physical damage.

[W]

Passive: Sett stores 100% of the damage received up to a maximum of X (50% of its maximum life). This amount decreases every 4 seconds after receiving damage.

Active: Sett throws a large punch in the chosen direction, expending all accumulated damage to deal true damage to enemies in the centre of the ability. All other enemies take physical damage. In addition, Sett gains a shield that decays rapidly for 2 seconds based on the amount of damage he has dealt with.

[E]

Sett stamps on enemies on either side of him, dealing physical damage and slowing them down by 50% for 0.5 seconds. If Sett grabs at least two enemies on each side, all affected enemies are stunned for 1 second.

[R]

Sett grabs an enemy champion, throws him into the air and then stamps him on the ground. All enemies within the impact zone take physical damage and are slowed by 99% for 1.5 seconds. As mentioned, Sett is now available in the Test Kingdom and will arrive at the official server shortly. They say hes Dravens secret son. Hes certainly got skills.

Sett proves to be a much more direct character in comparison. A short-range fighter designed to destroy everything in the top lane of the map, with movements that can easily knock out rivals.

For players who like outlandish appearances, Sett will have them satisfied, being essentially a very conceited and petulant character, although secretly a moms son, by uploading his photo to one of his emotes.

And if you are still are having struggles with this champion, you can head on to Hero Boosting and ask them for help! They have an awesome elo boost service, with solo or duo queue option, to help you have the best Sett performance possible. They have been helping with maintaining our blog alive. So please check their website, and see for yourself how amazing their lol boost service is. You won’t regret it.

I’ve slept with everyone in this game. I’ve slain dozens and dozens of Spartans and Athenians alike. I’ve climbed every Synchronization spot. I’ve taken a few photos. I’ve silently decimated entire forts, filled with patrolling guards, in minutes. And I’ve found the hidden secrets to the ancients that only die-hard AC fans will appreciate. This game is amazing

But I’m not here to review a game that is almost a year old. Nope. This is about my time with a game I can’t seem to stop playing. My time in a game world that continues to amaze me with its breathtaking visuals. It’s what every game should aspire to be; fun. Something quite antithetical to last years biggest game, Red Dead Redemption 2. And while the story and characters in that game were top-tier, it just wasn’t a whole lot of fun to play.

I’m not here to bash on RDR 2. Nope. That game is special and I have every intention of revisiting that world again. Its level of care and detail is staggering. I respect great storytelling. I’m a writer, so great dialogue gets me going. And I finished that game because of those things. But it was in spite of poor gameplay. And that’s what keeps me glued to AC Odyssey long after it came out.

I bought the season pass about a month after the game launched. I do this every time. I buy the newest Ubisoft game (more on them in a minute), play it for a week or so, and then fall in love with their world-building. They throw a splash screen on my game suggesting I save 20% on the season pass, and then I buy it. They were right all along. Thank you, Ubisoft. The content on this pass was well worth the money. I like getting content that enriches the lore. And AC games have so much of it that I need that extra stuff. I even watch YouTube videos to make sure I have my timelines correct. I’m a true video game nerd, and I don’t give a fuck.

But this is a game that shines in its gameplay above all else. Everything simply works. It’s like listening to Apple people extol the virtues of why iPhone is better than Android; my phone just works, they say. And if we can use the RDR 2 and AC Odyssey parallel in the same way, the latter works in ways that the former does not. Control. Control. Control. There’s a breezy weightlessness to moving around ancient Greece. Alexios glides through towns. He runs everywhere. He even mounts his horse automatically if it comes running by him. I strike from the shadows with precision. I hide amongst the bushes, unseen, with almost no effort. I feel like an assassin. And when it’s time to bash skulls, My sword and heavy ax are both just a button press away. I switch to my bow with almost no thought. The challenge becomes my skill level. Am I taking advantage of what the developers wanted from me? Is the combat strategic and fun, like intended? For me, this is an easy answer; it’s yes!

But this has all been discussed by better writers than me. The reviews have been very good on this game from the beginning, garnering an impressive 87 on Metacritic amongst critics, but a very disparate 5.8 from the user base. I guess everyone else didn’t find this game as much fun. But their joy is not my joy. And hence the need to share this story with you.

At the end of the day, I’ve enjoyed each moment I’ve spent in Ancient Greece. And at the end of the day, that’s all that really matters

Frostpunk has received plenty of praise since it was released. The Bafta-nominated PC game from 11 Bit Studios proved that there is still a spark of creativity left in the gaming world. For the ones that may not know what Frostpunk is here is a brief introduction:

Frostpunk is a city-builder survival game in which the player must help a small village survive extreme temperatures that go way below freezing point. Visuals are stunning, game mechanics are punishing, and the difficulty will prove to be quite challenging.

There have been rumors back in 2018 that Frostpunk will come to consoles in early 2019. No official source confirmed the information and with the new announcement from 11 Bit Studios, a release before Q3 2019 is highly unlikely.

11 Bit Studios has been quiet in terms of updates, despite the fact that there is an extensive development plan to add more features and content in the future. Recently, the silence was broken with a new announcement from the developers stating that the game will get a console version. This update means that the game will reach an even bigger audience and because there are not that many strategy games for consoles, it should harness a bit of attention from the ones that do not own a PC. Frostpunk will be ported on both the Xbox One and PlayStation 4.

While this announcement might be a good move from the developers from a financial standpoint, it does mean that new content for the PC version might be delayed. As of now, 11 Bit Studio is already working on tweaking controls and the game UI itself so that it becomes functional for controllers. Some game mechanics have been altered so that it feels more casual. More specifically, the game will automatically pause in certain situations and several other tweaks that will help the player manage less things than what it would be like on the PC version of the game. More challenging content will come in the form of custom scenarios according to 11 Bit Studios. Their main goal is to deliver a strategy came to console players that might have not experienced a strategy game yet and avoid getting frustrated playing Frostpunk.

No exact release date has been announced yet. More details are expected to be available in the following months as the development moves ahead. The game will be available with all the updates that were already released for the PC version and should be priced the same.

Following our previous Lorthars Edge vs Blink Dagger post, which you can read over here, today we want to talk about Apex Legends!

Apex Legends is a game all about movement, and the newest character to be revealed takes that very seriously. Introducing Octane, for the price of 12,000 Legend tokens or 750 Apex coins. This bug-eyed masked guy in shorts is all about speed tactics perfect if youre good at spotting opportunities quickly and would rather exploit them fast.

His tactical ability provides a six-second speed boost in exchange for a bit of health, which pairs nicely with his passive (health regen out of combat). You can charge in like a berserker when theres a brief opening, rush over to help a friend, chase someone down, run away from someone chasing you down, etc; the health regeneration encourages riskier tactics. Octanes ultimate ability is a jump pad that anyone on your team can use for a short-range leap, which is useful for gaining a better position on the field.

How does Octane compare to the rest of the roster? The closest class I can think of is probably the Wraith. The Wraith is different in the sense that her focus is on re-positioning and Octane is just about raw speed. If you think about it, shes more of a survivalist, and hes more like her offensive counterpart. Wraiths tactical move is of course also a speed boost (with invisibility), but it prevents you from attacking or even seeing the enemy. Her passive gives her the heads-up when shes targeted, but that just allows her to escape with her tactical and get in a safer position. Her ultimate likewise spawns two portals with which you can re-position. With Wraith youre always thinking about how to initiate, how to leave, and where to stand for maximum effect at the lowest risk.

Octane is sort of like the opposite. Although you can use his speed for defensive purposes, hes clearly built for a more high-risk play-style. This is the guy who charges in immediately when his opponent glances away for a second, knowing a second is all he needs. Any re-positioning you do with his ultimate is meant to help you get the drop on the enemy, rather than to help you escape, as its range is fairly limited. His tactical probably screams this most of all with the way it leverages speed for health, the quintessential no pain, no gain philosophy of combat so characteristic of berserker fighters in other games.

Given all that, I would say Octane calls for a very different mindset than Wraith does. Wraith is for the cautious player who picks her spots carefully, looking for the best advantage at the lowest risk; Octane is for the restless player with a hair trigger offence, looking for the immediate advantage and laughing at risk. This guy works best with hit-and-run tactics, as a gorilla fighter following the hard to hit, harder to evade style of combat. Use him if youre comfortable with snap decisions, reflexive thinking, and you need a character who can move fast enough to carry out your hastily concocted stratagems.

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Many people who play DotA 2 have a bad habit of always choosing Lothars Edge, or they always go Blink Dagger without thinking about why the item is a good or bad choice. Sometimes they find out later on in a game why their decision was a bad choice, but they still never learn to correct their mistake when having to decide what item to get in a game later on. Im going to give you some foundational advice on when to pick up a Blink Dagger and when to go Lothars Edge.

A lot of people have a hard time knowing when to choose Lothars Edge and when to pick up a Blink Dagger for escape and/or initiation. A good rule of thumb that I like to go by is, make sure to pay attention to if the enemy has any DoT (Damage Over Time) spells or do they have a lot of AoE (Area of Effect) spells.

If they dont have many DoT spells or AoE spells then you almost always want to get Blink Dagger (make sure you or your teammates buy sentry wards and/or dust if the enemy goes Lothars Edge and you will have them looking like a noob every time they try to gank you, otherwise Lothars Edge can counter your blink if you get caught off-guard). Blink Dagger will always be the superior item if they cant disable the cooldown on your dagger. A couple of other things to look out for is if the enemy has heroes that have long range stuns, like Earth Shakers Fissure and Monkey Kings Boundless Strike (another thing with Blink Dagger that you have to be careful with is if the enemy is going to have any natural Radiance carriers, as the AoE from Radiance can take your cooldown off if youre not careful). The AoE and DoT spells can also be devastating to you if you go Blink Dagger, but sometimes you can counter them first as long as you have a hero with good initiation and can wipe them out before they get a chance to initiate on you.

The best time to get Lothars Edge is when you can pick off any squishy supports and/or find the enemy carry in the jungle trying to get safe farm. Pay attention to where the enemy is placing sentry wards, because in the higher MMR games, the supports (if theyre good) will provide protection for their carry by placing sentry wards in the jungle and they will also be putting them there to deward their jungle so your team wont be able to have any valuable vision in their territory. Once you have Lothars Edge, you can try to pick off the enemy supports (better if you can pickoff a carry). Try to see how the game is being played out (is the enemy being aggressive or passive) and if the enemy is leaving themselves vulnerable or not to get picked off. The earlier you can pick up the Lothars Edge the better. This can cause the enemy supports to start spending a lot of gold on sentry wards and dust and delay any item they want to get to save their carry later on in the game.

I hope this gives you a better idea of when to get Lothars Edge and when to get Blink Dagger. Remember every game is situational. Sometimes Blink Dagger is a better choice (usually it is), but sometimes there might be an enemy hero that you need the Silver Edge upgrade and it will be better to farm Lothars Edge and just keep focusing on farming instead of going around ganking a bunch. Always try to pay attention to if the enemy is being passive or aggressive with their play style and adjust how you play accordingly.

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When you pick a carry hero, one of the most important parts of the games is in the beginning stage, and making sure you get enough adequate farm to get the correct items you need to kill the opposing team. Sometimes you might get stuck with a teammate that doesnt know how to support you very well in your lane, or maybe they just picked a bad laning hero and the enemy heroes are harassing you so much that you can hardly stay in the lane and get any farm. The first thing you need to learn to do is to control the creep equilibrium. This is more important in the mid lane than any other lane but its still extremely important when youre playing as the safe-lane carry.

When the game starts always try to creep-block your creeps to make the enemy creeps end up fighting your creeps close to your tower (not under the tower though, otherwise you will start pushing into their lane). If you want to bring the enemy creeps closer to your tower because you cant hit them without getting harassed, then what you can do is, stay a little bit behind your creeps and attack the enemy heroes, this will cause the enemy creeps to move past your creeps and start attacking you (also making them come closer to your tower, which will make them easier to get the last hits on).

Pulling is another effective way to get the enemy creeps closer to your tower. Hopefully your support will do this for you, but, if youre not getting any farm from your lane, sometimes its best to pull the lane yourself (you can either stack and pull, or you can do a double pull and pull both the creep camps that are closest to your tower). Be careful if you do the double pull as if the enemy team has any experience at all they can come and try to harass you or steal some of the neutral camps that you pulled. The stack and pull method is the best way to pull but takes a little longer to setup as you have to stack first before you can pull.

Depending on your hero, if you arent getting great farm in your lane, its important to watch the mini-map and pay attention to any enemy heroes (especially squishy support heroes) that have low health and can easily be finished off with one of your skills or with your ulti). Be careful though because if you leave your lane too much you will lose out on valuable experience in the lane and you have to have a good balance of gold and experience to be effective in the late game. Staying by the tower and pulling the enemy creeps closer to your tower to get last hits is often the best strategy so you can soak up experience, but is not always the case (especially if youre going against a tri-lane and theyre making farming impossible for you).

The last way to get really good farm, is getting some lifesteal and heading to the neutral camps. The most ideal situation is your supports will buy wards for you so you can farm the neutrals without getting ganked, but when you get into the higher MMR games, you need to sometimes ward yourself (if your teammates arent doing it for you) as the supports on the other team will most likely be warding and dewarding your territory so they can try to gain control of the map.

Remember farming is just half the battle, paying attention to what the enemies items are and building the most effective items to win the game is the other half of the battle. Give your team the biggest chance of winning by giving yourself as much gold as possible is the first half to winning the game. Item prioritization and knowing when to join the battle and also what heroes to take out first is the other part to helping your team win the game.

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Enter the Gungeon is tough, like really tough. Itll chew you up and spit you out in a hailstorm of bullets with no obligation to fight fair. Through its lead-lined walls lies a challenge that even the veterans struggle with. So why is dying over and over so much fun?

Difficulty in games, no matter how you look at it, has changed over the years. The entire purpose of arcade machines was to take as many quarters as possible from their unsuspecting victims. They had to be difficult in order to fulfill their purpose but despite that, they still remain some of the most influential titles to date. ETG falls under the same category for me as the difficulty it shares with most others from the roguelike genera simply is another defining feature that makes it what it is. With over 170 hours in the game, I can conclusively say that it just wouldnt be the same without the grind for perfection. The constant battle to get a few rooms farther than last time is made fresh by the stedy tricle of progress letting you know you are in fact getting somewhere. Its a formula thats still being perfected by these types of games but when done right, its a satisfaction thats impossible to recreate without the brutal challenge.

A common argument for the addition of easier modes in many modern games stems from the belief that games should be accessible to everyone. Despite it, however, were starting to see that some of the most iconic games to come out in recent years, those by FromSoftware and indie devs, come about with any attempt to reforge their creations into something theyre not. In the absence of the easy mode is the proverbial get good, that is more a statement to how the games where meant to be played than anything else. Their design is that the player should throw themselves at the wall so many times that failure no longer fazes them. This core ideology works perfectly with the Gungeon as only a skill set committed to muscle memory will allow you access to its deepest depths. It, while still having a story to uncover, works by allowing the player to create their own tales in the madness of the shootout. Its not hard to see why such a following has congregated around the game in recent years, its impossible to ignore the call of the Gungeon.

Epic received a lot of hate for making their own store and launcher. The complaint from gamers comes from the fact that there are already too many launchers and clients, as well as too many login credentials to remember.

As if the feedback from the community was not enough, Epic decided to make another move that will cause an even bigger outbreak of hate. Epic announced the acquisition of Rocket League developer Psyonix. While the deal itself has not been finalized, the community already manifested their outrage.

The vast majority of Rocket League players come from Steam. As the Epic Games Store is considered direct competition to Steam, multiple online news outlets spread rumors that the game will be removed from Steam and offered online via the Epic client. The internet refused to remain silent and Epic started getting even more negative attention.

In an effort to remove any kind of unfounded rumors, Epic announced that there are currently no plans to remove the game from Steam. The announcement was made over Twitter. Epic also confirmed that they will continue to sell the game over Steam. To be noted that the deal is not yet finalized. The transaction should be closed by the end of May or early June. Also, the game is expected to be available on the Epic Store, but it is not yet confirmed if there will be cross-platform support and matchmaking once the acquisition is finalized.

Psyonix had a recent QA on the Rocket League website and addressed some of the questions from the players and the community in general. According to Psyonix, the game will not change and will continue to offer support for the players. The acquisition enables them access to new resources for esports events and a wider reach to an even bigger audience outside of Steam. Psyonix has collaborated with Epic in the past on Gears of War as well as Unreal Tournament. After the acquisition is finalized, the developer will remain in its San Diego studio where it currently has 132 employees.

The continuous discontent towards Epic comes after the community found their client to be mining Steam data and sending it back to Epic. Things got worse as multiple users reported issues with the Epic refund policy which appears to have some issues and not refunding the full amount paid in some cases. Epic still struggles today as players report poor customer support and many other issues that cause the company to gain unwanted attention from the community.

Its pretty rare for a single game to grip me so much that I dedicate the bulk of my free time to it for weeks on end. As some of you may be aware, my tastes in gaming are somewhat eclectic I have a tendency to prefer slower paced titles that put less emphasis on action and more on exploration, story, or creativity/sandboxing. About a month ago I was fortunate enough to find a game that has all three: the open-world survival game Subnautica.

The general premise of Subnautica is easy to pick up: in it, you play the role of an unnamed crew member stranded alone on an ocean planet after your starship suffers a catastrophic accident. At the outset your only shelter is your damaged life pod bobbing helplessly in the water, and your only supplies are a few measly food and water rations to tide you over until youre able to find a more sustainable means of eating. From there youre tasked with diving in to the depths to find materials, salvage the the wreckage of your doomed vessel, and find a way to escape.

When the game first released on Steam Early Access in 2014 it made a modest splash (pun intended). Gamers were intrigued by the unique concept and were drawn in by the beautiful art style and heavy emphasis on exploration. Unfortunately, like many Early Access titles, Subnautica had a lack of content and many gamers eventually moved on to other things. However, a small but dedicated fan base stuck by and watched as Subnauticas creators (Unknown Worlds Entertainment) routinely updated the game with bug fixes, new features, and most importantly content. Fast forward to today: Subnautica is almost a complete game on the verge of announcing its official release (right now estimated for January 2018) and packed rich with features such as the ability to build custom bases and various submersible vehicles, a diverse array of alien sea life (including some truly terrifying leviathan class creatures), and a surprisingly complex story line to work through.

This is the state that I found Subnautica in: not the bare-bones just another survival game but a fully fleshed out rich environment thats truly impressive in its scope. The game map is on par with other open world games such as Skyrim, taking several minutes to traverse corner-to-corner. However you have to remember that Subnautica is underwater, which means you also have several kilometers of DEPTH to cover and explore. This leads to a world that feels staggeringly huge, and as you go deeper and deeper to discover the planets mysteries things get more difficult and threatening. Many are tempted to just stay in the shallows and enjoy the plethora of content near the oceans surface but trust me, the depths of the games story ARE worth exploring despite the risk.

I regret that I dont have the space to go in to all the great things about Subnautica, so Ill simply say this: you should definitely try it, even if youre one of the people who looked at it a few years ago and dismissed it. If youre a fan of open world exploration at all it will immediately grab hold of you and pull you in to its depths, and youll love every minute of it. If you have the time, check out my old guide on the game!

Square Enix is back with the next edition of the adrenalin-charged, free-roaming game Just Cause 4.And whats better is the fact that its scheduled release date is right around the corner 4th December 2018. This anticipated video game has some new and interesting features which appear to make it even more destructive and insane than the ones that preceded it. But is it going to be as appealing as its award-winning predecessors?

If you are still in the dark, the much hyped Overwatch upgrade (Patch 1.30) is now live. If you are still sulking over the fact that the PTR guys
are having all the fun, well the upgrade is now off the PTR and available to everyone. This version introduces a new hero- Ashe- A lethal white-haired, trigger-happy gunslinger. If you are yet to get the upgrade, you are missing out. There is a lot to be said about this new addition but let us limit this to our four favorite heroes; Symmetra, Reaper, Mercy, and Roadhog.

Patch 1.30 comes with awesome upgrades for all our heroes but true to his name, Roadhog hogged the lion’s share of the upgrades.

After the last update, you probably- like me- cursed under your breath when you saw how slowly Mercy’s Ultimate was charging. This was
because the update nerfed her base healing. In this upgrade, in response to all that, her base healing cost has been reduced by 15%. The rate of healing is now up to 60 per second instead of the 50 we luckily did not have to get used to. Mercy’s Ultimate has restored some of the strength lost in the previous upgrade and now builds up quicker than ever before.

Symmetra’s Photon Projector also performs better in this new upgrade. Despite an increase in range, however, it is still a little challenging to use. Her primary beam helps the experience by charging up to 20% faster. She now gets to her full damage potential much faster and that is a welcome addition. Reaper’s ability (life steal) has been boosted to 30% from the previously (I admit still awesome) 20%. His Hellfire shotgun is also now more consistent and its spread tighter in this new upgrade making Overwatch all the more impressive.

Let us now move on to the star of the improvements, Roadhog. Weve all had issues with Roadhog’s Chain Hook, Blizzard heard us loud and clear. For starters, the cooldown is now immediate with every use. It was previously dependent on Roadhogs proximity to the hook target but not anymore, it does not wait for the target to be reeled in. The hook also slows down targets more when it lands and takes significantly less time to reel them in. The delay before reeling in a target is now 0.3 seconds- all the way down from 0.5 seconds. The change is quite noticeable. The issues with breaking when targets jump or fall behind collisions have also been addressed in the new update. Roadhogs Scrap Gun also offers more consistent damage in Patch 1.30- both the primary and alternate fire. This is because some projectiles have been moved towards the center of the Scarp Gun’s spread pattern. Finally, a bug in previous versions made close-range targets fly much further than would be ordinarily expected. Here is where I tip the hat to Blizzard. They fixed the bug but retained much of the knockback burst effect because we loved it!

So in a nutshell, Patch 1.30 will be the talk of the town for quite some time because Blizzard has not only fixed the overall game performance, our heroes are now better than ever.

Also, a friendly reminder that Boosting Hero has extended their Christmas promotion into the new year! Visit their site to find our more about their Overwatch boosting services!

Before we talk about the event itself, allow us to shamelessly plug our partners Christmas promotion! Boosting Hero is offering some XMAS specials for their Overwatch Boost services, just head on over to their site to find out more!

As the holidays begin to approach, Overwatch is once again hosting their annual winter-themed event, Winter Wonderland. During the month of December, players can participate in event-specialized modes of gameplay, and have the chance of earning holiday-based skins. Overwatch players are anxiously awaiting for the onset of the Winter Wonderland event, taking place on December 11th this year.

Holiday easter eggs, and other winter-inspired decorations are sprawled across the maps Blizzard World, Hanamura, and Kings Row, hoping to add some holiday cheer.

One of the things players enjoy most about this annual event are the limited-time only modes of gameplay, only available during the month of December. The Overwatch team has announced that their main focus this year for the event is the addition of new skins, rather than new gameplay modes, so rather than adding in brand new ones, theyre adding small tweaks to modes added in past years. One of them, Meis Snowball Offensive, consists of two teams of 6, pitted against one another in a snowball fight, and each player is eliminated individually.

The other, Yetis Hunter, places five players against one, and includes asymmetric player battles. The Yeti must gather meat in order to become more powerful against the other players. Once the player has collected enough meat, they have the ability to release a powerful rage, and gain immunity from the players freeze attack, along with several other bonuses.

The Meis objective in this game mode is to track down the yeti and destroy it before it has the chance to consume enough meat and unlock the power ups.

Another popular part of the event are the newly available skins. Something new added this year is the ability to earn skins from previous Winter Wonderland events. These skins, available in loot boxes, are cheaper than loot boxes containing items from this years event.

Some of the newly available skins added include a legendary snowboarding skin for Zarya. Another one, Arctic Fox Lucio, will be available later this month.

The most recent skin released is for Blizzards character Marcy, which consists of a Sugar Plum Fairy inspired ensemble. Rather than being dressed in white, Marcys new skin is dressed in shades of purples, greens, and magentas. Instead of the usual halo placed on top of her head, Marcys been given a curved crown, one thats reminiscent of a fairy, or nymph. Also her ears have been given points to further add to her new role as a winter-themed pixie.

Players continue to wonder if the games newest character, Ashe, will also be given a winter makeover. As an automatic rifle wielding character, players hope to see the rifle impacted by the skin as well, whether it be a color change or an extra feature.

Blizzard has also recently announced that the newest skin theyll be adding, Figure Skater Symmetra, will be available on Tuesday. The skin consists of a green figure skater dress, along with a bedazzled head piece. Its been announced that the skin will cost 3,000 credits, being a legendary skin, if players wish to immediately give Symmetra a new look.

It must sound fun for many individuals to hear that a person can bring home a living out of making a video game review. What people dont understand is that creating a game review is similarly as hard as any job out there. Regardless of whether you just plan to make a review for casual games or much browser games, it will in any case set aside some opportunity to make a quality review. There are sure regions that you just need to focus your energy on with the end goal to make a sensible review of the game. Here are steps on the most proficient method to make a video game review.

Research About The Game.

It is imperative to incorporate into your review what type of game you are reviewing. Its additionally valuable to tell your readers when the game was discharged and on which platforms. Recount a little about the story or plot of the game, however, dont ruin the peruser on imperative events.

Play the Game.

You need to get a few hands-on experiences of the game. You should focus on the accompanying regions:

Gameplay In this criteria, you can say in regards to how fun the game is, the means by which difficult it is and what kind of adversaries youd experience and even what a number of levels there are in the game. You can give a few hints and tricks on the best way to play the game. Its additionally helpful to enlighten the peruser something regarding the one of a kind features of a game, for example, if the game backings daily and night system, joining items to make new items, online mode.

Graphics Mention specifically how the game resembles. Is it 2D or 3D? There are different sorts of 2D games like platform, isometric, side looking over. The equivalent goes for 3D games. Focus on subtle elements, for example, the character appearances and movement, tell the peruser how you acknowledge or scorn them. Compliment on the visual effects, for example, the glow of flame or shadows in dungeons.

Music or Sound Some people are simply fans of the games arranger from different games and that may very well intrigue your readers. Portray the type of music played all through the game like is it rock, western, ditty. Depict how sound effects help in playing the game or how it isnt helping the player endure.

Controls You can consolidate this with the gameplay classification however it wont hurt to make an uncommon area on how the control system functions. You can begin with the standard equipment required to play the game like a mouse, joystick or DPad and remark on how the controls are set up naturally and if the controls are adjustable. In a few games like blaze games, you can incorporate sound and screen configuration under controls.

Replay Value If you can make reference to if there are unlockable modes after beating the game then this would post a high enthusiasm for the peruser. For instance, on RPG games side missions are extremely average beside overcoming the last manager. An RPG that doesnt have a side mission is poor in this class. Castlevania games like Symphony of the Night and Castlevania Order of Ecclesia have great replay values.

Score the Game Based on the above criteria, its likewise helpful to score the game. This is on the grounds that a few readers dont have the tolerance of perusing the whole review and simply searching for a type of the second opinion of whether the game is great or not. Scores are made only for this reason. You can utilize measurements, for example, a size of 1 to 5 or a size of 1 to 10 or even out and out words, for example, amazing, great or awful.

Finally, tell your general experience of the game. Do you have a fabulous time and would you prescribe to your readers to get it?

Is Overwatch Going Free-To-Play? Blizzard might be faced with some hard-hitting news: They may be forced to make Overwatch free-to-play. How could this be? Well, we already know that China has some pretty strict laws and regulations about the ability to purchase loot boxes. Since gambling is absolutely illegal in the nation, the Chinese officials have had to find a workaround with Blizzard so that Chinese citizens can still buy loot boxes. When you purchase a loot box in China, you are given more descriptive information about what’s inside of it, as well as the statistics of receiving a certain item, so that you are not forced to gamble. Even in virtual reality, gambling is illegal, it seems.

Could those same types of laws and regulations be coming to the United States? Well, they very well could, if the voice of the State of Hawaiis Representative, Chris Lee, is heard loud enough. Representative Chris Lee is proposing two loot box bills to the U.S. House and Senate. In these bills, he proposes an end to the ability to legally purchase a game featuring loot boxes. Lee believes that this is an exploitative measure that costs gamers too heavily and takes away enjoyment of the game. Lee is quoted to have said, “I grew up playing video games my whole life. I’ve watched in firsthand the evolution of the gaming industry from one that creates new things to one that’s started to exploit [people], especially children, to maximize their own profits”.

If the bill were to pass, that would mean that any purchasable game involving loot boxes such as Overwatch, Call of Duty WW2, and Star Wars: Battlefront 2 would be forced to go free-to-play, or else they’d have to get rid of their loot box system entirely. This is an unprecedented measure in the gaming industry. It’s always a scary (and highly fascinating) moment when the video game industry gets in conflict with a national government. And now, it’s the United States’ turn to face the fire.

This could be a potential blow to Blizzard’s profits, and it can even cause the popularity of Overwatch to dwindle as a whole. If one or both of the proposed bills were to pass, what could this mean for Blizzard? Is Blizzard prepared to make some major changes to Overwatch and the loot box system? What other creative ways can they offer loot box prizes to dedicated players without having to make the entire game free-to-play? This week will certainly be an interesting test of Overwatch’s popularity. During the Lunar New Year event, there will be a small free-to-play event in which players can experience all aspects of the game even the special game modes during the event without having to pay. Perhaps this is a way to subtly test what the environment would be like if Overwatch were a free-to-play game. What do you think?

Its been about sixteen years since MechWarrior 4: Mercenaries was released in the US. Ever since, fans of the robot-piloting sim have been sitting on their hands waiting for a true successor. In 2013 we got MechWarrior Online, but it wasnt quite the same. Thankfully, the end is in sight: last year we learned that Piranha Games (the current owners of the franchise) is working on a MechWarrior 5, slated to be released some time in 2018. Last year they released a small gameplay trailer showing off some of the gorgeous new graphics of the updated game, but little else. Piranhas been pretty tight-lipped since then, but after a year of waiting theyve finally given us a little more: just today we received a new teaser along with a few details about the new game.

Out of those details, probably the most exciting thing to learn is that MW5 is going to feature (and apparently heavily emphasis) four-person co-op play. As some older gamers may be aware, in previous incarnations of MechWarrior all of your teammates were firmly under computer control. Now, with MW5, those AI allies will be replaced with your actual, human friends (no word on what will happen if you cant muster 4 friends to play with Im just speculating but I assume AI control is still an option).

The other big news that was included in the announcement is that there will be support for mods via Steam Workshop, meaning that even after the base campaign is complete well still be treated to a steady stream of new content thanks to the fan community.

The rest of the details announced are fairly sparse, but still pretty juicy. Supposedly the game is based around running your own mercenary company its not exactly clear what that means or how involved it will be, but its definitely intriguing. For those of you wondering where the game fits in to the larger Battletech time line, its reportedly set around 3015 during the Clan invasion.

The trailer doesnt disclose all that much either (it is just a teaser, after all). The video opens with a slow pan through a mech hangar (it appears to be the same hangar from last years trailer). As we get some gorgeous vanity shots of all the mechs standing in their respective bays, we listen to a voice recording apparently addressed to the player character from their parents. The recording seems to be an audio-will, complete with the classic if youre listening to this it means were dead trope. All of this is meant to imply that your deceased parents are apparently handing their mercenary company to you, the player. After the voice over the trailer then shifts to quick cuts of gameplay, in all their bot-destroying glory. It doesnt really explain much of anything, but after a year of silence its definitely welcome.

The Early Access title Subnautica is just on the verge of being released, expected to hit 1.0 some time early in 2018. Now is a great time to dive in to the underwater open-world survival sim, or to get back in to it if you were one of the gamers who took a peek at it a few years ago. The game can be a little daunting at the beginning, though, especially if youre new to survival games in general. Thats why Ive compiled a short guide to help you make the most of your undersea adventures. Be advised that while Im trying my best not to ruin the plot, a few small spoilers may still slip in.

The guide is mainly going to focus on the start of the game: youre stranded in the middle of a vast ocean, floating in a damaged life pod, with a vast array of strange and intimidating alien sea life swimming around you. Youve managed to put out the fire that was raging inside your pod, but what do you do now?

The goal of the beginning of the game is to secure your survival by finding a sustainable source of food and water and constructing a more permanent shelter for yourself. Inside your lifepod is a small storage compartment with a tiny cache of goodies to help you get started: some fresh water, a few nutrient blocks, and some flares that can serve as a temporary light source. More importantly, hanging on your wall is a medkit fabricator: this device will spawn a fresh first aid kit for you once every game day (about 30 minutes or so). However, it wont spawn a new kit if theres still one sitting in the dispenser, so I recommend you check it regularly to help build up a backlog of medkits for emergency use.

These supplies only help you get started, though in order to REALLY survive on this planet, youre going to need to head out in to the water to gather materials. These materials can then be fed in to the fabricator hanging in your life pod in order to craft useful tools. A lot of raw minerals such as copper, quartz, and the like can be found by looking for small rocks called outcroppings on the ocean floor. Tapping these rocks will cause them to break open, revealing a mineral within. One of the core resources youll need is titanium its necessary for crafting nearly every component in the game. Luckily, it happens to be one of the most abundant and easiest to find you can get single pieces of titanium from rock outcroppings or retrieve metal salvage, which your fabricator can break down in to 4 titanium a pop. While youre out there dont forget to catch smaller fish such as the Peeper and the Bladderfish, which can be converted in to food and water, respectively.

Once you start collecting resources its important to use them wisely by crafting the most essential tools first. One of the first things youre going to want to create is the survival knife. Not only is it one of the games only weapons, but its also essential for harvesting resources from certain plants and animals. Next youre going to want to craft a scanner: this tool allows you scan plants and animals you come across to learn up on the games lore, but more importantly it lets you scan wrecked equipment scattered around the seabed, which unlocks fabricator blueprints for more complex (and more helpful!) tools. After the scanner youre going to want the repair tool as the name implies it repairs damaged equipment such as the radio on your lifepod (hint hint!). Lastly, youre going to want to build the Habitat Builder its essentially a handheld fabricator that allows you to craft the various rooms and connecting tubes of your very first underwater seabase.

Once youve gotten to the point that you can construct your own habitat your survival should be sustainable and you should be able to start exploring the world and pursuing the games story in earnest.

Surprise runaway hit PUBG (PlayerUnknowns Battle Ground) has announced that its adding a new map in an upcoming update. The new map, called Erangel, is in many ways the complete opposite of the Miramar map that players have been familiar with since the games inception. Erangel features a sparse desert setting as opposed to Miramars more forrested environment, but theres still plenty of towns dotting the map where players can find loot and secure strategic vantage points against their competitors. According to the announcement new weapons and vehicles will also be included in the update.

The Erangel map appears to be designed to force PUBG veterans to rethink their favorite strategies. Thanks to the desert setting most of the map is devoid of trees or any other cover that players may be used to, thus encouraging players to seek out one of the numerous towns (featuring structures such as casinos, railyards, and construction sites). The towns also tend to feature unique tactical advantages. For instance, the town of Valle del Mar sports a bridge which the developers say is the only direct route between mainland and the island.

As for new items, it appears well be getting a new weapon and two new vehicles. The weapon in question is the Win94 rifle, which appears to be modeled after a classic Winchester. The two new vehicles are a humble pickup truck and the Aquarail, which appears to be some kind of small watercraft that looks almost like a wood-paneled jetski. Theres no word yet on any detailed specifications for the new items, although there has been confirmation that the Win94 and the pickup truck will be exclusive to the Erangel map (on the flip side, it has also been confirmed the Aquarail will be available on both maps).

PUBG came out of nowhere in March 2017 when Brendan Greene (known by his online handle PlayerUnkown) created a mod for ARMA 2, turning it in to a Battle Royale game. This unique style of gameplay drops a large group of online players (in PUBGs case, 100) on to a large map, where they then scavenge for weapons and supplies and try to take out their opponents. The goal of the game is to be the last person (or last team) alive. Every few minutes the game shrinks the playable area, forcing players to abandon hiding places and confront their opponents head on until a winner is determined.

The games popularity has absolutely exploded, thanks in no small part to the staggering amount of Twitch streams showcasing the game as audiences cheer their favorite streamers on. Because of this, its entirely likely that PUBG or something like it may very well become the next hot e-Sport, following in the tradition of games like Overwatch and League of Legends. The game has long since abandoned its mod status and has become a full-fledged game in its own right, despite still technically being in Early Access. Official release is currently planned on PC for some time late 2017, and console ports are expected soon thereafter.