Action/Strategy

Ubisoft has announced that Torment of Hades, the second episode of the post-launch story arc of Assassin’s Creed Odyssey: The Fate of Atlantis, is now available on the PlayStation®4 computer entertainment system, the Xbox One family of devices including Xbox One X and Windows PC.

Torment of Hades transports players to the Underworld, a vast world of endless gloom filled with the wandering dead, ruled by the sharp and cunning Hades. As the story unfolds, players will come face-to-face with the ghosts of their past and continue their journey in mastering the Staff of Hermes. In order to escape the afterlife, players will have to help the dead find their rightful resting place and settle the debt that Hades demands.

Each of the episodes of The Fate of Atlantis will introduce new ability enhancements related to the different branches of the skill tree – Hunter, Warrior and Assassin. In this second episode, players will discover three new ability enhancements, including:

• Kronos Time Shift – part of the Warrior branch of the skill tree, and launches players into the air while temporarily blinding surrounding enemies. While you are in the air, time pauses for a moment, letting you use abilities from above or in a chain with Leap of Faith’s ground smash.
• Ares Last Breath – part of the Warrior branch of the skill tree. This healing ability will grant immunity to enemy attacks, restore 5% of damage dealt as Health and automatically parry enemy melee hits.
• Artemis Trickery – part of the Hunter branch of the skill tree, and transforms players’ arrows into deadly traps that detonate and deal damage to enemies that come in close proximity. Any type of arrow can be used and will offer a different type of effect on detonation.

In order to play Torment of Hades, players will have two different options:

• Following the main game, players will have to complete the questline Between Two Worlds, the mythological main game story arc, and the Lost Tales of Greece questline Heir of Memories that is available after completing the former questline. Finally, they must have reached character level 28 or above.
• Players who do not fulfil all the above conditions will be able to use a shortcut created specifically for them. Thanks to this shortcut, players will enter Greece at level 52 with pre-set abilities and resources, enabling them to start their adventure into the afterlife with Heir of Memories. They will also have the opportunity to choose their hero. However, contrary to the previous option, player progression using the shortcut will not carry over to the main game save, and they will not be able to obtain achievements.

The Assassin’s Creed Odyssey post-launch plan is the biggest and most ambitious in the franchise, and season pass owners will be able to access two major episodic storylines, Legacy of the First Blade and The Fate of Atlantis. Players can dive into new episodes as they premiere or experience the epic adventures in their entirety once all episodes are available. The season pass also includes Assassin’s Creed III Remastered and Assassin’s Creed III Liberation Remastered, which released for the PlayStation®4 computer entertainment system, the Xbox One family of devices including Xbox One X and Windows PC on March 29th, 2019.

For more information on Assassin’s Creed, please visit the games official website.

New Update Introduces Second Stage of the Victory Competition, Ranked Battles Return, and Dynamic Environments for Ports

Today developer and producer Wargaming has released their latest major update 0.8.4 for its popular naval combat game World of Warships. The next installment of the cycle dedicated to Soviet battleships marks the full release of the new tech tree and brings the second stage of the “Victory” competition, a new season of Ranked Battles, and dynamic environments in your Ports!

The new Kreml, Sovetsky Soyuz, Gangut and Knyaz Suvorov join the battleships that became available in Early Access last month, and will be heavily armoured ships of war with powerful weapons, best used at a close to medium range. Designed for aggressive play, these ships are designed for battlefield leaders, allowing players to penetrate enemy lines and deal huge damage to their opponents as they do.

As part of the continuing “Victory” event, alongside these new battleships comes a special new Soviet Hero commander, Nikolai Kuznetsov, leader of the Soviet Navy during WWII and the 3rd commander with unique abilities in the game, after Halsey and Yamamoto. Players will be able to unlock him through new temporary resource – Provision tokens. Beside Commander Kuznetsov, Provision tokens can be exchanged for popular Tier V premium ship Murmansk or new “In the Service of the Motherland” containers. Besides regular rewards, containers will also contain elements of the new Soviet collection, which pays homage to Soviet naval architects, and their legacy as shipbuilders.

Today’s update introduces the new map, Greece, for Tier IX and X battles. Inspired by Santorini Island, this map features low islands, making it possible to attack the ships hiding behind them.

Update 0.8.4. will also feature a new season of Ranked Battles, where the teams will be composed of seven Tier X ships each and the battles will take place in the “Domination” and reworked “Epicenter” modes, where the center and rings can now be captured separately. One of the key features of the new season is the return of aircraft carriers into Ranked Battles alongside with the introduction of free ship rentals, which will give more players the opportunity to participate.

Finally, in-game Ports have also been updated, and will now feature dynamic environment. With this new feature, players will be able to view traditional Ports in new colours, day will succeed night in “night-time” Ports, Saint Petersburg will be hugged by a cozy mist, and in the Ocean Port, the sun will roll off into the horizon and set.

Further details on the update 0.8.4. are available in the latest video patch notes.

For the latest game information, and to sign up for World of Warships for free, visit the games official website!

25 Japanese ships, new French tanks and an Anime-style helicopter

Gaijin Entertainment today announced the release of the “Imperial Navy” Content Update for the free-to-play vehicle combat game War Thunder. It sees the debut of the game’s first Japanese navy lineup with 25 different ships ranging from fast escorts like the T1 torpedo boat to the powerful heavy cruiser Furutaka, as well as two playable ships of other nations, 10 tanks, 13 aircraft and one new helicopter in total.

The Heavy Cruiser Furutaka, which is the first heavy cruiser represented in War Thunder, was originally constructed in the 1920s. In-game, it is featured in its late version, after the modernization it received in 1937. This exact variant of the Furutaka took part in the Battle of Savo Island, which was one of the Imperial Japanese Navy’s biggest victories. Other interesting Japanese ships include the submarine chaser Karo-Tei Type 2, which was hunting US-American submarines near Okinawa and the Philippines in the final stages of World War II.

Another guest that reaches War Thunder from the Land of the Rising Sun is the AH-1S, the first helicopter of the Japanese Self-Defense Forces available in War Thunder. Just as in real life, it also sports its Anime-style camouflage depicting the character “Wakana Kisarazu”, one of the four cute fictional girls who in 2012 became symbols of the JSDF’s Camp Kisarazu. Combat helicopters decorated with pictures of those characters created a huge buzz among media and military fans. They are also featured in the Japanese social game called “Rick G Earth” and have inspired a series of plastic models. Now, thanks to an agreement between Gaijin Entertainment and Zoo Corporation, all War Thunder players can use the official Wakana Kisarazu camouflage as well as the female pilot modeled after this character in-game.

Update also has plenty in stock for the other branches and nations represented in War Thunder. The game’s last content update introduced the first SAM (surface-to-air) missile system, the Soviet 2S6 Tunguska. Now, competing nations receive similar vehicles as well, e.g. the US-American Bradley ADATS tank, which is capable of attacking both air and ground targets with cannons and 8 guided missiles. Another example is the British Stormer HVM that is equipped with 16 guided missiles, each capable of separating itself into three guided, explosive-filled tungsten rounds.

Fans of modern armored vehicles will receive access to the French Leclerc S1, the first variant of France’s current main battle which is still in service both in France as well as the United Arab Emirates. Fast and well-protected, the Leclerc S1 will offer serious competition to vehicles like the M1A1 Abrams, Soviet T-80U or similar. Another option is the new Japanese Type 16 MCV, a wheeled tank destroyer of the Japanese Ground Self-Defense Force that entered service only a year ago, while the fast British jet fighter Hunter F.6 with experimental SRAAM rockets will surely receive a warm welcome by pilots that prefer to fight aggressively. Fans of aviation history will also be able to lay their hands on the unique Messerschmitt Me 264, a prototype German strategic bomber developed as part of the “Amerikabomberprogramm” (“America Bomber” project), which was designed to attack land targets within the United States of America by crossing the Atlantic ocean.

More information on the Update “Imperial Navy” is available on the official War Thunder website.

Gaijin Entertainment announces that the Open Beta of War Thunder’s anticipated World War mode is starting today. The new game mode gives players the opportunity to re-enact famous battles of World War II, to follow in history’s footsteps or change its course completely.

In game, these battles are organized in ‘Operations’, which are based on real world events and combat campaigns, such as the Battle of El Alamein or Battle of Vitebsk. Commanders of either side can move air- and ground armies on a strategic map, and when those armies meet, their clash is resolved by a battle session between players. Results of said battles can have significant effects on the outcome of the Operation, as the defeated side retreats and loses vehicles or even full regiments. An Operation can take up to two hours to complete, depending on the decisiveness of its battles.

Only Squadron Commanders, leaders of War Thunder’s player communities, can initiate the launch of a new Operation, but everyone is allowed to participate – both squadron members as well as the general playerbase. The list of available vehicles in each Operation is limited by historical context, meaning it is not possible to fly a jet fighter over the skies of El Alamein or ride a Japanese tank to battle at Vitebsk. If a player participating in the Operation has vehicles fitting to the historical context, he will be able to take his specific vehicle including crew and modifications. If a player does not own any of the required vehicles, he or she can still participate by receiving a vehicle in its basic modification. This means that participation is open to both veteran players as well war history fans that are still new to War Thunder.

Each operation consists of various battles with differing tasks and available vehicles. Modes include assault, defence, convoy attacks, cover missions as well as head-on confrontations featuring both ground and air forces. The vital link between battles is the strategic map, where commanders may e.g. send an air army to assist ground forces, making aircraft available for one side what previously seemed to be a ground battle only. The diversity of different mission types as well as the asymmetry between relative team power and objectives will open a new experience to players, offering an exciting alternative to War Thunder’s regular PvP battles.

View the War Thunder – World War teaser trailer HERE.

The World War mode is a season-based event, with the first already running until June 10, with the best players set to receive additional rewards. The full schedule of the season and more information about War Thunder is available on the games official website.

Attack Boats, Destroyers and Heavy Cruisers on the Horizon as Japan Prepares for War at Sea

Gaijin Entertainment today announced that War Thunder will soon unleash the might of the Japanese Navy as the game’s fifth Naval Forces vehicle tree. Beta-testing of the initial lineup of the Japanese ships will start at the end of May, with the release of War Thunder’s next major Content Update 1.89.

The initial batch of Japanese ships will encompass more than 20 ships, ranging from torpedo and gunboats to destroyers and cruisers. Many of those were active participants in some of the biggest battles of World War II. This includes the light cruiser Agana, which evacuated Japanese forces from Guadalcanal, and the destroyer Yugumo, which escorted Admiral Nagumo’s strike force against Midway and was sunk during the battles around the Solomon Islands. While the majority of the ships belong to the Imperial Japanese Navy, the game will also see the addition of modern ships of the post-war Japanese Self-Defense Marine Forces, including the PT-15, which was the last torpedo boat to serve in the Japanese Navy.

The oxygen-propelled Type 93 torpedoes, which were used by Japanese destroyers and cruisers of World War II, were the most advanced torpedoes of their time and featured excellent hitting power, range and speed. After the war, they were referred to by most historians as the Japanese “Long Lance”. All players of War Thunder will be able to get their history lesson on that subject very soon, as – true to War Thunder’s realistic approach – both the design and capabilities of the Japanese Navy were recreated as authentically as possible. The Yugumo, for example, is equipped with eight torpedo tubes in two traversable quad-turrets mounted at the center of the ship, allowing the player to launch these devastating weapons to both sides.

After the release of Update 1.89, all players can get access to the beta testing of Japanese ships by completing tasks in War Thunder. Alternatively, access is granted via the purchase of one of the pre-order bundles containing a premium Japanese ship, a sum of premium currency, several days of premium time as well as a unique player title and vehicle decal. One pre-order pack will include the modern patrol boat PG-02 (Rank II), while the other will include the World War II destroyer Kiyoshimo (Rank III).

The launch of the Japanese Navy will also see another first in the game: The introduction of heavy cruisers. More information about this as well as the other new features of the coming Update will be made available on the War Thunder website over the coming weeks.

While the Japanese Navy is getting ready for battle, the fans might try another fun activity – the YouTube Cup. Popular War Thunder YouTube and Twitch content creators like MrSteveGamer or Abinavski will clash in this online tournament on May 6th – May 8th. The live stream from the tournament will be available at the official War Thunder channels on Twitch, YouTube and Facebook with the commentary from PhlyDaily – a famous War Thunder expert with more than 750,000 subscribers.

New update introduces First Soviet Navy battleships in early access, new collaboration with Azur Lane and camouflage from popular mecha designer Makoto Kobayashi

Today developer and producer Wargaming has released their latest major update 0.8.3 for its popular naval combat game World of Warships, introducing the new Victory competition and the opportunity for players to get early access to the upcoming Soviet Battleship line. The update also brings lots of new content for anime fans, with the return of the collaboration with mobile game Azur Lane and the addition of a permanent camouflage for the Japanese Tier X Battleship Yamato, by legendary mecha and spaceship designer Makoto Kobayashi.

A new trailer for Soviet battleships is available HERE.

With the launch of update 0.8.3., players will be able to participate in the Victory competition by daily picking one of two teams – Glory or Honor, to fight for. For achieving good results in battle players will earn Allowance tokens that can be traded in the Armory for exclusive rewards, such as Tier VII Soviet premium cruiser Lazo, Victory camouflage or containers with a chance to unlock one of the four new Soviet battleships. The next day, the winning team will have to complete more difficult tasks, but will earn more valuable rewards as well.

The new Tier V Pyotr Velikiy, Tier VI Izmail, T VII Sinop and T VIII Vladivostok are made for daring players. Contrary to their other nations’ counterparts, these heavily armored ships are equipped with powerful caliber guns and are best used at close to medium ranges. This aggressive design will allow players to punch through the enemy lines, leading the way for their fleet and dealing massive damage to their opponents in the process.

Anime fans will also be pleased to see the return of the Azure Lane collaboration, with the addition of 2 new ships and 15 unique commanders inspired from the license’s most popular characters. Legendary mecha designer Makoto Kobayashi also makes his return in World of Warships by designing a brand new permanent camouflage for the Japanese Tier X battleship Yamato.

Yamato – one of the most iconic warships, also got a facelift. After conducting additional research, World of Warships’ engineers managed to update the ship model with even more details, meaning that Yamato now looks exactly the same as she did when she set off to her final battle.

Lastly, update 0.8.3. comes with a host of new improvements, including a new Treasury building for Clans to store resources, improved signals and camouflages installation, and much more. Further details on the update 0.8.3. are available in the latest patch notes.

For the latest game information, and to sign up for World of Warships for free, visit the games official website!

Ubisoft has announced that Fields of Elysium, the first episode of the second post-launch story arc of Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, The Fate of Atlantis, is now available across all available platforms. Throughout Fields of Elysium, players will continue their odyssey in the Greek afterlife to uncover the great mysteries within the ancient realms of the gods.

Fields of Elysium introduces players to the paradise of Elysium, an otherworldly realm of luscious growth and no conflict, ruled by the goddess Persephone. As the story unfolds, players uncover its sinister secrets while trying to unlock the power of the Staff of Hermes to find a way out of Elysium. Helping Hermes, Persephone’s friend Hekate, and the human Adonis, players uncover the true nature of Elysium as it inevitably descends into civil war.

Each of the three episodes of The Fate of Atlantis will introduce new ability enhancements related to the three branches of the skill tree – Hunter, Warrior and Assassin. In this first episode, players will discover four new ability enhancements, including:

• Ares Bull Charge: Part of the Warrior branch of the skill tree. This ability enhancement summons a projectile that takes the form of a bull charging forward. The projectile knocks down any enemy it hits and pierces though them.
• Ares Madness: Also part of the Warrior branch of the skill tree. Ares Madness will allow players to have a new fighting set that overpowers their enemies for a short period of time.
• Might of Artemis: Part of the Hunter branch of the skill tree. Enemies, when hit by the stun, automatically take critical damage from any subsequent melee attack for the duration of the stun.
• Kronos Time Warp: Part of the Assassin branch of the skill tree. This ability will grant each head shot additional slow-down time and higher damage, which is perfect for fighting enemies.

In order to play Fields of Elysium, players will have two different options:

• Following the main game, players will have to complete the questline Between Two Worlds, the mythological main game story arc, and Heir of Memories, the Lost Tales of Greece questline that is available after completing the former questline. Finally, they must have reached character Level 28 or above.
• Otherwise, players will be able to use a shortcut created specifically for those who would like to play The Fate of Atlantis and who do not fulfill all the above conditions. Thanks to this shortcut, players will enter Greece at Level 52 with preset abilities and resources enabling them to start their adventure into the afterlife with the Lost Tales of Greece questline Heir of Memories. They will also have the opportunity to choose their hero. However, unlike the previous option, player progression using the shortcut will not carry over to the main game save, and they will not be able to obtain achievements.

The Assassin’s Creed Odyssey post-launch plan is the biggest and most ambitious in the franchise, and season pass owners are able to access two major episodic storylines, Legacy of the First Blade and The Fate of Atlantis. Players can dive into new episodes as they are released or experience the epic adventures in their entirety once all episodes are available. The season pass also includes Assassin’s Creed® III Remastered and Assassin’s Creed® III Liberation Remastered, which released for the PlayStation®4 computer entertainment system, the Xbox One family of devices including Xbox One X and Windows PC on March 29th, 2019.

For more information on Assassin’s Creed, please visit assassinscreed.com.

As the smoke clears on the events that unfolded on Monday at the Notre-Dame de Paris, we stand in solidarité with our fellow Parisians and everyone around the world moved by the devastation the fire caused. Notre-Dame is an integral part of Paris, a city to which we are deeply connected. Seeing the monument in peril like this affected us all.

In light of Monday’s events, we will be donating €500,000 to help with the restoration and reconstruction of the Cathedral. We encourage all of you who are interested to donate as well. In addition, we want to give everyone the chance to experience the majesty and beauty of Notre-Dame the best way we know how. For one week (April 17th to April 25th), we will be giving Assassin’s Creed: Unity away free on PC, for anyone who wants to enjoy it. You can download it now for Uplay PC HERE.

When we created Assassin’s Creed: Unity, we developed an even closer connection with this incredible city and its landmarks – one of the most notable elements of the game was the extraordinary recreation of Notre-Dame.

Video games can enable us to explore places in ways we never could have otherwise imagined. We hope, with this small gesture, we can provide everyone an opportunity to appreciate our virtual homage to this monumental piece of architecture.

Battlefield Engineer event with 6 exclusive rare vehicles to acquire starts today in War Thunder

Gaijin Entertainment announced its Battlefield Engineer activity in the military vehicle online game War Thunder. The event gives War Thunder players the opportunity to repair and trade rare military vehicles. Players will get a battle damaged I-180S fighter and will be able to repair it back to operational duty. Restore as many of those fighters as you can to trade them for other rare vehicles including: VFW SPG, Pr.122bis submarine chaser, the Ju 388 J interceptor, the Merkava Mk.1 MBT or the light cruiser HMS Tiger. Top performing players will also get the chance to win exclusive camouflage for those vehicles.

In the event players will receive a damaged I-180S after the first battle.The first step in repairing the aircraft is diagnosing the vehicle in a diagnostic test flight to find out which components are defective. The damage to the components is unique for each aircraft and in most cases they can be indicated by a visual inspection. Armament, flaps, brakes – these and other components can all be tested in a diagnostic flight. Participation in the battle will give the user new components and Aircraft Maintenance Technician Toolkits that will allow them to disassemble and reassemble the plane. Players gain access to more repair components for the I-180S simply by playing the game, alternatively they can also speed up the process by buying the necessary items they need via the Gaijin Market.

Additional I-180S fighters will be received as Vouchers that can be traded for the unique rare vehicles: i.e. the Merkava Mk.1 is the first MBT developed and built by the Israeli armed forces, the light cruiser HMS Tiger is the last traditional WW2-era British gun cruiser design and the Junkers Ju 388J is a German late-war high altitude bomber hunter, designed in response to threats posed by the new American B-29 Superfortress bomber. These models are only available to players participating in the Battlefield Engineer event.

First place ranking players in the team at the end of each battle will receive extra Aircraft Maintenance Technician Toolkits and in some cases a coupon for the unique camouflage. All spare coupons, components and toolkits can be sold to other players in the Market.

More details on the Battlefield Engineer event are available at the official website.

Gaijin Entertainment announces the release of Content Update 1.87 ‘Locked on!’ for the military vehicle online game War Thunder. It adds radar systems as a new game mechanic for aircraft, helicopters and tanks as well as more than 30 new vehicles to the game. The extensive list of new machines includes the first French helicopters, new cruisers and destroyers, the first ground vehicles of the new Rank VII as well as the first surface-to-air missile (SAM) system, the Soviet 2S6 ‘Tunguska’.

Radar systems are a new game mechanic introduced to War Thunder and will be available on a large selection of different vehicles with the release of this update. Installed on anti-aircraft vehicles, they will allow for the detection and engagement of aircraft and helicopters in a large radius, increasing the protection of ground forces against aerial threats. AA gunners will be able to track and lead targets more effectively to counter the fast speed of supersonic aircraft, while the increased effective range will counterbalance the power of helicopters armed with guided missiles.

In turn, aircraft and helicopters that are equipped with radar systems can detect the presence of radar-assisted anti-aircraft systems – and some models can even detect the direction of the signal. Pilots will receive warnings, allowing them to evade an incoming attack by means of maneuvers or hiding behind obstacles. Affected anti-aircraft vehicles, however, can deactivate their radar at any time to reduce their visibility. This “electronic warfare” will make War Thunder’s combined arms battles even more tactically diverse.

16 tanks, aircraft and helicopters in total have been equipped with radar systems so far, including the first vehicle SAM system in War Thunder – the Soviet 2S6 ‘Tunguska’. It is armed with eight 9M311 surface-to-air missiles that will hunt enemy aircraft with speeds of up to 900 m/s, which can alternatively be used to combat armored ground vehicles. More radar equipped vehicles to come – including for Naval forces.

The new vehicles added with Update 1.87 include the first tanks of Rank VII, such as the M1A1 for the US and Challenger 2 for Great Britain, among others. Among the aircraft added with this Update is the fastest jet fighter in the game, the Japanese Mitsubishi T-2, which can reach an impressive 1.6 mach speed. Several aircraft present on Rank V were also equipped with air-to-air guided missiles.

Update 1.87 also includes a new combined-arms combat location, ‘Alaska’, where battles will take place both along wide city streets and in the dense, surrounding forests. Seeing a helicopter emerge behind one of the city’s skyscrapers is sure to turn any battle into a real blockbuster experience!

Watch the War Thunder Content Update 1.87 “Locked On” Teaser Trailer HERE.

More information about the War Thunder Update 1.87 ‘Locked on!’ is available on the game’s official website.