Author: Donster

By Jim Moreno @ The Wargamer

Rising Storm 2: Vietnam recently held it’s final (7th) closed beta test wave, which focused on another round of bug fixes and balance tweaks based on beta tester feedback from the previous 6 waves. Beta testers have now fallen back to the rear while we await official deployment of the Antimatter Games / Tripwire Interactive / Iceberg Interactive Vietnam War-themed multiplayer tactical FPS, currently scheduled for Q2 2017.

The work the devs have put into RS2V between the beta waves is astounding, to say the least. The list is way too massive to list here, but you can read the changelog for all the details. After my enlistment time in the 7th beta wave, I can emphatically say that RS2V will be a significantly better run through the jungle than anything previous.

Read on…

Eugen Systems and Paradox are Locked and Loaded with their Newest Bombshell 

Paradox Interactive, a publisher known for shooting from the hip, today released Steel Division: Normandy 44, a tactical real-time strategy (RTS) game from Eugen Systems, for Windows PCs. Steel Division: Normandy 44, made by the creators of Wargame and R.U.S.E, welcomes players to the world of 1944 World War II-era warfare with detailed and historically accurate weapons, tanks and troops. Players must use their tactical know-how to outmaneuver and outgun the enemy in big multiplayer battles, or go it alone in a hardcore single-player campaign.

Steel yourself for war with a new trailer, available here.

Lead legendary divisions from six different countries, such as the American 101st Airborne, the German Armored 21st Panzer, or the 3rd Canadian Division, all based on their actions and capabilities during the invasion of Normandy in 1944. Take command of over 400 units armed to the teeth with historically accurate weaponry. Maneuver your troops and push the front line against the enemy in multiplayer battles that feature ranked matches of up to 10-vs-10. Coordinate your selections of infantry, tanks and aircraft to create the ultimate military force and counter the enemy’s units.

Your war chest of features include:

• Real-world Tactics: Battles accurately reflect the movement of real-world armies with different units that unlock over time. A dynamic front line illustrates the ebb and flow of the conflict as you strategically corner your opponent’s infantry to gain the advantage and force a retreat, or fall back to regroup.
• Deep Strategy: Players have control over everything from battlegroups to troop positioning and maneuvering — winning battles will call for more than just brute force, requiring real cunning and strategy. Each lost unit presents a growing tactical advantage for your opponent, and players will need to fight to gain — and keep — the upper hand.
• Real-world Setting: Seamlessly control a tactical aerial view to monitor your armies down to a single unit using the latest version of Eugen’s IRISZOOM engine. With 400 different real-world vehicles and units designed with careful detail, Steel Division boasts textbook-ready historical accuracy including maps based on actual aerial reconnaissance photos of Normandy in 1944.

For more information on Steel Division: Normandy 44, visit the games official website.

By Alice O’Connor @ Rock, Paper, Shotgun

It’s not only French and Russian soldiers who were left out of World War 1 in Battlefield 1 [official site] for later appearances in paid expansions: women are coming in DLC too. Soldiers from the 1st Russian Women’s Battalion of Death will serve as the multiplayer Scout class for the Russian forces coming later this year in the expansion In the Name of the Tsar, DICE have revealed. They look pret-ty gnarly all right but it’s such a shame they’re limited to paid DLC.

DICE don’t have much more to say for now, instead pointing people towards EA’s big E3 livestream presentation EA Play on June 10th. Okey cokey.

Supposedly DICE did originally plan to include women soldiers in Battlefield 1 then changed their minds. Bedouin rebel Zara Ghufran is playable in part of the game’s singleplayer campaign but the plan was to have female soldiers in multiplayer too.

Read more…

By Thomas Soderstrom @ Tom’s Hardware

With a specifications sheet that reads like a geek’s wish list, Biostar’s Z270GT9 should be selling like hotcakes by now. Perhaps the reason we’re not hearing more from readers about this board is that many haven’t realized yet that the $330 version has a factory-installed 256GB Intel 600p M.2 SSD? Perhaps it’s because the $240 version (without SSD) never came to market? And if we simply subtract the price of the SSD from the price of the board, we’re left with a motherboard that costs less than its onboard 10Gb/s Ethernet solution. What a deal, right?

Read The Review Here

By Hilbert Hagedoorn @ Guru3D

Cooler Master has something to celebrate and as such released the Cosmos II 25th Anniversary Edition. The chassis with its familiar looks is an Ultra tower, yep 70 cm / 28″ in height. It looks, feels and breathes the same stuff same as the 2012 model but now comes with a long requested feature as it is a tempered glass side panel version. This unit houses the biggest big XL-ATX motherboards and comes with brushed aluminum side panels; unlock and swing them open like doors instead of panels. Yeah, the 25th Anniversary feel is already kicking in, isn’t it?

Read The Review Here

Check out these latest hardware announcements for today from around the web. Also included are some hardware news bits, and on some days, a few rumors tossed in for good measure. Click on the links below to read the official press release, visit the products web page, or to an independent news source.

• Cooler Master Announces COSMOS II 25th Anniversary Edition Case
• Introducing a New Range of CORSAIR LINK Fan and Lighting Controllers
• AOC Announces AGON AG251FG 240Hz G-Sync Monitor
• ASUS Launches ROG STRIX Ryzen Motherboard
• Acer Announces the Predator Z35P – 35″, 1800R, 3440*1440, G-SYNC
• FSP and Bitspower Unveil the Hydro PTM+ Liquid Cooled PSU
• EK Releasing GeForce GTX FE Full-Cover Water Blocks
• Plextor Announces M8Se Series SSD Availability
• Colorful to Showcase VulcanX and CN600 NVMe SSD at Computex
• SilentiumPC Intros Vero L2 Bronze Series PSUs
• Alphacool Intros the Eisblock XPX CPU Water Block

Tripwire Interactive is pleased to announce the official release date for Rising Storm 2: Vietnam, the sequel to the smash hit Rising Storm, PC Gamer’s 2013 ‘Multiplayer Game of the Year’. The game will be available to play at 12:00PM Pacific Time on Tuesday 30 May. Fans who pre-ordered should be able to pre-load before that. The game will also be available to buy via Steam, at a 10% discount for the day, with the Standard Edition available for $24.99 and the Digital Deluxe Edition priced at $29.99 normally.

Tripwire Interactive is also including a new “goodie” for Killing Floor 2 PC owners who pre-order or buy the Rising Storm 2: Vietnam Digital Deluxe Edition. They will receive four bonus Rising Storm 2: Vietnam themed weapons skins to use in Killing Floor 2 for the PC. Those weapon skins include the RPG-7 rocket launcher, the M16 with M203 grenade launcher attachment, the M1911 automatic pistol and the classic Lever Action Rifle. Note – the weapon skins will be available as part of Killing Floor 2’s next major update which will be announced at a later date.

Tripwire and Antimatter Games have also created and released a series of tutorial videos for Rising Storm 2: Vietnam that offer up some great insights into the various aspects of gameplay. They can be viewed here.

Rising Storm 2: Vietnam is currently under development by Antimatter Games and will be published by Tripwire Interactive for PC.

Stay up-to-date with the latest Rising Storm 2: Vietnam news and information at the games official website.

Also includes original Sudden Strike Trilogy free of charge to all Steam pre-purchase customers

Kalypso Media is thrilled to announce the launch of a Steam beta testing campaign for upcoming strategy title Sudden Strike 4, available to all Steam (Windows PC) pre-purchase customers starting…now! As an added bonus, Steam pre-purchase customers will also receive immediate access to the original Sudden Strike Trilogy (worth £12.06 as a bundle or £4.49 individually per game) completely free, also launching on Steam today for the very first time, complete with new cloud saving support, giving long-time series fans a hit of nostalgia and a look at the series’ evolution to newer players.

The beta will run all the way to the game’s full release on 11th August 2017, offering pre-purchase customers a first look at Sudden Strike 4, with access to the game’s tutorial, three singleplayer missions (Battle of the Bulge, Stalingrad and Balaton Defensive Operation) and two multiplayer/skirmish maps. Testers will also have exclusive access to the Beta Test Forum on Steam, where they can submit feedback and bug reports to the developers as they continue to polish the game in the run up to launch. The beta will be available in the following languages: English, French, Italian, German, Spanish, Russian, Polish, Korean, traditional Chinese, simplified Chinese.

To celebrate the launch of the Sudden Strike 4 beta, Kalypso has released Part 4 of its ‘General’s Handbook’ video series, which goes into detail about everything players can expect to see in the beta campaign.

• Watch Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 and Part 4 of the ‘General’s Handbook’ video series
• View Sudden Strike Gold, Sudden Strike 2 Gold and Sudden Strike 3 on Steam
• View the Sudden Strike Trilogy bundle on Steam here

About Sudden Strike 4
Developed as a fully-fledged series entry and not a remake or reboot, Sudden Strike 4 sends you off on three extensive campaigns set amongst the battlefields of World War II. Commanding the British and American, German or Soviet troops, you will lead over 100 different units into battle, including the German bomber Heinkel He111, the Russian T-34 tank, the British Hawker Typhoon fighter plane and the notorious German Panzerkampfwagen VI Tiger. In a first for the Sudden Strike series, you can now choose from one of nine individual commanders, such as George Patton or Bernard Montgomery, who will each allow for different approaches to combat and boast unique abilities.

Prove your tactical expertise in over 20 demanding single player scenarios, the challenge-focused skirmish mode, and the competitive multiplayer mode. A new reward system rewards clever and tactical play, awarding the player with skill points and bonus content, such as historical film footage of the era.

By Hilbert Hagedoorn @ Guru3D

We review the Plextor M8Se 512GB SSD. Armed with stylish looks, proper cooling and using a fast M2 SSD as basis this new storage unit uses the NVMe express (NVME) protocol and that means storage technology at terrific speeds while remaining competitive in pricing.

Read The Review Here

Source: TechPowerUp!

NVIDIA today released its latest GeForce “Game Ready” drivers. The new GeForce 382.33 WHQL drivers come game-ready for the week’s big game releases – “Tekken 7,” and “Star Trek Bridge Crew.” It also addresses bugs such as Windows Store not opening on Windows 10 Creators Update with 3D Vision enabled on TITAN X; stuttering noticed in “Prey” with GTX 1080 Ti, extended monitors not drifting into Sleep in Windows 10 Creators Update with GTX 1070, and GTX 970 SLI machines not being able to toggle SLI unless Norton 360 is disabled or Windows is booted into “Safe Mode.”

You can download the new GeForce 382.33 WHQL drivers from GeForce Experience and GeForce.com.