order-of-battle-red-steelSet between January 1942 and April 1943, Order of Battle: Red Steel covers the battles of the Soviet Union at the most crucial moment of World War II, and it is out now on PC and Mac. Watch the new gameplay trailer HERE.

After slowing down Operation Barbarossa, the Red Army has launched a series of counter-offensives during the winter. Losses in terms of men and materials are horrendous on both sides. German high command has a new, ambitious plan to renew its offensive in the coming spring. Can the Red Army stop the Wehrmacht and save the Motherland?

Red Steel is Order of Battle’s second DLC, focusing on the German invasion of Russia. After the initial German success seen in the Red Star DLC, it’s now time for the counterattack.

You can now purchase OT-34 flame tanks, T-70 light and KV-1 m1942 heavy tanks, improved 45mm 1942 AT guns, and the new ZiS-3 field gun which can also be used in an AT role. In the air, you’ll need the improved models of aircraft like Yak-9D and La-5F fighters, or Il-2M or Pe-2FT tactical bombers to keep up with the Luftwaffe.

But the enemy is also fielding brand new equipment: the Germans have new and improved Panzer 38 G, Panzer IV G, and Bf-110 G vehicles. Their Romanian allies now deploy R-2 tanks and IAR-80 fighters, whilst the Hungarians are using a derivative of the Italian Reggiane 2000 fighter under the name MAVAG Heya, plus more equipment from Germany.

Don’t forget that you’re still in time to take advantage of the Order of Battle sale, lasting until Monday! You can see all the offers here.

To mark this milestone, World of Tanks invites its community of 160 million registered players to join the party!

After a decade of entertaining commanders across the world, Wargaming is pleased to announce that World of Tanks is starting the official celebration of its 10th anniversary. Running across four months, the anniversary celebrations will give players a plethora of surprises to get involved in – including several exciting thematic activities, throwbacks and missions, culminating in a big event in August.

Watch the 10th Anniversary: Surprises, Rewards, Nostalgia Trailer HERE.

Since its inception 10 years ago, World of Tanks has released thousands of features, unleashed hundreds of events, launched 11 nations and 600 vehicles, and garnered over 160 million registered players globally in the process. Thanks to the ardent support of its close-knit community, the game has been recognized in other ways too, with 4 Golden Joystick award wins and a Guinness World Record for the most players simultaneously logged on to an MMO server.

Speaking of the anniversary and the party to come, Max Chuvalov, Publishing Director of World of Tanks said:

For the team and I, the past 10 years have allowed us to make more than a successful game – it has seen the formation of one big, global family. On behalf of the World of Tanks team, I want to say a heartfelt thank you to our players over the years. You’ve stuck with us through different stages of the game’s development and helped us to create one of the most impactful MMOs in the gaming history. As a reward, we have prepared a lot of exciting activities and additions, things that will surprise and please you – all in celebration of 10 amazing years. And remember, together, we can continue to create amazing experiences. So, let the party begin!

World of Tanks will be hosting exciting activities made up of five thematic Acts starting from April 22. These Acts correspond specifically to certain milestones within the game’s history; milestones that left their mark on commanders.

The first Act will start from April 22 at 06:30 BST through May 18 at 06:00 BST.

Players will also have the chance to vie for prizes and earn Anniversary Coins that can be exchanged for valuable items and exclusive customizations in the special in-game Anniversary Store. Prizes for completing five acts will include items such as the mind-blowing 3D style for the Т30, the legendary American Tier IX tank destroyer.

The first Act will also herald the return of General Chat. World of Tanks will bring back it for one week between April 22 at 06:30 BST through April 29 at 06:00 BST, and for Random Battles only, allowing players to rediscover the ability to sow mischief in game – by communicating with enemies as well as allies during the battle.

From Time Warps to T30 3D style, special missions, thematic Acts – this will be a birthday to remember! For more information on these events, visit the official World of Tanks Website.

MMORPGs World of Tanks | Donster | |

dcs-worldSource: Blue’s News

The Fly Everything Event for Digital Combat Simulator World mentioned on Friday is now underway. This offers the chance to test fly all the aircraft in Eagle Dynamics’ integrated flight sim roster for the next month along with the chance to buy them for half-off and support charity at the same time. Here’s the flight plan:

Dear fighter pilots, partners and friends,

The global spread of COVID-19 is affecting every single one of us. We are a people-first company, and we believe that technology can change lives and give hope. To study the virus, protect the vulnerable and beat this thing requires that we all play a part. We want to update you about what we’re doing.

Last month we gave the opportunity for all to try and test our products for a two day period at a time. This was well received and a total of over 200 thousand modules and trials were downloaded during this free event.

In view of last months response, we are pleased to announce our upcoming Free For All event, starting April 19th, where you are welcome to try any and all our products (except campaigns) for free and without limitation for one month. This unlimited access to all our suite of products, including our top fighter jets, such as the F-16C, F/A-18C and A-10C Warthog will help take your mind off things for a while, giving you the opportunity to try something new, and to own it for 50% or less than the normal price.*

We know that this is a small contribution to your personal lives but we hope that you will take full advantage of the offer and help the time fly by. In addition to this, we will be donating 10% of our net turnover generated during the event to Children First, a foundation that we have become very involved with for the past few years. This organisation supports the work of an amazing Dr Stefano Scaringella, a Capucin Priest and surgeon who has dedicated the past 40 years of his life to saving children and to promoting health in Madagascar, one of the poorest nations in the world. Please check this out, they too are hit badly and need all the help in the world: www.childrenfirst.fund

Thank you for your passion and support and stay safe.

Yours sincerely,
The Eagle Dynamics Team

Combat Flight Sim DCS World | Donster | |

tannenberg-1914-1918New Film Memoir mode in Tannenberg and Verdun on Steam

Experience the authentic WW1 shooters like in the movie reels that were made during and after the war!

Inspired by Peter Jackson’s They Shall Not Grow Old, where historical footage of the Great War was colorized, the developers of the WW1 Game Series now introduce the reverse: a black and white movie reel like experience for the squad-based first person shooter in both Tannenberg and Verdun. See the First World War as civilian audiences of the time would have done, and experience firsthand the challenges reporters would have faced in capturing powerful images in only black and white. This feature is available for all players from April 16 – 26. After that it will become a feature of the Supporter Editions.

Check out the Film Memoir mode trailer HERE.

Both Verdun and Tannenberg have a 55% discount on Steam during the event! Verdun Steam page. Tannenberg Steam page.

Capturing World War One

During 1914-1915 the equipment and use of military photographers varied widely, with countries like Germany embracing the relatively new technology while the British only employed a handful of official war photographers. However, personal cameras were beginning to become more widely available, so the official photographs didn’t have a monopoly on documenting the war – many soldiers smuggled cameras to the frontlines. From 1916 onwards, professional war photography expanded greatly, including filming for documentary or propaganda purposes.

When we think of WW1, we tend to think of it as monochrome because of the black and white images. Peter Jackson’s movie They Shall Not Grow Old served as a welcome corrective to this thanks to extensively and diligently colorized movie reels and photographs. The film offers a real insight into how the scale and human suffering of this often forgotten war would have appeared to those fighting it. Our games Tannenberg and Verdun are already in color, which gave us the opportunity to do something a little different… 

Film Memoir Mode

As an homage to the priceless original photo and movie material created by those documenting the First World War as professionals or amateurs, we’ve developed a new mode for Tannenberg and Verdun that changes the visuals and experience of the game to match what a movie of those times looked like. The Film Memoir mode is intended to be another authentic detail like those seen throughout the games, where a lot of time has been spent to ensure that weapons, uniforms and equipment are as accurate as possible. More than that, it was an opportunity to shine some light on the talent of the photographers and filmmakers who worked to document the events of 1914-1918

With Film Memoir enabled, players will see the world in high contrast black and white, with an old movie filter and sound effects layered on top to make the experience complete. The challenges of getting good photographs or film footage in black and white shouldn’t be underestimated, and now players can experience a little of that themselves. Playing the game with this authentic old movie experience activated will also give players quite a challenge – or it can be activated while observing a battle, so the perfect (camera) shots can be lined up without any worries about getting sniped.

All Verdun and Tannenberg players can enjoy this mode from April 16th until April 26th. After that it will become a feature of the Supporter Editions. Additionally, a small competition will be held during this period with prizes for the Best Short Film, Best Photograph and Best Story. All aspiring military photographers and filmmakers are encouraged to enlist today!

crysis-remasteredSource: Blue’s News

Following up on the accidental reveal mentioned earlier, Crytek now officially announces Crysis Remastered, saying the updated version of the 2007 first-person shooter is coming to PC and consoles this summer with “remastered graphics and optimizations for the latest modern hardware.” Here’s an Official Teaser Trailer, and here’s the announcement, which mentions this is being co-developed with Saber Interactive:

Crytek has announced a remaster of the classic first-person shooter Crysis will be available this summer for PC, Xbox One, PlayStation®4, and Nintendo Switch. Co-developed on CRYENGINE with Saber Interactive, Crysis Remastered features the action-packed gameplay, sandbox world and epic battles of the original blockbuster title, with remastered graphics and optimizations for the latest modern hardware.

“We are excited to be working on the Crysis franchise again, and to bring all the Crysis fans a remaster worthy of their passion for the game,” said Crytek CEO Avni Yerli. “It’s an exciting opportunity to be able to bring Crysis back to PCs and current consoles – even Nintendo Switch – so that a whole new generation of players can experience the thrill of a battle in the Nanosuit!”

Crysis Remastered will feature the original game’s single-player campaign alongside high-quality textures, an HD texture pack, improved art assets, temporal anti-aliasing, SSDO, SVOGI, state-of-the-art depth fields, new light settings, motion blur, parallax occlusion mapping, and particle effects (where applicable). Further additions like volumetric fog and shafts of light, software-based ray tracing, and screen space reflections deliver a major visual upgrade to this classic FPS experience.

The original Crysis arms players with the powerful Nanosuit on the battleground of a new war against alien invaders. The Nanosuit’s speed, strength, armor and cloaking allow creative solutions for every fight, with a huge arsenal of modular weaponry to give you incredible control over your play style. Become invisible to stalk enemy patrols, boost your strength to lay waste to vehicles, and deflect damage to dominate your enemies in this enormous sandbox world.

command-modern-operationsOn the 5th of April, 1986, terrorists detonated a bomb in a Berlin nightclub. The bomb killed 2 American soldiers and a Turkish woman and injured 229 others, 79 of whom were American.

In response, citing evidence that the government of Libya was responsible for the bombing, US president Ronald Reagan ordered airstrikes against Libya on the night of April 14/15, code-named OPERATION EL DORADO CANYON.

Kushan Gaming has something special in store for you, This Saturday, his CMO Twitch stream will be covering the Operation El Dorado, 1986 scenario, but instead of giving just 2 hours of gameplay, he will be playing in real-time, without time acceleration!

Kushan will be conducting the operations for almost 8-10 hours, covering the flight around France and Spain, the strike itself and then the path to Rota.

The show will be starting at 6 pm BST and will last until the scenario is complete. Remember to bring some coffee and good stories to tell: this will be a long ride!

Operation El Dorado Canyon, 1986 scenario has been designed by Kushan himself. He did a lot of research into the operation using multiple sources of information. The scenario recreates every aspect of the raid, including the USAF strike from the United Kingdom with its trip around France and Spain and along the north coast of Africa with multiple in-air refuellings. Also simulated is the very strict ROE the pilots had to operate under.

Find out more about Command: Modern Operations at the games official webpage.

corsair-dark-core-rgb-pro-se-gaming-mouseBy Sean Sinha @ Legit Reviews

Corsair introduced the original Dark Core RGB Wireless mouse, along with the Qi-charging capable SE counterpart, in mid-2018. While the original Dark Core RGB looked to be a Logitech G502-esque wireless offering and garnered my initial interest, I wasn’t a fan of the side button layout and the wireless connectivity left a lot to be desired when compared with mice from competing companies like Logitech and Razer. Basically, the original Corsair Dark Core RGB just couldn’t be reliably used for competitive FPS and I couldn’t recommend it to our users. Corsair took the feedback they received regarding needed improvements on the Dark Core RGB and today we are looking at the end result after implementing a few changes, the Corsair Dark Core RGB Pro SE ($89.99 shipped). Corsair has sent us the SE version of the mouse, which offers Qi charging capabilities, but is otherwise similar to the standard model.

Read the Review Here

Gaming Mice Hardware | Donster | |

nvidia-geforce-logoSource: TechPowerUp!

NVIDIA has released GeForce software version 445.87 WHQL. The drivers come game-ready for “Minecraft with RTX” beta. Optimization is also added for “Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2: Campaign Remastered,” “Saints Row: The Third Remastered,” and “SnowRunner.” Among the issues fixed are a BSOD noticed with “Rise of the Tomb Raider” in DirectX 12 mode, a black flickering in “Doom Eternal,” some DirectX 11 games failing to launch with Image Sharpening being enabled, and a graphical corruption when waking up a notebook display from sleep.

You can download the GeForce Software 445.87 WHQL drivers via GeForce.com.

Hardware Video Cards | Donster | |
Hardware | Donster | |

Free bonus singleplayer scenario brings players back to Tanoa

Bohemia Interactive today released the Arma 3 Apex: Old Man open-world singleplayer scenario for their popular military simulation sandbox game, Arma 3. This bonus scenario is free for everyone who owns the Arma 3 Apex expansion. A newly deployed trailer provides a brief impression of Old Man’s plot and setting.

In support of this release, the Arma 3 base game and all Arma 3 downloadable content packs (DLC) are on sale from today until April 21 (10:00 PST/18:00 CEST) on both Steam and the Bohemia Store, with discounts of up to 70%. The Arma 3 Apex Edition, which includes the Arma 3, Arma 3 Apex, and three extra DLC packs, provides an additional 15% bundle discount.

In Arma 3 Apex: Old Man, the player assumes the role of a retired Legionnaire living on the South Pacific island of Tanoa. When a new strain of malaria causes yet another humanitarian crisis, and local authorities fail to distribute an effective vaccine to the civilian population, “Old Man” is tipped off about a possible plot. Together with a former military contact, he attempts to avert a catastrophic power play in the region.

The new scenario drops the player into Tanoa’s 100 square kilometer tropical terrain with just a few instructions. It’s up to the player to find their way around, gather intel, obtain weapons and equipment, and decide on the best tactics to accomplish objectives. While the scenario aims to offer an authentic experience, the player does have access to a few convenience features, such as the option to wait and skip time, and the ability to fast travel between known safe houses.

Arma 3 Apex: Old Man provides more than 10 hours of playtime. It is released together with a free platform update for all Arma 3 users. This update adds new static machine gun variants and several other assets to the game, and implements various fixes and improvements. The full changelog for update 1.98 can be found on the Arma 3 website.

Key features of Arma 3 Apex: Old Man

  • Shared Armaverse: After the events of the Arma 3 “The East Wind” and “Apex Protocol” campaigns, the South Pacific island nation of Tanoa is hit by yet another humanitarian crisis; a malaria outbreak. When authorities fail to distribute an effective vaccine, a local veteran is tipped off about a possible plot and sets out to uncover the truth.
  • Open World: Return to the jewel of the Horizon Islands and discover her many hidden secrets. Travel by land, sea, or even air – and stay in one of the many shelters to save your progress. Populated by CSAT soldiers, Gendarmerie officers, local insurgents, civilians, and aid workers, Tanoa draws you right into her long history of conflict and turmoil.
  • Sandbox Gameplay: “Old Man” presents you with a varied set of objectives, but how you accomplish these is completely up to you. Get creative and make good use of Arma 3’s diverse selection of weapons and explosives. Just remember; all missions are a matter of life and death – so consider your tactics, prepare your loadout, and always have an exit strategy ready.
  • Additional Content: The Old Man scenario comes with new static M2 .50 caliber machine gun variants, and adds new assets for community content creators to use, such as a Tanoa CSAT reskin of the Zamak truck, a red beret, malaria-infected civilian characters, and various decals and inventory items.

The beta version of the Arma 3 Apex: Old Man scenario was originally released in December last year via the Arma 3 Steam Workshop. Those who helped playtest the beta version are recommended to unsubscribe from the Steam Workshop item and restart the scenario to avoid compatibility issues.

Arma 3 First-Person Shooters | Donster | |